"So, today is the big day, huh?" Theo asked as he watched the apprentices practicing a new spell.
Draco nodded distractedly. Twenty one days have passed since his first night with Hermione. Days that were as moody as the sea. But they came a long way in such a short time, he assured himself.
"You still have time to run for your life." Theo suggested.
"This is the umpteenth time I tell you, I don't want to." Draco huffed impatiently.
"Is your so called plan even working?" Theo argued.
"I'll have you know that it's working perfectly fine." Draco replied with a proud lift of his chin, "We talk more, I've grown to know her better lately. We fight less.."
"Right!" Theo scoffed.
"I didn't say we stopped fighting, I said we fight less." Draco repeated with a scowl, "Where's Blaise?" he asked.
Theo scanned the room with a frown before speaking, "He said he'll be back in five minutes. That was almost an hour ago."
"I'll go find him." Draco said, desperately trying to escape Theo's persistent interrogation.
Draco tried to open the door to Blaise's office but it was locked. He knocked twice and got no answer in return even though he could hear noise coming from the office. He pointed his wand at the door to open it, and almost closed it again instantly. Ginny was sitting on the desk with Blaise standing between her legs. They were both too absorbed in what seemed like a fervent kiss that they hadn't noticed Draco's presence. I was Ginny who saw him first. She pushed Blaise away abruptly, hastily pulling together her half open shirt.
"Whatever happened to knocking!" Blaise hissed at Draco.
"I knocked twice, but you were too..distracted to hear me." Draco replied with smirk, looking at Ginny who stood with her hands crossed over her chest protectively, glaring at Draco.
"Then you shouldn't have entered." Ginny spat.
"No matter how improper my entrance was, your actions were far more inappropriate than mine." Draco argued with a provocative grin.
Ginny started to say something but Blaise stopped her, putting his hand over her mouth and mumbling something that sounded like a plead.
"I was leaving anyway." Ginny shook her head away from Blaise's hand. "Tell your friend to stay away from me or I swear I'll curse her sorry ass." she directed her words to Blaise with a warning finger before leaving the office.
"Fuck you Draco." Blaise muttered under his breath as he heard Ginny slamming the door.
"How would I know?" Draco asked from between chuckles, "The office, Blaise! Your standards are disintegrating."
"Things were perfect and then you happened." Blaise whined.
"Then stop whining and go home to finish what you started." Draco replied simply.
"It's not that simple. Nothing is that simple with her." Blaise sighed in exasperation as he threw himself on his chair.
"Why not?" Draco asked curiously.
"Because she's Ginny! She's too moody, too quick-tempered, too stubborn, too bold and..too much of everything."
"You should be able to adapt with that by now."
"Easier said than done." Blaise twisted his mouth sardonically, "Is it possible to base a decent relationship on sex? Because that's all I seem to have." he asked thoughtfully.
It took Draco a long moment to reply; Blaise's remark hit home. During the past days he was desperately trying to find some solid ground to build a relationship with Hermione on. But he was able to extract very little from her. She was too introverted and he had to perform extra effort to get her to talk.
"I think so." Draco replied, "It would be shallow but easy, no fuss".
"I know, this was the only sort of relationships I've ever had and my life was perfectly fine until she decided it to push me head first into her plans." Blaise ranted as the question that never left him echoed in his mind. Why didn't he just capture Ginny when he found her? His job would've been given a boost and his life would've still been rotating in its safe, commitment free orbit.
"Anyway, who's that friend she was talking about?" Draco asked.
"Daphne," Blaise replied with a frown, "she met Ginny today and they had a...heated argument. Pansy was with her too."
"I thought Daphne was over you, isn't she with Theo now?" Draco asked in confusion.
"I thought so too. Apparently, I thought wrong. Daphne's still offended by the whole story and Pansy keeps agitating her." Blaise huffed impatiently, "Why are you still here?" he asked suddenly when his eyes fell on the clock.
"Oh..I..um..I had to attend the apprentices' training." Draco lied.
"Since when do you attend the training when you're not part of it?" Blaise raised a questioning eyebrow at Draco.
"Well, I thought that..." Draco started to say.
"Spit it out, Draco. Why are you loitering here when you usually ran back home before we could say 'Draco'?" Blaise questioned.
"I don't feel like going back home." Draco admitted.
"Why not?"
"Hermione is supposed to perform the pregnancy spell today. I'm not sure how she'll react."
"What do you expect?"
"I have no idea, really. She could be mad..maybe depressed. She might want to leave..anything."
"How do you know there won't be a baby in the first place?"
"Of course there won't be, I told you about the potion."
"Yes but how are you so sure the potion would work? What if you didn't drink enough to last for a whole month? What if the old git lied to you and the potion was fake?"
"He wouldn't dare.."
"You'll never know."
Draco's mind reeled with the endless options Blaise's words suggested. What if his plan didn't work after all and Hermione was pregnant? Suddenly he felt like he was too late and needed to go back home as soon as possible. He left Blaise's office without another word and headed back to the Manor. When he found Hermione with her knees pressed against her chest and her head bent down, he knew at once that Blaise's speculations weren't true.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked hesitantly.
"Do you know how to perform a pregnancy spell?" Hermione asked.
"Um..yes.." Draco replied with a confused frown.
"Alright, do it." Hermione ordered as she stood up in front of him.
"You didn't try to.." Draco started to ask.
"Just do it." Hermione cut him off.
Draco decided against arguing further. He took out his wand and his brows drew together in concentration as he pointed it at Hermione. "Manifesto Praeseminatio." he said clearly. A minute passed before a faint blue light came out of the tip of Draco's wand.
"Nothing!" Hermione whispered disbelievingly, "At first..I thought I was performing the spell wrong but now..I just..I don't" Hermione's voice trailed off as she started gasping for air.
"Breathe." Draco ordered, holding Hermione by the shoulders.
"I don't.." Hermione inhaled sharply, "..get it. What's wrong?"
"Nothing is." Draco replied, "Things like that happen all the time." he shrugged.
"Things! What things?" Hermione frowned at him.
"You know.." Draco hesitated for a moment, "You don't necessarily have to get pregnant so fast, sometimes it takes time."
"Why me? I mean Ginny..it just happened so easily for her and I..what if it never happens?" Hermione's eyes widened as the thought hit her.
"You're over thinking the matter. We just need more time and less stress." -Draco pulled Hermione closer for- "Especially less stress." he whispered into her ear.
"No." Hermione twisted her head away. "I should leave." she decided.
"What? Why?" Draco asked.
"This is pointless. Neither of us can tell when I could be pregnant. We don't even know if it could happen. And then what? I just wait here with no good reason? No, we had a deal and I'm calling it off." Hermione explained.
"Whoever said you can?" Draco demanded.
"I'm sorry?" Hermione's brows furrowed in confusion.
"You said it yourself. We had a deal, so it's not up to you to call it off." Draco replied.
"Yes but it's useless for you too now." Hermione tried to reason with him.
"No, I already told you I see no reason for the haste. I think we should try again." Draco insisted.
"Yes but how do you know trying again would come up with a different result?" Hermione pursued.
"And how do you know it wouldn't?" Draco contradicted.
"I just do..I have a feeling about it." Hermione admitted.
A fear actually, Hermione thought. A sense of panic took hold of her as she imagined her worst fear coming true. Failure. This time, she was failing at doing the one thing she desperately wanted to do. She had grown to fancy the thought of being a mother so much that by now the idea of never being able to become one was unfathomable for her.
"What do you have to lose?" Draco asked, "What do you plan on doing when you leave? Wander aimlessly in the woods and wait for a miracle to take you away from London? You'll probably get killed the minute you set foot out of the Manor." Draco stated matter-of-factly. "And you'd be a fool if you thought I'd help you leave. We have a deal that I'm not yet willing to call off. So if you plan on doing so, you're on your own."
Hermione opened her mouth to argue further but Draco's sharp yelp of pain stopped her. He rolled up his left sleeve and Hermione saw his dark mark glowing furiously. Before she could ask what was happening he mumbled something about having to go and disappeared from the room. Less than half an hour had passed before Draco came back.
"What happened?" she asked, following Draco to his room.
"A raid." Draco replied distractedly, "One of our informants saw George Weasly and Dean Thomas in a hostel in Scotland. If we're fast enough we could catch them."
Hermione's eyes remained fixed on the glowing mark on Draco's hand. It looked like it was burning and the agonized expression on his face only supported Hermione's theory. Her mind wandered off to the information she just heard. If she sent an owl to Ginny now, she might be able to warn George before the Death Eaters reached him. It was a weak possibility but still worth trying. She was distracted by Draco's hand cupping her cheek.
"Stay." he pleaded quietly, "Stay until I'm back and then we'll talk."
"What difference would it make?" she asked.
"Just stay. If you still want to leave when I'm back, I'll help you." he offered.
"Why?" Hermione cocked her head to one side.
"Hermione, just stay!" Draco repeated impatiently; the pain in his arm wasn't helping with his temper.
"How long will you be away?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know, two or three days." he replied.
She looked away from Draco, trying to decide whether or not she should wait for him. What do you have to lose? his question echoed in her mind. Not much, she brooded. She barely had anything to lose. And despite herself, Hermione had to admit that the time she had spent in the Manor felt like a desperately needed vacation from all the stress she'd been living through.
Draco's hand snaked around Hermione's neck. He cupped the nape of her neck and brought her closer.
"Stay." he whispered against the corner of her mouth.
"I really..can't see your..point." she struggled to phrase her words.
"Stay." he repeated, hugging Hermione's frame tightly into his.
"I don't.." Hermione mumbled. She stopped abruptly when Draco dropped a feather-light kiss on the bridge of her nose.
"Stay." his usually confident voice sounded desperate.
Hermione's gaze was held by Draco's demanding gaze. Maybe she should stay until news about George and Dean came. Lame excuse! A voice inside Hermione's head scoffed at her. It wasn't an excuse, she contradicted herself. The only reason she was going to wait for Draco's return was to hear from him what happened with George and Dean. Just that, no ulterior motives. Draco's company wasn't the least bit tempting and she definitely preferred the loneliness of an old house or a forest to the undesirable company of Draco Malfoy.
It gets a bit more believable every time you say it, the wretched voice mocked her.
"Fine." Hermione almost groaned, "Until you're back." she decided.