"Behind Closed Doors" By Kross
A/n: I don't own Harry Potter…I simply enjoy using the characters conjured up J.K. Rowling for my own sweet pleasure.
Pairing: Hermione/Ron and Hermione/Mystery man
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Hermione wandered back from Snape's office to the common room. Her small feeling of shame waned with each step she took. She realized that even if having her child was going to make a huge impact on her life, she wasn't willing to take drastic measures to change her situation. When Hermione found herself facing the Fat Lady, her spirits had lifted a considerable amount. She found herself a tiny bit excited about having her child. Secretly, she had begun to hope for a daughter.
The common room was fairly busy tonight, not as busy as it had been in the past few days, like it normally was. Third years were huddled in clusters around the open pine tables, hoping to secure a spot to work and study. A handful of sixth years were evidently working on their nonverbal charms, each of the boys and girls had red, flushed faces and were continually puffing their cheeks out. One lone first year sat in front of the fire, she was warmed by the bright fire and the knit sweater she wore. Hermione smiled at the sight. The sweater covered her whole body, almost to her knees, as Hermione's first "Weasley family sweater" had done.
She thought a moment about that sweater, how she would really be a Weasley in only a few short months. She wondered whether or not she should try to knit a sweater for her baby herself. She decided that tonight she would begin to knit her child a sweater and a matching sweater for Ron, as he would be the happy 'father'. Hermione climbed the stairs to the room that she and Ginny had shared. After the recent problems in Hogwarts and the unexpected withdrawals of several Gryffindor girls in both Hermione and Ginny's years, the only two girls who were left in the higher grades were Hermione and Ginny.
As Hermione opened the door, which swung in, she was able to quickly see that no one was in the room. She crossed the room after tossing her shoes off next to the door. Her knitting supplies were nestled in a trunk below her bed, which were growing increasingly hard to reach because of her jutting belly. It had been a while since Hermione had used those supplies, the number of house elves who still wanted a new sweater or hat was dwindling. She had made something or other for almost every house elf that lived in Hogwarts castle.
Again she broke out the box, with considerable struggle to avoid squashing her pregnant belly below her body. The box has tiny teeth marks on it, ones that hadn't been there when she'd last locked it a few days before. She wondered whether or not her ginger cat had tried to get into it to play with the long strands of brightly colored yarn that he so loved to hunt. This momentarily perplexed Hermione, but she soon lost interest in the concept. It didn't really matter much.
It wasn't until Hermione opened the box with the beautiful, old skeleton key that she understood the teeth marks. She lifted from the belly of the box a bright ball of wheat-colored yarn, one she favored greatly. But, as it slipped from between her fingers and escaped across the floor to the underside of Ginny's bed she knew why the teeth marks had been there. She could hear the dull thump of the ball mingle with the noise of capture. A tiny voice burst out "A ha! Kreacher has gotten the dirty mudblood's yarn! Now she cannot make any more tiny things…No more ugly litter in the common room!"
Hermione almost expected it, as she heard tiny, ugly Kreacher's voice scrape out. She knew that the voice belonged to Kreacher the instant she heard "mudblood" escape his eternally-curled lip. "Kreacher..." She began. "What are you doing in here? You were told to only stay in Harry's room or the common room!" She grew angry, this was the ninth or tenth time she had told Kreacher this exact statement. "You have to obey Harry, he owns you now."
"Kreacher hates Harry Potter. Harry Potter is vile and half-blooded…oh, what would Mrs. Black say if she knew Kreacher serves a half-blood?" He feigned a faint and cried out a tiny amount.
Hermione suddenly had a small epiphany. It had just dawned on her that perhaps Kreacher had been listening to Harry. Perhaps, Harry had told Kreacher to leave the imitation Slytherin ring in her sheets. It made more sense than anything else did at the moment; Harry was sly enough like that. His appearance matched fairly closely to her memories. He was Quidditch Captain; that would explain how he was able to watch her in the prefects' bath. It all seemed to come together. Hermione's many puzzle pieces seem to slide together without fault or crack.
Hermione was swift, sprinting over to Kreacher, who still babbled about hating Harry Potter. She lifted him up by his underarms and carried him out of the room. She floated down the girl's staircase and crossed the common room until she was at the foot of the boy's staircase. She hoped, as it had in years passed, that the boy's staircase still allowed girls to climb it. She worried that if she couldn't climb it, she would slide down in and lose her hold on Kreacher and possibly hurt her unborn baby. She closed her eyes, praying briefly, and placing a foot on the bottom-most step.
Miraculously she was able to stand on it, not sinking it to it or having it liquidate and form a slick with the other stairs. She strode up the high stair case, and wandered down the lengthy hallway flanked by doors into boy's rooms. She almost opened the third year's door, as it was the last door she had opened to get to Ron and Harry. Now, they were seventh years, she remembered in the nick of time. She didn't bother to knock, seeing as anything Harry or Ron might be exposing she would have already seen. She'd slept with both of them, no longer was anything sacred.
"Hey!" Harry yelped as the door swung wide. He blinked blindly as Hermione came in the door. He leapt from his bed and snatched up his battered old glasses that were the same pair Hermione had repaired in first year. "Whoa…Hermione? Why do you have Kreacher?" It was then that Hermione had been completely ignoring his half-hearted kicking and loud whimpering. She was glad to see that she and Harry would be alone.
"We need to talk." She stated bluntly.
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Please read and review. So…complicated enough for you? Do you think you have it figured out? Please, tell me if you do. Oh, it was originally going to be Snape (for all of you who guessed correctly). However, one other person was in the running. And after reading the Half-Blood Prince, I would have vomited to see it be Snape (even though I personally find him sexy and sensual). He's a bastard. Tune in for more!
Meg