Still I Look to Find a Reason to Believe
Chapter Twelve

There had been quite a few guesses on who the mother of this magical child could be. There were even more punishments since the search began. Mostly the Dark Lord was frustrated with not being able to find out who the carrier was. He set groups of death eaters to different parts of the wizarding world, hoping they would find something, but they didn't. And now, a month later, Draco and Hermione struggled to find ways to keep the Dark Lord from finding out she was pregnant. Draco knew very well what he would do to all of them if he found out. He watched many women tortured worse then any death eater could imagine. And human, wizard or muggle, could imagine. And even though he knew the possibilities of what might happen if the Dark Lord should find out, Hermione didn't. And that was something Draco wanted to remain the same.

She was already stressed enough with the pregnancy and it wouldn't be healthy for her or the baby to be worrying about what might happen. So Draco kept quiet, no matter what. When Hermione did bring something up that was related to what might happen, Draco simply told her it would be alright and that there wasn't anything to worry about. He was determined to see that it would be alright. He would find a way to protect his children.

Over the last few weeks Draco had gotten extremely close to Dakota. He knew what she liked to do from the morning until bedtime. He knew that she hated pepperoni pizza, and anything extra on her ice cream except for whipped cream. He learned how to play her favorite muggle board games, and he learned that she was very good with them. Dakota seemed to be getting close to Draco too. She had even once mistakenly called him "Dad". She didn't apologize, but she turned a deep red, and Draco knew that he should ignore it. He loved being called dad, but he knew she didn't mean to and refused to pressure into anything.

Hermione seemed to be fine with her new life style. She was able to eat what she wanted, Dakota and Draco were getting along fine, and so far the Dark Lord had no idea about her being pregnant or her being with Draco. She spent most of her days helping Carly with her chores and Dakota with her math. Draco wasn't around all the time, and Hermione needed to do things that would entertain her time. He said she could help Carly, as long as it wasn't anything too much. Ever since Hermione had found out she was pregnant, Draco hadn't let her do anything, despite the fact that she still was a slave, and that he couldn't free her. He didn't want any harm to come to her. And Hermione was very grateful for that. But she still had her doubts. She wasn't sure that Draco could protect her and her daughter. He said he would. And she believed him for the most part, but Hermione wasn't stupid. She knew that if Harry Potter couldn't defeat him then Draco wouldn't be able to either. Still, it was comforting to know that he was there with her.

Carly, however wasn't so sure...

"What are you talking about, Carly?" Hermione asked, her frustration growing by the second. Carly sighed, but she continued to mop. "Hermione, I'm just saying that if Master Malfoy did leave you before, what makes you think he in incapable of doing it again?" Hermione eyes' grew wide. "How dare you even suggest that he would do that to me! You have no idea what he is like." Hermione told her, getting up from her seat, and beginning to leave. "Look Hermione, maybe I don't know him as well as you do, but you've told me of the pain he put you through before, and there is no reason to believe he wouldn't put you through it again." Carly told her, as Hermione continued to walk away.

After that, Hermione thought for a very long time. As she layed on her bed, looking out the window, she tried to get her thoughts organized. Was Carly right? Would Draco leave them again? He said he did it last time for her, so does that mean that he would do it again, knowing that all she wanted was for him to be with her? Hermione couldn't think for one second that Draco may be evil. That he might be like his father. It wasn't him. Hermione knew Draco. She knew who he was and is. If your so sure, then why do you question yourself? A little voice inside Hermione's head kept repeating that same question to her.

It wouldn't make sense if he left her, though. Why would he leave her and Dakota after all he did for them? Why would he leave the baby? Would he? He left Dakota, of course, he didn't know of her existence. But he wasn't bothered by losing Hermione at all. Then it hit Hermione. Will he take the baby? Will he take Dakota and the baby away from me? It was a possibility, and one that Hermione couldn't get out of her head. She had read stories about people who did that. Men who took the child away the moment it was born, and the mother was never given the chance to see it. Would Draco do that to her?


Hermione didn't know. All she knew was that her friend was right. She couldn't put anything pass Draco. As much as she loved him, he did it once, and he could do it again. She couldn't put her children at risk. She wouldn't let her stupidity be the reason that they're taking away from her...

A/N: No Draco really in this chapter. Of course, they wasn't much dialogue. I wanted to get their thoughts out in this chapter, and of course with Hermione starting to not trust Draco...hmm... should she trust him? Please Review! Also, I will have a new chapter of "I found a reason For Me" by the 4th of August, but that may be my last update for a while, unless I get a lot of Internet use at the shore... I WILL TRY to get one more chapter of this story up before I go...