Hermione knew, as she looked at Caden out of the corner of her eye, that he was absolutely bored. She was grateful for the fact he did not complain, although he would give her a look whenever Ginny would pull them into another store. Hermione had to admit that she herself was starting to get tired after trying on more than fifty dresses in all sorts of styles and colors.

Caden had barely spoken to her all day and she was not sure why. It might have been the fact that he had to go clothes shopping while Harry and Ron would be playing Quidditch without him. Caden might have been upset about the fact that Ginny had taken them out early, meaning he had no breakfast. But whatever was going on in the little boy's head, he showed no signs of it on his face. Hermione could only read the bored expression he wore.

"Ginny," Hermione said to her suddenly. "We still have to buy Caden's dress robes as well. I'm not going to be able to afford these kinds of dresses and still be able to get Caden something."

The redhead rolled her eyes and began to mutter something to herself as she took away all of the expensive clothing out of Hermione's hands, leaving only a scarlet, strapless dress. Ginny ordered Hermione to try it on, and she waited outside with Caden. Hermione did, and she rolled her eyes when she realized it was way too small. Ginny groaned in frustration while Caden slammed his bear into his forehead. They left the shop without speaking to one another.

Hermione was able to convince Ginny to take a break from shopping, seeing as they still had three days to buy a dress. Ginny reluctantly agreed on one condition, Hermione would buy the ice cream cones. Caden's ears seemed to perk up at the mention of ice cream. He began to tug his mother's pant leg, asking for a chocolate ice cream cone. Hermione bought their treats at the next stand and found a table to sit at.

Caden, restless from sitting in all of those stores for hours on end, began to walk around the area on his own. He walked around, examining the shop windows and looking at the pet owls hanging around on a shop's sign. Hermione watched him out of the corner of her eye as Ginny began to tell her a list of places they should try next.

"So, Luna told me about this new shop that opened up down the street from here. She showed me her new dress a day or so ago, and you wouldn't believe how gorgeous it looked on her. I haven't been there myself, but it's worth a shot."

"Uh huh." Hermione replied.

Ginny frowned. "Are you even listening?"

"Luna, new shop, gorgeous dress," she answered dully to show that she was.

"Hermione, do you even care about this ball? If Harry or Ron hadn't asked you about it, would you still go?"

She shrugged and Ginny shook her head. "Hermione, I know it's been eight years, and it's great to see you and everything, but it's like your mind is elsewhere, all the time. How bad was it? Because if he did something to you that would make Ron's head explode; well, we can find him and give him what he deserves."

"Ginny," Hermione said as she turned her so she was completely facing her. "There is nothing you can do that will make him pay for what he did. You see, he didn't do anything to me."

"How can you say that with a straight face? I mean, I like the boy and everything, but he did that to you, and he kidnapped you!" Ginny exclaimed.

She looked down from her and examined the remained of her cone. "He kidnapped me for my own good. I would've died if he didn't. And I gave myself to him by my own free will. He did not touch me until I allowed him to. You can't do any thing to him, Ginny."

"But he–"

"He's dead, Ginny!" Hermione blurted, causing Ginny to freeze. "He's dead. He died trying to protect me from You-Know-Who."

Ginny was silent as Hermione put her head in her hands and allowed the tears to fall freely. She remembered that day so clearly in her mind, that awful day. She remembered seeing all the blood on the stones and hearing Voldemort's cruel laugh when he did not get up from the floor. She had never been so terrified in her life when she watched them drag his lifeless body out of the room and Voldemort kicked it as it left.

As she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, Ginny looked at her sadly and ashamed of herself. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I didn't know."

She did not reply. Instead she looked around at the people around her. "Where's Caden? Caden!" She yelled. The boy heard his mother and quickly ran out of the nearby alley. Caden turned to give it one last look before proceeding to return to his mother. He felt his heart stop as he noticed her tearstained face.

"Mama?" He asked with concern. Hermione waved her hand, dismissing it as she turned to Ginny and asked if she was ready to go. They did not mention their discussion as they left the picnic table.

The shop Luna had spoken to Ginny about was where they had their success. It was a small shop in a little bricked building at the corner of the street. The dresses were absolutely wonderful and their prices were not as high as Hermione had expected. She found another red dress, but her eyes caught an emerald green one that had been practically tucked away out of sight. She presented the two dresses to Ginny and Caden.

"Oh, pick the red one, Hermione," Ginny said to her excitedly. "It's our house color."

As Hermione nodded and turned to leave, she heard Caden's little voice behind her. "Pick the green one, Mama. He wants you to wear the green one." He whispered.

Hermione whipped around and stared back into her son's innocent brown eyes. He gave her a small smile as her jaw dropped. "What did you say?" She asked him, in shock.

"He wants you to wear the green one." Caden repeated.

"Who?" Ginny asked him.

Caden's eyes lingered over from the dress to her. His smile widened as he looked back at his mother, and said to her, as though it were obvious, "Daddy, of course."

Hermione's eyes widened in horror as she glanced down at the stick in her hands. How could this have happened? For a moment, she wanted to slap her forehead as she knew how, but still. Roland was barely home and they had only done it once. But she knew once was enough, and now she was pregnant with Roland's child.

After their first kiss, Roland told her with a heavy heart that the Death Eaters were beginning to get suspicious about his long absences, that was part of the reason he had been beaten. She knew by the look in his eyes that meant he would have to be away more often. It had been more than a year since that day, almost three years since her capture, and throughout that time Hermione had only seen Roland five times. During his last visit, almost two months ago, they decided to take their relationship to the next level and that was why Hermione was staring in shock at the test in her hands.

Part of Hermione was thrilled. She always wanted children, every since she was a little girl. Her goals in life had been like most people: get a good job, a loving and caring husband, and adorable little children. But ever since her capture, Hermione had said good-bye to those types of dreams. She would have never thought she would be sitting on the bed with a positive test in her hands three years ago, let alone be carrying the child of the Death Eater who kidnapped her.

The other part of Hermione was frightened. She was having a child, a Death Eater's, the kind of people Harry and Ron were off destroying. She was terrified at the thought that her child would grow up to be one, the people whom she had vowed to hate, but she learned she could not, not after Roland.

Then she thought of Roland. What would he say when he found out? She never took him as the fatherly type before. Would he order her to get rid of the baby? Hermione shuddered at the thought, knowing she could not. After all, it was her baby, too. Or what would happen if Roland's next visit would be a year from now? What would he say when he walked into the room, seeing her holding a baby? Hermione knew she would have to tell him soon enough.

She was too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice that the door had appeared and Roland had slipped into the room. He quietly came up behind her and placed his hands over her eyes. But what he did not expect, as he went to whisper into her ear, was Hermione screaming and her head to come in contact with his jaw.

Roland massaged his jaw with his hand as Hermione twisted around in the chair she was sitting in to see who it was. Her mouth fell opened as she looked around frantically. It was then that he noticed the stick in her hand.

"What's that?" He asked and pointed to it. Hermione instantly got up from the chair and hid it behind her back.

"What's what?" She asked him. Roland smirked at her as he moved swiftly to grab the test out of her hand.

Hermione bit her lip and closed her eyes as she waited for Roland to finish examining the test. He scratched his head and handed it back to her, asking her what exactly it was. She did not believe he did not know what it was, but then again he probably grew up in the magical world and had never seen a muggle pregnancy test before. Hermione was surprised when Binky knew what she was talking about and quickly left to fetch it.

Weakly, she avoided his gaze before replying, "It's a test."

He let out a laugh. "What kind of a test?"

Hermione met his eyes for a moment. "I'm pregnant." She told him straightly.

Roland's eyes widened as though he could not believe that some stupid stick could tell her that, which she probably thought was going through his mind. But he looked into her eyes, searching to see if she was joking with him. Then, after seeing none, he blurted out, "You mean with a baby?"

If Hermione had read that out of a book, she might have laughed. "No," She answered, slightly annoyed. "I'm having a dragon. Yes, I'm having a baby!"

She sat back down on the chair and rubbed her temples. Roland hesitantly sat down in the chair next to her. They did not speak to one another. They sat silently as they allowed the news to sink in. After a while, Hermione finally let out a sigh.

"What are we going to do, Roland?" She asked him.

He looked up from the table. "What do you me 'what are we going to do'?" He asked her with a tone she did not like.

Her jaw dropped in shock. He was not leaving her, was he? This was his fault as much as it was hers. But before she could protest, Roland went on. "We're keeping the baby, aren't we?"

She let out a sigh of relief when she heard 'we' and nodded. Roland gently got a hold of one of her hands and pulled her towards him. She sat on his lap and buried her face in his chest as she let the tears fall. Hermione felt his hand under her chin and allowed him to bring her face up so she was facing him directly.

"I don't want you to worry about a thing, Hermione." Roland told her gently. "I'll be there for you, for both of you. Not even the Dark Lord can bring us apart."

She smiled at him and wiped the tear out of her eyes. They sat in silence for a moment, before Hermione took Roland's hand and placed in over her stomach.

"Roland," She said softly as she used her other hand to run her fingers through his dark hair. "We're going to be parents. You're going to be a daddy!"

He looked down for a second at where his hand laid, and then looked back up at her with a wild grin on his face. "I know."