Okay, here's the next chapter guys. I tried to make this one a bit on the humorous side...I don't generally like writing tales that are so emo depressing that you feel like hanging yourself after you've read them. A little humor, done well, can be great in an angsty story.


Hermione walked into The Three Broomsticks - Minerva had urged her against meeting Harry and Ron at the Leaky Cauldron, in case Lucius Malfoy happened to be in Diagon Ally again. Harry and Ron were already there, as she'd expected. She didn't know if they'd be coming together or separate, and didn't want to have to awkwardly wait with one of them for the other, so she'd purposely 'run late'. The boys knew she was telling them something important today, though she had not given them much of an idea of what it was; only that it pertained to their captivity at Malfoy Manor. That was enough to set them on edge.

"Hello Harry, Ron," she said nervously, taking a seat. Unknown to the boys, Minerva and Draco were both sitting in the far corner of the pub, out of sight but close enough to come to her rescue if this conversation went badly.

"Hey Hermione," Ron said awkwardly. "So, what's up?"

"We're here for you, you know that right?" Harry interjected softly. It was a nice counter to Ron's brash approach to starting this difficult conversation, Hermione thought.

"I've altered your memories," Hermione stated without further preamble. "I'm sorry, but at the time I felt that I had to do it."

"What?" Ron sputtered. "What the bloody hell gave you the right - ?"

"Ron, shut it," Harry snapped. "I'm sure Hermione had a good reason, let's just let her explain, alright?"

Ron slouched in his chair but stopped speaking, and Harry nodded for Hermione to continue.

"When we were held captive at Malfoy Manor," Hermione continued, "something happened to me that I wanted to forget. I couldn't forget it, obviously, but I could make you guys forget it. You wouldn't stop asking if I was okay, and you needed to focus on finding the final Horcruxes and destroying Voldemort. After I'd done it, I didn't think I'd ever have reason to tell you what I'd done, but..."

"What happened, 'Mione?" Harry said gently.

One look in Harry's eye and Hermione knew that he knew what she was about to say was not good. Even Ron was beginning to look less perturbed, and more concerned about his friend.

"I was raped by Lucius Malfoy that night," Hermione whispered.

"Bloody hell," Ron gasped before she could get out the rest.

"And he got me pregnant," she finished, ignoring Ron's outburst.

Harry got up from his chair immediately and grabbed her into a hug. "Hermione, I am so, so sorry."

"Thanks, Harry," Hermione said, holding herself together.

"Well, you got rid of it, right?" Ron sputtered.

"No, I did not," Hermione said firmly, taking her seat again. "Nor to I intend to."

"You're keeping the kid of the arsehole who RAPED you?!" Ron nearly shouted.

"Ron!" Harry snapped. "Keep it down, mate. The whole pub doesn't need to know."

"I am keeping MY child, Ronald Weasley!" Hermione shouted back, finally loosing her cool. "She's MINE and it doesn't matter who the father happened to be. That vile, loathsome cockroach will be getting a one way ticket to Azkaban before the end! He will NEVER see her!"

"And when YOUR kid comes out with BLOND hair, what are you going to say?" Ron shouted back. "Malfoy junior knocked you up? I doubt ferret face would go along with that."

"For your information, Draco is pretty excited about being a big brother!" Hermione hissed, standing up and gripping her wand. "He's taking responsibility for what his father did to me, and helping with bills for doctors and such. He's been quite wonderful, unlike YOU are being at the moment."

"Okay, guys, calm down," Harry said, standing between the two. "I'm sure that Malfoy is..."

"CALL HIM DRACO, HARRY JAMES POTTER!" Hermione nearly squealed.

"Alright," Harry said, holding his hands up. "I'm sure Draco is acting great right now, but how can you be sure he's not just gunna try and steal your kid when it's..."

"IT'S A GIRL, HARRY!"

"When she's born," Harry amended. "What reason could Draco have for being nice to you?"

Hermione had not wanted to tell them this part - it wasn't really her place to say - but Harry's point was not unreasonable, and she knew that he was just concerned. "Draco went through the same thing I did, at his father's hands. For years. The fact that I am unwilling to just let Lucius get away with this means that Draco has someone who can help him prove his father is a child abuser, rapist, and murder. Draco and I will be moving in together, in fact."

"Oh," Harry said, looking stunned.

"Blimey," Ron said, voice not raised for the first time. "No wonder he was such a prick at school. I'd have been a total arse too, if my dad was doing that to me."

"Uh," Harry said awkwardly. "Are you and Draco...er...a couple now?"

Hermione laughed, and the tension between the trio was suddenly gone. "We're moving into together for the mutual protection, as we're not prosecuting his father until after the baby is born. There's nothing between us. I have my eye on someone else, actually."

"Someone else?" Harry said in a teasing tone. "Anyone we know?"

"Yes," Hermione said, blushing. "But I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about that."

Ron laughed. "So you can march in here and tell us you messed with our memories, that you got raped, and your pregnant, and your keeping the little bugger, AND you're moving in with Draco Malfoy of all bloody people, but you wont tell us who the bloke you fancy is?"

"Actually, it's not a bloke," Hermione said, biting her lip.

Harry shook his head. "You're into girls, Hermione? Anymore bombshells you want to drop?"

Ron rolled his eyes and laughed. "Knowing Mione it's probably someone absolutely mad, like Professor McGonagall or something."

"Well, actually," Hermione said, blush rising as she sat carefully back in her chair. She really had not wanted to tell them, but as he guessed... "It is her, Ron."

Hermione watched as Harry's eyes got wide as saucers. "Seriously?" he said.

Hermione nodded, and turned to look at her other friend, just in time to see the redhead's eyes roll back into his head, and his body collapse on the floor. Ron Weasley had fainted.


Please Review! So what's going to happen next? Any guesses?