Hell is Empty and All the Devils Are Here
Summary: In their fifth year at Hogwarts, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy had a baby girl. Now, dark secrets will be brought to the surface- Lord Voldemort has a task that Draco must complete- if he fails, his daughter and girlfriend will be killed.
A/N: I AM SO SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T UPDATED FOR A THOUSAND YEARS! Hopefully this chapter will make it up to you guys
Chapter Four:
Hermione cradled Mira to her chest with one arm and used her free hand to cover her mouth as she yawned. It was well past midnight and Mira been asleep for about an hour before she announced to the world that she was hungry.
Hermione leaned back against the headboard of Ginny's bed and closed her eyes. Mira was nursing at her breast and it hurt like hell.
She hissed in pain but tried to stay calm- the occasional tears of discomfort and exhaustion were stinging at her eyes and she refused to let them fall. It was a good thing that Ginny was sleeping in the living room tonight- Ginny said that she couldn't stand another night of no sleep but told Hermione that she didn't blame her one bit.
Draco, meanwhile, was being as distant as ever. He spent most of his time shut up in Percy's room, never coming out except at mealtimes and whenever Hermione knocked on his door, he ignored her. If Hermione wasn't so worn out, she would be angry at him but there was no room for that emotion in her. Mira made sure of that.
Mira finished nursing and nuzzled at her mother's breast. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut tightly, hoping against hope that her daughter would drift off to sleep, but moments later the later baby had opened her mouth and began to squirm and wail.
Hermione groaned. In the weeks since Mira had been born, Hermione had been lucky to get a couple of hours of sleep. She felt terrible for the rest of the Burrow's occupants, especially for Ginny who was being forced to sleep on the lounge now. Mrs. Weasley insisted that Mira would eventually fall into a sleeping pattern… but it had been nine weeks since she was born and no such sleeping pattern had occurred.
"Please sweetheart, please stop crying," Hermione begged quietly over the noises the baby was making. She impatiently brushed away the tears that were forming and positioned Mira so that her head was resting on Hermione's shoulder. She rubbed the baby's back gently, hoping that the soothing motion would calm her down but if anything her cries got louder.
Not for the first time since giving birth, Hermione felt like a failure. If she couldn't comfort her daughter, then how could she even pass her exams? She surrendered to her tears she was holding back and started to cry along with her daughter.
Almost immediately, Hermione felt Mira being lifted out of her arms. She thought that it was Draco but upon looking up at the person saw that it was Mrs. Weasley. She cried even harder.
"I'm so sorry Mrs. Weasley, I'm so sorry," she sobbed over Mira's wails. "I-I can't make her stop, I don't know wh-what to do. I'm so-so-so sorry for being a burden upon you and your family and I'll leave in the morning, I promise, I'm so sorry-"
"Don't be silly Hermione," Mrs. Weasley whispered as she sat down next to Hermione and put her arm around the girls shaking shoulders. "You are not a burden, not at all. Babies cry all the time, I have seven children and I remember very clearly how much of a disappointment I had felt every time I failed to comfort them. It's natural to feel this way, Hermione. Now go to sleep."
"No, I can't let you do that for me, you need your sleep as well."
"I can go one night without it; I've had a lot of practice. You, however, need yours desperately. Go to sleep, dear."
Molly walked out of the room with Mira leaving Hermione alone in Ginny's bed.
xox
Draco walked down the narrow staircase of the Burrow that led to the kitchen. Despite it being only 7:30 in the morning, he decided to get up. He couldn't stay in bed any longer just staring at the ceiling with his heart pounding in his throat. He watched as the inky black sky faded slowly to purple with the rising sun- his daughter's cries were no longer heard. He was used to hearing Mira at all hours of the night- and day. But the coming task of what the Dark Lord had issued him with was weighing on his mind too much for him to even move a muscle.
The smell of bacon wafted over his head as he entered the kitchen to find Mrs Weasley standing at the stove. Ginny was sitting at the table with a quiet Mira in her arms.
"Morning," he said to the two women as he sat down next to Ginny.
"Draco," Ginny greeted him with a smile. The red-headed girl had to admit that she used to hate Draco Malfoy's guts and used to dream about using the Bat-Bogey Hex on him. But now that she had seen him in a new light, she had come to treat him like a friend. "You wanna go to your daddy?" She asked the gurgling baby in her arms, wrapped up in her pink blanket. She carefully placed the bundle into Draco's waiting arms.
"Hey there, Sunshine." Sunshine was the nickname that Hermione had called Mira when she was pregnant with her and the name had stuck. Mira looked up at him with the silver eyes that she had inherited from the Malfoy side of the family. Draco rocked her gently, smoothing the little hair that she had on her head down. It was a brown colour now, but for all he knew, it could turn white-blonde in the next few months like his own.
"What time did she stop crying last night?" He asked Ginny as her face hardened at his question.
"Mum had to do it because Hermione was too exhausted. My mum shouldn't have to do that Draco. Mira is your baby. Why aren't you helping Hermione out with her?"
Draco didn't have a truthful response for her so he merely shrugged and said, "I'll do it tonight. Sorry Ginny, I just have a lot of my plate." Of course, he wasn't about to confide in the mission he had been forced into, or the dreaded tattoo on his left arm. To his relief, no one had questioned why he had been wearing long-sleeved shirts in the summer. They had all just agreed that it would be weird to see him in a T-shirt.
Draco didn't like the way that Ginny was eyeing him and he especially didn't like the way she was tapping her wand on the table. He stood up with the decision of seeing Hermione.
When he opened the door to Ginny's bedroom, the first thing he saw was a mess of brown hair under a pile of blankets. He smirked and shut the door quietly behind him. He didn't want to wake her up, knowing that she could certainly use a few more hours of sleep. But it was comforting to be in the same room with both of his girls.
Mira's eyes were travelling around the room, taking in her surroundings. Now that she was two months old, she was much more attentive and easier to handle. She had grown a lot since she had been born and Draco was no longer scared of holding her frail body, afraid that he would break her. As tiny as she still was though, his fears had been replaced by nothing but love for Mira, not to mention for Hermione as well.
He saw the figure on the bed stirring and smiled. Hermione turned over to her right side, facing the door and saw Draco sitting on with his back against the wall with Mira in his arms.
"Hello mummy."
She smiled sleepily at the sight of her two favourite people in the world and rubbed her eyes, sitting up.
"Hey there, daddy. What are you doing here so early?"
"Just wanted to hang out with my girls. Feel rested enough?"
Hermione nodded her head. "Yes, I really needed that sleep. Thank God for Mrs. Weasley, she's a lifesaver."
Draco felt the tugs of guilt as he thought back to last night when he had heard his daughter's cries and hadn't gotten up out of bed to help attend to her. He reprimanded himself and made a silent promise to Mira to be there for her every night from now on, something he told himself that he would always do.
Mira started fussing and Draco frowned- he had enjoyed how quiet she was being. "You want your mummy, huh?"
Hermione stretched out her arms for her daughter. Miraculously, as soon as she was holding Mira, the baby stopped squirming and gazed up at her mother. Hermione broke into a smile and so did Mira.
"Are you going to let me sleep tonight?" She asked teasingly, tapping Mira on the nose and making her giggle.
"I'll take her tonight," Draco said and leaned forward to kiss Hermione's cheek. "You could definitely use some more sleep. In fact, why don't you go back to sleep now and I'll feed Mira? There's still some milk left over that Mrs. Weasley can boil for me."
"That would be nice, thanks Draco."
Hermione watched Draco walk out of the room with Mira but decided that she wasn't going to fall back asleep. Instead, she hopped out of bed and laid down on the floor, beginning the crunches that she had been trying to do every morning and every night for the past week. She needed to lose the baby weight- it had been nine weeks and she hadn't done a thing to improve her figure. Weight was something that she had never cared about before, but that was before she had a baby.
She counted each sit-up, ignoring the way that her muscles were screaming in pain but she kept going. Exercise hadn't crossed her mind once since Mira was born, but she figured that it was time to get back to her old weight. She wasn't about to go back to Hogwarts looking like a fat slob. No way. Especially after the comment Ron had said to her yesterday,
She knew that Ron was tactless and rude, and she wasn't sensitive to his remarks anyway, but she took it to heart when he asked her why she wasn't yet the same weight she had been before she got pregnant. She knew that this was because she had told him that she was planning to lose the twenty pounds she had put on in a matter of four weeks, but instead, she had gained about two more kilos since June. She knew that Ron wasn't trying to hurt her, but the cruel unsaid word 'fat' had been in her mind ever since.
Draco entered back inside the room, clutching a bottle to Mira's pink mouth.
"Any reason why you're on the ground? I thought you were going back to sleep."
"I thought I'd get in some exercise before that."
Draco watched her persist through the progress as Mira whimpered and tried to pull away from the nip of the bottle. She clearly wasn't used to it. As she started to cry, Hermione sat up on her elbows.
"She keeps pulling away. She doesn't like it."
"She needs to get used to it. I can't breastfeed her forever."
As Mira struggled to get away from the bottle, Draco held her out for Hermione to hold. Hermione sighed and took her. "Hey little girl, why don't you like the bottle? It's not that bad, really."
She heard Draco murmur, "I know what I'd prefer," under his breath and her cheeks coloured and she smiled slightly. She lifted the bottom of her shirt and curled up her legs so Draco wouldn't see her stomach. She felt self-conscious and lazy and knew that she needed to start losing the weight. It was fine when she just had the baby- she knew that no one would judge her for the extra fat she had on her body.
Hermione rested the baby's head to her chest and watched Mira suckle happily. Hermione yawned and Draco watched her concernedly, hoping she wouldn't fall asleep while the baby was nursing.
"Want me to get you something to eat?" He asked softly as he watched the baby begin to close her eyes. Hermione smiled and shook her head.
"No thanks, but I'd love some water."
Draco nodded, got up and left the room. Hermione watched him go and then looked back down at Mira. She stroked her cheek softly. She had not done any of her holiday homework, which was very unlike her, and was making her even more nervous for her sixth year at Hogwarts than she already was.
She heard a yell from outside and saw that Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Bill and Ginny were playing Quidditch in the orchard. She carefully stood up and walked over to the window, shielding herself from view in case anyone happened to look over and see her breastfeeding. Fleur was down in the garden with Draco, chatting to him animatedly. Hermione exhaled through her nose heavily. She wished she could sit outside with them, but Mira was still feeding.
She missed the carefree feeling of watching her friends play Quidditch, even occasionally joining in (usually by force though). She was never an avid Quidditch player but today, on a sunny cloudless day like this, she felt isolated. She wanted to hop on a broomstick and soar through the sky and watch her worries melt away. But Mira needed her.
One thing Hermione was grateful for was that she had the opportunity to return to Hogwarts. It was lucky that Professor Dumbledore had arranged new sleeping quarters for Hermione, Draco and their baby so that they could continue their education. Hermione had no idea how to express her gratitude to her Headmaster and hoped that she would find a way this year.
She kissed Mira's forehead, placed her in her cot and climbed into bed. Tiredness was washing over her once again. She placed her lonely thoughts out of her mind and fell into an uneasy sleep.
xox
Draco yelped as the mark on his arm burned. Fleur had been jabbering away to him about how bad the British food was and it was lucky that she didn't notice him clap his hand to his left arm. His heart was pounding erratically in his chest. He had been dreading this moment ever since the mark had been branded onto his flesh.
His master was calling him.
He couldn't Disapparate. That was the problem. As soon as he felt the mark burn, he had to be at Voldemort's side immediately. How the hell was he supposed to get there?
He turned and saw Arthur Weasley standing in the kitchen through the open back door. He made up his mind and hurried towards him.
"Excuse me Mr. Weasley?"
Arthur smiled down at his enemies' son. It was remarkable how different he was from Lucius. "Yes, Draco?"
"I…I need to get somewhere in a hurry. My mother…she wants me home. Just for a few hours and I need to go there straightaway. The thing is, I can't disapparate and a broom would be too far. Do you have any means of transport that I can use?"
Arthur nodded thoughtfully. "I could always arrange a portkey for you."
Relief and gratitude broke out over Draco's face and Arthur saw it. He arched an eyebrow, wondering why the anxiety on Draco's pale pointed face had suddenly been washed away. Was he really that desperate to get to his mother?
But nevertheless, five minutes later Draco was standing in the Burrow's yard, waiting for the newspaper he was holding to glow blue. He couldn't stand how long it was taking, and he was dreading the form of punishment that he was going to receive when he finally showed up. He remembered the Cruciatus Curse very clearly.
Suddenly, what felt like a hook behind his navel jerked him forward into a whirl of colour and shadow when his feet slammed into the gravel of Malfoy Manor's drive. He tossed the newspaper aside as he raced for the front doors, his heart in his throat. He knew where Voldemort would be waiting for him and just hoped that he wasn't the only one who didn't arrive on time.
He burst through the door, panting.
"I'm so sorry I'm late, I had to get a portkey here-"
"I don't want to hear your excuses," the cold high voice rasped from near the fireplace. Draco noted that the only other person in the room was Peter Pettigrew, who was cowering in a corner trying to stand as far away as possible from the hideous snake Nagini, who was curled up in front of the fire.
"I didn't expect you to arrive straightaway. I am perfectly aware that you are unable to Apparate and Disapparate as of yet. However, I am glad that you understood what it means when the Dark Mark burns upon your flesh. I never told you that."
Draco didn't answer, but nodded his head as his heartbeat started to slow down.
"You needn't be here too long. I am simply giving you a few more orders that I need you to carry out."
Draco clutched the wand in his pocket for dear life. A few more orders surely meant more deaths at his hand.
"Dumbledore's death must be violent. I don't care how it's done and I don't care who witnesses it. I want that old man to be humiliated. I want the wizarding world to see who the greater wizard is."
Draco raised an eyebrow. Really? That was all?
"I know that you will do as I say. How is your Mudblood girlfriend?"
A white-hot rage burned through Draco but he knew that he couldn't act upon it. He would be killed in an instant.
"Fine," he said through gritted teeth. "Is that all my Lord?"
"Oh, I daresay yes. For the time being."
Draco closed the door and stormed up the grand staircase toward his mother's bedroom, fuming. He was perfectly aware that Voldemort had summoned him for no good reason at all. He already knew that Voldemort wanted Dumbledore's death to be extravagantly painful. It was likely that Voldemort would continue to toy with him throughout the rest of the year by calling him to order him to get him a Firewhiskey or something ridiculous like that.
'So the Dark Lord does have a sense of humour,' he thought bitterly as he knocked on the elegantly polished door. He heard a faint, "Come in," and entered.
Narcissa Malfoy was startled when she saw her teenaged son standing in the doorway to her powder room. She ushered him inside and gathered him into a tight hug.
"What are you doing here, darling?"
Draco rolled his eyes and lowered his voice, "Our lord requested my presence. For no reason at all really."
"Yes he…he does tend to do that. He plays with your emotions but don't expect him to do it often. Just...every once in a while."
"Great. I look forward to it."
Narcissa led Draco over to a silver pouffle and set him down upon it. "How's Hermione and Mira?"
Draco smiled at the mention of his girls names. "They're good. You should see Mira, she's growing so much and she's starting to smile."
Narcissa grew teary as she listened to her son count off all the things that Mira was doing, insignificant to others but obviously special to Draco. It truly touched her heart to see him sentimental over little things. He had really matured over the past year and it showed clearly to everyone who took a look at him. No more was he the sniveling little brat who constantly bragged about his fathers riches. He was now the son that she had always wanted.
A/N: Again, I'm truly sorry about the wait. I know this chapter sucked but I'm having severe writers block. HELP! I NEED IDEAS OR I CAN'T WRITE THE NEXT CHAPTER And review.