Author's Note: Thanks for reading everyone! Here's a small glimpse at Hermione's experience. I promise all will be revealed by the 21st chapter. Keep reading and reviewing-it's how I know people are interested!

Chapter 17

May 2000

The tension between Ron and Hermione in the days to come could be cut like a knife. Both of their tempers would flare at the drop of a hat and it was often while the other was feeling apologetic and seeking pity for their behavior. Hermione compared her emotions to a roller coaster her dad had taken her on while on a summer holiday. She usually disliked any activity that required jostling of the body, especially flying of any sort, but that rickety muggle ride had made her sicker than any broom or threshal ever could. Sick was exactly how she felt about keeping this secret from Ron, but she was finding it hard to confess. She unfortunately acted on the sick feeling from time to time, becoming physically ill at the thought of what she'd done.

"He thinks you're pregnant," Ginny told her over tea one weekend. Ginny was in town for a brief stint while the Harpies had a few weeks off, and the girls were catching up. It had been a while since the two gotten together for some girl time, it wasn't really Ginny's idea of a good time, but Hermione had insisted.

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. "Pregnant?" she squeaked. "No!"

Ginny laughed at her reaction. The possibility of Hermione being pregnant had been a millisecond of rant that her brother had gone off on in the past few days. Finding it to be the height of hilarity, Ginny chose that specific point to pick on both of them with. "Well then, something is up!" Ginny said after calming down some. "Whether you remember it or not, you've never fought with him to this degree. Sure, you've always bickered, there was that brief point of the silent treatment. Ok, there were several stints of the silent treatment, but it's never been this bad and Harry agrees."

"You and Harry have been discussing my relationship with your brother?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow. The thought alone annoyed her.

"Well when we both are hearing it from the two of you, it kind of becomes the topic of general conversation." A blush crept over Hermione's cheeks and she looked away, out of the shop window of the café they were sitting in. Ginny leant forward on her elbows, studying her closest girl friend carefully. "What's going on?" she tried, changing her tone, softening it. Ginny was looking at Hermione's eyes which were beginning to brim with tears. "You can tell me."

Hermione shook her head and wiped at a tear that had made it down onto her face. "I did something," Hermione started to confess. "Something that I thought would help us and I can't figure out how to tell him. He'll be furious."

"Hermione, Ron's never loved anyone more than he loves you. He loves you more than anything. There's nothing you can do or could have done that would push him away. Not when you've forgiven him for so many of his shortcomings."

Hermione shook her head. "It involves Draco," she confessed again, unable to meet her friend's eyes though she could sense Ginny stiffen from across the table. It was now or never, Hermione had to finish telling her tale. "I went to Azkaban to meet with him."

Ginny's gasp was quite audible as she sat up straight and brought a hand up to her mouth. She was silent for a moment before the questions came tumbling out. "You went? How? When? By yourself? I thought no one…"

"I set it up with Kingsley," Hermione answered. She took a deep breath, folding her hands on the table in front of her and moving her stare to the whites of her knuckles. "Two aurors who are sworn to secrecy escorted me there one morning a few weeks ago."

The journey there was grueling but Hermione made it to Azkaban unscathed. She'd read up on the prison pretty much since she learned she was a witch, but the books she'd engrossed herself in were nothing compared to the real thing. To start, the place was freezing. Not just pull your coat tighter around you freezing, but an unsettling, bone chilling, even my thoughts are cold freezing. It was made of stone and no other materials and since it was in the middle of the ocean, water got in everywhere. The water combined with the arctic aura of the dementors caused ice to form all over the place. Hermione had had to cast a non-slip charm to her shoes upon entering so she wouldn't fall.

The dementors had no problem gliding over the floors as they led her to Draco's cell. Hermione gripped her wand the entire time, trying not to flinch as various prisoners screamed out in agony. She knew so many of the prison's inhabitants, had even helped to put many of them in there after the war. Facts stated that there was no way any of them could get out should they recognize her as she passed, but it frightened her nonetheless. She wasn't allowed to cast her patronus until she was in the cell with Draco as the dementors couldn't be too close to it and they were needed to lead the way down the icy hallow halls.

The dementors stopped after a while of guidance down a passage and Hermione could feel her heart racing. They opened the door and she stepped inside, holding her breath.

Draco had been surprised to see her and still held that taunting smirk that she had loathed ever since they met. He was being difficult and uncooperative and for a while, Hermione feared that she wouldn't be able to go through with her plan. As soon as she stepped into the cell, she wanted to turn around and leave and pretend the visit had never happened. When Draco teased her about the curse he had hit her with, her bravery shone through.

Hermione rushed through the rest of the story, skimping on the details but giving enough information to get the point across. Their theories were right and Draco was holding on.

"You have to tell Ron," Ginny told her seriously.

"I can't," Hermione practically whined, which was very unlike her.

"Well he'll find out. You know I won't be able to keep my mouth shut, I'll tell Harry, and Harry will tell Ron, and Ron will be furious that you didn't tell him yourself."

"You can't tell Harry," Hermione protested. "Please."

"Hermione, you know these things just slip from my mouth sometimes! Especially when I haven't seen Harry in a while because I've been away. I can't promise I won't tell. Not when it's this big."

Hermione was backed against a wall. She spilt her secret and it was being threatened to spill even more now. She knew Ginny wouldn't do it on purpose, she wasn't cruel, but it seemed that as of late she was generally so excited to see her boyfriend that she spilt every bit of news she had. And this was certainly big news.