Hermione awoke the next day with the sunlight pouring into her room. Stretching her arms over her head, she couldn't help the giggle that escaped between her lips. With her new nightgown, she rather felt like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. She was starting to feel at home her in her room at the Lestrange's apartment, or at least, it felt more like home than Grimmauld Place had. She bit her lip at that traitorous thought. She didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.
Just as she was about to start getting dressed for the day, she heard a knock on the door. Wondering who it could be, she quickly put on a robe and answered it. Opening the door, Hermione was met with the sight of an extremely old woman with long, scraggly white hair, and a hump on her back. Remembering to their conversation last night, Hermione deduced that this must be the healer that Voldemort had mentioned, though she was sure that this woman didn't work at St. Mungo's.
The woman pushed past her into the room, shutting the door behind her. She twirled around to look at Hermione, her milky blue eyes seeing past her. "So, ye think you are pregnant," the witch stated gruffly.
"Well, yes I do, but could you please keep your voice down?" Hermione asked desperately. "It's not something I'd really like to...advertise."
The old woman did not seem to take heed to Hermione's request, instead shuffling her around the room until Hermione was laid down on the bed. She asked the younger witch about her symptoms, all the while her wand waving over her body, assessing her. When she was finished, she looked at Hermione queerly. "You are definitely with child. There is something strange about this one though," she said.
Hermione felt her breath leave her, as if she had been hit with a bludger. Of course, it was better to finally know for sure, she still couldn't believe that she was carrying Voldemort's child. Besides, it was nerve wracking to hear that there was something not right about the baby. "What do you mean, something strange?" she asked, nervously.
"Well, it just seems as if the child is exceptionally strong to me, deary. It is in perfect health though. Everything seems to be fine, just the magical signature of the little one is strange..." the witch trailed off, looking at Hermione curiously, but not elaborating any further. "Now, do you want to know the sex of the child?" she snapped suddenly, pulled out of her reverie.
Hermione bit her lip, wondering if it was a good idea. What if Voldemort was upset that she had found out what it was? What if he was unhappy with the gender of the baby and no longer offered her protection? Shaking her head, Hermione was pretty sure that Voldemort was apathetic to the fact that she was having a child, after all, Snape did say that he would help her, and Voldemort did not.
Ultimately, she couldn't take the suspense. "Yes, tell me, I want to know the sex of the baby," Hermione answered, knowing that it would make her more excepted about the little one.
The old crone smiled a toothless grin and began a very complicated set of wand movements over her abdomen. She has chanting under her breath and Hermione once again wondered what she was getting into. Was this what most witches went through at St. Mungo's, she wondered?
Finally, the witch stopped and looked Hermione directly in her eyes. "The child will be a..." she trailed off for maximum suspense, before crooking her finger for Hermione to bend down so that she could whisper the gender into her ear.
After the old crone had left, Hermione got dressed for the day in on the outfits that she figured would be suitable for day to day wear. Looking at herself in the mirror wearing the grey pants and oversized blue cashmere sweater, Hermione wondered if Bellatrix had been trying to recreate a Ravenclaw uniform, before dismissing the idea out of hand. The sweater was too comfortable to worry about at the moment.
Once she was dressed, a house elf popped into her room and told her that the Dark Lord wished her to have breakfast with him in his study. Hermione knew she should be nervous, but in some ways she was looking forward to it. It kind of reminded her of their meals together in the Room of Requirement and she was excited to tell him about what the healer had told her.
Smiling, she skipped down the stairs, but slowed once she got to the first floor, not wanting to appear overly eager. She knocked on the door to Voldemort's study and entered at command. She grinned, seeing that some food was already laid out for her - an assortment of fruit and pastries, with a glass of cranberry juice poured for her. "Good morning, Voldemort," she greeted him politely. She sat down and grabbed some pain au chocolat and cantaloupe.
She looked at Voldemort, waiting to see if he was going to begin eating. Instead of making a plate for himself, he simply gestured that she should begin eating. Once she had eaten a piece of cantaloupe, he asked her what the old woman had said, unveiled interest on his face.
"Well, she confirmed that I am...with child," she told him, looking over his face for any reaction, only to be disappointed to find that it was impassive at her statement. "And it is healthy. But, she said that there was something odd about it. That it was...unusually strong," Hermione shivered, pressing her hand to her stomach.
Hermione bit her lip seeing the way that Voldemort's eyes seemed to open in surprise. He looked a little too happy to hear that his child was unusually strong. "Well, that is good news, I suppose," he said, finally, his eyes boring into her soul.
She felt nervous under his gaze, and wondered if she should tell him the news about the child's gender. She couldn't decide if it was a good idea or not, if he would be annoyed to hear any unnecessary information. Voldemort smiled slowly, showing his pointer than average canines. "I can see that you have something else to tell me. Best get on with it," he prompted. When the silence stretched between them, Hermione still thinking on it, Voldemort grew frustrated. "Or perhaps you would like to make this your first occlumency lesson with a real legilimens expert?" he threatened.
Hermione shook her no. "No, I will tell you. It's just...the healer offered for me to find out the sex of the baby. It's a boy," she told him, unable to hide her smile after telling him. She couldn't believe that in seven months, she would be having a little boy. She wondered how much she would take after Tom. Looking at the cold man in front of him, she wondered if there was any bit of her Tom left in him.
"Well, that sounds alright, I suppose," Voldemort said, without much emotion. Hermione was a little bit hurt that he wasn't more excited. She supposed that perhaps he wasn't ever planning on becoming a father, but she wanted him to at least seem a little bit happy about the child. Was he even going to pay it any attention after he got what he wanted from it? That reminded her, she would have to ask Nagini if she had discovered what her master was planning on doing. "You should get going. Your first lesson is with Snape in the basement for potions."
Hermione nodded and removed herself from his presence. She couldn't believe that he had changed so much from her Tom. Had he? Was her Tom ever actually real? She...loved Tom, she could reluctantly admit. It hadn't been that long ago for her that she was wrapped in his arms. He had to be real. She would just need to find him again.
The basement was freezing and she was glad to have the sweater for some added warmth. There was a fireplace in the corner, but the fire was merely embers, giving off no real heat. She sat down on the bench in front of the work table and noticed that there were two cauldrons on the table.
It wasn't long before Snape and Draco came down the stairs, talking quietly to each other. They paused when seeing her already there, but Draco took a seat next to Hermione on the bench without complaint, though he did sneer at her. She was sure that he was upset that he had to share with a Mudblood.
Snape saw that Hermione was shivering almost immediately. His eyes softened, looking at the girl who reminded him of himself so much. He shot a spell at the hearth and soon the room was filled with eat from the crackling fire.
"Today, we will be brewing a potion to combat morning sickness. You will find the ingredients over there in that cabinet," Snape said pointing briefly.
Hermione immediately got up and started retrieving the ingredients, annoyed that Draco did not do the same. She hoped that he didn't think she was going to get his ingredients for him. She could hear him whining in the other room. "Morning sickness? What could we possibly be brewing that for? Is someone pregnant? Oh Salazar, please tell me it's not mother," he moaned dramatically.
She snickered to herself, before hearing Snape answer in his usual drawl. "Draco, clearly, you have not looked at the complexity of the potion you will be brewing. It is above a seventh year knowledge and will help you with your N.E.W.T.s. Furthermore, just because Hogwarts has a moral objection against teaching teenagers something that will aid in pregnancy does not mean that I share them. You may just find it useful someday." She was glad that Snape hadn't revealed her secret to the blond, not ready to explain the situation to him, though she knew it was inevitable.
Draco humphed and started walking to the store room, bumping Hermione, arms full of ingredients on her way back to her cauldron. She, of course, knew that they were making the potion for her.
Before long, the pair of students were finished with potions and made their way upstairs for lunch. Draco and Hermione barely talked, but he did question her attire. "Pretending to be a Ravenclaw, eh, Granger?" he asked casually.
Before she allowed her face to turn bright red at the insinuation, she noticed that he was giving her bum a very appraising glance. She decided she would one up him. "Of course, Malfoy. How else do you think I was able to sample some Slytherin wand work?" she sneered at him. Internally, she was just grateful that Draco didn't seem to know the whole story.
That left Draco with wide eyes. He might be wrong, but he thought that Granger was coming on to him.
Draco and Hermione shortly joined Bellatrix in a large room, which had all of its furniture pushed back against the walls. Hermione assumed that this was some sort of ballroom, usually, but today it was to be used for dark magic.
"Now, today my ickle-students, we are going to be starting our dark arts training, by using one of the three unforgivable curses. It is maybe the easiest to complete, because it requires the least intent, but I have found it to be incredibly useful," she explained, sneering at Draco.
Hermione was surprised by how professional Bellatrix was being, all things considered. She soon discovered that Bellatrix was actually very intelligent, a fact that was often undermined by the baby voice she frequently used. She talked a lot about the theory of the Imperius Curse, which was all new to Hermione. Bellatrix referenced other curses that related to the Imperious, and Hermione found herself utterly fascinated. She had never really looked into it before because of its reputation as a dark curse.
"Now, you two will be practicing on each other. Remember, you really must put the force of the intent behind it. What do you want the other person to do? You must really feel it," she instructed, twirling her wand lazily.
Hermione nodded eagerly. She did feel like she had a little bit of a leg up on Draco because she was almost able to hold the curse the other day. But what did she really want Draco to do? She knew that she was going to get him back for his years of name calling.
She and Draco faced each other. They were going to go back and forth until they had successfully completed the curse. Draco was intent to go first, though, unwilling to allow a mudblood to best him in another subject. Raising his wand, he shouted "Imperio!" but, tragically, nothing happened.
Hermione took a deep breath, raising her wand and pointing it at her adversary. Eyebrows scrunched in concentration, Hermione called out "Imperio!" The curse seemed to take hold temporarily, but Draco quickly fought off the spell. The two students went back and forth, each one spurred on by the desire to beat the other, before Hermione's finally took hold more firmly.
Draco walked over to Hermione with a goofy smile on his face. Hermione mused that when he had a genuine smile on his face, he was actually rather good looking. When he was standing in front of her, she gave a second command. Draco slowly got to his knees and kissed the ground in front of where he was standing. Hermione had a vindictive smirk on her face. She had made him kiss the ground she - a mudblood - walked on!
She released the curse and Draco instantly stood, a furious look on his face. Walking back to his side of the room, he turned to face her, even more determined than ever. It only took him two more attempts to successfully cast the curse. Hermione was suddenly compelled with the overwhelming urge to walk towards Draco. Before long, she too was kneeling in front of him.
However, then, she was fighting with herself to take hold of the edge of his pants, and undo the buckle on his belt. She didn't want to do it, but she couldn't stop her fingers from moving. Her thoughts began racing with fear and anger when she realized what he was making her do. A part of her didn't want to, but another part knew that she simply had to take his cock out from his pants and plant her sweet lips on it.
Before she could get any further with her task, Bellatrix marched over and slapped Draco across the face sending him reeling. The curse was broken and Hermione quickly stood and got as far from Draco as possible. She felt tears stinging the corners of her eyes, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction and cry in front of him.
"She is not for you, Draco! You will never do that again. The Dark Lord will be informed of this," Bellatrix screamed at her nephew, before dismissing him from the room. Bellatrix wrapped her arm around Hermione and Hermione was surprised to realize how comforting it felt. Bella rambled away, while leading her out of the room. Hermione didn't know where they were going, as all she could think about was a plan for revenge on the blond boy. Blushing, she realized that she didn't want to betray Voldemort by doing anything sexual with Draco...she technically he was her husband.
Next thing she knew, she was standing in front of the door to Voldemort's study, and Bellatrix had gone in. She heard Bellatrix explain the situation to Voldemort, loudly and with a fury that Hermione didn't expect. She asked if the Dark Lord would like to personally torture Draco, or if she should be allowed to do it.
Voldemort's response shocked Hermione to her core. "Torture the boy? And why would we do that Bellatrix?" he asked, amusement clear in his voice, even if Hermione couldn't see his face.
She could hear Bellatrix sputter in confusion. "She is soul-bonded to you master! She is basically your wife! She is carrying your child," the other witch explained.
Hermione waited with baited breath to hear his response, wanting Voldemort to stand up for her honor. "While it is true that in some ways we are bonded, I have no claim over the girl. The child will have its uses and after I have completed the potion, I have no use for the child and will no longer have concern for it. The girl could sleep with anyone she wanted, for all I care," he answered coolly.
Hermione didn't know why, but hearing that made her heart break. Of course, she had suspected that his depth of feelings did not rival her own, but it was another thing entirely to know that he was so apathetic to her. He didn't care about her at all. The tears that had formed earlier were freely spilling down her face now, and Hermione hated herself for it. She held her hand in front of her mouth to stifle the sounds of her sobbing. She didn't want to chance Bellatrix or Voldemort hearing her.