AN: Warning! This is the chapter where you find out what happened to Hermione and her baby. It's very dark, and discusses rape though my regular readers know I will never write a rape scene, so you don't need to worry about those details. What Ron did and how Draco saved her aren't easy to read but it's where the story takes us! So if you have issues about this, don't read this chapter. Just skip this and you will still be able to follow the story starting next chapter. I will include the final few paragraphs of this chapter that will show what has happened plot wise without the gory details. Please remember to let me know what you think of the chapter with a review! Clumsy!

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Harry and Draco had plotted with Fred while Ginny was with Hermione getting to know Emily. Fred was keeping everyone distracted so that Harry and Draco could walk down to First Beach where Jacob had told Sam they could find him if he was needed. They had been told by Hermione about the imprint and what it means.

As a shifter who changes into a very large animal Jacob has the benefit of being immune to most spells and hexes when he's in his wolf form. Like Patronus' the larger the form he takes as a shifter the more powerful and immune he is. However, the Golden Trio which was made up of Harry Potter, the deceased Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger weren't your average wizards.

Ron was never the strongest duelist or spell caster; he was the strategist of the trio and that's how he fit. Hermione and Harry on the other hand could kick a giant's ass and Draco was mean with a wand as well. Jake's wolf could only protect him so far with this new trio that was a little tarnished by life but more powerful than most and deadly when working together.

So Draco and Harry cast silencing spells on their feet and snuck up on Jake who didn't hear them coming for a change.

"Black, we're here to have a private chat with you without 'Mione protecting you." Draco sneered, insinuating that he was hiding behind a woman.

"I don't need protection from the likes of you." Jake answered with a cocky smirk. Draco had met his match with Jacob Black when it came to snarkiness.

"Enough! We need to get a few things straight with you Jacob and you would do well to listen." Harry stepped into the fray.

"Say what you have to say, it doesn't change the fact that she's my soul mate. I didn't choose this and I have no control over it when it happens." Jake said.

"Yes, Sam and Emily let us in on the particulars of the imprinting. This is something separate." Harry answered. He started to say something else but was interrupted.

"I saw the two of you trying to sneak out unnoticed. My brother won't stand alone against two outsiders, say what you want but you'll say it with me present." Sam said walking up to the three of them and Jake sent him a grateful nod for having his back. Not that he needed his back covered but it was nice all the same.

"We were getting ready to tell Jake here what 'Mione has been through this past year; if you stay then you must promise not to speak of it with anyone unless she brings it up or gives you permission." Harry told Sam.

"Also, we will be performing a spell to make sure you stick to your word. You won't be able to discuss it with anyone that way. So agree to the spell or we take her home with us." Draco demanded. Sam and Jake seemed to communicate silently and shook their heads but Sam spoke first.

"I already know about what happened to her or most of it anyway; Em had to tell me after the episode Hermione had after she found out about the imprint. Sorry Jake, I was sworn to secrecy by Emily and even Hermione doesn't know that I know. For the record though, I think that Jacob is just the person to help her heal and that's coming from two people who know them both. Emily thinks this is a good thing for both of them as well."

"That's why we're here to talk because even though she was so mad she could've easily hexed your balls off Jacob, you got a reaction out of her. That's more life than we've seen in her for a long time. So Draco if you would do the honors we're going to make an unbreakable vow, just so we're clear it means exactly what it sounds like, if you break it you die." Harry said as Draco took out his wand.

After the vows had been made the four of them walked over to a driftwood tree and sat down.

"Well I guess it starts really when we all met; me, Ron, and Hermione. The two of them just seemed to have a different relationship and the bond grew through the years. During the Battle of Hogwarts at the end of the war the two of them got together officially. At first everything was great and they loved each other insanely but the war took its toll on Ron. He never was able to handle what we'd been through after Albus Dumbledore died and we went on the run to finish the mission laid at our feet. It began with small issues like jealousy and possessiveness but it grew from there, he'd put her down and she started having accidents that needed attention from healers. Of course nobody even suspected he had become abusive but we all knew he was spiraling out of control. He was drunk most of the time and he'd somehow gotten a hold of some Muggle drugs and was addicted to one you call cocaine." Harry began the story.

"Wait, what is a Muggle?" Jake asked calmly, but inside he was furious for what his girl had gone through and he was trembling but Sam laid a comforting hand on his shoulder to remind him to remain calm.

"Non-magical person, sorry. So anyway, the group of us that love them got together with Hermione while he was out drinking and confronted her about what was happening. This included his mom and brother Percy which becomes important because if you're going to be with her you need to protect her over here while we're working on it over there." Sam and Jake both quirked an eyebrow and stiffened when Draco jumped in to give that information.

"I promise you now; you have my word that nobody will hurt my girl!" Jake growled. Then looked to Sam, "We may have to call in the million favors the Cullen's owe us because I can't lose her!"

"We'll protect her from our end but Jake needs to know the whole story, please." Sam promised.

"Okay, so at this meeting we found out the depths of problem. She was pregnant from the last time he raped her. This had been going one for a long time, he'd even taken her wand and snapped it so she couldn't use her magic to defend herself." Harry said as his eyes welled with tears at the pain his best friend had endured. Turning away from the group he scrubbed at his face as Draco continued.

"Well, I didn't get along with the three while we were in school but I had learned from the year before the battle how wrong I'd been and then she and I saved each other in that final battle. A bond was formed and we became more than just good friends. She is the only family that I acknowledge, the little sister I always wanted growing up. Weasley didn't like that at all."

Harry took the story again as Jake and Sam listened attentively. "So we decided to confront him as a group and protect her. She of course stood with him and tried to protect him and say he just wasn't well. He checked into our hospital and they got him off the drugs and alcohol and we all thought he was better. Hermione was seven months into her pregnancy when he returned home sober and healthy again, or so we believed." Harry said and then paused to take a breath and relieve some of the pain the telling caused him.

Draco said, "He wasn't well at all just very good at deceiving all of us by that point. Once we'd all left he got her new wand and again snapped it. Then he told her it was time for her to pay for being a traitor and turning all of us against him. He beat her that night so bad that she was unrecognizable. He used an Unforgiveable Curse on her that night to torture her. While she was tortured with the curse so the baby felt it as well. Her baby died inside her because it couldn't withstand that amount of pain, he'd killed their baby. She started bleeding internally as well." He took a breath and shivered.

"I thought that a paper I needed for a case at work had fallen out of my pocket at their flat so I returned to retrieve it so I could study. What I found turns my stomach to this day. I yelled for him to get away from her and he looked at me and raised his leg and stomped on her stomach right where her baby was. She screamed so hard her throat was bleeding when I got her to the hospital. Anyway, he stomped on her and then raised his wand. He was gonna Avada her and he grinned at me maniacally as he turned the wand on her instead of me."

When Draco needed a break from telling the horror story Harry picked it up by explaining the killing curse then continuing the story. "Draco did the only thing he could and killed Ron before he could kill Hermione. He got her to the healers and called me since I'm his partner and I lead the rest of the Aurors to the flat to investigate and went to Hermione's side. The healers couldn't save baby Gracie and Hermione still hasn't recovered from the loss of both of them. Ron wasn't an evil person; his mind was just affected from the darkness we fought."

"His mom and brother Percy blame Hermione for Ron and Gracie's deaths. They were caught trying to hire someone to kill her and were punished but Hermione stood up for both of them in court and asked for lenience because it was just their pain that made them do it. Molly is on house arrest for a period of 5 years and is under constant surveillance. The same was supposed to happen with Percy but he's disappeared and we're afraid that he's somehow come here because he disappeared the same day she came here." Draco finished the story.

"That's why we need to know you will protect her because she's been through so much. Can you handle not only the threat of Percy but the time it will take her to be well again-because if you can't you need to back off before she cares. She can't handle much more emotional pain when she has so many things to grieve at present." Harry asked looking straight into Jacob's eyes. What he saw there must have convinced him because he nodded his head and stuck out his hand to shake Jake and then Sam's hand.

The four came to an understanding at that beach and made a plan. Emily had an owl Sam and Jake could use to communicate with Harry and Draco and if Harry and Draco wanted to contact Sam or Jake they could send the owl to Seth Clearwater and Hermione wouldn't know until she had to that trouble was stirring once again in Forks, Washington.

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Later that night 'Mione couldn't sleep so she walked outside to the front porch and just watched the stars and listened to the music of the insects and animals of the night. Jake approached from the forest when he saw her up.

"Is everything alright Hermione? Why aren't you sleeping sweetheart?" Jake asked. She raised her eyebrows at the endearment but didn't say anything so Jake didn't correct the slip.

"I just have a hard time sleeping sometimes. Sometimes bad things happen in the night." She answered him.

"Bad things can happen during the day as well, love. Good things can happen in the dark too. Maybe you should just focus on the good and fun things that happen in the night." He finished. He could tell teasing her was the right road to take when she blushed and looked away from him.

"Maybe….." She decided it was easy to talk to Jake; maybe he wasn't so bad after all. They talked for a while about nothing of real consequence and then she thanked him and went to lie down. She slept that night peacefully; unaware that a russet wolf guardian lay on the ground underneath her window making sure she stayed safe as she slept.