A/N: Thank you sooooo much for all of your reviews… This story will be probably around another 5-10 chapters… I'll see….
Have fun reading it!
:)
Disclaimer: don't own.
Hermione and Sarah turned around simultaneously. "Oh!" they both said in unison, pulling identical frowns. "Hey twins…" Matthew joked, putting his arm around them, although Slytherins beat us, we KNOW how to party. "I doubt the Slytherins don't." Sarah said sourly, glaring at Montague and Eileen who were dancing wildly to Charlestone-music.
Hermione suddenly noticed how much she had actually missed Tom. 'I'm only away for three hours and I miss him already? Hermione, get a grip. You didn't even miss Ron or Krum like that.' She got up in a swift movement. "I'll look for my friends and Tom. See you later." Hermione smiled. She departed and looked around the club. Where were they? She spotted Harry and Draco a second later. They were sitting at the bar, drinking firewhiskey.
"Hi!" Harry said smiling. To Hermione's surprise, Draco didn't say anything, he just stared ahead with a grim expression. "Hi!" Hermione answered. "You were allowed to go as well? I thought Tom didn't like parties!"
"He even asked Slughorn to let us go! Can you imagine? He must be here somewhere…" Harry said, looking fruitlessly around the hall. "Anyway, I have to go home, I feel pretty sick." Hermione said, feeling suddenly sick again.
"Yeah you look very pale." Draco chimed in and Harry nodded. "It would be better. I've been here for more than an hour." Hermione explained. They had arrived before the Slytherins.
"Oh look, here is Tom!" Harry said more cheerfully than Hermione had ever heard him say the name Tom. She turned around to see the headboy in all his glory, his perfectly combed hair, his perfect robes and his extremely handsome face. Her face suddenly heated up.
"Natalija!" Tom said smiling, giving her a very wet and loud kiss. Neither Tom nor Hermione noticed that Harry and Draco gave each other a dark, meaningful look. She breathed in his cologne contently and cuddled into his arms.
"Are you okay, Natalija?" Tom asked when he broke away from her. "You look kind of pale."
"Yeah, I don't feel too well, a little sick. Maybe I should go home and lie down. We've been here for more than an hour already anyway." Hermione reasoned.
"I'll take you to the fireplace then." Tom said, taking Hermione's hand and leading her to the fireplace. She only waved at Draco and Harry on her way out. "It's a pity you couldn't have stayed longer. "Tom said and Hermione noticed that he really meant it. He sounded sincere and a bit disappointed. "Yes, it is. See you tomorrow, Tom." Hermione kissed him deeply and stepped into the fireplace.
The halls were deserted and cold when Hermione arrived. She didn't feel like walking up the Ravenclaw tower and make herself a cup of tea. She needed something stronger to calm her stomach. Hopefully the nurse was still awake.
She looked at the watch near the dining hall. 10:30. Shouldn't be a problem. Quickly she crossed the hall and walked up the stairs to the 7th floor. When she arrived out of breath, she saw two Hufflepuffs lying on the beds.
The nurse saw her immediately as she was feeding one of the Hufflepuffs a potion and facing the doorway. "Natalija, long time no see." she joked. "Yes, I wondered if I could have something for…" "My stomach." the nurse answered and Hermione nodded.
The nurse suddenly smiled brightly at Hermione who just stared at her dumbfounded. "Tell me, Miss Karkarova, when was your last period?" Hermione opened her mouth in shock and then went a brilliant shade of red, mortified to the max. The young Hufflepuff boy sniggered loudly in the corner and Hermione shot him a glare.
"Well, I think about six weeks." Hermione said and suddenly it was clear to her. "No." she said quietly. "That's what I think at least. What other symptoms do you have – maybe feeling sleepy a lot? cravings for certain foods? Miss Karkarova are you alright?"
Hermione had gone very pale, noticing all of these symptoms and confirming them with a slight nod. She couldn't be pregnant now! "Here take this test. You have to put this piece of paper in your mouth for one minute and then it will tell you the outcome."
Hermione nodded in thanks and put the bitter tasting piece of paper into her mouth. The whole minute was slow torture for her. She had vowed not to be pregnant before 27, but well… nature had its ways sometimes.
"You can put it out now." the nurse said as curiously as Hermione felt and they looked at the paper with wide eyes. "It's red." Hermione said in a stiff voice. "Noooo!" she wailed, tears streaming down her face and she was howling and crying, collapsing down on the floor.
"You have to calm down!" the nurse said in alarm. "Now! Otherwise it's not good for the baby."
At the word baby, Hermione looked up at her weakly and gathered herself off the floor. Tears were still streaming silently down her face and she blew her nose. "What do I do now?" she asked after several minutes of crying. Her eyes were puffy, her cheeks red, but she felt calmer, better now… well even slightly happy.
"You first have to decide what you are going to –" the nurse started but Hermione interrupted her harshly. "I will of course keep it!" she said in a huff, sitting up straighter. The nurse smiled in understanding.
"I will check if everything is okay, if you don't mind. You will get some pregnancy vitamins and minerals." the nurse explained, her face alight with happiness. A pregnancy at Hogwarts probably had never occurred before.
"Yes, that's fine with me." Hermione said trembling slightly. "Very well. I will just to a short check-up and tomorrow we'll do the long one – it takes a bit longer you know." the nurse said. Hermione nodded again, she felt as if she were in a kind of trance when the wand of the nurse glowed red. "It seems in perfect order – the fast check-up that is." the nurse smiled. Even Hermione couldn't suppress a grin. "I'm delighted to hear."
The nurse handed her a packet of vitamins. "Once a day, preferably at breakfast and if there are any problems, don't hesitate and come to me." she said smiling. "Oh, and congratulations."
"Thank you so much for… everything." Hermione said. Her eyes were dry now and she felt drained, but peaceful, thankful and happy. She was going to become a mother.
Now the hard part was telling everybody. She didn't have to worry about her parents, obviously. What about Tom though? What about her studies? She counted in her head quickly. Yes, she would be able to take the final NEWTs. Then another three faces appeared in her mind: Draco, Harry and Ginny. How would they take it? Hermione shuddered to think about it.
She would first get a good night's sleep – although she doubted she could sleep very well now that she knew she was pregnant – and walked down the staircases.
"Oh no!" she moaned softly when she saw some Slytherins arrive in Slughorn's office. Of course, she had to pass it right now. Abraxas, Avery, Alphard, Draco and Harry arrived, laughing loudly and obviously a bit drunk. Hermione used this as her chance to sneak by, but it was Draco that called out to her.
"Hey – where are you going?" he yelled loudly. "Be quiet, you wake up the whole castle!" Hermione said through gritted teeth. She turned around and all the boys looked at her with a frown. "Wha' – what happened… to you?" Malfoy asked, noticing her puffy eyes, pale skin, red cheeks and sparkling eyes.
All the five boys looked at her imploringly, each of them questions in their eyes. "I'm fine." Hermione answered as it actually was the truth. "I just need to get to bed." Abraxas nodded in understanding – he was tired as well. "Good night, then, Natalija." he smirked and departed with Avery and Alphard.
Draco and Harry, however, knew Hermione better than that. "Spit it out, Hermione." Harry said as soon as the Slytherins were out of earshot. "I can't tell you." Hermione said, shaking her head. "You have to!" Draco said almost furiously.
"I'm sorry… I can't." she shook her head vehemently. "Did something happen to you? Are you okay? Does it concern our mission? Talk to us, Hermione!" Harry said imploringly. "No, you would be mad at me… or at someone else." Hermione said, her cheeks red from embarrassment. Draco sneered. "You didn't listen to us. What did he do to you?"
"Well-" Hermione couldn't find the right words. "We won't be mad at you. Please tell us!" Harry said in a soothing voice. Hermione sighed. She would have to tell them sooner or later anyways. She stood in front of them, feeling like a little girl, telling her father something awful she had done and was about to be reprimanded. She dearly hoped that they wouldn't behave like dads.
"Please promise that you won't yell at me!" she said sombrely. "Okay." Harry said and Draco just nodded, unconvinced. "I'm pregnant!" Hermione blurted out.
Harry and Draco just stared at her, completely dumbfounded. "You are WHAT?" Draco screamed after half a minute? "Pregnant." Hermione repeated. "And it's his fault as much as mine." she added since Draco looked ready to kill. "Don't you have any responsibility? Don't you know how to use protection?" Harry asked and Hermione's cheeks flamed red. Yes, they were totally behaving like dads.
"To answer all of your questions: no, we didn't. Are you happy?" Hermione stormed. At least the worst was out now.
"How can you! We are in a different time-period! We have to go back! HOW will you come back when you are expecting a baby?" Harry asked furiously. "I don't know. And yes, I know, Harry. But what can I do?" Hermione asked and felt like a little girl all over again.
"Perfect, Granger! Really!" Draco spat. "You are telling me that you are expecting from the Dark Lord?"
Hermione looked onto the floor somewhat shamefully. "I can't believe it!" Draco ranted on and on until Harry finally put a hand on his shoulder. "Leave it. She IS pregnant. We have to deal with it." Harry said dejectedly. Draco stopped his ranting and glared at Hermione.
"It's your fault, if we can't go back!" he said finally but then his features softened.
"Sorry, Granger." Draco stuck out his hand and Hermione took it grudgingly.
"Get a good night's sleep. You'll need it when you tell Voldemort tomorrow." Harry half-smiled and hugged Hermione.
"Yes. Though I doubt I can sleep well." Hermione smiled.
Harry and Draco bade her good night and walked away in the opposite direction. "Oh and Harry?" Hermione called back so that Harry and Draco stopped in their tracks immediately. "He is not yet Voldemort!"
THTHTH
Hermione restlessly turned and tossed in her bed. The news of her pregnancy were quite some NEWS. How would Tom react? She had to confide in Ginny first though. Her head buzzing with questions, worries, sorrows and thoughts about the future, she finally fell asleep past midnight.
She fell into a fitful sleep, only to be awoken at 6:20 by Sarah washing her hair. She turned on her other side but found that she couldn't sleep anymore anyway so she gave up. Disgruntled by the lack of sleep, she took a shower and put on make-up for the day. She felt sick again and the urge to throw up was overwhelming but luckily she didn't need to.
Sarah smiled at her when Hermione returned to the dorm fully dressed and ready and Hermione smiled back. "I'm starving. Let's go to breakfast!" Hermione suggested and Sarah nodded eagerly.
They were pretty early so therefore the boys were nowhere to be seen. It HAD been a long night after all. "Why did you wake up so early?" Hermione questioned. "I needed to wash my hair. You know it usually gets extremely frizzy when I use tons of hairspray the night before and therefore I always have to wash it the next day." Sarah explained. "Why didn't you sleep longer?" she asked Hermione.
"Well, because you woke me up. But don't worry, I can nip to the library after breakfast then. I haven't been in there fore ages, anyway." Hermione smiled. She had to read a book about pregnancy. Desperately.
Sarah nodded and shrugged. "Okay." and they went into the half-full Great Hall. Most of the Slytherins and Ravenclaws were missing. Hermione happily grabbed everything she could reach. She was extremely hungry.
When the boys turned up, Hermione had already finished. "I'll nip off to the library then." she told her Ravenclaw – friends. "Yeah, have fun, Nat." Matthew called over his shoulder, strangely cheerfully.
Hermione walked swiftly out of the hall, noticing that Harry had already arrived, although Draco and Tom were still missing.
To Hermione's luck, the library was still empty. She walked inside in quite a haste until she reached the medical section. "Pregnant – what now? A guide for young witches." was written in bold white letters on a yellow background. Smiling babies were seen on the cover as well. "Perfect!" Hermione muttered quietly.
She went to a table in the background, where hopefully nobody could spot her that easily and sat down and started reading it, until she noticed a dark shadow lean over. "Aaaahhhh!" Hermione jumped half a metre in shock, noticing that it was none other than Tom. Her heart was beating rapidly when she saw her boyfriend smirk at her.
"My my my, Natalija, what happened? Why are you so jumpy? Hiding something?" Tom smirked and gave Hermione a long kiss.
"No, it's just…" Hermione half-bent over her book, hoping against hope that he wouldn't see it. "Just tired." she answered lamely.
Tom smirked at her his typical Slytherin smirk and Hermione almost wanted to wipe it off his face at that moment. "Whatever you say. By the way, what are you reading?"
Hermione flushed scarlet. "Oh… uhm… nothing important." she stammered.
"Really? Why are you hiding it then?" Tom smirked even wider. Hermione cursed under her breath. The only words Tom understood sounded like 'Slytherins' or 'evil'.
"Show me, Natalija." Tom said in a supposedly soothing voice. To Hermione it sounded mainly deeply curious.
"No, Tom." Hermione said flatly. She decided that truth was the best option. "It's something private."
Tom seemed to consider that for a moment. "So you have secrets from me?" he asked, raising one eyebrow, glaring at her. "Well – yes. Tom, you will find out soon enough anyway. Let me deal with it first myself." Hermione's voice was scared and full of sorrows, Tom noticed.
"Very well…" he said stiffly and turned around. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when he walked over to another bookshelf.
"Accio book!" Tom yelled, pointing his wand at the book on the table in front of Hermione. Hermione just sat there in shock, dumbfounded and angry. Part of her was worried, what was he going to say?
Why couldn't she have paid more attention? She obviously didn't count on him being the perfect SLYTHERIN. 'Well, of course, what else would you expect, Hermione Jane Granger? He IS the perfect Slytherin!' Hermione thought bitterly. 'No doubt, Draco would have nicked it too.'
Tom read the title of the book, his brow furrowed and his mask finally slipping. "Pregnant – what now? A guide for young witches." he read from the cover in a stoic voice. "Why are you reading that?"
Tom Marvolo Riddle has never in his life considered a family. What had seemed miles away months go, was suddenly becoming reality. He looked at her sharply. Could it be?
Hermione hung her head. "Yes. I'm pregnant." She looked at Tom whose face remained expressionless which angered Hermione immensely. Only a muscle was twitching in his chin. After what seemed like hours, Tom sighed. "Let's go to class." he answered hoarsely.
Hermione stood up. "Sorry! I've just told you that I'm pregnant and all you decide to say is 'let's go to class'?" How could he do that? He had to answer her somehow!
Tom sighed deeply, he stood up and went over to his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her body. "It doesn't matter, Natalija. I still care for you – very much. And probably for that little thing here as well – " he pointed at her stomach "for our little baby."
Hermione just gaped at him. She hadn't expected that reaction. "Are you sure?" she answered solemnly. "Yes, very. It's my baby now as well." Tom smirked at her. "My heir." he answered and Hermione shuddered inwardly. His heir.
Well then.
"So what are we going to do?" Hermione asked meekly. She still couldn't believe that this conversation was taking place.
"We are going to class now." Tom grinned and steered her out of the library.
"Oh and Tom?"
"Yeah…"
"Please, don't tell anyone. I want to do it myself, when I'm sure." Hermione said urgently.
"Yes, okay." Tom sighed. How would he explain it to his followers? He actually had other plans, but his little heir would be useful. Tom took Hermione's arm and looked at her happily. "Natalija, we can be proud." he said quietly.
Hermione nodded, wearing half a smile as well. "Yes, we can." and with that they entered the potions classroom together.
THTHTH
"You are what?" Ginny and Sarah were sitting in the library with Hermione, talking in whispers.
"I can't believe it!" Ginny said crossly, glaring at her friend.
"I think it's brilliant! A baby! And from Tom!" Sarah squealed. She was a typical 40s girl.
"So what did Tom say?" Ginny asked, fidgeting with her robe.
"He is actually happy. Scared, a bit, but happy." Hermione answered. Well, that weren't his words, but she could read emotions well and Tom was scared a little.
"So, how is the baby?"
"I don't know yet – I still have some tests to undergo." Hermione yawned.
"Tired?" Sarah grinned.
"A bit." Hermione answered. At that moment, two Ravenclaws appeared and Hermione inwardly groaned.
"So." Matthew said uncertainly. "Did we hear correctly? You are pregnant from Tom?"
"Yes, I am." Hermione stood up abruptly. "Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to throw up."
A/N: Until next time – either this or next week…. stay tuned and review please :)