Chapter 12: Hermione is a genius witch

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Hermione and Ron were pulled out of their little corner—leaving their talk of how they were going to find Harry's muggle relatives to ask them what they could have possibly known of Harry's personal life. It's a long shot, and there was a higher likely chance of them not knowing anything about Harry's love life or not telling them anything even if they knew, but they were hoping his cousin could shed some light on their questions. But it's a shorter way than testing every muggle girl.

When they heard the cracks of apparitions and saw Sirius and Remus carrying an unconscious Cho.

"What happened?" Madame Pomfrey asked, who was quick on her feet, and ushered Sirius and Remus to lay Cho in the room just beside a still sleeping Harry.

Hermione and Ron followed inside, watching how the head nurse performed diagnostic spells on Cho.

"Tortured by Bellatrix," Sirius answered as soon as they carefully laid Cho on the bed. "Luckily, we saw the signal, and we got to her before my torture-happy, deranged cousin got to do any damage to the poor girl."

-

Cho woke up after an hour only to scream because of her head-splitting ache before falling back into unconsciousness.

"Signs of memory tampering," Madame Pomfrey concluded. "It will take some time before she'll wake up so we can ask her what happened."

Hermione's eyes widened, and she quickly pulled Ron back to their little corner away from the buzzing members of the Order.

"I tried to bury this idea in my head, but after Madame Pomfrey told us that Cho's memories were altered, I realized this could be the answer we're looking for."

Ron's eyes narrowed. "You say that like Cho having her mind messed up was a good thing."

"Ron, of course not!" Hermione said, but she knew she had a wide smile on her face. Sue her, she was excited at her realizations, this is a big revelation to her. And since she was a child, her parents had always told her that once she set her mind to something, she wouldn't be bothered to be empathetic anymore. That's one of her many curses. She knew it was bad to smile at someone else's misery, but she couldn't help it. She's someone who's always thirsty for knowledge and wants to solve things. "Of course not. But this is the sign I've been waiting for, this is the key to this mystery."

"Key for what?"

Hermione sighed. Sometimes, it gets tiring to be with Harry and Ron, who are always slow on the uptake. She promised herself, she'd befriend Malfoy. "Okay, Ron, who do you think altered her memories?"

"You-Know-Who." Ron stated with confidence.

"What?! No! Why would You-Know-Who even bother? He'd just kill her." Hermione looked frustrated.

"Then, Bellatrix?"

"No, do you think that deranged woman-" Hermione sighed, it's best not to lengthen this conversation. "It's obviously Malfoy!" She shouted due to unbridled excitement but quickly lowered her voice. "It's so obvious, Ron. Who has a motive to alter Cho's mind other than Malfoy?"

"How can it be obvious? I still don't understand what you're trying to point out, 'Mione."

"Because! Cho knew it was Malfoy we were all looking for," Hermione's lips tightened when Ron only made a face. "Malfoy of course altered her memories in fear that she'd tell You-Know-Who. He was protecting himself," Hermione glared at her boyfriend, who was more confused as seconds passed. "Yes, Ron. Malfoy is pregnant with Harry's baby."

Hermione almost growled at her stupidity, how can she only realize it now? Everything was clear to her now. It's like Malfoy left a hint for her to solve.

Ron looked at Hermione, then he began laughing so hard that several members stopped their businesses to look at them but went back when Ron didn't stop laughing. Ron gasped before falling into another bout of laughter. After some time, he sniffed and wiped his tears away. "That's funny, 'Mione."

Hermiome crossed her arms, glaring at Ron. "I'm serious."

Ron snorted. "What? How could he be pregnant? He's a wizard, Hermione. Wizards can't be pregnant."

Hermione stopped herself from punching her boyfriend, but one thing she hated the most, was when someone explained to her what she already knew, and she knew everything. And she especially hated how Ron was using the tone as if she were a kindergarten student just learning the alphabet.

"I know, Ron. The books said so."

Ron raised an eyebrow as if that were an answer in itself. Hermione was a person who went by the books. If there were no scholarly articles, Hermione would be less inclined to believe. That's why she didn't believe Harry in his sixth-year potions doing all those crushing sophophorous beans rather than chopping them, because it's not in the book—or, to be precise, it's not in her book.

But this time, she would follow her gut feelings.

"But I have a great feeling about this, Ron. Trust me."

"Okay, say, I believe you as well. How can we confirm your feelings? We can't just go to their lair, kidnap the ferret git to confirm. What if it's a trap? And we can't tell this to Moody, the old git would just laugh at us; he'd assume we were having him on."

Hermione bit her lower lip. Ron's right. It could be a trap. Malfoy could have done it knowing exactly how she was going to react, he's in the group looking for Harry's baby, after all.

Hermione gasped. "The tapestry. Black's family tree!"

"Wha-"

"I don't know why I haven't thought of that!" She could've hit herself. Why didn't she think of that as soon as the Malfoy idea went through her head? "But the answer was obvious!"

Ron's eyes narrowed. "You kept on using that word- I don't-"

Hermione knew she looked hopeful, excited, and determined—for the first time in a long time. "Look, if Draco was indeed pregnant by Harry's baby, we can see it on the tapestry in the Grimmauld Place. Draco was there, right? The tapestry never lies. And with that, we will not directly confirm it to Malfoy."

Ron finally went serious. "You're entirely sold on this idea, aren't you?"

Hermione nodded, her face set in determination, telling Ron that, whether he helped her or not, she was going to do this alone.

"I did tell Harry we're not going to survive a day without you. I believe in you, 'Mione and of course, I'll help, although the idea of Harry being with the Slytherin prat was still impossible in my head."

"It made sense, Ron. Everything pointed to Malfoy."

"I know, but it's supposed to be a joke. And how would you even explain the fact that Malfoy was a wizard?"

"I can't it. But the only thing I could say is that it's Harry. Every impossible thing is possible for him. And this is more possible than depending our investigation on Harry's nasty relatives."

"I don't know what's more impossible, a pregnant wizard or Harry knocking up," Ron sighed and made a face. "... Malfoy, of all people. I didn't even know my own best friend was bent."

"Why? Is that a bad thing?"

"Of course not! It's Harry's business, whoever he shagged. But it's disheartening to know that Harry doesn't trust me enough to tell me, and it's a bad thing that it's Malfoy."

"If this turned out to be true, you have to accept the fact that Harry shagged Malfoy."

Ron groaned. "Why do you have to put that image in my head, 'Mione? I'm trying to ignore the fact that they did. I'm deluding myself that they were fighting and Malfoy cursed Harry to be the father of his baby, or whatever. I wanted to ignore the possibility that Harry could be voluntarily touching the ferret."

"And willingly, possibly eagerly," Hermione rolled her eyes when Ron's face paled more. "Let's go to Grimmauld Place and check the status there."

"Can't I talk to Harry, first? I just want to know why and how."

"No! Ron! Let's go."

-

Ron and Hermione scouted the Grimmauld Place until night.

When they retired for the night, Ron knew it was going to be a long night when Hermione pulled him into the kitchen instead of their room and put down a half-filled blank scroll and a self-inking quill, with only the light from Hermione's wand brightly lighting the whole place.

"So what we know so far is that there are four Death Eaters guarding Grimmauld Place," Since the time they managed to shake off a Death Eater in the ministry, the Order had changed headquarters, and Death Eaters had guarded the place, hoping Order members would return to inhabit the place.

In the morning, when attacks usually happened, two unknown Death Eaters, who were decidedly not that strong, guarded the place, and in the evening, Greyback and Dolohov took over their guard posts.

"Our best chance is to go there in the morning during the attacks. We couldn't let anyone know that we're after something in that place. Greyback and Dolohov might go running to You-Know-Who and Malfoy might bear the consequence. We couldn't let that happen, especially if this turned out to be the answer."

"So that meant we couldn't tell anyone about this? You know, can't we tell this to Snape and be done with this?"

Hermione shook her head. "I know I did say I believed this could be possible, but I'm not 100% sure. What if Malfoy reacted badly? What if this is a trap? Snape would bear the brunt. I'm afraid we couldn't involve anyone as long as we're not sure."

"How do you suppose we're going along with this?" Hermione smiled at Ron. Ron groaned. "Polyjuice, of course."

"It's the only way, I still have ingredients left over from the last time I mixed it. The place is warded. I'm sure wizards with death marks are the only ones allowed without notifying You-Know-Who. We have to be as discreet as possible. This could go both ways—if it was not Malfoy and You-Know-Who was notified, we could be killed for nothing. If it was Malfoy and You-Know-Who was notified, he would be killed and all our efforts would be ruined. The fewer people involved in this, the less discreet this could be."

"So, Ginny can't know as well?"

"No one else. Not even Remus or Sirius, you know how Sirius gets," Hermione shook her head. "They'll understand when we explain to them once this is all done."

Hermione started mixing that night in the attic.

"You know," Ron started as he sat in front of Hermione, his back against the wall. "I might be nuts, but I hope that it's Malfoy, Harry," Ron shuddered, his eyes narrowing. "... knocked up just for the sake of this ending already. We've been at this for almost 3 years now, I want to play Quidditch with Harry now."

Hermione smiled. "Once Harry is awakened by his baby, then this will be over, he'll defeat You-Know-Who. I truly hope it's Malfoy because I don't think we can find the mother in the Muggle world if it happens to be a muggle. I'm just—I don't have any idea where to start, and truthfully, I don't think Harry's relatives would answer us."

"If it's Malfoy, you do realize this meant while we're hunting for horcruxes, Harry was meeting up with Malfoy in Merlin knows where just to shag him?!" Ron huffed, eyes widening and realizing as well what he just shared. "How was he not found by the Death Eaters shagging a death eater."

"Ron, it's Harry. If he wanted to do something, you know as well as I do that he wouldn't stop until he got it. The question should be, when did he find the time?"

Ron growled. "Remind me to ask Harry that. If Harry told us it's when he's supposed to be on guard with us sleeping, I'll be cross with him for an hour because it meant he picked Malfoy over our safety."

Hermione smirked. "Are you jealous?"

"That Malfoy may be Harry's most favorite person, the same git who tormented us at Hogwarts? Yes! And my world is still crumbling, I can't believe this. I don't want to believe it, but something in me wants to."

Ron picked up a loose thread on his trousers, then chuckled as he remembered something. "If it's Malfoy, then, Sirius is right, Potters are masochists by nature. How could Harry ever be with someone who bullied him? The blonde git made Harry's life a living hell. I can still remember his fucking badges."

"Malfoy did put an effort on those badges, I guess he was just seeking Harry's attention, he may have been attracted to Harry since 4th year."

Ron scoffed. "Obviously, he did bend over for Harry," the redhead then groaned and quickly scrubbed the image from his eyes. "Ah fuck! I'm imagining them again," He suddenly frowned, the idea sitting deeper in his mind. "Why did Harry ever do this?! I wanted to be mad at Harry. I felt betrayed. That's the guy who called you slurs and tormented me for being poor. Why would he ever forgive him in the first place? What if Harry was imperiod?"

"Ron! That- I'm sure even Malfoy could not do something like that, and Harry could throw off an imperius curse," Hermione said, sounding aghast. "Maybe Malfoy changed? The fact that he hadn't surrendered himself yet and Harry's baby to You-Know-Who can attest to that."

Ron rolled his eyes. "'Mione, that ferret is a coward. I'm sure he hasn't surrendered himself yet because he knew he would receive more torture than praise if he did, not to mention, his parents' reactions to him sullying himself with a half-blood wizard who was Harry fucking Potter. It wasn't because he's protective of Harry's baby."

Hermione sighed, shaking her head. "You know that's his baby as well. Of course he'll be protective of their baby."

"His heir, you mean, who is a half-blood," Ron scoffed. "If he is, then why was he in that group when they attacked Cho? Why was he dueling still, knowing he had a baby in him? And until the last two months, he was actively involved in the attacks, torturing muggles and those kids. And if he truly was protective of their baby, he would be here lowering his pride to ask for our help, especially knowing their baby would wake Harry up, that is, if he's concerned over Harry's welfare."

"What if he didn't know?"

"What?"

"What if Malfoy didn't know he was pregnant? You do realize that if this is real, he's the first recorded pregnant wizard? Even he probably didn't realize what was happening to him. And maybe he did know, but he didn't know he was the key to waking Harry up, and maybe he didn't know we'd be willing to help him if he asked for our help. He's still a death eater, Ron, considered our enemy," Hermione sighed. "But I'm sure, if Harry could trust someone like him, if Malfoy knew, he'd be here by now."

"If he's concerned over Harry. You know, we're not sure if they're in a loving relationship or if it's an accident."

"That's possible. But I'm sure Harry has feelings for him. Ginny did say Harry broke up with her because he had feelings for someone else. The answer is right in our faces."

Ron shook his head. "We don't know if it's Malfoy. I refuse to believe that Harry could leave my sister for someone like Malfoy. It could be someone else, and Malfoy was a rebound, someone willing to fool around with him."

Hermione shook her head. "Yeah, right. Because Harry was that stupid to risk his safety knowing hundreds of Death Eaters are after his head to meet someone he was only fooling around with. And it's Harry, do you think he's the type of guy to roll into someone's bed without a clear label?"

"We're still not sure if Malfoy's truly pregnant. I'll change my mind if I see the tapestry."

"And what if he was? Ron, as early as now, it's best to let go of your hatred over Malfoy, but if you couldn't, it's your business, but at least prepare yourself to be civil with him. And don't judge Harry for what he did, we didn't know what happened between them," Hermione had a strong feeling something happened between them during their 6th year, especially because Harry was really weird around Malfoy at that time, and wasn't that the time Harry broke off things with Ginny as well? "... or what Harry saw in Malfoy that made him change his mind and his heart. He could be very different from what we knew."

Hermione smiled. "I, for one, had forgiven Malfoy a long time ago, and I trust Harry to know what's best for him. The question is, do you trust him?"

"Of course, 'Mione, what kind of question is that?"

"Then you have to trust his judgment about why he chose Malfoy."

Ron was silent for a long time. And just when Hermione thought he was already fast asleep, he began cackling.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just happy that before Harry killed You-Know-Who he gave him the biggest fuck you, by knocking up one of his followers, and to Lucius too, I guess. I can just imagine You-Know-Who's face; it's Malfoy they've all been looking for."

"That's how you knew for sure Malfoy had changed, he's risking his life to distract them."

"By sacrificing Cho's life?"

Hermiome shook her head. "You need to go to sleep, Ron. I am confused by your reactions. Earlier, you were mad, then you were happy, then you were mad again."

"I think I'm having a meltdown."

"Have a meltdown now because if this turns out to be the truth, you'll be the one to calm Sirius down."

Ron smirked. "Just for that, I think we should be telling Sirius by now. A month is not enough to prepare him."

Notes:

If you think I'm trying to stretch this one out before they realized the truth, why yes, I am because the ending is already written and finished weeks before.