Chapter Twenty-Four

Draco sat down on the floor and looked up at Hermione; he could see a series of emotions flicker across her face. She went from angry to suspicious to angry to looking slightly sad and back to angry; she just kept looking angry. There were some other looks Draco couldn't quite figure out; but mostly she just looked angry and so she settled with angry.

Changing back into his human form, Draco sat down on the bed next to Hermione's and ran his hand through his hair, looking at his lap. Hermione looked so angry he was surprised that there wasn't steam coming out her ears. He gave her a moment to collect her thoughts before looking back up at her.

"How dare you!" she screamed, throwing a vial, Snape had left on her table, at him, "What right did you think you had?" she asked increduesly.

Draco rolled his shoulders back and sighed; he pointed at her stomach. Hermione looked taken aback as her hands instinctively reached for her swollen tummy, "Just because I'm pregnant you think you have the right to stalk me?" She screamed, getting off her bed and walking up to him. Shoving a finger in his face, Hermione looked like she was seething.

Draco sighed again and shook his head, "No," he started, moving her finger away, "here, I just need a pensive and I'll show you." He said, looking around the room.

Hermione glared at him as she sat back down on her bed, "And what makes you so sure your memories will help me understand your twisted brain?"

Shifting uncomfortably on the bed, Draco thought for a moment; he wasn't going to be able to find a pensive unless he went to Snape's office, and that was out of the question. There was no way he wanted him knowing about this, 'Well…you see..." he stalled, wringing his hands in his lap. Seeming to come to a sudden realization, Draco relax, "It's like this…One night there were two wolves playing in a forest; they seemed to be getting along pretty well. But then one of the wolves starts to get a little sleepy, so they go lie down by a tree. They were just starting to dose off when one of the wolves looks and the other and turned their back on the other wolf, just to shake their haunches at them. The other wolf then took that as an… open invitation." Draco finished, with a slight smile on his face as he remembered that night.

Looking over at Hermione; he saw that her mouth was hanging open, and one of her hands was rubbing her stomach, "So your saying," she started slowly, getting up off the bed, "that this baby…is yours?"

Draco cleared his throat and nodded, "Yes, yes I am." He said carefully, cringing; he didn't know how she'd react to this, but she might as well know the truth.

Hermione stared at Draco with a blank face, "I'm sorry?" she asked, seemingly not hearing him.

Draco cleared his throat, and pointed towards her belly, "That's mine." he said awkwardly.

Hermione thumped back onto the bed, and stared out the window and shook her head, "Uhm, so you're saying that you've been following me around for about a month now; watching me eat and sleep, and that somehow this baby growing inside me is yours."

Running a hand through his hair Draco nodded, "Yeah, pretty much." Hermione started to say something, but then thought better of it; she got back off the bed and stormed out of the Hospital Wing, leaving Draco staring after her blankly.

Hermione found herself wandering up to the Gryffindor Common Room, she'd been about to open her mouth to say the password when she realized that she didn't actually know the password. Hermione sighed and sunk down to the floor next to the Fat Lady. She was shocked, that blond-haired ferret was the last person Hermione'd expected to be the father. At least it being Seamus's made some sense; they'd gone out after work that day, and Hermione couldn't exactly remember what'd happened.

Frowning, and rubbing her temples, Hermione stood up; she must have made some form of noise, because as she was standing up, the Fat Lady shifted in the portrait and woke up, "Oh hello dear, I haven't seen you around the castle of late."

Hermione nodded slowly, "Yes, I graduated two years ago."

The Fat Lady threw up her hands, "Of course, that would be it wouldn't it! Well, you can go on in if you want; there are no passwords in the summer." She said smiling.

Hermione smiled back, "Yes, I would like that, thank you." She replied taking a step back for her to open the door.

As Hermione stepped into the common room, she felt a wave of emotions and memories come rushing back; she remembered how she felt after the Yule Ball, and that time she helped Ron by writing his Potions Essay for him. Hermione sighed, it was good to be back; she went over to the fireplace and stared into the empty hearth.

Sitting down on the couch, Hermione pulled out her wand and muttered, "Incendio," causing the ashes to burst back up in flame. Putting her wand away, Hermione settled own on the couch, letting the heat from the flames tickle her face.

As she was sitting there, Hermione felt her eyes begin to close; snuggling deeper into the couch, she let them. It'd been a long day; she'd been poisoned for merlin's sake. As she drifted off to sleep, Hermione felt her head start to spin. When she opened her eyes again she was underground.

Padding down the stone path, Hermione felt her fur stir in the damp breeze. She could sense her mate next to her, but she didn't dare look at him, she couldn't; her eyes were fixed of the glowing statue in front of her. Padding the last few steps, Hermione sat down at its feet and stared up at it.

The statue seemed to be admitting an eerie glow that filled the chamber; if Hermione were to look away she'd of been able to see green moss growing on the walls, and stalagmites and stalactites growing all around her. She could hear the water dripping off them into a nearby pool. Hermione shook her head in anticipation; she didn't know why she was here, just that her and her mate had been chosen.

Blinking up at the statue, Hermione saw that the glow was slowly being sucked back into the statue and forming the shape of a wolf very similar to the statue itself. She felt the fur on her back start to bristle as the wolf stepped towards her.

As the glowing wolf approached her, Hermione saw its mouth open and a strange vapor seemed to engulf her and the black wolf standing next to her. Swinging her head from side to side, Hermione tried to look around, but the vapour was so thick she was having trouble seeing her nose. Just as she was starting to panic, Hermione heard a soft whisper next to her ear, "Those who were chose have come; once they were one, now they are two. One they shall become once more…" On the last word, the voice seemed to fade out and Hermione felt a tugging at her paws before slipping into a deep slumber.

Hermione jerked awake; shivering, she re-lit the dwindling flames and sat up. Looking around the room she noticed that not a lot had changed; she was about to stand up when she saw a dark figure standing by the window. She was picking up her wand when the figure moved into the moon light and she saw the familiar sheen of blond hair. Hermione sighed and stood up, "What are you doing in here Malfoy?" she asked coldly, "This is the Gryffindor Common room, why don't you crawl back down to the dungeons." She sneered, crossing her arms.

Draco walked over to her; he opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it a few times before looking over at the window. Draco stared at it for a long time before looking back at Hermione and stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Fine, if that's what you really want…" He said, starting for the door.

As Hermione watched him leave, she couldn't help but feel a twitch in her stomach. Glancing down, Hermione didn't know if it was the baby or because he was leaving; but what she did know was that she didn't actually want him gone. Taking a step towards him, Hermione reached out her hand for a moment before letting it drop. She was being ridiculous; why wouldn't she want him to leave. Shaking her head, as the portrait door closed behind the retreating blond, Hermione went back to sit on the couch; and just as her eyes were shutting, a single tear rolled down her cheek.