I don't own any of this stuff and it's all J.K.'s and all money goes to her.
AN: Ah, more drama on the way. Things may get very dismal from here to the end, now, but don't worry! There is a light at the end of the tunnel. An angsty, drama-lit lamp, but one all the same. ALSO, final voting is going on now at the Dramione awards on LJ and I made it through with The Better Claim to Best Dark Fic/Horror (what? I don't even know.), so if y'all don't mind heading over there and voting for me I'd be much obliged. Since, you know, I actually have plot and character development.
The next day Harry and Hermione had classes as usual, but were given passes late in the afternoon getting them out of their final subjects so they could go spend time with Ron. Hermione was less than thrilled. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Ron, to support him and help him recover, it was just that…well. She'd had a rough night- the baby had been active for most of the six remaining hours of sleep she'd gotten. When she'd woken up she'd been tired and cranky and unable to eat because of a new bout of morning sickness; and on top of that she hadn't seen Draco yet. He'd been avoiding her all day, in fact, and it was starting to worry her. More than worry her, actually. Scare her, was more like. First he hadn't been in the Great Hall, then he deliberately turned and walked away from her at lunch, and in Potions he wouldn't even spare her a second glance.
It was after Potions, before she and Harry were dismissed for the day, that Hermione finally cornered him. Harry gave her a light frown when she held back after class, saying she needed to talk to Draco, and she frowned back at him.
"I'll only be a second, Harry. Ron isn't going anywhere. Besides, he's-"
"If you say he's just as important as Ron is, Hermione…"
Hermione's face fell. "What, Harry? What will you do? Stop being my friend? I can't bloody help-"
"You could've though, couldn't you? Back in September, before you even-" Harry stopped short, as though he realized he was about to cross some sort of line. He managed to feel contrite, but Hermione wouldn't look at him.
"Go on, Harry," she replied. "Since I'm clearly not a good enough friend that Ron needs me there, anyway. I dare say you think he's better off without me for another fifteen minutes."
"Hermione, I'm sorry."
"She said go away, Potter," came a cold voice from behind them both and Hermione stiffened, knowing it was Draco. Harry glowered.
"Neither of us were speaking to you, Malfoy, so you can just back off," Harry spat and Hermione glared at him.
"Go on, Harry!" she exclaimed, waving a hand. "I'll be there soon, but I have to take care of something first."
"With him? Really? Hermione, I was going to wait to tell you when we were alone, but I saw the handwriting on the tag that came with the mead and it was his," Harry hissed, pointing behind her to Draco. "Now tell me what is so important that you won't go see Ron?"
Draco paled, but sneered. "What the hell are you on about, Potter?"
"Harry, I can't believe you think that," Hermione replied, trying to back pedal, change the subject, something. This entire day was swiftly turning into a nightmare. And now they'd attracted the attention of the other students still gathering their things to leave, and even Snape had paused in his endless shuffling of papers and was staring across the room at them.
"Your handwriting was on the card that came with the poisoned mead, Malfoy, the mead that nearly killed Ron and was actually meant for Dumbledore. Surely you can't have forgotten delivering a present like that- no, wait. Don't tell me, you were Imperioused, just like your father was before you, the faking son of a bitch."
"Don't you say a fucking word about my family, Potter," Draco replied, drawing his wand at the same time Harry drew his. He gestured to Hermione. "And that goes for her, too."
"Oh, what, she's your family now? Just because you tricked her into having your bastard?"
"Harry!" Hermione gasped, tears of anger and hurt filling her eyes. "How dare you!"
Harry saw her face, realized he'd gone too far, like he was worried about just seconds before, and his face turned ashen. He lowered his wand.
"Hermione-"
"Don't," she said, drawing away from him, scrambling to pick up her bag. Her face was pinched and angry and she turned away from him. "Just…don't."
And having collected her things, she hurried out the door, forgetting all reason for staying behind in the first place. Harry swallowed hard and looked after her, started to follow her, when he swung back around, wand up once more.
"This is all your fault," he told Draco, glaring at the other boy and Draco stared back at him, disdain plain in his eyes, and along every line of his body.
"No, Potter. I believe that was all your fault. The next time you decide to accuse people of horrid things, why don't you stick to the Death Eater bollocks you're leveling at me. That's easier to swallow than know-it-all Granger being duped by said alleged Death Eater. Also, you won't have many friends left if you keep it up. They're already dropping like flies, aren't they?"
Harry snarled and would have gone for Draco's jugular, except Snape decided to intervene at that moment and judiciously shoved the boys apart.
"Not in my classroom," he said distinctly with a sneer at both of them. "Get. Out."
Harry glowered at professor and rival before grabbing his things and leaving. Draco would have followed him, but Snape snagged the back of his robe.
"Not you, yet," he hissed. The other students dutifully shuffled out and then Snape slammed the door of the classroom closed and let go of Draco. "What was that?" he asked, fury in his eyes.
Draco shrugged and glanced away. "Don't know what you're-"
"You know exactly what I mean. We are on the same side now, boy, and I am not about to let you ruin everything simply because you constantly feel the need to one-up that menace of a so-called chosen one."
"Too late for that," Draco replied, looking back at him. "I've already ruined everything. I nearly got another student killed- and how? That mead shouldn't have been down there! No one was supposed to drink it! Why the hell didn't Dumbledore collect it?"
"You are well aware we must make things seem real, Draco," Snape responded quietly, expression still furious.
"The only reason I agreed to any of this was because I didn't want anyone else getting hurt!" Draco cried. "Hermione will never forgive me if something happens to one of her precious friends-"
"Miss Granger is well aware of the risks involved in this scheme, Draco. And it seems to me that she's not likely to forgive her precious friends for the things they've said and done, either. So you have two choices- you may blow this entire operation out of the water now by allowing that sniveling boy under your skin, or you might want to consider ignoring him and comforting the witch you are so eager to defend."
"Like you do any better job of ignoring Potter," Draco spat.
"He is my concern, not yours," Severus replied coolly. "That is how it has always been."
"Why? Care to tell me that? Like you've done a fantastic job of looking out for him, for any of us-"
"I never have to answer to you, Draco," Snape said slowly, drawing himself up and towering over Draco. "Ever. Remember that the next time you decide to try my patience. Now get out and go find Miss Granger. I imagine she is likely bawling in one of the girls' bathrooms. Not unlike a certain young wizard we both know," he added with a sneer. Then he flung the door open and swept back towards his desk.
Draco stared after him hatefully for all of two seconds before turning and leaving swiftly, bag in one hand and wand clutched firmly in the other.
Hermione slumped against the door of the stall and allowed the angry tears welling in her eyes to spill over. How had that conversation gone so wrong? What the hell was the matter with Harry? He knew how she felt about him and Ron, knew that she'd done nothing but support them both unconditionally- mostly- for the last five, six years! And this was how he repaid her, by saying the most hurtful things and meaning them. She couldn't even defend herself, though they were all untrue. Well, all except for the bit about it technically being Draco's fault Ron was in the infirmary. But that wasn't even his fault- it was the fault of the adults who were in charge of him! She turned around, pressed her forehead to the stall door, beat her fists against it out of frustration, out of hurt. She didn't know which way was up anymore, she didn't even think of Ron as the child's father, hardly, yet she was expected to go to him, to still always take his side. Harry demanded total loyalty from his friends and because she'd fallen in love she could no longer give him that.
But they weren't children anymore, she wanted to scream. Their world was changing, was fraught with danger and terror and they had to adapt or they'd be consumed whole by the evil goings-on around them! Why couldn't he see that? Why did it all have to be black and white, why was it his way or no way?
The seeds of doubt that had been planted months ago, with Ron's first turning from her, with his sweet words and the betrayal that followed, sprouted in her heart and she cried harder. She felt as though she was losing everything and she didn't know how to make it better. Even Draco, though he'd stood up for her minutes ago, had made it clear that Ron's ordeal had changed everything between them. That was why he was avoiding her- and why? Because he thought she would want to choose Harry and Ron over him? Over the sacrifices it was clear he was making for her? How could he doubt her that way? And why couldn't she be loyal to them all? What made their causes so special, that she couldn't simply follow her heart?
Exhausted from the tears and from the emotion, she leaned against the wall and slid down it until she was sitting on the cold floor next to the loo. She was so tired of all the fighting, of the intrigue. She wanted this year to be over already. And the baby…she put a hand on her protruding belly and felt it kick ferociously for a moment. It reassured her, somehow.
"Nothing is going right," she murmured at her stomach. "What do you think I ought to do?"
The baby didn't move again and she frowned to herself. Look at me, she thought. I'm talking to an infant that hasn't even been born. Like she knows any better than I do. Besides, she depends on me. Hermione closed her eyes and leant her head back as well, felt the remaining tears drying on her cheeks. I'm so tired, she thought. Maybe if I just close my eyes for a moment…
She was so weary and so tense that she didn't even notice the light cramping that began in her lower back and spread out along the sides of her abdomen. And seconds later, darkness overtook her as she'd wanted it to.
Draco pushed open the door of the third bathroom he'd decided to check and paused. There was a stillness on the air and he called out.
"Prefect entering," he said, but only silence greeted him. He moved forward, further into the space, and called out again.
"Hermione?" His voice echoed against the stone walls. Then he heard a small sound- breathing. "Is that you?" he asked, but while the breathing continued, no one answered. He walked over to the stalls and began knocking. When there was still no response, he bent over and looked beneath the doors for shoes.
When he reached the fourth stall, her face, lying still against the cold tiles, greeted him. She was asleep- no, passed out. He felt fear.
"Hermione- wake up. It's me." He reached under the door and ran a hand over her cheek. She was cool to his touch. Standing up, he spelled the door open and stepped inside, knelt to take her in his arms. She was light despite the burden of a child, and the fear morphed into something else, particularly when he saw the small bloodstain left on the tile beneath her. It was terror, perhaps, coursing through him. He couldn't quite tell. But she was breathing, at least, so that was good. Face pinched with anxiety, he left the bathroom without another word; and immediately headed for the infirmary, Hermione and her precious cargo cradled against his chest.
Poppy Pomfrey looked up from her watch over Ron and his company- Harry and Ginny- and gave a gasp.
"Over here," she said, waving to a bed behind a screen. Draco followed her orders, not sparing a glance for the others.
Harry and Ginny turned around to catch a glimpse of Draco's slim form carrying something with bushy brown hair in his arms and Ginny was out of her seat in a second, Harry close behind her.
"Hermione!" she shouted and ran over to the screen only to have Poppy stop her and shoo her away.
"This is my concern- I need space and privacy. All of you, out!" she commanded and Harry and Ginny fell back, one looking murderous and the other looking terrified.
Draco held back, standing on the other side of the bed and holding Hermione's hand. Poppy glowered at him.
"You too," she ordered and Draco shook his head.
"She's my…girlfriend," he said. "And it's my child. I'm staying. Please," he added. Poppy sighed and shook her head again, though she went ahead and began the examination anyway.
"What happened?" she asked.
"I don't know," Draco replied. "I found her in a girls' restroom. She was just lying there, looking…pale…there was some blood on the floor, underneath her- here, I have some on my sleeve-" He stopped short and looked down at the sleeve of his robe which did indeed have some blood on it. "There wasn't much, but it was enough to soak through her clothes…" His voice trailed off and Poppy glanced up at him from Hermione's still form.
"Thank you, Mister Malfoy," she said softly. "You may wait with the others." Her face was grim, and the reassuring smile or words Draco needed didn't come. He managed a stiff nod and moved out from behind the screen only to come face to face with Harry and Ginny.
"What do you think it is?" Ginny asked him and he shook his head.
"I don't know," he said, feeling helpless. And a second later, feeling angry, because Harry simply stood there, watching him with an accusing glare.
"What, Potter?" he snarled and Harry stepped forward.
"You're lying. I know you are. You've been lying all bloody year- this is all part of your plan, isn't it? You don't care if she has the baby or not, don't care what you do to her as long as-"
"As long as what, Potter?" Draco growled. "And you didn't seem to want her to have the baby earlier anyway, did you? Did you ever think that perhaps you're part of the problem, here? She doesn't need any extra stress and you go about treating her like garbage, as if she's your personal tutor, but as soon as she does something for herself, like learn to be happy without you-"
"Like she'd ever be happy with you!" Harry spat. "I know it was you behind the mead- and as soon as I have some proof-"
Ginny watched them both, horrified, and finally broke in.
"What's going on? Harry, you're being ridiculous. Malfoy's not all bad- Hermione trusts him- and what does he mean, how you treat Hermione? What's happened?"
"Your boyfriend didn't tell you, Weasley?" Draco hissed. "Let me inform you, then, that he accused her of being an idiot for trusting me and called her child a bastard to her face. He didn't use the word betrayal, but I promise that's what it felt like, to her."
"Harry," Ginny whispered, completely aghast. "You didn't."
"What, you believe him now, too?"
"Just answer her question, Potter. Tell her I'm lying. Oh, wait. Except I'm not."
Harry didn't say anything else, couldn't say anything else, and Ginny saw his shame.
"How dare you talk to her that way?" she cried. "How could you? If I could, I'd hex you myself- but I suppose I should let her do that."
"Nothing's stopping you," Harry retorted. "We're in the infirmary. At least I can get help quick."
"Damn it, Harry-"
"I'm sorry, Ginny! I was out of my mind over Ron- after losing Sirius how could I not be? I wasn't thinking, I was so worried and then he came along and stuck up for her and it made me so angry- I didn't mean it."
"You meant it, you bloody wanker," Draco said and Harry turned a fierce gaze upon him. Draco went on. "And how long are you going to keep using your woe is me line, anyhow? You're not the only stupid wizard to lose his entire family. There are plenty of people in worse positions than you. So you can just leave Hermione the hell alone from now on, how's that?"
"She's my best friend," Harry said, glowering, "and I don't intend to lose her to the likes of you."
"You have a funny way of treating your friends, Potter," Draco spat back and Ginny, angry and worried though she was, tugged on Harry's arm.
"Leave him alone, Harry. We're here to see Ron. Come on, come back over. Besides," she added in an angry whisper, "I want to talk to you."
Reluctantly, Harry went back to Ron's bedside and Draco watched from across the room as Ginny bent near him and began gesticulating and whispering angrily. Potter began to look suitably chastened and then the Weaselette drew Ron into the conversation, pointing at the boy's sickly face and then to herself, and waving her hands about. Oh, Potter was in for it now- yes, there they were. She was crying now and Draco glanced away just as Harry's eyes darted up to catch him spying on them.
Draco determinedly stared at the wall as the voices from across the way rose and fell. Was Potter actually trying to defend himself now? But then it didn't matter, because Madame Pomfrey was stepping from behind the screen and gesturing to himself. With one last glance in Potter's direction, he prepared himself for the worst and stepped around the screen.
AN: Hmm hmm hmm...cookie? :D