Chapter 3

Hermione took a deep breath. 'You'll have to face them at some point'

"Mione?"

"Hermione jumped at her name, and turned around. "Oh thank God it's you Harry."

"Just me? Ouch." Harry smiled

"I didn't mean it that way. What I meant is-"

"Mione, I'm just kidding. Why are you out here? Why don't you go inside?"

"Well..." She twiddled her thumbs.

"Ah...I see" He grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers. "Don't worry, I'll be right here by your side."

"Thanks Harry. You're such a great friend."

"Friend...yeah that's me. Well come on, I'm starving." He squeezed her hand before opening the doors. Instantly everyone's eyes were on them, even more, on Hermione. She especially felt the one cold glare following her to her seat, knowing it was Malfoy. Sitting in between Harry and Ginny, she tried to ignore the whispering.

"Hey Mione!" Ginny greeted "How are you feeling?" she asked squeezing her hand. "You had a tough night."

"I'm better know Ginny...I think."

"Why? What happened last night?" Harry asked protectively, putting an arm around Hermione's waist.

Hermione shook her head slightly at Ginny. "It was nothing Harry, just nerves." She told him.

"If you say so..." Harry said giving her a kiss on the cheek. Hermione blushed and looked away, unintentionally catching Malfoy's intense glare, who looked away immediately.

"Yeah she's also probably disappointed Malfoy's Head Boy." Ginny added

"Ah! Bloody Hell!" Ron cried "Ferret boy got Head Boy?"

"Well next to Mione, he is at the top of the class." Ginny explained.

"So, Mione, where's Aria?" Harry asked feeling sour at the topic of Malfoy.

"She's with Madame Pomfrey, while I'm in class." She whispered, hoping no one would hear.

"Hermione! Good to see you!" Seamus said sitting next to Ron. "Where've you been of to?"

"Just had to take care of family issues." She said technically not lying.

"It's great to have you back." Neville said

Hermione smiled, he's always been sweet. "Thanks Neville."

"So Hermione, what have you been up to?" Lavender asked

"Sod off Brown. I know you've been eavesdropping. She said she had family issues to take care off. Now mind your own business." Seamus shot at her, causing her to send daggers at him, before turning to whisper to Parvati.

"Thanks Seamus." Hermione said, grateful about having good friends around.

"She's a nutter that one." Seamus said loudly, hoping Lavender would hear. "Can't keep her filthy mouth shut for one second."

Malfoy clenched the fork he was holding as he watched Harry kiss Hermione on the cheek. He felt so much anger watching the scene before him unfold, and he continued to watch as she let out a laugh. 'She can't be happy with Pothead. I'm not going to let this happen. She's going to pay for having such an effect on me!'

Hermione put Aria in her crib after giving her her bottle and changing her diaper and outting her into pajamas. "Goodnight sweet cheeks." She whispered, slightly pinching her cheek, then patted her head. "Goodnight sleepy head." She kissed her left cheek. "Sweet dreams" and the other cheek "Sleep tight, until the morning light." She tucked her into her blanket. Hermione sat on her bed getting lost in her thoughts. She had a pretty good day, except for all the looks and whispering, but she expected that. It helped quite a lot that Harry and Ron, especially Harry, stayed by her side. It was great to be back at Hogwarts, even Malfoy couldn't have ruined it. She simply ignored him the whole day. Well, not simply, since he glared at her the whole day. She sighed now it was almost time to patrol the school with him, alone. She honestly felt a bit nervous and scared.

She jumped at the loud banging at her door. "Granger, Hurry Up!" Malfoy yelled.

She rushed to the door before he could make much more racket, hoping Aria didn't wake up. "Shhh! I just put her to sleep!"

"Come let's go! I wanna get this over with. I have a special visitor tonight." He said walking out the portrait. Hermione rolled her eyes and followed him. They walked around for a while, keeping their distance and not saying a word. Malfoy kept looking at her and finally sighed. "What's her name?" He suddenly asked.

"Who?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"My...the kid..."

Hermione snorted. "Like hell I'm going to tell you!"

He grabbed her arm. "Like it or not Granger, she still has the Malfoy blood in her!"

"I'll make sure she never knows that!" Hermione snapped.

"And just how are you going to do that? She'll surely wonder who her father is." He said coldly.

"I'll tell her he's dead!"

Malfoy suddenly pushed her against the wall. "You can't tell my daughter I'm dead. I'm not going to let you!"

"You said you wanted nothing to do with her!" She spat

"She's still my daughter!" Malfoy yelled

"You're not going to come anywhere near her!"

"You can't keep me away! It's my choice on how close I'm going to get to her."

"I'm going to make sure the man she sees as a father is a good man, not a ferret who deserves to be in Azkaban like his father!" Hermione yelled. She flinched when he suddenly lifted a fist, ready to hit her. She closed her eyes waiting for the hard contact, but nothing came. He slammed his fist on the wall next to her head, not noticing the pain as he turned his back to her and started to walk away.

"It's Aria." Hermione called out, stopping Malfoy in his tracks. "Her name is Aria Eve Granger." She said emphasizing Granger, before walking the other direction.