Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my pink book bag and whatever else is in this story that doesn't make sense. I was inspired by another romance novel i read and J.K. Rowlings wonderful world. Enjoy!

- Chapter 4 -

"Wrapped So Pretty"

What had she gotten herself into? Granger's stomach began to turn flips as she made her way into the ladies room of the pub. The name of the pub was the Dungeon, and it was where Esa worked. The fiery waitress and Ginny had made all the arrangements for tonight.

Portnahaven was a small wizarding village along the coastlines and this was suppose to be the big night of Hermione's worst blinddate ever. Ginny had set up the arrangements to bring her here to meet the guys for the big setup. Later, they would travel by floo to Malfoy's palace.

Hermione ignored the other women standing by the sink talking and she marched straight into the nearest stall, closed down the latch and, locked it. She then seriously consider casting a nosebleeding spell upon herself just to find a sure way out of this horrid scheme. She just stood there for a moment in silence, her skin prickling down her arm, and her brain trying to find a rational explanation as to why becoming a mother was suddenly so very important to her.

Only four days ago, she was at home in her peaceful little apartment, reaching for the next well thoughtout goal, expanding firmly in the back of her mind for the next few weeks ahead as she turned a new page in a new journal she'd purchased... she continued writing... Her last few journals were filled with her deepest thoughts about her loneliness without her parents, especially without her mother there. Hermione had tried only once to reverse the obliviation spell. She first tried to repair her father's memory, but the muggle mind is far more frail than the mind of an average witch or wizard. She nearly killed her own father. The dream she'd implanted into his mind was all mixed up with reality. He only recalled her being the neighbor's darling kid and he kept trying to call London for her father. Mr. Granger was convinced both her parents were worried sick about her so far from home. Each day, Hermione would visit and each time he made a call. With no memory of making a call the day before; it was a wrong number; then a week after her second try the seizures started and they were the most unnatural episodes of attacks she'd ever seen and it terrified her mother. Her mother, Mrs. Granger could not remember her daughter either, but soon began to make a connection between Hermione and her husbands sudden illness. Her own mother began to accuse her of being a evil witch and deliberately wanting to kill her husband.

Time passed and even though the pain and longing for her mother was still there, Hermione stopped writing about her completely, the pain was too much sometimes... and besides she had Ron now.

Hermione had found a new place, a sweet cottage home no less than one-hundred twenty kilometers from Diagon Alley.

Change was never easy, but she decided to move back into the magical world against her fears of bumping into Ron again. She couldn't let a breakup ruin her life. So she took charge of her grief once again, and bought the cottage home. Everything was looking up at last, then this insanity of wanting her own child had fallen from the sky, possessed her completely and in one night, after all those years of orderly thinking, suddenly rational judgment was being overthrown by her biological clock.

She caught her breath and sat down on the lid of the toilet seat, remembering all the times she'd disapproved of when Harry would behave too irrationally. Now look at her, tittering on the point of no return, or at least she felt that way.

She didn't have to see this through. No she could ask for a few more days to mull it over.

And with this new triggered thought now firmly in mind she stood in the bathroom stall realizing she made a terrible mistake coming here. Not only that, but she'd forgotten the bylaws of logical and rational subjective thinking. She now accepted that her left-brain world had filled up with bewildering gardens and a nursery filled with child toys and bewitching bedtime storybooks.

Maybe this truly was just some rebellious streak against Ronald leaving her over another witch. Maybe it was a major, major side effect of her mourning the lost of her own parents. Maybe, deep down there was anger over lost childhood, and her newly severed friendship now ruined after it had some how blossomed into a poorly held together romantic failure that had primarily been based on crazier times. And possibly all this combined with the fact that she was denying the truth of being maybe just a little bored with her mundane life of having no one... and so maybe, just maybe she was more than a little lonely.

There, finally, at last she was squaring away the pegs with a clear mind. Because she knew that Malfoy was an all around hater of muggleborns and this arrangement was destin to be a disaster, in fact there was no doubt this entire plan was awful.

Or maybe it just fate. Replied the tiny voice in her head.

'Fate?' she asked, questioning her own inner thoughts. And the moment the one word was out of her mouth, she wished she could take it back. She wasn't one to put much into mystical omens, nor the whole cosmic belief of prophetical signs or any of that stuff, but was it more than a coincidence that Malfoy's birthday fell exactly at her most fertile time of the month? And was it also some divine coincidence that she just happen to bump into his mother the day before Ginny's and Esa's arrival? Hermione had gone to put in the deposit on her new home when she bumped into Mrs. Malfoy along the way, and they renew their acquaintance with a warm smile and gentle nod of hello.

All she had to do was go through with tonight and by this time tomorrow she would be pregnant and could put this silly world of man seeking behind her forever. It would just be her and her sweet little baby, in their new home.

Some people might have thought she was being selfish, but her longing for a baby didn't feel selfish it felt right and she can't recall ever wanting anything more in her life.

She truly wanted someone more like her whom she could share life with. Just this morning she had imagined herself years from now in her new beautiful brick home, resting under an old oak tree, well advanced in her career as a ministry matron and a small noise would come in to break her concentration; the sound of her soon to be child coming up to join her as she read alone."Mum, will we practice more magic today...pleeeaaase?"

And in her vision she would abandon her workdays to do whatever the little love of her life wanted.

The sound of the chattering witches faded as they left the restroom and she knew she was alone.

Hermione knew she couldn't hide in the stall forever and hated the idea of cowering away from the likes of Malfoy. Years beyond Hogwarts, and the idea of the bratty Slytherin still irked her a little.

Finally, she flung the door open, and as she slipped out of the stall. She caught another glimpse of Esa's and Ginny's handy work upon her and touched her hair. For a fraction of a second she thought the reflection belong to some other witch standing in the restroom with her; the reflection could not belong to her..

Together Esa and Ginny worked a charm to lengthen her hair just for tonight and turned it as solid black as a raven's wing with wild waves clear past her delicate waistline. Her makeup: darkly trimmed eyes Ginny applied with a heavy hand to conceal the natural brown of her own eyes, which Ginny had wanted to change those too, but Hermione wouldn't hear of it.

The reflection of the young witch looking back at her look dangerously sensual and with a look that clearly said free agent! Her gaze finally dropped to the dress that she and Esa had shopped for together. Hermione adjusted the diamond linked spaghetti straps. It was a metallic looking snake skin dress, so body tight they could have painted the mini cocktail on and gotten the same result. From a front view, for Hermione's taste it was mildly acceptable, but more flirtaous than anything she's ever worn before. The true attention grabber of the erotic mini dress was in the back. A large cutout devoted to exposing the sensual curve of her hips, most of her lower backside and her slender waistline. For her taste it was utterly tasteless making her feel hopelessly nude. She would have never dreamed of buying such a gutter-style garment, but those two had successfully disguise her identity and Gin said she had to do it all the way; looks, style, everything if she didn't want to be found out. A poly juice potion was too unreliable to trust when the night got heated. It was wisest to keep everything closer to natural and go with the longevity of a glamour charm.

Hermione had picked out a lovely cream colored blouse and skirt that saved her some modesty. She thought it was an adorable dinner ensemble, but Esa told her that hooker's don't wear those kind of clothes. Hermione had to admit she enjoyed the other witch's bubbly humor even if she didn't approve of her choice of fashion. Esa was a little shallow and interested only in scanty clothes, going to bars, collecting quidditch stars, getting drunk and after parties.

Ten minutes later...

Hermione was still standing in front of the mirror, gripping the basin. She had not yet left the ladies restroom.

This whole plan was insane! And the more she thought of it, the more insane it became. She reached into her tiny hand bag where she had packed a change of clothes just in case she came to her senses in a nick of time. Panic swelled up inside of her and she couldn't find the tiny parcel of clothing fast enough.

Ginny burst through the door fuming "What the hell is keeping you? Zabini's outside waiting for you!" she rushed in with her red hair flying as the door flung open letting the roar of the music follow her inside.

Gin stared directly at Granger.

"Gin we can't! I mean its one thing to talk about it, even plan it. But to actually go through with it. I …I don't think I can. I- I've changed my mind we can't...I ...I can't do this." Hermione kept fumbling around in her handbag hoping to grip either her wand or the spare trousers she packed.

" I knew it! You're not gonna chicken out on me now?" grumbled Ginny. She knew she would do this, and planned ahead for it. She was not about to screw up her promise to Esa. E'sa wanted to bed Zabini sure, but truth be told he had been chasing Ginny since Hogwarts, and she turned him down flat several times. So when E'sa offered to hitch her with a rendezvous with Harry Potter for helping her land number twelve, Ginny couldn't contain herself. But if she could just get Hermione to go through with tonight, Zabini would likely listen to anything Ginny said about Esa, and Esa swore she'd make attachments on Harry's next reservation night in exchange.

Ginny rushed over and withdrew a tiny red bottle from her back pocket.

"Down it!" ordered Ginny.

"No! what is that?"

"What do you mean? it's a potion. One of my damn best creations I might add." Ginny explained

"I don't know…."

"Trust me. Its bloodroot! You're scared right? About to poop your panties right? So do you want that kid or not…..Down it! It's just what you need."

"I've learned my lesson once about drinking strange potions."

"Yeah, Yeah. So do you want a little Hermione or not?" Ginny stated flatly.

The perfect image of her baby swelled up in Granger's mind. "You know I do." she paused as the string on her heart gave a tug at the fantasy.

"Then just drink the fucking potion Hermione and come on the guy is ready to leave. He thinks Esa didn't come true on her deal."

She downed the bitter bloodroot potion and protested again as Ginny dragged her out by the arm quickly. Black and ginger hair flying as the door flung back open. The atmosphere of the place was full blown with energy. Dance music blasting from invisible speakers so loudly Hermione felt as if she would evaporate from the vibration of the music. She spotted a lengthy counter section in the place and instantly knew it had to be the bar. She spotted Esa blending cocktails with her wand.

A group of people brushed past her, some laughing, some passing shots of green smoky liquor, and others simply passing by with food orders.

She and Ginny moved through a group of strange american wizards and Hermione noticed several of them staring at her. For a moment she thought maybe something was wrong, that maybe she had a stream of tissue had been dragging behind her high heel, but no the look they gave wasn't curosity, it was purely animal. And the potion was working on her because she flashed a smile back at one curly haired stranger dress in red quidditch gear.

"Holy shit! " Gin stopped dead suddenly.

"What?"

"Your name! Think of another name quick….nobody should know you're real name. It'll kill the whole damn plan." Ginny gave her an apologetic look that said sorry, but you're not a pureblood so no one must know remember.

Hermione gave it some thought. "Moine…sounds nice. Herm... or what about my middle name?"

"Those will do I guess, but can't you think of something sexy or super out of the ordinary?" Ginny asked trying to make her voice sound sympathetic. Gin spun her around on her heels and pointed at a round table of bouncy, giggling females taking part in an arms challenge and she began to name off some of the most seductive looking witches Hermione ever encounter in her adult life. "That's Candy but her real name is Susan, of course you know E'sa. The girl with the see-through red mini skirt on; her name is Fundu. Then there's Olga, Penny, Kit and Kat the twins. Over there is Bunny, we call her that cause she's bounced off every captain's um...broom stick. And then there's me Gin. -So here!" Ginny said and tossed a random cup into Hermione's hand as another waitress slipped by them in the crowd levitating her tray. Gin pressed the green liquor to Hermione's lips, forcing her to drink up.

"You're name will be ...Butter."

"What? That's horrible." Hermione replied as she spat out most of the liquid.

Ginny then swung her around so fast that she went tumbling right into a tall, handsome wizard standing well at six feet. This man could easily be a conversation piece with his dark good looks.

His dark brown eyes scanned over Hermione with pure interest. A vein twitched in his jaw and he cocked a brow and smiled brightly greeting her. His interesting features sent a trickle down her spine, right into her sensitive parts. The bloodroot surely had to be working its magic; Hermione had a mental image of those strong hands of his all over her breast. That same tingling traveling between her legs and got stronger as his fingers penetrated her through the fantasy..panties

panties! she wasn't wearing panties in this fantasy.

Just then, her lusty dream broke and E'sa appeared next to her carrying a tray filled with more tiny shot glasses of the bittersweet green liquor. "And 'ere she is, don't 'eva let anybody say E'sa can't deliver."

"You sure out did yourselves ladies," The Slytherin bully she remembered so well from school. Blaise Zabini. He raked over her body with those eyes of his. "This one is all class. So ….got a name beautiful?" he asked her.

Hermione was feeling so warm and fuzzy from Gin's potion she couldn't think, she could only feel arousal harkening closer, moving deeper into her... Sweet Merlin! Her brain was frozen her fantasy was a sexually raw of adventure with Zabini. The meer closeness of him was leaving her breathless and unbelievably turned on. What was wrong with her? Her brain never freezes, not ever! Hermione shoved a second drink to her lips and swallowed a mouth full. She couldn't talk... she couldn't find words.

"Her name is Butter," shouted Ginny coming to Hermione's rescue, the music nearly drowning her voice out.

"Butter is it. Nice to meet you Butter." said Zabini.

Hermione lowered her empty shot glass, and her eyes feel to the open V-cut in his shirt, revealing that teasing portion of his chest and a pewter chain that held the Hogwarts emblem. She wanted him, like in really really bad way, she truly wanted him. He leaned back against the wall with a perfect pose staring at her. "Got a last name Butter?" he asked and gave her a smile.

Hermione coughed on the alcohol she'd been holding in her mouth and regarded his stare as an invitation to move closer.

Lying never came easily for her and if he would just touch her... just once. Oh Merlin help, what was she doing?

"Cup!" said E'sa quickly, taking the glass from Hermione's hand before she dropped it. Esa gave her a sharp slap on her ass forcing her to swallow the last of the absinthe.

Hermione jerked forward slightly when the other witch's hand sounded off on her rear end with a smack!

"Yep, here she is the one and only Buttercup." Ginny added.

"Is that right?" Zabini lifted up from the wall and took two shot glasses of absinthe from Esa's tray offering one more to Hermione to toast with him. This time she downed it with ease now and moved closer towards the wizard when he reached out for her. Holding her hands up and outward in his, Zabini took in a eye full of Draco's prize for tonight. "Well Ms. Buttercup, I do love sweets my lady." he replied.

Hermione allowed him to examine her, even touch her, he stroked her right there on the dance floor.

Since this whole thing got started she's gone through more monstrous examination than she thought she could handle. But rather than object, the effects of Ginny's tonic made her smile and love this one man's approach the most as she allowed his intrusive playfulness upon her body.

"Oh I almost forgot." he said releasing his hands from hers. He put his right hand into to the open slit of his shirt and pulled out his wand. And the next thing Hermione knew there was a big, fat, large green bow draping from around her neck, its long tail dropping to her waistline.

"I hardly doubt that -" she lifted her hands up to her throat and touched the silky loops of the bow. " I hardly think this will be necessary. I don't want to wear this!" she began to protest, but the hideous thing simply wouldn't come off no matter how she tugged at it.

"Too bad Buttercup, you're a birthday present now and Draco is really gonna love you."