Hermione kept reading the note over and over again, and examining the ring. She watched the light dance off of it as she turned it over and over. She kept trying her hardest not to cry as she thought about the things she said to him. The awful, horribly, cold, heartless things she had said. She bit back tears, and read the note again.
Her vision was blurred by tears, and she put the ring back in the box, and the note along with it. She bit her lip and found a way to put it exactly where it was, and put everything back in the drawer. The big impact that such a small box made on her shook her down to her core. She sat down on the bed and buried her hands in her face, trying her hardest to think of what to do next. It was a typical moment of 'Should I stay or should I go?' And she honestly didn't have the answer. The queen of Gryffindor had no idea what in the hell to do.
She always knew what to do and what to say, but at this moment, she had no idea what to do. If she stayed, she could be putting herself at risk. The risk of him doing the same thing he had done before. And what about Erika? How could Hermione be sure that Draco wouldn't do the same to her? But if she left, what if she was missing out on her one true love? Or a proper father for her infant daughter?
'How could this happen to me? I knew everything. I expected everything. I didn't expect to lose my virginity by rape. I didn't expect to choose to sleep with him. I didn't expect to get pregnant by him. I didn't expect to move in with him. I didn't expect to love him. I didn't expect him to love my daughter. I didn't expect him to have us move in. I didn't expect the heart attack. I didn't expect him to propose. I didn't expect to have second doubts. I don't know what to do, or what to think, or how to feel right now. Life is spiraling out of my comfort zone one event at a time...'
She stopped thinking as she heard Erika crying. It was time to feed her again. Hermione sighed and stood up, exhausted from lack of sleep, motherhood and recent events. She forced herself down the hall, and into Erika's room, where half a dozen House Elf women were trying to entertain and console her. Snuckah, Tutzeh, Rahna and Skouras, the House Elves, were waving toys and noisy contraptions, trying to make her stop crying. Hermione politely dismissed them and asked them to begin preparing breakfast, asking for pancakes, eggs, toast and bacon.
The House Elves all acquiesced to her request, as they usually did. She picked up the screaming child and sat down in the chair across the room from her crib and pulled down her shirt, and pulled down the front flap of her maternity bra. The infant latched on and got her fill, while Hermione did nothing but hold her in place and think. She thought about her future, or the type of future she could possibly have with Draco Malfoy.
Erika was done, so Hermione fixed her bra and shirt and sat the baby up on her shoulder and burped her, before laying her back down. She slumped her way back into her room and crashed down on the bed, burying her face in a pillow. She could smell him, and, while it had never had an effect on her before, it made her tear up.
Her breath caught in her throat and she felt the worst emotions running through her. Fear, worry, love, anger, depression, frustration.
She was terrified to leave Draco, but even more terrified to be with him. She was worried that she couldn't take care of Erika by herself, but even more worried that her dysfunctional relationship with Draco would ruin their daughter's childhood. Love for her daughter, and love for the man Draco could be if he really wanted to be.
Anger that she allowed herself to get into the situation she was in, and anger towards Draco for what he did to her. Depressed about how her life was turning out. Frustration that she hadn't become a Healer by now like she had intended while she was still in school. She was not going to be a statistic of unwed mothers.
She was going to be a Healer, or a professor, or work at the Ministry of Magic, or anything, really, but what she was now. She was going to marry a Healer and when the time was right, have children. But life for her didn't go according to plan. She had just read a note from the man who raped her, saying he wanted to marry her and she considered it. It could help her a lot, especially when it came to the future of her daughter.
She walked into the kitchen, and felt her eyes welling up with tears as she saw two men before her, two men that had nothing but pain they wanted to cause to others on their minds. Her eyes met eyes that were quite familiar to her. The same cold, empty gray eyes. She stepped back, her back hitting the wall.
The two men stepped closer and engulfed her within a black cape. She felt her hand touch something weird, but before she could figure out exactly what it was, she was being hurled through time and places. She felt ill as her feet crashed firmly to the ground. She was given a moment to take in her surroundings before she was pushed into a dark, cold, damp room. She tried to scream but had no voice.