Omg! This chapter has taken forever! Firstly I thought I had finished, but it was too short, so I added an extra bit, and I couldn't seem to find a place to stop!! Sorry!!! I must be loosing tons of readers because of this! Sorry!

Love to:

Georginacastloepington//cyiusblack// tfobmv18// That Ella Loves // Jazii26 // kallee blackthorne // nmbr1potterfan // Madeline D Barrie/ CheekySweetChic// crossy// xxxMistressOfMalfoyxxx/ crazyelf22// CFCRockAngel

Xxx

In the Last Chapter:

"Lovely, in which case, let's get you a dress! I don't know about you, but I am really looking forward to Ron and Luna's wedding!" Ginny said walking towards her room, "it's gunna be so different to everyone else's, a real laugh."

"I completely agree. I can't think of anyone else who will have Nargles and crumple horned snorkacks for company," Hermione laughed following her.


Chapter 11: Goodbye Cara

When Hermione woke in the morning it was due to the sharpness of the rising suns blasting through the window reflecting off the mirror straight into her face. She smiled and looked around to find the room empty and the shower running. Draco and his bloody shower. She hadn't seen him come in last night and was so asleep she didn't realise that he had got into bed with her. In fact, she could hardly remember much of last night after they went from dresses to shoes to handbags in Ginny's wardrobe. They had managed to pull together a whole outfit including jewellery and make up from Ginny's room alone. Sometimes, it really did pay to have someone like her as your best friend.

As Draco stood in the shower, the warm water pouring over his face in an almost comforting way, he thought back to last night. He had deliberately waited until Hermione was asleep until he came in to avoid any awkwardness and now he couldn't stop calling himself a coward. If they had just got the awkwardness out of the way last night, he wouldn't have to hide in the shower. Stupid logic. Taking a deep breath he turned off the water and started to dry off, ready for potions and PRC. And of course, Hermione.

He walked out into his room to be faced with Hermione who was sat on the bed looking fairly awkward.

"What?" he asked slightly worried.

"Cara. We have to give her back today," she said simply. Draco remembered that it was indeed the day to give her back. Even though he knew she was just a toy, he had developed a close bond with her. He would be sad to see her go. But also mildly excited at the thought of being alone with Hermione again…

"So….. Shall we head to breakfast then?" Draco asked her.

"Yeah, just a moment, need to get my bag. Should we wait for Ginny and Blaise?" Hermione replied, she didn't feel up to being alone with Draco for a long period of time.

"Good idea," Draco smiled. He went to check on Blaise and Ginny whilst Hermione fetched her bag.

"Damn it," Draco muttered when he saw the empty room.

"Did you say something?" Hermione called.

"They're not here. They must have already gone."

There was silence from the next room. Hermione cursed to herself.

"Oh, well then I guess we'll just walk together then," Hermione said when Draco came back into their room. He nodded.

They left the common room together and followed a few couples ahead of them down the main staircase.

"I can't believe that we have to give Cara back today," Draco said. He didn't really want to talk to Hermione, but he also didn't want to walk in awkward silence.

"I know, I've gotten really close to her. It's hard to believe she isn't real," Hermione smiled in reply.

"I know what you mean. Sometimes I really hate magic," he said. Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. "Well think about it," he said in explanation, "If we were Muggles, life would be so much simpler. Sure we wouldn't be able to have the really useful stuff like house elves-" for this he earned a glare from Hermione, "-but we wouldn't have to deal with any sorts of trouble that magic brings with it. Like the Voldemort, or a stupid doll that acts like a real child!"

"Mmm," Hermione said, "I'm not quite sure what to say to that Draco. Give me five minutes, I'll think of something witty eventually."

"Why can you not think of anything to say? Just agree… it's not hard," Draco smirked.

"Hmm just agree you say? Because everything always works out so well when people just agree," she said sarcastically.

"Yep they do," he said equally joking and grinning whilst he said that, "and don't you know it Hermione Granger." They smiled at each other, looked away and fell into silence.

Why is he not mentioning last night? Should I bring it up? Should I tell him I like him? Or wait? Damn it! I wish I was a Legilimens! Oh crap! He is!! Oh damn! Shush Hermione think of something else like… like… umm… my dress yeah, my dress is nice…

She walked facing the front, smiling to herself. By the look of things, Draco had been very pre occupied with his own thinking and hadn't been using Legilimency against her, so it was all ok. Hermione breathed a small sigh of relief and started daydreaming.

"Hey!" Hermione exclaimed after several staircase's of silence. Draco jumped in surprise and turned around to look at her, at this she had to laugh.

"Is there an end to this sentence or did you just do it to make me jump?" he said inquisitively.

"Yeah," she said pulling herself together, "I just thought, can we have a sunset wedding? I mean, it is in February so it won't be too late at night….and this way, the after wedding dinner thingy will run into the reception and the people who weren't invited to the ceremony will get to see everyone in their wedding stuff. Also it gives me all day to freak out." She finished smiling.

"Sure, I'd like that. We can magically heat the air and have the reception outside, in the snow with lights." he said enthusiastic about it.

Hermione smiled as they entered the great hall and spotted Ginny and Blaise.

Potions past in a slight blur. As a rule the babies were not allowed near the potions for obvious reasons involving Neville (god knows why he was allowed to continue potions) and a badly made calming draught, which caused his and Hannah's SimKid- Joel- to fall asleep and not wake for 3 days. This rule unfortunately meant Draco and Hermione could not spend the last hour with Cara in their arms and had to drop her in the corner with the other children.

As they ascended the stairs towards PRC, they met with Ginny and Blaise who both had worried expressions wound in their faces, causing Hermione concern.

"What's up?" Hermione asked them after passing Cara to Draco and ran up the stairs to catch up with them.

"Just motherly instincts over coming her," smiled Blaise briefly before turning to Ginny, and giving her a sympathetic squeeze.

"It hard to think that they are just dolls isn't it?" Ginny said sadly.

"Yeah," Hermione answered "I know… I said the same thing to Draco this morning. Its gunna be weird not having them around."

They entered the classroom and sat in the same seats as they had done since the beginning of term. As she sat down she smiled sadly at Draco, who was sat with Cara. McGonagall entered the room. Lets face the music.

"Now," started Professor McGonagall started, "As I am sure you all know, today is the day when you will give your SimKids back. We have decided to do this in the most painless way possible considering you have all got close to your SimKids and it could be upsetting to some to have to leave them behind. So during this lesson, you will be taking a team quiz on how to look after a new born baby. Your teams will be your rooms and you will be competing against each of the other rooms in here to win fifty room points. So you don't cheat in any way, shape or form, your SimKids will be placed in the pen in the corner, and over looked by Professor Sprout. Everyone clear?"

No one said anything so she continued, "Right. We need 3 tables of 6, and all SimKids in the playpen. Go." Professor McGonagall finished and there was a flurry of movement. Hermione got up and proceeded to try and drag the table across the classroom towards Ginny and Blaise's. Draco just looked at her.

"What?" she asked defensively.

"Hermione. Are you a witch or not? Levitate it!" Draco laughed and went to take Cara to the playpen. Hermione smiled and said Wingardium Leviosa. She watched as hers and Ginny's table met in the far left of the classroom, shortly joined by one levitated by Harry. They all sat down and waited for their other halves to join them.

"Okay," said Professor McGonagall when everyone had settled into their corresponding teams. "There are several questions. You will have to confer as a group and write down your answer. Each table will have a silencing charm placed around it so no other team can hear what you're conferring. Ready?" With everyone nodding she cast the silencing charm. "Now will one of you from each table shout something so I can be sure the charms are working?"

With a wicked grin Draco shouted, "bubbling!" at the top of his voice causing the whole of the table including Pansy, who to be honest had been a right bitch since she hadn't been getting sex, to burst into peals of laughter.

"Bubbling?!" questioned Hermione still laughing.

"Yeah!" Draco answered, "It's a funny word, say it in a French accent!"

Hermione stuck a French accent on the word bubbling, just to humour Draco, and realised he had been right. This caused more laughter to be heard.

Professor McGonagall stood on the outside of the silencing charms looking at the table allocated to room 16. They all seemed to be laughing hysterically at something. After pondering for a minute on what could possibly be that funny, she decided she didn't care, and what mattered was that the silencing charms were working. She made sure everyone was listening by clapping her hands. When she could tell she had their undivided attention she preceded.

"Can everyone hear me?" she asked when everyone nodded she began, "Name 3 things a newborn would need-"

The next hour past in much the same way, questions being asked, Draco coming up with stupid answers and Hermione hitting him for it and saying the correct answers. For example for the question "Your 3 year old has your wand and won't give it up, what do you do?" Draco's answer "Give them a good slap around the head." Hermione did not deem appropriate and responded with giving Draco a 'good slap around the head' and the answer, "bribe the youngster to give it back, with, for example, a new toy."

All in all, for what was to happen at the end of the lesson, it was fairly enjoyable.

The bell went with room 16 coming second to room 15, although they only had 5 minutes to get to the following lesson no one got up. They just looked at one another. Professor McGonagall smiled, "Shouldn't you all be going to your next class?" she asked.

"But Professor, what will happen to the SimKids now?" asked Hannah Abbott from across the room.

"You needn't worry. The SimKids will be left in this classroom, and during next period they will be sent back to the Ministry for deactivation. Now any more questions? Because I'm sure you all have a lesson to go to, am I correct?" she finished.

"Yes Professor," several people muttered and they grabbed their bags and walked out the room, some with sad looks upon their faces and other waving sadly to their adopted children. When they were out in the corridor, the scene was a vision of sadness. All of the makeshift couples were stood together, silently mourning the child that was never theirs, not a single smile brightened the place and nobody dared to speak. All had now experienced what a parent would feel like, had they lost a child, and Harry finally understood why his parents had sacrificed themselves for him when he was so young, because anyway else they would be hurting, and death was easier than all of the pain and anguish they would have to live with.

Hermione stood with Draco in the corridor thinking. Never before had she realised, there was a name for a child who had lost their parents, orphan, there was a name for someone who had lost their spouse, widow, however, there wasn't a name for someone who had lost a child.

"It's going to be so quite without her," she whispered to Draco as a tear silently slipping down her cheek.

"Yeah…" Draco murmured back to her putting his arm around her shoulders and embracing her. "Come on, let's skip next period, we can go down to the lake."

Hermione nodded into him and allowed him to lead her out suddenly feeling very small in his large arms.

Okay guys, I'm sorry the ending to this is pretty crap, but I had serious writers block on it, I couldn't seem to comprehend in words the pain Hermione and Draco would feel after losing there child. I tried so hard during the past few chapters to make it so Cara was still a doll and not there child, but it seemed impossible, given she was what helped them make up from the Pansy incident. I'm hoping I can use this to bring them closer together. Also, next chapter might be Ron and Luna's engagement, it might not, entirely depends on how long the lake scene is, it wasn't supposed to happen tbh, but when I write, I let go and my laptop does the thinking, Brilliant in one way, MAJOR suckage on the other. Sorry for the lateness and thanks Soooo much too all my reviewers. You all rock my socks!

Natalie

xxxx

PS: If you replace a previous chapter with another one, do you lose reviews? Because Claire wants to edit her first few chapters (add detail etc) but she doesn't know if she loses the reviews she already has...

Love It? Hate It? Review It?