Chapter 16

Two Weeks Later

"I will not have the She-Weasel in my house!" Pansy declared loudly, her teacup connecting loudly enough with the saucer in her hand that Hermione was surprised it didn't crack. There was already a cupboard full of broken china thanks to the dark haired witch's heavy hand.

"I'm not giving you an awful lot of choice. Ginny is coming over, and that is that," Hermione replied without looking up from the mornings' edition of The Daily Prophet.

"I'll have to lock up the silver!" Pansy cried, her eyes darting around the conservatory, taking in the various ornaments her mother had collected over the years, mingled amongst the books and hanging plants.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "It's gold she'll be interested in," she taunted.

Pansy, never one to skip on the dramatics, clutched the heavy chain around her neck, "Missy!" she cried, summoning one of her house elves to her side.

"Pansy, I was joking," Hermione sighed, putting the paper down as the elf popped by her mistress's side.

Pansy ignored her, "Missy, lock up the valuables. Granger here has invited a thief into my home," she instructed.

The elf bowed once and popped back out of the room without a word.

"Well, that was unnecessary," Hermione griped, picking up her own cooling cup of tea in one of the last remaining pieces of unchipped Royal Doulton, "I've already told you, we need Ginny's help."

"I'd rather ask the Giant Squid for help," Pansy sniffed, flicking her fringe back.

"I didn't know Percy and the Giant Squid were on first name basis," Hermione grinned after a sip of tea.

Pansy ignored her, stoking the belly that had popped quite noticeably in the weeks she'd been discharged from hospital. Her advanced state of pregnancy was noticeably pronounced now, "Why can't you meet somewhere else?" she finally whined when it became apparent that Hermione wasn't going to give.

"Because, you need her help too and I'm in no mood to drag your waddling arse down Diagon Alley, you walk too slow," she joked, "Now be civil to her, you never know, you might have two friends before lunch."

"Sometimes, you can be a real bitch," Pansy said, poking at her belly as she pouted.

"I've been taking lessons from the best," she replied, watching Pansy's discomfort grow, "Why don't you hold the baby elf for a while?"

"I'm fine," Pansy responded, but didn't stop poking at her protruding stomach, "There is just a foot lodged in my side."

"I'm sure…" Hermione started, but was cut off abruptly.

"I don't want the bloody elf to make me feel better. I said, I'm fine," Pansy snapped, hauling herself out of the chair, unhappy with their discovery that the baby elf held some sort of magic over the baby growing inside of her; a magic power that seemed to ease Pansy's discomfort with a single touch.

Hermione held both hands up I surrender, "Fine, be a martyr. Just be a pleasant martyr for the next few hours please, Ginny isn't happy she has to come here either."

Pansy smirked at some inner thought, "Good, means she won't be returning any time soon."

The sound of the floo being activated in Mr Parkinson's study drew Hermione's attention away. She left the conservatory to find Ginny stepping into the hallway, looking around at her surroundings in awe.

"Impressive, isn't it?" she asked her redheaded friend.

"Excessive, more like it. Does Pansy really live here alone?" Ginny asked, drawing her attention away from the curious paintings.

"With around thirty House Elves, yes," Hermione replied lightly, suddenly feeling very nervous to have the youngest Weasley there.

"As I said," Ginny continued, "excessive."

The two women stared at each other for a tortured moment before Hermione broke the uncomfortable silence, "The Morning Conservatory's this way," she said, turning back to where Pansy was no doubt stashing valuables down the couch cushions.

"She has a conservatory?" Ginny asked, catching up with her quickly.

"Three, actually. There are four ballrooms, twenty three bedrooms, twice as many bathrooms, and rooms that not even Parkinson knows what they're used for," Hermione replied, grateful to reach the aforementioned Morning Conservatory when it was clear Ginny wasn't impressed with the Parkinson families display of wealth.

Hermione huffed out a sigh and rolled here eyes when she saw Pansy, seated upon a golden peacock chair facing the entrance to the room, looking both formidable and comical.

"Weaslette," Pansy greeted, her chin high.

Ginny shot Hermione a glance from the corner of her eye, looking like she was biting her tongue.

"Uh, Parkinson," Ginny greeted back, the laughter evident in her voice.

Hermione continued into the room, resuming her seat, "Ignore her Gin, she's insane."

Her tea had gone cold in the time she had left the room. The morning wasn't going to be improving any time soon, apparently.

Ginny sat down on the love seat opposite her, smoothing her green robes over her knees, her wary eye still on Pansy, who hadn't moved, but was glaring at Hermione.

"So, this is where you've been hiding out," Ginny said, breaking the awkward silence, her eyes darting between Hermione and Pansy with curiosity.

Hermione huffed out another breath, second guessing her carefully laid plans, "Yup, this is where I've been. But you can't tell anyone I'm here, not until I'm ready."

"You know I wouldn't," Ginny defended, her attention leaving the dark haired witch to focus solely on the woman she considered her best friend, "But we've been worried sick. You left the hospital and that was it – the wedding is less than two weeks away Hermione."

"I'm not getting married," Hermione told her solemnly.

Ginny visibly started, her jaw dropped and she gaped like a fish for a moment before turning a brilliant shade of red, "What lies has she been feeding you?" she finally came out with, pointing an accusatory finger in Pansy's direction.

"No lies, Weasley. I only told her the truth, which is more than the rest of her friends have been doing these last few months," Pansy drawled, unaffected by Ginny's accusations.

Ginny gave her a long stare before turning back to Hermione, "You love Ron, Hermione. And he loves you. This is just cold feet!"

"Is it?" Hermione whispered, "Did you know, Gin? Did you know he was seeing someone else?"

The colour drained from Ginny's face, her gaze shifted again and Hermione knew.

"I suspected," she finally admitted.

"And Harry, did he know?" Hermione asked, hearing her voice waver.

Ginny looked her in the eye again, "We've never discussed it, but I think he's been making excuses for Ron for a long time."

"And you still encouraged her to go through with the wedding? Some friend you are," Pansy scoffed, breaking the tension between the two Gryffindors.

Ginny swung to face Pansy again, "And you are involved, how? Last I heard you were trying to kill Hermione and yourself. Why are you even involved?"

Hermione watched as Pansy stroked her belly, the only obvious sign of her discomfort.

"Pansy needs to be here. We both need your help," Hermione explained softly.

Ginny shook her head back and forth, "No, absolutely not. I will not help that pug-faced cow. Especially after she tried to kill you," her face started to glow bright red as her anger rose, "Merlin, Hermione! You still have to use a cane and yet you sit here in her house defending her… helping her!"

Hermione took a deep breath, shutting her eyes against the headache that lodged deep in her temple, "Ginny, you're one of my best friends. You're my sister. I need you to understand that I never meant to hurt our family."

"What are you talking about?"

Pansy chose that unfortunate moment to find her voice again, obviously tired of Hermione's approach, "She's shagging the twins, Ron's cheating on her, and I'm pregnant with Percy's baby. Welcome to the mad, mad world or Hermione Granger, Weasley."

The silence in the room was thick. Hermione could hear her pulse thundering as she watched Ginny blink in rapid succession. Pansy sat back with a smug expression on her face, watching the show with a sick sort of glee.

"I-I… 'Mione?" Ginny finally stuttered, looking to her lifelong friend as if she would deny it all, start laughing and declare the whole thing a big joke.

Hermione finally met her eyes, "It's true," she admitted.

"You… you're… with Fred?" Ginny choked.

"And George," Pansy reminded her.

"Percy?" Ginny asked, staring down at Pansy's bulging stomach.

"Congratulations," Pansy said, twisting the knife, "Aunty."

"You're insane!" Ginny gasped, moments before her eyes rolled back in her head and her body slumped in a dead faint against the love seat.

It was much, much later that night when Hermione and Pansy waved Ginny off through the floo. After what seemed like hours of accusations, explanations and finally an understanding, Hermione wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and sleep for a week.

"I hate to admit it, but calling her here was one of your smarter moves, Granger," Pansy admitted with a delicate yawn.

"I must confess, I wasn't sure how she'd react," Hermione admitted, watching the flames turn from green back to red, her thoughts roaming.

"Do you think she'll help us? She won't back out?" Pansy asked, chewing her lip.

Hermione smiled at her unlikely friend, "She won't back out. She may not like you, but that baby you're carrying is family. Ginny would do anything for family."

"Is it so much to ask that I just get Percy? I'd rather not have a mob of redheads in my house touching my silver."

"I already told, it's gold they like," Hermione reminded her, biting her tongue as an exhausted giggle escaped her.

Pansy cracked the barest of smiles before another yawn overtook her, "Well, I'm off to bed. Don't stay up all night reading, Granger."

"I won't, Mum," Hermione told her, watching the other witch leave the room, going back to studying the flames before the door had even closed.

She doubted Pansy had even made it to the staircase before she was pulling out a small pouch of floo powder from her pocket. She stared at the pouch for several moments before throwing caution to the wind and doing the one thing she'd wanted to do for weeks.

"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!" she cried clearly, stepping through the green flames with only the slightest of hesitations.

Thanks for reading! Please Review!