5 January, Wednesday, 2230 GMT
Draco had removed his bowtie as he sat on his bed in his room at the manor. He could still hear the music from the belated New Year's party downstairs in the ballroom. He blew out a breath as he thought about the holiday season. He would have one more week of holiday before heading back to Hogwarts next Friday.
His mind was somewhere else. He couldn't stop thinking of his old childhood rival; the Muggle-born witch that had always gotten the best of him. 'Why hadn't she written back to him?' he thought to himself.
"You know what?" he asked himself aloud. "Time to go find out."
He walked out onto his small balcony. He waved his wand apparating to the apartment complex, in the hallway of her floor. Sure, he could have just shown up in her living room, but that would have been asking for trouble. He had wanted to be on her good side.
He gulped. He looked at his pocket watch. It read 10:30 p.m. He knocked on the door, hoping that she was still awake.
He waited anxiously for a few moments before rapping on the door again, just a little bit harder. He heard heavy footsteps approaching the door and then the safety locks disengaging.
The door swung wide open as a tall, tanned, bare-chested, muscular man filled up the doorway. Draco took a step back. 'So this must be her new boyfriend,' he thought as the brown haired crew cut young man scratched his head.
"Can I help you?" the young man asked, a little upset at being woken up from his slumber.
Draco cleared his throat, mustering up the courage to address the hulking figure. "Is Hermione home?" the blonde wizard was able to get out.
"Who?" the other man answered.
"Dr. Hermione Granger?" Draco asked, clenching his fist, ready to defend himself.
"Look man, I think you got the wrong apartment."
Draco looked at him. He looked up and down the hallway. "Fifty Six A, right?"
"Yeah," the half-naked man said as he pointed at the number plate on his door. "Nobody named Granger here."
"Oh," Draco said taking in a deep breath.
"Look, I moved in a month ago," the man yawned.
"I'm really sorry," Draco said as he backed away.
"Hey, no problem man. Happy New Year to you," the man closed the door behind him.
Draco sighed. She moved. For a moment, he didn't know what to do next. He walked down the hallway and headed for the lift.
"Mrs. Thompson," he said to himself as the lift dinged for the lobby.
Draco walked quickly to the landlady's apartment. He knocked, hoping to be able to get some information on the whereabouts of his childhood acquaintance.
"Mrs. Thompson? You probably don't remember me," Draco began.
Mrs. Thompson shut one of her eyes, studying the familiar looking young man. She nodded her head, "Mr. Malfoy. Hermione's friend, right?"
"Yes," Draco said. "You wouldn't happen to know where she is, would you?"
"She moved out at the beginning of November," she said, yawning. "She's probably staying with the baby's father."
Draco seemed to get paler than he usually was. He took in a breath not believing his ears. "Baby's father?"
"Yeah, she's pregnant, didn't you know?"
"I've been away," Draco said. "Did she mention where that would be?"
"Nope. No forwarding address," she looked at the young man.
Draco nodded at her before excusing himself. He walked out of the apartment building. He stood on the stoop for a while before deciding to go to the Leaky Cauldron and maybe have a drink or two.
o-o-o
5 January, Wednesday, 2308 GMT
"Doctor Granger, you still here?" Amelia Rodriguez, one of the night nurses asked as she looked at the digital clock above the Admissions desk; it read 11:08 p.m.
"I was just about to go, actually," Hermione said as she signed off on several medical forms.
"Amy's right, Hermione," her supervisor, Dr. Elizabeth Masterson, said laughing.
"Alright, already," Hermione sighed holding her hands up in mock exasperation. "I'll see you guys in two days."
"You haven't put her on maternity yet, Liz?" Dr. Maureen Alistaire said, as she waited patiently for the page for her to go upstairs to maternity for a patient who was at seven and a half centimeters.
"You really should take advantage of your maternity leave, Hermione," Dr. Masterson said motherly.
Hermione looked at her mentor shrugging. "I want to work up until the delivery. I've got everything all lined up already. I'm alright, really."
Dr. Masterson nodded her head. "See she won't listen to me," the older doctor shrugged at the OB/GYN. Dr. Masterson squeezed the younger woman's hand. "Hermione, I think you should head home and get some rest."
o-o-o
5 January, Wednesday, 2330 GMT
It was warm for a winter's night. She wrapped her doctor's coat around her anyway. There was no snow in the forecast but it did say there could be a chance of rain later on that night. Either way, there was five centimeters of shoveled snow piled up on the sidewalks as the road crews cleared the roadways. She shivered as she neared her destination, a good seven blocks away from the hospital, not noticing the tuxedo jacket clad young man mirroring her steps across the street since she left the hospital.
She entered the small women's shelter, peeking down at her watch, 11:30 p.m. She yawned as she headed toward her small locker to put up her medical coat. She had showered and changed into new scrubs before leaving the hospital, her make-shift sleepwear.
She headed to the communal bathroom. She looked in the mirror after brushing her teeth. She rinsed her mouth and then splashed some water on her face. 'One more day through,' she thought to herself. She blew out a breath as she headed back to her locker to put away her toothbrush before heading to her cot in the hall.
She found the empty cot near the center back of the high-walled hall. She snapped open the wool blanket, not very comfortable but very warm. She slipped out of her white trainers that she had untied in the bathroom. She kept her socks on as she pulled the blanket over her. She tried to get comfortable as she placed her head on the pillow, her eyes shut.
The young man had snuck into the hall, hiding in the shadows. He saw her remove her trainers before lying on the cot. He looked around before waving his wand, apparating.
He looked down at her as she slept on her side, her belly protruding. He had to blink rapidly, trying to clear his vision. He had three fire whiskeys at the Cauldron, which for him wasn't much. The walk from the bar to the hospital sobered him quickly. Coincidentally, he had caught sight of her as she left the ER doors.
He looked down at her again. He poked her leg with his wand. "Hey," he whispered loudly, a bit harshly.
Hermione was startled, bolting upward. She breathed hard. She squinted at him, "Draco? What are you doing here?"
"I should ask the same question of you?" he said sharply. "You give up fairly comfortable quarters for this?"
Hermione swung her legs over the side of the cot as several voices shushed them. She stood up shakily.
"Go home, Draco," she said, her voice almost cracking.
"Did he get tired of you?" he asked, his voice escalating as he pointed at her abdomen.
Several more people were shushing them. Others began to stir. The night manager approached.
The tall skinny older woman stood akimbo. "No gentleman in the sleeping quarters, miss," she looked directly at Hermione. "You and your husband will need to find a family shelter."
"We're not married," Draco said harshly at the woman.
"Either way," the woman said turning to Hermione. "You two will have to exit."
Hermione threw up her hands as she sat on the cot. Draco watched her quickly place her shoes on without tying the laces. She bolted upwards and walked away, leaving Draco rooted to his spot. His ears were burning. He had no reason to be angry, but he was.
o-o-o
5 January, Wednesday, 2342 GMT
She trembled for a moment as her white trainers hit the snow-covered pavement. She hadn't had time to grab her doctor's coat. She was angry with herself for allowing him to get under her skin. She walked quickly, retracing her route from earlier that evening.
She felt a hand wrap tightly around her wrist. Draco had caught up to her turning her around. She winced as she narrowed her eyes at him. She wrenched her wrist from his grasp.
"What the hell do you want?!" she said.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.
"You just got me kicked out of the shelter, Draco! I'm going away from you!" she said, her voice escalating.
"Are you going back to the bastard's father?!" he asked angrily.
She looked at him incredulously. "I'm going to grab a cot in the lounge at the hospital," she said coolly. She turned away from him, heading back towards the hospital.
"He threw you aside like some trash he couldn't wait to get rid of, you fucking whore," he said catching up to her.
"You don't know anything," she said, choking back a sob.
"No, I guess I don't. But I'm sure he does, doesn't he?" he said coldly.
"You're an asshole, Draco," she said, as tears flowed down her cheeks. She wiped her face with the back of her hands.
"Oh, yeah, well you'll always be a fucking filthy Mudblood," he said, icily, staring her down.
Her lower lip trembled, as she looked straight into his eyes. "I hate you," she said softly.
"The feeling's always been mutual, Granger!" he yelled at her before turning in a huff.
Her eyes fluttered as she watched him walk away. She gulped. She turned in the opposite direction and walked away as she could feel the cold rain drop slowly onto her shoulders. It was a good thing the streets were still empty. Nobody witnessed their shouting match.
o-o-o
5 January, Wednesday, 2346 GMT
Draco shut his eyes. As soon as he had said those awful things, he had wanted to take them back. She could always push his buttons. He blew out a breath looking up to the sky. He had to count to ten to calm himself down. He turned back.
o-o-o
Hermione's vision blurred. She gulped, trying to steady herself. She felt it before she saw it. The snow beneath her was now stained red, along with the tops of her formerly white trainers. The thin blue linen scrubs bottom was dampened with her blood; she was hemorrhaging. Her knees gave out and she soon started to feel dizzy; her equilibrium failed her.
o-o-o
Draco saw her knees wobble. He whipped out his wand and apparated, concentrating on her position. Thank Merlin the Muggle streets were empty at that hour. He landed right next to her, catching her before she could hit the ground. He saw the blood that drenched her pant legs.
"Hermione," he said patting her face. He raised his voice trying to get her attention, "Hermione!"
"Save the baby, Draco, please," she said looking into his eyes, tears streaming down her face.
"Hermione," he said as he looked at her blood drenched lower body. "You're going to be okay."
"Please," she cried, clutching at his dress shirt, before shutting her eyes, saying one last time, "Save the baby."
"No, no!" he screamed as he pulled her in closer. He waved his wand again concentrating on the Muggle hospital.
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