A/N – This is the second of the promised bonus chapters. I want to thank you all for reading and reviewing this story. I know a few people have said they're not sure if they can carry on with the story, or they might wait until it's finished to read it (presumably to see if it's going to have a happy ending, although I thought the answer would be obvious given my other stories). I have to say I completely understand, as this story is so very different from anything I've ever written before. It really is a heavy story which can get pretty dark in places, so I'm certainly not going to be offended if people decide this particular story isn't for them. I also just want to say I've just got two more chapters of this story to finish writing, and that will mean it will have 41 chapters in total.
Hermione stood beside her daughter's crib, watching as the little girl slept soundly. Hermione just wished her own night had been peaceful, but she'd had the worst night's sleep since the first day Draco was forced back to the manor. Hermione's bad night had stemmed from events of the previous night, and she'd spent most of the night lying awake worrying about Draco.
After returning from Tonks's funeral, Hermione had invited Ginny, Blaise and Theo to have dinner with her in the head dorms. It had actually been quite a nice evening, given what was going on, when Lyra had started to cry and fuss. Hermione had known instantly that Lyra's crying wasn't her normal cry, and that something was wrong with her. Sending for Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey, the pair confirmed that Lyra was irritable, due to the spell Voldemort had on her. Since Dumbledore had done all he could to make sure Lyra was merely uncomfortable rather than in severe pain, Hermione had been forced to sit watching as her little girl suffered. Of course, it also got her worrying about Draco and what Voldemort was forcing him to do using Lyra as a threat.
By the time Lyra had settled down and returned to normal, Hermione had been in bit of a state, and Blaise and Theo had insisted on staying the night in case she needed them. Hermione had been grateful to have the pair nearby as she knew they were just as worried about Draco as she was. However, she hadn't needed them during the night, she'd just lay awake worrying about Draco and what he'd been forced to do the previous evening.
Suddenly Hermione was dragged out of her thoughts by someone pounding on the door down in the common room. When Lyra began to stir at the noise, Hermione leaned over to soothe her daughter. Knowing Blaise or Theo would see who was at the door. Sure enough she heard the door opening, but it only increased the noise. Hermione could instantly hear Ron's angry voice, and although she couldn't make out what he was saying, she could tell he was yelling at either Blaise or Theo.
"Ssh, you stay asleep," Hermione whispered to her daughter as she calmed the sleeping baby back down.
Turning on Lyra's baby monitor, and grabbing the second half, Hermione slipped out of the bedroom. Heading downstairs to the common room, she found Ron and Harry facing off with Blaise and Theo. Ron was ranting about something, and Harry didn't seem too happy either, but Hermione didn't stop to find out what they were shouting about. All she cared about was the fact they were going to wake her daughter.
"Will you be quiet," she hissed angrily. "Lyra is asleep, and after last night she needs her rest."
Ron turned to Hermione, and she thought he was going to continue arguing, but instead his mouth dropped open slightly and he gave her a curious look. When Harry gave her the same look, Hermione glanced down wondering what was wrong. Almost immediately, she spotted what had given the pair such a shock. Needing to feel close to Draco the previous night, she'd pulled his Slytherin quidditch jersey on over a pair of pyjama bottoms.
"It's just a top," Theo muttered to the stunned Gryffindors. "No need to look as though Hermione's come downstairs topless."
"But it's a Slytherin top," Ron said with a grimace.
"I am not in the mood to argue about the fact I'm wearing Draco's quidditch jersey," Hermione snapped. "I've had a terrible night, which I'm assuming Ginny told you about when she headed back to Gryffindor Tower."
"She mentioned Lyra was a bit fussy," Harry said.
"It was a bit more than that," Hermione replied. She knew Ginny wouldn't have described Lyra as just being a bit fussy, as she'd witnessed just how stressed her little girl had been. "Voldemort was using the ribbon on her last night. He was forcing Draco to do something."
"That's what you think he was doing, you don't know for sure," Ron argued.
"Dumbledore seemed fairly sure," Theo pointed out. "Or don't you trust him?"
"Of course I trust Dumbledore," Ron said, his voice starting to rise again.
"Just stop it, all of you," Hermione interrupted, sensing Ron was going to start bickering again. "I don't know what the problem is, but I don't appreciate you shouting and waking Lyra up."
"Sorry," Harry apologised. "We just came to see if Ginny was right. She said Nott and Zabini were staying overnight."
"So why the shouting?" Hermione questioned.
"Weasley wasn't happy when he saw it was true," Blaise explained. "He started having a go at us as soon as we opened the door."
"Why?" Hermione asked Ron. "What does it matter if Blaise and Theo stayed over?"
"We're your best friends, we should be the ones staying with you," Ron argued with a pout.
"You weren't here," Hermione pointed out. "Blaise and Theo were, and they wanted to stay to make sure Lyra and I were okay."
"I just bet they did," Ron muttered, glaring at the Slytherins. "And which one of them is going to make a move on you first?"
"Just what are you suggesting?" Hermione demanded with a snarl. "I love Draco, and both Blaise and Theo respect that."
"Yeah, we would never make a move on our best friend's girl," Blaise agreed. "You shouldn't judge everyone by your own low standards, Weasley."
"I just know what scumbags you Slytherins are," Ron shot back. "You're after something with Hermione, I just know you are. Although judging by the fact she's already been knocked up, you might just get it."
"Ron," Harry gasped in shock.
"Get out," Hermione hissed, just as Blaise balled his hand into a fist and sent it into Ron's face.
As Ron went down with a loud yell, Lyra began to cry from upstairs. Making it clear she wanted Ron gone before she came back, Hermione went off to see to her daughter. Not trusting herself to go back downstairs where Ron might still be hanging around, Hermione remained upstairs for a while, getting both herself and Lyra ready for the day ahead. By the time she returned to the common room, nearly twenty minutes later, both Harry and Ron had gone.
"Sorry about that," Blaise apologised as Hermione settled herself on the sofa. "I just couldn't let Weasley get away with what he was insinuating."
"Ron deserved what he got," Hermione said. "Hopefully a black eye will make him think twice before he says anything like that again."
"Do you want breakfast?" Theo asked, deciding it was best to change the subject away from Weasley. "I can grab some cereal, or I can call for an elf."
"Cereal's fine," Hermione replied.
While Blaise and Theo sorted breakfast, Hermione just sat on the sofa with Lyra. Even though she knew Molly would be turning up to look after Lyra that day, she was still dreading leaving her. After the previous evening, she wasn't sure she wanted to be separated from Lyra again. What if Voldemort hurt her again, and she wasn't there to comfort her daughter?
Hermione was still having serious second thoughts about leaving Lyra to attend classes when there was a knock on the door. Figuring it was just Molly arriving early, Hermione got up to answer the door. It was Molly at the door, along with Dumbledore. Hermione initially wondered if Dumbledore had come to discuss the head student situation, but when he and Molly entered the room she could see something was bothering the pair.
"What's wrong?" She asked nervously, wondering if they had more news about what had happened to Draco the previous evening.
"Let's sit down, Hermione," Molly said gently as she led Hermione back over to the sofa.
As Molly sat Hermione down and took Lyra into her own arms, Blaise and Theo came in from the small kitchen alcove to see what was going on. Settling down beside Hermione, the pair turned to Dumbledore who was standing in front of the fire looking grave.
"What's going on?" Blaise asked. "Is it Draco? Is he okay?"
"I honestly have no idea," Dumbledore admitted. "I'm here to give Hermione some bad news. Last night I got a message from the Ministry. The Dark Mark was spotted."
"That's what they were doing to Draco," Hermione gasped. "They were forcing him to take part in something. What was he taking part in?"
"In the house under the Dark Mark, a couple were found," Dumbledore explained. "They'd been tortured and killed. I'm so sorry Hermione, but it was your parents."
Hermione let out a choked sob at the revelation, and Blaise wrapped his arm around her as tears began to slowly fall from her eyes.
"Was Draco there?" Theo asked. He knew whatever his friend had done it had been under duress, but he wasn't sure if that would make it any easier for Hermione.
Dumbledore nodded sadly as he pulled something from his robes and passed it over to Theo. "We found this at the scene."
Theo looked down at the small object in his hand, before passing it to Hermione. Hermione took the familiar head boy badge in her hand as the sobs tore through her body. Even though she'd known Draco was doing something for Voldemort the previous evening, she'd never thought it would be something that would affect her. Although she had to hand it to Voldemort, picking something that would undoubtedly have torn Draco to pieces.
"He was forced into it," Blaise whispered. "He never would have willingly hurt Hermione's parents."
"Of course he wouldn't," Hermione agreed through her tears. "We all saw what Lyra was going through last night. Voldemort was using her to get Draco to do what he wanted."
"What exactly do you think he made Draco do?" Theo questioned.
"Let's not speculate," Molly said with a slight shake of her head. "We all know the situation with Draco. But the important thing now, is supporting Hermione as she grieves for her parents."
"And we will," Blaise said, pulling Hermione closer to him as she continued to cry softly. "We're not leaving her side all day."
"I'm sure there's no need for that," Molly said. "I can stay with Hermione. Plus the pair of you have classes to go through."
Despite Molly's protests, Blaise and Theo were adamant that they wanted to be there for Hermione. Eventually a compromise was reached, and it was decided they would alternate classes for the day. That way one of them would be in every lesson, and they would have notes for the other one and Hermione. Not that school was top of Hermione's priorities right at the moment. Between what was happening with Draco, and now her parents, keeping up with her schoolwork seemed completely insignificant.
"I think I'm going to go and lie down," Hermione said quietly as she pulled away from Blaise.
"Don't worry about Lyra, she's perfectly fine with me," Molly said, giving Hermione a smile.
Hermione nodded, and pressing a kiss to her daughter's head, she headed back up to Draco's bedroom. Pulling off her school shirt and skirt, she slipped her pyjama bottoms and Draco's quidditch top back on and curled up on the bed. Taking comfort in Draco's lingering scent on the top, Hermione began to cry as she took in that her parents were dead. She would never see them again, and they would never get the chance to see if they could fix the chasm that had grown between them.
Eventually, Hermione drifted off to sleep, and when she woke up her face was stained with tears. Grabbing a quick wash, Hermione headed downstairs to check on Lyra. She found her daughter quite happily playing on the sofa with Blaise, while Molly sat nearby watching them as she knitted a cardigan for the little girl.
"How are you feeling?" Molly asked, jumping up when she saw Hermione.
"Numb," Hermione replied. She still couldn't quite get her head around the fact her parents were gone, and Draco had been forced to play some part in what had happened to them.
"I'll make you a nice cup of tea," Molly offered.
Giving Hermione's hand a quick squeeze as she passed, Molly headed into the kitchen alcove. Walking over to the sofa, Hermione sat down next to Blaise, and gave her daughter a quick kiss.
"Thank you for helping look after her," she said.
"It's a pleasure," Blaise replied with a smile. "I just wish her Daddy was here."
"So do I," Hermione whispered as she leaned her head against Blaise's shoulder. "I miss him Blaise, and I'm terrified about what he's been forced to do. He must be devastated after last night."
"The pair of you are just going to have to be tough," Blaise said softly. "I know it's hard, but you're both doing all you can to protect Lyra. And at least Dumbledore has ensured that You-Know-Who can't kill her."
With a gasp, Hermione suddenly sat up. "Draco doesn't know. He doesn't know Dumbledore's got her protected. He needs to know that she wasn't badly hurt last night. He also needs to know that if Voldemort snaps the ribbon, she won't die."
"How are you going to pass all this onto him?" Blaise asked. "Narcissa's elf can only make brief visits to the manor."
"I'm going to write him a letter," Hermione decided as she jumped up and grabbed her bag. "I can give it to Tipsy, and she can remind Draco to destroy it. He needs to know there's hope, even if the worst should happen."
By the time Molly returned with the tea, Hermione was in the middle of writing a heartfelt letter to Draco. As well as explaining things with Lyra, she made it clear to her boyfriend that no matter what he'd done the previous evening, she understood. She wasn't blaming him for what happened to her parents, she knew he'd been put in an impossible situation, and he'd done what any parent would do and put his daughter before anything else.
When the letter was finished, Hermione summoned Tipsy and handed it to her. She made sure the elf knew to remind Draco that he needed to destroy the letter once he'd read it, before letting her go. Feeling a bit better now she'd been able to let Draco know she and Lyra were okay, Hermione settled down with her cup of tea.
As she was finishing the cup of tea, there was a knock on the door and when Blaise answered it, Theo entered the room. Checking the clock, Hermione found it was lunchtime. However. Before she could check what the boys were doing for lunch there was a second knock on the door and Theo warned her it would be Harry and Ron. The pair had been asking questions all morning about why she wasn't in lessons, and all they'd been told was that her parents were dead.
When Hermione answered the door, she found Ginny was with the two boys. Ginny immediately gave Hermione a hug as she told her how sorry she was for her loss. Harry and Ron also offered their condolences, although Ron was wise enough not to try and hug her after that morning.
"Ronald," Molly gasped when she set eyes on her son and spotted the bruise around his right eye. "What happened to your eye?"
"Ask Zabini, he was the one who punched me," Ron replied, glaring at the Slytherin.
"For insinuating Hermione was a tart and would hop into bed with either Theo or myself," Blaise retorted. "I'm sorry Mrs Weasley, I know he's your son, but I would do it again if he spoke to Hermione like that."
"Ron, tell me you didn't say such a thing," Molly demanded of her youngest son.
Ron opened his mouth to deny Blaise's claims, but when everyone glared at him he realised that his lie would be exposed. "I didn't mean it," he said with a slight shrug. "I was annoyed and it just came out."
"Well if anything like that ever comes out of your mouth again, I'll be the one to give you a black eye," Molly warned her son. "And I hope you gave Hermione a sincere apogee."
"I'm sorry Hermione," Ron said, turning to his friend. "I didn't mean to imply you were a tart."
"Let's forget about it," Hermione said tightly. With everything that was happening, dealing with Ron was the least of her worries.
"What happened to your parents?" Harry asked Hermione, deciding it was best to get to the reason they were visiting their friend in the middle of the day. "Was it an accident?"
Not sure she could bear to explain what had happened, Hermione turned to Molly. Luckily Molly understood what she was silently asking, and the older woman explained the situation to the three teenagers. Harry and Ginny were both horrified by what had happened, and they both gave Hermione another hug. However, on the other hand, Ron just looked angry.
"Please tell me you're not still defending him," he spat.
"Who?" Hermione frowned in confusion.
"Bloody Malfoy," Ron yelled. "You can't still defend him after this. He killed your parents, Hermione. He wants locking up, with the rest of the Death Eaters."
"Firstly, we don't know what he was forced to do," Hermione retorted. "And secondly, whatever he did do was because Voldemort was threatening the life of our daughter. In his shoes, I would do anything to protect our child."
"As would any parent," Molly added in support of Hermione. "I know you mean well Ron, but you just don't understand. You have no idea what it's like to have children, and what you would do to keep them safe. We can't blame Draco for anything he's forced to do."
"You're all pathetic if you believe that," Ron spat. "He has options."
"What options?" Blaise snorted. "If he refuses to co-operate with You-Know-Who, he'll be killed."
"And there's his option," Ron replied calmly. "He should sacrifice himself for his daughter. If he truly loved Hermione and Lyra, he would willingly die to ensure they didn't suffer anymore. He wouldn't have hurt Hermione by killing her parents."
"Sacrificing himself is not an option," Hermione hissed angrily. "Losing Draco will hurt Lyra and I far more than anything Voldemort can make him do. We need him to survive."
"Even if it means losing your parents?" Ron questioned. "You're happier they're dead, than if he was dead?"
Hermione just looked at Ron, not sure how she could answer the question. Of course she was devastated her parents were dead, but part of her thought that maybe Ron was right. Losing her parents, especially given how things had been between them for the last year, was easier than losing Draco. As horrible as it sounded, if she'd had to pick, she would have sacrificed her parents for Draco. She and Lyra needed Draco, and wasn't giving up on being reunited with him when all this was over and they defeated Voldemort.
"And that tells me all I need to know," Ron sneered. "I'm sorry Hermione, but I can't support this anymore. Malfoy is a Death Eater, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he gets what he deserves."
Much to everyone's surprise, Ron then turned and stalked out of the room. For several minutes no-one said anything as they digested what had just happened. Even Molly seemed flabbergasted by her youngest son's outburst.
"You do know no-one else agrees with him, don't you?" Ginny finally checked. "We all understand what Draco is going through."
"Of course we do," Molly agreed. "And don't worry about Ron, he'll come round. He just needs to accept that Draco is being forced into acting for the dark. Once he's accepted that, he'll be fine. I'll make sure of it. And don't worry about a repeat of this morning, because that won't happen again either. Ron will be nothing but supportive from now on."
Hermione nodded, but she wasn't sure that Molly was right. She really didn't think that Ron would come round and accept things. However, that wasn't her priority right now. She had far bigger problems than whether or not Ron accepted the way things were with Draco. She had her daughter and boyfriend to think about, and right now for Hermione, there was nothing more important to her than the wellbeing of Lyra and Draco.