Disclaimer: All Characters and things associated with Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. This writing is purely for entertainment only.

Summary: Harry died in the Forbidden Forest and Ron and Hermione must find a way to finish his mission in a world where Hermione and her blood status leaves them both in incredible danger.

Chapter 17

Draco had left Hermione with Madam Pomfrey in order to make sure the carriage had been pulled around to avoid unnecessary detection.

Hermione sat motionless on the small bed, her head hanging low, her hand grazing her flat stomach, trying to process that there was a life growing inside of her, trying to come to terms with the fact that Draco would end that life and she could do nothing about it.

Hermione's thoughts drifted to Ron and the time they had spent together. She knew there had never been a time that she had not used a contraceptive charm during their sexual interactions and yet she was still somehow pregnant, as if the child was truly meant to be there, a small symbol of love and hope in an otherwise depressing world.

Hermione knew it was impractical and even selfish to want to keep the baby. She also knew had it been under any other circumstances, she would've been upset with herself for allowing this to happen and derail her future but now she wasn't even sure she had a future, and this life inside of her brought a small comfort to her.

"Hermione..." Madam Pomfrey's voice broke Hermione's train of thought.

Hermione quickly looked up her eyes burning with tears as she met the older witches, soft and sad smile.

"Ron's dead...this is all I have left of him," Hermione said, suddnely sobbing as the words left her lips.

"Oh dear..." Madam Pomfrey moved fowaes and gently rubbed Hermione's back as she cried.

"Please don't let Draco take it away," Hermione cried.

"Hermione, he's right. This is no world to raise a half-blood baby in, especially one that belongs to you and Ron. Plus, given your status, they would kill you if they found out you were pregnant. Draco is actually doing you a favor." Madam Pomfrey explained.

"Let them. What's the point in this life anyway?" Hermione reasoned.

"There is hope, Hermione. Things may not always be this bad. We can survive this." Madam Pomfrey said.

Hermione shook her head, her hand now firmly on her midsection. "Even if that's the case, I'll have nothing to go back to."

Madam Pomfrey's eyes followed down to Hermione's hands and she sighed. The healer knew that the younger witch has been put in an impossible place.

"We won't do anything today...I'll have Draco bring you back in a week. That gives me time to get things together and gives you time to mourn this." Madam Pomfrey motioned to Hermione's stomach, knowing what she was saying was the only thing she could really offer Hermione - time.

Hermione swallowed hard and managed a small smile. She knew she would have no control over what would happen to her or her baby but she was grateful to at least get to carry the piece of Ron a bit longer. There was an odd comfort in that.

Ron and Neville hid at the end of the alleyway behind some trash bins and watched Draco pull a carriage around to a door.

"Hermione must be in there..." Ron motioned to the building Draco was standing in front of.

"What's your plan then?" Neville asked.

"When she comes out we rescue her. I'll kill Draco before he leaves with her again," Ron said simply, his jaw set and his eyes never leaving Draco.

"Not a smart idea..." Nott's voice came from behind Ron and Neville causinf them both to jump and turn to see Theodore standing causally behind them against the wall.

"Bloody hell..." Ron mumbled when he realized it was only Nott.

"Not the best hiding place, I'll tell you...or plan. You will be caught in a second." Nott said.

"We can move quick," Ron counter.

"They can track Hermione. She's been marked by Malfoy. Even if you did manage to get to her and get her out of here, they will find her." Nott explained.

"Marked? What do you mean by that?" Ron asked furiously, his mind racing to all the ways that Malfoy could have marked Hermione.

"Its a charm...they mark her with the Malfoy family crest, and she stays part of their property until she's transferred to another pureblood family." Nott explained.

Ron sighed again, his jaw setting in angry as his fist pulled tight around his wand. He turned back to Malfoy, wanting nothing more then to kill the Slytherin.

And then the door to the building opened, and Ron saw Hermione quickly be moved into the carriage by Draco. Ron's jaw loosened at the sight of her, relief washing over him to see her alive and relatively looking good, espeicsllly if she was sick.

"Its now or never, Ron." Neville said, hoping Ron wouldn't rush forward to Hermione given the information that Nott had just given them but also willing to help Ron if he chose to.

Ron, however, did not move and the three wizards student silence as the card containing Draco and Hermione pulled out of the alleyway.

"Smart choice, mate." Nott patted Ron on the back.

Ron continued to stare in the direction the carriage had gone in, though it was out of sight now. "You're sure you will be able to get Draco to hand her over to you?"

"Positive." Nott said.

Ron now turned back to Theodore and Neville. "Can you find out what's wrong with her? She didn't look too ill but I will feel better knowing what's happening if she is."

Nott nodded "Sure, I can do that."

Ron nodded. "We will be waiting to hear from you then."

Nott nodded one more time before Ron sighed, motioning to Neville that they should apparate back to Shell Cottage. He knew there was nothing more they could do that day, but seeing Hermione actually alive, even if she was with Draco, had given him a small sense of reassurance that, so far, Nott was seemingly trying to help them.

Hermione kept her eyes glued out the small carriage window as she fought back tears, trying her best not to let Draco know she was crying. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had broken her.

"Stop that. Stop crying. There is nothing we can do about this." Draco snarled after Hermione has let a small cry escape her lips as she breathed in.

Hermione turned to face Draco, her eyes puffy and bloodshot with tears. "You could just let me keep it."

"If anyone finds out you're pregnant and its not my child, they will kill you, and I have no plans of ever even making it seem like I would spread your filthy legs apart, Granger." Draco told her.

"You're disgusting," Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, repulsed by his words.

Draco just smirked at her before looking our the window himself.

"If you kill this baby...you might as well kill me," Hermione said. Her words were not a threat in her mind, they were simply a fact.

"I already told you, I won't be killing you," Draco glanced back at her, his expression unreadable.

"Why do you want me alive so bad, Draco? Is it to just watch me suffer? Please...if you have any mercy in you...if you kill this baby, Ron's baby...just kill me too. I don't want to live knowing I won't have any piece of him left."

"Stop being dramatic. It's only Weasley. It's not like those are great genes. I'd be doing you a favor," Draco said.

Hermione glared at Draco, anger coursing through her veins at his words about Ron. "Shut up."

Draco was surprised at the tone of Hermione's voice and as his eyes locked with hers he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. She was looking at him the same way she had before she has punched him in third year.

"You don't speak to me like that, mudblood. I could have you killed for less." Draco said, though his voice cracked and he was embarrassed his voice didn't match the strength her's had.

"That's what I just asked you to do," Hermione told him.

Draco shook his head, letting silence fall between them for a moment as if he were struggling internally with something.

Finally, he spoke. "There are certain pureblood families that realize the Dark Lord has taken things too far...that he seems to be increasingly unstable, and that should things continue even we may be at risk. I cannot allow that for my mother or I."

Hermione furrowed her brow, unsure what Draco was trying to explain to her.

"My father has completely gone insane, even you aware of how increasingly unstable he has become," Draco said.

Hermione raised her eyebrow in sarcastic shock. "You don't say..."

Draco's eyes snapped up. "I am trying to explain why it's so critical I keep you alive. You, Granger, will be what saves my mother and I...should the Dark Lord eventually be defeated."

"How am I going to do that? And why would you even be worried about that? The war is over. You won."

Draco rolled his eyes. "As always, Granger, you fail to see what's right in front of you. Despite what I know about you, some people, particularly in the resistance group, seem to see you as extremely valuable. Now, should things go poorly for the Dark Lord and it's known that I kept you safe and relatively unharmed I would imagine I would at least be received with warm arms, if not considered a hero."

Hermione took a deep breath to fight back the wave of nausea hitting her. She was unsure if her morning sickness was rearing its ugly head or she was just absolutely disgusted by what she realized Draco was using her for. "So I am just an insurance policy for you."

"There you go, Granger, you put it together." Draco gave her a snide smirk before leaning back in his seat.