by Chelsea
Oh, yeah, and this chapter is going to be pretty short. . .
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After Draco left, Hermione pulled her shirt up and, tears streaming down her cheeks, she touched her stomach. There was something in there. Someone, really. A little seed of life, two and a half months old. She couldn't beleive it. How would she tell her parents? Dumbledore, of course, would contact them first, but they'd want to speak to her. Definately soon, too. Hermione didn't think she could handle it. And, Draco's reaction had been horrible. She was going to keep the baby, that much she knew. Giving her baby, her little creation, to another person. . . She wouldn't be able to handle it. And abortion was out of the question. There was no way she could kill it. No way.
So, she would keep it. Hermione had hoped Draco could help her. Now, however, she wasn't sure he wanted to. The way his mouth had just hung open like that, the way he had not beleived her, the way he left, telling her he had to 'think about it', she really wasn't sure he wanted to be a father. Hermione understood. They were sixteen, not done with school, and they couldn't possibly raise this child correctly. She knew there was a lot of work invovled. A lot of diapers, and cleaning, and taking care of. Almost all of her attention would be eaten up by this new little baby. How she would work it out with school, she didn't know. Then a thought hit her: Will I stay in school? The baby will come right before, if not when, school starts next year. Will I be able to go to seventh year? I couldn't drop out, I just couldn't. Maybe Professor Dumbledore and I can work something out.
Speaking of Dumbledore, he walked in the doors to the Hospital Wing and headed for Hermione's bed. She quickly put her shirt back down and sat up.
"Hello Miss Granger. Madame Pomfrey told me of your predicament. I thought I'd stop by so we could have a little chat." he said, the usual cheerfulness gone from his voice, replaced by a gloomy air.
"Hello Professor." she breathed, trying to sound okay.
"The first thing I need to know, Hermione, is this: Do you know who the father is? That is very important. I will send for him immediately."
"Yes. It's..." Hermione knew he wouldn't expect this at all. This was far from what he expect. He'd be thinking it was Harry or Ron. "It's Draco Malfoy, Proffesor. Draco Malfoy."
Dumbledore's eye brows shot up into his silvery hair as he asked, somewhat more quietly, "And...he didn't force you to-"
"No, Professor."
Dumbledore exhaled. "Well, okay. Madame Pomfrey, could you send for Draco Malfoy, please?" he inquired the nurse, who was bustling about nearby. She nodded and walked out.
"While she's out, I need to speak with you about some things, things that Draco won't understand. First, what are you going to do once this baby is here?"
She had been ready for this one. "I'm keeping it. I won't abort it, that's murder. And I couldn't stand giving it away. You know how I am about taking credit for what I've done."
"Okay. Next question. Will you be continuing your studies?"
"I-I'd like to, very much. But, with a baby, I don't know how it will work out. I mean, they need constant attention. You can't leave them along for more than a minute. I couldn't very well take it to class with me, so..."
"Good, I'm glad you'd like to proceed in your education. We can work out childcare when you absolutly have to attend classes. But, for most of the time, you'll be doing night school. You'll be taught everything that you would in a regular classroom, only at night, and one-on-one with the teacher. Unless of course we get another case like yours, and you'd be surprised how often this happens. Twice this year, three times inlcuding you. The Hogwarts teachers won't judge you, so you're safe from that. Okay, another question: When would you like to contact your parents?"
"Well, sometime soon, before I start showing. I'm already two and a half months along." Hermione shivered. It sounded so odd, to hear herself say that. She thought it would be at least until she was twenty-two.
"We'll arrange that later, then. Now, last and most important question. How will you raise this baby? Will you and Draco raise it together, or are you doing it alone?"
"I-I don't know yet. I've told Draco, but he said he needed to 'think about it.' I don't know what that means. I was hoping he'd help me, but now I'm not sure that he wants to." Tears started flowing again, and Hermione hid her face.
.:.
"Mr. Malfoy, could you follow me please?" Madame Pomfrey asked Draco.
"Um, sure." He put down his book and followed her out of the Great Hall, back to the Hospital Wing. He'd been reading 'Child Rasing: From Diapers to Do-Rags.' Despite his attempts to his the title, Harry had walked by, saw and walked to the oppisite side of the table, where Draco was sitting. Draco had only just escaped.
"Oh, good, Mr. Malfoy. You're here." the Headmaster said. Draco looked over at him and suddenly felt very guilty. So, he knows, he thought. Then he saw that Hermione had hidden her face.
"Hermione, are you okay?" She looked up at him, her eyes red and her face blotchy. She'd been crying. The guilty feeling increased.
"Draco, come sit down." Dumbledore pointed to the chair next to him. "We need to have a chat. Madame Pomfrey, could you give us some privacy for about a half an hour, please?" Again, the nurse nodded and left.
Draco sat next to Hermione on the bed, ignoring the chair, and patted her on her back, speaking to her, "Hermione, it's okay. Everything'll be fine, I swear. I mean it, nothing will happen to you."
"Draco, we have a question for you, Hermione and I. Do you plan on staying with her, to help raise the baby?"
Draco answered immediatly. "Of course! How could you ever doubt that, Hermione? I love you, and I always will, and you can't change that, ever. No matter what happens, I'll be right here by your side. You should have seen the book I was just reading, 'Child Raising: From Diapers to Do-rags'. Harry saw me, though. He looked like he was going to kill me, honestly. He knows. Should we tell Ron, too, then, since they're your best friends?" He said this all very quickly.
"Yes. . .I suppose. . .we should." Hermione said between deep breaths. She was still sobbing, but no tears were coming. "Thank you, Draco. I. . .love you too." They hugged, and anything not forgiven suddenly was.
"Well, I'm glad we've cleared that up, then. So you agree to help Hermione raise your child then, Draco?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes!" Draco said, almost sarcastically.
"Good. I think I'll leave you two so that you can discuss some things that even Headmasters don't deserve to hear. Good-bye." And with that, he left them to talk by themselves.