You Found Me

Chapter Nine

Hermione's POV

Hermione tried not to listen but hearing him mention the ball she froze. She couldn't not look at him as he knelt there trying to get through to her.
Slowly her body relaxed, almost becoming light even though she was carrying a child. Her caramel eyes softened as she looked into his silver ones. A tear slipped down her right cheek as a small smile formed on her lips.
"Draco?" She said almost as though she hadn't seen him in a long time and couldn't believe she was seeing him now.

Ginny and Harry watched in awe. How did that single sentence stop her from struggling to leave? Why was the antidote not enough? How had they not seen it before?
Hesitantly Ginny moved closer and put her hand on Hermione's shoulder. "How do you feel?" She asked tentatively.
Hermione looked up at her best friend and smiled softly as she put a hand over hers. "Like I can think clearly for the first time." She looked at Harry and back to Ginny. "You two lovebirds are such idiots," she joked as she gave a quiet chuckle. She then looked back at Draco with a warm smile.

Draco's POV

Draco nearly cried and jumped for joy when she said his name. "Yes sweetheart. How do you feel?" He wiped the tear off and smiled at her. "I've missed you Hermione." Without thinking, he hugged her, careful not to hurt her baby. He then looked at Harry and Ginny before giving her a serious look. "I'm not letting you go back to that Weasel. Unless of course you want to hex him for giving you a love potion."

He knew she'd be pissed, but he didn't want her or her baby hurt. "Besides, I have plenty of room here and as I understand it, Harry has been getting you to all of your appointments. I would love to do that for you. I have plenty of time to take you."

He looked at Ginny. "Plus, Harry has to speak with Ginny." He'd asked him to tell her about his veela.

Hermione's POV

Feeling him wipe away her tears made her smile soften and brighten. "Strange but good." She answered softly, "It's like the past year has been a nightmare and nobody could hear me." She sighed softly hearing him say she wasn't leaving and nodded. "Alright. And as much as I want to hex him I don't know if I can right now." She looked at Ginny and Harry then back to Draco. "I need time to process the last year. I'm tired. I'm sore. And I am more hurt than angry right now." She put a hesitant hand on her belly almost afraid of the fact that she was carrying a baby. "My life hasn't been my own. I feel like I have been watching a movie that follows a weak, prissy housewife go about her daily life." She shivered and cringed knowing she was watching her own life.
Ginny was near tears, "I'm sorry Mione. We couldn't figure out what had happened. I only found the potion today and we came straight to Malfoy. I'm so sorry. If we had paid more attention in school we would have caught it sooner."
Hermione wanted to laugh but she just shook her head and asked "What tipped you off?"
Ginny then gave a half laugh "Your graduation dress was the final tip off."
Harry interjected here, nodding, "We knew something was weird before that but the dress, well there was no way you chose that."
Hermione laughed but it was cold and broken. "Yeah I hated that dress so much, Ron picked it out, and I couldn't believe I wore it. It was a whole different me all this time." She sighed and looked at her belly, both hands resting on it as she tried to come to terms with the life growing inside of her. "Even my baby doesn't feel like my own." She felt tears in her eyes as she began to hate herself for getting tricked into drinking the damn potion.

Draco's POV

As Draco listened to her explanation, he felt his heart squeeze. He didn't like to see her in pain and he knew no matter how much he might dislike Weasley, he had been her friend and it hurt her. "I'm sorry too. I assumed you'd finally realized that you'd be better off without me and that's why you stopped spending as much time with me, but this is in no way your fault. He is your friend so of course you trusted him." He knew what that was like only in his case it had been his family that had betrayed him. Before the war, he had loved his father and aunt. Now he wished he'd never met either of them.