A Hard Year

20

A/N: Sorry to have kept you waiting but as we all know it's the busiest time of the year and I just lost track of time. But here it is now and I hope it will prove to be worth waiting for. Thank you to all my readers and the great reviews you take the time to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing.

Draco's POV

I was sitting in the Slytherin common room with Theodore and Blaise absentmindedly twisting pieces of loose fabric, that were unravelling from the couch, between my fingers. Theodore and Blaise had tried consoling me about Hermione but had failed miserably, both times.

I sat waiting for the clock to reach eight O'clock so I could go down to the Great Hall. I found when left alone with my thoughts for too long they would manifest and plague me continuously. I rolled my shirt sleeves up my arms and loosened the knot in my tie before finally abandoning the idea of wearing one all together and chucking it over the arm of the couch.

"What's wrong now?"

Blaise said tiredly.

I merely answered his question with my usual glare, clearly implying that I was not going to answer him.

"For God's sake this is ridiculous. Granger's fit but so are all the other girls you've got with. Just go and find another one and forget about her."

The intensity of my glare increased significantly at his blasé tone; as if I could just forget about her and move on without a second thought. He and I both knew that the other girls I had been with were hot but Hermione was beautiful and there was a distinct difference not mentioning the fact that she was carrying my child.

"Shut up Zabini..."

I never raised my voice but he knew from my threatening tone that it would be very unwise to speak on the matter again.

At that moment there was a persistent hammering on the portrait hole from outside causing all three of us to flinch slightly.

"For fuck's sake those bloody first years never remember the pass word."

Theodore muttered agitatedly as he left his seat and went to open the portrait hole but before he reached it the person on the other side banged on the door a second time.

"Alright, Alright!"

When the portrait hole swung open an extremely flustered blur of red hair and pyjamas stormed into the Slytherin common room.

"What the fuck is she doing here?"

Blaise asked angrily as Ginny Weasley emerged before us.

"Malfoy...its Hermione..."

My heart was suddenly in my mouth, my whole body felt completely tense and I immediately abandoned my place on the couch.

"What's happened!? Is she ok? Where is she?"

I practically shouted at the trembling girl before me.

"It's the baby... the baby's coming and she wants you!"

"I took her back to your apartment and Madame Pomfrey's on her way."

She called after me desperately

Before she even had a chance to catch her next breath I had ran from the common room out into the dungeon passages taking four stairs at a time to reach our apartment.

I could barely breath I was running so fast, but I didn't care because it was Hermione. My chest was constricting by the second and a sickening lump was beginning to accumulate in my throat. The only reason I was still running was because Hermione wanted me with her and I wasn't going to let her down again, not again.