Auribus Teneo Lupum *Dramione*

Chapter Two

Hermione woke the next morning with a pounding headache and an insatiable need to pee.

Thankfully it was Saturday, so she didn't have to go into the office, though she did have paperwork that she needed to get ahead on if she wanted the next week to be a little less insane. She, of course, could have gone into a better paying department within the Ministry and it would have made her life much easier, but she knew her place was in Muggleborn Relations.

She had been lucky when she received her letter because her family had been nothing but supportive, but there were plenty young witches and wizards that didn't have it so easy. Just last week a young witch's file had been brought to her desk and when she opened it her heart had felt like it was ripped into two pieces.

She was twelve, and when she had been brought back home after her first year at Hogwarts her family had come to pick her up, only to throw her in their basement and refuse to let her out. When she didn't show up for her second year and no word had been heard from her or her family, they had sent a pair of aurors to investigate. They found the young girl nearly dead and skeletal. When she had gone to visit her at St. Mungo's she had been completely withdrawn and on the edge of death. Thankfully in the past month she had made a nearly complete recovery, and had plans to catch up with her year later on.

Sadly, cases like hers weren't abnormal.

Once her bladder had been relieved she decided to run a bath and have a good soak. She poured a relaxing bubble potion into the water, and stripped down as the tub filled up with water and suds. She hoped that the warm liquid would sooth her aching body and help clear her mind.

As she sat in the warm water her mind drifted back to the previous night - and what one Draco Malfoy suggested.

She had done some research in the few books she had on blood magic, but there had only been vague mentions of Blood Adoption, and nothing concrete. She had to wait until Malfoy made an appearance, and she really had no idea when he would show.

A few hours later she had finished her bath and had started cleaning her small flat. Malfoy had been right when he said she could barely afford to pay her student debt and rent on her salary, but she didn't regret it. She knew at this vary moment she could walk into the Ministry and ask to be transferred to a more lucrative department and within the week the change would be made. In fact, she got offers to transfer almost weekly, if not at least monthly, but she didn't want to do something for money.

No, she wanted to help people.

But now she was faced with the very real fact that she was pregnant by a man who got engaged a few days after getting her that way. She also had to face the fact that her flat was too small for a baby and the only way she could get a bigger one was to accept a job offer to work in a department that she didn't want to be in.

Or she could do the unthinkable and marry Draco Malfoy. Three years ago the idea would have been unthinkable, but now?

She flopped down on her worn couch and leaned her head back. She wouldn't deny that he was an attractive man, nor would she deny that he had changed a lot since the war.

The fact that he was training to be a healer was proof enough of that.

Plus, he was a huge champion against child abuse and wouldn't hesitate to call in a suspicion, even if it involved Purebloods.

How long she sat there thinking she was unsure, but suddenly her fireplace lit up and Draco's head appeared.

"Hey Granger, is it a good time to come through?"

She stared at his head for a while, before shaking hers to clear her mind and telling him that he could go ahead and come through.

She pulled her legs up and tucked them under her as he stepped through the fireplace. He had on a standard white robes of a student healer and it surprised her to see him look so - different. One would have thought she would be use to the site, having seen it so many times, but it still made her take a figurative step back.