Changing Destiny

Fifty-Four: Draco's Christmas "Present"

Younger Hermione

Six weeks after Christmas, her period did not make a come back, and she had been feeling off, very off lately. She had been getting sick in the mornings, and her nipples were oddly sensitive. Oh yes, something was very, very wrong in her world. But she toughed it out, and thought that she was coming down with a late winter flu of some kind. But, the missed period did not alarm her too much, she worked hard at her school work, and was not unique as a Ravenclaw in this aspect, but her nocturnal studying habits sometimes verged into the realm of insomnia at times, and so she often had late periods.

When January rolled around, and her period was a no show, and she began putting on an unusual amount of weight, that was when she asked for a hall pass to the hospital wing in Transfiguration class. Professor McGonagoll wanted to know the reason, and Hermione explained after class, "I...I haven't had my period twice in a row, Professor, and..."

Professor McGonagoll nodded, her usual stern face softer, "You need not explain further, Miss Rosier. I do hope that you feel better, and if you need my guidance at this time, you need only knock on my office door. Although, I sincerely hope that what you have is not what you and I both suspect."

Hermione blushed. "I hope not either, Professor. Thank you. I...I was afraid that I would be in trouble."

The older witch shook her head. "While I certainly would not approve of you becoming....indisposed in a familial way, it is not my job to police your life morally, Miss Rosier, I'm not your parent or legal guardian, after all. And besides, age often makes even older witches forget what it is like to be a young teen witch. Good luck, dear."

"Thank you, Professor."

"You're welcome."

Hermione made her way to the hospital wing, and there were quite a few witches being seen by Madam Pomfrey. She spotted her, and asked politely, "Yes, Miss Rosier? What ailments do you have today?"

Hermione replied, "I...I think I need a pregnancy test."

Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Ah yes, the same as these other patients. Please tell me it's not that brutish Bulgarian's."

Hermione frantically shook her head. "N-No. He..um, never got...it inside me."

"Good. Gods only know his festering seed is the last thing you need to deal with right now," Pomfrey asserted.

"Um...Thanks, I think."

Madam Pomfrey handed her a clipboard with some parchment clipped to it. It was a checklist of known pregnancy symptoms, and Hermione checked off...most of them besides weird cravings. When the heck would that happen? She handed it to the older witch, and Madam Pomfrey handed her a plastic cup.

"Alrighty, so your urine will test your hormone levels," She explained. "Just go into the water closet, pee into the cup, and I will test it. The results will come back in a few minutes."

"Okay. I'm really nervous though."

"Of course, you are, dear."

The last girl handed Madam Pomfrey her plastic cup containing her urine. Hermione spotted Daphne by her bed, and Daphne looked her over. "Wow, I didn't think Drake and you were that tight."

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "Why are you here?"

Daphne grinned wickedly. "Well, my wizards don't like condoms, and my mum's a superstitious prude, so no pills or daily pennyroyal tea for me. I'm fairly sure I'm in a family way since I have some of the symptoms."

"You sound like you're planning it."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," Daphne winked, "Either way, it would really fry my mother's circuits if I was, because she forced my sister to court Drake officially. Like, they only need a ceremony to formalize their marriage with all of the restrictions."

Hermione felt her stomach clench in fear as she remembered what her older self said over the Christmas holiday: if she was pregnant, she could lose her child....somehow. She went to the bathroom, and peed in the cup. She handed it to Madam Pomfrey, and waited.

Daphne sat beside her, and rubbed her back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay. But if I am pregnant, it would be Draco's," Hermione confessed. "I haven't slept with anyone else."

Daphne nodded. "I understand. I wouldn't worry, though, you've got me, and if we both are in a family way, we can be pregnant together. Won't that be fun?"

Hermione smiled, feeling somewhat reassured. "I suppose it would be."

"Definitely. You've got nothing to worry about girl," Daphne reassured her.

Madam Pomfrey told some girls they weren't pregnant, and a few who were. Finally, she got to them both. She looked over their charts, and Madam Pomfrey announced, "Miss Greengrass, your test came back...positive. Mr Potter is the father."

Daphne's eyes went wide with surprise and joy, "Oh. Oh, wow." She hugged Hermione, "Looks like we'll be sisters in law any way."

Madam Pomfrey looked to Hermione, and she announced, "Miss Rosier, your test came back...positive. Draco Malfoy is the father."

Hermione burst into tears. "He....He's already engaged to someone else."

Madam Pomfrey looked sad then. "Then I recommend you take especial care of yourself, dear. Not only will this be your first child, but a high risk one in light of what you just told me. Make no exertions that could harm your baby."

"I will try my best."

"Good. Now, get to class."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey."

Hermione's mind was reeling as she idly touched her now occupied belly. She was pregnant! The thought was overwhelming, indeed. She found it hard to concentrate on classes, and not even Professor Snape's snarkiness could rouse her from the thought that she was going to have a baby.

She sat somewhat apart from the other Ravenclaw's at dinner, and Daphne joined her from the Slytherin table. The Durmstrang students, and their creepy bald, goatee wearing Headmaster had left. Luna Lovegood was told of what happened, and her face was very sad and stricken all through dinner. When they reached the Ravenclaw common room, Hermione demanded to know why she was so sad.

Luna took her hands in hers, and read her palms. "There," She lightly touched where she had children lines, "There is a...a slash across one of them. Palm reading isn't full proof, even Professor Trelawney could tell you that on one of her sober days, but...this does not look good. You could lose this one."

Hermione cried. "But...But I don't want to lose it! It's not...f-fair."

Luna held her close. "Shhhh....I know. But like I said, palm reading, just like any form of Divination, isn't infallible, even centaurs have been known to cast predictions that did not come true."

Hermione did not take comfort in that, but she couldn't tell Luna that. She tried to sleep, and it was hard going. But as the weeks followed, and it became more apparent that she was pregnant, she began to worry less and less...until that terrible night in September a day after her 16th birthday in her last month when she had lost her footing on the grand staircase in Hogwarts, and fell hard on her stomach....