Unrequited

Disclaimer: I only own the plot. :)
Also: this chapter is a bit squicky. I had to think of a rather nasty thing for Draco to do to Hermione and this is what my twisted little brain came up with. If you were scared by Alfred Hitchcock\'s \"The Birds\", I suggest you take some Dramamine or skip this chappie altogether.
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I spent the next week on pins and needles. I was snappish, irritable and worse, I had morning sickness like an undeserved hangover. It was all I could do to keep from killing someone until Saturday. When the last Hogsmeade weekend before the winter weather set in arrived I was nearly swooning with relief. We got to the village and as usual, all the students scattered in different directions. I managed to shake the boys by saying I was going to the bookstore. I suppressed a chuckle. There was nothing like the thought of learning to discourage those two.

I wended my way along the cobbled streets until I came to a deserted alleyway. I Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and took my robes off when I got there, shrinking them to fit into my purse. The first order of business was to get to Gringotts and exchange some sickles into pounds. Fortunately, on this Saturday, traffic at the bank was light and I was able to conduct my business with a minimum of wait. I went back to the Cauldron and exited the door through to the Muggle world.

I made my way to the nearest tube station and from there to the closest clinic. I\'d written a cousin of mine, saying that I needed the information for a school project. She coughed it up, swearing me to secrecy (her mother would kill her). The small red brick edifice was right there, bearing the NHS insignia. I took a deep breath and opened the door. I was floored.

At this time of the morning, the waiting room was jammed full. There wasn\'t even a place to sit. I went to stand in the queue to put my name on the list. My hand was sweating so badly I could barely grasp the pen to print my name. The lady behind the desk shot me a sympathetic look and then called out \'NEXT!\' in a no-nonsense voice. I stepped aside and let the next unfortunate take my place. Another clerk handed me a clipboard with a form to fill out. General health information they wanted. I leaned against a bare spot of wall and filled it out perfunctorily.

I gave the clerk my form and went back to wait against my spot of stark white wall. And there I waited, and waited and waited. Until the shadows began lengthening outside the windows. One by one perhaps half of the patrons had disappeared through the doors, escorted out by a nurse into the arms of a waiting mother or grandmother. Sometimes a brother or - even more rarely - a father. A few of the women, like myself, were alone. I\'d sat and contemplated the consequences of actually having an abortion but I could see no way out of it. It was necessary and I\'d just have to deal with the fallout.

But I began to panic as it got closer to the time where I would have to return to Hogsmeade to go back to school. I\'m sure that Ron, Harry and the rest were already missing me. Then when the clock in the waiting room chimed four, the head clerk announced that they were closing and to come back at 8am Monday morning. I nearly went into a fit of hysterics at that.

\"At eight in the morning on Monday! But I can\'t! I-I have to be in school!\" I was aware that I was close to screaming my fool head off but there was no help for it.

\"Yes, dear,\" the woman replied in a soothing tone.

\"But I can\'t come back here again!\" The walls started to close in on me and one of the nurses came forward with a cup of water and pressed it into my hand.

\"Drink that and take deep breaths.\" I did as I was told, not really letting the implications of what had happened sink in.

When my breathing calmed down I got up and left the clinic. On the way back to the Cauldron, I kept my mind blank. I couldn\'t deal with any of it. When I entered the pub, I nodded to the publican and unshrunk my robe, slipping it on and Apparating back to the same deserted alleyway I\'d left. I managed to get back to the bookstore and make a quick purchase so that I didn\'t look too suspicious.

I found Ron and Harry coming out of the Three Broomsticks, thoroughly tipsy on butterbeer. Gin was between them, sort of holding them up. She gave me a rueful grin when she saw me.

\"Come give me a hand with these two lushes, Herm.\" I grinned back and slipped my shoulder under Ron\'s arm. He gave me a sloppy, soft smile.

\"Hey, Herm,\" he slurred happily. \"We mishsed you quite a lot. Where\'ve you been?\"

I shook my bag with the book in it at him. \"I told you I went to the bookstore, Ron.\"

\"Only you would waste a perfectly good Hogsmeade weekend at the bookstore, Herm. You need to lighten up. Speaking of ungodly pale, where\'s Malfoy? Hope he\'s ready to get his arse kicked. Slytherin\'ll be losing another cup to us this year.\"

\"I heard what you said over there, Rodent King.\" Malfoy was giving Ron a dirty look. \"Be prepared to lick my boots this season.\"

\"Over my dead body!\" Harry shouted at Malfoy.

Draco merely grinned sickly at Harry. \"I\'m sure that could be arranged, Potty.\"

\"Oh yeah?! Well, come on then! Let\'s see how tough you are, Ferret face!\" Harry, in his drunkenness was ready to beat Malfoy\'s face. And frankly, in the mood I was in, I\'m not sure I would\'ve stopped them. Fortunately, Gin\'s cooler head prevailed.

\"Alright, lads, let\'s not waste all of this out here when there\'s a game to be played in the very near future. Come on, into the carriage.\" She hustled Harry into the vehicle and helped me push her brother into the plush conveyance. On the ride back to Hogwarts, Both Harry and Ron passed out cold. I pretended to be engrossed in my book and Virginia stared at the passing scenery.

I couldn\'t help but think that by the time the next Hogsmeade weekend came around again, I\'d be too damned pregnant to do anything about it. There had to be a way to get out of the castle before then. But how? Even after the end of the war there were still roving bands of DE\'s running about, causing small pockets of mayhem. Could I really raise a child in an evironment like that? Especially me being who I am and associating with the people I do. Harry will always be a target for nothing other than the fact of his birth. Ron, as the son of a highly placed Ministry official is in the public eye as well.

I didn\'t even want to think about the loads of gossip that would be splashed all over the front pages of the Prophet and Witch Weekly. I\'d had enough of that back in my fourth year. Thus I was not very enthused to be labelled a bushy-haired Lolita stupid enough to get knocked up by the son of a Death Eater. It was a very sticky situation, to say the very least.

And God, what would Ron say? He\'d be positively livid if he found out. He\'d want to kill me and Malfoy, in that order. Harry would simply be disappointed. Speaking of, I\'d face the shock and disapproval of the entire staff at Hogwarts. Well, all except for Snape. *He* already thinks that it\'s nothing less than I deserve for being a swotty know-it-all. My stomach turned at the thought of my parents finding out. They\'d freaking flip out. As their only child I\'d never put a foot out of line, never thought of breaking the rules. I think they sort of pictured me as being somewhat asexual, in the manner of all doting parents. Sorry Mum and Dad. I smothered a smile.

No, the best thing of all was to just have it taken care of as soon as possible. Just as I\'d reached that conclusion, the carriages rumbled to a halt in front of the gates of the castle. I opened the door and saw the thestrals snorting in the crisp October air. Didn\'t I mention that that was a lovely aftereffect of my encounter with Dolohov? Oh, yes. Hermione Granger has faced death and survived to tell the tale. Loony Lovegood somehow didn\'t seem so loony to me anymore after that, I\'ll tell you.

I\'d just have to scour the Restricted Section for something. As I once read in an old book somewhere, old magic is the best magic. There had to be a solution in one of those musty old books. Hopefully Madam Pince would be able to give me permission tomorrow. Gin and I managed to get Wonder Boy and his doting sidekick up into their rooms and settled. I went next door to my own chambers and settled in for a nap. It had been a rather exhausting day.
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Perfect. Weasel and Potty were out cold. I\'d slipped them something that was commonly referred to as a Mickey Finn. I\'d gotten the recipe from Pansy, who was awfully keen to do something rotten to Granger. I know the little bushy-haired bitch was on tenterhooks trying to figure out what I was going to do and when. That little Mickey was going to keep Weasley and Potter out for the rest of the night. By the time they figured out what was going down, it\'d be too late.

I heard the flapping of about fifty owls in the still autumn air. Perfect. Simply perfect.
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The tapping of an owl at my window woke me from my nap. It carried a bit of parchment in its beak. I opened the casement and the avian swept in to settle next to Cervantes\' cage. My owl eyed the other bird with distrust. I took the parchment from the unknown bird and cracked the seal.

*The front lawn. Ten minutes.*

The missive was unsigned, but I\'d grown to recognize Malfoy\'s bold, scrolling penmanship by now. I tossed the paper into the fireplace and shrugged on a jacket. It wasn\'t time for lock in yet and so I was not stopped as I made my way through to the outdoors. I took the stairs at a fast clip, waiting to see what Malfoy wanted from me. I thought my rejection of him was complete - no matter that my traitorous body hadn\'t agreed with my brain.

Even now, thinking of that night brought a shiver through me. The feeling was one of revulsion and anticipation. I was vaguely disgusted at myself for engaging in such behaviour. I smirked at myself a little. The practical Hermione was rearing her antiquated little head. But apparently it wasn\'t such a bad thing. She would never have let herself get into such a predicament. Who would have imagined it? Hermione Granger, pregnant at the age of seventeen.

I reached the center of the lawn, somewhere between the front doors and the front gates. Draco was nowhere to be seen. I stood there for a few minutes when a shout rang out. Suddenly I was snapped shut like a board, to topple onto the grass harder than Italian marble. The little bastard put a full body-bind on me. Marvelous. Now I could only think of what horrid little trick he had up his sleeve.

I could still see and if my eyes could\'ve widened, they would\'ve. About fifty or so fully grown owls were swarming the skies over head. Eagle owls and snowy owls and barn owls and tawny owls...owls of nearly every species were there. They began circling me and going in for a dive.

I think I blacked out there for a moment out of sheer fear. The largest of them had settled on my stomach and began pecking at me. I could feel each sharp little nip but I couldn\'t sit up and shoo the bugger off. The others were around me in a circle, the larger and older ones immediately surrounding me.

A nip here, a tug there. Small bites - as if they were merely snacking off of me. As if I were a bag of crisps. I was confident that Malfoy wouldn\'t kill me. That would take too much explaining. But I was more than shocked that no one had come out to see the fuss these owls were making. That\'s when I realized that the birds were completely silent in the windy afternoon. Just when I thought I couldn\'t take the constant pecking, the birds flew off. But then it started again. Those on the second tier came to get their ounce of flesh.

It was like Chinese water torture. Not pain, really but neither the soft tickle of feathers. Small pinches of fire that flamed across the skin and faded. But as it went on, the tiny licks of pain began to grow and scorch over every nerve ending. Even my eyes felt like they were about to explode. I could feel the tears welling up and salt burning my bitten face. Lord, if I could get out of this, I would. Leave it to Malfoy to come up with some so magnificently devious.

Each row of owls stood neatly in their queue. I couldn\'t help but think that perhaps they were going to nibble off of me until there was nothing left. An eternity passed as each bird took his bit of me and flew off to hover in the skies above my petrified body. My muscles were so still, I could actually feel *it* moving around inside of me. I wondered if it were alright in there. I began to concentrate to try to break free of the enchantment. Every fiber of me was filled with loathing for Malfoy.

I could feel my toes wiggling. My fingers waggling. The warm feeling began spreading outwards in. The last of the owls took his fill of me and joined his brethren in the sky. My muscles were coming to life once more but before I could exercise them and get the hell out of there, there came a sound like a great wet slush. And then the unthinkable happened.

I was absolutely covered in muck. It was terrible. The bites stung like mad from all the bacteria rushing in to infect them. And from a distance I heard laughter. Harsh, mocking laughter. I picked out Draco\'s sharp barks right away. But underneath was a girlish giggling and then the identifying sound came forth: a snort. It was that whore, Parkinson. Typical of him to enlist her in this wretched revenge.

I\'d get them both. The owls, having done their duty, scattered just as suddenly as they\'d come. The charm wore off in a rush of unbearable heat. I sat up and wiped the mess from my stinging eyes. I looked around and saw nothing. Still, as I got up from the ground, I surreptitiously drew my wand from its pocket. I cast a Cleaning Charm on myself and felt a little better. The cuts still burned and hissed. I made my way back to the doors. Predictably, Draco was waiting for me. He leaned against the door, patented smirk fixed on his lips. I gripped my wand tightly in hand.

I said nothing as I passed him. He eyed me speculatively, but he also remained silent. I know that I looked like holy hell. Just as I was halfway up the staircase, I heard it.

\"Hoot.\" So softly, I thought I could\'ve imagined it and knew I had not. I spun around and shouted \"FURNUNCULUS!\"

The beam of magic shot out of my wand to smack Malfoy squarely in the middle of his pretty face. He was knocked down and I saw several large, lovely boils sprout from his formerly unblemished skin. Those would definitely leave more than a few marks. Pleased at having been able to give the sneaking bastard a taste of his own medicine and wounding the greatest source of his pride, I hurried upstairs to my chambers - smiling all the way.