Just Pretend

This chapter was beta'd by my great Beta Molls. Thank you!


"C'mon!" Draco whined. Blaise and Draco were sitting in the Slytherin common room. They arrived back to Hogwarts with Hermione yesterday. With Jennifer left behind, Blaise had been moping non-stop, depressed and not wanting to do anything. Draco didn't know what to do for the guy.

Not like he had much time to figure out what he could do for Blaise. He had Head duties and Hermione to deal with. She was in her own little world, still reeling from her attack, and she wasn't letting Draco as close to her as he had been before. He sighed. It was hard to try to split his time between two people who needed him to help care for them, both his girlfriend and his best mate.

He decided he would have to give Hermione some space for now and deal with Blaise. "She is just a girl, Blaise. Not your wife. Didn't you tell me you have plans to meet her again in the summer?" Draco asked, trying to cheer him. That wasn't working too well.

"Yes, but things are serious between us. I can't wait that long! And I bet she can't either. I mean, I gave her the greatest orgasms. I also gave... " Blaise hesistated. "I gave her my House-Honor ring," he said reluctantly.

"Uh...did you tell her what that means?" Draco asked, alarmed if he didn't.

It was serious if you gave a girl your House-Honor ring. It meant that even if the couple was apart, the guy still has a claim on her. The ring is usually the color of their house and their name is carved on the inside of the band. Blaise's has a broom on his, meaning he played Quidditch.

If a man ignores the ring and continues to try to court the girl who wears it, he must duel her boyfriend. If he tries to duel the boyfriend, it means he thinks he is the better choice for her. But it is basically the most dishonorable thing you can do. No one will respect the guy who challenged the ring, even if he won the duel.

Blaise looked at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Well...," he started, looking up at Draco sheepishly. "Kinda."

"Blaise!" Draco admonished.

"I didn't have the time to explain it all to her. We were running out of time," Blaise said lamely. He knew it was time to change the subject. "So I take it that you haven't found out who hurt Hermione?" Blaise knew he was stepping on uneasy ground when talking about that with Draco. He really needed to get the subject off of him and Jennifer.

"I don't know, Blaise. I think she is hiding something from me. Maybe I'm just being paranoid and she's just not ready to talk to me about it.

"Draco, I think maybe you should start to look forward and not look at the past. I mean, if you find him, great. I'll help you beat the bloke into a bloody pulp. But if you spend your time in the past, you're going to let the future pass you up. Hermione needs you tou look forward and not dwell on it," Blaise suggested.

"I have a Heads meeting with Hermione soon. I should go find her." Draco said standing up, intending to leave so they wouldn't have to talk about the asshole that he IS going to find.

"Ok, mate. Will I get to spend time with you later? I mean we haven't really done anything together you've been a bit busy with Hermione and all," Blaise asked.

Draco felt bad for Blaise. He was used to the time they spent together before their lives got complicated. "Yeah, right after my meeting. We'll do something," Draco assured him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione and Draco sat in Professer McGonagall's office waiting for her. Draco looked over at Hermione. She looked like hell. She looked like she was on one hour's sleep. He just wanted to hold her. Protect her. Feed her. He wanted to make sure she was taken care of. Draco sighed heavily.

Just then Professer McGonagall walked in. "Hello, Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy. I would like you to meet my niece Jane." Professor McGonagall stepped aside so they could greet the little girl.

She had blonde curly pigtails, big blue eyes, and really was so cute! She grabbed onto Professor McGonagall's leg and buried her face into it as if she were trying to hide from Draco and Hermione.

"I would like you two to watch her for me today. Her mother is in labor as we speak. She'll only be here for today. I would love to watch her myself, but I have to help prepare classes. So I want you two to watch her for me," McGongall explained.

The two watched the little one thinking over what they have been told. Watching a kid? That's just great! Draco thought bitterly.

"Hi, sweetheart. My name is Hermione," Hermione said softly to the little girl. "How old are you?" Hermione asked. The little girl held up six fingers. Hermione acted as if she were surprised.

"Ok, Janie, Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy are going to have fun with you and you promise to be good for them?" Professor McGonagall asked. The little girl nodded her head. Hermione and Draco stood up and Hermione reached for the little girl's hand. They started walking.

"Draco, would you mind watching her for a little bit?" Hermione asked unexpectedly.

"What? Where you are you going? What are you doing?" Draco asked hating the idea of spending his day with some little girl.

"I just have to do a few things in the library. If you want to come check on me later that's where I will be." Hermione said softly, looking down at her feet, hearing the disappoval in his voice.

"Are you going alone?" He asked. She could go as long as she wasn't alone, he could handle baby-sitting alone, even though he didn't want to. If she insisted on going alone, he was going to go with her with the little brat. He didn't care how bored the little girl would be in the library, he wasn't going to let Hermione be there alone.

"Ginny is going to be with me," Hermione said, breaking his train of thought.

Well, that wasn't the greatest protection but at least she wasn't alone. Maybe he would go find Harry and ask if he would stay with her for a bit. Potter wasn't his favorite person, but he and Hermione were friends, so he was sure that he wouldn't mind. Maybe he should tell her that she could only go if Harry is there. He would feel safer if Harry was there with her.

"Why don't you ask Harry to go with you?" Draco asked.

Hermione's head shot up, her beautiful brown eyes filled with fear. Ok, mentioning a guy go with her was a bad thing. "He's...uh...busy!" Hermione said quickly.

Draco knew she was lying but he wasn't going to force her into anything just yet. "Ok. I'll check on you later," Draco said finally.
Her eyes filled with relief. She kissed him on the cheek and left quickly.

Draco wasn't satisfied. He was going to find Harry. Draco looked down at the little girl. He gave a weak smile. "Now you have cooties!" The little girl dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"I do not!" Draco said, now walking, dragging her behind him by her hand. He was going to find Harry and then figure out what to do with the girl.

"Do too!" She argued back.

"Do not!"

"Do too! Cooties! You have cooties!" She shrieked before she went into a fit of giggles again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Why didn't anyone tell me!" Harry said in a harsh whisper. Both Draco and Harry looked over at Janie who was stuffing her face with sweets. They were seated at a table in the Great Hall. He was tired of students asking if she was his little cousin or something. They both had blonde hair and blue eyes and apparently everyone thinks that makes them related. He snapped on Harry when he asked if she was related to him.

"Well this just happened, like I said, it was at the New Year's party," Draco explained.

"I will kill the motherfu--" Harry looked at Janie who was look at him curiously, waiting for him to finish his sentence. Harry gave a fake smile.

Draco laughed a little. "I understand, mate. I just want you to look out for her but don't go near her. She'll freak out on you and she can use magic to kick your ass if she has her wand. I just want you to look out for her," Draco whispered.

"Yeah, I get it. I can do that. I can't believe no one told me what happened to her."

"Well, you know now. I have to find out what to do with the C. H. I. L. D." Draco spelled it out to avoid curious ears figuring out they were talking about her. Draco glanced over at Janie. She was standing on her tippy toes on the table, stretching to reach a whole cream covered pie that was just out of her grasp. She grabbed it with her little hands and turned on her heel to jump down on the bench. Splat!

She slipped on melted ice cream in the puddle she made when she was eating it. When she slipped, she knocked hot chocolate on Draco's lap and fell into the marshmallow cake. Harry was covered in cream pie and a bit of hot chocolate as well but not as bad as Draco. He used his fingers to wipe the cream off of his glasses so he could see Draco. He had to bite his tongue from laughing. Draco was furious.

He stood up and grabbed Janie, putting her on his hip. But before he started to walk out of the Great Hall to get away from the students, he gave her a three punishing smacks to her bottom and then stormed out with her.

Blaise was still in the common room taking a nap when Draco came back. He heard the door to the common room slam and lifted his head up off the couch. What he didn't expect was Draco to come back with a crying kid on his hip covered in whipped cream and something else...and looking thoroughly pissed.

"Uh...Do I even want to ask what happened?" Blaise said getting up from the couch. Other Slytherins didn't say anything about Draco's apparance or the crying girl who Draco sat on the oppsite couch of Blaise and told to stay. "Draco, is she related?" Blaise asked curiously.

"No!" He yelled as he used his wand to cast scourgify and clean himself and then the little girl. "That little monster! Hermione is supposed to be helping me but she decided that she had to do something in the library with Ginny. I wanted to give her some space, but I felt that she needed someone to protect her other than Ginny. So I told her to ask Harry figuring he wouldn't mind. She said no to that. I let her go. Got stuck with the monster. Then I went and found Harry to tell him I wanted him to watch over her when I asked he was confused. He didn't know what happened to her. So I had to explain that to him. Well, needless to say he is furious."
Draco hesistated before he spoke again. "I thought he would blame me for what happened to her but he didn't. I constantly blame myself but know one else does. Why? Blaise why? It is my fault. I wasn't a good boyfriend. I let some monster hurt her for the love of god!" Draco yelled at the top of his lungs.

"None of this is your fault." Blaise grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him furiously. "Dammit! What happened is not your fault. Repeat after me. What happen to Hermione is not my fault. I, Draco, am not responsible."

"Blaise, I can't. I just can't. I know that it is my fault. I know it is. So shut up and tell me what to do with this kid!" Draco yelled and he pointed his finger at the couch where she was sitting.

"Uh- Mate? What kid?" Blaise asked. He had forgotten about the kid in the midst of all the shouting.
"What do you mean what kid? The little gi--" Draco looked over to the couch to see that she was gone! "Fuck! Where did she go? McGonagall will kill me! Hermione will kill me! Blaise, I have to find her. The little brat must be mad at me."

Blaise looked confused. "Why would the kid be mad? You're confusing me."

"She threw the damn pie at me and then spilt hot chocolate on me. She made a huge mess in the Great Hall. I lost my temper with her and spanked her. That is why she's mad." Draco finally explained.

"How did you have the heart to spank that cute kid?" Blaise asked.

"I said I lost my temper. I didn't mean to but with you, Hemione, my fucking father. I don't know I just have to find her. Her name is Jane."

"If I were a little girl, where would I hide from a big meanie named Draco?" Blaise looked skyward as if he were in deep thought.

"Blaise." Draco growled irritated.

"Well, we are going to need help. Grab Goyle and Crabbe and look around the castle while I look inside here for her," Blaise suggested. That was the only plan at the moment.

"Ok well, don't tell Hermione I lost her. I won't have a baby career after she is done with my jewels." Draco said grabbing his crotch protectively.

Blaise grimaced at the thought of Hermione hexing his jewels. Draco went out the door quickly to find that girl and prayed to God that for his own sake she was ok.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been four hours and Draco didn't find her. He had also been careful to look out for--and avoid--Hermione. He looked in the Great Hall again, thinking that Jane had to get hungry sometime and want to eat.

Nothing. He couldn't find her. He was worried now. He let Hermione down and now he let this little girl down. He couldn't do anything right. He couldn't protect anyone. Why did McGonagall trust him with that poor little girl?

Draco was in the castle looking while Goyle and Crabbe were looking outside. After this much time had passed, she could have gotten anywhere! He assumed that Blaise was still looking in the common room.

He looked up and saw Hermione with a bunch of books in her hand. "Draco, where is Jane? Why isn't she with you?" Hermione asked concern written clearly across her face.

"Well--" He started and then she interrupted him.

"Don't tell me you lost her!"

"No, of course not!"

Hermione waited for him to say something. To explain with Jane was. He opened his mouth to admit that he indeed had lost her when someone tapped his shoulder. "Hey, Draco." It was Crabbe. He nodded to Hermione. "This will only take a second, Hermione," he told her as he pulled Draco away.

"We found her. She's running into Hogmeade. Goyle's running after her and I came here to tell you where she is. We need help to catching her," he whispered so Hermione wouldn't hear.

"Hermione. Goyle is in Hogmeade and he is sick from something he ate. I'm going to see if he is ok. I'll be back," he lied.

"Where is Jane?" Hermione asked again.

"She is with Blaise. I asked him to watch her real quick while I went to come check on you cause she had fallen asleep. I'll pick her up and then see Goyle. See ya!" Draco and Crabbe ran off. God, he hated lying to Hermione. He would tell her the truth later after he made sure Jane was ok.

Hermione turned around to walk back to her dorm when she tripped and her books went everywhere. Hermione groaned. Well, that was going to leave a bruise. Hermione looked up and saw that Harry was picking up her books. Hermione eyes widened. No this can't be happening. She was alone with Harry. "Are you alright, Hermione? Looked like a nasty fall," Harry said looking over her body for any injuries, relieved to see none.

"Hermione, are you ok? Say something." Harry said. Why wasn't she talking to him? Maybe she hit her head. The fall didn't look that bad. Hermione brought him out of his thoughts when she roughly snatched her books from his chest and then started to walk off. He grabbed her elbow to stop her.

"Hermione, tell me that you're ok. Say something to me. Are you hurt?" Harry asked.

She whipped around to face him. "Don't touch me." The hatred in her voice was enough to scare Voldermort. "Never touch me again. Never talk to me again. I hate you!" She yelled as tears and sorrow filled her eyes.

"Why? I didn't do anything." Harry remembered that Draco said she didn't like men around her ever since what happened at the party. "Hermione, I would never hurt you. I love you like my sister. I would never even think of hurting you!"

"Please, stop fucking with my head, Harry. Just stop messing with my mind! Stay out of my head!" She cried weakly. Then she ran off away from Harry.

'What the fuck?' was the only thing that registered in his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once they made it to Hogsmeade, they had to split up and look for her. Draco sighed heavily. He started to cross a small bridge when he heard sniffling. Then he heard it again. He climbed down the small hill and went under the bridge. The she was. Draco was flooded with both relief and anger at the same time. She looked up at him with fear of getting a spanking again since she had taken off. As Draco walked closer to the little girl she became more scared. "Please don't spank me!" she said, but he only wrapped her up in his coat.

"I've been so worried about you." He said to her softly.

"I'm sorry!" She said and she hugged her little arms around his neck.

"It's ok but I want you to promise me you'll never run away again."

She sniffled and nodded her head. "I promise. I'm sorry that I made you worry about me." She said when he picked her up. She still held on to his neck and he carried her.

"I told you that it's ok. Don't worry, little one. I'm not mad." He told her softly.

When they arrived to the castle she had fallen asleep. He was tempted to put her down when Goyle and Crabbe asked if she was related to him. He gave them a evil glare and went to the castle to find Hermione and finally tell her what happened. Then on to tell McGonagall. Gee, isn't this going to be fun?