Haunted

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything that belongs to the magical world of Harry Potter. It all belongs to the lovely JKR. I make no money from this story.


A/N: All right, lovelies. Here it is as promised. Ron And Harry’s reaction.


Chapter 4

They didn’t say a word as I sat myself next to Ginny. She smiled at me and winked. I wanted to roll my eyes at her antics. She was such a romantic, but at least I knew that our friendship would remain intact. I raised my eyes and regarded the wizard across from me. Harry was silent, a confused look plastered on his face. His brilliant green eyes were questioning as he looked at me. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at Ron. From past experience, I knew that his face would tinted pink and his ears would be bright red. He was clearly very angry just as I suspected that he would be. The breakfast table was no place for this conversation. Ron had a habit of acting before he spoke and I didn’t need the entire Great Hall to hear that I was knocked up by the Prince of Slytherin.


I cleared my throat. It was time to find my Gryffindor courage. It was being seriously fickle as of late. When had I become such a coward? “Look, I know you guys want to know what is going on…”


Ron, being the Neanderthal that he normally is, interrupted me before I could finish one sentence. “What the bloody hell is wrong with you? Why in Merlin’s beard did you just come waltzing in holding Malfoy’s hand?” he shouted angrily.


I huffed in annoyance. This is exactly what I was afraid of. “Stop shouting at me, you wanker,” I hissed dangerously. “I was trying to tell you before you rudely interrupted me. It’s a sensitive situation. Something that I don’t want to discuss here. I don’t need the entire Great Hall to be privy to this conversation.”


And indeed, everyone within earshot was listening with rapt attention. Lavender and Parvati were literally leaning forward in their seats to hear every word that fell from our lips. It made me want to hex the little gossip mongers. I didn’t care if this was the juiciest piece of news that Hogwarts had ever seen, if I wanted them to know I would tell them myself.


I glared furiously at them, willing them to mind their own business. I knew that Draco and I should have come to breakfast separately. It felt like fourth year all over again. Every time that horrible Skeeter woman had written some more rubbish in the Daily Prophet, I would be under the spotlight. I hated being the center of attention, so this was sheer torture.


Harry said quietly, “Hermione, are you in some kind of trouble? Did Malfoy do something to you?”


Well, that was a loaded question. I definitely didn’t want to tell him here and I was positive that when I did tell Harry what had happened that I should leave out the part that I was unwilling at first. I was serious about what I told Draco. Harry was very protective of me and he wouldn’t think twice about attacking Draco if he thought that he had hurt me. I tucked my hair behind my ear and tried to put him off until later. “Harry, please. I promise that I will tell you everything, just…”


I must have moved my hair enough that Ginny could see the mark that Draco had put on my neck. She interrupted me by squealing and pulling my hair further away from my neck. “Merlin, Hermione! Is that a bite mark!?”


I groaned loudly. Oh, for Godric’s sake, Ginny why did you have to point that out to them right now. I cursed that mark again for its resistance to magic. I tried to disillusion it before I left the dorm but I couldn’t get the spell to work. I would never get out of here now without everyone finding out the truth. I looked at Ron who resembled a steaming volcano. I had to stop this now before it escalated into a full on duel in the Great Hall. I didn’t want to have to hurt my friend.


“Ron, I can explain…” he cut me off again. I couldn’t get in a word edgewise.


“What’s to explain?” he thundered. “You let that filthy, bigoted ferret put his disgusting mouth on you! You are no better than those cheap harlots that he sleeps with!”


Gasps of shock filled the Great Hall at that remark. Blaise Zabini was physically restraining Draco at the Slytherin table. I looked at what I thought was my friend. I was crushed and on the verge of tears. How dare he insinuate that I was a whore?


“Ronald Bilius Weasley, how dare you insinuate that I’m a trollop?” I said, my tone deadly. “You are one to talk. You walk around attached to your girlfriend’s face. It’s disgusting! As for Draco’s harlots, why don’t you ask your girlfriend Lavender about that? I heard her bragging that he was the best that she ever had. And that was after you started dating her. Tsk, tsk. Imagine that. You have Draco’s sloppy seconds. I guess it can’t be too bad. You are the youngest of your brothers. I assume that you are used to hand me downs.”


Ron turned a deep shade of red. I didn’t mean to take my words so far but he forced my hand. I’m not letting anyone walk on me any longer. He should have respected my wishes to talk later privately. I only hoped that my last remark didn’t hurt Ginny. Ron was her brother. I chanced a glance at my best girlfriend. She was looking at her brother murderously. A good sign.


Ron sat there for a full minute, his mouth agape. Finally he said, “At least I’m not fraternizing with the enemy. He’s a deatheater, fought for Voldemort. Remember. His aunt tortured you at his manor while he watched.”


“News flash, Ron,” I shot back. “Draco and his family were tried and found not guilty. His mother saved Harry’s life. Or did you forget with your infinitely miniscule brain?”


Everyone’s eyes moved back and forth between the two of us as we argued. They looked like spectators at a muggle tennis match. Ron rolled his eyes angrily at me. “Oh, so now he’s Draco all of a sudden. What kind of spell did he cast on you? Maybe he slipped you a love potion.”


This was so embarrassing. I wanted to crawl under the table and disappear. Draco was so angry. I could feel it pulsing in the back of my mind. He needed to calm down before he caused an even bigger scene. I just might die of embarrassment if he came over here to defend my honor. ‘I’m fine’ I thought. ‘I can handle him.’ I felt his anger ebb slightly at my reassurance. Ron was treading on very thin ice. Truth be told that Draco may be more forgiving than I was. Ron should have remembered the canary incident. What was happening here was considerably worse than the whole snogging Lavender thing.


Getting my temper under control once more I finally muttered, “I wish it was that simple, Ron. I can’t believe that you are forcing me to talk about this here.” I took a deep breath before continuing. “What do you know about veela?”


Harry said, “Aren’t they a magical creature?”


“Yeah,” Ron answered dreamily. “Remember, they were the Bulgarian mascots at the Quidditch World Cup. And Bill’s wife Fleur is a quarter veela. What does that have to do with you and Malfoy?”


Merlin, this was hard. I rubbed my neck absent-mindedly trying and sadly failing to ignore the eyes that were still on me. “It has everything to do with us. Draco is a veela.”


“So,” he countered.


Gods, he was thick. “So…every veela has a mate. Someone that they are fated to spend the rest of their life with. They have no choice who their mate is. Their magic chooses for them. When they hit puberty, they have a dream that alerts them to the identity of their mate. If they don’t mark and bond with their mate before they reach maturity, they die.”


Ron narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What do you mean ‘mark’ ?”


Ginny shook her head and rolled her eyes. He really was thick. I pointed to my neck, gesturing to the mark Ginny had so thoughtfully pointed out for me. Harry’s mouth drooped open in shock. Ron managed to turn a whole new shade of red that I couldn’t even describe. “You are Malfoy’s mate!,” he bellowed.


Now he had done it. The entire Great Hall was silent. You could hear a pin drop. It took all of my self control not to hex the prat on the spot. I slowly stood up. I’d had enough of this conversation. I couldn’t eat anyway.


Harry whispered, “Merlin, Ron. Did you have to shout that out? Good luck, mate.” He scooted over on the bench as far from Ron as he could get. I would have smiled if I wasn’t so angry.


“Thank you for shouting my business to the entire student body. At least it will squash any rumors before they start.” I said all this loudly. Everyone knew anyway. “Yes, I’m Draco’s mate. Yes, we’ve bonded. I wasn’t about to let him die, no matter how badly he treated me in the past. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve lost my appetite.”


I turned to leave and Ron grabbed my wrist. “Hermione,” he pleaded softly. “Wait….I’m…”


I didn’t let him finish. I turned quickly and swung my fist right into his nose. It made a satisfying crack. At this point, I didn’t care if I got detention. He let go of my wrist and clasped his hand over his nose. The teachers were so shocked by the mornings events that not one of them moved in our direction. Not even Snape. I expected that I would hear about it later.


I glared at Ron icily. “Don’t,” I hissed menacingly. “You’ve lost your rights to speak to me. I’ve never been so humiliated in my life. You are lucky I resorted to physical retaliation. I should have just cursed your lips right off your face. As it is, I don’t think you are worth the effort. Good day.”


I strode quickly out of the Great Hall, not daring to meet anyone’s eyes. I knew everyone was looking at me. I just wanted to disappear. It was unfortunate that you couldn’t apparate inside Hogwarts. I pushed open the doors and exited into the corridor. I could hear the swell of noise as the doors closed. No doubt that I was the center of every conversation. They were either talking about the fact that Draco and I were mates or the fight that Ron and I just had.


I hoped Harry wasn’t angry at me too. I wouldn’t be able to stand it if both my best friends deserted me. This was hard enough as it was. I needed someone that I could rely on. Ginny and I were friends but I wasn’t as close to her as I was to Ron and Harry.


Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about the horrible things that Ron had said. He basically called me a whore. I exited the building and made my way down to the lake. I just wanted to be alone. I didn’t know how I was going to bring myself to face my classmates after what had just transpired.


I sat under my favorite tree and stared out at the water. It was so still that it looked like a pane of glass. So many things had changed in such a short amount of time. It was really hard to comprehend. Draco and I would be together for the rest of our lives. In nine months, I would be a mother.


“Hermione…”


I jumped at his voice. I hadn’t expected anyone to follow me.


“Hi, Harry,” I said sadly and gestured to the ground. “Are you going to yell at me too?”


He folded his tall body onto the grass beside me. “No, Hermione. I know that you made the right decision. No matter what a wanker Malfoy is, no matter how much I dislike him, he doesn’t deserve to die. Although, if he ever hurts you, I will kill him anyway. It’s just a shock, you know?”


I smiled and laughed at my oldest friend. “You have no idea, Harry. You don’t even know the half of it.”


He looked at me curiously. “There’s more?”


I nodded my head reluctantly. “I didn’t get to tell you everything because of that git. Honestly, you’d think after all these years he’d learn how to control his temper.”


Harry smiled widely. “If it’s any consolation, Ginny gave Ron a thorough tongue lashing after you left. Then she cursed him with a rather spectacular bat bogey hex. It was her best yet , I believe. Between your right hook and her curse, he didn’t stand a chance. He’s in the hospital wing now.”


“He deserved it,” I muttered darkly.


Harry sighed. “You know how Ron is Hermione. Shoot first and ask questions later,” he said sympathetically.


I looked out at the lake again. “I know. That’s why I wanted to wait to tell you all until later. He just wouldn’t leave it alone.”


He regarded me carefully with concern in his green eyes. I’d always loved Harry’s eyes. Somewhere over the years, Harry had turned into a very handsome man. “What else is there Hermione?”


I looked right into his eyes. I might as well spill the beans. “I’m pregnant, Harry.”



End Note: I know, I know. Another cliffy. *hides* But tell me, what did you think? Did I get it right between Ron and Hermione? What is Harry going to say? I’m almost to a hundred reviews now. Thanks guys. Let’s get over the century mark! : )