Hunter and Prey

What Hermione remembered most afterwards was the careful way Dr Kapur answered her question about a termination. She had not mentioned to the doctor the circumstances of the beginning of her pregnancy, just that it was an unexpected surprise. Evidently she had given away more than she thought to the experienced physician.

She and Louise had been in the consulting room after another ultrasound when Hermione asked. There had been a distinct pause before Dr Kapur explained about potential placenta accreta, hysterectomies and more Latin phrases that the witch automatically tried to decipher into spells. The words were not magic. And they definitely were not good news.

Later when Louise had a latte in a nearby cafe because she was too shattered to drive yet, Hermione thought about the doctor’s parting phrase. She had said ‘mother nature is sometimes mysterious’. It was incongruous that Dr Kapur had advised what Madam Pomfrey had advocated almost six weeks before. If she ever met Mother Nature, Hermione was going to bitch slap the interfering cow.

Imagining that helped shake her out of her shock. There was still hope. Dr Kapur had been careful to clarify her test results were normal and had mentioned many options, even adoption. Hermione was proud of herself that she had not broken down into hysterical laughter. She wrote down the date of the next appointment instead and had walked in silence with her mother to get something to drink.

She looked down at her milky hot chocolate. Everything rested on Professor Snape now. He would be thrilled. Hermione looked up when Louise shakily put down her drink, the cup rattling in the saucer. She pulled herself together for the sake of her mother. She had always been better at dealing with other people’s problems than her own.

“Its alright, mum. We’ll just continue on being sensible about this.” The witch managed a smile. Louise bit her trembling lip and just as her daughter had, collected herself to help another. Hermione was unaware she was as white as a sheet.

Together they got themselves home, first to Grimmauld Place and then to the comfortable semi-detached next to the Granger Family Dental Practise. Hermione went upstairs to bed then cried herself sick. Louise did much the same but without a house elf fidgeting at her bedside. They both slept. Mrs Granger was woken by her husband when he came home from work.

Hermione was woken later by Kreacher inquiring whether she wished to receive a visitor. She blinked at him and glanced out the window. Streetlights twinkled. Pushing herself to her feet, she gave the house elf an affirmative then went to the bathroom to make herself presentable. A little wandwork, a visit to the facilities and she was fit to entertain. Tra la bloody la, she thought as she headed downstairs.

It was Malfoy. In evening wear looking like a crested penguin. That was uncharitable. He was actually quite well-dressed just incongruous in the Black family sitting room in muggle clothes. When she said nothing as she subsided into an armchair, his face hardened.

“Do I look that bad?” He sounded almost defensive. Shorn of his old arrogance, Draco was much less sure of himself though he fought hard to hide it. He had been pampered terribly as a child Hermione ruminated. His mother probably still cosseted him but now the world was much less willing to indulge him. He likely realised how good he’d had it and that the parade was over.

“You look fine. Why the tuxedo, I don’t know. Are you going to the Opera?” She asked idly. There could be any number of black tie events in London. It was Friday night after all. But a wizarding event would have dress robes.

“We are going out to dinner.” Draco said firmly then seeing her blank expression explained. “We haven’t socialised much and I thought rather than fall off the broomstick in the public eye we could try a quiet meal in London first.” He smirked. “That way if we start screaming at each other we can Obliviate everyone and try again.”

“Where have you made reservations?” Hermione asked unwillingly. If he had made the effort and presumably the expense to book somewhere nice enough to require a penguin suit then she should at least ask. Malfoy looked at her as though she was speaking Swahili. “Did you expect to swan in and get a table with a flick of your wand?”

“That was my intention, yes.” Draco answered guardedly. He had put a lot of thought into this gambit and did not want to it fall apart at the start. Granger wasn’t going to be swept along by his charm so he appealed to her brains instead. “How else are we going to get into a suitable restaurant on short notice? Or are you suggesting bribery?”

“I am suggesting we don’t go posh.” She waved a hand at him. “Hello, this is the middle class talking. A quiet dinner does not require black tie.” Hermione had half a mind to crawl back into bed. You’ll be letting the side down, said a voice in her head eerily like McGonagall’s. Malfoy’s idea wasn’t bad and it had clearly taken some nerve not least because he hadn’t asked her out. Plus she was craving garlic bread. “There’s a nice Italian place down the road. Lose the tie.”