After Midnight

Okay, I know it's been a long time coming, but here it is. Thank you to all my readers; you guys are thoughtful and amazing! Thank you also for all the well wishes about my ankle. Enjoy! ~ G.C.


Hermione shifted in the kitchen of her home as she waited on her potion to cool. She only hoped that the fumes from the potion didn’t harm her own baby. She’d worked with a cloth covering her face to minimize the amount of fumes in which she breathed. Ginny was currently in the sitting room with Dominick and Troy playing with them. It had taken lots of cajoling and sexual exercise to get Draco to allow Ginny to come to the Manor and be alone with Hermione while he was at his office in the ministry. It had taken even more careful planning to ensure that none of the house elves disturbed her while she worked. Although they were always pleasant to her and seemed to genuinely like her, Hermione knew that they were under strict orders to watch her and report any suspicious behavior back to Draco.

Finally, the potion was cool enough for Ginny to take. Hermione carefully spooned the proper amount into a vial and went into the sitting room to collect her friend. Bringing in the plate of cookies she had made, she squatted in the floor next to her sons who immediately descended upon the baked goods.

“Mummy! Cookies!” Troy shouted in delight as he took the one she offered and then crawled into her lap to continue listening to Ginny read the story book in her lap.

“Me too, Mummy!” Dominick demanded as he reached his tiny hand into the air from his perch next to Ginny on the settee. Hermione handed him one and then cuddled Troy to her as she listened to Ginny finish the story about a Unicorn who was best friends with a giant and their adventures. When Ginny finished, Hermione stood up and sat on the settee bringing Troy with her.

“Here,” she said, handing her the vial. “This is for your headache. You should probably take it now and then by the time you get home it will have started working. Make sure you get to the bathroom before anyone sees you as they might get worried.” Hermione gave Ginny a small smile and took Dominick from her. Even though Ginny was very good with children, she was obviously uncomfortable with Dominick and Troy. Hermione wished that her friend could look past who the father of her children was and see the sweet little boys they were. Fortunately the twins were oblivious to her discomfort.

After Ginny swallowed the potion, she watched Hermione play on the floor with her boys. There was a small, wry smile on her face as she watched Hermione’s exuberant face while she rough housed with her children. The two women chatted while Hermione chased and tickled the twins who were laughing with glee at their mother’s attentions. Suddenly, the flames in the fire place roared to life and Dominick and Troy took off running to greet their father.

“Daddy!” they squealed as Draco picked them up and spun them around. “Daddy, we had a good day!” The twins were excellent speakers and often spoke in unison. Hermione and Draco found it amusing, while Blaise and Ginny found it rather creepy. They were very intelligent, which was no surprise seeing as whom their parents were.

“Oh? What did my little ones do?” Hermione stood up and walked over to Draco and kissed him hello. Ginny watched the display with mild disgust on her features.

“Mummy and Aunt Ginny let us pick out colors for our new room. I picked green and Troy picked blue. Mummy said we could have dragons painted on the wall if we asked real nice,” Dominick said.

“Please, Daddy! Can we have dragons painted?” Troy hung off his father’s neck as he begged for the moving paintings on his new bedroom walls.

“Of course you can! What else did you do today?” Draco moved to the arm chair that was his in Hermione’s sitting room, taking her with him, forcing her to sit on his lap while Dominick and Troy told him about their day. He was pressing open mouthed kisses to the back of her neck and Hermione knew that the boys would be taking a nap before dinner so that he could work out his obvious sexual frustration. Draco seemed to notice Ginny’s discomfort and Hermione was grateful when he stopped his assault on her skin.

“Mummy made cookies!” Troy had finished the dialogue of what their day had entailed and was now playing with Dominic and their stuffed dragons. Hermione looked at Ginny. When Draco had seen her look of discomfort, he had assumed that it had been because of his obvious display of affection but Hermione knew that the potion was working and that unless she got home very quickly, Ginny might miscarry in the sitting room, opening up a whole barrage of questions that it was best not to deal with right now.

“Draco, would you mind sending Ginny home? She had a headache earlier and I don’t think she feels very well right now,” Hermione asked. “While you take her home, I’ll put the boys down for a nap before dinner and we can go over your day in the bedroom.” Hermione put her hands on his chest and felt the warm ripple of muscle go through him at her words. Even though she was loath to admit it, she had gotten aroused from his earlier attention to her neck. She had a very passionate nature and Draco did everything he could to bring that out in her.

“Of course, love,” Draco’s gaze was dark and intent on her as he watched her say goodbye to Ginny.

As she took the children upstairs, she felt a sense of accomplishment at what she had done. She wished that she could do more for Ginny, but maybe if she could get away with this, then maybe she could one day help Ginny escape. She heard the sound of Draco’s return and after turning off the lights in the nursery, she moved to her own bedroom and took her hair down from bun it had been in and removed her shoes. When Draco was in a mood like this, he often preferred to undress her himself so she left on her skirt and blouse. She turned down the bed and was humming softly to herself, so happy in her success at helping Ginny that she didn’t notice the enraged man standing behind her until it was too late.

As she turned around, she gasped and his hand came up and closed around her throat. His grey eyes were dark and livid. Hermione couldn’t recall being this frightened of him since her first night in the manor.

“What the hell is this?” he demanded quietly, backing her up so that her knees hit the bed and she was forced to sit down. Her eyes drifted to his other hand and her stomach dropped when she saw the cauldron that had the remainder of Ginny’s abortion potion clinging to its walls.

“It isn’t what you think,” she gasped before his hand tightened on her throat, cutting off her air supply and making it impossible for her to speak.

“Don’t lie to me, pet,” he growled. “It’s THE potion; the one that ungrateful witches such as yourself take when they want to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.”

Hermione shook her head at what he was insinuating and tried to verbally deny what he was accusing her of, but he backhanded her across the face, splitting her lip before turning her over, bending her over the bed. He kicked her legs apart and lifted her skirt above her hips and taking his cock out of his pants her shoved himself into her unready channel, bunching her hair around his fist as he pulled her head back to look at him.

“Is this what you want, Hermione? Do you WANT to be treated like a whore? Do you want me to rape you?” He took out his wand and flicking it, her wrists were tied to the bed while he continued to pound into her. He bit her neck and drew blood. “Do you want to be tied down and fucked like nothing more than a warm, wet hole for my cock?”

“Draco, please stop! You’re hurting me!” Hermione was terrified. “I didn’t take the potion, it wasn’t for me!” Her cervix was burning and she could feel blood trickling down her neck from his bite mark.

“Then who was it for? I risked so much to have you and you’ve done nothing but fight me the entire way! I thought you would be incapable of hurting one of your own children, but I was wrong! Do you want to live like a whore? Aborting your child like that is what a witch in a whore house does. I could understand if I had treated you like one, if you wanted to kill our baby then. I didn’t treat you like one, though and when I go to our kitchen after a long, hard day of working to keep us in the good graces of the Dark Lord, what do I see but my ungrateful wife’s plans of ruining our little family! I can’t even trust you around Dominick and Troy anymore! I hope you enjoyed your day with them, because this is the last you’ll see of them for quite some time!” Finally, Draco pulled out of her and she felt his sticky release on her back as he rubbed it into her skin. The ropes tying her down disappeared and she turned around to him, on her knees.

“I didn’t abort our baby!” she screamed at him. “Why won’t you listen to me? I made the potion for Ginny because she begged me to make it for her. Please don’t take Dominick and Troy away! I’ll do anything!” She collapsed on the floor, sobbing. Draco stared at her for a moment before going to his robes and digging in the pocket for a vial of clear liquid.

Crossing the room her grabbed her hair and tilted her head back, uncorking the vial with his teeth and dumping the contents down her throat. As she swallowed the bitter liquid, she recognized it as veritaserum. Draco’s eyes were cold, but she saw a glimmer of guilt in them and she prayed to the gods for help as he began his questioning.

“Did you abort our baby?” he asked, his eyes shining with hurt.

“No! I would never do such a thing!” He gave a sigh of relief and then turned to her again.

“Have you ever considered getting rid of any of our children?”

“No! Aren’t you listening?” The potion was working and Hermione could feel the honest anger pouring out of her.

“If you didn’t make the potion for yourself, who did you make it for and why?” His back was turned to her.

“I made it for Ginny. She was pregnant and didn’t want it. Blaise never left her alone long enough to get rid of it, so she begged me to help her. I made it for her because I love her and wanted to help her.” Hermione could feel the words pouring out of her mouth with more honesty than she intended. She was afraid of what he might ask.

“Have you ever plotted with Ginny for escape?”

“No.”

“Have you ever tried to escape from here on your own?” Draco’s back was still turned to her, but she could read the uneasiness in the slump of his shoulders.

“No, I’ve never tried to escape. Not since we were married.” He gave a sigh of relief and Hermione could feel the tears streaming down her face.

“Have you ever faked an orgasm or any sensation while we were together?”

“No, I’ve never had to,” she said, against her own will and her cheeks burned with the embarrassment of her statement.

“Were you ever in love with anyone before me? Is there anyone right now that you wish you were sharing your bed with?”

“I had very strong feelings for Ron, but I wasn’t in love with him, even though I thought I was. I don’t have feelings for anyone else.” Hermione wanted to weep at what she was saying because she was admitting it to herself as well.

“Do you regret Dominick and Troy?” he asked, turning to face her.

“Not for a single second,” she whispered, turning her face away from his piercing gaze.

He crossed the room to her and reached for her, running his hands through the mass of curls on her head. She saw the hurt in his eyes when she flinched at his touch. “Have you ever meant it when you said you loved me?”

Hermione pursed her lips together, not wanting the answer to come out, but the potion was well made and stronger than her will. “Yes,” she admitted as tears of shame coursed down her cheeks. “I want to hate you sometimes, but I can’t. I hate Voldemort and I hate the people you work for, but I can’t hate you.”

Draco sighed and kissed her lips. He removed her clothes and she didn’t even protest. She thought he might try to force himself on her again, but he didn’t. Instead, he picked her up and carried her to their bathroom, where he drew a hot bath for her and undressing himself, he lowered the two of them into the steaming water. He washed her skin, paying close attention to the bite marks and bruises he’d inflicted on her during his assault. He kissed each mark and kept running his hands over her slightly rounded belly.

“I’m sorry I hurt you, love,” he whispered as he took a wash cloth and tenderly probed the opening between her legs, soothing the tender, abused flesh. “I’m sorry I treated you like a whore. You scared me though, and you did a very foolish thing. Those fumes could have hurt our baby. I know you did it because you wanted to help that silly bint, but you could have seriously hurt yourself or the baby.”

“I wore a mask,” she protested. “I took every precaution. Ginny was afraid of what might happen if Blaise found out. She doesn’t view children the same way that I do.”

“I know she doesn’t,” Draco smirked at her, before turning serious. “I’m not going to tell Blaise, but you can’t see her for quite sometime. She’s a bad influence on you.” He took the cloth and washed her breasts, bending and sucking the water off her nipples before continuing his journey over her body.

Hermione felt the tears gather in her eyes as she nodded. “Will you at least tell me about her? She’s like a sister to me and I worry about her. Please don’t let anything bad happen to her.” She leaned forwards in the bath and clung to him, when a thought struck her. “You aren’t really going to take Dominick and Troy away, are you?”

Draco looked into her pleading eyes. “I never should have doubted you,” he said as he held her, slowly easing his cock into her pussy. “You don’t have to worry about our boys. I’d never hurt them and I promise I won’t ever hurt you like this again. Your need to protect Ginny is part of why I fell in love with you, so I shouldn’t be angry with you for trying to be a good mother figure to your friend. I need to know though that the boys and I come first.”

“Always,” she breathed as he began to slowly rock her over his cock, doing his best to pleasure her. She buried her face in the crook of his neck as he began to angle his thrusts to hit all the places that made her moan. Her breasts felt heavy and she arched her back, thrusting them against his chest to ease the ache in her nipples.

Moaning, he held her to him with more care than he had in a long time. “Tell me what I want to hear, love,” he said as he moved in her.

“I love you, Draco,” she said and her throat closed up with unshed tears at the truth in the statement and the shame and self-loathing she felt because of it.