Hurt

A/N: Nothing beats typing on the keyboard with greasy fingers! Domino's! YAY! Anyhooz, I received a review about the time line in this story... I totally agree. I was re-reading it and got myself confused as to when everything took place. Sooo... here's a series of events so far (actual dates included!):
July 31 - Hermione is attacked (early evening and Harry's birthday! like oh em gee!)
August 1 - the rescue!! (waaay early morning, like 1 or 2 o clock.. makes you wonder why that officer accepted the excuse for their presence, don't it?)
August 9 - She should have.. eh.. not been "late"... 0_o
August 19 - Molly and the twins visit (big gap there, I know but nothing really happened...)
August 30 - Hermione was tested (she didn't want to do it but after awhile, what are you going to do?)
August 31 - staff meeting and she discovers more of Remus' scars
September 4 - Draco's appearance and the subsequent faint
September 7 - the end of this chapter's events

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Poppy shakes her head as she covers Hermione. “I don’t know what happened. Her blood pressure is normal. Her wounds are healing fine. There is no reason for her sudden faint. I have other patients to tend to so inform me when she wakes,” she says.

Remus nods. “Of course,” he murmurs and settles in the chair next to the bed in the infirmary. He studies the girl’s lax features then sighs when Sirius rests his hand on his shoulder.

“She’ll be fine Moony. Drag your claws out of her and let her be. She isn’t helpless you know,” he chuckles. Remus glances at him and nods. “Come on Remus, she’s all right!” Sirius says when he notices Remus mood darken.

“Sirius… do you think Draco was at the attack? Do you think that’s why she fainted when she saw him?” Remus asks softly.

The other man shrugs slightly. “She would have told us if he was. She told us about Snape and the elder Malfoy,” he replies. Remus shakes his head.

“No, she only told us because we pressured her into it. We made no mention of Draco being there. Hermione?” he whispers when the girl groans softly. She opens her eyes then focuses on Remus when his face swims into view. “Was Draco at the attack?”

A wrinkle in her forehead the slight tremble of her lip answers his question. “Did he force himself on you?” Hermione shakes her head then glances at the fresh scars on her wrists. Sirius understands her unspoken reply.

“He’s the one that slit your wrists. Did he give you the other wounds?” At Hermione’s nod, he clenches his fist. “Like father, like son.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Harry and Ron walk into Remus’ classroom a few days later. Hermione turns the page in her textbook so they grin and move over to her. “Hey Mione,” Ron says, effectively startling her into knocking the book off the desk.

She looks up at them in shock then at the door when it opens again. Remus smiles at her as he strides to the desk. He sets a glass of water and a pill down then picks up her fallen book. “Are these two tormenting?” he asks playfully.

“What’s the pill for?” Harry asks. Hermione downs it with a gulp of water.

“It’s an iron supplement. Her iron levels are incredibly low so she has to take these,” Remus responds. He chuckles when she pulls a face. “Awful taste?”

A stern glare causes him to laugh harder. The door opens again as the rest of the class enters the room to take their seats. Remus leans against the desk to watch them. He looks to Hermione when he feels her hand grasp his sleeve. Draco enters the room and saunters past them with Remus’ glare firmly on his back. “Mister Malfoy, I wish for you to stick around after class. We’ve a few things to discuss,” he growls.

Harry raises an eyebrow at the hatred seeming to ooze from Remus’ pores. “I knew he didn’t like the Malfoys but not to this extent,” he whispers to Ron as the class progresses. Before too long, the bell rings and the students rush to get away from their angry professor nearly knocking Albus and Severus down in the process.

The two men enter the room and nod to Remus as Draco gathers his things. “Mister Malfoy, you need to inform your father that he could very well be a father once again by the end of the school year,” Albus says.

The blonde boy frowns. “What do you mean?”

“What he means is that Hermione is pregnant by either your father or Severus,” Remus snarls and moves toward the boy. Hermione’s hold on his sleeve stops him from maiming the other. Draco straightens his back and glares.

“My father would not stoop so low as to impregnate a bitch like that,” he sneers and jabs his finger at Hermione. She draws away from the accusing digit and looks at the back of Remus’ head.

Albus shakes his head slightly when he sees Remus reaching for his wand. “The babe is due in May, Mister Malfoy. If it proves to be your father’s, I expect him to compensate Miss Granger in the form of money… child support, if you will,” he says. Draco nods curtly then hefts his bag to his shoulder.

“Is that all?”

“No,” Severus murmurs. The others look at him questioningly. “I do not wish to see this babe suffer because of Lucius’ stupidity. Therefore, I will set up a vault at Gringotts for it. Even if it isn’t mine,” he continues. Hermione studies him then lowers her gaze to the desktop.

“But Severus, it’s not your responsibility if the babe isn’t yours,” Albus reasons. Severus shakes his head roughly.

“If it proves to be Lucius’, then the money will be to help repair some of the damage that has been done to her,” he says and nods in Hermione’s direction.

"Remus may I speak with you for a moment?" Poppy's voice asks in the sudden silence.

~~~~~~~~~~

Poppy pulls Remus away from the others. Hermione moves to stand but he shakes his head. “Remus, I thought something didn’t look right on the tests I ran shortly after you brought her to the infirmary after she passed out. I was reviewing them again and she is either carrying an extremely big baby or she’ll be having twins,” the older woman whispers frantically.

Remus’ eyes widen slightly then he looks at Hermione again. He drags his gaze back to Poppy. “You need to inform them then,” he murmurs and motions to the other men staring at him.

Hermione stands from the chair as Remus returns to his desk. He settles in the seat then pulls her down into his lap. Poppy sighs and looks to Severus. “I have reason to believe that Miss Granger is carrying more than one. To be absolutely positive, I will have to cast a few more charms over her but they can’t be done for another two and a half months.”

“Shit,” Severus murmurs. Poppy looks at him scandalized so he flushes a soft pink. “And the sex?” he asks to draw her attention from his outburst. She shakes her head.

“We will not know until I am able to complete those tests.” Draco snorts so she looks at him.

“Malfoys only produce males,” he says pompously. Severus nods to emphasize the point while mumbling something about “Snapes” and “genes”.

Poppy sighs and shakes her head. “Do not disagree with genetics. That is where most go wrong,” she says then leaves the room after sending an empathetic smile at Hermione. Remus holds the girl to his chest and presses a gentle kiss to her forehead. Draco gags at the sweet gesture.

“I’m leaving,” he growls and storms from the room.

--------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: You all remember the letter that our girl received awhile back? Well, it makes another appearance in the next chapter. "Snape's genes" *giggle* I'd like to see him in a pair of jeans.... I don't really know the Malfoy or Snape family tree so I just made up the fact that only males are born to the Malfoy and Snape lines. As for Byron and Alaric, they play parts in it... you might be surprised what happens... Stay tuned!