Chapter 20

All canon characters belong to JKR

Thanks to June for the beta work.

Chapter 20

Ginny and Hermione decided to go to Muggle London and purchase a home pregnancy kit. They returned to Malfoy Manor and began to read the instructions, only to be interrupted by Draco.

"What are you supposed to do with that, exactly?" he asked.

"This stick is what tells you if you're pregnant. You urinate on it..." Before Ginny could finish, Draco raised both her hands begging her to stop.

"Hold it! You mean you have to piss on that stick?" he asked horrified.

"Yes. What do you think I'm supposed to do with it?" asked Hermione.

Draco shook his head in disbelief. "I don't rightly know, but I sure as hell didn't think you'd be pissing on the thing. That's positively archaic!" he bellowed.

"Apart from going to St. Mungo's or Poppy, how else am I supposed to find out for sure if I'm pregnant, much less how far along I am?" asked Hermione.

"Isn't there a spell or something?" he asked.

"Well, of course there's a spell, but neither Hermione or I are Medi-witches," said Ginny, as Draco plopped himself down on the large chair next to the fireplace.

"Honestly, sometimes I wonder about you two," he grumbled. "It must be a Gryffindor thing. Hermione, you are the most intelligent witch I know; and Ginny, you are the craftiest. You mean to tell me, that between the two of you, you can't find a spell in a library full of hundreds of books to determine if you are pregnant, and how far along?" He looked at them, as they looked at each other in surprise.

"Good Lord, he's right. Hermione, there are hundreds of books in our library, and at least a dozen I can pick out that are dedicated to Medi-wizardry." Ginny walked over to Draco and kissed him. "You, my dear, are a genius."

He rolled his eyes and shooed them away.

* * * * * *

Ginny and Hermione sat in the library with several old books opened to different pages. Between the both of them, they managed to find several spells; then by combining two of those spells, they found the final working and directions. Hermione lay down on the couch as Ginny waved her wand over her belly.

"I think it's working," said Ginny as she smiled. As the tip of her wand began to glow with a faint purple light, she counted the seconds before the light disappeared. She then looked down at the book behind her. As soon as she got her confirmation she looked at Hermione. "According to the book, you are seven weeks pregnant."

Hermione sat up, and placed her hands on her stomach. Now having had her suspicions confirmed, she felt a myriad of emotions. She was happy, sad, angry, afraid, and most of all confused. One thing she knew for certain was she needed to be strong.

Ginny sat next to her and assured her that everything would work out, and to not hesitate to count on both Draco and herself for support.

Knowing she at least had two people she could count on gave Hermione much needed hope. After making Draco promise not to go to Severus, she left. It had been a tiring day, and she wanted to go back to Hogwarts for some much needed rest.

Ginny stood at the open door and watched her walk sadly to the Apparation point. Draco came up behind her, and put his arm around her waist.

"I know him, Ginny. Something must have happened. He wouldn't do something like this just for kicks," proclaimed Draco.

Ginny leaned her head back onto his shoulder. "I know, Draco, but please, you promised her you wouldn't go to him. From what she said, he was very angry. If you start asking questions, it will make things worse for her."

"Something isn't right here," Draco said. Ginny turned and gave him a stern look. "Oh please, how stupid do you think I am? I'm not going to just walk up to him and say, 'Hey Sev, what's this I hear about you using Hermione for sex?'"

"Draco," warned Ginny.

"All right, I'll stay out of it... for now." He kissed Ginny, and they closed the door. Draco suspected something; he just wasn't sure what.

* * * * * *

For the next two months things between Severus and Hermione remained cold. They rarely spoke to one another, and what few words they had were short and to the point. Severus spent his free time in his rooms sulking, while Hermione became withdrawn and somewhat detached.

Severus had hoped that the time away from her would help him get over his feelings, yet it only made him miss her more. His dreams were filled with her images. During Quidditch games, he would spend his time looking at her across the field instead of paying attention to the game. He also took to following her it when it was her turn to do the rounds in the evenings. He kept himself hidden in the shadows, not wanting to give her yet another reason to laugh at him. She had put up a good front in the beginning, making it look like she was innocent of any wrongdoing, but during the last two months, she had backed away from him quite a bit, and no longer made any attempt to speak with him.

Severus had at first suspected she would still want to assist him with the Wolfsbane Potion, but she never said a word. She was distracted at times, and he noticed she looked tired all the time. He knew there was something going on with her, yet he could not and would not ask her what it was. He still sat next to her at meals, and one day he realized she was just pushing her food around her plate. 'No wonder she looks ill, she's not eating enough.' He shook the thought from his head; she was no longer his concern. Still, he felt something emanating from her and often felt a sort of pull from her, a sort of need to be near her that was stronger than he had ever felt.

This time had not been any easier for Hermione. She had spent the Christmas holidays with her parents, and had visited Harry briefly, only to leave when he began alluding to her having a relationship with Severus. Harry was always very astute when it came to her feelings; he noticed she didn't seem as happy as she did a few months before. He also noticed that when he tried to bring up the subject of Severus, she would steer the conversation in a different direction. Ron had been on assignment, which was fine with her, since she was still angry with him.

As January turned into February, Hermione began to notice a slight roundness to her belly. She had never been extremely thin, but she had always been fit. Her once flat stomach now showed there was a life inside of her. She knew that soon she would need to wear her teaching robes full-time. It had been fairly easy to hide her form up to that point, since there was nothing to hide, but her body was beginning to swell. In the last month, she had noticed Albus was asking her odd questions about her health and wanted to know if she had been eating properly. It was obvious to her he suspected something, yet he did not want to ask straight away. It was no secret that she and Severus were not on speaking terms. The staff had known very little about their relationship, but just as they noticed when they were together, they now noticed they were not.

One particular breezy February morning, Hermione sat in her room, grading papers. Having been inside all day, Crookshanks decided to take a walk outside, and noticed a large raven perched on one of the iron railings next to the stairs. He had seen the bird before, and thought he knew whom it belonged to. He usually left it alone, but today he had a purpose.

Osiris stood on his usual perch outside the steps near the dungeon entrance. As he took in the sunshine, he heard something.

"Hey!"

Osiris looked around but didn't see anyone.

"You, up there!" yelled Crookshanks, in a rather straggly sounding meow.

Osiris looked down and saw a large orange cat approaching. "Are you speaking to me?" he asked.

"I'm looking at you, aren't I?" said the cat in an exasperated huff.

"Watch it, furball! How would you like a nub instead of a tail?" said Osiris as he lowered his head menacingly.

"Oh, now I know I have the right bird." Crookshanks stopped at the bottom step and lifted himself on his hind paws. "What did that rat bastard of a master of yours do to my girl?"

"Hold it right there, fish breath. Let's get one thing clear about Severus." Osiris hopped down and met the cat eye-to-eye. "He is NOT my master! I happen to be an Animagus, and he is my cousin."

"If you're an Animagus, then why is it every time I've seen you around here you're a bird? Can't you change back?" asked Crookshanks as he tilted his head.

"It's a long story; maybe if you're a nice kitty I'll tell you about it sometime. Now, what is this about Hermione?" Osiris had not visited Hermione since the day Severus forbade him to see her. He had often thought about going to see her, and had for some time felt confusion regarding what Severus had said to him. He felt that there was more to the story, but couldn't quite figure out what it could have been.

"He did something to her. She's crying all the time, and she's not eating properly, and it's entirely his fault. She was actually happy with him. Then poof, he upped and left her," said Crooks.

Osiris didn't take kindly to people talking bad about Severus, and was immediately on the defensive. "Well, maybe if she hadn't tried to make him look like a fool, she wouldn't be in this situation," countered Osiris.

"What? How the hell would she make him look like a fool? He seems to have done a very good job doing that on his own." Crookshanks was furious.

"Listen here, chunky paws, all he did was get wise to her little game. If anyone has a right to feel like shit, it's him, and believe me he does. He really liked her, you know, probably even loved her. Then one day she goes off to meet those two pea-brained friends of hers, and everything goes to hell in a handbasket."

"Hold on. Pea-brained friends? You'll have to be more specific; she has quite a few of those," stated Crookshanks as he sat on his hind legs.

"She showed me some pictures of them once. One is rather geeky looking and has red hair and freckles. The other wears glasses, and his hair is in dire need of a combing through. I can't remember their names right now, although I should since Severus has been complaining enough about them." Osiris sat down next to Crookshanks. "Come to think of it, he doesn't so much complain, as plot rather creative ways to torture and maim them."

"Oh, no!" Crookshanks shook his head in disbelief, now realizing which friends Osiris was talking about. Over the years, Hermione had still kept in touch with the two in question, and they had even lived together for a short while. Lately, however, with her studies, she had not had much time for them. Even he had been hauled off to live with her parents for a short while. "Not those two. I should have known they would have something to do with this." Crookshanks looked at Osiris. "I knew something smelled fishy," said the cat.

"You mean something other than your breath?" Osiris stood up and hopped on a step so he could be at eye level.

"Cute, flappy, real cute. Look, something happened, and I'll bet a month's supply of catnip that those two had a hand in all of this." Crookshanks shook his head and looked at Osiris. "I'm Crookshanks, by the way. My friends call me Crooks."

"I'm Osiris. My friends call me Osiris."

"Pleased to meet you," said Crookshanks. "Do you talk to many cats?"

"No. I can talk to very few animals. It depends on the animal, and sometimes the breed. I'm not really sure how it works; I've never really been that interested. It's basically hit or miss."

"Well, we've established that we can obviously communicate, and right now you are the only chance I have to finding out what happened. Will you help me?" Crookshanks now stood.

"I shouldn't. Severus told me not to get involved, but there has been something bothering me about this whole situation from day one. Talking to you now makes me think there was definitely more to it than even Severus realized. He keeps talking about some scheme; I'm thinking Hermione may have just been at the wrong place at the wrong time." Osiris nodded. "All right, I'll help."

"Good. Hop on," Crooks said.

Osiris hopped onto Crookshanks' back, and they were off. If anyone had seen them at that moment, they would have shaken their heads in disbelief, and thought they had probably gotten too much sun. It was certainly a strange thing to see ... a large black bird riding on the back of a large orange cat. But they were now the oddest of partners; together they hoped to find out what happened, and help the two people they loved the most.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And so it begins. If anybody can get to the bottom of this its thest two.