The Worst That Could Happen

Hermione lay in a sobbing heap as the house elves worked around her, healing her and cleaning the blood from her. She noticed distantly how they stayed away from her arm where she had bitten it and that monster had rubbed the salt in her flesh, causing her the most pain she'd known in a long time.

She was disappointed in herself to the point that she hated herself for her lack of self-control. She could brave the Cruciatus curse two times in a row yet she could not stand a little salt in the wound? How pathetic was she? How weak could a person get?

It wasn't until they had finished with her that she finally gave into the blackness that had threatened to spill over her while she was under the curse.

When she woke next, she was lying in a soft bed with satin sheets and a thick down comforter covering her. She sat up, confused at the change in her surroundings. Where was she? Had someone rescued her in her unconscious state? Or was she perhaps still dreaming?

"Finally awake?" someone asked. She looked around and saw the one person she least wanted to see gazing at her with lust in his eyes. Draco Malfoy.

Hermione averted her eyes; unaware of what Malfoy would do to her if she met his gaze head on. Would he punish her for daring to look into the eyes of a being so much more "worthy" than she?

"Cat got your tongue?" he asked, walking over to the bed she sat in. He joined her on the bed, sitting on the edge. "When I ask you a question, I expect an answer."

"Yes," Hermione answered. "I am awake. And no, a cat does not have my tongue."

Draco smirked. "Are you following the rules now?" he asked. "Or are you playing coy with me?"

"I'm too tired to fight," Hermione whispered. She felt tears burn at her eyes and fought to keep from crying like a baby. She couldn't believe Harry had died and left her to this fate....

"Are you afraid of me?" Draco asked with an odd look on his face. His tone sounded almost hopeful to her. She wondered if there may actually be a real person under that mask. She wondered if this was the Malfoy who had saved her life.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Why?" Draco whispered, brushing the hair away from her face. Was she dreaming? Why was he being nice to her? What was going on?

"Why wouldn't I be?" Hermione demanded. "After what you've done to me, what reason do I have to not be afraid of you?"

Draco hung his head. "I was hoping you'd say that," he smirked. He looked back up at her, the malicious glint back in his cold eyes. Hermione's own eyes widened in fear as she realized what this could mean. What his next attack going to be.

There was a predatory feel to him that hadn't been there seconds before. There was a way about him that made Hermione shrink in the fear he struck in her. She was like a wild animal, desperate for an escape from the predator that was about to kill her.

Suddenly, Draco Malfoy had his mouth on hers and bit her bottom lip. His hands grabbed her by the arms, his thumb pressing against the bite on her left bicep.

She opened her mouth slightly with the gasp of pain he had caused and he slid his tongue inside of her mouth.

He was pushing her buttons--literally.

He forced himself upon her and eventually had his way with her. By the time he was done with her, he had stolen the last of her innocence, and she could tell that he was proud of it.

"You're mine now," he whispered in her ear, making her wish she could vomit. What she wouldn't give to have her wand back so that she could kill him without a second thought.

She wished Harry were alive so that he could save her....

Over the following weeks, Draco had her in his bed more times than she cared to count. None of it mattered to her. She would let him have his way with her if only because she knew it would be more painful for her if she didn't. She simply didn't care anymore. She felt like a hollow shell. Draco had broken her. He had completed two of his goals. Now all he had to do was turn her and see her kill, then he would be complete.

It was something she knew she couldn't avoid. She knew he'd eventually have his way. She knew there would come a time when she would turn. She would become that evil Slytherin he said was there, if only to save her own life.

Until then, she had to find a way to exist. She didn't much like feeling the emptiness surround her and consume her. She needed something to live for, and as long as she was a slave, freeing house elves was out of the question. She was not their master, so she could not free them.

That reason came when she learned a secret. She was carrying Malfoy's child.

It shattered her when she realized it, but she welcomed it, knowing that she would finally have a reason for living.

"What's wrong with you?" Draco demanded the day after she figured it out. She hadn't fought him at all, not her usual behavior. "Why aren't you fighting me?" he asked. So, he noticed things after all....

"Why fight the inevitable?" Hermione asked.

"I'll cast Cruciatus on you if you don't fight me at some point."

"NO!" Hermione yelled, panic stricken. That curse was known for killing both pregnant women and the child inside of them. "Anything but that!" she pleaded, dropping to her knees.

"Why?" Draco asked, suddenly suspicious. She had never behaved in this manner before.

Hermione didn't answer, she couldn't. Draco couldn't know about the child until she couldn't hide it any longer.

"ANSWER ME!" he bellowed.

"NO!" she shrieked.

With his face contorted in anger, he walked out of the room and slammed the door shut. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief but it soon vanished when he returned holding a vial of clear liquid.

"Do you know what this is?" he demanded.

Hermione nodded.

"Then you know that as soon as one drop touches your tongue you must tell me what I ask. Is this what it has come down to?" he asked. "Or will you tell me willingly?"

"If you can get a drop of that potion into my mouth, I'll tell you whatever you want."

Draco shrugged and walked over to her. He grabbed her throat, choking her. Hermione opened her mouth, gasping for air, and Draco forced the potion into her mouth.

"Now tell me what I want," he ordered, pinning her to the wall. "What's wrong with you? Why are you behaving like this?"

"I'm pregnant," Hermione answered before she could stop herself. She collapsed as Draco released her, sobbing as she crumpled in on herself.

Draco staggered back. This was clearly not what he had expected her to say.

He sat down and ran his hands through his hair. He then rest his elbows on his knees and stared at his shaking hands. No Malfoy ever had an illegitimate child. Ever.

But then again, no Malfoy married someone of lesser blood either.

Or had sex with them in the first place.

"Damnit!" he whispered harshly, standing back up. He grabbed a glass that sat on the table next to his bed and threw it at her. "HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?" he demanded. "How could you do this to me?"

"How could I do this to you?" Hermione shrieked. "You're the one who did this to me!"

"You'll kill that thing inside of you, do you understand me?" he asked. "There will be nothing like that hanging around for someone to discover."

"Go to hell!" Hermione yelled. "I will not kill a child!"

"THEN I WILL! And I'll kill you as well!"

"THEN KILL ME!" she shrieked. "I don't want to live anyway," she sobbed. "Not in this world! And not with you!"

Draco pulled her off of the floor and kissed her. Hermione was caught off guard by his actions and gave into the kiss. And, for the first time, she kissed him back.

Draco pulled away from her. "I don't want you to die," he confessed. "That's why I saved you...."

"Why are you doing this to me?" she asked.