Chapter Three

The sorting had gone well; Hogwarts had gained at least a hundred first years. The feast had been delicious and all was peaceful and calm within Hogwarts. That was until, Dumbledore made his opening speech. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Once again I must tell you all that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to all who do not have a professor or permission to be there. Now on to more pleasant news, we have a new Potions Professor, Professor Horace Slughorn, Professor Snape will be taking over Defense against the Dark arts. Please give them a warm welcome." The students clapped politely and Slughorn stood and bowed, a smiled spread across his thick face, making his wrinkles appear deeper.

"As some of you have noticed the Head Girl Hermione Granger is pregnant, with the Head Boy Draco Malfoy's—" Before he could finish the sentence chaos broke out and the students started to talk.

Hermione bowed her head, she could not bear too look at the people around her; some of the things she could hear them say made her feel low. Some said that she had seduced Draco into her bed because a guy like him would never go willingly after a muggleborn like her. It did not help that when she finally looked up her eyes met Harry's and the anger she saw there made her want to break down there and cry, he had never looked at her like that. Dumbledore clapped his hands and everyone went silent. "Let me finish, she is pregnant with a spell baby, which has the genetic traits of both her and Mr. Malfoy. I want to bring inter-house unity Hogwarts. This is why there is going to be a new class for the Sixth and Seventh years and if it goes well, it will be implemented for Sixth years from this time on. The class is a parenting class; you will be paired with a partner or a group. You will experience everything that goes along with being a parent, from pregnancy which is done by a spell and lasts two months, to raising the child who will age every three weeks until it reaches the age of six." Hermione's eyes went wide he had never mentioned anything about the child aging on the train.

"A week before the end of the school year the spell will expire. The class is voluntary; you will not be forced to take the class if you do not want to. However I must tell you that all students who sign up for the course will receive an added ten points to their N.E.W.T.S this year and the next for the Sixth years. The sign up sheet will be in your common rooms, as soon as you sign up you will be randomly paired with a group or partner from another house. You will find out your partners tomorrow morning after breakfast, the spell will be performed at that time also. A new professor will be coming the day after tomorrow to teach the parenting class. Are there any questions that I can answer at this time?"

Everyone started to talk amongst themselves, some were angry at the fact they would not get to be partners with people in their own House, others were excited. A redheaded girl stood at the Hufflepuff table and everyone went silent. "Yes Ms. Abott?" asked Dumbledore as he nodded to her.

"Will there be prenatal care for us? And what is the birthing process for a spell?" Some nodded their heads in agreement, wanting to know the answer too.

"Yes prenatal care will be given. A team of healer apprentices will be coming here from ST. Mungos, you will see them every other week while you are pregnant and until the child disappears to make sure all is well. As for the birthing process that will be left up to the girl to decide what she wants. You can have the child vaginally or you can have it spelled out, whatever you want experience."

A black haired boy with pale skin stood at the Slytherin table, he did not wait for Dumbledore to acknowledge him. "What if our parents don't agree with this?"

"Then your parents have the right to remove you from the class. However, I have feeling most of your parents will want you to get this important life experience. In such the case that your partner is pulled from the class you will be placed in a group for the remainder of the year. Now, it is time for you all to retire to your common rooms. Prefects gather the first years and show them to the common rooms. Good night." He then turned and left the Great hall, barely missing the crescendo of sound that came from the Sixth and Seventh years as they talked about the new class, some said they were not going to do it, while others could not wait for it to start.

As soon as she stood from the table, Hermione was surrounded by girls from all the Houses and bombarded with questions and accusations. The Slytherins blamed her, saying she put the idea in the Headmaster's head because she wanted Draco to herself, while the other girls were asking her what it felt like to be pregnant. Hermione felt like she could not breathe, the continuous questions and blame were swarming around her, making her feel nauseous and she started to hyperventilate. A throat cleared itself behind them. The girls shushed and turned to look at the person, it was Draco. He stood with his arms crossed and a flirtatious smile on his face, which made the girls swoon. "I am sorry to interrupt ladies, but the Head Girl and I must now be shown to our corridors. So, I must snag her away from you all," he said as he reached into the group and grabbed her hand. He pulled her out of the group, "Come on Granger." He pulled her out the Great Hall and to where Professor Snape and McGonagall were waiting. The two followed the professors quietly for a few minutes before they realized that their hands were still joined, quickly they let go of each other and immediately they felt the loss from the contact.

Soon the group of four had made it to a portrait of a twin boy and girl, that had blond hair, they looked like they had been playing before the group had shown up. The two joined hands and smiled at them, "Password?" they asked together.

"Union," said McGonagall, the portrait swung open and the four stepped inside. The room was a mixture of ruby red and silver. Two red arm chairs and love-seat sat in front of a grand cobblestone fireplace that had trinkets made of silver sitting on top of the mantle. Behind the sitting area there were two flights of stairs that were opposite of each other and led to portraits of a lion (on the right) and a arched cobra (on the left). Connecting the two stairs was a landing and in between the two portraits was a single wide brown door.

"This room is your common room, you will share this area and the bathroom, which is located between your bedrooms. The portrait of the lion leads to Ms. Granger's room and the cobra leads to Mr. Malfoy's. You both must be present at breakfast Monday through Saturday, it is your choice if you attend breakfast on Sunday," said Snape, who sounded irritated at the fact he had to do this, it was taking time away from things that could be more productive.

"There will be a Halloween ball and a Yule ball this year. It is your jobs to plan out these events and pass the details onto one of us or Dumbledore. Do you have any questions about your duties?" asked McGonagall.

"No Professor," said Hermione. Draco stayed quiet and appeared to be bored by the entire situation.

"Well then, we will leave you two now. I must do rounds and make sure that no first years have gotten lost in the halls. Good night Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy." The two professors then left, leaving the Heads to their own devices in their new dorms.

Hermione turned to Draco to say good night to him and at least try to be civil to him since he had saved her from the horde of girls earlier. However, he was gone, she sighed in defeat but soon jumped in surprise when she felt movement in her stomach again. It felt to her, like there was more than one baby, it was as if it was an instinct for her to know. She shook her head, Dumbledore would never have them, have more than one baby, would he? No, that would just be insane. She started to go to her room, but paused at the steps. There were only nine of them, but with her new shift in body weight they just looked to be plain exhausting. Slowly, one step at a time, she ascended the short flight of stairs.

Her thighs and lower back were killing her by the time she reached the portrait of a lion. The portrait asked her to set a password, once she had, she was able to enter her room. The room was decorated with simple furniture. A queen-sized bed that was covered with a red comforter and gold pillows sat in the middle of the room; her trunk sat at the end of the bed. Off to the right of it, against the wall, stood a long dark wood desk. On the left side wall of the room, was the entrance to the bathroom and to the left of its door was a small, but wide, bookshelf. All she wanted to was go to bed and with the help of her wand she was able to get her pajamas out of her trunk. To her dismay, the articles of clothing barely fit, the top did not even begin to cover her distended stomach. She had to transfigure them to be baggy, this just made her feel huge and uncomfortable. Nevertheless, within minutes she was in her bed and asleep.

On the other side of the corridor, Draco laid awake, unable to sleep, for he had racing thoughts. He thought about how his father was put back in Azkaban over the summer. His mother had shut down completely at that point, she no longer spoke to anyone and when she looked at him, her own son, it was as if she was not even seeing him. The Dark Lord was now in his home and he was expected to bow down to the maniac. He did not like mudbloods, but he thought it was insane for purebloods to bow down to someone who was not even pure himself.

Another thing that bothered him was the way he felt when he had touched the mudblood. She made him feel as if all was right in his life, that she was the only thing he needed. He should not be feeling that way for a mudblood. He had to be slowly going insane from all the stress that was being pressed down on him. He had the rotten feeling that his life was about to change once again, and he could not tell if it was for the better or not. Time could only tell.

A/N My only excuses are: Procrastination is my best friend... and I have been focusing on original work, plus, I lost this chapter when my flash drive decided to get corrupted, which also made me lose 45% of The Snake, but I have typed it up all again (thankfully that part of it was written in a notebook), so that should be up soonish too. I now have this about 80% planned out, so hopefully, I will not procrastinate anymore. Writers...its hell to be one...it hell to read the work of one, because it takes them a lifetime to sit their butts down to write, which drive their agents up the wall of insanity...