A/N i have literally been thinking about this forever. And so, on this sunny august day, i am going to write it down. Please review! I don't own HP!
Summary: After Ron's tragic death, Hermione finds out she's pregnant, leaving her an emotional wreck. Draco escapes the Death Eaters and needs a place to hide. They help each other stay safe in a secluded village in Ireland.
She stared out the window. Hands folded in her lap. Curls tangling down past her shoulders. Eyes blank. She saw nothing. She felt nothing. She was nothing. The sun had long since set, but she didn't bother to turn on a light. The glow from the half-moon outside Shell Cottage was enough for her. She didn't care.
She felt a sudden kick from her abdomen. She glanced down with disinterest at the bump protruding from her white night gown. She was six months pregnant. She knew she should muster up some emotion for the baby growing inside of her, but that just meant it has been six months since Ron's death.
She flinched at the thought and burrowed deeper into the old wing-back armchair that faced the grand bay window. Behind her, she knew without looking, was an unmade bed and a thin layer of dust covering everything. Including her. It had been six months since she last left Shell Cottage.
It was the Order's Headquaters, but she no longer went to meetings. She couldn't summon up any determination or cleverness. She just felt numb. And sad. Very, very sad.
She could hear nothing but the faintest resonance of her breath. Deciding to inflict pain upon herself, she remembered the night Ron died.
The war had been going on for two years. After escaping from the Malfoy Manor, they fled to Bill and Fleur's and contacted the rest of the Order. They decided on going out on missions to kill Death Eaters. The Order was doing that already, but it was then that Harry decided to join in. He knew he needed to find the other Horcruxes, but he wanted to be more obvious in his efforts to help the Order. Of course, Harry, Ron and herself would still go out every other day looking for the Horcruxes, they just always came back to Shell Cottage.
One night, they were on an assignment to stop a group of Death Eaters from attacking a muggle family's house. It was a trick, a ruse designed to wipe out Order members all at once. They were outnumbered; they thought it would be an easy job. They lost Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, and Hestia Jones that night. And Ron. Ron died that night. Hermione's thoughts were scattered with grief. She couldn't remember, she didn't even want to. But she had to.
It was Bellatrix Lestrange. The monster that had tortured Hermione and killed Neville's parents and Sirius. They were running and Bellatrix Crucio'd Ron. Hermione turned to run back to him. Kingsley Shacklebolt held her back. He dragged her forward. She screamed and fought against him. She couldn't leave Ron. She couldn't. And then Bellatrix looked into Hermione's wild eyes with a cold sneer and whispered the curse that ended Ron's life. Hermione had to watch as the light died from her love's eyes. She watched him tortured and killed. Kingsley Disapparated to Shell Cottage, keeping a firm grip on Hermione who kept screaming out Ron's name and trying to go back to him.
Hermione didn't blame Kingsley; she knew he had saved her life. But she would rather die a thousand times at Ron's side then live even one day without him.
She shut down after that. She never left Shell Cottage and spent most of her time in her dark and lonely bedroom. In the weeks following that horrific tragedy, she found out she was pregnant. The baby was conceived the night before Ron's death and Hermione went hysterical when the Healers told her. In her darker moments, she imagined what it would be like if Ron was still alive. He would marry her, she knew. They would hold the wedding at the Burrow and it would be one joyous moment in the midst of the war. He would help her pick out names and daydream with her if the baby would look more like him or her. They would paint the nursery together. He would be the most amazing father. But he was gone without even knowing what he left behind.
Hermione could feel tears roll down her face and pulled the thick, woollen blanket that Molly had made for her around her slim body. She was destroyed inside. She would never heal from a wound this deep. Ron's death ruined her. She knew that Harry was taking Neville and Ginny with him to hunt Horcruxes. He came in to have a discussion with her about it. He had said that Dumbledore had wanted three people to know... He didn't have to continue. Hermione knew she was in no condition to go on dangerous expeditions to find and destroy Horcruxes.
Distantly, she could hear shouts and thumps from downstairs. Mildly, she wondered what it was. She didn't care. She went back to staring out the window. The thick clouds rolling across the sky blocked the stars from shining through to her. Suddenly, she was panicking. She had to see the stars. She felt claustrophobic. She needed to see the stars. She yanked of the blanket and wrapped a pink dressing gown around her skinny body and raced downstairs. She was heading towards the back door when she passed the parlour.
About a dozen Order members were crowded around something. She paused and peered into the room. It looked more like a person sitting or lying on the floor.
"I don't trust him." Fred said warily, eying the person on the floor.
"I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt." Harry said firmly.
"Some people never change, Harry." Remus said, not unkindly. "He could be deceiving us."
"Why did you have to bring him back here?" Dean Thomas complained. "What are we supposed to do with him now that he's seen the Headquarters?"
"We could kill him?" George suggested with a gleam in his eye. When everyone turned to stare at him, he added. "Kidding! Mostly."
"Maybe you should just talk to me." A low voice drawled.
Hermione froze. She knew that voice. She quietly crept closer until she was face to face with Draco Malfoy.
A/N i hope you all liked the first chapter! So basically, everything goes the same as deathly hallows until they get the Shell Cottage. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Pretty please review!