If Hermione were pregnant — she'd have to abort it. She couldn't be pregnant during a war. It was not worth the risk. Pregnancy would cause her magic to destabilise. She regularly used certain spells countering curses that were in the darker shades of grey. It was cumulative, and the exposure could result in foetal abnormalities. It might have already — if she were pregnant. Now that Padma had mostly replaced her, developing counter-curses was one of the most vital things that Hermione did in the hospital wing.
If Draco found out that she'd seduced him when she was fertile, he'd probably think she did it on purpose. He'd — he'd—
He'd hate her forever.
Even more than he already did.
The tips of Hermione's fingers were beginning to tingle as though there were needles pricking them.
Ginny's expression furrowed. She stared at Hermione's frozen expression as she smeared her tears away with the back of her hands. “No. I didn't — I was only taking it when Harry was here. Because of the taste, you know. But last month when I was in Ireland and he and Ron showed up at the safe house, I didn't have the potion with me. I thought, it was just once, the charm should be enough.”
Ginny sniffled and buried her face in her hands.
Hermione nearly collapsed with relief. There wasn't anything wrong with her contraceptive potions.
Hermione shoved the line of thought away and slammed her occlumency walls in place, forcing herself to focus on Ginny. She hugged Ginny reassuringly and pressed a kiss in her hair.
“It's alright. It will only take me a few days to get the ingredients to make an abortifacient.”
“I can't,” Ginny choked out the words and started crying again.
Hermione's hands on Ginny's shoulders tightened as she stared at her. She drew a quick breath. “You want to keep it.”
Ginny nodded, sniffling. “I have to. Harry — all he talks about is having a family. How after the war we're going to have children. Boys named James, Sirius, or Colin, or girls named Lily and Luna. That's — that's — everything he dreams of. If I got an abortion — it would break his heart. He'd say it was fine, but he'd be devastated. To him it would mean I didn't think he could win. And I can't keep something like that a secret my whole life. Knowing he'd be broken-hearted if he knew and just pretending.”
Hermione gave a slow nod and looked away. “Alright.” She swallowed. “You can probably stay here until Harry gets back from his current mission. And then we can move you to one of the hospice safe houses. You'll want to be with your mum, won't you?”
Ginny shook her head sharply, smearing the tears off her face. “No. I need to hide it. No one can know. Not Mum, not Harry, not anyone.”
Hermione stared at Ginny bewildered.
Ginny looked down and her chest shuddered. “Harry — Harry isn't doing very well right now. Everyone has been getting so excited that we're nearing the end, that we're at the final haul. And he's happy — he thinks it could be real but — it's also breaking him. It's all resting on him but — he doesn't know how to win. How it's supposed to work. He's afraid if anyone realises it, that the whole Resistance could collapse. He's started having nightmares again. Even with me. I don't think he even knows how to function without Ron. We're all that's holding him up. If he finds out I'm pregnant — I'm afraid the stress will end up breaking him completely. It's not like he needs more motivation to want all this done. Thinking that he has a child depending on him — it would probably make everything worse.”
Hermione swallowed hard, trying to weigh whether there would be any value in trying to dissuade Ginny. She studied Ginny's face. The stubborn set line of her mouth and jaw and the determined fire in her eyes.
Hermione let out a low, tired sigh. “What do you want to do?”
“I don't know. Maybe I could pretend to get sick with something and hide at one of the hospice houses.”
Hermione raised her eyebrows doubtfully, but after a moment she tilted her head thoughtfully to the side. “I think I could pull that off. But — Ginny, you're going to have to be isolated. It could be months. What if you have the baby and the war is still going? Are you going to hide it from Harry then too?”
Ginny shook her head. “No. If the war goes that long, I'll come clean. But if I'm pregnant, Harry will just worry. Being pregnant isn't the same as having an actual baby. If you made me seem sick with something contagious but curable, he'll be upset but he'll be fine. He trusts you. If you tell him it'll take a few months to heal but I'll be alright, he'll believe you. He knows you don't lie to him, even when he wants you to.”
Hermione's eyes dropped, and she twisted the hem of her shirt in her fingers. Ginny grabbed her hand.
“You'll help, Hermione. You'll help me protect Harry, won't you?”
Hermione nodded slowly. Her whole body felt leaden. “I'll help you. I'm going to need a few days to figure out how to do this.”