A/N : The Harry Potter franchise belongs to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. I own no part and am not making money off of it.

The weather was unrelenting but she barely gave it a second thought. There was not much room in her mind for that. She had wanted to be alone to do this but Harry was nothing if not loyal to those he loved. And today that entailed keeping an eye on her. To protect her, to keep imminent danger at bay. But most of all, to keep her from doing something outrageously spontaneous. She didn't resent him for that. She resented the people who made him want to make sure she was escorted at all times.

'What brought you here, ma reine?' Her eyes closed at the old endearment. Only one person on this planet who called her that. Drenched in the falling rain, sitting on the grass and mud, she was mourning. Every emotion is controllable. Except for love. And grief was only one of it's brews.

'You shouldn't be here,' she said to the intruder without looking up. He moved closer and shaded her along with himself in an umbrella.

'Neither should you. Come, I'll take you home.'

'I'll manage.'

'So I see. Potter,' he said in greeting.

'Malfoy,' said a voice from about three meters behind Hermione, on the right. The voice of her best and closest friend, Harry Potter.

'Why are you here, stalker?' she asked.

'I needed to know that you're okay.'

'And what do you gather?'

'You're sitting on the mud, in a graveyard, completely soaked in the rain. You tell me.'

'I'm visiting.'

'This is unusual. You only visit once an year.'

'Do you have anything on you that can be ruined by water?'

'My robes and shoes.'

'Sit with me,' she said, finally looking up while patting the ground beside her.

He had that ever present impassive look on his face. 'We can have this talk somewhere that's not here, at least.'

'No, we can't.'

He removed his cloak, draping it over her shoulders. It's warmth had a calming effect. 'Where is your cloak?'

She shrugged.

He sat down beside her, the umbrella charm still activated. Hermione waved hand above her head in gesture for him to remove the charm. He sighed but complied. The rain hitting graves, them and Harry's umbrella, and the thunder once in a while were the only sounds that could be heard. They sat there for a few minutes, looking at the graves in front of them, rain still pouring.

Scorpius Draco Malfoy — Carina Andy Malfoy

December 27, 2004

Only ever alive in their mother's womb and father's hope

'Do you ever think that I don't regret losing our kids?'

Draco stiffened and Hermione decided to give it time. After what felt like hours, he said, 'Could you give us a moment, Potter?'

'Please,' she added, letting him know that she was okay with it. Harry left after telling them that he'll be around. It sounded like a warning, although Harry knew that Draco would never try to harm her. Minutes passed but it didn't seem like he was going to answer her question, so she decided to prompt him again. 'You didn't answer my question.'

'Neither did you.'

'Which one?'

'What brought you here?'

Hermione sighed. 'Will you answer my question if I answer yours?'

'Depends.'

'I'm not in a mood for your riddles, Malfoy.'

'What else do you want me to say, Hermione? That was a mind-numbing question if I ever heard one. Now tell me what brought you here.'

'Ginny is pregnant.'

A meaningful pause. She turned her head to him. Water dripped down his face through the blond locks over on his forehead. She resisted the urged to reach out and brush them away. 'Go on.'

'Don't give me that look,' she said, defensively. 'I'm very happy for her.'

'I don't doubt it.'

'Then what's that sad, pitying look you're giving me?'

'You're seeing things that aren't there.'

'Don't patronise me, Malfoy.'

'Do you want to continue telling me? I don't completely understand yet and I wouldn't want to end up assuming.'

'We found out last month so it's not like it's fresh news. She had a bout of morning sickness yesterday that left her in a foul mood, plus she's hormonal. On top of that, she knows nothing of my past pregnancy so she couldn't have known that what she said may hurt.'

'You're giving me justification before telling me the core of your troubled thoughts,' he pointed out, needlessly. 'What did she say?'

'I tried to comfort her when I found out she threw up in the morning saying that it's normal and temporary and she snapped at me.'

'What did she say, Hermione?' he repeated.

'It's not hard to guess, and not even important, for that matter. It just led to me ending up here.'

'You could've told her.'

'Too late. And I don't want her to feel guilty just because she didn't know better.'

'Her husband knows.'

'Harry suspects. I never said anything to confirm it and he never asked. He understands that some things are better left unsaid.'

'It couldn't have been that hard to find out if they had been attentive and determined enough. Although, I can safely say that you're pretty impressive at keeping yourself reserved.'

She pulled up the thighs against her chest and hugged the knees as she turned her eyes back to their children's graves. The sky gave an angry rumble. A feeling of deep melancholy settled over her, a reminder of the future that will never be. She had enough sense to be able to admit that she was putting herself through this intentionally. But she knew the truth. Catharsis. She knew she can pretend that it doesn't effect her all she wants in front of people who don't know but sitting there then, in front of the graves with their father, the both of them drenched to the bone in the pouring rain . . it just stripped all inhibitions. She always knew why she visited this site only once an year.

'I never thought you don't regret losing our kids, Hermione.' His voice was quiet—as quiet as it could be in the pouring rain and still be heard—but the words did pierce through her thoughts. 'We have been through enough for me to be able to tell your façade apart from your real emotions. You wanted them even if they were unexpected and unwelcome initially. I never doubted your love for them. And I know that you still miss them sometimes.'

She swallowed.

'Let it out, ma reine.'

She shut her eyes. 'I did want a future for us. I'm a forgiving person but just as stubborn.'

'And you think I don't know that?'

'When I found out why you did what you did, I was considering granting you the forgiveness that you had been asking from me, for weeks. But then this happened and it just damaged something inside me. Something that concerns us both.' She took a shuddering breath to continue. 'I do still love you, and I know I will always care for you. But Draco . . you know this would've never worked out. We're from two completely different worlds. Me or any future children we might have had wouldn't be safe in your world and you're not accepted in mine.'

'I would've kept you safe. I would kill anyone who even thinks about hurting a hair on your head.'

Hermione's smile was rueful. 'I know. And honestly, that scares me sometimes. I won't insult our relationship by saying that I love you as a friend. You are more than that, you always will be. But I also have a solid reason for not getting back together with you, besides the fact that your family disapproves of me and will probably never completely accept me.'

She felt him shift so close that their bodies were almost touching. 'It doesn't matter to me and it shouldn't matter to you either.' Her gaze settled on him. His eyes were already on her. Hers slipped to his lips momentarily. Close. She squashed the sudden impulse to kiss him. Too close. Her hands clenched into fists.

'It should matter to you. I don't want you to come to that point in your life where you have to choose between your family and me indefinitely. I know how hard that will be for you. Because no matter how they are with others, your parents love you, very much. Albeit in their own twisted way but they do. And you love them too.'

'I already chose you once. I'd do it over and over again. You would be my family too, Hermione,' he said, gently.

'Draco, I'm not corny enough to say that I don't believe in love. There's just something very pure and beautiful about love. But neither am I romantic enough to say that I believe in the concept of 'The One'. That said, I don't see myself building a future with you. Not because I need more—I don't think I can do better than you for myself. I just think that it's unfair to both of us.'

'You know I don't care about that, Hermione. I want you. Do you want me?' An involuntary shiver ran through her body. It's the wind. You're just cold, Hermione. Do not read into it.

'It's more complicated than that.'

'Do you?'

'Draco, don't do this to us.'

'You're not denying it.'

'I do want you,' she finally admitted, her voice soft. 'But I don't need you the way you want me to. You want me to be depended on you. You want me to be able to tell you about the horrors in my mind, how I feel about them. You want to be the first person I think about when I'm feeling even remotely insecure about anything at all. I do sometimes need the unwavering support that you provide, your impeccable understanding. But that unique bond that I see between my parents, which is there even after everything that has happened, that's missing here. And I want that for you. If I could build it, I would have. But it's something that can only be found.'

'Do you really think there will be any other woman in my life after you? That I will find someone like you, someone headstrong enough to put up with me? With your witty humour, unrelenting stubbornness and sharp tongue that has grown on me? If I ever thought for even a moment that there was another one like you, Hermione, I would've found her. But there isn't. There can't be. You are one and only.'

'No one's asking you to find someone like me, Draco. Maybe it's not even what you need.'

'I don't care. I want you. Fuck, Hermione, I do need you.'

'Have you ever been kissed in the rain?' she asked suddenly.

A barely there movement of his eyebrows almost went unnoticed. Almost. 'What does that have anything to—'

'Just answer me.'

'I hardly go around with girls, dancing in rain,' he responded in a tight voice. A rather amusing image of Draco Malfoy dancing in rain with a faceless girl flashed in the front of Hermione's brain and she smiled. He cocked his eyebrow. 'Have you?'

She got off the ground and straddled his lap. 'I'll have this first of yours. Which is only fair since you'll have mine.' Saying that, she pressed her lips to his. The kiss, tentative and careful at first, quickly turned soft and caressing. He tasted of vanilla as always and she found herself craving more. The taste of rain was also there on his lips and she relished in it. Keeping her hands on his face, she probed him with her tongue demanding entrance in his mouth while his hands wandered to her back, to press her closer to himself. Her fingers began teasing the hairs on the back of his neck and he allowed her to deepen the kiss. A groan sounded at the back of his throat.

'Can't you give this another chance?' Draco asked, pulling away. She rested her forehead on his, body tingling all over. 'Give me another chance?'

'No. I'm going home.' Hermione got off his person and they stood up.

'You're soaked. My place is near, you can change into dry clothes and then go home?'

'I'll just be apparating—'

'Please. I . . we need to talk.'

Hermione looked up to burning grey eyes. She swallowed. 'Okay. Let me just inform—'

'Do that from my floo.'

'But—'

'Potter will understand.'

She clenched her teeth. 'I don't like being cut off like that.'

'I know.' He grabbed her hand and entwined their fingers. 'Come.'