Draco Malfoy walked through Diagon Alley as though he were the king of the world and those he passed were merely his subjects. He noticed very little as he strolled the alley on this sunny afternoon. He was on his way back to his office at the Ministry, where he was the lead prosecutor for the Wizengamot. As he passed the little café, he happened to glance at the tables out front and noticed a head full of chestnut curls cascading down a slim back. He came to a dead stop and turned fully in the direction of the café. At the table in question, he also spotted Mrs. Ginevra Potter. So those luscious curls just have to belong to Miss Hermione Granger.

His mind tumbled back in time to a morning spent lying in his bed, running his fingers through those soft curls. He had woken up to sunbeams streaming across the bed from the open window. The sunlight was playing on Hermione's skin and hair, turning her skin golden and turning her hair to molten copper. At that moment, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. But by that evening, she was gone. Not just from his bed and his life. But from the country, if the rumors floating about the Ministry were true. Without a word to him. No letter. No message with his secretary. Nothing in two years. He had even swallowed his pride and spoken to Potter and Weasley, but they denied knowing where she had gone.

Now here she sits having tea in a café in Diagon Alley. Draco is torn. Should he go speak to her. Or should he wait until she is alone. Perhaps he should just send an owl and invite her out for dinner. He suddenly finds himself walking towards the café, he does not remember making the decision to move. But it is too late now, Ginny Potter has seen him. She leans forward and says something to Hermione while gesturing toward the street. Hermione slowly turns around and looks up at him. A mask of indifference upon her face.

"Hello, Draco" she says.

"Hey. When did you get back?"

"I just came back to London last night, but I have been back in Britain for a couple of weeks. How have you been?" She asked.

"Good." He answered. He seems to be lost for words. There are so many questions he wants to ask, but he really does not want an audience.

"Do you want to join us?" Ginny inquires.

"Oh, no. I do not want to intrude. I should get back to the Ministry. Enjoy your lunch, ladies." He started to walk away, but quickly turned back. "Hermione, could we meet sometime to talk? Maybe have dinner one night?"

Hermione looked at him curiously. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Thursday night?"

"That would be fine. 7 o'clock at Francesco's? It is a new restaurant at the end of the Alley that Blaise Zabini opened about six months ago."

She nodded. "That sounds good. I will see you then."

Draco turned and headed back to the Ministry.

The day seemed to drag by for Draco. He spent his time trying to finish the paperwork on his cases from earlier in the week. But he could not concentrate. After the fourth time putting files in the incorrect folders, he decided to call it day. He flooed home to shower and change before meeting Hermione. At 6:30, he gave up all pretense of being patient and apparated to Diagon Alley. He stopped at the florist and bought a single sterling silver rose, hoping they were still her favorite. Then he went on to Francesco's. He spotted his friend, Blaise, as soon as he stepped inside.

"Draco, what are you doing here tonight?" Blaise asked.

"I am meeting someone at 7 o'clock. I know I am a little early, but I was hoping our table was ready. I would like to order a bottle of wine before she arrives."

Blaise glanced down at Draco's hand noticing the flower. "Silver rose, Granger back in town?"

"As a matter of fact, she is. I ran into her yesterday at the cafe down the street. I asked her here to talk. I want to know why she left so suddenly two years ago. Why she returned all of my letters unopened. I have never even heard a rumor about where she went. I am hoping to get some answers tonight."

"Alright, Drake, let me find you a quiet booth in the back where you can have a little privacy. Then I will pick out the wine myself, and I will escort Granger to your table personally."

"Thank you, Blaise. I have really missed her. I did not realize just how much until I saw her yesterday."

Blaise seated Draco in a corner booth away from the main part of the dining room. Within a few minutes, he came back with Hermione on his arm. Draco stood up and bowed slightly. Once she was seated and the wine poured, Draco handed her the flower. "I hope it is still your favorite." She lifted it to her nose, then laid it on the table between them. Then he reached across the table to grasp her hand, but she quickly pulled her hand back placing it in her lap.

"Why did you want to meet, Draco? What do you want to talk about?"

Draco frowned, "Will you answer some questions for me?"

"Straight to the point, I see. Okay, Draco, what do you want to know?"

"Why did you leave? Without saying goodbye or even leaving a note? Where have you been? Why did you not even read the letters I sent?" Draco looked so sad and confused, Hermione actually felt bad for him until she remembered why she left.

She took a deep breath to center herself. "I have been in America, New York specifically. Kingsley sent me as a liaison to the American Ministry. The letters were returned unopened because I did not want to hear from you. And as to why I left, you should have been able to figure that out on your own."

"I have no idea. I went to work that last morning while you were in the shower. I told you goodbye. You said you wanted to talk, but I did not have time. You were supposed to come by my office after your lunch break, but you never showed up. When I went to your office to find you, I overheard your secretary talking to another witch, saying you had portkeyed out earlier that afternoon and would not be returning to the Ministry. I asked everyone I could find that might have known where you went, but no one would tell me anything. Why did you leave so suddenly?"

Hermione was toying with the rose stem. "I really needed to talk to you that day, Draco. So I skipped lunch to come by your office early. Do you know what I found? Do you remember what you did on your lunch break that day? I heard you before I even got to the door. I should have turned around and left, but I thought I was imagining things. The door wasn't completely closed so I pushed it open, and there you were. My boyfriend with your trousers around your ankles, thrusting into some witch bent over your desk. I heard what you said to her, Draco. I heard you tell her she was still the best pussy you had ever had. I heard the moans and the grunts. I also heard her tell you that she liked your lunchtime meetings in your office better than a hotel because it made her feel dirty. I pulled the door closed as I left, but I still heard you shout when you came." She paused to take a deep breath.

"Kingsley had approached me about the position in New York a couple of weeks earlier, but I didn't want to leave you, so I had turned him down. I went to him to see if it was still available. He arranged the portkey for that afternoon, and I flooed to your flat and asked Marigold to pack my things and take them to Harry's."

She finally looked up to see Draco had turned unnaturally pale. He looked a little sick. "Why, Draco? Did you want me to catch you? You knew I was coming to your office. You told me to come by. How long had you been seeing her? That obviously wasn't the first time. From what I heard it sounded like a regular thing. Were there others? Draco, I was in your bed every night. We made love almost every night. Why wasn't I enough for you?" Hermione was now crying too hard to continue, drawing the attention of nearby tables.

Draco was silent, unmoving. Blaise stepped up to the table and placed a hand on Draco's shoulder. "Would you two like to go to my office? It's more private. There is also a floo there when you are ready to leave so you don't have to deal with people staring." Hermione picked up her purse from the table and left without a word.

Draco started to stand, but Blaise stopped him. "Drake, I'm not completely sure what's going on with you two, but I did overhear part of what she said about walking in on you with another witch in your office. Is that true? I thought you loved her, mate. How could you treat her that way after seeing Lucius cheat on your mother for years?" Blaise walked away shaking his head.

Draco slowly walked to Blaise's office. He shut the door behind him after making sure Hermione was in the office too. He had half expected her to be on her way through the floo. She was leaning on the edge of Blaise's desk waiting for him. Tears still streaming down her face.

"Are you going to answer my questions? I answered yours, and I think I deserve to know." She asked, folding her arms across her stomach.

"Hermione...I am not sure what to say."

"The truth, Draco. Just tell me the truth. We are not together any longer, I think you can be honest for once. How long had that been going on?"

Draco took a deep breath. "Her name is Cameran Blaylock. She is a defense counselor I have known for several years. We studied law together. We dated while we were at school, but we stopped seeing each other when I went to work for the prosecutor's office and she started working in her father's office in Edinburgh. We agreed that it would eventually become a conflict of interest."

"So what? You just get together to fuck now?"

"Over the years, she has had clients that I have prosecuted. She usually asks to meet with me to discuss the case. It is not unusual for the two sides to meet. A few times our meetings have ended up the way you found us. We would start talking about old times after a drink or two, and one thing would lead to another. "

Hermione walked to the armchair by the fireplace and sat down, stiffly. "How many times while we were together?"

"She and I have only had sex four or five times since we broke up. Two of those times were after I started seeing you. The first time we met at her hotel for a drink, and we had a few too many while we were reminiscing. I woke up in her bed, that was a few weeks after you and I started dating. You were out of town for the Minister."

She looked Draco in the eye as she asked. "Were there any others? Other than her?"

"No. There has been no one else." Draco said, quietly.

"Why did you ask me to come to your office? Did you want me to catch you?" Hemione could feel herself starting to lose control of her emotions.

"That morning when you said you needed to talk to me, I knew I had a meeting scheduled immediately after my lunch. But I did not know who the meeting was with."

"So even though you knew I would be coming to your office, you still couldn't keep your cock in your pants. That certainly says a lot about your feelings for me. I guess since she is the best pussy you have ever had it makes sense that you couldn't wait." Hermione's voice continued to rise as she spoke. "Draco, why didn't you just break up with me? You obviously didn't care about me. You just admitted you fucked her a few weeks after we started going out. You should have let me go after that happened. I told you how I felt about cheating before we started dating! You knew Ron cheated on me. I told you how much that hurt me. If you weren't prepared for an exclusive relationship, you should have told me. Then none of this would have happened. Then there would have been no baby." She finished in a whisper. She looked up quickly, hoping Draco didn't catch that. She should not have said it. He did not need to know about that now.

Draco was frozen in place. His mind stopped. The word baby kept echoing in his head, not allowing him to think clearly.

"What baby, Hermione?" Draco asked, crossing the room to stand in front of her chair.

"What baby are you talking about?" He asked again, his voice rising.

"Hermione, answer me. What baby?" Draco reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet.

She looked up into his face, and spoke in a whisper. "Our baby."

He let go of her arm, and turned away from her, quickly walking to the far side of the room. "What are you saying? You had my baby? When?" He turned back to watch her.

Hermione sat down. "That is why I came to your office that day. That's why I needed to speak to you. I suspected I was pregnant. After you left for work, I got impatient and went to the market on the corner and bought a pregnancy test. It was positive. I had set up an appointment with a healer for the next morning. And I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me. But then I got to your office and well...I just had to get away. I didn't want to see you again. But I did see you. Every night for months I saw you. And heard you. Each time I would close my eyes, I would see you with that woman. I would hear the things you both said. I had to hear you tell her she's the best you ever had, over and over and over again. How am I supposed to feel about that, Draco?"

Draco watched her drift away into her thoughts. She looked so lost. He slowly moved back to her chair, kneeling down in front of her. He took both of her hands into his own, holding them gently. He looked up into her eyes. "Where is our child, Hermione?"

She watched the shades of grey that swirled in his eyes. They are still so beautiful, she thought. She felt him squeeze her hands, drawing her back to the conversation. She spoke so quietly, he had to lean in to hear her.

"There is no baby. Not anymore. I lost him. Three weeks after I got to New York, I had a miscarriage. The healer said it was probably brought on by stress. I was on the subway on my way to work that morning. My stomach started cramping. There was so much blood. A nice couple from Boston helped me. They were magical. They recognized me from a picture they had seen in the paper. They took me to the wizarding hospital and stayed until they knew I was going to be okay." She blinked, watching Draco's eyes fill with tears. "It was a boy, Draco. We would have had a son."

Draco let go of her hands and slowly got to his feet. He walked around Blaise's desk and sank down in the big leather chair. A son. She had been pregnant with his son.

He had wanted answers and now he had them. He knew why she left, he knew why she refused his letters. Hermione had been pregnant with his baby, and she had walked in on him fucking another witch and run away to New York. And lost their son.

This was his fault. His inability to control himself had cost him not only the woman he loved but his first born as well. His father had been correct. Lucius had always told him that his lack of self-control would get him killed. It hadn't killed him, it had taken his son instead.