Part 20 to 'Someone To Turn To'
Draco, Hermione and Nathaniel arrived at a inn an hour away from where Hermione lived. They needed to get far away and they found a pretty safe place after taking 2 buses to get there. Hermione sighed and she put her bags down while Draco carried a very hungry Nathaniel who was bawling now.
"What do I do?" Draco asked bouncing Nathaniel up and down as he tried to soothe him. Hermione grabbed him and she made Nathaniel's formula while holding him in her arms and she put it in the microwave provided for them in the room. Draco watched as she did this with no help. She took out the bottle, shook it and she tested it on the back of her hand and felt it was nice and warm and she fed Nathaniel while taking out a bib for him.
"There you go." Hermione said as Nathaniel hungrily drank the bottle while looking at her with those big gorgeous eyes of his. Draco just watched her do all of this without help and she did it skillfully.
"How do you do it?" Draco asked sitting next to her on the bed. She looked at him while feeding her son. "I mean…all of this on your own. Doesn't it exhaust you?" he asked in admiration of her doing this everyday.
"Well after doing it for a week you get used to it. It's like a routine. You don't even think when you do it. It just comes naturally." she said softly. Draco admired her for that. She did all that on her own and she still looked unsullied and beautiful.
"I'm sorry." Draco said softly. Hermione looked at him and he looked down.
"For what?" she asked. He shook his head and exhaled sharply.
"Just for everything. For hurting you….letting you do this all on your own.…just everything." he shrugged while playing with a loose string on his pants. Hermione just looked back at her son who was struggling to stay alert. His eyes would flutter open and then shut. "I know you're scared, Hermione. You don't need to be. I can see it in your eyes." he said. She obviously was still scared. It was only 3 hours ago when she was sound asleep in her bed and here she was in a stray hotel with Draco Malfoy hiding from Death Eaters. Hermione yawned and continued to bounce her baby to sleep feeding him. She was so tired. She hardly had any sleep at all. "I got him. You need rest." he said holding his arms out to grab his son.
"No, that's fine." Hermione said getting up and bouncing her son while feeding him. She was better at putting Nathaniel to sleep so she would just do it herself so they can both rest. After another 5 minutes, Nathaniel fell right asleep and Hermione put him in the middle of the bed with two pillows on either side of him. She sighed and she threw her hair in a sloppy bun. She walked to the bathroom and splashed her face with a bit of cold water. Draco leaned on the doorframe behind her and she looked at him from the mirror. "What?" she asked towel drying her face. Draco just shrugged his shoulders.
"Nothing…it's just…you look beautiful." he said and Hermione froze and gave a small nervous smile. He didn't look bad himself.
"Thanks." she said walking out of the bathroom. This just felt so weird to her. She looked through her stuff and saw she had no clothes. Just her baby's things. Everything was just so frustrating because it all happened in less than 3 hours. She checked her watch and saw that it was almost sunrise. She has nearly been up for 24 hours. Hermione rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands and she groaned out in weariness and exhaustion. She sat down next to her baby and watched him sleep. His lips were parted a bit and his nose was a bit congested. The lat thing she needed was for him to get sick.
"He's certainly an angel." Draco said as he laid on the other side next to his son. Hermione nodded and she leaned over and she kissed the tight fists of her son. They were so tiny. Draco looked at Hermione and smiled. He stared at her most of the time they were together. "Hermione, you do know you can trust me...right?" Draco asked again seeing the doubtfulness in her eyes. Hermione got up and crossed her arms. She didn't know what to do as of now with Draco. She had limited choices of what to do.
"I'm trying to Draco. I mean…I haven't seen you in so long…I know you I've been given this job to kill me. We didn't end on a good note in Hogwarts. The last thing I knew, as far as you and I were connecting, was that you told me to basically piss of because you don't want me." Hermione said in a bit of an irate tone. She still speculated to why Draco felt the way he did now, which it could've meant a lot if he told her way before at Hogwarts. Draco sighed and walked up to her. He looked her straight in the eyes and he held both of her hands in his.
"Hermione, I was dim-witted. When I started to get deep into my Death Eater training…I witnessed a lot of messed up things. Gradually, I began to realize that I had made a big mistake in letting you go back at Hogwarts. I felt like you were the one who actually set me straight. I didn't want that life and I tried to deny my feelings for you. I led everyone on saying that I was going to fulfill my task but….I thought that if it were to actually come down to it….I don't think I would actually do it. Tonight…it was just proof. I really couldn't. I didn't know what I was going to do or say but….t-then I saw Nathaniel and I knew that he was mine and I knew that everything was going to change. I had to change. In that instant, I felt it really was meant to be. Seeing you now makes me feel certain about what I want; I want to be with you. I feel for you a lot, Hermione. I…I think I may love you." he said looking down at the last part. That pretty much explained everything. She had no idea that he felt that way. Hermione turned to him and she sighed. She has never seen him break down like this. His eyes even glazed over a bit.
"Draco…" she whispered and she caressed the side of his face. The more he explained himself and the more she stood by his side…the more comfortable she started to feel with him. He kissed the inside of her hand and he looked down. Draco suddenly lowered his head onto Hermione's shoulder and he held her by the waist as his forehead laid on her shoulder. Hermione was caught off guard with this action and she put one hand behind his neck and the other was rubbing his back. He inhaled her sweet scent and he rubbed his nose on her neck. He slowly lifted his head and brought it to the side of Hermione's face and he started to rub his nose on her cheek now. His face was close and he started to kiss her. It was such a passionate kiss and he pulled her close into him. Again, Hermione resisted a bit but gave into it. She really did feel safe in his arms. Hermione grabbed his face and kissed him back with just as much passion. It felt like when they first kissed only they knew each other more and there was more love and passion. Draco slowly lowered her into bed and he laid on top of her kissing her neck. Hermione moaned a bit at the feeling. Draco was just so charming and he was so suave with her. He slowly took off her shirt and she took off his and the heat of their bodies were transferred to one another. Draco was about to pull down her shorts and she had a bad feeling. "Wait, wait…" Hermione said and Draco stopped kissing her and just hovered over her. "I cant." she said panting from all the passion. He just looked at her with concern.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked nibbling on her ear now. Hermione just pushed herself up before she actually gives into the Malfoy charm. She thought about Ron. No, not like that but…how can she make love with another guy after making love with another just last night? She couldn't do that. It would feel wrong. Making love to Ron was a mistake for sure but she couldn't make love to Draco right after Ron. It wouldn't be fair to either of them. Hermione grabbed her shirt and put it back on and Draco looked at her like he did something wrong. "Its not you…it's just…I made a big mistake last night and it just wouldn't be right for us to do this." she said. Draco looked at her and he already knew.
"You and Weasel." he said looking down while saying his name with venom. Hermione sighed feeling horrible about everything.
"I just….if I wouldn't known that you were gonna come back into my life like the person I didn't think you could ever be…I would never have done it." she admitted. She should've never done what she did with Ron last night. Then again, she didn't know any better. She was vulnerable and in a way, Ron took advantage of it. Hermione felt no ounce of feeling with Ron when she looked into Draco's eyes. She watched as Draco went over to his son and gave him sweet butterfly kisses on his cheek. Draco was just like Hermione when she first gave birth to Nathaniel…he couldn't get enough of him. How can she have feelings for Ron when she has something better in front of her? Sure, Draco had a bad rep in school but…he's changed and it's for the better. He wasn't afraid to show his feelings for Hermione. Ron was the one who hid their affair after that night and he still went on his honeymoon. That should've held up a red flag there.
"My baby boy…my handsome one." Draco softly said to a sleeping Nathaniel. It was just so sweet. Hermione was so surprised at the reaction of Draco when he first discovered his son. She expected him to kill her and do gods know what with her son. Here he was there though….protecting them both. Hermione's life was spiraling out of control now. First Ron….then Draco….and now Death Eaters are coming after her and the Order was no where to be found. It was too late….well now too early….to think of stuff like that though. Hermione was run down. She laid on the other side of Nathaniel and she kissed the side of his head as he let out a soft baby moan. Draco tucked Hermione's hair behind her ear and she smiled at him. He leaned and kissed her forehead and she closed her eyes taking in the passion that overwhelmed her that night. He looked deep into her eyes and she knew at the end everything would be ok. They both laid their heads on their pillows as they both placed a hand over Nathaniel's tummy.
- - -
Hermione woke up later that day. She checked her watch and read 12:23pm on it. She felt refreshed and ready for a new day with Draco and Nathaniel. Last night was crazy, but today was gonna be the beginning of their new life. She felt around the bed with her left arm, but she felt the bed empty. She then looked on the other side of the bed and was frightened to see that Draco and her son were missing. She gasped as she shot up quickly waking up in alert. She looked around but there was no sign of them. "Draco!" she asked going around the room but it was silent. "No, no, no…." she panicked thinking that Draco ran away with Nathaniel. She quickly put on her shoes and she ran out of the room in her shorts because she had no other clothes. She looked down the hallway and around the hotel but they weren't there. She then ran to the front desk. "Umm…did-did you see a blonde haired mate with a baby around here?" she asked frantic waving her hands in the air and the girl looked at her like she was crazy because of how jumpy she was.
"Umm...no. I'm sorry. I didn't." she said and Hermione banged her hand on the desk and ran out of the hotel. She started to hyperventilate and she gabbed her hair looking around and she started to feel dizzy and was about to cry. Where was her baby?