Approximately fourteen months after everything had seemingly fallen apart and Hermione had left him, Draco found himself in Muggle London at a book shop. He hadn't visited it in a long while but he had used to frequent the location. In his not-so-humble opinion, this place was better than any shop in Diagon Alley. The combination of the dust, musky odor, and interesting people to watch, calmed his soul.
He had plucked a particularly interesting tome on astronomy from a shelf before retreating to an alcove to look it over. He read silently for about twenty minutes before being startled by someone calling his name out. Nobody should have known him there, that was why he had chosen that particular shop to occupy his Sunday.
"Draco," the voice repeated, now standing before him. He closed his book and looked up to see Hermione, with an armful of tomes of her own, smiling down at him uncertainly.
"Hermione!" Draco replied, in shock. "How- Er, How have you been?" he asked in a similar tone, standing abruptly in order to greet her properly. Her smile morphed into the one he had been familiar with for all of those years; the one he had loved.
They spent two hours in the book shop, catching up on the current happenings of their lives, and parted ways with plans to meet for coffee the following Wednesday. He didn't want to jinx it, but Draco went to sleep that night with a renewed hope that he was finally getting both Hermione and his old life back.
Wednesday came and he had arrived to the cafe early. His palms were sticking with agitation. To remedy this, he ordered his coffee and sat with it cupped between his hands before the front window, letting the heat ease his anxious hands.
Hermione appeared, with the bells on the shop door sounding her arrival. Draco jumped from his seat to greet her, and urged her to sit while he ordered her usual. Reluctantly, she agreed and when he returned, she grinned her appreciation.
"Not a problem at all," Draco replied casually.
"Well, it was great seeing you the other day! I feel just awful," Hermione said somberly. "I wanted to meet you today to really talk...about what happened."
"Oh?" was all Draco could muster.
"Yes, well, I have been seeing a Muggle Healer to work through this all. She said closure with you is important. I've wanted it for a while actually but I just couldn't face you."
"You don't say?" the blond murmured, letting a small amount of his hurt show. She grabbed one of his hands and gave it a loving squeeze. "I'm truly sorry, Draco. I should have handled it better and it was awful to just shut you out."
He could feel his eyes stinging, but held the tears back. Malfoys don't cry. "No, I deserved it. I essentially abandoned you, knowing your pregnancy was at risk already, but I guess I just assumed everything would be okay. I assumed the world had already dealt me it's worst."
She frowned. "You didn't deserve any of it. And it wasn't your fault. What happened was awful but nothing either of us did caused it. I just… I couldn't look at you afterward. I looked at you and I saw all of the beautiful bits of him that I lost. Whether you would have left that morning or not, I would have still struggled with that."
"Are you struggling with that now?" Draco asked suddenly in alarm. He didn't want to hurt her. That meant more to him than his own hurt. As much as he wanted to lash out at her, he knew he couldn't do that this time.
"No," Hermione smiled. "I still see all of those things but I appreciate it now. It's like," she paused to think, "coming home after a very long day."
He felt his lips pull into a smile.
"I have missed you-both of you-so much over the past year. I-I may not have had control over losing him... but I lost you completely on my own accord."
"If you can forgive me, I don't see how I can't forgive you," the blond said steadily. "I probably would have done the same thing in your position." The two sat there in silence for a few moments, before he spoke again. "So, where do we go from here?"
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