Word Count: 1,426

Challenge/Competition: One Day Competition

Prompts: Write a ten chapter multi-chapter with word-count between 500-1500 about what your chosen pairing is doing on each year of the same day for ten years, take my ten prompts. Prompt for this chapter: Family.

Warnings: Swearing.

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Harry Potter, it's all JKR's.

Note: This is slightly AU, and technically disregards the DH epilogue.

5th October ; 2005

Draco tapped his foot, irritated, against the marble floor under his feet. "Really Blaise?"

Blaise looked hopefully towards Draco. "Please?"

The blonde haired wizard laughed to himself, as if Hermione Granger was going to listen to him, of all people. Every time he'd attempted to play relationship counsellor it ended in a hex, tears, an argument, or him being kicked out of wherever they were. Still, anything for… he shook his head to himself. Anything for Blaise. He sighed, "Okay, I guess."

The dark skinned man leapt forward, grabbing Draco and kissing him on the cheek. "She's at the café."

Standing outside the large glass window, Draco stared at Hermione as she smiled politely to one of her regular couples and handed them their large mugs. He barely supressed a flinch at thinking how badly this could go. Why was he always dragged into these things? He rolled his eyes at himself.

He'd rather be doing this than be at home with Astoria – she was even whinier today than she was yesterday, he was living in his apartment with her yet he pretty much despised the woman. Honestly, he was falling apart and there was no one around to pull him back together.

So Draco took a deep breath, putting his emotionless face on, before stepping into the familiar setting of Hermione's café. The waitress that worked there on Saturdays – the busy day, smiled broadly at Draco. What was her name? Daisy? Dorea?... Dacia? Yes, Dacia, that was it. She was a pretty little thing, just not quite Draco's type.

"What can I get you Draco? The usual?" Dacia said in that ridiculously sugary voice she often used on him.

He nodded stiffly, making his way to the seats around the bar counter, trying to collect his thoughts in his head. There was just something about Hermione that threw him off his game, even after seeing her at least weekly for the past year… he could always read her, and it unnerved him as much as it unnerved her. He wasn't sure why he kept attempting to fix their broken relationship… maybe it because he didn't want to find that broken woman he found at the McLaggen divorce party, throwing herself around.

As the black coffee and a slice of coffee cake found its way in front of him, he looked up to meet Hermione – hands on her hips, eyebrows raised. "Draco, don't even try it."

Honestly, he did feel bad for even trying on this one – why would Hermione want a family with Blaise? She obviously didn't love the man, but that man was still Blaise's best friend, so here he was. "Try what? I've just come for coffee and cake." Draco smirked, eyeing Hermione playfully.

"Blaise always does this!" She threw her hands up in the air, rolling her eyes. "Who on earth would send Draco Malfoy to Hermione Granger to sort out their relationship problems?" She said, sharply.

Draco opened his mouth to quip back at her, but she put a finger to his lips. "Don't answer that." She said warningly, with raised eyebrows.

He had to admit, he liked having her around at times – she may have still been the most irritating person he'd ever met, but she was an intellectual match and happened to own a café that he didn't have to pay at, so it wasn't all bad.

"How's Astoria?" Hermione asked, tapping her lilac painted nails against the bar.

He forgot to answer her, instead sent into thinking by her perfect nails. Why wasn't she okay, still? He wanted to know; every time he saw her… he just wanted to fly at her with so many questions. Was she ever going to be the old her again? Even though at times he may have forgotten she was different, half the time it didn't even feel like it was Hermione Granger he was talking to.

"Draco…" Hermione sighed agitatedly.

Shaking his head, he widened his eyes in an attempt to zone back into reality. "Don't change the subject, Granger. You, Zabini… what's going on?" He smirked again, still playful.

"You know I won't tell you anything if you call me Granger," She snapped at him, no longer a playful intonation to her voice.

"It's like you hate being associated with yourself," He observed, watching as a flinch flickered across her perfectly made-up face, before she gulped and closed her eyes slowly and deliberately, then settled back into her normal composure.

"Just because I find calling someone by their last name rude, I hate being associated with myself? Okay… who's changing the subject now?" She then turned around, smoothing her purple sundress over before picking up a dirty mug and beginning to clean it.

Draco nodded slowly, "So now that the conversations on you, you're willing to talk about Blaise." He cringed at himself… for some reason, their conversations often went somewhere down this path. It was the weird way he could just read her, he could barely stop the words from falling from his lips most the time – she was just transparent to him.

The brunette woman dropped the mug, and they both watched as it shattered into pieces. "Can't you see that I'm working Draco? It isn't like that at all," She hissed, bending down to clear up the broken pieces of the mug.

And once again, he couldn't stop himself. "Oh, really?" He raised an eyebrow, smirking at the position she was in on the floor.

"Really."

Draco chuckled to himself, and silence settled between them as the man sipped on his coffee, whilst the woman cleared up the mess from the floor.

"Fine. You want to talk about me? Let's talk about me." She pulled up a stool opposite Draco, resting her folded arms on the counter.

Draco narrowed his eyes, unsure of where this was going. "Okay…"

She raised her eyebrows, waiting.

"Is this you now, forever?" Draco asked in the most confident voice he could find.

Hermione screwed her face up in faux confusion, but Draco could see the hurt shining in the back of her eyes, under her expression of confusion. "So we're playing twenty questions? Okay, you ask me a question and I'll ask you a question. Is this me now, forever? Well, you're going to have to explain that one a little."

"You know that you've changed. You act perfect… you look perfect… but you're not and you never were. No one is, so why do you pretend?"

The woman opposite looked taken aback. "Maybe because no one wanted me how I was before. I may not feel better off, but I look it and it's better to have people focus on what I'm wearing than the shambles that is also known as my life… Why are you like this towards me? Why do you even try?"

Draco clenched his jaw, not quite up for this. "Blaise is my best friend, I have to try... Why don't you want a family with Blaise?" He already knew the answer, but he just wanted her to say it – to admit it to herself and to him.

"I'm not ready for a family," She muttered, eyes cast on the floor.

"You're lying," He observed.

"If you already know the answer, then why are you asking the question?" She said angrily, her eyes dancing with fire.

He slammed his hand on the table, unable to hold it back anymore. "Because you're so damn fake! You plaster on a face, the same face, every day. You wear pretty clothes and smile to the camera day in day out. You own a café, when you could be anywhere you want in your life. You've been in a relationship for over a year, yet you don't even love the man…" He paused, unsure of whether to continue, "And you're still, five years on, not over Ron. You're a liar, to me, to Blaise, to everyone you love, and worst of all… to yourself," He seethed, unsure of why he really even cared about all of those things.

Hermione's eyes went wide in embarrassment and anger, "Who are you to come in here and analyse me? Why are you even here? We don't have to be friends, you don't have to get on with me for Blaise, there's something else… an ulterior motive. You're a Malfoy, and there's personal gain in everything Malfoy's do. So what's your motive, Malfoy?" She raised an eyebrow, surprisingly calm.

"Fuck you, I'm not like them." Within seconds, the café door swung shut behind him.

A/N- It feels like it's been so long! I'm so sorry for the huge gap between updates, my inspiration had fizzled out completely. I hope you all like this chapter and that it seems like another realistic one year jump, and that there aren't too many gaps in things you don't know. I wanted to get the playful chemistry as well as the angsty chemistry in here, so I hope you guys like that.

Thank you to that-moment-between-strangers, titanswmrgrl, tripleloopx, short and proud, Couture Girl, PSDancer54, magic doors and Light Under My Skin for your continued support and lovely and helpful feedback.

Any sort of review is great to hear, even if it's just a couple of words of support! Please, don't favourite/alert without reviewing :) until next time! x