Wow, I was so not expecting the reaction I got to the last chapter! After spending my day doing pricings and schedules, I need a break before my next meeting. Fingers crossed you all like this chapter just as much as the last few!

Chapter 4
Snow had begun to fall when Hermione reached The Burrow. Ron had moved home following their separation, claiming it was a temporary living situation until his marriage got back on track. The Weasley family home was always brimming with people, but Ron assured her that he would be there alone that evening. Had the rest of his family been there, she was sure she wouldn't be able to tell him the news.

Ron waited outside for her to arrive, and smiled nervously when she reached him. Neither seemed sure how to greet the other. A kiss was out of the question, but Hermione decided a hug might suffice. After pulling away, he opened the front door and led her to the sitting room. "So, what was it you needed to tell me?" he asked.

Hermione shivered in the old house. It no longer held the warmth and comfort she once found there. Never before had she felt like such an outsider, and the thought saddened her greatly. Ron watched her intently; she could feel his blue eyes on her. Instead, she looked at the mantle. Her wedding photo was gone, she noted. In its place was a framed picture of Harry and Ginny's newborn son, James.

Taking a deep breath, but still unable to face Ron, she said the two words she hadn't managed to say to anyone yet. "I'm pregnant," she whispered.

The sofa cushions shifted beside her as Ron stood. "You're what?" he asked, hoping he'd heard her wrong. She repeated herself a bit louder this time, the words sounding strange as she vocalized them. "Mine? But we've...we haven't...I can't remember the last time we-"

"New Years," she replied bitingly. "And yes, it's yours."

Ron paled as he remembered that night. The twins had thrown a party to ring in the new year, and he had spent much of the night imbibing. He hadn't expected Hermione to attend. They were in the process of settling their divorce and hadn't spoken outside of mediation. It had been awkward at first, but as the firewhiskey flowed, they found it much easier to be around one another. They stood side-by-side as the crowd counted down from twenty, and when the new year began, they kissed. Memories of the night they spent together were starting to come back to him, and the consequences were even more haunting.

"What do we do?" he asked, sinking down into the old blue armchair near the sofa.

His panic always calmed her. She always felt she needed to keep a level head while Ron lost his. "We don't have to do anything," she told him, her voice soft and even. "I'm okay with going it alone. It just seemed wrong not to tell you."

"What if I want to be involved?" he wondered.

She smiled at him. "I won't stop you," she replied. "Ginny mentioned you were seeing someone."

Ron tensed as his cheeks began to fill with color once more. "I'm gonna kill my sister," he mumbled. "I'm sorry. I know it was a bit quick, but Cho and I-"

"Cho Chang?" Ron's blush deepened as he nodded. "Ginny didn't mention that. Anyhow, it doesn't matter who she is. Just...be happy, Ron."

He moved back to the sofa to sit beside her and took hold of her hand. "You shouldn't have to do this alone," he murmured.

"I won't be alone," she murmured, hugging her ex-husband.

The next morning, Draco was waiting for Hermione outside of work. Armed with a cup of coffee, a decaffeinated tea, and a blueberry muffin, he smiled and handed her breakfast. "How did it go with Weasley?" he inquired, holding open the door for her to enter. Shrugging, they entered the lift. By the time they reached her office on the third floor, she had completely recapped her conversation with Ron. She took a seat behind her desk while he sat across from her, and cut the muffin in half.

"I know telling him was the right thing, but he's already moved on with his life," she commented, breaking off a piece of her breakfast. "And I'm not entirely sure I want him in my life all the time. Plus, now we'll have to work out a custody agreement. What if ours ends up the way yours did? That pureblood male heir rubbish."

Setting his half of the muffin on the corner of the desk, he leaned forward. "The Weasleys and the Malfoys don't exactly subscribe to the same traditions," he pointed out. "Yes, I got custody of Scorpius because he's the heir to the Malfoy line, but my ex-wife didn't exactly fight me for him. I may put down the Weasleys a lot, but I know he's not the type who'll try to take your child from you."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm being crazy, aren't I?" she laughed. In reply, he merely shook his head and smiled.

"He's really dating already?" Draco asked, sipping his coffee.

Pursing her lips, Hermione nodded as a sign of confirmation. "They met up about a month before we signed the papers," she informed him. "Ron felt it was necessary that I know Harry was fine with it."

It was only then that Draco remembered the brief fling Chang and the Boy Wonder had in their sixth year. During a Hogsmeade weekend, he and his cronies had pelted the pair with snowballs as they entered Madame Puddifoot's tea shop. They had left separately; Cho in tears.

"Are you okay with it?" he asked.

Leaning back in her chair, she considered his question as she stroked the small bump that had begun to form on her abdomen. Though she had fallen out of love with her ex, there was still a small part of her that would always love him. Ron would forever be a part of her life, regardless of the baby. "I don't know," she finally admitted. "Maybe it's better that he has someone."

"Listen, it's Valentine's Day, and Scorpius has demanded that I ask that you come to dinner with us," he said hurriedly. "It's not a date or anything, I promise. Well, Scor might think it is. He's taken quite a liking to you."

"So, you'll be the third wheel then?" she joked, readily accepting the invitation.

He rose from his seat at that moment. "I'd rather like to think of myself as the chaperone," he retorted as a good-natured smile lifted his lips. "Can't have you corrupting my son. Or is it the other way around?"

"I'll see you tonight," she promised. With a smile and a nod, Draco left.