Chapter 3

Hermione was sitting in her apothecary a month after her supremely uncomfortable dinner at Draco's, wondering what time that night he'd be showing up. He had apologized immediately after Ava disappeared for the witch's behaviour, but Hermione tried to shrug it off. She was disgusted with the girl, but that was not Draco's fault.

He was doing everything he could to make sure that the mother of his child was happy and comfortable, and although she was definitely not happy, Hermione didn't think that anyone could be more comfortable. As far as she could tell, the pregnant witch didn't even have to lift a finger as long as Draco was around.

Hermione only went back to the flat once, and that was to finish putting up the constellation and galaxy in the nursery, but she never came across Ava again, which was perfectly fine with her. She never wanted to see that terrible witch again if she could help it.

Ava had a shot at the one thing Hermione wanted; motherhood. But Hermione was about as far away from that as she could get, considering she was still single. She tried to put all of her love and mothering into her friends' children, but it just wasn't the same.

Hermione looked at her clock and realized Draco was 25 minutes late, which in itself was a surprise because she didn't think he had been late for anything once in his entire life. They had agreed to meet that evening, and she was getting a sick feeling as the clock continued to tick on without his arrival.

She closed the shop but waited a while longer anyway, hoping that he would turn up regardless if The Cure-A-Torium was open or not, but she could feel deep in her bones that something was off.

When she had waited for 45 minutes she knew she couldn't avoid looking for him. Something was obviously wrong and she was worried.

She locked her shop behind her and headed down Diagon Alley, hoping he hadn't been attacked by someone on his way to her store. As much as she tried to deny it, there were people out there who wanted nothing more than for Draco Malfoy to die a slow and painful death. A lot of people blamed him for the death of a family member during the war, but Hermione felt it was time for everyone to move on with their lives.

It was not his fault that his parents were so vile.

It was something Draco accepted without much thought, regardless of Hermione trying to tell him that he really wasn't a bad person. She didn't think it was fair that the world blamed Draco for things other people did, but that was the way things were. She was determined to change it at some point, but with Lucius being freed from Azkaban within 3 months, she figured the anger would spark again.

She scanned left and right as she hurried down Diagon Alley, hoping beyond hope that Draco was alright and had just been held late at work, or something.

Once she was done checking the alley and hadn't spotted him, she decided to apparate directly to his flat. He had changed his wards to allow her in when she went to finish the Galaxy on the baby's ceiling, and he told her that he wouldn't be revoking the privilege and she was always welcome.

She still felt like an intruder, though.

Upon her materialization in the entryway she immediately heard the piercing cry of a baby, and she dropped her purse in utter shock.

He wasn't supposed to be born for another 3 weeks!

She kicked off her shoes hastily, narrowly missing a large ornamental vase to the left of the door, and threw her cloak toward the wall before scurrying down the hall. She followed the sounds of crying to the nursery that she had painstakingly decorated only a month before.

"Draco?!" she was calling as she ran, trying to be heard over the sound of the baby's cries.

She rushed into the nursery without knocking and stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing Draco with the tiny baby held in his arms.

"Draco!" She breathed, taking in his tired eyes and screaming baby.

She approached the pair, the baby screaming so loud she wanted to cover her ears. Instead she walked right up to Draco and carefully transferred the tiny little boy from his arms to her own. She was cradling the baby in her arms expertly as she rocked from side to side, shushing him quietly, as tears bloomed in her eyes at the fact that he was there.

Scorpius was beautiful.

"Wow," Hermione breathed, taking in the tiny fingers that were wrapped around one of her own. He was calming down, blindly nuzzling her blouse in search of food.

Hermione glanced at Draco, who looked dead on his feet, and quickly gestured to one of the glider chairs she had set up. Draco dropped into his gratefully and sighed, rubbing his tired eyes.

"Why didn't you come get me when Ava went into labour?" she asked quietly, still rocking Scorpius gently in her arms.

"We didn't even make it to the hospital. The bitch waited until the labour was almost finished before she even told me. She didn't want to go to the hospital, because people may have seen her with me and made the connection. I called in a medi-witch and she helped Ava give birth here."

Hermione could hardly even say she was surprised. "Good thing everything was fine since he's a little bit early. He's healthy right?"

"The medi-witch said perfectly."

"Thank Merlin," Hermione breathed, looking down at the tiny baby again.

"I wanted to send you an owl but I just… I couldn't remember what you told me about leaving him alone and I am not going to be relying on Flippy to help me with this in any way. She has enough work and… Well I was raised by elves and it sucked."

"Draco," Hermione sighed, unable to tear her eyes away from the now sleeping baby. "Where's Ava?"

"Gone."

"Already?" Hermione whispered, her eyes getting damp again.

"She didn't even hold him," Draco supplied. "She got healed up by the medi-witch, signed over all of her rights, and left almost immediately. She had packed her things as her labour started."

"What a bitch," Hermione sniffled, trying to wipe her eyes so Draco wouldn't notice.

"What is it?" He asked her in alarm, getting to his feet and easing his son back into his own arms.

"I just don't understand it," she said, her eyes overflowing. "It isn't fair that Scorpius has to grow up without a mother because she is so unbelievably selfish. Look at him, Draco," she whispered, gesturing to the amazing baby. "He doesn't deserve any of it."

"We'll get by, Hermione," He promised, unsure what to say to make her feel better and slightly worried about her mental state. He'd only seen her seriously cry one other time in his life, and that was while she was being brutally tortured by his aunt. He didn't like to think about that, though.

"I'll be the best dad I can, and you'll always be around to help, right?" He asked, feeling insecure suddenly because of where his thoughts had taken him.

"Right," she agreed, sniffling, tears still streaming down her cheeks. She wiped her face on her sleeve, feeling almost overwhelmed by emotion. She wanted a child, a husband, a family. Here was a child who was left without a mother, a selfish woman who wanted nothing to do with him; who didn't even refer to him as a human.

Draco gently laid Scorpius in his crib and stood still for a moment, hoping the baby would continue sleeping. When he didn't wake Draco gestured for Hermione to follow him from the nursery, which she did, but not after casting a spell to ensure that if Scorpius woke up her and Draco would hear it no matter where they were in the flat.

Draco was in the kitchen, pouring tea into two coffee cups when Hermione entered.

"I've charmed the nursery so we will know if Scorpius wakes up."

Draco turned to her, looking a little surprised, and then let out a heavy sigh. That was something he hadn't thought of. There was so many things he didn't think of, so many things that he knew nothing about, and he was worried.

"I'm going to be a terrible parent," he said, walking to the table and throwing himself down dramatically.

"Why would you say that?" Hermione asked, perching herself against the counter and sipping from the cup of tea Draco had left sitting there.

"I didn't even think of how I would hear him if I wasn't in the room. He could be screaming for hours and I'd never even know."

Draco was silent for a moment, Hermione watching him closely, before he sighed heavily and said, "I don't know if I can do this."

"You can, Draco, and you aren't alone. You know I'll always be here to help."

"That's not true, Hermione. You'll be here sometimes, when you aren't working and aren't busy with your friends and your own life. What if you weren't here right now? What if I just put Scorpius in his crib and walked away, left him there with no way of knowing when he had woken up?"

"You'll learn," Hermione started, but Draco seemed like he was entering full fledged panic mode, thinking of all the responsibilities he hadn't thought of before.

"I won't learn fast enough and this is a life that I'm solely responsible for. I don't know if I can do it. I can't do it alone, Hermione. What the hell was I thinking?"

"Draco," Hermione said, pushing herself away from the counter.

"No," he growled, and dropped his head into his hands. Then he looked up suddenly, his eyes on Hermione's. "What if you stayed?"

"Stayed?"

"You can help me raise him! I'll pay you!"

Hermione almost laughed. "Draco… you don't want me to be a stand in mother for your son. I'm sure you can hire help that knows what they're doing, that have actually raised children before."

"No," he said with a shake of his head, his shaggy hair swinging around his collar. "I can't trust anyone with him, Hermione, don't you see? He's a Malfoy. That means the world will be against him just as much as they are me."

Hermione thought on that for a second, and as much as she didn't want to believe the words, she knew they held a semblance of truth. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy would not get any extra chances in their world - his mother was proof of that. She wouldn't even hold him after he was born because he was the son of a Malfoy. It didn't matter that he was her son as well.

She let out a breath.

"So what exactly are you asking me to do?"

"I… you could be like a nanny to him? Help me with him. You know that I have the space here for you, and I have an empty room again now that Ava's gone."

"I have a business to run, Draco."

"As do I. I would never ask you to quit something you're so amazing at, either… what about if I make a potions lab here? Then you would still be able to brew, hell, we could both use it! I really only need to go to office for board meetings and any other important meeting days. I'm sure the part time employees at The Cure-A-Torium can take more hours, and we can learn to raise Scorpius together."

Hermione was watching him closely, obviously taking him seriously.

Draco was scared as he watched Hermione, who was deep in thought. He was nervous that she'd say no and that he had crossed a line; it was a lot to ask of her.

Hermione also knew she couldn't say no. The only one who would suffer if she did was Scorpius, and that wouldn't be fair. He deserved a real shot. On top of it all, her one real desire in the world was to be a mother; here was a family just waiting for someone to step into the role.

"Clarence did ask me for extra hours just a week or so ago," Hermione admitted, chewing her bottom lip nervously.

"Offer him a raise if he can take on more hours. I'll take care of it."

Hermione furrowed her brow as she absentmindedly sipped from her tea. It had to have been hard for Draco to ask her for her help in the magnitude that he was. He wasn't one to ask for help in general, but offering to have her live with him (presumably rent free, which was something she'd have to ask), and the fact that he offered to take care of paying her employees more money to work more hours meant that he was being serious.

"Just a few questions," Hermione answered slowly, thinking everything through. "If I was to live here would I be paying rent? How much of a raise are you planning to give to my employees to run the shop while I'm not there?"

"Of course you're not paying rent. I own the place, anyway, and I don't want your money. How about I give them an extra ten galleons a week? I think that's enough, isn't it?"

Hermione eyes widened in surprise as she nodded. Draco was being extremely generous.

"If you're doing all of that for me I really don't want to take payment for helping with Scorpius."

"I would feel like I was taking advantage of you if I don't pay you."

"I'll be living in your flat, eating your food, basically living for free, and I still have income from my store. No, I don't want any payment, but I will be inviting my friends over sometimes," she warned, a small smile on her face. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she loved the idea. She had decorated the nursery and already felt so close to the baby sleeping within it.

"Fair enough," Draco said. "Are you saying yes?!"

Hermione cracked a small smile. "Yes."

"Should we go tell them? I'll have to show my face to them at some point," Draco said, looking a little peaky at the thought.

"Not yet," she demurred, noticing the look of relief on Draco's face. "Scorpius is asleep and the first rule is to never wake a sleeping baby. Plus he's just so… small. I don't know how I feel about taking him out to show him off quite yet."

"Thank you so much, Hermione. I don't know how I'll ever repay you for this," Draco said seriously, looking like he wanted to drop to his knees in relief.

Hermione just smiled, already planning on getting her things packed, telling her landlord she was leaving, and talking to her employees about taking on more hours. She would have a busy week ahead of her and was just glad that she didn't have a lease on her flat.

/

A week later Draco was watching Hermione move all of her belongings into his flat. He was interested in watching her unpack, seeing her placing her knick knacks and personal photos around his space without a second thought. There was something so homey about seeing their things mixed together, her books beside his on the bookshelves in the sitting room and photos of her family and friends in empty spaces.

He thought he would be annoyed, but he really only felt a warmth spreading through him as he held his son to his chest and watched Hermione efficiently enter his life in an extremely absolute manner. Draco was getting Scorpius dressed to take him to meet Hermione's friends for the first time when Hermione entered the nursery and dropped into a glider.

"Done!"

"That was quick," Draco commented, trying to button up the snaps on Scorpius' onesie as the baby squirmed.

"I already had a good idea where everything would fit. The hardest part was sorting out my clothes and trying to personalize the bedroom after that horrid woman was in there, but it's dealt with now."

Hermione got back to her feet and hovered behind Draco for a moment. She found that she just wanted to be looking and interacting with Scorpius at any and every moment possible. Draco was handling dressing him well, though, so she turned away and started packing the diaper bag, excited to show Scorpius to her friends.

"Let's do this," Draco breathed out, a swaddled Scorpius draped across his chest and onto his shoulder, his large hand supporting the baby's neck gently.

"Wanna trade?" Hermione asked, grinning and holding out the diaper bag. Draco fake sighed but switched with her quickly, watching as she adjusted the baby expertly in her arms before heading for the fireplace.

"Hello?" Hermione called, stepping carefully from the floo with Scorpius in her arms. Draco emerged behind her, fidgeting nervously with the strap of the diaper bag that was flung over his shoulder. He was completely out of his element and it showed that he was uncomfortable. It was like he was trying to not look around and take in any of the trinkets, photos, or personal items in Harry's home.

Hermione did have to give him credit for getting into the fireplace at all, since he had no idea how much Harry and her other friends had matured over the years. Almost as much as Draco had, actually.

"Hermione?" They heard a woman's voice call from upstairs, muffled through the floorboards. They then heard a pitter patter of feet run across the ceiling and start to descend the staircase.

"Auntie Haminy!" A little voice squealed before a miniature Harry Potter got to the bottom of the steps. He looked exactly like his father except he didn't wear glasses and maybe had a little bit more of Ginny's mouth, which, if she didn't have it pulled back into a sarcastic sneer, was really quite dainty. He had chubby cheeks and stocky legs and, though Draco would never admit it aloud, the kid was quite cute.

His feet stuttered to a halt as he saw Hermione with a man behind her and a baby in her arms.

"Mummy! Auntie Haminy has a baby!" He screamed up the stairs. "When did you order a baby, auntie?"

Hermione giggled and took a seat on a large bench at the dining table. Draco moved so that he was directly behind her, holding on to the strap of the diaper bag like a lifeline, as they listened to Ginny's frantic footsteps thundering down the staircase.