Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: To the guest reviewer who said this was being drawn out and they didn't want to read anymore... this story is already written. Sorry it didn't move to your pace. If you would have given it just a little bit longer...

Chapter 10

"He's flirting with you!" Ginny squealed from beside her as they lay in her and Harry's bed.

"No, he's-"

"He's totally flirting with you," Ginny said again as Harry appeared in the door, two bowls of ice cream in his hands.

"For my two favorite ladies," he said as he handed them over and slid in beside his wife, "What are we talking about?"

"Nothing-" Hermione started.

"Viktor Krum is flirting with Hermione!" Ginny said at the same time and Hermione rolled her eyes as she took a generous bite of the butter brickle her best friend had fetched them, "He brought her soup because he knows she hasn't been feeling well and flowers to 'brighten up the office.'"

"I don't know," Harry murmured, the hint of an edge to his voice, "It sounds like he's just being a good friend."

"I swear," Ginny said, sounding so much like Ron with her mouth full of ice cream, "You can be so daft sometimes."

Harry said nothing else and Hermione eyed him carefully as she noted the furrow of his brow and the tight set of his lips. She decided then that there was something Harry wasn't telling her.

The burrow was filled to the brim when Hermione arrived. She smiled as Molly welcomed her from all the way across the house before she set down the gift she was carrying on the table that seemed to be sagging in the middle.

"Hermione!" Bill called, little Louis on his shoulder as he pulled away from the others to give the witch a hug.

"Happy Birthday Bill!" she smiled, accepting the one armed hug from the man as the little boy waved at her from above.

"Thank you! I'm glad you're here, where's Draco?" he asked suddenly, as though just realizing the man was absent.

"Oh," Hermione said, her voice low as she examined a stray thread on her favorite sweatshirt. Out of all of the Weasley's, Draco had gotten along best with Bill. She had always assumed it had something to do with the fact that both men loved their galleons though she had never really asked, "He's…"

"Sorry I'm late," she tensed as his voice filled her ear and she scowled as she took one step away from him though she almost immediately missed the closeness. She shook her head, determined not to think any more of it, "Got held up at work."

Her tongue was going to be minced meat, she thought as she bit down on the tip of it to keep it from speaking the bitter words that threatened it, giving a tight smile instead. "I'm going to go see if Molly needs any help."

Bill nodded at her, smiling once more as she turned to head to the kitchen where she knew the Weasley family matron was waiting.

"Do you need any help?" she asked as she reached the small gaggle of women and Molly tutted at her.

"You look positively peaked Hermione," she said as she pulled out a chair and pointed at it with her wand, "Sit."

If there was one thing Hermione had learned after all these years of dinners at the Burrow it was not to argue with Molly Weasley. Instead she sat down, accepting the plate that the witch offered her and nibbled on the cheese and crackers there.

"Hey," Ginny said as she appeared, sitting down next to her, "Are you alright?"

Hermione nodded around a bit of gruyere, her mouth going dry, "I'm fine."

"Hermione-"

"Oh, Ginny!" Molly said, catching sight of her daughter.

"Damn," Ginny muttered before she smiled up at the woman, "Yes Mum."

"Be a dear and take this plate out to the table," she said as she handed the plate of boiled cabbage to the young witch who then proceeded to retch as she slammed the platter down in front of Hermione and took off up the stairs, her face a pale shade of green.

Hermione chuckled once before the smell of the vegetable hit her nose and she shot to her feet quicker than Harry on a firebolt. She tore through the house, ignoring the protests as she elbowed her way out the door and into the garden where the fresh air eased her queasiness instantly.

She breathed a sigh of relief, relishing the cold November air as it filled her lungs and settled her stomach. She wondered, briefly, if Molly had been getting her cabbages from Hagrid again but pushed it out of her mind as she thought of the cooked vegetable that had led her out into the yard in the first place.

"Are you alright?" she turned then, her eyes widening as she caught sight of him.

He was wearing his work trousers still, and his shirt though he had lost the tie. His top button was undone and she knew that as soon as he got home he would undo the cuffs and roll the sleeves up. But not here, not in polite company.

"I'm-" she was going to say she was fine. Was going to repeat the same thing she had been telling others for weeks now; what she had been telling herself. Instead she shook her head as the words flowed softly from her mouth, "No, I'm not."

His jaw clenched then and she could see it even in the pale light from the moon and the light of from the Burrow behind them.

They were silent then, their eyes fixed on each other and she willed him to say something; to say anything really.

The door opening behind them stole their attention and they both turned as Viktor Krum walked out, his thick brow furrowed in concern, "Hermione? Are you alright?" she didn't need to see his eyes to know they were looking at Draco.

"I'm fine Viktor, I just- I need a moment," she ground out and the man nodded before he gave one last look at Draco and walked back into the house.

She turned then, facing the field that backed the house; the place that had once held so many happy memories for her.

"Why?" his voice was rough and cross and she turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Why him?"

"What?" she asked stupidly and Draco stepped closer to her still.

"Of all the people you could choose, why him? Why Krum?"

"What are you talking about?" she hissed and she saw him harden under her tense gaze.

"Nevermind," he said stiffly, turning back toward the house.

She acted on instinct then, reaching out to grab his arm, "What are you talking about?"

He pulled his arm away from her as he wheeled around to face her, "I'm talking about the fact that you're Hermione fucking Granger. You could have any wizard you want and you choose him. He's almost as bad as fucking Weasley."

"Draco," she growled as she tried to reach out for him again. "Stop."

It seemed though, that the floodgates had opened, he shook his head as he reached up to tug at his hair, his face twisted in anger or pain, or both.

"You were supposed to be with someone else, someone who deserved you!" he shouted, "Someone who didn't have their past hanging over their head and keeping you back."

Her heart plummeted to her stomach then, "That's what this is about? Draco, I don't-"

"No!" he said, quieter this time but just as viciously, "Anyone but him okay? Go have lots of little Granger babies and live your life with someone who deserves you but I'm begging you- not him."

"Draco!" she snapped, "I don't want to be with Krum. Or anyone else. I want, I want you. Dammit, I want you."

He shook his head, backing away from her then, "I can't give you that. I can't, I can't bring a child into this when my father's sins, when my sins, will hang over its head from the get go."

"It doesn't matter!" she cried, "You're past, who you were, it doesn't matter anymore."

He scoffed then, the sound resigned and she knew she was losing him, "It doesn't- it doesn't matter? What would I say then? When our child asked me what this meant?" he gestured to his hidden mark, "What would we say when they asked about that word carved into your arm?"

"We would tell them they were put there by a bad person- by bad people who wanted to hurt us."

He laughed then, the sound dry and cynical and so, so very wrong. "That's where you're mistaken Granger. Because I chose this, and I chose to sit by and watch a member of my family mark your flesh with that and I didn't do a damn thing to stop it."

"Draco, please!" she crossed the patio boldly, her hands moving up to cup his face as she forced his eyes to hers, "Stop this."

They stared at each other again then, his gray eyes boring into her brown ones and she could feel the weight on his shoulders as though it were her own. It was suffocating.

So she did the only thing she knew how to do.

She kissed him.

It was late when she arrived back to Gryffindor tower. Ginny had stayed behind, citing that she needed to talk to Harry about her upcoming Holyhead Harpies tryouts though Hermione doubted they would do much 'talking' at all. She smirked to herself as she climbed the last step and opened her mouth to tell the fat lady the password when a hand reached out, pulling her into the shadows.

His lips were on hers before she could scream and she didn't need to see who it was as the scent of bourbon and whisky filled her nose. She leaned into it, her lips parting in response and she felt the heat pool in her stomach.

He kissed her until she was out of breath and, judging by the gaping mouthfuls of air, he was too. "Don't be with the Weasel," he said as he pulled away, pressing his forehead against hers.

They swayed slightly and she knew he was drunk, she sighed as she looked around before she reached up to wrap his arm around her.

"Come on, let's get you back to your dorm."

"No," he slurred slightly, "Not until you tell me you won't be with Weasel."

"Why?" she asked haughtily. She had no intention of being with Ron, not that she would tell him that, but she wanted to know why.

"Because… because I think I love you Granger."

She was going to be sick, she was sure of it as she sat sandwiched between Viktor and Draco. Molly, thankfully, had removed the cabbage from the menu much to Ginny's delight but it did little to quell Hermione's unease. Draco sat beside her, his shoulders rigid as he spoke to Bill and Arthur and she tried not to think of his face as he pushed her away and walked back into the house without another word. She tried and failed.

"Hermione, are you sure you're alright?" Molly asked again and Hermione looked up from her plate to see the woman looking at her worriedly.

"Uh, no. I think I'm just going to go home and have a lie down," she explained as she pushed herself away from her uneaten meal.

Krum stood up then, "I can-"

"No," she said quickly, her eyes darting to the back of Draco's head, "I don't need your help. I- I'll see you tomorrow, at work."

Her tone left room for no arguments and she quickly said her goodbyes and floo'd back to Harry and Ginny's before she finally let the tears flow.

Draco's words echoed in her head as she walked up the stairs towards the guest bedroom, her chest tight and her vision blurred. She stopped, outside the door to the nursery and before she could think too much she turned the knob and stepped inside.

It was beautiful, that much she could say. The charmed sky twinkled as though the roof of the room had disappeared and the dark clouds that floated along rivaled only that of the real thing.

"There was never anyone else you know," his voice was soft and she turned as Harry walked into the room, opening his arms up to her.

She was in them in an instant, her head against his shoulder as she cried herself out once more. It had always been the other way before. She was always the strong one, the one that was there to keep both Harry and Ron grounded. She had never needed anyone.

Or so she had thought.

"It's always been you for him," Harry said, his lips against her forehead.

She hiccupped but said nothing more and finally, Harry sighed.

"He did this you know."

She looked up then, meeting his green gaze, "What?"

"The room…" he explained, "I asked him to brew a potion for Gin. She was having morning sickness so bad she could hardly get out of bed, hardly eat. I- I told him and he brewed her something. Then he showed up here and did this."

Hermione looked up to the stars once more.

"I- I told him I wouldn't say anything Hermione. I promised him. I know you're my best friend but I gave him my word and-"

She nodded, her eyes brimming with tears again.

"I didn't think it would get this bad. I thought you would talk like you always did. You would make up and it would be better."

"It's not better Harry," she choked and he soothed her as she fell into his arms again.

They stood like that, in the middle of his unborn child's nursery until she could hardly stand anymore. Harry helped her into the guest room and brought back tea as they sat in silence on the bed.

"He wanted children," Harry finally said, his voice so soft she almost missed it, "He said he wanted children but he wasn't sure he could be what they deserved. He's scared Hermione. Bloody hell, I'm scared. I never even had a father to know what one does."

She leaned her head on his shoulder then and he rested his cheek on her head.

"What a messed up lot we are," he finally said and she laughed despite herself, a deep and guttural sound before Harry conjured a handkerchief for her.

She fell asleep that night with her head on his shoulder and she dreamed of Draco in the stars.

A/N: Answers! Kind of. Also, a lot of you really don't like Ginny... Sorry about that.