***** Make sure you read chapter 10! I replaced the authors note with the actual chapter 10 and it didn't show up as an update so just make sure you don't miss that chapter before reading this one! Thanks!

Unexpected Love

Summary: A fic that takes place after Hogwarts. Hermione left the magical world behind after a messy breakup with Krum and became a muggle teacher. Years later she discovers that one of her new students is a Malfoy. What will happen when Draco enters her life?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. The ones you don't recognize belong to me.

Chapter Eleven- Babies and Breakups

"Oh, it's you," Hermione said icily, glaring up at him. Draco stood staring at her. 'God, she sure looks beautiful tonight,' he thought to himself. Shaking this thought from his head he remembered that he was angry with her. He quickly withdrew his hand that he had put out to help her up, matching her livid glare.

"What are you doing here?" Draco remarked nastily. Hermione laughed slightly as she got up and replied, "What, am I not allowed to be in Hogsmeade anymore? I'm here on a date, Malfoy."

Draco felt a pang of hurt at the use of his last name instead of his first, but quickly brushed it away.

"A date, huh?" he replied. "With that Finnigan I'm guessing."

"It's really none of your business, but yes, it is with Seamus," Hermione retorted.

"I really don't know what you see in him," Draco said, and Hermione snapped back, "Well for starters he's a lot more of a gentleman than you'll every be. And he's many other things that you're not."

Draco couldn't take it anymore. He shouted loudly at Hermione, "Look Hermione, I don't know why on earth you're mad at me! I didn't do anything to you; you're the one who made the decision that we couldn't be together! You couldn't even damn wait for my divorce to go through! No, you just HAD to have a guy right now, and you'd even settle for that Finnigan guy! You don't like him Hermione, I know that."

Hermione's eyes flashed dangerously and she shouted back, "You don't know me Draco! You don't know anything about me! And this is exactly why I'm mad! Look how you're acting! Do you really think I want to go out with someone that overreacts at a simple request I make! I'm smarter than that. Now if you don't mind, I have to be getting back to my date, something I doubt you'll ever have."

She turned quickly and stalked away in the direction she came, not once looking back.

Draco stood alone on the moonlit street corner thinking to himself. He was still angry with Hermione; he wasn't one to forgive very easily. But something about how she just stood up for herself appealed very much to him. He wondered if he had ruined every chance he ever had with Hermione. 'Don't think about that,' Draco told himself sternly, 'she's too stubborn, she's not worth your time. She can't even admit that someone else is right and she's not for once.'

Draco turned around and walked slowly down the dimly lit road. He had come on this nighttime stroll to clear his thoughts but instead he had new, more confusing ones to deal with.

*****

Hermione hurried angrily along the moonlit sidewalk. 'How dare he talk to me like that!' she thought furiously to herself. She had every right to be mad at him. It was him that shouldn't be mad! She had made a simple request and he overreacted. That's all, she hadn't done anything.

She couldn't help remembering seeing the hurt that had passed through his eyes when she had called him Malfoy. He wouldn't have cared about if he didn't care for her; it wouldn't have mattered to him. So maybe he really did care about her. Neither one knew it, but the argument between them had made each other more confused than they had ever been before.

Hermione turned the last corner and saw Seamus sitting on a bench waiting for her. She didn't feel much like sitting there anymore; she just wanted to go home.

"Where's the candy?" Seamus questioned her, and Hermione replied, "Oh, sorry, I got distracted. Ran into someone I knew."

"Who?" he asked.

"Just someone," Hermione replied simply. "Look, I had a really nice time tonight, but I'm really tired now. It's been a long weekend and I have school tomorrow. I hope you understand."

"Of course," Seamus replied, "You've had a very eventful weekend. Would you mind if I Apparated with you home?"

Hermione smiled and nodded. She took his hand and they Apparated to a shadowy place outside Hermione's building. They walked the rest of the way to the door and stood outside of it. Seamus turned to Hermione and said, "Hermione, I've had a wonderful time. Would you mind if I owled you sometime this week and we can maybe go out again this weekend?"

"I would like that, Seamus," Hermione replied. She kissed him gently on the cheek and walked inside, turning around once to smile and wave. She went straight to her bedroom, changed quickly into her pyjamas and collapsed on her bed, falling fast asleep.

*****

The next morning she walked into her classroom and immediately saw Justin Malfoy. He smiled brightly at her and Hermione was taken aback by the resemblance to Draco. She had noticed before that Justin resembled his father, but when he smiled, he looked like a smaller version of him. She saw no sign of Pansy in their son; it was all Draco. She sighed and realized that it would be a very long year, being constantly reminded of Draco everyday.

Justin came up to her that day at recess and said, "Ms. Granger, I know you and my dad are fighting, but I know he really likes you, he's just angry. Please don't be mad at him."

Hermione smiled at him and replied, "Justin, your father and I just can't get along. We couldn't in school and we can't now. I regret that I thought we could, as I was wrong. You'll understand it when you're older, it's a complicated thing. Now you go out and play."

Justin walked out of the room thinking to himself. He did understand it. Nobody seemed to think he could, but he did. It was so simple; they were making it so much more complicated than it was. He had talked to his dad and he had talked to Ms. Granger. They were both so stubborn, that all he could do now was wait and pray that they'd work it out in time.

*****

The week went by quickly for Hermione. She got back into her routine of school days, and by the time she knew it, it was Friday. She was so tired on Friday night that she collapsed right into bed early again. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

She hadn't heard from Seamus all week but when she woke up Saturday morning there was an owl from him outside her bedroom window.

She opened the letter up and read:

Dear Hermione,

I will not be able to do anything this weekend as I will be

very busy. You see, Parvati had her baby yesterday morning.

A little girl! Her name is Angela and she is an adorable,

healthy little baby. Dean and Parvati have asked me to help

them out. I will owl you sometime soon.

~Seamus

'A little girl!' she thought. 'Parvati must be so happy; she always wanted a little girl.' Hermione was excited to see her but knew she must wait until Pavati and Dean were settled in with her before she could.

She got ready that morning with a smile on her face. Babies always could make her happy, even when she was in the worst mood. She got dressed and walked downstairs to run a few errands. She had just stepped outside when Hedwig came swooping down to her. She stuck her foot out urgently and Hermione took the letter from her leg. She untied it and read the few words on the letter:

Ginny is having her baby, meet us at St. Mungo's ASAP.

Hermione quickly looked around and when the coast was clear, Apparated quickly to St Mungo's. She rushed up to the front desk.

"Excuse me," she asked the woman at the front desk, "but where can I find Ginny Potter?"

The nurse told her and Hermione rushed up to her room. She turned the corner and saw Ron and Lavender standing in the hall with Eddie and Lis who were talking to a very excited looking Lily and Mackie.

Lily spotted Hermione first and ran up to her yelling excitedly, "Mione! I'm gonna be a big sister again! And I'm gonna have a brother!"

"That's wonderful Lily!" Hermione said with a laugh. She walked over with her towards Ron and Lavender. Ron looked incredibly excited as well.

"I'm gonna be an uncle again!" he exclaimed. Hermione laughed and said to Ron, "You're just like one of the children!" But she herself was happy. Two of her best friends were having another child, and Harry's first son. Who wouldn't be happy?

"So I'm guessing Harry's inside with Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"Yep," Ron replied. "And Lavender and I are stuck watching four kids, three of which are rowdy six year olds! I'm glad you're here to help; you don't know how hard it is to watch excited six year olds."

"Oh yes I do. Remember Ron, I teach the first grade. Six year olds."

"Oh yea," Ron replied before yelling, "Lis, give that back to Eddie!" Elisabeth had apparently taken a candy bar from Eddie and he had responded by grabbing her hair and yanking it as hard as he could. Ron and Lavender rushed over to pry them apart, leaving Hermione with Lily and Mackenzie. Mackenzie seemed to be occupied with a bug crawling across the floor, so Hermione walked over to Lily. The two of them sat talking about Harry and Ginny-- Hermione telling Lily stories about when they were younger and Lily telling Hermione about living with them now.

The time flew by so quickly that nobody noticed it was getting dark. 'We must have been sitting here for hours!' Hermione thought 'And poor Ginny, it's been hours!'

Suddenly a tiny baby crying was heard from within the room. Hermione's head snapped up as Harry flung open the door.

"It's a boy!" he yelled, his face flushed with excitement. "Little James is finally here!" Ron and Hermione congratulated him as Lily and Mackie ran to Harry, hugging his around the knees. The twins stood up excitedly, saying, "Can we see him Uncle Harry?"

Harry laughed and said, "Just a second. I'll come get you once the baby is all cleaned up and Ginny is settled." The twins nodded and Harry disappeared back into the room. Hermione stood impatiently, feeling like a six year old herself, until Harry came back out.

"Ok, come on in," he said. Hermione followed everyone else into the room where Ginny lay on the bed, holding a little bundle. She was flushed and rosy with happiness. She smiled up at Harry as he came over to the bed. He looked down at the gurgling bundle and leaned down to give Ginny a little peck on the lips. Hermione could tell how in love they were and unconsciously sighed. Ginny looked over at her and smiled.



"Hermione!" she exclaimed. "You made it!"

"I wouldn't miss it," Hermione replied. She stared somewhat enviously at Ginny sitting on the bed, holding her son, with Harry sitting with his arm around her, beaming down lovingly at her.

"Would you like to hold him?" Ginny's voice suddenly said. Hermione looked up to find that the question was directed at her. She grinned at her and replied, "Of course I would!" Hermione walked over to the bed and Ginny gently handed her the tiny bundle of blankets. The boy squirmed gently in her arms as she looked down at him. She immediately adored him. He was absolutely gorgeous. His messy hair was a colour that she had never seen before, a dark, dark red that was almost black. He had his eyes closed but when Hermione brushed his silky hair away from them they opened and Hermione saw the same eyes that she remembered seeing almost everyday for seven years. They were exact replicas of Harry's eyes, almond shaped and that beautiful, shining emerald green. In fact, James looked very much like Harry.

As Hermione stared into his delicate face, she felt a longing for a family that she had never felt before. She pictured herself holding a little girl in a pink dress, little pigtails on her head while a small girl and a boy chased each other around the room. But when she tried to picture Seamus there, she just couldn't.

At that moment she realized that as much as she liked Seamus as a friend, and as sweet, kind, and caring as he was, they had no future together. Everyone else had been right; she had been fooling herself, trying to tell herself that Seamus was the one just because he wouldn't hurt her. But she had been wrong, and now she was the one that had to hurt Seamus.

Hermione spent the rest of the evening at St. Mungo's, and was delighted when Ron asked her, "Would you like to stay at our house this weekend? Lavender actually suggested it, but I would love it if you did. Lily and Mackie are staying with us tonight also so there will be plenty of people around." Hermione grinned broadly at him and said, "I would love to." They said their goodbyes to Harry and Ginny, who were staying at the hospital that night and would be taking James home the next day, and Apparated to a yard in front of a little house.

The house was a dark burgundy colour with crisp white trim and a wonderful array of colourful flowers outside each window. A little porch was on the front of the house with wooden steps leading up to it and a porch swing hung, swaying lightly in the September breeze.

They walked through the front door into a little entrance area decorated in different shades of blue. Hermione glimpsed a golden living room through a doorway to her left and a dark, forest green kitchen through a doorway to her right. The continued up the light pine stairs to the upstairs hallway and into the last room on their right. It was a delicate lavender colour with a large bed covered in a cozy looking white quilt. The large airy window was open, curtains fluttering in the breeze. Walking over to it, Hermione glimpsed the same lake she had seen near Harry's house over the carpet of green treetops.

"This," began Lavender, "is our guest room. I hope you like it, the view is spectacular. You can see the sunset right from this window."

"I love it," Hermione reassured her.

"I'm sure you're just as tired as we all are so we'll leave you to get some sleep. The guest bathroom is the room next door and we've conjured up some pyjamas for you. They're in the bathroom. Oh and if you need anything, across the hall is the room that Lily and Mackie are staying in, next to them is the twins room, and we're the first door on your left when you come up the stairs." Hermione thanked them and proceeded to get ready for bed. The pyjamas were a light blue flannel and were so comfortable that she fell asleep as soon as she crawled under the plush quilt.

The next morning Hermione dressed and ate breakfast quickly. She then turned to Ron and said, "I was wondering if you could tell me where Dean and Parvati's house is." He looked at her questioningly so she explained, "Seamus is staying there and I need to talk to him."

"I see," said Ron. "Well, I'm not too sure, but Lavender will know. Hey Lav!"

"Yeah?" she answered. After explaining what Hermione wanted to know, Lavender told her exactly where it was, and said that she could just Apparate there. Hermione thanked her and Disapparated from the kitchen with a small crack.

She arrived in front of a small green house. A thin woman with long black hair looked up at her surprised. For a moment Hermione thought it was Parvati, but then she realized that it was her twin sister, Padma. 'She must be here helping as well,' she thought to herself.

"Hermione?" the woman questioned. "How are you? I haven't seen you in a long time. What can I do for you?"

"Well," began Hermione, "I was wondering if I could talk to Seamus."

"Of course," she answered, smiling. "Seamus!" she yelled into the house. He emerged a moment later and smiled when he saw Hermione in the yard.

"Hermione! What a surprise. Is something wrong?"

"Seamus, I need to talk to you for a second," Hermione said seriously. Padma glanced between them and said hurridly, "Uh, I was just leaving." She hurried into the house, leaving the two alone.

"Shall we sit down?" Seamus asked. Hermione followed him towards a bench in the yard and sat down with him.

"Look Seamus," she began immediately, "I've been fooling myself."

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously, his navy eyes boring into her own honey ones. Hermione continued, "You're an incredibly sweet, caring, kind, polite, gentleman, not to mention a great friend. But that's all it's ever going to be. I've been trying to tell myself that feelings for you still could develop. You're the kind of guy that wouldn't hurt me in a relationship like Viktor did. But because of my fear of getting hurt again, I let myself get your hopes up that there was something between us, and I'm sorry."

Seamus sat silently for a few minutes, staring determinedly at the ground. Then quietly he said, "It's because of Draco, isn't it?" Hermione was taken aback. She hadn't expected this. "Well…um…" she stuttered, then forcefully she said, "No. No, it doesn't." But deep, deep down, Hermione wondered if she was telling the truth. Did she want it to be Draco in that picture? Shaking her head to clear these thoughts, she said, "I think I should leave now. I'm so sorry Seamus. For everything."

She turned and walked away, preparing to Disapparate. Before she could however, Seamus' voice rang through the yard. "I know you should be together. I saw it in your eyes that day at Hogsmeade. And deep down, you know it too, even if you won't admit it now." Hermione stopped and looked back at Seamus, not saying anything. He smiled sadly at her.

"You're meant to be. You just wait and see."

***** *** *****

AN- REVIEW PLEASE!!! I only got a few reviews on my last chapter *sniff* I need review if you want me to keep going! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, please review! If you didn't, review anyways! :D! Thanks! ~*~FieryPhoenix~*~