So many responses to chapter 10! Honestly, it wasn't until readers asked me if Draco was the father that I even thought about it. This chapter will clear up all those questions. Maybe. I hope.


Chapter 11
"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be," he replied, trying to recover from the shock of her question.

Hermione got to her feet and began pacing. "It's crazy, it has to be," she said, more to herself than to Draco. "But it makes sense. There was only one wand found. There were no bodies besides hers. She could have been with only her mother until she was killed."

Draco got to his feet and intercepted her on her next pass. "I'm not her father," he assured her, holding her by the shoulders. Sighing, he let go and turned to the window. They lived on a quiet street. Most of the houses were dark or sparsely lit in upstairs rooms. On the sidewalk outside the house sat a black cat, and he wondered if that meant seven years bad luck. "There's something you need to know. It's about her parents."

In the glass, he could see Hermione's reflection as she moved back to the sofa. Dropping his head, he continued. "Bellatrix and Rodolphus were dispatched to patrol a few farms in the country side. There were rumors that a lot of muggleborns were hiding in barns and sheds as they tried to flee the country. It's how Isabel, Max's mother, was killed. Anyhow, they found a couple with a small baby staying in the barn of an old squib farmer. It was customary amongst the Death Eaters to bring the people they captured back to the Manor , dead or alive."

"And Kit's parents - were they alive?" she asked.

He didn't know whether to nod or shake his head. "The mother was alive," he replied. "When you mentioned a wand beside Kit, I assume it was hers. The father still had his."

Rising up on shaking legs, Hermione crossed the room to stand behind Draco. "Do you know who they were?"

"Her name was Mary Cross," he said sadly. "Her husband, Timothy, graduated from Hogwarts just before we started there. She was American. Said she moved here after she finished school because the American Ministry wasn't hiring. They questioned and tortured her for hours, and all the while she held her dead husband and cried for her baby. Finally, they put her out of her misery. None of them ever found the baby."

He felt her head rest against his back, her tears beginning to penetrate his shirt. "It wasn't, um, not until that day in the park when you told me about Kit being found in a barn that I put two and two together," he said, his voice breaking as he relived that nightmare. "I'm so sorry, Hermione."

Shaking her head, she pulled back slightly, but kept his shirt fisted in her hands. "It's not your fault," she replied.

Her grip on his clothing was loosened when he turned to face her. "I always thought I could stop it if I just did something or said something," he told her. "I was just so afraid that I'd be next, or he'd hurt my parents. So, I did nothing."

"I don't know that I would have been brave enough to stop them," she murmured, tentatively embracing him.

Draco stiffened for a moment, but quickly seemed to take comfort in her arms. Relaxing, he wound his arms around her and held her close. "I'm pretty sure you would have saved the day had you been there," he replied with a mirthless laugh.

"Draco, no one is blaming you for what happened to the Crosses," Hermione said. "Please don't beat yourself up over this."

"Shouldn't you be more upset about this?" he wondered.

"Kit's safe," was her reply. "It's despicable what happened to her parents. I know it easily could have been me. It almost was me."

Draco pulled away and sat down on the sofa, face in his hands. "And I did nothing to stop that either," he mumbled.

Taking a seat on the coffee table, Hermione rested her hands on his knees. "And what could you have done?" she asked. "Bellatrix was stronger, so much farther gone than anyone else. She wouldn't have hesitated to kill you too. And before you try to tell me that would have been preferable, I want you to know that isn't true. You've been a great friend to this family. I don't think anyone else could make Kit happy the way you do."

"She deserves to be happy," he agreed, taking Hermione's hand.

"Guess we'll have to keep you around then," she replied. "So long as you stop feeling guilty for what happened. The thing is Kit doesn't know."

Brows furrowed, Draco leaned back. "She doesn't know she was adopted?" he asked.

Glancing behind her to make sure they were completely alone, Hermione replied, "She knows she was adopted. That was a difficult enough concept to explain to her. I never told her about her parents though. I wasn't sure how to. Perhaps it'll be easier when she's a bit older."

"It couldn't hurt to wait," he agreed. Sighing tiredly, Draco tilted his head back and closed his eyes briefly. A soft tug on her hand was all the encouragement she needed to move to the couch. Beside him the sofa cushions dipped as Hermione joined him, and rested her head on his shoulder. "I should probably go soon," he mumbled, placing his feet on the coffee table.

"Probably," Hermione conceded, her own eyes now closed as well. Her free arm wound around his right; their hands still clasped and resting on his thigh.

His head lolled to the side until it rested atop Hermione's curls. "Five minutes," he said sleepily. "I'll go in five minutes. Too tired to move right now."

"Exhausting night," Hermione muttered as sleep claimed her.

He fell asleep soon after, and didn't awaken until the early morning sun filtered in through the flimsy white curtains that framed the living room window. His body felt heavy and his hand had fallen asleep. Cracking open one eye against the bright light, he was startled to find he wasn't at home and he wasn't alone. Beside him, Hermione slept peacefully despite the awkward angle at which she rested. But it was Kit, asleep in his lap with her head against his chest, that surprised him the most. They looked the perfect picture of a family.

And, Draco decided, it could last another five minutes.