…………………………………………

Never Meant To Be

………………………..………………

But no matter how I try

I can't hate you anymore

…………

Hermione stifled a shriek as strong arms came around her and held her tightly as she struggled in his grip. "Hermione! Hermione, please stop!" Ron yelled at her.

She suddenly froze and stared up at him, tears springing to her eyes. No words would come out of her mouth, no matter how hard she tried. She stopped to look around them and saw that Harry and Blaise were also there, along with a few Aurors who were spread out. "H-how did you find me?" she finally managed to ask, momentarily forgetting the pain in her wrist. Maybe she was imagining things?

"We've been trying to find clues for weeks, sweetheart," said Blaise as he came up behind her.

Harry nodded and hugged her tightly. They had informed Blaise of their findings when he had asked for Hermione many times, knowing that she wouldn't ever leave her sons. He frowned when she flinched after he tried to take her hands. "Did he do this to you?" he asked seriously, calling one of the healers to come take a look at her bleeding palms and her broken wrist.

Hermione shook her head and couldn't force down the tears that kept slipping down her cheeks. "I found a way to break through the window of the room he had me locked in. I couldn't use any magic so I tied many sheets and towels together and climbed down. I cut my hands on the glass and then fell on my wrist when I jumped the rest of the way. There was no way of me getting out of the room, even without my wand because he had the land cancel out my magic or something. He's been keeping me in the dungeon in a cell when I don't cooperate with him."

The healer cured her wounds and healed her wrist before conjuring a brace and placing her hand inside for a few hours until they could get Hermione some potions to help. Harry turned to her again. "Did he hurt you physically?" he asked her gently.

Hermione nodded. "We got into really nasty fights a few times. He never raped me, but he did slap me around a bit, though it was never as bad as what I did to him. He had me take a love potion so that he could get those pictures put in the paper. Daphne was in on it from the beginning. She's helped him in everything he has done to me," she said darkly.

Ron ran a hand up and down her back in a soothing manner. "We need to get her out of her and to Mungo's before she can see her sons."

She shook her head. "No, I want to stay and see when you get McLaggen. Please," she said when her two best friends started to shake their heads and began to voice their disapproval. "I have earned this. I have to see the look on his face when you tell him that he's going to rot in prison for the rest of his life," she said with barely restrained fury.

Harry looked to the Aurors and gave them a nod. "Fine, but as soon as he's apprehended, we're going to take you to the hospital."

"If I weren't in pain right now, I'd go straight to see my sons, but I need to see this," Hermione said quietly. "But we have to hurry. He'll be back soon," she said as they began to trudge back to what had been her prison for months. McLaggen wouldn't know what hit him.

……

Cormac smirked to himself as he apparated straight into his home. He had free reign to use his magic because they were on unplottable land that had cancelled off any witches power. Of course, he hadn't shared that with Hermione or even Daphne because it was a sort of family secret. He set down his packages on the dinner table and walked off to check on Hermione in her room. He couldn't wait for dinner and what would come afterwards.

He nearly ran up the steps to her room and opened the door without a noise. The sight that met him made his blood run cold. He yelled out a string of curses that his mother would've slapped him for and ran to the window to look out. There was a makeshift rope hanging a long distance down, and from then on she would've had to jump. A jump like that would've hurt an unprepared person, and Cormac spotted the blood on the glass of the broken window. She was hurt, and most likely traveling slow. She would not get away from him so easily.

He ran out of her room and down the stairs, his mind conjuring up the thoughts of what he would do to her once he found her. She would pay for giving him so much trouble and he would make her beg for his mercy. As he was making his way to the front door, his eyes met an unusual sight.

Hermione was standing in front of him, her arm in a sling and a cold look on her face. "Welcome back, Cormac."

"How did you get back in here? I would've thought that you would be long gone from here," he said coolly. She shrugged and watched him calmly as he took a few steps towards her. "You've been a very bad girl Hermione, and you're going to pay for causing me so much grief," he said softly. His hand came up to grab her around her neck and suddenly he was on the other end of roughly ten wands.

"Guess who found me?" she asked smugly.

McLaggen stared at the livid faces of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Their expressions promised worlds of pain in store for him after what he did to their precious third. "Where's Malfoy?" he asked smugly. He wouldn't be going down without a fight, even if it was only with words.

Hermione felt something burn behind her eyes, but she would rather off herself than allow McLaggen to see her tears ever again. Before any of the men could react, she drew back her good hand and let the fist fly towards Cormac's face. The man grunted and fell back as his nose spouted blood down his face and clothes. Harry then hauled him up and Hermione kicked him in his lower extremities, watching in satisfaction as he cried out like a little girl and fell to his knees in pain, not know whether to nurse his still bleeding nose of his aching crotch.

"Cormac McLaggen, by order of the ministry of magic, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Hermione Granger. Anything you say may be used against you in the court of the Wizengamot," said on of the Aurors, not commenting on what Hermione had just done to the man. If asked about it later, he would say that they hadn't seen anything and that the prisoner was crying wolf.

"I'm going to make sure you and Daphne rot in prison for the rest of your days," Harry spat as he held Hermione away from him, lest she damage the man permanently. He turned to the Aurors and nodded. "You can take him away. Hermione will go file the report tomorrow morning after she sees her sons and gets rest. I trust you all to start the paperwork?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter," said one of the youngest ones. "We will question the prisoner as soon as we get to the Ministry and we will be waiting for you tomorrow, Ms. Granger," he said before they hauled off McLaggen so that they could apparate out.

Blaise walked over to her and kissed her forehead. "I'm happy you're safe, love. But now I have to go make sure that McLaggen gets hit with everything the law has. It's really important that you file the report tomorrow morning. Usually a victim must make the report at the moment, but you're Hermione Granger and the Ministry will make an exception. Just don't forget that tomorrow you must be there. If you have no objections, I would like to represent you in all of this," he told her seriously.

She managed a smiled. "Thank you, and you're help is greatly appreciated. I will be at the ministry tomorrow morning at nine, is that okay?" she asked him. Blaise nodded and bid her goodbye before walking away.

"Let's go," said Ron as he took Hermione's arm and walked her towards the chimney where there was floo powder. "The Aurors and St. Mungos have to make a report on your injuries before they heal you."

Hermione nodded and took a handful of floo powder before she found herself in the hospital. Harry and Ron came up behind her and ushered her towards the emergency section of the hospital where she would be taken care of. The Healers moved quickly when they saw who they would be taking care of, and an hour later, Hermione was almost as good as new, save for a few bruises on her neck and face that would have to fade on their own.

Hermione sat on the hospital bed, showered and changed into clean clothes that Ron had gone to get from her flat. She was wearing a pair of old blue jeans and a long, blue sweater which had been the only things that Ron had found for her to wear. The question had been there in the back of her mind from the moment her friends had caught her in the forest. She needed to know. Ron and Harry were looking at each other and then at her.

"Just tell me," she said with a heavy sigh. "Are the pictures in the paper true?"

Harry cleared his throat and walked over to sit next to her where she was gazing at the bruises and the scars on her palms. "He said that he was doing it because it was obvious that you had moved on. Mione, he had faith in you in the beginning, but then—"

"Then he saw the pictures," she finished for him. Her friends nodded but offered no other words as the room fell into silence. "He thinks I would be capable of abandoning my sons for another man," she said as a few tears trailed down her cheeks.

"What are you going to tell him when you're face to face?" Ron asked quietly.

"He'll fight me, I know that much. But my sons belong to me. I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that things will never be the same between me and Draco, but I won't hate him for the things he will say. I'll just… I don't know. I'll try to explain to him what happened, and if he doesn't want to listen, we'll fight," she said sadly.

"Will you forgive him for what he's done?" Harry asked as he took her hand in his.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know yet. I won't know until we actually come face to face," she said. Then her mood brightened slightly. "Have you two seen my sons?"

Ron nodded and smiled slightly. "We always visited when Malfoy wasn't there. Your ex-mother-in-law let us spend some time with your kids. She always believed that something was amiss and that you wouldn't willingly leave the babies."

Hermione nodded and felt more tears trail down her face. She had no response to that, though her heart felt a little lighter now that she knew that her sons had been taken care of. The healer in charge of her finally walked into the room with the paperwork she needed to sign in order to discharge her. When Hermione stepped out of her private room, she saw that at the welcome desk, there were some Aurors blocking the way for some reporters. As soon as they saw Hermione, Harry, and Ron, they started to call out questions about her kidnapping and McLaggen's arrest.

"How did they get wind of this so fast?" asked Ron as he ushered her to the floo again.

"I don't really care," Hermione said in annoyance. She turned to her best friends. "Wait for me at my flat, won't you? I want to do confront Draco alone," she told them seriously.

"But Hermione—" Harry protested. If Malfoy hadn't seen the reports in today's paper, he wouldn't welcome Hermione in his home or near their sons. She really shouldn't do this alone.

"No, Harry. I'm so thankful that you guys saved me, and that Blaise is going to make sure that McLaggen rots in prison, but I need to do this alone. I don't want you two to be there to hear what will be said," she said with a sad smile. Then she grabbed a handful of floo and called out her destination before either of her friends could object.

The Manor was quiet when she arrived and as she approached the staircase, she froze when she saw Draco coming down the stairs. He stopped when he saw her too, blinking a few times before he kept walking to come to a stop in front of her. The look in his eye was cold and it made the words die in Hermione's throat. He looked so cold and… he reminded Hermione of how he had been in school. "Draco—" she started, but didn't get anything else out because he was suddenly gripping her arm and pulling her towards the main door.

"You and I have nothing to talk about. You've been gone for months and suddenly you're back here. Go back to McLaggen, you are not wanted here," he spat before he opened the door and shoved her outside before she could even utter another word.

He slammed the door behind her and let out a heavy breath, feeling his heart squeezing in his chest after what he had done. He hadn't even noticed the lingering bruises on her skin and the fact that she was paler and leaner than the last time he had seen her. He couldn't feel guilty about throwing her out of his home. She had walked out of their lives four months ago. Their sons had been growing without her. He wasn't going to feel guilty.

Hermione stared at the door for a few seconds before she stifled a sob and sat on the steps a distance away. She sat there crying for what felt like hours but was more than likely a few minutes, during which it had started to rain above her. Could she really forgive him for what he had just done to her? She honestly didn't know. All they seemed to do was hurt each other, and maybe if she hadn't been so stubborn before, they would've been together and McLaggen never would've kidnapped her, but she wouldn't take the entire blame for what they were going through. She wouldn't take the blame for the fact that Draco was an insecure little bastard who hadn't believed enough in her.

"Hermione?"

She looked up with a start and turned to see who was addressing her. Her eyes flew wide and she stood, completely soaked because of the rain to see Lucius Malfoy standing just inside the door. That was the first time he had ever addressed her by her first name. When she had married Draco, it had always been 'girl.' After the divorce, he had called her Ms. Granger. "You're on his side?" she asked him.

Lucius shook his head once. "No, but I saw what happened just now. I had to wait for him to leave the house before I could come out here to speak to you. Come in and get dried before you go see your sons."

Hermione smiled slightly and walked into the foyer, taking out her wand so that she could dry herself. When she was done she looked at Lucius. "Thank you. For letting me in and for not believing all that junk in the paper."

"We just received the latest edition where McLaggen was seen in the ministry, being apprehended for kidnapping you. There were also images of you leaving a room at St. Mungos. Unfortunately, Draco did not see them before you arrived, and has not seen them yet. He left a few minutes ago," Lucius replied as they walked up the stairs.

Hermione's heart was pounding as she neared the room where her sons were. Her heart was threatening to burst from her chest because she hadn't seen them in so long. What if they had forgotten about her in the months that she had been gone? She wasn't even aware that she had stopped outside of the nursery until she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Hermione looked up and came face to face with Narcissa.

"Your friends came by whenever they could. Every time they showed the boys your picture and talked to them about you. They never lost faith in you, Hermione, and neither did Lucius and I. They may have grown accustomed to being without you all this time, but a child never forgets their mother. Go in and see them," she said kindly.

Hermione nodded and entered the room. Not much had changed, except that now the cribs were slightly larger and the toys were more for bigger babies. She moved slowly towards one crib and saw that Darius was playing calmly with some plastic rings and a few soft toys for him to gum on. His hair was still as richly brown as hers, but his features had taken more of his father. He looked up and stared at her with his big, beautiful, nearly silver eyes. She reached in shakily and pulled him into her arms. The baby watched her for a few seconds before he gave her a smile that almost melted her then and there. Her twins were nine months old already, but it appeared that Darius hadn't forgotten who she was.

She walked over to the other crib and saw that Darien was fast asleep. She placed her son in the playpen that was nearby and moved over to pick up the sleeping baby to cradle him gently for a moment. He snuggled into her arms and kept sleeping. Hermione rocked him a few times before placing him back in his crib and letting him sleep. She wanted so much to have him awake and in her arms, but she was considerate and knew that he would be cranky if he didn't complete his nap. She moved back to Darius and hugged him instead, her tears coming back with a vengeance.

She turned to Narcissa and Lucius, who had been watching her and sighed heavily. "You will both understand that I will take them with me, won't you? We'll you often and Draco can come see them, but they are my sons and I can't live without them," she said quietly.

Lucius nodded. "We understand, but I think you and my son have things to talk about. It won't be long before he sees the paper and corroborates the reports. He will come back and you will both need to settle this," he said.

Hermione nodded. "Where is he now?" she asked quietly.

Lucius looked uncomfortable for a moment before his face went blank. "He said he would visit Greengrass, but if I'm not mistaken, there were reports that she was McLaggen's accomplice?"

"Yes. She knew from the beginning and she helped him plan everything. She knew where I was all this time, and she was there to take the pictures that ended up in the papers," Hermione said angrily.

"I suppose that the Ministry will go arrest Daphne. I do hope it happened while Draco was there," said Narcissa as she shook her head slightly. "Hermione, why don't you put Darius to sleep? It's past his nap time and you need to be calm for when Draco arrives. We'll have a cup of tea while I have the elves pack up the boys clothes and have it delivered to your flat."

Hermione nodded reluctantly and placed her son in his crib, rubbing his soft hair soothingly as the boy gazed up at her. She then leaned down to kiss his forehead before setting the rail of the crib higher and then walking off with Narcissa. It didn't matter how long she had to calm down. Whatever she and Draco would discuss was bound to be explosive.

……

Draco returned to the Manor an hour after he had left. He had been at Daphne's flat when the Aurors had arrived to arrest her for being an accomplice in the kidnapping of Hermione Granger. He had asked the head Auror about what had happened, and he had told Draco about Hermione's injuries and where she had been found. His heart had plummeted to his feet and he had been left stunned for a few minutes as his brain tried to catch up to what the man had said to him.

Potter and Weasley had been right. They had believed in Hermione when she had disappeared without a word, while he hadn't. While he had cursed her name and everything about her, she had been suffering through McLaggen's physical abuse until she had managed to escape and she had run straight into her friends and the Aurors. How could he look her in the face after what he had just done to her? He had told his father to not allow her back into the house, even after he had seen that it was raining outside and he had seen her sitting there, crying.

He had reluctantly made his way back to his home and as he walked towards the nursery where his sons had lived in the past four months, he stopped. She was sitting alone in the sitting room, watching him quietly. This time around, he took her in and noticed that she had lost some weight and that there were bruises around the pale skin of her neck as he neared her.

She stood once he reached her and before he knew it, his head snapped to the side, courtesy of her palm. He took it without a sound and said nothing to her as he turned to look at her again. She let out a deep breath and took a step away from him.

"I'm taking my sons with me. If you try to stop me, I will go to the ministry and do this legally," she said in a flat voice.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "For treating you the way I did when you arrived earlier. I won't justify what I did, but I believed the pictures I saw of you and McLaggen," he said.

"I figured you had, but Ron and Harry verified it. You know that while he had me kidnapped, he showed me the pictures of you and Daphne in the paper and I didn't believe them," she said, tears blurring her eyes. "I knew that like the images of me and McLaggen in paper, yours could've been staged as well. I kept my hope alive, that maybe, just maybe you would've believed in me the way I did you. I hoped that you were trying to find me, but you weren't. You were too busy plotting your retribution, getting into bed with Daphne to hurt me all the more when I decided to return. Well, I'm back, and you accomplished what you were hoping for."

"Hermione—" he started in a pleading tone.

She held up a hand to silence him and kept talking. "I will be the bigger person here. Despite all we went through, I won't hold this against you. Hell, had we been in reversed positions, I would've done the same. Maybe even something more painful. I can't forgive you just yet, but I know in time I will. I don't hate you, Draco, and when I take my sons, you will be able to see them, but you and I are permanently over."

"Hermione, I'm sorry," Draco said guiltily. "I've always been too hardheaded for my own good, but… I won't try to convince you to take me back. Even I can see when I have hurt you beyond repair. I'm sorry I ruined your life so badly. I should've left you alone all those years ago," he said, turning his back to her.

Hermione sighed. "Don't apologize for forcing your way into my life. Without you, I wouldn't have been to have two beautiful children. I wouldn't change anything if it meant not having them," she said.

A horrible thought entered Draco's mind as he thought back to her bruises. "Hermione, did he… force you to… submit to him?" he asked, having trouble voicing the question.

"No," she replied, feeling relief wash over her at the same time. "He was about to. If I had stayed put another day in that house, he would've. But physical assault is all he ever got to do to me. I gave as good as I go though," she said with a bitter smile. "I stabbed his leg and nearly gauged out his eye once."

"We always do end up hurting each other no matter what we do, don't we?" he asked with a shake of his head.

"I believe that means that we're better off alone," she murmured, walking towards the staircase.

"Please forgive me, Hermione," he said, not turning to watch her go.

"With time Draco. Right now… I can't," she said before she walked up the steps to get her sons.

Draco ran a hand through his hair and marched into his office. He wouldn't be able to see her leave with their sons, not after their last words. He would let her be for a few days before he would visit their sons. She needed the time alone with the boys and he had no right to intrude on their time. He couldn't believe it. He had screwed up all chances of ever getting her back and she hadn't cursed him or cried. They were over. And this time he had a feeling that they were over for good. At that moment, he realized that maybe it would be the best for them both.

Meanwhile, Hermione had had to stop before reaching her sons room in order to sob without any questions. She and Draco were over. He hadn't pleaded for her to forgive him and take him back and he hadn't asked her to understand why he had thought that she had left them. It was for the best though. She would've been angry enough to hurt him had he tried to justify what he had done.

She wiped her eyes from the tears and walked into the nursery to find that both twins were awake now. Narcissa and Lucius were watching over them and they looked up when Hermione entered. "I'm going to take them now," she said, her voice cracking.

"Did you talk to Draco?" asked Lucius.

Hermione nodded and walked over to pick up her twins. "We came to an agreement regarding our relationship. There's no going back," she said, not bothering to elaborate. "Thank you both for believing in and for taking care of my sons. I will never forget what you have done and I will forever be grateful," she said before she turned and walked out.

Lucius and Narcissa didn't follow her, instead they walked off to check on their own daughter as she took her own nap. Little Darlene would miss her nephews now that they would no longer live with her. Narcissa wondered how her son was taking all that had happened, and her heart went out to him. She just hoped that he wouldn't truly give Hermione up. She was the most amazing young person Narcissa had ever met, and she knew without a doubt that she was the key to Draco's happiness.

……

Hermione gazed down at the man in front of her coldly. He was passed out on the floor of his cell. She knew that she should've been complaining his treatment, because no matter what, he was still a human being, but after all the physical pain he had caused her, not to mention the mental and emotional pain as well, she didn't care if Harry and Ron came over to rough him up again.

Pointing her wand at him, Hermione conjured up a very cold stream of water and poured it directly on McLaggen's face. He sputtered for a few seconds before sitting up quickly, trying to snort out the water that had gone into his nose.

"Did you have pleasant dreams?" asked Hermione smugly.

"Bitch," he snarled, coming to his feet and limping slightly towards the bars on his cell. "Get me out of here or I swear I will kill you when I get out."

Hermione sighed. "What makes you think that you will ever get out of prison? What makes you think you'll live to see your freedom ever again?" she asked him snidely. "I have power in the Ministry," she whispered, closing the distance slightly. "But if it doesn't get me what I want, Harry will use his, and let's face it, he's the boy who lived and he gets everything he asks the Ministry for."

McLaggen glared at her then managed a smirk from his split lip. "It doesn't matter. The damage is done and I'll die happy in prison, knowing that you and Malfoy will never be together again. Did you know that as soon as he saw the pictures in the paper he didn't even wait a week to sleep with her?"

Hermione pursed her lips in rage but didn't allow him to see how much the comment had affected her. She had assumed he had been sleeping with Greengrass, but it was much more painful to have it thrown into her face by the man who had been so close to the other woman. "What if I forgive him, Cormac? Where will your victory be then?" she taunted.

His eyes narrowed and he reached for her but Hermione was quicker. "You wouldn't do that," he spat.

"Don't be so sure," she said with a smirk. "I may find it in my heart to take him back and then we'll be happy for the rest of our lives. He'll make love to me every night and I'll marry him again. I'll give him maybe one or two more kids and we'll be completely in love."

"You little bitch! If you take him back, so help me Merlin, I will kill you!" he screamed at her. "Do you hear me? I. Will. Kill. You."

"Oh, I hear you, and by the way," Hermione said with an evil smile. "So do they," she said, pointing towards the door where there were two Aurors. "I guess you can add death threats to the report," she said as she began to walk away. "I hope you rot in hell, McLaggen," she said before she walked out the door. Once she was outside, her smug façade faded away and she walked towards the floo network.

Harry and Ron were still taking care of her paperwork and she still had Daphne to confront, but she couldn't take anymore of them today. She wanted to spend more time with her sons and she would leave her confrontation with Greengrass for later. As she made it to the floo, she was nearly bowled over by Ginny, who was hugging her to the point where she couldn't breathe.

"Ginny… need to… breathe," Hermione said.

Ginny pulled back with a sheepish look on her face and hugged her again, a lot less tightly. "I knew that you had to be in trouble, and when Ron and Harry told me about what they had found in your flat, I was convinced that something had happened to you too. I'm so glad that you're okay!" the red-head said with tears in her eyes.

"Thanks Gin. But I'm on my way home. If you come with me I can tell you everything that happened," Hermione said wearily.

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked worriedly.

The brunette shook her head. "I'm not, but I can't break down here. I did enough crying yesterday night when the twins were finally asleep, but I need a friend to talk to," she said quietly.

"Okay, let's go then," said Ginny as they walked to get some green powder.

On their way, Hermione bumped into a man and looked up to apologize, only to see the source of the grey eyes her sons had inherited. She swallowed hard and turned away, not missing the broken look in Draco's eyes as she turned away from him without a word. Why couldn't life had been on their side for once? She asked herself as she turned to look at him one more time.

Draco was still standing there, looking handsome and sad, but he made no move to speak to her and though it hurt like hell, Hermione knew that it was for the best. They would both move on, raise their sons, and find happiness elsewhere. They were just never meant to be together. She didn't make it home before more tears came, but at least she had her friends to lean on when she needed them the most. And a deep part of her hoped that Draco had someone to lean on as well.

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I know, I know, it's sad and depressing and I almost burnt the chicken I was cooking to finish this chapter and get it out. It's by far the shortest of the entire story, or at least I think it is. Anyway, I hope I don't upset anyone with the happenings in this chapter, though I got a few anti-Hermione reviews last chapter. But you can see here that they both ended mutually and it hurt them both. No one came on top of no one in this chapter. I changed it from what I originally wanted because of a reviewer, and because I wanted. I like how this turned out because otherwise Hermione would've been on her high horse again and never would've forgiven Draco.

Almost everyone guessed correctly as to who rescued her, so cookies for all of you. There are only two chapters left I think, so we're closing in on the end. Also, I wish I would've thought of elisita94's idea of Hermione being in Romania and Charlie being the one who found her, but I had started writing this chapter already and I didn't want to go back to change it, but it was a pretty good idea. Again, thank you so much for all the positive reviews and for the urging and I'm sorry I took so long to update! I hope the next doesn't take so long!

Byebye

!Joey!