Chapter 29: In Which the Truth Comes Out
Hermione heard a "whoosh" come from her fireplace. Floo Network. She wasn't expecting Draco until morning, but perhaps he was able to leave early. She set down the novel she was reading to calm her nerves and abandoned her bedroom in favor of the living room.
"Draco," She greeted, "You're early."
"Granger." Draco growled. It was evident that he was angry.
Hermione's face fell, "What's wrong? What happened?"
"Is Shyla mine?" Draco demanded, not skirting around the point of him being there.
"What?" Hermione found herself asking.
"Damn it, Granger!" Draco yelled.
Quickly, Hermione cast a silencing charm on her flat. "Draco, calm down." She motioned towards her couch, "Let's talk about this."
"So it's true?" He began to pace, ignoring any gesture of sitting with the woman who had lied to him for so long.
"It's not that easy." Hermione felt tears forming in her eyes. She blinked them back and took a deep breath.
"How is not that easy?" Draco moved to stand in front of her. He loomed over her with his advanced height. "We had sex once."
"Draco…" Hermione eyed him with confusion. Why couldn't he remember?
"You went over a month knowing that you were pregnant."
"Draco-"
"You entered a war zone knowing that you were carrying my child." Draco accused.
"Draco!" Hermione finally shouted, "I didn't get pregnant until after the war ended!"
Draco's stare harshened, focusing on Hermione's face, "Is she mine?"
"Why don't you remember?" Hermione cried out, no longer able to contain them, the tears spilled over.
"Remember what?" He spat, "That you lied to me?"
Hermione shook her head, ignoring the tears, "Please, Draco. Let me explain."
"You had eleven years to explain!"
She choked on the sobs that were escaping her chest, "It's not that simple."
"Hermione Granger, the witch who can do no wrong. Of course, she has some explanation." Draco made a bowing gesture, "Go ahead, tell me your excuse."
"That isn't fair." Hermione whispered, "Please, just talk to me."
"Then talk." His face relayed only anger and hatred. It was painful for Hermione to look at.
"I thought about telling you. Every single day." Hermione's eyes were red and puffy. This was not the way she had planned on having this discussion.
Draco stood silently, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Draco, please. Sit with me." Hermione begged, "If you ever cared about me, you will sit and let me explain in full."
Draco's chest heaved with pain, "Fine." This time, it was his turn to blink back tears. He should have known, he should have seen the similarities. But maybe Longbottom was right, maybe he was blind to things he didn't want to see.
They sat on opposite ends of the couch. Hermione pulled her knees to her chest as she turned to face him. Draco's face remained forward, avoiding the brown eyes that stared at him. Hermione took a deep breath before beginning, "I was terrified. Terrified of what your father would do to you, what he would do to our child if he ever found out. So I ran away. I did the most selfish thing I ever done, and I ran."
"My father was in Azkaban." Draco whispered.
"He wasn't on the list of wizards imprisoned at that point…" She wiped her face against the knee of the jeans that she was still wearing, "Lupin and Tonks took me in-"
"My cousin?" Draco accused, finally turning to face her.
"Draco, do you really think she felt a family obligation to you, at that point?"
Draco shook his head in anger, "You of all people. You were the one person I opened up to, and even you decided I wasn't good enough. Thanks, Granger, that's great."
"No!" Hermione growled, "You don't get to act that way. I went to someone I could trust. Someone that would know why I was afraid of the Malfoy-Black family."
Draco frowned, "Hermione… I'm upset. I have every right to be upset."
"I know." She admitted, "I should have told you."
"Why?" Draco asked, clenching his fists, "Why didn't you tell me? Even if it wasn't right away, you waited over eleven years."
"I wanted to."
"Is it because you don't trust me?"
She shook her head fiercely, "Of course, not." She sat silently, contemplating how much Draco knew. "Draco, your mother came to me. Before Shyla was even born."
"What?" Draco demanded. His face grew pale and his chest tightened, "What do you mean? I never even told her about my feelings for you."
"She told me to stay away. That you were better off without me." Hermione had never spoken those words aloud. Not even to Tonks. She knew Tonks would have taken things into her own hands, and Hermione just wanted to have a few moments of peace.
"That doesn't even make any sense."
"I don't even know how she found me. I was presumed dead by the ministry. Nobody had reported seeing me since before the final battle." She sighed, "Even still, after Shyla was born, I went to tell you."
Draco's eyes widened as he looked at her, "What?"
"Before I even introduced her to the Weasleys."
Draco had a bad habit of grinding his teeth when he was angry. A very painful habit. "Was it my mother who stopped you?"
Hermione shook her head sadly, "I had heard you were working in Diagon Alley. So, I went to wait for you."
Hermione sat at the small cafe. She wore oversized sunglasses and a baseball cap. It was a pretty stereotypical "I'm hiding" outfit, but she also wasn't ready to return to the rest of the world yet. She sipped her chai latte slowly. Draco was working at Quality Quidditch Supplies, mostly helping Hogwarts students get set for the upcoming school year. She had walked past the shop a few times just to make sure he really was working that day, and then she sat and waited. A book sat closed in front of her. She had thought of reading until Draco was free, but she was worried she would miss him. She ran her hand over the cover and smiled sadly. One day, Shyla would be old enough to allow Hermione some free time to read again.
The door to the shop clanged, and her head shot up. Draco Malfoy was leaving for the day. This was her chance. She stood and began to make her way to him when a young woman with soft blonde hair hugged him. She was very pregnant, due within the next month or two. He said nothing to the woman, but she took his arm and kissed his cheek. It was obvious they were a couple.
Hermione felt tears flood her eyes. She apparated on the spot, not wanting to risk making a fool of herself.
"Talia was with you. She was pregnant, and I knew you had moved on."
Draco sighed. If only Talia had been ten minutes late, he could have- could have what? Abandoned the child he knew about in favor of the one that he didn't know about? It was a complicated situation that obviously had just as complicated solutions. "I'm sorry." He coughed, a lump in his throat was making its way to suffocating him. "I woke up in St. Mungo's after the war. My mother was by my side and told me that I had been asleep since the war had ended 4 months prior."
Hermione's mouth gaped in an awkward manner, "You know that's a lie, right?"
"I really don't know what to believe at this point." Draco shrugged.
Realizing that something horrible obviously happened after she left she could only stare at him sadly. "Draco, I know I shouldn't have run away, but I did. I made a horrible mistake, but we spent a month together after the war ended. I don't know why you can't remember, but you saved my life. You saved me from dying right alongside Harry and Ron."
Draco let the silence fill the room, unsure of how to act, or even what to say. "If we hadn't reconnected would you have ever told me?"
Hermione had thought about this a lot, she always intended on telling Draco. "I think it would have been easier if we hadn't." She gave a small, nervous laugh, "I didn't want you to think that I only told you to force you to be with-"
"No, that was my entire relationship with Talia." Draco scoffed.
She frowned, "I really, truly, am sorry."
"I know." Draco stood, "I need to think things through. Be on my own for a while."
Hermione stood, wrapping her arms around her torso, "Okay, I understand." She paused as they stood and looked at each other sadly, "Draco, Shyla doesn't know. Please, leave it to me to tell her. That is, when you are ready."
"Okay." He nodded, and headed towards the fireplace. "Please don't contact me until I get my thoughts sorted."
Hermione felt tears welling up again, "I love you." She didn't expect to say such words, but they were said, and now she couldn't take them back."
He stopped, his back still facing her. His shoulders slouched forward in defeat and all he could utter was, "Okay."
She watched as his figure disappeared in the green flames that filled the fireplace, and as it returned to normal, she collapsed to the floor and quietly cried to herself.
A/N: Oh my dear readers, this was such a difficult chapter to write and an even more difficult chapter to post. I had thought about including the next part, but I felt like this just needed to be on its own. Please do not hate me, this is not the end of our story. This was one of the pivotal points that I always knew would be included. Keep watch for the next chapter in the next few days. Thank you for all of your kind reviews, I love every single one of you. ~PurplePygmypuff
