Title: Closer
Summary: A secret unites them and eventually they become closer than they would have ever imagined. - Draco/Hermione
Characters: Hermione, Draco, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Lavender, Pansy, Blaise, Neville, Luna
Pairings: Draco/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Ron/Lavender, Blaise/Pansy, Neville/Luna
Rating: PG – 13
Disclaimer: I DON'T own anyone or anything. I DON'T own the characters. The Harry Potter Series belongs to J.K. Rowling. The fanfic is written for fun, NOT for profit. Cover art by Phoenix_87 TDA
Author's note: It was 2012 when I wrote and posted this fic (you might remember my old penname brinchen86) and made it to 55 chapters. Then I failed you guys because I needed a fandom break and disappeared. And I'm sorry for that! I'm back now, and guess what? I found 53 of my 55 chapters on my external harddrive (I have no idea what happened to the other two but hey, maybe I can find them again too)! And the fic is back. I have so many chapters to post before I need new content, so I'm positive I can actually complete the fic this time. I promise I won't abandon it again, and I hope you'll enjoy reading (or rereading) this Dramione story that still has a special place in my heart.

Chapter 1: Of Secrets and Returns

Autumn was a beautiful season; she had always liked it. The days were slowly getting colder, the trees were changing their colours, losing their leaves. Fog was covering the landscape in the morning, and during the day, the sun was making the world look like it was coloured in shades of red, orange and gold.

Autumn at Hogwarts had been beautiful; even when they had been dealing with yet another problem every single year, Hermione Granger had still enjoyed the changes of seasons. She had loved to go for walks, or just make herself comfortable at the library.

Their time at Hogwarts; it felt like ages since she had set a foot onto the school grounds for the last time. Yet only five years had passed since her graduation.

And so much had happened since then. It never failed to amaze her how easily she had adjusted to life after graduating, after Hogwarts.

Of course some things would always stay the same. Even though she didn't share the same common room with Harry, Ron and Ginny anymore, Hermione was glad that they had moved to houses close enough to each other so that they could easily meet whenever they wanted to.

Some things that had happened had been predictable. All of them had agreed to return to Hogwarts for their last year after the war. Harry and Ginny had gotten married a year after the latter had graduated. Ron had gotten back together with Lavender during their last year; again something Hermione had expected as well after she and Ron had figured out shortly after the war that they wouldn't work as a couple. They were best friends, always would be.

Hermione had been the one who had to go through the biggest changes though. Her attention turned to the little four years old boy, who was jumping up and down next to her excitedly, tightly holding onto her hand.

Almost a month had passed since her graduation when she had noticed the first pregnancy symptoms. When realisation had hit her and she had gotten confirmed that she was indeed expecting a baby, she had been shocked. She hadn't seen that coming at all.

She hadn't been in a relationship, hadn't been for a year since she and Ron had agreed that they didn't work as a couple. There had been nothing wrong with being single, even though being around two couples had been annoying at times.

Yes, she hadn't been in a relationship. It had just been one night. Her first time. The night before their graduation. And one night had been enough; suddenly she had been expecting a baby. It had taken her a while until she had been able to admit it to her friends, who, much to her relief, had immediately offered their support. Which hadn't even changed when they had found out who her baby's father really was.

"Mummy!" The little boy impatiently pulled at his mother's hand. "Mummy, faster!"

Hermione smiled at him softly. "We're almost there, Scorpius. The sandbox won't run away."

The little boy offered his brightest grin in response. Even though he was only four, he looked so much like his father already. She had been right when she had expected the man's identity couldn't be hidden forever. Because Draco Malfoy's son would be recognized everywhere.

By the time they had arrived at the local playground, Scorpius could hardly be controlled anymore. Finally allowed to run without having to hold his mother's hand, the little boy rushed over to the sandbox. With a smile still plastered across her face, Hermione picked one of the empty benches nearest to her son and sat down.

And once again, like always when she didn't have anything else to do but watching the little boy, her thoughts started to drift away.

Around five years ago, everything had changed. Hermione could still remember how often her mood had changed; from nervous to excited to unsure to scared. She was glad her friends had been by her side all the time and still were since they had all moved to the suburbs of London, owning little houses there.

She was a single mother; Hermione couldn't deny this wasn't the way she had imagined having children. When she had found out about the baby though, she had had no idea where Draco had gone to after leaving school. There had been rumours that he had wanted to travel the world.

But even if she had found him at Malfoy Manor, she didn't know whether she would have told him about their child or not. After all how high were her chances that Draco was willing to have a child with her? The Muggle-born? Although Draco seemed to have changed his point of view a lot after the war and even though they had liked each other enough so that their little interlude could happen in the first place, she didn't believe that his family or even he would appreciate a half-blood baby.

And so she hadn't tried to find him throughout the years, determined to raise her son alone. So far, she had succeeded. It was hard, but she wasn't alone.

"Amazing how much he's grown."

Startled by Ginny's voice, Hermione looked up. Her friend had joined her on the bench, watching her with an amused smile.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she added.

"You didn't." Hermione shook her head. "I just didn't hear you coming. What are you doing at the playground anyway?"

Ginny's smile widened. "I knew I'd find you here on such a lovely day in autumn, and I wanted to see my Godson again."

Hermione returned her friend's smile. "That's nice of you." She lowered her voice. "You know I'm always glad when you come and talk to me. I'm not so much into chatting with other Mums."

"You mean because they're showing off with their children?" Ginny wanted to know.

Hermione sighed playfully. "Yes, they keep on talking about how their child can already write their own name or read their own name. What am I supposed to say? That my child just started to figure out that he's a little wizard?"

Ginny chuckled. "Yes, I see where you're coming from." Leaning back, she made herself comfortable on the bench. In silence, they watched Scorpius for a while. The sight never failed to warm Hermione's heart. There was nothing more beautiful than seeing the little boy running around, laughing and squealing. It made up for all the times in which she was overwhelmed with being a young single mother.

"Are you still sure you don't want to tell him?" Ginny asked after a while.

A tiny sigh escaped Hermione. She had stopped counting how many times they had had this discussion. "Why should I? I doubt he would even want to know."

"I don't see how you can be so sure about that," Ginny replied. "I mean..."

"Ginny, please," Hermione interrupted her. "It's not like we were a couple. We...yes, we've come to like each other during out last year at Hogwarts. But...it was the night before our graduation. We were just...I don't know, maybe overwhelmed by the whole situation? I still don't really know how it happened. It was just this one time, and we never really talked about it afterwards. It meant nothing to him. So do you really think he would want to play happy family with me? To be the father of my child? Besides, do you really think his family will accept a half-blood child in their family?"

Ginny shrugged. "Well, you can't know that. First of all, you don't have to play happy family. And about the whole pureblood crap...Malfoy seemed to have overcome his prejudices."

"And his parents?" She sighed deeply. "Besides I don't even know where he is."

"There are rumours he's back in London."

"Ginny!" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why do you even care? I'm doing just fine like this. Of course I'd love Scorpius to have a father, but...I doubt such a role really fits to Draco." She released another deep sigh.

"I know and I understand," Ginny told her, in a softer voice now. "It's just so obvious whose son he is and if he's really back in London, he might find out anyway. So don't you think it'd be better if you went and told him? Apart from that...his name. It's a name I could see Malfoy pick for a child, but..."

"How many times are we going to discuss this, Ginny?" Hermione wanted to know. "I know you just want the best for us, but see, it's not as easy as you imagine. I can't just go and say 'hey Draco, guess what, I have a child and you're the father'. Especially not after so many years. It's...complicated. Totally complicated. He's my son, we're happy with the way things are. What do you think Draco did during the last few years? Surely a lot. I think the last thing he'd be interested in is a child he has with me. So even if he found out due to people gossiping, I bet he wouldn't even care."

Ginny stared back at her in silence for a couple of moments. Hermione knew her friend wanted to disagree, wanted to continue their argument and convince her. But Ginny also knew when it was better to drop a topic.

"We'll see about that," was all she decided to say then. "So what else do the two of you have planned for the rest of the day?"

Glad that the topic had been changed, Hermione shared her plans with her friend. Yet the conversation, like usually, didn't just leave her mind. Things were complicated. Very complicated. But as much as she hated to admit it, Ginny wasn't so wrong either.

Of course the flat couldn't be compared to Malfoy Manor. It was a big flat, but couldn't even come close to the big house where he had grown up.

Still Draco didn't regret his decision to move out when he had returned to London. He had gotten used to his independency.

Five years had passed since he had graduated. Five years during which he hadn't really done much but see what the world had to offer.

A world that was so much bigger than his student self had ever been able to imagine. A world full of new things to learn.

By now, he could look back at an impressive number of cities and countries he had visited. He had met a lot of wizards; big names in the wizarding world. He had learnt a lot from them. And had realised more and more how wrong his past believes had been.

It was another reason why he found it difficult to return, to be around Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy again. His mother had always been more open than his father, but both were still believing in the importance of someone's blood status. Even though their name had suffered a lot due to the war and everything that had to do with it, they were still proud to count to one of the big pureblood families.

Draco himself had gotten to a point where he didn't really care for his blood status anymore. During the last five years, he had seen too much, heard too much. The world was full of brilliant wizards, and so many of them were half-bloods or even Muggle-born. He had gotten to know them, had been impressed by their knowledge.

Yes, it was safe to say that he had learnt his lesson. Much to his relief, he could look at his arm again without having to see any remainings of the Dark Mark. This fact and his long journey around the world had helped him to leave the past behind.

Of course starting fresh wouldn't be easy either. Now it would most likely be him who would have to face prejudices. But at least he had already learnt to take care of himself, and he would use this fresh start as a new chance.

Letting himself fall onto his living room couch, Draco stared out of the window across of him. Back in London. He was curious how it would be like to face the people from his past. He had already changed a lot during his last year at Hogwarts, but by now, he almost felt like he had been reborn. How would it feel like to be back?

As he watched the sun set, his thoughts drifted away even further. It had taken him a lot of years to get to this point and he couldn't stop wondering how things would have turned out for him if he had stopped listening to his father earlier. Would he have gotten along with Potter? Would he and Granger have been friends? Or more even? Would there have been more unity between Gryffindor and Slytherins?

Shaking his head, Draco pushed these thoughts aside. Looking back at the past was a waste of time. He had to leave it behind and look at what was ahead of him. After all that was what fresh starts were about.