A/N: Surprise, you're getting a chapter on the week that I said I would be taking a break from writing. How did this happen? Oh, you know. This is my escape and I REALLY needed an escape this week. Long story short, my mom has pancreatic cancer (same that took Alan Rickman) and she was rushed to the hospital in the early hours of Christmas Eve. She's getting better and the doctors are hopeful that we'll be able to bring her home, but yeah. It's been a week.

Anyway, due to total sleep deprivation, I have started ANOTHER Dramione. And the end notes are going to contain a snip bit from that beauty that I will be starting to publish next week. Outline and plot are still being finished off and lemme tell you. It's a good one, like real good.

Okay, so anyway, here is the chapter I didn't see coming even with my outlines and planning and mapping and saying "this is what's going to happen" and then poof. I start writing and my fingers take it in a slightly off track direction that became so much better. More notes at the end.

Chapter 17, Trial

Settling behind her desk for the first time since her disastrous conversation with Draco three days prior, Hermione felt like it was Déjà vu. She was sitting here, waiting to go down to legal to see Draco in his office. Only other difference between the last time and this time was that he now knew that they shared a daughter. A daughter that he'd already gone and singed her birth certificate and changed her name. Why he had thought she would be okay with that was beyond her, this wasn't a decision that was up to him, but that was besides the point and she was getting off track here.

Tapping her pen against the top of her desk, Hermione couldn't keep her attention on her work in front of her as she waited for the clock to chime ten times telling her that she needed to head down to Draco's office. Have their meeting going over the details of the case and her testimony, easy as pie. Only, Hermione had never made a pie before, so she wasn't actually sure how true that saying was.

It was not the testimony that she was going to be giving that was making her nervous. No, Hermione had testified in countless cases during her time at the ministry, before moving to New York. Since being back in London, she had already been thrown in the deep end and had already spoken in front of the Wizengamot more times than she cared to count as an expert witness. No, it wasn't the facts of the case that was making her palms sweat. It was a certain white-blonde man who she hadn't heard from since a missive he's sent her Monday night.

Smacking the button on her desk that connected to an intercom at Kenneth's desk for easy communication, Hermione called her assistant into her office. "Kenneth, I need to speak to you before I go down, if you have a moment that is." Harry had been unavailable to any chats since they'd found that damned owl on her desk. That meant that all her fears and anxiety had been building up inside her without an outlet, and if she faced Draco Malfoy before she had an outlet then there was a high chance of a panic attack happening when she set her eyes on him. So, she was going to have to play a modified version of their game, where she maybe left out a few of the details.

A knock at the door brought Hermione out of her head and that thoughts running through her mind. "Ms. Granger, you were wanting to speak to me?" Kenneth asked poking his head inside her office and looking around nervously, as if he might be in trouble.

Shooting him a reassuring, or at least she hoped it was reassuring, smile Hermione waved her young assistant into her office. "Yes, come in, and please have a seat." The young man nervously pulled out one of the guest chairs, sitting on the very edge of it with his back completely straight.

Okay, that smile is not reassuring.

"Ms. Granger, I'm not sure what I did to upset you." Oh boy. "I just wanted to start off by saying that I'm very sorry and that I'll never let it happen again." Scrunching her eyebrows together, Hermione studied her young assistant and let out a small laugh.

"No need, we're just going to play a little game." She couldn't help but note the little flash of worry that crossed his brow. Was she really that scary of a person? "It's called worse case scenario and it helps me get out all my biggest fears of what could happen and helps me focus. Now, the whole point is to have someone play along too. Your job is to come up with your own horrible scenarios to what I'm freaking out about. Do you think you can manage that, Kenneth?" Hermione leveled the young adult with narrowed eyes, and the only response he was able to give was shaking his head. That would have to be good enough.

"Alright, so Draco, er, Mr. Malfoy and I had a, er… row on Monday and we haven't seen each other or spoken since and now we're getting ready to go into a massive trial and I have to go down to his office and meet with him before it starts.

"Worse case scenario, Draco refuses to meet with me before the trial because he's still so angry with me about Auro, Monday's row, and it ends up sabotaging both our careers to blow this huge case and Borgin walks free."

Kenneth's eyes widened as Hermione verbalized one of her greatest fears for the day then opened and shut his mouth a few times before finally speaking. "Ms. Granger, I, well, I can't picture Mr. Malfoy doing..." Hermione silenced her assistant by holding her hand up to stop whatever speech he was about to give her.

"That's not the game Kenneth. I don't need reassurance right now. Tell me what's the worst thing that you can come up with that will happen when I go down and meet with Mr. Malfoy. Remember, he's really mad at me from our row on Monday."

Gulping and shaking his head, Kenneth looked down at his hands in his lap and cleared his throat before speaking again. "Alright, well you said that he's really mad at you, and even though he was coerced into it, he was still a death eater." Kenneth cleared his throat again, clearly fearful that he might have crossed a line, but when Hermione didn't say anything, he continued. "A death eater that used unforgiveable curses, right? Well, worse case would be that he's so mad at you that the moment you walk into his office he uses the cruciatus curse on you to make you pay for whatever you did. Then the entire case gets thrown out because you were just tortured by the prosecutor. Now he's serving a life sentence in Azkaban, and the two of you will never get to talk through whatever you're fighting about and become friends again because he's in prison and you'll never visit him because he used the torture curse on you."

Letting out a low whistle Hermione sat back in her seat and cupped her hands behind the back of her head. "Well shit, Kenneth. Yeah, that's pretty bad. Alright I think I'm ready to go now." Kenneth finally looked up and met Hermione's eyes after she'd finished speaking with raised brows. Not waiting for her to say anything else, Kenneth took the silence as a dismissal and stood to walk out.

"If there's nothing else, Ms. Granger" Kenneth said only waiting for Hermione to shake her head 'no' before turning around and exiting the office. As the door was finishing shutting Hermione called out her thanks and she swore she heard a muffled response called back, but she didn't know what he'd actually said.

Yes, getting his with a crucio for keeping his daughter a secret would for sure be the worse case scenario. Maybe she should play that with Kenneth more often, he went much darker than Harry ever would. Gathering up all her notes from the Borgin case and putting them into her briefcase and walked out of her office. As she pasted Kenneth's desk, she flashed him a small smile and he shot her thumbs up for luck, making her feel much warmer and ready to go face Draco Malfoy than she had a half hour prior.

The walk through the DMLE and the ride down the lift never even registered for her. It wasn't until she already found herself standing outside Draco's closed office door that she realized she'd even left her own level. The only thing that had pulled her from her own mind though, was the two male voiced raised and shouting at each other from behind Draco's closed office door.

Before Hermione could get closer to try and hear what the two men were shouting about, Hermione felt a tug on her arm as she was forcefully pulled back. Once she'd regained her balance after being tugged on, she couldn't stop the eye roll at the sight of Rachel looking over the tops of her costume glass and her glamoured grey hair.

"You aren't fooling anyone with that ridiculous disguise, you do know that right?" Hermione asked the younger witch, who only shrugged her shoulders.

"I only need to fool Lucifer, and he never pays close attention to any assistances. Really, I don't know how he is so good at being evil when his observation skills are so lacking. Drake and Lucifer have been going at it for over an hour. I have notes, if you want to read them." Rachel held up a stack of parchment and that's when Hermione noticed a quick quotes quill positioned next to the wireless extendable ear they'd used on Tuesday to listen to Lucius. Looking down at the notes and back at Rachel, Hermione started to scan the top page of that she'd been handed.

Draco, you must see reason. There's a time and place for things and Malfoys do not divorce. Astoria's drug problem has been taken care of and she'll be home and we can detox her. You need a proper heir, and she's able to provide one. This notion you have that you'll be leaving her is complete nonsense and you need to forget about it now.

I'm not having this discussion with you right now. I'm about to walk out in front of the full Wizengamot for a trial that will be career defining. An heir is the furthest thing from my mind at the moment, I'm not even entirely sure why you're here right now.

Maybe if you'd just done your duties to the family when you first married, we wouldn't be needing to have this discussion now.

This discussion can wait until I've found a wife that isn't Astoria Greengrass and when I'm not at work. Now, there's the door, I'm sure you can see yourself out.

Your desire to divorce, does it come from that girl that is always around? Is she keeping you from being committed and faithful to your wife?

Rachel is like a sister, father. There's nothing going on between the two of us and nor has there ever been anything beyond a platonic relationship. Just because I want to divorce Astoria doesn't mean that there's someone else. I've been unhappy in this marriage since the say I said I do. I've been looking towards divorce since it became apparent that her drug usage wasn't going to stop.

Before Hermione could finish reading the rest of notes that Rachel had procured, the door swung open with a fuming mad Lucius Malfoy exiting Draco's office. Hermione promptly dropped the parchment in her hands into her briefcase that was slightly opened and hid away the evidence of Rachel's eavesdropping from the older wizard stepping into the corridor in front of her.

Just as she finished closing the clasp on the case, Lucius's eyes drifted from the leather that had her full name indented on it and met Hermione's gaze. Lucius cut his eyes from Hermione's to look over her appearance with her wild curls, only slightly tamed today, then looked back at Draco still inside his office. One more look at Hermione and there was a slight flicker in his cruel face, causing a chill to run down her spin at the look he was now leveling her with. What was that all about, she wondered to herself as his cold grey eyes bore in her, causing a bit of sweat to begin beading along her forehead.

"Miss. Granger" was all he said as he swept past her before disappearing out of her sight as he rounded a corner.

After Lucius had disappeared from sight, Hermione let out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding and turned her attention back to the office that the man had just walked out of. Looking in on the younger of the Malfoy men, she could see that he was standing bent over his desk with his hands buried in his hair completely lost in his own thoughts. With one sweep of his arm across the desk, he sent everything that had been sitting on it flying into the wall. The loud crash as the items hit the wall made Hermione flinch, but luckily she wasn't the only person waiting to check in on Draco.

"Drake, you have court." Rachel snapped at the man from behind Hermione. "Come on now, Hermione has to be briefed on what you're going to be asking her and angle the defense is probably going to be taking. You have a job to do, and this pity party that you're throwing yourself is just going to have to wait. Lucifer's goal in life is to make you as miserable as he is, don't let him succeed." Rachel had filed in behind Hermione as she gave Draco the pep talk that Hermione couldn't.

At Rachel's voice and the mention of Hermione's name, Draco finally looked up from his desk and between the two woman standing in front of him. Rachel waved her wand, righting the mess that Draco had just mad in his fit of anger before she walked up to the blonde and wrapped her arms around him. Whispering something in his ear, Rachel pulled back just far enough so that she was looking up into his face and giving him a wink with her arms still wrapped around his waist. He responded to that action by shaking his head and patting Rachel on the top of hers. Stepping back, she patted his cheek before giving Hermione a weak smile and walked out of the office, shutting the door behind her.

Once she was gone, Hermione and Draco were left standing in the awkward silence just watching and waiting for the other to do something first. Digging deep into that Gryffindor courage that she was supposed to be known for, Hermione took a breath. Deciding they needed to start somewhere, she figured she would address the elephant in the room. The elephant that is also known as Aurora Jean.

"I do have my reasons for not telling you about Aurora, but there's still no excuse. Truly, Draco, I'm sorry for my choice hurting you. I'm not sorry for doing what I needed to do to keep her safe though, I just hope someday you'll understand." Even though she was using her Gryffindor courage to speak, she didn't have enough in that moment to meet his eyes. As upset as he was, she knew that telling Draco about Lucius right now wouldn't help anything, it might even hinder the trial they were about to walk into. No, she couldn't tell him about Lucius right now.

"We need to focus on the trial right now" Draco verbalized exactly what she'd been thinking. "We can discuss our daughter later." Hermione finally looked up from her hands and at Draco, who had pulled out a large list of questions that he had prepared to ask her in front of the Wizengamot. He handed it over to her, so that she could look them over while he continued speaking.

"Now, I know for a fact that my father had Tiberius in his pocket since the end of the war, that's how he managed to avoid Azkaban again. I also have my own suspicions of my father's personal involvement with Borgin and his dealings. Even though we obviously didn't find his name or company in that ledger, doesn't mean that I'm dismissing that old bastard for not dipping his hand in any profitable illegal activities. Lucius wouldn't miss an opportunity to grow his wealth, and this entire case and scheme with the black-market trade is right up his alley.

"As far as the questioning that I have for you, this is it. You'll be cross examined by the defense, and I'll warn you now, Borgin's solicitor is a shark. If you have to take a breath before answering his questions and avoid getting tongue tied, then do it. That's the biggest problem that anyone being cross examined have with him, he will push and he can get under your skin. You can't let him. Keep your temper in check." Draco's stormy grey eyes met hers and she could see the nerves rolling off him in waves. He was ready for this trial, but it was clear that he knew that it was going to be a long hard fought one. There could be no missteps today, especially not by her.

As much as she wanted to comfort him, Hermione had to remind herself that she was not the person who could calm Draco. She'd given up that right when she'd kept her pregnancy a secret from him and then not told him after his daughter was born. She watched as Draco put the mask in place that he had worn all throughout school and gathered his own briefcase.

With a nod the two walked out of his office and into the hall, ready to face the Wizengamot. The real Ingrid was now sitting at her desk and gave a soothing smile as she handed Draco a coffee and a small sack as they headed towards the lift. Once they'd entered the lift together, Draco pulled a green apple out of the sack and took a bite. Without another word the pair rode in silence with only the crunching of Draco eating his apple between them.

ooo

Hermione threw open the heavy wooden doors to the court room open and stormed out with her hair admitting blue sparks as she went. Of all the low lives out there, Tiberius McLaggen was one of the worst. Of course, he would see flaws that weren't there and ask questions that were irrelevant to the case. Instead of focusing on the trial and the case at hand, Tiberius had a whole slew of questions for her. Questions about her and fucking Dolohov of all people.

"Ms. Granger, this is advanced and extensive magic that was placed on the ledger that had been kept in Mr. Borgin's shop. Are you really trying to make us, the esteemed members of the Wizengamot, believe that you were able to decode this all on your own?"

"Yes sir, as it is my job that I'm trained to do. I not only have a masters in ancient runes, but I have also spent five years traveling the Americas further studying the subject and writing academic articles and journals on the subject to further the advancement for the wizarding community as a whole. I am more than capable of the job I was hired to do."

"And that nasty business with those messages coming from Antonin Dolohov had no bearing on this ledger being deciphered? It is a bit of nasty stuff in here, so it is a wonder if there isn't more to this story than you're currently telling. If maybe you might have had help from said death eater to boost your standing in our community since you've been gone for five years as you mentioned."

"I'm sorry, but when did an open investigation, where I am the victim, have anything to do with the case that we are discussing? As far as my standing within our community, I am not concerned about that, and just wish to continue to contribute to the forward movement of our society. If you're questioning my qualifications to perform in the position that I hold within the DMLE, then please. You're more than welcome to look over my resume. Otherwise, I can't imagine why the Chief Warlock himself, would be impending on an open investigation of an indecent that happened within these very walls of this ministry."

For someone who was supposed to be impartial, it appeared that Tiberius sure was more in favor of Borgin walking free rather than getting thrown in prison where he deserved to be. Not saying that Draco was doing a poor job, because he wasn't. He had warned her before they'd even left his office that Tiberius was in his father's pocket and it appeared that he had been spot on. Even though Hermione's testimony was finished for the day, it didn't mean that she couldn't be pulled back in for more questioning at a later time to clarify anything that Tiberius decided needed to be revisited. Chances of that happening? High, very high.

It had been curious though, when he had brought up her ongoing case about the message that had been delivered to her office. Draco's reaction had suggested that he hadn't heard about it before that very moment. For as soon as the words had left the Chief Warlock's mouth, the quill that Draco had been holding snapped from his grip. His eyes had widened in shock and possibly fear before he'd been able to mask his emotions again.

Only, had his shock and fear been for her or had it been for Aurora? No matter the answer, it was clear that Draco was not happy about the threat that had landed on her desk while he'd been in France taking care of his wife.

Running her fingers through her hair as she stepped off the lift and into the atrium, Hermione tried to tame the wild mane that she called hair. Anytime she had a hard time keeping her temper in check, magic would course through her hair causing it to stand on end. It acted like static electricity was in play, and she knew that it always made her look slightly mad. That's why when she had to testify in a case, she would take some care in putting her hair in a braid or a tight twist bun, it wasn't a good look when she was sitting as an expert witness in a criminal trial.

What would help the most is if there wasn't that arse Tiberius asking stupid irrelevant to the trial at hand questions. If he had been able to stay on task and not bring up things that had absolutely nothing to do with Borgin or his bloody ledger, then her hair wouldn't look like she had just stood out in a category three hurricane.

The other thing Tiberius had made clear with his insane question was that he personally was going to drag this trial out as long as possible.

Exiting the ministry and walking towards the Leaky Cauldron Hermione had determined that she was going to get something a bit stronger than tea to calm her nerves before she headed home. It was a bit of a walk, but the fresh air was welcomed as she breathed it in. After walking for about fifteen minutes, Hermione dipped into an alley and apparated the rest of the way to the Leaky. She wanted some fresh air, not to walk miles in heels and destroy her feet.

Walking into the warm and welcoming pub, she was happily greeted by the sweet face of Hannah Longbottom behind the bar. "Hermione! It's been too long, what can I get you?" The golden blonde barmaid asked walking over towards Hermione cleaning her hands off on the apron tied around her waist.

"I need a dirty martini, extra olives. Go ahead and start a tab, I feel like it's going to be a long night." She instructed the woman who gave a knowing look.

"Long day in court I take it?" Being married to Neville, Hannah was well informed about the disaster that was going into the courtroom when Tiberius McLaggen was overseeing the case.

"Very." Hermione replied as she happily accepted the first of many martinis that would be passed her way over the course of the next couple hours. Truly, Hermione wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there, but when she'd gotten up to use the loo the pub had slowly started filling now that the ministry had let out for the day.

As she finished washing her hands, deciding that it would probably be best if she called it a night and take care of her tab before she got anymore inebriated. Splashing some cool water on her face, Hermione stretched her arms above her head and exited the lavatory.

Hermione was stopped in her tracks though as she spotted the back of a white-blonde head sitting next to her now vacant stool that her suit jacket was still draped over. There was a chance that he didn't know that it was hers and that he'd just accidentally sat there. Right?

Making her way back across the pub with her chin raised, Hermione only paused a moment clearing her throat to make sure that Draco knew for certain who he'd chosen to sit next to. With a double shot of fire whiskey in hand, Draco didn't even giver her a second glance before he downed the amber liquid in one go.

"I never got Theo's owl about what happened in your office Tuesday. I had no idea." He said as she took her seat, motioning towards Hannah for another drink. If she was going to have a heavy conversation with her baby daddy, it would be best to do with a bit of liquid courage.

"I apologize for the delay on my part in Potter's investigation. I would write a list of people who might target myself or my family by threatening you, though it would take a lot less parchment to list who wouldn't want to harm us." Draco grabbed the bottle of Ogden's in front of him and poured another drink. "I won't apologize for doing what I did to ensure that you can't keep her from me anymore." The slight slur in his words was confirmation that Draco had started indulging long before he'd gotten to the Leaky.

With a huff, Hermione pulled her wand and cast a quick muffliato charm to ensure that their conversation wouldn't be overheard. Regardless that Draco now knew about Aurora, Hermione wasn't ready for the entire wizarding community know that she had a daughter. Much less that said daughter was also the child of Draco Malfoy.

"You went behind my back and signed her birth certificate, changing her fucking name without warning me. How the fuck are you not apologizing for that? If we're going to be co-parenting together, then something as large as a fucking name change or altering her birth certificate should be discussed and not just done." Hermione set her drink down in front of her with a bit more force than she was intending. But damn this man, damn him and instead of waiting to talk anything out with her, jumping and going and doing what he thought was best for her daughter. Damn him for going and making decisions for a child he'd never even met before.

"How am I not going to apologize? Oh, I'm not sure, Hermione. How about the fact that you stood in that fucking atrium almost five years ago and saw me in person and didn't tell me that you were up the duff with my child. Fuck, Hermione. I would have even preferred you writing me a bloody letter and telling me if you were too scared to do it to my face! Instead, you wait five years after the shag to clue me in on what happened!" Draco finished off his drink, pouring himself another and throwing that one back as well before turning back to her. Shooting her a scathing look, Draco clenched his jaw as he mulled over what he wanted to say to her next.

"You claim that you did it to keep her safe, but did you ever consider that maybe she would have been safer knowing me, having me involved in her life. In your fucking life. I could have protected her, you didn't even give me a chance to show you that I would do anything to keep the two of you safe. Instead you snuck off to another bloody country while I was stuck here forced into a marriage to that fucking slag. Not to mention that I don't even know my own bloody daughter. Yeah, you gave me a picture book to see her growing up, but that doesn't replace getting to experiencing it like you did. You took that from me, Hermione.

"I missed her coming into this world, I missed all her first milestones, hell I even missed her first day of nursery school just to find out that she caused an explosion that had to be handled by the DMLE. How do you think that makes me feel, Hermione? I'm not some bastard who didn't want anything to do with Aurora. I want to be there for her, and I would have been all this time if you'd just fucking told me. So, no. I'm not going to apologize to you for ensuring that you'll never again be able to hide her from me. I'm going to get to know my daughter and I'm going to be in her life, no matter if you like it or not. I am her father, and that's not something I'm going to let you stop me from being any longer." Draco again reached for the bottle in front of himself pouring another glass, only instead of draining it he took a small sip as if he were savoring the flavor.

Hermione could only look at him with wide eyes as she took in his words and his pain. She knew that she was the cause of it and that if she only explained the threat that his father had given her that day she'd come home and tried to tell him, he might understand. No, he would understand. Draco would understand better than anyone else the threat that Lucius Malfoy posed to anyone.

Only, it was clear that Draco and Lucius were already struggling with a conflict between the two of them and did she want to put more strain on Draco? He had his drug addicted wife, a strained relationship with his father, and then she'd just dumped the news that he has a daughter he didn't know anything about. If he knew that his father had been threatening her, especially while she was pregnant with his child, what would Draco be willing to do for her?

She should tell him. She should tell him everything, she should sit there and explain her reasonings why she chose to keep this secret from him. He wouldn't understand her thoughts of him being engaged, because well now he was married and that was so much worse. Her moving out of the country for five years? That wouldn't have been anything to him with his family's wealth. He would have easily been able to travel and visit her and Aurora as often as he wanted. Hell, he would have been able to take Aurora home with him while she traveled the Americas for work and made life that much easier for her.

Bringing in his father threatening her to stay away from him though? He would be furious and he'd understand. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was because he looked so defeated and so sad already. The look of his slightly hunched back as he nursed his glass, there was something that made Hermione decide that right now she wasn't going to add to his burdens and his hurt.

"For what it's worth, I am sorry. I truly hope that we can work together to be able to co-parent Aurora together." Hermione finished off the martini that Hannah had sat in front of her and tossed enough gold on the table to cover the tab she'd accumulated over the last few hours.

Standing to leave, Hermione gathered her suit jacket, her tote, and her briefcase. On slightly wobbly legs, she began to walk away from the blonde who had yet to say another word to her with his head still hung as he looked into his glass of fire whiskey. With one last second decision, fueled purely by the multiple martinis, Hermione decided that she would extend that olive branch.

"Hey, Draco" when he looked up from his glass and met her gaze, she took a deep breath hoping this wouldn't be a mistake. "Saturday night, Theo is throwing a house warming party at my new place. It's just the old crew and a few others, Aurora won't be there, but I would like it if you came."

Draco looked at her with a hint of confusion before he nodded his head. "Yeah, okay. See you Saturday."

With his confirmation, Hermione turned on her heels and walked to the fireplace calling out her address. As she was swept away back to her house, Hermione's thoughts were filled with hopes of being able to raise her child with the man she'd found herself falling for. Again.

A/N: DRACO FINALLY HAD IT OUT WITH HERMIONE! Obviously, that's going to be an ongoing conversation, but MAN did he finally tell her what's been stewing for a few days.

Also, did Lucius figure out that Hermione is the little girl that he met in the hospital's mother? Hm. I'm going to just say that yes he most certainly did! OHHH FUCK!

Alright, real life treat for you. Hermione's assistant Kenneth? Yes, well name and personality and just how helpful and wonderful he is? He's a real person, name and all. He is actually one of my younger brother's friends who spent all his time at my house growing up. He's also cousins with who was my best friend growing up, so I got to know him really well. So well, that he's just my third brother and my children actually refer to him as uncle.

Next chapter is titled 'Missy' after the pet that Aurora will be convincing her grandfather to buy her. Any guesses as to what pet Ms. Aurora Jean has decided she must have? More of my cute kid's quotes coming up too…

Here's my sneak peek for my upcoming story (still needs a name, so if you have any suggestions based on this then let me know, PLEASE!) PS, not even remotely the same plot as this, but yes there are kids that Draco doesn't know about:

"Granger, I'm not sure what you're playing at." The confusion in his silver eyes shifted into flickering bits of rage as her words seemed to penetrate his defenses. "We've never been in a relationship, much less living together. Furthermore, I can assure you, I'm not some dead-beat father who would abandon his kids for fourteen years. If I'd known I'd sired children with you, I wouldn't have let you hidden them away from me all this time."

Hold the phone. Sorry, we're going to need to take a few steps back because what the actual fuck is he going on about? Hermione stood looking at Malfoy with a gaping expression. Did he just accuse her of lying about a pregnancy and then hiding her children from him? No. No, sir.

"Excuse you? No, we didn't live together even a month, and no, I hadn't moved all my things in. However, we were in the processes of moving in together when you promptly toss me out on my arse! I'm not sure where you get off, but I never hid those children that you just met from you. Just because I didn't show up pounding on your front door after they were born doesn't change the fact that you knew they were on their way. Well, I mean, technically we didn't know there were two, but you still knew there was a baby, that we had made together on the way." Hermione had finally reached her limit as more stragglers were waiting around the platform watching the heated discussion with interest as both her and Malfoy's voices continue to rise.