AN: Sorry about the wait. I've been caught up with the real world. Without further ado.
Hermione got up early that morning, wanting everything to be as perfect as it could be. By nine o'clock every nook and cranny had been cleaned spotless, no speck of dust or dirt left. She managed to get Eltan fed, cleaned up and dressed in his favorite suit. Another quality from his father. He loved finer quality items. It really amazed Hermione how much Eltan was like Draco, without ever being around him.
"Mummy, when will Draco be here? I want to show him my new books." Eltan asked her, pulling her from her thoughts.
"He said he would be here precisely at one. You'll be going with Narcissa for a bit though, so you won't see Draco until about 2:30." She smiled at her son. The boy nodded and cuddled back up on the couch, reading one of his books. She hoped with all her heart that today would go well. She couldn't bare the heartache if Draco decided he didn't want to be a part of Eltan's life. Once again, she let her mind wander as the time seemed to slowly pass by.
Draco couldn't wait until one. The man could barely hold his excitement in. He started to get jittery sitting at the breakfast table with his parents, a huge grin gracing his sharp features.
"What's got you smiling like a fool?" Lucius asked his son, slightly amused.
Draco looked to his father, his smile only growing wider. "I'm going to have lunch with Hermione today."
Lucius smiled and laughed slightly. "Good luck boy. Don't muck it up this time." He laughed again. He couldn't recall a time when his son hadn't had a crush on the muggle-born witch. Draco only nodded to his father. Narcissa had left around 12:30 to collect Eltan, telling the men that she was going shopping. Neither of them would follow after her if that is what she had planned. Narcissa met Hermione at Flourish and Blotts.
"Eltan behave yourself for Narcissa. I know you will. I love you sweetheart." Hermione told her son as she kissed his hair. "Thank you for watching after him while I do this. It also gives you time to get to know him."
"Think nothing of it dear." Narcissa told the nervous young woman. "Everything is going to be fine, Hermione." Hermione watched as the pair got lost in the crowd of Diagon Alley. She apparated back to her cottage and waited for Draco to get there.
Right at one she heard a soft knock at the door. Taking a deep breath, she opened it slowly and then smiled up at the man before her.
"Hello, Draco." she said softly.
"Hello, Hermione." he replied as she let him in her home. "Where's Eltan?"
"Oh, he's with a friend of mine. Why don't you have a seat? I've got our lunch waiting for us at the table." she led him over to the dining room and they both sat across from one another. Neither one of them saying much as they ate, mostly talk of Draco's work, Hermione getting nervous once more.
"Umm, Draco, there is something I've been meaning to speak with you about." Draco looked up from his plate and Hermione could have sworn he was staring right into her soul.
"What is it, Hermione?"
Hermione's palms started sweating, she looked at him not sure how to begin. "Do you remember the night of the 8th years ball?"
"Yes, I do. I think about that night often, actually." he told her. "But why is that night of any relevance?"
"Well, you see Draco. Umm...well." she just couldn't get the words to come out, then Draco eyes widened.
"It was you. You were my mystery girl in the R-o-R." He said matter-of-factly. It all made sense now. "I've been looking for you for ages and you've been here all this time."
"That isn't all, Draco." Hermione got a burst of Gryffindor courage. "That night we didn't use a charm and well, you see, Eltan is yours. I'm sorry to have kept it from you for so long. I shouldn't have. But by the time he was born I was already married to Ronald, and you had started your business. I just didn't want to mess up anything."
Draco looked at the woman dumbfounded; he has a son. A son that is now five years old. She kept him away from his son for five years. Why hadn't she said anything sooner? Why did she keep him away from Eltan?
"Why didn't you tell me Hermione? I would've been there for you, for the both of you?" Draco's voice dangerously low. "You kept him from me for five years, Hermione. Five bloody years that I will never get back with him. I didn't get to watch him have his first steps, hear him say his first words. How could you do such a thing?"
Hermione flinched as Draco started raising his voice at her, tears spilling from her eyes. "I'm so sorry Draco. He...he..." she began sobbing. Draco got up from his seat abruptly, accidentally knocking over the chair. Fear flashed in her eyes and Draco suddenly stopped. Looking the terrified witch over. What had Weasley done to her?
"Hermione, I'm not going to hurt you." Draco said as softly as he could. He picked up the chair and set it in its original spot. He walked over to her and started lifting his hand to cup her cheek, only for her to flinch back from his touch and look away from him. His brows furrowed. "Hermione, please look at me."
She turned back to look at him, tears in her honey orbs. "Ronald threatened me and Eltan." she started telling him between sobs. "He said that if I ever left and took the baby from him that he would hurt the both of us. Ron knew Eltan wasn't his. I told him there was a chance that Eltan wouldn't be." she began to regain her composure as she continued to tell Draco of what her life was like before he re-entered it. "I never once lied to Ron about that. I just kept who his father actually was a secret. He was okay with it at first then Eltan was born, bright platinum blonde hair and stormy blue eyes. I knew right then that you were his father. That's why I named him Eltanin." She looked at Draco then, waiting for him to understand.
"The brightest star in the Draco constellation." he said nearly inaudible.
Hermione just shook her head yes before continuing. "It got bad after Eltan turned two. Ronald started becoming abusive. The last time he laid his hands on me was the night before you saw us at the Leaky Cauldron."
Draco looked at the woman before him, no longer the witch he once fell for, but now a woman with a horrid past. If he ever saw Weasley he would make the man wish he'd never been born. She only stayed with the git so he wouldn't hurt her son, their son. He heard Hermione sobbing again, without a second thought he grabbed the witch and pulled her into his arms.
"I will never let anything happen to either of you ever again. I promise Hermione. Ron won't be able to hurt you anymore." he whispered in her ear as she cried. The pair stayed like that a while, Draco trying to sooth her pains. There was a knock on the door that pulled them out of their moment. Hermione got up and asked if Draco would get the door while she freshened up. Nodding he went to open the door when he saw his mother with the boy he now knew as his own son.
"Hello mother." he greeted before bending down to really get a good look at Eltan. How had he not figured it out sooner? The boy is the spitting image of him when he was five years old. "Hey buddy. Did you have fun with Cissa?"
"I had a wonderful time." Eltan began and told Draco all about their time in Diagon Alley. They had gotten ice cream and looked at everything in Uncle George's shop. She even got him a few new books from Flourish and Blotts. Draco hung on to Eltan's every word as Hermione came from the bathroom, looking as if she hadn't just cried for an hour.
"Mummy!" Eltan ran into her arms as she peppered his face with kisses.
"Hey my little dragon. Did you have fun? Did you behave yourself?" she questioned him looking up to Narcissa. The older woman shook her head yes. Draco watched the two starting to smile at himself. He knew in that moment this is exactly what he wanted. He wanted them, both of them.
"Eltan could you go to your room for a moment. I would like to talk to Draco and Narcissa." Hermione asked he son. He nodded and kissed her cheek before going to his room.
"Now that you both know, I'm not asking for anything except for you all to be in his life. I can understand being angry with me, but please just be there for him."
Draco looked from her then to his mother. "Hermione, I speak for my family when I say we want for the both of you to be in our lives. You are the mother of my child. Yes, I'm not exactly happy that you kept him from us, but I know why you did. None of us are angry."
Hermione gave the pair a small smile. "I'll tell Eltan. Thank you both for understanding."
For the rest of the afternoon the four of them talked, played games, and enjoyed one another's company. Their missing puzzle pieces finally being put together.