Sirius was lying on his bed in the dark when he heard on a knock on the door. Part of him was hoping it was Hermione but the rational part of him knew seeing her was a bad idea. Hermione seemed to have the same opinion because in the week since the hospital encounter she had barely said a word to him.
He pulled himself off the bed as the knocking continued. He threw the door open and found Hermione standing there. She was looking at the floor instead of at him. "Hello" she said her voice barely above a whisper.
"Hello" he responded. He motioned for Hermione to follow him in. She closed the door gently behind her. "Is Emma ok?" He asked as he sat down in a chair by the window. Hermione nodded and smiled for the first time in a long time.
"Emma recovered better than I did" Hermione answered ruefully. "I am still a wreck"
"You will be fine, a scare like that takes some time to get over" Sirius replied. Hermione nodded and then looked at the floor again.
"I came to talk to you about what happened in the hospital" hermione started, "I am tempted to never speak about this again but we need to clear the air if we ever expect to be in the same room"
Sirius smiled at her, "I agree" he told her. "Look, I am sorry. I shouldn't have done…anything I did that night. You were lonely and scared. I wasn't trying to take advantage of you but I did"
"No" Hermione assured him, "If anyone took advantage it was me. I was lonely and it had been so long since a man, other than Harry or Remus, paid attention to Emma and I. I was angry with Draco and attracted to you. I let it cloud my brain and I made a bad decision"
"Let's just suffice it to say we both made a mistake" Sirius replied gently, 'I don't want it to ruin our friendship"
"Neither do I" Hermione told him looking relieved. She smiled at Sirius as she stood up and put her hand out to shake his. Before she walked out of the room Sirius had to ask.
"Have you heard from Draco?"
Hermione sighed deeply before answering, "He said he was ill himself and didn't get the letters until the next day" Hermione told him, "However, I think he was with someone, a female more than likely."
Sirius held back the ugly remarks he wanted to make but he did say, "You deserve better"
Hermione smiled at him, "I know, but I still love him.
Later that afternoon Hermione was playing with Emma outside waiting for Draco. She had made the decision to break things off with Draco because obviously neither of them had their heart in it. It had been the most difficult decision she had to make in quite sometime but she knew it was the right one for her.
"It's my two favorite girls" Draco called as he apparated in front of her. Hermione smiled at him and let him give her a kiss on the cheek before he picked his daughter up. "How is she?"
"She is fine" hermione told him. "I am a little shaken still but I will recover just as well"
"I am sorry you were alone," Draco told her. 'I wish I had seen the letters. I wish I could have been there but I took a headache medicine before going to bed and I was knocked out"
"That's ok" Hermione replied. She stood up and took Emma from him, placing her daughter in the stroller. "We need to talk"
Draco chuckled nervously, "My least favorite words ever uttered from witches," he said.
"Draco" hermione started, "I think that we rushed back into this without thinking it through. I feel as if neither of us are very committed to this relationship and maybe we should take sometime apart to think"
Draco sized her up silently then sneered, "is there someone?" he asked, "Because I get the feeling from your tone that this isn't a temporary break"
Hermione sighed, "I am not interested in being in a relationship with someone else but I have had feelings for someone"
"Potter?" Draco asked. Hermione shook her head, 'Weasley?" he guessed again.
"No and it doesn't matter who" hermione told him," The feelings made me realize that your not the person I want to spend my life with and if you are honest with yourself I am not who you want either"
"Think a little more carefully about this decision" Draco hissed coming closet to her, "Because if you leave me for someone else, I will take Emma and never look back. You will never see your daughter again"
"Draco you can't do that" hermione cried, "You promised we wouldn't do this. You agreed to raise her in atmosphere without hostility, remember?'
"But that was before you started whoring around with other men" Draco snapped, "I don't want Emma raised by a woman who goes through men quickly without consequence. I want her to be raised in home with both of her parents"
"I want that too" Hermione insisted "but we don't have to be married or even living together to raise her as a team. Emma will not thrive if you and are unhappy"
Before Hermione knew what was happening Draco had reached past her and took Emma from the stroller, "You know where to find us when you come to your senses". Draco was gone before Hermione could pull her wand out. Hermione started to cry at a loss for what to do. She turned and ran into the house. Hermione didn't know where to go or who to turn to. No one was home, no one but Sirius. She ran up the stairs to his room, without thinking or knocking she threw the door open. Sirius was reading a book. He took one look her face and jumped.
"Hermione, love, what's wrong?" Sirius asked grabbing her shoulders.
"He took her" Hermione shouted hysterically, "He took her, he's gone. He took my baby"
"Who took your baby?" Sirius asked, "Your not making any sense, please slow down"
Hermione took a deep breath, 'Draco, he took Emma. He said he won't bring her back unless I agree to stay in a relationship with him" She paused and Sirius said nothing. 'Please we have to do something. Don't let him take my baby"
"No one is taking her away" Sirius said wrapping his arms around her, "I promise we will get your baby back. I promise"
