Draco had regretted asking Hermione why she didn't have children as soon as the words had left his mouth. Hermione had looked at him heartbroken, her eyes windows into her broken soul. He'd watched her climb into the floo, barley holding herself together. He could tell the question was traumatic for her, wished he hadn't asked it of her. Had Pansy been with them, she'd have scolded him for his foot in the mouth syndrome. He'd flooed home himself shortly after the young woman he admired, settling Scorpius down before heading to his own bed. Draco however struggled to sleep that night, Hermione's sorrowful brown eyes haunting him every time he closed his own eyes.
It was for this reason and only this reason why he found himself stood outside her house the following morning; breakfast pastries and coffees in hand from a nearby café and a bouquet of flowers; white tulips, signifying his apology and wish for forgiveness.
"Can I knock Daddy," Scorpius asked, bouncing on his heels excitedly.
"Go ahead buddy," he smiled allowing his son to tap on the brunette witch's door. A few minutes later and he heard the sound of shuffling feet, then the door opened revealing Granger, Draco couldn't hide his grimace at the sight of her. Her hair was wild and knotted, her face flushed, sweaty with an obvious fever while snot threatened to drip out of her nostrils. Hermione let out a hacking cough, wheezing as she held onto the door frame.
"What are you doing here," she croaked, Draco winced in sympathy.
"I came to apologise for what I said last night," he told her quietly.
"Don't worry about it," she said, coughing into her arm once more.
"I shouldn't have asked you that, I'm sorry I upset you," he said.
"I forgive you," she wheezed.
"Miss Mione are you okay," Scorpius asked, his eyes wide as he stared worriedly up at the woman, he'd become attached too over the past couple of days. Draco watched her try to smile reassuringly at his son, but it soon turned to a grimace as she brought her hands to her mouth, and turned hurriedly as she fled into her home, the sound of vomiting soon following her departure.
"I'd take that as a no Scorp," Draco sighed as he stepped into the house, closing the door behind himself and Scorpius. Gesturing for his son to take a seat on the sofa, Draco followed the sound of retching to the woman's downstairs bathroom. Granger was sprawled on the blue laminate floor, her head resting in the bowl of the porcelain toilet as she dry heaved.
"Hermione are you okay," he asked as he reached for her, pulling her hair out of the way, fastening it into a bun on the top of her head before stroking soothing circles on her back.
"Haven't vomited so much since I was pregnant," she let out a humourless laugh, before bursting into tears as she turned to face him, her face clammy and covered in sick as she slumped against the wall of the room. Draco knelt down in front of her, a damp flannel from the nearby bathtub in hand and wiped her face clean.
"Do you want to talk about it," he asked quietly, as he took a seat beside her.
"Ron was the father, would have been," she whispered, Draco wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close as she took a shuddering breath and told him the entire tale; of how she'd been engaged to her childhood sweetheart, her best friend and fallen pregnant before they were due to be married. She told him of how excited they'd both been but how they had agreed not tell anyone until after their wedding, Then she'd sobbed as she told him of how she had miscarried and how her entire world had fallen apart; how the man she loved had cheated on her, getting a different woman pregnant and had left her. She spoke of how all she wanted in the world was a family of her own but that it was unlikely she'd ever be able to carry a child to term due to the amount of trauma she'd experienced during the war.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't brave enough to stop Bellatrix," he whispered, stroking her hair, the witch crying into his chest as he held her close.
"Not your fault, she'd have killed us both if you'd tried," she told him, her voice horse.
"I should have tried," he said.
"You were trying to survive, we all were," she replied.
"DADDY," Scorpius screamed, his son running into the room quickly, the sound of heavy footfalls following him.
"Hermione," another voice called, not as loud as the first.
"Harry," she muttered, disentangling herself form him as she attempted to stand, Draco offering her his assistance.
"Teddy's godfather is here," Scorpius informed them unnecessarily.
"God Hermione, you look dreadful," the glasses wearing man commented as he stopped in the doorway of the room.
"I have the flu," she grimaced, squinting at her friend, her eyes glassy.
"I made you sick," Scorpius gasped, his eyes watering.
"It's not your fault," she told her son kindly.
"Hermione, you're burning up," Harry spoke, his hand pressed to the woman's forehead.
"I don't feel so good," she murmured, stepping towards her friend. One second, she was stood, the next she was falling, Draco grabbed her, stopping her from hitting her head on the toilet bowl as Scorpius screamed in horror, tears falling down his chubby cheeks.
"Miss Mione," he cried.
"She'll be okay Scorp," he said, carrying the witch to the bathtub and placing her within it. Waving his wand he filled it with water and ice and set a cold clean flannel onto her head. Scorpius stood worriedly at his side while Potter was busy rummaging in a cabinet, pulling out muggle medicines and magical potions.
"She's always been the worst patient, never seeks help," the other wizard muttered to himself.
"Scorp, go and watch the tv," he told his son, reluctantly Scorpius exited the room and Draco shut the door behind him.
"Potter did you know she'd had a miscarriage before Weasley cheated," he asked seriously.
"We'd suspected she might be pregnant, then she went into a deep depression. She didn't want to talk about it," the dark-haired man spoke.
"Your friend is a tosser," he said seriously as Potter forced the woman in the tub to take potions and medicines, massaging her throat to get her to swallow the concoctions in her unconscious state.
"Brother-in-law, I stopped been his friend, the day he broke my sister's heart," he corrected, as he stared at the woman before them.
"She's broken isn't she," he said.
"Broken but fixable, she just needs someone to help her glue the pieces of herself back together," he replied. Draco looked at her; a mess in just about every way but underneath all of that she was beautiful, intelligent, funny, and brilliant with children, perhaps he could be the one to fix her, to glue all of her pieces back together and make her whole again.