She stood peering into the cell as the door opened slowly, giving her access to him. He sat, head in hands, hardly reacting to the sound of the door. She suspected he had given up hope that she was going to come and release him from his prison.

Glancing up, his eyes lit up slightly at who he saw standing there. The door slamming shut behind her as she walked towards him looking down her nose haphazardly at him.

"Ronald," she acknowledged him stiffly, still peering down her nose at the man she once called her husband. That seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Come to make my life worse than it already is?" He sighed glumly. She noted the misery and hatred in the depths of his eyes, and she couldn't help but feel a touch of pity for what she had done.

"Not at all, honestly." She strode over and sat beside him. Silence shrouding them awkwardly as she tried to arrange the words in her head before she spoke to him.

He beat her to get the next word in. "Is it true, 'Mione? That you and Lucius are together now?"

"No. We aren't together," she bit a little too harshly for someone who was trying to convince someone otherwise.

"Really? Because your body langue and the way you just nearly snapped my head off say you may just have feelings for him," He pressed, trying to get further information from her.

"I wanted a baby, and he needed an Heir. The relationship, if you can even call it that is purely a convenience for the two of us and now, we needn't really see one another because we were successful in our endeavors."

"You're pregnant?" His eyes widened and his face screwed up in relative disgust and anger. He wanted to know why he felt so jealous right now. He had the chance to have children with her and didn't want them, and now he wanted to snap Lucius's neck for staking a claim to her.

"Twins," she responded delicately.

"Twins?" He echoed coldly.

"There are no twins in the Malfoy line and none on your side, Hermione…" He trailed off.

"And your point is?" She snapped, raising an eyebrow, getting to her feet and pacing.

"There are twins on my side, Hermione," He interjected swiftly.

It was as if a wave had washed over her and woken her up from a deep slumber that she didn't even know she was in. It had never crossed her mind the slightest that Ron's lineage had twins within. But that was impossible, right?

"That's not possible, Ronald. You said yourself you were slipping me contraceptives whilst we were together. Right?" She asked, hopefully.

"I did, yes. But there were a few times I forgot to do so, but I assumed you would have had a residual built-up effect and it would have lasted in your body for some protection."

"That is literally not how they work, Ron." Her face was as white as a bedsheet as thoughts processed in her mind faster than she could comprehend. What if they were his? She felt sick to the stomach at this revelation.

"They aren't yours." She stiffened her jaw and clenched her teeth. This wasn't happening right now. This couldn't be happening now. Damned if she would take him back after everything he had put her through, even if it was for the sake of their children.

"And how can you be sure, 'Mione?" He asked in a curious upward inflection.

"Stop!" She yelled; her voice echoing off the stone walls.

"I want nothing to do with you anymore, Ronald. You cheated on me and got another woman pregnant. Even if they were yours there wouldn't be a snowflake's chance in hell that I would let you back into my life, let alone raise them," She spat, exasperated, and began pacing faster than she previously had been.

"And I don't want that filthy coward raising MY children. And if they are MY children, I will stake claim to them." Cheeks flushed as red as the hair on his head as he shot to his feet, closing the gap between the two of them.

Eyes darting wildly, she backed up to the door. She knew he probably wouldn't hurt her, but she had seen that wild look in his eye once before and it scared her immensely.

Every step she took backward, he matched it until she was pressed hard against the door with his body pressing into her, so much so she could feel his fiery breath on her face. She could see his eyes glittering dangerously, and it was almost as if the rational and caring Ron she once knew had all but gone by the wayside.

Gritted teeth spoke words so low and slow that she almost missed them, "If they are my children, and I will find out, I do not want him raising them. I will do everything within my power to ensure he cannot even stand in the same postcode as they are. I don't give two flying fucks if you get yourself pregnant to him and drop your morals and standards lower than the dirt he should be buried in alongside his wife and son but for my own flesh and blood I will not stand to have him near them."

He took three steps backward and watched as she stood by the door.

"And what makes you think he would want to raise any child sired by a Weasley," She snapped viscously, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. She held herself together until she had left the cell. She needed to go home.

o-o-o-o-o

She wasn't at all surprised to see Lucius lounging around her home when she arrived after visiting Ron. In fact, he was becoming quite a fixture around here and she didn't really mind. It was nice having someone to talk to and not being alone all the time. It seemed to happen organically that he was staying, and that was the way she liked it. It wasn't forced, and it felt right.

"Lucius?" She whispered so softly he hardly caught her addressing him as she walked into her sitting room and found him fixated on the television. She smirked smugly to herself. Lucius was the last person on this earth she would have thought would dabble in such muggle devices.

"I… I what if. It's just that-" She babbled, tripping over her words as she headed to the couch and stood over him.

He noticed she looked flustered and as if she were about to cry. Almost as if her heart were breaking in her chest.

"Settle down and take a breath." He grabbed her hands in his own and drew her down into his lap before placing a chaste kiss upon her forehead; Something that seemed so natural to him and something he did more often than not lately.

She visibly took in a deep, steadying breath and composed herself, thinking about what she wanted to say before she said it rather than trying to pick the words from her brain and assemble them as she went.

"I saw Ron today, as you know. He reminded me he has twins in his family and that there were a few times he had forgotten to slip me a contraceptive potion. What if they are his and not yours?" Her voice cracked several times through the sentence as she tried to hold herself together, wondering how he would take this news.

Heart skipping a beat as she watched his face fall for a moment before beating out of her chest when he was silent and made no rush to say anything. She tried to read his facial features, but they were stoic and gave no hint of what may be running through his mind right now.

"Well," He began, running a shaky hand through his hair as his thoughts swam quickly through his mind.

"I suppose we can cross that bridge when we come to that. But from here on in I am taking full responsibility that they are mine and I will do anything to ensure they and you are as healthy and happy as you all can be, and if he wants to go around upsetting you, I am more than happy to have a sly ten minutes with him alone down in his cell. I promise I will keep mess to a minimum." An evil grin found its way onto his face.

"But what if they are his? I don't think I could live with someone who hurt me so in my life again. I know he doesn't see it, but he tore my heart from my chest and basically stomped it into the dirt."

She lay her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, resting against him as her gentle breath hit his neck rhythmically and he wondered at what stage the dynamics had changed in their relationship. For someone who was adamant that she would need him not for anything, she was clinging to him like he was her life raft in the sinking ocean that was her life.

"So what if they are his? Just because he is their father doesn't mean you will love them any less. It also doesn't mean you have to let him waltz in and control your life either. You can't hold it against them who their father is. All we can do is raise them as well as we can so they don't turn out like him."

He stroked her hair gently, repeatedly, in deep thought. Did he just offer to raise Weasleys children if push came to shove? Did she realize he said that? Of course, the chances of her being pregnant to Weasley were slim to none, but if by some off chance they were Weasleys and not his own, that would be fine too. After all, he wouldn't shun Hermione just because the children she birthed weren't his own. He wasn't that type of person anymore.

"Lucius?" She whispered gently, angling her head to catch his eyes with her own.

"Mmm?" He growled low in his throat, looking down to see the sadness swimming in the depths of her chocolate eyes, and it tore at his heart to see her so sad.

"What are we?" She exhaled sharply through her nose after asking him the question, awaiting his answer.

"Humans?" He asked, perplexed at the question she had asked.

She chuckled and smiled just slightly. "I know what we are as a species, but what are we? I seek your company above anyone else's and look forward to the time we spend together. I know we made a vow to not let feelings impede our contractual obligation to produce a child, but right now I feel more at home here in your arms than I ever did with Ron and I spent the best years of my life with him."

She lay her head against his shoulder again, inhaling his scent and feeling more content right now than she had in years.

"What are we," he echoed her question hollowly as he sat in deep thought for several moments.

"I guess you could say we are complicated." He kissed the top of her head before resting his cheek on her head.

A/N: Another chapter! And it hasn't been months between…I must be sick. But seriously, all the reviews I received for the last chapter were amazing and motivated me to write another chapter so quickly. Thank you to the regular and new readers who have joined us on our journey. -Aliasmel1