The sound of the rain mixed with tears
The sound of your breath in my ears
I couldn't find you even once
-Hurt, EXO
Hermione was frozen, fingers pressed to the wall and legs glued in place as her brain fought to process what her eyes were seeing. A bout of nausea began to make itself known in her stomach, forehead becoming clammy as heat spread throughout her frame. She pressed one hand to her chest, certain that she was going to have a heart attack. She blinked, having trouble with her breathing before deciding on turning around and stumbling out of the room.
Blaise was there, a frown etched into his features as he held his hands out towards her, probably convinced that she was going to collapse. She brushed his arms away, heading for Draco's office. Trembling hands gripped the fancy phone on his desk, fingers pressing digits almost frantically. A voice picked up after the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Ginny…?"
"Oh, Hermione! Thank God," the other girl cried. "I've been trying to reach you! I forgot that you had gotten rid of your cell and hadn't gotten around to-."
She cut herself off, taking a moment to catch her breath.
"He took him, Hermione! He just came in with all of these men and practically snatched him away, claiming that it was his son, and I tried to stop-."
"It's okay," Hermione breathed. "Ginny, it's okay…"
"It is…? I- So…he is…?"
"Yes, yes," Hermione confirmed. "It's alright. He's here, and he's okay."
Ginny let out a breath, and Hermione could practically feel the relief soaring through the other girl.
"I'll explain everything as soon as I can. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, and I'm sorry that he just…did that. Are you all alright?"
That was Hermione's main concern, for the moment. After all, she knew how Draco could be…
"Yeah, yeah, we're fine. We've been running around in circles and freaking out, but we're okay."
"Good," Hermione breathed, relaxing at that bit of news.
"Um, Hermione…"
The tone of the other girl's voice put her on edge.
"What?"
"Well…we didn't know how to reach you, so we went to your mum and dad's place…," she hesitantly began.
Hermione closed her eyes, a sigh escaping her lips. She really didn't need Ginny to continue, having already put two and two together.
"We thought they knew…we thought you told them…"
"No, I hadn't exactly gotten around to that part, yet. It's not your fault…"
Hermione wasn't looking forward to that conversation, at all.
"Look, I'll talk to you later. I just had to make sure you all were okay," she said.
She said her goodbyes to Ginny with promises of explaining everything as soon as possible before hanging up. She didn't dare turn around, feeling his presence only a few feet away. Now that Hermione had made sure the wellbeing of her friends was intact, she could fully focus on the issue at hand, and she didn't even know where to start. Her nails dug into the mahogany of his desk, searching for the right words to say.
"I know that you're mad…"
She slowly spun around to face him, a frown on her face as she stared at him in wonder. Scorpius wasn't with him, and she suspected that he was asleep, Blaise hopefully watching him.
"Mad? Mad?"
He said nothing, clearly misunderstanding her and waiting for her to finish.
"You think I'm mad? I'm not angry, Draco, I'm terrified."
Draco shook his head, stepping towards her, but she took a step back, bumping into the desk. She glared at him, daring him to take another step.
"You are so…selfish," she spat.
A frown marred his features, and he gritted his teeth, fists clenched at his side.
"Excuse me?"
She didn't respond to that, walking past him without another glance.
"Hermione," he called.
She ignored his calls as she made her way up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He called her again, but she didn't have anything to say. No, that was untrue. She didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure that anything she came up with would do her feelings justice. How could he?
Didn't he understand her fears? How justified they were? Did he think that she didn't want her own son with her? Did he think giving him up was an easy decision, something that she didn't cry and fret over? It was the hardest thing that she had ever done, but her son's life was far more important than her own selfish desires. Why didn't he get that?
She made her way into his room, Draco hot on her heels as she approached Blaise. Blaise looked up, eyes flitting between them cautiously as he held the nodding child in his arms. She reached for him, only to be stopped. She glared up at the blond man when he spun her around, eyebrows furrowed.
"What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to take my son, and then I'm going to make sure he's placed with a family that can give him a normal-."
"No."
"…safe life."
"No, absolutely not!"
"I don't recall asking you," she spat.
They stared at one another like that, angry and stubborn, for a painful length of time.
"Blaise," Draco quietly began. "Take him downstairs."
"No," Hermione protested, reaching for him again when Draco grabbed her wrists, holding her against him.
Blaise was frozen, seemingly conflicted as he looked between them.
"Blaise, that is my son. Draco has no say in this," she gritted out, fighting to escape Draco's hold.
Blaise bit his lip, eyes going back and forth as he tried to decide.
"Blaise," Draco snapped, heated eyes landing on him.
"Blaise," Hermione pleaded.
He looked at her, then at Draco before his eyes finally rested on Hermione. He took a step forward when Draco's words halted him in place.
"I know where he is," Draco suddenly said, an underlying threat in his tone.
Hermione looked up at him with wide eyes, heart skipping a beat, no ounce of doubt coursing through her veins as it was clear who he was. Draco was glaring at Blaise, the darker boy glaring right back with a hint of nervousness.
"I've known since the first time you started sneaking off to go and see him…"
Hermione reared her head back, recalling the deal he'd attempted to strike up with her. She shouldn't have been surprised at his deceit.
"Blaise…you know what Teddy would want you to do," she said, looking at him again. "You know that he would agree with me…"
"You work for me!" Draco finally snapped, literally, a terrifying expression falling over his features. "You don't answer to her, you answer to me!"
Blaise released a sigh, and she fought harder against Draco's grip, knowing that she had lost him.
"Hermione and I need to talk, and I don't want to disturb him," Draco said, jerking his head towards the door.
"You vile, loathsome-! Let go of me!"
Tears sprung to her eyes as Blaise exited the room, closing the doors behind him, and it was then that Draco finally let her go. She sprinted towards the door, but he was there, lithe frame blocking her path. She beat her fists against his chest, fighting to get around him, but he was there for every step she took.
"Hermione, Hermione," he gently called, struggling to get his arms around her.
"How could you?" she cried, shoving her hands against his chest.
"Trust me! Hermione-."
"Trust you? Trust you? You knew how hard it was for me to give him up. I told you to leave him be for his own safety, and you went behind my back and-!"
She cut herself off, a harsh choking sound escaping her lips as she fought to hold herself upright. His arms were there to catch her, holding her against him. She dug her fingers into his side, resisting the urge to scream.
"What if- what if someone saw you? What if something had happened-?"
"…but nothing did. No one saw me," he interrupted.
"How can you be so sure?" she questioned into his shirt.
"I just am. He's going to be safe in this house, Hermione. He won't leave. I can protect him," he responded.
"…like you protected me?" she threw at him.
She felt him tense for half a second before his grip tightened around her. She could feel his breath blowing into her hair, lips grazing the tresses.
"I'm so sorry," he choked out. "You don't know how sorry I am."
They had yet to talk about what Riddle had done to her, really talk about it. As much as she tried not to, a small part of her had grown to resent Draco for breaking his promises of keeping her safe. After all, at the time, his hands were sort of tied, and there wasn't much that he could really do lest he risk the life of her friends. It was why she acknowledged how unfair her resentment was. He would have forfeited the lives of her loved ones to save her in a heartbeat, but she didn't want that.
"I'm going to kill him myself for hurting you. For making you…," he trailed off, unable to voice it.
"If he finds out about Scorpius, he could take him from me…or kill him," she brokenly whispered.
"He won't. I couldn't keep my promise before, but I will, now. He won't touch him. I'm going to do right by both of you by protecting him."
"You don't- you can't know that. Anything could happen!"
He pulled away, grey eyes seeking out her own as he rested his hands underneath her jaw, tilting her head up. She was sure that she looked a mess, makeup runny and eyes swollen.
"Hermione-."
"You've broken promises before," she cried.
"I won't this time," he cried back.
Hermione swallowed her next words at the tears threatening to spill past his eyes, face taught as he gazed at her. She looked away, a myriad of emotions festering within her stomach. She closed her eyes when he brushed his nose against her own, thumbs grazing the skin of her cheeks.
"I won't. Trust me, baby, please," he quietly pleaded.
Her face crumbled, and they both collapsed behind the door, Draco pulling her into his lap as he leaned his back against the wood. He didn't say anything while she cried, opting to just hold her. Hermione was at a loss on how to proceed. She was so angry and terrified and sad and hurting and-. The list could go on, but above all, her son was downstairs, only feet away in the same house as she, a small part of her was glad.
And Draco knew this.
"I don't think that he likes me very much," he finally whispered after she had settled down some.
She sniffed, looking up at him with a small frown.
"Well…you did kidnap him," was her response.
The corner of his mouth quirked up before he reached out to brush a stray curl out of her face.
"Do you want to go see him?"
Her heart skipped a beat, recalling the last time she'd seen and held him, when she was giving him away. She had only held him once, the doctors taking him away almost as soon as he was born, much too small and weak to breathe on his own. She was…apprehensive, to say the least, and Draco picked up on this. He stood, bringing her with him before opening the door.
As they descended the stairs, she could faintly hear Blaise talking, and it wasn't until they'd reached the bottom, did she realize he was talking to Scorpius.
"…I can just see it, now. You'll be spending weekends at my house while your parents are out gunning down unsuspecting-."
"Anyone I gun down will have had it coming. That, I can assure you," Draco interrupted, pulling her into the lavish living room.
"You two sort everything out?" Blaise questioned as he stood, eyeing them.
"Not really."
"Yes."
Both she and Draco answered at the same time, and she threw him a brief scathing look before resting her eyes on Scorpius. She was still so angry that Draco had taken him despite her feelings on the matter, and no matter how many times he begged her to trust him, she couldn't get rid of her fear.
Riddle was dangerous, the most dangerous man she'd ever encountered. She didn't even want to approach the subject of his questionable injury, still unsure of just what it was that she'd seen in the mall earlier. Scorpius was everything to her. From the minute that she'd given birth to him, her entire world had been centered around him, and every decision that she'd made had been purely for his benefit. She was still undecided on what she was going to do, his safety still a priority.
As she stared at him, now awake and squirming in Blaise's arms, she wondered if she could do it again. If she decided to give him up for good to a family she'd never know, a family that would be so far out of reach of this world, could she? Allowing Ginny to take him out of her arms was painful. Giving him up once was hard enough, and it had taken all of her strength to do it. Now, she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to give him up again, to strangers, no less. She didn't think she had the strength to do it a second time, and as she hesitantly looked up at Draco, a frown taking over at the small smile on his lips, she realized that he had figured that out already.
Hermione had no more time to think, because her arms were suddenly occupied by the small child she hadn't seen in roughly two months. She looked down at him, as he looked back up at her, something in his eyes telling her that he knew exactly who she was. She found that it didn't feel weird to hold him, despite the fact that she never thought she would again. She tightened her arms around him, raking her eyes over his tiny frame.
"Harry was right," she quietly chuckled. "He looks so much better…healthier…"
She let out a shaky breath as Draco came to stand in front of them, bringing his index finger to his forehead. Scorpius made a face, and then squirmed some more.
"Stop," she admonished. "You're irritating him."
Draco waved her off, and she fought the urge to smile. He was looking at Scorpius like he was the best thing he'd ever seen, and when Hermione looked back down, she frowned. Light brown hair adorned his head, the short tresses twirling into what would no doubt be familiar curls. His eyes fared no different, matching her own, and Hermione's frown deepened as she realized she couldn't see anyone but herself in him. Nothing about him gave away who his father could be.
She supposed that they could do a DNA test, now that he was with them, and Draco would start pushing the idea very soon, no doubt. However, there was a very large part of Hermione that didn't want to know. She knew that she wouldn't love him any less, and even though Draco had expressed the same sentiments, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd change his tune if results came back that he didn't like.
Movement captured her attention, and she watched Draco pick up one of his hands, the amazement at just how small he was written all over his face.
"You've already unofficially met, but…"
Hermione shifted her arms, raising Scorpius just a bit higher, his brown eyes resting on Draco.
"Draco, this is Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy."
Draco faltered for a second, eyes connecting with hers as he frowned in something akin to awed confusion. It had never occurred to her in the delivery room to give him her own last name. She'd been exhausted, a little distraught, and scared, and it had sort of popped out before she had time to process it. She had just hoped and wished that no part of him was Riddle's, desperately hoping, and she'd tried to bury any possibility of that in any way she could.
"Malfoy? Draco Malfoy?"
Hermione sighed, looking down and fingering her coffee cup placed before her. The café was rather quiet for a Friday morning, she and Ginny being two of six customers currently present. She'd called Ginny, agreeing to meet her in a coffee shop they'd been to a handful of times that was a town over.
The redhead leaned back in her seat in shock, processing what Hermione had just told her.
"When he came to the funeral to pick you up, I thought he looked rather familiar. You know that I don't busy myself with the likes of businessmen and whatnot. I even remember the name sounding familiar, but I figured it was because I'd heard his name throughout school once or twice. After all, he went to that snobby private school across town…"
Hermione nodded, remembering that Blaise had attended the same school.
"It honestly wasn't even until he was practically shoving his way inside my house did I fully remember why his face and name sound so familiar. His family is…loaded. The type of wealthy that I couldn't even begin to comprehend. It's hard to think of one entertainment business in this region that Lucius Malfoy doesn't own. There's no telling what other cookie jars he's got his hands stashed in," Ginny continued, finishing with a disbelieving scoff.
She shook her head.
"…and you've been seeing him, carrying the next line of Malfoy."
Hermione grimaced, not wanting to dwell on the up-in-the-heir status of her son. Ginny opened her mouth, something on the tip of her tongue before she snapped it shut, thinking better of it. Hermione straightened up.
"What is it?"
"It's nothing," Ginny quickly said.
Hermione frowned, tilting her head.
"No, tell me…"
Ginny released a sigh.
"No, I… I know how you got when I would bring up things I'd heard about Theo, so I don't…," she trailed off, shaking her head and waving her hand.
Hermione pursed her lips, putting two and two together.
"Whatever you've heard about him and his family…you'd be wise to take it into consideration," was all Hermione said.
Ginny's eyes widened to a comical size, scooting her chair closer.
"Are you kidding me? Hermione, please tell me-."
"I told you that I was in some trouble, and that was why I ran. I was pregnant with a Malfoy, and…I'd gotten myself on Tom Riddle's bad side," she confessed.
"Tom Riddle?"
"I'm not going into detail about it, Ginny. I shouldn't even be telling you anything, no matter how vague, but you deserve to know, because I'm your friend, and I'm in danger. My son was in danger, hence why I gave him to you," she continued.
A sympathetic frown made its way onto Ginny's face, hand reaching over the table to grip Hermione's.
"Being around me is dangerous, now."
Hermione didn't dare tell her that they'd already been a target, used as leverage to keep her in line. Ginny didn't deserve to be caught up in Hermione's screw ups, none of them did, and so she was giving Ginny a chance to make her own decisions regarding her own safety.
"So I guess it's safe to say that Malfoy didn't agree with your selfless decision regarding Scorpius, huh?"
Hermione shook her head.
"…and you're sure it's safe? I mean…I don't know much about Tom Riddle, but everyone has kind of heard things, you know? You can only hear the same stories so many times before you start believing them," Ginny questioned.
"I don't know if it's safe. Draco's making promises, and I want to believe them, but…"
"I heard that Riddle had gotten himself paralyzed. The papers and news reports were very vague about it, only saying that he'd had some accident, but if it's true…how dangerous can he really be?"
Hermione didn't voice her concerns about that, knowing it would only worry Ginny more, and maybe even put her in more danger. They were already on thin ice as it was.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Hermione half-heartedly agreed.
"I think that you and Malfoy should leave," Ginny suddenly said, taking a sip of her coffee.
Hermione frowned in confusion.
"As in, leave town. Hell, maybe even the country if you're that concerned. Move to the states or something, God knows he's got the money for it," she suggested.
"You can't be serious…," Hermione replied, disbelieving.
Ginny shrugged.
"Well, I don't see why not. Settle down somewhere nice and quiet and away from all of this. I may be getting married, and Harry and I may be trying to start a life together, but you and Malfoy already have a life together. Literally… You have a son, someone whose parents obviously love him very much," she began.
Hermione looked down, considering her words.
"I mean, you gave him up to protect him, something that was far from easy, and he comes barreling down my door with an entire brigade just to get him back," Ginny scoffed.
Hermione grimaced, about to apologize for that again when Ginny cut her off.
"My point is, you're already a family. Maybe a little fucked up, but still a family, nonetheless. Your parents would miss you, and we sure as hell would miss you, but what you have is more important than that. Do what's best for your son, because we both know you can't give him up again."
Hermione pondered this. Would Draco really just up and leave? Ginny was right. Hermione didn't have it in her to give Scorpius up again, and the next best thing was leaving altogether, but would Draco agree to that? Did she even want him to? Ginny had no way of knowing just how fucked up they really were. Never mind how the two of them got together in the first place, but they'd seen and done things together that would make Ginny faint. Besides, Draco had murdered Ron, something she didn't think she'd ever be able to forgive him for.
Was she just supposed to put all of that behind her like it was nothing? Could she really run off with him, and treat everything that had happened as nothing more than a bad dream they were leaving behind? Did they even get to? Draco was not a good person, and since meeting him, her moral compass had been a bit wonky as of late, as well. Did people like them get to have the happy ending? Was that fair?
"I can see that you're about to have a brain aneurysm, over there."
Hermione looked up, eyes meeting Ginny's as the other girl smiled.
"I don't know the details. I don't know what's really going on with you and Malfoy, nor why you ran, but…if you really care about him and want to be with him, then you have to decide if its worth forgiving him for whatever it is that he did," Ginny said.
Ginny made it sound so simple, as if Hermione hadn't had the same thought dozens of times. How do you forgive someone for doing the unforgiveable?
Hermione leaned over the crib, curls swinging, and she watched in fascination as Scorpius tried to follow the movement of every single one. She chuckled as his eyes swung from ringlet to ringlet, a look of bewilderment on his face.
"This is a sight I could get used to."
Hermione looked up, both hands resting on the crib as her eyes landed on Draco leaning against the open room door. He'd had the crib built inside the guest room that she was sleeping in, Scorpius directly next to her bed. She knew that he wanted the both of them to be in his room, for varying reasons that she tried not to dwell on, but she couldn't bring part of herself close to even think about sleeping in a bed with him.
"There's no need to voice how happy you are. We both know that you're rather proud of yourself," she said, eyes returning to her son.
"I'm not going to say I regret what I did, because I don't…"
"Classy as always," she sneered.
"You're the woman I love, and that is my son, and I wanted both of you here with me," he said with conviction.
There was that word again. It was the first time that Draco had explicitly said it, and she was reluctant to admit how it made her feel, how it made her heart bloom. He loved her, but did people in love do what he did? When did he realize he loved her? Before or after he'd killed Ron? She wanted to know.
"When did you know you loved me? Was it before or after you killed my former friend?"
"I realized it the very moment I killed your former friend," he easily replied without missing a beat.
She swallowed, looking away.
"I've killed men for far less than what he did, but I've never killed a man because of someone else. He was trying to drag you back into someone you'd long left behind. He reminded you of a time where you were at your lowest, and like a bad memory, he just wouldn't go away…"
"So you took it upon yourself to make him go away. Is that it?"
"He was trash," he spat.
"…you know what? So are you," she said, looking back up at him. "What gives you the right to decide who lives and dies?"
"I do. I gave myself that right a long time ago," he defended.
Hermione didn't say anything, attention returning to Scorpius who was staring up at her, as if he were listening.
"Let's settle this, right now. Let's just get it all out in the open…"
"What are you on about?" she asked in exasperation.
"You're not angry because I killed Ronald. Dare I say, part of you is a little relieved," he spoke.
She glared up at him, walking around the crib to approach him.
"I beg your pardon?"
He crossed his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow.
"You didn't leave when I massacred an entire club," he began.
Hermione paused and looked down at that.
"You didn't leave the night I rescued you from that disgusting pig, killing an innocent call girl in the process," he continued.
She crossed her arms over her chest, now, refusing to look at him as he threw her own thoughts back into her face.
"…and you knew I'd killed before. Some innocent, some not. What made Ronald Weasley so different, because he was your ex? Is it because you two grew up together, raised as friends before eventually becoming something more?"
Again, she said nothing.
"Do you feel that he was worth more than all of those other people simply because he once meant something to you? Because you loved him once? Did your love for him make him better than them?"
"…no."
"Then what was it? Why was he the breaking point? Why was he different?"
"He wasn't," she whispered.
She heard him step closer.
"I didn't quite catch that," he said.
She sighed, looking up at him, frowning at the smug look on his face.
"He wasn't different…"
He tilted his head to the side, blond strands falling onto his forehead.
"No? He wasn't any different from the rest? You're telling me all of those other people had family and friends and perhaps even loved ones who mourned for them just as you did him?"
"Yes-!"
She cut herself off, looking over her shoulder before continuing.
"Yes. We've established that," she tearfully replied.
"So I guess that would make you a bit of a-."
"Hypocrite? Yeah," she quietly admitted.
"Do you see what I'm getting at? It never bothered you before. It was never a problem before, at least, not a big enough one for you to leave. Now, that you've so kindly admitted to your ex being no different, we can move past this," he began.
She backed away from him, shaking her head.
"No, no. It isn't that simple-."
"You either want to be with me or not," he harshly said.
"You know that I do," she whispered into the quiet room.
She swallowed as he took another step towards her, eyes resting on the silk shirt gracing his frame.
"…then why aren't you with me?"
"…because you lied to me," she half whispered half screamed.
Draco exhaled, the sound coming out angry and strained and frustrated all at once. She chanced a glance at him, only to find his intense gaze already on her. An unfamiliar look passed through his eyes, and his face hardened.
"You were gone…for ten months," he said through gritted teeth.
Hermione couldn't look away, no matter how much she wanted to. The pain that Draco had done so well to hide was bleeding through, and Hermione didn't like it. He was the wrong one. She was the only one allowed to be hurting, it wasn't fair.
"That's almost a year, Hermione. That's two months shy of a year."
He glanced away, huffing, and she watched his throat as he swallowed.
"I didn't know where you were, I didn't know if you were okay, or if you were even alive. I hoped, but… Do you even realize what I went through? It took me days to figure out that you had simply…left," he shrugged. "I thought…"
He looked back down, eyes wild.
"I thought that Riddle had gotten you, somehow. I didn't know if he was alive or dead yet, it took two weeks for the news to finally come out. I thought that one of his men had gotten a hold of you or something. I thought that I'd lost you…for good, but no. You ran."
Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but he continued.
"Then, I suspected that you had a baby. That you spent all that time pregnant and alone and scared and… I couldn't be there. I wasn't there to witness it, to help you, take you to the doctor…"
"Draco…"
"I didn't even get to be there when you gave birth to him," he spat out, chest heaving. "It should have been a happy day for you, one of the happiest, if not, the happiest day of your life. Instead, you were scared, fearful that he was going to die, and I couldn't even be there to make it better. I wasn't there, and you were alone."
Hermione didn't respond, because she wasn't sure how to. She knew that her leaving had bothered him and that the entire pregnancy debacle upset him, but she didn't know the true extent of it. She didn't know how bad it was eating away at him.
"…and I had no one to blame but myself. I was the reason you ran. I was the reason you had to go through all of that alone. I was the reason you felt you had no other choice. All of that is on me. That is all I can think about every time I look at you, every time I look at him. It is all I think about, and it hurts."
He heaved a heavy sigh.
"I may not regret what I did, but I'm definitely being punished for it. You've punished me for it…"
Hermione supposed that he was right in a way. She had punished him for it, albeit it wasn't intentional, but it still hurt him, nonetheless.
"I'm not going to apologize…," she finally whispered.
"…and I wouldn't expect you to. You were within your rights," he replied, just as quiet.
Her eyes met his then, and he reached up to brush his fingers across her cheek.
"I know that I only expressed my displeasure at what you did, but… I want you to know that what you did was very…brave," he began.
She blinked, having not expected that, at all. He smiled, the foreign expression transforming his entire face.
"It was completely selfless and by far the hardest thing you ever had to do, and even though I disagreed with it, I admired you for it, nonetheless."
Hermione hadn't realized that she needed to hear that from him. He was right, he'd only ever shown how unhappy he was with her decision, and a small part of her feared that he might have even hated her for it. She swallowed, forcing her heart to settle down.
"A lot of good it did me," she mumbled.
"I would have never been able to do it. I'm far too selfish…"
"That you are," she agreed.
He placed a finger underneath her chin, tilting her head up as he raked his eyes over her face. His nose brushed against her own, lips a hair's width away.
"Say you forgive me, and we can drag the crib into my room, and both of you can sleep beside me every single night until he grows tired of us…"
She released a shaky breath, heart stuttering as he brought his other hand up to land on her waist, thumb grazing against the exposed skin there.
"Forgive me, and I'll buy you whatever bloody ring you want, or the first edition of the most boring book you'll no doubt pick…"
She softly chuckled, and Draco pulled her closer, forcing her to bend backwards just a bit.
"Forgive me, and I'll give you the world."
"I…don't want the world. I want us to leave, for good, and find some place to live away from all of this where Riddle will never find us," she proposed.
Draco was silent, staring at her for the longest time, setting her nerves on edge.
"I know that I wanted to kill Riddle, make him pay, but now that Scorpius is with us, he is my first priority," she continued. "I know that you want Riddle dead too, but, right now, I'm giving you a choice…"
He didn't speak, gazing at her as she continued.
"Revenge…or your son?"
He eventually smirked, eyes brightening just the slightest as he yanked her towards him, lifting her off of the floor.
"My father is going to kill me," was all he said just before capturing her lips in a searing kiss.
Let me know what you think!