Draco POV

When I listened to her explain, I watched her expression shift. While she told me, she kept her eyes fixed on the crystal cauldron above me that I had been looking at only moments before. I saw how much hurt had been in her eyes, even with her looking away from me.

"What lasting effects has it had on you..." I asked quietly, tentatively.

"The reason Ron and I had to break up...I will never be able to have a child." She looked at me at this. And with that look alone, I knew that I should have been the one to hold her when she had found out.

"How did you find out?" I asked.

She turned and stepped out of the store, heading in the direction of our original destination. "I became pregnant." She whispered. "The child was unable to develop properly, and I miscarried after 3 months." I stopped walking, and grabbed her hand, pulling her to look at me. In the wizarding world, 3 months is when you know the gender of the child. Because around that time in a child's development, the magical signature became known, and was what told a mediwitch the gender. "I named him Anthony." I saw the tears welling in her eyes, and I was unable to stop myself, and pulled her into my arms.

"I'm so very sorry, Hermione. I know that no mother should ever go through that, and no human being should ever live with what you do, and through what you have." I know it didn't mean anything to her, but she did seem to find a small amount of comfort in my embrace.

Hermione POV

He had me in his arms. The simple fact that he cared about what had happened had made me feel like everything in the world could be ok. Even though I knew that after today, I'd probably never see him again. I made no hurry to move myself out of his arms, and surprisingly enough, he never once tried to push me away either. That is...until we heard a camera flash. When I looked up, tears running down my cheeks, I saw Rita Skeeter smirking at me, before she quickly apparated away. I moved away from Draco and regained my composure.

"I'm very sorry about this...It looks like rumors are going to start about us. I should go.." I turned to walk away to the apparition point, but he grabbed my hand.

"I want you to owl me." He demanded. "I don't care when I get the letter, it could be four in the morning for all I care. If you ever need someone, I am here for you."

"That is very nice of you Draco...But I'm not a charity case that you need to take care of." I snapped at him before I ran. I didn't mean to say what I did. He brought on another side to me that I hadn't known in years. I knew I loved him. I didn't want him to play with my feelings the way he was. I had thought I had gotten over the idea of ever wanting him. Of him never seeing me that way. I was nothing but a mudblood to him. Even if we had a wonderful outing, no matter how short. There was an intimacy with him that I hadn't known existed. When Ron found out about my miscarriage, and my inability to have children, he wouldn't look at me. Wouldn't touch me for two months before we mutually decided that us being together was not a good idea. Neither one of us could bear the thought of never having a child. And I wanted him to have at least that. When I had made that decision, I realized that after everything had happened, I just couldn't love him that way anymore.

Harry on the other hand, had been angry. He saw how hurt I was, and while he tried to hold me, and be there for me, I knew his mind was on a revenge that would never happen. For it was impossible to kill and torture someone who was already dead, and had been for two years. But the way that Draco had just held me, and apologized for what he hadn't done to me, and demanded that I went to him when I needed someone, I couldn't handle it. I wanted to run into his arms and sob away the pain that refused to go away. Tell him that all I had ever wanted since I was at least 17 was to have a child when the reign of the Dark Lord had ended. I wanted to pour my heart out to him. The real reason Ron and I could not be together. That we hadn't even spoken since he married Parvati. And that Harry couldn't even look at me anymore without a look of pity and rage.

Draco didn't show any of that. He showed concern, regret, and he actually wanted to console me. I so wanted to write him at four in the morning, just because he invited me to. And that is why I ran to the apparition point, and apparated straight into my yard, ran into my house and throwing my wards back up, and crumpled to the floor and cried.