A/N: Chapter four is out! Thank you for your reviews and the countless number of people who followed/favourited. It really means a lot to me as a writer to see that people enjoy my story and are excited for my updates because I sure as hell am. I suddenly have a lot of inspiration and motivation to write this story in particular so hopefully I will be getting back into an updating schedule.

(P.S. To my readers from my other stories wondering what in the world is taking me so long to update the reason is that I don't feel like it! Plain and simple. I don't want to post a half-assed, forced chapter which wouldn't be very fun to read/write! I have made progress on new chapters but nothing I've done seems to be right. Sorry for that.)

Nightmares were a common occurrence for Draco. He had woken up countless times drenched in his own sweat, his heart racing to find that the sun had only just begun to rise, or in some cases, in the dark of the night after only a few hours of sleep. That's when he had turned to art. If he had told himself that he would be drawing pictures to help him fall asleep a few years ago, he was certain that he would've laughed at himself. Though as strange as it was, creating vivid, sometimes horrifying, sketches of his nightmares would comfort him.

This night was different. It seemed after Avery had come into his life the nightmares got worse and worse. One might've thought that having a cheerful, gurgling baby in close proximity would be enough to lighten anyone's mood, but for Draco it seemed to do the opposite. How could someone like him be allowed near something so pure, so innocent. Voldemort's brand was inked onto his skin, a painful reminder of his past.

He wouldn't allow Avery to become attached to him, he told himself. He refused to take her for granted. He could only let himself become a small, insignificant speck in her life. It wasn't that he hated her, in fact, it was quite the opposite. He was entranced by the tiny life form in front of him. It stunned him to think that he was that young, that innocent, but everyone eventually had to grow up. For whatever reasons.

Hermione awoke that morning after a long, pleasant sleep. Avery had decided to remain seemingly silent for the whole night with the exception of her quiet breath, rising and falling. As usual, Draco had already left their room, but this time he hadn't taken her down with him. It was customary for him to feed her every morning. She scooped Avery up from her bassinet, carrying her downstairs whilst calling out for Draco.

"Malfoy? Malfoy, where are you?" she said irritably. He really didn't understand the need for communication very well. "You're supposed to feed Aver- oh bollocks." There he was. Sprawled over a coffee table, he lifted his head up to face her and blinked groggily at the sudden light gleaming into his eyes.

"Morning, Granger," he said, his words slurring slightly and his breath reeking strongly of alcohol. It was no surprise because in his right hand, he clutched a half-empty bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey. That stuff was strong and she was astonished that he had managed to finish half the bottle, it was a miracle he wasn't out cold. "Is it morning already?" Hermione shook her head in frustration. She refused to deal with him. She already had to take care of a baby, she didn't need another child to look after.

"Get up," she snapped. "You have to feed Avery and we have classes today." She pulled out her wand and shot a blast of water at him causing him to splutter in surprise.

"Merlin!" he said, flailing is arms around pathetically. "What was that for?"

"I refuse to deal with you crap today, Malfoy," she said firmly. "Get up." She felt a twinge of guilt as she watched him. It really was a pitiful sight, but he was a father now and he had to act like one. She bent down to whisper into his ear. "Sorry about this, but you'll be thanking me later." And he was drenched in ice-cold water.

He let out a string of curses. "Silencio," she pointed her wand at him to silence him to avoid Avery from hearing him.

"Okay, okay, I'll get ready," he said, pulling out his wand to dry himself. "Gosh, sorry." As casual as his apology was, it certainly was a start. She was surprised at her leniency when it came to him, a few months ago, she wasn't quite sure if she could ever forgive him for his past. Understand, maybe, but forgive? That would be a longshot.

"So," Draco said sitting parallel to Professor Fletcher, leaned back nonchalantly into an armchair whilst she had placed her hand on her lap with her legs crossed politely. "Remind me why we are doing this- this thing?" He gestured between the two of them, the set-up of the chairs and the distance away from the other members of the class. Across the room was Hermione, Harry, Ron and their partners playing with their babies and chatting merrily with each other, clearly oblivious to the tense situation Draco was in.

"One-on-one discussion?" Fletcher offered and Draco nodded. "Well, Draco, may I call you Draco?" He obliged, but still felt uncomfortable with her casual use of his first name. "I think this is the best option for you to become the best foster-father and partner as possible. You have a lot of built-up negative emotions that will hinder your performance as Avery is under you and Miss Granger's care." Negative emotions. Draco scoffed. She didn't know the half of it.

"Remind me why Miss Granger and I are partnered, Professor?" he asked moodily. "You do know that my crazy aunt tortured her and I tormented her for years? I bet my wand that you have a file on me." The witch paled for a moment. It was true. The ministry did have a file on all ex-Death Eaters and they were under heavy surveillance. Registering her reaction, Draco let out a bitter laugh and continued. "It's not very pretty, is it? It's a miracle I was allowed back to Hogwarts, they ought to have my wand snapped in two, an Azkaban sentence was in the cards, too." That was a fact. The jury Draco faced after the end of the war was unforgiving and tough. It was only by a testamony by Harry, who felt he was indebted to Narcissa Malfoy, Hermione, and Ron, whose was said quite unwillingly, as well as the fact that he was a minor at the time. Thanks to them, he was mostly a free man.

Dodging his question, Fletcher smiled sweetly. "You're making good progress already," she said and continued to elaborate on her statement as she received a confused look from Draco. "You show remorse for your actions and this represents positive growth for you. You try to put all the blame on yourself when it wasn't your fault? You were just a boy, Draco. A boy who made a lot of wrong decisions."

"Well, I'm not a boy anymore," he said coldly. His heart twinged at the warm, nurturing energy Fletcher radiated. It was all too foreign too him, but he knew that he had to mimic this back to Avery. He had screwed up too many times in his life, and he was scared to do so again.

"I think that concludes it for this session, Draco," she said. "Go join Hermione and the others. Bond with your foster-child and the other parents." Draco wanted to throw up at how sweet she sounded. Bond? He turned to face her but was met with an unnervingly cold glare. "Stop acting like a child, go have a chat with the other students, and your partner."

"Yes, miss," he said begrudgingly, walking over reluctantly to the group where Hermione sat with Avery.

"Hey, Granger," he said, announcing his arrival. He felt embarrassed at how soft his voice sounded and Hermione's facial expression seemed to reflect the same thought.

"Oh, Malfoy," she said, her voice laced with a trace of hostility. He winced. She clearly hadn't forgiven him from the morning. "Go play with Avery. I'm going to use the loo." He took over her position and seated himself behind the infant receiving a nod of acknowledgement from the group. There was a moment of awkward silence before Ron spoke up.

"How's the hangover, Malfoy?" asked Ron suddenly, taking Draco by surprise. He groaned. The redhead had a smirk across his face to see the usually aloof Slytherin sporting a tired, dishevelled appearance.

"I trust that Granger told you about the events of this morning?" Draco said sheepishly. It certainly wasn't one of his finest moments.

"No, believe it or not," Ron replied with a small chuckle. "Have you seen yourself in a mirror yet, Malfoy? You look horrible." Draco couldn't agree more. Yet he thought it wasn't that noticeable. "And you reek of alcohol," Ron added.

"I've been through worse," Draco said with a shrug and then winced at how insensitive his statement sounded. He hoped it would go by unnoticed but Ron quickly replied.

"I think we all have, Malfoy," Ron snapped before going silent and focusing on playing with his baby. He had said Draco's last name with such loath and the atmosphere around the group was tense.

When it was finally time for the end of the lesson, Draco hadn't felt more grateful in his life to leave a classroom.

That afternoon, Draco found Hermione where she always was. The library. She had her face buried inside a thick Arithmancy book and a long piece of parchment sat on her desk.

Draco approached, pulling out the chair next to her to take a seat beside her. "What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, not even looking up from her book. "I'm busy right now."

"I'd like to apologise," he said plainly, his voice hinting his regret. "The state you found me in was highly inappropriate especially with an infant in my duty of care." Hermione seemed to consider his words for a moment.

"Is that all?"

"Umm… yes?" Draco replied, confused as to what more she wanted.

"You owe me an explanation as to why you treat Avery like a doll," she snapped, placing her book down to cross her arms angrily over her chest. "I've seen you with her, you're great, but you distance yourself. Avoid being near her. Is it because you're embarrassed over a baby?"

"No, definitely not, it's because…" Draco trailed off. He couldn't tell her.

"Because?" Hermione said, encouraging him to continue.

"I don't like babies," he said lamely, making it up on the spot. He knew that she didn't believe him, that she saw that he saw hiding something from her, but she just didn't know what.

"You don't like babies?" she questioned and he gave her a frantic nod.

"Great chat, Granger," he said picking up his bag in a hurry to leave. "See you later." And with that, he left.

Hermione sat there for a moment contemplating his words.

He was hiding something from her and she was determined to find out.

A/N: What did you think of this chapter? Leave a review! Also, any ideas what Draco's 'big secret' is? Leave a review of what you think. Am I that predictable? Let's hope not!

(P.S. Thank you for almost 100 followers. It's crazy to think that so many people have read my story and said 'damn, I want to keep reading this'.)

(P.P.S. Review? Please? Hehe. (; It'd be nice if you could. Mwah!)

Word Count: 1766 (I was going to stretch it to 2000, but it seemed a bit unnecessary. Whoops!)