Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N- Sorry for the long wait. I am currently juggling two jobs and college all together.

Draco Malfoy woke up on a squishy couch, his limbs cramped awkwardly, a vicious kink on his neck.

Rubbing his eyes groggily, he surveyed his surroundings. He didn't remember much about last night but he did know that he was in Hermione's apartment and that she had let him spend the night, perhaps taking pity on his drunken state. It would all come back to him soon enough, he knew, but for now he settled on exploring the small home in which Hermione Granger lived.

It was quite dark. The only hint of the breaking daylight was the faint white glow against the curtains. It was a modest dwelling, with two rooms, a kitchen and a living room in the centre. He now walked towards a closed door, somehow knowing that this was Hermione's bedroom.

Turning the knob, he entered on tiptoe, his eyes detecting the sleeping form of Hermione tucked under layers of blankets. His head screamed to him that he shouldn't be here, that this was dangerous territory. But the need to be with her was too strong. The ache in his heart was too strong to ignore. Merlin, how he had wronged her!

Making up his mind, he went up to her bed and sat, leaning over her.

Eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness, he studied her troubled face, the restless movements of her head, and the occasional sounds of discomfort that issued from her. Sleep was not her friend, Draco deduced. Something behind her eyes was giving her hell and he wanted to pull her away from it and tell her everything was alright. That she was no longer alone.

She moaned painfully, clutching at the blankets, her hands taut and fisted. Draco groaned at her pain and swore under his breath.

"Fuck everything!"

He slipped under the covers swiftly and took her trembling body in his arms. She was cold. So cold. He rubbed her back frantically whispering Merlin knew what in her ears. He snuggled her face deeper into his chest feeling her breathing even out a little. He continued to stroke her hair and felt his own body now responding to such nearness. Because hell it had been so damned long! He had gone five years without that soft skin, that sweet smell, that god awful, gorgeous hair that he could not resist to this day. He had gone five years without her heart, dammit!

Her small hand slowly wound itself around his waist and her legs tangled with his. Unknowingly, she pressed closer to him, still in deep sleep. Her hands tightened around him almost painfully, as if she was holding on for dear life. And then she cried out.

"Ethan baby please don't go. Mommy is so sorry…"

Draco stiffened. She was still dreaming. She was dreaming about her child! He had to see. Fuck he had to see.

He reached between their bodies to pull out his wand from his pocket. Then, joining foreheads with her, Draco muttered a spell, "somnium iunctus"

***

He hurtled down a tunnel of darkness and found him self in an endless green meadow where the sky was ablaze with the setting sun.

And then he saw. A sight that chilled him to the bones. A sight that warmed his blood to the point that he started to feel infinitely uncomfortable in his own body.

Hermione with a little boy of about six squirming in her arms. A boy who was a spitting image of him expect for the brown eyes. They hadn't noticed his arrival yet. The little boy looked indignant about something, a little scowl evident on his face.

"You said you would tell daddy. You promised, mommy. I want daddy to come see me and play with me." said the high pitched voice of the child.

Draco staggered with the force of emotions that hit him. That little boy. It was his son. His son who wanted his father. And badly. There was genuine sadness in the voice and disappointment. No wonder Hermione had been so restless.

Throwing away all caution, Draco walked towards the pair. Hermione was trying to placate the boy, saying in an almost sobbing voice, "I am so sorry baby. But I couldn't. I am so afraid…"

Upon seeing him, Ethan pointed excitedly, "Mommy, look!"

Hermione glanced up, an almost desperate relief showing on her face as she recognized him. "Thank Merlin!" he heard her mutter. Ethan broke free from his mother's arms and bounded towards Draco, throwing his little body into bigger arms and placed a noisy kiss on Draco's cheek. Finally Ethan buried his face into his father's neck and breathed, "Daddy, you came!"

Heart lodged in his throat, Draco murmured, "Yes, son, sorry it took me so long…"

And Hermione did something that Draco knew she never would have done had she known that the real Draco Malfoy, not a figment of her imagination, had penetrated her dream. Hermione walked towards the father and son and embraced both in a three way hug. Tears of joy fell down her eyes. A family had been united at last.

***

The sound of music. So heart wrenching, so pristine, so tender. It called to her from that vulnerable place between sleep and consciousness. It seemed to pull out all the sadness in her heart, tugging at her pain, stealing her tears to convert them and release them to that flood of melody. Caught between the world of dreams and reality, Hermione let the music claim her mind, engulf her brain, give her the peace that she hadn't known in years. She felt a pang in her heart, a sudden jolt of electricity shooting down her body.

Gently, the notes allowed her to float into consciousness. It was almost noon, judging by the light against her window. She did not usually sleep in late on Saturdays. But today…

The dream. It had been so strange, so wonderful, she thought. And it had left her longing and aching.

The tunes were even more beautiful now. Earthly and melancholy. Surely the player was very sad. The music seemed to have been ripped out from a soul and was carrying the pieces in the melody.

Who could be playing it?

Then she realized.

Piano. Her mother's piano. Last night. Draco Malfoy!

Hermione jumped down from bed, frantically donning on a robe and rushing out of her bedroom. Events of the previous night came tumbling to her mind.

***

"Hey Hermione, some of us girls are going to that new bar at Leaky Cauldron. Want to come?" asked Marla Hopkins.

Hermione continued to gather up papers and files, getting ready to go return to her home.

"I am sorry, Marla, but I have some work I need to catch up on

"Hermione, come on! It's a Friday night. Give yourself a break." Insisted her colleague.

"I really can't. Thanks for the offer though." Hermione said politely but firmly. Marla Hopkins shrugged and walked away.

Hermione sighed. She could have accepted the offer really. But she just didn't feel like being with gossipy co workers at a loud and crowded bar. She would much rather curl up with a book on a couch at home or watch an old Jane Austen movie. This was exactly what she intended to do when she got back home.

She found Draco Malfoy sitting outside her door, eyes red, a half empty bottle of firewhisky in hand, as she approached. His hair was messier than she had ever seen it. His knuckles were bloody as if he had been knocking on the door endlessly for hours.

Hermione glanced at the sight before her coldly. Something in her stirred which she convinced herself to be merely fury at finding him outside her doorstep like this. How dare he? After the way he had treated her?

When she stood directly before him, he finally looked up and then hurriedly scrambled on his feet. He swayed and instinctively, Hermione clutched his arm to balance him.

"Hermione…" he said, his voice slurred and husky, "talk to me. Please..."

"Go away, Malfoy." Hermione snapped. She turned to unlock the door. Once inside, it took everything for her to slam the door shut on Draco's pleading face.

She heard him drop down on the floor again and his head thud as it went back to rest against the door. Heaving as if she had run miles, Hermione walked to her bedroom. Why was this so hard? She had had five years of containing every known emotion. Draco Malfoy had no business churning up any dead feelings again.

After changing into her pajamas, Hermione went to make the sandwich that usually sufficed as dinner. She plopped down on her couch, turning on the television and the DVD of an old Pride and Prejudice series. Time to time, she caught her eyes wandering to the front door. She knew he was still out there. She just knew it.

Well past midnight, Hermione sighed and walked to the door once again and opened it. Draco fell back tumbling inside her living room as the support of the door was taken away from his back. She watched as he silently picked himself up and then handed him a toast and coffee.

"Eat," she ordered. "You can sleep in the couch. Tell me what ever you have to, tomorrow."

Without a second glance behind, Hermione turned to walk away to her bedroom and shut the door a bit gently this time.

***

Hermione found him in the small store room where she kept a few belonging of her parents' as reminders. This included her mother's old piano that Hermione had draped with a white cloth five years ago when she had first moved to the apartment and had not even peeked at all these years. But now, the piano seemed to have come to life under the ministrations of Draco Malfoy.

The expression on his face was intense. Much too focused so that the sight of him was mesmerizing to behold. She did not dare interrupt.

Once he had finished the music on an even darker note than what he had started with, Malfoy kept staring at the keys as if hypnotized. After a while, he turned heavy lidded eyes on her and still said nothing.

Finally, Hermione burst out, "What do you want from me, Malfoy?"

***

What did he want, really? Why had he come to her? Draco had no clue anymore. It was not like there was anything more hidden for him. Potter had told him pretty much everything.

"You have got a nice piano here, Granger." He commented instead of answering her question.

"Thank you. It was my mother's." She replied politely. "Where did you learn to play like that, Malfoy?"

"It's an important part of the high society so of course my mother bullied me into taking lessons since I was eight." He said.

"Of course. Well, if you don't having anything else to say to me, you may leave."

Draco chose to ignore that too. "It's too late for breakfast. I will make you a brunch."

"Really, Malfoy, I think you should leave."

He shouldered past her to kitchen.

Potter had been right, thought Draco as he gathered dishes and food. Nothing in the world would have hinted the pain that Hermione Granger was hiding beneath that cold, nonchalant exterior. He would never have believed the extent of her hurt if he hadn't seen her dream. She had to be hurting it that was kind of world she had locked herself up in.

And he loved her, dammit. He could not lie to himself anymore by saying that he didn't. He loved her and bloody hell he would put her right again if it took everything he had.

She accepted the meal he offered her in silence, her eyes empty holes that betrayed no thought, no emotion.

Draco sat down on the chair beside her, his frustration growing by the second. He could not allow her to be so clam and unaffected when he was all frazzled up inside. Anger churned up in him now. Anger at himself for not trying to find out the truth, at her for hiding the truth form him and at life for throwing them into such circumstances. Hundred thoughts and regrets raced through his mind, building up into a fire that ate away at him; until the need to find some sort of relieve because something of a necessity.

Pushing his plate away, Draco grabbed Hermione by the shoulders turning her to face him. She looked startled but once he caught her eyes in his own, she too was unable to tear herself away. Pulling her face dangerously close to his, Draco said fiercely, "What are you thinking. Tell me what you are thinking, dammit. I can't read you anymore…"

When he received no reply and just a blank stare, the animal in him took over. He could no longer bear the closeness of her lips or her smell that he could almost taste. In one movement, he crushed his lips to Hermione's.

***

Thank you for reading. Pease review!

A/N- somnium iunctus is Latin for dream and joining together respectively.