Disclaimer- As much as I wished, I do not own Harry Potter. Unfortunately they belong to the creative genius, JK Rowling.

I Am SOOOOO SORRY that it's been a while since I've updated. Once vacation ended, life decided to come crashing back, and loading me with a lot of busy work.

Chapter 4- Our Daughter

Hermione sipped her coffee, watching Blaise from behind the rim. "Because of you, Hermione, we all changed for the better. I know that sounds a bit cheesy, but it's so true. Without you, Draco, Pansy and I could be in Azkaban right now. Since you left though, we've been seeing bits and pieces of the old Draco coming back." Blaise whispered.

Hermione's eyes snapped open. Sitting up, she frustratedly threw the covers aside. She was having nightmares about the war again. She stood up, walked out of her room. Walking down the hall, passing by the many rooms of her fellow eighth years, she stopped in the common room, surprised by its lone occupant. "Harry, why are you still up?"

Harry looked up from his spot on the floor besides the coffee table. He held up a piece of parchment. "Slughorn's assigned another crazy potions essay." He explained and looked all around him. "I guess I was so engrossed in this that I never noticed that everyone else left."

"I know the feeling." She smirked

"Why are you up?"

Hermione pointed to the spiral staircase that led up to the private astronomy tower reserved just for their dorm. "Just needed some fresh air."

Harry stood up and walked towards her. "Are you having nightmares, too?" He asked worriedly. She just simply nodded. "You know if you need to talk, I'm always right here."

Hermione kissed him on the cheek. "Of course I do. Thank you. Now finish up your essay. I just need time to clear my head and I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"Mhm. I'll talk to you tomorrow." She said, giving his hand a squeeze, before walking up the spiral staircase. She opened the door, only to stop mid-step.

Draco whipped around as soon as he heard the door creak open behind him. "What are you doing here, Granger?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was in here."

"Well now you know, so you can leave." he snapped

Hermione glared at him, closing the door behind her. "Wait a minute. This tower is available to any eighth years whenever they wish. Don't act like I don't have the right to be here. You can not just force me out!"

Draco clenched his fists. "Fine,, then I'll leave."

As he was about to walk past her, she saw glistening streaks down his cheeks. "You've been crying" she whispered, shocked.

She felt herself being slammed against the wall behind her, a heavy weight caging her. Draco put his hands on either side of her head, looking down at her menacingly. "You are to tell no one of this" He murmured in a dangerous tone.

Hermione froze as her eyes locked with his. She studied them, and saw someone sad, and lost, and he was trying to hide behind this tough mask. Realization came to her. He was just as affected by this war as her, and the others. He had fought with them on the light side. The dark side must see him as a traitor, and the light side is still suspicious of him and still sort blames him for Dumbledore's death. The only people she could think of that he had were his mom, Blaise and Pansy. Everyone else pretty much shunned him. With all that, his father was recently given the Dementor's Kiss. He was having just as a hard time as she was, maybe even more. She has all these friends by her side, he hasn't much.

What Hermione did next surprised the both of them. She wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. She felt him tense and dropped his arms to his side, catching him off guard. "W-what do you think you're doing, Granger?" He stammered.

"I'm comforting you, silly." She murmured onto his robe. "It's okay to rely on others for this kind of thing, you know. You shouldn't go through this alone."

Draco chuckled lightly, dropping his head onto Hermione's shoulder. This was the last thing he expected from her, trying to comfort him. He sighed, and then inhaled deeply, taking in her scent and touch. This did make him feel better. She felt his shoulders start to shake, and she held on tighter.

Hermione shook her head at the memory. She looked up and saw the two boys staring at her. "What?"

"You wandered off" Harry replied.

"Sorry, just thinking." Hermione tried to push the memory away, but it stuck in her mind.

"We know." Blaise chuckled. "You always get that far away look when you're thinking."

The three heard a pop come from the next room. Hermione stood up, followed by the boys. "Pansy's home"

"Mummy!" A voice cried out as the three of them entered the living room.

Hermione crouched down, and opened her arms wide as the little girl ran towards her. "Baby-girl, I missed you." She wrapped her arms around Ara's small body. She looked up to greet Pansy, but froze as she looked at the blonde man staring back at her. She gently nudged Ara towards Harry, and a shocked Blaise. "Harry, can you take her upstairs, please?"

"I-I'll go with you" Blaise stuttered. "Pansy, I think you should come with."

Hermione watched as the door closed behind Pansy, leaving her alone with Draco.

"Is she mine?" he immediately asked as soon as they were alone.

"No" She replied flatly.

Draco's eyes flared. "Don't you dare fucking lie to me!"

"She's not yours"

"She has my hair, my eyes. Her age; it adds up. You're the mother! Do you sleep with a lot of blonde haired, grey eyed guys, Granger?"

"No!" she snapped

"Then like hell she's not my daughter!" he yelled

"Alright, fine! Ara is your daughter, but that doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter? I'm her father. She is partly mine! It matters!"

"No!"

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you in my life, and that means I don't want you in hers."

"Aren't you being a bit selfish?"

"You can't take her away from me!" she screeched

"Who said I was taking her away? You're the one who's keeping her away from me! Why'd you keep her from me?" Draco asked desperately

"In order for me to keep you out of my life, I have to keep you out of hers." Hermione whispered

"Why do you want me out? You left. What did I do wrong? I love you, and you know that. Tell me what I did wrong"

The thought of Ginny floated into her head. "Get out."

"No!" he said firmly

"Get out! Get out, get out, get out!" She screamed.

"Fine, but I'll come back. I'll come back for Ara. I'm going to get partial custody of her. You're not going to keep me from my daughter."

"She's my daughter!"

"No, she's our daughter, and I swear to God I will be part of her life." He promised before apparating away. She heard a faint "I'll come back for you, too, Hermione" as he disappeared before her eyes.

"AAAHHH!" Hermione cried, using her wand to send a vase to fly and smash on the spot he was just standing in.

Please, please, please review. I will try my best to upload as soon as possible. I feel like I have more open space in my schedule so so i will have more time to write. Thanks for the past reviews. Please keep reviewing!