Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other recognizable characters.

A/N: I hope this chapter clears up some questions readers had. It does get a little...steamy. Proceed with caution.

Chapter 19

HERMIONE
Present

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was the quietest Hermione could ever remember seeing it before. Of course the last time she remembered being in the shop was when it had been new and a joint venture. She swallowed against the lump in her throat as she thought of Fred and pushed forward, smiling to herself at the shelves lined with products. It was close to closing time and Diagon Alley itself had begun to thin out which left the light from the outside shining inside the shop and she would be lying if she said it wasn't one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. Her fingertips ran over the tops of the nearby displays, taking in the bright colors that seemed to gleam in the moonlight as she read their names; puking pastilles, nosebleed nougats, forgetful figs, bruising bonbons, and- Hermione's personal favorite- seasick sweeties.

"See something you like?" Hermione whirled around at the voice as George winked at her exaggeratedly and she clutched at her heart. "Sorry, didn't mean to give you a fright. It's good to see you."

"You too," she smiled as the man came around to give her a tight hug. "I thought- well, Draco had said-"

George feigned a pout and shook his head, "and here I thought I was the only man you'd come to see… he's in the back."

Hermione chuckled and allowed George to lead her towards the back of the store as she continued to take in the sights, "You've expanded."

"We have. Have to thank your husband for a lot of that, the man could rub two sickles together and make ten galleons-"

Hermione smiled at the thought, "I'm glad, I mean after Fred-"

She trailed off, her eyes widening at her own thoughtlessness and she bit down on her tongue to keep herself from rambling anymore.

George turned then, a smile on his face, "You know, Freddie liked you. Always said you were too good for our brother. I know it's new for you Hermione. We've had years to deal with it and you're just now getting there. It's okay to talk about him, I don't mind."

"Mind what? 'Mione?" Draco asked, appearing out of the back room.

"Hi, yes. Sorry, I hope you don't mind. I wasn't much for working at the moment and you had said-"

"Yes, I mean, no. I'm glad you're here," Draco smiled and she couldn't help but return the gesture as George let out a low, playful whistle.

"Go on you two, I'll close up here by myself."

Draco smirked as he reached up to rub the back of his neck and Hermione could see the faint pink tint that crept across his cheeks.

"Oh, and don't forget to grab some of the skiving snackbox line. If this year's party is anything like last you might need one to get away from Mum." Draco laughed at that and George clapped him on the back, "Good to see you 'Mione, come 'round more often. I could always use a pretty face around here… just don't tell Angelina I said that."

Hermione rolled her eyes as the man disappeared into the backroom once more and Draco gestured, holding his arm out to her, "Shall we?"

She nodded, stepping forward to slide her arm into his and ignoring the feeling of belonging it seemed to resonate within her as they walked toward the front of the store. Draco plucked a box off the shelf and handed it to her, "He wasn't kidding about last year; we might need this."

"What happened last year?"

Draco sighed, "Ron showed up plastered and Molly took the mickey out of him. Ginny and Harry had a row and George ended up setting off the fireworks just to get everyone to calm down. Only, he had grabbed the wrong container and it ended up setting the kitchen on fire."

Hermione gasped, "It didn't!"

"It did," Draco laughed, "It's a right laugh now but then…"

"Poor Molly."

"Poor George. I don't think he's still recovered for that particular talking to from Molly or Angelina."

Hermione smiled up at him as they walked arm in arm through the streets of Diagon alley, "You get along with them well."

He pursed his lips then, but nodded, looking down to his feet as though his expensive leather shoes had just become the most fascinating thing in the world.

"Afterwards-"he began after a moment and Hermione didn't need to ask what he was talking about. "it was like I was sleepwalking. I mean, I had a friend or two I spent time with but most of my time was spent in the manor with my mother. When I met you things changed and it wasn't easy, it was damn hard actually but somehow they accepted me. Welcomed me even. We're lucky to have them. I'm lucky to have them."

Hermione felt her lips pull up at his last words as he stared down at her intently, because somehow she knew he wasn't just talking about the Weasley-Potter families.

"Kiss me?" she asked suddenly, her voice low and commanding.

He didn't need to be asked twice.

DRACO
PAST

He was a coward.

Of course that was something he had known for a long while.

But just then, as he sat on the dirty floor of the ministry, hidden behind a mail cart in the dark recesses of Hermione's office, he couldn't think of a time when he had been any more cowardly.

Ron Weasley had just admitted-to a room full of aurors no less- that he had closed out a case in the hopes that some faceless vigilante would do him in. He should be fighting tooth and nail to find out who was behind the attacks and to see the ginger oaf get what was coming to him. Instead he was hiding, his eyes red and burning. He was tired; tired of fighting. Tired of trying to restore something that had never really belonged to him in the first place. The Malfoy name was far too tainted now, too clouded by the misdeeds of his father's choices. He was tired of trying to carve a place for himself in the shadow of his father's reputation.

"Draco?" He smirked woefully to himself as Hermione's voice filled the confines of his solitude. Of course she would find him, brightest witch of their age indeed, "Draco, I know you're in here, you broke the wards on my door."

He groaned softly and finally tilted his head back to rest on the wall behind him, "Here," he finally said gruffly and soon she had slid in beside him, her back resting against the wall as she slid down to rest beside him.

He jumped slightly as he felt her hand, searching for his and her fingers laced through his, squeezing as they sat in silence.

"He's right you know," Draco said finally after a moment.

"Draco-"

"People died Granger," he snapped lowly, his thoughts going back to that night on the astronomy tower; the night that felt like lifetimes ago. The night that had cemented his fate.

"Draco-" she started again but he shook his head, pulling his hand from hers and leaning forward, running his long fingers through his hair roughly.

"People died. Dumbledore, Fred Weasley, Lavender Brown, people I grew up with, people who cared about me. They died and I didn't do anything to stop it."

She was up then, pulling his hands from his hair as she sat on her knees before him, and he could see a small light coming from the tip of her wand, now discarded on the floor beside them.

"Draco, look at me," she said sternly and he was loathe not to listen to her, "you made mistakes but you were a child. We were all children and we had far too much thrust upon us. What I said before, that our scars don't define us, I meant that Draco. Your scars are no less important than mine just because of how you got them, it's what you did with it after and what you do with it now that matters."

She was looking at him with so much intensity that he could almost feel the heat of her gaze. He reached up then, his fingers tracing the smooth line of her jaw and he slowly ran his finger along it. He waited, for her to pull away, to push him away as she had done before. Instead she closed her eyes, her own hand coming up to cover his as she leaned into his touch.

It was her this time. That moved forward, capturing his lips with her own and he didn't think twice as he pulled her down, her knees straddling his lap as he deepened the kiss.

He knew he should stop.

He didn't.

As she ran her fingers through his hair and her fingers found the button on his trousers he knew it wasn't right but the small part of him that was screaming to stop was drowned out by the overwhelming heat that was burning him alive from the inside out.

He reached between them, pushing her knickers to the side as soon as she had freed his cock and he pulled her down on him, letting out a deep, guttural moan as he filled her.

They moved together, setting a rhythm naturally as if they had been made for each other and the heat continued to sear him with each thrust into her. Her fingernails raked across his scalp, her lips trailing up and down the sharp angle of his jaw as his fingernails dug half circles into her hip bones until the all-consuming fire reached a head and he felt himself come undone as her walls tightened around him and together they came, their breaths evening out as they rested their foreheads together.

"I didn't-" he started quietly, clearing his throat, "That's not how I wanted that to happen."

She bit her lip, a tear falling from the corner of her deep brown eye and he reached up to cup her cheeks, wiping it away gently as she sighed, "me either."

A soft knocking at the door pulled them apart and Hermione closed her eyes, "That'll be Harry."

Draco nodded as she pulled herself off of him and she quickly used her wand to clean them both up as she righted her skirt and he tucked himself back into his trousers and rose to his feet.

She started to the door and he followed but just as she reached it, she turned, reaching up to press her lips once more to his, "I don't regret it."

And despite everything, he was smiling as they left the room.

HERMIONE
Present

Hermione was still smiling as they arrived back at the manor with a gift for James that Draco had assured her would be appropriate and well received by the little boy. It had taken them both nearly half an hour to pick out the toy quidditch pitch that had real working lights and sound. It was magicked to look like the stands were full and the crowd cheered whenever one team would make a goal. Draco only slightly looked guilty as he bought the Holyhead Harpies arch rivals to go along with it and Hermione was sure Ginny would give him an earful but she just couldn't bring herself to care as he kept sneaking kisses in.

She had held his hand as they walked through the toy store, ignoring the glances that seemed to follow them and for what it was worth, Draco seemed oblivious to the onlookers as he leaned down to kiss the side of her lips or moved her hair to place one along her neck, sending shivers down her spine.

She would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't entirely too turned on, her body reacting to the ministrations as though she had been starved for them.

Now, as she sat perched on the edge of the counter in the Malfoy kitchen, her legs dangling over the side as she sipped on a glass of wine, she could say that she had never seen a better sight as she watched Draco flit around the kitchen, making spaghetti Bolognese.

"Mum should be back with the children soon," he said, meeting her gaze over his shoulder as he stirred in some garlic to his sauce and then used his pinky to taste it. He nodded once and washed his hands before grabbing a spoon and bringing a taste to her lips.

She hummed in approval as the blend of spices danced on her tongue and he smirked at her knowingly as a blush rose up her cheeks and she took a large sip of her wine.

"So, where did you learn to cook?" she finally asked, watching as he used his wand to charm a knife to cut a loaf of French bread and he turned to her, leaning against the counter opposite her.

"Would you believe me if I told you Molly taught me?"

Hermione snickered as the idea of the matronly Weasley bossing Malfoy around her kitchen flitted through her head and the man across from her quirked his brow.

"Yes, it's exactly as you're imagining."

She laughed out loud then, tipping her head back as Draco stepped forward between her legs, his palms resting against her thighs, the heat from his touch burning through her muggle jeans and she sobered up at the feeling as he leaned in to kiss her timidly on the lips.

She leaned into him, sighing against his lips as he deepened the kiss, his hand entwining in the curls at the nape of her neck before he finally pulled away.

"I've missed this," he breathed and Hermione nodded as he pulled away to pick up his wand and turned back to his cooking.

"So," Hermione started after a moment, "You said before that you would tell me about the house elves…"

She saw Draco stiffen ever so slightly before he turned to her once more and nodded, "I was talking to Harry and we thought maybe you should read of it instead. I mean, if the healers are right reading your own writing might ensure that your memories aren't modified. It's a good bloody thing you insisted we keep them all. They're in the study."

Hermione sucked her teeth, "I never thought I would say this but good idea Malfoy."

He rolled his eyes at her as she slid off the counter and grabbed her wine glass, her feet carrying her through the halls of the manor and towards the study. She smiled to herself as she entered the room, unable to resist the urge to run her fingers over the spines of the books on the shelves as she breathed in the scent of her husband that seemed forever present in the room.

She found the row of black bound books easily, blinking back the tears that threatened at her lashes as she thought of the first book. Her father handing it to her while she stood on the platform at King's Cross, ready to leave for her new life. The life she had never known she wanted.

She pulled out the first book, flipping through the pages quickly as a frowned settled over her lips and she set the book down on Draco's desk. The second book was the same, and the third, and the fourth and she began to feel a pool of dread growing in her stomach.

"'Mione?" she turned to see Draco looking at her worriedly, Lyra on his hip, "What's wrong?"

"Draco, these aren't my books."

A/N: Everyone read The Cursed Child? I'm still debating on if I want to. Help a girl decide!