Disclaimer: I do not own anything just the plot and the characters that are not included in the book.

Chapter 8

"Mama!" cried Isabella. She just saw her mother punch a blonde guy. "Why did you punch him?"

She didn't know her daughter was there. She hoped she didn't heard the things they were talking about, especially the Hello-I'm-your-father part. "Were you here the whole time?"

"No. Just now," she said, still wary of the guy who was lying on the floor.

'That was close' she thought, as she let out a sigh of relief. "Is something wrong?"

Isabella pointed to Malfoy, her face still surprised. She has never seen her mother punch someone that hard.

"Don't mind him, he deserves it. Come on, let's go back to the party," she said. Hermione took her daughter's hand and went outside before Ginny and the others started to look for her, leaving Malfoy lying on the ground with a bleeding nose.

After their not so very pleasant conversation, Pansy was officially having a bad day; this isn't exactly how she hoped her day would turn out to be. This is a wedding for goodness sake! Weddings are supposed to be fun, and it's supposed to be filled with happy people, but not for her. Her nose was flaring and her face was so red with anger. She was just so angry. 'How dare him! The nerve!' she thought as she took a sit, crossing her arms, still hating what happened earlier and dismissing the thought of looking for Ginny.

Lucky for her, Ginny saw her when she left the house, followed by Ron, who was looking pretty pissed too by his bruised face. She looked back at Pansy who was currently sending daggers at Ron's head with her eyes, and looked like she wanted to hex him all the way. She chuckled at the thought that they could be a couple, only if they would just stop bickering, they could be.

"Why do I have the feeling, that you and my brother just had a fight? And from the looks of it, you punched him?" she said, as she came up to her, raising her eyebrow. "Do tell why?"

Pansy was so intent to get her revenge, she didn't even notice nor heard Ginny. "Ginny! You're here! Where were you? Me, having a freaking bad day is all your fault! Why can't you just stay at one place? Damn it, do you know hard it was for me to find you with all this freaking red heads walking around here?"

"Um… Should I be apologizing then?" said Ginny, obviously amused.

"Yes!" cried Pansy.

"Why is that my fault? You're being the bitchy one" she said, chuckling at her.

"Stop smiling! I hate people smiling! And this is not freaking funny! I hate your brother! Argh!" Throwing her hands in frustration, Pansy continued. "I honestly want to throw this plate at him" her hands on the plate, actually thinking of doing it, and making it look like an accident.

"Oh please, tell me something I don't know, and put down the plate! We don't want any bloodshed" said Ginny, still amused. "Why are you so mad at him anyway?"

"He called me a bitch!"

"Well, you are a bitch"

"Ginny!"

"I mean, he did?" Trying to look like she cared, Ginny feigned a surprised expression. Seriously, every time they see each other, they fight.

"You're not helping; you're supposed to be on my side"

Ginny wasn't really listening anymore, at first she was, but then she saw Malfoy leave the house, the bleeding nose caught her attention. 'What is up with guys being punched today?' she thought. She assumed he was preparing to leave but looked like he was looking for someone. "You punched Malfoy too?" she asked Pansy.

"What?" cried Pansy, Ginny pointed to Malfoy and Pansy hurriedly went over to him, and brought him to their table. "What the hell happened to you?" she asked, as she cast a healing charm on his nose.

"Granger" he whispered. His head was still aching from the fall. 'That girl gave me one hell of a punch' he thought.

"What?" both women asked.

"Granger punched me"

Both women looked at each other, raising their eyebrows. "Well, you probably deserve it" Pansy simply said, forgetting about Ron.

The after-wedding was great; she was finally having a good time, now that Malfoy was gone. She took the time to enjoy herself, and at the same time be with her friends.

"Granger" someone caught her attention. It was Pansy.

"Parkinson"

"It's been years since I last saw you. How are you?" She said as she took a sip of her wine.

"I'm fine, it's good to be back" Hermione felt uncomfortable with Pansy's company. She felt like she knows something, and that bothers her.

"So, I heard you punched Malfoy? Yeah, he probably deserve it anyway"

She smiled at that.

"I saw your daughter; she's beautiful by the way"

"Thanks"

"And smart too. Just like her parents"

She almost choked. "Excuse me?" She definitely wants to run now!

Pansy came closer to her. "Don't act like you don't know what I mean" she said, almost a whisper.

"I don't know what you're talking about Parkinson, I have to go"

"Just call me Pansy"

"I'd rather not. Parkinson is fine"

"Anyway, does Potter know that Malfoy is the father?"

"Sorry?" she said, still trying to look like she doesn't know what she was talking about.

Hermione was now starting to irritate her. "Is Weasley's stupidity starting to spread around like some airborne disease? Seriously! Stop acting like you don't know what I mean, because you freaking know what I'm talking about, he told me the day you left him"

"What are you doing here? Why bother talking to me, it won't change anything"

"I didn't say it will. I just want to see how you've been, is that so bad?"

"Oh come on, we're not friends. Why do you care?"

"I care for Draco. And just, give him a chance to talk to you, to clear things with you and his daughter, he deserves to—"

"He doesn't deserve anything"

"Well he does deserve the punch but other than that, stop the drama and let me finish. He needs you Granger, he's a mess and he may not look like one, but inside he is. He needs you in his life and he needs his daughter too. I know at first he wanted you to give up your child, but he was still a kid back then, you have to understand Granger. He was scared of his father; he couldn't do anything that was the best he could think of at that time, it was the only he could keep you safe"

"I can take care of myself, and I'm sure as hell he doesn't need me. He have you. I'm sorry Pansy, I'm tired and I'm just thru with all this. I'm happy with my daughter right now, and she's all I need, nothing more" she said, as she started to leave.

"What about Draco? You know you love him"

"Loved; There's a difference" Sighing. "Look, if Malfoy is sorry, Fine, tell him I forgive him. Just leave us alone"

'Should I give up?' he kept asking himself, over and over again. He wanted to, he do. He wanted to forget about her and move on and just be happy. Even if he's a bastard, he still believes that he deserves to be happy. But every time he lets his mother set him up on a blind date, which at first he thought was a business meeting—but turns out it was a blind date—he finds himself comparing the girls to Hermione, and it doesn't usually ends well.

He still loves her, after all this years, the feelings were still alive. And he knew that he messed up, big time. But now that he found her, and when he saw his daughter, he asked himself, how could he let that happen, why did he let his father take over him, why didn't he followed her when she left, why didn't he fight for her, and for their daughter.

"I'm a coward and I'm sorry" he said to no one. He was sitting in his office, he's thoughts was too occupied with other things that he couldn't get back to work. He was holding the ring he was supposed to give to her. "I will get you back Granger, I will, even if it's the last thing I do"

"Well, if you really want her back, you have to make her stay first" said Pansy, casually leaning on the door.

"What the hell Pansy! You're here again?" He didn't know she was there. She kept popping up in his office the past few days, not leaving him alone, and definitely not giving him time to think.

"And yes you are a coward" she said, smiling at him.

"What are you doing here?" he said while putting the ring back on his drawer.

"Get up, get your coat, were going somewhere"

"Where?" raising his eyebrow.

"Do you trust me Draco?"

"I'm not sure…"

"Draco!" she snapped. Honestly. She doesn't have all day.

"Fine, I trust you. Where the hell are we going?" He said, as he stood up, and took his coat.

"We're going to get back your girl" Pansy spoke while wiggling her eyebrows in a comical way. "Hurry up, will you?"

"Since when did you become bossy?"

"Since now, damn it Draco. Hurry up!" He wasn't particularly sure what was wrong with this woman. Lately, she's been touchy and irritated.

"And since when did you have an attitude?" He was just really playing with her, trying to piss her off. It was her fault. She was the one who keeps coming back in his office uninvited.

"What the hell are we doing here?" He was in front of the house of the Weasley's and he's not exactly happy about it. He doesn't want another bleeding nose.

"Well, you want her back right?" she asked and he nodded yes. "Like I told you before, you have to make her stay first. Come on, it's time for redemption"

At first he hesitated and thought of just going back to his office and brood all day, but then he realized this was better and he didn't really have a choice because Pansy would just keep on nagging him about it, which was the last thing he wanted to happen. He told Pansy to go first and he'd follow afterward. He needed time to think about what he's going to say, and to protect his face, in case Hermione will punch her again.

He wandered around the Weasley's garden for a while and eventually spotted his daughter sitting on the tree. Indeed, she was a beautiful little girl. 'We did a good job' he thought, chuckling to himself. He looked around, and seeing that Hermione was nowhere to be found, he went over to her. He wouldn't need to say anything; he just wanted to be with her.

"Hi, can I seat here?" he asked.

"Okay." she shrugged.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Isabella Marie Granger"

"You've got a nice name"

"Thanks" she responded quietly.

"Aren't you going to ask for my name?" he queried, trying to get her attention.

"No"

'Snob' he thought. She vaguely reminded him of a small, arrogant, blonde boy named Draco Malfoy. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want to"

"Why?"

"If I ask you your name will you stop?"

"I might" he said smiling.

"Okay then" she said with a defeated sigh. "What's your name?" she asked, trying to smile.

"I'm Draco Malfoy" Smiling to her. He noticed they have the same eye color, she looked just like him, and it was stupid of Potter and Weasley, they didn't even notice it or they weren't just paying attention. Except for her hair, she got Hermione's brown bushy hair.

"Hey, you're the guy my mama punched? How's your nose?" she said, moving closer to him, taking a closer look at his nose.

Now he got her attention. "You were there when you're mother punched me? What did you hear?"

"Nothing, why?" crossing her arms, looking suspicious. For a young girl, she really is smart, she can easily tell when something is wrong, or when that something involves her.

"Never mind, So how old are you?"

"Three!" The girl almost squeaked while holding up three fingers for him to see. She spoke with a smile. "Oh, and this is Mister Snuggles." Isabella introduced her teddy bear.

"Hello Mister Snuggles, I'm pleased to meet you" he said, shaking the teddy bear's paw and making Isabella laugh.

She pressed her ear against her teddy bear, and giggled. "Mister Snuggles said, he's pleased to meet you too and that you look very nice and you're eyes are really pretty, just like mine," she said, beaming.

They were having fun; it wasn't that hard to talk to his daughter, like he thought it would be. It was actually nice and it's like he didn't want to stop. That is, until Hermione came and was surprised at what she saw.

Her daughter and Malfoy were talking and laughing. The picture was all wrong. "Isabella Marie Granger! Get inside this instant!"