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

Chapter 9

The sight of Malfoy and her daughter talking and laughing together, it made her blood boil to the extent. She dismissed the thought that for a moment, it felt right and she kept focusing on feeling angry; it was much easier and less complicated.

It was exactly one of the main reasons she didn't want to go back. Second was, she was scared and she wouldn't deny it.

She was scared that her daughter would know that she lied to her and that she'll hate her.

She was scared that her friends will know the truth and they'll hate her too.

She was scared that Malfoy would take her daughter away from her.

And she was scared that when she sees Malfoy, she'll start to feel how she felt back for him when they were still at school. She didn't want to go through that again, no matter how happy she felt back then, despite of hiding it from her friends.

Malfoy knows how to handle her; he knows what to say to calm her down. She remembered when he was being a jerk; she still couldn't help but like him more.

"Malfoy! What do you think you're doing?" cried Hermione as she approached the two of them.

"I uh… We were just talking and playing. Don't take this out on her. It was my fault" Malfoy said, slowly backing away from her just in case.

Hermione looked down to see her daughter was still there, frowning at the two of them. "Isabella what are you waiting for? Go inside, NOW!"

"Granger! I told you not to take it out on her!"

"You're not the boss of me Malfoy!" she said while crossing her arms.

Isabella now had tears in her eyes, scared that her mother is angry at her when she didn't do anything bad. Malfoy wiped her tears and told her to just follow her mother and go inside. And that they'll just talk and they'll play again later. He wanted to hug his daughter but chose not to, since Hermione was looking like she's ready to kill him if he takes another step near his daughter.

"I told you to leave Malfoy, don't you get it?" she said. Now she felt like crying too. He's just too stubborn.

He grabbed her arm and pinned her to the tree, towering his body over her so she wouldn't get away. "I'm sorry Hermione, I really am" He whispered to her. "How many times do I have to tell you that? Please Hermione, please"

She didn't dare to look at those gray bluish eyes. "Let me go Malfoy" she said pushing him away from her but he was just too strong. She looked anywhere but his eyes, she glanced at his lips, bad idea.

"I did that and look what happened to me"

"Your loss, not mine" Crossing her arms.

"I won't let you go unless you forgive me" Malfoy said, still not letting go of her.

"In time I will, I'm not ready to forgive you. You haven't earned it yet"

"Oh come on! I let you break my nose, isn't that enough? And I told you I'm sorry a hundred times!" Malfoy said, honestly he was tired from all this and he just want to get this over with and spend time with Hermione and his daughter already.

Hermione simply said, "Patience is a virtue Malfoy."

"Patience is never a virtue to me, it never was. And you know it"

"Malfoy…"

"Just let me spend time with her, I want to know everything about her. No matter how much you deny it, you can't change that fact that I'm her father"

"I can't, we're leaving tomorrow" She said.

"Just stay here, work here if you want. You'll have a great future here"

"I can't do that. My mother is alone there, I can't just leave her"

"Tell her to stay here, live with you here. She'll love this place and I'll buy you a house if I have to, I wouldn't mind, just stay here. Please" He's already running out of ideas to make her stay.

"I can't just leave my life there Malfoy"

"And I miss you." He said as he rests his head against her forehead. "I miss you so much. Please stay" He lifted her chin so she would look at him, to see that he's sorry and he meant everything he said.

No matter how much she denies it, she still loves him. He was leaning closer, slowly closing the gap between them, his eyes on her lips and for a moment she didn't care about the world as she closed her eyes and waited for his kiss…

Ehem!

Her eyes flew open as she looked over Malfoy's shoulder. "Harry! It's not what you think!"

"Nice Potter, you just ruined the moment. I hate you" He was so close! Why does Potter have to ruin everything for him?

"Trust me Malfoy, the feeling is mutual" He said as he raised his eyebrow at Hermione. "Would you like to come in? Seeing you two have some explaining to do."

Pansy came inside the house to find that she seemed to be surprisingly alone. She called out for someone but no one answered her. She tried again, and to her dismay it was a wet Ron who heard her. 'Great! Just the person I needed to see' she said looking at his body and cursing herself for doing it.

"Oh, it's only you. You just ruined my shower" He was only wearing a towel and as much as Pansy hates it, she can't help but admire his body. Quidditch definitely did some good in his body. "Like what you see?" Ron said, smirking.

"You wish!" she turned around so he wouldn't see her blush. She felt like a teenage girl all over again, and he's the handsome, sexy popular guy that every girl wants. She felt stupid.

"I'll be back, I'll just get dressed"

Her back was to him so she didn't see him smile.

"You can look now" he said, still amused by her. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm looking for Ginny-"

"Again?"

She ignored that. "I thought I'd visit her. I got bored at my place. Where is everybody anyway?" Pansy asked as she looked around the room.

"She's not here and so is everybody." He said taking a seat in the couch.

She nodded at that, taking the opposite couch. She didn't really know what to say to him next.

Ron stared at her and he noticed that she's not bad looking at all. She's actually beautiful even if she is a bitch sometimes. "I'm sorry" he whispered, suddenly finding the carpet interesting.

"What?" Pansy asked, frowning at him.

"Don't make me say it again. I know you heard it the first time"

"Will I ask you if I heard it?" She said, crossing her arms. She could feel her body tense again.

"I said I'm sorry" He said more clearly than the last.

"Sorry for what?" She asked again.

"Pansy" Ron said, Pansy just looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "Sorry for the things I said at Ginny's wedding. I wouldn't say I didn't mean it because I do. I just thought that I didn't have any rights to say those things to you"

She nodded at him. "Ok"

He did his part now it was her time to do hers. "Are you going to apologize any time now?"

"What am I, crazy? No way! You deserve that punch"

'Bitch' he thought, but not really meaning it.

Suddenly Isabella came in, looking sad and upset. Ron hurriedly took her and sat her in his lap. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Isabella didn't answer she just sat there and sighed.

"What's up with her?" Pansy asked, feeling curious.

Isabella then looked up to see who that was. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Pansy" she said giving her a small smile.

Isabella got off Ron's lap and moved closer to her. "Are you Uncle Ron's girlfriend?"

"Oh no, Merlin, no, no, I'm not his girlfriend" She suddenly felt she needed some air.

"You talk funny Miss Pansy"

Ron stifled a laugh and Pansy just glared at him.

"Say Miss Pansy, do you know Mr. Draco?"

"How did you know I know him?" Pansy asked suddenly surprised at her.

Isabella smiled. "Just a feeling, so do you?"

"Yes, I'm his friend. Why do you ask?"

"Do you know why my mama is mad at him? She was glaring at him when I left" said Isabella suddenly looking sad again.

'She's not supposed to be glaring at him!' she thought, worried that Draco might end up with another broken nose. "No honey, she's just upset at him because she missed him so much" Even Pansy thought that was a lame excuse. "They were such good friends at school"

"What the fuck are you talking about Pansy?" Ron said forgetting that Isabella was there.

Pansy had to smack him in the head to remind him there's a kid in the room.

Isabella finding it amusing decided to try what Ron said. "Yeah Miss Pansy" she said, putting her hands in her hips. "What the fuck are you talking about?" she said giggling at the last part.

Pansy just glared at Ron who, like Isabella found it amusing. "Look what you did, you can be so stup-dense sometimes" she said, choosing her words carefully.

"Remind me not to hire you both as babysitters." Hermione said as she sat by the chair. "You two are the worst" She was followed by Harry and Draco who doesn't have a broken nose-which is good news, but he wasn't really looking happy either.

"Sorry about that. So Draco," she said, looking at him. "Did you talk to her about, you-know-who, about the you-know-what?"

Hermione just chose to bury her face in her hands, waiting for this to be all over.

Ron just frowned at her. "Pansy, what the fu-"

Again, Pansy smacked him in the head.

"Frog! I was going to say, Pansy watch the frog!" cried Ron moving away from her.

Now it was Isabella who was confused. "Frog?" she whispered to herself. Thinking that it doesn't make any sense. "Watch the frog? Uncle Ron!" She called him. "Is that code for what the fuck?" she whispered to him but Draco accidentally heard what she said.

Draco looked at her daughter, and then to Ron. "Weasley! What have you been teaching to my daughter?"

Both Harry and Ron looked at him, then to Hermione and then to Isabella. Draco didn't mean to say it out loud, it just slipped.

"BEDTIME!" Hermione quickly stood up, taking Isabella with her and ran up the stairs leaving two wide-eye men staring back at her and Pansy smirking.

She is going to hex Malfoy for that. It was so sudden he didn't give her time to say or even do something; the first thing that went to her mind was to get out of there. And so she did. She didn't even know if Isabella heard what he said.

"Did Mr. Draco just said 'my daughter'? Isabella asked as she put on her Hello Kitty pajamas.

That answered her question. Hermione smiled at her. "What if he did? Would you like him to be your dad?"

"But I have a dad, you said he's dead" Isabella asked frowning.

"What if your dad is not dead?"

Isabella was now getting more confuse. "What's with all the what if's mama?"

"I promise I'll explain tomorrow" Hermione said as she tuck Isabella to bed, kissing her on the forehead. Hoping everything will be alright tomorrow.

She looked at Malfoy and he nodded. Maybe it was time for the truth. She took a deep breath before starting, she might as well tell them now. "To make the story short, when we were at Hogwarts, Malfoy and I dated. Secretly, we were secretly together."

"That explains why you reject me then" Ron said.

"No Ron, I love you" Pansy winced at that. "And you know that, but I loved you just as a friend, nothing more. It didn't have anything to do with him." Said Hermione

"Why did you hide it?" Harry asked.

"Because I know that when you find out that I'm dating Malfoy, you'll hate me"

"Hermione, we will never hate you. You know that, yes we'll be mad but eventually we'll understand you and just get over the fact that you're dating him." Harry said as he looked at Malfoy.

"Sorry" she said.

"Does Isabella know? That he's the father?"

"No. I told her that her father is dead." Hermione said, not wanting to look at Malfoy. "No one knows that he's the father, except him and Pansy"

"How did her 'supposedly dead father' died?" Ron just had to ask.

"I told her he died in a car accident"

Pansy laughed at that. "Seriously Granger, that's the best you could think of?"

"I wasn't prepared at the time, Isabella just blurted it out. I didn't have time to think of a better excuse. Sorry Malfoy" Hermione said as she looked at him apologetically.

"I understand. I might as well be dead after what I did to her"

"What did you do to her that made Hermione hide Isabella from all of us?"

Their stares were making Draco feel uneasy. "I wanted her to get an abortion. I didn't want my father to know, you know how he is. He'll kill her if he find out"

Harry and Ron nodded. "Thank Merlin you're father died on the war or would still have to worry about him"

"Do you still love him Hermione?" Harry asked out of the blue.

Hermione felt her cheeks burn. She looked at Draco and no matter how much she denies it, she know she still loves him. "Yes"

Malfoy couldn't help but smile, making Pansy squeal. She felt like she's watching another romance movie.

Harry nodded, he was a bit disappointed at Hermione but she's their friend and she made a mistake. But they're still ready to forgive her with open arms. "I still wish you would have told us Hermione"

"I know and I'm sorry, I really am" she said to both of them.

"Come here" Ron said as he hugged Hermione kissing the top of her head.

She really is grateful to have such wonderful and understanding friends, she couldn't ask for more.

"What are you going to do about Isabella?" Malfoy asked as Hermione walked him outside. Pansy already left saying that she needed to meet some friends.

"I'll tell her tomorrow"

Malfoy took her hand and looked into her eyes. "Do you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"That you still love me?"

She forgot about that part and she wished he didn't bring it up. "Yes" she said, biting her lip. "Even after the things you've done in the past, when I saw you, my feelings, they came back I don't know. I thought I was over you, but I guess I just wasn't. I was so busy being mad at you. But when I saw you and Isabella laughing together I had this feeling, that for a moment, everything was alright, that we're alright, that we're a family."

Malfoy couldn't help but smile again. He hugged her tight, saying that he'll never let her go again. "I miss you" he said.

She smiled at him. "I missed you too"

He closed the space between them, letting his lips do all the talking, and Hermione couldn't be happier as she melts into his kiss.