Summary: Draco visits Diana through Hermione, and unexpectedly runs into Harry there.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Warning: Mpreg, slash, little violence, possible sexual encounters later on.

Draco apparated onto the sidewalk before the address Hermione had put in her letter. He looked up at the delicate little apartment building and sighed, starting up the stairs. He noticed beside the stairway a drawing made of sidewalk chalk. He'd never played with such things as a child, and he wondered what they were like.

The apartment he was looking for was three floors up, and he stopped in front of the metal number on the door. He heaved another sigh and knocked smartly three times, curling his other hand around the little yellow baby blanket. He heard footsteps, and a moment later the door swung open with a click. Hermione stood there, Lily in her arms. Hermione offered him a brief smile and stepped aside.

Draco entered slowly, glancing around. The door opened into the den, off of which was the kitchen to one side, dining room to another, and what Draco assumed was the bathroom or bedroom. The floors were hardwood, new, by the looks of it. Everything else looked slightly worn or second hand, much like he had expected of her.

Hermione must have read his expression, for when she shut the door she quipped: "One word about my home, and I'll send you straight back out," Draco glanced at her and nodded, and settled his eyes on Lily. It was getting easier to call her that, but not much.

He reached for her, and Hermione extended her without hesitation. Draco felt his shoulders relax and some of the weight leave his chest when he held her, and smiled down at her affectionately. He didn't care if Hermione saw. He tucked the baby blanket into her hand gently, and she grasped it firmly and held it to her face, as if smelling it. But Draco knew her better, and pulled her arm back before she could shove it in her mouth.

Hermione went and took a seat on an old red chair, allowing Draco and Lily the tan sofa. Draco took it obligingly, keeping his eyes on Lily. There was silence for a few moments while Draco talked to Lily quietly and indulged himself in her presence.

"So," Hermione said, with an air of finality. "You said, at Harry's home last week, something that intrigued me- intrigued all of us, really, particularly Harry," She paused, seeming unsure. "Did-did you really become pregnant again, the day of the final battle?" She asked quietly, and Draco stilled.

This was a touchy subject. Draco wasn't sure if he was willing to discuss this with her, as she might report back to Harry. After a moment of internal debate, he decided that he really didn't care what Harry knew or didn't know.

"Yes, I did," He said shortly, locking his emotions under a cold facade. "And I miscarried, shortly before my hospital stay in St. Mungo's," Hermione nodded slowly, understanding that Draco was uncomfortable with this topic.

"If you're worried I'll tell Harry about this conversation, I won't. If you don't want him to know- " She began, but Draco cut her off, raising his eyes to meet hers.

"I want him to know," He said shortly. "I kept our first baby a secret, and look where that got me," He laughed mirthlessly. "I don't even have visitation rights. No, he should know, so he doesn't decide to sue me for that, too," He said, and then wished he hadn't. Hermione didn't approve of Harry's actions, but that certainly didn't mean she would take his side.

"What Harry did was wrong, and he knows that," Hermione said firmly. "He'll fix this, I'm sure of it. A few days ago he changed her name back to Diana, if that's any comfort," Draco felt a wave of relief. "He's already starting to try to make amends, and this news will hopefully only spur him further. Harry's tough, but if there's one thing he can't handle, it's death," She said, and took another breath, about to keep speaking. Draco interrupted.

"I know. We were together at the end of fifth year," He said, and Hermione's face flashed a look of dawning truth. And then it was gone, and she nodded, agreeing.

"Well, he may not want to say it, but I know he cares about you in some way, and he'll feel awful about you having to go through that alone," She told him, looking at Diana instead of him. "And he does love her. Family is important to him," She finished leaning back in her chair and nodding.

"I'm really not sure I can accept an apology from him any more," Draco said in a conversational tone, and Hermione's eyes shot back to his face. "He took my daughter away from me. He not only hurt me, he hurt her and both my parents. Would you accept an apology?" He asked her, and shock flitted over her face. She had certainly never thought about it that way.

"I-I'm not sure. I can't really imagine being in that kind of position with Harry, but... No, I don't think I would," She shook her head, looking troubled.

They stayed silent for a while, but gradually Draco warmed up to the idea of interacting with Diana, how good it felt to call her that, in front of Hermione. He became curious, and wondered if Hermione would know the answers to any of his questions. He decided to ask anyway.

"What was her first word?" He asked suddenly, and Hermione looked up. She paused for a moment, thinking, and as though a lightbulb had gone off in her head, her face brightened.

"I think Harry said it was 'daddy'," She said, and Draco nodded, a sudden hunger for more struck in him.

"When did she take her first steps?" He asked, and so it went on. Draco asked question after question, and Hermione answered to the best of her ability. Soon it would seem to anyone who didn't know them that they were old friends, sitting and chatting about. Before Draco knew it, three hours had passed.

Over the sound of their voices, they didn't hear approaching footsteps or the doorknob turning. It was only when the door swung open that Draco saw who it was, and both he and Hermione froze. So did Harry.

Harry stood in the doorway with a confused expression on his face, staring from Draco's figure sitting cross-legged on the sofa with Diana to Hermione with her legs crossed in the armchair. He stared open mouthed for a moment, and then fixed his gaze on Hermione and ignored Draco.

"Why is he here?" He almost growled, and Hermione looked at a loss for a moment. Then, resolve formed in her eyes and she squared her shoulders.

"I invited him," She told him defiantly. "I'm perfectly allowed to have house guests," She said, in a tone that suggested she was reminding Harry that he was not the boss. This only seemed to anger him.

"Not when my daughter is here!" Harry exclaimed, and Draco furrowed his brows. He stood, clutching Diana to his side protectively.

"What do you mean, your daughter?" He asked. "I have as much claim on her as you do, perhaps more, seeing as I was the one who gave birth to her!" He felt extremely ridiculous saying it, but his blush went unnoticed.

"Both of you stop it!" Hermione exclaimed, and both of them turned their furious eyes on her. "You're scaring her," She said, motioning to Diana. She moved forward and took Diana from Draco's arms before he could protest. "Now, obviously you two need to have a long chat. And your daughter, and I say your because she is both of yours, does not need to be in the middle of it. So I'm going to take Diana and go to the Burrow, and when you have finished talking, Harry, you will come and get her like a civilized adult. Goodbye," She said, with that same note of finality in her voice, and grabbed the diaper bag from the door, her coat and left.

Draco stood fuming, glaring at the wall and trying to catch it on fire. Harry seemed to be doing the same thing, only with Draco's head. After a long moment of silence, Harry took a seat in Hermione's abandoned armchair. Draco sat back down on the sofa, and refused to make eye contact.

"She isn't going to let either of us leave unless we talk," Harry said thinly. "So unless you want to be stuck in here forever, we should get to talking. Who goes first?" Harry asked.

"I vote you," Draco said immediately. Harry sighed.

"Fine," He said. "If you're expecting some huge apology, you're not going to get one. I'm not sorry that I took Diana from you," Draco heard him force Diana out of his mouth instead of Lily. "But I know she's not going to appreciate it when she gets older, so for her sake and her sake only, we should make peace. Hermione's right. She isn't mine or yours, she's both, and if we're to be decent parents at all, we're going to have to-to just suck it up and be whatever she needs. She should come first.

"And I know you're still pissed at me for-for breaking up with you. I wouldn't have done it if I'd known, if that helps. But I do love Ginny, and I can never go back to what we had," Harry said firmly, and Draco glared at the wall again. "And the day of the final battle, that was just a fluke. A glitch. It shouldn't have happened and I'm sorry it did. And seeing how that turned out, it's further evidence that it can never happen again. So we're clear on that," He paused. "Your turn," He looked up, and Draco forced himself to meet his gaze.

"I love you," Draco said, and Harry blanched. Harry just stared, and Draco held his gaze and refused to cry. "I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's true. And it always will be true. Sorry," He said meekly, finally dropping Harry's gaze and settling his eyes on the floor. "I should have told you I was pregnant. I was just scared, and that isn't an excuse, but can you imagine what that conversation would have been like? Oh, hi, Harry, how are things with your new girlfriend? Oh, by the way, I'm pregnant!

"I hated you for a while. But when Diana started kicking... I couldn't hate you, not when I had her, when you had taken such a huge part in making her real and alive, and I-" He choked off, turning his head away. "She looks exactly like you. Always has. When she was first born I couldn't look at her without crying, but I got over that. I learned to live that way, just the two of us, the way I hoped it would always be...

"And what were you doing? Killing the Dark Lord! You were off fighting evil and saving the world while I was changing diapers. And the other baby... Well, I miscarried the day after I found out, so there was really no point in telling you after that. I'm not sorry. Not about Diana, at least. Maybe... maybe things would have been better if I'd told you, or if you'd stayed with me, but I can't know that, so... So I'm not sorry," He raised his eyes and met Harry's gaze, and found an almost sympathetic look there.

As soon as he saw it, it was gone, and was replaced by a hard mask.

"Now that we've established that, what do we do?" Harry asked in a professional tone. "The only way you're allowed to see Diana is if we agree to split custody. Which I'm still not inclined to do," Harry added, and anger flared in Draco.

"Why the hell not?" He asked, leaping to his feet. "Haven't I proven that I love her? What the hell do you want me to do to prove that I deserve to see her?" He asked heatedly, and Harry stood, too.

"I don't know, maybe a little trust would be a key thing," Harry shot back, taking the bait and rising to it. "If I recall, you were the one who didn't tell me I have a daughter!" He exclaimed, and Draco fumed.

"Like you'd given me any reason to tell you! You dumped me for some girl you'd kissed one time! That's all I was worth to you, that you could throw me away as soon as something else came along! Oh, you can only imagine how happy that made me!" He shouted sarcastically, gesturing wildly.

"If you hadn't noticed, we had barely talked in months! All we did was shag, that's all it was! Didn't you notice when it got to the point where we didn't know how to interact unless I was shagging you senseless?!" He raged, but neither of them caught just how odd that sentence was. "We weren't working! Ginny was new, fresh, someone I could talk to for once!" He stopped to catch his breath, and Draco jumped on the pause.

"And that was my fault, was it? I sent you owl after owl asking you to talk, and every time you showed up you immediately went for my arse!" He yelled, cheeks turning pink. "You were the one who wasn't putting in any effort! I'm always the one who has to do the work, don't you see?! I tried to save our relationship, you dumped me for some slut! I endured a pregnancy all by myself, I ended up giving birth at four in the morning, thank you very much!" Draco exclaimed, chest heaving.

"Oh, stop whining. I would have been there if I'd known," Harry'd meant this as a shot at Draco, but Draco twisted it and shot it back.

"Would you have been?" His voice was considerably softer, and Harry met his gaze, a little startled. "Would you have actually been there for me, for us? Would you have stayed even when I got hormonal and upset? Would you have stayed when I had morning sickness? Would you have stayed when the contractions started and my water broke? Would you have stayed when you realized you were seventeen and about to be a father?

"And I don't know if you would, and that's what hurts," He said, fighting away the urge to cry. "And you can't know either, because you weren't there and you don't know what it was like! And neither of us will ever know what might have happened if things had been different, and I hate that!" He said fiercely, meeting Harry's gaze. "I hate this, this entire situation, more than you could ever know... But for some stupid reason I can't hate you," He finished, and his expression melted a little. "I love you," He said again, though he wasn't sure what possessed him to.

"Stop saying that," Harry snapped. He didn't want to hear that, he didn't want to hear that the man he'd once loved was more unconditional than he was when it came to love. It was obvious to him that Draco had been much more committed to the relationship, but he couldn't stand the thought that maybe Draco was better than him after all. His thumb curled between his first and second fingers and felt where his ring would be.

"Stop saying what? That I love you?" Draco asked, pushing away the sharp pain in his chest. Unknowingly, he took a step forward, and he was within reach of Harry.

"Yes, stop saying it," Harry said, averting his eyes away from Draco's forlorn face. Strange feelings rushed back to him when he saw it, feelings he couldn't afford to have.

"But I do. I do love you, and I can say it however much I want," Draco said defiantly, squaring his shoulders and looking at Harry head on. He would fend for his right.

"Shut up," Harry said, turning away from him and rubbing his temples exasperatedly.

"No, I don't think I will. I love you, Harry," Draco saw Harry's jaw working, like it always did when he was angry.

"I said shut up," Harry said warningly.

"No. I love you," Draco told him, determined to get his point across. He would not be shaken off in such a way.

"I'm warning you!" Harry exclaimed, hands clenching into fists. If only he would just shut up.

"I love you, Harry James Potter-" Harry's fist connected with Draco's jaw.

Draco fell back and landed on the floor with a thump, face turned to the side from the punch. There was silence.

Harry stood, breathing roughly, watching Draco. He saw mainly shock on his face, along with a little fear and sadness. Draco finally looked at him, tears gathering on his lashline and beginning to fall. He lifted himself off the ground and refused to meet Harry's eyes, almost running to the door and wrenching it open. His tears cascaded slowly, the last Harry saw before...

He was gone.

Harry flooed to the Burrow from Hermione's living room, stepping out of the fire and massaging his knuckles gently. He walked into the kitchen and found the youngest two Weasleys and Hermione, sitting in various positions around the room and talking animatedly. Ginny had Diana on her lap, letting her examine her hand closely. She had an adoring look on her face, and Harry smiled.

All three turned to him and gave him their greetings, and Hermione asked how the talk went. Harry went forward and took Diana from Ginny, and answered with a feeble fine.

"Harry? Is something wrong with your hand?" Hermione asked, just as Harry kissed Ginny on the cheek lightly. Hermione looked at his red knuckles curiously, and Harry searched his head for an acceptable excuse. But then he remembered he was talking to Hermione, and lying would be no use.

"I decked Malfoy," He said, pulling out another chair and sitting down. Hermione gasped.

"Way to go, Harry," Ron said, leaning back with a celebratory smile. Ginny offered him a smile as well, and Harry felt a little pleased with himself.

"Why on Earth would you do that?" Hermione asked him.

"He wouldn't shut up," Harry shrugged, and Hermione stared at him open-mouthed in shock.

"So you hit him?!" She asked incredulously. "Harry, you are well past the age of hitting people who make you angry, not to mention that you have a baby together!" She exclaimed, standing and putting her hands on her hips.

"You don't know what he was saying," Harry said, looking away and focusing on Diana.

"Oh, well then, enlighten us," She retorted, and Harry shook his head and sighed.

"It's private," He said, and she huffed impatiently. "It's between me and him, that's all. He was saying something that bothered me and he knew it, so I decked him," He shrugged, and hoped she would drop it. But that wasn't Hermione's way.

"Stop saying that. It's incredibly juvenile; you did not deck him, you hit him. You hit the mother of your child," Hermione said, and Harry felt a twang of guilt.

"He's not her mother," He mumbled, adjusting Diana on his lap.

"What would you call it? He was the pregnant one, not you," She reminded him, and Harry had a sudden image of himself heavily pregnant giving birth in the Burrow's front yard.

"Yeah, thank god for that," Ron said, rolling his eyes slightly. Harry couldn't explain what happened next; on instinct, he shot him a foul glare. He'd taken it as an insult to Draco, and reacted immediately. Hermione was glaring, too, so Harry quickly looked away before Ron could notice.

"Yeah, well, I don't wanna talk about it," Harry said. "I get it. Don't hit Mr. Mum anymore," He said, almost coldly, and stood. He flooed back to his own flat with Diana.

Harry received an owl from Draco four days later. He read it warily, a sigh escaping him when he finished.

'Harry,

I'd like to apologize for getting angry at you the other day. We're both adults now; we should know better. I'd like the opportunity to discuss this cordially, sometime in the near future. I think it might pacify our tempers if Diana were present. Give her my love for me, will you? I hope the both of you are well. Please respond as soon as you get this, so we can make plans.

Yours,

Draco M.'

Harry summoned parchment and a quill, brushing Diana on the nose with the tip of the feather while she sat in her high chair. He set about writing his reply, and sent it off with Draco's owl before the ink was dry. He wiped Diana's face gently and plucked her out of her chair. She was almost big enough that she might be able to sit in a regular chair soon, but he wasn't quite ready to take that step.

He took her into her nursery, setting her down gently on the floor and sitting down beside her. She reached up towards her crib, seeing the edge of her yellow blanket hanging over the edge. He grabbed it for her and handed it to her. It was the baby blanket Draco had given her back fur days ago. She was quite attached to the thing, he found.

The nursery was painted pale yellow with white accents. Sunlight streamed through the window, lighting the whole room naturally. There was no need for any other lights, and Diana seemed to enjoy it. She would touch the carpet in shadow, then the carpet in light, and look at Harry questioningly. He'd explained to her that they were the same color, just lit differently, but she'd just repeated her hand process and looked at him again.

She reached out her hands to him and he grasped them, pulling her into a standing position. A look of deep concentration came over her, as she started to toddle slowly toward him from arm's reach. Harry smiled, and unbidden a thought came into his head. That look of concentration she had was the same as Draco's. As soon as it was there, he banished it from his mind.

Author's Note: I find my interest in writing this renewed, which is good news for those of you who want me to update. Your thoughts are welcomed, but I would ask that if you don't like this fic, don't read it, and moreover, don't complain to me about it. Thanks.