Chapter 13

"Would it be okay with you if Adrian comes over tonight?" Pansy asked over breakfast.

Hermione grinned. Pansy had never brought a man home, but she knew her friend had feelings for Adrian Pucey. "You don't need my permission," she replied. "Besides, I won't be home tonight. Draco has a big project he's working on, so I offered to watch Lilah while he locks himself up in his study."

Pansy, it seemed, had other ideas in mind. "I was actually hoping you'd be home too," she confessed. "I know it's Ade, and we've known each other forever. I just don't know if I'm completely comfortable being alone with him. He would never hurt me, I know that. It's just old memories resurfacing, I guess."

Nodding knowingly, Hermione thought of another plan. "What if I bring Lilah here?" she asked. "She hardly ever cries, so she won't be disruptive. Draco has a travel crib that can be set up in my room. Plus, it gives him a quiet house."

"You don't mind?" Pansy asked nervously.

Hermione shook her head. "I'd have to run it by Draco first, but I don't mind," she replied. "I like Adrian, and I like the two of you together. You know I'll do whatever I can for you."

"That goes both ways," Pansy reminded her with a smile. "Draco told me that the two of you talked about Harry and the baby. Are you really thinking about telling Harry?"

Shrugging, Hermione leaned back in her chair and sipped her coffee. "I don't know," she said. "I know he deserves to know, but I'm scared to tell him."

"Harry's a pretty reasonable guy," Pansy replied. "I'm sure he'd understand if you told him."

Hermione scoffed. "This is a man who shunned me for weeks for turning his broom over to McGonagall," she stated. "He's not as reasonable as you think. I've kept this secret from him for more than half a decade. He's never going to speak to me again if I tell him."

"Sure, or he'll hug you," Pansy suggested. "He'll hold you and tell you he's sorry that you went through that alone. He'll say that he's upset that you didn't tell him, but he understands why. When you have a secret relationship, you can't really get all that upset that the consequences stay a secret too."

She knew Pansy was right. It had been Harry's idea that they keep their extracurricular activities a secret. At the time, he claimed that he didn't want the media to catch wind of their relationship, but she knew that he really didn't want Ginny to know. Since their break up after Dumbledore's death, Ginny had worked hard to win back Harry's affections. Harry hadn't shied away from them either.

"You really think I should tell him?" she asked.

Frowning, Pansy nodded. "I think you should," she confirmed. "For the sake of your sanity, I think you need to."

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Hermione arrived at Draco's as he fed Lilah breakfast. "I still think you're doing that wrong," she stated as she surveyed his appearance. "See, the oatmeal goes in her mouth, not on your shirt."

"Oh, and I suppose you've mastered this," he replied, then rolled his eyes when she smugly nodded her head. "You realize it's Saturday, right? I know you've got some control issues, and we'll work on that some other time, but I can take care of her on the weekends."

Hermione poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. "Sure, except those weekends when you ask, nay beg, me to watch her," she retorted. "I actually came over to talk to you about that. Pansy needs a sitter tonight, and I was hoping I could watch Lilah at my flat."

"Pansy needs someone to watch her?" Draco asked. "She's not attempting to play 'drink what's under the sink,' is she?"

Laughing, Hermione shook her head. "No, I made sure to baby proof before Pansy moved in," she replied. "Um, she asked Adrian to come over, and I don't think she's entirely comfortable being alone with him. Until now, they've only ever met in public places. I think she just needs to know that someone's there in case something happens. Not that she thinks anything will. All I care about is that she's okay. It's taken a long time, but I think she's finally starting to trust men again."

"Can't say I helped much in that department," Draco muttered ruefully. "The way I treated her...well, I'm sure I did some damage."

Hermione bit her bottom lip as she considered the question rolling about in her mind. "Did you know?" she asked. "Back then?"

Draco shook his head. "No, well I guess I knew some part of it," he amended. "She would always come back from school breaks covered in bruises. Until they faded, she walked around with glamour charms on any exposed spot. When Marcus and Adrian left school, they asked Blaise and me to keep a close eye on her, but we never really did. He pushed her down a flight of stairs once, did you know that? Yeah, her father found out she'd been sneaking over to Ade's in the middle of the night. Called her all sorts of names before he just knocked her down. When, um, when she didn't show up at Adrian's that night, he and Marcus went to her house. Her parents hadn't even thought to take her to the hospital."

"Is that...that's why she stopped talking to them, isn't it?" Hermione asked.

Not sure, he shrugged. "Maybe," he replied. "It wasn't long after that that the final battle happened. They always had an idea that things were bad for her at home, but that night really confirmed it for them. She might have been embarrassed that Marcus and Adrian found her that way. Or that Marcus's temper got the best of him and he beat the hell out of her father."

"Who would be upset about that?" Hermione added.

He finished feeding Lilah and lifted her from her highchair to clean her up. "Yeah, well, apparently Mrs. Parkinson had an unfavorable reaction to it," he continued. "She called the Aurors and had the both of them taken to the Ministry. I don't know how she did it, but Pansy convinced her not to press charges."

"Do you think not seeing them anymore was a condition of that deal?" she asked.

Draco shrugged. "Could be," he replied. "Anyway, I think we got off topic a bit. You, um, wanted to take Lilah home with you tonight?"

"Is that okay?" Hermione asked. "You have that project to do, right?"

He turned to face her as she stood up, and handed his daughter to her. "Yeah, that's fine," he replied somberly. "How about you take her now, I'll work through the day, and then I could stop by tonight?"

Grinning, Hermione nodded. "Sounds like a date."