Hermione didn't reply. Her silence was all they needed, confirming their worst fears. Ginny leapt up in outrage, her face nearly as red as her hair. She tried to string together a sentence, but she was too frustrated to make any sense.
Draco leaned on the door, watching silently. Rose stood at his side also watching the scene before them. They both jumped when Ginny leapt up. They watched Harry tried to calm his wife. But the feisty redhead could not be tamed; instead she kicked the coffee table roughly with her foot. Draco winced as it hit the wall, creating a dint in the table. Damn over reacting redhead. But he couldn't help but turn to glance at the wall above the fireplace, a tell tale crack in the wall reminding him of his anger at what had happened.
"Red, calm down." He spoke as he entered the room. No need to abuse my furniture.
"Calm down? Do you know what he did to her?" She paused, waiting for a reply, one that never came. "Well...DO YOU?" Draco could nearly see the steam coming out of her ears. He nearly had to restrain himself from laughing. He headed over to the sofa, sitting on the opposite end to Hermione. Rose followed him, sitting right beside him, missing the glare she got from her mother.
"How can you sit there so calmly Malfoy? Are you not aware or what that bastard DONE to her?" Ginny's voice raised an octave. Suddenly Draco found he was glad he hadn't offered her a glass of anything, she would surely shatter it.
"Do you not care at all?" Her question stunned him momentarily.
"I do." His voice wasn't much louder than a whisper, but it was loud enough for them all to hear. He looked down at his hands, not wanting to look anyone in the eye. Silence came over temporarily as everyone considered what to say or do next. Finally, Ginny spoke her mind.
"How can you be so...calm then?" Draco figured honesty would be the best option.
"I am calm...now." His eyes flickered to the wall, to the crack. The others in the room followed his line of sight. Rose was the only one to comment.
"Did you do that?" She looked at him, an expression somewhere between awe and amusement. Draco didn't comment, just shifted the sore hand behind his back. He still had bruises on his knuckles, but being only with kids, no one had noticed. He looked up, realising Hermione had seen him shift his hand. She shook her head slightly at him. He looked at her, admiring the blouse she had picked out. He knew he was smart to replace her clothes while she couldn't complain.
"Did it hurt?" Rose's voice drew him out of his thoughts of Hermione.
"What hurt?" Hermione smuggled a laugh behind her hand as Draco spoke to Rose. Hermione had easily worked out what he was thinking about, his line of sight being right at her shirt. He raised an eyebrow at her over Rose's head as he avoided her question. Of course his hand hurt, hitting a solid wall tended to do that to a person.
"Hermione, come stay with us." Harry changed the topic.
"No!" Rose shouted, looking away from Draco to her Uncle Harry. He looked slightly surprised by her outburst.
"Yeah Mione, stay with us. It would be better for you to come with us, safer." Ginny looked pointedly at Draco as she spoke.
"I..." Hermione didn't know what to say. She wanted to go and be with her friends, but Rose's protest had her wondering why she wouldn't want to leave.
"You are welcome to stay here if you want to Hermione." Draco spoke softly.
"I want to stay!" Rose sung loudly. All the adults turned to her. "I like it here."
"Rose, don't be silly. You can't stay here." Ginny tried to be gentle with the girl.
"Of course they can." Draco looked her in the eye, unblinking.
"They wouldn't be safe." Ginny insisted, thinking Draco was still the obnoxious Slytherin he was in school. She didn't know much about him, didn't know he had changed. He didn't want his son to grow up how he did.
"They would be safer here actually." Draco knew he was right, but Ginny laughed when he said that.
"Safer? With a Death Eater? Nice joke." She managed to form a sentence in between her bursts of laughter.
"Not a Death Eater. Never wanted to be, but you wouldn't understand...or bother listening."
"Oh, so you expect me to believe you have changed?"
"I know you wouldn't believe me anyway. But I have. I'm not allowing my son to have the childhood I had, I'm not allowing him to make the same foolish mistakes I did."
"Changed...Don't make me laugh..." Ginny started, but Harry cut her off.
"You have a son?" This news was new to Harry, and to Ginny though she didn't care.
"Yes. Scorpius. He is about the same age as Rose." Draco couldn't help but smile when he mentioned Scorpius.
Hermione watched as Draco mentioned his son. She was amazed as his face lit up. She had seen him smile a few times, but this time he was truly smiling. His grey eyes sparkled, his smile real. She had to admit that he was good looking, even more so as he smiled.
As if on cue, Scorpius entered the room with Hugo at his side. Since Draco had bought Hermione and her kids to his manor the two boys had been nearly inseparable, with Hugo regarding the older boy with hero like worship.
"Uncle Harry!" Hugo launched himself at his favourite uncle. Harry hugged the child, but didn't talk, instead looking at the other boy, who stopped by the sofa, sitting next to Rose, talking to her quietly. Hermione was amazed to see how easily her daughter got along with Scorpius, who was easily the spitting image of his father.
"Can we go somewhere and talk Mione? Preferably outside?" Ginny asked quietly. Hermione looked to Draco instead of answering. He pointed in the direction of the door and wordlessly the girls left.
"Mione, honestly, how are you?" Ginny asked as soon as they had sat on a wooden seat in the garden. Hermione didn't answer; she just looked around at the garden, at the beautiful flowers, the marble fountain, the playground hidden in the trees. She couldn't deny Malfoy had a beautiful place.
"I don't know..." Hermione's honesty came through in her voice. She shot a questioning look at her best friend. "How did you know we are here? And that Ron..." She allowed her voice to trail of.
"Rose told us."
"But what about Ron? I mean, how did you find out about that?" Hermione was a little confused.
"Rose." Hermione's confusion caused Ginny to believe Hermione hadn't sat down and talked to her daughter yet.
"How...?" Hermione asked quietly. Ginny sighed.
Ginny went to the fireplace when she heard the chime to indicate someone wanted to talk. She was surprised to see her goddaughter, Rose.
"Hi Rose."
"Hey Aunt Ginny." Ginny thought Rose sounded a little down, but couldn't really tell. She did however notice that Rose wanted to say something, but holding back.
"So...What's up Rosie?" Ginny tried to be casual.
"Umm..." There was a pause as the little girl thought of what to say. "Dad hurt Mum!" The girl blurted it out.
Ginny didn't know how to reply, she wasn't sure whether the girl was speaking the truth or not. But the voice in her head told her Rose spoke the truth. After all, no one had seen Hermione or any of the kids for a week. Ron had been seen a few times, mostly by Harry. He had said Ron was regretting something, but that was all Ron told him. It made sense that Hermione would take her kids and leave if Ron had hurt her.
"Can I talk to Hermione?" Ginny asked gently. The face in the fire shook from side to side.
"She's only just getting up from her really long sleep." Ginny considered that for a few seconds.
"Long sleep?"
"Yeah, she has been asleep for ages! Like, a week!" Rose's words stunned Ginny temporarily. Asleep for a week...that sounded like being in a coma. But...if Hermione was in a coma then who was caring for her kids?
"Rose, who's looking after you? Where are you?" Ginny was beginning to get worried.
"We are with Draco." Rose stated. Ginny ran that through her thoughts. She only could think of one person called Draco and he wasn't likely to help anyone, let alone Hermione and her kids. She had to check though.
"Draco...as in Draco Malfoy?" Ginny could help but respond in a high pitch.
"Yeah..." She could hear Rose's hesitation. Malfoy? Of all the people in the world, Malfoy had to be the one who was looking after Hermione? Ginny had no choice but to go and rescue the kids. And Hermione.
"I am coming to get you and your brother. You can't be near Malfoy." Harry chose that moment to come up behind his wife, listening to the conversation.
"Why not?" They were surprised to hear Rose question Ginny.
"He...It's...he isn't the kind of person to care for kids." Ginny couldn't explain what Malfoy was like, other than he was Malfoy. Their worst enemy. He always had been, but Rose didn't know this.
"Yeah he is." Rose stubbornly insisted. Ginny looked at her husband, who just shrugged his shoulder. He thought it was possible that Draco had changed after the war, but it was only a slim chance. Ginny did the opposite though, believing it was impossible for the stuck up, sneering, Mudblood hating Malfoy to have changed. Even the slightest bit.
"Rose, I'm coming over. I'll be there soon." Ginny said the only thing she could think of before breaking the connection.
Harry sent their kids, James, Lily and Albus, to the Weasleys where their Grandmother would take care of them. Ginny was pacing the room, her hair and her face the same shade of red. Harry pulled her close, stopping her from wearing the carpet thin from her pacing.
"Ginny, calm down. For all we know they are fine and happy."
"Fine and happy with Malfoy? As if! He's probably picking on them at every chance he has." She snapped shutting him up. Harry could see her flaw in her thoughts; Rose had stood up for Draco, something she had never done for her own father. He knew that if Rose was defending Malfoy, he was probably doing something right.
"Let's just go calmly and check it out. Okay?" Ginny calmed a slight bit, but was still on edge as they stepped into the fireplace.
Hermione nodded as Ginny finished explaining what had happened.
"Gin, have you seen..." She took a breath, calming herself, "Ron?" Just saying the name bought back the memories, the scars. The things she would have to live with. Ginny nodded once.
"He came over..." She paused, wondering if Hermione should be told the rest. The glare her friend gave her told her that she should continue. "He was looking for you. Nothing was said about the kids though." Hermione sat in silence.
"Mione, are you going to stay here or come with us?" Ginny tried not to appear pushy, but she wanted her best friend to be as far away from their enemy as possible.
"I don't know. Rose seems pretty insistent on staying here. I wonder why that is." Hermione wasn't sure, but she knew that in a week he would have spent a lot of time with the kids, possibly building a foundation of trust.
Before Ginny could reply the three kids ran past them, heading for the playground Hermione had spotted.
"She sees Malfoy as some sort of hero, as the man who saved her and her family from the villain, from the guy who was hurting them." Harry spoke from behind them. The girls turned to see Harry and Draco behind them, the blond standing a bit further back, leaving them alone.
"Poor Rose." Ginny muttered quietly, yet loud enough for Harry and Hermione to hear. Hermione pulled away from her friends, looking toward Draco, who had his back to them and was examining a plant. He felt her gaze and looked up. She indicated for him to come over, which he did, holding a single white amaryllis in his hand.
"Malfoy. Why is it you think I will be safer here?" She had been considering this for a bit, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"This would be the last place HE would look for you." He didn't say Ron out of consideration, figuring Hermione didn't want to hear the name. He sat on the grass, looking at the flower in his hand.
"He's right." Harry spoke. Draco looked up at Harry, but his gaze drifted, first to Hermione who was watching him curiously, then to Ginny who was staring at him with her mouth open.
"What?" He asked, trying to keep his tone down. She didn't respond so he turned away, watching the kids in the playground.
Hermione followed his gaze, watching as her daughter hugged the little blond boy, before laughing and chasing him. Hugo chased after his sister, and soon both boys were ganging up on Rose as she laughed hysterically. Hermione couldn't help but smile at the antics of the three children. She looked back at her best friends, who were watching her, sad smiles on their faces. Looking away, she found her gaze landing on her former enemy. He was still twirling the pretty flower in his hand, a carefree smile on his face as he watched his son and the only children who had accepted him.
"I've decided."