He had a choice to make. His father? Or his mother, sister and the two blonds that already felt like family. Who would he choose?

Hugo looked at Draco, then at his uncle. The pressure in his shoulder increased and he cried out. "I want to go home!"

"You are home." Ron snarled.

The child began to cry as he shook his head.

"Let him go." Harry warned as he aimed his wand at his friend.

Ron, in turn, gripped his wand tighter as he flickered between Draco and Ron.

No one spoke. They contemplated their moves. Hugo wanted to run to his uncle or Draco and leave, but he knew he couldn't. Draco wanted to blast Ron's head off his shoulders but didn't want to risk the life of Hugo or himself. And strangely enough, he didn't want to risk Harry getting hurt either. Ron was contemplating which spell would be the best to use.

Draco and Harry both tensed up as a strange smirk came over Ron's face. He released his hold on Hugo, shoving the child at Draco, who caught the child easily. Harry immediately looked over at the child.

Ron took their distracted attention to leave the room, figuring they would leave his house eventually – he had some important planning and researching to do.

"What the...?"

"Can we go?" Hugo whispered softly.

Draco nodded, taking the child in his arms and following Harry.

As soon as the gates of Malfoy Manor came into focus, Hugo wiggled to the ground and began running. Draco laughed lightly as he waved the gates open. Beside him, Harry tensed.

"You coming, Potter?"

"You can call me, Harry."

Draco frowned, still not wanting to be on first name basis. Though, having spent a bit of time with him, Draco had to admit it wasn't as bad as he thought. He sighed softly, but nodded in response. "Fine. You coming, Harry?"

Harry slowly followed him. He was contemplating the man he had once hated. Draco seemed...different...good different. He wasn't as...wasn't such a stuck up asshole. Had he gotten a personality transplant? The Draco from school would never, ever, NEVER help out a muggleborn. And especially not Hermione, of all the muggleborns. If anything, he would enjoy torturing her. But something was different. Something had changed.

"Mummy!" Hugo called out as he ran through the door.

"Hugo!" Instead of his mother's arms around him he found his sister clinging to him. He hugged her back for a moment then pushed her away. Rose didn't say anything, though the rejection flicked through her eyes. She only pointed up the stairs, watching as her younger brother ran up the stairs, as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Hermione had shifted from the window, so she never noticed Draco and Harry appear at the gates, a child with them. She had no clue her son was back. Until the door flew open and the child ran to her. Instantly, she dropped onto her knees and wrapped her arms around him

"Hugo, Oh, Hugo my baby..." She mumbled as she held onto him.

Hugo didn't respond, didn't speak at all. Instead, he just buried his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of her hair as he clung to her. For the first time, Hugo realised he didn't want to- nay, he couldn't, live without his mother in his life. Somehow, she made everything better just by being there.

Rose poked her head through the door cautiously, and watched in envy as her brother leant into her mother's embrace. She sighed and backed away softly, but not without attracting the attention of the two males who had just walked through the door.

Draco sat down on the stairs, waiting. Any minute now, surely Hermione was going to come downstairs. He would have gone up himself, but seeing the look Rose wore on her face, he figured it was overjoyed-mother and foolish-runaway-son time. So he settled for waiting.

"Where was he?" Rose asked softly as she dropped down onto the stair beside Draco, leaning into him.

Draco looked down at her as he put his arm around her shoulders. How do I answer that? He went home? But then, he called this place home, so that could be confusing. Okay, so he went to his fathers. But, Rose already considers me her new father...

"He went to find your father." Harry supplied, leaning on the doorframe as he looked down at his niece.

Rose looked from Harry to Draco, then back to Harry. Then she finally understood what he meant. "Oh...Why would he do that?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't know."

At the same time, Harry asked her, "Why did you look to Draco? He isn't your father."

Rose looked down at her feet. "Wish he was." She mumbled.

"What? Why?" Harry had to question.

"Because," She stood up, brushing her hands across her skirt idly as she stared her uncle in the eye, "then I wouldn't be related to that...monster. You know what he done to Mum, yet you don't really care. You weren't the one who saw what he done. You don't wake up in the night, seeing THAT over and over again."

"Rose, I had no idea..."

"Of course you didn't. Outside this place, no one really cares enough to know. We hardly see you or your family any more, why is that? Cos you don't like the one person who actually cares?"

"Rose, it's not like that..."

"Do you know how much you hurt my Mum with your rejection?" She stumbled over pronouncing her last word, but remained strong.

Harry pulled away from her gaze. She is right. How could we do this? How could we act so stupidly, letting our school hatred get in the way of our friend and family? How is it we made Malfoy look like the good guy?

Rose glared at him, a cold glare reminiscent of the glares Harry used to receive from many Slytherins, Draco included.

Harry didn't reply, he didn't know what to say, or if he should say something at all.

Silence came over the room. Draco had to admit, Rose had a point. Harry and Ginny, no matter how close to Hermione they were, they didn't know what she had been through. Rose couldn't even understand what her mother had been through, even if she had witnessed everything. Draco would never understand, he knew that. But he did know what she had been through; a bit of Legilimency and Rose's emotions leaving her mind wide open meant that the first night she woke with a nightmare, she unknowingly pulled Draco into her mind, letting him see what she saw.

Harry looked away as Rose sat back down. He found himself unable to look her in the eye – something that rarely ever happened with anyone. As he watched Draco with Rose he had to admit it was clear the man had a way with children. He began contemplating what had happened and what would happen in the future. He had no intentions of deserting his friend as he had been, but he was very reluctant to see Draco, even if the man wasn't the same as he used to be.

Harry looked up in time to see three boys entering the house with a blonde woman holding the hand of a red haired girl. The first two boys, James and Albus, barely gave their father a passing glance as they passed into the living room. Scorpius however walked over to his father, gave him a hug and whispered something Harry couldn't hear. The boy then took Rose by the hand and pulled her with him, following the other boys. Lily walked with them, pleased to be included.

Narcissa was not surprised in the slightest to see Harry Potter and her son getting along with each other. She knew that if they put their minds to it, they would find they might have something in common. She hoped they could get along civilly in the future, if not for themselves, for the children. At least the young ones had no problems getting along, even if Scorpius was still a bit wary of the older James.

"Shall we go through?" She nodded her head toward the children.

Harry looked a bit surprised at her question, but warily followed her. As he sat down he couldn't help voicing the question on the tip of his tongue. "Why didn't you ask about Hugo?"

Narcissa smiled calmly, sitting elegantly on the chair opposite him. "Should I have? I assume that he is here, fine and well, because you are both back."

"What if we didn't find him?" Harry asked without thinking. He couldn't help it; the reactions of the people in this house were strange to him.

"I may not know you very well, Mr. Potter. But I do know you are fiercely loyal to those you love and care about. A trait both of you share." She looked pointedly between the two men who both scowled at each other. Boys, so immature. "I know neither of you would have given up. You two wouldn't have returned until you had Hugo safe and sound with you. And may I say, you both did a wonderful and fast job. I'm proud of you." Harry looked over at Draco, then back at her again. "Proud of both of you." She emphasised, looking straight at Harry who looked away, slightly embarrassed. Not many adults had ever said that to him.

"Thank you!" A voice called happily.

Harry looked up in time to see his best friend launching herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Uh..Mione, I need to breathe..."

She released her hold on him and sat down next to him, looking over at Draco. On the other side of her, Ginny sat down, nudging her side, reminding her of the words the red head had said before.

"See, I told you he would come through for you." Ginny nearly sung.

"Harry helped." Hermione pointed out, wishing the other woman would shut up.

"Yeah." Ginny sat down next to her as soon as she had let Hugo go. Leaning in, Ginny whispered in her best friends ear. "You know as well as I do, Draco would have looked for Hugo with or without Harry."

Hermione couldn't disagree, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she groaned as her friend pulled them both to their feet.

"He's falling for you!" This time, Ginny really did sing.

"He's falling for you." The words echoed through Hermione's mind as she studied the man in front of her. Luckily he was talking quietly to his mother, so she didn't have to say or do anything. Ginny's words were making her feel awkward around the blond man.

"Would you all like to stay for dinner?" Narcissa voiced, pulling Hermione from her thoughts.

Harry was reluctant, he looked to Ginny. Ginny looked from her husband to her friend. Her friend who sat with the puppy dog look on her face. Lightly, Ginny laughed and informed Narcissa, "We would love to."

Harry frowned at his wife, causing her to huff impatiently.

"Come on. Look at the children; they are getting along perfectly fine. Stop being such a pair of babies. If the children can behave, so can you." Ginny turned to look at Draco. "Both of you. Even little Lily is acting more mature than the pair of you. Men, honestly..."

Draco and Harry looked at her cautiously. The stern, disapproving look on her face was enough to cause them both to laugh. Instantly, Ginny began to get annoyed, her face turning a slight shade of red.

"Malfoy. Potter."

The laughter ceased. Harry swallowed nervously; when Ginny used that particular tone and his last name, he knew nothing good was going to happen. He made no move to speak.

Draco however, didn't see the seriousness. Sure, the girl looked red enough to explode, but it was just a bit of fun. "Calm down Red, breathe...In...And out..." He and Harry burst into another chorus of laughter.

Ginny was about to explode, but a soft hand on her arm stopped her.

"Don't worry dear, obviously they are getting along. Maybe they should continue their bonding when they do the dishes. Without magic!" Narcissa suggested, her eyes sparkling.

Instantly the laughter stopped. Both men looked at each other and groaned.

Dinner was a weird affair. At one end of the table, the children talked altogether happily. Rose fondly looked over at her brothers; her younger brother, now safe and at home once more and her older brother who despite a rough start was getting along nicely with the Potters.

At the other end of the table, tension was clear. Hermione had deliberately sat beside Ginny, who was talking effortlessly with Narcissa. The two guys, like Hermione, were sitting quietly. Occasionally a few words would pass between them, but not many.

Harry was too busy watching what was happening. He never thought he would see his children, Hermione's and Draco's all getting along. Even Lily, who was usually left out by her older brothers was getting along with everyone. Even Scorpius. Harry would have never, in a million years, imagined he would be sitting in Draco's house, eating dinner casually, laughing and talking with the man. Subtly, Harry pinched his arm to check he if it was a dream. It wasn't.

Draco alternated his view, occasionally looking at his child-children. He was proud that his son was making friends, even if they were the last ones Draco would have picked. He had to admit it was cute watching Rose and Scorpius fussing over Lily, keeping her entertained. Apparently, the girl was a little older than he would have thought, though she had the typical red hair that identified most Weasleys.

In between looking at the kids, he looked at Hermione. He noticed she had deviated from her normal seat, sitting next to Ginny rather than himself. Then, he realised she was avoiding him. He was so confused. As far as he was aware, he hadn't done anything wrong. He had located her kid. It was what she wanted, wasn't it?

Hermione walked away after saying goodbye to her friends feeling elated. She was happy; her kid was back and she had plans to meet up with her best friends. She hadn't been that happy for a while. But as she headed for the stairs she felt her happiness drain out of her body as she walked into the one person she was trying to avoid.

"The kids are already tucked up in bed if you want to say goodnight to them." His voice was cold and flat.

"Draco..." She whispered softly, unsure of what to say.

"What Hermione?" She flinched at his cold tone.

She didn't say anything, so he moved to walk around her and away.

"Thank you..."

He stopped, paused a second to check he heard correctly then turned back to her.

"It was nothing. Good night." His tone clearly indicated that discussion time was over as he headed into his own room, fully planning on keeping a distance until the woman had sorted whatever issues she had.

"Draco..." She tried again. This time, he stopped, but didn't bother turning back to her. She walked closer to him.

She was close behind him, wondering what she was doing. She hadn't thought anything was off until she had caught Draco looking at her across the dinner table, his expression something between confusion and a wounded puppy. That had surprised her – it wasn't often he fully showed his emotions.

"Draco." She made for a third attempt. He turned, finally realising how close she was. Looking down into her eyes, he could clearly make out each eyelash framing the chocolate pools he found himself getting lost in.

Before he could say anything or even think, her lips were on his. One of her hands had gone around to the small of his back and the other was behind his head, pulling him down to her height.

For a moment he let himself relax into her, kissing her back. The he pulled away suddenly.

I just kissed Hermione Granger? She is a married woman, a guest in my house and overemotional at the moment. What have I done?

Hermione took a step back, her hands shooting up to her mouth as she realised what had happened.

What have I done?