A/N- Hello lovelies! Thanks so much to the favs/follows/reviews! I appreciate it so much!

So this is the next chapter (obviously). I must say that it is a bit shorter that I thought it would be but once I get this out of the way we can move along in the plot. Please leave me a review if you think I should do some Hermione POV. I tried it a bit at the beginning of this chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, then Fred would be a very much alive in the Epilogue.

Chapter Three

Hermione Granger awoke in a cold sweat.

What had the dream been about? She couldn't remember. Was it Ginny who died or Neville? Harry? Ron? Winky, Dobby, Fred, Dumbledore, Snape, Lupin, Tonks, Sirius? Orion?

Gasping for breath as though she was drowning, Hermione looked down, a weak smile of relief gracing her features when she saw his white-blonde hair peeking out from beneath the covers. She ran her hands through it gently before cradling his small body close. Despite the way he'd come into being, Orion was her world. Hermione didn't think that it was possible to love someone so much. All that she wanted was for him to be safe and happy.

His pale eyelashes fluttered and Hermione found twin grey eyes gazing up at her.

"Mommy?" Orion's quiet tone cut through the darkness of the hotel room. The heater rattled to a stop, and a glove of husky silence fell over Hermione's ears.

"Yes sweetie?" She replied, squeezing his shoulders. He snuggled against her body.

"When are the bad men coming for us?" He sounded small, broken and scared. Hermione pulled the sheets up around his shoulders, wanting to make him feel secure.

"Never honey," She wasn't quite sure of that was the truth; did the Death Eaters want to track her down? She didn't think that they would find her, but she couldn't be too certain…

Orion smiled up at her before his lids dropped. Hermione held his tiny body to hers softly. No one would take him from her, she would be sure of it.

The rest of the night was peaceful, and for the first time in years, the brunette was free of nightmares.

"Evan?" Mr. Linney knocked on the door with a sharp rap. Draco looked up from the legal papers on his desk. He blinked, clearing his mind.

"Yes, Mr. Linney?" Draco wanted to keep it brief; it was hard to focus on paperwork when thoughts of the previous night clouded his brain. What the blonde really needed was a hard brandy and a good nap. Thank Merlin himself that it was Friday.

"I have your new intern," Draco nodded, glancing at the clock. It was only nine thirty. Damn it all.

The sound of high heels clicking on tiles drew Draco out of his wistful thinking. Standing and straightening his tie, the former Death Eater waited for his new toy- er, Intern- to come into his office. Draco found himself staring down at the high, silken green heels she was wearing. They were not any old shade of green, not of the lime or forest variety, but a medium-shade green that was beautifully evil. Next there was the long expanse of tan legs that were cut short by a tight black skirt and a silver blouse with the top few buttons undone. She smirked at him before flipping strand of long, chesnut-brown hair from her shoulder. She stared at him with curious blue eyes.

"Hello," She took several steps forward, holding out a perfectly manicured hand. Draco loved the crispness of her, the clear organization she had over her looks. Draco wanted to place a rather sensual kiss on her hand but as his boss was in the room it would've been highly inappropriate, "I'm Sasha. Sasha Bradely,"

Draco removed his hand from hers, turning to face Mr. Linney, "Evan McDermitt… Did you show her around the office?"

Smiling knowingly, Mr. Linney responded casually, "No. She's your intern, I figured it would be a good time to get to know one another,"

The blonde nodded, his eyes flickering back to Sasha. She was fluttering her thick black eyelashes at him innocently. He smirked at her playfulness. She was going to be so glad she'd worn green later…

"Well, I'll leave you to it. Sasha, you have your resume, correct?" Sasha nodded, "Evan, I need that paperwork on my desk by five," Draco nodded when his boss made a hand motion towards the small stack of papers he had nearly abandon. With a mock salute towards Mr. Linney, the dark skinned man was gone. Draco knew that he wouldn't get in trouble for saluting; it was a running joke between the two of them.

Draco was gathering his notebook up after a meeting, his mind on other things. Every time the door would open, his heart would jump into his throat. At night, the wards around his house went up, and they would fry anyone with ill intentions who dared to walk on his property. War had made him paranoid and upon occasion, the Malfoy would have to sleep with the lights on. His theory was that different people deal with losing people in a variety of ways; Draco didn't handle losing at all.

"Evan," Gods, would he ever get used to that name? Draco looked up, staring into the concerned face of his boss, Mr. Linney, "Evan, are you ok?" Draco's viewpoint shifted down, and he began to fiddle with the papers in the folder.

"Yeah… I suppose…"

Mr. Linney remained silent for a moment before asking, "Evan… were you in battle? You know, in a war?"

Draco couldn't breathe. His boss knew, his BOSS was after him! Had Mr. Linney been spying for Voldemort, or worse, his father? Before he could bolt out the door and apperate away, however, Mr. Linney was talking again.

"You act like my older brother is all. Jimmy was in a war," Draco was zoning out already; he didn't care about this man's brother, "He had some of the same 'ticks' that you have; paranoia, flinching whenever you pass someone you don't know, the tender way you sit, as though your scars still hurt. You're always looking over your shoulder. That sort of thing,"

Draco sighed softly. As much as he hated to admit it, Mr. Linney had hit the nail on the head; Draco had done all of those things. He was never quite sure if the man in for a meeting had a wand in his pocket or if the next person to walk into the room might be a Death Eater to come and kill him. It was a terrifying feeling that teenagers often experience after seeing a horror film; they would pull up the covers of their bed and hide, freezing with terror when there was a creak downstairs.

Basically, Draco hadn't been getting a lot of sleep.

"So, Mr. Evan McDermitt… I appreciate all that you've done to support your country. If not America, then Britain," Draco was struck with the sudden urge to salute so he did, and for the first time in months, a real smile broke out on his face. Mr. Linney laughed and exited the conference room, leaving Draco to finish gathering his things so he could leave.

"Ahem," Came a dainty interruption. Draco blinked to be rid himself of the memory, opting to look down at the tan face of his intern, "You looked distracted,"

"Sorry," The blonde didn't feel like making up an excuse for his strange behavior all of a sudden, "So, you want to go?"

Sasha nodded, smiling at him in a rather flirty manner. He led her out of his office and into the main lobby, where several people were waiting in the stiff blue chairs lined next to the door. "This is, of course, the main lobby," Sasha nodded rigorously, her hair swishing to and fro.

They continued their walk down the long hallway. Each office had a name plate on the door, depicting who resided there. The conference rooms had large round tables in their centers with whiteboards that were notoriously clean unless in use. There was the copy room, of course, with its endless supply of blank white paper. Draco was rounding back to his office when Sasha froze mid-step, a small frown settling onto her face.

"You have a tattoo?" Shit. Draco looked at his arm, where his sleeve had slid up slightly from reaching up to show her where her company box was in the mail room. He grimaced and pulled the edge of the blue sleeve down, shaking his head.

"It's a long story," He stated flatly. His interest in the brunette had tampered off all of a sudden, but his attention was soon regained when she bent over to pick up a few paperclips she dropped.

Merlin, look at those legs. They're so long and tan… and that thing that her skirt is covering, what is it called, I can't quite remember… it starts with an 'a'… OH hey that's right it's her as-

"Checking me out are we?" Sasha asked playfully, standing up so suddenly that Draco's eyes practically flew to her face, "It's rather naughty, the whole boss and worker relationship," She stepped closer to him, "Do you think so, Mr. McDermitt,"

For the first time in years, Draco wanted to tell someone flat out that 'Evan McDermitt' was not his real name. He wanted someone to call him Draco, if only once.

"We-ell…" Was he honestly going to just blurt it out, just like that? Yes, hello, I'm Draco Malfoy, former Death Eater and killer. Oh, did I mention that I had to rape someone too? Yeah, and I'm also a wizard… and I possibly have a son who I hadn't met until yesterday… nice to meet you, Sasha!

Like that would go over well.

"Because I find it rather," Sasha's lips were right next to Draco's ear, her pink lips puckering and pouting, "Enticing,"

She drew the word out long enough that the blonde thought he might turn to dust if she went on for a moment longer.

Suddenly, a phone began to ring. Draco looked at the contraption on his desk for a minute (with a certain amount of hatred in his eye; this damned muggle contraption was cock blocking him!) before moving away from his intern and picking it up. On the other side was a calm female voice that Draco recognized instantly.

"Good morning, Malfoy," Granger's tone was that of someone suffering from extreme apathy.

"Morning," Draco replied gruffly, his eyes shifting back to an impatient Sasha. She was tapping a foot against his carpet which reminded him of his mother, who would often do the same thing.

"I've been brewing the paternity potion all day. All I need is one of your hairs," Granger responded matter-of-factly. Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He would've looked foolish had he anyways; she couldn't even see him.

"Alright, just come over tonight and we could figure it out, all right?"

"Does six sound like a good time?"

"Yeah… Draco fiddled with the curled phone cord, "I get off at five thirty,"

He could almost hear Granger smiling, "See you then, Evan,"

"See you then… Julia,"

He hung up quickly, turning back to Sasha. She was staring at him with a look of great interest on her face, "Is that your girlfriend?" She questioned, a leer-like smile on her face.

Had Draco been drinking water it would've been sprayed all over the place, "What, no! She's an old… family friend. Just got into town, actually, and we are meeting for dinner. Now, let's get you a chair so we can review some of the realtor's basics, shall we?"

Draco was immensely grateful when she didn't ask anything else and did just as he asked. Looking at the clock again, the blonde wanted to scream and rip his hair out.

Ten thirty.

Damn it all.

"Give me one of your hairs," Granger demanded of Draco, holding her palm out for him to put the strand in. On the kitchen counter was a cauldron that looked like it had seen better days and several half-empty vials. The frothing potion in the cauldron was beginning to steam.

Sighing, Draco plucked a single pale hair from the crown of his head, "Here," Handing it to her remorsefully, he asked, "So… how does this work exactly?"

"Well," Hermione told him, "I put my hair in, wait for thirty seconds, and then I put your hair in. I wait for thirty more seconds and stir clockwise for a minute. I then will drop Orion's hair in and if the potion turns green…"

Draco took that as the 'Congrats you're a Dad' color.

"So, let's get started," Draco's voice sounded nervous in his own ears.

Draco turned to look at the small boy playing on his kitchen floor. His wavy blonde hair fell into his eyes, and his wide grey eyes never stayed in one place for very long. Orion was pushing around the little red matchbox car, and its tiny plastic wheels scraped against the white tiles. Draco moved so he could sit next to him, but Orion didn't even acknowledge his presence. Instead he kept up the constant car moving, to which Draco could only assume he was acting out an awesome car chase in his mind.

Then, slowly, Orion's gaze moved from the toy he was playing with to Draco, who felt uncomfortable under the small boy's scrutinizing look. Draco did note, however, that the boy's eyes had turned a stormy grey, an indicator that he was focusing intently on the older of the two.

"Hello," Orion's voice was so soft that Draco was wondering if he'd heard it at all.

"Er… Hullo," Draco replied evenly, "How're you?" Draco, having never had to deal with children, wasn't quite sure how this conversation was going to go.

"You're old," His voice was flat, with a matter-of-fact tone that children pick up when they state something that they believe to be the truth, "Mummy says that you're no older than her but I don't bel-bel-believe her,"

For a child raised with Death Eaters, Orion certainly had a magnificent grasp on his language skills.

"Well, your mom is actually older than me by several months," A look that could only be described as 'really?' passed over Orion's face, "So technically she's the old one,"

Draco watched as Orion smiled and then, his pink little cheeks puffing out slightly, he giggled childishly. His square, white teeth were revealed when he opened his mouth and small dimples formed in the corners of his lips. And for a moment, the world seemed to have stopped moving. This child, as Draco would describe it later, obviously had the Malfoy charm.

"Malfoy,"

Draco was torn away from his moment, and he stood stiffly. "Yes, Granger,"

Hermione stood in front of the cauldron, her face blank of emotion. Draco checked to see if Orion was watching them but he was back to playing with his car. The brunette beckoned for him to come over and he did, peering into the seemingly bottomless cauldron.

Inside, the potion lied completely still, not churning or bubbling in the slightest. But that was not what caught Draco's attention. No, it was the vibrant neon green color the previously grey potion had taken on.

"Congratulations, Malfoy," Came Granger's smug voice from behind him, "Welcome to fatherhood,"