Author's Note: Thanks so much to those of you utilizing the tumblr! It's really a wonderful tool and I think I will continue to utilize it for future stories. :) Thanks to simplee-ally for asking about outfits and characters... check it out to see photos of some of the outfits from the story!

Chapter 8

Wish I Didn't Know Now

Ma petite amie. Girlfriend. Draco had a girlfriend. That's where he'd been going. That's why he never told her and Scorpius his whereabouts. He clearly had been seeing her for a long time and now thought that they were serious enough that he could bring her home to the family, to see how she did with Scorpius…

Draco had a girlfriend, a serious girlfriend, and he'd slept with Hermione a little over a week ago…

She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. No wonder he'd left her alone. He'd gone away to Michelle, to forget about her. By the warm smile Michelle was giving her, Hermione was sure he hadn't admitted a word of what he'd done, either.

Draco had a girlfriend.

Probably one he eventually was thinking of marrying.

And he'd cheated on the beautiful woman before her… with herself, Hermione Granger.

The friendly accident.

This is ma petite amie, Michelle…

In the few moments that those words were still sinking in, Scorpius looked up at Hermione and gave her a questioning glance.

"Hermione, what's… 'petite amie'… mean?" he asked. "You haven't taught me that."

Hermione took a calming breath.

"Petite amie is a French term meaning 'lady friend,'" she explained. "Michelle is someone your father is… seeing romantically," she said, not able to find another way to delicately explain it. Scorpius's eyes widened.

"Father!" he said, looking back at him. "You have a girlfriend?"

Draco smiled. "Yes, Scorpius, I do. We have been seeing each other for over a year now and I thought it was about time you got to meet her."

Hermione tried to keep her facial expression the same, but her mind was going crazy.

Over a year? A YEAR? He took the chance of ruining a year long relationship of the woman he wants to marry by having sex with ME?

"I have been hearing so much about you!" Michelle said, looking at Scorpius. "I have wanted to meet you for so long. I am so happy that I finally can."

Scorpius smiled at feeling so important.

"Herimone," Draco said, and she realized it was the first time he'd spoken directly to her.

"Yes, sir?" she replied. She noticed a flicker in Draco's eyes when she addressed him thus, as she never had before, but Hermione was eager to put up some boundary walls between them now that Michelle was in the picture.

"Could you please have Dmitry and Davius whip up some cappuccinos for us? And a hot chocolate for Scorpius? Meet us in the parlor after you've talked to them so we can all get to know each other a little better," he requested. He was positively beaming. He was so happy, so thrilled, to have brought Michelle home with him after waiting for so long… Hermione's stomach felt still sicker and she wondered how on earth she was going to swallow down a sweet coffee… but she made her way into the dining room anyway as Draco led Scorpius and Michelle to the parlor.

"Dmitry!" she called. It took a moment, but he appeared in front of her, wearing a white chef's coat that was sporting a lovely red stain right in the center of it – fresh, by the looks of it.

"I do apologize madam!" said Dmitry, smiling as wide as ever and brushing the stain with a white napkin. "You called just as I was pouring some wine and startled me… Davius and I have been working on the master's Minister-Quality dinner since seven this morning!" he announced proudly.

"That's wonderful," Hermione said, and suddenly felt guilty that she was about to ask him to do something else. "When you get a spare moment, though…" she started, giving him an apologetic glance, "could you please make three cappuccinos and one hot chocolate and bring them to the parlor?"

"Absolutely, madam, no problem at all!" Dmitry said enthusiastically. "I will send Davius along. He is much more fit for the public eye right now than I…" he finished, motioning to his stained jacket.

"Wonderful," Hermione said again. "Thank you so much."

"C'est mon plaisir, madame!" he replied with a smile, and disappeared.

Since Hermione was alone, she took a very long and deep breath, fortifying her mental walls as she went, and then gracefully walked into the parlor where Draco was standing by watching Michelle talk to Scorpius.

"And what have you learned so far with your governess?" she was asking.

"Lots of stuff!" Scorpius eagerly replied. "She teaches me all about potions and grammar and math and French and all kinds of things!"

"And what's your favorite?" Hermione asked as she came into the room and sat down next to him on the little couch. Draco and Michelle were across the coffee table from them in matching wingback armchairs.

Scorpius smiled up at her. "French of course!" he answered.

"Why don't you and Hermione show Michelle some of the things you've learned in French?" Draco asked, glancing at Hermione.

Hermione tried very desperately not to think about the last time those silver eyes had been staring into hers.

"Hmm, what do you want to do first, Scorpius?" Hermione asked him.

"I can say the whole alphabet!" he declared. "And I can count all the way to fifty!"

Michelle nodded in approval, smiling gently.

"And what have we just learned last week?" Hermione reminded him.

"Oh, right! Colors! I know colors now!"

"Do you want to show Michelle how many colors you know?" Hermione asked. Scorpius nodded.

"Hmm," Hermione began. "Quelle couleur est… mes cheveux?" she asked, motition to her hair.

"Brun," he answered.

"Quelle couleur est… tes yeux?" she continued, pointing to his eyes.

"Gris!" he answered.

"Quelle couleur est la robe de Michelle?" She pointed to Michelle.

"Rouge."

"Quelle couleur est tes pantalons?" She motioned to his suit pants.

"Bleu."

"Quelle couleur est la chaise?" The chair Draco was sitting on, this time.

"Vert."

"Fantastique!" cried Michelle. "You have learned so much at such a young age!"

"Merci, mademoiselle," he answered, beaming. Hermione was absolutely swelling with pride. She had expected him to falter under the pressure but he was doing just as well for Draco and Michelle as he had for herself in their private lessons.

Suddenly, Davius appeared in the room and Michelle nearly jumped out of her skin.

Hermione smirked to herself.

"Sorry m'lady!" Davius said, bowing slightly to her. "I did not mean to scare. You called for cappuccinos, sir?" he asked, addressing Draco.

"I did, thank you," Draco said as Davius placed the tray of steaming drinks on the coffee table.

"The red mug is the hot chocolate for you, young master," Davius said to Scorpius. The cappuccinos were all in their traditional glass Irish coffee mugs, so Scorpius's stood out quite plainly.

"Thanks!" he said, and took it from the tray. The rest of them did the same.

"Should you require anything else, sir, just call!" said Davius, and he disappeared. Michelle was looking uneasily at the spot where he'd just stood.

"What on earth…"

"Imagine if a house elf, a butler, and a bar of gold were all cooked in a pot together. Dmitry and Davius are what you get," Draco explained. "They're called Orhommes."

"There are two of them?" Michelle asked incredulously.

"Yes, though I'm not sure which that one was," Draco admitted.

"It was Davius," Hermione answered. Draco looked at her questioningly. "I called Dmitry for them but he said he was busy with dinner, so he said he'd send Davius with the coffee."

"Did he happen to mention what he was cooking?" Draco asked.

"Unfortunately no," Hermione admitted. "All I know is that it has something to do with red wine."

"Ah, le vin rouge is my favorite," Michelle gushed. "Is it coq-au-vin , perhaps?" she asked Hermione.

"I wish I knew, but that's all the information I have," Hermione said. "That's probably a good guess though. They love French cuisine."

As the conversational focus shifted away from her, Hermione found her mind and eyes wandering. Eventually they both landed on the bookshelf just across the room from her.

The bookshelf that, just ten days previously, she and Draco had stood in front of, and he'd kissed her so tenderly, so gently…

Had he known, then, that just a little over a week later he and Hermione would be back in this room and joined by his long-term girlfriend? Did he know what he was doing?

Did he even care?

Dinner, as it turned out, actually was coq-au-vin. It passed without much monumental event – besides Scorpius, indeed, finishing all of his broccoli without even being told to. After dinner, Draco invited Michelle to spend Scorpius's reading time with him and to read the French storybook they'd gotten him for his birthday. Michelle seemed positively delighted at the opportunity and she and Scorpius soon retired to his room, leaving Draco and Hermione alone.

Precisely what she did not want.

"I think I'm going to head to my room for the evening and read a while…" she said, standing up from the table and heading for the parlor to retrieve the book she'd left there earlier in the day.

"Hermione, wait," Draco said, following after her. He caught up to her at the bookshelf – the same blasted bookshelf by the window.

"Yes, sir?" she asked, trying to be as sweet as possible. She was many things – angry, confused, upset – but she didn't want Draco to see that weakness.

"For God's sake, stop calling me 'sir,' it's odd," he said. "I've always told you to call me Draco."

"Yes, but Michelle wasn't here, then…" she said quietly, not meeting his gaze.

"Hermione…"

"Yes?" she asked, still not looking at him. He put a hand gently under her chin and brought her gaze up to meet his.

"You look absolutely stunning, today."

"Thank you," she said stiffly, trying not to show how the compliment made her all warm and fuzzy inside… "Michelle looks absolutely wonderful."

He was silent for a moment.

"She is quite beautiful. Comes from her French blood," he admitted.

"Yes. I can see why you're with her," she said, trying to keep herself together.

It was one fucking night, Hermione. One. Blasted. Night. It meant nothing to him, and nothing to you. It was an accident. A mistake. And you need to stop being a little school girl, grow up, and forget about it.

"Hermione…"

She didn't know how many more times she'd be able to stand hearing him say her name. She replied with silence, waiting for him to continue.

"Hermione, I'm sorry…"

"For?" she asked.

"Everything…" he began. He was quiet for a moment. "I should have told you about Michelle and not kept her from you…"

"Yes, you should have. Maybe then I'd have been keener to stop you last Monday…"

Draco was silent. Clearly he felt terrible about what he'd done.

"Why Draco?" she asked. "Why? She seems like a lovely woman, and you're clearly serious about her. How could you do that to her?"

"There's no good answer to that," Draco pleaded.

"Yes, you're right, there isn't, because it means you either weren't thinking about her at all, or you were thinking about her and didn't care," Hermione accused.

He was silent.

"I'm not going to say you took advantage of me, because you absolutely did not. I was perfectly willing and wanted it very much and believed the circumstances to be relatively innocent," she said. "I was under the impression that I was not the only one unattached to anyone."

"I know…" he said quietly.

"But that's not how it really was, Draco. I'm willing to go on and pretend like it never happened. It's a matter of if you can live with yourself or not. That's totally up to you and there's nothing I can do to help you with it."

Silence again. She sighed.

"You are my employer and my friend. I will not desert you, and I fully support your relationship with Michelle."

It pained her a little to say that, but she did seem like a good match for Draco, and she knew she had no business thinking ill of a woman she hardly knew simply because she was the rightful partner of the man she'd slept with.

"Thank you, Hermione."

"You're welcome."

"You mean a lot to me. You really do. I can't begin to describe to you the effect you've had here."

She gave him a small smile. "I've tried my best. I'm glad you've given me the chance to do it."

"Anytime."

"How long do you expect Michelle to be staying?" she asked, fearing the answer.

"I'm not entirely sure. Maybe a few weeks," he answered. She gave no indication of her reaction to that.

"You should go up and spend some time with Scorpius. He's missed you so much, Draco."

"I know."

"He was crying in my arms yesterday just before your owl came."

Draco stared at her.

"He was crying for me?" he asked.

"Absolutely in tears," she affirmed. "He couldn't believe you'd left without even telling him and were gone for so long without even writing to us."

She could see the pain behind his eyes at that.

"I wish you hadn't told me that…" he said softly.

"Well, Draco, I'm sorry, but some things you just need to hear," she said. "He's your son. You need to know what goes on in his mind while you're not here. It pains him, Draco. You've shown him the kind of father you can be and he has never been happier. You can't keep taking that away from him."

He looked at the floor.

"I really don't know what I'd do without you," he said quietly.

Her heart softened a bit.

"You'd manage," she said. "But even though I'm here for him now, Draco, you can't let that be your constant backup plan. You still need to be trying to be the best father you can be for him."

"I know," he said, looking back up at her again. "But I still thank you for all that you do."

She swallowed. "You're welcome."

"I think I will go up and see how they're doing…" he said.

"That's a wonderful idea," Hermione said, smiling.

"Good night, Hermoine," he said. Then he leaned down and kissed her lightly on the cheek before walking out of the room.

She closed her eyes and touched the spot on her cheek where he'd kissed her with two delicate fingers.

"Good night…" she whispered, as she opened her eyes again. She looked down at the book in her hand, then she, too, walked out of the room, but she went up the stairs and to the left, into the west wing, and into her room for the night.

She locked the door behind her.