A/N: And so it is resolved! I really hope you like this chapter, it was difficult to write. Five more chapters to go! So let me know what you think about the huge surprise.

Tomorrow I'm posting the first chapter of my new story: When a Stranger Calls – info and update dates will all be on my profile so stay tuned for that.

Thank you, as always, to my lovely reviewers: xenaz3, semantics, weirdgiraffe, and Alexybath.

Chapter 35: The Confrontation

Hermione:

"Are you sure you'll be alright here by yourself?" Ginny asked me from the doorway, looking concerned. "I know it's silly, but even I get the creeps from this place sometimes, even after all these years..."

I smiled at her sincerity. "Don't worry, Ginny. I'll be okay. It's only for a few hours, right?" Ginny nodded. "Besides, I have my little Superman here with me, don't I?" Scorpius peaked up at Ginny from behind my legs and grinned at her.

"I'll keep mummy safe, Auntie Ginny!" he assured her.

It was so cute that we both burst out laughing. I patted him on the head and picked him up so he could rest comfortably on my hip. Scorpius and I watched Ginny walk down the grimy pathway before apparating away with Lily secure in her arms.

Ginny had asked me if I could possibly watch over the house while she took Lily to St. Mungos for her regular check up. Normally she would've just gone no problem, but today there were people from the renovation agency due to come and take measurements of the house. Ginny hadn't noticed the schedule conflict until it was too late to do anything but find someone to supervise.

It hadn't been much of a problem to fill in for Ginny. All of the other little children had been left under the watchful care of Mrs. Weasley at the Burrow, and as the renovators already had a key to get in, I would just have to just be here and make sure nothing was broken.

"What do you say we make a huge batch of cookies?" I asked Scorpius. "Shall we surprise the rest? I say chocolate chip."

Scorpius shook his head. "Peanut butter."

I tsked. "You very well know Albus is allergic to peanuts, Scorpius!" I mock scolded. He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand and shook his head again. "How about you get changed into your other clothes while I get started, darling? We wouldn't want to ruin these pretty clothes papa brought for you from France."

Scorpius looked horrified. "I shan't make a mess!" he squeaked.

"Run along and change or no cookies for you!"

He pouted in a fashion similar to his father. I wondered if Draco had taught him that... I wouldn't be surprised. Draco was constantly teaching him things I didn't approve of. Pouting to get your way in things is NOT appropriate, for example.

Making my way to the basement kitchen brought back memories that I didn't necessarily want to remember. Not that those days of my life hadn't been good (certainly, not all of them were bad). I was just living a much better life now. I wondered how it all would be if things had just been...different.

Humming to take the chill away, I began to prepare the cookie dough.

Butter? Check! Measuring out the brown sugar, vanilla, flour, baking soda and salt took a minute and 54 seconds. It wasn't that I was counting or anything like that. I was just impatiently staring at the clock waiting for Scorpius to hurry and come downstairs. I didn't like the thought of him wandering around the house, even though this was technically his second home.

Just as the clock hit a two minutes and 32 seconds, Draco literally burst through the door.

The eggs I had been about to crack into the bowl were crushed in my hands as I was startled from the sound. I had almost let out a loud scream except I had noticed exactly who it was that had completely destroyed the kitchen door. It lay there in splinters.

"What the hell, Draco! Why did you do that?" I asked him.

But he didn't answer. Instead he stood there, staring at me.

No, staring wouldn't be the right word. He stood there glaring at me. For some reason, Draco looked really, really angry. I had no idea why he would be. Had something gone wrong at work? Had I done something wrong? Going through every possible option in my head, I couldn't find anything that came to mind. At least, I didn't think I'd done anything wrong...

"What's wrong...?" I finally asked him.

And then he lunged.

I barely had time to get out of the way and he crashed into the table that I had been making cookies on. I was surprised. I was disturbed. Draco wanted to...hurt me?

When I attempted to pull my wand out of my trouser pocket, I saw him wave his wand and my only lifeline soared right out of my hands and into his palm. We both paused for a moment, regarding each other, but I could not find any of the warmth that usually was present in his warm eyes. I only saw hate and anger.

It scared me.

Staring me straight in the eye, Draco snapped my wand in half. My wand! It was as if my breath had been taken away from me, my limb snapped off. How could he do something like that to me? Hurt me, sure, but destroy the one thing that had linked me permanently to the magical world? How could he!

I didn't have the time to contemplate the abuse that he had just dealt onto me, because he lunged again. This time I was ready for him and my knee met solidly with his groin. Not waiting for his reaction I bounded from the room, tears streaming down my face.

The love of my life had just tried to kill me.

Sprinting down the hallway, I'd just made it to the stairs when I heard a crash from the kitchen. Not wasting any time, I bounded up the stairs as fast as I could, looking for Scorpius. I felt so hurt, so fucking betrayed. I couldn't even begin to believe what was happening but... I didn't have time to think.

But then I had to stop.

Running, running, hiding. Feeling more betrayed than I could imagine. Hurt.

That was the vision. I had seen that this would happen. So I somehow had been warned all along that it would come to this. That I would be savagely hurt. And for what? Why? Because fate had a fucking plan? Well, fate. Here's some news. I'm tired of you messing around with my head!

With a new found resolution to live, I hurried and searched as quietly as I could for Scorpius. I didn't care if Draco hurt me now. He could hurt me all he liked. I was not going to die and Scorpius was not going to be hurt. I would see to it personally, even if that meant gouging the man's eyes out myself.

Finally, I found Scorpius hiding under his bed. Picking up the scared little child, I placed him inside his closet. He wouldn't have to see his father behaving so... evilly. My hands began to shake, but I had to control myself. This was going to be the moment where everything was resolved.

Even if I did die, I was not going without a fight. If I was going to die, I was taking as many arseholes as I could with me.

"Stay here, sweetheart. Don't come out for anything, okay? Promise me."

"I promise," he said quietly, his eyes wide.

I kissed his cheek. "Don't look, alright? I'm going to be right back and if I don't come, Auntie Ginny will find you. I promise." He nodded. I had him hide in the very back of the tiny closet, hoping against hope that Draco wasn't aware that his son was here.

Please God let him think he went with the Potters!

I stood there holding a pair of scissors as my only line of defence, waiting. If he was going to come up here and attempt to harm my son, I would damage him enough to buy enough time to get Scorpius past him and out the door. And then we would run.

Yes, that's exactly how I was going to do it. Good thinking!

A whole three minutes passed and still nothing. When my nerves were finally going to get the better of me, I heard a crash that seemed to have come from right at the foot of the stairs. It made me jump, and I could hear Scorpius moving in the closet.

"Don't move, Scorpius," I said in a low voice. I didn't know if he had heard me or not, but the noise stopped. Or perhaps it was just masked from the noises that were now coming from downstairs. I intended to wait out whatever the fucker was doing down there until I began to smell something strange coming from downstairs.

Was that smoke?

Fucking hell, what ought I to do? I couldn't risk just staying here if it was smoke. Scorpius and I would be burnt to a crisp! I would have to go see. There was no other option. Clutching the scissors tighter in my hand, I began to creep out of the room, crouching so that no one would be able to see me.

With the smoke that was now filling the hallway; no one would be able to see me.

Before I could make it to the stairway railing and peer down at the commotion, I heard a yell.

"Hermione! Run Hermione! RUN!" My eyes widened in shock.

The voice... it sounded exactly like Draco! I could tell that voice apart from anyone's, anywhere, anytime. But why would Draco be telling me to run if he was the one trying to kill me? Peering over the banister at the hallway below, I gasped.

There were flames licking the wall, fire rapidly spreading and emitting treacherous smoke. But that was not the main attraction. There were two Dracos savagely fighting each other. Not one, two exact replicas attempting to mutilate the other. Which was which?

I didn't have the chance to discern because one had managed to hit the other brutally enough for him to fall down. He fell, clearly unconscious with a thick pool of blood seeping away from his head. I choked back a cry. I hoped against hope that that hadn't been my Draco. I prayed a silent prayer, but I couldn't stay.

I couldn't go and help him if he was my Draco, because if it was, Scorpius was now in danger.

When the remaining Draco proceeded to lift a vase on a nearby table and drop it onto the already injured head of the fallen, I screamed. Immediately, the man looked up and found my position, hidden near the staircase. Leaving his fallen counterpart on the ground, he sprinted after me and I made a dead run towards Scorpius' room.

Before I could shut the door behind me and barricade it, the man had forced himself through, gotten a hold of me and punched me brutally. I fell to the floor immediately, a little disoriented from the blow and the following fall.

Staring up at my aggressor from my vantage point on the floor, I realized that this was definitely not my Draco. No. His face was a violent shade of red. Draco never got that red... granted that the house was now burning down around us, perhaps it was a different story. But his walk, when he took a few steps towards me, was nothing like the calm stride of my love. His clothes, they were nothing like Draco's...

How had I not seen it all before it was all too late?

He made to come towards me and probably hit me again, but Scorpius emerged from his hiding place in the closet and ran at the monster, beating his fists against the intruder's legs. "Don't hurt my mummy!" he screamed.

The man who looked so painfully like Draco had a surprised look painted on his face. Picking Scorpius up and holding the wriggling child in front of him as if the little boy were a squealing, disgusting pig, he stared down at me in horrific hate and disgust.

Fear seeped through my veins and I was frozen to my spot on the ground. I was afraid that if I moved, the man would kill my baby... My bones were locked and tears poured freely down my face.

"All this time," said the man in a voice that was nothing like Draco's, "you've been breeding with the Death Eater scum and you hid it from me?" he shouted, shaking Scorpius in the air.

Right before our eyes, Draco began to change. His hair was no longer the white blond I had fallen in love with. His eyes changed from a startling grey to a dull, empty blue.

"After everything, you whored yourself out to the ferret? You slut! How could you defile yourself like that? You gave yourself up to him when... You. Belonged. To. Me!"

As he spoke, the transformation continued before my eyes and all I could do was sit there in shock and pain. The tall man became taller, his posture became haggard, his face sunken and withered away. His fingers became filthy and his skin ashen. A lot had changed about this man over the years he had been absent from everyone's lives, but there was no mistaking his identity.

It had been Ron all this time.

Fully transformed back into his own self, the figure of the boy I had once known had completely changed. He was dark, he was empty...and he was more than broken. Ron Weasley was a psychopath. When his fingers closed around my son's neck, I realized I had to act now.

I'm not sure what gave me the courage to lunge myself against him at that very moment, but I managed to knock him down. Scorpius fell and hearing a snap, I worried that he had broken a bone. He sobbed, but I dragged him away from the now angrier Ron. We didn't make it far before Ron was up on his feet again. He rummaged through his ill fitting clothing and brought out a wand that looked just like Draco's. All I could do was cower on the floor before him, holding my crying child.

"Please, Ron. Please. Kill me. Kill me, don't kill the child, he's innocent!"

The flames had reached our floor finally, and the smoke had started to become acrid. I wondered if Draco had managed to get away or if he was gone forever now. It suddenly dawned on me now how Lily Potter must have felt in her dying moments.

In fact, I realized now that I was in the exact same situation. Fate was cruel... fate was so, so cruel. My husband lay fallen at the hands of a psychopath, falling to protect his family. I now lay between said psychopath and my son. Maybe...maybe my love for Scorpius could protect him how Harry had been protected. A scar was nothing. Let him live!

"Kill me, Ron, let the boy go," I said with a new found determination.

Ron shook his head. "You have to get them early, Hermione. They're all the same, these Death Eater bastards. They're all the same."

"Ron, please!"

"No. I'm sorry, Hermione, but you've already chose your side. I told you, I told you over and over again. You don't fraternize with the enemy!" He seemed even more enraged at the thought that I had a family with an ex Death Eater than he had before.

I closed my eyes.

"Please!"

"Avada-"

Instead of a flash of green light, I heard a very loud crashing noise. Opening my eyes, I saw a cloud of smoke, Ron falling to the floor and a very bloody Draco standing above him. I cried in relief, still unable to move. Draco rushed towards us, embraced us tightly and sighed.

"Fucker missed with the vase," he muttered into my ear. I just pressed my head into the crook of his neck and held onto the now hysteric Scorpius tighter. The house was coming down around us, but I was too relieved to care. Draco was alive. Draco would take care of us now. "We have to get out of here. Can you stand?" he shouted over the din.

Picking up the wand that had fallen out of Ron's hands, I quickly stunned him before he could get up. Draco gently pried it from my fingers and I stared at him, still in a daze.

"I'm going to levitate us out the window," he said to me.

I simply nodded and allowed him to lead me to the window. Gripping Scorpius safely, Draco carefully removed us from the building. Over his shoulder, I could see Ron laying on the floor, still stunned.

A fire, and a man burning in the flames...

And so another vision had come to pass. My eyes were once again blurred with tears as I was reuinited with my family. I was alive. I was alive, goddamnit! And my stalker was dead. I could laugh and cry at the same time. That's exactly what I did, holding Draco who finally looked over our poor child for injuries, blood dripping down his own face.

"How did you know to come?" I finally asked him when we were surrounded by aurors, healers, and ministry damage control members.

"It's a curious thing," he managed to smile and I automatically smiled back. Scorpius was safely tucked into my lap and fast asleep, a blanket wrapped around him. "I was having lunch with George Weasley who happened to mention the return of a shunned brother."

And so, I began to realize, maybe a happily ever after did exist for Hermione Malfoy.

A/N: So what did you think?

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Alexybath: I'm flattered. Though I'm not sure if I ought to take that as a compliment... Hope you enjoyed!