A/n: I am terribly sorry for posting this a week late.

I encountered a problem in logging in so... I'm sorry.

But since I managed to log in NOW, here's chapter 2.ü

By: Aningme

Chapter 2

Dilemma: The Sequel

"You're making him sick with worry." Mrs. Dubley said, checking at her temperature. "Maybe you should just tell him."

"I was still not sure about it. I wanted to confirm it before I tell him." She stared at him on the door window. He was sitting on the waiting shed, his fingers continuously playing with his car keys.

She couldn't help it but smile at that. "I wonder what he'll think."

Mrs. Dubley smiled. "I think he'll be happy."

Hermione smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I think so too." She muttered, as she stared at the red strip of a medical tool that had turned blue.

He was growing sick already with worry as he waited in that hospital shed. He couldn't help but be queasy around hospitals. Especially when the one he loves is the one inside the testing room.

Hearing the door creek open, he shot up from his seat, dropping his car keys on the floor.

"How was it?" He suddenly said, his hands searching for the key.

Hermione just stared back at him, wanting to hug him for his adorableness. "I told you I wasn't sick."

Mrs. Dubley walked behind her. "She's fine as a healthy cow, Mr. Malfoy. No need to worry."

He took her hands as he walked to her. "Both of you are sure? Then what's with the vomiting?"

Mrs. Dubley just smiled, walking out of the room. "I'll leave you two talk about that. I'll just arrange some papers in my office." She said and winked at Hermione.

Hermione chuckled and squeezed his hands on hers. "Shall we go home then? Aren't we supposed to go to the cottage?"

He merely stared back at her, his eyes confused. "What is it that two of you are holding back from me?"

"Nothing." She muttered. "Let's just go home. We'll talk about it later."

She merely pulled him to the elevator and to the parking lot.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but Sir Malfoy is not around at the moment." Harvey muttered as he listened to the whiny voice on the other line. "I'll call you back as soon as he comes back. Yes. Thank you too. Good day."

The busy life doesn't stop one bit.

Hanging up the phone. He headed to his master's office and collected the files needed for the upcoming meeting the next day. Everyone seemed to demand of his master. He couldn't help it but think of how he could handle such a busy life.

His line of thought was crudely interrupted as a buzz on the front door echoed along the premises.

It never ends… He thought and walked over to the front door to the parlor.

"You won't tell me?" Draco insisted. "After all the arguments, you still won't tell me."

"Just shut up and drive." She laughed. "You'll know later. In the mean time, let's have some ice cream."

"I have a large stock of ice cream at home."

"I know. But I like to eat outside."

"What about in our garden?"

"Outside. Meaning in ice cream parlors." She pointed out. "I just miss my old life in junks." She chuckled. She wouldn't get used with all that space in their manor. She actually got lost once in just finding the bathroom. Who knows how many rooms there are in that fortress he built.

"Only a month, and yet you already grew tired of me." He pouted at that and slumped on his chair.

"Stop pouting." She demanded, and then laughed. "Oh stop it. I didn't mean it like that."

He smiled and opened his mouth to speak. But as he was about to speak, his phone started ringing, crudely cutting him off.

"A moment." He told her and answered it. "Malfoy."

She watched him as he listened to the other line. There was the look of annoyance on his face.

"I already cancelled all of my meetings." He pointed out, his voice edging to temper.

He suddenly stopped the car around the curb and stepped out.

"Sir, I believe this won't wait." Harvey insisted. "It is best you return quickly and meet with your guest."

"Who is it anyway?" Draco asked, pacing beside his car. "It can't be that big. All businesses could be dealt with tomorrow."

"This is not business, sir." Harvey pointed out. "She claims to be your mother."

Hermione waited patiently inside the car, watching him pace beside the car and fluster on the phone.

She guessed there was a problem at work. There won't be ice cream in ice cream parlors anymore, if that's the case.

"What is it?" She asked as he stepped back in and continued driving.

"I need to drop you off at Ginny's." He suddenly said; his voice in serious mode. "I need to deal with some things and then I'll get back to you."

"Things?" She asked. "You can just drop me off at home. We're nearer there than at Ginny's."

"No. Not at home. I need you to go to Ginny's." He insisted.

Hermione stared at him, confused. "What was it, Draco? What did Harvey say?"

Draco paused for a while before he answered. "It's just business, nothing else."

She didn't believe him. "You drive me away from our house for business?"

He stopped the car again and looked at her. "I can't talk about this now. I just…" He ran his hands through his hair desperately and sighed. "I just need to deal with this alone. For now."

She stared at him, worry suddenly crossing her. "Okay. I can just stop by here."

He glanced at the café across them. "What about Ginny's?"

"I can go there by myself." She smiled, leaned over and kissed him. "Take it easy, alright? We'll talk about this later."

He smiled and kissed her back. "I love you."

"I love you too." She whispered and stepped out, watching him drive away.

What ever it is, it must be something big. She never saw him so shaken before.

"She claims to be your mother." Harvey's voice echoed on his head.

It can't be. This just can't be. He thought, turning to a block and entering the gates of his fortress.

She's dead. He thought, marching his way towards the parlor. She can't be here. She just can't.

"She's waiting in the entertainment room, sir." Harvey stepped up, his face ever so straight and blank. "I served her some refreshments. Would you like some yourself?" He could see the troubling thoughts in his master's head, the slight panic that has been playing in his eyes the moment he stepped in the premises. "Perhaps coffee? Or tea?"

"No, but thank you, Harvey." Draco finally decided and headed for the private elevator.

Good morning, Malfoy.

He smiled slightly, hearing the programmed voice of his wife.

Please state your destination.

"Entertainment room." He answered and leaned against the metal walls of the shaft as it moved. He slightly smiled and thought of his wife. She wasn't really as polite as the programmed computer in the elevator.

She was, in fact, a stubborn woman with a bit of temper and nerves.

But hell, he loved her for it.

Have a good day.

Stepping out of the shaft, he decided to reprogram the computer and base it on reality. Perhaps, make it more stubborn, and rude, as his wife was.

Walking further, his thoughts drifted from the woman he loves the most to the woman he hated the most.

He felt his heart starting to pulsate harder in his chest in a quick adrenalin rush. His nerves were starting to claw at him.

'I'm sorry to report that she's dead, Mr. Malfoy." He heard Dumbledore's voice in his head. Just the same as that very day. 'She killed herself in her chambers as your father died.'

He really didn't care even if she was alive or not.

He really didn't have a mother even if he was a child.

She was, in fact, as bad as his father.

Slowly opening the door, he stepped in and stared at the woman sitting on the plush brown sofa he set up before the flat screen across the room.

He couldn't believe she was actually there.

"You're dead." He said it flat, coldly. "They told me you were dead."

Hearing his voice, she slowly turned her head and smiled. At her long lost son. "My, my. My Draco is home at last." She stood up and stared him down. "Look at you. You look like a million dollars."

He ignored her comment and stared back, his steely eyes suddenly fuming in anger. He pretended he didn't hear that insult. "What are you doing here?" He was, in his opinion, looking like a billion dollars. "Got tired at the cemetery? Or at the morgue, perhaps?"

She kept her face straight, same as her son, and lifted her chin a little in dignity. "I wanted to see my son. Is that a crime?"

Perhaps, he thought. She had no right to be here in the first place. "What do you want from me? Money?"

She pretended to look hurt, grabbed her glass of vodka, and sipped. "Is that what you think of me? For this whole time?"

Yeah, he wanted to blurt it out. But he pressed his lips in a thin line and held himself back. "I am quite sure a greeting from me won't be really necessary, for you have walked out of my life for what? Ten years?" He tried to act casually, coolly, as he walked to the counter and pour himself a glass of whisky. But, honestly, he was a nervous wreck.

He didn't know what to do with his mother.

She smiled and flashed white set of teeth. "Oh how I miss that tone of yours." She waited a beat, emphasizing it. "You just sound like your father."

He almost shattered the glass in his hands at his name. But he just gulped his whisky down, straight to the bottom. "I am not my father."

"Yes you are. Of course you are. Every bit of you is him." She stepped closer now, giving him a good look. "Look at you. Your eyes, your hair—-"

"I may come from both of you, but I am not like him." His voice turned suddenly thick in rage, stepping closer to her, his eyes burning her down. His head was about to explode with the combination of alcohol and fury. "Or even you. Did you come all the way here just to claim your idiotic point?"

"Oh no, my child." She held out a hand to him, caressing his cheek. "I wanted to see my son again." He turned away from her touch and walked towards the window, staring out into his garden that he built. With his own money. With his own hands.

She sighed. "Also, I wanted to see how my son came out to be while I was away." She added. "And also, to see his bride's condition."

It was utterly clear to her the cautious alertness that showed when he suddenly flinched a little from where he was standing. He turned back to her, his eyes pale, blank. They were cold, as they always were, but were very apparent.

"She's not here." He muttered.

"She isn't?" She made a frown on her pale face and sighed in dismay. "Well, then, I'll wait for Ms. Granger. Or should I say, Mrs. Malfoy?"

Hermione stared and sighed absently at the television set before her. She was sitting beside her niece, Relina, who was indulging herself in a warm glass of hot milk and a plate of cookies. And across her was Ginny, staring back at her with worry apparent in her eyes.

She knew that look in Hermione's face. The kind that shows something was bothering her, by the way her face droop in a frown, and the way her brows knit together, maybe because of wondering about something.

But she was entirely sure there was something wrong.

"What's up, Hermy?" Ginny finally spoke up, crossing her skinny legs on the neon pink sofa. She leaned in more closely and caught her eyes. "Something wrong? You've been brooding there for a full hour."

"He isn't calling yet." Hermione merely whispered it. She sighed again and spared a glance at the coo coo clock hanging by the kitchen door. "He was supposed to call me when he's done."

"When is Uncle Draco coming over?" Relina interjected, turning away from the television show, the cookies, and the creamy milk. Her red curls eddied around her shoulders, her eyes twinkling in innocence at Hermione.

Hermione tried on a smile and beamed at her favorite niece. "He'll call any minute now. And when he does," She glanced at Ginny. "I'll tell him to drop by."

The little girl jumped in excitement and did her little dance of joy. "I'll show him my new collection of dolls!" She announced and beamed a smug smile at them. "Have you seen my new doll daddy bought me, Aunt Hermy?"

"I believe I haven't." Hermione replied and tucked locks of Relina's hair behind her ear. "I'm quite sure she will be lovely." She planted a kiss on her forehead. "But, of course, my niece will be the prettiest of all."

Relina chuckled and ran off to the stairs. "I'll get them dressed up for our party!" She shrieked and disappeared.

Ginny laughed and listened to the fading steps of her daughter. "She really loves playing with you two." She muttered and sighed, taking a sip of the abandoned glass of milk. "Now, what were we talking about?"

"Hm?" Was all Hermione said.

"Herm. Don't pretend nothing's cooking." Ginny demanded. "Spill it out. NOW."

"I have nothing to spill out." Hermione insisted.

"You're lying. It's so obvious, Herm." Ginny took a bite of a cookie. "Look at your eyes. They're twitching. They twitch when you lie."

"They do not!" She glanced at a mirror on the wall. "They don't."

"Spit it out."

"Alright! Alright," Hermione shook her head. "I'm worried."

"About?"

"Draco." Hermione finally said. "I mean, I saw him took that call. He was pissed off." She frowned. "Literally pissed off."

"Work, maybe?" Ginny suggested.

"Yeah, well, he told me it's business but, I caught him holding back." She ran a hand through her golden brown locks. "We were supposed to go to the cottage for, you know, spending time with each other." She sighed. "Also, I was going to tell him something."

Ginny cocked her brow. "Which is?"

"Nah, it's nothing serious."

"Spit it."

Hermione visibly grunted. "Fine. But don't freak out, okay?"

"Okay." Ginny nodded, gravely anticipated, and fixated her eyes on Hermione.

Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I want you to be the first to know because you let me be the first to know yours." She glanced at the stairs, at Relina, and sighed. "I wasn't sure of this before, but when I took the tests this morning, I—"

"Oh my Merlin." Her mouth wide open, Ginny's eyes popped out of their sockets. "Oh my goodness and merciful Merlin. You're… you're…"

"Yes." Hermione nodded. Then smiled. "I am pregnant."

"Hot damn." Was all Ginny could say, before she leaped out of her chair to grab Hermione into a hug.

A/n: This would be officially my first reply to my first reviewers.ü

Liz- HEY! Glad to see you again here!ü Wow I 'm so happy to see you again.ü And Congratulations you are the first to review! And as always, firsts are very important to me.ü THANK you soo much! And Welcome aboard in this ship again.ü

Spiritwell - Welcome back into this ship!ü I really missed you calling my name like that.ü LOL.ü And yes, she is pregnant.ü

Oni Tenchie - Hi!ü I'm glad to see your name again.ü And yes, I am back.ü I sure hope you ride with me in this trip again.ü

Queen of Duct Tape - Hello again!ü Nice to see all of you.ü Yeah, well, she is pregnant.ü And I know what you mean about time. It really is something that we all can't control.ü lol.ü I'm really glad to see you guys again.ü I hope you like this one.ü

Zarroc- Hey!ü I wasn't able to get to know you more on the first part.ü But I sure hope I get to know more about you in this sequel.ü Welcome aboard by the way!ü And I hope you like this one.ü

lightning8star- Hey!ü Welcome aboard!ü Am I really killing you? I'm sorry.ü AHahaha..ü I always like writing vaguely at the end.ü And I'm sure as the time goes by, you'll get used to it.ü

vytiri - Hello!ü Welcome aboard in this story too!ü Yeah, it's pretty exciting to have this sequel.ü And I hope you all like it.ü

caz-jket - Thanks for checking this out.ü Welcome aboard too! And I hope I get to know you more.ü It's fun getting to know more names.ü I hope you are one of them too.ü

Leahsa - Again, I am sorry for putting this up late.ü And yeah, maybe you are thinking that she's pregnant.ü

priyax3 - Hey!ü Thanks for reading the first one too.ü Glad to know a new name again!ü Welcome aboard!ü And I hope you would enjoy this one as much as the first one.ü TC!

Lol.ü First ten.ü Wow.ü THANK YOU GUYS!ü

And yes, I will post again, next weekend.ü

Aningme