Draco waited nervously in the reception area of the hotel, he had been thrilled to receive Hermione's message but the closer it got to their meeting time the more nervous he was becoming. Draco was honestly beginning to think he would never see Hermione again when suddenly she had exploded back into his life, now all he had to do was make sure he didn't blow things a second time.
A minute or so before the time they had arranged to meet Draco spotted Hermione entering the hotel reception. She was wearing dark blue jeans and a emerald green top that hung off one shoulder while her hair was hanging loose down her back. Draco smiled at the sight of her wearing Slytherin colours as he approached her.
"Hi, you look lovely." Draco said as he approached Hermione.
"Thanks." Hermione couldn't help but blush slightly at the compliment. "I hope you don't mind me suggesting we just go somewhere less formal."
"Casual's fine." Draco reassured her.
It was actually Hermione herself that had introduced Draco to more casual nights out during their affair. Obviously they weren't able to be seen in public together so the restaurants Draco frequented were out on the few occasions they did happen to venture out together.
"I thought we could just go to the pub." Hermione said. "There's a couple of nice ones nearby that do good meals."
"That's fine." Draco said as they left the hotel.
As they walked the short distance to the pub neither spoke, instead they just marvelled at how comfortable it still felt to be in the other ones presence. When they arrived at the pub Hermione picked out a corner table that was relatively private while Draco went to get drinks and order the food.
As Hermione watched Draco chatting to the barman she couldn't help but think how far he had come from their school days. Once upon a time she would have laughed hysterically if someone had told her that Draco Malfoy could be perfectly at ease in a muggle pub, but here he was looking as though he belonged in the muggle world.
The first time Hermione had ever taken Draco to a pub was a few months into their affair and she had been nervous about how he would react, she knew he was massively different from the pureblood snob he had once been but she had still been worried about him being uncomfortable. Draco however surprised her totally by being completely at ease surrounded by muggles, the only problem he really had were the difference in drinks and food but he soon learnt to recognise the muggle equivalent of what he liked in the wizarding world.
"The food will be about fifteen minutes." Draco said as he returned to the table with the drinks. "I ordered you the lasagne, is that okay?"
"Yeah." Hermione smiled. She'd told Draco to pick her something as she was curious as to whether he still remembered what she liked, and considering he'd ordered her one of her favourite meals and brought her a glass of rose wine she figured he could clearly still remember what she liked.
As Draco settled into the seat opposite Hermione they both fell silent as they wondered how to begin. Before they could catch up properly it was clear they would have to discuss what had happened to leave them so far apart.
"So you didn't get married." Hermione finally started the conversation. "What exactly happened?"
"I finally plucked up the courage to admit I didn't want Pansy. I knew the minute you left that I was making the biggest mistake of my life but it took another few weeks to get up the courage to end the engagement."
"What did Pansy say?" Hermione asked. She knew Pansy didn't love Draco but from what she had gathered at the time the witch was much more into the idea of marrying Draco than he was of marrying her.
"Actually she was fine with it." Draco admitted. "It turns out she knew I'd been seeing someone else."
"She knew about us?" Hermione questioned, totally surprised that anyone had figured out what was happening between her and Draco.
"She didn't know who you were." Draco answered. "She knew I was seeing someone but she didn't know who and I didn't tell her. I wanted to speak to you before I told anyone about us."
"So the split was amicable then." Hermione said, deciding she wanted to find out more about his split with Pansy before delving into what he had done about trying to contact her.
"Yes. We decided we would both have a better chance at finding happiness with others." Draco said. "Pansy actually met someone six months after we split and she's due to be married next month."
"I'm pleased." Hermione said. While she'd never really liked Pansy, Hermione was glad that her affair with Draco hadn't ruined the other witches life. "What about you? Have you found happiness with someone else?"
"No, the witch I want had already left by the time I got my act together." Draco replied, looking pointedly at Hermione. He wanted her to know that there had been no-one else in his life, she was the only woman he wanted.
"How did you know I'd left?" Hermione asked.
"After everything was sorted with Pansy I visited your flat only to find a couple moving in. They explained that they had just bought the flat and had no idea where the previous owner had gone to." Draco said.
"Did you still look for me or did you give up?" Hermione questioned, taking a drink of her wine.
"I went to see Potter and Weasley, I figured they would know where you were." Draco chuckled as Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, clearly she hadn't though he would have gone to visit her friends. "At first they refused to tell me anything."
"At first?"
"Yes. When it became clear they weren't going to tell me where you were I told them the truth. I admitted we'd been having an affair and that I loved you and wanted you back."
"You told them you loved me." Hermione gasped. Not only was she shocked that Draco had admitted such a thing to her friends but she was shocked that neither Harry or Ron had mentioned it in their semi- regular correspondence.
"I did." Draco nodded, inwardly grimacing as he relived the humiliation of practically begging Potter and Weasley for information. "Eventually they believed me or took pity on me, I'm not sure which. But either way they said that you'd gone travelling and they had no idea where exactly you were. Although considering you're here, either they lied or you didn't travel very far."
"Harry and Ron didn't lie, I did." Hermione admitted. "I told them I was going travelling when really I had bought a cottage here. I knew if they knew where I was they would visit all the time and I really needed some time alone."
Draco was just about to begin questioning Hermione on her disappearance when the food came. Draco waited until the waiter had placed the food in between them and left them alone again before he began his questions.
"Why did you leave?"
"I couldn't stand the idea of being around while you got married." Hermione dropped her head and looked at her food as she spoke. "I figured I would leave for a while and when I was over you I could return. That way it wouldn't hurt as much to see you with Pansy."
"That was two years ago and you're still here. Does that mean you're still not over me?" Draco asked, hoping that Hermione still had feelings for him.
Hermione sighed and took a bite of her lasagne as she stalled for time. She still wasn't over Draco and even without Scorpius she would probably be nowhere near ready to return home, but she had to admit the main reason she was still here was her son.
Eventually Hermione looked up at Draco. "No, I'm still not over you. I still wouldn't be able to stand seeing you with someone else."
"I'm so sorry Hermione." Draco said. "I never meant to hurt you so much."
"It wasn't your fault Draco." Hermione said quietly. "I knew what I was getting into when I began seeing you."
"But everything would have been so much easier if I wasn't such a coward." Draco sighed. "If I'd just had the guts to stand up to my father earlier I could have saved us both so much pain."
"You can't beat yourself up over what you did and didn't do in the past." Hermione reached over the table and gently held onto Draco's hand as she was talking. "You just learn from your mistakes and don't do the same thing again."
"Believe me, I won't." Draco said, his thumb tracing patterns on the back of Hermione's hand. "I won't let my father stand in the way of what I want."
"What do you want?" Hermione asked, hoping the answer would be the same one he gave that afternoon.
"You." Draco replied. "I want a chance to prove how much I love you and to prove I'll never let you down again. I don't want to lose you again, Hermione, I need you."
Hermione smiled at Draco's words, she knew exactly how hard it must have been for him to even admit that to himself, let alone admit it to her.
"I think I'd like a second chance too." Hermione said, hoping Draco would still be as keen on reviving their relationship once he knew about Scorpius. "But before we make any big decisions about the future, I think we need to spend some time getting to know each other again."
"I think that's a good idea." Draco said. While they'd gotten to know each other extremely well over the course of their affair Draco knew there was still plenty more they needed to discover. "I can stay for the rest of the week and we can talk again then."
"I'd like that." Hermione smiled, wondering if Alice would be alright looking after Scorpius a bit more than normal in the coming week.
"Well since we're getting to know each other again how about you tell me how you ended up here and what you do with your time." Draco said.
For the rest of the meal Hermione explained about the book she was writing while Draco filled Hermione in on the progress he was making with expanding his father's business. The conversation stayed light and fluffy and neither mentioned their messy past or their potential future. Hermione also never mentioned Scorpius, she had decided to spend the week enjoying Draco's company before she would potentially destroy any chance they had of getting back together.
After dinner the couple went for a walk along the beach before Draco insisted on walking Hermione home. As they were walking Draco slipped his hand into Hermione's and they were still holding hands when they stopped outside Hermione's front gate.
"It looks nice." Draco commented, looking at Hermione's cosy cottage. " Do I get an invite to see indoors?" He asked hopefully.
Hermione laughed lightly and shook her head. "Not tonight." She knew that she couldn't let Draco see her cottage until she had told him about Scorpius as it was obvious a young child lived with her.
"Another time maybe." Draco said. "I had a good time tonight, thank you for giving me a second chance."
"We all deserve a second chance." Hermione whispered, hoping Draco would remember that when she told him he had a son.
Draco smiled before gently brushing his lips over Hermione's. "Good night, Hermione."
"Good night, Draco." Hermione replied, as she reluctantly let go of his hand and entered her garden.
Hermione took a final look at Draco and smiled before she went inside her cottage. Draco stood watching the house for a few minutes before he turned and headed back to his hotel, a massive smile on his face.