"I want you to come home with me." Draco announced, causing Hermione to look up at him shock.
The couple were currently lying in the large bed in Draco's hotel room. After spending the entire week getting to know each other again they had finally given into the passion that was constantly simmering beneath the surface of their meetings. As much as the couple had enjoyed spending time together outside of the bedroom once they had tumbled into bed they felt complete and both knew they would never walk away from what they had together again.
"Or I could come and live here." Draco said, taking Hermione's silence as disapproval of him assuming she would be the one to move.
"You would come and live on a muggle island?" Hermione questioned, sitting up and propping herself against the headboard.
"If it meant being with you, yes." Draco replied. "I love you, Hermione and I'm not planning on letting you get away a second time."
"I love you, too." Hermione said, pressing a soft kiss to Draco's lips. "But it's a big decision and I need some time to think. There's also something else we need to discuss."
"What?" Draco asked.
"We'll talk about it tomorrow." Hermione replied, getting out of bed and beginning to redress. "And I promise I'll have an answer about moving back with you. If that's still what you want."
"Of course it'll still be what I want." Draco scoffed at the idea he would change his mind. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"We'll see tomorrow won't we." Hermione replied, leaning over and kissing Draco. "One o'clock on the beach."
"Okay." Draco responded, pulling Hermione into another kiss. "Are you sure you have to leave?" He mumbled, reluctantly breaking the kiss.
"Yes." Hermione replied, moving away from the bed. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Draco complained about Hermione leaving for another few minutes, he even tried to tempt her back into bed at one point. Eventually though Hermione managed to leave Draco's hotel room and she set off back home with a spring in her step.
Arriving home Hermione found Alice was just putting Scorpius to bed. The minute Scorpius saw his mother he called out for her and demanded a story. While Hermione told Scorpius a story about dragons Alice tided the toys her son had been playing with earlier. Once Scorpius was fast asleep Hermione and Alice retreated into the front room where Hermione opened a bottle of wine for the two women to share.
"I take it things are going well with Draco." Alice commented. The change in Hermione since her ex had been back in her life had been extremely noticeable and Alice was pleased to see the younger woman looking so radiant.
"They are." Hermione nodded. "He asked me to return home with him."
"Are you going to?"
"That all depends on what happens tomorrow." Hermione sighed. "I'm taking Scor to meet him tomorrow afternoon and I was hoping you would be there."
"Of course I'll be there." Alice said. "What happens if things go well tomorrow?"
"If Draco is still up for it then we'll go home with him, if not we'll stay here and continue as we have been." Hermione replied. "Either way though, I'm hoping that Scorpius will have a father in his life."
"I hope everything works out for you, Hermione. You and Scor both deserve to be happy." Alice said, smiling at Hermione. "Although if you do go home I hope you won't forget to visit now and again."
"Of course I won't." Hermione said hugging the older woman. "You're like family to us and Scorpius would be devastated if he didn't see you regularly."
"The feeling's entirely mutual, dear." Alice said. "Scorpius is the closest thing I'll ever have to a grandchild and you know I think of you like a daughter."
Hermione smiled as she and Alice began making plans for the following day. Alice was clearly eager to meet Draco after hearing so much about him from Hermione. She was just hoping that everything went smoothly and Hermione and Scorpius got the family they deserved.
00000
As Draco made his way onto the beach his eyes scanned the golden sands for Hermione. Spotting the back of her head mid-way between where he was standing and the sea, Draco begun moving in her direction when suddenly a woman appeared in front of him.
"You must be Draco." The woman said, holding her hand out for the blond to shake. "I'm Alice, I'm Hermione's next door neighbour and good friend."
Draco quickly recovered from the shock of having someone thrust themselves upon them and greeted Hermione's friend politely. After the greetings Draco expected the woman to move aside but instead she just looked up at him, a calculating look on her face.
"I hope you're going to treat them right." Alice said. "Hermione has been through a lot and needs someone reliable in her life."
"I won't hurt her again." Draco said, wondering about Alice's choice of wording.
"You better not." Alice said, stepping aside and allowing Draco to continue walking.
Alice fell into step with Draco and as he approached Hermione he could feel the older woman watching him. Trying to ignore the scrutiny of the woman beside him Draco focused on Hermione, his movements however came to a sudden halt when a small boy suddenly came into his line of sight. He was near enough to hear the boy refer to Hermione as mummy, he was also near enough to notice the resemblance between himself and the boy.
"Is he mine?" Draco asked, turning to the woman who had come to a halt beside him.
"I think you know the answer to that one already." Alice replied. Hermione had told her that Scorpius was the spitting image of his father but until she had seen Draco for herself she hadn't realised just how truthful Hermione was being, one glance was more than enough to see the family resemblance. "Make sure you give her a chance to explain, she didn't keep him a secret to be malicious."
As Alice made her way towards Hermione and her son Draco stayed rooted to the spot, his eyes on the son he had never met. The boy was currently sitting a few inches away from Hermione digging a hole with a tiny spade. Draco watched Alice approach Hermione, she whispered a few words before sitting down an a nearby deckchair. After Alice had spoken to her Hermione turned round to look at Draco.
As he began walking towards Hermione once again Draco could clearly see the apprehension in her eyes. By the time Draco arrived at her side Hermione was standing up and watching him nervously. Not quite sure what to say Draco wrapped Hermione in his arms and kissed her deeply, he would listen to what she had to say but he knew nothing would ever change the way he felt about her.
"I didn't expect a response like that." Hermione admitted, once Draco had let go of her.
"You were expecting a bad response." Draco stated, slightly disappointed that Hermione though he would react negative towards her and their son.
"I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was working on the theory that if I prepared myself for a bad response it would be easier to handle if things went wrong." Hermione admitted.
"Do you still think things will go wrong?" Draco asked.
"I don't know." Hermione replied. "Are you mad I didn't tell you?"
"I don't know." Draco admitted. Everything was happening so quickly he had no idea how he felt about the fact he had a son. "What I do know is that you would have had your reasons for not telling me and I'm hoping you'll tell me them."
"Of course I will." Hermione smiled, relived that Draco was being reasonable so far. "But first do you want to meet your son?"
Draco nodded as Hermione sat back down on the sand, pulling him with her. When they were settled Hermione reached over for their son and placed him on the sand in between them. Being moved didn't seem to bother him in the slightest, he just began digging at a patch of sand beside him.
"Draco, this is Scorpius." Hermione said, her hand resting protectively on the little boys head.
"Scorpius. You named him after a constellation." Draco was surprised and pleased that Hermione had carried on his mother's family's tradition even though he wasn't around to tell her that was what he wanted to do.
"I remember you once said you wanted your children to carry on the tradition." Hermione said. "I hope you don't mind."
"Of course I don't mind." Draco said, his eyes firmly on the little boy beside him. "I'm just surprised you remembered."
"I remember everything of our time together." Hermione said softly, her eyes locking with Draco's as they looked at each other for a good minute.
"Mummy, play." Scorpius throwing sand at Hermione broke the couple out of their little bubble.
"How about you play with a new friend." Hermione suggested, turning her son's attention towards Draco. "Scor, this is your daddy. He'll play with you."
Scorpius tilted his head and looked at Draco for a minute. "Daddy, play." He cried, throwing a spade full of sand at Draco.
Draco chuckled as he reached for his son, he knew that Scorpius was too young to comprehend what the word daddy meant but he was still thrilled the little boy was calling him it so soon. As Draco began playing and getting to know his son Hermione watched them with tears in her eyes.
For nearly half an hour Draco played with Scorpius, discovering more about him. The fact he'd instantly been comfortable with Draco proved he was a friendly child but Draco was surprised to find he was also a chatterbox. Once they started playing he continually kept up a steady stream of chattering, even though Draco could only understand about a quarter of what he was saying. Hermione explained that while Scorpius was quite content to play for hours in silence when he was on his own the second he had someone to play with he turned into a little motor mouth.
After a short while of playing happily Alice took Scorpius to get an ice cream, giving Hermione and Draco time to talk.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Scorpius." Hermione began once Alice and her son were out of earshot. "I honestly thought I was doing the best thing for everyone."
"Surely you knew I would have supported you, I wouldn't have just abandoned my son." Draco said, wondering if Hermione hadn't told him because she thought he wouldn't want to know about Scorpius.
"I know that, Draco. I never doubted for a minute that you would be there for Scorpius." Hermione said. "I knew no matter what the situation you would support him and love him."
"Then why didn't you tell me?" Draco asked, genuinely confused by Hermione's decision.
"The day I found out I was pregnant was the day you were due to marry Pansy. While I was discovering I was carrying your child I thought you were marrying another woman." Hermione explained. "I thought about telling you but in the end I decided not to ruin your marriage. I didn't want you to have to cope with the fact I was pregnant just after you'd gotten married."
Draco looked out at the sea as he silently contemplated what Hermione was telling him, it was actually making a lot of sense. If he had married Pansy it would have been awful timing for Hermione to then turn up carrying his child.
"I take it Potter and Weasley don't know about Scorpius." Draco said eventually. "I'm guessing if they knew they either would have told you I wasn't married or told me I had abandoned my son."
"No, Harry and Ron know nothing about Scor." Hermione said. She was still wondering what Draco felt about her reasons for not informing him of Scorpius sooner as he hadn't responded to those comments.
"Are you planning on telling them?" Draco asked, still not removing his gaze from the sea.
"That really all depends on you." Hermione said. "Obviously I'll tell them if I return home with you but if you don't want that, then I'm not really sure."
"You would come home with me?" Draco asked, turning his head to face Hermione.
"Yes, if your offer still stands." Hermione said, uncertain of whether Draco would still want to be with her.
"Of course it still stands." Draco said. He was suddenly understanding why Hermione had been unsure of his position the previous day, she didn't know how he would react about Scorpius. "I told you yesterday, I'm not letting you go again."
"What about Scorpius?" Hermione asked. "Does he change anything?"
"Other than the fact we're now going to be a family, no. He doesn't change how I feel about you." Draco responded. "Is that why you've waited until now to introduce us? Were you worried I would reject you if I knew about him?"
"Actually it was the other way round." Hermione said, causing Draco to frown in confusion. "I was worried that if you had known about Scor from the start that you would have wanted to get back together for his sake."
"You wanted to be sure I really wanted you." Draco exclaimed, understanding why Hermione had kept the two separate for the week.
"Yes, I was always planning on telling you about Scorpius, but the only way I would have gotten romantically involved with you again was if you wanted me on my own." Hermione said. "I don't want to be with someone just because they think it's the right thing to do, I want to be with someone who wants to be with me because they love me."
"You don't have to worry about that, I'm with you because I love you. Scorpius is a brilliant surprise and I'm looking forward to being a father but I would still be sitting here wanting you to come home with me even if he didn't exist."
After he finished speaking Draco leant down and kissed Hermione passionately. Hermione eagerly returned the kiss and they were still embracing when Alice and Scorpius returned a few minutes later. After reassuring Alice they didn't need more time alone Draco and Hermione settled down to begin talking about their future while Scorpius carried on with his digging.