Disclaimer: no i don't own any characters

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Chapter 15

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Hermione came to a halt and kicked the brake to keep the pushchair from moving. Once she was sure it was locked into position, she walked around until she was in front of Aidan.

"Hey, baby!" she cooed, a smile brightening her face. Bending down to unbuckle his safely belts, hooked her hands under his arms to lift him up. "Boy, you're getting heavy, aren't you?" She adjusted her hold on him into a more comfortable position and started towards an empty swing.

With one arm wrapped securely around Aidan, she brought her other hand on one of the chains to pull herself up onto the swing. Thankfully, the swing she'd chosen wasn't too tall for her, so her foot still touched the ground, letting her swing herself. Once she was satisfied with her position, her arms still protecting Aidan, she glanced up at the sky and did something she hadn't done for quite a while.

She let herself go.

The early breeze was brushing against her face, and the sound of Aidan's giggles as she swung back and forth caused her to close her eyes in relaxation.

Merlin, this feels good. So, so good.

For a second, it felt as if she were a teenager again, who had just discovered what it was like to be carefree. No stress, no work, no drama, and especially no certain idiot.

Speaking of a certain idiot, where was Malfoy?

She opened her eyes and let her gaze wander around the park, trying to catch that striking white-blond hair. Hmm, where was he? Didn't he want to see their son again? This was his final chance, after all, so he had better take advantage of it.

Not that he had ever taken advantage before, she thought savagely, keeping her movements on the swing steady. He was probably faking it all.

"I didn't know which park to go to."

Well, what do you know...?

Hermione stopped and turned her head to see Draco Malfoy saunter towards them, his hands shoved inside his pockets. He gave her a quick nod before smirking at Aidan. When the baby saw him, he blinked and stared for a few seconds before going back to squealing as Hermione swung them a little more.

"Are you happy to see me, Aidan?" Draco asked, lifting his hand to stroke the baby's cheek. He caught Hermione's eye and cleared his throat. "Granger."

Wow, he actually came. She carried on with her swinging and nodded back."Malfoy."

She could feel the atmosphere around them starting to become heavy with awkwardness. Great, now that he was here, what happened now?

"So, how did you find out about this park?" she asked, trying her best to stay civil and saying the first thing that came to her mind. By the look of confusion on his face, she explained. "You said you didn't know which park to go to."

Draco's face lit up with clarity. "Ah, I didn't. I actually Apparated in most major parks-"

"What?" Hermione gasped. "Anyone could have seen you! A Muggle could have seen you!"

He rolled his eyes as he settled onto the swing next to her. "Relax, Granger, I used the Disillusionment charm." He could tell she still wasn't satisfied with his method, so he tried to change the subject. "Would it be okay if I held Aidan?"

She raised an eyebrow, her grip tightening on Aidan and gave a mock laugh, "You're actually asking me for permission?"

He bit back an insult and reached for the baby."Well, can I?"

Hermione stopped swinging and glared at his waiting hands with distrust. Well, if they really wanted to start with a clean slate then they have to start little by little.

Sighing with reluctance, she stood up and walked towards him. She gently lowered her arms and immediately Aidan lifted his arms towards Draco, waiting for the next warm person to hold him.

Draco wrapped his arms securely on the baby and sighed with relief. "Thanks."

Her eyes still glued to them, Hermione took a few steps back and nodded. "Careful, he can be quite the squirmer when he wants to be let down."

Draco blinked and looked up at her in confusion. "Wait, he can crawl now?"

"Well, he is seven months old. He's just he's been scooting around on his bottom and rolling around the floor."

To her sheer surprise, Draco's face lit up with a genuine smile. He grinned and then chuckled. "I remember Mother telling me I used to roll around the kitchen floor, causing havoc for the house elves."

"Sounds adorable," Hermione said sarcastically. "Don't swing too fast, by the way."

Draco slowed his movements but continued to smirk. "I can't wait to see your first real crawl, Aidan."

"Theo's trying to teach him how to properly crawl," Hermione told him. "He's struggling a bit, but he's getting there."

Immediately, Draco's face darkened. "What?"

"What?" she repeated, noticing his change in demeanor.

Draco glared at her. "I don't want Theo near Aidan."

Hermione folded her arms. "Excuse me, but he happens to be a good friend of mine. Just like Harry and Ron are." She took Aidan gently into her own arms and glared at Draco.

"Potter and Weasley are no threat but –"

"Oh, so you think Theo is?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes as she sat back down on the swing.

Draco stood up straight, obviously still upset. He folded his arms and gave her a menacing look. "Granger, I don't want Aidan to be spending time with Theo for too long. Later he's going to think that Theo's the father!"

"Well, he has been a very good father figure, better than you have been."

She looked up to see his reaction and was shocked to see him just standing there, gawking at her. Normally, he would strike or push her around, but no. He was just staring at her with that... wait, was that a flash of hurt she just saw?

No, it couldn't be...

"I deserved that," Draco said quietly, glaring at the floor.

"What?" Merlin, she was confused.

Draco rolled his eyes and looked down at her. "I know I haven't been there for him... for both of you, actually. I'm sorry about that. But I'm here now and I want to try."

Ugh. What the bloody hell?

She knew he was trying, but Merlin! This was still too weird. She wished it was that easy, him suddenly changing his ways and views and actually being a good father. But no, this was reality. People couldn't change that fast...

She still didn't trust him.

"I know you are," she said, "but you can't tell me who Aidan can and cannot see, understand? If Theo was a very dangerous or – or, murderous person, then yes, I understand. But he has been a good friend, and I trust him."

Draco was still upset and angry inwardly, for reasons he couldn't quite understand. Theo was a friend of his as well. Why was he having this current feeling? It was a little off, and slightly foreign to him.

Was it jealousy? Possibly, because the thought of Granger and Aidan by Theo's side, Theo watching Aidan grow older, and Aidan becoming closer to Theo was giving him an absurdly angry side effect.

But the thought that bothered him the most was Theo helping Granger out with everything. Him being there for her and –

"I said: do you understand?" Hermione interrupted his thoughts, her face scrunched up in annoyance.

Draco blinked but sneered. "I'm his father, Granger. I also have the right –"

" Just because you're his dad, it doesn't mean you have any legal rights. But yes, you are his father, which is why I am giving you another chance." She tried to keep her tone even in order to not upset Aidan. "I don't even know why I am. In fact, I know it was very foolish of me, so I can just go up to Kingsley right now if you're still acting like a fool and –"

"Are you blackmailing me?" Draco asked, glaring at her.

"Call it whatever you want, Malfoy.'' She shrugged. "But like I said, if you mess this up, you're gone for good."

Thousands of thoughts were rushing through his head along with negative emotions towards their situation. Closing his eyes to gather his thoughts as his breathing returned to normal, he sighed. Opening his eyes again, he shoved his hands inside his pockets and nodded.

"Okay." His breath rushed out with frustration. "Okay, fine. Listen, I don't want any trouble," he said. "I'm trying, Granger. I can't just be whoever you want me to be in a heartbeat."

"I know that," she said quietly, noticing Aidan falling asleep on her arms. She got up and gently placed him in the pushchair, strapping him in with the safety belts.

"I'm glad you're making the effort to even actually try, Malfoy. I mean,some fathers would not even want anything to do with their children. I'm glad you're trying... but I need some time too. I can't just forget about what you've done. I mean, you hit –"

"Why do you keep saying that?" Draco barked loudly, truly angry. "I've never done that!"

"Stop," she hissed, noticing people looking at them. "If you want to have a civilized conversation with me then we'll meet somewhere else. I'll have either Ron or Harry watch over Aidan for me, so we don't argue in front of him."

"Who said we were going to argue? I thought we were going to have a civilized conversation." Noticing the look of Hermione's face, he stopped and let out a rough sigh. "Fine. Whatever."

"I'll owl you." With that, she placed the hood on top of the pram to protect Aidan from the sunlight and pushed it out of the park, towards the pavement.

Glaring at Hermione's back, Draco stood still. He turned his head to look at the swings they had just occupied and rolled his eyes to skies. "Sod it."

Within seconds, he was jogging towards Hermione. "Granger! Wait!"

Surprised, Hermione stopped pushing the pram and turned to see Draco breaking into a sprint towards them. What the hell?

"I'll, uh... I'll walk you back home," Draco said breathlessly as he reached them, taking the pushchair and pushing it for her.

Seriously, what the hell? Who is this man? This was not how she remembered him to be.

Draco turned his head to look at her and smirked. "Well? Are you coming or what?"

Still confused, she shook her head and rushed to his side. "You've got it?" She nodded towards the pushchair.

"Obviously," Draco said, the annoying smirk still plastered on his face.

Merlin, she wanted to smack it off.

Why was he being so nice all of a sudden?What was he playing at?

He glanced at her and widened the smirk. "See something you like?"

Her thoughts were rushing inside her head so fast that she didn't realise she was staring at him. Blushing, she gave him a disgusted look. "Don't make me sick, Malfoy. Theo's far more handsome."

She could tell Draco didn't appreciate that, as she could see his knuckles turning white from clutching the handles of the pushchair too tight. But when she looked at his face, he gave her a look of mock-hurt.

"Don't ever insult my looks like that ever again," he said, shaking his head. "I mean, you practically called your son hideous."

"What!" she gasped angrily. "Be quiet, Malfoy, I did no such thing."

"Aidan looks like me, in a way. You're saying that Theo's a better looking bloke than your own son…"

"Just shut up." She pushed him to the side and continued on to push the pram. "I think something's wrong with you, or that you're probably someone else pretending to be Malfoy, or you're just messing with me or something."

"Are you talking to yourself?" Draco laughed, "Merlin, I always knew Muggle-borns weren't right in the head."

Choosing to ignore him, she continued muttering to herself about how confused she was and how annoying Malfoy was. She didn't see Draco breaking out a genuine smile behind her back.

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"You've got to be joking," Ron snorted, helping himself to a handful of pork chops.

Hermione shook her head and sighed, throwing herself on the chair beside him. "Nope. I'm serious, he was being civil... It was just so odd."

"Oh, Hermione," Ginny snickered, taking some of Ron's food without permission. "I think you're just paranoid."

"Well, of course I am!" Hermione huffed, crossing her arms. "Wouldn't you be, if the git who was rotten towards you for years just suddenly decide to be nice?"

"He's not being all nice. He still insults you like he did back in Hogwarts," Harry reminded her, flipping through one of her Muggle magazines. "That seems normal, at least. I mean, you said so yourself, Hermione. He was trying and I know that seems –''

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Hermione groaned. Why were they taking this easier than she was? "This is Draco Malfoy! As in, Draco 'I bloody hate Mudbloods and even half-bloods' Malfoy."

"How can he hate half-bloods if Voldemort was one? He used to serve him, didn't he?" Ginny asked, frowning. "Speaking of half-bloods, where is Aidan? I want to play with him."

"You're changing the subject!" Hermione snapped. "And Aidan's sleeping, so don't bother him. Every time you come over, Aidan never sleeps."

Ginny scowled. "It's not my fault he likes me."

Harry laughed, leaning forward to give Ginny a kiss on the cheek before turning back to Hermione. "Honestly, though. Remember during sixth year when I was very paranoid about Malfoy? Don't forget, you were the one who told me to give it a rest and to stop accusing him."

"But you were right the whole time!" Ron interrupted. "You were right when you kept saying he was a Death Eater."

"And now I'm saying to just go with the flow," Harry sighed, reaching over to squeeze Hermione's hand.

"The what?" Ron and Ginny asked simultaneously, their faces scrunched up in confusion.

Harry ignored them and continued. "If you're suspicious of his behaviour, don't show it. Just go along and try as hard as he is."

It was easy for Harry to say. He didn't know what Draco was capable of these days. Or maybe he did... but still. Hermione hesitated for a second but still shook her head. "I'm not going to just forget everything, Harry. But I will play along and always be on my guard."

"There you go!" Harry grinned. "Play along. Tell us if he's being an evil git and –"

"– and we'll punch him in the face for you," Ron finished for him, getting up to put his plates by the sink. "By the way, great food. You cook better now than you did when we were on the run."

Hermione rolled her eyes but laughed. "Thanks, Ronald."

The sound of a baby crying was heard as the friends continued their much-needed time together.

"Oh, sounds like the baby's awake!" Ginny beamed, getting up and rushing to the nursery. "Aunt Ginny is coming, Aidan!"

Harry groaned. "I'm afraid she wants an Aidan of her own, Hermione, and it's entirely your fault."

Ron grimaced."Disgusting."

Hermione laughed, feeling more relaxed than ever before.

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"So."

"So…"

The awkward tension in the room was so heavy that Hermione could barely breathe. She glanced to her side but noticed the windows were already open, so there was plenty of air in the room.

"Let's talk," she said, breaking the silence.

"You were the one who insisted to have this private talk," Draco scoffed, crossing his arms to glare at her. "You can start it off."

She glared back at him and huffed. "Fine. Let's talk about us first. To be able to raise Aidan in a healthy way," she ignored Draco's sarcastic chuckle, "we need to be able to fix any problems between us."

Draco raised an eyebrow. His gaze shifted to the ground,a tiny smirk growing on his face.

Getting up, he grabbed the edge of the chair and dragged it across the floor. He continued that infuriating smirk of his as he walked towards her, slowly closing the space between them, before setting the chair down and sitting on it.

"There," He drawled, leaning back against the chair. "Go on. Fix it."

Hermione gawked at him, noticing how close he was. So close, in fact,that their knees werean inch from touching. "That – that was not what I meant."

He chuckled, placing his hand under his chin.. He stared at her with barely contained amusement. "Then you should have been more specific, Granger."

"Prick."

"I thought this was supposed to be a civilized conversation?"

"It is."

"Well, this is not how a civilized conversation is supposed to be like."

"Stop saying it like that!" Hermione snapped, kicking the leg of his chair.

Draco smirked, clearly enjoying himself. "Let us begin this so-called civilized conversation, then."

She wanted to smack him across the face so much. Closing her eyes, she counted to ten and let out a few deep breaths to contain her anger and annoyance. After opening them, she noticed Draco watching her.

"What's wrong with you?"

Draco blinked."What?"

She tried not to roll her eyes again. "I mean... you're different. Why?"

He still looked confused. "Different how, Granger?"

"Stop playing around, Malfoy."

"I don't see how I'm different, Granger. To be quite honest and blunt, I still think you're pathetic, I still think Astoria is a far better witch than you are, which is saying something, I still think you were horrible in bed, and oh yes... I still hate you. So what's different?"

Hermione chose not to let her temper show. She was trying to be mature, after all, wasn't she? "You're being more... civil. You were never civil."

"Well this is a civilized conversation." Draco smirked, enjoying riling her up.

"So, you're saying that after this conversation, you're going to revert back to your nasty ways."

Draco yawned and stretched, looking bored."Of course. If any of my colleagues ask me, 'oh hey, isn't that Granger?' I'll say something like, 'why yes. It's that filthy Mudblood scum that Potter used to shag'."

"Harry and I never…!" Hermione snapped, reaching forward to slap his hand away from under his chin, causing him to flinch. Normally, Draco would have snapped back, but he seemed more annoyed than angry.

"Don't touch me," he scowled, leaning on the chair.

"Also, I never want you to ever say that disgusting word in front of me or Aidan, do you understand?" Hermione continued, taking her wand out to show she wasn't joking.

Draco eyed the wand, his annoyance turning into anger. "If you're telling me to change my views on filth like you then –"

"No, you bloody moron. I no longer care if you think Muggle-borns are scum, but I do care if you say that word in front of Aidan." Quickly, she pointed her wand at him and muttered a quick spell.

Immediately, Draco stood up and glared down at her, looking like the Malfoy she was familiar with. "What did you do to me, Granger?"

However, Hermione seemed unfazed. "If you ever say that word while Aidan and I are around, you'll see what happens to you."

"You stupid –"

"Careful, now."

Draco looked like he was about to hit her, but once he noticed a book lying beside the nearest table, he made a grab for it and threw it across the room. Once the book hit the wall with a loud thump, landing messily on the floor, Draco sat back down and continued to glare at her.

Well, at least he didn't hurt her like he normally would have done... Strange.

"You cursed me!"

"Please," Hermione scoffed, finally feeling more powerful and satisfied. "I don't want to go to Azkaban."

Draco kicked her chair leg but remained in his seat.

Hermione tutted. "Well, that's another thing we can work on. Your temper."

He ignored her, glaring at the floor.

"You sure you don't remember slapping me?" Hermione asked, genuinely curious. "It's impossible for me to forget..."

His eyes shot towards her, looking livid. "Why do you keep accusing me of hitting you? I never laid my hands on you, other than that pathetic fuck we had."

"You are such a liar!" Hermione snapped."How can you not remember?"

"I've no bloody idea what you're talking about!" Draco shouted back.

The look on his face made Hermione pause.

His eyes were wide and watery, filled with a mixture of frustration, anger, and... wait a minute, was that fear? His skin has gone a shade lighter, making him even paler than he already was, if that was even possible. His hands were clutched tight into fists, so tight that she could see his veins popping out from under his skin. Merlin, she had never seen him look that scared before... except for sixth-year, perhaps.

What the hell was going on?

"Did someone curse you, Malfoy?" she had to ask. His behaviour was something she didn't understand.

"No," Draco scoffed, slowly relaxing but keeping his upper body tense.

"Do you remember dragging me into your room, demanding to know whether I was pregnant?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember telling me you didn't want any part of Aidan's life?"

Draco looked away, guiltily, but snapped, "Yes."

"Do you remember–"

"For fuck's sake, Granger! Yes, yes, yes! I'm not mentally deficit! I remember everything, down to where you foolishly thought I was interested in you in the beginning, just because I was nice to you for the first time!" He noticed Hermione flinch, and stopped. He stared at her for only a second and shook his head, staring back at the carpet design on her floor. "Everything, except for me slapping you."

But that still didn't make any sense. Why the hell didn't he remember? Did someone curse him? Did someone pretend to be him? Was he Obliviated?

Was he telling the truth?

Hermione's brain was piling up with question after question, and she could already feel a headache forming. She looked at the clock and sighed. "Alright."

Draco blinked, watching her carefully. When she continued to stare at anything other than him, he cleared his throat. "What are you thinking?"

Hermione was still deep in thought, she didn't answer him. What could she do? What if he was lying? But then again, what if he was telling the truth?

Well... Harry did say to play along, didn't he?

"Maybe we should just try to take this one step at a time" Hermione suggested, finally looking at him. She straightened herself on her seat and raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response.

Draco sneered. "If you think I want to be friends with you –"

"Who said anything about being friends?" Hermione scoffed. "I mean, let's just try to be civil. I mean, really civil. No names, no insults. If you don't like what I'm doing, you politely tell me in private. Same goes for me."

Draco's lips curled into a cruel sneer, as if he was disgusted with the thought of actually having to work with her over the issue.

When he didn't answer, Hermione shrugged and got up. "Then say goodbye to Aidan."

"You're a real bitch, Granger."

"Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment."

He shook his head. "I can't change how I feel about the likes of you, Granger. You can't expect me to change immediately."

"I know," Hermione sighed, sitting back down. "Same with me about being disgusted with that ugly tattoo on your arm and by whom you used to be. Which is why we will try to take this one step at a time... starting with being civil. We don't have to like each other, but for Aidan's sake, let's not show him any negativity."

Draco wanted to roll his eyes at how naïve she was. Whatever. If that was what she wanted..."Fine."

To his shock, she beamed at him.

Her face split into a wide smile and her eyes lit up. He didn't fail to notice how obviously attractive that smile made her look, but he was starting to get uncomfortable and an oddly warm feeling was developing somewhere within his stomach, just with that look aimed towards him. It was so disconcerting that he stared down at the floor again.

"Truce?"

His eyes shifted up, noticing her hand extending towards him.

One step at a time.

Try.

Swallowing hard, he gripped her hand hard and shook it. "Alright."

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I love how this story is so controversial haha I keep getting mixed reviews like some people wants Hermione to be more of a badass towards Draco, and others want her to forgive him and have Draco be more nicer haha

and for those kind reviews, you guys are awesome, thank you =)

SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE!

hope it's okay! sorry if it's a let down =(

THANK YOU TO THE LOVELY AND WONDERFUL SIRIUSLYHOLLY FOR BETA-ING THIS CHAPTER!

review = update!