If Hermione thought that time away from Draco, if putting some distance between them would make things clearer she had been sorely mistaken. She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep and even simple everyday functioning seemed too much of an effort. She had been almost robotic, operating purely on auto pilot. She'd moved between her flat and the shop, and that's as far as she had gone. The streets hadn't heard the pounding of her feet for almost a week, and the Chinese take-out delivery driver had become her new best friend.

She'd been more miserable, more despondent than she had been when Oliver left. She stared at the pages of her books, not reading one word; had sat staring into silent space for hours without realising it. Time seemed to stand still, yet speed by all at once.

Pansy and Ginny had been tip-toeing around her all week, barely conversing with her, but she knew that it had been entirely her fault. Aside from exploding at them the morning after the dinner from hell, she had spoken only in monosyllabic words, and had spent her days locked in her office staring at her phone waiting for him to call. But after two days, when the silence became too much, her phone landed somewhere behind the television in the living room, and had remained there since - apparently space meant space. And he was doing exactly as she had asked.

Draco's parents had stuck with her for the last week, swimming around in her head, never letting up. And she hated it. Hated that they had gotten under her skin, hated that she let them. They had brought out the worst in her and the fact the she had been almost as rude as they had been eating away at her. She had never been so ill-mannered in all her life. Sure, she spoke her mind, but to be so blatantly rude and impolite was just not her. And she was at a loss as to why she had acted as she had.

She missed her own parents, missed the consistency of their normal, everyday lives. She missed the fun, the laughter, the routine, and she even missed the arguments (because their arguments never lead to hatred and always ended with forgiveness). But mostly she missed the rationale with which her parents would have told her to not let all this get her down, that there was always a bright side, a reason for things to happen. But right then, without them, she simply could not see it.

Hermione had closed the shop and had headed upstairs without bothering to say goodnight to her friends. She had stood staring into her refrigerator for fifteen minutes before finally deciding that she wasn't hungry and then curled up in her reading nook and hadn't moved since.

She heard the lock on her door turn, pulling her from her from her thoughts. Her head snapped up and she leaped to her feet. What the hell?

"Hermione?" Harry called and she exhaled a breath of relief. And then she inhaled deeply, her anger instantaneous.

"Hermione? Are you here?" It was Ron's voice. That was unexpected.

She clenched her jaw; she knew what was coming. The last time they turned up unannounced was to call her out on her shit, and she assumed this time would be no different. She stepped out of the reading nook and into the hallway, coming face to face with her two friends, "That key was for emergencies only."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "And this is an emergency."

Hermione glared at him, "I'm not sure what it is that you consider an emergency, but I am not an emergency Harry."

"Well, I'm going to disagree with you there." He said.

"Oh really?" Hermione snapped, "Since you're so amazingly smart and clearly I'm an idiot, please enlighten me as to what makes this an emergency?"

"The fact that you've been a total bitch this last week," Harry snapped back , "The fact that no one has seen or heard from Draco or Scorpius, or how about the fact that you refuse to talk to anyone and won't tell us a bloody thing about meeting his parents since that's when all this bullshit started."

Hermione thought back to the morning after the dinner disaster and winced. Harry was right; she had been a complete bitch.

"Interesting," Pansy said with a grin, "No Malfoy boys this morning. Dinner with the parents was a disaster then?"

Ginny sniggered beside her, and then swallowed the sound at the look of death on Hermione's face.

"I don't ask much of the two of you," Hermione said, her voice was low and slightly terrifying, "But I do expect that you come here and work. And if neither of you think that's possible, I'll find replacements for you both. I don't need a constant interrogation of my life every morning, not from people who call themselves my friends. I'll be in the office for most of the day, and I do not wish to be disturbed. Not by anyone." She turned on her heel and stormed into the office, slamming the door behind her.

Pansy and Ginny glanced at each other, "Fuck," Ginny said in a hushed voice, "I'm thinking dinner didn't go well."

"That might be an understatement," Pansy said, "If he fucked her over-"

"No," Ginny said cutting her off, "Let's not jump to conclusions. We'll ask him when he gets here."

When 9am arrived, but Draco hadn't, they knew something had definitely gone wrong.

And it was three days before Hermione even spoke to them, and that was simply to tell them the she and Draco had had a disagreement, and she had left it at that.

She stood glaring at them, breathing audibly through her nose, torn between calling them every obscene name she knew- and possibly some that she would just make up - and bursting into tears because Harry was completely right. She settled for something in between, "You're fucking arseholes and I hate you both." she said biting the inside of her cheek trying to stop the tears that were welling up.

Harry wrapped his arms around her and kissed her temple, "I know," he said, "But you're stuck with us."

Hermione sucked in a breath and Harry simply stood holding her while she finally released the tears and anger that she clearly been holding in.

"Do you want to tell us what happened?" Ron asked when she'd calmed herself.

"N-n-no," she stammered and Harry laughed.

"Well, you have no choice," he told her, "We're not leaving until you tell us."

She sighed, "Well I can't do this without something to drink."

Harry grinned and took her hand, leading her to her kitchen, "Tea?"

"You know me far too well, my friend," she laughed and sat on the barstool at the counter, watching Harry as he moved around her kitchen. She turned to Ron who had sat down beside her, "You drove all the way here just to kick my arse?"

"It's what friends do," He squeezed her shoulder, "Do you remember last time you hit rock bottom?"

"I remember. You came here and yelled at me." Hermione said, "I also hated you both then."

"But it all turned out for the best," Ron said before adding, "And this time will be no different."

"We've only known Draco for a short time," Harry said placing her tea in front of her, "But he seems to be a decent and genuine kind of guy. And we're fairly certain that his feelings for you go well beyond more than just simply wanting to, um...share your bed." He pulled out another barstool and sat down on the other side of the counter.

"Share my bed?" Hermione quirked an eyebrow at him, "Is that code for have sex with me?"

Harry's cheeks flushed pink; as good of friends as they were, they'd never openly talked about their sex lives, "It is," he said "Now talk."

"Well, the sex was-"

"No!" Both Ron and Harry cried in unison and she laughed.

"If the smile that's been permanently etched on your face is any indication, I really don't need to know how good he is in bed, it's not good for my ego." Harry said with a shudder, "Tell us about dinner."

Hermione huffed out a breath and closed her eyes. She thought back to the dinner, the appalling behaviour, the fight with Draco and shook her head. When she opened her eyes both Harry and Ron were watching her expectantly.

"It was awful," she began, "His parents were – are – loathsome. Take all the most dreadful things you could imagine and put them together, and you'll be close. But the worst thing is I acted exactly like them. My behaviour was...god, I don't even want to think about it, but unfortunately for the past week, it's the only thing I can think of."

She gave them the blow by blow story of the previous weekend's dinner disaster, filling them in on every detail; how they'd been indifferent to her when they had first arrived and she'd tried to be polite; how they interrogated her and stopped short of telling her she wasn't good enough for their son; and how her temper had surfaced and she behaved deplorably. "And then, after Draco told them to leave, he and I got into a huge fight and I left."

"And the fight was about...?" Harry asked.

"How they compared me to Scorpius' mother, how his father doesn't think me in Draco's league, how they don't think me fit to be in their grandson's life." she told them.

"It sounds like you were pretty hard on him when it wasn't really his fault. He never said any of this, only them?" Ron said and Hermione's silence was enough to let him know he was right, "Is it possible that you were hard on him because you hold him in rather high esteem and you're scared he'll leave you?"

"That's what Draco said." Hermione admitted and they both looked questioningly at her. "He said that he's not the arsehole I keep expecting him to be, that he's nothing like Oliver and that I'm too busy protecting myself to let anyone in."

"Sounds about right," Harry mused and then took both her hands in his, "So what you did was let his father get in your head and allowed yourself to believe that you're not good enough? You blamed Draco and you let his father win?"

Hermione's brow furrowed, "Win? How'd you figure that?"

"Draco and Scorpius are where?" Ron asked, his eyebrows raised, challenging her.

Hermione looked perplexed, "What?"

"Draco and Scorpius," Ron said, "You haven't seen them for a week now, am I right?" Hermione nodded and he continued, "You said that his father told him you weren't worthy of him, that you weren't in his league and that he should just have some fun with you and then shove you aside. Well, it appears there's no need for him to do that, because you've saved him the trouble. You've done exactly what his father wanted. You walked away, possibly ending it and therefore his father wins."

Hermione was stunned. Ron was right. She thumped her head onto the counter and groaned. Ron rubbed his hand across her back, "I really thought you were smarter than this." He said and she could tell by the tone of his voice he was grinning.

"Shut up Ronald." She said, her voice muffled against the counter. She lifted her head to look at them and was met with two smirking faces, "I have some major grovelling to do, don't I?"

"Hermione, the way his parents treated you was unfair, and while I agree with you for speaking up and defending yourself, you shouldn't have blamed Draco for their behaviour. Draco doesn't deserve this. And he's right, he isn't Oliver." Harry told her.

"How much do you like this guy?' Ron asked.

Hermione looked between her two friends and sighed, "More than I truly want to admit to myself."

"Then grow a spine," Harry said and pushed her phone towards her, "Because yes, you have some major grovelling to do."

She stared down at her phone that had been fished out of its resting place behind the television and was now sporting a series of spider web-like cracks in the screen, "You want me to call him?"

"Um, that's what a phone is for," Ron pointed out, "You press the magic screen and someone says hello on the other end."

"I already told you to shut up, didn't I?"

Ron laughed, "Call him."

Hermione huffed out an exasperated a breath, "I will. I'm just not going to while you're both here."

"When?" Harry asked.

"Tomorrow," she told them and they both glared at her, "It's Saturday tomorrow," she explained, "That'll give me Sunday to wail and lament my stupidity when he tells me he never wants to speak to me again."

"That won't happen," Ron said. "He might yell at you, might tell you that you're wrong about him. I saw how he was with you at the pub that night, he won't give up on you so easily."

"And you need to call Ginny and Pansy and apologise to them too," Harry said and Hermione grimaced.

"Am I the worst friend in the world?"

"No, far from it," Harry said, "They're patient and they know that you talk only when you're ready, but maybe you should talk to them sooner rather than later."

"I hate you both, you know that right?"

Ron leaned over and kissed her cheek, "And we hate you right back."

"Hermione?"

Her head snapped up at the familiar voice. Scorpius. She hadn't seen him in almost a week and the distraught look on his face made her stomach drop.

"Scorpius? Is everything okay?" Hermione asked him quickly rounding the counter and crouching in front of him. Considering that it was almost closing time she was concerned as to what he was doing there. And he was on his own, which was even more troubling, "Are you okay? Is your dad okay?"

He winced and looked down at his feet. Hermione glanced at Pansy, who looked equally concerned, and she gently touched his shoulder, "Scorpius, talk to me. What's wrong?"

"Um," he murmured his head still bowed.

"How about we go into my office? You can talk to me there." She looked at Pansy who nodded, indicating that she'd close up the shop. Hermione fished her phone from her pocket and slid it across the counter, mouthing call Draco.

Scorpius nodded and followed her to the back of the shop. She closed the door and pulled a chair out for him and he sat down. He was still staring down at his feet when Hermione pulled her own chair out and sat in front of him. She didn't speak, allowing him the time to sort out what he needed to tell her. The timid, unsure boy sitting before her was a shock; he was usually full of energy and confidence.

"Is it okay if I still come here?" He finally asked his voice barely above a whisper.

"Of course it is," she told him, "Why would you think otherwise?"

He glanced up quickly at her, but in the slit second took, Hermione could see the misery in his eyes. Just like his father, she thought, those blue-grey eyes that showed every emotion, all the torment he was currently experiencing.

"You and my Dad...um, you..." he trailed off and she realised what the torment was.

"Hey," she said softly, "You're welcome here any time."

He nodded and finally looked up at her, "Are you sure? He said you were pretty angry at him."

"What happened between me and your dad, that's on us, not you okay?"Hermione smiled, "What did he tell you?"

Scorpius shrugged, "That Grandpa said some awful things and you guys had a fight. And that you didn't want to see us."

Hermione took his hand; sure that Draco hadn't been so blunt with his son, but to a seven year old, wanting some space simply meant not wanting to see him. "Well, your Grandpa did say some awful things and your dad and I, we did have a fight. But,' she huffed out a breath, "Scorpius, I told your dad that I needed some space. Do you know what that means?" Scorpius shook his head, "Well, it means that I was very angry at your Grandpa and then I got angry at your dad, and I needed to stay away from him for a while so I wouldn't get angrier at him. Does that make sense?"

Scorpius frowned, and then nodded, "I think so. When I get mad, my dad tells me to go to another room and calm down."

Hermione smiled, "Yes, kind of like that. So I thought if I didn't see your dad for a little while, I wouldn't be so angry."

"Are you still mad at him?"

Hermione pursed her lips. She wasn't, not anymore. She had thought that pushing them away would bring some clarity to her mind, but all she found was that she ached for him, for them both, but she had been too stubborn to admit it to herself.

"No," she told him, "No, I'm not mad anymore, and I've very much missed seeing you."

"Me too," He said and then looked glumly at her, "I'm sorry you had a fight. He likes you. You're the first person he's liked since my mum..." his face flushed and he tensed.

Hermione swallowed hard, this was the last thing she had expected. Draco had explained Scorpius' mother to her but not once had she heard Scorpius mention her.

"Sorry," He said.

"Why are you apologising?" Hermione asked, a slight frown on her face.

"Well, she was my mum and you're my dad's girlfriend, and maybe you don't want to talk about her." Scorpius seemed to fold even more into himself.

Hermione was taken aback at girlfriend. This was all still very new, and she'd never really thought of her and Draco that way, in fact she'd never really thought of them as anything with a label. But clearly Scorpius had. He had obviously thought more of the relationship than either she or Draco had, and she was sure that wasn't a good thing. She had not wanted him to get hurt if they hadn't worked out, and sitting before her was the exact thing that she had feared.

"Hey," Hermione said quietly, moving to sit beside Scorpius, "She was your mum, so you can talk about her any time you like. What was her name?"

He looked up at her, still not sure if he should tell her, "Astoria," he finally choked out.

"Astoria," she repeated, "It's a very pretty name. I bet she was."

"I don't really remember her," he sniffed, "I can only see her in pictures. I was only two when she died."

Hermione wrapped her arm around his shoulders, "It's pretty sucky, huh?"

He laughed a small laugh and nodded, "It is. Do you think that's it's okay that I can't remember her?"

"Oh, honey. Of course it is," She reassured him, "A two year old wouldn't remember much of anything. But do you know what?" He shook his head and she touched his chest over his heart, "She's right in here. She's a part of you. And she'd be so proud of you. And your dad. He's raised a polite and respectful young man and I'm sure she would hope for nothing more than that."

"Your mum and dad died too?" he asked, "Do you remember them?"

Hermione nodded, "I do. But I was nineteen when they died, so I was much older than you."

"What happened to them?"

"They were in a car crash," She said deciding to be honest with him, "Another person drove their car when they shouldn't have and crashed into them."

He leaned over and hugged her, "I'm sorry they died Hermione."

She kissed the top of his head, "Thank you, Scorpius, so am I."

He looked up at her and smiled, "We're almost the same, aren't we?"

"We almost are." she agreed, "And I'm sorry you had to be in the middle of this," she told him squeezing his shoulders tighter.

Scorpius nodded and then asked, "Why don't grandma and grandpa like you?"

"I'm not really sure," she shrugged, "But I think that your mum was so special, that every loved her so much-"

"But you're special too and I love you." Scorpius interrupted her and was close to tears again.

Hermione was sure that her heart stopped beating for a second. The exact thing that Draco's father had predicted had happened. Scorpius had begun to think much more of her that she had realised, and she and Draco had failed to notice it happening. She wanted to scream at herself, but even more so she wanted to scream at Lucius for being right. She hated that man. She rested her cheek on the top of his head, her voice was almost a whisper when she said, "And I love you too."

"But you don't love my dad?"

She took a deep breath, "Well, it's different to love someone when you're a grown up." Even to her own ears that sounded ridiculous and Scorpius must have thought so too.

"But why?"

Hermione lifted her head from his and looked at him, his face was fully of sincerity and she just couldn't lie to him, "You know something?" She hugged him tighter to her, "I really don't know."

"He's here?" Draco was breathless when he rushed into the shop. Pansy closed and locked the door behind him, flipping the open sign over so it read closed.

"He's here, he's fine," Pansy said. Draco took a step towards the back of the shop, but Pansy grabbed his arm stopping him.

"No," she said, "He wanted to talk to her, so let him."

"He's my son Pansy," Draco snapped, "My son, and I need to know that he's alright."

"And he is fine." Pansy snapped back, "I'm assuming he's upset that he hasn't seen her. Whatever this bullshit is between the two of has been obviously been torment for him. And he wanted to talk to her. Alone."

"Oh and you think it's been easy for me?" Draco was incredulous, "She asked for space, she didn't want to see us. Do you have any idea how hard it was to explain that to him? How hard it's been to tell him no when he asks every morning if today is the day that he can see her? That maybe he'll see her tomorrow? This was all her. So don't put this bullshit on me."

Pansy sighed and squeezed his arm, "Sorry, you didn't deserve that," she said, "I know you didn't do anything wrong. You're right, this was all her."

Draco looked surprised. He figured he'd be the bad guy amongst them all, assuming that Hermione had told them all about the dinner from hell with his parents, his father's rant and denigration of her, their fight and that they'd all hate him. It was why he had avoided them all, not just Hermione. But it appeared he was completely wrong.

"You spoke to her then?" Draco asked.

Pansy shook her head, "No, Harry and Ron did," Draco looked surprised so Pansy explained, "The three of them have been friends forever, Ginny and I might be her girls, but no one gets between Hermione and her boys. Draco, she's fiercely protective of her friends. Since her parents died we're all she has, so she holds onto us all for fear that she'll lose us too. I think she felt that when your parents attacked her. She thought that you would side with them and she'd be left alone all over again." Draco opened his mouth to protest, but Pansy held up her hand, "I know you're here to stay," she smiled at him, "We all do. And I'm certainly not condoning her behavior towards you or your parents, but none of us have dealt with the shit she's had to. Except for you."

"That was different," Draco said, "Astoria dying didn't happen to me. But what happened to Hermione, that's..."he shook his head, "I can see why she keeps you all so close."

"Please don't blame yourself for this Draco, she's stubborn and pigheaded, and while she is overly protective of us, she's also fiercely independent, to the point of frustration for the rest of us. When she and Oliver split she'd figured she'd be alone, that no one would want to be with her. And then you came along and her hopes were lifted. And that's not putting any pressure on you, but you need to talk to her. Make her see that you're serious. And if you're not, that's fine, but the two of you at least need to be friends for Scorpius' sake."

Draco was sitting on the edge of one of the sofas, elbows on his knees, his fingers twitching nervously together. He told Pansy to go, not to wait, that he'd tell Hermione she'd left. He was staring towards the back of the shop, the office door was closed, but he could see Hermione and Scorpius talking inside and was desperate to know what they were talking about.

He had been miserable in the days following their fight, and not since Astoria's passing had he missed someone so deeply. And Scorpius had been heartbroken. Asking constantly when Hermione was coming back, and why were Grandma and Grandpa so mean to her. Draco had tried his hardest to make Scorpius feel as though nothing had happened, and that Hermione would be back to see them both in no time, that she just needed to take a break so she would feel better, but clearly he had failed. His son had run away, for fucks sake. What did that say about how he'd handled the situation?

And not only had they not spoken to Hermione, they'd not spoken to his parents either. He simply refused to answer any calls they'd made. His mother had called a dozen times a day since he'd kicked them out, but he could care less about anything she had to say. He was well aware that it would be pissing them off, that they would see it as a total lack of respect on his part, and they certainly would not acknowledge that they had done anything he just didn't care. His father was an arse, and his mother not much better, and they had proven it beyond any doubt.

He leaped up, after what had seemed like hours, when the office door finally opened.

Draco scooped his son into his arms, hugging him tightly, "Don't ever leave me again. Never, you got that?" He was rocking his son gently while Scorpius sobbed against his shoulder telling him how sorry he was. Draco cupped the back of his head, "What if you were hurt, what if I couldn't find you?"

"I'm sorry Dad," Scorpius sobbed, "I didn't mean to. I just wanted to see Hermione. And you were angry at her. I'm sorry."

"You can see Hermione any time you want. You just had to ask me and I would have brought you here." Draco looked over Scorpius' shoulder, seeing Hermione struggling to hold back the tears at the sight before her.

She stepped forward, touching Draco's arm lightly, listening to Scorpius apologise over and over, "Hey," she said soothingly, shifting her hand to Scorpius' back and rubbing gently, "You did nothing wrong. We're sorry we made you feel like this."

"Can you stop being mad at her?" Scorpius' voice was muffled against Draco's shoulder.

Draco's eyes met hers and he was sure that the look of guilt on her face mirrored his, "I'm not mad at her," he said, his eyes never leaving hers, "Not anymore."

Scorpius lifted his head, his eyes puffy and his cheeks red from crying, his fingers fiddled absently with the collar of Draco's shirt, "You're not?"

"No, I'm not." Draco assured him.

"She said she wasn't mad you either," Scorpius said through a watery smile, he looked at Hermione for reassurance and she nodded.

"I did say that, and you're right, I'm not mad anymore," Hermione said. She was looking at Scorpius but she was speaking to Draco. Her smile spread and she asked if they'd like to stay for dinner. Scorpius nodded eagerly, insisting that they should.

"You weren't already cooking dinner?" She asked Draco, leading the back to the office and up the stairs.

"No," he said, "I was about to start when I realised he was gone." Scorpius squirmed in Draco's arms, insisting that he was fine and he could walk up the stairs, but Draco was reluctant to let him down, not wanting his son out of his sight.

He'd thought Scorpius was in his room, as was the norm since his and Hermione's fight. His son had been affected by her absence as much as he had, and had spent his time hidden away in his room, only coming out to ask about Hermione. But when Draco had discovered his room was empty and his son was missing, his brain went into complete shutdown, not even able to think where he could possibly be. The total sinking feeling of his child being gone hitting him like a freight train and panic set in. He'd raced across the hall to his neighbour, giving poor Mrs McGonagall a near heart attack when he told her Scorpius was missing, and asking if she'd seen him.

It had only been about twenty minutes - but even that short amount of time had seemed like forever, time having seemed to have stopped – he was about to call Harry's number when his phone rang and Hermione's name flashed up on the screen and relief washed over him at Pansy's voice.

He was now extremely reluctant to even let him walk up the stairs to Hermione's flat, but he put him down and took his hand, smiling at the eye roll that his son gave him.

"Why don't you go and wash your face while I order pizza?" Hermione suggested, still feeling guilty at the puffy red face smiling up at her.

"Pizza?" Scorpius exclaimed, "Really?"

"Really," Hermione said, and ushered him off towards the bathroom, Draco only a step behind him. She went to her own room and changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, ordering pizza as she did so.

Scorpius, who was oblivious the awkwardness between the two adults in the room carried most of the conversation throughout dinner. He was just happy to be back at Hermione's and nattered on about school, and how he and James were going to play football on Sunday, even though they had finished playing in their team for the year, and how Mrs. McGonagall got a new kitten, whose fur was all stripy and was called Mr. Norris. Hermione and Draco didn't mind one bit, joining in the conversation with enthusiasm, knowing that they were the reason for him being upset. And conversing with him, meant not having to converse with each other.

When they'd finished eating, Hermione told him to choose a book from her library while she cleaned up, and she would read to him.

"Why do you have this book?" Scorpius asked returning from Hermione's reading nook holding an old, taped together book, "It's all broken."

Hermione sucked in a breath that didn't go unnoticed by Draco, who leapt up and took it carefully from him, "You might need to be careful with that Scorp. I think this one's very special."

Scorpius looked at Hermione who smiled, "It is, but we can read it," she stepped around the island bench and took the book from Draco, her fingers tingling as they brushed his, "This was the first book my dad ever bought me. I made him read it to me every night for almost a year."

Scorpius laughed, "But it's only Green Eggs and Ham! And look how old it is."

"Hey!" she exclaimed in mock indignation, hugging the book to her chest, "Watch what you're calling old." Scorpius laughed louder, and Hermione couldn't help but smile at him, "It is old, but this is a very special book and there's a very special way you have to read it." Hermione told him, sitting on the couch and patting the empty place beside her, "Pull up a seat."

Scorpius eyed her skeptically, but curled up next to her, resting his head on her shoulder, "I don't know how you read it different from anyone else."

"Well, you're in for a treat, my young friend." She cleared her throat dramatically and made a flourish with her hands, opening the book and began to read. Scorpius' head lifted off her shoulder in surprise as Hermione's voice changed dramatically, voicing the characters so wonderfully, so entertainingly, and turning the simple, repetitive story into an almost dramatic reading that she had him entranced in seconds.

Draco sat beside Scorpius, who barely registered that he was there. His skinny arms were wrapped tightly around Hermione's arm, his eyes wide and following every word, every syllable that she spoke.

"Read it again!" Scorpius exclaimed when she closed the back cover.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked him, "There's a ton of other books we could read."

"No, this one again, please?"

She glanced at Draco, who was smiling at the pair of them, and she nodded, "Okay, but I hope you don't get bored."

Three readings and the first chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factor later, and Scorpius was asleep on Hermione's shoulder, his jaw slack and a light snore emanating from him.

"You can put him in his...James' room," Hermione said quietly - she'd already begun to think of James' room as his - and Draco nodded and leaned over carefully slipping Scorpius' shoes off while Hermione unzipped his hoodie and shifted slightly to allow Draco to lift him up. She helped to pull the sweater off him, folding it neatly and laying it on the back of the couch and then stiffened at the mumbled 'love you h'mi-nee'

She placed a gentle hand on his back, avoiding Draco's gaze, "Love you too, Scorpius."

Draco stood staring at her for several seconds before he turned and carried Scorpius down the hallway, and Hermione heard a sleepy are we staying here? And Draco's it looks like it in response.

Hermione looked at her empty wine glass. She picked it up and walked to the sink, knowing that she'd need something stronger for the conversation that was sure to follow. She opened the cupboard and took out the half drunk bottle of vodka and poured some into a tumbler, taking a large mouthful and wincing.

"Hey," Draco startled her.

"Hey," she said with a small smile.

He stood across from her, the large island countertop separating them and crossed his arms over his chest. The silence was deafening, both simply staring at each other, neither knowing what to say. Hermione held the bottle up, a peace offering as such, and he leaned forward to pick up the tumbler she had filled and emptied it in one swallow. He shuddered as the liquid burned his throat.

Hermione couldn't help the snigger that escaped her; he was a whiskey drinker, vodka should have been a breeze. He pushed the glass towards her and nodded at the bottle; they were sharing a glass, which was fine by her. She refilled it, and swallowed half, handing the glass back to him, and he did the same.

"My parents are...difficult," he broke the silence, "My father being the worse of the two. I grew up in a constant state of tension. And sometimes it's just easier to let him have his say and think he's right. Even though most of the time he's not. I know that's not the most constructive solution, but believe me, it's easier. And my mother isn't much better. Her image is much more important to her than her son and grandson. And honestly, I'm not even sure why they're still married. It's all just for show, they've lived separate lives for so long now, their yearly holiday is pretty much the only time they spend together." He shook his head, "I didn't want Scorpius to grow up in that environment; it's why I live as far from them as possible."

Hermione's anger flared again, her ill will wholly aimed towards his parents and the idea that they could treat their son in such a manner. She had no idea what it would be like to grow up around a marriage that didn't fit. Her own parents were almost sickeningly in love, and still would be had fate not handed them a lethal blow. All she'd ever known was love and compassion and fairness. She'd always had a right to her own opinion, been allowed to disagree and argue. And tempers had often flared. But there had never been nastiness or hatred and certainly no grudges were ever held.

"Did he hurt you?" Hermione asked.

"No, he was never physical," Draco shrugged, "He was always distant. Never a hug just a pat on the shoulder, if I was lucky. I was away at boarding school for most of the year, and when I was home, he was never there, always away on business, always wanting to make more money."

Hermione refilled the glass, and handed it to him allowing him to take the first swig.

"Do they just expect you to be on your own forever?" Hermione asked, "Because that doesn't seem fair, even in their closed minds." She lifted the glass to her mouth and swallowed. A light buzz swirled around her head, but the bottle was almost empty, so she poured the remainder into the glass and handed it to him, "Finish it,"

He emptied the glass and shuddered slightly, "I honestly don't know." He told her, "And they never actually express any feelings, other than to tell me everything I do wrong and who not to be with." He reached across the counter and took her hand, "And I'm sorry that my father did that to you."

She squeezed his fingers and rounded the counter to stand in front of him, "And I'm sorry my temper got out of control. I should never have spoken to them like I did."

"No, it's fine," He said, "I don't think anyone has ever spoken to Lucius like that. And he deserved it."

"But you didn't," she replied, "And I am sorry. I guess I just saw everything going pear shaped, and I panicked. But there's no excuse for my behavior, and I certainly shouldn't have acted like that in front of Scorpius."

Draco brushed his thumb across their still linked hands, "He didn't mention it. He just missed seeing you."

Hermione lowered her eyes, watching his thumb trace tiny circles across her skin, "I hate that I did that to him. To both of you."

"Can I ask what you and Scorpius talked about?"

She nodded and looked up at him, "He was upset about the fight and that he hadn't seen me. He thought that I didn't want to see him. But I told him it wasn't about him that it was all on us. And that he was welcome here anytime, regardless of what happened between you and me. He was also worried about his mother. That talking about her might upset me, you know, with me being your girlfriend and all."

"He said that?" Draco sounded as surprised as she had been.

"He did," Hermione sighed, "I guess he thought more of this than we did. But I told him that he could talk about her as much as he liked, that it wouldn't make me angry or upset. And he asked about my parents. How they had died."

Draco frowned, "What did you tell him?"

"The truth," she said, "Not all the details, just that it was a car crash. I hope that's okay."

Draco nodded, "It's fine. I try to be truthful with him as much as I can. Does he know that you were with them?

Hermione shook her head, "I wasn't sure how much you wanted me to tell him." She took a deep breath, "Draco, I don't want you to think that I see Scorpius as my chance at having a child. He's yours and Astoria's and I don't want anyone to think that I might be trying to replace her."

His thumb stopped moving across her hand, "I've not once thought that. And no one else will either. She is his mother, and he will always know that, but I can't stop him from loving you."

Hermione smiled, "Yeah, that was a shock to me too."

He pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her, pressing his chin to the top of her head, "Hermione," Draco sighed, "This thing we have, you and me and Scorp. It's about us, and no one else has any say in what happens. I'm not sure where you're at, but I want this. All of it."

"I want it too."

He cupped her chin and pressed his mouth to hers, kissing her a slow, lazy kiss. He pulled back to look at her, and gently placed his hand on her stomach.

"All of it," he repeated, "You're not broken, or damaged. And anyone who thinks that doesn't deserve you."

She pressed up on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I'm so sorry Draco."

"You don't have to be," he assured her, holding her tighter.

"Maybe not, but I'm sorry anyway. This is going somewhere, and at the first sign of trouble, I panicked and shut down. I'm so accustomed to protecting myself, that I didn't give you the chance to do the same."

"You won't have to see them ever again," he said, "I promise you that."

She looked up at him, "I don't want you to cut them out of your life for me. I'll be better prepared next time."

"That was only the third time I saw them this year, so you won't have to concern yourself with seeing them very often"

She frowned at him and shook her head in disbelief. She leaned up and kissed him, "I know it's early, but can we just go to bed?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, a small smirk crossing his lips, "If that's what you want."

Hermione slapped his chest lightly, "No, not that. I don't want to have sex with you. It's just...I'm exhausted from missing you. And I just want to know that you'll be there when I wake up in the morning."

"I'm not going anywhere," he said and then grinned, "My son is here, so I'm kind of stuck."

Hermione rolled her eyes, and disentangled herself from him. She picked up the glass they'd been sharing and rinsed it and placed it on the sink. She took his hand and led him into her bedroom, where they stripped off and lay curled together, Draco's bare chest pressed against her bare back.

Hermione exhaled a long slow breath and pressed into him. The stress of a long, exhaustive week finally leaving her and sleep overwhelmed her.

Draco felt her relax, felt the slow rise and fall of her chest as her breathing evened. He gently kissed her shoulder, and smiled, his son wasn't the only one who had fallen in love with her.