12 January, Wednesday, 2145 GMT
Draco had unbuttoned his black jacket and loosened his tie as he walked in the rain down the Muggle street. Unlike the few other people on the roads that night, he had magically created a bubble around him to keep himself dry. He held the bouquet of purple violets loosely in his left hand as he headed for the Muggle hospital.
He had spent the past two days in the company of Pure-blood witches and wizards as his parents whisked him from one social event to another. His parents were very upset at him for committing social suicide by letting Roxanne Schield slip right through his fingertips. Worse yet, he had allowed Kellen Tanner, another Pure-blood wizard to win her heart.
Shuttling him from event to event was probably a ploy to get him to meet other potential Pure-blood-witch candidates. He shuddered at the thought of continuing the Pure-blood line; imagine more blonde-haired grey-eyed Pure-blood brats running around Hogwarts. He smirked to himself.
He politely danced with all of the witches to whom his parents introduced him. The whole time, though, he had visions of dancing with the Muggle-born witch on the balcony of Malfoy Manor almost six months ago. Then a second, slightly more alarming thought popped into his head. 'How would he break the news about Drew to his parents?' he thought. 'And what would his parents think about his relationship with a … a Muggle-born.'
During the whole night, Draco's mind was elsewhere. Both Blaise and Pansy noticed. They ran some interference for him so that he could leave the function. He was truly grateful to them.
Other than Harry, Ginny, the Weasleys, Madame Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, and Dr. Masterson, nobody knew about the Muggle-born witch and himself. He wasn't ready to share that information with his old Slytherin mates just yet.
o-o-o
12 January, Wednesday, 2150 GMT
Draco walked into the ICU room and saw that it was empty. He walked to the nurse's station.
"Hi Amy," Draco addressed the nurse.
"Oh, hi Draco," the nurse on duty nodded.
"Is Hermione upstairs with Drew?" Draco asked placing the flowers onto the counter.
"Uh, no," Amelia Rodriguez said looking up from her computer screen.
"Did she move rooms?" Draco asked.
"She actually checked herself out about fifteen minutes ago," she said after looking at her watch.
"Is that allowed?" Draco said as though someone had knocked the wind out of him.
"Technically, yes. She's an attending physician, so," the nurse shrugged. "Although, if Dr. Masterson was working today, she probably wouldn't have allowed it."
"Do you know where she was heading?" Draco asked, his breath caught in his chest.
"She said she needed to grab some stuff from home," Nurse Rodriguez said.
"Thanks," Draco said as he walked calmly away from the ICU wing and exited through the ER exit.
In conversations with the head of the hospital over the past week, he had learned that Hermione kept the fact that she lived in a shelter a secret. He quickly went to the alley behind the ER, dropping the flowers in his haste as he pulled out his wand. The rain began to fall harder. He concentrated on the little women's shelter a mere seven blocks away.
o-o-o
"What do you mean, it was cleared out on Sunday?" Hermione asked the shelter attendant as she pulled the sides of her soaked track top tighter around her.
The grey-haired, older woman looked through some paperwork. She flipped to the page with Hermione's locker number on it. Hermione looked at the time and date stamp on the list, right next to her sign-in signature.
Sure, she had known the policy of the shelter that successive non-attendance nights would merit authorization by management to clear a locker. She ran her finger over the authorization stamp.
"Would you like a cot for the night, Ms. Granger?" the attendant asked politely.
"No," Hermione answered quietly.
She turned away and headed for the exit doors, her eyes already watering. She reached the outside of the building just as she saw the taxi pull up before a tall gentleman waiting outside the shelter. The rain was now quite heavy. 'Maybe she could talk him into sharing a cab ride,' she thought, as she was a meter away from the man when he turned.
Hermione froze in her tracks as she locked eyes with him. The platinum blonde former Slytherin nodded at her.
"Hey, why don't we get out of the rain," he said extending his hand.
"I'm fine, Malfoy," she said. "I'm heading back to the hospital."
"Well then, I'll ride with you there," Draco said still holding out his hand. "We can share my cab."
"Really, Malfoy," she said shivering a little. "I'm alright."
"Seeing as you don't have your wand with you to cast a bubble spell, you'll be soaking wet by the time you get to the hospital. Then you'll be treated in the ER for the second time in a week," Draco said exasperated. "Shall I throw you into the cab kicking and screaming?
"Or can we be civilized about this?" he asked as he held the door open.
She reluctantly entered the taxi. She trembled again as she watched him shut the door before the taxi went into motion.
o-o-o
12 January, Wednesday, 2205 GMT
It was ten minutes into the ride, when she noticed the tall buildings gave way to suburbia. She looked at him and gulped. "This isn't the way back to the hospital, Malfoy."
"Maybe he's taking the scenic route," he said, looking at her, quite calmly.
She watched as the platinum blonde lazily tapped his wand hand on his knee as if keeping time to silent music. What she realized was he was holding a spell.
"Muffliato, Malfoy?" she asked, her voice escalating as she narrowed her eyes at him.
He smirked. "Well, we wouldn't want the driver to be alarmed by your shouting, now would we?"
She tried to work the door's handle. She looked at him. He smirked.
"Really," Draco said, shrugging his shoulders, "We can't have you throwing yourself out of a moving vehicle."
"Where are you taking me, Malfoy?" she asked as tears streamed down her cheeks. She noticed the familiar neighborhood street onto which the taxi turned. She looked up at the former Slytherin.
"I thought we've been on a first name basis for a while now, Hermione," he said as the taxi stopped in front of the familiar house.
He opened the door and extended his hand to her. She gulped. She exited the vehicle without his help. He had paid the taxi driver. She watched, probably her last glimpse of escape, pull away from the curb. Draco waved his wand and a protective bubble engulfed the both of them, stopping the rain from hitting them.
He nodded towards the one-story home. The overgrown lawn on both sides of the walkway marked the trail to the front door. On the right lawn, there was a for sale sign with "SOLD" on a yellow sticker posted diagonally across it.
She took a gulp as she allowed him to usher her up the walkway. She watched him swing the door open easily.
"This is trespassing," she said, a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Don't worry about it," Draco said, looking straight at her. "I know the owners."
She stifled a sob. She stood rooted to her spot for a moment as she had a partial view of the living room. The first look inside her parents' home in over three years made her wobble for a moment.
She couldn't do anything about the home in which the family had moved to when she turned ten. Even with her parents' insurance money she would have had ten more years of mortgage payments she could not afford. The house entered into foreclosure. This was really the first time since the incident occurred that she had come back.
"Do you need me to carry you over the threshold?" Draco asked.
Hermione bit her lower lip as she took a step into the living room, wary of Draco's intention. She heard him close and lock the door behind them, casting Finite incantatum to end the bubble spell.
She took in a breath as he walked past her into the hallway towards the bedrooms. "So is this how it ends then?" she asked, rooted to her spot.
Draco turned around. He studied her face for a moment. He watched her shiver, her clothing sopping wet.
"Ends?" Draco asked a little puzzled.
"Are you going to get rid of Drew, too?" she asked as a tear streamed down her cheek.
Draco turned pale. 'What could she have been thinking,' he thought to himself.
"I think the moisture's gotten to your brain," he said as he walked towards her. "We need to get you out of those clothes now."
She gulped, taking a step backward. Draco just looked at her. He grabbed gently for her elbow and led her down the hallway. She didn't struggle as he led her into the room she had called home during her childhood. Draco again shut the door behind them while removing his jacket. He tossed it onto the bed.
'How ironic would it have been for him to kill her there,' she thought. He hadn't done it in his own bedroom months ago. Here he would have his chance.
She looked at him, clenching and unclenching her fists. 'He was right. Why hadn't she brought her wand with her?' she thought.
"There are some towels in the shelving in the closet," he said, pointing his wand in the direction of the closet. She flinched at him for a second. His voice became stern, "Do I have to change you out of those clothes myself?"
"No," she said softly as she turned to the closet. She opened the doors. She took in a breath, recognizing her own clothes. She had to grab onto the shelving to keep herself steady. She looked back at Draco. "You cleared out my locker."
He nodded, acknowledging her. He kicked off his shoes and removed his socks with his toes. He pushed his toes into the carpet, trying to calm himself.
Hermione pulled a towel from the shelf, wiping her face and then her hair. Draco pulled the quilt covering from the bed and held it in his hands as he watched her shiver some more.
"You need to get out of those clothes, now, Hermione," he said, his face softening. "I don't want to lose you to pneumonia."
"Turn around," Hermione said softly. Draco raised an eyebrow. She twirled her finger. Draco rolled his eyes as he turned around. He shut his eyes for a moment.
He looked upon the nightstand, at the Muggle still photograph in the silver frame, the same one he had seen on her desk in her old apartment. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were still smiling. He gulped as he caught site of the reflection of the Muggle-born's backside in the frame.
o-o-o
'This is insane,' she thought as she removed her track top. She kicked off her trainers and pulled off her jeans and knickers. She removed her wet socks. She pulled her t-shirt and bra off and left them to drop to the floor at her feet. She tried to dry herself off as best as she could, fighting off the cold as she was still trembling.
She quickly pulled out a closet drawer, grabbing a pair of white cotton knickers. She quickly put them on. She put on a pair of black sweatpants. She pulled her faded maroon Gryffindor sweatshirt from another drawer and put it on, turning as she did.
She cleared her throat, signaling him that she was done changing. He almost jumped, slightly fearing that she had caught him peeking. He nodded at her as he turned. He saw her still shaking.
"Here," he said as he took two quick steps towards her. He wrapped the quilt around her and led her to the bed. She took a seat next to him.
He quickly waved his wand and her hair dried, bushy as usual. He smiled at her. Her hands trembled as she ran her fingers through her hair. She averted his eye contact, her eyes roving anywhere but towards his. She looked at the picture frame on her nightstand when something caught her eye.
She gulped as she saw the familiar number ten envelope with the crest of the Hospital directly below the space under the return address. She picked it up, pulling the authorization papers out. She looked at the platinum blonde.
"I had a nice talk with Dr. Masterson the night Drew was born," he said, gently taking the papers out of her hands. He looked at her. "You were going to tell me something on that train platform that morning. You stopped yourself."
Hermione shut her eyes. She gulped before looking up at him, "You were so happy about going to Hogwarts and teaching. I didn't want to ruin your moment."
"And about Drew?" Draco asked.
She couldn't speak for a while. Draco brought her into his arms. She leaned into his shoulder for a while before she looked into his eyes.
"I didn't know how you would react. I didn't want you to feel obligated," she said, gulping. "Besides you're with Roxanne. I didn't want to ruin that either."
"I'm not seeing her," he said exasperatedly. "Why does everyone think she and I are together?"
"Harry and Ginny subscribe to The Daily Prophet," she began as she pulled slowly away from him.
"Rita Skeeter spreads lies for a living, you know that?"
"Look, Draco. I know you mean well, but," she began as she saw another stack of papers on the nightstand. She recognized the English government seal on the cover page. She picked them up and read the first couple of pages. She gulped seeing the deed to the home with the owners listed as Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger.
"I told you I know the owners," he said, tracing her jaw line with his forefinger.
She looked up at him. She took a breath, wondering how he had done this.
It was as if Draco had known what she was thinking. "Harry helped me acquire the property. It was on 'foreclosure auction,' whatever that meant. Harry tried to explain that to me. The house went for sixty thousand English pounds. We closed on Monday," he shrugged.
Hermione looked down at the paperwork again. She looked at his signature of purchase. She couldn't stop her tears from welling up. She looked up at him.
"It'll take some time, with all my medical bills, Draco," she began. "But, I'll pay you back."
"Look at me, Hermione," he said wiping her cheeks with his thumbs. He took a deep breath as he watched her hands shake, still feeling cold. "A father has to provide a roof over his daughter and the mother of his child, right?"
She cried into his arms. He held her close as he pulled the both of them down on the mattress. He pulled the quilt blanket over him as well.
"We're in this together, Hermione," he said as he rubbed her hands in his, trying to warm her up.
o-o-o
12 January, Wednesday, 2230 GMT
They lay facing each other. Hermione was still shivering a little from the earlier cold. Draco moved a strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.
"I was afraid I had written something to have offended you in one of my owls," he said, looking at her.
She shook her head. "Things just started to get complicated."
He smiled at her. "You don't know how many nights I sat up in Astronomy Tower waiting for a return owl," he gulped. "There were so many thoughts running through my head. I thought that you found some hapless Muggle who fell madly in love with you and whisked you away to some amazingly beautiful Muggle place where you had no access to owl post so you couldn't give me the kiss-off so easily."
"You're incorrigible," she smiled at him.
"It's all part of my charm," he smiled back at her as he caressed her face. He watched her take a breath.
"Listen, Draco," she said, chewing her lower lip, a nervous habit. "I've got some money saved up in a trust fund for Drew. I figured whoever was going to take care of her would have some money to start off with."
"Hermione, come on."
"I have an appointment with my oncologist tomorrow at ten thirty," she said looking up at him. She gulped, blinking back tears. "There'll probably be no change in my prognosis."
"Don't talk like that, Hermione," he said. "We're going to get to watch Drew grow up, maybe even ride a broom as deftly as her father. We're gonna watch her graduate from Hogwarts, maybe even be valedictorian, like her mother."
"Draco," she said, shaking her head.
He kissed her full on the mouth. She was surprised at first but eventually gave into the kiss.
"I've been wanting to do that since last summer," he said, looking into her eyes.
"So why didn't you?" she asked, blushing as she looked into his eyes.
"I was afraid you wouldn't feel the same way," he said smiling at her. "Besides, I've been on the receiving end of one of your right hooks; wasn't going to chance that again."
"You're incorrigible," she said.
"I love you," he said. "Everything will work out."
"When did you start being so optimistic?"
He smiled at her. "I think it was about the time this bushy haired eleven-year old witch in training spouted out facts about the Great Hall at Hogwarts; looking at everything with wide-eyed wonderment," he said. He took a gulp, his face turning a little serious, "Not knowing there were others out there that weren't as appreciative because they had forgotten how rich their past really was."
"I love you, Draco," she said, her eyes drooping.
"Goodnight, Hermione," he said, kissing her forehead as he felt her chest expand and contract against him, finally giving way to slumber.
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