Draco felt like he'd been hit by the knight bus. His legs wobbled a little and he dropped to take a seat, letting the child down onto the ground. She ran to Hermione, jumping onto the bed and wrapping her arms around her neck. Hermione gave a small chuckle, hugging her back as best as she could. Daphne and Blaise looked around uncomfortably and made for the door, looking at Mcgonagall. "We'll give you some space…discreetly." The two left, the door closing behind them. Mcgonagall stood up, clearing her throat.

"If you'd like, I can…I can take the girl with me. Maybe she can get something to eat and meet the Weasley clan." Hermione's eyes widened and Mcgonagall nodded, patting her hand gently. "They're all here. All of the Weasley's, Harry, Neville, Luna…Everyone is waiting for you to wake up, Ms. Granger. They were worried sick. We all were." Tears welled in Hermione's eyes, swallowing the knot in her throat. "I'll make sure they wait while you two…catch up. Girl, would you like to come with me?"

"Her name is Adeline. Elizabeth Adeline Granger." Hermione, who had managed to sit up after Daphne had adjusted the bed, looked at her daughter. She pushed hair behind her ears, giving her a watery smile. "Addie, baby, go with Minerva, okay?" The young girl looked like she wanted to argue that point, but Hermione gave her as stern a look as she could given her condition. "Little one, you have to eat something. I'm sure they have something you'd like. And if you feel like it, you can meet Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. Remember the stories I told you?" The child's eyes lit up and she nodded, but paused as she looked over at Draco. Hermione caught her line of sight and sighed quietly. "Give him a moment to speak with mummy, okay?"

Addie. Draco tilted his head as the name ran through his brain, shifting under the child's gaze. It was a beautiful name. Mcgonagall shifted on her feet, clearing her throat again. Addie turned to her mother again. "Do you think they have blueberries?" She sounded hopeful and Hermione made a face. Addie giggled, kissing her cheek gently. "I hope they do. I love them."

"They're disgusting, baby…but maybe they'll have some. If you go with Minerva, she'll help you find some." Addie nodded and moved off of the bed.

Draco was taken back, his brows furrowing.

Hermione slipped onto the counter, looking over as he cut some fruit up. They didn't say much to each other usually, but in silent agreement, they knew their tryst wasn't over just yet. Having gone three times already, they needed sustenance. He pulled out a bowl of blueberries and Hermione made a face. His eyebrow rose. "What? You don't like them?"

"They're disgusting." She shivered and he rolled his eyes, popping one between his lips. She gagged and he laughed, picking up a sliver of green apple. He held it out to her, swatting her hand away when she went to grab it.

It was her turn to roll her eyes and she opened her mouth, letting him place half of it between her teeth. She took a bite and he leaned in, biting the other half. Their lips brushed together and his hand slipped onto her waist. Her legs parted to let him stand between them.

It turns out four was the number before they needed sustenance.

Draco blinked at the sound of the door closing behind him. He was pulled out of the memory and realized again where he was. His brows furrowed together and his arms crossed over his chest. He didn't know where to start. His silvery eyes caught brown and his mouth opened to speak, but he found he didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry." Hermione frowned, tears in her eyes. She shook her head lightly, looking up at him. "I never wanted you to find out like this."

"Did you want me to find out at all?" He found his voice and his feelings and he was angry. He huffed, taking his wand out of his holster. Hermione flinched, but he ignored it and cast a silencing charm over the room. He shook his head. "She's five, Granger! What the bloody fucking hell? Were you ever going to tell me? I have a kid! Yesterday, I had no kids. Now, not only do I have one, but she's five! What were you thinking?"

"I know! I know!" Tears streamed down her cheeks, a pain in her eyes. Draco wasn't sure if it was the situation or the injuries. He wasn't really thinking about it.

"No, I don't think you do! A kid, Hermione! My kid!" His breathing was coming faster now and he was panicking. He hadn't had a panic attack in years. "I don't know anything about her. I don't know how you've been raising her. I don't know what she thinks of me! I don't know what you told her!"

"She adores you." Hermione cried out, moving to the edge of the bed, gasping at the pain. She shook her head. "I didn't think you'd be so…upset." It was clear in her eyes that she meant it. She frowned, wiping at her eyes. "What was I supposed to do, Malfoy? You wanted me to tell you? We weren't together! I didn't know how you'd react!" She snapped, chest heaving as she sobbed.

"You were in my home! You were in my bed!" He snapped back, anger evident in his eyes. Those eyes she looked at every single day. The ones so full of love and innocence, cold and furious in his features. "I held you when you showed up, cold and devoid of emotion. Don't you think that meant I'd grown the fuck up?"

"So you think I was supposed to imagine us as what- one big happy family?!" Hermione cried out, looking up at him as he paced, one hand on his hips. His other pushed through his hair. "Fucking someone when you're drunk, lonely, and depressed is different than finding out a pureblood man like yourself was going to have a half-blood child." She inhaled a shaky breath and he stopped to look at her. "I didn't find out I was pregnant until I was already in the states. I knew you had just gotten the job at the ministry. And we hadn't seen each other in almost two months. What would you have done if I showed up on your doorstep with this information?"

Draco remained quiet. He wasn't sure how to respond. What would have happened? It was only sex between them. They didn't have dates, they didn't reach out to each other. They didn't see each other except on the doorstep of their respective homes, glamoured so no one else would be able to tell. They had never held long conversations. It was sex.

When one of them couldn't be alone with their thoughts. When the pain was too much to bear and they needed a distraction.

Draco gave her a pained look, shaking his head. "I-I don't know, Granger. I don't know what I would have done, but we'll never know, will we?" He pushed his fingers through his hair and took a seat at the edge of the bed. Hermione hiccuped, silent tears still flowing down her cheeks. "Were you ever going to tell me? Was she going to grow up without me, never understanding that you made the choice for me? And if she showed up on my doorstep at seventeen, if I was married with children, would she have been horrified?" He swallowed thickly. He wasn't sure what to think. How would it have all played out? How would it play out now?

"I-I don't know." She spoke quietly, fingers curling into her palms, digging in. "I don't know, Malfoy. I was taking it a day at a time. I was doing it alone and I know how horrible it sounds, but I couldn't afford myself the chance to think about you and your feelings." She wiped her eyes, leaning against the mattress, still sitting up. "As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I only thought of her. I thought about the horrors of our world and the pain and the torture. I had to protect her from it. I wanted her to be happy and loved and I wanted to give her everything she wanted. I had to protect her." She nibbled on her lower lip, sighing sadly. "I can never expect you to forgive me for keeping her from you, but she does know you."

Draco wiped his hand over his face. How could he fault her for doing what she thought was best? But how could he not be angry that he had not been involved? But how would he have reacted if she'd told him? Would he have begged her to get rid of it? Would he have told her he wanted nothing to do with it or her anymore? And if she had refused, what would he have done? The Weasel and Potter would have killed him. As is, they had wanted to when he'd let it slip that he'd bedded her. Not that they really believed him.

"She called me, "Daddy."' He looked over at her, brows furrowed in confusion. "Why? How does she know me? What did you tell her?" He was worried. He didn't know what he was feeling. He was confused about the situation. He was…angry at the situation. Was he happy? He hadn't really ever thought he'd have a child and much less with Hermione Granger. How would they move forward from here? Would she go back to the states? Would he become involved in Elizabeth's life?

"I told her about you." Hermione was picking at her nails, fixing the robe over the wound on her abdomen. It was mostly healed now and the color had returned to her face, mostly. "I didn't know how you would react, but I had the ability to give her a father. She's young, Draco. She knows you as her father because I would never have told her it was anyone else. I didn't know how you'd respond and as she got older, I knew she'd have questions. I wasn't going to kill you off and I wasn't going to lie to her. She knows as much as is appropriate for her age. She knows the good stuff between us, as little as it was. She has this picture of you…" Hermione's cheeks flushed deeply and a small smile appeared on her lips. "The one that I took right after the New Year in 2002."

"I was wondering where that had gone." He murmured, crossing his arms across his chest. He looked over at the witch. "You kept it."

"I figured you didn't need a photo of yourself." She smirked and Draco wondered if she tasted the same after all of these years. He looked away quickly, focusing on the wall across from him. "She sleeps with it beside her bed. She talks to it. She likes to tell it about her days at school and when she learns anything new. Draco.." Hermione tilted her head to try to catch his gaze. "She adores you. I told her that you weren't with us because we weren't married. You had your work and we couldn't be here because of our own protection. I never blamed you. I never let her hate you. Even if I didn't know how it would play out."

"I don't know what to do. I've been around kids before, I've taken care of them while waiting for their parents or their closest relatives. I have no idea what to do here, Granger." He frowned, stiffening when her hand went to his shoulder.

"It's an impossible situation that I've put you in, Malfoy, I know. I can never ever be sorry enough for that. For lying to you. But I had to protect her." Hermione pleaded with him, her hands slipping back into her lap. "And I did my best until last night."

"When you were attacked." His face paled and he turned towards her. "It was her they were looking for?"

"I don't know how they found out, Malfoy, but they did. He wanted her. He said he'd come for her and that there were others. That they'd just keep coming." She looked like she was going to be sick. Fear jumped into her eyes, worry, despair. "I only came back because I had nowhere else to go."

He nodded, his hand coming to hers. He squeezed gently. "Blaise and I know what we're doing, Granger. We're not going to let anything happen to either of you."

She straightened a little and nodded, shifting nervously. "Malfoy, would you- would you like to meet her?"

xxxxx

The entire clan was sat around the waiting room, desperate to go see Hermione, but shocked by the child in front of them. Daphne had returned with Mcgonagall and Blaise, holding the child's hand. She had looked around the room in wonder and shock and upon landing on the-boy-who-lived, her eyes filled with glee. "Uncle Harry!" She'd rushed forward, running to jump into his arms. Harry, for his part, hugged her immediately, his eyes filling with tears. Ginny gasped, watching them both. "Aunt Ginny!"

"This is Elizabeth Adeline Granger." Mcgonagall explained to them, moving to take a seat across from Molly and Arthur. "Hermione is awake." Ron's head snapped up and Daphne shook her head. "She's speaking with Mr. Malfoy. She is safe." The headmistress gave Ron a warning look and he dropped his head, knowing better than to argue with her.

"Elizabeth." Ginny smiled, tilting the five year olds chin up to look into her eyes. "What a beautiful name."

"Addie." She corrected, sliding to sit properly on Harry's lap. "I like Addie. Mama calls me Addie or baby girl or little dragon or silly one." She listed off the names and yes, one of those made them all blink in confusion. Dragon was a weird one. Blaise nearly choked and Daphne had to pinch him. "I know you."

"You do?" Ginny rose a brow, looking at the child and then at those around them.

Addie nodded, smiling brightly. "Yes. Mama has a book with your pictures." She slid off of Harry's lap, walking over to Ron first. "Uncle Ron." She moved beside him, face twisted in focus. "Aunt Luna. Uncle…N-Neville." She nodded, proud of herself, high-fiving his offered hand. She moved beside him, poking Ginny's knee. "Auntie Ginny and Uncle Harry." She paused again, bending her knees and tugging on her earlobe. Harry felt the endearment tug at his heart, Hermione did that when she was concentrating. "M-Molly…and Art-Arthur. Are you my grandma and grandpa?"

Molly let out a quiet cry, squeezing her husband's thigh. "Oh, darling. We could be. We love your mum like our own." Arthur gave the little girl a smile and she returned it, jumping over to the red haired man beside Molly. "Charlie? And…Percy." She clapped, high fiving the eldest Weasley sibling. "Um…Bill and Fleur." Addie gasped, looking at the sleeping baby. Her eyes widened. "A baby! Oh, I love babies. So cute." She tilted her head to look at the child better, golden blonde hair sliding over her shoulder.

"This is Victoire." Bill smiled at her, poking her side gently. "Your cousin, I suppose."

"And you're…George." She giggled as the twin snapped his teeth playfully at her outstretched fingers. Addie turned and ran back to Harry, climbing into his lap. Harry chuckled, wrapping his arms around her. Daphne stepped back into the room, a small bowl of fruit in her lap. Adeline clapped as she took it, setting it on her lap. She popped a blueberry into her mouth, swinging her legs happily. "Mummy always tells me about you."

Ginny rubbed her back gently and Addie offered her a sliver of a green apple. "We are happy that you're here with us, Addie. We're going to take care of you both, okay?"

"Mummy will like that. She's going to be happy to see you." She popped another blueberry in her mouth and Ron's lips twitched. "What?"

"Your mum hates blueberries." He remembered her always avoiding them on the table at the great hall. "Wonder where you got your love for those."

"My daddy loves them." Addie nodded, making Blaise and Daphne tense. Mcgonagall pressed her lips into a thin line. Ron and Harry shared a look and Ron leaned forward a bit, elbows on his knees.

"You know your daddy?" He rose a brow, wondering how much she would divulge. Daphne stepped in, giving them all a smile.

"Hermione would actually like to speak to Adeline for a moment." She extended her hand out to her and Addie took it happily, keeping the bowl in her other one. She looked at them all and gave them a knowing smile. "When she's ready, I'll come get you." Blaise opened the door for them and they stepped out, closing the door behind them.

Molly burst into tears, her husband wrapping his arm around her, trying to shush her. She turned into his embrace. A tear slipped down Harry's cheek, his chin in his palms. "She told her about us. Enough for her to remember us." He wiped his eyes, nodding. "Elizabeth Adeline Granger. What a name. What a beautiful little girl."

"I still can't wrap my head around it." Ron let out, leaning against the wall. "I mean, Hermione has a kid. Not a baby or a toddler, she's got a five year old. She did it on her own and that child is so…trusting and loving and well behaved." He crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head. "Merlin, it must've been so hard for her, having to go through it alone."

They all nodded and Molly wiped her eyes, sitting up straighter. "Well, she won't be alone now. She'll have us."

And that, they were all in agreement with.

xxxxx

He was nervous. He was extremely nervous, leg bouncing as he sat on the chair across from the bed. He shifted and Hermione smiled at him from where she leaned against her pillows, eyes half closed. She was exhausted. All of this was too much for her, but she was willing herself to stay awake.

The door opened and Adeline stepped in, Daphne's arm guiding her before closing the door again. She had a small bowl of fruit in her hands and she smiled shyly at Draco, walking over to him. "Blueberry, daddy?" His chest tightened and his eyesight became blurry. He nodded and she took one, placing it in his outstretched palm. He blinked back the tears and popped it into her mouth. Her head tilted to one side, curiosity in her gaze. "Are you sad, daddy?"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "N-no." Was he? A part of him might be. He had missed the first five years of his daughter's life. Holy fucking hell. He had a daughter. He cleared his throat, looking over at Hermione. She gave him a small smile, tears in her own eyes. Addie leaned against the chair beside him, taking a bite from the apple slice. His eyes brightened when he noticed the green skin. She offered him the other half and he took it, popping it between his lips. "I'm really glad to finally meet you, Adeline."

The little girl grinned at him, moving to grab her backpack and hand it to him. "Mummy let me bring you with me." She opened the zipper as he held the bag and reached it, pulling out her teddy and placing it on the chair beside her fruit. She reached back in and took out the photo of him. He remembered when Hermione had taken it. One of the only times they ever spent more than the evening together, just after the new year.

The fireworks had woken him up, the colors in the sky sending him into immediate panic. He had his wand in his hand when she'd knocked on his door, a look of intense panic on her features. He'd brought her in, fucked her in the living room, every sense filled with only each other. Moans drowning out the explosions, eyes only on her form. She'd taken the photo of him in the kitchen.

He smiled down at the frame, noting the look he had given her when he heard the shutter. His photographed self looked up from the cutting board, smiling genuinely for the first time in a while. And then it started all over again. Adeline smiled at the photo and then at him. He nodded, setting it down. She slipped between his legs, her arms coming around his middle. Well, trying to. She was small and he chuckled, his hand coming to her back. She rested her head on his forearm, blinking up at him. He realized then that her lower lip was quivering.

Draco's brows furrowed together, fingers under her chin. He frowned. "Are you sad, darling?" The nickname had slipped out of him and he saw Hermione lift her head from the corner of his eye. Adeline shook her head.

"No, daddy. I'm not sad." Still, little tears went down her face. She wiped at her eyes, voice tinged with a little cry. "I'm happy. I am happy to finally hug you." She broke into a sob and he swallowed the know in his throat. He lifted her up into his lap and wrapped her into a hug. Her head rested onto his shoulder, her own little ones shaking as she cried.

His eyes moved over to Hermione, the witch only half awake. She wasn't looking at them. Instead, she stared at the ceiling, but Draco saw the tears slipping down her temples. The shaky inhale of her breath that he knew, this time, was because of her crying and not the pain. A small whimper escaped the witch and Draco turned his head to bury his nose in his daughter's hair.

When he spoke, his voice cracked. A tear slipping down his cheek. He made his decision. "You're never going to have to live without me again, love. I've got you."