Hey this is the last chapter, I know it took me ages and I've this written for a few months, just had the pushed to finished editing it and upload, would like to thank my Beta for being very helpful in the editing stages.

Draco looked down at his baby and was ashamed that he had not come sooner. "I knew you would come," his wife said lightly.

"I'm sorry things ended up this way," he mumbled, not looking at her.

"I think Scorpius needs stability, so he should stay in France with me. You can have him during Darius' holidays so that both of you can see him."

"Sounds fair, and I'll come and visit you every other weekend, unless something comes up," he added.

"I'll have to talk to my fiancée about that," she replied matter-of-factly.

"Fiancée?" Draco was astonished. When…? What…? How? He questioned in his head.

"I met a man just after you left, and Scorpius needs a stable household to grow up in," she said, as if she could read his thoughts. Draco was astounded at how quickly his wife had moved on; it had only been a few months since they had started filing for divorce. True, their marriage was not true love, but it still hurt a little that she could move on so easily.

"Okay," he stuttered, "Let me know."

Hermione was feeling guilty, she kept the note Draco had given her and every so often she reread it. She was lucky to have baby Rosie and Ron. However, sometimes she wondered if Ron was just a rebound. He had been so sweet to her and their friendship had grown stronger, but maybe they should have just stayed friends. Hermione shook her head fiercely; she should not be thinking these things.

Was Draco being serious? She had to know, even if she was not going to act on it. She had to know; it was a part of her nature to want to know everything.

She only wanted to know because saying such things and lying was wrong, she wanted to see if Draco had really repented so she could forgive him, like the fair and just person she was. All she was going to do was forgive him, though, nothing else. It would be better for Darius if his parents were on civil terms, after all.

Gathering up her courage, she went across to the Floo shouting for Malfoy Manor as she threw down some powder. After spinning for a couple of minutes, Hermione tumbled into a huge drawing room; memories of this place surfaced in her head and she wondered if she had done the right thing by coming.

A house-elf walked up to Hermione, wearing a Malfoy rag, Hermione scowled at this although said rag was in good condition. Yes, she had definitely made a mistake. She was about to tell the elf that she had come out the wrong fireplace, when the elf greeted her in a friendly manner and asked if she would like something to eat or drink while Hermione waited.

"No, I'm fine," Hermione started. "You don't have to do this, you know," she could not help adding.

The elf was confused, "What is Dippy doing?" she asked.

"You're not doing anything wrong, it's Draco who is, he should pay his elves and make sure they have proper holidays…"

"Master Draco is not being Dippy's master, Master Lucius is being Dippy's master."

"Lucius," Hermione gasped. That man was still around? He had disappeared out of the spotlight ages ago, and she had thought he had run away with his wife like his dear son.

"Yes, but master Lucius is out at the moment, and I is thinking you is wanting Master Draco."

"Yes," Hermione said, stunned. She allowed herself to be ushered into a slightly smaller and cosier room with a few sofas around a coffee table.

She sat down, as instructed by Dippy, and the elf reappeared soon after bringing all assortments of food.

"I'm fine," she tried to tell Dippy, but ended up eating just to please the elf and assure her that her work was appreciated. At least Dippy seems happier than Dobby, but I'll definitely pull Draco up on this, she thought as she bit into a scrumptious chocolate gateau.

"Hermione," a surprised male voice came from the doorway. "What are you doing here?"

Hermione looked up at the man and smiled weakly. "Hi, how are you?"

"I'm fine," Draco replied not knowing what to say. "My wife and I have made arrangements for Scorpius." Hermione nodded. "I wonder if Darius would like to return to France to see her sometimes. He's not her real mother but she did raise him for seven years."

"So, are you two on good terms, then?" Hermione asked with a loss for what to say.

"She's getting remarried for Scorpius' sake, or so she claims," Draco answered dryly.

"So quickly?" Hermione said surprised.

Draco nodded grimly, before they fell into an awkward silence.

"So, what did you come here for?" Draco asked.

"Err… Well…" Hermione spluttered. "I thought that maybe I might forgive you. I mean, it would be better for Darius if we were at least civil to each other."

"That's a great idea," Draco responded happily. "I have a perfect suggestion to accompany it."

Darius was stunned at the sight that greeted him when he got off the Hogwarts Express. He bid goodbye to his friends and rushed over to his parents, trying to determine if he was seeing correctly.

"Mum? Dad? What are you doing here… together?"

"We both wanted to see you," Hermione replied.

"Is that Scorpius?" This was truly weird, his mother and her daughter and his father and his son were all together. "So, where is mother?"

"She's in France, but if you want to see her, you can return with Scorpius," his father informed.

"Darius, would you like to go out to celebrate passing your first year?" Hermione asked. "I thought we could go to see some of Muggle London."

"Sounds great!" Darius was very intrigued with the Muggle world, but the Muggle objects his Mum and her friends had were the only things he had seen of it.

They walked through the barrier between platforms Nine and Ten, and continued towards the underground. Darius looked around in amazement as they travelled down a moving stairway.

Draco had never been to Muggle London before and was surprisingly impressed with the moving stairway. It was ingenious and he had no clue how it worked, but it did not stop it being a little awkward having to hold the buggy at an angle till they got to the bottom.

"This is how Muggles get around," Hermione explained, pointing to things and naming them, revealing that they had just used an escalator. They got something called the Piccadilly Line which was a type of tube. This was strange to Darius, as he always thought that a tube was a small container – this certainly was not small. They sped through the dark tunnels for a few stops. It was very crowded inside the poorly lit train, and the ride was not a smooth one.

"We're here," Hermione said when the doors opened for about the fifth time. They got off the train and a couple of people offered to help them up the stairs. Draco was about to say he was 'Fine, thank you very much,' but then Hermione gave him a stern look, and he remembered he could not use magic.

There was a crowd at the top of the stairs. "This station is a lot further underground, so we're going to get into a lift," Hermione informed.

When an available lift opened, a lot of the crowd dispersed into it, but they waited for the next one. Draco certainly was not impressed with this invention, and was relieved when they had gotten out of the other side of the box.

"Where are we?" he asked when they had finally left the station.

"I thought Covent Garden would be a nice place to go. There's always a street performer around for entertainment, then we can go down to Leicester Square and get pizza, let's hope it doesn't rain, though."

"Well you know best," Draco replied. They wondered around and got some hot chocolate from one of the stalls, Hermione got coffee.

Darius watched a street performer perform magic tricks and was totally convinced it was real magic. Hermione could see that Draco was just a little stunned at some of things the man pulled off.

"So what do you think of Muggle magic?" she asked, her mouth twitching into a smile.

"I think you used an oxymoron," Draco replied, without actually answering the question.

"They're really wizards aren't they?" Darius asked confused.

"No, it's just tricks," Hermione replied.

"I could do some real magic and pull off a better performance." Draco bragged.

"But you won't," Hermione warned, her tone final. Draco pouted for a second.

They walked down the cobbled streets, looking in some of the shops. Hermione dragged them into an astrology shop, filled with charts on the moon and books on magic.

"Muggles are obsessed with magic," Draco observed.

They stopped in a few of the clothes shops to show Darius the current Muggle fashion. Hermione felt like she had dragged the two of them on a Muggle Studies trip. This observation gave her an idea.

"I think this would make a good Hogwarts trip, if only Hogwarts done trips like this." Hermione thought aloud.

"I suppose so," Draco agreed mildly. "It's a little interesting but maybe we would draw too much attention to ourselves and not know how to act."

"Or how to dress, the school uniform would not be suitable at all," Hermione added with a huge smile on her face.

They made it down to Leicester Square and bought a slice of pizza each.

"Rose and I better start making our way home," Hermione said before taking a bite into her pizza as she leaned against the railing. "Rose will wake up soon and want a feed."

"Actually, I'm surprised that Scorpius has kept quiet this long," Draco added as he took a bite of his pizza.

"You have a knack, I distantly remember Darius being quiet for you when he wouldn't shut up for me." Hermione said recalling Darius' infant years, the ones she had been there for. "We better start making a move," she said, coming back to the present.

"It's so full of Muggles here, there's no way we would find a Floo is there?" Draco asked wistfully.

"Why don't you just go back to King's Cross?"

"I'm not using that Muggle transport again, it's terrible."

Hermione sighed, "It's lucky that I happen to know there's a magic shop in Trocadero, a real magic shop who happens to have a Floo and apparating points."

They made their way down the bustling street and walked into the shopping centre where they turned into Octopus and Hermione asked the person at the counter if she could go through the back for 'business.' Draco was surprised to find a bar, much like a smaller version of the Leaky Cauldron, in the back.

"Octopus is a magically run store for Muggles, but it's also a way to go to and from the Muggle world easily," Hermione explained. "Darius, I'll see you in three weeks," she said before hugging the boy tight to her. She stroked Scorpius' cheek and she looked at Draco.

"Today was really great, Hermione," he said earnestly. "We should do it again, how about when I bring Darius back?"

"Maybe. I'll have to see," Hermione replied sceptically, she had enjoyed herself, but this was supposed to be a one off for Darius.

Hermione sat at her desk feeling mildly bored. She had not worked at the Ministry in twelve months due to maternity leave, and the work she was doing was supposed to ease her gently back into work. Meaning she had finished all her tasks, and was wondering whether she should just return home and surprise Ron and see Rose.

Rose was another source of her agitation; this was the first time she had been away from her baby girl for so long. She knew that Ron was looking after her and could do a capable job, but she still missed little Rosie.

Packing up her work she went to see her supervisor, explained that all the work was done and she was going to sign off early today. She also added that she did not need a lighter workload, and was perfectly capable of being thrust back into the deep end.

Janet looked at her amusedly. "Looks like motherhood hasn't changed your attitude towards work," she remarked.

"Did you really expect it to?" Hermione asked seriously.

"I suppose not, but it's customary to treat those who have had more than six months off like a new employee." Quickly changing the subject, afraid of Hermione's rebuke she added, "How's Rose? Who's looking after her now? Did you sort out childcare?"

"Ron's taking paternity leave, we decided that I would take the first few months after her being born off, then, when I returned back to work, it would be Ron's turn. That way we could prolong Rose's time with her parents before having to arrange childcare."

Hermione Apparated onto her doorstep (they had decided to restrict apparition directly within the house). Pulling out her key, she unlocked her door to find a quiet and seemingly empty house. Walking up the stairs, Hermione spied the light on in the room she shared with Ron, but it too was empty.

She walked down into Rose's room and saw that Rose was in her crib and Ron was slouched over a chair. She tiptoed across the room and gently roused Ron.

"Ron," she whispered. "How was your first day alone with Rosie?" He opened his eyes tiredly, "You're not supposed to be tired until after your first night," Hermione joked. "Come on."

She pulled Ron after her, flicked off the lamp and led him out the room. As soon as they got to their own room, Ron collapsed on the bed.

Hermione staggered out of bed; she was knackered from the night before. Ron refused to wake up and she had to get up three or four times because Rose was being rather fussy and would not settle.

"Rose has been sleeping through the night for months," Hermione moaned as she pulled on her ministry robes. "Do you think she needs time to adjust to you looking after her instead of me?"

"Hermione, don't be silly. I've looked after her plenty of times before. She's probably not feeling well."

Hermione could not help feeling worried about Rose's strange behaviour, but she had to get to work, she needed to prove that she could handle her old responsibilities.

"Goodbye, Ron, see you when I'm back," she whispered while giving him a gentle kiss.

She went into Rose's room and kissed her lightly making sure to not wake the finally asleep infant.

It turned out Ron was right; by the time she came back from work Rose had a slight fever.

"You don't think we should take her to St Mungo's, do you?"

"If it gets worse we should. Hermione, you're acting likes she's never been sick before."

"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to being away from her for so long," Hermione replied timidly, realising that she may be overreacting a little bit.

A rather elegant owl swooped into Hermione workplace two weeks after she had gone back to work. She opened the scroll and a quill fell from the centre.

The letter was from Draco, explaining that the quill was a Portkey that would take her to meet him and Darius the next day at seven in the evening. Hermione sighed, she knew that Draco was planning something; she could feel it, why could he not just bring Darius back to her apartment? He had to be difficult, and he never even mentioned where the Portkey would take her!

Hermione told Ron that she would be late from work, because she was going to pick up Darius, and spent time selecting the clothes she would wear. In the end, she decided on a plain black dress which would not be too dressy but looked like she had made an effort.

She dressed in the cloak room of the ministry and held the quill Portkey nervously. Why am I nervous? Hermione scolded herself. There is absolutely no reason to be nervous, at all.

As the clock struck seven, she felt a tug on the bottom of her navel and tumbled into Paris, right beside the Eifel tower. Draco and Darius were waiting patiently.

"Why are we in France?" Hermione demanded as soon as she had gathered herself from the journey. Draco raised an eyebrow, as if to say, Nice to see you too.

"You look nice," he replied. "My ex-wife lives here, so I thought you might like to see the sights before you take Darius for the rest of the holidays."

Hermione looked at Darius who shrugged, "Want to go up?"

Hermione had always been afraid of heights, so the last time she had come here she had opted to stay with her feet safely on the ground. The same feelings were plaguing her now. "Have you been up before?"

"No, I wanted to go up with you," Hermione's heart melted. When she was carrying this precious life inside her back at school, what had she expected the future to hold for him?

Darius held his hand out and Hermione took it, allowing him to drag her to the stairs to start the ascent.

Darius laughed and would not stop, Hermione was infuriated. "I'm sure Draco must have told you I was afraid of heights."

"Nope, but you must admit the way you reacted when you realised how far up we were, was hilarious. Although I must add, we didn't even make it halfway."

"How was your summer so far?" Hermione asked changing the subject, Darius could be mean sometimes.

Hermione could tell that the tension between Ron and Darius was lifting. Thankfully, Harry stopped by as much as he could to stop the two from their constant bickering. Darius had grown to resemble his mother more than his father over the years, but some of his characteristics were definitely Draco. This seemed to irk Ron to no end.

Darius insisted that Ron was not his father – and Ron insisted he never wanted to be the boy's father – but Hermione could tell that the fact Darius did not accept him hurt, making Ron act in a way which was more damaging to their already weak relationship.

"Ron, he's only a kid," Hermione replied exasperatedly to her ranting husband.

"I know. He's just hard to deal with sometimes, and with you at work all day…"

"Tomorrow's Saturday, so I'll be home, and Harry said he would be over later today, so maybe he can take Darius out. Seriously, Ron, you're the only one who finds it hard to get along with him, he's such a sweet boy really."

"He's a wolf in sheep's clothing, that's what he is," Ron scowled, hating the fact that he was the only one who did not get along with Darius. It made him feel like it was his own fault for not trying, but he really was, it was just the boy was the devil's spawn.

"Saying things like that will definitely not help," Hermione admonished as she picked up her wand from the dresser and slipped it into her robes. "Bye, Ron, have a nice day, and maybe I'll reward your efforts with a very special evening."

"I was wondering when you would be up to it, it's been months since Rosie was born I would have thought you healed a long time ago."

"Ron!" Hermione chastised. "You will never understand the pains of childbirth."

"I do, it's been painful this past year because you turned so fr…"

"Do not even finish that sentence or you'll regret it," Ron shut his mouth quick. "I want to come back to a harmonious household, do you understand?"

Ron nodded mutely.

Hermione returned that evening to find Ron feeding Rose. "Where's Darius?" she asked as soon as she stepped into the front room.

"He's going to stay over at Harry's." Ron replied, without looking at her; he was too busy trying to get Rose to finish.

Hermione sighed. "When I said I wanted to come back to a harmonious household, I also meant that Darius should be here too."

"Hermione, these things take time, and I thought we could have a romantic night. Now, go upstairs and get dressed while I put Rose to bed, and then go check out the dining room."

Hermione agreed reluctantly and she went up stairs and saw that the bath was prepared with all her favourite scents. It seemed that Ron had put a heating charm on it so it would stay at the right temperature as well. Hermione undressed and relaxed into the bubbly bathwater, allowing it to soothe away the stresses of the day.

She wrapped herself in her bath towel and padded over to the bedroom, where she found a peach coloured dress waiting for her on the bed. It looked like Ron had the evening all planned out, and Hermione felt more enthusiastic about the night.

Making her way down the stairs after dressing and drying her hair, Hermione walked over to the dining room with excitement. What does Ron have waiting in there? She wondered; they hardly ever used the dining room.

The table was set beautifully with an embroidered table cloth and red candles. There was a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice and two places were set. Hermione sat down at the table, thinking that this was the most romantic thing Ron had done since they had been married. Before their marriage, he had always done many thoughtful things, but afterwards it was as if he did not need to try anymore.

Ron entered a couple of minutes later, carrying two steaming bowls of soup and put one in front of Hermione and placed the other down in the other place.

"Champagne?" he asked as he pulled the bottle out of the ice bucket and magically popped of the cork. He poured them both a glass and then took his place beside Hermione at the head of the table.

"Ron, this is so sweet," Hermione picked up the glass and took a sip. He smiled, happy that she appreciated his hard work.

"So, how are you finding your return to work?" he asked, trying to start some conversation. He had not really talked to Hermione for a while and he felt it was time to remind themselves why they got married.

Hermione was happy to explain the things she had been doing, adding that she was definitely going to prove that being out of work for nearly a year did not mean that she was less competent than before.

"So, have you realised how exhausting looking after a baby is?" Hermione teased when she had finished chatting about work. "And I took care of the hard bit; the breast feeding, irregular sleeping hours…"

"I know, Hermione, you are so great," Ron replied, knowing Hermione list was unlikely to be short.

The meal was delicious but Ron did not stop there, he had made a Weasley recipe fruit cake which did not taste as good as Mrs Weasley's – as if anything could - but it was a decent imitation. Hermione was surprised that Ron could cook.

"From now on, you're going to help out more with the cooking, you had me fooled into thinking that you would burn the kitchen down if I let you in it," Hermione giggled, the champagne getting to her head.

"That's all I can make, Mum did try; she made sure I could make one meal at least."

"Do you think I should teach Darius how to cook?" Hermione mused.

"I doubt he learns anything of that sort in the Malfoy household," Ron said in reply.

"Did you know that Malfoy senior is still at Malfoy Manor?" Hermione asked remembering Dippy.

"How would you know that?" Ron asked sharply.

Hermione realised her mistake too late, and then she made a second mistake; she hesitated.

"Hermione, when did you go to see Malfoy? And when exactly were you going to tell me?" Ron's voice had gone cold.

"I…" Hermione was at a loss for words, "I had to go and make peace… for Darius' sake."

Ron was filled with rage but he was not sure why he was so angry. He knew that it was Hermione's nature to keep the peace but after all that git done to her he was going to come out second best again!

All the jealousy from his past resurfaced like an unwelcome foe. He knew he was being irrational, but was unable to feel any other way. From when he found out the first time about their love affair it was really painful that his best friend, whom he had had a crush on since he had met her, had liked their enemy more than him. He had said that Malfoy would break her heart and he had done exactly that. This had given the opportunity for Ron to mend the pieces and build their relationship again, like it should have been. It was not meant to be, he knew that he was just consolation and that Hermione's heart would always belong to another. He saw that she never truly got over Malfoy, even if she had moved on a little. And now he was back and there was no way Ron could win, even though he was married to her; it was just a matter of time.

These thoughts clouded his mind and clawed at his heart. He needed to get away before he said something stupid. He got up, hastily pulled on his cloak, and snatched up his wand and apparating with a swift turn on the front step.

Hermione look after him startled.

In the days that followed, Ron started acting funny, he talked to Hermione but it was forced. He spent more time looking after the baby, taking Rosie to Museums and Aquariums, anywhere that might take him out the house. He had been a lot nicer to Darius though, also taking Darius on the trips with Rosie and not getting into arguments with the boy.

Hermione did not know what to do; she wanted to say something to him but knew that he was angry. Maybe it was best to let him blow off steam. Draco had been a constant sore point in their relationship, and they had learnt to ignore the topic, but with Draco and Darius back on the scene, this argument was likely to happen. However, the argument never did, Ron had stormed out before they could actually fight.

It took Ron a couple of weeks before he seemed ready to look Hermione in the eyes again, but he still seemed edgy.

Hermione got home from the ministry to find Ron and Harry having a serious conversation in the front room.

"Hey Harry, haven't seen you in a while," she said cheerily hugging her best friend. "How're Ginny and the boys?"

"They're fine; you guys have to come over to ours sometime."

Hermione nodded.

"I have to get back I'm afraid," Harry said nodding at Ron and hugging Hermione.

He exited the house swiftly and Apparated back to the flat he shared with Ginny, their toddler James Sirius and their new born Albus Severus.

He knew that Ron had been acting strange for the past couple of weeks, and only now had Ron been able to say what had been troubling him. To say that Harry was surprised was an understatement.

As soon as Harry returned home, he told Ginny everything, recounting the conversation he had just had with Ron.

"I just confronted Ron, I just told him that I knew something was up. Ron looked at me and the pain in his eyes was tangible as he said that he had made a terrible mistake.

"He got up and began pacing the room as he told me he slept with Lavender in a whisper so quietly I barely caught it."

"I know there is no excuse for what I did, I was just so drunk I barely remember it… What do I do?"

"I just didn't know what to say," Harry continued. "But I knew I had to say something so I asked why he was drunk in the first place trying to understand the situation better.

"My red haired friend told me all about the romantic evening and how conversation about Malfoy had brought back unwanted emotions."

"I thought I should get out of there so I wouldn't say something I'd regret but I ending up doing something ten time worse."

"I could see that Ron was sorry for what he had done, but how will Hermione take it?"

Ginny listened, her face stoic. "I think I'm going to have to talk to my brother," was all she said. Harry had no clue what was going through her head.

Ron, Hermione, Darius, and Rose went to Ginny and Harry's on Saturday to catch up on each other's lives. Before dinner, Hermione left Ron, Harry, and Darius to play computer games while she minded the babies. Ginny was cooking and she took this opportunity to ask Ron for some help while Hermione was in the nursery.

As soon as he was in the kitchen she closed the door and put up a silencing charm and alarm wards. Ron watched her confused, then understanding dawned on him and he started to feel sick.

"I'm not going to have a go at you; I just want to understand why you did it," Ginny said matter-of-factly. Ron nodded unable to formulate words.

"Why did you do it Ron? Have you and Lavender been…" Ginny begun.

"I haven't talked to her since school, but I have seen her around. I never meant for it to happen, I know I had something with her at school but I have no feelings for her now," Ron protested.

"So, why…?" Ginny asked furiously. She was angry at her brother and upset for Hermione.

"I went to the Leaky Cauldron and had a few drinks, I was quite drunk by the time Lavender sidled up, and she listened, so I began to feel more comfortable around her. We had more to drink and then I must have gone home with her, I barely remember it."

"Why didn't you come and see me or Harry? Why were you at the bar drinking?" Ginny asked, exasperated. It did not matter how many questions she asked, it did not erase what he did.

"Why are you asking all these questions?" Ron asked defensively, he did not know what to say, he regretted his actions of that night so much and wished it had never happened but it did.

"I just needed to know that you were truly sorry," Ginny said weakly.

"I am," Ron said earnestly, though it would not mean anything to Hermione.

"I think it's best that we do not tell Hermione. Ron, I'm only doing this because I think Hermione's been through a lot and doesn't need more on her plate right now, if you ever do it again and hurt Hermione I will not forgive you," Ginny said angrily, dismissing him from the kitchen.

At first, it was hard to pretend that everything was alright. Ginny and Harry felt like they were betraying one friend for another.

"Honestly, Harry," Ginny said exasperated. "What good would it do telling her?"

"I… I think that – I don't…" Harry tried to answer.

"You just want to alleviate your conscience, but this is for both Ron and Hermione, and Rosie too."

Harry agreed reluctantly, he did not see them that much while everyone was busy but he knew that on the Sunday coming they had all taken time so they could see the whole family.

Ron had stopped acting distant, but Hermione could tell that there was something he was not telling her. It was really subtle things that Hermione had began to pick up on that made her believe that there was something wrong.

She could not pick up what it might be though. She wanted to ask him, but she doubted he wanted to worry her and would not let her know. Did he know something about Darius? Those two had been getting closer lately. Hermione really had no idea what it might be, but she supposed he would come out with it sooner or later.

Every time he was with Hermione, he became racked with guilt. Ron wished he could take away what he had done. He tried his best to bury the memory as deep as possible.

A month after he had told Harry, when Ron thought that the night was behind him and he and Hermione would be fine. Things took a turn for the worst. Lavender appeared on his doorstep while Hermione was at work.

He let her in wearily, wondering what she might want. She asked for some tea and took her time revealing why she had come.

"Lavender, was there a reason you came?" Ron asked when she seemed like she was never going to get to the point.

Hermione Apparated home from work early, it had been quite a slow day and she just wanted to see her family.

She froze in the doorway when she heard Lavender's voice. The girl whom she had shared a dorm with for six years, and was an ex of Ron's, was in her house chatting to her husband like they saw each other all the time.

"I'm pregnant," Lavender said brightly, Ron went pale and Hermione lunged into the room and slapped her round the face. She turned to Ron who had frozen like a statue. Tears sprung to her eyes but she would not cry in front on them.

"Get out!" she said in a harsh whisper, Ron did not need telling twice. He grabbed the slapped girl by the arm and dragged her to the doorstep.

"I'm going to Harry and Ginny's," he called to Hermione before apparating away. Lavender scowled at Hermione, furious that her cheek was throbbing and that she had been dragged out the house in an undignified manner. Hermione slammed the door in her face and collapsed on the floor silently crying.

It all made sense, Ron's uncharacteristic behaviour, his being nice to Darius, who thankfully was back at Hogwarts.

Ginny was over right away. "I'm so sorry, Hermione," she said while hugging the brown haired woman to her.

"I just want to be by myself," Hermione said through tears.

Hermione took time of work and stayed at home with Rose. She did not let anyone see her. They were worried that she might not be taking care of herself and Rose, but she would not let anyone take her baby from her. Again.

Hermione just needed to grieve; the second time she had been betrayed was not nearly as painful as the first. At least she still had little Rosie, and although she did not go out to see people, Rosie was helping her heart heal but it would still take a lot of time.

News of Hermione and Ron reached Draco; he was furious that months had past before he found out, but that was not going to stop him. He Apparated to Hermione's doorstep and picked his way through the wards.

The house was unexpectedly tidy and Hermione was on the sofa watching a film. She was rocking Rose who was sitting on her lap sleeping.

Hermione looked up at the interruption; no one had dared enter her house for the past few weeks. She was pretty sure she had been fired from her job but nothing mattered anymore, nothing but Rose.

Draco smiled at her and sat down beside her. "How are you?" he asked gently.

"Coping," she said quietly, she still was not ready to talk to anyone, but she did not have the energy to chuck him out of the house either.

"I'm so sorry for what he did, but sometimes things don't work out, sometimes they are not meant to be…" Draco said. "But sometime things are. Hermione, we are meant to be, I know it hurts…"

"You don't know anything!" Draco was taken back with the harshness of Hermione's voice. "Just leave me alone."

Draco looked at the only person he had loved in his life. Now that her marriage was broken, and her heart was torn into a million pieces again, he really saw how much she must have gone through when he had left.

"I'm so sorry, for everything," he said, getting up and leaving. Before he left the room he added. "Hermione, I know that I broke your heart once but I could never do that again, I'll always be waiting for you."

Hermione looked at him as he paused in the doorway, she should not trust him after all he had done, but for some reason his words seemed sincere.

She said the three words which were all he needed.

"I believe you."

A moment passed and a silent promise was made.