‘You kissed him?’ Lisa asked, looking slightly confused and a little amused.

Hermione shushed her with a glare and glanced at Rose who was immersed in her colouring in to listen to them. They were sat at a cafe that appealed to Lisa, Hermione’s co worker from the restaurant. Hermione sipped her coffee and sighed, nodding.

‘His lips were so close to mine and they were so pink and I... I leaned in and touched them with my lips. I pulled back straight away but he pulled me closer,’ Hermione bit her lip, looking at Lisa, ‘I cheated on Michael!’

‘How was it like? How did you feel?’ Lisa asked, leaning forwards slightly as though this was a juicy piece of gossip. She sipped her own coffee, thinking back to Draco when he came to the restaurant. He really did have perfect lips.

‘Oh, it was amazing. I felt so warm inside when he kissed me like that and his hand tangled in my wet hair. And I opened my mouth for him, just a little,’ Hermione stopped when she saw Lisa’s eyebrows raise. She covered her face with her hands, ‘Lisa, help me!’

‘Mummy,’ Rose looked up when Hermione covered her face with her hands. She gently reached over and tugged at Hermione’s jumper, a look of concern on her face ‘Mummy, don’t cry.’

Lisa chuckled a little and sipped her coffee before standing up. She ruffled Rose’s hair, ‘Mummy’s not crying, darling, it’s okay. Come on, let’s go for a walk to the park.’

Hermione managed a smile for Rose and also stood up. She helped Rose pack away her colouring book and pencils into her bag and then grabbed her coffee before taking her daughter’s hand. Rose, Hermione and Lisa left the cafe together and started to walk towards the park.

The good thing about where they stayed was the fact that the town was quite small and Hermione knew a few people by name and recognised some people when they walked by. The day outside was quite cool but there were hardly any clouds in the sky. Hermione smiled as they walked towards the huge park that had a children’s play area and also a cycling and jogging route.

‘So, what are you going to do about this Draco guy?’ Lisa asked, glancing at Hermione as she walked, ‘I mean, he’s seen you in those short shorts you wear and he’s kissed you. He probably wants a lot more than that.’

‘I love Michael,’ Hermione muttered, blocking out the rest of what Lisa had said, ‘and I made a mistake, that’s all. Nothing is going to happen with me and Draco.’

Lisa gave Hermione a look that told her that she would probably change her mind. They walked in the direction of the park and Rose ran off to claim a swing before any of the other kids could get to them. Hermione watched her run, struck with that odd feeling she got sometimes: the one that reminded her she was a mother now to a beautiful little girl. When she first found out, she was absolutely terrified but now? She smiled, breathing in some fresh air. Now, she felt good.

‘When I first met you, you were quite confident and brave,’ Lisa said after a while of silence. They sat down on one of the benches, Hermione crossed her legs and kept one eye on Rose as she swung higher and higher. Hermione glanced briefly at Lisa when she continued, ‘also, you never wore your hair down and you always kept to yourself. You’ve changed quite a bit but... I guess, you’re still confident and brave.’

‘Probably a good thing,’ Hermione muttered, looking down at her clothes that she would have never thought about getting for herself whilst still in Hogwarts. She wore a simple white top that hugged her figure but not too much; blue jeans that fit her just right; knee high brown boots; a white cardigan over her top; and clutched a brown bag that was fit with essentials and Rose’s colouring in things. She sighed, ‘I like the way I am now. I was very different before Rose was born.’

Lisa just nodded mutely and was looking at something behind her. Hermione looked up and saw Rose climbing onto the slide now and giggling as she slid down. She smiled slightly and then frowned when Lisa hit her arm.

‘Look who it is,’ Lisa muttered, gesturing to behind them, ‘he just happened to be at the park at the same time as us?’

Hermione turned to look behind her where Lisa had been looking. She bit her lip when she recognised who it was. Draco was sitting on one of the benches on the other side of the huge park. He wore jeans and a button up shirt with his sleeves down and buttoned at the cuffs. Next to him stood a guitar case and Hermione wondered if it was his, if he could play the guitar.

‘Can you look after Rose for a moment?’ Hermione asked Lisa, turning away from Draco to look at her. Lisa nodded, frowning slightly when Hermione got up and started walking over to Draco. Draco was sketching on his sketch pad when Hermione came to a stop in front of him, ‘Draco.’

Draco looked up in surprise when he heard his name. His eyes glanced up and saw Hermione, she saw a flicker of surprise and then amusement in his eyes. He shut his sketch pad and leaned back on the bench, looking her up and down slowly as though undressing her with his eyes.

‘Are you following me?’ Draco asked, raising an eyebrow when his eyes got to her face, ‘or do you just want another kiss?’

‘Draco,’ Hermione muttered, glancing briefly at his sketch pad that he had shut now. He had scribbled over the front of it and she recognised his handwriting from their tutoring lessons. She looked back up to his eyes, ‘I shouldn’t have kissed you first and I shouldn’t have encouraged you to kiss me. I... I need to know that you won’t tell Michael about this.’

Draco looked at her for a second and then stood up. Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, realising just how tall he was. His eyes travelled to Rose who was playing in the play ground and he smiled a little before turning to Hermione and putting his little sketchpad in his pocket.

‘You dress a lot better than our Hogwarts days,’ Draco noted, looking down at her clothes, ‘although I do prefer the shorts.’

‘Draco, just listen to me,’ Hermione pleaded, biting her lip now, ‘I have a daughter and a loving boyfriend. Don’t make my life complicated like you did in Hogwarts. I’ve missed you all of these years when we weren’t together but I also made peace with the fact that I had to move on.’

‘I... can’t leave you,’ Draco said, simply, putting his hands in his pockets and shrugging as though he had just made an  off hand statement. He looked right at her, ‘I won’t.’

Hermione felt her heart flutter at the out right way he had said that as though he couldn’t leave her even if he tried, as though his feeling for her were, without a shadow of a doubt, real. She watched him for a second until his lips arranged themselves into a smile when he heard the familiar cries of ‘Dway-co’ coming towards him.

Rose rushed up to them and Draco laughed, gathering her up in his arms until she could wrap her little arms around his neck and hug him. Hermione took a step backwards and glanced at Lisa when she stopped next to her, staring at Draco. Draco smiled at her, holding out his hand.

‘Lisa, right?’ Draco asked and Lisa nodded, shaking his hand.

‘Nice to see you again, Draco,’ Lisa said, smiling at him when she pulled her hand back. She gestured to the guitar, ‘is that yours?’

Draco looked at his guitar for a brief second and then turned to look at Lisa, nodding, ‘I learned to play a couple of years back from a mug-  a friend. She taught me that song from a film called Titanic.’

‘“My Heart Will Go On”!’ Lisa said, sounding excited now. Hermione frowned a little at the weird choice of song but she knew it was quite popular and beautiful to hear on the guitar. Draco chuckled slightly and nodded. Lisa glanced at Hermione and then looked at Draco, ‘you should bring your guitar tomorrow.’

‘Tomorrow?’ Draco asked, raising his eyebrows.

‘Oh, didn’t Hermione tell you? A couple of our friends are going out for drinks and Hermione’s coming with us since Michael’s away for the night. You could tag along too,’ Lisa grinned, ‘we’ll be in Hermione’s apartment first and you can bring your guitar, let us listen to it, and then leave it there when we go out. Hermione, he can come back for the guitar, right?’

Hermione frowned a little at Lisa, knowing exactly what she was up to. She glanced at Draco and shrugged as if to say ‘it’s up to you’ just to be polite. Draco glanced between the two of them.

‘I’d love to come,’ Draco grinned.

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, she had no idea what to say though, but Rose started to make a fuss about wanting Draco to push her on the swings. Draco glanced at Hermione like he was asking for permission.

‘Of course,’ Hermione nodded, smiling at Rose.

Draco put Rose down and raced her to the swings, deliberately not running faster than her. Hermione watched him go and then sighed, looking at Lisa to find out she was checking out Draco.

‘He doesn’t look like the type of person to be good with kids,’ Lisa mused as she watched Draco push Rose on the swings, ‘maybe just because Rose is yours...’

‘I can’t believe you asked him to come out with us,’ Hermione groaned, ‘I was trying to distance myself from him!’

Lisa narrowed her eyes, looking at her, ‘don’t distance yourself until you’re absolutely sure that you have no feelings for him.’

Lisa turned back to watch them. Draco seemed a little hesitant to push Rose so high but she urged him by screaming ‘higher!’ He pushed her, laughing while he did it and hearing Rose’s squeals. Hermione watched them too, wondering about what Lisa had said....

Tomorrow night would be interesting, she thought.

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A/N - Sorry it's a short, not very exciting chapter but I hope you like it!