A week had went by since Hermione woke up next to Draco in bed, since he had smoked in her bed and put the cigarette out in the mud, since Harry and Ginny had visited her. Hermione had fallen back into her usual routine of taking Rose to school and then rushing off to work before picking Rose up and making dinner for her, helping her with homework, and then finally putting her to bed.

The only complaint she could have made of that week was that Draco hadn’t been around at all. She actually missed him which was odd and very infuriating to admit.

That Monday morning, everything started off the same and went by smoothly. Hermione dropped Rose off at school and bent down so that she could kiss her cheek. She then went into work and cooked breakfast for the few customers that came in before their work started. Just after lunch business would slow down to only a few customers who would take away food. Hermione was chatting to Lisa through her chef’s window as Lisa flicked through a magazine when the door to the restaurant opened.

‘Draco!’ Hermione frowned, glancing up at the door.

Draco walked in, his eyes going to Hermione and grazing over her hair in the chef’s bun with slight amusement in his eyes. He wore a long sleeved top and some jeans with a black belt looped around it. Hermione’s eyes dropped down to the rose he was holding in his hand.

‘Well, Granger, I knew I’d find you here,’ Draco said when he got to the counter. He gave Lisa a dazzling smile, ‘hello, Lisa.’

‘Hello,’ Lisa muttered quietly, dragging her eyes away from Draco to look at Hermione as she came out of the kitchen and proceeded towards the counter instead. Lisa looked between the two of them and then to the rose in his hand.

‘What are you doing here?’ Hermione asked, tilting her head slightly as she regarded him, trying not to let her eyes wander down to that top he was wearing.

‘I’m here to see you, of course,’ Draco rolled his eyes as though that was obvious and Hermione just frowned at him. Draco moved his hand and tucked a strand of loose hair into her bun and then said, ‘did you miss me?’

‘I...’ Hermione felt a blush creep into her cheeks as his hand moved to her cheek instead of her hair. She was suddenly aware that they weren’t alone so she made the effort to move his hand away, ‘Draco, what are you doing here?’

Draco sighed, moving his hands away from her and then he glanced briefly at Lisa before looking at Hermione, ‘I need to talk to you... alone.’

Hermione raised her eyebrows slightly, wondering what on earth he wanted to talk to her about. He hadn’t even been to see her last week and now he showed up at her work to talk to her. Nevertheless, Hermione looked at Lisa who stood up and smiled.

‘We’re not going to get any customers, Hermione,’ Lisa assured her, squeezing her hand lightly, ‘go ahead. I’ll call you if I need you.’

‘Thank you very much, Lisa,’ Draco winked at her and then looked at Hermione, raising his eyebrows, ‘where to, Granger?’

Hermione looked at Lisa before sighing and turning her eyes to Draco. Draco gave her a lopsided smile, raising his eyebrows again as her eyes went down to the red rose in his hands.

‘Come on,’ Hermione said, gesturing to the kitchen.

Draco glanced briefly at Lisa and then followed Hermione into the kitchen, closing the door behind him and watching as Hermione turned around to give him a questioning look. Draco just smiled and sat down on one of the counters, smirking at Hermione’s narrowed eyes.

‘I cook there,’ Hermione muttered, going over to him and attempting to push him off, unsuccessfully. Hermione  groaned lightly, ‘Draco...’

‘When  do you get off work?’ Draco asked, ignoring her and looking at the rose instead.

Once again, Hermione’s eyes went to the rose and she wondered if he had bought it for her. If he had, why wouldn’t he just give her it? Did he want her to beg for it? Hermione closed her eyes shortly and sighed, ‘I get off at three because I need to pick Rose up from school. Why?’

‘Ah, three,’ Draco nodded and they fell into a silence which annoyed Hermione. She watched him with narrowed eyes until he smirked at her, ‘how’s Michael?’

‘Draco, why are you here exactly? I have work to do,’ Hermione crossed her arms over her chest.

‘Alright, alright. You’re very bossy,’ Draco muttered, rolling his grey eyes at her. He leapt off the counter and stood in front of her, holding the rose between them, ‘remember when I came over to your house a couple of weeks ago and gave you the tickets for the boat ride weekend?’

Hermione remembered that night very well. She had been utterly shocked to realise that he remembered that letter he had sent her in Hogwarts before the war had started since he sent that years ago. The boat ride had been his way of wanting to make sure she forgave him for what he had done. Hermione looked at the rose and then up to his eyes, looking deep into them to see if she could find that boy from all those years ago who teased her to no end.

‘I remember,’ Hermione said quietly, feeling her throat close up a little. She wished... he hadn’t bothered to give her the tickets. She didn’t want him to care about her like he did since she was with Michael not Draco.

‘It’s this weekend,’ Draco reminded her, lightly brushing her cheek with the rose. He didn’t say any more but Hermione guessed he wanted to know if she would go or not.

‘I don’t know if I... can go,’ Hermione said so quietly that she wasn’t sure he had heard her.

Draco ignored her and muttered, ‘I want you to go with me.’

Hermione raised her eyebrows, he couldn’t possibly expect them to go together on a couples boat ride weekend, could he? The idea of spending an entire weekend away with Draco, alone, on a boat, made her heart beat a little faster than usual.

‘How about it?’ Draco asked, smiling at her and Hermione found her eyes going down to his full lips and how he had kissed her that night.

Hermione closed her eyes and rested her hand on his chest when she felt him take a step closer to her, ‘Draco... I have a boyfriend.’

‘Shh,’ Draco closed his eyes at her words, holding the rose up to her mouth to silence her. He stayed like that for a second before opening his eyes to look at her, ‘I want you to go with me because... I should have said this a very long time ago but it’s never too late, right? Granger, I want... I need you to go with me because-’

‘Don’t,’ Hermione held a finger up to silence him this time and she looked into his eyes, almost pleading him not to finish his sentence, ‘please, Draco, just don’t.’

‘I love you,’ Draco smiled, kissing her finger lightly. Hermione’s eyes drifted shut and Draco frowned slightly, ‘I know I’m sexy and all but don’t faint, Granger.’

Hermione leaned forwards and rested her head on his chest, willing Draco to have the sense to put his arms around her. Draco obliged and hugged her for a while in silence, seriously wondering if she would faint because of those three words. Draco rubbed her back softly, listening to her breathe.

He couldn’t imagine what would have happened in Hogwarts if he had admitted his feelings for her then. He would never have told her he loved her because Draco was too damn proud back in the day but now... now, he didn’t want to keep going on after believing for so many years that she was dead. Now that he knew she was alive, he wanted to be with her to compensate for all of that lost time.

Draco frowned briefly when her arms tightened around his waist.

‘Granger, I confessed my love to you. Will you say something before I go insane?’ Draco asked, pulling back to look at her face.

‘I knew this would happen,’ Hermione whispered, very quietly, leaning her head against his chest for a second longer before looking up at him, ‘Draco... what am I going to do? Michael... I can’t just...’

‘Do you love me?’ Draco asked, looking into her eyes as though the answer lay there.

‘I can’t... I can’t answer that when I have a very loving boyfriend,’ Hermione shook her head and her eyes fell to the rose, ‘why do you have a rose?’

‘Oh, I bought it for you,’ Draco said, brushing her cheek with the rose again and then shaking his head, ‘actually I thought Rose, your daughter, might find it amusing.’

Hermione raised her eyebrows as she took the rose from him, ‘you’ve changed so much from our Hogwarts years, you know.’

‘Well, you called me a... um, foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach back then which meant you didn’t like me,’ Draco shrugged, as though it didn’t matter, ‘but now that I’ve changed, I assume you like me better?’

‘Well, you’re still arrogant,’ Hermione said, dropping her gaze to the rose.

‘And you’re still bossy,’ Draco shrugged, watching her carefully as he said again, just to feel the words on his tongue, ‘but I love you despite all of that.’

‘Oh, Merlin,’ Hermione said, a faint trace of a smirk was visible on her lips as she looked up into his eyes, ‘I don’t think I could ever get used to you saying that.’

‘Come with me this weekend on the boat ride and we’ll see if you get used to me telling you I love you,’ Draco whispered quietly, lightly brushing her cheeks with his thumb, ‘come on, Granger. Be with me.’

‘Hermione?’

The kitchen door opened and Lisa walked in just as Hermione’s hands instinctively pushed on Draco’s chest, pushing him away from her. Draco frowned slightly, rubbing his chest with a slight groan. Hermione bit her lip as she tried to hide the rose even though Lisa had already seen it when he came in.

‘Um... we’ve got an order?’ Lisa said, the statement coming out as a question as she looked at Hermione and then Draco and then the rose that was poorly hidden.

‘Well, I’ll get back to you on what we were discussing,’ Hermione said to Draco, nodding, ‘I’ll see you later.’

Draco smirked, ‘yes, you will.’

Draco moved towards the door and smirked at Lisa as he walked out, still rubbing his chest slightly even though it wasn’t sore. Lisa watched him go and then looked at Hermione, wide eyed.

‘Tell me you didn’t kiss,’ Lisa said, unbelievingly.

‘You said we had an order? What order?’ Hermione asked, ignoring her as she fixed her hair.

‘It’s there on the counter. Hermione, you can’t keep kissing him. You’re with Michael and-’

‘Actually, Lisa, it’s none of your business,’ Hermione snapped, moving over to the counter to see the little note Lisa had attached with the order. Lisa stared at her back, a little surprised to hear her talk back like that.

‘Well,’ Lisa frowned, ‘I should go back to work.’

Hermione closed her eyes briefly as she heard Lisa leave the kitchen, leaving her alone to bake and cook by herself. Hermione opened her eyes and looked at the order in her hand, moving over mechanically to get it from the fridge.

She thought of what Draco had just said. To spend a whole weekend with him on a romantic boat ride that was for couples. She would be with him for two whole days and three nights... with Draco Malfoy on a boat. Hermione bit her lip as she worked. If she was going with Draco, she would have to break up with Michael which would be hard...

---

‘Long day?’ Michael asked, once Hermione had finally put Rose to sleep and slowly closed the door behind her, cracking it open just a tiny bit in case she woke up.

‘Very,’ Hermione sighed, moving over to the sofa and sitting next to him. Michael wrapped his arm around her shoulders as Hermione closed her eyes, wishing he didn’t have to be so nice to her.

‘Do you want me to do the dishes tonight?’ Michael asked, kissing her cheek and then whispering, ‘I’ll meet you in bed?’

‘No, Michael,’ Hermione frowned and moved away from him. She sat up straight and put her head in her hands, leaning her elbows on her thighs.

Michael sat up too and wrapped his arm around her, kissing her shoulder. He wondered what was up with her since she looked very stressed and had been staying away from him all evening which was a rarity. Usually she would be as close to him as possible when she was upset or stressed.

‘Michael,’ Hermione frowned, standing up and turning her back to him. She wished he could keep his lips to himself. Did she have to say it a million times for him to understand that she didn't want to kiss him?

‘Alright, babe, what’s wrong?’ Michael asked, getting to his feet and looking at the back of her head, ‘if something’s wrong, I think we should talk about it. I can help you-’

‘No, you can’t help me!’ Hermione frowned, turning to him and glaring at him, ‘you’ve been poisoning me with kisses all day even when I told you to stay away from me!’

Hermione knew she was looking for faults in him, that hardly existed, since it would make it easier for her to break up with him. She felt awful for doing this but if she kept kissing Draco and went off with him on a boat ride while she was still with Michael... it would hurt him. She didn't want to hurt him.

Even though she was doing exactly that right now.

‘Poisoning you?’ Michael raised his eyebrows and moved forwards to take her hand.

‘Get away from me!’ Hermione yelled, batting his hands away. She wanted this to be an easy process but her yells were making the whole situation worse.

‘Hermione, what the hell is wrong with you?’ Michael asked, his hands falling to his sides as he just stared at her. Hermione opened her mouth and he held up a finger, ‘your daughter is asleep, stop yelling.’

‘Michael, I can’t do this,’ Hermione said, forcing herself to quieten down. She didn’t want to have to explain to Rose why they were fighting. Michael raised an eyebrow in confusion as Hermione continued, ‘you know, playing happy families... you’ve made me so happy, Michael, but I can’t be with you anymore.’

Michael opened his mouth, about to say something, and then closed it. He just stared at her.

‘I’m sorry, Michael,’ Hermione said, quietly.

‘What’s the actual reason?’ Michael asked, narrowing his eyes, ‘since you’ve never said I’ve been poisoning you with kisses. I’ve treated you so well and I’ve always put you and Rose before myself. What are you going to tell Rose when she asks for me?’

‘Rose will learn to live without you-’ Hermione frowned.

‘No, she won’t. She’ll ask for me every single day, Hermione, and she’ll cry and you’ll need someone to look after her when you need to pick up extra shifts. I’m paying your bills for the house and I take Rose to school some mornings and pick her up when you can’t. I draw with her and stay with her and she loves me, Hermione,’ Michael said, taking a few steps forward automatically, ‘you can’t live without me.’

‘So you want me to stay with you because... you’re paying my bills and amusing my daughter?’ Hermione asked, frowning, ‘I’m not in love with you, Michael, and that should be reason enough.’

‘It’s not enough,’ Michael said, taking her arm and gripping it, ‘I love you. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? Rose needs me to take care of her-’

‘Rose has Draco to take care of her and me,’ Hermione said harshly, moving his hand off of her arm. She pushed his chest a little, ‘Draco would do anything for me and Rose.’

‘Draco?’ Michael frowned, his eyes flashing, ‘you’ve been cheating on me with Draco Malfoy, that tosser you invited over here?’

‘He’s not a tosser,’ Hermione glared at him, ‘Michael, he loves me and I... I want him. Rose loves him too. Just... get out of my life. I don’t need you paying my bills!’

‘I can’t believe you’ve been cheating on me with that...’ Michael glared at her, taking her arm in his, ‘after everything I’ve done for you...’

‘Michael, you’re hurting me,’ Hermione winced as his grip got tighter on her arm.

‘Shut up, you slut,’ Michael said, shaking her a little, ‘you hardly know him and-’

‘Michael, that hurts!’ Hermione yelled and then bought back her hand to make contact with his cheek. His grip loosened immediately and he raised his hand to his own cheek, shocked that he had been slapped.

‘You little-’ Michael started to take a few steps towards her and Hermione moved back, her legs coming into contact with the sofa and she reached back to stop her from falling.

‘Mommy?’ Rose’s sleepy voice broke into Michael’s statement.

Hermione looked around just as Michael did and saw Rose standing by the door with her teddy in her hand, her eyes widening at the scene. Hermione bit her lip a little and then pushed Michael away from her.

‘Stop it. Not in front of her,’ Hermione said quietly and glared at him, ‘get out of my house and never come back.’

This time, after being gripped so tight like that and nearly being slapped, she meant it. She didn't want someone like that near Rose and she definitely didn’t want him near her. Hermione glared at him when Michael kicked the table back before walking over to the door.

‘I hope you get evicted from your house. Don’t come crawling back to me when your daughter starts crying,’ Michael said before walking out of the door and banging it shut behind him.

Rose jumped when the door banged shut and then she turned her wide eyes to Hermione, moving over to her. Hermione sat down on the sofa, feeling limp after that fight, and Rose crawled into her lap. Rose wiped away tears from under her eyes that Hermione had no idea were even there.

‘Mummy, don’t cry,’ Rose whispered, pouting slightly.

Hermione couldn’t help the sob that bubbled out of her mouth and she bit her lip to stop any more sobs from erupting. She hugged Rose tight against her chest and thought of what Michael had said about paying her bills. Hermione couldn’t afford to stay here on her chefs wage...

But she knew she was making the right choice by being with Draco.