‘Mm... hello? Eva?’

Draco had his eyes closed as soon as he picked up the ringing phone and put it to his ear. He yawned behind his hand, wondering if it was Eva calling up to check on him to see if he had ate or not. Since she was moving out soon, she had taken residence in her boyfriends house but still cared for Draco. He then wondered what the time but didn’t open his eyes to check. His eyes flew open a second after he heard her voice.

‘Draco...’ the sobs were obviously from Hermione.

Draco sat up, eyes wide open and feeling more awake than he was two seconds ago. He twisted so that his feet hit the carpet and stood up, looking around the room for his clothes.

‘Granger? What’s wrong?’ Draco asked, his voice stronger than hers.

He frowned as she continued to cry and he heard a very faint voice telling her to stop. Rose... it was Rose and she was crying too. That was what made Draco frown harder and realise he couldn’t apparate there in just his boxers. He practically jogged to his closet with the phone on one ear and yanked it open. He trapped the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he yanked on his trousers.

‘I’ll be right there,’ Draco muttered, before clicking the phone off and throwing it on his bed. He grabbed a top and apparated straight into her apartment.

Draco landed in her living room, the sounds of sobbing hitting his ears straight away. He opened his eyes as he pulled his top over his head and then looked at the two girls: one he was frustratingly in love with; and the other he would give his own life for. Hermione was sobbing on the sofa with Rose in her lap, trying to pry her mothers hand from her face, looking scared and vulnerable.

‘Dway-co!’ Rose cried when she saw him and climbed off Hermione’s lap, running into Draco’s legs. Draco scooped her up and started to wipe away her tears as she squirmed in his arms and buried her wet face into the crook of his neck.

‘Granger...’ Draco muttered as he rubbed his hand soothingly on Rose’s back. He moved over to Hermione and frowned.

Hermione stood up, wiping the tears away from under her eyes and then rested her head on his chest for a minute, trying to calm down. She was a Gryffindor after all, she was supposed to be brave... especially for Rose. Draco, whose hands were busy, didn’t do anything but he sighed.

‘I’ll put her to bed for you,’ Draco said quietly to Hermione who took a step away from him and nodded, wiping away at the wetness under her eyes.

‘Yes, please do,’ Hermione said, looking at him with wide and wet eyes.

Draco nodded at her before walking past, towards Rose’s room. Rose snuggled her face into his neck as he carried her into the pink room and looked at the unmade bed, wondering what had happened to make Rose wake up and go over to Hermione. He managed to get Rose into bed and then reassured her constantly, even reading her a story. She fell asleep half way through and Draco kissed her forehead before tucking her in so she would be nice and warm.

Draco wiped at the wetness on his neck because of Rose’s tears and he grimaced. He wished he never saw Hermione or Rose cry ever again. He hated it and he definitely hated the fact that Hermione wasn’t just upset. She was worried and stressed out over something, something he wanted to fix for her.

He got to the living room and saw Hermione sitting on the sofa with her face buried in her hands. Her shoulders shook slightly and it looked like she was shaking. Before he went over to her, Draco went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water, bringing it out for her. He sat on the sofa next to her, making Hermione pause for a minute, sniffing. She slowly removed her hands from her face and grabbed a tissue, wiping her face and then her nose.

‘Mm, sexy,’ Draco joked weakly and Hermione gave him a weak smile before taking the water from him gratefully.

Draco watched as she sipped the water and looked down at the glass for a second, looking thoughtful and so beautiful in Draco’s eyes. Draco’s eyes stayed on her face as they sit there without moving until eventually Hermione drank the water again and then placed the glass on the table.

‘Draco...’ Hermione started, closing her eyes, ‘I’ve ruined everything...’

Draco’s eyebrows furrowed together in a brief frown before he moved closer to her. He took her hand in his, entwining their fingers and looking down at the them, thinking they fit like a jigsaw puzzle: a very complicated, intricate, jigsaw puzzle.

‘Tell me what happened,’ Draco muttered, watching her face as she kept her eyes closed.

Hermione took a deep breath, gathering all of her thoughts. She held him in a prolonged pause before starting to tell him how Michael had acted when she told him she didn’t want to be with him, how she was so nervous so she had started shouting... how he had threatened her. Hermione shook her head, opening his eyes and looking at him.

‘At first I felt sorry for him, thinking he didn’t deserve this at all, but then he... he started shouting and I didn’t know what to do. Draco, what am I going to do? He helps me with paying my bills and with Rose... I can’t work and take Rose to school and pay bills all by myself,’ Hermione said all of this in one huge breath and then closed her eyes, ‘I can’t do this, Draco! I’m a horrible mother who can’t provide for my child!’

‘Hey,’ Draco frowned, taking her face in his hands until she opened her eyes to look into his as though searching for comfort, ‘everything’s going to be fine. You have me. I’ll take care of you and I’ll help with Rose. Don’t worry, okay?’

‘Draco, you don’t have a job,’ Hermione reminded him and leaned forwards to hug him, leaning her head on his chest, ‘how will you help me with my bills? I’ll end up chucking both of us out onto the streets and-’

‘Do you trust me?’ Draco asked, rubbing her back soothingly.

There was a pause, a long one. Draco closed his eyes, saying the question over and over again in his mind. Did she trust him? What had he done to gain her trust? He had been nothing but sarcastic and annoying to her. He truly loved her and wanted to care for her but that would only happen if Hermione wanted it to. She could turn all of this into dust at any second with just one word.

Do you trust me?

No.

‘Yes,’ Hermione whispered into his chest. She placed a soft kiss on his chest and then pulled back to look into those stormy grey eyes, ‘I trust you with my life.’

‘If you truly trust me... I’ll think of something to make all of this right. I’ll take Rose to school tomorrow and then I’ll come and see you at work. I’ll pick her up from school too, okay?’ Draco asked, playing with a strand of her hair.

‘You are so great,’ Hermione whispered, looking into his eyes, ‘why weren’t you like this before?’

Draco raised his eyebrows and chuckled slightly, ‘oh, Granger, I’ve always been head over heels for you.’

‘Even when I blew my nose so sexily?’ Hermione asked, chuckling slightly as a faint blush appeared in her cheeks.

‘No, that was quite disgusting,’ Draco said, joking, and then chuckled and leaned forwards to kiss her.

Hermione smiled weakly against his lips before kissing him back, feeling the softness and smoothness of his lips moving against hers. Her hand gripped his top lightly as Draco rested his hand on her cheek. He wondered why they hadn’t kissed like this before. He just felt as though they had lost a lot of time due to being away from each other... long enough for both of them to move on but neither of them wanted to as much as they wanted to be with each other.

‘Draco...’ Hermione muttered, pulling back from his lips. Draco looked at her, smiling slightly as she touched his lips very lightly. Hermione lifted her eyes to look at him, ‘I want to go on that boat ride with you.’

Draco raised his eyebrows, ‘really? I can change the date if you want...’

Draco knew that changing the date would be very expensive and he had no idea if there even was another date. Hermione just shook her head and licked her lips.

‘I want to go this weekend,’ Hermione said quietly, looking at him, ‘and I’m sure my parents will take care of Rose for me if I ask them to.’

‘Are you sure?’ Draco asked.

‘Very sure. I need this,’ Hermione nodded and then leaned forwards so that their lips were barely touching, ‘I need you.’

Draco swore he could feel her blush as their lips met in a passionate, non breaking kiss.

---

‘Mummy! Dway-co stole my toast!’ Rose yelled, half laughing as Draco looked as though he was guilty and returned her toast to the plate. 

‘Shh!’ Draco held up one finger to his lips as Hermione turned around from the stove, looking amused. She held a spatula as she flipped an omelette over so that Draco would have something to eat at lunch or after he dropped off Rose, if he was hungry then.

‘He did! I saw it!’ Rose explained to Hermione, looking at the toast that had returned onto her plate and then at Draco with wide eyes as though afraid her mother wouldn’t believe her, ‘Dway-co!’

‘What?’ Draco pretended to look confused and he looked at the apple in his hands, ‘I have my own breakfast.’

Rose looked at Hermione with even wider eyes, ‘Mummy!’

‘Draco, stop pestering my daughter!’ Hermione pretended to shout at him, threatening him with the spatula and raising her eyebrows.

‘Mummy,’ Rose repeated with a different tone: a less whiny tone. She frowned at her mother and then leaned forwards to take Draco’s free hand, ‘Mummy, don’t shout. Dway-co is nice.’

Draco chuckled and smiled at Rose, ‘I’m sorry for taking your toast, Rosie.’

‘It’s okay,’ Rose gave him a huge smile as Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to tend to the omelette. Rose nibbled on her toast in silence for a while as Draco stared unashamedly at Hermione’s bum as she moved about the kitchen. When Rose had finished her toast, she looked up and announced, ‘I don’t want to go to school with Michael, Mummy.’

Hermione paused with her hand dangerously close to the oven and then she flinched away. Familiar frown lines appeared on her face and she killed the gas before washing her hands and drying them. She walked over to Rose, glancing at Draco who gave her a supportive smile. Hermione leaned down and smiled at Rose, kissing her forehead.

‘Draco will take you to school today, sweetie,’ Hermione said, looking at Draco.

‘Oh, yes, I will,’ Draco grinned as Rose looked at him, ‘and I’ll buy you sweeties every morning.’

‘No, you won’t,’ Hermione shook her head but Draco only looked at Rose and nodded with a huge grin, making her giggle. Hermione rolled her eyes and then looked at Rose, ‘listen to me, Rosie.’

Rose turned all of her attention to Hermione.

‘You are not to go anywhere with Michael ever again, okay? He’s not like Draco, he’s not a nice man,’ Hermione said, looking at her daughter, ‘Draco is a nice man, you can go with him. You leave school with Draco or with me, do you understand?’

‘Yes, Mummy,’ Rose nodded and smiled when Hermione kissed her cheek.

‘Good girl. I’ll see you tonight, love,’ Hermione stood up straight again and then looked at Draco, ‘will you see me out?’

‘Of course,’ Draco got to his feet, leaving the apple on the table. He looked at Rose and raised his eyebrows jokingly, ‘don’t you dare touch my apple, Rosie.’

Rose giggled and reached for her juice as she watched Draco and Hermione walk out of the kitchen together.

Draco leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest, as he watched Hermione put on her jacket, scarf, shoes, and get her bag. She smiled at Draco when he followed her to the front door, opening it for her before she got there.

‘Thank you so much for this,’ Hermione said, looking honest and then leaned up to peck his lips, ‘I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.’

‘I don’t know, sex works,’ Draco shrugged and Hermione paused with her lips against his.

‘All in due time. Be patient,’ Hermione chuckled and pulled back to smile at him, ‘I’ll see you tonight?’

‘Yeah, I’ll be right here,’ Draco said, reaching back to pat her bum just to see her blush furiously.

Hermione did exactly that and then shook her head slightly before leaving after a glance at Draco. Draco smiled and watched her go before he closed the door and went back to Rose in the kitchen who had finished eating and got her school stuff. Rose pulled on her jacket and held her bag out for him to take.

‘You have to hold my bag. Mummy does,’ Rose explained and giggled when Draco took the bag with his thumb and forefinger, wrinkling his nose as though he smelled something rotten.

‘But it’s so pink and girly,’ Draco said, looking at the bag. He then smiled and held his other hand out for Rose, ‘come on, let me take you to school.’

‘Can we really buy sweeties?’ Rose asked, looking up at him with those big brown eyes as they walked out of the front door and Draco locked it behind him.

‘Yeah but you can’t tell your mum,’ Draco chuckled.

‘So, she’s got you on her short leash now?’

Draco frowned slightly as he pocketed the key and then turned around, recognising the familiar voice. His eyes met Michael’s who was just leaving for work, looking quite dishevelled as though he had hardly slept at all. His eyes were bloodshot and staring at Rose as she shrank back into Draco’s leg.

‘You better watch your back,’ Draco muttered, not wanting to fight because he didn’t want Rose to witness any more fights.

Michael just rolled his eyes and muttered something incomprehensible under his breath before walking away. Rose peeked out from behind Draco’s legs and watched him walk away as Draco glared into his back. Draco managed to smooth out his features and he took Rose’s hand, leading her down the hallway after Michael was out of sight.

‘Don’t you worry, Rose,’ Draco said, smiling down at her, ‘I’ll buy you as many sweets as you want... without your mum killing me first.’

They walked on together, chatting about what sweets they would buy, but Draco’s mind stayed on Michael. He promised himself he would get him back for hurting Hermione and Rose.

One way or another.

---

A/N - Yeah, okay, before I start getting people shouting at me for not updating in forever. Guys, I am so sorry but it's my last year at school and I'm learning to drive and I've got things to do to apply for University. I'm just so busy but I do try.