When Draco looked up, he found his eyes locked with hers. He hadn't seen her in over seven years, and bloody hell, she still looked amazing.

Her hair was much longer now; the soft waves of light brown that framed her petite face radiated an elegance that wasn't there before.

"The healers said she's going to be alright." Draco wanted to put her at ease. "She's going to be fi-." He stammered.

"Get out." Hermione interrupted.

Draco's face was a look of utter confusion. "Excuse me?" He muttered.

"Get out or I'll call the Aurors." She threatened.

"Mum!" Cassie protested as she listened to their exchange.

"Get your hands off my daughter and leave!" Hermione shouted, her hand gesturing towards the door.

"Miss Granger, I'm sure we can come to some sort of understanding. Draco has as much right to be here as you." Narcissa spoke up in defense for her son.

Hermione laughed whilst shaking her head, "Pardon the disrespect Mrs. Malfoy, but you haven't the slightest clue." She sneered.

"We need to talk." Draco declared matter-of-factly.

"We don't need to do anything." Hermione replied. "Please, Draco. Just leave." She begged, her eyes brimming with unshed tears of frustration.

Hearing the anguish in her voice, Draco agreed to her demands. His mother made her way out whilst he lingered for a moment longer.

After saying his goodbyes to Cassie, he marched towards the exit. "I'll be back." He promised before making his leave.

Hermione stalked towards her daughter's bedside, "You're in so much trouble, young lady." She scolded sternly.

"I just wanted to meet my father." Cassie cried softly. "But you refused...So I took matters into my own hands!"

"It's complicated, pumpkin." Hermione said in a much softer tone.

"No, it's not! You left him, leaving me to grow up without a father! What's so complicated about that?" She continued to sob.

"If I had stayed…y-you wouldn't be here right now." Hermione reluctantly confessed.

"What do you mean?" Cassie asked exasperatedly.

"All you need to know is that we need to leave. Right now." She said with a sense of urgency.

"What? No!" Cassie cried in protest. "Mr. Draco said he would come back!"

"Cassie, please. You're not safe here." Her mother explained.

"Mum, what are you on about?" Cassie moaned. "We're in a hospital for Merlin's sake! It's the safest place I could be."

"Listen to me, pumpkin. Everything I've done, every decision I've made, it's always been to protect you. Do you understand me? So if I say we need to leave right now, then that's exactly what we're going to do!" Hermione cried out.

As soon as visitors were allowed, Draco quickly found his way back to St Mungo's.

He trekked through the corridors of the Children's Ward with confidence, clutching a stuffed common Welsh dragon at his side.

He'd taken a detour to the hospital shop down on the fifth floor earlier on with the intent of getting Cassie a present.

And if Draco was being completely honest with himself, he was still quite hesitant about believing what his father had told him.

He and Hermione had their disagreements, absolutely, but to sleep with his father? That wasn't the Hermione he knew and loved.

His eagerness to return to St Mungo's was was due to his eagerness to get down to the truth, once and for all.

And only Hermione would be able to give him that.

He hesitated once he was in front of Cassie's door, his hand hovering over the door knob. Taking in a breath of courage, he pushed the door open, and made his way inside.

He looked up only to see an empty bed.

His eyes quickly scanned the room, but Cassie nor Hermione were nowhere to be found.

He rushed out of the room, and headed towards the reception area in search of an explanation.

"Excuse me? The little girl I brought in the other day... She's not in her room." Draco told the reception lady in a panic.

"She was discharged last night by her mother." She informed him whilst she fumbled through some papers.

"What do you mean discharged? The healers said they were going to keep her overnight!" He said, raising his voice.

"Yes. Well, her mother was very insistent on leaving. Left with Harry Potter, you see. Caused quite a ruckus around here; the children running amuck, asking for autographs." She mumbled to herself.

"Harry Potter, you say?" Draco asked.

"Why, yes. Famous lad, that one. He is." Her voice trailed off.

As the newly-appointed Head of the Auror Department, Harry Potter's schedule was nothing short of chaotic.

He'd been cooped up in his office all day, rummaging through paperwork after another.

But alas, the day was soon coming to an end, which meant being able to go home to his wife and son.

He turned his attention back to the file reports, his body hunched over his mahogany desk in concentration.

The quicker he worked, the sooner he could bloody escape the confines of the Ministry.

His eyes flickered to his door; the sound of his secretary raising her voice at an unknown trespasser coming from the other side.

The door was closed so Harry couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but the sheer volume of their voices was enough for him to discern the unpleasant nature of their conversation.

The longer he kept his eyes locked on his door, the louder and closer the voices seemed to get.

"Sir, you're not allowed in there!" His secretary's voice sounded hoarse and desperate.

"Get your bloody hands off me! Do you know who I am?!" The intruder shouted back.

Bloody hell. Harry knew that voice.

Before he knew it, his office door burst open, and in strolled the trespasser himself.

"Mr. Potter, sir! I tried to stop him!" His secretary cried out from behind the intruder.

"Oh, sod off!" Draco Malfoy spat, making his way closer to Harry's desk.

"It's all right, Miss Branstone. Please return to your post, I'll handle it from here." Harry said soothingly.

She gave her boss a curt nod before closing the door on her way out back to her desk.

Harry took out his wand, and muttered a Silencing Charm for precaution before turning his attention back to his guest.

"To what do I owe this displeasure, Malfoy?" Harry sarcastically quipped.

"Cut the shite, Potter. You know why I'm here." Draco snarled.

"Please do enlighten me." Harry responded with raised brows, casually leaning back against his chair as he stared up at Draco.

"Tell me where they are." Draco demanded; his hands slamming atop Harry's desk. Grey eyes locked with Harry's green ones, and the two men stared at each other with such intensity.

"You have no business trying to crawl your way back into Hermione's life. She left you for a reason!" Harry argued.

"Without my family's cooperation, you and your Order wouldn't have been able to track down the remaining Death Eaters that escaped the battle. You owe me, Potter." Draco sneered.

Harry let out a bitter laugh, "I don't owe you shite, you slimy git. I kept your family out of Azkaban. Consider my debt paid."

"Help me make this right. Please, Potter." Draco pleaded, his voice laced with grief. The fact the he'd resulted to begging almost made Harry want to help him, but his loyalties was with his best friend.

"Hermione's suffered enough, don't you think? I supported and stood by her side when she married you because I saw how much you truly loved each other. But I was being foolish then, but trust me when I say, I will not be making that same mistake again." Harry vowed.

"Tell me where to find her! I have questions only she has the answers to!" Draco yelled.

"She's better off without you. You'd only be making things worse." He warned.

"I'll give you anything you want! Box seats for the Quidditch World Cup for your lot, how 'bout it?" Draco bargained. His team would be playing against Bulgaria in the said match; giving him free reigns to invite whomever he pleased.

"You reckon you could come in here, and bribe me with Quidditch tickets?" Harry blinked at him. "You're even more bonkers than I thought." He laughed. "Now get out of here before I have you dragged out."

Draco made his way home with a scowl permanently etched onto his face. When Hermione divorced him, he kept his distance in respect to her wishes instead of using his name and wealth to locate her.

There were times where he ached for her mere presence, times where he missed having her wrapped up in his embrace, times where he would drown himself in Firewhisky.

But still, he kept his distance.

Not anymore.

As soon as he'd gotten home, he'd sent word to Pansy. Find her, the letter had said. With his connections, it'd been easy enough.

He stood in front of a quaint English country house; the discolored grey bricks slowly being swallowed by the rapid growing vines. He made his way towards the entryway, and he stood, blinking at the black door in front of him.

His fist banged on the wooden surface, signaling that the occupants of the home had company.

A few seconds passed before the door opened, revealing a startled Hermione.

"What—What are you doing here?" She stuttered.

Draco stared as he struggled to find the words he wanted to utter. Her sun kissed blonde hair was plaited, and she was drowning in an oversized burgundy jumper. But still, Draco found himself speechless at her simplistic beauty.

"Tell me my father was lying. Tell me Cassie is mine and not his. Hermione, please tell me." Draco pleaded, his voice barely a whisper.

"I—I can't tell you that." Hermione offered.