Complications |Draco Malfoy x Hermione Granger| - Editing & continuing

|Chapter 20| Damage Control

*Draco*

Watching her leave, I fell to my knees again, white-hot tears stinging my eyes. Potter was still yelling at me, complaining that I was ruining my kids' childhood by taking their father.

"Potter if you don't shut up and help me fix this I'm going straight to the Slytherin common room and killing that damn slut." My words were painful, trying to think of how I was supposed to get her to listen to me.

"Excuse me?" Potter was so angry he likely wasn't digesting that this was a complete set up.

"She set me up." I bit out, "Do you need me to spell it out for you?" The realization hit me when Hermione was talking about me having her fooled. This was set up to make her believe I had been shagging Pansy this whole time. The thought made me want to vomit.

"Pansy? She set you up?" Little Weasley's eyes were wide, realizing what I had.

"See, Potter, at least your girlfriend gets it." I put my head in my hands, frustrated and ready to kill anyone who had anything to do with this.

"So being half naked with Pansy, who happened to have the same lingerie as Hermione, was a coincidence?" Potter raised an eyebrow, not buying it. I hadn't even noticed that it was the same pair I bought for Hermione. Truthfully, I wasn't looking at Pansy's attire, I was too busy trying to get her away from me.

"It was the same?" I tilted my head, trying to picture it. I couldn't, I couldn't see past Hermione.

"Harry, love, why don't we use the pensieve?" Ginny recommended, offering me a vial from a drawer. I took it, conjuring the memory into my tears, no longer holding them back. I would do whatever necessary to clear my name. Hermione shouldn't have to worry about me sleeping with anyone, but clearly she didn't understand that no one matched her perfection. Her knowledge was overwhelmingly sexy, her skin is so soft, her figure had the most beautiful curves, and she could make me laugh unlike anyone I've ever met. No one compares to her.

I had a moment of realization, looking down at my hands I whispered, "I'm in love with her." Which caught their attention. Ginny cooed about how sweet it is to finally hear me say it out loud, as if I knew before this moment. Harry rolled his eyes, a "Duh" falling from his lips.

"Let's go fix this, but you ought to give us some house points for fixing your mess." Potter joked, holding the vial of my tears. "I should label this vial, 'Proof Malfoy has a heart.'" Ginny slapped the back of his head, eliciting a chuckle from me.

"If I did that, Hermione would be less inclined to listen. So thank you." I smiled, praying that my flower would give me the chance to explain.

We made our way through the castle, stopping at Minerva's office to borrow the pensieve. She told me to send it back with a house elf when we were done. I thanked her profusely and we headed back to my dorm down the hall. Albus told me I shouldn't bring anyone along, but Snape told Albus to let me learn on my own. So they opened the door, allowing my guests to come with me. Hermione's cries could be heard from behind the unyielding door of our spare room. It refused to open for magic or for me at all.

I knocked, hoping she would answer. Her quiet, "Please go away." Was the only response she gave.

"Hermione, flower, please open the door. I brought something that will show you that this was a misunderstanding." I didn't want to accuse her of jumping the gun, her pain radiated through the door, telling me the babies were trying to show me her feelings.

"I need some time alone, Malfoy." Her words stung. Malfoy? We had come so far only for her to revert completely back to a bitter, angry use of my surname? I longed to hear her say my name, to hold her, to kiss her. I wanted to feel the tiny kicks on her belly.