Unknown Love

ummm, yeah. i'm sorry about how long its been since I last updated (easter). ive been writing other stuff, and i just didnt come back to this story, but i really do intend to work on it more often, i promise.


Chapter 16

It was a week before Aaron had everything set to go back to his ancestral home that he had inherited when his parents had died the previous year. He had spoken with Jess, telling her that he decided on the change because he just plain didn't care for Britain all that much, and missed his homeland. She could smell the lie from a mile away, but since she did have to deal with him for the rest of her life, she opted to just leave him alone and take him at his word.

Having learned that Hermione had made it a part of her schedule to bring DJ to a park in Muggle London every Thursday afternoon if the weather permitted, he prepared to meet her there, dressing in the muggle outfit that she had loved seeing him in the most, having kept it at the back of his closet.

Hermione was pushing DJ in the baby swing when he spotted them. He walked over quietly, coming from behind so as to not give her a chance to escape without talking to him first. When he was no more than a meter away, he cleared his throat, causing her to jump and turn her head, still pushing her son. Upon seeing Aaron, her face turned dark before facing her child again. "Leave me alone, Aaron," she said, her voice icily calm as she stopped the swing and took DJ out, holding him on her hip.

"Hermione, I'm sorry," he told her bluntly as she started to walk away. The unexpected apology stopped her in her tracks.

"Sorry for what?" she asked cautiously.

"Sorry for everything. For cheating on you, for calling you names. For everything, really. What I did to you was unexcusable, and I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I still love you. After you left, I thought that you would come back and eventually we would get back together. Instead, you came home pregnant, and I was jealous. You have a beautiful little boy there, and I couldn't help but wish it were my little boy," he told her. Some of what he said he truely believed, but more than not, it was a play. In the four years they had been together, he had learned that she had a weakness for a bleeding heart, and if could use it to get her back, then he would.

"Well, Aaron," she said slowly, processing what was just said to her, "this is really rather unexpected." She looked into his eyes, and smiled at him, though the smile held more than a tinge of sadness. "I accept your apology-"

"Thank you," he cut her off. "And since you accept my apology, I was hoping that we could work past all these hard feelings and try to get our lives back the way they were. Or as close as possible, with the little one here," he said, not remembering the child's name.

"Aaron," she interrupted gently, her face holding a small trace of disgust. "You misunderstand me. I accept your apology for how you have spoken to me, but I will never forgive you for cheating on me. We could never go back to where we were because I don't trust you. Not only that, but I don't love you anymore. It took a while, but I got over you, and you need to get over me."

He looked at her dumbfounded for a moment. "What?" he asked, baffled. "Of course you still love me, Hermione," he told her.

"No, I don't," she responded. "Now, if you don't mind, DJ and I must be going."

As she started to walk past him, Aaron grabbed a hold of her free arm in a tight grasp, pulling her back towards him. "Hermione, please," he pleaded. She looked down to his hand on her arm and back up to his face, her own filled with disgust.

At the same moment, Aaron noticed Draco striding across the greenery of the park, also having intended on paying a surprise visit to Hermione and his son. Aaron dropped his grip on her arm, the hold having been so tight that she was worried she would bruise.

Aaron stood there as though transfixed, and in a moment Draco was standing next to Hermione. She looked up at him, and couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. Turning back to Aaron, she made introductions. "Aaron, this is DJ's father, Draco Malfoy. Draco, this is Aaron Sampson."

"We've met," responded Draco with a sneer, his eyes never leaving the other man.

Hermione glanced up, slightly shocked, but before she could say anything, Aaron was leaving. "Hermione, please do think on the offer I've made. I'll be going home to Finland for a while, but I'm sure that it would be no problem to find me when you decide to come back." He tried to hold on to his bravado, but she could see his composure slipping through the cracks under Draco's scrutiny before he turned and high-tailed his way out of the park.

"What was that about?" Draco asked, still watching the retreating form.

"He came to apologize and get me to go back to him."

"And you said no?" He made it a question, though the answer was obvious. While they had been making progress, his relationship with the mother of his child was still in the friends-but-becoming-more-again stage and he wasn't sure how far she would let it go.

"Of course I said no," she responded indignantly. "There's nothing about that man that would make me want to go back to him. You said that you've met. How did that come about?" she asked, changing the subject.

"After your... encounter... with him the other day, I went to his office to pay him a visit. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it were the reason he's leaving England. Though he should not have contacted you," Draco told her, his eyes narrowing at the last thought.

Hermione shifted DJ to her other hip, and looked up to her former lover. "That was very sweet of you. A bit overbearing and overprotective, but sweet." She then moved up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. At first, it took him by surprise, but he quickly got over it and kissed her back, letting her guide him in what to do. She pulled back sooner than he would have wished, but her face lingered a moment before completely pulling away, as though she were debating what to do next.

In the end, DJ made the decision for the two of them, letting out a small cry. There was nothing left for Draco to do but look down upon the two people he wanted to call family, and stop himself from giving in to the urge to place his fingers on his lips and feel where hers had so recently caressed him.