AN: This story used to be called "Only Fools Rush In" but has been heavily revised and the title has been changed to reflect those changes. The intro remains mostly the same. .

Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with Harry Potter. Any name you recognize belongs solely to J.K.

Intro

Draco Malfoy sat on the same park bench outside the Ministry of Magic everyday during his lunch break. Today was no different except for the fact that a little person was sitting in his normal seat and by the looks of it, he had tears running down his chubby cheeks. Draco quickly scanned the area for someone who might be a parent and saw no one around. Deciding that he couldn't just ignore a child, Draco strolled over to the little boy.

"Hello," Draco said, as he sat next to the child.

The child gave Draco a snotty hand covered wave.

Draco was intensely uncomfortable in this situation. He had never been around a small person and had no idea how to act in this situation. He pulled out his lunch and passed half of his sandwich to the curly haired boy sitting next to him. The little boy eagerly took the sandwich and scarfed it down.

Draco finally asked, "Where are your parents?"

A loud sob escaped the child as he answered, "I don't know where my mommy is."

Draco, not knowing what to do, patted the boy on the back. Apparently this meant something else as the youngster launched himself into Draco's lap, throwing his grubby arms around Draco's neck. Before Draco could admonish the boy for putting his grubby little hands all over Draco's Italian suit, instinct kicked in and he began to comfort this child as his mother used to comfort him when Lucius got angry. He gently rubbed the small boy's back trying to sooth the distraught child, "It's going to be alright. We'll find your mommy."

Draco studied the curly brown haired boy in his arms. He couldn't place why he looked so familiar until the boy looked up at him with his big sad cinnamon colored eyes.

"What's your name, son?" Draco asked.

"Declan Granger," came the polite answer.

"Granger? As in Hermione Granger?"

"Yep," Declan said, popping the "p" sound, "She's my mummy."

"Well, my name is Draco Malfoy and I know your mommy. How about we go back to my office and we'll use the floo to call her so she knows where you are?"

"Otay, Mr. Draco," Declan replied.

Draco smirked at the nickname and reached down to grab Declan's hand, "Alright Declan. Let's be off."

The two set of to the ministry and along the way, Draco learned many things about Declan. Like for instance, he was four going on five, his daddy was marrying someone named purple, he wanted a Nimbus 3200 for his birthday, but most of all, he was scared that his mummy wouldn't come for him.

By the time they had returned to the Auror Department, Draco was thoroughly entranced by the bookworm's son. Draco had taken Dumbledore's offer to change sides on top of the Astronomy Tower and had turned to the light side but he was in no means friends with the Golden Trio. In fact, he had played a minimal part in the war but he was okay with that. Deciding he needed to do something meaningful with his life after the war, Draco enrolled in the Auror program in order to bring respect back to the Malfoy name.

"Declan, do you know where your mom is at the moment?" Draco asked, sitting down on his desk chair. He lifted the little boy onto the side of his desk so they could maintain eye contact.

"She said she was in a meetin' but I don't know where," Declan said, sitting on Draco's desk, swinging his legs.

Draco leaned back in his chair, frowning he asked, "Then how did you get separated from her?"

"Oh I wasn't with my mommy, I was with my nanny but she stopped to talk to a guy in the park and I wanted to go play on the swings. They started making goo goo eyes at each other so I told her I was going to the swings but I gots lost on the way."

Draco nodded, thinking about all the times he run away from his mom when he was a boy because of boredom.

"Okay Declan, well let me floo your mom and have her come get you."

Lifting Declan off the desk and placing him onto the chair, Draco grabbed a handful of floo powder and shouted, A Quiet Corner, Diagon Alley. Hermione Granger had opened her own bookstore, opting not to work for the Ministry like the other two-thirds of the Golden Trio. He saw a small blond round the corner and shouted, "Oi! You!"

He obviously startled her by the way her hand automatically reached for her wand before she answered, "Can I help you, sir?"

Draco smirked, "My name is Draco Malfoy and I have Declan Granger in my office. I found him wandering around in the park across the street from the Ministry without his nanny and I thought Ms. Granger would like to know."

A look of sheer relief passed across the blonde's face, "Thank you for finding him, Mr. Malfoy. Ms. Granger has been frantic trying to find him."

She motioned for him to hold on while she went to get Granger. About a minute later, Granger flew through the fireplace and right into Draco's lap. Seeing Declan, she pushed off Malfoy's chest and ran to sweep the boy into her arms as Declan launched himself into his mother's arms.

"Declan, what happened? The nanny said you ran away from her?" Hermione questioned her son as she pushed her son away to look him in the eye.

Declan's face formed into a pout as he answered, "I didn't run away. I just went to find the swings when she started making goo goo eyes at a man. But I gots lost and Mr. Draco helped me. He even gave me a sandwich."

Hermione pulled him back into her arms, pressing his head into her shoulder and sent grateful look in Draco's direction. He just shrugged and replied, "I couldn't ignore a crying child Granger. I'm not a monster."

"I know that Malfoy. Thank you for taking care of him."

After Malfoy picked his jaw up off the floor from the fact the Granger had thanked him. Composing himself, he replied, "Like I said, it was not a problem, Granger. You've raised a good kid."

Hermione smiled but turned to Declan, "Alright little man, we better be getting back to the shop. I need to have a talk with that nanny of yours."

"Can Mr. Draco come too?" Declan asked, turning his head to look back at the man who had found him.

Before Hermione could answer, Draco said. "No, I'm sorry Declan, but I have a lot of work to finish."

Hermione looked from Declan to Draco realizing that a negative response was going to garner a tantrum from her son. Sighing, she asked, "Please come to dinner tonight, Malfoy. It's the least I can do."

Draco hesitated, unsure of whether or not he really was interested in going. He wasn't friends with Hermione Granger and really had no intention of getting to know her but when he looked up and saw Declan looking up at him with his huge brown eyes, he couldn't say no. In those eyes, he saw himself at that age desperate for a friend and someone who seemed to care. Sighing, Draco nodded, "When and where?"

"6pm at this address," Hermione said, grabbing a piece of parchment from his desk. She quickly scribbled something on it and passed it to him.

"Thank you again, Draco," Hermione said, shooting him a small smile.

Draco made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat but said nothing.

Granger seemed to receive the message and quickly got Declan ready to leave. As they were stepping through the floo, Draco called out, "See you at 6."

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