It'd been three years. Three years since she'd found him in the slums of Muggle London with his three children. Three years since she'd taken them into her small flat and nursed them all back to health. Three years since she begged and pleaded the Minister to give him at least a meager job. Three years since she'd given him a chance at redeeming himself. And he did.

She was pacing back and forth and her pitter patter feet was causing a three year old blond hair, grey eyed child to start running around the house anxiously.

"Miss Herm'iy, why you so sad? Heather does not like to see Miss Herm'iy with a sad face. Please smile. Daddy said he likes it when you do," the little girl said boldly. Draco Malfoy's daughter had taken to addressing herself in the third person. Something that both Hermione and Draco had found increasingly funny.

Smiling, Miss Hermione crouched down and addressed the little girl, "Heather, I'm not sad, don't worry. See, I'm smiling. I just have something big going on today." Heather did not look convinced but she nodded her head, her wavy curls bobbing with her.

"Big, like my daddy's hugs? That big? Is it impo'tant?" asked Heather trying to sound intelligent with the new word of the day.

"Yes, honey." Picking her up, Hermione brought Heather back to the living room play pen where her attention was immediately picked up by a small teddy bear sitting on the floor. Her smile still plastered on her face, Hermione was just about to go back to her room to finish getting ready for work when a sleepy Draco walked right out of his room looking as frantic as ever.

"Hemione! Have you seen Heather? She seems to have bolted out the door this morning and I can't find her anywhere!"

Hands on her hips, Hermione pointed to the seating area in the play pen where Heather had promptly fallen asleep on the couch with her Teddy in a matter of minutes. "She's right there.

Draco sighed in relief, running a hand through his white blonde hair. He had changed over the past twelve years. His hair that he had once gelled back flat for all of his years back in school now fell down flat against his head, his fringe barely touching the top of his nose. Those years and three kids did nothing to age his appearance. The only difference was that he carried himself differently if not more regally than he did before. He had filled into the lanky skinny thing he was as a boy. "Thank God. She scares the living shit out of me that one. If she grows up to be anything like her older sister, I'm going to have to lock them both away in a room for the rest of eternity."

Chuckling, Hermione replied, "You have a long ways to go. Shailene is only seven. You're lucky Scorpius has a good head on his shoulders or you as may as well be dead by now." Speaking of the second youngest, the two adults heard a door creak open and a sleepy eyed child with a mess of dark hair came tumbling through.

"Daddy, is there something wrong with Heather? Did she disappear again?" came a sleepy voice from the door adjacent to Draco's.

"Shailene, baby, no. She's fine. She just decided to go pay Hermione a visit this morning without telling me." He smiled at his youngest child who looked nothing like her other siblings. Where they had blonde straight hair, Shailene had wavy dark jet black and green grey eyes. She looked like her eternally absent mother Astoria but Draco and Hermione loved her all the same.

"Okay Papa. Can I go back to sleep now?" asked the heavy lidded seven year old.

"Sure, sweetheart. I'll wake you up when I make the pancakes okay?" The little girl trotted back to her room and shut the door silently. Draco walked over to his youngest daughter who was now snoring softly on the couch and promptly picked her up. She snuggled into her father's shoulder and instinctively tightened her grip on his neck. To Hermione, he whispered, "I'm going to put her back in bed. It's still early for her. I'll talk to you afterwards.

Nodding, Hermione returned to her room where she finally finished getting ready before making it back to the living room before making it back to the living room that the two of them and the children had shared for three years now.

"Hey, your interview is today isn't it?" came a voice from behind the couch. Hermione nodded. For years she had been working a desk job in the department for the Magical Murder and Investigative unit but she was never assigned field work. So today, she planned on applying as head of that department because of her familiarity with the common material and the countless cases that she had been given.

"You'll get the job Hermione. There's no way you won't. "Draco put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Who else is applying for the job anyways?"

Looking around to make sure none of the children were around, Hermione finally muttered, "That slut Lavender and her friend Parvati. Along with some Ravenclaw that was three years our senior."

"You're worried about them? Seriously? The only way Lavender would ever get the job was if she slept with the interviewer and tried to beg and plead the Weasel to try and get in with Matthias Herrera." Matthias Herrera was the eighty year old head of the department who was unfortunately being forced into retirement by the Minister of Magic, much to his chagrin. "You'll be fine. And if anything, go directly to Kingsley himself. He's sure to give you the job regardless of what the interviewer says.

Hermione groaned. Malfoy had a tendency to be right. He made sure to keep her grounded even when she was unable to do so herself. "I guess you're right. You're going to work though today aren't you? We can meet up for lunch afterwards and I can complain to you because you'll listen and then you'll tell me to shut up anyways. "

Chuckling to himself about how ridiculous a worrying Hermione looked, Draco said, "Of course. I'll be there in time for lunch. However, before we even think about lunch we need to make the girls and Scor pancakes. Scor has another three weeks or so before he has to go back to Hogwarts. We still need to go to Diagon Alley to get everything he needs. I know they updated Hogwarts: A History after the War but other than that, I know I still have my own set of books that he can use."

"We'll worry about that later," replied Hermione who was already heading toward the kitchen. "Right now, help me with the pancakes before these kids wake up and start causing a ruckus.

The two adults slowly quieted themselves as they got the batter ready. Hermione had a tendency to make it from scratch knowing that the little one disliked the taste of premade batter. It took a longer amount of time but she would rather take the time than have Heather complain about how "yucky" it tasted. After settling into that comfortable silence, Hermione began humming completely ignoring everything and everyone else. Including Malfoy. He backed away as he noticed her get involved in her work, which was so simple to begin with. He knew she'd make a good wife for any lucky guy who happened upon her. Sure, she was at times hard to deal with but he knew her complete trust and loyalty would make her a brilliant companion for anyone. The only thing was, he would hate to lose her as a foster mother for his children who had become so attached. However, he wanted Hermione to be happy, and if she found someone who would make her so, he would be happy for her regardless of the person, unless it was a person like the Weasel who had done nothing but break her heart.

The pancakes were now quietly on the stove and the two still had not said a word, until a lanky thirteen year old came bounding into the kitchen. He looked every bit like Draco but had Hermione's kind disposition, unless he was angry of course.

"Morning Dad, Hermione," mumbled the teen that was having problems adjusting to the light. "I can't believe you had time to make pancakes."

The two adults were startled out of their silent daze. Hermione was quick to reply. "Yes, well. It's a nice treat during the week don't you think? I figured you and the girls would enjoy it so I thought why not? I had a little extra time this morning anyways even though I had a visitor this morning.

"A visitor? "Papa," said Scorpius reverting back to the old name he used for his father, "did Heather make another visit to Hermione again? Why does she insist on doing that?"

"You and Shay used to do that too. Right after we first moved here," came the response. "I don't know what it was but you two loved to go and sleep with Hermione. Especially during the winter thunderstorms and I would always wonder why you didn't end up coming to me. I would however, have to go and fetch you two in the morning. It was hard to pry you off of her, let me tell you."

Hermione smiled and looked over at Scor. "He's lying to you. The two of you were merely snuggled into me. It was quite a shock when I woke up and you two were there but I soon got used to it. It wasn't as terrible as your father is making it out to be." She laid the pancakes out on a single plate.

"Yes it was! I would walk into their rooms that morning and find them missing! The only kid that stayed with me was Heather because she wasn't old enough to walk yet! I would run into your room continuously and then find the two of them sleeping with you! " said an exasperated Draco. What he failed to voice however was that he really didn't mind them sleeping with Hermione because he knew they felt safe with her. There were times right after they had moved in, after all of the children had gone to sleep, that Draco would lay with his head on Hermione's lap and just listen to her talk. It was those comforting moments that Draco always wished would happen more often but would never let her know that. They still did that but it was on those rare occasions where he was stressed out, either with the kids or with work.

Hermione scoffed. "You're making a big deal out of it." She stuck her tongue out at him. "You forget that I like your kids. Now come on, let's eat so we aren't late. Scor is already awake. He'll take care of the kids." She grabbed the plate of pancakes put it on the table and got three separate plates, a set of forks and knives and the maple syrup. The three took seats and began eating.

Scorpius immediately began scarfing down pancake after pancake and the two adults just silently stared at their food until they figured Scor was done with his rampaging appetite. The two ate slowly, discussing normal work related activities until it was finally time for Hermione to leave for her interview. Draco had another hour or so before he needed to get into work.

"I'll see you at noon, Draco." Turning to Scorpius she said, "Make sure your sisters eat their breakfast and lunch AND make sure Heather doesn't find her way into the lollie supply and eat all of them. And don't fight with your sisters. Just leave them be and they'll find a way to entertain themselves." Hermione kissed Scor on the forehead and waved to Draco before disappearing off into the Floo Network.

X~xx~X

Upon arriving at the Ministry of Magic, Hermione quickly checked in with the guard at the front and went into her office to put down her things. Her interview was set for ten in the morning in the secondary conference room. She had no idea who her interviewer would be but it was hopefully someone she was on good terms with.

Pushing the interview away from her mind, she focused on getting the work that was laid out for her, done. Nodding hello at Cristine, her receptionist, she stepped into the office that had been hers for the past three years. She checked her messages and found a 'Good Luck' from Kingsley. There were also piles and piles of cases that she had yet to look through. Some of them still involving those Death Eaters, who still hadn't been caught, sent to Azkaban, or given the Dementor's Kiss. A couple of them had been located but had not yet been captured and it was up to Hermione to re look over their cases to make sure that there was sufficient evidence to convict them of whatever crime they had been accused of. Which wasn't very difficult given that half the time, being a known Death Eater was enough.

Three years ago, when Hermione had first brought Draco in, half the Ministry thought that Draco had captured her and had taken her to the Ministry as a hostage. It took more than a few words from Hermione to convince them otherwise, but by some small chance, it worked. The Ministry took no risks however. No matter how much Hermione protested, they still shackled and took away his wand. When his court date came up, Hermione made sure that she was on the list as one of his defendants and she convinced Harry to speak for him as well. It was difficult, no doubt, to get her best friend to back up the one man who tried to make his life a living hell at the only place that he had ever been able to call home. But Hermione knew that neither one of them chose their life by chose. The Wizengamot couldn't very well argue with two of the Golden Trio so they were forced to let Draco go with nothing more than a three month probation which he served quietly and peacefully.

The next few months that followed, Draco had to work to get a job at the Ministry as Hermione could only support them so much. Although he had already come into his inheritance, until Draco got a standing job for more than a year and a half, he would never be able to collect. Draco however, found that he never had a passion for sitting at a desk all day and decided to apply for the open Potion position at Hogwarts. McGonagall, who was a little less strict than she had been in her teaching days, decided that Draco Malfoy did deserve that second chance. Instead of living at Hogwarts however, the two were able to come up with a way where Draco could come home on a daily basis and had plenty of time to spend with the kids.

As Hermione went from case to case, she soon became preoccupied with the time, and eventually just stopped working completely. With only fifteen minutes to spare she sat there staring idly at the clock, thinking about what sort of questions would be asked and what would be asked of her. Finally, the time came and she all but sprinted to the conference room. As the door opened, she saw a happy looking Lavendar walk out the room. Her face brightened even more when she noticed the sullen Hermione.

"Good luck!" her competitor said with a smirk. Hermione didn't respond, but instead, walked straight into the room.