"They're bloody wankers Hermione, all of them." Blaise proclaimed slamming his empty Fire Whiskey glass on the table.
"No, I'm just an old coot, no man wants to be with a witch whom has a three-year-old daughter," Hermione protested running her finger around the rim of her butter beer.
Blaise scoffed in a loud disbelieved kind of way.
"If a man can't take the bloody stick out of his arse and accept the fact that you and Malfoy have a child together then they were never good enough for you in the first place," He declared. She smiled wholeheartedly at her friends. He always knew exactly what to say.
"Mum!" A sweet angelic voice called from behind Hermione, startling both she and Blaise.
"Bloody hell," Hermione murmured under her breath, dropping her head low on the table. A moment later she felt a pair of small hands wrap themselves around her legs, because she was sitting on such a high barstool her daughter couldn't properly reach her.
"Ade, why would you bring her here?" Hermione groaned leaning down to place her very persistent daughter on her knee.
"She wouldn't bloody leave me alone, since Malfoy's been gone you're all she's been wanting," Adrian Pucey cried taking a seat next to Hermione.
"I must look like the world's best parent, having a few drinks with two good looking men, with my toddler along for the ride," She mumbled glancing around the room cautiously.
Adrian placed his hand behind Hermione's chair and pulled her into him. "You'll be fine. Besides, the Prophet can just exploit more of the mistakes the Weasleys have been making. Ever since Weaselette cheated on Potter with that scum McLaggen things for them from what I've heard has been a bit difficult," Adrian chuckled.
"Don't forget about Weaselbee's little fornication with troll face!" Blaise roared with laughter.
"Ronald cheated on Lavender with Millicent?" Hermione spat covering her daughter's ears from the loud shout she had accidentally let fall from her mouth.
"That's what has been going through the office," A deep voice claimed startling Hermione. Blaise and Adrian smirked once they both turned around.
"Marcus Flint," Adrian chuckled standing up to slap his friend on the back, "I haven't seen you in months' mate. Where have you been?"
"Here and there," He replied running his hands through his unruly hair.
Hermione remembered what Marcus used to look like in their Hogwarts years. He wasn't very appealing to the eye then, but now, he was the most attractive man she had ever seen.
He had black hair that at the moment was unruly and unkempt, with deep green eyes and a slight tan to his skin. His teeth were bright white and perfectly straight with absolutely no trace of his old animalistic appearance that had once been. His face was firm and chiseled with a perfectly sculpted jawline. Her eyes fell down to his broad shoulders and she caught a quick glimpse of a patch of dark hair peering through the top of his shirt. He was dressed in a light grey V-neck and dark muggle style jeans. His chest was large and muscular from what she could tell he took quite care of himself.
She knew little about him, but what she did know was that he worked as a partner for Adrian's company. She studied him for a moment longer, he was quiet, but his smile was very infectious.
"Hermione Granger," He announced drawing her attention from her eyes lingering on his ever-so-wonderful looking chest. He grabbed her hand gently; his hands were remarkably soft and brought them gently to his lips.
"Marcus Flint," She replied blushing as he released her hand.
She watched as he drew his attention to her daughter. "And who might this be?" He asked gesturing to the small curly blonde haired girl between them.
"I'm Cassiopeia Narcissa Malfoy! I'm named after condensation!" She proclaimed mimicking her father's smirk.
"Constellation honey," Hermione corrected running her fingers through her daughters' untamed curls.
"Sorry, constellation."
"You're Draco's daughter then?" He pointed out.
Cassie shrugged her shoulders like she always did when she was about to explain something in detail. "Well, mummy and daddy aren't together, and daddy's been away on business for a while and mummy works a lot, so I stay with Uncle Adrian and Blaise. They're like my daddy's too, but if my daddy hears me say stuff like that he gets really, really mad."
Marcus looked at the young child as if he were trying to scrutinize the situation. He spoke finally after a few long seconds, "You sure do talk a lot, I can see where you get your intelligence."
Hermione blushed again.
She noticed the small interaction. "You make my mummy smile a lot, she hasn't done that in a while," Cassie said looking from Hermione to Marcus.
"Cassie!" Hermione chastised her daughter trying to hide her now amused blush.
"I've got a stupendous idea!" Blaise shouted rising from his seat.
"What?" Hermione and Marcus asked simultaneously.
"How about Adrian and I go meet up with Theo at the Quidditch store and we take Cassie with us and you two can stay here and chat since you seem to be becoming acquainted so well with one another," Blaise teased.
Hermione looked from Cassiopeia to Marcus and then back to Blaise, "I'm no sur-."
"Mummy, I want to go see Uncle Theo!" Cassie squealed jumping from her mother's arms and into Adrian's.
"Honey, you like Uncle Theo because he takes you with him everywhere so he can attract girls," Hermione giggled.
Cassie looked at her confusingly.
"Oh, never you mind dear. You two best make sure she's on her best behavior, you know how Draco gets when he finds out she's had had behavior, it's a bad image for a Malfoy," Hermione scolded rolling her eyes at Draco's ridiculous accusation.
"You two have fun, but not too much," Adrian winked before walking out of the pub with Cassie clutched to his side.
Hermione watched as Marcus walked around the tall table and sat across from her, smiling. "So, where would you like to begin? I'm assuming we're going to be here for a while."
X
"And then, I walked into the living room to find Pucey bare arse naked on my couch with an empty bottle of Fire Whiskey on the ground and my coffee table smashed down the middle," Marcus exclaimed laughing freely.
"He did all that damage just by getting smashed because he won a bet about your Quidditch game?" Hermione giggled finishing off the rest of her drink.
"Adrian's how should I put this, a free spirit?" Marcus guessed.
"Cassie loves him," Hermione admitted pushing her empty glass to the edge of the table.
Marcus smiled, "She's a very affectionate little girl. I can see where she gets it."
Hermione blushed, "If you must know she actually gets that from Draco. I'm not one for so much public affection."
"If you don't mind my asking, how did you and Malfoy," He trailed off.
She sighed, shrugging her shoulders just as Cassiopeia had earlier.
"Draco and I were never really dating. He was my best friend and when I was nineteen and he was twenty we thought that we had grown somewhat of an attraction towards each other. But of course, we were smashed and one thing led to another. We woke up the next morning completely regretful of the whole decision. We didn't talk for weeks, completely avoided each other actually, but then I found out I was pregnant. That's what broke the ice.
"We thought it was going to destroy our friendship completely but it was the exact opposite actually and we ended up becoming closer than ever. That's what made us realize we felt no attraction towards each other as a couple but as friends. We raise Cassie together; we didn't want her living in a broken home. We don't live together, but we spend nearly every waking moment together with her; birthdays, holidays, if she were to ever play a sport or join a club we would be at those together as well. We are all about family and she never feels unloved.
"Even Narcissa and Lucius were accepting. After the war Draco and I became friends and his parents after figuring out we were friends apologized. Narcissa and I grew very close, Lucius accepted me as Draco's friends. When they found out about us being pregnant they were thrilled. Narcissa absolutely loves Cassiopeia and vice versa. Hence her middle name, if it were a boy we would have given him the middle name Lucius. It was going to be Scoripus Lucius Malfoy.
"You see, I want my daughter growing up surrounded by nothing but love. Everyone we bring into her life gives her that gift. I don't want my daughter to know about the ugly our world used to be. I know that eventually she will succumb to the truth about our history but for right now I want her to believe with that magnificent childhood imagination that the world is a pure and beautiful place that will never harm her."
Hermione quickly realized she had just left this large load of information on Marcus and she had only known him for a few hours. She brought her hands to her mouth in disbelief at what she had just done. Before she had even realized it, she had grabbed her coat and bag and began making a b-line for the door.
"Where are you going?" Marcus yelled following her out of the pub.
"This was a mistake," She muttered turning around to face him. "You're a great guy, splendid actually but you don't want to become involved with me. I'm too much of a mess. I'm a mother so that already makes me different from all of these other women that I'm trying to compete with in the world. So, I'd rather turn you down now before you have the opportunity to turn me down. I've had it happen enough times to the point of which I know the entire procedure. I'm just going to go home-."
Her insistent babbling was stopped by Marcus placing her face between hands and placing his lips softly against hers. She stood frozen for a moment before closing her eyes and melting into the kiss of this beautiful man, relishing in his touch.
He pulled away slowly, but kept his hands on her face, "You talk too much witch."
"I'm sorry," She managed to squeak.
Marcus chuckled his hands still on her face. "I like that you have a curly haired daughter who talks too much, I like that your friends with all of my mates, I like that you're a controlling woman, I like that you talk too much, I like you," He smiled running a soft finger against her bottom lip.
"You do?" Hermione smiled placing one of her hands-on top of his.
"Yes, you're like nothing I've ever met before."
"Should I be worried?" She began to gnaw on her bottle lip as she asked this.
"About?"
"You."
"There's nothing for you to worry about, I'm a fairly large wizard who can handle his own." His placed his thumb on the bottom lip to pull it out from between her teeth.
"Okay."
They were silent for a few more minutes with a long lingering look between their eyes.
"I have a question," He stated breaking their gaze.
"What would that be?" Hermione replied craning her head a bit to the left.
"Would you go on a proper date with me, not to a local pub but to an actual restaurant where I can buy you an expensive dinner with tasteless food?" Marcus asked.
X
She glanced at him for a moment, falling into the wonderful clover field of his beautiful green eyes. Gnawing on her bottom lip again, she glanced at her black high heels then back at Marcus again. She shook her head yes and watched as he smiled that infectious smile she was beginning to love.
Hermione opened the door to her apartment, pushing it slowly and quietly hoping not to wake anyone in the overly large loft. She placed her shoes by the front door next to the multiple pairs of men's shoes.
She heard the telly playing softly down the hall and began walking towards it. Once Hermione entered the living room she smiled softly. The large L-shaped couch was pulled out into the large bed it contained inside. The bed was occupied by both Adrian and Blaise, blankets and pillows strewn over them, while Theo slept on the soft plush throw rug that was rather comfortable, with Cassiopeia tucked in his arms, her face buried into his chest. The blanket from her bed was thrown over the top of them.
She was surprised to see them asleep this early, it was only midnight. Hermione walked over to the television and pressed the large off button. She grabbed her wand from inside her purse and whispered a small incantation that changed her black dress into a pair of white cotton shorts and a gray V-neck.
Slowly, Hermione made her way over to the couch without disturbing Cassie or Theo and crawled in between Blaise and Adrian on the couch, listening to them grunt softly in their sleep at the added indention in their bed.