AN: Thank you, thank you so much for all the reviews and alerts on the previous chapter. It's always difficult to put something out there but getting such great responses makes all of it worth it.

Chapter 2

Hermione's parents had always made sure to instill their own, very strong work-ethic on their daughter. From an early age on, the young witch had been taught that anything was possible with hard work and the right mindset. Her parents were living proof of that. In their younger years, they had built a dental practice while raising a daughter with a bright mind and some peculiar and at the time unexplainable talents. Later, after they had returned from their 'Leave-of-Absence' in Australia, it took them only a few short months to rebuilt that very practice to the successful business it had been before the Wizarding War.

It was that very same attitude toward work that had made Hermione the top student at Hogwarts and later a successful single mother and businesswoman. But successfully juggling career and motherhood required discipline, focus and many sacrifices on Hermione's part.

Weekdays usually started early. She got up at 5:15 to run for a half hour on her treadmill followed by a quick fifteen minute yoga session. It was usually the only time Hermione dedicated to herself in an otherwise busy life. By 6:20 she was showered and dressed for her day and preparing breakfast for herself and Sophie, as well as a snack for Sophie to eat in daycare. She preferred to wait as long as possible to wake up her daughter. However, by 6:30 they usually sat down together to eat.

"Are you excited," Hermione asked Sophie between sips of coffee. It was going to her first day at Magical Tots Day Care and Hermione couldn't help but feel apprehension about how Sophie's day would go.

"Mummy do they have toys there," Sophie shot her a doubtful look but Hermione simply nodded. "What about a playground? With a swing? And a sandbox? Should I bring my shovel?"

"Sweetheart," Hermione smiled as Sophie's eyes went wide with wonder. "They do have everything you need there. You think I would send you somewhere boring?"

The little girl thought about that for a while, studied Hermione seriously for a few seconds and then smiled.

"No," she finally concluded. "Can I be done. Not hungry anymore."

"Alright," the young mother flicked her wand to clear the empty dishes from the table into the sink. "Do you need help getting dressed?"

Sophie shook her head and Hermione laughed. Her little girl had recently started an independent streak and insisted on getting dressed and ready for the day on her own. Luckily they had already chosen today's outfit the night before.

Going over the day in her head, Hermione smiled when she heard her daughter humming in the bathroom. Ann Granger - Hermione's mother - had taught Sophie to hum the Alphabet song while brushing her teeth. She supposed that hummed twice it was just long enough to make sure her granddaughter's teeth were squeaky clean and healthy.

Meanwhile, Hermione used the time to straighten up the kitchen and feed Crookshanks who was still pouting over the move. She was sure her aging familiar was just putting on an act and would absolutely love laying around lazily in their new garden in no time, especially now that it was getting warmer outside.

"Awe, Crooksie," Hermione scratched him behind his ear as he walked toward his bowl. "Sophie loves it here and so do I. Now, you just need to get with the program."

Crookshanks gave her a withering look and made a coughing sound.

"We have hardwood floors now," Hermione laughed. "Makes it much easier to clean those nasty hairballs of yours."

With another scornful look Crookshanks walked away and Hermione turned back to her housework. Luckily, there weren't a lot of dishes and a few wand-flicks would do. She had never really been the domestic type. She was rubbish in the kitchen. Oh, she knew enough to make sure Sophie, Crookshanks and herself were taken care of. But anything too elaborate and Hermione would get overwhelmed. She was alright at cleaning - at least she could use magic for that. Cooking was a complete nightmare though. Hermione usually stuck with simple and quick meals or ordered take-away. There was just something about making an elaborate meal that seemed beyond intimidating to her. At least back in London she had had a housekeeper coming three times a week to clean, do their laundry and grocery shopping. After realizing Hermione couldn't cook the older lady even prepared the occasional meal for the them. She made a quick mental note to find help for their new home as well.

"Ready to go, Soph," Hermione looked her little girl over who was bouncing back into the kitchen.

"Yes, Mummy," the excited girl ran toward her mother.

"Miss Granger," Madam Forrester, the daycare director smiled at her reassuringly. "We are more than used to little boys and girls bursting with magic."

Hermione looked down at her daughter who was sitting on her lap. Sophie Ann Granger looked a lot like Hermione. But she also had a few of her father's features. Sophie was tall for her age and Hermione was sure her little girl would more than exceed her own five feet five inches by the time she was a teenager. Her eyes were blue instead of brown, her face full of freckles and her curly brown hair had slight hints of auburn. Hermione was sure that nobody could look at Sophie and be able to have any doubt about who her parents were.

"She's only just started showing her magic," Hermione explained to Madam Forrester. "To be honest, I wasn't even sure she was magical until recently. But it just seems to pour out of now. I had to take her out of her muggle daycare after she turned everything in it - and I mean everything - pink. The Ministry had to be called in. The Accidental Magic Reversal Squad let me off with a warning but mandated I enroll her in a magical daycare as soon as possible."

"Well, all our teachers are well-trained in reversing accidental magic," the other woman continued to put her at ease. "I realize you are a muggle-born, but it is quite normal for magic to emerge at Sophie's age or even later. You have nothing to worry about."

Hermione nodded. She had never really worried about Sophie being magical or not. Her parents were muggles so she didn't really care either way.

"Now, I did notice a few things missing from Sophie's file," the woman shuffled some papers around. "I see you haven't filled in her father's name. You'd certainly want an alternate contact in case of an emergency!"

"Sophie's father is not in the picture," Hermione stiffened. She had known this would come up but still felt a pang of regret mixed with sorrow and guilt. "Her godmother, Lavender Macmillan, will be a secondary contact in case you can't reach me. She's also authorized to pick Sophie up in case I can't make it. So are my parents Ann and John Granger. They are muggles and live in near London, so they wouldn't really be able to do much if you can't get a hold of me. "

"Oh right," Hermione tried hard to ignore the other woman's judgmental tone. "Miss Macmillan who owns Lavender's Magical Beauty Potions? You must get a great discount at her store. I personally wouldn't know what to do without her 5-Minute-Make-Up kit. It saves me so much time in the morning."

"Yes, Mrs. Macmillan owns that shop," Hermione nodded, "And I am more of a guinea pig for new products than an actual customer, especially her shampoo lines. She always says if it makes my hair more manageable it'll work for anybody."

Hermione bit her lip thinking about her friend. It was odd how her resentment for the other girl had developed into friendship. They had become closer when they both returned for their final year at Hogwarts. Hermione's relationship with Ginny had already been tense due to Skeeter's book. Lavender, on the other hand, had matured significantly after the war. And after Hermione had saved the other girls life during the Final Battle, she had completely changed her attitude toward her former rival and the two haved been friends ever since.

"Well," the director turned toward Sophie. "Miss Sophie, are you ready to meet some new friends?"

"Mummy," Sophie turned and looked at her mother questioningly. The excitement from earlier was now replaced with the same apprehension Hermione felt deep down in her stomach.

"It's alright, Sweetie," Hermione reassured her. "You'll have a great time."

"Please stay a little bit," Hermione's heart lurched at the uncertain tone in her daughter's voice and she had to remind herself that Sophie was dealing with a lot of changes at the moment. She knew she had a busy day ahead and didn't really have much time to stay but Sophie was always worth it.

"Of course," she kissed her gently on the forehead. "I'll stay for a little while and I am only a few minutes away if you need me. Not that you will. You're going to make a ton of new friends while Mummy is at work!"

They had passed Hermione's office on their walk toward Magical Tots Day Care. It was only a few minute walk between the two and definitely something Hermione loved about their new home. Everything was within walking distance from where they lived.

"Okay," Sophie sounded much braver as she jumped down from her mother's lap. "Let's go, Mummy."

"Alright, alright" Draco was grumbling under his breath before darting to the window. He had been rudely awoken by an owl tapping on his window. At first, he had hoped to simply ignore it. Whoever wrote him a letter before noon must certainly not know him very well.

Opening the window he came face to face with Pansy's black owl and chuckled. Leave it up to his friend to own the most severe and evil looking thing ever. It almost reminded him of Snape. The bird hooted at him and Draco rolled his eyes at its annoyed tone but took the parchment regardless.

Ripping open the letter he didn't even bother pointing toward the owl treats. The bird was so spoiled it wouldn't touch them anyway.

Draco,

We need you to mind the pub for a few hours today starting at 11. We have a meeting and then an appointment at St. Mungos.

Pansy

Well, at least he had some notice this time. It was only an hour but who was he to complain. He had nothing planned for the day anyway besides maybe going out for a fly and trying to bump into Granger again. He briefly wondered if she would be running again today but then realized that she probably had to work. Not everybody had the luxury of not needing to work.

Not that there was many options for Draco out there. He was still branded a former Death Eater and career opportunities seemed somewhat slim. But he didn't really care. The Malfoy and Black family vaults at Gringott's were overflowing with gold, galleons and treasures even though his father had run Malfoy Apothecary into the ground and given away half a fortune to fund the Dark Lord's cause.

Only an hour later, Draco was dealing with the busy lunch crowd at the pub while Theo and Pansy had their mysterious meeting. He had strolled in at exactly 10:59 and received an annoyed look from Theo before he had vanished into his office.

"Who do you suppose that meeting is with," Blaise asked after Draco explained why he was behind the bar instead of in front of it.

Draco just shrugged as he pulled another pint of beer for the town drunk. He filled in for Theo whenever he couldn't find anybody else to come in. Draco supposed it was only fair since he owned a small share of the pub and didn't work at all.

"Don't care," Draco mumbled his response while counting the money he had received in exchange for the pint.

"You think Pans finally suckered someone in to pay for that expansion," Blaise was staring at the closed door.

"Don't know why'd she have to sucker anybody in for that," Draco retorted. "I offered to loan them the money it takes to remodel the upstairs into an inn."

Blaise sighed. It was an old argument. Pansy wanted to expand the pub into an inn. Apparently there weren't any wizarding hotels, bed and breakfasts or inns for miles even though Stonehenge attracted quite a lot of witches and wizards. However, both of their families had lost everything during the war and they were pretty much broke since purchasing the pub. Draco had offered to pay for the expansion but had offended Pansy's pride with said offer. He supposed he was lucky she hadn't thrown up on him. Theo had just shrugged and explained that they couldn't keep relying on Draco to bail them out whenever things got tough. They were grown-ups and needed to figure things out on their own. As it was, Draco had already helped them with an investment early on.

Just then he heard the door to Theo's office open and Blaise inhaled sharply. Draco looked into the direction of the office and felt his heart stop beating for a few seconds. Right there, next to Theo and Pansy, stood a smiling Granger looking hot as ever.

"Wow," Blaise mumbled. "I forgot how gorgeous that little muggleborn was."

Draco could only gape. She was gorgeous. Her wild curls were clipped back and she was wearing a white tailored blouse tucked into a high waisted pencil skirt. Her outfit was rounded up by a pair of sensible heels. She was pulled together, professional and absolutely shaggable. Her whole look was a 180 from her workout clothes the day before. Yet, she managed to turn him on in either outfit.

"I am sorry we have to cut the meeting short. Why don't you have lunch here," he heard Pansy suggest to Granger. "It's on the house. I am just glad you accepted us as clients. We've been hearing about you from Lavender since Theo bought the pub."

Draco chuckled. Pansy was laying it on thick to impress Granger. As he watched them approach he wondered why Pansy would put such effort into making her former rival so comfortable.

"Don't worry about the meeting. I got what I needed right here," he heard the brunette respond as she padded her briefcase. "I fully understand. These appointments are important. Just owl me if you have any questions. About anything."

"Boys," Pansy turned toward them and shot them a warning look. "You remember Gra... I mean Hermione."

Before Draco could say anything Blaise got out of his chair and took Hermione's hand. He looked at Blaise in surprise as he kissed her hand and she smiled back at him. The look on his friends face was one of complete adoration and Draco knew instantly Blaise was enchanted with the Gryffindor.

"Io sono incantato," Draco cursed the Italian's great charm. "It's been what five years?"

"Long time, huh," Hermione's smile was even more brilliant now and Draco at once wished it was directed at him instead.

"Yes," Blaise flashed her his pearly white teeth. "I believe you vanished right after the N.E.W.T.'s. Didn't even wait for graduation. You know you broke my heart leaving me without a good-bye. I had hoped to finally steal you away from that sorry excuse of a boyfriend you had back then. Well, you should join me for lunch."

"Always the charmer, Blaise. Give me a minute, I'll be right back," she told Blaise before finally looking at Draco. "Malfoy."

"Mate, I hope she's single," Blaise exclaimed after Hermione left toward the lavatories. "At least that tosser Weasley is out of the picture this time around"

"Don't you dare," Pansy snarled at their Italian friend moving next to Draco. "You know how impossible it was to get her to come and take us on as clients. Not only is she extremely busy but there is the small problem of our past."

"Gee, Pans," Draco had completely forgotten about her. "What does she do anyway?"

"She is a financial genius," Pansy sneered. "How do you think Brown and Macmillan haven't run their business into the ground yet? Oh, their products are brilliant but neither of them is very smart. She's been doing their books for years and offered some pretty good advice along the way."

"I believe they're both Macmillan now. Brown married her Hufflepuff a few months ago. Astoria was pissed a floozy like...," Draco broke off when he spotted Pansy's face. Apparently this wasn't the time to be a smart-ass.

"You know that expanding all this is our dream," Pansy stabbed his chest. "We'd be the only magical run inn around. It's a brilliant idea and I won't have either of you ruin this for us. She's off limits," Pansy shot Draco a knowing look before she added, "for both of you. Did I make myself clear?"

Draco nodded and saw Blaise do the same out of the corner of his eyes. Pansy was scary but neither him nor Blaise would back down.

"It's on mate," Blaise grinned as Pansy walked away and Draco groaned. He would have his work cut out for him if he wanted to win her over now that he had Blaise as competition.