[A/N: I am so sorry about how long it took me to update. I had my Year 12 exams, then I went on holidays for a week and since then I've been seriously procrastinating. But, here it is! I actually split this chapter into two, so you'll have another coming soon too! I hope you enjoy, and thank you so much for following, reviewing and favouriting.]
Chapter 3: Human-Like Wombats
"MUMMY!"
"Mhmm."
Hermione shifted in bed, throwing an arm over her face, and wondered why her daughter's voice was echoing through a wildly inappropriate dream about Draco Malfoy. That man... he'd always been attractive in her eyes, but in the years following the war, the ex-Slytherin's shoulders had widened to match his towering height, his ever-present smirk had become circumstantial and his old stuck-up attitude was gone, replaced with a polite (almost friendly) demeanour. Draco was an ideal. He was no longer the enemy of the Golden Trio; he was a close acquaintance, even an occasional friend.
There was no reason why it was odd that she was dreaming about the man, Hermione reasoned, as she dreamt of his hand slowly caressing her naked stomach as the pair lay in bed. He was in her social circle, she thought, as he gently placed kisses along her jaw. Draco was... he was... jumping on her?
Hermione's eyes shot open and were faced not with her childhood enemy, but with her daughter. She growled, not unkindly, "Alice! What are you doing?"
"I'm waking you up, Mummy. I called out your name and knocked on the door and shook your arm and you didn't wake up! The blonde man from yesterday is here. The one who told me the story."
"Malfoy? Why is...? Oh. Oh..." Memories of the night before flashed in her mind, though it was still fuzzy from sleep. She was engaged. Truly engaged? Faux engaged? That would need to be discussed... what were the terms of the agreement? Ugh. "Sweetheart, did you let Daddy inside?"
"Mhmm." The little girl smiled. "He's downstairs watching the telly. Daddy got here ages ago, but he said I had to wait to wake you up... can I go back now?"
"Yes, munchkin, you can."
As Alice ran out the door and down the hallway, her mother got out of bed, searching for something both appropriate and casual to wear in front of the man she would soon be marrying.
"And here, from what Alice told me, I expected you to stumble out of your bedroom, hair in disarray and sporting some adorably horrid pyjamas covered with cows or cats."
Draco sat, unenthused, in front of the telly with 'their' daughter. He was unfairly attractive and his hair was mussed, which reminded her not so slightly of her waking dream. Hands trailing...
"Coffee."
Hermione was awake. She was.
"Hm?"
"I made coffee."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
Coffee was tasty, refreshing. The morning wasn't as nearly as bleak as it had seemed without the coffee, it was good, wonderful almost. Her problems with Victor, though still present, were being dealt with and she only had to... pick a ring. And then visit the Malfoys and the Burrow today. Perhaps it was rather bleak.
"Hermione, could you please explain to me why you let you- our daughter watch a television show with talking animals, most of whom don't actually resemble animals? A human-like wombat that speaks in an American accent is utterly confusing."
She was forced to stifle a laugh. "It's fine. It's been around for a while and it's received well by most parents, that's why I let Alice watch it."
"Alright... but this song? It's rather catchy." This time, Hermione couldn't stop the chortle that escaped her lips.
It took a while until she had her laughter under control and Draco's eyes were fixed back on Alice, marvelling at her captivation at the characters moving around on the television. Hermione was drinking her coffee, seated at the table, when she was surprised by a hand at her shoulder. Her fiancé moved to sit at the table with her.
"Hermione, I think we should have a backstory for me knowing about Alice and about our relationship."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yes, okay."
"Good."
"Good."
"And, uh, what might this backstory be? That I've known about Alice since she was born, but that we didn't want to make a big deal of it? I spend some time with her and we, uh, started dating because of that time? We talked and decided to date."
The woman's eyes widened, "I hadn't considered all that... that's perfect. Thank you. If you don't mind my asking... how long have we been dating?"
"I'd say seven months." Grey eyes met her brown ones, his features pleasantly cheerful. Was the room hot?
Hermione choked on her coffee. "Seven?"
"It gives us enough time to get serious, but not enough that your friends and family will hate you for hiding an enormous secret for years and years."
Draco was nice. It was a different side to him. She'd talked to him as a friendly acquaintance in the years since the war, but there was still a small part of her that thought of him as the scared Sixth Year trying to do the Dark Lord's business. He was considering her feelings and those of those she held dear. A fleeting thought hit Hermione hard.
"What if they hate me? What if they turn me away because of this?"
He easily pulled Hermione into his arms as a few tears spilled down her cheeks and onto the shoulder she was so unceremoniously clutching. His voice was muffled by her hair when he finally responded. "They love you, Hermione. You are such a wonderful person and you love them. If you think they deserve to be loved, then they are smart enough people to realise that if you loved me and wanted to marry me, then you should be able to do that. This might not make much sense, but you deserve to be happy, and I can be sure that they will recognise that fact. When they meet me again, I will prove to them that I am the person that makes you happy."
Her voice was a whisper when she replied, but a small smile sat on her lips when Hermione pulled away. "Thank you, Draco."
"No problem, love."
She wiped away the last of her tears and put on a strong, Gryffindor-worthy face. "So... today."
"Hm? Right, yes. Well, I thought you could meet my parents first... they'd hate to think that other people saw us engaged before they knew, and shopping for an engagement ring really does send that kind of a message."
Hermione nodded, "Yes, I suppose it does. Do we, uh, have to meet them at the Manor? I don't..."
"No, definitely not. We haven't spent time at the Manor since... well, you know. My parents bought a house, though it isn't much smaller than the Manor, just outside London. They live there now." The man stood, switching off the telly with a remote and ushering Alice out of the lounge room and into the kitchen, where her mother stood, "Do you want to go now?"
Hermione felt his eyes surveying her to see if she was ready. Plain blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a warm green sweater (she'd thought ahead), coupled with comfortable boots. Smoothing her hair and forgetting that she hadn't eaten breakfast, she smiled, "Alright. Let me just-"
"Just what?"
"-get Alice's-"
"Bag? I have it. Come on, Hermione, don't worry. They'll love you."
"Even your father?" She frowned, remembering the imposing presence of the elder Malfoy.
Draco grimaced, a guilty look passing across his features. "There is no reason why he shouldn't love you. He's changed a lot since your, uh, history with him. And I'm marrying you, aren't I? He'll have to deal with it."
As he slipped an arm around Hermione's shoulders and held Alice more tightly in his arms, the woman had forgotten that they were getting married for show, that he didn't really love her. He'd grown up, he'd become a wonderful person, she realised.
The garden disappeared as they apparated.
The twist in Hermione's navel didn't disappear until her feet were firmly planted on the ground once again. Alice still lay in Draco's arms - when had he become Draco? - but was whimpering, unused to the disorientating feeling of apparition.
The new Malfoy home was just as grand as its predecessor. It lay in the midst of a muggle neighbourhood, though it took up the space of multiple house blocks. Its tall fences were built of stone, its gate, which creaked as Draco pulled it open, was wrought of dark iron. The garden leading up to the house, however, was much more hospitable. Ordered and perfectly pruned, it was a traditional English garden, green with splashes of colour, mostly in the form of roses. Malfoy House, as the younger of that name pronounced it to be called as they stumbled onto the curb post-apparition, was a classic two-storey brick home with window boxes sitting at each frame. The door, as always, was green and featured a serpent knocker.
A grumble sounded from inside the house, followed by a tinkling laugh, before the door swung open, revealing Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy: her future fake in-laws.
The older woman was regal and tall, her pale hair lightening to grey, her eyes piercing much like her son's. Her beauty wasn't traditional, she wasn't what Ron would call a "stunner", but her elegant and graceful air, coupled with her dainty features and easy smile made her quite lovely.
It was from Lucius Malfoy that his son had received most of his looks; their hair was the same shade, though the father's was considerably longer and reached past his shoulders, their features matched and a familiar smirk played at his mouth. He was several inches taller than his wife, though both parents were considerably shorter than Draco's 6 foot something height.
It was difficult for Hermione to consider the possibility that the Malfoys might have altered their skewed view of the wizarding world to encompass the abilities of muggleborns. But the charming smile on Mrs. Malfoy's face and the placid look on Lucius' did not betray earlier hostilities; they really did appear to have changed.
She proffered a hand. "It's lovely to meet you, I'm Hermione Granger."
Lucius nodded coldly. "We know who you are."
"Please, come in, dear. Don't hesitate to call me Narcissa. We're pleased to finally meet you; Draco's talked about you for years." Narcissa beckoned the group inside, Alice stepped anxiously into the foreign home behind her mother and new father.
"Really?"
The group settled into the lounge room; the adults seated themselves on facing couches and Alice sat on the floor with her toy duck.
"Draco has told us a lot about you." The icy manner that Hermione had thought was reserved just for her appeared to be his usual countenance. It was clear that the elder Malfoy was frank and to-the-point rather than stand-offish.
"Has he?" Hermione shot the man in question a surprised look, as his mother watched on knowingly.
"He has. Draco speaks quite highly of you." Lucius nodded again, settling back into his chair as if his quota of social interaction was up.
Narcissa looked at her husband, unsurprised by his antics. "Now, why are you two here? Not that we haven't enjoyed seeing you, dear, and meeting you, Hermione, but you don't tend to pop in very often, much less with guests."
Draco shuffled closer to the woman beside him, grabbing her hand ever tighter.
"Mother, father, we came here today to inform you that we are engaged."
Alice clapped her hands and giggled as 'Mummy' and 'Daddy' plastered on fake smiles. The older Malfoys were quite honestly shocked, though Narcissa beamed just as quickly, jumping up to envelop the pair in a rare hug. Settling back down, she looked at the younger woman's left hand.
"And where, might I ask, is dear Hermione's engagement ring? Have you bought her one? Have you?"
"Well, mother, it was a, uh, spur of the moment thing... and I haven't really had a chance to..."
"Shush, I'll be right back."
Just as quickly as she swept out of the room, she returned, brandishing a small silver and emerald felt box. It soon ended up in Draco's hands as he turned to his companion and opened it.
It was a beautiful ring. The Blacks had always had exquisite taste in jewellery. Narcissa's grandmother had gifted it to her on her deathbed and the woman had been waiting until her son was ready to give it to his bride. Small diamonds were arranged in a circle around a slightly larger emerald, all of which set in a white gold band. Hermione was awestruck, Draco was awestruck, but the pair managed to get the ring out of the box and onto her left ring finger.
"Thank you so much, Narcissa," Hermione breathed, still gazing at the sparkling thing on her hand.
Draco looked up, "Mother, you don't know how much I appreciate this."
"I do. You are the perfect woman for my son, Hermione, though I probably would not have admitted it several years ago, and I am glad that you two will be married. When do you pla-"
"I think we, uh, really ought to be going, right, dear?" Draco widened his eyes at Hermione encouragingly. The discussion of the whens and wheres of the marriage was too much. Announcing the wedding was enough to deal with for one day.
"Yes, yes, of course. Alice, munchkin, come here and say goodbye to Narcissa."
The little girl stood, picked up her duck and patted Draco's head lovingly as he swept her up in his arms once again.
"Bye bye!"
"Goodbye, darling. Will I see you three soon?"
"Yes, mother, very soon."
Narcissa beamed, wrapping the group in another hug.
"Miss Granger, Little Miss Granger, son." A curt nod from Lucius was all the family saw before he strode out of the room.
Hermione found herself back on the pavement outside the gate before she knew exactly what was happening. Draco was smiling at her, while Alice played with her duck on his shoulder. Her daughter was tucked against the muscular and very attractive Malfoy man. Lucky duck. Very lucky duck.
What? Lucky... duck? What was wrong with her? Those dreams were really getting to her...
"That went well, don't you think, love?"
He chuckled at her as she stood frozen in introspection, not hearing him. Draco grabbed one of her hands, apparating himself and the two Grangers to the Burrow.