The War is Over

Chapter 10 -Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Hermione smiled absentmindedly as she watched her daughter playing with a set of toy broomsticks as she sat at the end of her bed. Since Draco had left earlier that day many questions had been flying around her head. She had been visited by a Medi-Witch who informed her that she would be in hospital for around a week.

'Rose?'

'Yes Mummy,' Rose said, looking up from her toys.

'You know there was a fire in our house, don't you?' Hermione asked gently.

Rose nodded, fear flashing across her face.

'Well sweetheart we can't go back,' Hermione said softly, 'we need to stay somewhere else until we have a new house.'

'Okay Mummy,' Rose said, she sounded sad about this.

'Come here sweetie,' Hermione said, holding out her arms and letting Rose crawl up the bed onto her lap, 'we can stay with Uncle Harry but you will have to share a room with Al if we do,' she said, 'or we can stay with Draco and Scorpius.'

'Will I have to share a room with Scorpius?' Rose asked thoughtfully.

'I don't think so,' Hermione replied, she had never seen the extent of Malfoy Manor inside but judging from the size of it from the outside she was fairly sure Rose would have her own room.

'I like Al,' Rose said, 'but Lily cries all the time and James is mean to me.'

'I know he can be nasty sometimes, but James is still your family Rose,' Hermione said as she surveyed her daughter.

'I think I would like to stay with Scorpius Mummy,' Rose said after a moment of deliberation.

'I think that I would that too Rose,' Hermione said, kissing her daughter on the cheek.

A knock on the door then distracted Hermione, 'come in,' she called.

Harry walked into the hospital room looking quite serious, 'hey Mione,' he said, kissing her on the cheek and sitting down by her bed, 'I have news for you.'

'Okay,' Hermione said, glancing nervously at Rose, 'do you want to play with your toys while I talk to Uncle Harry Rose?'

Rose nodded and crawled back down to the bottom of the bed where she went back to playing with her toy broomsticks.

Harry spoke in an undertone to Hermione, 'we made an arrest earlier today.'

'You did?' Hermione asked in a whisper.

Harry nodded, 'We examined the flat, and we found this persons magical trace. We also found a strand of hair in your utility cupboard linking the flat to them.'

'Who was it Harry?' Hermione asked, dreading the answer.

'It was Pansy,' Harry whispered back, 'Pansy Zabini, or Parkinson as we knew her.'

Hermione was shocked by this initially, 'Why would she want to set that reporter on us and try to kill me?'

'Oliver is taking her statement right now, but our best guess is jealousy,' Harry admitted, 'she has an obsession with Malfoy, she always has done, you remember how she was at school.'

Hermione nodded, still shocked, 'Has she been charged?'

'Arson and attempted murder,' Harry said, slipping his hand into Hermione's, 'you were lucky Hermione.'

'I know,' Hermione sighed, all day all she had been able to think about was what could have happened, 'I'm so glad Draco got there when he did.'

'About that,' Harry said sheepishly, 'we need to question him.'

'Why?' Hermione asked in an angry undertone.

'Hermione, he and Pansy were close,' Harry whispered, trying to keep his voice down so that Rose wouldn't hear anything, 'my team think it's suspicious that he just happened to turn up at the right moment to save you and Rose.'

'Harry-'

'It's a serious concern Hermione,' Harry said, cutting his best friend off, 'and I have no control over it. I may be a Senior Auror now but I'm not in charge, the head Auror asked me to bring him in for questioning. He raised a very accurate point, how did Malfoy know you were in danger?'

'I don't know,' Hermione sighed, 'maybe he was just in the right place at the right time.'

'Maybe,' Harry said, 'but either way I need to question him. I just thought you deserved to know the truth.'

'Thanks Harry, I appreciate that,' Hermione said and she really did, 'I suppose now would be a bad time to tell you that I'm staying with Draco for a while until I find a new place.'

'I suspected that's what you would do anyway,' Harry said with a smile, 'and all I want is for you to be happy Hermione. You were always wiser than me, I think I need to catch up and realise that the war was a long time ago.'

Hermione smiled back, 'I don't see the point in living in the past,' she admitted, 'and judging Draco for the boy he was in the war wouldn't be fair considering the fact he's a different man now.'

'I understand,' Harry said with a smile, 'and I approve as much as I can given the identity of your new catch.'

Hermione chuckled and hugged Harry, 'Thanks Harry, that means a lot all things considered.'

Draco Malfoy had already had a busy, and eventful day by the time he got back from Zabini house. He wasn't exactly thrilled for that reason when he emerged from the fireplace at Nott Manor to pick up his son and found Theo wasn't the only person in the sitting room.

'Uh Theo, is there any particular reason you have two Gryffindor Aurors in your home?' Draco asked with a raised eyebrow when he saw Harry and Oliver.

'They're waiting for you,' Theo said, 'I kept Scorpius upstairs, I didn't want him to see his Father getting arrested.'

'I appreciate that,' Draco said honestly to Theo.

'So what have you done this time Draco?' Theo asked, sounding vaguely amused.

'I have no idea,' Draco admitted, looking at the Aurors, 'what have I done?'

'We need to question you about your presence at the Granger residence last night Mr. Malfoy,' Oliver said curtly.

'I should have thought that was obvious, I was visiting my girlfriend or saving her life depending on your point of view,' Draco said simply, he was lying of course but he didn't want to tell them about the investigation. Independent investigation wasn't illegal, but it was frowned upon.

'We're having this discussion in a more formal setting Mr. Malfoy,' Harry said, 'we need to take you to the office.'

'Alright,' Draco sighed, it wouldn't be the first time he had been taken to the Auror offices. He turned to Theo, 'I'm sorry, can you keep Scorpius longer?'

'He's my Godson Draco, I'll look after him for as long as you need me to,' Theo admitted with a smile.

'I promised him I'd take him to see Hermione and Rose in the hospital,' Draco sighed.

'I'll keep him entertained, don't worry, I'm sure he'll forget about it,' Theo said, patting Draco on the shoulder.

'Okay then Potter,' Draco said, just a touch of his old bitterness coming into his voice, 'Let's get this over with.'

'Sorry Malfoy, it has to be done,' Harry said as he bound Draco's hands and apparated with him to the 'holding entrance' to the Auror department which was essentially a tiny room with no windows and a door that only an Aurors wand signature could unlock.

Oliver unlocked the door and Harry walked with Draco along the corridor which was essentially an underground bunker. The Auror headquarters were very prison-like, they were on basement level two so they were essentially fairly deep underground. The walls, floor and roof were all concrete and the whole place had a cold, creepy feel to it. The Senior Aurors offices were a different story however, they were bright and colourful with fake windows, Draco knew from the time he had visited Harry in his office.

At the end of the corridor Oliver used his wand signature to open a solid steel door and Harry led Draco inside the interrogation room. He was sat down in an uncomfortable metal chair while Harry and Oliver took a seat on the other side of the metal table.

'Do you guys ever redecorate?' Draco asked as he looked around, 'a splash of colour would do wonders for the place.'

'I take it you're familiar with this room Malfoy?' Harry asked in amusement.

'I've taken a leaf out of your book in recent years Potter,' Draco said smoothly, 'I seem to always end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

'I think it's more likely that you use that as your excuse while your informants are paying off my colleagues,' Harry challenged with a raised eyebrow.

Draco smirked, 'Perhaps,' he said simply, 'although you have no evidence of this of course.'

'No,' Harry said, watching Draco carefully, 'you're far too clever for that.'

'Thank you Potter, I'll take that as a compliment,' Draco said as he leant back in his uncomfortable chair.

'You know something Malfoy, I can't work out if you're terrible for Hermione or perfect for her,' Harry said thoughtfully as he surveyed Draco.

'Can we get back to our purpose here Harry?' Oliver asked, he was clearly playing bad cop, 'the investigation.'

'Alright Mr. Malfoy,' Harry began, starting the 'official' interrogation, 'I need you to tell me the truth here. If you don't Mrs. Zabini might get away with this.'

Draco nodded, he knew this of course.

'How did you know that Miss. Granger and her daughter were in danger?' Harry asked carefully.

'When the photographs were published in the paper I asked my Head of Security to investigate the reporter who had published the story,' Draco admitted.

'You had an independent investigation ongoing?' Oliver asked.

'Yes, I did,' Draco replied simply.

'You should have called us immediately,' Harry notified Draco.

'Potter surely you understand why I didn't,' Draco said smoothly, 'people like us don't want our private life to go public. Had I called in Aurors it would have been public knowledge that I was investigating those photographs. I didn't want the person who had hired that reporter to have the satisfaction of knowing they had gotten to me.'

'I understand,' Harry said quickly before Oliver could speak, 'what did your Head of Security find out from this investigation?'

'He determined how the reporter took the pictures and that someone I knew hired him because they knew the location of my Manor which is unplottable. A couple of days later he came back with pictures of Pansy paying the reporter off and that was when I realised that Hermione was in danger,' Draco explained.

'How did this enable you to realise that Miss. Granger was in danger?' Oliver asked.

'Pansy has a history, Potter surely you remember from our school days, she has an obsession with me,' Draco sighed.

Harry nodded, 'I remember Malfoy.'

'Pansy tried to get together with me after the war and practically screamed at me when I turned her down. Then she did the same thing at my late wife's wake just hours after I had buried her,' Draco said, his voice breaking slightly, 'I remembered this and I knew that the photographs were just the start of her plan and that I wasn't the target, Hermione was.'

'How did she know that you and Miss. Granger were in a relationship?' Oliver asked.

'I don't know,' Draco admitted, 'we were very quiet about it all. I only told my friend Theodore Nott, and Hermione only told Rose's Godparents.'

'Who are Rose's Godparents?' Oliver asked and Draco caught Harry's eye, 'Harry and Ginny Potter,' he answered.

'I didn't have anything to do with it, and neither did Ginny,' Harry said to Draco, 'but I assure you we'll try to find out how she obtained this information.'

Draco nodded, hoping he would be allowed to leave soon.

'There's one last thing Malfoy, we need to take the name of your Head of Security so that he can verify the information you have given us,' Harry said, his quill poised on a piece of parchment.

'Sure,' Draco said, he had expected this after all, 'Finnigan, Seamus Finnigan.'

Harry raised an eyebrow at Draco as he noted this down.

'I know what you're thinking Potter,' Draco said at this look, 'but despite his lack of cunning, he makes a good Head of Security.'

'I saw him in the war, I can believe that,' Harry said simply, he looked up at Draco, 'you're free to go Malfoy. Oliver will see you out.'

Draco nodded, 'Alright, see you around Potter.'

The day after Draco's stint in an interrogation room he followed through on his promise and took Scorpius to visit Hermione and Rose in St. Mungo's. Scorpius was excited and had made a present each for Rose and Hermione.

Draco chuckled when they reached Hermione's room and Scorpius rushed in without knocking on the door.

'Hey Scorpius,' Hermione said as Scorpius hugged her.

'I'm glad you're okay Hermione,' Scorpius said which made Draco smile. Rose was sitting in a comfortable chair in the corner of the room but she had jumped up when she saw Scorpius.

'Scorpius look what Uncle Harry gave me because I had to be in hospital!' Rose said eagerly as she showed Scorpius her new book which appeared to be some kind of potions book.

'Cool!' Scorpius said, 'I made you a present Rose,' he said, handing her a brown paper package.

'I like presents!' Rose said as she ripped the paper off. The present Scorpius had made her was a map, 'oooh, what is it?'

'It's a map of my house,' Scorpius told her, 'Dad said you might be staying for a while so I made it in case you get lost!'

'Cool!' Rose said, 'thanks Scorpius!'

'I made one for you too Hermione,' Scorpius said as he handed Hermione a matching brown package which she opened to reveal a similar map.

'That's lovely Scorpius, thank you,' Hermione said genuinely.

Draco smiled and sat down next to Hermione. The two kids were now so busy talking that they could actually talk privately for the first time.

'I'm sorry I didn't visit again yesterday,' Draco said, 'I ended up getting picked up by Aurors.'

'Harry told me,' Hermione admitted, 'how did it go?'

'Fine,' Draco said truthfully, 'they just wanted to know how I knew to get to you that night.'

Hermione nodded, biting her lip, 'How did you know Draco?'

Draco lied once more, still not telling Hermione about the investigation, 'I found out that Pansy knew the reporter and guessed she was the one who had hired him to take the pictures,' technically he was telling Hermione the truth, just not the whole truth, 'I knew Pansy had a history of obsession with me and I was worried she would try to hurt you so I apparated to your flat.'

'Why didn't you tell me about Pansy if you knew?' Hermione asked, she felt slightly hurt.

'I'm sorry,' Draco said, 'I just didn't want to involve you in it. I didn't want to put you in danger but it seems that I did anyway.'

'Don't worry about it,' Hermione said quickly, 'you couldn't control what Pansy did. She was always a little unstable.'

Draco chuckled at that, 'Yeah, that much is true,' he said, sharing something with Hermione only a few people knew, 'she tried to sleep with me at Astoria's wake.'

Hermione's jaw dropped, 'Really? That's so disrespectful.'

'Pansy has never been quite…right,' Draco said with a sigh, 'but she'll be going to Azkaban now.'

'How long for?' Hermione asked.

'I'm not sure, with the combined arson and attempted murder charge probably about 30 years,' Draco replied.

'I don't like her, but that's not a life I'd wish upon anyone,' Hermione said with a deep sigh.

Draco took Hermione's hand and nodded, 'I know,' he said, his eyes becoming unfocused as he thought about all of the people he knew who were in Azkaban, people like his Father and his old friend Gregory Goyle.

'Draco,' Hermione said softly, 'I thought about your offer…about the Manor.'

Draco's eyes lit up slightly at this which made Hermione smile, 'I talked to Rose about it and we would quite like to move in, if you still want us too.'

'Of course I do,' Draco said with a smile, 'although I might have to warn the house elves. It's been a few years since they've had females in the house.'

Hermione smiled ruefully, 'how many do you have?'

'Just two,' Draco replied, 'Zelder and Velder, they're sisters.'

'And you treat them right?' Hermione asked.

'I treat them like part of the family,' Draco replied honestly, 'my Father treated our house elf Dobby terribly Hermione, but I was always rather fond of him.'

Hermione nodded, 'I understand now that I can't force them to get paid or take holiday, or wear clothes. By doing that I'd only be making them unhappy.'

Draco nodded, rather glad Hermione's mind-set on house elves had changed slightly, 'I'm glad you think that way, without house elves we would live on food from tins.'

'So you can't cook?' Hermione asked with a chuckle.

'I can cook,' Draco said, 'just not very well.'

Hermione laughed at this and said, 'you and Harry are more alike than you know.'

'Oh, Merlin.'

The following week passed by fairly quickly with Rose being looked after by Harry in Grimmauld Place while Hermione was in hospital. Harry or Ginny brought her daughter in to visit her every day, and she had periodic visits from Draco too who often brought Scorpius along.

When Hermione woke up on Wednesday morning, a week after the fire, she felt slightly nervous. The Medi-Witch was doing the standard checks to make sure that she was okay to be discharged today and Draco would be here any minute to take her back to the Manor where she would floo Ginny who would send Rose through. They had already gotten it all planned out but the nerves were kicking in now that the day was finally here.

The plan was temporary of course, Hermione and Rose would only be staying in the Manor until they could find a place of their own, or at least that's what Draco and Hermione were saying to each other. Hermione couldn't speak for Draco, but part of her knew this move was more permanent than they were letting on. It made more sense for Rose and Scorpius, and since the fire they had felt closer than ever before.

Hermione took a deep breath when she heard a knock on the door, 'come in!'

Draco walked into the hospital room in his work clothes which for him consisted of black trousers, a white shirt and a white lab coat with the St. Mungo's coat of arms emblazoned proudly on it underneath the words 'St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries'.

'Good morning Healer Malfoy,' the Medi-Witch treating Hermione said, 'Miss. Granger is ready to be discharged,' she handed Draco a piece of parchment which he glanced over and signed.

The Medi-Witch thanked Draco and left the room, Draco turned to Hermione and recognised what was going on in her head, 'you're freaking out a little bit right now, aren't you?'

'A little,' Hermione admitted sheepishly.

Draco sat down by her bedside, 'I understand why,' he said, 'but remember this is just temporary while you look for a new flat.'

Hermione nodded, 'Right,' she said.

'Here,' Draco said as he handed Hermione a bag, 'Potter salvaged some clothes from your flat for you to change into.'

'Thanks,' Hermione said weakly as Draco said, 'I'll wait outside.'

When Draco had left the room Hermione changed quickly, she felt her stomach churning with nerves. She hadn't been able to eat anything all day. When she was changed she grabbed her bag and walked out of the room.

Draco was leaning casually against the wall and pushed himself off of it when he saw Hermione, 'hey,' he said.

'Hey,' Hermione said a little shakily.

Draco smiled and hooked his arm through Hermione's as they made their way downstairs towards the floo gates, 'stop worrying about it,' he said simply and for some reason Hermione did. She didn't know if it was the way Draco had said it or if it just happened to coincide with her brain deciding it was time to start taking more risks, but for once Hermione stopped worrying about the consequences of her actions and resolved to instead just enjoy her life.

Once at Malfoy Manor Hermione felt even more like a fish out of water when she realised this would be her home for the next little while.

'Can I use the floo?' Hermione asked Draco the moment they had arrived through the fireplace in the sitting room.

Draco nodded, aware of Hermione's discomfort but pretending he couldn't notice it, 'of course, I'll just go and fetch Scorpius.'

Hermione took a deep breath as Draco walked away and threw some floo powder into the fire.

'Grimmauld Place, Kitchen.'

Hermione opened her eyes to see that Ginny already had Rose ready to go, 'Hey Gin,' Hermione said as her friend waved to her.

'Hey Hermione, shall I send Rose through?'

'Please do,' Hermione said with a smile, 'Thanks for watching her this past week Ginny.'

'No problem Hermione,' Ginny said as Hermione pulled her head from the fireplace and stepped back. She glanced around the sitting room as she waited for Rose to come through. Everything about Malfoy Manor was different from what she had known in her Muggle flat, the furniture thankfully wasn't all green and Slytherin as she had imagined. It was however very grand and posh, like a Muggle stately home.

'Mummy!'

Hermione was pulled from her daydream by Rose's voice and turned around just as her daughter grabbed her around the legs and hugged her.

'Hey Rose,' Hermione said as she lifted her daughter up, 'I missed you.'

'I missed you too Mummy,' Rose said.

'Rose!' Scorpius ran into the room followed by Draco.

'I think Scorpius is excited about giving you both the tour,' Draco said with a chuckle, he was pleased to see Hermione looked slightly less intimidated.

'A tour?' Hermione asked as she put Rose down so she could play with Scorpius.

'I thought, since you will be leaving here now I'd give you the grand tour,' Draco smirked, 'what do you think?'

'It sounds like a great idea,' Hermione said, looking at Rose who was bouncing up and down.

'Scorpius says we can see the whole house!' Rose was saying as she bounced.

'We can,' Draco said with a smile, 'come on let's get started.'

An hour later Hermione felt completely stunned by the scale of Malfoy Manor. She had thought she had seen most of it, but she had barely even scratched the surface. The Manor had 4 floors, and a basement. The basement consisted of a kitchen for the house elves, a swimming pool with its own sauna, a storage room which Draco hadn't unlocked since he inherited the Manor, and a cellar. Hermione found the tour to be generally rather astounding, it had taken her by surprise the sheer scale of the place but Draco had helped to ease that with comments that made Hermione laugh, like how he had explained a rather strange room leading off of the cellar to her.

'What's that?'

'Oh that's a secret room,' Draco said, the concrete wall was slightly paler at one segment, 'it's opened by magic,' he added as he waved his wand across the concrete which vanished.

'It's just an empty concrete room,' Hermione said as she glanced inside, it was around the same size as a broom cupboard.

'It has a vaguely interesting history,' Draco admitted, as he led Hermione out of the cellar. He had told Rose and Scorpius to wait at the top of the stairs. Hermione didn't know it, but this was where Harry and Ron had been held captive while she had been tortured by Bellatrix.

'How so?' Hermione asked as they climbed the steep stairs leading into the cellar.

'It was used as a priest hole when the house was originally built, my family had to act like Muggles so they had a priest and when there was religious upheaval in the Muggle world the family priest would hide in it,' Draco explained.

'That is interesting,' Hermione said, she didn't know that people like the Malfoys had mixed with Muggles but she supposed in medieval times it must have been harder to hide than it was now.

'My Father of course didn't care about the Muggle history of it,' Draco remarked with a chuckle, 'he used it to hide his mistresses from my Mother.'

'Wow,' Hermione said, she was surprised that Draco found this amusing, 'didn't that bother you? Knowing that he was doing that?'

'I was 5 years old, all I knew was that if I did as he said and didn't tell my Mother he bought me sweets,' Draco admitted with a smirk that made Hermione laugh.

Draco then moved the tour onto the ground floor which Hermione thought she had seen most of. As it happened she had only seen the sitting room, bathroom and the informal dining room. There was also on this floor the pantry, drawing room, another bathroom, two reception rooms and a conservatory. There were also several sets of stairs including the main staircase in the entrance hall which split into two spiral staircases leading to the East and West wings of the house. The house was rather mismatched in some senses with reception rooms that had staircases leading to bedrooms.

The first floor was just as large and impressive and housed the formal dining room, another reception room, 2 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, a medieval armoury and a trophy room. Draco didn't seem too fond the trophy room.

'I don't come in here often,' Draco admitted as he looked around at the glass cabinets.

'Why not?' Hermione asked curiously, she glanced at the trophies, Draco's name was on a few but the names 'Lucius' and 'Abraxas' cropped up regularly.

'None of these trophies were won,' Draco sighed, 'they were all bought. None of them reflect any merit on my family's part.'

'This one does,' Hermione said as she pointed to the newest trophy which was made out to 'Draco Lucius Malfoy'. It had been awarded to him for 'incredible bravery in the face of danger'.

'How did you get it?' Hermione asked curiously.

'I saved two Aurors,' Draco said with a slight frown, 'I started out my career in medicine in trauma. I was a field Healer and I got sent to a job where a group of Death Eaters who had escaped after the war attacked Aurors as they tried to arrest them. The fight was still going on around me as I tried to save them, and two of my colleagues were killed.'

'I can see why that got you a trophy for bravery,' Hermione admitted with a smile.

'Two of the Aurors died, I didn't do my job well enough,' Draco said, a haunted look in his eyes.

Hermione took his hand, 'I've said the same thing to a certain boy-who-lived believe it or not, you can't save everyone Draco.'

After that Draco and Hermione hadn't dropped hands throughout the rest of the 'tour'. Hermione had discovered the rest of the first floor which also housed a large open plan library and study with a balcony leading off of it which looked out over the grounds. Hermione had a feeling she and Rose would be spending a lot of time in this room. The last room on this floor was locked and Draco informed Hermione that it stayed that way because it had been his Fathers personal study and it was most definitely not safe for children.

They then moved onto the second floor which was the most exciting for Rose because she got to see what would become her new bedroom.

'This will be your room Rose,' Draco said as he opened the door and let Rose walk in.

It was a fairly simple room at the moment with beige walls and not much in the way of furniture apart from a single bed.

'It's not quite as big as Scorps,' Draco admitted to Hermione as Rose eagerly explored, 'but it's the next biggest room in the Manor.'

'It's huge Draco,' Hermione said, shaking her head in disbelief, 'it's twice the size of what she had in our little flat.'

The room was perfect and Hermione knew when Rose's furniture from the old flat was in it that it would feel much more like home for her, there was only one problem…

'Draco, please tell me that isn't a balcony,' Hermione said slowly as she saw the glass doors at the far end of the room.

'Uh, that isn't a balcony,' Draco lied.

'How do I know it's safe?' Hermione asked anxiously.

'It's locked permanently Hermione, Scorp has access to it from his bedroom too,' Draco assured his girlfriend.

'Draco,' Hermione said slowly, 'you do remember why Rose and I ended up in St. Mungo's, don't you?'

'Uh no, why did you end up in St. Mungo's?' Draco asked.

'Rose smashed our patio doors with accidental magic,' Hermione said, raising an eyebrow at Draco.

'Right,' Draco said slowly, 'I'll put a protective charm around the doors.'

The rest of the second floor consisted of Scorpius's room which was slightly larger than Rose's and decorated in red and blue with Quidditch icons everywhere, a potions lab, a potions storage cupboard, 3 spare bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and Draco's own gym. The last room they came too was Draco's and would soon be Hermione's.

'This room will be our room,' Draco said as he opened the door, 'for the duration of your stay at the Manor that is.'

Hermione smiled, feeling slightly less nervous now. She gasped as she walked into the room, it was about the same size as her living room had been and she was surprised at the décor. The walls were a pale green and the carpet was a dark brown, the curtains and bedcovers matched the carpet and it actually looked very classy.

'I see a theme of green throughout certain rooms in this house,' Hermione teased with a chuckle.

'Believe it or not I just like the colour,' Draco admitted with a smile, 'do you want to see the bonuses of living in a manor?'

'Sure,' Hermione said, she didn't often see Draco excited, it just wasn't who he was. But now he was smiling and about as excited as Draco Malfoy got, and Hermione found it refreshing.

'This is the walk in wardrobe,' Draco said, showing her a room twice the size of a broom cupboard.

'Wow,' was all Hermione could say.

'And this,' Draco said as he pulled open another door, 'is our ensuite bathroom.'

'Seriously?' Hermione asked as she looked inside at the grand, large bathroom.

'It gets better,' Draco grinned, 'this is our balcony,' he opened glass doors and showed Hermione the balcony which just had enough room for a small table and two chairs. It looked out over the countryside and the hills.

'It's beautiful,' Hermione admitted, and despite the nerves and her fear of commitment she could really see herself living in this house even though it was the opposite of everything she had ever known. It was huge, it was grand, it was classy, it was full of secret passages and nooks and crannies, it reminded Hermione of the home she had loved, Hogwarts.

The final stop on the tour was third floor which was the smallest floor but had a large roof garden separating the East and West wings. The roof garden had a concrete surface and was currently empty, but Hermione saw potential for it. Draco told her that it had once been used as an outpost to look out for enemies when the house had first being built. In the East Wing of the third floor there was a large event hall with a stage that had a reception room leading off of it and there was also a large bedroom. In the West Wing of the third floor there was a greenhouse with a glass roof and a Herbology research laboratory leading off of it. Hermione had learnt so much about Draco on this tour, he talked to her about his Grandfather and how he had a keen interest in Herbology and its uses when mixed with potion brewing. There was also a final bathroom on this topmost floor.

When the tour was over Scorpius and Rose went to play up in Scorpius's bedroom, leaving Draco and Hermione alone together for the first time in a week or so. They made their way back downstairs to the informal dining room where they sat down to have a quiet cup of coffee together, only that wasn't how things happened. They had been sitting down for 5 minutes when Hermione saw out of the corner of her eye a man walk past the door and out of the Manor.

'Who was that?' Hermione asked Draco curiously, 'it looked like Seamus.'

Draco sighed, he couldn't keep the truth from Hermione anymore, 'it was,' he said.

'Why was he here?' Hermione asked in surprise.

'He's my Head of Security,' Draco admitted.

Hermione's eyebrows shot up at this, 'You have a Head of Security?'

'Why does that surprise you so much?' Draco asked with a smirk, 'I have a lot of people on my payroll Hermione.'

'Like who?' Hermione asked, vaguely amused by the complete contrast between Draco's life and her own.

'Informants, reporters, photographers, politicians…' Draco said, ticking them off on his fingers, 'to name a few.'

Hermione shook her head in amused disbelief, 'Wow, you really are a millionaire asshole.'

'More millionaire than asshole I like to think,' Draco said with a smirk, forgetting for a moment that he needed to tell Hermione about the investigation and Pansy.

Hermione smiled, 'so what was he doing here?'

Draco sighed, 'I lied to you Hermione. I paid him to investigate the reporter who took those photos of us. He traced the reporter back to Pansy, and I found out the night she attacked you, that's how I got there in time.'

Hermione was stunned at this news, 'you were investigating it all along and you never told me.'

'I was trying to protect you,' Draco said honestly.

'I don't need your protection Draco, I didn't need it in the war and I sure as hell don't need it now,' Hermione said in an angry undertone.

'Maybe you didn't need it Hermione, but I wanted to protect you,' Draco said with a sigh, 'I never exactly got to do much of it when we were at school.'

'Through no fault but your own,' Hermione muttered angrily.

'Look I know I wasn't the hero in school,' Draco said bitterly, 'that was always Potter! But you don't need to remind me of my sins every time we fight, my nightmares keep me aware of them without being reminded.'

Hermione was silent after that for a moment, 'You still have nightmares about the war too?'

Draco merely nodded.

'I thought I was the only one,' Hermione admitted with a sigh.

'No,' Draco said softly, 'I still have recurring nightmares about the people who died because of me.'

They were both silent momentarily, although the air wasn't entirely awkward.

'We're a morbid pair aren't we?' Hermione asked with a bitter chuckle.

'We've been through a war,' Draco said seriously, 'we aren't going to be perfect.'

'It doesn't affect everyone this way,' Hermione mused.

'No, Potter seems to have come away perfectly fine,' Draco said, again with a touch of bitterness.

'Harry can't get to bed without a glass of firewhiskey most nights,' Hermione said in an undertone, 'and Ron couldn't cope with living in the country his brother had died in, I think that was what drove him away…' she trailed off, 'Ginny's so protective of her kids she smothers them because of what happened in the war,' she sighed deeply, 'nobody came away untouched.'

'I'm sorry,' Draco said honestly, unable to meet Hermione's eye because in some way he felt guilty for the suffering of her friends, 'I didn't realise.'

'Don't apologise, you couldn't have known,' Hermione said, 'but if you ever repeat anything I just told you I'll curse you into oblivion.'

Draco smiled slightly and said, 'it won't leave this room.'

Hermione nodded, smiling back.

'Hermione?'

'Yeah?' Hermione said as Draco put a cup of coffee down in front of her.

'Thanks for accepting my offer to stay here, and not at Grimmauld Place,' Draco said genuinely.

'You're welcome,' Hermione said with a soft smile, 'I'm starting to realise it was the right decision to make.'

At this Draco grinned, and Hermione felt her fear of being hurt ebb away. More and more since the fire she was realising that she needed to live her life while she could and that worrying about what could happen would only make her miserable.

TBC :)

A/N: Hopefully this is getting updated regularly enough! I'm really enjoying writing it at the moment so hopefully updates should continue to be fairly frequent :)