3 years later:
Hermione sat down on the the loveseat at Grimmauld place glancing over at the paint swatches on the wall.
"I like the middle blue. It's very Ravenclaw, don't you think? Looks quite homey for a living room."
"Of course you do. Because you have absolutely no taste. Did you pay her to agree with you Harry? Homey. Do I want my living room to look homey?"
Harry laughed, "when will you realize that I have much better taste than you do. Pastel blue in the sitting room. Honestly, I'm shocked."
"It's not pastel blue! It is dayflower blue! There is a very large difference!"
They had been arguing about the paint for 3 weeks. Hermione had been summoned all the way from Norway to settle the argument.
"Why don't you both find a compromise? Perhaps a nice taupe would go with the color scheme."
They both looked at her like she was mad.
"Why did we call her back again? Her aesthetic is abysmal. She lives in a hut in the countryside. She's probably forgotten what a sitting room even looks like."
"Draco! I'm sorry, my publisher has really been on my arse to finish the second installment. My editor is worthless, and won't let me start on my children's book, until the second installment is complete."
She grabbed one of her books they had lying around. Draco had bought over 30 copies when she was published:
Dragon Tattoos and Everything Else You Didn't Know About Dragons: Volume 1.
It was the first of three volumes she planned to publish, alongside a fictional novel for children which used Typhoon and Snowfall as the :
Snowfall and Typhoon's Twin Dragon Adventures
She was still working on the title. Her editor was really giving her a hard time about finishing the second book.
"Will you just call her Cho? It's bad enough that Draco calls her, 'she who must not be named' but now I have to hear you call her, 'my editor all the time.' It's rubbish. It's been 8 years for Merlin sake, can't we all just forgive her now."
Draco glared, "of course we can not forgive her! She is evil and must be destroyed."
"She's not evil," Hermione agreed with Harry, "she just doesn't believe in the Oxford comma and when I purposely leave mistakes in the manuscript, she doesn't always find them. She just gets mad at me later for 'testing' her. Well honestly, I'm not sure why I need an editor anyhow."
"You need an editor to be able to publish your book. She works for the largest magical publishing group in London. She was a Ravenclaw. She is perfectly capable of editing your story."
"I knew you still had the hots for her." Draco fumed, and crossed his arms.
"Is this about the paint color?"
Oh Merlin. She didn't know why she took a red eye floo for this. Sure she hadn't seen them in a month, and that was longer than usual, but she was trying to get her fiction series off the ground!
Apparently her publisher was unsure about her ability to write fiction.
"Of course not. You just want the blue to remind you of her."
"It was one kiss Draco! One kiss a million years ago, and I didn't even like it! It was terrible in fact. I don't hold all of your ex lovers against you."
"Oliver Wood."
"Excuse me. Don't you dare bring that up! He was my keeper! He's a famous Quidditch player. There is a very big difference. Plus you actually slept with the ponce."
"Do I really need to be here for this? I need to get back to convince my publisher about my new story. And I have to go by the Burrow, you know Charlie needs help with the baby."
They stopped squabbling to look at her. Draco now wore an amused expression on his face.
"What? What is that expression? You don't think I can do it either do you? Why does no one think I can write a thrilling tale for youths?"
"Maybe because you call them youths," Draco teased.
"I'm creative." She persisted.
"Yes. You're creative. It's just that sometimes you get hung up about details and specifics, which can be a bit boring."
"I am not boring! The Daily Prophet called my first book, 'the most thrilling update on dragons in a century.' It's a best seller. My children's book will be riveting. It's a tale of women empowerment that's what it is."
"Well I look forward to reading it." Harry replied.
"Also, 'the baby' really is a stretch. It's a crup hybrid." Draco added.
"This coming from the man that calls Barnaby 'owl of my heart.' I really like his new water bowl by the way. Temperature control was a brilliant addition." Hermione grinned.
"Perhaps we can look at color samples again," Draco continued with a softer expression, "sage might be a nice compromise."
"I like sage," Harry agreed, coming over to wrap his arms around Draco.
"Are you both going to join me back at The Burrow? Charlie and I are heading back tomorrow. You don't want to see your Godpup?"
"15 minutes." Draco responded with a twinkle in his eye.
"30." Harry amended with a grin.
"Oh bollocks, not this again. Don't start that until I'm in the floo."
"Hypocrite!" Draco called out, as she flooed to The Burrow.
—
When she arrived, The Burrow was bustling with life like always. It was her favorite part about spending time here. Family. Her family.
She heard a loud commotion outside as all the grandkids wrestled with her new crup.
"Yip! Yip!" Followed by giggles.
She smiled looking around for Charlie. They had saved the crup from an illegal breeding facility they uncovered just outside of Bulgaria.
They saved hundreds of magical creatures that day and all with Lucius' help.
She had softened to the man over the years. He was an excellent resource for some of their undercover work.
Hermione hadn't even known the facility held anything else but dragons. The dragons were kept in cages and used for a dark potion ring, so they needed Lucius to be their point man from the Auror office.
He wasn't an Auror but they kept him on staff for consult work such as that. He hadn't had any slip ups since the war and seemed to truly have turned over a new leaf. Teddy helped her trust him again as well. He was now almost as decorated in dragon tattoos as she was.
She went upstairs to find Charlie. She didn't hear anyone else inside, so she would have to look outside next if she didn't find him.
She stopped when she got to the door. She heard a soft moan, and heavy breathing. Her heart rate quickened. What was he doing? It was the middle of the afternoon!
She quietly unlocked the door with her wand and peeked in through a crack.
There was Charlie in bed. Completely naked. He was wanking, giving himself a knob job, taming the dragon so to speak.
Hermione was speechless as she noticed a spell from his wand. Her spell!
"Momento temporis."
She watched the moment Charlie had chosen.
It was her. She was on the hilltop where they had taken the baby dragon. It was quite hot that day, and she was wearing a white dress that sheered with the sunshine. One strap fell off her shoulder and Charlie came up from behind her to move the strap back in place. She turned her head to smile at him.
This was what he masturbated to? A simple moment between them? She was fully clothed. It surprised her, and melted her heart a little bit.
Hermione opened the door further. Charlie let out a slight gasp, as he noticed her walk in.
"Voyeur." He teased, without stopping his hand from sliding up and down his shaft.
Hermione slowly brought her blouse over her head teasing her nipples through her bra.
Charlie liked it when she did that.
"Hermione." He whispered slowing down his movements, savoring the sight of her body as she stripped.
"That's a really sweet moment, Charlie," she spoke, "but I was thinking something more like this,"
"Momento temporis" She said thinking back to the moment she wanted.
He watched as her wand brought it to life.
They were in the throes of passion. Charlie had her propped on the desk in this very room. Her legs were wrapped around his shoulders as he slowly and deliberately fucked her.
"The desk again?" He asked her as she removed her knickers.
She smiled as she walked over towards the desk. He followed her with a predatory look on his face.
He kissed her. Every time he kissed her, she felt the same things: overwhelming passion, deep seated happiness, and a sense of peace that she was with the right man.
Her life was completely different now. She was an established author and had gained quite a bit of respect in the academic community. Charlie was still working for the reserve while following her around the world so she could complete her research.
They learned about dragons together, and she couldn't believe that she was still learning new things every day. Typhoon and Deathclaw had mated, and were currently watching over 3 dragon eggs back near their home. She couldn't wait for them to hatch and follow the new babies up from infancy. It was the perfect subject of the third installment in her series about dragons.
The baby dragon from Gringotts, who they now called Knut, was thriving with his father. They visited monthly to administer potions and ointments to the now healthy dragon clan.
She was so happy.
When they finished making love on the desk, Hermione lay in Charlie's arms in his childhood bedroom.
"Mum's badgering me about proposing again." Charlie told her while he stroked her hair.
"We both knew she would. What did you tell her?" She asked him.
"That for all intents and purposes, we were already married. Quite happy too."
She nuzzled into his chest.
Quite happy indeed.
