Hello darlings!

So I got a beta-reader (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Seiftis-forevs-47), so hopefully it'll be easier for more of you to read this story through.

Once again, thank you all for reviews, and I really hope you will enjoy it until the end. (and please, do review again and again; it makes me happy!

Disclaimer: All belongs to J.K Rowling, and I cannot thank her enough for write this amazing piece of work!

Hard ways to live by

Draco had more than once, caught himself staring at Hermione. The way she smiled when she played with Rose, the way her hair fell down in ringlets on her shoulders and mostly the way her eyes shone whenever she looked at him. He had been determined to keep it family-friendly with her, and he had soon realized how hard it would prove to be.

"Hermione?" She shot him a look and hummed an answer, looking down into her book again. Draco sighed and sat down on the armrest of the couch she sat on.

"I was wondering… Should we, you know, do something?" She raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"Sure. What do you have in mind?" He shrugged. "Maybe dinner?" She placed her book carefully on the table again, looking at him long after.

"Okay… Why? Not that I mind it, but I was merely wondering why on earth would you want to do that?" She groaned as she stood up – her ribs still not quite healed – and placed her hands on her hips, peeking over her shoulder to their daughter, who was playing with her new doll house.

"I don't know. I'm hungry. And we don't have too much alone time any more, I mean." He hesitated. "Plus, I would… I mean, I want to go out. On a real date." Hermione smiled.

"We can do that. I would like it very much." He smiled back at her. She turned and walked to her daughter.

"Sweetie? Do you want to play with Lisa today?" Rose stared at her mother.

"Why?" She asked. Hermione sighed.

"Because Draco and I have to do some grown-up-things." Rose nodded. "Okay." She turned back to her doll house, and Hermione turned to Draco again. "Do you want to call Lisa, then?"

He grinned. "I already did. She's bringing her boyfriend, though." Hermione furrowed her brows, and Draco couldn't help but smile at her expression.

"Her boyfriend? I've never heard of him." She said, looking intently at Draco.

"Yeah, I know. It's new, but pretty serious from what I gather. He's nice, though – his name is Fabian."

Hermione considered. "Do you think it would be better if we…"

Draco cut her off. "No, Hermione, it's settled. I promise, it's going to be fine." He hugged her, and she snaked her arms around him, breathing in his perfume (Sounds effeminate {female} would you rather aftershave or deodorant these sound more masculine {male} just saying).

"Fine. When are they going to be here?" She asked, voice muffled against his shirt.

"In fifteen minutes." She nodded against him, her hair tickling his chin.

Precisely fifteen minutes later, Lisa and Fabian arrived. Lisa immediately hugged Hermione and introduced her to her boyfriend with a smile.

"Hermione, this is Fabian Dolché. My boyfriend." Hermione smiled at the man and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Fabian." Hermione couldn't shake the feeling of something being wrong about him, but she dismissed it as a general feeling of uncertainty towards a new person to watch her daughter. She felt like she had met him before; the searching, blue eyes seemed like something she wouldn't have forgotten. But he was tall, brown haired and had a slight similarity to Justin Finch-Fletchly from the Ravenclaw-house from their Hogwarts days. She shook her head slightly to rid herself of the thoughts.

"Rose? Would you come here for a second?" Rose looked up from her doll house, now looking like the inside of their house – dolls matching, expect for one, little doll – another baby. She stood up and walked to her mother, who took her in her arms.

"Fabian, this is Rose. Rose, this is Fabian, Lisa's friend. He's going to be here too today." Rose smiled sweetly at the man.

"Hello, Rose, nice to meet you." He shook her tiny hand, and she giggled.

"Hi, Fabi." She yawned.

"Okay, Lisa, Rose needs to nap soon, but I need to change first. When we are gone, you can tuck her in, okay?" Lisa nodded.

"Hermione? Why didn't you tell me you guys had got married?" She sounded disappointed.

Hermione sighed and laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I'll explain it all when we get back."

Draco emerged from the kitchen, already dressed. "Hermione, dear, we need to go, or we'll miss our reservations."

Hermione nodded. "I just need to change." She pecked his cheek, earning a giggle from both Rose and Lisa, and a surprised look from Draco.

She couldn't decide what to wear; she had no idea where they were going, nor how on earth she should dress. She finally decided on a green dress hugging her curves with a groan, and sat down at her vanity to apply a light touch of make-up and put her wild curls in a bun. She nodded to herself while thoughts ran through her head, and she finally decided it was enough – she and Draco were only friends, so why should she dress up too nicely? Although she rather wanted to do so, she was sure Draco wouldn't even notice. She quickly pulled a pair of black high heels out from under her bed, and walked to the living room again, where laughter was emitting from.

"I'm ready." She said quietly. Draco smiled at her.

"Let's go then." Hermione nodded, walking to her daughter.

"Rose, be nice. Lisa will put you in bed soon, okay?" She kissed the top of her head, and turned to Lisa. "Remember, no sweets before bed – and no matter what, do not give her anything coated in sugar. She'll never fall asleep if she gets that."

Lisa nodded and laughed. "Relax, Hermione, I know what I'm doing."

Hermione laughed and turned to Fabian, still on edge with him. "Thank you for helping Lisa out. Rose can be a mouthful." He nodded.

Hermione took Draco's outstretched hand and left. Before closing the door, she called for Lisa.

"Call me if ANYTHING goes wrong, okay?" She searched her friends face. Lisa nodded, and waved as the pair left.

"Draco, where are we going?" Draco shushed her as they drove down the road. Hermione huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I hate surprises." She murmured.

Draco chuckled. "I know." He stated. They drove in silence for some time, and finally reached a small inn at the breaches of a forest. "Here we are then." Draco said, suddenly feeling nervous – quite unlikely for him. He groaned at himself, cursing himself for getting nervous. It was only a friendly date, and it's only Hermione, he told himself, but that merely stirred the butterflies in his stomach even more.

He helped her out from the car, and she let her hand rest in his as they entered the inn. Hermione gasped.

There were no people inside; a single table with two candles stood in the middle of the room, a soft tune flowed out from the speakers around the inn. Everything was perfect. She smiled at Draco who smirked and led her to a chair.

A waiter came from the corner of the inn, a small smile on his face.

"I'm Marty, and I'll be your waiter for the evening. Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked as he placed their menus in front of them. Hermione thought for a bit.

"An apple martini?" She asked hesitantly.

He nodded and turned to Draco. "And you, sir?"

Draco thought for a moment. "A glass of red wine would be nice. It doesn't matter which one." He ended and looked at Hermione. She smiled at him, a faint blush colouring her cheeks.

"Thank you, by the way." He looked at her quizzically. "For this, I mean. I haven't been on a date in such a long time, so thank you."

He smiled. "Not a problem."

Hermione pondered for a minute when Marty came back with their drinks and quickly left again.

"Draco, can I ask you something?" He nodded, taking a sip of his wine. "Why are you doing this? I mean, both the dinner and me and Rose staying at your place… I just do not (can be changed to don't if you want to) quite understand why." He blushed, which he hoped Hermione didn't notice; she did notice though and smiled. "Just tell me." She enquired.

He sighed and placed his glass on the table. "Honestly?" He chuckled. "Well, I may have been a spoiled, annoying git when I was younger, but it's changed. See, the… uhm, night we made Rose, to put it nicely, I realized something. I realized I could do so much more with my life, you know? I never really considered anything but Voldemort and my Father and their wishes for me. Or orders, would be a better word to use. And I just finally saw my future without Voldemort or my father, you know?" He took a sip again. "And when I saw you again… It was all coming back. I acted like a prick, and it was simply because of my memories. That day, in the Manor where you got caught? I remembered that very vividly. And it came back. Your screams and everything. And I just decided to help you. Because you looked just about as broken as you did then."

Hermione stared at him.

"What?" He asked after a minute.

"I didn't know I meant so much." She shrugged.

"Hermione, you mean so, so much. I won't try to tell you that you redeemed me, because that was my own doing, but you helped me along the way. I may still be a self-centered prat with an ego larger than life, but I can fit you into my life as well. Plus it was getting lonely." She laughed and leaned over the table to hug him.

He looked dumbfounded at her. "What was that for!?" He asked.

"For being you." She simply said as Marty came back. They ordered their food and sat back quietly while they waited.

"Why did you say yes?" He asked her.

She pondered for a bit. "I wanted to be with you."

They smiled at each other.