Hermione blinked.
Rose gawked at Malfoy. She'd never really registered he was her father. Aside from their peculiar eye colour, she never really saw him as a father figure, let alone her's.
The man, who was revealed to be the President of Magic, shook Hermione's hand. He wasn't anything noteworthy to look at. Just an average American stocky man in his 50's.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Granger. Mr. Malfoy has told me about you during his time here. I can strongly say he's a changed man and is now willing to be a family man," he said.
Hermione simply nodded, hiding her anger and avoid lashing out at this man. After all, he was the equivalent to the Minister of Magic. She didn't want to embarrass her nation. The man lead them further into the ballroom, where many people were chatting up. He lead them to their table and they all sat. Dishes had teleported to their table, just like that of Hogwarts.
Rose noticed the fried chicken on one of the platters and immediately, in a civil manner placed it on her plate. There were other things she wanted to try on the table, like the fries and the lasagna, but the chicken caught her eyes.
"Ms. Granger, I seriously hope you do consider marrying Mr. Malfoy. He has been such a pleasure to us, and I know he will treat you right," the man said. "So, Mr. Malfoy, how does it feel to finally reunite with your child?"
'I'll consider marrying Malfoy when the world ends. Over my dead body will I ever plan on living with him under the same roof,' Hermione bitterly thought.
Draco, who was sitting adjacent to Rose's left, placed his left hand on her head, petting it. Hermione bit her tongue, blocking her from cursing at the ferret. That was her baby the rapist was fondling with. Hers!
Rose's noticed his hand playing with her hair. Instinctively, she placed her arms on her plate, thinking he'd want a piece. Rosalyn Stella Granger was possessive over her food.
"You can't have any, even if you were my dad," she said, sticking her tongue at him.
The man laughed. "You got a little rascal on your hands."
Malfoy chuckled, but he secretly wanted to rip the girl's brown hair off her head. How dare she imply he'd want any of her filthy food! How dare she also mock him, in front of such a powerful figure. He'd teach her a lesson before ending her in the future.
"Has Mr. Malfoy proposed to you yet, Ms. Granger?" the President asked.
Hermione blinked in confusion.
"I'm sorry, are you talking about marriage?" she asked, trying to confirm what was going on.
The man smiled. "Why of course, Ms. Granger. Mr. Malfoy has been talking about it for a very long time with me."
Hermione shook her head. "I'm afraid I have no idea."
The man's eyes widened. "I dearly apologize. I thought with the extensive plans he has talked about, you would've known."
Hermione raised a brow. Had he been thinking of sabotaging her since he was banished?
The man shook his head. "No, no. I mustn't talk of this with such pride. If the lady doesn't know, then I must stop for the groom."
Being the curious bookworm she was, she couldn't let her mind just lose this topic. So she asked further.
"No, I insist. I need to..." she said, while slowly reaching for Malfoy's hand still on Rose's head, "... know what he said. After all, this someone whom I'm going to spend an "eternity" with" she said, pinching hard on Malfoy's hand.
Malfoy winced but the President of Magic didn't notice. He smiled.
"Well, he had agreed to propose to you in such a grand manner. He said that proposal was equivalent to your worth."
That notice of a court appearance? The one forcing her into marriage to continue mothering her soon-to-be-dead child, should Draco win? Scratch that, the court WILL favour that monster considering how much he has stepped over many people at the ministry.
"And that the ceremony will be taken place in his home, the Malfoy manor. He said that it'll mostly be his colleagues since there's not much room and you guys have agreed that his friends are more accepting towards this situation than that of your own. He doesn't want them possibly ruining your special day," he finished.
Hermione smiled, thanking him for the explanation. In reality, she was hiding her fears. Is the Malfoy manor having no room? Absurd to say the least. Hermione had heard that the manor housed Voldemort's Death Eaters. Every single one of them. That lie was something he facilitated for her to not bring any opposing parties; her friends.
Speaking of her friends, Hermione found it the most laughable at how he had insisted his friends attending but not her's. He didn't want them ruining her special day? Bollocks. Her friends would have saved her from the sham of a marriage. His friends being more accepting? Another joke in the matter. All of his friends were Purebloods, looking down upon her muggle-born blood. For them, this is just as entertaining to Draco as it is for them. Well, maybe his male friends that is. The females might disagree possibly due to their infatuation to the ferret. She could still remember how infuriated Pansy was to find out that she had mothered Draco's child. How could she be so jealous of a child conceived of hatred and lust? Her own consent had been ignored!
A marriage at the Malfoy manor. That's something she couldn't easily let go. She had a feeling the amount of magical blood disdain the manor had housed was horrible, to say the least. Hermione recalled seeing Luna's arm, being scarred by the cut that said "blood traitor"the first time she had seen her after the war. Would something like that happen to her, had she stayed with her friends? Hermione couldn't fathom the possibility, fearing the answer. She couldn't bare the thought of her forced sentence in a place filled with so much prejudice at all.
Hermione casted a detecting charm on Rose non-verbally. Should she be in any danger at this party, Hermione would apparate to her. She needed to get some fresh air and collect herself.
With that, she excused herself from the table and headed to one of the balconies. It wasn't a real balcony in New York, but the surroundings were conjured to illustrate that of the city in real time.
Grabbing the a lighter and a cig from her purse, she lit her cigarette.
"Fancy seeing you here, Granger," a voice spoke. Hermione turned around. To no surprise it was Malfoy. "I'd never take the miss goody two shoes Granger as a smoker."
She rolled her eyes. Of course, it was this git, in his stupid glory.
Malfoy, reaching into his pocket, grabbed a Cuban cigar. He gestured Hermione to give her lighter to him, which she shook her head no.
"You'd think I'd give my tormentor something? I'd never help you in any way, Malfoy," she said smugly.
Draco shrugged and grabbed his own lighter. Exhaling one last time, she stepped on her cigarette and walked passed Malfoy. She initially came outside to take a break from internal chaos from inside. In other words, Malfoy's bullshit.
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing," he said, stopping the muggle born in her tracks. "I knew you came outside to deal with what's going on. To see you smoking, The Mudblood Princess of Gryffindor, was just the highlight of this whole thing. It's funny seeing you fall down this low."
Hermione grit her teeth. How dare he say that when he put her into this situation. Hermione turned around and stomped towards Malfoy. She gripped onto his chest.
"If you do anything to hurt MY daughter, even a strand of hair, I will fucking end you."
She then swiftly grabbed onto his lit cigar and pressed it against his cheek. Malfoy moaned in agony, being paralyzed enough for Hermione to get back inside without any struggle.
Hermione walked back to her table and carried Rose onto her shoulders. Rose was startled, surprised by her mother's sudden actions.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we must get going. It is my daughter's bedtime tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow at the Bureau as promised," she apologized.
Not having any time to reply, the man just cluelessly nodded.
Hermione then got to the apparition point and apparated away. She arrived at the front entrance of their hotel and walked inside eventually reaching their hotel room. Unlocking the door, she placed her daughter on their bed.
"Mama… my bedtime isn't until another two hours," the child said. It was true. There were still 3 more hours until lights out. It made her suspicious of how her mother abruptly stopped the event. Even more suspicious with that awful tobacco smell. Had her mummy been smoking? What stressed her out to do that?
"Baby, I'm sorry. I just wasn't feeling well," her mother apologized. "I'll be taking a bath now. Would you like to join me?"
Rose's eyes twinkled and she furiously nodded her head in agreement. "Can it please be a bubble bath?" she begged. To her delight, her mother agreed. So the two of them were in the tub together, first washing. Hermione and Rose normally helped each other with lathering their bodies in soap, and with the shampoo and conditioner. Once they finished, Hermione pulled on the tub's stopper and began their bubble bath.
Hermione some bubbles on her chin area to make a bubble beard. "Guess who am I?"
"A pirate?"
Hermione shook her head. "Ho ho ho!"
Rose's eyes lightened up. "Father Christmas!" she yelled in delight.
Hermione nodded. Eventually, they got out of the tub and got ready for bed. Within another two hours to spare, Hermione decided to flip channels to watch a family movie with her eventually decided on Cheaper by the Dozen, since it was the only appropriate one available.
They laughed together and smiled together. In time, the movie had ended and Rose yawned indicating it was time to sleep. She snuggled against her mother. "Mama… I want to have a daddy like Tom Baker, not dumb Dreidel. I don't want to Dreidel to be my daddy," she mumbled then fell fast asleep.
Hermione held her daughter in a hug and stroked her beautiful brown hair. "Of course, dear. You are my daughter, and MY daughter alone."
In the end, her child didn't have a father but a sperm donor instead. He may have contributed to her genes, but he'll never be a true dad. After all, sperm donors can never be true fathers, especially one like Draco.