Disclaimer; Boy am I tired of writing the same one. Ok, I don't own Harry Potter or anything related. I am not making any money from this story (unfortunatly) So please don't sue...I have nothing anyway;)

A/N Ok, I know this Fin guy is annoying everyone. There are reasons he is being so covert, and not doing anything too rashly. The only hint I can give you is that it is NOT Lucius. Lucius is dead. Lucius is always dead in my stories because I can't write him. Fin has a job that cannot be rushed. So if he annoys you too much by popping up in the middle of chapters randomly I am sorry. Skim over that part. Love you all. Happy reading and don't forget to review!!


Halloween

The next two months flew by and before they knew it Halloween had snuck up on them. Hermione was still 'technically' living in her flat, although it seemed all she ever went there for anymore was to pick up this or that. She took her potions and greenhouse over to the manor where Draco set up a huge room for her to work in. Most of her clothing was now scattered about Draco's closet, mixed in with his things. And to top off Hermione's happiness Harry and Ginny had been over several times for dinner. The only glitch in their near perfect lives, (or so Hermione thought) was that Ron was not speaking to her still. And at that point Ron was not speaking to Harry and Ginny either. He had been away playing for the Cannons for nearly two months. On Halloween day Draco had spent the morning and part of the afternoon decorating the house for the big party he was throwing for all the children of St. Mungo's that evening. He bought several large pumpkins and carved them so that the kids could hide inside them. They were placed at points all around the nearly bare garden. Black and orange candles floated in the air and he had found some real ghosts to float above the guests as they passed through the hedge maze out back. Bats circled overhead as he was placing the last of the candy in giant bowls out back.

"That just about does it. What do you think Claire?" he asked.

"WOW!" she exclaimed. Hermione walked out the back door and smiled.

"It looks great, but I was thinking…"

"Oh not that muggle rubbish again." Draco sighed.

"Just for an hour or so, we could go in my mum's neighborhood." she said excitedly.

"It's foolish. Running door to door begging for candy. She has all the candy she could possibly want right here." he replied pointing to the several long tables with heaping bowls of acid pops, cockroach clusters, sherbet lemons, Bertie Bott's every flavor beans, chocolate frogs, licorice whips, ice mice and every other wizarding candy he could think of.

"It's not for the candy really…well if you are a muggle it is. It's just…tradition." she smiled.

"She doesn't even want to do it. Do you Claire?" he asked.

"What?"

"Put on a costume and people will give you candy. It's a lot of fun. I did it every year as a child, until I got to Hogwarts that is." Hermione replied.

"How will I get candy by putting on a costume?" Claire asked Draco.
"You take this one." he smirked.

"You get dressed up and go up to someone's door and say 'Trick or treat'."

"Why?"

"Well its an old tradition. Today, is called Samhain, or the day of the dead. People would go house to house begging and collect things, mostly food, in exchange for saying a prayer for the dead. More recently children would play pranks on people if they refused to give them a treat. Hence the saying 'Trick or treat.'"

"What?" Claire asked, completely confused.

"Never mind. Do you want to go or not?"

"Can I?" she asked Draco.

"What about the party?"

"We will be back in plenty of time. It starts at 5. We will be done by 6:30 tops."

"If you want to Claire it is fine. Don't know what you'd want with muggle candy though." he smiled.

"So what do you want to dress up as?" Hermione asked Claire.

"A princess!" she said animatedly.

"You dress like that every day." Hermione laughed. "How about something a little scarier, how about a witch?"

"I am a witch." Claire replied acting as if Hermione had lost her mind.

"Yes, but these muggles don't know that. I'll dress up too okay?"

"YEAH!" Claire shouted running up the stairs.

"How about you Mr. Malfoy?" she whispered in his ear, "what are you going to dress as?"

"I am going to dress as an annoyed man waiting for his girlfriend and his daughter to get on with the muggle nonsense and get home." he replied.

"You are no fun." she said sticking out her tongue and running up the stairs after Claire. Draco rolled his eyes and headed up after them.

'Spending a whole evening in a muggle neighborhood.' he thought. 'what a way to waste the best night of the year.'

Some half an hour later Claire and Hermione were dressed and ready to go. Claire was wearing a purple and orange 'witch' dress with a purple hat to match. Hermione went for an all black set of witch's robes and an all black hat. Hers were decorated with tiny silver specks. She finished the look with spider web stockings and glitter for her and Claire.

"How do we look?"

"Nothing like witches." Draco replied from the living room.

"Don't listen to him. Every muggle you see will know that you are supposed to be a witch."
"I thought they weren't supposed to know." Claire said looking up at Hermione as they walked down the stairs and closer to Draco.

"Ready?" she asked him.

"This is ridiculous."

"Loosen up." she told him. "We will apparate to my parent's tool shed. Then I will introduce you two before we go out."

"Great…" Draco sighed. "That makes me want to loosen up. Meeting my girlfriends parents for the first time."

"Relax. You've seen them before in Flourish and Blotts, remember?" she asked referring to the time before their second year.

"Oh, right." he mumbled. He remembered not being very nice to them on that occasion. Now he was more nervous than ever.

"Let's go. Both of you hold my hands. On the count of three. One…two…three!" and with that she concentrated on her parent's tool shed. And quick as lightning they were there. Claire scowled when they landed softly on the earthen floor. The shed was old and hadn't seen a dusting for quite some time.

"Why do we always have to go like that?" Claire moped.

"This way." Hermione said excitedly. They walked through the gate to her front yard. Her house was larger than Draco expected. Red brick with white pillars holding up the front porch. The windows were decorated with orange lights and one or both of her parents had hung gigantic fake spiders from the large oak tree in their front yard. Hermione walked up on the porch and opened the door without knocking.

"Trick or treat!" she called out. A thin build man with a heavy mustache hugged her tightly.

"Treat!" the man said. "Hermione! You didn't tell us that you would be visiting tonight. It seems like it's been ages since we've seen you!"

Hermione motioned for Claire and Draco to come inside.

"Dad, this is my boyfriend Draco and his daughter Claire. Claire, Draco this is my father, Richard Granger." she smiled from ear to ear.

"Mr. Granger." Draco said firmly grasping Mr. Granger's hand.

"Call me Richard." he replied. "And it's nice to meet you too Claire."

Claire looked at Draco and Hermione expectantly.

"It's fine Claire. This is my dad." Hermione told her.

Claire held out her hand timidly.

"She looks just like you Draco." he remarked.

"Thank you." Draco said, standing a little taller and holding Claire's hand.

"I suspect you all are here to do some trick or treating. Nice costume pumpkin." he winked at Hermione.

"Is mum home?" Hermione asked.

"She should be back any minute. She ran out to get more candy." he said. "Well come on in and have a seat. I want to learn more about the man who has gotten my little girl to leave her potions things for the night."

They all sat down in the family room. Richard turned the TV down and Hermione sat next to him while Draco and Claire sat on the love seat. Several moments of uncomfortable silence followed before Richard spoke up.

"What do you do for a living Draco?"

"I own a company that buys potion formulas then promotes and markets them. I don't do too much with it anymore. It's run by a board of directors."

"I see. Where did you attend school? I'm assuming you are a wizard." he said.

"I went to Hogwarts with Hermione. I was head boy with her."

Richard's eyebrow went up.

"Head boy? Uh, Hermione this isn't the Draco Malfoy you mentioned in countless letters is it?" he asked her.

"Yes…" she replied.

"Well that is an interesting turn of events." Richard pointed out.
"I'm not that same person anymore." Draco interrupted.

"He's not Dad. That was eight years ago and you know how I exaggerate." Hermione added.

"I didn't say anything." Richard said pleasantly. "How old are you Claire?"

"Five." she said instantly holding up five fingers.

"Were you married before Draco?" he asked casually.

"Dad!"

"It's okay. No, I have never been married."

Hermione, horrified leaned over and whispered something in her dad's ear. His eyes widened and he smiled.

"Oh, that cleared it right up. And just in time. I think I hear your mum pulling in."

Hermione leapt up off of the sofa and ran to the front door. Her mum's arms were loaded with shopping bags. Hermione grabbed the bags and set them on the counter.

"HERMIONE! You didn't tell us you were coming home! We missed you!"

"It was meant to be a surprise. I brought some guests too. We are going trick or treating around here." Hermione said as her mum hugged her tightly.

"Draco, Claire this is my mum Katherine. Mum, this is my boyfriend Draco and his daughter Claire."

Katherine's eyes widened at the word 'daughter'.

"Nice you meet you both. I need to get this candy in a bowl, can you help me?" She asked Hermione. And Hermione knew that meant 'we need to talk'. Hermione grabbed a bag and followed her mum into the kitchen.

"What are you thinking?" Her mum said straight away.

"Mum…" she replied rolling her eyes.

"A man with a child? Where is this child's mother? Did he leave her? Are they divorced? Are you ready to be a mother?" Katherine rolled off question after question.

"Mum, keep your voice down. Claire is Draco's 'adopted' daughter. She was one of the children in the ward where I work. The adoption was final last month. And to answer your last question, yes, I am ready to be her mother. Not that we are anywhere near getting married." Hermione huffed.

"Oh, well don't you think it's a bit strange a man adopting a child on his own? Maybe he did this to trap you into marrying him."

"He need not have done that. I love him. Him adopting Claire was a surprise, but he knew what he was doing. And now the two of them are inseparable. Now we are going trick or treating. It would be nice if you made an effort."

"You are right dear. You always are. I've been rude." she said walking towards the family room with a smile on her face. Hermione followed close behind.

"It's so nice to meet the both of you. Sorry about a moment ago. I had all those packages and the market was a nightmare."

"It's not a problem Mrs. Granger." Draco replied.

"Call me Katherine." she told him.

"We should be going. We can only stay out a short amount of time. Draco is throwing a huge party at his manor for the children of St. Mungo's. It's going to be quite an event." Hermione told her mum proudly as she put her arm around Draco's waist.

"That's wonderful." Katherine said.

"You and Richard should join us." Draco said suddenly.

"Really?" Hermione asked. Her face lit up.

"I would be honored." Draco smiled.

"I think we could do that." Katherine said.

"We will stop by after we are done trick or treating and we can hook up your fireplace to the floo network to get to the manor." she said happily.

The three of them walked out the front door and Katherine and Richard stayed to pass out candy. Claire was nervous as Hermione prodded her to walk up to the first house, The Smythes who had lived next door to Hermione all of her life.

"Just go up, knock on the door and say 'Trick or treat.'"

Claire looked skeptical but did as she was told. Unfortunately for her the Smythes were both dressed up for Halloween. Mr. Smythe wore a werewolf costume, and Mrs. Smythe was undoubtedly dressed as some sort of hag. When Claire rang the bell and they answered she went screaming back down the driveway to were Draco and Hermione stood with stunned looks on their faces. Tears were streaming down her face. Mr. and Mrs. Smythe took off their masks and ran down to try to comfort the girl.

"Hermione?" Mr. Smythe said. "Is she yours? I didn't know you had children. Richard and Katherine didn't say anything…"

Hermione interrupted.

"No, she is my boyfriend Draco's daughter Claire. Claire it's ok. They are just dressed up for Halloween. Remember I told you everyone dresses up?"

Claire nodded, tears lessening.

"Is this her first time out?" Mrs. Smythe asked sympathetically.

"Yes, and you are her first house." Hermione laughed. Draco didn't seem to find it quite as funny. He bent down and picked Claire up from the sidewalk and held her tightly.

"You are okay Claire." Hermione said motioning for Draco to put her down. "Ready to try again?"

"Yes." she said softly. The Smythes walked back up to the house and Claire went and knocked again. This time with no masks on she shouted

"Trick or treat!"

And the Smythes gladly filled her bag with an entire bowl of candy to make up for scaring her.

The three of them trick or treated for an hour or so. The streets were filled with people and their children dressed in all sorts of costumes. They were so busy that they didn't know that they were being followed at a far distance by a man in an invisibility cloak. By the time they arrived back at Hermione's parents house Claire was hyped up to eat candy. Hermione explained that it needed to be checked to make sure it was safe, but that when they arrived at home she could have some candy that Draco had bought.

Draco apparated home quickly and returned with some floo powder and permission to set up the Grangers fireplace with the floo network.

"Have you ever traveled by floo?" Draco asked Richard and Katherine.

"No, I have seen Hermione do it though." Richard replied.

"It's simple. Grab some of this powder here, throw it in, and say Malfoy Manor very clearly before stepping into the fire. It won't burn you, and you will arrive in my living room. Got it?"

The Grangers nodded. Hermione decided to help her mum go first. Once they were gone Draco assisted Mr. Granger and then himself and Claire followed.

Grinning the man in the cloak walked over to the Granger's fireplace. He muttered a spell that would keep the floo network open permanently. No one at the ministry would think to check if it had only been used once or more. They had enough other things on their minds. He wouldn't dare use it tonight. From what he had overheard the manor would be full of people including Hermione Granger's parents. And he knew that even Polyjuice potion could not fool someone's parents. So again it was a waiting game for him. But when he was through, he knew that he would be rewarded above all others.

The party at Malfoy manor was in full swing an hour later. Healer Maria and her husband came, along with Harry and Ginny. Ginny was now so big it was hard for her to walk. Harry assisted her over to the couch where she spent most of the party happily talking and eating whatever anyone brought her. Hermione's boss Mr. Roland came as well. All the children of St. Mungo's had a blast playing with all the things Draco had set up. As the party wound down they said good byes to the guests and Hermione helped her parents get home. Exhausted, she collapsed on the sofa and flung her witch hat onto the floor. Claire was fast asleep inside a large pumpkin and Draco carried her up the steps, not bothering to undress her and placed her in bed. Hermione met him upstairs and he entered the room as she was getting undressed.

"Now for my Halloween treat." he growled, shutting the door tightly behind him.

"Aren't you tired?" she yawned.

"No." he lied as he kissed down her neck to her collar bone. She laughed as his kisses fluttered on her skin.

"Hmmm…don't start something you can't finish Mr. Malfoy." she giggled.

He scooped her up into his arms and threw her on the bed roughly.

"When have you ever known me not to finish?" he said as he took off his shirt and pants and hopped on the massive bed. "You know, that witch costume was a huge turn on." His steely eyes were alive with passion.

"Really? I would think it would remind you of McGonagall." she laughed.

"You sure know how to kill a mood don't you." he huffed turning over on his side. Hermione stripped off the remainder of her outfit leaving only her bra and knickers along with the spider web stockings.

"I know how to get you back in the mood." she whispered seductively.

"Nope, its gone. Nothing you can do…" he started, but stopped when he felt her mouth kissing its way down his chest towards his boxer shorts. Stifling his smile he put his hands behind his head and pretended her touch wasn't affecting him. Her fingernails teased his skin as she raked them up and down his pale, smooth body and up his legs until she nearly touched his manhood, which was now making it impossible to conceal his pleasure.

"Playing hard to get I see?" she whispered in his ear. "Whatever can I do about that?"

Draco tried not to reveal his immense bliss as her hand grazed his now apparent hard on. In one silky motion she tugged off his boxers and tossed them onto the floor. Now she straddled him and pressed his hands down on the bed so that he couldn't take control as he normally did. She moved her hips so that they were grinding against his groin. He moaned aloud.

"Merlin…:" he said breathlessly. She moved aside her knickers and slid herself on top of him. His whole body twitched and she thought he had already finished.
"You okay?" she whispered.

"Mmmhmm…" he said trying to keep his composure. Hermione moved slowly, teasing him, making sure that every movement was like blissful torture to him. His grey eyes followed her every movement, maintaining eye contact with her until she leaned down to kiss him deeply. She moved her hips faster then slower and then faster again. Taking him to the point of orgasm and back every time. His body became sweaty and his breathing labored. Finally she moved in such a way that he exploded inside of her. She screamed out at the same time as he did, watching as he gripped the sheets and grabbed a pillow, biting it fiercely. Hermione caught her breath and climbed off of his still trembling body. She put her head in the crook of his shoulder and breathed in his musky scent. When Draco finally caught his breath he kissed Hermione on her forehead before saying;

"I bloody love Halloween."