Hermione had only been to Malfoy's place a few times since their unconventional reacquaintance months prior, but he'd added her to his floo list right away. She wasn't fully sure why he'd done it, and she hadn't wanted to seem rude so she didn't ask. She'd just been flattered and added him to her own floo list as soon as she'd gotten home. As she stepped into the floo at Luna and Harry's, she felt a tingle go up her spine. She'd never actually flooed to Malfoy's place, and to floo in without an appointment seemed to intimate.

'But it seems everyone knows that's I want anyway,' Hermione thought, her embarrassment turning to annoyance. It was one thing when Ginny was joking about it every chance she got. She could ignore that. Convince herself it was an absurd joke. Convince herself she wasn't interested in her childhood bully.

Acting like it was a big joke became a bit more difficult when everyone in your life thought you were interested in the man. Hermione had barely even come to terms with the fact that she was interested in him. Now she had to floo into his home. Great. Well, waiting longer wasn't going to change anything, so Hermione grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fire.

In moments she appeared in Malfoy's floo and was momentarily distracted by the lack of soot that followed. That didn't last long as she was almost immediately dogpiled on by Scorpius and Teddy. She let herself be pulled from the fireplace and towards a sofa. Scorpius climbed into Hermione's lap and Teddy kneeled on the cushion beside her, eyes wide with the news he knew she had.

Hermione put her arms around Scorpius and turned her attention to Teddy. "Well, Teddy, you'll be staying with me tonight, but tomorrow morning we can go and see everyone."

Teddy grabbed her arm, eyes wide and hungry for more information. "What's the baby's name? Is it a boy or a girl? Do you think it'll like me? Will I be allowed to hold it tomorrow?"

"Teddy, if you don't take a moment to breathe between sentences, when can you expect your aunt to answer you? Draco spoke up from the lush armchair he'd been lounging in since her arrival, his chin propped up in his hand and his head tilted in amusement.

Merlin, that man was handsome. She turned back to Teddy and readied herself for the big reveal.

"Well," she said, drawing the word out to really build Teddy's interest. Scorpius had turned in her lap to listen to her as well, sensing what she had to say was going to be interested. "I think Luna and Harry will be happy to show you how to hold a baby tomorrow. Babies do take a bit of time to get to know you, but I can't imagine anyone not liking you," she said, reaching out to pinch his cheek. "As for whether it's a boy or a girl, well... it seems Luna couldn't decide, so she just had one of each."

"TWO?" Teddy asked, his hair now rotating through the colors of the rainbow as it sometimes did when he was really excited. "OH MAN! Why can't we go now? What are their names?"

"It's late now, so we have to let everyone get some sleep. Horatio and Ophelia will still be there tomorrow morning."

Scorpius spoke up then, his forehead a little crinkled in confusion. He'd never heard of twins before. "If they were born at the same time, how do you know which one is which?"

"They look a lot alike, but they don't look exactly alike. You could probably tell them apart if you squint, but I bet it will get easier as we get to know them and they get older.

That seemed to put him more at ease, so he simply said "cool" and leaned back into Hermione.

Draco stood up, then. "I suppose they'll need a second crib. I'll shrink one down if you can bring it to them tomorrow."

Hermione nodded that she would and Teddy jumped up to follow Draco. "I want to help pick the crib. They're basically my brother and sister, so I bet I know what they'd liked."

Draco simply continued up the stairs, walking slowly so Teddy could keep up.

Hermione gave Scorpius a squeeze and he giggled sitting up and twisting to look at her. "How has your day been, Scor? Did you have fun with Teddy?"

Scorpius nodded. "I like having someone to play with. Teddy is so lucky. He gets two more people to play with!"

"He's your family, Scorp. You've got family in him."

Scorpius leaned against Hermione. "I guess. Do you have brothers and sisters, Mione?"

She shook her head. "I was an only child, just like you."

She was smiling, but Scorpius sighed and leaned against her. "I want a brother. Or a sister! I wouldn't be picky!"

Hermione was certain the little boy looked up at her then, his big eyes obscured by his long, pale lashes. Hermione felt like everyone was conspiring against her. The universe had lined them all up as dominos and they were finally ready to knock them over. The gods were playing pinochle and the winners would decide her fate.

For the umpteenth time that week, she silently lamented her luck. Just a few months ago she'd been hesitant to even ask Malfoy for a favor, and nowadays most of her dreams centered around Draco Malfoy in his quidditch uniform.

Or potions master robes.

Or, just once, she'd dreamt he was a ballet dancer and they'd met in the lobby after she done her annual attendance of the nutcracker.

And now, here was this man's adorable son sitting in her lap, looking at her like she could give him what he wanted. She wondered briefly if Andromeda had accidentally influenced Scor's thoughts. It was nerve wracking. Andromeda had told her to give Draco a chance. Luna had implied much the same. And she wanted to – Merlin she wanted to give dating him a shot. But how could one enter lightly into a relationship where a child was involved? The what-ifs ricocheted from one side of her brain to the next. But then she remembered what Andromeda'd said, the what-ifs stopped ricocheting and started merely bouncing. If she were very careful, they might crash into anything and cause irreparable damage.

Scorpius had briefly left her lap to grab some of the drawings he'd made since they'd seen each other last. The drawings had been stuck all around the living room with what Hermione assumed were gentle sticking charms by how easily Scorpius pulled them down. They'd been placed at awkward intervals, just low enough that Scorpius could admire his own work and high enough that his father could as well with a bit of a squat. The room was decorated in tender tokens of affection – Father's Day cards, messy scribbles and stick figure drawings, photographs of their lives together, crafts they'd made together.

The man who carefully preserved the little things that he and his son shared wouldn't enter into a relationship lightly, she was sure. She was almost certain he wouldn't freeze her out, either. She had become close to Scorpius, and the neuvo Malfoys were certainly and swiftly working their way into Hermione closest circle of friends.

Scorpius crawled back into her lap then and started eagerly gabbing about his different drawings. Hermione remembered sitting her mother's lap and showing off her drawings and early school marks in the same way. Hermione pointed out what she liked about the drawings - "I like your use of circles here" and "I think the yellow and purple together look really cool here." Scorpius beamed and preened under her praise and she smoothed his hair, brimming with affection herself.

She had been so focused on hurting Scorpius and Draco and, to be quite frank, herself that she hadn't really allowed herself to think of how things would be if for once - just one time – everything went right. It was a pipe dream, but it was one she was willing to give it a chance.

Teddy came barreling back down the steps, a shrunken crib clutched in his fist like a dollhouse accessory. Draco followed behind and leisurely lowered himself back into his armchair, watching as his son and his cousin's son fought for the attention of the beautiful witch sat on his sofa. He wondered if he might try vying for her attention as well. She would reject him, no doubt, but he could be very persistent.

And very persuasive.

Draco gets to be angsty next, don't worry.

Just ate my first enchilada ever while listening to WAP for the first time ever, so you could say I'm thriving.