TW: Reference to Vomiting/Purging
TW: Implied Biphobia

"A letter for Miss Granger."

Fennel offered up an envelope, which Hermione accepted. She took one look at the sender's address, walked over to the fireplace and chucked it in. Draco watched as the flames curled around the edges, burning the parchment. Hermione remained unbothered.

Fennel brought two envelopes on the second day, and Hermione chucked them both into the fire.

Three envelopes on the third day, all of which ended up in flames.

But then Wednesday came around and they went to Scarlett's dance studio. Theo, Tracey, and Draco were terrified walking down the block, shoulder-to-shoulder with Muggles. Would they know? Would everyone in the room sense something was off the moment they walked through the door?

Hermione was unbothered by it all. Scarlett and Sebastien thought of it as a new adventure. To them, a new place was a new place. Hermione opened the door to the studio and the rest followed, Scarlett with wide eyes and an even wider grin.

"WOW!"

Hermione walked up to the front desk and smiled politely to the receptionist. Draco frowned because it didn't look all that different from … anywhere. They had strange light fixtures and there was a background buzz Draco couldn't quite ignore, but there was nothing terribly foreign about it. Not different in the way he expected, just new. There were three studios in view, each with a half-window presumably so parents could check in on their children. The receptionist greeted them with a smile.

"Afternoon! How may I help you?"

"My name is Hermione Granger, I phoned about enrolling my goddaughter in a basics ballet class and Madison said she would give us a look around."

Draco's heart did a strange flip in his chest when Hermione said "my goddaughter." A subtle way of saying that his goddaughter was as good as hers. They didn't need a ring to prove this was a forever love. It would happen at the right time.

The receptionist teased, "I see you've brought a whole party."

"Of course," Hermione laughed. "This is Scarlett, and she will be taking ballet."

"I want to fly!"

The receptionist smiled and, yes, Scarlett's enthusiasm had that effect on people.

"This is Sebastien, her brother. These are Tracey and Theo, her parents, and her godfather, Draco."

"Lovely. Madison should be here in a moment, but I'll get you checked in …"

Draco glanced around the studio and saw a man struggling to put a little girl's hair into a ballet bun. There was a whole section of girls and parents milling about on the upper floor, yet this man was finagling with a large case of products outside one of the studios on the ground floor. Draco's heart dropped to his stomach when the man pulled out a brush clearly not meant for natural hair. He turned to Scarlett and said,

"Will you give me a tour when we come back next week?"

"Why?"

"Because I need to save that girl's hair, and I want this to be our thing we do together. You and me. You get to show me around when we come in for your first class."

"Okay!"

Draco quickly squeezed Hermione's shoulder before rushing over toward where the man was sitting. It was almost comical, because Lucius often had the same look when he was tasked with Draco's hair while he was young. It was a lot of pain and did not result in many successful braids. Draco introduced himself to the man and his little girl who looked to be around Scarlett's age, perhaps a year older. He offered his hand and said, "My name is Draco."

The girl took it and said, "My name is Naevia."

"Would you mind if I showed your father, here, how to properly put your hair into a bun?"

"PLEASE!" Her eyes went wide and she said, "He makes it look like there's a cabbage on my head!"

Draco laughed.

"This used to be her mum's thing and I, um, I never learned. My name's Peter and you're a bloody lifesaver."

Draco pulled up a chair and sat behind Naevia as her father offered up the box of hair products. Draco rifled through it and hummed.

"This should be enough for now. You've already sprayed her curls, which is good. You have to keep natural hair moisturized if you plan to use this much product." Draco grabbed the smoothing brush from the case and said, "Always begin with this. Always. You have to be gentle with her curls, otherwise you can break the strands."

Peter grumbled, "I am going to write this down."

Draco agreed, "That is a good idea. Naevia?"

"Yes?"

"My best friend has hair just like yours. He used to wear it pulled back, too."

He spent the next few minutes brushing Naevia's hair backward and chatting with Peter.

"How did you learn to do this?"

"My mum taught me to do my own hair, so I learned to do my friends' as well.

"Why are you here?"

"My goddaughter is beginning ballet next week and we needed to see the studio first, figure out what she will need. Her parents are taking her on a bit of a tour now. I would be with them, but I saw what you were about to do to poor Naevia here and couldn't stand back to watch as you ripped her beautiful hair right out of her head. Now that we have it brushed back into the general shape, you need to take this eco gel and smooth it overtop the parts we brushed, then we will brush it in as well."

"It hurts so bad when he does it!" Naevia said. "I like that he tries because none of the other mums know how to fix my hair."

"None of them have curls like yours." Draco began to brush in the gel. "That is alright, because it means no one else is beautiful in the same way you are."

"Some other girls don't like my hair."

"When I was young, everyone laughed at my hair. They said I put too much product in it, that it was too shiny, that all the braids made me look like a girl. Then all my mates got jealous when girls began asking me to do their hair."

Naevia giggled. Draco reached for a bobble in the case of products.

"Now, we pull it all back and wrap the bobble around as many times as we can, probably about four."

"You seem to be good with children," said Peter. "D'you have kids?"

"None of my own. My girlfriend and I have had our difficulties." Draco rummaged through the rest of the case for another case of gel. "Naevia, do you have anything special for your edges?"

"The green one."

"Found it. Thank you. This is important because the hair on the edges can be more coarse and it's shorter, so you need extra hold."

Peter continued to write down the steps and said, "My wife died a couple months ago, and this is only our second ballet class since."

"Oh," Draco gently patted Naevia on the shoulder, "I am truly sorry to hear that. You are very strong to come back to class this soon. Did your mother do your hair?"

Naevia nodded.

"She was really good."

"Do you want to tell me about her?"

"She was funny. She made me laugh. Mum always made jollof rice on Tuesdays and we went to the shops on Saturdays. I miss her."

"Perhaps one day you can help Scarlett and me go to the shops for ballet clothes. I fear I may be a bit out of my depth."

Naevia insisted, "It's not hard. You just need shoes, tights, two leotards—"

"Two?" asked Draco.

Peter clarified, "One pink and one black. If you truly want help, we can show you where to go."

Draco divided Naevia's hair into two sections and said, "That would be nice. Now, here is your mistake." Draco pulled out one of the pins. "Someone with thin, straight hair like me can use smaller pins. Naevia's curls, however, require longer, wider pins. I can get by today with these, but you should pick up larger pins." Draco began to pin sections of hair to Naevia's head. "Right now we just need to give it a general bun shape."

"Noted." Peter scribbled another line. "Why are you so adamant to help me out?"

"My mother and father were not the best parents." Draco frowned. "To be honest, they were rather horrible at times. But my mother taught me to do my hair and those were the moments when we were able to slow everything down and talk about what was bothering me. Especially when my father was gone, those were the only moments we connected. This is what my mum did for me, and Naevia needs you to do this for her."

"No more cabbage!" insisted Naevia.

Peter laughed and agreed, "No more cabbage."

Draco found a hair net and twisted it twice over the bun before continuing to pin it into more of a round shape. As it began to form, Peter seemed to find more questions.

"You said you and your girlfriend had difficulties. Do you mind if I ask what you meant by that?"

"You can ask. I am not certain how much of an answer I am willing to give."

"How long have you been together?"

"In total, about six or seven months. We've known each other fifteen years, but dating was never anything either of us considered until it happened. We finally got together and three months later we had a domestic."

"Oh."

Naevia asked, "What's a domestic?"

"My girlfriend hurt me so I had to leave." Draco was quick to add, "It was an accident, but you can never let anyone treat you with less respect than you deserve."

"But you got back together?" asked Peter.

"We did, because she worked to get better. She made herself safe for me again, and I love her with everything I have. All the usual rubbish, you know? She completes me, two halves of a whole, except I'm more like a third and Hermione is two-thirds."

"My wife was like that. She was so out there, larger than life, always turned heads when she walked into a room."

"The sort of woman who has everyone asking, 'How did she settle for you?'" guessed Draco.

"Exactly."

"I am right there with you, my friend." Draco patted Naevia's bun then told her to go look in a mirror. "Your daughter is wonderful."

"She's like her mum. So big and bright, but ballet's not exactly the most accepting place for a girl who looks like Naevia. She wanted it so badly, my wife went to five studios before we found this one. Naevia goes in and doesn't see anyone who looks like her, no teachers, no students, not even the bloody receptionist. My wife wouldn't let her give up, this was their thing. Naevia is good at it, too. She can pirouette with the best of them."

"I have a feeling the learning curve is steep here."

"Yes—"

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Naevia ran back to Draco and jumped up to give him a hug. "It looks AMAZING!"

"Like a real bun, yeah?"

"Like a perfect bun!"

Scarlett came rushing over just as Draco placed Naevia back on the ground. She tugged on the leg of Draco's trousers and insisted,

"You are going to love it here! It has a window so you can watch me in class!"

"Amazing."

Sebastien stayed back by his parents, clutching his book to his chest, glancing anxiously over at Naevia then quickly away. Draco grinned. He nodded for Hermione to come closer and said,

"Hermione, this is Peter, I only just managed to rescue his daughter's curls. Peter, this is my girlfriend, Hermione Granger."

She shook his hand and offered a polite hello. Peter's brow furrowed and Draco could almost see the question making its way through his mind. How the bloody hell did a woman this small manage to hurt the man standing in front of me? Fortunately for everyone, he did not say that aloud.

"Good to meet you."

Draco motioned for Naevia to come forward and he introduced her to the twins.

"This is my new friend, Naevia. She will be in Scarlett's class next week. Naevia, these are my godchildren. Scarlett will be in your class, and Sebastien is her brother."

Naevia hugged each of them in turn, and Sebastien's cheeks turned pink.

"Hi!"

"Hi!" Scarlett said. "I like your dress."

"Thanks! It's a leotard."

Peter laughed and added, "It was nice to meet all of you."

"You know," said Tracey, "the twins are having a birthday next month, you and your daughter should come."

"Absolutely."

Draco shook Peter's hand again. "Be seeing you."

As they walked out of the studio, Theo admitted,

"That was not nearly as awful as I expected it to be."

"Yeah!" Scarlett said. "Muggles are fun."

"I've been telling people as much for decades," Hermione teased, "yet nobody believed me."

Tracey added, "Even Sebastien found something he liked."

Seb admitted, "She was pretty. I liked her bun."

"Can't believe I've turned Draco Malfoy into a dance mum," said Hermione. "Next thing you know, you'll have girls lining up to do their buns. It'll be third year all over again."

Draco insisted, "It is dance-mum-slash-coach."

"Right, right, because you'll do her hair and teach her to grand jete."

"I don't know what that is," said Draco, "but I will learn."

.oOo.

Four letters came for Hermione on Thursday. Hermione thanked Fennel then grumbled,

"What the hell does she want?"

Draco asked, "Who are they from?"

"My least-favourite person in the world." Hermione ripped open one of the envelopes and began to read. "Truly, she continues to find inventive ways to make my life miserable."

Draco watched as Hermione read through the letter. Apparently not satisfied, she read it through another time before bursting into a fit of laughter.

"Oh my God! He is ridiculous. They are meant for eachother; they are both completely mad."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Evidently, Ron and Alicia had a massive row and he is staying with Harry and Ginny until she repairs our relationship. Whatever that means. Do you know what that means?"

"Not a clue."

"She is six months pregnant and he just … left?" asked Hermione. "It doesn't sound like him. The leaving does, of course, just not 'while pregnant.' He's always wanted kids. Loads of kids. He wouldn't leave unless it was a last resort so Alicia must be desperate. She asked me to visit as soon as possible."

Draco shrugged and offered, "Why not go now?"

"Now?"

"Are you busy?"

"You have to come with me."

"Why would you want me to come with you?"

"Because I care about not hurting you." Hermione admitted, "Alicia has the uncanny ability to say things to me that make me forget proper manners. To say things that make me forget who I am just long enough to do something rather stupid. Obviously, when I lose control, things can get violent rather quickly so I need a reason to not lose control."

"You believe you won't hurt Alicia if I am watching you?"

"I won't risk losing control if you are in the room. Plus, I'd like to rub her nose in the fact that I have a gorgeous boyfriend who loves me and isn't sleeping on someone else's li-lo."

Draco was oddly flattered.

"Right, I'll put on something sexy, then. What do you suggest?"

"Are you really asking?" Hermione raised her eyebrows and revealed, "If you are asking, I do have a favourite look."

"You do?"

"The navy button-down, the fitted one? Then that camel-coloured coat and a tight pair of jeans. You wore it a few weeks ago and I thought, 'Wow.' You're gorgeous, but I hadn't realized you could take my breath away with such little effort."

Draco blushed.

"How can I say no to that?"

"Can I be honest?"

"Lie to me."

"I don't want you to come."

"The truth, then?"

Hermione sighed and admitted, "I dealt with Ron's emotional infidelity for years, and she enabled it. I want her to look at you and think, 'This is the one man I can't take from her.'"

"Hermione," Draco kissed her cheek and said, "the only person who can ever pull us apart is you."

.oOo.

"Nearing seven months now."

The Weasleys' home was nicer than Draco expected. It was not unlike Trace and Theo's, with its three bedrooms and toys scattered about. Alicia led them to the sitting room where Draco sat next to Hermione on the sofa, wondering how worried he should be. Hermione hadn't even bothered with a fake smile, contempt clearly written across her face. She asked,

"What do you need?"

"Well I would like to have my husband back in our house. So, I apologize."

"What are you apologizing for?"

Alicia sighed and said, "I'm not sure. Ron wanted me to apologize for, as he put it, fucking up one of his deepest friendships and continuing to play games with our marriage."

"Then apologize for it."

"I did."

"No, you didn't."

Draco tentatively placed his hand on Hermione's thigh as if to say, Keep yourself steady.

Alicia insisted, "I just said that I am sorry."

"Sorry for what, exactly? For sleeping with my husband before I'd signed the divorce papers?"

"Well, Ron had signed them—"

"Are you sorry for having an emotional affair with my husband the entire time we were married? Are you sorry for keeping Ron away from me at Christmas? Are you sorry for breaking up with him the first time or for not inviting me to the wedding or for insinuating Draco is worth nothing more to me than his money? Please, take your pick."

Alicia frowned.

"I don't know what you mean when you say we were having an emotional affair."

"I mean that he would be fucking me and thinking about you!" Hermione shouted. "God, how humiliating! He never wanted to come home to me, he always wanted it to be you. And you never told him no. You let him believe there was a possibility of a relationship even though we were married. You never bothered to set him straight because you wanted it, too. Both of you made me into the villain I never asked to be."

"I made you into a villain? What would you say you have done to me, Hermione?"

"You made yourself into the baddie here. You know what?" Hermione stood up. "This is a waste of time and I don't know why I bothered. I should have just let you keep sending letter after letter—"

"Hermione." Draco cautioned, "Remember why you came."

"Why did you come?" asked Alicia. "I never expected you to."

Hermione huffed, "I came because I refuse to come between a marriage the way you did mine. Against all reason, Ron still loves you. He loves Rose and he will love your second child just as much. I don't want your kids to blame me for their parents' divorce, and I don't want to keep tiptoeing around you at every bloody holiday! I am trying to move on and keep Ronald in my life, and you continue to make that all but impossible!"

"Because it's always 'Hermione and Harry.' The deep conversations always happen with the two of you. If Ron has a problem, he goes to Hermione because Hermione solves everyone's problems, doesn't she? Ron and I have a fight? He goes to talk to Harry about it. Ron doesn't know why Rose keeps sneezing? Before he goes to a Healer, he goes to you! He chose you over me the first time and I hate that he still does."

"You are pregnant with his second child and you want me to believe Ron has ever chosen me over you?"

"Well he's not here, is he?"

"Of course he is not here, because he is giving you a chance to repair the damage you have done!" Red sparks flew from Hermione's fingertips. "The chance that he never gave me!"

Draco was out of his seat without a second thought. He grabbed Hermione by the arm and led her through Alicia's front door. He pulled it closed and told Hermione to,

"Take a walk."

She looked up at him with wide eyes and asked, "Why?"

"Because you brought me here for this reason, Hermione. I love you and I will always, always love you enough to tell you when I believe you are about to make a decision you will regret. You have done so well these past several months, controlling your anger, making it manageable. You have made yourself safe and now you are in a situation where you aren't in control. I am telling you to take a walk and cool off before something awful happens."

Hermione shook her head and stared at the ground.

"Why does he love her so much?"

"I don't know. Why do you love me so much?"

"Because you are the person I want at my side, doing this, holding me through everything—"

"And Weasley wanted a family that you couldn't provide because you have bigger things to do. Weasley has already saved the world, but you won't stop until you have changed it. So take a fucking walk, Hermione, and I will be here when you get back."

"I can't leave you with her. She will find another way to make you doubt this relationship, Draco, I know she will. Alicia plays games."

Draco tucked some of Hermione's hair behind her ear and said, "I've survived worse."

"Yes," Hermione laughed, "I suppose you have."

"Ten minutes, deep breaths, think about why you came and what Weasley stands to lose if Alicia can't fix this."

Hermione nodded and walked away. Draco returned to find Alicia staring up at the ceiling.

"She wouldn't hurt me, you know."

Draco sat on the sofa and admitted, "I thought the same thing. Hermione loses herself in those moments, and it does not matter what you believe she will or will not do."

Alicia smiled sardonically and said, "You are quite defensive of her."

"I love her and I support her."

"If you truly supported her, you'd leave her. Don't suppose you have seen this week's edition of Witch Weekly?"

"I have no interest in reading that drivel."

"This week you might." Alicia Summoned a copy from the dining room table and tossed it in Draco's lap. "Whatever you and Hermione have been doing, I believe that you're genuinely in love with her. At least in a way Ron never was. But you completely bungled the optics."

Draco glanced down to see a photo of Hermione on the cover, hiding her face from one of the photographers when they'd gone out to Diagon Alley a week prior. The caption read, "HERMIONE IN HIDING?" He flipped to the cover story and began to read.

Last December Hermione Granger left her cushy Ministry job to move into Malfoy Manor. She is living with her boyfriend, Draco Malfoy, and has hardly been seen in public during the past three months. The Malfoy estate and Ms. Granger each released similar statements saying Hermione had bigger aspirations than waiting for Kingsley Shacklebolt to retire, but what if there is more? There are only three options to consider.

1) Hermione Granger has given up on her dreams.

2) Hermione Granger is under an Imperius Curse.

3) Hermione Granger is ashamed that she has fallen in love with a reformed Death Eater.

Now, it's no secret Draco Malfoy is beyond satisfactory between the sheets. Could Hermione Granger simply be staying home to enjoy the best thing Malfoy has to offer? Perhaps, but why leave her job? Why would she quit after working for years to get where she was?

Harry Potter was contacted for this story and he declined to comment. Ron Weasley sent back a single piece of parchment with more expletives than this reporter has ever seen on one page. The Malfoy estate sent over a statement that read:

"We are proud to have Hermione Granger as part of our family."

Ask yourself, what are the odds that our Golden Girl would willingly accept a family as disgraced as the Malfoys? No matter how good Draco Malfoy might be on the job, is it worth risking her reputation? Is he worth much of anything at all? Or is this an elaborate scheme by the Malfoys to clean up their name?

Malfoy and Granger were finally spotted in public last week, hand-in-hand, Hermione unwilling to even leave Draco's side. Now, does that sound like the Hermione Granger we know to be a hero? To me, it seems Hermione Granger is not herself, relying on a man who has never proven himself to be much more than a Death Eater whore. Minister Shacklebolt should order an inquiry into the Malfoy estate, and have Aurors perform a wellness check on Hermione Granger to ensure she has not, as we all suspect, been Cursed.

Draco stared at the page. All he tried to do was make the manor a place he and Hermione could call home. A place where they could be together away from prying eyes while they each recovered from a war they'd been pushing off for nearly ten years.

"Nothing more than a Death Eater whore."

That broke him. Knowing thousands of people would read that sentence and agree with it … Draco didn't know what to do. Everything inside of him went numb as he tried to think through how to handle this. Alicia's voice eventually broke through the cacophony.

"Look, I know you're not who they say you are. Hermione is too strong to fall for someone like that, but you have got to get your shit together, Malfoy. If you want any chance of success at this, and if you ever tell Hermione this I'll deny it, but nobody is going to believe she loves you unless they see it with their own eyes. You have to show them, because this will keep happening until you do."

Draco tossed the magazine down on the table.

"I can't be good enough for her."

"You can be!" insisted Alicia. "And I need you to be, because I can't lose Ron and have him run back to her. I can't fucking do it, Draco, so you have to be good enough. I don't know how to prove to everyone that you two are a true thing, but you need to find a way."

"And you have to find a way to apologize," snapped Draco. "You need to tell her that you know what you did was wrong."

"It wasn't wrong."

"Yes it was! You were wrong to lead Weasley on, and it was wrong of you to not give Hermione a grace period. She still doesn't entirely believe that I think about her in our most intimate moments because Weasley nearly ruined her ability to trust. So apologize and I will fix my own shit, Alicia."

"Fine."

Hermione came back a couple minutes later to find the two of them in the middle of a staring contest. She frowned and sat next to Draco on the sofa.

"Is everything alright?"

"I am sorry for getting between you and Ron," said Alicia. "It was wrong. And I should be cordial from now on, because he does consider you and Harry to be his closest friends. I want him to be happy, and you're part of his life so I will accept that. You being part of his life, I mean."

"That seems too easy."

"Your boyfriend is persuasive."

Hermione smiled.

"He's cute, too." She noticed the magazine on the table and asked, "What's this?"

Alicia replied, "That is your PR problem."

Hermione picked it up and read through the article.

"I see." She placed it on the table and said, "I will fix this. And I accept your apology, Alicia, because I think we could both use a second chance at this."

"You'll tell Ron to come home, then?"

"I will tell him you apologized. Whatever he decides to do with that is not up to me." Hermione held out her hand to Draco and said, "Let's go home."

.oOo.

Draco sat on the edge of their bed and toed off his shoes. Hermione wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him for a minute before he said,

"Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

"I know today was difficult for you, but I need you to be strong for me right now."

Hermione hugged him even tighter and insisted, "I will always be as strong as you need me to be. Besides, you aren't powerful enough to keep me under an Imperius Curse."

"That was not my most pressing issue with the article."

Hermione sat next to Draco and took his hand.

"Two years ago, my only dream was to become Minister for Magic. I felt that was the only way for me to make genuine change in the world, to be in that seat of power. Then you came into my life and showed me I have more power than I realized. I watched you with that little Muggle girl yesterday and saw that I already have made a difference. We opened Scarlett up to something she never would have known she wanted to do. Sebastien will get a new friend out of it. Theo and Tracey will learn to be part of the Muggle world as much as their children need them to be, just the way Muggle-borns are expected to do in this world. I did not have to be Minister to do that, I only had to be Hermione. I only had to be what you say that I am."

"That does not mean I am worth anything, it only proves that you are."

"Where would I be without you?" asked Hermione. "I would be shoulder-deep in paperwork at the IMC. I would be alone, with no idea that I could have a family like the one you have given me. I gave up on my dream of being Minister because I found a better one with you. I don't know where my life is going other than one day soon you will be down on one knee asking me to marry you. When you do, I will finally get to say yes to a man that I know loves me more than anyone else."

"I do. I love you so much, Hermione, and that is the only reason I am here and not at the toilet."

Hermione sat on Draco's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"There. Now if you want to purge, you have to take me with you."

Draco laughed.

"I am serious, Hermione, I feel completely worthless. 'Nothing more than a Death Eater whore.' That is what people think of me. And that is the man you want to marry?"

Hermione pushed up Draco's left sleeve and said, "I see no Mark." She gestured to the room and asked, "Where are all of your women? Where are your men?" Hermione slowly unbuttoned Draco's shirt and tentatively ran the pads of her fingers across the scars on his chest. "You paid for the mistakes you made. I will find a way to show everyone just how much I love you."

"Right now, I don't feel worthy of it."

"That's alright, my compassionate, strong, supportive boyfriend. I am here until you do."

"They said you should be ashamed of me."

"Never. I am so proud of the man you have become, Draco Malfoy."

Draco pulled her close and asked, "You promise?"

"I promise."