A/N: I had a productive weekend *jumps for joy* and have written through chapter 7. Does that mean I'm going to have time to edit and publish all those this week? No, no it does not. (I'm not about to drop a first or even second draft, sorry not sorry.)

I should be able to commit to editing chapter 5 and getting it out this week. I hope you're enjoying the slow burn, because I'm enjoy it. Sigh, off to go write more chapters and dig my heels into editing.

Chapter 4, Dinner with the Potters

Hermione held her hand up to shade her eyes from the bright light of the setting sun behind the block of flats that contained the Potter's residence. Next to her, was a jumping and wiggling little girl who was beyond words excited and ready to be spoiled by her godfathers.

"Mummy, do you think Uncle Harry and Uncle Theo will play dragons with me? I brought my purple dragon that Uncle Theo got me for my birthday to make him happy. Do you think Uncle Theo will be happy mummy?" Hermione grinned down at her sweet daughter. She never could help but laugh occasionally at her daughter's American accent.

Growing up in New York, it hadn't been surprising that Aurora would have an American accent instead of one to match Hermione's. Now living back in England, when they would go out shopping or to eat, it made people do a double take when they would see the mother-daughter duo. Don't look alike (sans hair) and don't even have the same accent, Hermione couldn't count the number of times she'd been called Aurora's nanny by different people when they would go out in public.

"Yes, Uncle Harry and Uncle Theo are going to be tickled to bits that you want to play dragons with them. You should make Uncle Harry tell you about the time he had to get an egg away from a dragon. Uncle Theo loves that story." He didn't, Theo despises (and with a passion) any story that involves Harry's life being in mortal peril. Hermione honestly questioned what brought the couple together to begin with and what they possibly could have discussed in the early days of their relationship, because Harry spent the majority of his childhood trying to not die it felt like. Even as an adult, Harry had gone on to be an Auror, causing even more stress in Theo's life.

"Oh, and when you and Uncle Harry and that other man rode a dragon out of that bank! Remember Mummy, how you rode a dragon?" Hermione and Aurora were riding on the lift that would take them to the fifth floor where Harry and Theo's flat was. Hermione couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her when Aurora would connect different topics that Harry had told her over the years about their adventures with Ron.

Stepping off the lift, Hermione followed behind a skipping Aurora until they stood in front of the door that had the gold numbers "503" on the outside. Aurora couldn't even be bothered to knock and wait for one of her Godfather's to answer the door, instead the little girl swung the door open and called into the empty entrance "UNCLE HARRY, UNCLE THEO, YOUR PRINCESS IS HERE!"

Slapping her hand to her forehead, Hermione had to stiffen the giggle that threatened to erupt from her throat. Covering it with a cough, Hermione reached out a hand to lay on Aurora's shoulder to slow the child down. Once she had turned and was looking up at her mother, Hermione shook her head to indicate that her behavior was not okay.

Instantly Aurora's eyes grew larger and swelled with tears, making Hermione strain herself to keep from rolling her own. Aurora was a master of laying the guilt on thick, just another fine trait that her daughter had gotten from her insufferable father.

Before Hermione could even attempt to verbally reprimand her child, a gasp was heard from the cased opening of the entrance they were standing in. Looking up Hermione couldn't stop the eye roll at the dramatics that her best friend was putting on for his goddaughter.

"Princess Rory!" Harry swung the petite child, who was now giggling, into his arms and swinging her around before tucking her against his chest in a crushing hug, causing a squeal of delight to burst from the child. "Your mummy isn't being mean to you, is she?"

"Mummy doesn't think that I should just walk into your house, Uncle Harry. Can you tell Mummy that I can walk into your house? You said it was okay, didn't you, Uncle Harry?" Hermione squinted her eyes at her friend who at least had decency to look a little guilty in giving his goddaughter permission to forgo the manors that Hermione had worked so hard to instill in her child.

"Well, yes I – er – you see Mione, that thing is" Theo, must have known that Harry had dug himself into a hole, and chose that moment to appear at his husband's side.

"Our home is also our princess's home. I wouldn't expect Harry to knock and wait for me to answer when he comes home from work, therefore when our darling princess arrives, she shouldn't have to stand at the door and wait for someone to come and get her." Theo's blue eyes were sparkling with the mischief that always seemed to be present when he spoke to Hermione. Yes, heavens forbid that Aurora Jean ever have to wait for something when her godfathers are involved.

"Fine, but Aurora, when we go to other's people's homes we have to knock and wait for them to answer the door and let us in. Just because we were invited to come over someplace doesn't mean that we can just let ourselves inside, okay?" Hermione wasn't going to argue with Harry and Theo on this particular topic, it was their home after all. Sensing Hermione was done talking about manners, Aurora just gave a curt nod to her mother and turned all her attention back to her uncles.

Aurora got a gleam in her eyes that they all knew was a sign of mischief to come. Before she said a word, Theo's face had dropped from the smug look that he had carried in with him to that of dread. Hermione knew exactly what was coming next before Aurora even opened her mouth. "Uncle Harry, can you tell me about when you had to get an egg from a dragon? I brought my dragon so that we can play together."

"Of course, my sweet, now as you know Uncle Harry was entered into what is known as the Triwizard Tournament…" Harry had already turned and was walking down the hall, still carrying his goddaughter as he recounted the tale from their fourth year to his captivated audience. Hermione couldn't help the laugh that had erupted from her at the look of discomfort on Theo's face.

"Granger, as always you play dirty. Remind me how it is you weren't sorted into Slytherin." Hermione joined Theo as they walking into the kitchen where he had dinner cooking.

"Muggleborn, pretty much disqualified me instantly regardless of my other charming qualities."

"Ah yes, technicalities. Such a shame, could have used you to win the house cup." Hermione couldn't help another laugh coming from her. This always happened when the two of them had this exchange. It had started after he found out that in their fourth year what she had done to Rita Skeeter by keeping her in a jar and blackmailing her with her status as an unregistered Animagus. He had already known about how she had lured Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest and had her carried away by Centaurs. That night, Theo had sworn up and down that she was one of the most Slytherin people he'd ever met. He also swore that was one of the highest compliments he could give her.

Hermione followed Theo over to the stove where he was finishing up putting together their roast chicken and the sides. Hermione knew that Harry was a simple man when it came to food, he could live off take away and he'd be perfectly happy. Theo, on the other hand, had much more refined tastes and had taken up cooking as a hobby after the war and was an excellent chef for it.

Aurora shared the same sentiments about food as the former.

While Theo was putting the finishing touches on their meal, Hermione couldn't help but spy a very familiar pesky red box that Aurora ate from maybe a bit too often sitting on the island waiting to be plated for the girl.

"I can't deny my princess, so don't even ask me to."

"You got her chicken fries, you know she would be perfectly content eating the meal that you prepared, right? She does it all the time at home, you know, where I cook meals that aren't just fried chicken nuggets and chips." Chicken fries were Aurora's favorite meal that she had been introduced to by Beth at every fast-food drive thru in New York City. The same order, from every place (chicken nuggets and fries). There were a few American words that Aurora just never gave up, regardless of Hermione's insistence of correcting her.

"She would eat my cooking, yes. However, she would much prefer getting her chicken fries. So, my princess gets her chicken fries." Theo gave a shrug at this as if it was only logical.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione went about laying out the food Harry had picked up for Aurora onto a plate, putting it at her place setting at the table. With a flick of her wand, Hermione helped moving the rest of the food that was finished onto the table for the adults to eat.

"Uncle Theo, Uncle Harry says that you have a surprise for me!" Aurora made her presence announced as she twirled into the room, quickly spotting the special meal that her uncles had arranged for her. "Uncle Theo, I love chicken fries! Thank you, I love you!" Harry followed behind the blonde tornado with a grin on his face.

"I couldn't deny my favorite girl her favorite meal, now wash up and we'll be settling in to eat."

After everyone was seated (Theo pulled out the chairs for both Aurora and Hermione before sitting himself) the conversation was dominated by Aurora's chatter. While she did use her manners and didn't speak with a full mouth, she had so many exciting things to talk about that had happened over the course of the last few days. The highlight had been that Gran had let Aurora use her fingers to paint beautiful pictures with.

Hermione had described the disaster that had been their house hunting the week before, but she was happy to inform the boys that she had been able to find a house that was perfect in the end. Theo declared that when they moved in next month that she would be the one who would host Saturday night and stated that it could double as a house warming party. Hermione happily agreed knowing that with her parents' living just a short walk away, having Aurora sleep at their house would be an easy request to make.

As their meal had concluded and Aurora asked to be excused, Harry turned the conversation to how Hermione's first day at work had gone and that was when Hermione stuttered over her words and what had happened after their lunch. The flash of Draco sitting in her office came into the forefront of her mind before she could stop it, bringing Theo's full attention to Hermione.

"You saw Draco." Theo posed as a statement and not a question while lifting his wine glass to his lips.

"Malfoy? You saw Malfoy? What was he doing at your office?" Harry's confusion painted clearly on his face.

"He's working the Borgin case, he had to come ask me some questions and for help." Hermione said giving a little shrug of her shoulders as if their interaction was no big deal. "We talked a bit about what work I did with MACUSA and then he left."

Theo lifted his wine glass to his lips, but didn't dare to utter another word or make another remark. Hermione knew that he had felt the warmth and joy in her mind when Draco had been brought up. It was always there, ready to pop up anytime someone talked about the blond in question.

"He is? Excellent, he's a brilliant prosecutor. Did he by chance mention any more about the case and what we're hopeful to get from it?" Harry, the ever-dedicated best friend, was determined to move the conversation along instead of staying focused on Draco. Harry had known about Hermione's embarrassing crush on Draco and was always willing to avoid the topic of the blond since that seemed to be Hermione's preference due to the, complicated, nature of both their lives. With her being in a long-term relationship with Ron, then Draco being engaged, then Hermione being single and pregnant. In Harry's eyes, the stars had just never aligned for Hermione and Draco.

If that were the only issues, it was possible that Harry might not skip over the topic that is Draco Malfoy after all these years. Unfortunately, Hermione having an embarrassing crush on the blond wasn't the only thing that had made Draco Malfoy an off-limit topic between Hermione and Theo in Harry's eyes.

After Aurora's birth during Harry and Theo's first visit to New York, Harry had walked in when Theo was questioning Hermione about Aurora's father. It had quickly turned ugly between the three. Theo had taken one look at Aurora and Hermione had felt as he nudged against her mental shields looking for the answer. Hermione had let slip the memory of the blond man that she and Beth had met out at the pub a few months prior to Aurora's birth when Hermione was out as her friend's designated driver.

Hermione had feared that as soon as Theo saw Aurora that he would get suspicious and start digging around for answers. Not that she could entirely blame him, but she had to keep her daughter safe. Theo had an unwavering loyalty to his friends that she knew, if he knew this secret that he wouldn't be able to keep it from Draco.

That same visit, Harry had left to go pick up some groceries for Hermione, leaving Hermione and Theo alone in her townhouse together. He had confronted her about the fact that he knew that she had harbored a secret crush over Draco (thank Harry) and asked Hermione outright if Aurora was Draco's daughter instead of trying to break through her Occlumency shields. Hermione's only response to his questioning was if he had saw in Draco's mind the two of them together. Theo had gotten upset with her for her non answer and had stormed out of the room in frustration.

Hermione knew that it was only a matter of time before Theo learned the truth, but until that time came, she'd decided that she'd keep up lie that she didn't know the identity of Aurora's father.

"That case sounds really complex, who is overseeing it? I'd really like to be as helpful with it as I could be. From my understanding, it's going to uncover some important people in the black-market trade, yeah? So, it'll be pretty dangerous and it wouldn't do to drag it off if we can help it." Hermione sat back, pointedly keeping her focus on Harry and avoiding saying Draco's name again since Theo was still watching her.

"Yeah, Sasha Boot and Seamus are working it. I can send them to your office tomorrow to talk about it more. I was wanting to get a fresh set of eyes on the case, and wasn't wanting to ask you since you just got started today, I wasn't wanting to overwhelm you with such a big case right off the bat." Harry said pushing his glasses up his nose.

"It's no problem at all. Actually, it sounds really important and I'd like to be as much help as possible. Mum and dad are taking care of getting everything settled with the house and the move, so really I have the time to spare." Harry gave Hermione a look full of appreciation, but then Theo's eye brows raised as he looked over at his husband and slowly shook his head.

"Harry." Hermione knew that tone; it was warning Harry to stop whatever train of thought he was heading towards. Theo looking over her shoulder, but shook his head at his husband warning him again. Hermione turned towards the couch where Aurora had at some point fallen asleep cuddled with her stuffed dragon, giving the adult privacy to have what was appeared to be coming up on a difficult conversation.

"Just say it, Harry." Hermione turned back around to face her friend, who had now gotten that stubborn and stern look on her face that reminded her of Hogwarts. It was true that Harry had grown up and had grown to being able to handle his temper and his stubbornness in check, but this was still a core part of who he was.

"Krum sent me a tip that Dolohov still harbors his obsession with you." Hermione couldn't help the eye roll that came following Harry's assertion.

"Viktor wrote me about the missive that he received from Dolohov threatening him to stay away from me after me and Aurora went to visit him last summer and that picture of the two of us ran in their local paper. Honestly though, Dolohov has bigger things to worry about besides me. He has all of Wizarding Europe after him. Plus, didn't you say he was last harboring in Russia? I assume that's what you were doing in Russia. That's not exactly someone I would throw red flags up over at this time."

Viktor Krum was a friendship that had renewed once she had moved to the States and had ended things with Ron. While her and Ron had been together, his jealousy over her dating Viktor when she was fifteen had been so intense that she'd had to distance herself and stop communicating with Viktor to keep the peace between herself and Ron. After she'd sent him a letter telling him that she had moved to New York and would love to reconnect with him, he'd written back and then her first September in New York, he'd come for a visit.

Outside of Harry and Theo, Viktor was the next person who she'd seen semi regularly over the last five years. He was still a Quidditch star, and that kept him too busy to be able to visit often, but he wrote her at least once a month. Apparently, Viktor hadn't been satisfied with her response that she wasn't worried about Dolohov and had clearly taken it upon himself to contact Harry.

"Hermione, once word gets out that you're back in England, you know that Dolohov will find out." Taking off his glasses, Harry rubbed his forehead in frustration, but Hermione wasn't going to back down.

"And so, what, Harry? Dolohov isn't even in England and the chances of him crossing the boarders are slim to none without you finding out. I am not taking a protection detail – don't give me that look, I know you and I know that's where you are headed with this conversation. I live in the muggle world, for crying out loud. No one is going to know how to find me besides you, and I have my parents' house warded. I'll be putting wards on the new property once we start moving. I'm even a step ahead of you and have contracted Bill to come and help me with reenforcing the wards. I appreciate your concern, really, I do, but no I'm not taking a protection detail for a non-threat. It's just not happening."

"Damnit Hermione, Dolohov is a serious threat, not a non-threat! That obsession he carries for you isn't normal and you know it! How many times did you find dead owls on your window from him! He's a curse-breaker for crying out loud, you know he can break whatever wards you and Bill put up, because he's done it before!" Harry slammed his hands on the table, causing their wine glasses to shake.

"Until there is an actual threat, I am not going to cause any stress for Aurora. What do you think this would do for her if all of the sudden men she doesn't know are constantly with us and at our home not letting her have the freedom that a four-year-old needs! Damnit Harry, I just got to a good place with my parents and I'm not going to destroy that by over involving the wizarding world in their lives when they're already skeptical about it." Hermione had stood up so that she could look down at her friend, who's face had turned red with anger.

"Hermione. Harry. Enough. Little ears are listening." Theo's warning stopped the two friends from the full-on row that they were creeping dangerously closer to.

This wasn't a new argument between them. Harry had always been very protective of his loved ones and still felt personally responsible when bad things happened to them. With their brother-sister relationship, before Theo had come into the picture, Hermione was the one that was the most under Harry's thumb.

It drove Hermione barmy to say the least. No matter how many times she insisted that she was a perfectly capable witch, Harry still insisted that he needed to take care of her. Once he and Theo had settled into a serious relationship, Harry now had to split his attention between the two of them and it had given Hermione at least some peace. That was until about seven years ago, Dolohov had started sending owls to the flat that Hermione had shared with Ron at the time that were cursed to die once they reached her window. The message had always been the same "I will come for you, kotenok.

At first Hermione had been concerned, and after the third dead owl, Hermione and Ron had moved to a new flat. After another dead owl with the same message six months after the move, Hermione had been watching for and to see if she saw Dolohov anywhere around her. At home, when she'd go out shopping, when she was at work, everywhere. She had agreed to let Harry have someone investigate those incidents, but there was never any physical sign of Dolohov.

The only reason she was certain that they had been coming from Dolohov is that they had matched the curse used on the owls with his magical signature. In the two years that she got the owls, she never saw tail or hide of Dolohov lurking in the shadows, and she had gotten to the point that she felt perfectly safe.

While she was living in the States, Hermione never received anything to indicate that he was still watching her. Viktor's one letter after the picture of the two of them had been published to the paper in Bulgaria the previous summer was the last she'd heard about Dolohov, as he never said another word to Viktor after the one missive.

"Mummy? Can I go sleep in my bed now?" Aurora's wild blond curls resembled a white bird's nest on the top of her head as she stretched out like a kitten, her sleep ridden eyes not fully awake.

"Yes love, I'm sorry did I wake you?" Hermione threw one last look over her shoulder at Harry, who's face told her that this conversation was not over.

"No, my dragon just wants to be in his bed."

Theo and Harry followed Hermione and Aurora to the door where they said their goodnights and kissed their goddaughter goodbye. Aurora was back asleep in Hermione's arms before the door was closed behind her.

Did the possibility of Dolohov worry her? Slightly, but not for herself, but for Aurora. Hermione was just going to have to be extra diligent that word of her having a daughter didn't get out to the public until Dolohov had been caught. Keep the entire Malfoy family and Antonin Dolohov from finding out about her daughter. Yeah, okay, that'll be simple.

A/N: chicken fries are my four-year-old's favorite meal is chicken nuggets and fries (chicken fries)