A/N: Hello lovelies. What a beautiful and cold day it is where I am. Let me just say something really fast because I'm still laughing over it.

I love candles, love them with a deep passion and like to burn scents for each season. Well, obviously my Christmas got a bit much so my candle called "Christmas Velvet" never got burned. And well, I didn't have another one to lite yesterday, so I think whatever we'll give it a go.

Now my entire house smells like play doh, and I cannot stop laughing at how non-Christmasy this smell is. Anyway, my bathroom smells like "Fresh Fraser" and I bought a few too many of those candles because I loved it so much.

Enjoy the fluff that is Draco and Aurora. More notes at the end.

Chapter 20, Aurora, Meet Daddy

The clanging of pots, pans, and the smell of blueberry pancakes had Hermione cracking her eyes open and surveying the room she found herself in. The twin bed with bright yellow, orange, and pink flowers covering the blanket that she was snuggled in and reaching behind her neck to pull out a book that had been digging into the back of her neck while she slept.

The sun was streaming into the space, and a quick look out the window showed that it was much later in the day than Hermione was used to sleeping until. "Fuck, what time is it?" She muttered to herself, rubbing the bridge of her nose as the headache from drinking a bit too much the night before festered.

"MUMMY!" Hermione's head snapped up to see Aurora, still in her silky pink floor length nightgown, barreling into the bedroom and throwing herself onto the bed with such force, Hermione was knocked back into the blankets that surrounded her.

"Mummy, we had a good sleep at Gran and Papa's!" Her daughter said beaming up at her.

"Goodness, I'd say we did." Hermione replied to the child clutching at her shirt, the same black shirt that she'd been wearing the night before. Looking over the top of the white curls, Hermione's eye turned so that they were looking at the clock hanging on the wall. Quarter to ten.

Quarter to ten!

Hermione looked back down at her daughter who was nestled into her arms picking at a loose thread on her neckline softly singing to herself without a care in the world. Only, Hermione had a care in the world. Fifteen minutes until Draco Malfoy was going to be at her house and she was still in last night's clothes and the smell of tequila was clinging to her skin as it came out her pores. Fuck.

Standing up with her daughter securely in her arms, Hermione padded down the hall to where Helen and Roger were standing next to each other chattering at they made breakfast. Hermione cleared her throat while Aurora struggled to get out of her mother's grasp, causing both her parents to turn and face her with wide smiles on their faces.

"Oh, good morning my lovely girls! Hermione, honestly, I'm surprised that you came over to spend the night. Theodore took over your bed, I suppose then?" Helen said as she turned back to flip the pancakes that were currently on the stove.

"What, no? Why would Theodore be in my bed? No, Aurora slipped over last night and I must have fallen asleep with her when I brought her back." Hermione shook her head and looked at her mother who'd turned back towards her again. "Anyway, we have a, well, we have a guest coming this morning at ten and I need to go change. Could you get Aurora dressed for me and bring her over?" Hermione asked looking between her parents whose face morphed form amusement at their daughter's state to confusion.

"Who's coming for a visit, dear?" Roger asked his daughter walking over to his granddaughter perched at the table to stop her from putting blueberries in her ears. Helen turned back towards the stove to plate the pancakes as they finished.

"Oh, well, Aurora's father." Hermione said as she slowly scooted her feet towards the front door. Hermione's announcement had not been missed by either of her parents as she continued on her way out the door, as she saw her dad's head snap up and looking at her with shock. Her mother's shoulder's tensed at the proclamation and her head tilted slight to the side.

Before Hermione could reach the doorknob to leave the house she was met with a firm "we will be having a conversation later, young lady." Helen hadn't even turned to look at her, and the only look of support that Hermione got from her father was a shrug.

Without another word, as soon as Hermione's feet were outside, she took off at a run towards her own house. There was limited time before Draco was due to arrive and she was not about to have him see her in the same clothes that she'd worn the night before. Or smelling like she'd just crawled out of a bath made entirely up of Don Julio Blanco.

A shower, no time. A quick cleaning charm would have to do for now. Lifting her hand to brush the top of her head, Hermione let out a low groan as she felt the bird's nest that had taken form after sleeping on the tiny bed with her daughter.

Waving her wand, Hermione felt the static shoot through her hair sending it in every direction, but at least the knots were out of it. This was why Hermione never used magic to tame her hair, it just didn't work with her hair texture. There were products she could use for sure, but for the actual styling that was a painstakingly slow process that she'd never been able to figure out how to make it go faster with magic.

Jogging up her stairs towards her bedroom, Hermione worked her fingers into her hair as she began to braid the mess to at least semi tame it. As soon as her feet hit the landing at the top, Hermione's hands dropped from her head and she began shedding the shirt and unbuttoning her jeans before even walking into her bedroom.

Tossing the shirt towards the dirty bin (missing its mark) and shimming out of her jeans. Hermione did not notice the mass on limbs and raven and brown hair laying in her bed as she continued to undress and grab clean under garments.

"Oi, what are you doing stripping!" Hermione head as she whipped around to face her best friend covering his eyes with one of her decorative pillows while she stood totally bare for all to see.

"Stripping! I'm changing my clothes in my bloody bedroom! What do you think you are you doing in my bed!" Hermione screeched at him as she quickly bent over to pull her clean knickers and pulling a clean (or at least she hoped it was clean) sundress off the floor and over her head.

"Sleeping, obviously. What else do you think I'm doing in a bed?" Harry shot back, with her pillow still covering his face.

"Honestly, I'm dressed now Harry. I do have floo powder, why didn't use that to go home?" Hermione shot back as she raced into her bathroom grabbing her toothbrush and shoving it in her mouth after adding a bit too much toothpaste.

"Oh, well you see, the thing is –" Harry started explaining when he was cut off by his husband shooting up in bed.

"What's Draco doing here? OHHHH DRAAACOOOOOO! WE'RE UP HERE!" Theo called out as he swung his legs off the side of Hermione's bed. As she stuck her head back in her bedroom to scold her best friend's husband, the blonde in question appeared in the doorway with wide eyes surveying the chaos that was happening in her bedroom.

Hermione couldn't help the look of horror that crossed her face as she realized a few things in that moment. One, Draco was standing in her bedroom that was littered with clothing, lingerie, and shoes thrown everywhere. Two, he looked impeccable and delicious in dark wash jeans that clung to him like a glove while she was fairly sure the dress she was wearing wasn't even clean. And three, her mouth was hanging open with her toothbrush still in her mouth and she was positive that there was toothpaste dribbling down her chin.

"The princess, has arrived." Theo commented as he stood up from her bed excusing himself from the scene he'd single handedly created by calling Draco up to her bedroom.

"Was he wearing my joggers?" Hermione asked forgetting for a moment that her mouth was still full of toothpaste. Turning away from Harry and Draco, completely mortified, Hermione quickly disappeared back into her bathroom to finish freshening up and putting on a bit of her favorite French lilac perfume.

When she re-emerged from her bathroom only Harry was still in her room adjusting his clothes from the night before and Draco was thankfully nowhere to be found. Narrowing her eyes at her best friend Hermione she snapped at him before he could say anything to cover his actions.

"Draco and Aurora are properly meeting for the first time this morning and you and Theodore just couldn't go home. Honestly, what were the two of you thinking!" Hermione could feel her furry building as she rounded on the boy-who-lived.

"Hey, I didn't know! Your floo powder was out and we couldn't exactly apparate home!" Harry yelled back at Hermione in his own defense.

"That's the sorriest excuse I've ever heard! Alright, out with you. You and that husband of yours are both sober enough to pop back to your flat. This is not what I needed this morning Harry James Potter!" Hermione continued to scold him as she drug him down the stairs and into her dining room.

Though the rest of their argument evaporated as they stepped off the stairs and into view of the trio. Theo was crouched down next to Aurora who was clutching his hand in one of hers with her dragon snuggled tight against her chest in the other. Draco was down on one knee so that he was eye level with the girl and was softly speaking to her.

Seeing the sheer joy in her daughter's eyes as her father spoke to her made Hermione's heart clench and grow a few sizes. There weren't words to describe just how much Hermione adored the man in front of her, and just how much he seemed to be putting into meeting their daughter. While she'd made big decisions for the two of them and had made mistakes, it seemed that Draco was not going to take any of his frustrations with her out on their daughter.

Theo, who had obviously known about their presence on the stairs, removed himself from the father – daughter without disturbing their hushed conversation to join where Hermione and Harry were still half hidden behind the wall. Quietly the three took one last look at the back of Draco's head while Aurora's arms were waving wildly animating whatever tale she was sharing with her father.

Hermione wished that she could see Draco's face to get an idea of what he was thinking, but from Theo's calm demeanor she felt confident that Draco wasn't too overwhelmed with the force of nature that is Aurora Jean.

"Your mum popped over with the princess and she was trying to slip inside with her so she could meet Draco. I thought it might be a bit much for Draco to meet Aurora and Helen all at once, so I was able to convince her to let you decide when introductions would be more appropriate." Theo quietly explained in a hushed tone to keep from disturbing the pair just an ear shot away.

"Er, thanks, Theodore." Hermione replied, because even as annoyed as she was with him, she was thankful for his handling of her mother. Not many people could keep Helen Granger in line or at bay, and for some reason Theodore Potter was one of those people. Hermione was not.

"Come along, Potter. I brought extra floo powder." Theo said taking his husband's hand making Hermione let out a deep sigh of annoyance with the man. "Now, if I hadn't been here when you fell asleep in Aurora's bed you would have had to deal with your mother while Draco was waiting inside. Tell me, Hermione. Do you really think you could have stopped Helen Granger from meeting Draco Malfoy this morning? Also, you haven't told her who Aurora's father is. Tisk, tisk, Ms. Granger. Tisk, tisk."

Hermione was left gaping on the stairs as the couple took hold of each other's hand and quickly and silently slipped past the dining room and into the sitting room. Once out of sight there was the softest sound of the floo coming to life as the Potters were whisked away from her home.

Peaking her head around the wall again, Hermione was surprised to see that the two blondes were no longer in her dining room. A slight panic started to rise in Hermione's chest as she walked past her table and into her kitchen that was also empty. Stepping onto her porch, Hermione's heart rate settled as she looked out into the pasture and spotted the mess of white curls whipping through the air with Draco following behind her, heading straight for the bar when her 'pet' lived.

Chuckling to herself, Hermione opened the screen door and walked down the wooden stairs to make her way to where her daughter had taken Draco. Slowly ambling behind so as she wouldn't be intruding, Hermione's decision had to switch when she heard a yell from Draco and Aurora screaming.

Taking off at a run, Hermione rushed over the now worn path to the barn and through the door. Looking around wildly for what had caused such a loud reaction, Hermione paused when her eyes finally landed on the two blondes she'd been looking for.

Aurora was rolling on the ground screaming as she clutched her sides laughing with tears streaming down her face. Draco, on the other hand, looked disgusted as Missy the brown cow stretched out her neck and licked his face. With his back pressed up against the stall door and Missy leaning forwards, it seemed that he must have been stuck in that position.

"Missy loves daddy!" Aurora was now screeching as she rolled on the barn floor, effectively getting straw stuck in her hair and dirt all over her yellow dress.

"Aurora Jean Granger, go on and get off that floor." Hermione scolded the child as she paused in her giggles to meet her mother's stern eye. Jumping up, Aurora ran from her place and over to her mother holding her arms up.

"Oh, nice try little girl, but I'm not picking you up after you've been rolling around on a dirty barn floor." Hermione chided the little girl, who gave a pout on her face before shrugging her little shoulders and going back to where Draco was still being licked by Missy to pet her cow.

"I think she likes you." Hermione commented coming up to Draco and finally speaking to him for the first time that morning. Snapping his eyes open, Draco's gaze traveled over her body, causing a slight shiver to run through her.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione stepped forward to try and help move Missy from where she had trapped Draco, but was unsuccessful in her attempts. After letting out a heavy sigh, Hermione looked over to see the grass that Missy was so fond of eating and went to grab a handful. Waving it in her face, Hermione was eventually able to coax the brown cow to turn away from Draco and allow him to move from where he'd been essentially held hostage for his daughter's amusement.

"I never realized that you were one to own livestock, Granger." Draco commented as he waved his wand over his face vanishing the slobber from Missy, in an attempt to clean up.

"Yeah, no." Hermione replied shaking her head as she walked back into the barn, now that she'd led Missy out to her pasture to graze. "This is all my father and Theo's fault." Hermione waved her finger in a circle indicating everything that Theo had purchased for the care of Missy.

"Here daddy!" Aurora's yell from the open barn's entrance drew both adult's attention to where she was running back in. In her out stretched hand was leaves, twigs, and grass that she presented to Draco with a wide grin on her face. "It's for you!"

"Oh, um, thank you." Draco said looking down at the mess in his hand then back up at Hermione. With a shrug of her shoulders, Hermione knew that there wasn't really much that she could say. She wasn't going to be the one to dim the light that was her child, and it appeared that neither was Draco. After coming over his initial confusion of the 'gift' he raised the mess to his nose and breathed in as if she'd just given his a bouquet of flowers.

"You're welcome." Aurora told him as she took his hand and drug him back outside.

With her parents walking slightly behind her, Aurora looked over her shoulder before releasing Draco's hand. Beaming, Aurora took off running towards the pond, leaving her parents without her. Hermione and Draco walked in silence behind their daughter. Aurora would stop even now and then to point out everything that her and Gran would explore on their nature walks before running a bit further ahead of her parents to her next landmark.

Every so often, when Aurora would get extra excited about a particular area that she was pointing out, Draco would make a comment or ask a question that would light up Aurora's entire face as she explained what that particular area meant to her. It was extraordinary to watch with how much ease Draco and Aurora were able to just slip into their roles as father and daughter. None of the interactions had felt forced or awkward between the two of them, and it gave Hermione hope that they would be able to build a strong bond.

Once they'd reached the pond, Aurora proceeded to show Draco how to grab handfuls of rocks and throw them as far as they could to watch the water splash. Draco clapped before finding a flat stone and showed off his ability to skip it across the water with a flick of his wrist, making Aurora jump up and down cheering. After that display, Aurora went on a hunt to find as many flat rocks as she could and instructed her father to continue skipping the. It was a relaxing way to spend the day, just exploring their surroundings and inviting Draco into their little oasis.

When it was time for lunch, Aurora insisted that they were to have a picnic because she was not ready to go back inside. Hermione obliged the request and excused herself to go inside to make a few sandwiches and grab a bag of crisps. After cutting up a bowl of strawberries and packing a pitcher of lemonade, Hermione charmed the basket to float behind her as she made her way back over to where she could see the top of Draco's head in the wild flowers.

The closer she got though, Hermione noticed that in Draco's hair were dandelions, baby's breath, and goldenrods were strewn threw his white locks. The sight was enough to make Hermione have to cover her mouth of hush the laugh that was threatening to erupt from her when she got a look at her daughter twirling in a circle.

Her curls, still free flowing down her back, now had a daisy crown on the top of her head. A collection of the wild flowers in the field had been put together and transfigured into a skirt that she was now dancing and putting on a show for Draco in. When Aurora would make to do a small leap into the air, Draco would flick his wand towards her, to help levitate her for a moment longer than she would normally stay afloat before gently releasing her to gently float towards the ground.

Hermione's heart clenched as she watched them, because she knew that this could have been the last five years. She knew that this could have been her daughter's entire life, if Hermione hadn't been so cowardly and letting Lucius fucking Malfoy scare her into hiding her pregnancy and the birth of their daughter from Draco. Shame filled Hermione as she watched Aurora raise her arms above her head and sway while a smirk crossed Draco's lips watching the small girl.

She'd stayed away because of Lucius's threat, but ultimately, Hermione was the reason that this meeting between the two of them had been put off for such a long time. There was no one to blame but herself.

And that fucking hurt her mum heart watching them interact.

Settling herself onto the blanket that Draco must have conjured, Hermione let the basket she'd packed settle next to them while they enjoyed watching Aurora dance around to the sounds of nature. Her dance, while simplistic, was enchanting to watch.

"She really is a veela, isn't she?" Draco whispered into Hermione's shoulder, shocking her out of the trance that she'd been put into watching Aurora's dance.

"Could you not tell when you first met her last night?" Hermione asked keeping her voice down as to not disturb Aurora's concentration.

"I can sense it, if that's what you're asking. Watching her dance though, it's different. I can tell what her magic is trying to do and pull people in, but since I have the veela gene it doesn't have any effect on me. Just like her hypnosis abilities, when I first met her last night, I wasn't rendered speechless, but I could feel the magic around her trying." Draco answered making Hermione's jaw drop at the information that she'd had no idea about.

"I'm sorry, hypnosis abilities? When we met with her healer, she didn't say anything about those manifesting already. We talked about how she would develop more of her abilities as she got older, but she didn't have anything to say about her already having those hypnotic abilities already." Hermione said looked back to her daughter who was still swaying to the sounds of the birds singing.

"Oh, well she might not have noticed. It's very subtle, but it's there." Draco said as he began to clap when Aurora took a bow ending her dance before she ran to where her parents were set up with their picnic.

"That was a fantastic dance, Aurora Jean. I'm very impressed." Draco informed the little girl as she fluttered down onto the blanket with a smile crossing her face at her father's words of praise. "Where did you learn to dance like that?" He asked as Hermione began to plate food for the three of them.

"It's in my heart, daddy." The girl said smiling up at her father, brining her dragon from next to him so that he was now perched in her lap. Aurora happily accepted the plate that Hermione set in front of her and began to eat with vigor.

As Aurora picked up her strawberry slices, feeding one to herself and then feeding the next one to her dragon, she seemed to be lost in her own little world. Hermione had just finished pouring lemonade for each of them when she turned towards Draco with her own questions.

"Aurora will be seeing a veela specialist at St. Mungo's every three months until she's seven. There's an issue with her size and her magical core that is needed to be tracked." Draco's eyebrows showed shock and a bit of concern, making Hermione shake her head to try and calm him. "It's nothing too serious, just a precaution of sorts. However, the last time we met with the healer, she had questions about Aurora's paternal heritage and obviously I didn't have any of that information. So, I guess what I'm asking, is if you would be willing, that is," Hermione paused and took a breath, "would you be willing to come to those appointments with us, in the future."

Draco looked a bit taken aback at Hermione's words and she could feel her heart starting to sink that longer it took him to answer her. Before she could spiral in her own thoughts, however, Draco nodded his head in confirmation. "Yeah, of course. Whatever you need me to do."

"Oh, that's tremendous. I really appreciate it." Hermione ducted her head as she slightly scratched her neck before looking back at Draco who was still watching her with his own question in his eyes. "Um, yes?" Hermione asked as she picked up her sandwich while Draco scrunched his brows together as he seemed to try and format whatever it was that he was trying to ask her.

They sat in a tense silence for a few moments before Draco took a deep breath and faced Hermione fully. "Why did you not tell me about her?" Hermione slowly swallowed the bit of food that was in her mouth with a audible gulp as it slid down her throat. The soft bread felt like sandpaper though and Hermione was struggling as she looked over to where Aurora was gulping down her drink, completely oblivious to the conversation that her parents were having right next to her.

"I – I've told you why Draco." Hermione stuttered slightly as she tried to control her breathing. "You were engaged, I was going to be gone for five years. I couldn't put that on –" Hermione began before Draco cut her off, keeping his voice low as to not attract Aurora's attention.

"I don't believe you those are your only reasons." Draco said looking at her. "What happened, Hermione. There had to be something besides distance and a bullshit contracted engagement that held you back from telling me."

Hermione's mouth felt incredibly dry as she looked at the man next to her. He knew, even if he didn't know the details, he knew that there was more to the story than what she'd told him.

"There was something that happened." Hermione whispered, hanging her head, no longer able to keep eye contact with Draco. "I don't want to ruin this moment though; I don't want to ruin this for you or her." Hermione said nodding her head towards where their daughter was now spread out on the blanket rolling around with her dragon roaring.

Draco's only response was nodding to her.

After that, they finished their lunch in silence and after Hermione picking up all their dishes and vanishing the basket back to the house, Aurora requested that the three of them they spend the rest of the afternoon swimming in their little pond.

Draco happily agreed to continuing his day with them, saying that there was no place else he'd rather be. While Hermione and Aurora retried back to their house to put on their swimsuits and sunscreen, Draco took that time to transfigure some water toys for them to use while they swam. The little family played in the water late into the afternoon, completely unaware that they were watched by a certain set of grinning grandparents.

A/N: AHHH, So they finally got to spend the day together! This was just a fluff chapter, but it was important to build that bond between them. Draco, being the amazing and brilliant person he is (you're reading a Dramione, obviously I love Draco Malfoy) just knew that something was off and Hermione wasn't telling him the whole truth.

Is she going to tell him about Lucius threatening her? You know what, yeah. She is. Next chapter she's going to hang it all out there for him. Harry also gets a lead in his investigation behind who threatened Hermione and we'll FINALLY get to see the note that was attached to that owl! So plot driving, not much fluff.

Things taken from my real life? My mother and daughter actually would go on 'nature walks' and whenever I went to my mom's house, she would drag me on them too. Also, the throwing the hand full of rocks of rocks was one of my daughter's favorite past times when she was little. She'd drag me or my mother down to the bridge that's right on the property line and throw them into the river.

Also, that story that I slipped a snip bit of to you. Spent a good part of yesterday brainstorming and it'll be ready for me to start publishing soon…. It's fantastic, I'm not even going to lie. I'm excited for you.

Look for the next update on TUESDAY