Hermione Granger was nothing if not sensible. She was not irrational or spontaneous in the slightest. So it was a surprise to even her that she was making her way down the rather long driveway of The Malfoy School for Wizkids and Witchlings, formerly known as Malfoy Manor, with her briefcase carrying one single folder. The folder contained her life's dream, a well thought out and clearly written proposal for one Lord Draco Malfoy on this rather cloudy Saturday evening. As she hesitantly made her way to the front doors, she couldn't help but try to reconcile her current situation with how she got here in the first place.
It had been a rather ordinary day in the Department of Education at the Ministry of Magic. Hermione had reached the highest possible position she could without being the Head of the Department. In a matter of ten years, she had gone from an intern, fresh from the war and her eighth year at Hogwarts - having completed her NEWTs and gotten all O's - to becoming the second in command in the Department of Education. She had helped reform Hogwarts' curriculum and bring it into the 21st century; she'd even gotten herself a position on the school board of both Hogwarts and Malfoy's new school for pre-Hogwarts aged children.
It had been quite a shock to the mostly-recovered-from-war Wizarding World when Draco Malfoy, of all people, had done a complete one-eighty in terms of his career. He had claimed the title of 'Lord' from his father right after the war and, following his repeated NEWT year at Hogwarts, gone into the Auror program.
Lord Draco Malfoy had stayed with the Auror Department until just three years ago, when his wife, Astoria Malfoy nee Greengrass, passed away during labor. It came to light that she had inherited a family curse that caused pregnancy to practically leech the magic from her body, causing her heart to just give up during delivery - one life for another. He had immediately taken a leave of absence before resigning from his position to stay at home with his newborn baby boy, Scorpius. The Prophet had a field day when they caught wind of the story, and he ended up giving a very personal, private interview with the paper's editor who published the interview the very next morning.
Six months later, Lord Malfoy had entered the Department of Education in his most formal robes and made a formal proposal to open a school for pre-Hogwarts-aged children. He didn't give much room for the Department to decline his proposal, as he was financing the entire endeavor, had a location chosen, and already had more than a dozen early enrollment students signed up for admittance. He even made the school accessible to muggleborn students and once the Department greenlit his proposal, he convinced them to share the details from the Hogwarts Book of Admittance that outlined all future students.
Once he had everything he needed from the Department, he started his work remodeling Malfoy Manor into a school suitable for very young children. He went so far as to create a quidditch pitch at a size suitable for Junior brooms and junior players; then there was the extensive muggle playground that was installed, complete with swings, slides, climbing frames, see-saws, and an enormous trampoline. He hired a team of qualified teachers and even got a mediwitch on staff for emergencies and accidents.
Hermione wasn't even surprised when some of his early enrollment students turned out to be Teddy Lupin, and James & Albus Potter. She shouldn't have been shocked then that Ron and Parvati decided to also send their children - Lavender, Rose, and Hugo - after Harry gave them his glowing recommendation.
The path was narrowing towards the school entrance as Hermione remembered the meeting from just a week ago which had sent her on this reckless but not unwelcome journey.
Hermione's day had been going well. That was until she received a memo requesting her presence in the Head of the Department's office. She quickly gathered her notebook and a quill in case she needed to take notes and moved towards the back of the department. Knocking on the door, she was quickly ushered into the room by her boss, who almost shoved her into a chair and took his seat behind his desk.
He sighed, "Miss Granger…Hermione. Look, we both know you are my choice of successor. However, there are some concerns the other Department Heads have voiced in our weekly meetings. It's no secret that I am retiring in a year's time and that myself and Minister Shacklebolt want you to take my place. The major concern we are hearing is that you are a single witch without children, who could be the next Head of the Department of Education. You graduated from Hogwarts a decade ago. You don't have a reason to be as invested in the Education of the next generations when you do not have children."
Hermione swallowed hard and nodded slowly, "I- I understand, I am not a mother. But I have nieces and nephews and godchildren. I don't see how that is not something to consider, sir."
"We are well aware of how devoted you are to your career and how doting you are with your nieces, nephews, and godchildren. We have no doubts that you care for children a great deal. They just don't see how you can continue to care so much and stay devoted to the cause when you yourself do not have children of your own. Of course, there's also the matter that you are not seen in the news as relatable. You do not have relationships outside of those with your friends and family, you're never seen going on dates, you aren't seen out and about. People want to be able to see you and think, 'Now there's a woman I can relate to.' People your age are getting married, having children, or out partying every weekend. Do you understand?" Her boss seemed hesitant to continue the conversation and cleared his throat, "I am sorry for the way this is being handled. I do not wish for you to be upset, and I want you to know that I do not personally agree with the others. But it is my job to inform you that if you want to stay in the running for Head of this Department when it is time for my retirement, you need to make yourself more accessible to the public."
Hermione nodded slowly, "I understand, sir. I will think about it. Thank you for informing me."
Her boss seemed to perk up a bit at the calm response and smiled, "Why don't you take the rest of the day off. You mentioned having the Potter children for the weekend, maybe you can go get ready for your weekend with them?"
His suggestion made her smile and agree, "Thank you, sir. I'll see you on Monday."
Leaving the department after gathering her belongings, she made her way to the Auror Department to let Harry know she was leaving early:
"Harry, I'm heading out for the day. Do you mind if I pick up the kids from school early?" She asks after he's let her into his office.
"No problem. Thanks again for agreeing to take them for the weekend. Gin is so excited for our trip." Harry grins.
Hermione smiled, "Of course. You two deserve a break and Paris for your anniversary will be wonderful. Does Gin have Lily at home or is she at the Burrow?"
"I believe they are home. Gin didn't want Molly to try to keep Lily for the weekend like last time." Harry chuckles and Hermione shakes her head, amused.
"Of course. Well, I will go fetch Lily from Grimmauld and then get the boys from Malfoy's. Have a wonderful trip and try to relax a bit, yeah?" She hugs him tightly as he nods.
Leaving his office, she heads down to the lifts, which take her to the atrium before making her way to the closest apparition spot. She pops out of the atrium and reappears on the front stoop of 12 Grimmauld Place, tapping the front door lightly and waiting for Kreacher to open the door. She greets him kindly, which he ignores as usual before she makes her way upstairs to the library where she finds Ginny working on her last quidditch article for the Prophet before the weekend.
"Hey, Mione. Thanks again for taking the kids this weekend." Ginny smiles brightly from her spot at a desk off to the side.
"It's not a problem at all." Hermione smiles as she scoops up a sleeping three-year-old Lily Potter and takes a seat on the couch where the little girl had been curled up. She bites her lip, thinking, "Gin, do people really think I'm not relatable because I don't showcase my dating and social life in public for the Prophet to report on?"
Ginny looks up from her work and frowns at Hermione, "It's not necessarily that you don't showcase it for the Prophet…It's that you don't really date or spend time with anyone besides our family and friends. You only go out when we go out and you're fairly predictable."
Hermione nods with a small sigh, "My boss says I'm not relatable to the public and that I need to be if I want to be the Head of the Department when he retires next year."
Ginny nods, "You don't have to change your entire life, just be a bit more spontaneous or unpredictable. Go out, have fun, do something out of the norm for you."
Hermione nods, "I'll think about it. For now, though, Harry said I could pick the boys up early, so I just came to grab Lily and their overnight bags." Ginny nods and kisses Lily on the forehead before kissing Hermione's cheek and moving back over to her article.
"Have a good trip, Gin," Hermione says with a small smile as she shrinks the kids' overnight bags to fit in her purse and wakes Lily up so she can say goodbye to her mum.
Soon after, Hermione finds herself holding Lily on her hip, preparing to apparate to The Malfoy School for Wizkids and Witchlings. Making her way past the front gates, she slowly makes her way to the front door of the manor-turned-school, enjoying the nice weather. Lily seems content to rest her head in the crook of her neck and watch the scenery as they pass. Reaching the front doors, she doesn't have a chance to knock before the door is pulled open by a house elf in a lovely pink dress.
"Hello, Brix. I'm picking up the Potter boys today. Is Lord Malfoy available for me to sign them out?" Hermione smiles gently at the elf.
"Brix will get Master. Please wait in the foyer." The small elf pops out of the room and soon returns, saying, "Please follow Brix. The master is expecting you."
Hermione follows Brix down the long hallway towards an office and watches the elf knock before opening the door and ushering Hermione into the room. Draco Malfoy smirks lightly at her and thanks Brix as she shuts the door.
"Haven't seen you in a while, Granger." He waves at her to take a seat and she complies, setting Lily in her lap.
"I've been busy with work, but Harry and Ginny are going away for the weekend and I volunteered to babysit my niece and nephews." She says with a slightly defensive tone.
He waves her reply off, "Of course. I would be disappointed if you weren't taking your job seriously. Education is important."
She nods sharply, "I should say so."
He grins, "I've sent Brix to collect James and Albus. But are you sure I can entrust the children to your care, Granger?"
She huffs, rolling her eyes in the process, "I don't see why not. Harry entrusts them to your care five days a week. I could hardly do much worse."
He smirks, "If you say so, Granger. Just sign the form and Brix should be back with them soon."
Hermione grabs the quill he's holding out to her and she quickly signs the form saying she's taking them out of school early. As soon as she's set the quill back down on his desk, Brix is opening the door, allowing the boys to enter.
"Aunt Mione! Are you taking us early?" James, the Potters' oldest, asks excitedly.
"Absolutely, Jamie. Signed, sealed, delivered." Hermione smiles as the eight-year-old wrinkles his nose at the nickname but grins and responds to their in-joke with "I'm yours," from the well-known Stevie Wonder song, as he hugs her and ruffles Lily's hair. Albus, the quieter of the two boys smiles and hugs her gently. She ruffles Albus's hair softly before standing up and moving Lily back to her hip.
"Well, thank you, Lord Malfoy," she says this in an exaggerated tone, before continuing, "I'll drop the boys off on Monday."
Malfoy walks them back to the foyer. Hermione is so preoccupied with the children that she doesn't notice when Draco watches them go out the front door and down the driveway before heading back to his office with a small grin on his normally stoic face.
Hermione's weekend with the Potter children was a whirlwind of laughter, picnics in the park, ice cream trips to Fortescue's, and a spontaneous trip to the Magical Menagerie. Hermione always enjoyed having children in her home, filling it with the patter of little feet and raucous laughter, building blanket forts, and cuddling up to watch a movie.
Thinking back to when she was younger, she always wanted to be a mother. She knew she could be a good mother, it was the 'finding a partner' part she seemed to have trouble with. Tucking the three kids into their beds for the night, she smiled sadly. When had she abandoned her dream of motherhood? Sighing, she fed the 'pet' the children had chosen at the Menagerie and sat down with a glass of wine. In the solitude of the night, she knew she wanted a family of her own. She loved her nieces, nephews, and godchildren, but they didn't belong to her despite Jamie's claim of 'I'm yours' every time she said 'signed, sealed, delivered'. Now that it had been brought to her attention, she could feel that damn internal clock tick tick ticking away. How much time did she have left to be able to have a family of her own? At 30 years old, she knew she was hardly in her prime for a witch, but as a muggleborn she also knew that muggles had better chances the younger they were when they started trying to have children.
When she imagined having a family as a child, she had imagined blonde curls and bright blue eyes on a little boy, and then later… twin girls. She knew growing up she couldn't control the gender, despite her mum's magazines claiming otherwise. She had achieved more than she had hoped when she started out in the wizarding world. She had reached all her goals and achieved all her dreams, but this one…? She supposed now was the perfect time to try to achieve this last dream. Especially since there were now potions and spells that could help influence and determine gender at the earliest stages of pregnancy.
That was how she came to spend the last week writing out an almost asinine proposal for one Lord Draco Malfoy. Of course, it made her smirk that the children had insisted on taking their new pet ferret to school with them on Monday and showing him to everyone they could, including a rather stoic Lord Malfoy who could hardly contain his disdain when they told him they had named him Draco at their favorite aunt's insistence. Receiving the rather controlled howler had been the icing on the proverbial cake and led her to the conclusion that he would be the perfect option and that her proposal might actually be the best course of action.
She nervously came to a stop at the front door. She stood there for a few minutes, simply staring at the intricately carved ancient oak doors. Swallowing hard, she lifted her fist to knock. The door was soon pried open by Brix, the only Malfoy elf she had interacted with on every occasion she came to pick the many kids up from school.
"Good evening, Brix. Is Lord Malfoy at home?" Hermione asks, trying to steady her voice.
"Yes, miss. Master is at home. I shall inform him you are calling on him. Is there a specific reason for your attendance on a weekend? You usually only come on school days. Is this an official visit?" The elf had spectacular vocabulary, grammar, and syntax for an elf.
Hermione tried to smile, but it seemed more like a grimace, "Not an official visit. I have a proposition for the Lord that I would like to present if he has time."
The elf nods sharply, "I shall inform the Master. Please wait here."
Hermione shuffled anxiously around the foyer, admiring the stunning chandelier and original artwork hanging on the walls around her, and taking deep calming breaths.
Draco Malfoy was surprised when Brix entered the library - where he, Theo, and Blaise were having their weekly drinks and card games - to tell him that Hermione Granger was in the foyer saying she had some kind of proposition for him. He blinked slowly, before throwing his cards on the table and practically shoving Theo and Blaise through the floo to their own homes. Daphne and Pansy seemed surprised at their early return home but he shut the floo before they could ask any questions. He quickly tidied up his appearance and took a pepper-up potion to clear his mind before he strode out of the library and down the grand staircase into the foyer.
"Granger, Brix says you have some sort of proposition for me? Come to my office and we can discuss it over tea." He greeted her with a small smirk.
Hermione took a deep breath. This was going to be a huge ask. She knew he already had an heir – Scorpius – but there was no one else with the genetics she needed to achieve her dream. Her mind had been plagued with her dreams of little blonde curls and blue eyes for the last week. His behavior towards her growing up had never put her off blondes, in some sick sort of way, it had made her more attracted to platinum blondes in particular.
As they settled in his office, they sipped their tea in relative silence, both seeming to be preparing mentally for this conversation. Hermione allowed herself a few moments to consider the alternative way to conceive than the way she was proposing to him, as she studied him. His strong tall frame, his silky blonde hair, his striking stormy eyes. She wondered what it might be like to be able to run her hands over his lithe body, instead of….she cut that train of thought off.
"I've written my proposal down in the form of a contract so that you would know that I am entirely serious and not just being completely insane. I will, of course, give you time to consider it and think it over. It's not like what I'm asking of you is simple. I know you and I have had our differences in the past but there's no need for you to be involved beyond the necessary steps to make it happen if you don't want to be involved. It's just that you're the only person who can give me the outcome I'd like. I know it isn't guaranteed that it will work the way I'm hoping, but I believe my proposal has the highest possibility of success, and…" she stopped as he waved his hand to get her attention.
"Granger, you haven't even told me what you're trying to convince me of, yet. Take a breath, relax and give me the folder." He motions toward the folder she's removed from her briefcase and seems to have a death grip on.
She takes a deep breath, as he suggested, thankful he stopped her nervous rambling. She handed the folder over and bit her bottom lip; her leg bouncing where it sat crossed over the other as he opened the folder and began reading. This was her entire life and future she was willingly placing in his hands. It was difficult to look up at his face as he read, but she couldn't not when she heard his gasp. His perfectly sculpted eyebrows were raised to his hairline, and his eyes had grown to the size of saucers.
After twenty minutes of reading, he closed the folder and placed it on his desk before looking up at her in awe. He had always wondered if she would forgive him for his misdemeanors in their youth – as there had been so many and mostly directed towards her. They had briefly worked together when he was an Auror and more closely when he opened the school. They'd had coffee in the Ministry occasionally when he was required to come in for annual financial meetings with the school board. Had bantered with her on the occasions when she picked up the Potter kids or any number of the Weasleys, but the things he had so desperately needed, wanted to say, had always remained unspoken.
He owed her so much, truth be told. When she had testified on his behalf, she had spared him being sent to Azkaban, the only stipulation of him staying out of prison being that he return to Hogwarts for his eighth year. She had figuratively and literally talked his mother off a ledge when his father had been sentenced to Azkaban. She'd even gotten Father's sentence reduced to five years, citing that the Dark Lord had taken his wand before the war began, so he couldn't be held accountable for what happened when he hadn't been able to take part or fight in the war. She had miraculously saved his godfather's life, Uncle Severus was now living his best life far from the public eye and owned his own mail-order potions business, which she helped him start up soon after the war. On top of all of that, she offered her assistance with the school if needed and was always the one to conduct the annual check-up to make sure the school was running well and was continually safe for the children, she even suggested specific wards that would protect the children if the teachers were unable.
After being widowed for three years, he hadn't really allowed himself to consider having more children as it would mean dating again and the death of his wife had shattered him. He hadn't loved her in the way a husband would, as their marriage had been arranged as children, he had always loved her as a friend. Astoria would have been a wonderful mother, and he had always known she would be his wife, but neither of them had really loved one another in that way. They made their marriage work because they cared for each other and had a duty to fulfill. They had never been unhappy, and when she told him they were going to be parents, he was overjoyed. He loved her for making him a father and helping him move past the darkness that had enveloped his young life. Astoria had always teased him about his crush on Granger. She'd never made him feel bad about it, she knew he would be faithful to her no matter what. When she passed, Granger had sent him a lovely baby gift for Scorpius and a kind letter expressing her condolences. Since then, his dreams had been full of brunette curls, bright caramel eyes, and laughably, broken noses and insults. He never thought she might actually forgive him and he never let himself think about dating or having any more children.
One thing was for certain though, no child of his was going to be conceived in some muggle test tube. Especially when he knew that could hinder the amount of magic a child had. No, if he was going to do this, he was going to do it right.
"Granger, whilst I appreciate the thought you've put into this and that you have considered that I might not want to be involved beyond conception, that could not be further from the truth. You are an admirable witch and I have no doubt that you will be an excellent mother, single or not. But I simply cannot allow for…"
He paused in his sentence, watching her face drop and tears begin to pool in her eyes. It was clear to him that she thought he was rejecting her outright, as she began gathering her briefcase and her outer robe from the back of her chair.
"Wait! Granger, I am not rejecting everything in your proposal; just the clinical conception part." He hastily spit out the conclusion of what he had been saying.
Her head snapped up and she stared directly into his eyes in shock, "What?"
He cleared his throat, "Obviously, we'll have to talk more and get to know each other better, and I'll need to discuss the idea of more siblings with my son but if you are open to the idea of a re-negotiation about the essentials, I would like to consider this properly."
She slowly fell back to her seat, "Are…are you saying you want to have s- dates…with me?"
He smirked cockily, "I'm saying I prefer conception the old-fashioned way, and in this instance, with you on your back."
She snorted and rolled her eyes at this.
"I apologize, that was a bit crude. Let me put it this way, I am not willing to have children with a witch I am not entirely in love with or dating and having sex with. It would create a disconnect in the family magic between us and the Malfoy family line. There's also the matter of the fact that I am prevented from having children outside of wedlock, due to a sort of magical cap on my fertility…a Malfoy family spell, to prevent illegitimate children from claiming inheritances. This means that as happy as I am to consider your proposal, Granger, it would include a legitimate marriage proposal." He pauses before saying, "Do you still want to do this?"
Hermione gaped before closing her mouth and thinking about it, "Erm…"
He sits quietly, observing her closely, giving her the time she needs to compose her thoughts.
She clears her throat, "Is a three-year-old really able to comprehend the concept of gaining a stepmother and half-siblings?"
He almost falls out of his chair.