It was after 3 weeks after she returned to the muggle world for summer vacation that Hermione attempted to write to Malfoy. By then she wrote around 10 letters to Ginny; 5 to Harry; sent 2 muggle books for Teddy and 1 for Andromeda and wrote a few letters in total to the Weasley family, Neville and Hannah.

The first time she tried to write a letter, she over analysed the introduction so much that there was a navy blue ink stain on the parchment. The second time, before she could write the formalities, her dad's gruffly voice called her for dinner. She gave up attempting to write one until she soothed her unnecessarily inflamed nerves.

"Dear, how's work?"

Hermione looked at her father; dry brown hair and twinkling eyes as he placed a piece of cooked salmon on her plate. She knew he wanted to know more about the wizarding world. Whether she was being safe and that there was no corruption that would lead to her life being on the line.

"Oh, it's going well dad," she replied casually, "Classes are the same as always. I send you both the pictures of the graduation ceremony—" she jerked her head to the picture on the mantle, "—and everything's peaceful. The get-together with the Weasleys went fine as well."

"That's lovely, isn't it?" her mother voiced in, her eyes shimmering with different meaning as she looked at her daughter.

Hermione offered her parents her sweetest smile and changed the conversation to the muggle world.

She wasn't sure she would ever be able to tell her parents what exactly happened at Hogwarts—not about the troll in her first year or the horcrux hunt she went when she was 18 years old. She had told them vague details of the war: about Voldemort; about death eaters and Order of Phoenix; about Harry, Ron and her getting Order of Merlin first rank but never the details. Not about the depth of pureblood bigotry, not about the mental and physical exhaustion she went through while at war and not about her getting crucio-ed at her schoolmate's home.

She was sure they would ask her to leave the Wizarding world. Forever.

So she deterred her conversation away from her past. Dinner time was the same as always at her home; lovely conversations followed by games with her parents and a glass of wine before finally retiring for the night with a bath.

Hermione stepped out of the shower wearing grey shorts, her bra and a fluffy towel wrapped around her damp hair. She stepped in front of the full-length mirror next to the bathroom and examined her body.

She remembered how bruised and bloodied she was after the war. There were no physical reminders of it anymore. She had a bruise from Dolohov's curse that went away only after she started working and she had limped around the Burrow for almost a month after the war from a death eater's aimless curse. There were so many bruises, matted hair and broken bones that Hermione was still surprised that she was able to stand and witness the defeat of Voldemort.

There were only two permanent scars on her body; both of them by Bellatrix. The first one was a faint white scar on the right side of her neck and the second one was the 'mudblood' scratched across her left arm. It was slightly pink and protruding on her honey-coloured skin.

Hermione remembered how she used to trace her finger across the letters at Shell Cottage after they escaped from the manor.

She remembered pressing her sweat covered palm over the word after she woke up from nightmares of that night because the scar made her recall Bellatrix's deranged laughter cackle through the air and the painful crucio burning through her bones and muscles.

She remembered the distasteful faces the pureblood made at the Ministry parties when they saw the scar. She remembered the sneering and muttered insults thrown at her status when she passed by them.

She remembered that one night at Hogwarts when Draco and she sat beside each other after experiencing horrible nightmares. She remembered the butterfly touch of Draco's finger across the word, the pads of his fingers calloused and warm against her sweat covered cold skin. She remembered when he tumbled out pent up apologises— repetitions of 'sorry', 'Please forgive me' filling the air like chanting.

She remembered how she hugged him after that and how both of them cried. They cried in soft, breathless sobs because they couldn't ignore the supposed normalcy of life. They couldn't act as nothing happened.

Because they noticed the purple bags under Neville's and Hannah's eyes during breakfast. They noticed how younger students would cry when they saw how empty the Great Hall was. They noticed the scars everybody had. They noticed how sometimes students forgot to put silencing charms on their rooms, making their screams from their nightmare echo through the common room.

Everybody fought their own demons after the war. Malfoy became an unexpected friend for her and somebody who she could talk about her terrors. He didn't shut down like Ron or give awkward advises like Harry; he listened. He listened until her throat went hoarse.

It was a convenient way of dealing with things. Many students were not ready to deal with the war and were more than ready to jump back into normalcy.

Malfoy and Hermione didn't want to jump back to normalcy.

So they started talking to each other about it: about the war, about their experiences, about their nightmares. Malfoy was hesitant at first but in a few months time, Hermione had stayed up one night listening to him talk until his voice went hoarse.

The knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts and Hermione quickly cast a charm to hide her scars. Mumbling to herself that she was proud of who she was, Hermione put an oversized t-shirt and opened the door. Her mother stood in front of her with a soft smile and a wide-teeth comb in her hand.

"How about some mother-daughter time?" she asked.

Hermione smiled at her mother, giving her a quick peck on her cheek before opening the door wider. The mother sashayed across the room to the dresser next to the bed, waiting for her daughter to join her. After Hermione sat down, Mrs Granger worked through the tangles of her hair, humming a soft tune and smiling at the distant memory of when her daughter would throw a fuss when the comb got caught in the curls.

"Everything alright?"

Hermione's eyes flickered up to meet her mother's at the reflection in the mirror.

"I mean the Weasleys' get-together." Her mother clarified.

"It went well," Hermione replied, "Yeah Ron was there. But it wasn't awkward mom. We met before with Harry and Ginny so everything would be alright."

Her mother nodded silently and went back to combing her hair. After a moment, not looking away from her hair, she said, "You know, I'm not your father. I know there's something when you say 'fine' and 'well'."

Hermione sighed. She didn't know whether her mother had a really good observational skill or her mother's instinct detected everything.

"Ron asked me to ...reconsider our relationship." She started slowly.

During her one year stay at the muggle world; her mother helped her deal with her relationship. Although Hermione had to deal with effects of war and pureblood bigotry by herself—something she used to face by working overtime in the Wizarding world—her mother helped her deal with the broken relationship and the fact that she hated the ministry power hierarchy.

"Did you tell him what you actually feel?" she asked.

Hermione nodded, "Kind of. He wrote me a letter afterwards asking me to think about it. Said he didn't want an immediate reply."

"You already know the answer?"

Hermione nodded once again.

Mrs Granger continued, "You're scared of hurting him?"

Hermione sighed, "It's just—I know the pain of not being reciprocated." She remembered the time when Ron and Lavender were together and how she used to cry over it, "I don't want him to go through it."

Mrs Granger met her eyes in their reflection before draping her arms over her daughter's shoulders, pulling her into a hug, "It's part of life Hermione. Besides it's a break-up, people get hurt, they move on. Crying over spilt milk isn't admirable."

She smiled at her mother, "Thanks, mom."

Mrs Granger placed a kiss on top of her head and continued combing her hair.

...

I hope this time my letter actually reaches you because it will be a great misfortune if it doesn't. Also waiting another four years before we 'eradicate misunderstandings' is something I don't think both of us want.

How's life in France? If I'm correct there aren't many Potioneers working in France right now. Most of them seemed to have moved to other parts of Europe which are weird since France does have a significant amount of minerals. But it might be different for wizarding materials. France's weather is relatively calmer than Britain right? It has been cloudy most of the time here. It's like an indecisive child, not knowing whether to starting pouring or to stay sunny, hence the dark cloud-filled sky.

Anyways, is wizarding France the same as wizarding Scotland or Britain? I travelled to France with my parents when I was thirteen. It was the city Dijon and I've to say France is a highly attractive place. I don't know about wizarding France but muggle France definitely is amazing. The food, especially the cheese, was something I really enjoyed.

It's a family thing to visit different places whenever we can. We went to Australia this time. We saw many tourist places: the Great Barrier Reef, Great Ocean Road and many other places. But more than that, we went to a sanctuary with Koalas. It was an experience Malfoy.

My father's hobby of baking sweets has extended to the visit. He dragged us to all the cafes and bakeries he could find, making us try out some delicious pastries and cakes—not that I'm complaining. I've thoroughly developed a sweet tooth working at the Ministry—some people are incorrigible and only sweets or alcohol can deal with it. I also visited wizarding Australia but it was a short visit since my parents couldn't accompany me.

However, there are only so many sweets I can eat before my mind twirls. I still don't believe how dad manages to eat that many sweets, considering his profession and I still don't believe how mom manages to watch him eat all that—well—considering her profession.

Summer vacation seems different as a professor since when we go back to school, it's about teaching than studying. It's a weird feeling. I just hope that next year the students remember what they learned from the previous year. And I hope that I don't get any patrolling duties in the dungeons because it's really weird Malfoy, it really is. I'm more than happy to sent students to the dungeons as long as you deal with them.

Anyways, I hope we've got a good year ahead.

Hermione Granger

...

Hermione bit her lip as she read through the letter again. After working through the letter for more than necessary of one hour, she conjured this letter, reading through it multiple times to make sure nothing sounded...weird.

She laughed at herself. It was the middle of the night, almost nearing midnight. She had good food, played games with her parents and everything was going well especially since she was finally able to write a letter to Malfoy. However, minutes before she sent it she was worried because she was plagued about the wording?

She laughed at herself again. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Crookshanks flick his tail and meow. He clearly wasn't enjoying her pacing.

Muttering profanities under her breathe she tied the letter to her owl and watched as the yellow-golden barn owl hooted and flew away, giving Hermione a glimpse of the white underside of the wings and body as the owl spread her wings.

...

Your ink has not been wasted since I got the letter this time. Yes, it would have a great misfortune if it didn't arrive at the expected sender since it seems like you've put your soul into it. 'Eradicating misunderstandings' is something I also don't want to go through again. How's summer vacation so far? Did you raid the libraries of Britain or spent time with your parents?

Life is somewhat busy in France since the Potioneer I work with, Martin Bisset seems to be understaffed at the moment. I'm helping him out most of the day but I've got the weekends free. I've to say, working with somebody older rather than students is more satisfying. I don't have to yell out about reducing points half the time.

I warn you that students may forget half the things they've learned during the previous year. Most of them remember them by the end of the month but some of them have more 'rigid' memory. Don't retire Granger but students tend to have difficulty with transfiguration in the new term and year since they can't practise magic outside of school—especially those living in the muggle world. The feeling of summer vacation is different when you become a professor I've to admit.

Wizarding France is a beautiful place and it's more picturesque than Britain or Scotland. There are more historically significant infrastructure and artefacts in France than the other two. But the laws regarding the separation of muggle and wizarding world is stricter so entry to wizarding France is more often than not located behind pubs or squeezed between dark alleyways.

I visited—no, was dragged to muggle Dijon once when I started working with Martin. His parental home's there and wearing muggle clothes, he thought taking me through muggle world with me wearing wizarding robes during daytime was a good idea. He's a brilliant wizard but at 45(then), this was his best idea of fun.

Your trip seems very fun but I've never visited Australia. Muggles do have interesting infrastructures. Your parents seem like people who enjoy travelling. However, the idea of them, especially your father, enjoying sweets even though he's a teeth doctor is still bizarre.

Is wizarding Australia different than other places mentioned?

Did you find out that Longbottom and Abbott decided to get married next June? I don't whether you've access to The Daily Prophet at your parents' home but it was a big deal on the papers few days back. Skeeter's article was weirdly pleasant.

Also, I don't think you can escape patrolling the dungeons. Hope you don't stutter at the students.

Draco Malfoy

Hermione walked inside St Mungo's and was greeted by George, his hair slightly dishevelled. He led her to the waiting room where Molly, Arthur, Percy and Ron were waiting. Molly greeted her with a quick hug and moved aside to squeeze Hermione between her and Percy.

"Harry's inside with Ginny," George answered when Hermione looked around. He looked at the door, "Well, that was a surprise."

"Imagine the shock when mum called us at 3 in the morning telling Ginny was in the hospital," Percy said.

"We thought something bad happened—" Ron added, "Especially with the way she called us."

"You should expect anything around this time!" Arthur exclaimed. He got up and started pacing the floor, "I mean the due date was next week but weeks can change. Percy was a week early and Ron was a week late. I hope it's okay—" he whipped his head to look at his wife, "Molly, maybe I should go in."

Molly looked up from examining her thumb, "Arthur, stop worrying. Harry's there with her."

Arthur, however, didn't calm down and quickened his pacing. Molly sighed in frustration before she spoke clearly, her voice shrill.

"Arthur Weasley, Ginny's giving birth to a child not fighting a mountain troll!"

The younger Weasleys along with Hermione tried to hold in their laughter when Arthur sat down next to his wife slouching. He held his head in his hands as he tapped his left leg quickly on the floor. Only Molly's glare stopped his movement and caused the others to breathe out into suppressed laughter. After another hour of waiting, the door opened to reveal a nurse wearing a white uniform. She looked startled at a large number of people but composed herself quickly.

"You can see the patient." She started. She tightened her grip on the door when all the people started walking towards the room, "We only allow 20 minutes in total to see them. The mother's exhausted so please refrain from crowding around her."

The nurse moved aside and they entered a bright lighted room with white walls and curtains. The only colour present was Ginny's light pink hospital gown; Harry's mismatched blue and red pyjamas and the light baby blue bundle on Ginny's arm.

Ginny's face shined and was flushed red. Her red hair clung to her sweat covered face and neck while Harry stood beside her, tears glazing his eyes, ready to roll down his cheeks. Everybody congratulated the couple, hugging Harry and planting kisses on Ginny's head. Molly took the baby in her hand and the visitors crowed around her.

Harry and Ginny chuckled as everybody 'awed' and cooed the baby.

Hermione visited Harry and Ginny at their home one week after their son was born. She Apparated a few metres away from the Potters' house, knowing that the baby hated the sound and brightness of the floo. She rearranged the gift her parents send and knocked, waiting for Harry or Ginny to open the door.

She was slightly taken back to see Ron open the door. Ron stilled for a moment in front of her before opening the door and his mouth pulled to a thin line to form a smile. She nodded and muttered a stiff 'thanks' before the sound of Harry cooing at the baby filled the air.

Hermione chuckled when she saw Potters. Ginny was holding the baby while Harry talked to the baby, kissing his tiny hands. They brightened when they saw Hermione; Ginny waving at her from the couch while Harry gave her a hug. There was a short moment of awkwardness as Ron bid his goodbyes but Ginny and Harry glided through the conversation, helping the ex-lovers to not freak out.

"Say thanks to your parents," Ginny smiled as she looked at the gift, sitting down on the couch. Harry moved the gift to the nursery as Ginny placed the baby on her lap, cooing at him once again.

"Parenthood going well so far?"

"We're absolutely knackered but it's wonderful," Ginny replied.

"James believes in his own night routine," Harry added as he placed a kiss on his wife's head, "But he's an angel otherwise."

Ginny sighed, "I feel like I've to fight for my own child's attention. Mum and dad visits every day and ever since Teddy saw him, he won't stop mentioning about James. I can't even hold him when George's here."

Hermione laughed out loud when Harry agreed with her, looking sad. The conversation flowed smoothly afterwards. Harry boasted about his most amazing wife and amazing child while Ginny peppered her child with kisses. The new parents almost whined when Hermione took James in her arms, marvelling at the messy jet black hair and bright brown eyes. Hermione cooed happily when he made a satisfying sound as she ran her thumb across his cheeks.

Hermione choked on her own spit when she saw the picture on the front page of The Daily Prophet three days later. She had made sure the owl delivered the paper to her room in her muggle home in case her parents read any unpleasant article about Auror cases or unwanted gossips.

It was a picture of Ron and her at the Potters' house—when Ron had opened the door. She groaned when she saw Rita Skeeter's name under the headline.

Before she could read the paper, her mother's call for breakfast interrupted her. She was hit with a strong smell of oats and fruits when she reached the bottom of the stairs. Her parents chirped out 'good morning's as she settled on the cushioned chair. On the table were three bowls of oats with a large bowl containing different berries and sliced green apples.

Hermione was reminded of a certain someone who likes to eat green apples and knitted her eyebrows as she tried to ignore the small butterflies that formed in her stomach.

"I'm sorry dear but your aunt's visiting next week," her dad said after a few morsels of food.

"She's insisting that you meet her," her mother added. She paused for a moment, biting the inside of her cheek, a nervous habit, before she continued, "She might try to set you up."

Hermione huffed loudly, stabbing the spoon into the oats, "She knows I'm not interested!"

"We tried but she was—" her dad quoted the air, "—'extremely displeased' that your previous boyfriend didn't even meet her."

"I don't have to introduce my boyfriend to her and besides—"

"He was a wizard who didn't know much about the muggle world." He finished.

Her mother placed her hand on hers, "We'll deter the conversation as much we can. Think of it as one of the pretentious ministry parties."

Hermione only sighed before finishing her breakfast. Her parents and she made another elaborate plan to deceive her aunt so that the Statute of Secrecy wasn't broken. Hermione's mind was taken off from the article by her parents' excitement in making a believable lie. Over the course of years, they found it enjoyable, her mother once telling her it was like building a fantasy world while her dad promptly added that it was like the plot for a spy movie.

It was by noon—after an unexpected visit from a neighbour—that Hermione was able to return to her room. Finally, in her bed, she took the newspaper and read through the offending article.

Rekindled Romance?

The two members of the Golden Trio were seen at the Potters' house a few nights back. Their romance was widely known through the Wizarding world and many wizards and witches expected the duo to wed like Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley (now Ginny Potter). It can be speculated that they visited the Potters' to see the new member of their family, James Sirius Potter. We can wonder whether Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley became the godparents of the newborn.

Many were saddened by the news of the duo separating almost three years ago. They or their friends have not given any reason to the breakup but there have been rumours of drinking problems, nasty fights between the then lovers as well as a supposed third party although on which side it isn't sure. Briefly, after their breakup, The Golden Girl retired from the ministry and was not seen in the wizarding world for a year.

But with this picture of them, maybe we can see a renewal of romance. For a witch and a wizard handling a breakup after not seeing others for almost a year, it seems that they are quite intimate. So can we see a romance blossoming between them? What will Ron Weasley's ex-girlfriend, Quidditch player Sophia Boons, say about this? Was there a secret romance between the duo when Ron Weasley dated Sophia Boons in their short 3-month romance?

As she glared through the paper, her attention was interrupted by a loud tapping on the window. A brown eagle-owl tapped on the window once again, more impatiently this time, and Hermione scoffed at the owl's pompous attitude. She took the letter from his beak, watched him hoot at her in acknowledgement and fly away. She slowly paced towards the bed, plopping softly on the mattress as Crookshanks sashayed towards her, standing next to her and leaning his head against her arm.

It was 2 weeks ago that she sent her first letter to Malfoy. By now, they owled each other constantly and Hermione had more than 5 letters from him and vice versa. They wrote about the larger and smaller things happening around their life.

Martin Bisset, as Hermione suspected, was the same Potioneer who was part of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers. She learned about his wife, Adele Dubois—a pureblood witch now denounced for marrying a muggleborn—setting up tea parties with her husband's colleagues. She learned about the different places Malfoy visited. She also learned about the young witch visiting the shop to flirt with one of the younger staff.

She had laughed at Malfoy's bewilderment at different muggle technologies and contraptions.

In turn, she told him about the kids living in her neighbourhood. She told him about the elaborate lies she created to fool her relatives so they don't question her profession. She had chuckled when she wrote about it, imagining that Malfoy probably would've grinned when he read about the different lie she told them. He probably would've laughed at her loss of anger when she was 13 and accidentally caused her cousin's tongue to swell up.

She opened the letter and read the cursive words, a small smile on her lips.

I'm telling you that you can write a better book than Daisy Hookum. For the love of Salazar, I'm giving you a compliment. Take it before I find the letter and burn it. My argument is that Hookum's book on living like a muggle for a year, although interesting, is somewhat bland. She spends most of her days staying in her home and writes about cooking or doing the laundry the muggle way.

Granger, don't let the words get to your bushy head, but finding out about muggle travelling, Australia and Koalas were more interesting than finding out what a washing machine was.

I already read 'A Guide to Medieval Sorcery' years ago. Keep up with the conversation. That book was added to the Hogwarts library ages ago.

Recently I visited the vineyard Martin's son, Milo, owned. He has multiple interests and brewing wine's one of them. It's a splendid place, almost picturesque. I spend the weekend with the Bessets along with Astoria (I don't think you know her but you might've met her sister, Daphne Greengrass. She was the same year as us but Astoria's two years younger). The poor girl was drunk by the end of her second glass of wine which delighted Adele. I think Adele would've made an exceptionally brilliant Slytherin.

I visited Paris a few days back. Wizarding Paris is highly vibrant, and it's thriving with nightlife—I don't there's night time in Paris. It's also like the rumours; people are very fashionable with a high taste for cheese but they do have excellent Chardonnay—it's second to what Milo makes. Paris is also very crowded during this time of the year but the season's beautiful. I saw the Eiffel tower and Salazar, it's a fantastic structure. I don't know how muggles made it with no magic. It's beautiful during night time, especially with the tiny lights.

By the way, the young witch who keeps flirting with the staff at Martin's shop finally made a move. She's a bold witch. She just walked into the store at the middle of the day, stomped her feet once and yelled out 'Je t'adore!' at the young wizard. The bloke was red like a lobster but he did snog that witch senseless in the middle of the shop afterwards. They couldn't keep their hands off each other for the rest of the day.

Also what's chemistry? I understood that it's a muggle subject but I still don't get how it's related to potions. Many of my students told me that the two subjects were similar. Muggle libraries are confusing (Martin took me there once) and I don't understand many muggle things. Martin's explanation left me more confused since he kept talking about "feesicks" and "biology".

I read the article by Skeeter about you and the weasel. I don't know what happened between you two but Skeeter's using whatever she got to come back to her former glory. Be careful.

On that note, I'll defend you if something happens to the beetle. But I think Potter will do more than necessary for you.

Draco

...

Hermione giggled as she read through the letter. She made sure to keep this particular letter at the bottom of the stack of the letter she got Malfoy. The written piece of evidence where he complimented her was priceless and Hermione wondered whether she would be able to trick a cunning Slytherin like him in the future.

Pulling out a fresh parchment, she immediately started writing a letter to him. Briefly explaining to him what chemistry is, she mentioned a promise to take him to muggle library, chuckling and wondering how he would react to that information.

...

...I won't drag you through muggle world with you wearing wizarding robes. I think you'll find muggle libraries enjoyable. I promise to explain everything thoroughly without confusing you.

On that note, stop puffing up like an arrogant peacock just because you already read one of the books I recommended. Also, I'm definitely going to safe keep the letter you sent—it contains evidence that you complimented me. The Bessets seems like a very interesting and welcoming family. From the stories you told me, Mrs Besset does seem like a very fun witch with a huge Slytherin streak.

I've met Astoria a couple of times at the ministry parties. I think it was with her mother at the S.P.E.W charity functions. She's a pleasant witch who genuinely seems interested in elf rights and she definitely knows more about it than other people I talked to. She's a lovely witch but I can't imagine her being drunk (maybe that's why I haven't seen her with a glass of champagne). It seems as absurd as you riding a motorcycle (a type of muggle transportation that has two wheels). I hope the young wizard doesn't get thrown out of the shop for being too handsy with his witch.

Paris seems like a wonderful place. Like I've told you, there are many things muggles do that are better than wizards. Wizardkind sometimes lack logic because we rely on magic way too much. The tower was built in the 19th century and things improved so much, so imagine what we can do now.

My aunt's visiting next week. She's the one who wants to know everything about my life, like where exactly I studied, work and who I'm currently with. My parents told me that she's trying to set me up. I've no idea why she's even interested. I mean, she has three kids of her own. But mom and dad always enjoy making up lies to deter her from finding out the truth. They enjoy it which is kind of relieving since I always thought they would find it bothersome to have to make up lies about their daughter's life. I'll tell you more after she visits.

I don't why Skeeter latched herself on to our relationship. And how did she even add Sophia Boons to this mix? I mean, I wasn't in the wizarding world when Ron dated her (by the way, its Weasley not weasel. Why you do still call him that?) I don't know why she thinks it's going to be sensational. I hope she picks on something else for getting her fame back but I hope she never gets it. I'm not being mean but she's annoying.

The only enjoyable thing she did was going to purebloods that still held the blood supremacy ideas and asking them questions about the integration of muggle-borns and purebloods in wizarding society. Usually, I don't see so many looks that bewildered but Skeeter has definitely made some older witches and wizards stutter when asked about muggle-borns. It makes me laugh but it still shows that ideas still exists even after the war.

Harry's a worrywart. He's caught up with parenting and prying the Weasleys away from his child so he can spend time with James.

Hermione

The next week, at exactly four o'clock, Hermione's aunt knocked at the Grangers' front door. She was a short, stout woman in her late forties who always wore her hair in an elegant up-do, no matter the occasion. She clacked her short red heels on the wooden floor with a smile that reminded Hermione of Umbridge. She tried not to shudder at the sight of the furry pink handbag in her aunt's hand.

Wearing her best ministry trained smile, she hugged her aunt, momentarily suffocated by the smell of floral perfume. She waited patiently for her parents to make the necessary small talk and followed them silently as they ushered the woman to the living room. When the chance provided itself, she offered to bring the tea, earning a pleased smile from her aunt while her parents gave a knowing one instead.

As they settled down, a cup of tea in their hand, Crookshanks peeked his head into the room. He was curious about the aunt, wanting to know whether she was as bad as Hermione described for the past week. The smell of perfume filled his nose almost immediately and he scrunched his nose instantly, disgusted. When the bleary brown eyes of the older woman meet him, he arched his back and puffed out his fur. He ran back to Hermione's room, hissing when the woman cooed at him.

After the usual pleasantries and small talks, the guest clapped her hand loudly once.

"My daughter's getting married!"

Hermione finally understood her aunt's interest in wanting to set her up; her youngest child is getting married and it seems that she's going to be lonely without playing matchmaker anymore. She watched as her aunt took out a small envelope from her bag and handed it to the family with a happy squeak.

"It's this coming December. We're having the engagement party here but the wedding's abroad." She exclaimed happily.

"Abroad?"

"Yes! France!"

Hermione's ear perked up and she darted her eyes from the wedding invitation to her aunt's excited face before looking back at the paper in her mother's hand.

"Hermione dear, you'll be attending right?"

Hermione gave an unsure smile, "I don't know I may have classes during that time." At her aunt's faltering smile, she looked at the paper again for the wedding date. She gave a tight-lipped smile to her aunt, "Oh! I don't have classes during that time."

"Excellent! I know some brilliant young men who're going to attend." She leaned in precariously at the edge of the sofa, "I can introduce you to some excellent men."

"I don't want to mee—"

"Oh, Nonsense!" she interrupted and Hermione bit her lip to avoid glaring at the woman, "Dear, you don't want to go into spinsterhood right?"

"I'm only 25—"

"You're going to be 26 the coming September"

Hermione wondered how she even knew that. They saw each other only a handful of times throughout the year and even then Hermione avoided talking to her as much as she could. She rounded this as a peculiar behaviour of her aunt.

"I'm still young"

"Jean! What's your daughter saying? You had her when you were 24!"

Jean Granger cleared her throat, loud and clear, fed up with the nonsensical bickering. She gave a knowing look to Hermione, warning her to not argue anymore. Turning to be guest, she spoke clearly and sternly, "I'm fine with that. Hermione's a career woman. Besides I don't think her love life is something of our concern."

The older women grumbled in response and let go of the conversation.

The summer months passed by with more letters; spending time with her parents; reading more books and visiting her godson. At two months, James had effectively captured Hermione's heart and she tried to see him as much she could before school started and life became busy again.

Two weeks before school started, she visited Ginny's house, happily beelining to the baby after giving her friends a nonchalant greeting. Ginny and Harry laughed at it as they followed Hermione to the nursery. Hermione immediately starting cooing to the baby the moment her eyes met his bright brown ones.

With that, the three friends and a baby settled on the couch as they caught up with their lives.

"Vacation's going good so far. Other than my aunt's insistence that I absolutely find somebody before I turn 30, I wrote lots of letters. Neville, Luna, Malfoy, Ted—"

"Malfoy? As in Draco Malfoy?"

Ginny looked like she misheard whatever her friend told her. Even Harry looked somewhat surprised at the mention of his name.

Hermione sighed, "Yes, Draco Malfoy. The Potions professor of Hogwarts. I work with him."

"I didn't know you guys write to each other."

"Well—we're friends," Hermione replied. The confused look on her friends' faces deepened as James giggled and squirmed under Ginny's hold.

Harry nudged Ginny, "I saw together in front of Snape's grave."

Ginny only replied with a disbelieved 'huh'. Hermione wondered whether Harry saw them holding hands—even if it had been for comfort. Hermione felt her cheeks heat up as she thought of how warm his hands were.

"I didn't know you guys became friends," Ginny said, "I thought it was just passing pleasantries at school."

"I thought it was study partners." Harry added immediately, "When did both of you become friends?"

Hermione bit her lip again. Study partners weren't the exact term that she used to explain her relationship with Malfoy to her friends years ago. She wondered whether she should tell them that it was more like 'sharing-my-nightmares' buddies. She thought against it, not wanting to discuss the type of conversations they had.

Hermione chewed on her lips, momentarily lost, "We started talking when we were eight-years, so, I guess, since then. But we didn't keep in touch until I became a Hogwarts professor. It was easy to pick things up afterwards."

"So you guys are friends now? Just like that?" Ginny asked.

Hermione nodded. Harry took James from his wife's hand and spoke, "What Ginny meant is whether you forgave him. You know for being a git for all your school years?"

"If you became friends with anybody else, I wouldn't have been surprised but it's Malfoy. The git you punched in your third year." Ginny added, "He was the one yelling blood supremacy on your face for the seven years of your life. The death eater—even if he was shi—a bad one."

"He's not like that anymore. He's a good professor and he stopped believing in the blood supremacy bullsh—thing." Hermione covered her mouth, frantically glancing at James, "Merlin! we drink wine and hot cocoa in my apartment."

"He hangs out in your apartment?" Harry asked stunned.

"Yeah"

Ginny and Harry looked gobsmacked. Hermione covered her arms over her stomach, "Yes I forgive him. Yes, it took time. We moved past that." She replied after a few moments of silence, "He's not like the purebloods at the ministry party who pretends to like muggle-born and half-bloods."

Ginny gave another 'huh' while Harry adjusted his glasses. Hermione waited for friends to react and watched as the wheels turned in their heads to form some form of conclusion. Finally, Harry cleared his throat, "I saw him once at a ministry event with his mother. He was civil."

Ginny turned to look at him, "But don't they all act civil and mighty?"

Harry shook his head, "He didn't sneer at the muggle-borns. You know how they secretly sneer, thinking that nobody's watching them. He didn't do that. He looked like—Blimey, I can't believe I'm saying this—he changed."

Ginny made a suspicious sound. She turned to look at Hermione, "Okay, but if he calls you something weird, I'll punch him this time."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Fine. We'll both punch him."

After a moment of silence, Ginny sharply exhaled air of disbelief, eyes wide as she exclaimed spluttering into laughter, "Okay! But later don't tell me that Andromeda and Malfoy had a Black's reunion party and became chums."

Harry chuckled at the absurd situation. He turned to James, laughing, "That's funny right, Jamie? Draco drinking tea with Andromeda. She might probably tell him to wash his own cups."

Ginny giggled. She moved strands of hair away from her son's forehead, "That's funny. Right, Hermione?"

Silence.

"Y-yeah! That's funny"

Hermione squirmed under the very pregnant silence. Only James's laughter filled the air.

Hermione chewed her lips and looked at her lap, mentally berating herself. She rolled the hem of her top between her fingers and looked at her friends who looked petrified. Hermione wanted to laugh at the expressions on her friends face. She swore she saw Harry's eyes pop out of his skull.

Hermione didn't blame them for the reaction. She was just as surprised when she found out that piece of information.

She had found out about Malfoy's contact with Andromeda and Teddy through one of the recent letters he sent her. She learned that Andromeda was contacted by Skeeter when Narcissa's illness became public. Andromeda had contacted her younger sister in an act of love; reached out to a sister who didn't care about her. Malfoy told her how it wasn't flowers and sunshine; he told her how his mother rejected Andromeda and how he secretly reached out to his aunt and cousin afterwards. He felt that it didn't matter anymore that they were taken off the Black family tree.

Because Andromeda and Teddy were his family. Now his only family.

Sighing Hermione got up, took James in her arms and bounced the baby softly, smiling as the baby giggled in response. She watched as James clutched her brown locks, brought his tiny fist to his mouth and sucked on it, along with the curls. She gently pulled the locks away, giggling when she saw how fussy he became when he encountered the new texture.

"I never saw him there," Harry said confused.

Hermione shrugged, "Ask Andromeda."

Hermione knew the answer to that. It was something she herself had asked Malfoy in the following letter riddled with questions. Initially, it was a coincidence—Malfoy only visited when Harry was on Auror missions and most of his initial contact with Andromeda was through letters.

A part of Hermione suspected Andromeda also played a part in it. Nobody popped into the Tonks' house without prior notice. The older witch must have known the precarious relationship between the Weasleys and Malfoy—Ron complaining about seeing Malfoy at the ministry party while Hermione was at Greece was one of them. Hermione wondered whether she should've told them that.

"Must've been Andromeda" Harry said, thinking.

"Er—maybe just don't tell Ron that," Hermione added, nervous that she spilt the information.

Harry looked at Ginny who gave him a knowing look. He sighed, "I'll ask Andromeda."

"I still have my doubts though," Ginny said, looking at Hermione.

An awkward silence followed between the three, broken only by the gurgling noises of James. Hermione waited for them to say something. Anything!

"Can we talk about anything else?" Hermione said looking at her friends, "You both look like you don't have anything else to say."

Harry blinked, "More like, I don't know where to begin."

"Maybe we should change the topic," Ginny interrupted, "I don't want Harry to go Auror mode."

Harry sighed.

"Fine. So...what about the aunt who wants to get you married before 30?"

Author's Note:

The book about living as a muggle for a year by Daisy Hookum is canon.

However, the Bessets are my own characters.