Sitting at the table, Hermione bottle-fed Rose, while he went through his mails.

"Still no reply from Narcissa?" she asked.

"Unfortunately not."

"Why is this even so important to you? That you two are getting back together?" Hermione asked.

"Tell me, Miss Granger, is there any way to make you stop being so noisy?"

"I don't seem to bother you when we fuck."

"Indeed." He sighed. "Narcissa and I, We have been married for almost three decades. It was not an entirely bad time and we have raised a son together."

"That sounds pathetic."

Mr. Malfoy stood up and took the photograph of Ron and her on the shelf. "Said the one who is hung up on her dead rush. How many years has it been?"

Hermione tore the framed photo out of his arms. "You know nothing about Ron. He has been more than a crush, we've been best friends forever. Someone like you wouldn't understand."

They haven't spoken since that conversation. He shouldn't have mentioned Ron. Now everything between them was awkward. Hermione wanted to kick him out, but there was really no reason. They hadn't been friends before there was no reason that their relationship would suffer from it.

Waking up, she didn't feel like standing up. Mr. Malfoy was already tending to Rose, so she could remain lying in her bed. Hermione felt so tired. Her head was pounding and her joints ached. She closed her eyes and drifted away.

"Miss Granger?" It was strange. Normally, she would always stand up and be eager to go to work. Not that Lucius could understand what was so great about working in an archive, from what he understood, the younger witch had always been an excellent student and her talents were wasted in that position.

She groaned in protest. Slowly opening her eyes, Lucius could see her red eyes. Her skin was pale and she looked awful.

"Are you unwell?"

She looked at him weakly. He stretched out his arm and placed his hand on her forehead. She was glowing hot.

"You are sick, Miss Granger."

She opened her mouth to protest but closed it again. Blinking a couple of times, she came to the conclusion that he was in fact right and she should owl sick.

No one batted an eye as he ented the company. Lucius had been using the facilities of Malfoy Medicals regularly over the past weeks. He had needed an office and this was his company after all. While he would have preferred it to be comfortable at the Manor, Malfoy Medicals did require his special attention. At least until Draco would finally step un and take over the position as head researcher.

Andrea greeted him as friendly as ever. By now she had given up and stopped bothering him about Draco, she seemed to understand that he had more urgent matters to take care of.

Lucius sat down at his desk and started to look through his daily correspondence. Rose wasn't making him any trouble as always. He hadn't known that children could be such delightful if he had Draco might have not remained an only child for so long.

After a long day of work, he returned to Miss Granger's flat. The young witch was still lying in bed. Has she moved at all the entire day?

"I'm dying."

"One does not die that simple."

Here he was. Alone with a baby and a sick witch in the middle of muggle London. What went wrong in his life to deserve that? Reluctantly, he made her a cup of tea. She wasn't watching so Lucius added a gulp of sleeping draught in it. He had one baby to care for, he didn't need another one.

Lucius was on diaper duty the following day as well. As if having to take care of Rose and still having some work to do wasn't enough, he realized that he ought to feed Miss Granger before going to work. Theoretically, he could do his work from home, but he was eager to leave the tiny flat.

Looking through the kitchen shelves, he found that they had barely any groceries at home. He shouldn't have been surprised about that, after all, they had been short already yesterday and he didn't restock. Neither did the young witch who was lying in her bed sick.

"There's a supermarket around the corner," she said weakly.

He took a big mug of tea and brought it over to her. He sat down by her side and showed her their little daughter. Yes, she was still alive. Placing the mug on her nightstand, he then felt her temperature with his now free hand.

She was still hot, although the potions have helped to bring her to a more healthy temperature. She looked at him with her tired eyes. Lucius couldn't see any hint of hostility in those big brown orbs. The witch had been a constant pain in his side for as long as he had known her, it was strange to see her succumb to an infection.

He didn't know what he had done wrong in his life. Lucius had contemplated calling a House Elf but he was too scared of being hexed for doing so. Tieing Rose to his chest, he covered her with his long coat so that only her head was lurking out.

Not wanting to go down the stairs her apparated to the entrance, from there her fallowed the not so precise directions of a sick witch. He did eventually found something like a supermarket, but it was definitely not just around the corner.

Lucius aimlessly strolled through the aisle. He had no idea what he was supposed to buy. Once he found himself at the cashiers without having picked up a single item, he realized that he needed a battle plan.

Cooking wasn't something he was overly familiar with. For his entire life, he had been taken care of by elves. He knew a few cutting spells, not that he had ever used them on vegetables before.

Looking around, he watched the muggles, they all seemed to have some kind of routine, picking their stuff as they walked through the aisles. He was the only one who didn't know what to do. This wasn't working. He needed a new plan.

Hermione felt like she was dying. How she hated being sick. She felt so useless and her head was hurting whenever she tried to read a book. Couldn't this be over already? As she lied here in her bed, she waited for Mr. Malfoy to return. She waited and waited.

Eventually, she had to leave her bed, even if it was only to pee. In moments like that, she was grateful that her flat was so small. Steadying herself at the walls, she slowly stumbled towards the bathroom. She immediately regretted it whenever she moved her head too quickly. It was like someone has pushed a knife through her skull. Not that it would actually feel like that since the brain didn't have any pain receptors.

As she moved back from the bathroom ever so slowly and crawled back into bed, she found that they still hadn't returned. Hermione felt oddly disappointed. She had wanted him to leave her alone for weeks, but she had never wanted him to disappear with their daughter when she was too sick to go after him.

She took a big gulp of tea and placed her head on the pillow. Her stomach was grumbling, but looking around she couldn't find anything edible. There wasn't a lot she could eat anyway. She didn't want to owl Harry to take care of her either, he would make a big fuss and she was to tired to write a letter.

With confidence, he entered the huge book store. He placed 50 pounds on the counter and gave the sales lady his best intimidating stare.

"It is an emergency. Rose's mother is sick and I need a cookbook. I am looking for soups."

The sales lady blinked a couple of times and rushed off. She came back a few minutes later showing him a few options. Lucius chose the most beginner-friendly and left the store without taking his change, he had more pressing things to worry about.

Now that he was armed with recipes all he had to do was buy the supplies and figure out how to do this whole cooking thing. But seriously, how difficult could boiling water really be.

As he was getting hungry, Lucius decided to have a bite to eat somewhere. He didn't really know where to go, as he didn't frequent Muggle London unless it was for business in which case his business partners invited him. He didn't need to go somewhere fancy, he just needed a table to sit down to read the recipes and feed Rose.

So here he was standing inside a McDonald's. The neon light was intimidating, but he made a point to look even more intimidating. He ordered a BigMac and coke. He wasn't sure what it exactly was since he was only familiar with the BigMac-index, but it must have been a big thing in the muggle world.

He was handed a metal number and a plate with his drink. Sitting down at one of the tables, he looked at the number. He was told to wait for his burger. He had always imagined this whole fast-food restaurant differently, for one he had expected it to be actually fast.

As was sitting there feeding Rose, he watched more and more muggles queue up. They looked kind of chaotic from his perspective and as there were so many of them, the whole ordering was slow.

Someone brought him his BigMac with another plate and took the number away. And once Rose was finished, he could finally start eating.

It wasn't horrible, but the BigMac-index was definitely more interesting than the BigMac itself. He felt like an animal eating with his bare hands, constantly watching himself not to dribble sauce and lettuce onto himself. Lucius hadn't thought that eating could be that stressful.

He wiped his fingers clean and opened the cookbook. The ice in his coke made interesting sounds as he drank. Lucius found it annoying, but Rose was enjoying it. So here he was, rattling his coke for his daughter while he read over the recipes to find out what kind of soup he could manage to cook.

A group of teenagers was staring at him. Lucius couldn't understand what they were starring at. If anything he should stare at them. Sitting around the table, they were fighting over french fries They were all dressed in sweaters that were made for a half-giant and their baggy trousers revealed their underwear, yet they were staring at him. Muggles, he rolled his eyes.

With the cookbook in one hand, he entered the supermarket. It wasn't the same one he had entered earlier. Not that it would have helped him much. The older wizard was completely lost anyway.

As he stood there with a cookbook, soups, and stews for dummies, a basket in his other hand, and a baby on his chest, it wasn't long until an older lady started feeling sorry for him.

"Has your wife abandoned you?" The older lady asked. She looked at him, the way Augusta Longbottom did, eager to uncover dirt.

"She is unwell," he said dryly.

Only after these words have left his mouth it occurred to him how wrong that statement was. He had a wife, she just had thrown him out because he had a child with another witch. It wasn't even his fault, it had been an accident. And now he was not only caring for his daughter but also babysitting her sick mother because she was unwell.

"Aww, poor man. Does she not have parents to take care of you? A man can't handle that on his own."

"They are in Australia," Lucius said. Or was it Austria? He didn't really care.

She showed him around, packing items into his basket for him. The older lady took her time explaining him everything he needed to know. She found the right kind of teas and picked him the best vegetables for the soup. She also added crackers.

Lucius didn't quite know how he had managed to get a muggle do the grocery shopping for him, but it was definitely much faster then if he had done it all by himself. As a proper wizard, the Manor had a stately kitchen garden the elves attended to, to save him from those dreadful tasks. Not so long ago Muggles had Maids of all work to do the chores, but now they were left to do everything by themselves. And they call it progress.

He thanked the lady for her help and paid for his groceries. From the corner of his eyes, he saw her rush to another woman, telling her about his awful situation. Lucius wasn't sure what to make of it.

He walked to a side alley from where he apparated back to her flat. He had been gone for ages and there he had thought that he would only go around the corner to pick something up.

Waking up, Hermione slowly became aware of the world around her. There were noises, a steady bloob bloob. She was no longer alone. Not quite knowing what to make of it, she just lied there, wondering what was going on.

She hadn't expected the older pureblood to return. But judging by the plastic bag on the table, he actually went grocery shopping in a supermarket. Hermione had no idea what took him so long, but he was back.

She spotted him standing in the small kitchen. There was a big pot on the stove. She could see the blue flames from her bed. For some reason, she hadn't expected him to actually manage to get her stove on although it wasn't actually that difficult.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, bringing her tea and cracker to the bed.

"Rose?"

"Having a nap, I have just changed her, by hand," he added.

Hermione nodded. The mattress sank as he sat down next to her.

"The soup should be ready in about an hour." He placed his bog hand on her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

Hermione closed her eyes for a second as he touched her. He was oddly familiar with her and she found that it felt oddly nice. God, she really was sick, she was even starting to enjoy Mr. Malfoy's presence.

"Horrible. Am I gonna die?"

He chuckled. "Miss Granger, you have survived much worse, an infection will not end you." He took the mug of the nightstand and offered her a sip of tea.

"Hermione," she said before drinking it. While she needed the fluid, the tea was also still too hot to drink and she could only take small sips.

"Lucius." He placed the mug back on the nightstand and stroked over her cheek. She closed her eyes leaning into his touch. His big hand was still warm from the tea he had been holding. "Sleep well."

Lucius was pacing through the small flat, he bumped his head against the wooden ceiling which seemed to amuse Rose. He was anxious, trying the soup every few minutes. He did everything according to the recipe, but he was still anxious whether it worked or not. Brewing potions made him never feel like that.

It definitely wasn't the best soup he had ever had, but he was still proud of himself. Everything that was in it seemed mostly done and he was eager for Hemione to give it a try. Hermione, he repeated her name in his head again and again. It sounded nice and he was strangely fine with addressing the young witch informally.

He turned off the gas. Filling a bowl with the hot liquid, he slowly carried it to her bed, trying to not bump his head against something. He placed Rose on the bed next to her mother and woke Hermione up.

She was barely awake as he shoved a spoonful of soup into her mouth. He watched her closely. She was inhaling sharply a few times until she managed to swallow the hot liquid.

"And?" His heart was racing as he waited for an answer.

"Hot."

He had spent the entire day shopping and cooking and that was all the answer he got? He should have called Draco and gotten his work done instead. His hand clenched around the spoon, he couldn't explain it but for some reason he was angry.

She looked at him and the bowl in his hand. "Are you going to feed me or do I get the spoon?"

Startled he filled another spoon with the hot liquid. He blew to bring the temperature down before shoving another spoonful into her mouth.

"Wow! This is actually good."

He felt his chest rise, beaming with pride. "You sound surprised."

A blush covered her cheeks and she nibbled on her lower lip in the most adorable way. "I thought you would be completely lost," she admitted.

He smiled at her gently. "I am an intelligent wizard, I can manage. Would you believe me if I told you that I had a BigMac?"

She giggled. "No way!"

"Well, I can not say that this was an experience I have to repeat, but I can survive by myself." He kept feeding her the soup until the bowl was completely empty. He placed the empty bowl in the sink.

"You could stay in bed with us for a little," Hermione suggested.

He looked at her and Rose. He had wanted to be productive for the day, but the bed looked inviting. He undid his tie and joined them. Their little one was lying between them and covered them with the blanket.

As time passed they moved closer and close to each other until he had Hermione in one arm and Rose in the other. As they were both sleeping, he got to shamelessly enjoy them.

Lucius had never thought that he would ever do something like this. To just spend a day in bed with his family. There was always something that needed to be taken care of and that seemed so unproductive that it was the last thing on his mind.

He could just make Hermione take an extra day with Rose so he could catch up with everything that remained undone.

He inhaled her shampoo as her head rested on his chest. Even though she was sick and hadn't showered in days, she didn't actually smell too bad. Lucius pressed her closer against his frame. It was oddly nice to have a witch sleeping in his arm.

As it got later and he got tired, he had to get up. He still needed to change Rose and put her back into her cradle. The sun was setting and, he got undressed before joining Hermione in their bed.

She was sleeping half on her back and he spooned her. Wiping her bushy hair out of her way, he placed a kiss on her neck. He felt at ease holding her. She was so warm and soft. with Hermione deep asleep, he didn't have a worry in the world. She couldn't hex him or throw him out. He could just hold onto her and relish her proximity.

She was feeling much better when she woke up the following morning. Hermione still wasn't back to her former strength, but she wasn't feeling like dying either. Noticing the weight in her body she slowly opened her eyes.

Lucius was lying half onto her, his arm wrapped around her waist. Strands of his long hair were hanging into her pace and he was snoring slightly. It wasn't loud but definitely audible.

She watched him sleep. She could feel his chest rise and fall with every breath he took, he looked almost cute. Hermione knew she should push him away. She had never wanted him in her life, he just invaded upon her, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

And Rose didn't demand her attention either. So there she was in bed with Draco's dad and she kind of liked it. He wasn't an entirely unpleasant person, just very difficult.

He slowly woke up and turned to her their eyes met. Absently, she petted his back. There was something going on and she didn't want to break the spell. He slowly raised his head not breaking the eye-contact.

He removed his hand from under her body and slowly reached out for her. Hermione tilted her head slightly, exposing her vulnerable neck, without removing her eyes from him. He tucked a loose strand of her bushy hair behind her ear.

She swallowed hard as he leaned forward, closing the distance between them. Her heart was racing and she looked at him with big eyes. For a moment she panicked, she didn't know what to do.

Hermione boldly placed her hand on his cheek and closed her eyes. His lips brushed over hers. She shivered under his touch and goosebumps covered her arm. Lifting her head off the pillow, she pressed her lips against his. Her hands grabbed his long hair pulling him closer to her. It was a soft kiss yet, it left her yearning for more.

They slowly separated. Lucius looked at her smiling gently and she smiled back at him. Her cheeks were glowing and her fingers caressed his arms.