He was like petrified as he watched her disappear in front of his eyes. His hand touched his burning cheek. That chit of a girl had the impertinence to slap him. Lucky for her she was out of his reach because he didn't know what he would do if he got her into his hands.
Turning around he found Draco and Harry standing behind him. Little Scorpius was hiding behind his fathers.
"I have told you a million times that muggle-raised students do not belong in our community they cause nothing but trouble."
He ignored Harry and went to the library. He accioed a drink and set down on the big leather couch. He emptied his glass in one gulp and slapped it on the desk in front of him.
Sitting in front of the fireplace his anger slowly subsided. Taking in his surroundings, he realized how much Hermione would like the library. It smelt lovely, of old books and wood. His family had spent centuries collecting those books. He had wanted to show it to her, to see her eyes beaming with joy.
He took a deep breath. He had wanted to take her to Paris for an extended weekend. The joke was on him, he had always known that she would be trouble, it wasn't like he had wanted anything to do with her, it was an accident. He had only wanted to sign the receipt of the very necklace, Hermione had overreacted over. He was going to bring it to Gringott's, this necklace was clearly cursed.
Hermione had broken down crying. She had always known that letting him into her life was a mistake. But that didn't make it hurt any less. Hermione knew she should stand up and pick her daughter up but she was so down.
She couldn't deal with the world right now. She wasn't a chore, she was a great witch, she was an excellent witch who had contributed greatly to society and there was nothing that was going to stop her.
She found glitter in her hair for weeks. Not wanting to deal with anybody, even taking care of Rose felt like a chore. She loved her daughter, she really did, but she just wasn't in the right mind to deal with it.
She looked at her daughter, as she tried to focus. She just couldn't keep in mind where she wanted to put those damn books. It wasn't a difficult task, a witch of her intelligence should do it with ease yet, she was struggling.
Exhausted, she sat down at the desk. She placed the books next to her and let her head fall onto the table. Rose was looking at her with her big blue eyes, her father's eyes. She looked around. There was not a soul to be seen.
When was the last time she had met up with Harry? True they were both busy with their jobs and family, but maybe this just wasn't working.
When she was younger, she had wanted to create a better world, but all she had done the last years was put books into shelves and retrieve books from shelves. She really was wasted here. It wasn't like she had to work at the archive to have access to the books. She could simply drop by and bother the new archivist to collect whatever she wanted.
Enough was enough. Hermione was a Gryffindor, she won't back down because something was new and scary, she would rise to the challenge.
Looking through the Prophet, she couldn't find any jobs that would interest her. But as she started thinking about it, she remembered something she had read at Potions. Wasn't there a position as a head researcher open somewhere?
No more excuses, she told herself. She handed in her letter of notice and went looking for the magazine. As it took her longer and longer to locate the right one doubts crept up her mind.
Was she doing a huge mistake? Hermione had a bit of money saved up, but without a job, she would burn through it quickly. And then there was the fact that she didn't know how easily, it would be to find a job that would allow her to bring Rose.
Maybe she should stay at the archive, it had given her a safe place for so long. And it wasn't horrible, in fact, she enjoyed her work a lot. But then she thought about all the other things she could do with her life. As a head researcher, she might come up with a cure for a unique curse or improve the medicine that was already around.
And even if she didn't get the job, she could still apply to the Department of Creature regulation. There she could fight for better rights and protections for creatures and House Elves.
Eventually, Hermione found what she had been looking for. But the article was written 5 months ago already. Her heart sank. Had she just risked her entire life for a childish dream? But she read through the article once again.
She took a deep breath and started writing her letter of application. It might have been too late already, but she couldn't know for sure until she tried. She was sitting on it for the entire day. Nothing sounded quite right, and she didn't want to sound like an idiot. Eventually, Hermione realized that it wasn't getting any better no matter how often she rewrote the same lines.
Her hands were shaking. Hermione hadn't realized that this stressed her out that much, she had only sent out a letter. Well, a letter that could change her life potentially. She was lying on her bed next to Rose waiting until she calmed down.
Suddendly, there was tapping against her window. Looking up, she saw an unfamiliar owl sitting in front of her window. She let the owl in and fed it treats. Reading over the letter she couldn't believe it. She read over it again and again.
Andrea Miller had offered her an interview. That was it, she had actually a chance of getting this job. She lifted Rose and showered her baby with kisses, she was getting her life in order. Everything was going to be alright.
After she had dropped Rose off. She flood to Diagon Alley. After she retrieved a couple of galleons from her vault she went to Madam Milkins. She wasn't a child anymore and it was time for her to acquire a proper set of dress robes and a hat. She took her time choosing her robes and hat carefully.
The hat looked a lot like the one Professor McGonagall was wearing only in black and she got quilted robes in black and purple. They complimented her nicely and made her look like a real witch.
She shouldn't have put so much emphasis on her outfit, but she had a job interview and wanted to be respected as a carrier-witch in the field. While the high price tag made her feel really uneasy, she would be more than capable of making up for her investment if she got the job. She almost sounded like Lucius, she had definitely spend too much time with him.
He was sitting in his office in his Manor with Rose on his lap. While he liked juggling the numbers, he not always like dealing with his business partners. A lot of them were high maintenance and he was done with it. He had a little daughter who needed his constant attention, he couldn't attend pointless cocktail parties just to have been there.
There was a knock on the door.
He looked up. "Andrea, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?"
"I have had a job interview today, I don't know if you've already heard about it or if it was your idea, but I would want to hire Miss Granger, with your blessing, of course,"
His hand clenched around the table. The nerve of that girl.
"Her grades have always been exceptional, she has a wast knowledge about various topics, and she also has a lot of knowledge out the muggle version of Alchemy," Andrea explained. "Also, I wouldn't mind watching over Rose if the two of you are busy. Your daughter is such a delight."
He took a deep breath. "Fine, hire her."
Lucius waited until Andrea had left his office. He slammed his hand onto the table. One of those days he was going to hex her into oblivion. Why was she always making his life so complicated?
Letting his head fall back, he took a deep breath. At least, Rose was growing up in his company. And with the money, Hermione might finally get a bigger place so that she got her own room and had space to play.
Grabbing his wand he apparated right to her. Of course, she had keyed him out of her wards again. Why would she make anything easy for him? He hammered with his fist against her door.
"What do you want here?"
"You have applied to my company without telling me!"
"It doesn't matter, we have Rose and there frore have to interact regularly anyway. I'm sure that my working at your company is the least of your problems," Hermione argued.
He had rarely visited Draco and his son-in-law. Harry had spent the evening in the kitchen cooking them a fine meal. It didn't exactly live up to his House Elves' standard but it was much better than a BigMac and he could eat it with cutlery.
There was very little they could talk about. It was awkward. Only Scorpius seemed genuinely happy to see him and that he was here. But that might have something to do with the toys he brought him.
"I have filled the position of the head researcher," Lucius said.
"What really?" Draco was excited. "So you'll finally leave me alone with this and I can be a stay-at-home-father just like I always wanted?"
He nodded. It still hurt that his son had no interest in taking on more responsibilities. This was the company that secured his family's high standard of living and he wanted to see it continued.
"Harry and I, we've ordered a baby," Draco announced proudly.
"We have sent a letter or two, maybe three, but not hundreds of them like Hermione did," Harry said.
Lucius took a fork full of shepherd's pie. "I am happy for you."
The two of them looked so sickenly in love. How was that even possible? They've been married for some time now and were still doing well. Although Lucius suspected that they were fighting a lot, after all, they had a very different upbringing and that could make things very difficult.
Draco disappeared to tuck Scorpius in which left Lucius sitting on the table with his son-in-law. The two of them had no relationship and he couldn't say that this was something that bothered him. The boy was his son's age what could he possibly talk with him.
Hermione was the same age, a voice in his head reminded him. But that was different, she was intelligent and they were on the same level. That didn't make her any less difficult though.
"We need to celebrate." Draco opened a bottle of wine, returning to the table, "So who did you hire? I mean, you've been keeping the position vacant for years."
"I thought that Herm-, Miss Granger would fill the position nicely."
The two of them looked at him. "Are you sure about this?"
"Of course."
"You didn't separate on the best of terms and you have a baby together…" Harry said.
"Well, we would have to work together for Rose's sake anyway, what difference would it make where she worked."
Harry and Draco didn't look convinced but neither of them said anything.
Reading over the new reports from his research department was the highlight of his day. Hermione had taken the research into a new direction which made the reports fascinating. He could barely lay them down.
Realistically, he knew that in a couple of months, he would be bothering her. As the head of the company, it fell upon him to turn whatever the research team has covered up into a sellable product.
Without knocking someone entered his office. Looking up he found Narcissa standing right in front of him. She was barely tanned despite having spent the last couple of months in the Caribbean.
"I have been thinking," she started, "I know that you didn't what this half-breed and that this situation is hard on you as well… I want to give you another chance, we've been good together for decades and it would be a shame to give up on this."
This was what he had wanted for so many years, and now Narcissa was finally willing to give him a chance. They had been a great couple, the top of pureblood society, nothing seemed impossible and there had always been a way to wriggle himself out of difficult situations. They were well matched. While Lucius took care of the business part, he could always count on her to take care of the social aspect.
"Things have changed, Narcissa," Lucius looked at her, "My first priority is to my children and that includes Rose. This could never work."
"You let me come here, buy me expensive jewelry, just to humiliate me? For what? That girl hates you, she doesn't want you in your life, and you don't want her in your life!"
It hurt him more than he cared to admit. She was right, Hermione didn't want him in his life and he could never get fully rid of her because of Rose, but that didn't change anything.
"I will not give up on my daughter just because the relationship I have with her mother is very difficult."