Hermione sat in a chair in the middle of the room. She had begun tapping her foot repeatedly, but one look from Draco made her stop immediately.

"An orphanage, Mrs. Malfoy? You are a heroine to the Wizarding World, a Senior Magical Researcher here at the Ministry, swimming in wealth untold, and you want to open up an orphanage? Why?"

Hermione swallowed. No, this wasn't the real hearing, but Lydia -wearing official-looking robes, a stern expression on her face, and looking down on her like she was a pest -had made everything seem official enough. Throw in Blaise with an attitude to make Salazar Slytherin proud, and Narcissa acting...well, like herself except a lot less cordial, then this would more or less be like what the real hearing would be.

Draco had thought it to be a good idea if she ran through her pitch a couple times beforehand. Hermione was going to ask Harry, Ron, and Ginny to run down questions with her, but her darling husband had shot that down in a second.

"You need people who aren't going to baby you." He had told her. Hence why Lydia, formerly a Rosier, Blaise, ex-Voldemort supporter, and Narcissa, ex-supporter and current wife and mother to former Deatheaters, were all posing as board members. Although Hermione wouldn't dare let on, it was absolutely intimidating.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Quite simply? Children are a gift. After my recent misfortunes in that regard, I've decided to take it upon myself to help children who have no families. Everyone needs someone, and I intend on making that a reality."

Lydia wrinkled her nose. "How...noble of you." She then turned to sit down and Narcissa stood.

"Exactly where do you hope to hold this orphanage of yours?"

"Malfoy Manor," Hermione said, straightening her back a little to seem more important. "It has more than adequate space to hold an infinite amount of children there."

"Oh yes, I imagine so." Narcissa said with disinterest. "I'm sure they'll have a lovely time playing with dark artifacts and heeding to strict, pureblood rules and dialect throughout their upbringing."

"Malfoy Manor was searched in its entirety at the end of last week. I have the report with me and you can see that there wasn't a single piece of dark magic found on the premises. Also," Hermione couldn't help but add testily. "I, too, am a Malfoy in case you've forgotten. I think I can attest to the fact that the so-called 'pureblood rules and dialect' are a thing of the past and have no bearings today or any day in the future."

Narcissa broke character for a quarter of a second when she smiled before taking her seat. Blaise didn't stand. However, he seemed to exude an arrogance that could've rivaled Draco's teenage self.

"Say we do approve your orphanage and it's held in that place. Exactly how do you intend to maintain it?" Blaise smirked. "Planning on picking up a mop and bucket yourself?"

Under different circumstances, Hermione would've wanted to hex him to bits. Instead she'd give him a fake award later for being such a good actor.

"Ms. Margaret Hill, the owner of Margie's Home for the Disadvantaged, has agreed to turn over everything to me should my orphanage be approved. That's twenty-two children, six of whom will be returning to Hogwarts, and one going for her First Year. Ms. Hill has agreed to work for me as well as her two onsite Healers and I will be hiring more employees. Malfoy Manor will be staffed by no less than fifteen house elves, and as the orphanage grows hired help will be added as need be."

Blaise gave her a subtle nod. Both Lydia and Narcissa leaned in and the three of them conferred for a moment. The brunette was on edge and it wasn't even real!

When the deliberation was finished, Lydia turned to Hermione and said, quite stone-faced, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Malfoy, but your approval was denied."

Hermione's mouth dropped. "Excuse me?"

"Denied," Blaise reiterated. "As in, turned down. Vetoed,"

"I understand what it means, but why?"

"Honestly?" Narcissa said. "Despite your arguments we simply don't believe that you have what it takes."

"That's absurd!" Hermione rose from her seat. "I have a clear desire to do this, the perfect location, and there's staff in place! What more could you possibly want?!"

Blaise shook his head and sighed. "Mrs. Malfoy-"

"No." Hermione challenged. "There is nothing you can say to legitimize your response and I won't stand for it. It's obvious that you're incapable of recognizing what someone has to offer. Someone who, Merlin forgive me for selling myself, saved the world as a teenager, and who wants to put her talents towards raising the next generation of witches and wizards! That's a far less significant feat, if you ask me. Regardless, I'd work my arse off at it like I've done everything in my life."

There were smiles on everyone's faces now. Lydia broke character completely then and went over to hug her.

"Well done!"

Hermione furrowed her brows amidst the hug. "What?"

"Lydia is right, dear." Narcissa commended. "When dealing with people in power there's more to just wanting something or proving that you can do it. You have to show that you are willing to fight for it."

"And put people in their place when denied it." Blaise added happily.

Hermione stood dumbfounded, mouth slightly agape, before grumbling. "I hate all of you. Especially you," she added to Draco who laughed. He replaced Lydia as the hugger and kissed her on the forehead.

"Now we both know that's not true."

Hermione wanted to grumble some more but that was a bit impossible when in her husband's arms. He was right, of course. To say she hated him would be the biggest lie in history.

Because Hermione was going to be the primary owner of the orphanage it was to be her in front of the board members and not both her and Draco. He was still there, of course, in the stands within her eyesight so she didn't lose her nerve. He didn't think she would though. And that turned out very much to be the case. Once Hermione had gotten the ball rolling there was no stopping her. She answered every question thoroughly, refuted what needed to be refuted, and shot down any negative remark about him or Narcissa. Draco couldn't have been prouder -especially when after deliberating the board members gave her permission to start her orphanage.

It was clear that Hermione wanted to jump for joy, but she refrained until every last member of the board was gone. Draco had barely gotten down to the platform before she jumped into his arms.

"We have the orphanage!"

"You have the orphanage." Draco corrected. "And I'm proud of you. Now, let's go celebrate."

Hermione nodded eagerly and gathered her things. She had expected Draco to take her to a restaurant nearby or some sort, not home. When they got there she had been pleasantly surprised to find it dimly lit, shimmering orbs floating on the ceiling. She glanced at her husband suspiciously, but he was too busy being smug to notice. Instead he took her hand and gently guided her along the orbs' path down the stairs and out to the backyard. Out on the terrace was a table draped in a cream tablecloth with candles, wine glasses, and dinner plates. Music was playing from out of nowhere (magic, of course), and Frizzle, dressed in his best (because Hermione had kept her promise on freeing him although he chose to stay), greeted them with a bow.

"Congratulations on your orphanage, Mistress." Frizzle said happily before turning to Draco. "Shall I present the food now?"

"Give us five minutes, then yes."

Frizzle bowed once more. "Of course,"

Hermione was beaming. "What would've happened if I didn't get my orphanage then?"

"This would be a pity dinner followed by pity sex instead of celebratory ones." Draco said simply.

Hermione laughed, pulled him by the collar, and kissed him. Happy, angry, sad, however, Draco's wife was one hell of a kisser and he lost himself with her every time. So much so that he (nor she) even realized that Frizzle had come back and placed their dinner on the table. However, he chose not to make his presence known. He was glad that his Mistress was in a good mood (for he'd seen her at her lowest and that was something he hoped never to see again). So, with a simple charm meant to keep the food at a warm temperature for several hours, he walked, not apparated, away from the terrace.

In the end it turned out to be celebratory sex followed by celebratory dinner, and Frizzle had been so kind as to bring it to their bedroom.

"I still think I'm going to house elf hell for indulging him." Hermione said as she picked up her fork. Draco laughed and took her fork away so that he could feed her.

"Frizzle's a free elf now, Hermione." Draco reminded her. "He chooses to stay."

"I know, I know. It still doesn't help. If only he wasn't such a fantastic chef."

Draco shook his head at her in amusement and allowed her to take back her fork so that he could get started on his own dinner.

"So, what now since step one of your orphanage is complete?"

"Well, June is tomorrow and Narcissa is officially moving out August 1st. I would love to have the Manor outfitted with everything that it'll need the week after so that Margie, the Healers, and all of the kids can be there by then. It'll give those who are Hogwarts students time to settle in too before they go off to Hogwarts again. I want to start the hiring process for at least three more caregivers. I'll have Margie help me interview since she's had first hand knowledge of these children for years."

"And the school portion of the orphanage?"

Hermione pursed her lips in thought. "I think I'll wait a bit on that. That'll require its own hearing with an entirely different set of board members. So, let's get one portion of the orphanage set up at a time."

Draco smiled. "Agreed. Now hurry up and finishing eating so we can mess up the sheets again."

Hermione threw her head back and laughed. "Haven't you ever heard that you have to wait an hour after eating before sex?"

"That's swimming," Draco replied with a grin as he slipped her utensil from her and shifted her plate to the floor. "Nice try though,"

Hermione was moody today. Granted she'd been moody ever since she got the approval for her orphanage three weeks ago (what with the endless amount of work that had been piled onto her lap), but today it was worse. Today she had been fired from her job. Fired. Hermione Granger. FIRED? It grated on her nerves more than she could ever describe although Draco, and now her parents too, were telling her that she hadn't been.

"It sounds like your boss gave you a choice, love." Mr. Granger said as he dug his fork into his lasagna. "And you chose to keep your focus on your orphanage. There's nothing wrong with that."

Hermione brooded. That was, essentially, what had happened in her office that day if she was going to be technical about it. The Department Head, Lena Hornsby, had popped into her office shortly before the end of the day. Hermione had expected it to be a friendly visit considering the time, and because if it had been serious she would've been summoned by an inter-departmental memo. And so the brunette and the older, yet still youthful-looking woman began to chat, smile, and laugh just like usual. And then that's when the conversation turned south:

"I'm so happy that you got your orphanage. How have you been doing with it?"

"Good!" Hermione said excitedly. "I just hired a caregiver earlier this week. Still have to hire another one, but it's a start. Margie and I -I told you about Margie, right? We want to figure out which area of the Manor to put this first set of kids. A different area as a nursery, of course. However, seeing as there's only one baby we probably won't do that for him. Oh, you should see him, Lena. His name is Aiden and he's absolutely adorable. He-"

"It certainly sounds like you have a lot on your plate." Lena smiled, albeit a bit forcefully. "It's amazing that you're able to keep up with it and this."

Lena had gestured to the work on Hermione's desk. The latter looked down and nodded.

"It can be a hassle, yes. But, I've been known to take on a lot in the past -my friends can attest to that. I can do it."

Lena gave a curt nod. "Yes, I'm quite sure that you can. Although...that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to."

Hermione instantly frowned. "What do you mean?"

"...I just mean that running your orphanage will take a lot of work. So does being a Senior Magical Researcher. Now believe me, I have no doubts that you could do both in your sleep -or with a lack of it," Lena poorly joked. "But as your friend I don't want you to overwork yourself."

"...And as my boss you're firing me."

Lena's eyes went wide. "No! No! I'm not firing you at all. I'm just giving you the option to...to put your focus where you see fit. And if you think that you can adjust your focus to both this and your orphanage then that's great. Fantastic. I'm… I'm leaving it up to you."

I'm leaving it up to you…

Repeating those words in her mind left a bitter taste in Hermione's mouth. It was so awful that she couldn't even properly enjoy her mother's dinner. Either that or it was the new seasoning she had decided to try and one that Hermione didn't like very much.

"It's the housewife thing, isn't it?" Mrs. Granger asked her daughter. Draco stared between his wife and his mother-in-law.

"The housewife thing?"

"She's always had this dread that she'll become a housewife destined to-"

"Cook and clean and run charities while her husband works." Hermione grumbled. Draco was staring solely at his wife now. His lips slowly morphed into a smile before he began to laugh, surprising everyone at the table.

"You do realize that you've described my mother, don't you? Sans the cooking and cleaning, of course."

Hermione immediately turned beet red. It hadn't even occurred to her that, yes, her description was Narcissa Malfoy in a nutshell.

"It's hardly an offence." She muttered in embarrassment, picking up her fork although she had no intentions of eating. "She loves doing it."

"And you love what you've embarked on doing, don't you?" Draco questioned. Hermione side-glanced at him and sighed before nodding. "Then it's no big deal. Besides, if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life, right? With that logic as far as I'm concerned the Ministry was just a hobby."

Hermione couldn't help it. She laughed. Damn her husband and his rational thinking. Did it make up for the fact that she lost her job? Not at all. But at least she could focus all of her energy into building the best living facility that children deserved.

Author's note: A necessary filler alert :). And happy me that the next chapter is 75% done. Yey! The things I do while I'm at work...shhh lol. If the writing mojo keeps up then maybe the next chapter will come early. Fingers crossed!

-WP

Guest: Nothing wrong with being a dreamer! And they're good dreams too :)

Tessica1: Thank you! Let's keep our fingers crossed for that!

MrsGinPotter: Thanks for your comments! As I told another reviewer, Draco and Hermione experienced a terrible misfortune, and something like that you can't get over night, nor write about in just one or two chapters. They'll struggle with it for a while and will try their best to rise above their misfortune :).