The next day, Hermione and Draco spent their morning entertaining Aria. Then, after lunch, the Potter family arrived. James ran off to play with Aria somewhere in the house, leaving the adults alone in the living room.

Draco regarded Harry with trepidation, and then Harry extended his hand, grinning.

'Sorry about yesterday, mate,' he said.

'I'm sorry too,' Draco managed to reply, surprised at Harry's friendliness.

'Ginny told me that some kind of talk about babies set you on the edge,' Harry smiled, his eyes sparkling mischievously. 'Honestly, I thought you'd gotten past that since Aria came along, and what with how babies are-OW!!' Ginny had elbowed him hard in the ribs.

'Harry!' she hissed. Draco still looked quite embarrassed, and his face was tinged pink.

'Now, how about some lunch?' Ginny asked.

'We'd love that,' Hermione accepted. 'Where to?'

'Muggle London,' Draco broke in.

'Alright,' Harry said. 'I'll go get James and Aria.' He Disapparated with a crack.

'You sure, Dray?' Hermione asked Draco quietly.

He nodded. Hermione smiled at him and kissed him on the cheekas he shyly took her hand in his.

Ginny snorted.

'What?' Hermione asked.

'Yesterday, you two were getting all hot and heavy in the bedroom, and now you're acting like this is a first date,' Ginny smirked.

'Well-I-' Just then, Harry walked in, holding a hand of each of the children.

'Ready?' he asked.

'Yes,' Ginny replied. 'Come here James,' she called to her son. 'Now, remember what I've told you about Flooing. Never talk while Mummy takes you into the fireplace.'

The messy haired little boy nodded his head.

'The same goes for you Ari,' Hermione echoed. 'Now come on, let's go.'

She hoisted Aria up into her arms, and stepped towards the fireplace.

'Diagon Alley!' she announced clearly after throwing a pinch of Floo powder onto the flames.

Once everyone had Flooed into Diagon Alley, the group walked into the Leaky Cauldron so that they could go through to the Charing Cross Road.

'Now, don't say a word about Muggles or magic, or anything like that,' Hermione reminded Aria sternly.

'Of course not, Mummy,' Aria promised solemnly. 'Or Uncle Fred won't take me on his broomstick. I know.'

'Good girl,' Hermione said, taking her daughter's hand.

'Are you sure it's a good idea for Uncle Fred to take her on a broom ride?' Draco whispered in Hermione's ear as they approached the door.

'The twins may put a toe on the line, but they never cross it. She'll be fine,' Hermione said calmly.

Draco shrugged, and they all went through the door into Muggle London. Draco looked about slightly apprehensively. Hermione smiled at him, and snuggled close to his side.

'So,' Ginny said after they had been walking for a few minutes. 'Which café?'

'That one,' Harry said, pointing to one situated on the corner of two roads.

They walked over, and sat down. A waiter came over to their table.

'What would you all be having for drinks?' the man asked, looking at Draco first.

'I'll have a Bu-Root Beer please,' Draco ordered. 'What would you like, poppet?' he asked Aria.

'Milk,' she answered.

'And a milk for the little one,' Draco finished.

'I'll have a Shirley Temple,' Hermione said.

'Same for me,' added Ginny.

'A Coke for me,' said Harry. 'And could we get grilled cheese sandwiches all around?'

Draco looked a bit peeved that Harry had decided what everyone would have, and that it was a food he liked in addition, but Hermione shot him a warning glare, so he thought it best to keep his mouth shut.

'So, back to work on Monday, Draco?' Harry said.

'I suppose so,' Draco said uncertainly.

'You and Hermione have a new project, by the way,' Harry told them. 'Don't know what it is yet, but it should be a challenge. And I've got tickets for the match tomorrow, so I get to skive off work,' he added gleefully. 'Not that I don't enjoy working, but I mean, who could miss the match against-'

Ginny cleared her throat. The waiter was back.

'Honestly,' Ginny said when the man had gone again. 'You two are worse than the children about keeping your mouths shut.'

'About that-which-must-not-be-spoken-of-around-them?' Aria asked. 'Like about how Uncle Harry is the Boy-Who-Lived-and-Vanquished-Over-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named even though you all do say his name?' she added, grinning.

'Shush,' Hermione said.

Aria remembered about Uncle Fred and immediately closed her mouth.

'They don't understand,' Draco said.

'What about that time in the bookstore?' Ginny asked Harry teasingly. 'I'll never forget it. "Harry Potter!" she mimicked. '"Oh please, won't you sign my copy of Modern Times and the Fall of You-Know-Who?"'

She laughed out loud.

'You can't tell if they understand or not, so keep it quiet,' she told Aria and James forcefully.

She got the Mrs. Weasley look on her face, and the children sat up straighter, and ate their food quietly. That silence of course didn't last long, considering whom the children's parents and relatives were, but it was something. They finished their meal, without once mentioning anything else about the wizarding world.

'I'm proud of you,' Ginny said to Harry. 'You've been pretty good on the whole. Maybe I'll even take you out again sometime,' she said merrily.

'On a date?' Harry asked, pulling out his wallet.

'If you're lucky,' Ginny teased.

'You want to go out sometime?' Draco asked Hermione quietly.

'When we get back?' Hermione whispered. Draco nodded. 'Of course,' she accepted, smiling broadly.

The waiter came over with the check, and pulled a small book out of his back pocket.

'Mr. Potter, would you please sign this for my sister, Jenna?' the man asked. 'I know you probably get swamped with autograph requests, but it would mean a lot to her, since she lost friends due to You-Know-Who.'

'Of course,' Harry said amiably, as Ginny giggled behind her hand.

'Uncle Harry,' Aria said in a sing-song voice. 'He did know who you are. And he talked about Voldemort.'

The waiter jumped and looked in shock at the small girl.

'Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself,' Hermione defended.

'You're that woman, Granger,' the waiter said. 'I'm a Muggle myself, so I don't know much. You helped defeat…You-Know-Who, didn't you?'

Hermione nodded.

'Many helped, just not all are famous or lived to tell the tale,' Ginny said solemnly. 'It was nice to meet you, sir, but we really must be going now.'

The group got up and walked back to the Leaky Cauldron.

'Well, that was great,' Harry said sarcastically. 'Silly, star-struck people everywhere I go.'

'Oh, hush up, Harry,' Ginny told him. 'All of us get too much attention, but that's the way life is for all of us, not just you. Let's just go home. Bye, Hermione. Bye, Draco,' she said.

Hermione hugged her friend. 'I'll see you later,' Hermione said.

'When are you going back?' Ginny asked meaningfully.

'I don't know,' Hermione answered. 'Most likely Monday.'

'Bye guys,' Harry said. He took his son's hand, and all of them went to Floo home.

When they got home, Aria went to go play in her room, whilst Hermione and Draco went to the living room.

'You did very well,' Hermione said softly, snuggling next to Draco on the couch.

'At least I caught myself on the Butterbeer thing,' he said. 'Bloke must've thought I have a speech impediment.' Hermione laughed.

'He'll have forgotten you by tomorrow,' she assured him.

'Do you think we actually will be allowed to go out when we get back?' Draco asked. 'Or will we have to hide our relationship?'

'Most likely, we will have to hide it,' Hermione said. 'But it was sweet of you to ask me out anyhow.' She rested her head against him. 'It's so cosy right now.'

'We can relax while we're here. A world where the Dark Lord – where Voldemort no longer exists.'

'Draco,' Hermione started, sitting up, and pulling away so that she could see his face. 'Has your father made contact with you at all after he broke out of Azkaban?'

'Yes,' he said, his expression hardening.

'Has he...' Hermione trailed off.

'He has asked me to become a Death Eater,' Draco answered, voice steely. 'Multiple times. But I've convinced him I can do more without a mark on my arm, that I'll be able to get away better if caught doing something without it.'

Hermione hesitantly touched his arm.

Maybe I shouldn't have said anything just now. He looks angry.

'I'm not mad at you,' Draco sighed. 'I'm just angry with him and everything else in my life! And you,' he said, more softly now, 'you're so kind, and caring, and innocent.'

'I've seen a lot,' Hermione reminded him. "I was there at the Department of Mysteries. I was cursed by Dolohov.'

'But, you're going to be subject to so much more, if...if they find out about us. I don't like putting you in more danger,' Draco said, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it.

'Draco, I-I'm in so much danger as it is. Probably the worst. I'm one of Harry's two best friends, Harry whom Voldemort despises above all people. And I'm a girl, which makes it worse. I don't care about the danger,' she said, looking deep into Draco's eyes.

And I think I love you.

'I care about you, Hermione,' Draco said steadily. 'I don't want you to enter into a relationship with me without knowing the full risk. If you're caught, you won't be killed. You'll be a slave. Of the worst kind, a sex slave. For my father, if he's the one to catch you. That much I know. I've read the old books, about the Dark Times before Voldemort tried to kill Harry. They covered it up, but it's there in my fathers' books. A Death Eater, he loved a Muggle-born witch. Voldemort found out. She was subjected to that horrible way of life until she managed to kill her captor, but she was then killed herself. And another, a Slytherin, and a Death Eater loved a Muggle-born witch, and she would have been made a slave to another, and they would have tried to break her, if she had not gotten in the way of someone else being killed. Someone who survived the Killing Curse.'

'Harry's mum?' Hermione asked in a whisper.

'Yes.'

'Who loved her?' Hermione asked quietly.

'Professor Snape. He had gone over to the Order, but they didn't know about Pettigrew, and his infidelity to the Potters.'

Hermione gasped. 'So that's really why he hates Harry. Harry's dad got the girl Snape could never have.'

Draco nodded. Hermione suddenly burst into tears, and started sobbing. Draco pulled her into his embrace, and held her. Eventually, Hermione stopped crying, and she and Draco fell into a worried sleep.