All I Do is Hope

by Living Masquerade

When Hermione goes back to work a year after Ron's death to provide for herself and her daughter, she did not expect to find Draco Malfoy working there as well. And she certainly did not expect her daughter to become his son's best friend.

7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.

I feel like I've been away for a month when really it hasn't quite been two weeks. Florida was wonderful, but I am happy to be home. Of course while I was in Florida I visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter where I proceeded to act like a giddy school girl. Let me just say that frozen Butterbeer is delicious, especially on a hot Florida afternoon. Besides that I completed the Disney experience which resulted in me being exhausted after my first week in Florida. I couldn't have updated even if I had the strength; the wifi sucked at our hotel in Orlando. The crappy wifi is also why I did not take the time to individually reply to the lovely reviews for this story; there was just too much mail when I finally got internet. Thank you all for understanding. Also, I start work on Monday, so updates may not be as quick in coming as they used to be. But no two weeks of nothing if I can help it!

---

Monday November 13, 2006

Monday morning at the firm was pretty slow. It was only eleven and Hermione had already done the necessary research for three separate cases. Admittedly, they were pretty easy cases and did not involve a lot of research. However, she had had no new requests for research, so she was left at her desk with nothing to do but rewrite her notes so they were neater.

She was in the middle or rewriting a page of research for Zabini when a message floated into the room and landed before her on the desk. Eager for a distraction from her boredom, Hermione put down her quill and picked up the piece of folded paper anxiously. After she had unfolded the parchment she lay it down on the desk, smoothed it out with a hand and read.

Mrs. Hermione Granger-Weasley,

Your presence is requested in the office of Mr. J. Wood immediately.

Thank You,

Catarina Clark

Mr. J Wood's Secretary

Odd. Since the day of her interview Hermione had had limited contact with the partners. During the first few weeks they had made it a point to check in on her and compliment her on her research, but after the Haversham case finished she hadn't really seen any of them. As she stood up and smoothed her skirt down, Hermione immediately began to feel anxious and started to assume the worse. Had she done something wrong? But why wouldn't they call her to the conference room if all of the partners wanted to see her? It had to be just Mr. Wood then, but what could he want?

Of course the only way to find out would be to go there, and as Hermione headed to his office she stamped down her anxious thoughts and tried to appear calm, cool, and collected.

It didn't take her long to get to his office and after a quick knock she was invited inside by the deep voice of Mr. Wood himself. After drawing a deep breath, Hermione opened the door and stepped inside the large office.

Her eyes immediately zeroed in on Mr. Wood who sat behind his desk, watching Hermione with a smile. However, it wasn't until she had walked halfway across the room to one of the chairs opposite of the desk that she noticed a figure sitting on the leather couch against the wall.

"Bloody hell, Hermione Granger? Is that really you?"

Hermione started at the unmistakable Scottish brogue of Oliver Wood. Jacob Wood had met Oliver's mother on a trip to Scotland years ago and had fallen in love immediately with the Scottish beauty. Even after years of living in Scotland and raising their son there, Jacob had never really picked up any of the region's inflection and still sounded as British as he had before he met his wife. Naturally, Oliver had grown up in Scotland and had picked up the brogue.

The last time Hermione had seen Oliver had been at the Final Battle and only at a distance. Since then she had seen him on magazines and flyers as the prize keeper of Puddlemore United. He was just as she remembered from his last year of Hogwarts though, give or take a few pounds of muscle.

"Yes, it's nice to see you Oliver." Hermione replied with a smile.

Oliver continued to rake his eyes over the brunette witch. She certainly was grown up from the thirteen year old he remembered. Sure he had seen her in the papers in the years since then, but he hadn't actually seen her in person since the Final Battle.

"I was sorry to hear about Ron." Oliver said sincerely, his brown eyes staring into Hermione's.

"Thank you."

"So, Dad tells me you're a new acquisition with plans to become a full fledged lawyer?"

Hermione nodded her head, "If all goes well. I'm ready to return to a full work schedule now that my daughter is older."

"I'd heard you had a daughter, how old is she now?"

"Four." Hermione replied.

"Well, let's get to the real reason my Dad called you to his office. I wanted to take you to lunch and catch up."

Glancing at the clock on the wall Hermione nodded her head and shot Oliver a smile.

"Sounds lovely."

"Great!"

"You two have a good time." Mr. Wood said from behind his desk, smirking as he watched the two of them walk from his office together.

Xxx

He was bloody bored. All of his major cases had wrapped up last week and now he was left settling a small affair that didn't even need to go to court. So, that left him at his desk fiddling his thumbs whishing another case like the Haversham one would come in.

Draco looked up from his desk then, and glanced out the window next to his door to see Hermione Granger walk by with a man at her side, laughing. Who the bloody hell was that bloke? It certainly was not someone he was used to seeing around the office.

Fighting down the urge to open his door and take a look at their retreating figures to see who the man was, Draco looked back down at the open file on his desk. He was about to force himself to write some much needed notes when Blaise barged into his office with a grin.

"Oliver Wood is here! He gave me three tickets to the game Saturday and guess who I'm taking? You and Scorpius!"

"Oliver huh? Was that who was leaving with Hermione?"

Blaise shrugged, "Wouldn't be too surprising would it? They were both Gryffindors."

Draco rolled his eyes. Gryffindors did have the annoying pattern of ending up together. Of course, so had Slytherins for a long time as well. But Gryffindors had the annoying habit of being love matched. Harry and Ginny, Hermione and Ron, and he really didn't need to go on.

"I hear Mrs. Wood has been harassing Oliver to get married and start a family for some time now." Blaise added.

"How did you hear that piece of gossip?"

"Mr. Wood gets chatty after a few fire whiskeys and we had a case to celebrate a few months ago." He replied with a shrug. "I can't say I blame Oliver for taking a shot with Hermione, she's beautiful, intelligent, and has a shared history with him in a sense."

All of what Blaise was saying was true and made sense, but that didn't mean Draco had to like it. However, he was pissed that he was so affected by being faced by this truth. Hermione Granger was nothing to him besides his son's best friend's mother, his coworker, and unfortunately the star of his wet dreams. However, none of these things made her special in his life and since they were only polite and not friends, he wasn't permitted to care.

"What's got your wand in a knot?" Blaise asked suddenly, reading his friend's face all too well.

"Nothing, absobloodylutely nothing."

Xxx

Lunch with Oliver had been quite a pleasant experience for Hermione. At the beginning she had viewed the outing as nothing more than two old friends catching up, but as lunch went on and Oliver's flirting became obvious to her, she realized it was much more than that. She was, at first, extremely flattered by his flirting and male attention, and then she realized that she was attracted to him as well. So, naturally, she began to flirt back. What had started as friends catching up had quickly turned into some sort of first date.

And it had gone bloody well! So, it was no surprise that Oliver asked her out to dinner when they arrived at the office again. They settled on Friday night and after he placed a parting kiss on her cheek he disappeared into a fireplace, leaving Hermione in the lobby staring after him.

Mr. Wood's secretary, Catarina, watched Hermione with a small smile on her face. Those Wood men were charmers, that was for sure. She knew how potent Mr. Wood could be when asking a favor of her like picking up his cleaning and picking out arrangements for his wife, but she was sure his son was much more potent with that accent of his.

When Hermione finally snapped out of her stupor she remembered where she was and headed down the hall at a brisk pace, a blush coloring her cheeks. She was about to pass Draco's office when she remembered that she had a date Friday night and a favor owed to her by the blond.

"Come in." Draco called in response to the light knock on his door and watched as Hermione Granger walked into his office with a sheepish smile on her face.

"I've come to collect my owed favor." She started and Draco gestured for her to continue, "Would you mind having Rose for the night Friday? I'm sure Scorpius is eager to show her his room and something has come up for me."

Draco had a pretty good idea what that something was and it had a Scottish brogue.

"That sounds fine, Granger. However, on Saturday Blaise, Scorpius and I will be attending the Puddlemore United game."

Hermione beamed, "Excellent, so will Rose and I! Oliver just gave me two tickets. I'll give you Rose's and meet you there."

"Sounds like a plan, Granger."

"Thank you, Malfoy."

"No problem."

Xxx

Friday November 17, 2006

Hermione had really never been on a date before. Yes, she was twenty seven years old and she had been married for a time, but never before had she experienced something like what she was about to tonight. Before Hogwarts she had been too young to date, and during Hogwarts opportunities for her to date didn't really happen all that often. Although there was Victor Krum in her fourth year, she mostly hung out with him and went to the Yule Ball with him; she didn't actually go out on a traditional adult like date with him.

And with Ron…they had gone straight from friendship into a relationship and as such they really hadn't had the chance to go out on real dates. Yes, they had gone out to eat after they were married and the like, but there was never that uncertainty about the date because they had been friends so long and were married.

So that was what Hermione was feeling; the feeling of uncertainty that came before a first date. Yes, she knew Oliver Wood and had had lunch with him a few days before, but now the intent was clear. There was the potential for a relationship here and that both filled Hermione with anxiety and got her pulse racing at the same time. Oliver Wood had been a sexy teenager, and now he was a bloody sexy man. Not only did he physically stimulate her, but it seemed that over the years he had learned to talk about more than just Quidditch. If he had been spouting off nonstop about the sport the other day as he used to in his Hogwarts days, she never would have granted him a date.

Due to this mixture of excitement and anxiety Hermione was not very productive at work. Thankfully she had gotten the majority of her research done earlier in the week and since no one seemed to have taken on any challenging cases, she didn't have a lot to do to begin with.

So when five rolled around, Hermione was ready to go and cleared up her workspace quickly, anxious to get home and begin her preparations for her date at seven.

"Granger!" Draco called as Hermione shuffled past his office, her robes on and her purse clutched in hand.

Hermione stopped in her tracks, turned around, and stood in the doorway to Draco's office.

"Rose has all of her stuff for tonight with her at the Burrow, correct?" He asked.

Hermione nodded, "Yes, and she should fill you in on all of her nightly routines. The only thing I should warn you about is that sometimes she has night terrors."

"Night terrors?" He asked alarmed.

"She hasn't had one in a while, but sleeping in a new place may trigger one."

"And what am I supposed to do if she has one?"

"The only thing you can do is wait it out and make sure she doesn't hurt herself thrashing around. She won't remember if she has one, so if she does have one its best not to mention it to her."

Draco nodded his understanding, hoping that he would not have to deal with that while watching the kids tonight. He knew he was already in for a tiring night and he didn't need that on top of everything else.

"Alright, have fun and I'll see you tomorrow at the game." Hermione smiled, then turned on her heel and headed towards a fireplace.

Back in her bedroom Hermione was faced with a different dilemma than Draco was in taking care of two hyper children for the night. She had no idea what to wear! Most of her dressier clothes were from before her pregnancy and as such, were out of date. Everything else was too business like or too casual.

Desperate, Hermione grabbed a handful of floo powder and knelt down in front of her fireplace in her bra and underwear.

"Ginny!" She called desperately once she had made connection with Grimmwauld place.

There were a few shuffles and muted voices before a pair of feet came into her view. A second later, Ginny's head came into view as she knelt down in front of her own fireplace.

"Hermione? What's wrong?"

"So, I have a date."

Ginny's face lit up, "Really? Who?"

"I'll tell you, but only if you bring some outfits for me and come over. I have nothing to wear."

"Alright hang on." Ginny stated then stood up. "Harry! Watch the kids Hermione needs my help!"

"What's wrong, is she okay?" Hermione heard Harry call back.

"It's girl stuff, don't worry about it!"

At that Hermione ended the call and waited in her living room for Ginny to floo over. A few minutes later the red head stepped out of the fireplace with a dozen outfits in her hands. Taking in the brunette waiting for her on the couch in her underwear, she quirked a brow and headed for Hermione's bedroom.

"Okay, so who's the guy?"

"Oliver Wood."

"You're kidding!"

Hermione smiled, "Nope, remember his Dad is one of the partners?"

"That is brilliant! Wait—you might get bored, Hermione. He's bloody gorgeous, no doubt about that. But you're not a big Quidditch person-"

"It's okay Gin; he talks about more than Quidditch now."

Ginny let out a breath, "Good. Well in that case, I think you should wear this."

With that said Ginny held out one of her prized little black dresses. As the wife of the chosen one, Ginny had been required to have an extensive closet for all of the balls and dinners Harry was invited to. As a result, her sisters in law raided her closet quite frequently. Ginny didn't mind though; she'd been deprived of the honor by growing up with all brothers.

This particular little black dress, she knew, was going to look brilliant on Hermione and her curvy frame. The dress was a halter top, which Ginny knew would display Hermione's breasts quite nicely, yet modestly, and the back dipped down low, showing off Hermione's shapely back. The dress reached just above the knee and once Hermione put on her black peep toed high heels, her legs looked amazing.

"Gin, thank you so much!" Hermione exclaimed as she looked at herself in her mirror.

"No problem and your hair already looks amazing like that." Ginny replied looking at Hermione's tousled curls. "Just a hint of eyeliner, mascara, and lipgloss and you're good to go."

With that said, Hermione did as advised and once again looked over herself in the mirror. She hadn't dressed up this much in ages. Sure she wore skirts a lot to work, but there was just something to be said for dresses. Especially little black dresses. She felt so feminine at the moment and she loved it. Even if the date turned out to be a total failure, at least she got to feel like this once again.

Ginny left soon after with her other outfits in hand, leaving Hermione alone waiting for Oliver to arrive. She had just settled down to read part of her latest romance novel when her floo ignited and Oliver Wood appeared in her fireplace. A second later he stepped out, looking impeccable in slacks and a maroon sweater, reminiscent of their days in Gryffindor.

"Evening, Hermione." He greeted with a smile.

Hermione bookmarked her page quickly and stood up to great Oliver. As she stood it was Oliver's turn to take in the witch before him. Hermione caught him staring and only smiled at him invitingly; quite loving the attention she was receiving.

Oliver cleared his throat, "Ready then?"

"Yes."

Xxx

Pizza with the children had been an interesting affair. He had taken them to the muggle place he always took Scorpius, however, tonight had been some other child's birthday party which meant the entire evening had been pure chaos. He was exhausted by the time he wrangled the two of them into their flat, but they were still full of energy. Thankfully, they ran off to Scorpius' room to play, leaving him to enjoy his nightly book.

But as their bedtime approached, Draco made his way to Scorpius' room to find the two quietly reading on Scorpius' bed. Well, Rose was reading, but Scorpius was gazing at the pictures intently, while Rose read him the story.

"It's bed time you two. Let's get those teeth brushed while I make Rose up a bed."

The children grudgingly went about getting into their pajamas and brushing their teeth while Draco took a pillow off of Scorpius' bed and transfigured it into a little bed for Rose besides Scorpius'. After he grabbed a set of sheets and a blanket he made the little bed and waited for the kids to rejoin him.

One by one he tucked each of them into bed, dropping a kiss on Scorpius' forehead, and smiling down at Rose in goodnight. Then, turning out the light, Draco retreated into his own room for the night.

He was woken what felt like hours later by Scorpius' little hands pushing at his chest.

"Daddy, Daddy…"

"What's wrong, buddy?" Draco asked groggily.

"Rose upset."

Immediately realizing what must be happening, he tossed the covers back, told Scorpius to climb in, and headed down to Scorpius' room to investigate. Sure enough, Rose was in the throes of what must be a night terror. She was thrashing around and every now and then let out a scream. Pulling his wand from his pajama pocket, he cast a protective bubble around her and sat on the floor next to the little bed to wait it out with her.

After a while she started to calm down and before Draco knew it she was sound asleep once again as if nothing had happened in the first place. Scorpius was asleep in his bed when he returned to his room, and after returning him to his own bed, Draco fell into dreamland himself.