Chapter 11:

The following morning the two students attended their appointments at the hospital wing. The matron told them that everything was going well with the children and cast the required spells for them to age. The children were so much bigger than before. Hermione started reading the new information they had received almost immediately.

What you will have missed…

7 months – your baby can respond to very quiet noises…

9 to 11 months – Your baby can now let go of things or hand an object to someone…

Things to look out for…

10 – 18 months – learning to walk…

11 – 12 months – babies will love to try finger food...

12 months – they will respond to their name and begin to say words like mama and dada…

12 – 18 months – vocab will increase gradually…

"It also says we have to throw them a birthday party," Hermione smiled.

Draco grinned, "I always love a good party! Does it say anything about their new routine?"

"Yep…" Hermione smiled. "Apparently they won't wake up quite as early as before."

"Horray!" Draco laughed.

7 am – wake up and have milk

8am – breakfast (porridge and fruit)

9am – Nap

10:30am – Milk

12pm – Lunch

12:30pm - Nap

3:00pm – Milk and fruit

4pm – Pick up from daycare

6pm – Dinner

7:00pm – Bathtime, Stories, Milk and Bed

"Well at least we'll be able to stay in bed a bit longer," Draco sighed.

"We won't be able to do our head duties while they are napping though," Hermione frowned.

"Perhaps not," Draco laughed, "we'll just have to work harder in the evenings and during the day."

"It's only for a month," Hermione giggled. "I wonder if it will be even harder next month."

"I wouldn't like to say," Draco groaned.

They had the rest of the day off to spend with the children. "We might as well go straight to lunch," Hermione commented as she looked at her watch. They sat together at the Gryffindor table. Hermione cut up some cucumber and gave it to both children. The teachers had placed highchairs all around the room. Both Aurora and Curtis were sat happily inside their highchairs. Curtis was chewing on the cucumber whilst Aurora was throwing her cucumber at her father's head, much to the delight of the Gryffindors around him. Harry and Ron laughed happily to see their old enemy being mistreated by his own daughter. Hermione however was quick to tell Aurora to behave, "Aurora! That is enough. You must eat your cucumber, not play with it."

Aurora looked up at Hermione and puckered her brow. Hermione put a spoonful of food into Curtis' mouth before continuing with her own lunch. Draco fed the now placated Aurora. When the four of them had eaten, they made their way back to their dorm room. They placed the children on the floor surrounded by toys and sat on the sofa for a few moments. Aurora crawled over to the sofa and looked up at Hermione and Draco. Draco put out his hands for her but she turned to Hermione to say, "mama."

Draco grinned, "Did she just say…?"

"I think so," Hermione picked her up.

"How confusing," Draco frowned.

"Yeah… she thinks I'm her mummy," Hermione frowned as she hugged the little girl.

"Well I'm not correcting her," Draco smiled.

Curtis looked up from where he was on the floor, feeling slightly jealous of the attention Aurora was getting, he said, "Dada."

Hermione smiled at hearing her son speak for the first time. Draco picked him up, "Hey little tyke. Did you just say my name? Say it again."

"Dada," Curtis said as he clapped his hands excitably.

"And I'm not going to correct him," Hermione repeated Draco's words back to him.

Draco laughed and kissed Hermione on the forehead, "I'm so glad. So what are we going to do with the rest of the day?"

"Study?" Hermione asked.

"Er… or not," Draco laughed.

"We could just hang out here," Hermione suggested.

"And do what?" Draco asked.

"I don't know," Hermione laughed. "They need to have a nap. We could put them down in their cots and then do some work for a while."

"I don't want to work," Draco complained.

"We need to Draco," Hermione replied. "Come on; let's put these two to bed."

Draco followed Hermione up the stairs. They quickly put the kids down before heading back downstairs. They sat at the table, "we should probably study defence," Hermione told Draco.

Draco nodded his head. They were sat opposite each other. They worked in silence for a while until Draco noticed Hermione's hand was resting on the table. He decided to tickle her again. He began tickling her hand. Hermione tried ignoring him but failed miserably when he began tickling her arm. Soon she was laughing hysterically. He stood up and came and stood beside her. She stood up as well and backed away from him. She was giggling slightly, "you wouldn't."

"I would," Draco winked.

He pounced on her and started tickling her again. He pulled her down onto the couch. She ended up sat on his lap. Hermione giggled, "it's not fair." She quickly began tickling him. He grinned before grabbing her arms in an attempt to restrain her.

"No you don't," he said quietly.

Soon he had flipped her over so that she was underneath him on the sofa. He hovered over her holding her hands above her head. They stared into each others' eyes. He leant in slightly as if to kiss her. He was about to close the rest of the distance when he heard crying from upstairs. He sighed as he lifted himself off of her and straightened his clothes. Hermione stood up, straightening her clothes as she went. Draco grinned, "I'll go."

"Ok. I'll get their snacks ready," Hermione replied. She was blushing heavily.

Draco smirked at her once more before turning away and heading up the stairs, "take that smirk off your face Malfoy!" Hermione called up the stairs.

Hermione warmed up some milk for the two babies before cutting an apple into segments. Draco walked down the stairs with two little ones in his arms. He placed them in their highchairs. Hermione gave them both a bottle of milk. They began to feed themselves happily.

"They've really grown up, haven't they," Hermione commented.

Draco stood beside her and took her hand, "yeah they have."

"So fast," Hermione whispered.

"Everything changes, Granger," Draco turned to look at her.

"Even us?" she replied quietly.

"Even us," he replied.