Hermione was driving her car, and Draco was running his hand in the wind outside the window. Her phone went off, and she gulped and sighed. "Draco, can you roll up the window I have to take this," she said, and he did as she requested.
"Hi, Mum!" Teddy said as the call connected.
"Hey, lovely, are you alright?" she asked, and he made an agreeing sound.
"Aunt Ginny told me to call you before bed and then give her the phone," he said over the speaker, and she snorted.
"Your Aunt Ginny is funny," Hermione responded.
Teddy had shuffled the phone and caused cracking over the speakers. "Mum, do you think I can come to work with you next week?" he inquired, and Hermione exhaled.
"Probably not, darling. I have tons of work this next week. I will ask Mr. Malfoy and Mrs. Malfoy if you can come swimming sometime soon."
"Maybe we can have Uncle Harry's birthday party there!" he suggested, and Hermione cringed.
"Let's take about that later, okay? Did you brush your teeth?" Hermione asked, and Teddy snorted. "Edward, how much did I tell you grand-mum and grand-da told me how important teeth are. You know if they were in London they would be upset you didn't brush them."
"Yes, mum. I will brush them," he said, and she smiled and laughed.
"I hate doing it too, but teeth are important. Else you will be eating a lot of soup."
Teddy giggled loudly. "Okay, mum, I love you, here's Aunt Ginny," Teddy announced.
"I love you to the moon and back, Teddy," she said, and he agreed before the cracking sound was heard. Hermione turned to Draco and whispered, "I'm sorry," she finished, and he waved her off with a small smile.
"Girl, what are you doing on the phone, shouldn't you be knees deep in bad decisions? I wanted something juicy to talk about tomorrow."
Hermione blushed and cleared her throat. "The date turned into a work dinner. Draco is in the car with me, and I am driving him home. He has been made aware of my alias," Hermione declared with a firm voice.
Ginny groaned loudly. "Hi, Malfoy. Hermione, what the bloody fuck is wrong with you? We say go on a date, not work on the weekend," She spat, and Hermione squeezed the steering wheel roughly.
"Hello, Mrs. Potter," Draco responded, and Ginny snorted.
"I will let you berate me at mum's tomorrow. For now, let's just call it a conducive evolution of the night." Hermione said, and Ginny laughed.
"You are bloody something, Hermione. I am going to call Viktor to come out and visit. Something," Ginny snickered, and Hermione sighed.
"Gin, tomorrow, let's not embarrassed me further please?"
Ginny made an agreeing sound. "Alright, I will give you a pass tonight. Mostly due to the fact that the boys are now trying to build a bubble castle in the bathtub and Albus is going to be the victim. I will see you tomorrow, love."
Hermione laughed and spoke. "Give them a kiss for me and tell Harry I love him. Love you, Gin."
"Love you too, Hermione. Malfoy, don't fuck with her tonight," Ginny warned and the phone disconnected from the speakers.
Hermione was turning onto the drive way before she voiced. "I am sorry, I don't usually like talking on the phone in the car with someone else in it, but my son is an exception."
"And your vociferous best mate?" He asked, and Hermione stifled a giggle.
"Yes, Ginny, she is a different kind of woman," Hermione replied as the car parked.
"Can I ask you a question?" he inquired, and she snorted as she turned off the engine.
"What?"
"Why are you not married with kids? Your personality dictates that would have been something you needed, am I right?" he asked, and she just sat there.
Hermione exhaled loudly and rubbed her face. "Well, when I was dating Ronald we got pregnant. This was two years out of school. I lost the baby, and he couldn't cope so we fought, and I broke it off. He ended up dating Lavender a few months after our severing and boom; she was pregnant with baby number one not very soon after. He blamed me for my desire to work so hard; I was doing a few internships during the pregnancy before Cambridge. Ambition. Stubborn. All of that." Hermione paused and snorted. "So, when Andromeda asked me if I wanted to move in and adopt Teddy because she was ill, and it would eventually be fatal, I agreed and never looked back. I didn't have to go through another heart ache and not being great at relationships to have the perfect son. He needed a mom, and I needed him."
Draco breathed slowly and shook his head. "Granger, that is rough. I am sorry I asked."
"No, it's alright. I love Teddy more than anything. It would be hard to try and find someone that fits well with us both. When I adopted him, I knew that life was no longer about myself. It was about everything I had to make his life better. It may not be perfect, but I put in everything I have to make him happy. That, Draco Malfoy, is why I don't date. I can't imagine going through Teddy having a broken heart if someone left him due to me."
He took her hand and squeezed it gently. "You were too good for him. That's why it happened, you know?"
She choked on a laugh and released his hand, patting his shoulder. "You have no idea. Draco, I have a question."
"Yes, I will shag you, come on," he teased with a wide smirk, and she snorted.
"Not my question."
"I know. Fire away, Granger."
"Are you happy?"
He tilted his head and shifted. "About Astoria's unexpected pregnancy? It's expected, isn't it? She is a Greengrass, and I am a Malfoy. Duty and all that horse shit."
"But are you happy?" Hermione repeated.
"Happy does factor in here, Granger. Astoria is fantastic, an adorable and kind woman. Fantastic shag and probably knows that. We had an open relationship since the beginning when her father and my father negotiated terms. Honesty. That was all I wanted from her. I knew she wasn't ready to settle for just one person and neither was I. We shagged other people for years. When I lost my sight, I lost appreciation for different women because I enjoy a different type of shagging now. She hasn't lost her interest in strange cock, which wouldn't bother me if she didn't lie or hide it from me because of guilt."
Hermione made a sound and gulped. "Do you love her?"
Draco laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "I love her as a person. Am I in love with her? I am trying. To be honest, I don't think either of us are in love with the other, but if she doesn't marry me, her father is going to owe my estate an astronomical amount of money. My dad had made a tight, clipped contract."
"Couldn't you have broken it before?" Hermione asked, the disgust evident in her voice.
"Life is different with money, Granger. Wealth and nobility are what drives forth the engines of the large houses. Blacks. Greengrass. Malfoys… so many more noble houses that have done worse. At least I am not being forced to marry my cousin." He finished while unbuckling his seatbelt. "Come round and help me get into the house? I want to take you to the library."
Hermione got out and walked around to his side. She reached for him, and when he stood, he was in her personal space. The woman wanted to run as far away as she could. His breath that grazed her face. His warmth wrapped around her arm. God damn Draco bloody Malfoy and the strange feelings he gave her. She shook herself and shut his car door before leading him inside.
They walked into the library with ease, and Draco reached by the door. He grabbed his cane and released her. Hermione stood there awkwardly as he searched for something around the room, she wasn't sure for what. His rod hit one of the shelves, and he hemmed. "Which side of the room am I on?" he asked her.
"Left, near the globe," she declared as his hand went out and he stroked the books.
"Come here," he ordered, and she closed the distance. "Tell me which one is red?"
Hermione pressed his hand against it, and he smirked. "Good, come now," he said as he pulled it out.
When Draco flipped it open, it was cut open, and there was a flash drive sitting inside of it. His fingers ran over it, and he lifted it from it's hiding spot. Placing the book sideways on the shelf, he resituated his cane in hand, giving her the flash drive. "We are off to the office."
"Okay," she replied, and he led the way.
Draco was quieter than usual as he ascended in front of her. This rarely bothered her, but after the potent conversation they just had, it made her uncomfortable. Hermione felt horrible for him. Even if he was an arsehole, he didn't deserve that. They reached his wing, and he rolled his neck as he entered his office. Hermione turned on the light for herself, and he pointed to the desk. "Sit." He paused and hemmed. "Please."
Hermione sat down and booted up the computer. "Draco, what's on the flash drive?" she asked, and he chuckled as he found his chair.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" He snickered.
The computer finished loading, and she put in the flash drive. Hermione clicked it open and frowned as she was reading the documents that were popping up. Most were just accounts and business transactions, but then other documents started popping up. Marriage contracts between houses. Property-exchanging. Some of them have sold their daughters- not like property, but the arrangements were just as difficult to stomach. It even looked like there was- stud invoices? My god… the debauchery and darkness…
"Draco- why are you showing this to me?" she asked with a careful tone.
"If you help me run the company, you are going to learn about the nobility very swiftly, Hermione. These men we work with… they aren't squeaky clean. Are you sure you can handle this without being brought up around it?" He asked her.
"What is a stud invoice, Draco?" she replied as she gazed at the amount of money someone would spend on such.
"Well, it is common for some more… inbred nobles to not be able to produce. So they would pay for another fuck to knock her up and claim lineage."
"But- wait- I am confused."
"I know, it is a lot to take in, but this was the only way I could make you understand. I am not just asking you to run a public company with me. I am asking if you can handle knowing that Mr. generic name from the board decided to sell his daughter off for his vacation home in Cabo because as long as she got married to her second cousin, he got the property."
Hermione shuddered and shook her head. "I wouldn't want to know that, Draco. I don't want to know these things."
"Even if I paid you more money than Teddy and you would need in two lifetimes?" He asked her and she snorted.
"Even if you bought me a house ten times bigger than yours with all the riches in the world."
Draco burst into laughter and sighed. "Granger, click the last document."
Hermione did, and it was a picture of Draco as a child sticking his tongue out. The text on the image made her feel stupid. 'And you thought I didn't have a sense of humor!' "God damnit Draco Malfoy that wasn't funny!" she shouted, and he laughed harder.
"I nearly laughed when you asked me what stud invoices were!" he shouted through a spell of laughter.
"I cannot believe you paid someone to make these up just to play a prank on me!" She got out of the chair and shoved him. "I am going home, you prick," she growled and he grabbed her arm.
"Stay?" he asked quietly.
"I don't think that's a good idea," she declared, and his thumb ran over her skin.
"So that I don't worry that you drove alone so late. It is a long way back to Godric's Hallow." He replied, and she gulped.
"I don't have anything to sleep in, Draco. I have to go home," she breathed, and he stood up in front of her.
"I can get you something to sleep in. Please stay, Hermione," he whispered, and she pulled away.
"Alright," she replied trying to find a steady pulse.
He took another step toward her, and his hand cupped her cheek. "Thank you," his voice was a rumble.
Hermione was almost quivering. Why? This shouldn't be so intimate! Boss. Granger, boss. She told herself that a few times in a split second and it finally shook her from the haze. "Well, I am going to go down to a guest room, Malfoy. Thanks for the advantageous dinner and the not so funny joke." She yanked herself from him and took a couple of tremendous strides toward the doorway.
"What's wrong?" He inquired tilting his head.
"Nothing. Don't forget your fiancé is coming over tomorrow morning. Probably best for you to get some sleep," she said, and he scowled. "Good night, Malfoy."
He heard her footfalls fading and he clenched his hands together. He didn't know why that made him so angry that she went back to calling him Malfoy… but it tore at him. The door shut to his wing and he growled before reaching for his cane. He still was furious and slapped the stick against the doorway. He heard the crunch of wood and the thump of part of his cane falling to the floor. He exhaled slowly and dropped the other end on the floor before running his fingers on the door jam. He made his way back to his room and opened the door. When he reached inside he retrieved his older cane and tasked himself with finding something for her to wear. She could wear nothing if she didn't like that it was his clothing.