Chapter 27: Far Too Young

"Zabini's New Year's Eve party. He did invite you." Draco pointed out.

Hermione ran her hand through her curls, still unsure if she even wanted to attend a Blaise Zabini party. "I'm not sure, Draco. I really am not a partier."

Draco laughed, "I can see it now. Granger partying." He shook his head, still grinning, "Nobody is asking you to get drunk and dance on the table." He smirked, "Although, nobody would stop you."

She playfully smacked his shoulder, glaring at the blonde with freshly cut hair before her. His hair, while still disheveled, ended just above his ears. "You're ridiculous."

"Come with me." Draco insisted.

"Draco…" Hermione protested.

"No. Come with me." He grinned, sure that he would get his way.

"I have to talk to you." She frowned.

"Will it change everything?" Draco asked, gently tugging on one of her many curls.

"Yes." She admitted.

"Then tell me after the party." Draco shrugged. "Give me one day of experiencing what it is like to date you, and then you can tell me."

"There's no changing your mind is there?" Hermione practically stated, rather than asked.

"Nope!" Draco grinned, knowing he had gotten his way.

So there they were. New Year's Eve. Standing in the hallway of Blaise Zabini's home. A loud laugh came from not too far off, followed by echoes of laughter from other attendees of the party.

Yet, there they were. Hermione Granger standing with Draco Malfoy and each of their respective daughters. From a complete outsider, they might look like a family. Hermione caught herself smiling at the idea. Being a family with Draco and Eva. But, no. She shook her head. Eva already had a mother.

Draco leaned into her ear, "Relax."

Hermione released the breath that she had unconsciously been holding in. She laughed lightly, "How did Blaise even come by a house like this?"

Draco chuckled, "Haven't you heard?"

Hermione eyed him carefully, "Heard what exactly?"

"His father went to Azkaban, and his grandfather disinherited his mother. So when he turned 21, Blaise inherited the entire estate." Draco grinned, shaking his head.

"So, essentially the same thing that happened to you." Hermione teased.

"Ah, but technically, my mother still owns the estate." Draco said nonchalantly.

Blaise popped around the corner, holding a small glass in his hand. "I knew I heard you! Hey mate, glad you could come!" He clapped Draco on the shoulder. "And Granger! You made it!"

Hermione smiled warmly. Blaise was growing on her, strangely enough. "Thank you for inviting us."

He playfully ruffled Eva's hair, who glared up at him with malice that could stop a troll. She flattened her hair, "Must you?"

"I must!" Blaise laughed boisterously. "And how is Granger junior?"

Shyla sighed, "Shyla. And I am well."

Blaise didn't catch her annoyance, and if he did, he strangely didn't take advantage of it. "The party's in here! Come on!" He led the group into a large ballroom that had been redecorated to resemble a jazz lounge. A lone guitar player performed on the small stage, softly adding to the style of the room.

As they approached a group of guests sitting on a display of couches, Adrian Pucey called out, "Oi! Granger!" He shook his head with a glare on his face.

"What?" Hermione asked, staring at him with confusion.

"You let your daughter wear a Pride of Portree shirt?" He accused.

Shyla smirked, "You mean, the best team in the league?"

Before Oliver Wood could interject his thoughts on the matter, Adrian began to chant:

"Beat back those Bludgers, boys, and chuck that Quaffle here

Those noble navy robes know not one ounce of fear

Won't see them blagging, blatching or blurting on their brooms

Playing by the rules, they're nobody's fools

Other teams will meet their dooms!"

Draco burst out in laughter.

"Shyla," Hermione laughed, "Adrian is dating Oliver."

She shrugged and sighed, "You're okay, I guess."

Draco's laughter rose to a new level, as he wiped tears from his face. "This has to be the greatest thing I have ever heard."

Hermione flushed, "Shyla!"

"I mean," the girl continued, "You're no Meaghan McCormack, but you play well."

Oliver laughed, "McCormack fan, eh?" He nodded acceptingly, "You know she is brilliant at wizard's chess? Since she's retired, I play her every year at the Quidditch Symposium."

Shyla's eyes enlarged, "That's so cool."

He grinned, "Hear that Adrian? I'm cool." He flashed a wink at Shyla as he turned back to his partner.

Eva finally sighed heavily, "Let's go Shy. The adults are bound to become boring."

Shyla followed the blonde hair that bounced in front of her as she absorbed the oddity of the manor that she stood in. There were paintings of distorted chickens and other random ideas alongside ones that looked like they belonged locked away for the sheer value that they held. She had barely met Zabini, but it was pretty obvious which pieces he had added to the collection.

The girls entered a room half way down the long hall. Inside were various teenagers. Some she recognized from schools, others she did not. In the corner, perched on the arm of a couch was a floppy haired brunette that she knew instantly. "Tripp!" Shyla called out as she approached the boy.

"Granger!" He grinned as he turned towards her, "what're you doing here?"

"I came with Eva." She shrugged, trying to be as mature as possible, despite still only being eleven years old.

"How's it going, Malfoy?" He greeted, gesturing to the space on the couch across from him.

Shyla sat sideways with her feet touching Eva's leg, who was much more inclined to sit with posture.

"How has your holiday been?" Shyla asked, glancing around awkwardly.

"Oh, you know. Parents are hounding me to get my marks up, siblings are driving me batty, and I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts." Tripp shrugged, pulling a small flash from his track jacket's pocket. He took a small swig and passed it to the boy next to him.

When the flask reached Eva, she took it casually.

Tripp's eyes darted to her. He pointed at her with the first two fingers on his hand. "No!" He shouted as if he was scolding a dog.

Eva rolled her eyes, her lips pursed in annoyance, "Why?"

"Because your father is my head of house! And you and I both know that I will be the one to blame if you get sloshed!" Tripp argued, reaching for the flask. "Besides! You're a first year! What do you even know about drinking?"

Eva jerked her arm back to keep Tripp from reaching the metal container.

"Eva, don't be daft." Shyla scoffed.

"Do what you want, Shyla. Nobody asked for your opinion." Eva scowled as she removed the cap and took a swig. "Bloody hell, that's awful."

Tripp glared at the young girl as he ripped the flask from her hand, "Are you happy now, Malfoy?"

"Merlin, you're such a bore."

Hermione sipped her butterbeer slowly as she listened to the music as it filled the room. Every once in a while Draco would lean over and whisper something in her ear. He was everything but discreet in regards to their confusing relationship. But, she let him have his way. For tomorrow, he may just hate her.

"Let's play Never Have I Ever!" Pansy's shrill voice cut through Hermione's daze.

"And all those times in school, this game ended well?" Draco shot down.

"Oh, Draco, you're over reacting. We're all adults here." Pansy cried, it was obvious that she was already drunk.

Blaise grinned, "We do have two Gryffindors in our midst. I say we play."

Hermione's face scrunched, "Count me out."

"Aw, but Hermione," Oliver begged, "I'll play if you play."

"That's it! Granger's playing!" Adrian shouted.

After futile arguing, Hermione found herself with a row of shot glasses in front of her. Blaise filled each of the glasses with fire whiskey before he sat down on the oversized and over cushioned couch. "I can't believe I'm doing this." She groaned, rubbing her forehead in anticipation of the impending hangover.

Draco smirked, "It'll be fun." He casually kissed the side of her head, ignoring any glances from Pansy.

"I'll start!" Pansy announced. "The rule is, if you have done what the declarer has not, you have to take a shot." She smirked and glanced at Hermione. "Never have I ever gotten straight O's on the OWLs."

"Seriously, Parkinson?!" Hermione growled. She glanced around the group. No one lifted their glass. She was alone on this one. "Fine!" She held her breath as she downed the amber liquid.

Pansy giggled, "You're turn, Granger."

Trying not to gag on the aftertaste that loomed in her throat Hermione rolled her eyes, "Never have I ever been to The Eye of London." She shrugged. Her answer was far from imaginative, but it was the truth.

Draco chuckled, taking his shot of drink. "Even I have been there, Granger."

Hermione flushed, "My mother is afraid of heights. So we never went."

"Then we'll go." Draco suggested, "We'll go do all the touristy things in London. Just you and me."

Hermione ignored the glances around her. She didn't even notice how many of those around her took shots. "Okay." She smiled at Draco as if he was the only person in the room.

"Mum!" Shyla called out, forcing Hermione's wandering mind back to reality.

"Shyla?" Hermione frowned. Something was wrong.

Tripp stood beside Shyla. While his hands were clenched at his sides, his face portrayed a sense calmness. Something he had obviously practiced.

"Mr. Browning!" Draco called out, "Came to say hello to your favorite professor?"

Tripp gave a soft smirk, "Professor Jordan is here?"

The group around them howled with laughter.

Draco couldn't help but smile, "I see how it is. I'll remember this next time the Quidditch team needs new equipment."

Hermione walked to Shyla and gently placed her hand on the girl's cheek, "What's wrong?"

Shyla bit her lip, "It's Eva. Her dad is going to be really mad."

Hermione, being the thinker she was, thought of the potential outcomes. She could try to handle whatever this was on her own, and just let Eva off the hook. But that would likely result in a very mad Draco if he ever found out. Or she could let Draco handle his daughter and see how handled it, for better or worse. Neither was ideal, but if Shyla was coming to her, it was big enough to be something that Draco needed to handle. "Draco." She motioned him over in a hushed voice.

"What's going on?" Draco placed his hand on Hermione's lower back.

"Sir," Tripp started, "You may want to get Eva home."

"What happened?" Draco demanded, his voice raising.

Shyla could feel Tripp tense up next to her. "One of the boys gave her alcohol."

Draco's glare snapped to Shyla, "Excuse me?"

Shyla fought tears that were surely coming. "He's already left. But Eva is really drunk. I told her not to, but she wouldn't listen." All of the words were spit out so quickly, they were hard to understand.

Draco's face softened, "Where is she?"

"This way." Tripp volunteered.

Hermione wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulders, "You did the right thing."

Draco stormed into the room to find his daughter half asleep on a couch. An older girl sat next to her, using her wand to blow cold air on the petite blonde. "Evangeline."

Eva's eyes shot open, "Daddy!" Her words were slurred to the point of non-recognition. Despite that, she kept rambling.

Draco turned to Tripp, "Thank you for coming to get me. I'll take it from here." He turned to Eva and frowned, "Let's go."

Hermione went to Draco's side, "How do you plan on getting her home?"

"The Floo Network." Draco stated.

"Draco… She can hardly function, that may not result well." Hermione sighed.

"Then what do you recommend?" Draco snapped. His daughter was far too young to be getting drunk, and he was far from prepared in regards to dealing with such situations.

"Take a cab." Secretly she was glad that it wasn't Shyla. At this moment in time, she had the good kid.

"That will take hours."

"I know." Hermione nodded, "We willl stop for some coffee, get her sobered up, and then get her home."

"We?" Draco stopped, turning to fully face her.

"Do you really think I'm just going to leave you alone to deal with a drunk eleven year old?" Hermione shuddered at the thought of how young the girl was.

Shyla turned to Tripp on the other side of the room. "Do you think she will be okay?"

"She'll be hungover tomorrow, but yeah." Tripp looked at the small girl next to him, "I am far from a decent role model, but I'm glad you didn't join in with her."

She looked up at him, confusion plastered on her face, "Why?"

He smirked, "I can tell, your mum being mad is far scarier than Malfoy."

Shyla laughed, "I haven't seen him mad, but you're right. My mum can be really scary."

Tripp smiled, "Thanks, by the way. You could have let Malfoy know that I provided the booze."

"You tried to stop her." She shrugged, "I don't see how him being mad at you would have helped in the least. And she did get some from those boys that stole a bottle earlier..." She paused for a moment before adding, "Besides, we do need some new equipment."

"Right." Tripp scoffed, "Quidditch would be hell if Malfoy had it out for any one of us."

A/N: Thank you so much for sticking with me! So many times I almost sat down and just wrote for hours, but I knew once I started my school work would come second, so I had to put it off until the term was completed. But now it is and I am going to have a lot more free time during the summer holidays to write! I had an idea of where I wanted this chapter to go, but writing the innards was surprisingly difficult. Things are going to make a huge turn in the story, and this is what I am really excited to write! Warning: I've told my dear friend what my plans are, and she thinks I am evil. But, I'll let you, my dear readers, decide. Sending virtual hugs! Expect more soon!