The morning sun rose over the Atlantic Ocean and the inky sky turned into varying shades of pink and oranges. The water reflected the colors and they intensified as the sun rose higher.
With a steaming mug of tea, Hermione watched the sunrise from her porch, her legs tucked under her as she sat on the small wicker chair. Even though her porch was a ways from the water, it still afforded her a decent view.
The past few days had been both busy and fulfilling. She'd started her job at Sherman's, instantly thrown into the manager role, working alongside the owners.
What better way to learn than to do? Mrs. Curtis had told her, and Hermione agreed.
She learned how to work the registers, create and update spreadsheets, learned about the different vendors, employee schedules, how to fill orders, and so much more.
She was exhausted by the end of each day but she felt deliriously happy at the same time.
It was Saturday and her first day off in four days. She planned to relax and enjoy her tea for a while then head into town to run some errands.
Shakespeare hooted from a nearby tree and flew down to perch on the railing.
"Have a good night hunting?" Hermione asked the owl as she reached out to run her hand down his feathers. He hooted softly in response.
He had warmed up to her quickly, she thought, once he realized she wasn't going to keep him in a cage. She'd yet to actually use him to deliver letters, instead wanting to gain his trust first, but thought maybe it was time to try him out. She had a letter to Harry and Ginny she penned the day before, telling them all about her new job.
She'd left Malfoy, and their impending dinner, out of the letter for now. She wasn't sure if he wanted anyone to know where he was and wanted to respect his privacy, especially since it concerned not only him, but Lyra as well.
For reasons she couldn't quite place, Hermione felt protective of Lyra, and if Draco didn't want anyone to know where he was, then she'd honor that.
Shakespeare started to doze on the railing and Hermione smiled at him as she finally uncurled her legs and stood.
"Rest up, Shakespeare," she said softly. "I have a letter to send tonight, and it's quite a long journey."
The owl hooted in response then returned to the tree as before.
Hermione stretched her arms as she walked back into her house, set her mug in the sink, then went upstairs to get ready for her day.
Eggs. Milk. Cocoa powder. Sugar. Flour.
She rattled off the ingredient list in her head as she walked the aisle of the grocery store, collecting what she'd need to make the chocolate cake that she'd promised a little girl she would bring to dinner that night.
She supposed she could have gone the easy route and bought a premade cake, or even gotten a box mix that only needed three ingredients, but she decided to make it from scratch. That was the way her mother used to do it, though it had been years since Hermione had done much baking. If she were honest with herself, she was mostly curious if she remembered how to do it. If all else failed, she could always buy a cake before heading to the Malfoy's.
As Hermione drove home, she was surprised to find she wasn't nervous about joining them for dinner. It had been years since she'd seen Malfoy, but she didn't feel hesitant in the slightest. After all, they'd both grown up. And his daughter was adorable. No one with a little girl like that could still be the monumental git he'd been at Hogwarts—or at least she hoped.
Once home, she gathered all the ingredients and placed them on the counter. She sifted the flour, measured out the sugar, and cracked the eggs. The process came back to her as if it were muscle memory.
While the cake was in the oven, Hermione set about making the buttercream frosting, also chocolate, as well as the filling, which consisted of fresh, sliced strawberries combined with homemade whipped cream—her personal favorite.
Once the cake finished baking and cooled down, she added the filling and started the task of icing it. As a finishing touch, she added three large strawberries on the top, one for each of them. She didn't use a lick of magic and she was proud of the results.
She glanced at the clock to find she needed to head out shortly. With a squeak of surprise, Hermione rushed upstairs for a quick shower—it wouldn't do good to go over covered in flour and smelling of chocolate.
An hour later, Hermione pulled up in front of Malfoy's house. As she exited her vehicle, she heard a deep chuckle from the porch. She glanced up to find Draco leaning against the door frame, arms crossed loosely over his chest.
"Really, Granger? Could you be any more of a Gryffindor with that obnoxiously red car?"
Hermione planted her fists on her hips. "For your information, I've wanted a red VW Bug since I was a child—long before I was sorted, thank you very much."
Draco laughed again and raised his hands in surrender. "My apologies."
A head of blond, curly hair peered around Draco and Lyra's face split into a huge grin. "Miss Hermione! You're finally here!"
Lyra bounded down the steps to greet her. "Is this your car?! I like how red it is."
Hermione couldn't help but look up at Draco and gave him a knowing smirk before looking back at Lyra. "Thank you. I do too."
Hermione opened the passenger side and picked up the container that held their dessert. "I brought chocolate cake, as requested."
"Yay!" Lyra jumped up and down in excitement.
"Alright, Lyra. Let Miss Hermione come inside," Draco said, amused by his daughter's enthusiasm.
"Come on." Lyra grabbed Hermione's free hand and pulled her towards the house. "Daddy made sure I picked up all my toys before you came over and he even used magic to clean so you didn't think we lived like slobs."
"Lyra." Draco pinched the bridge of his nose.
Hermione chuckled and whispered as she passed him. "She's adorable."
"She's something alright," he muttered, following them in and shutting the door. "Would you like a glass of wine? I have a Merlot breathing in the kitchen right now. Or if you prefer, a bottle of elf-made wine that I keep for when my mother visits?"
Hermione barely had time to request the elf wine before she was pulled further into the house.
The living room was cozy, with cream colored walls, dark blue curtains and a chocolate-colored leather sofa with two end tables on either side. The walls had framed pictures, mostly of Lyra, but a few contained Draco as well. The living room was next to the open kitchen and dining area so that Draco could see Lyra anywhere within the first floor, which made sense for the parent of a young child.
Overall, the home felt light and airy and Hermione couldn't help but smile.
As Lyra pointed out her favorite spot to color and where her father liked to read, Draco emerged from behind the kitchen counter with two glasses of wine, handing her one.
"Thanks," she said, taking a sip and looking around once more as Lyra ran off. "Your home is lovely."
"Thank you. My mother helped decorate when I first got here. But not much has changed since then, except for Lyra's room which went from a nursery, to a toddler room, to a big kid room… all too fast for my liking."
"I bet," Hermione said with a chuckle, taking another sip of her wine. "Kids tend to grow up rather quickly. How old is she?"
"She turned six back in March, but if you ask her, she's six-and-a-half."
Lyra returned with a piece of paper in her hand and brandished it towards Hermione, waving it in her face excitedly. "I made this for you. Look! There's Daddy, and me, and you!" she said proudly.
Hermione took the drawing and smiled at the three people holding hands under a rainbow.
"It's beautiful," she said sincerely. "I'm going to put it on my fridge as soon as I get home."
Lyra's smile only widened, pleased with herself. Then she turned to Draco. "Daddy, did you apologize to Miss Hermione yet?"
Hermione frowned and looked between father and daughter. "Apologize? For what?"
Lyra huffed and crossed her arms. "Because he was a bully to you in school," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Hermione gave Draco a curious look. "You… you told her that?"
His chin dipped briefly in a nod. "I did."
She continued to look at him as he turned to Lyra. "Princess, can you go set the table while I talk to Miss Hermione?"
"Alright. I'm going to have you sit next to me, Miss Hermione, Daddy said it was okay."
When Lyra went off towards the kitchen, Draco motioned with his head for Hermione to follow as he sat on the couch.
Once they were both seated, the blond wizard ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I've always made a point to be as honest as possible with Lyra. So, when she asked if you and I were friends at school, I told her the truth—that I was raised to think Muggle-borns were lesser than purebloods and I was mean and treated her horribly because of that."
"And… you don't anymore?" Hermione asked curiously.
He shook his head as he stared into his wine glass. "No. I haven't thought that for a while, honestly, not when you were clearly the smartest witch in that whole school."
Hermione hid her blush by taking a sip of her drink. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you just complimented me."
Draco smirked before he turned to her and looked at her seriously. "I am sorry, by the way. For being such an arsehole to you at Hogwarts. That couldn't have been easy, dealing with learning you're a witch as well as dealing with people like me."
"No, it wasn't easy," Hermione agreed. Then she shrugged and added, "But, it made me stronger. So, apology accepted," she said, tilting her glass towards him. "To starting over?"
Draco clinked his glass against hers and finally let his smile come out. "To starting over."
Dinner was pleasant and the company even more so. Hermione was completely smitten with the little girl sitting to her right, who was currently regaling her with a tale of what happened on the playground at school the day before.
"And so Dylan triple-dog-dared Rider to eat the worm and guess what? He did!" she exclaimed excitedly, as she twirled a large portion of pasta on her fork and then took a bite. "It wa' soo gross" she said with a mouthful of food.
"What's gross is you talking with your mouth full." Draco gave Lyra a pointed look.
Lyra grinned sheepishly and Hermione had to hide the chuckle that slipped out behind a napkin.
"Do you like school?" Hermione asked her.
Lyra nodded and made sure to swallow her food before answering. "Yeah! I'm in first grade and my teacher is so nice! She lets me read chapter books when everyone else is still working on their worksheets."
Hermione looked impressed. "You're reading chapter books already?"
Lyra nodded. "Yup! Mrs. Gates says I'm the bestest reader in the whole first grade."
Hermione chuckled. "You sound like me as a child. I was always reading anything I could get my hands on."
Lyra beamed at Hermione. "Me too!" She took a sip of her milk. "Do you have any pets? I want a puppy but daddy keeps telling me no. If you get a puppy, maybe I can come over and play with it some time."
Hermione chuckled. "Actually, I just got an owl the other day when I visited Dirigo Square."
"An owl? That's so cool!" Lyra said. "Dad said he used to have an owl, but we can't have one here because it would be too 'spicious."
"Suspicious," Draco corrected her.
"Yeah, that. So how come you have one?"
"Well, I live by a lot of trees and my neighbors aren't so close, so an owl won't alarm anyone."
"Can I meet him? What's his name?"
"His name is Shakespeare—" Hermione ignored the light snicker that came from Draco, "—and as long as your dad says it's okay, sure."
"Cool! Do you have any other pets?"
"No, just him, but I was thinking of getting another cat someday. I used to have one, but he passed away last year and I miss having one around."
"Maybe we can go with you, and I can look at the puppies while you get a cat."
"Why don't we have dessert?" Draco cut in, an attempt to change the subject.
"Yeah!" Lyra rapidly agreed.
Draco stood and gathered the plates while Lyra told Hermione about what type of puppy she wanted.
"You do know that puppies grow up, right? They don't stay little forever," Hermione pointed out.
Lyra scrunched up her nose. "That's what my dad says."
"Well, that's because I have a point," Draco interjected as he walked back into the room.
Before Lyra could argue, he placed a slice of cake in front of her and her eyes grew wide and her smile seemed to grow even more.
Hermione couldn't help but chuckle as she watched Lyra shovel the cake into her mouth.
"This is so good!" she said with a full mouth.
Draco sampled a bite from his own slice and gave a nod of agreement. "Not bad, Granger." He took another bite, bigger this time. "Not bad at all. You might just be invited again now that we know you can make chocolate cake like this."
Hermione beamed, happy that the cake turned out just as she'd hoped, and started on her own slice.
"So, I've been curious," Draco started. "How exactly did you come to find yourself here in Bar Harbor?"
"It's really not that interesting," Hermione said with a slight shrug. "I put a map on the wall, closed my eyes, and threw a dart and it landed in Maine. I decided I wanted to live near the ocean so I read all the coastal town names and this one stuck out. Shortly after, I packed up my things and moved here."
"Just like that?"
"Well, I talked about it at length with Ginny, Harry, and Ron beforehand, so it wasn't completely out of the blue. But besides them, I didn't have anyone or anything in London that I needed to stay for. So, I quit my job at the Ministry and let my landlord know I was moving out, packed up my things and bought a plane ticket."
"How do you like it here so far?"
"Oh I just love it," she gushed. "A few days before I ran into you was the first time I'd really been able to go out to check out the town and shops since it rained so much when I first arrived and I didn't have a car yet. But, from what I've seen and read about the area, I have a feeling I'm going to love it here."
"Daddy owns one of the shops in town," Lyra informed. "Stardust Alpaca…..Appaco…"
"Apothecary?" Hermione asked as she turned to Draco. "You own that shop? What a small world—I just started a job next door, at Sherman's."
"Small world indeed," Draco said. "Lyra, why don't you get Miss Hermione what you picked out for her."
"Oh, right!" Lyra wiped the crumbs of chocolate cake off her face with a napkin before she went into a room off of the kitchen and came back with a small, sparkly gift bag.
"Daddy told me to pick out one thing from the shop, but I told him you needed two things, one from me and one from him. I picked out the candle," Lyra said proudly.
Hermione lifted up the light purple candle with etched carvings of lavender right on the wax. "It's beautiful," she said and brought it up to her nose to smell it. "Is that lavender and… vanilla?" she asked Draco.
"It is. It's also infused with small amounts of elements similar to Draught of Peace."
"Really?" Hermione asked, impressed. "You'll have to tell me later how you came up with that idea."
"There's something else in the bag too," Lyra reminded her. "Daddy picked it out."
Hermione reached in and found a container of cream inside.
"It's one of my best sellers amongst women. It's a face cream that hydrates and helps get rid of blemishes. Not that you need it," he added. "There's no scent to it so it won't clash with any other perfumes or lotions one might wear."
"Smart," she mused, unscrewing the top to look at the cream. "And practical. I can see why it would be a bestseller."
"Which one do you like best?" Lyra asked.
"Oh, well, it's not a contest. Both are very thoughtful gifts."
"I know. But if it were…. Which was your favorite?"
Hermione pretended to think about it before she poked Lyra's side, making her giggle. "I'd have to say yours."
"Told you, dad!" Lyra said triumphantly.
"So you did," Draco conceded, and Hermione saw the amusement in his eyes. "I guess I'll have to do better next time. Would you like a refill?" he asked her, nodding towards her empty wine glass.
"Just half a glass more. I still need to drive home in a bit."
Draco nodded and poured them each some more wine before gathering the dessert dishes.
"So, Miss Lyra," Hermione said, facing the girl once more and taking both of her hands into her own. "You wanted me to come over because you want to talk about things that you can't talk about outside, is that right?"
Lyra's face lit up. "Yes! Things like magic and Hogwarts and wands! Do you have a wand?"
"It just so happens, I do." She glanced over at Draco. "Is it okay if I show her?"
At his nod, she got up and led Lyra towards the living room where she'd set down her handbag. It no longer seemed odd not having to carry it on her person all the time as she once did, a habit she'd maintained even after the war.
"Watch this," Hermione said to Lyra, her eyes twinkling.
She opened the bag and stuck her whole arm inside.
Lyra's eyes grew as large as saucers as she gasped. "How'd you do that?"
"Undetectable Extension Charm," both Hermione and Draco said in unison.
Hermione glanced at Draco and smiled before looking at Lyra again. "It's a charm that lets me put more things inside than would normally fit. Aha! Here it is."
She held up her wand.
"Oh, it's so pretty!' Lyra said, reaching out, then drew her hand back. "Can I touch it? Daddy says I have to ask before I touch anyone's wand and I should never use one that isn't mine without asking."
"Your dad is correct," Hermione said, holding the wand in both of her palms face up. "You can hold it, but just be very careful, okay?"
Lyra nodded as she lifted the vinewood wand from Hermione.
"It's lighter than daddy's, and longer," she said and brought it closer to her face. "I like the carvings on it."
"Me too," Hermione said. "I remember when I got it from Mr. Ollivander. He's a wandmaker in London. It seemed like forever ago, but also not so long ago either."
Lyra gave her a puzzled look. "That doesn't make sense."
Hermione laughed. "One day you'll understand. Do you have any more questions for me?"
"Loads!" Lyra said enthusiastically, and spent the next hour peppering Hermione with any and all questions that came to mind.
Thank you all again for all the wonderful reviews! I'm glad to see you all love Lyra as much I do and hopefully even more so after this chapter :) Enjoy and I'll be back next week with another update! xoxo HufflepuffMommy