As Lyra interrogated their dinner guest, Draco took a seat on the other end of the couch and listened. One could learn a lot, just by remaining silent—a lesson he wished he'd learned at a younger age. He found out that the witch's favorite color was dark purple, the first spell she learned was Lumos, followed by Nox, and her favorite book was a tie between Matilda and Hogwarts: A History. He even got an in-depth description of the Gryffindor common room and what their dorms looked like—Draco was surprised how the Gryffindors of their year were grouped together in one room while Slytherins all had separate rooms.
When it was nearly an hour past his daughter's usual bedtime, Draco informed Lyra it was time for bed.
She grumbled at first and begged to stay up 'just a little bit longer' but Granger convinced her to go by promising one more spell, but only if she got ready quickly.
As Lyra ran upstairs, Draco leaned over. "Thank you. She's loving this. I've told her about the Wizarding world of course, but I think hearing it from another person makes it more exciting."
"She's such a treasure, truly. Has she shown any signs of magic yet?"
"Here and there, especially when she was younger. Toddlers with magical powers having tantrums result in some pretty interesting accidents."
"I can imagine," Granger mused. "No issues at school though?"
Draco shook his head. "No, thank Merlin. She loves her school and her friends. I'm not sure what I'd do if she accidentally used magic there."
"I'm sure MACUSA has protocols in place, just like the Ministry for Magic, which usually involves the obliviation of the Muggles," Granger informed. "Depending on the severity of what happened, it might also mean relocation for you."
Draco nodded as he drank the last of his wine and set the glass down. "I know all that. I meant what I'd do about Lyra." He turned his head to make sure she wasn't coming back down the stairs. "She'd be heartbroken if we had to leave. Bar Harbor is all she's known—she grew up here."
"Why did you move here?" she asked.
"It was suggested to me by a family member," he said, then tilted his head as he heard his daughter coming back down the stairs and lowered his voice. "I can explain later."
Granger nodded then looked up and smiled at Lyra as she entered the room again, dressed in purple pajamas with cats all over them.
"I'm ready!" Lyra said, sitting next to the older witch once more. "Do you like my pajamas? I picked them out because they're your favorite color and because you like cats."
Hermione seemed equally enamored. "I love them! They're very cute."
"Can you do your spell now?"
Granger nodded then picked up the empty wine class Draco had set down and used her wand to transfigure it into a glass jar.
"Wow! That's neat!"
Granger chuckled. "Thanks, but there's more. Watch…" She whispered frigus ignis and a blue flame sparked to life within the jar.
"Wow…" Lyra looked at Granger with wide, mystified eyes. "Can I hold it?"
Granger smiled and handed her the jar. "It's a cold flame, so it won't burn you. It will only last a few hours but I figured you could place it in your room like a night-light."
"Can I, Dad?" Lyra asked.
He couldn't resist her charms. "Sure, Princess. But, now it's really time for bed. Why don't you say goodnight to Miss Hermione and thank her for coming over."
Lyra handed Draco the jar so she could use both arms to hug Granger, burying her face in the witch's curls.
"Thank you for coming over," Lyra said, her voice muffled.
Granger hugged Lyra back, a soft smile on her lips as she cuddled his daughter. "You're very welcome. Thank you for inviting me."
"Can we have dinner at your house next time?" Lyra asked when she finally let go.
"Lyra, it's not polite to invite yourself over to someone else's house," Draco scolded.
"Sorry." She looked out of the corner of her eye towards Granger. "But, can we?"
Draco sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Lyra…"
Granger took it in stride. "I'll talk to your father about it, okay?" Then she lowered her voice just above a whisper. "But you should probably head to bed before you get in trouble."
Lyra giggled, taking the jar back from her father and heading to the stairs.
"I'll be up in a moment to tuck you in." Draco stood. "I'm just going to see Miss Hermione out."
Lyra took one step up and turned. "Are you going to kiss her goodnight?"
Stunned at the question, Draco froze. It wasn't until Granger stifled a laugh that he realized his daughter was still expecting an answer.
"Erm, no. I'm not going to kiss her."
"Oh. Well, you should." Then she hustled up the stairs.
Granger, who was covering her mouth and with laughter in her eyes, had turned a light shade of pink.
"I'm sorry—" he started but the witch finally let out a laugh and waved him off.
"It's fine. Honestly." She slung her bag onto her shoulder and headed outside
When they reached the car, Draco paused. "Thank you, again, for coming. I'm sure Lyra will be talking about this dinner nonstop for the next couple weeks."
Granger chuckled as she opened the passenger side door and tossed her bag inside. "Thanks for inviting me. I had a good time as well," she said, rounding to the driver's side. "Well, I guess I'll see you around, considering we work next to each other."
This time, Draco let out a chuckle. "I suppose so. See you around, Granger."
He'd started walking back to his house when he heard her call his name. He turned and raised a brow in her direction.
"You know you can call me Hermione, right?" she said, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "I mean, after all, I did have dinner at your house."
Draco leaned against the doorframe and pretended to think about her suggestion. "I think I'll stick with Granger. Much less of a mouthful," he teased.
With a laugh, she slipped into her car, waved, and drove off down the street.
Draco watched until she turned the corner, then went upstairs to find Lyra settled in bed, reading a book. She looked up at him as he entered. "So, did you kiss her?"
Draco shook his head and turned off her light. In the dark, the bluebell flame bathed the room in a soft glow. He sat on the edge of her bed and brushed some of her curls from her face. "No, I did not. Miss Hermione and I are just becoming friends."
"Oh. Well, maybe next time. Do you think Miss Hermione likes me?"
"Of course she does." Draco didn't hesitate to answer.
"Good," Lyra said. She let out a yawn and closed her eyes, snuggling Otis to her. "Because I think she might be my mom."
Draco frowned slightly as he watched his daughter drift off to sleep. He'd have to ask her in the morning why she thought Granger was her mum.
He had told her, of course, that he wasn't sure who her mother was and, maybe because she was still too young to understand, she'd never questioned him about it.
Hadn't he just told Lyra the other day that he and Granger didn't get along in school? Apparently such things were of no matter when it came to the mind of a six-year old girl.
After Draco left Lyra's room and closed her door, he walked down the hall to the last bedroom, which was magically locked and, in the off-chance he somehow left it open, an age line was placed to keep out his curious little girl.
His house boasted five bedrooms, which was more than needed for the two of them, but he put all the rooms to use. The master bedroom was his, as was the room next to it which was Lyra's. His mother claimed one for her visits and the downstairs bedroom was converted into an office.
The fifth bedroom he used a potions lab as well a place where he prepped ingredients for his brewing. Even though he didn't use the potions from his lab in the products he sold to Muggles, he enjoyed the hobby and made various potions to donate to the hospital in Dirigo Square when he visited.
As he did every night, he walked around and checked the cauldrons that were simmering, adjusting temperatures and adding ingredients as needed. One potion, Calming Draught, was ready to be bottled, but Draco set that aside to work on preparing ingredients for another he was planning on starting the following day.
It may be tedious to some, but Draco liked the methodology of slicing, crushing, weighing, and measuring ingredients. He turned on the Muggle radio to listen to music—he found he quite liked rock, Aerosmith especially—and lost himself in his work.
The next morning, as Lyra jumped onto Draco's bed to wake him up, she asked if she could have a slice of cake for breakfast.
"Cake? For breakfast?" he asked groggily as he grabbed his daughter and tucked her into his side, hoping for a few more minutes of sleep.
"It's basically like a donut, just a different shape."
"I suppose you have a valid point," he mused, knowing that she'd probably thought about this before asking. He sat up and stretched. "Well, I guess cake for breakfast it is then."
"Really?! Yes!"
Draco watched in amusement as his daughter shoveled cake in her mouth a few moments later. He took his own bite of breakfast-cake and hummed in thought. "We should thank Miss Hermione for making so much cake so that we could get a breakfast out of it," he said.
As soon as he mentioned the witch's name, memories about what Lyra said the night before came to mind.
"Speaking of her… Do you remember what you said before you fell asleep?"
Lyra looked up and frowned. "No."
"You said you thought she was your mother," he said carefully, gauging her reaction. "Is there any particular reason why?"
Lyra bit her lip as she looked down and her fork pushed around some cake crumbs. "I just… I had this feeling after I saw her at the Farmers Market, that…that I know her from somewhere."
"Princess, that's impossible," he explained softly. "You were only a baby when you were in England and even then, she never met you. Plus, remember when I said that I wasn't nice to her in school?"
Lyra nodded, still not looking at him. "Yeah…"
"So that means she and I were never in a relationship to have had you," he explained.
Lyra's brows furrowed as she finally looked up at him. "Do you have to be in a relationship to have a baby?"
"Well, it's usually preferred, yes," he said. "Though sometimes it does happen by accident when two people are not in a relationship."
Lyra perked up. "So that means it could have happened?"
Draco shook his head. "No, love, it couldn't have. Not between Miss Hermione and myself. There's something that a mum and dad have to do to make a baby and we didn't do that."
"What do you have to do?" she asked curiously.
"That is a conversation that needs to be had at a later time, when you're older."
"But Daaaaaaad."
"Lyra," Draco said with a tired sigh. "Not now, okay?"
Lyra huffed. "Fine."
She drank her milk then slowly looked up and smiled at him mischievously. "If I'm right about Miss Hermione being my mom, can I get a puppy?"
Draco took their empty plates to the sink. "Princess, if you're right, you can have two puppies."
"Yes!" she said under her breath, loud enough to make Draco chuckle and shake his head.
"Alright, why don't you go pick out a movie to watch and we'll start Lazy Lounge Day."
"Can we watch The Little Mermaid?" she asked hopefully.
Draco raised a brow at her. "Again? Haven't you watched it enough that you can say all the words at this point?" he teased.
Lyra giggled then nodded. "It's my favorite princess movie because she only has a daddy, just like me. Pleeeeeeese, can we watch it?" she begged, sticking out her bottom lip and batting her eyelashes.
Draco rolled his eyes comically. "Fine, I suppose."
Lyra cheered then went to the living room to put the movie into the DVD player.
Draco had come up with Lazy Lounge Day a few years ago, making an entire day of just watching movies, reading books, or doing whatever Lyra wanted to do. As a child, he was never allowed a "lazy day"—his days were always filled with lessons of some sort, whether it was languages, dance classes, or reading old, dusty, boring books from the Malfoy library. He wanted Lyra to have a better childhood than that.
After the dishes were done, Draco sat on the couch and Lyra snuggled into him before she sighed contentedly.
This, right here, was why he endured watching this movie for the hundredth time, so long as it made his daughter happy.
"You know," he said after watching the movie for a few minutes, "real mermaids don't look like that. They look more like fish with arms and their hair looks like seaweed."
"Shhh!" Lyra said, jabbing him playfully with her elbow. "No talking during the movie….unless you're singing along."
Draco chuckled, then picked up a book that was on the side table and read while his daughter sang with Ariel.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! xoxo HufflepuffMommy