July 22nd 2013
A late summer thunderstorm tore through the countryside as lighting lit up the night sky. Draco buried his face in his pillow further and tried to sleep through it, but as a particularly bright flash cracked nearby, he felt Hermione jump and gave up all efforts of a solid night's sleep.
"It's alright." He leaned into her and brushed a kiss on her shoulder.
"I know. Be good; I have Lyra." She tilted her body so he could see the identical cloud of curly hair of their five-year-old, curled up against her chest, shielding her face away from the storm.
"Breaking the rules again, Granger? Why am I not surprised," he whispered, brushing another kiss against her neck, making her shiver. The bedroom door opened behind him, and shuffling feet could be heard on the soft carpet.
"No, Draco, she kicks -"
But he turned over anyway and peered into the large, dark amber eyes and bright blonde Malfoy hair of two-year-old Cassiopeia.
"Daddy…want up." She whispered too loudly, holding up her arms above her head.
"Of course, my darling, we aren't following the rules tonight," he mumbled, hoisting her up onto the bed.
"Oh, don't tell her that she'll get ideas…" Hermione protested but was unable to do anything without turning around.
"That's because she's a Malfoy, and rules are for peasants."
"Peasants," the toddler repeated, burrowing under the covers against Draco's neck as he wrapped an arm around her protectively, rubbing circles on her back.
Another loud crack of lightning followed by a ground-shaking boom of thunder made Hermione jump again.
"Fine, just for tonight."
Draco was the first to wake up as the rays of a brilliant cloudless day broke through into the room. Cassie had her arms wrapped around his neck, and he could feel her deep breaths against his shoulder. Hermione was in the same position he'd left her in last night, arms still cradled protectively around Lyra.
At the end of the bed was a small loveseat that was usually Hermione's dumping ground for outfits and luggage, but now he could see two sets of feet resting over the top of each end.
Rose, who was his stepdaughter, though he never called her as such, was wrapped in a grey Falmouth Falcons quilt with the wild tangle of Weasley red hair poking out of the top. Twelve and home with them for the summer, Rose was loud, fiercely independent, and all Gryffindor to boot. Naturally, she wouldn't have woken anyone up if she was frightened, but it was still surprising to see her in here at all.
On the other end was his daughter Evelyn from his short-lived union with Astoria. Her mother had named her for her grandmother. Which, of course, he'd conceded too, as he was still in shock that he was the first Malfoy in a recorded ten generations with a trueborn daughter. Hours later, Astoria died, and Evelyn became his sole purpose and only tie to this world for years until he found Hermione and Rose.
Now, at eleven and her first year of school approaching, she did everything she could to stretch her own boundaries of independence like Rose always had. She'd probably sought the older girl out first, and the two had snuck in together.
Bringing their families together hadn't always been easy, but it had always felt right. Draco loved his daughters even though he felt adrift on the estrogen sea without a paddle.
Somehow someway, it didn't feel complete. Hermione might kill him for even bringing it up...but he was still going to try.
That night, when it was just the two of them again, Draco discreetly locked and silenced the room, though not for the usual reasons.
"Granger…" he started cautiously, hoping she was in as good of a mood as she thought she was.
"Malfoy." She shot back, grinning at him from her reflection in the mirror as she pulled up her hair. Her lip tucked under her teeth, she gave her hips a little wiggle. "You only call me Granger when you want something."
"Hmm...You only call me Malfoy when you're upset…." he came up behind her, tracing the curves of her body before locking his hands on her waist.
"Well, what is it?" her smile faltered with a look of worry for a moment.
"Where's your wand?"
"Over on the nightstand. Draco...tell me what you're up to?"
"You're going to hex me to hell and back, and I just want a running head start…"
Her face turned very serious as she turned in his arms, bracing herself on his forearms. "You need to tell what it is right now, or I won't need my wand."
He closed his eyes. "Just...just one more...that's it…"
"What?"
"I don't care if it's a boy- "
Hermione's mouth fell wide open, and she stared at him, wordless for a long moment.
"You want to have another baby? Are you mad?"
Draco grimaced and braced himself for a lecture. "Yes, I must be."
"Good, because in this case, I am too." Hermione smiled and cradled his face in her hands, bringing him in for a kiss.
Chapter 2: Rose
Notes:
Not entirely sure if it all going to be in chronological order but I will use a date system to help you all keep things in order :) The feedback on the last chapter was glorious and I appreciate you all.
Updated on 12/8/2020 for spag thanks to my lovely beta Talonwillow
Chapter Text
Rose
May 15, 2001
The halls of the Ministry never felt as long as they did today. Not during the longest days of the post-war trials, not even while polyjuiced as Malfada Hopkirk and walking alongside Umbridge.
All she did was come in to drop off some last-minute paperwork for her maternity leave, which she started yesterday-her due date. Then she stopped by to ask Kingsley in person about her last reports but then happened to catch Robards beforehand, who just wanted a quick opinion on something -
All in all, she had ended up still at the Ministry at 6 o'clock, in a sublevel storage room for the Department of Magical Law enforcement, looking for an old case when the first real contraction hit.
Having been on her feet all day, there had been plenty of minor ones. But as she leaned against the wall, arms outstretched and palms flat against the stone, the burning pain ripped and squeezed her muscles. This was a real one, very real, and it was time to go.
Of course, bugger it all if she wasn't at the furthest point from the lift when the moment struck. And of course, in a fit of gallantry, she'd worn pants, which just added to the extreme discomfort in her abdomen. She'd transfigure them in the lift when she got there, but the rolling aftershocks of pain made it slow going.
Someone popped out of a room further down the hall, hurried to the lift, and was stepping in by the time she could manage a "hold the door" between breaths.
"Granger? What the hell are you doing down here?"
Oh, this just keeps getting better, she thought furiously, knowing that voice and recognizing the tall thin frame and white-blonde hair that came in view. Of all the people…
"MALFOY! Just hold the lift." Finally, getting to a brief respite in her contractions, she willed herself to waddle as quickly as she could muster onto the lift. Draco Malfoy held the golden grate door back from closing, grey eyes round with fear.
Collapsing against the back wall, she puffed out a "Thank you. Atrium."
"Already heading that way. Why in the fuck are you down here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be on maternity leave?" He pushed himself up into the opposite corner, furthest from her, physically distancing himself as much as he could.
"Aren't you still supposed to be on your ridiculously long honeymoon?" She snapped back.
"Yes, but today's my first day back, and I'm playing catch up, hence why I'm here so late. That's what we call a reasonable explanation, Granger, now you try. " She swore she saw something on his face that made him seem….happy….which was weird for Malfoy.
"I got sidetracked by last-minute things I had to take care of," She tried to stand, but her awkward center of gravity and the motion of the lift made it too difficult. Malfoy observed her then and cautiously held out a hand to help her up. She took it and almost had herself righted when another contraction ripped through, and she instinctively gripped his hand through the pain. He swore and tried to pull away, but Hermione was too busy thinking about staying upright, and well not dying, to let go.
She felt magic radiating off her from the numerous and extreme emotions that ran through her all at once. Anxiety, the joy that it was finally happening, anger at being caught off guard, and sheer pain. Before she could think about channeling it into something productive, it rolled off her in a scream. The lights went out, and the elevator ground to a halt.
Malfoy let loose a colorful string of expletives while lighting his wand and pressing different buttons. Hermione remained doubled over in pain.
"Right. First things first, expecto patronum-" a pearly white fox sat on the floor in front of Malfoy. " 'Tori, I'm going to be late getting home but don't worry and stay in bed." The fox trotted away through the wall.
" WHY wouldn't you tell your wife to come to get us ?!" Screeched Hermione.
He held up a single finger and produced another fox. "Pansy, I'm stuck in a lift in the Ministry; Granger broke it. Get me the fuck out of here... Please." The Patronus took off as the one before it.
As her head cleared, something came to her. Using the thought of finally being able to hold her baby, she produced her otter and screamed a message. "HARRY JAMES POTTER, GET ME OUT OF THIS MINISTRY LIFT, OR YOUR GODDAUGHTER IS GOING TO BE BORN IN IT !" The otter swam away at top speed.
"Isn't that Weasley's kid?" Malfoy asked, looking her over suspiciously. " Why wouldn't you tell your husband to get us out of here?" He shot the question back at her.
"Yes, but Ron and I are having a….disagreement about me working right now, and this wouldn't help my case. Harry has more pull with people anyway." She gritted her teeth and growled again, banging her fist into the wall as a sharp spike of pain went through her lower back. "My water hasn't broken, so I still might have hours left of this." She said it more to herself than anything.
"Sometimes the water doesn't break, though," Malfoy said quietly, pushing himself back into his corner.
"Do you have some secret midwifery hobby?" Hermione snapped.
"No. It's just...Astoria is pregnant...we came back to see a Healer because she was ill, and that's why. I've been reading-" his eye twitched violently as if recalling all the new information he never wanted to know. " I read that sometimes the water doesn't break until right before."
Hermione stared at him incredulously, wiping some sweat off her forehead. "Congratulations, Draco. That's very thoughtful of you. I'd never thought I'd say those words." She wiped off more sweat from her cheeks. At least she told herself it was sweat because she was not crying while in labor trapped in an elevator with Draco Malfoy.
Malfoy looked as though he wanted to disappear into the wall.
The lift hummed back to life and finished its short journey to the Atrium. Waiting for them was an irate Pansy Parkinson shouting at an equally irate Harry Potter about whose friend "broke" the elevator.
Rose Helen Granger-Weasley was born just 2 hours later at St. Mungos with all her biological parents and family in attendance. With a large, expensive bouquet of baby pink roses on the bedside table from someone who didn't leave a card.
Chapter 3: Evelyn
Notes:
So this is the sad chapter! Still fluffy where applicable though.
THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS :
Death and mourning.
Drastoria relationship even though this is still a Dramione story.
If either of these things really bother you please feel free to skip this chapter.
12/18/2020 : Reposted to fix grammer errors. All the love to Talonwillow
Chapter Text
January 9th, 2002
Astoria glared at him from over the edge of the bathtub, like a large cat about to lunge from a tree to its prey. Her clear blue eyes, which were normally wide and kind, were narrowed, lit with something dangerous.
Draco started to back away slowly, trying to remember if it was running in a straight line or not that was safer.
"Is the bath helping?" He asked, hand on the doorknob, ready to bolt.
"Is the bath helping?" She repeated, pitching her voice and making a face."No! It is not helping. Do you know why it's not helping, Draco?"
His keen sense of self-preservation alerted him to the present danger he found himself in. There was no right answer...maybe if he shouted something confusing enough, it could buy him enough time to run and hide- Siberia was supposed to be nice this time of year.
"It's not helping because...because you've been having contractions for twelve hours- "
"Because I've been having contractions for twelve bloody hours with your son, it is now 1 am, and I'm exhausted!" She kicked the edge of the tub several times, and water splashed over the edge.
He swallowed hard, and in a groveling type of tone he hadn't used since the end of the war said. "We...we could go to the hospital, dear, maybe they could help."
"I hurt my foot now too." She poked her foot up over the edge of the tub and rolled it. "Fine, we'll go to the hospital, and when they send me home because nothing is happening, we're stopping at that muggle restaurant with the chips I like." The messy bun of dark auburn waves on her head bounced as she glared back at him. "I need your help to get out, please."
As Draco helped Astoria carefully step her way out of the tub, he briefly wondered what the likelihood was that someone had polyjuiced as his pregnant wife. Normally, she was kind, gentle, funny, and overall just happy. Even in early pregnancy, when morning sickness had sent them home from early from a long honeymoon, she was overjoyed to know she was pregnant.
"If it's a boy, you can name it. If it's a girl, I get to name it." she smiled, and though her nose was red and her eyes were tired, she was beautiful.
"Malfoys always have boys."
"I know." She propped herself up on her pillows a little higher. "Can we not go with a constellation this time? I know it's tradition but gods...between the two of us, it's already overkill."
"One constellation name, then the next one can be whatever you want." He ducked as she swung the pillow from behind her back at his face.
"Next one?!"
Okay, so maybe not that kind.
She tugged one of his old quidditch shirts around her protruding belly as he held out her favorite coat for her to get into. She looked at him with a question on her face. "Aren't we going through the Floo?"
"We'll have to walk to get the chips when it turns out you're right."
With a smug little grin on her face, Astoria slipped her arms in the coat. "Now you're getting the hang of this married thing Malfoy."
Draco was exhausted, down to the very bone. Nothing had ever prepared him for a day so utterly filled with highs and lows that made him feel like he was trapped on an out-of-control broomstick too high up in the air to let go.
Resting his head on the pillow next to Astoria, he looked down into her arms at the little bundle of pink blankets that held his daughter. As if her existence wasn't miracle enough, there had never been a recorded true born Malfoy daughter, and yet here she was, and she was his.
There was a soft knock on the door, and then a familiar face opening it just enough to see in. Draco waved his mother into the room, followed by a house-elf carrying a large display of flowers with blue ribbons.
Narcissa's cobalt eyes zeroed in on the bundle at once, and her mouth fell open. "No, that's impossible-"
"Her name is Evelyn after my grandmother," Astoria said proudly.
Narcissa peered into the bundle, looked at the two of them, and then smiled, eyes glowing brightly.
"Well, the Blacks always had a propensity towards girls…" she pulled out her wand and changed the flowers to pink and conjured a piece of parchment and a quill. "We'll need to change the decor of the nursery in your house and the manor, of course. She'll need a whole new wardrobe, none of the heirlooms will work...Evelyn ...what's the middle name?"
"I'm going to leave that one to you two, actually," Astoria shifted and held out the bundle to Draco. "And the nursery decor and wardrobe. I need to sleep." He took the baby as carefully as he dared and held her against his chest.
Draco kissed Astoria on the forehead. "I love you."
Astoria took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "I love you too. You're going to be a good father, Draco."
He nodded, still unsure about that, and carefully stood, following his mother out of the room.
The snow fell without a sound from the metal grey January sky and gathered in the wings of the stone angel. The mourners had all traveled back across the green lawns of the Greengrass Manor, out back towards their lives, picking up and carrying on as normal. There had been a lot of them as Astoria had been a kind and well-liked person, and the wizarding community mourned the loss of yet another young life.
Draco stood frozen to the spot, hoping he'd become one of the statues in the garden, so he wouldn't have to leave, so he wouldn't have to be human anymore.
It was simply too difficult to keep being human. To keep feeling pain afresh every few years, to break only to heal only to break again. It would be so much easier to be inanimate, to only break once, and have it all be done.
The last three days since her death, he'd thought of nothing but reasons why this was all his fault. He drank until he couldn't stand, screamed until he couldn't speak, and laid awake until his body couldn't handle anymore.
Now in the falling snow, he saw the last face and heard the last voice he'd ever expected with her wild hair breaking free from under a scarlet beanie. Hermione Granger, with a black coat, zipped up around a sleeping baby attached to her chest, who he could see even from this angle, had flaming red curls.
"Draco," her voice was distant as if he were shouting from far away. "You...you need to come inside now." He shook his head at her, but she was Granger, and she didn't take "no" from anyone. "Evelyn needs you; she needs her father, a protector, a shelter from all the evil in the world." Granger paused and shifted her feet. "Surely you know something about that."
Her words hung in the frigid air for a moment while they worked their way in. Automatically, on some unknown instinct, he turned back to the house and away from the grave. Walking next to the witch, he stole a look at the sleeping child wrapped against her. She looked more like a child than a baby already.
"It'll happen faster than you think." Granger saw what he was looking at and offered him a shy smile.
The next morning, a package arrived by owl post wrapped in plain brown paper with a pink ribbon. Inside was an assortment of parenting books, muggle and magical, some brand new, some well worn with cramped handwriting in the margins.
The note read:
Draco-
I've included my mobile number, and I can be reached at this address if you ever need anything. I know you won't ever ask for it, though, so here are some of the more helpful things I've read: what I would say if you did ask.
You're going to get through this.
Hermione Granger
Chapter 4: How it happened
Summary:
They followed a path towards the back of the lot, that lead to a small pond in an embankment. For once Rose was walking and babbling excitedly about everything she saw. When they crested over a hill they saw a familiar blonde head sitting in the grass near the water looking out over it, with a little girl wandering close by picking out tiny white flowers from the grass.
"Oh my god...I haven't seen him - "Hermione whispered. "...since he quit the DMLE."
"What's Malfoy doing here anyway do you think?" Harry whispered back, stopping in his tracks. "Let's go back."
"I'm sure it's fine he could probably use the company, you know what's it's like not having another adult to talk to -"
"I've never been desperate enough to talk to Malfoy though- "
Notes:
I hope this is as good as the last couple of chapters!
1/3/21: update for beta'd by TalonWillow.
Chapter Text
September 2003
Hermione stared into the shockingly blue eyes of her two-year-old in the backseat of her car. She had found driving the easiest way to get around with a toddler for some trips, even with magic.
Rose squirmed in her car seat, knowing exactly where they were.
"Parp!" she squealed, pointing out of the window.
"Park, that's right. Rosie, I'm going to let you out, and we're going to use our walking feet until we get to the play area, alright?"
The toddler nodded and grinned. Hermione undid the buckle and helped the toddler to the ground, and the moment she let go too close to the car door, the little girl took off, red curls bouncing wildly.
"Rose, honey, no! " Hermione locked the car and took off after her daughter, who was sprinting as fast her little toddler legs could carry her.
"I got her!" Cried a familiar voice from the trees. By the time she caught up, Harry Potter already had the flailing tot by her arm, with a baby with a poof of dark hair in a carrier on his chest. "James did the same thing when I was trying to get Al in the sling."
He looked around, but the park was deserted despite the gorgeous early fall weather. "Had to hover him to get him in, and it woke him. Rose stop kicking me; I'm not letting go until your mum says so."
"Thanks, Harry." Hermione was panting, clutching her side. "I don't know why she does that." She hoisted the tot up in her arms, bringing her to eye level again. "You can't run away from me like that; it's dangerous. Walking feet, remember?"
Rose screamed and tried to flip her way out of Hermione's arms. "GO!"
"Lost cause," Hermione mumbled, setting her down so she could go to the play area, where James, Harry in miniature, was waiting at the top of the slide.
"E, for effort." Harry laughed, sitting down on a bench. Hermione plopped beside him, winded from said efforts. He stretched an arm around the back of the bench, looking happier than Hermione had seen him in ages. Since Ginny went professional at the start of the season and had been gone, Harry had taken on desk-work at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It made him rather testy during the workweek, and their interactions had become minimal. Hermione spent most of her time doing victim defense, and he was still as hands-on with the bad guys as he could get while still being able to leave at 5 to relieve the nanny. But parenting came almost as naturally to him as Quidditch had.
She did a scan of the park before turning back to him. Parenting had been a harder change for her, having to be on the lookout for another human all the time, especially as a toddler who perpetually seemed to put herself in danger.
"James has a rock."
"For Merlin's sake-," He called out to the toddler about to put the stone in his mouth. "No, Jamie, put it down." The tot dropped the rock and glowered at his father. " Kids. Anyway, this was a good idea, Mione. It's not like you to skive off work though, what did you want to talk about?"
Hermione pushed her hair back behind her ear and focused on the 8-month-old strapped to Harry's chest. Albus looked up at her with big green eyes and gave a gummy smile. "Gods, he's cute, Harry."
"I know- I made him. Don't change the subject. What's going on?"Harry looked at her over the rim of his glasses. "Not pregnant, right?"
Hermione scoffed. "No. That's not...just no. But I think... I think I want to start dating again. I have no idea how to start or where to start? Are there dating sites just for the wizarding world? Not that I'm opposed to dating a muggle; it's just with Rose's accidental magic, it's probably just easier. Is dating even a good idea with her this young?" She pulled on her sleeves and stared at her best friend. "That's why I couldn't focus on work...I just needed a day to sort out my priorities."
Harry just grinned at her again. "Well, to answer some of your questions. I wouldn't want to date a muggle with a toddler spouting off magic as well; I think you're safer with wizards until she's old enough to understand. There are sites, but luckily you don't need that, you have me. What's the point in being Harry freakin' Potter if I can't scope out a good bloke for my best friend?"
"You've been waiting for this, haven't you…."
"For. Years. I even have a couple of wizards in mind."
She dropped her head in her hands. "Harry, no. "
"Harry, yes. Question one, I'm assuming redheads are out of the question, so blond or dark hair? Or white? Bald?" he was positively beaming.
"Oh, hair, please. A head full of hair that's not grey or white. Blond, I suppose if it comes down to it." She lifted her head to meet his eyes. "But it doesn't matter because-"
"Question two. Kids or no?" the wizard asked, cutting her off.
Hermione pulled on her sleeves again, watching the children run around. "I don't know...but he obviously has to be ready to be a father. I suppose I'm open to either."
"Last question, because it's going to come up, whether you're dating or not. As a matter of fact, it already has. So, while I witnessed the slow-motion train wreck that was you and Ron's relationship, what would you have me say went wrong?" He kept his eyes trained on her while yelling, "JAMIE. NO ROCKS."
There was a distant scream of an angry toddler.
At that, Hermione stood and started pacing around the bench. "Ron wasn't ready to be a parent. Oh no, that sounds terrible, doesn't it? I don't know...we got married, and things weren't working, so we did what we thought was the next logical thing…" Her eyes traveled to Rose, who was trying to climb up a slide the wrong way. "Then he got the Keeper position with the Cannons… and he just expected me to go with it because it was his dream…"
Harry sighed and pushed his fingers through his dark hair. "You wanted different things."
"We wanted different things," Hermione said in a small voice, feeling a new wave of guilt and shame that came from her failed marriage.
For a moment, all that could be heard was the sound of kids playing and the leaves rustling in the autumn breeze.
"Hey, let's go walk the kids down to the pond. They'll like that." Harry stood and brought her in for a side hug as Albus was still attached to his chest.
They followed a path towards the back of the lot, leading to a small pond in an embankment. For once, Rose was walking and babbling excitedly about everything she saw. When they crested over the hill, they saw a familiar blonde head sitting in the grass near the water, looking out over it-a little girl wandering close by, picking out tiny white flowers from the grass.
"Oh my god...I haven't seen him, "Hermione whispered, "...since he quit the DMLE."
"What's Malfoy doing here anyway, do you think?" Harry whispered back, stopping in his tracks. "Let's go back."
"I'm sure it's fine; he could probably use the company. You know what it's like not having another adult to talk to."
"I've never been desperate enough to talk to Malfoy, though... "
"Rose, no…," the little girl decided she was done being compliant and took off again. The embankment was so steep that once she started, she had a hard time slowing down. Soon her little legs were just going to keep her balance, and she started to tumble.
"MALFOY!" Harry shouted, and the blond wizard turned to see who called his name and saw Rose starting to fall. With lightning-fast reflexes, he scooped her up off the ground while Hermione came down the hill after her.
Rose stared at her rescuer with wide eyes as he set her back down on the ground. He stared back, and Hermione heard him mumble something like, "Must be a Weasley."
"Thank you, Malfoy. I'm sorry I didn't mean to crash in on you and your daughter like that. It's just...one of those phases, you know," she said, propping her daughter upon her hip, taking in the wizard in front of her who she hadn't seen in a year and a half. Dressed in a well-tailored black coat and black trousers, he looked too formal just to be sitting at the park with a toddler, but as his daughter was in a dress and tights with her hair in two perfect pigtails, she figured that must be how they operate. Still, she picked a leaf out of Rose's hair, feeling self-conscience.
"Right." He looked as uncomfortable as she did and opened his mouth to say something else when Harry and his boys came charging down the path. "Oh...I'll leave you to it then…"
"How...how are you? And Evelyn, right?" she shifted her weight nervously, and Rose started to squirm, sensing her tension.
At her name, the toddler stopped her search through the grass and looked up at Hermione. She had big dark blue eyes and dark auburn hair like her mother; she couldn't see anything of Malfoy in her at first glance. It made her heart give a sympathetic pain for him.
"Evelyn, yeah. We're fine." His eyes were now on James, who was chucking sticks and rocks into the water and then up to Harry with Albus on his chest in the carrier "Potter." He acknowledged the other man. "There's three of you now. How charming."
"Yup. That's James, and this is Albus."
Draco winced visibly. "Seriously? Why would you do that to a baby?" Harry just laughed at him, but the Slytherin still looked uncomfortable. "Come on, Evi," he turned to where Evelyn was watching the older two throw things in the pond.
"You can stay. If you want and let them play." Hermione interrupted. "I mean, you don't have to..."
"I'm not interrupting something?" he arched an eyebrow and looked between the two of them.
"Oh! Oh no. Harry and I? Absolutely not. I am single, not that you needed to know that, but not with Harry. Never with Harry..."
"Thanks 'Mione, he's got the point!" Harry called, starting to make himself comfortable on the ground, taking Albus out of the carrier. "James Sirius, put that rock in your mouth, and we'll go home!"
There was an angry screech and a loud splash of water.
Malfoy hedged, took a deep breath, and resigned himself to sitting next to Hermione. After a few moments of awkward silence, he cleared his throat.
"I heard that there's an opening at the DMLE, in the reverse potioneering. "
Hermione smiled at him. "It's open on a technicality. We've been waiting for you to come to take your old job back since you left."
He huffed out a laugh. "I'm sure."
"No, I'm serious; we've had a few applicants but no one with your skill level and understanding of what we're up against." Hermione fidgeted with her sleeves again. She hadn't seen Draco in the light of day like this since they were finishing up their education at Hogwarts, but she was with Ron then…so she hadn't noticed him like she was now. Looking to the side at Harry, she saw he was smirking and threw her a cheeky wink.
"Mini-Potter has a stone headed for his mouth..."
"For fuck's sake!" Harry stood quickly and marched down to his son, who was now full-blown rioting. "You kids have fun. Me and mine are going home to tell Mummy."
"NOOO!"
Harry apparated away skillfully, seeing as how both kids were now screaming at the top of their lungs.
Draco checked his watch on his wrist and looked briefly at the playing girls. "I have to take Evelyn to Daphne's in a moment."
"Oh." Hermione felt an unexplained pang of sadness. "It was nice catching up. I hope you come back to work, though I do understand," she gestured towards the kids.
"Yeah." He nodded and slowly got back up to his feet.
"If you ever need anything...I mean it...going at this alone can be tough -"
"I heard about you and Weasley…," He bent down to Evelyn. "Say goodbye to Rose and Ms. Hermione, alright?"
Evelyn waved at Rose, who waved back and headed up towards Hermione. She was expecting the little heiress to curtsey or something, but instead, the girl held out her arms and tried to hug Hermione from the side.
"Oh, thank you, sweetheart. Malfoy, you have a hugger?"
"That would be Astoria too."
Something about the little girl's weight against her felt right, but at that moment, she chalked it up to maternal instinct. "Ok, love, go to your father."
The little girl arched an eyebrow, and for the first time, her other parent came out in her face. "Daddy," she pointed at him.
He picked her up, "See you around, Granger."
"Do you have my mobile?" she called as he stalked off.
"Same as last year?" he answered, walking backward.
"Yes."
"I have it then. I'll text you."
It took a beat for Hermione to realize what the Pureblood just said. "Wait...what?!" But Malfoy was already gone.
September 2004
"Do you remember what we were doing, this time, one year ago?" Hermione asked, quickly throwing off her tee-shirt as Draco looked and silenced the door.
"We were at the park...You showed up with Potter, and Rose quite literally fell into my arms." He chucked his shirt across the room and started on his pants. "I know this is weird...but..."
"It felt like she was yours?" Though blessedly flattering in all the right places, Hermione's jeans put up a fight coming off around her thighs. "Yeah, I got that feeling when Evi hugged me. What are you staring at?" she was wiggling from side to side as his eyes fixed on her hips.
"The same thing I was staring at a year ago -"
"Lies. Lies and treachery, Malfoy." The jean finally lost the battle, and she stomped on them to prove her dominance over the wretched garment. She tossed herself on the bed, "Ok, you have to do the rest of the work ."
He was down to just his shorts and crawling over her, caging her head between his arms. "You're right. I was too taken aback that you were even speaking to me. It hardly seemed real…," he bent his head to work at her neck. "I didn't notice that fantastic arse until our first date."
"Yeah? Then what?"
"Then-" there was a distant cry from a child off in the distance. Draco dropped his head to her shoulder and groaned. "It's like they know."
Hermione just chuckled and stroked his hair. "I'll lay here content and naked if you go take care of that."
"Don't move." He bolted up and threw his pants back on. He dropped a quick kiss on her forehead.
"Draco -"
He stopped so hard he practically tripped and stared at her.
"I love you."
His face lit up as his grin spread from ear to ear. "Don't move. Let me take care of this, and you can prove it when I get back."
As the door slammed shut, she let out a heavy exhale, turned into her pillow, and smiled.