"You look pretty, Mummy," Anya Granger told her mother.
Anya was an adorable four year old with long red curly hair, a cheeky smile and deep brown eyes and currently she was lying on Hermione's large double bed, watching her mother as she got ready to go out for the evening. It was something the little girl loved to do, and Hermione was more than happy to have her daughter sitting nearby chatting away as she got dressed. Sometimes she would even ask Anya to help her choose a piece of jewellery or something, just so the little girl felt involved.
"Thank you, princess," Hermione said, smiling widely at her daughter.
Anya beamed back at Hermione, but before either one of them could speak again the floo network sounded from downstairs. Even from upstairs the distinctive bell could be heard and the sound of it sent Anya clambering off the bed.
"Draco!" the four year old called excitedly as she set off running towards the bedroom door.
"Anya, slow down," Hermione called after her daughter. "Walk down the stairs, or you'll fall."
In reality Hermione had a charm on the stairs so that if her daughter ever did trip, she would be gently carried to the ground floor and no harm would come to her. Luckily Anya was a sensible child and even though she left the room at top speed, Hermione could hear she was taking her time going down the stairs.
Instead of rushing off at her boyfriend's arrival, Hermione made sure she looked perfect before grabbing her bag and ensuring she had everything she needed. Even though the black bag she was carrying was just small it was magically extended to carry the few things she would need for her overnight trip. Satisfied she had everything, Hermione slipped on her heels and left her bedroom.
While Hermione and Draco were going out for the evening, and spending the night in a posh hotel, Anya would be staying at home with her father. Unbeknown to Molly, Charlie spent quite a few weekends at Hermione's house, and she and Anya often visited him in Romania. Despite living in different countries neither of them considered it to be a problem where Anya was concerned, with apparition and floo it was very easy for Charlie to see his daughter. The only reason Molly didn't know of the arrangement was because she'd managed to create so much tension between herself and the pair that neither of them confided in her. They were more than happy with their arrangement and it worked perfectly for them, but they were both sure that Molly would only find a fault in their actions and complain, like she did with practically everything else Hermione did.
Hermione often regretted the tension between herself and Molly, especially since Anya had picked up on it and wasn't quite as comfortable with Molly as she was with the rest of the family because of it. However, Molly's attitude towards her and Charlie and the way they chose to raise Anya, combined with her insistence that she always knows best, just grated on Hermione. Hermione had no intention of ever separating Anya from her family, but she didn't appreciate Molly trying to run her life for her. Molly's attitude towards her relationship with Draco was just about the final straw and in the last few months, Hermione had found herself spending less and less time at The Burrow.
Shaking off thoughts of Molly and her problems with her, Hermione arrived in the front room where she found Anya curled up on the sofa next to her father, while Draco was sitting opposite Charlie and the two men were talking and laughing together. As always, Hermione was relieved that her boyfriend and the father of her child got along so well. In fact apart from Molly, who'd made it clear she didn't like him, Draco got along with all of the family. Even Harry and Ron had buried the hatchet with him and though the three of them would never be bosom buddies, they got along just fine.
"Wow, Hermione you look great," Charlie said, looking up and grinning at the brunette witch. "Maybe I should take you out to dinner and Draco should stay here."
"No such luck," Draco chuckled as he stood up to greet his girlfriend. "You look amazing," he said, pulling Hermione into his arms and giving her a quick kiss.
"Thanks," Hermione smiled at her boyfriend, before turning to her daughter. "And you be good a girl for your Daddy."
"I'm always good," Anya grinned, snuggling into Charlie.
"She is," Charlie agreed, dropping a kiss to his daughter's head. "She's my little angel."
"She can be a little devil as well," Hermione said.
"That's just a bit of Weasley mischievousness," Charlie replied with a grin. "We were all a bit of a handful as kids. Well apart from Percy, who was immaculately behaved, but the twins more than made up for his boringness."
"I bet they did," Hermione replied.
Saying goodbye to Anya and Charlie, Hermione and Draco left the pair curled up on the sofa as they prepared to leave. Since Hermione didn't know where they were going, she let Draco wrap his arms around her and whisk her off for the night.
Their destination was a large, expensive hotel on the south coast. Even though Draco could have easily whisked her abroad for the evening he knew his girlfriend preferred to stay in the same country as her daughter. And as always, Charlie knew exactly where to find them if he needed them for any reason, not that he ever had before now.
"This place looks nice," Hermione remarked as Draco led her across the reception area and towards the lifts. "Where are we going?" she asked when Draco summoned the lift. She'd already seen the signs pointing to the bar and on-site restaurant and they were on the ground floor.
"Up to the penthouse," Draco answered, leading the way into the lift. "I was here this afternoon and checked in then."
"Why were you here this afternoon?" Hermione questioned.
"Getting everything ready for tonight," Draco answered, although he refused to elaborate any further when Hermione pressed for more details.
Hermione didn't have to wait too long to find out what Draco had been planning as they soon arrived at the penthouse. The second they stepped into the room, Draco flicked his wand and the room was lit up by dozens of floating candles. On the floor was a trail of rose petals and Hermione followed them out onto the balcony, where a romantic looking table was set for two.
"What's all this in aide of?" she asked her boyfriend.
"I just want to let you know how much you mean to me," Draco replied. "Now sit down, and we can eat."
"Won't we get cold eating out here?" Hermione questioned, although as she spoke she noticed that she didn't feel any chill in the air despite it being December.
"There's charms on the balcony so it won't get cold," Draco answered. "It'll be as though we're eating outside on a warm summer's night."
"And I was looking forward to snuggling up with you beside the fire," Hermione teased as she settled down at the table.
"That can be arranged," Draco grinned. "There's a beautiful fireplace in the bedroom. It'll be perfect for curling up in front of, or doing other more pleasurable things."
"Now what could you be suggesting," Hermione chuckled.
"I guess you'll have to wait and see," Draco replied with a wink.
Hermione shook her head at her boyfriend, as she picked up her menu and began to decide what she wanted to eat. The menus were enchanted so once they'd placed their orders the food magically appeared on the table. Hermione was quite impressed with that as it meant her and Draco could spend their time just the two of them, without having to deal with waiters or anyone else.
Dinner was passed with the couple catching up on what had happened since they last saw one another. Since they didn't live together they didn't see each other every day, but they were always aware of what was going on in each other's lives. Hermione knew all about Draco running the family company and the new business ventures he was always dabbling in. Draco meanwhile took an interest in Hermione's work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. Then of course there was Anya. Hermione could talk for hours about her daughter and Draco always loved to hear tales of what the little girl had been up to.
Once dinner was finished, Draco waved his wand over the table to get rid of the dishes. Taking a deep breath he reached into his pocket and pulled out the little black box that he'd been acutely aware of all evening. He still wasn't sure Hermione would say yes to his proposal, despite both his mother and Charlie reassuring him that she'd accept with hesitation.
"Hermione, you know how much I love you, don't you?" he asked, keeping the box out of his girlfriend's line of sight. "Both you and Anya, you mean the world to me."
"We love you too," Hermione replied. "I never thought I would meet someone who would make me as happy as you do, and Anya thinks you're brilliant."
Draco smiled at Hermione's words and feeling more confident he brought the ring box up to the table and opened it up, before blurting out the question he'd been thinking about for a few weeks. "Hermione, will you marry me?"
Hermione looked down at the sparkling diamond ring, before looking across the table at Draco. "Yes. I'll marry you."
Draco let out a huge sigh of relief as his face broke into a massive grin. Taking the ring from the box, he gently slid it onto Hermione's finger before standing up and sweeping her up into his arms.
"I can't believe you said yes," Draco admitted as the couple shared a kiss.
"Why wouldn't I say yes?" Hermione asked. "We love each other, and want to be together."
"Sometimes I still can't believe that you love me," Draco said quietly. "What have I ever done to deserve you?"
"Plenty," Hermione answered sincerely, leaning up to give her fiancé another kiss.
She knew Draco was still tortured by his past, but he'd long since proved he wasn't the same boy she'd gone to school with. After the war Draco and his family had made a real effort to make amends, and they no longer held the same beliefs they once had. Draco had even gotten heavily involved with a few charities helping victims of the war, which was how Hermione had ran into him and gotten acquainted with the new and improved Draco Malfoy.
"I think it's time we celebrated our engagement now," Hermione said, making sure Draco didn't dwell on his past for too long. "You still haven't shown me the bedroom yet."
"Right, this way," Draco said, grinning at Hermione as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom of the penthouse.
The bedroom was also lit by floating candles, and the bed was strewn with more rose petals. Hermione's attention was drawn to the fire, which was beautiful and would be perfect to curl up in front of. As luck would have it there was a fur rug in front of the fire and Hermione knew that was where she and Draco were going to celebrate their engagement.
When Draco began walking over to the bed, Hermione mentioned the rug and her fiancé changed directions. Putting Hermione back on her feet, he lit the fire and once it was roaring brightly the couple settled down on the rug.
Exchanging an excited smile, the couple leant forward and gently connected their lips. The kiss soon took a passionate turn and in less than five minutes clothes were being discarded as the heat built between them. Once they were completely naked, they spent the next couple of hours thoroughly celebrating their engagement in front of the roaring fire, before they made their way to the bed where they celebrated some more.