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Chapter Text

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

It was a perfectly fine Saturday when Draco Malfoy's mouth decided to muck things up before his brain could catch on and prevent this from happening.

As every other Saturday morning, Draco was having tea with his mother in their informal parlour. And though the sun had already warmed the parlour through the massive windows covering the entirety of one wall, a small fire still blazed in one of the four fireplaces. Even though the calendar marked the time of year to be the end of September.

But heaven forbid anyone tried to tell Chester from breaking old Malfoy traditions. Draco certainly didn't want to; his mother had tried several times. After which her wishes would be followed for a few days and then the elves would revert to their old and very sacred traditions, as they would relegate to a disgruntled Narcissa Malfoy.

This particular Saturday, Draco tried his best to hide from his mother behind the latest issue of the Daily Prophet. He wasn't succeeding very well given the stream of conversation she proceeded to carry on without any regard for his response or lack thereof.

Draco clicked his tongue against his teeth when his mother set down her tea cup and began another tirade of bothersome gossip from her latest adventure into society.

"It was rather a splendid gathering. And I must say that Pansy Parkinson looked very beautiful in her new robes. Not to mention the looks she received from her new fiancé. That Matthew Burke has made a woman out of her and I do believe-"

Draco flipped the pages of his newspaper rather noisily and averted his eyes from his mother once again.

He had been invited to Pansy's engagement party as well, of course, but thought it rather poor taste to show up to an engagement party of a woman he had shagged countless of times, the most recent of which had been the night before she had gone on her first date with the Burke bloke. Granted, it happened over a year ago, but considering Draco could quite vividly picture Pansy's breasts bouncing if he closed his eyes, he thought it best to stay away from the event.

Instead, he had occupied his evening with a handful of his solicitors and what a splendid time that had been. Draco could think of nothing better than to listen to the drone of their old voices as they, time and time again, had to inform him that, even though his father was no longer capable of upholding the Malfoy name, he was still the oldest living Malfoy and therefore the person in charge. An utter delight.

Neither one mentioned any more of Lucius Malfoy for the evening. Why change another rather new habit? No one ever talked about the Malfoy patriarch these days. Not even Narcissa Malfoy.

"- the floral arrangements were beautiful, and I had several compliments. I'm fairly sure that young Miss Greengrass will require my coordinating skills in less than a few months. The cousin Pansy introduced her to looked quite smitten with her, and truth be told she always was a sweet girl, albeit a-"

It didn't escape Draco's attention that his mother kept mentioning the names of these witches every chance she got. And each Saturday, she threw in more and more random names of these supposedly wonderful witches she met at these and those functions. Draco had even met a few of these witches and found each one vapider than the previous. Sure, they were nice to have a few drinks with and a potential shag if they were up for it, but things never progressed any further.

He had even put an end to a family friendship between the Malfoys and the Travers family that spanned years back, when he had taken the youngest Travers cousin out for drinks, shagged her senseless and never owled her back. His mother had been furious.

Never mind the fact that it was the Travers cousin who had practically ripped his robes from his shoulders to climb him like a tree, begging him to take her virginity before her father forced her into some loveless marriage. Draco had thought himself a gentleman to help the young lady find her first-ever orgasm – which was bound to also be her last if she ended up in one of those pureblood-arranged marriages his mother had been trying to secure for him for years – before he bid her goodnight. As he remembered, it had been a pretty good shag and he had been tempted to reach out to her afterwards, but, of course, he didn’t. And her father had jumped to the natural conclusion that Draco was a scoundrel who had forced his precious daughter into premarital sex and ruined her for any decent pureblood wizard.

Some of the old pureblood families truly were set in their old and rather archaic ways. At least, those were the words Pansy had used some years ago when she had tried to explain things to him.

In recent years, however, Narcissa Malfoy had grown more and more pestilent about Draco finding a wife and taking up the Malfoy name. They were both painfully aware that his father was not up for the task any longer, though neither ever said so directly, and until Draco married he could not usurp his father from the imagined Malfoy throne. Hence, his mother's constant badgering about securing him a wife and putting an end to his bothersome bachelorhood.

Something which Draco heavily protested.

He quite liked being a bachelor.

In it, he had found a certain freedom he had not experienced since he was 14 years and finding a date for the Yule Ball at Hogwarts had been his most pressing matter. The years between 14 and 18 were horrible, which he often sought to suppress in any way possible. Witches were his favourable choice of suppression.

But as years passed by, he had to watch his female acquaintances partner up and start to marry. Ugh. It hindered his liberty to their breasts and other parts he very much liked. Come to think of it, it had been a while since he had last seen a pair of decent breasts, let alone touch any. He would have to owl Blaise and Theo soon for a night out.

"- really, Draco, you ought to come with me to these gatherings. I'm sure you would find the company most stimulating. Just last week I happened to meet Harry Potter and his lovely girlfriend. She looked quite splendid in her navy robes. I never caught her name though, I did speak to him for a bit, and thanked him again, of course, one can never show one's gratitude enough, and he insists we leave things in the past. So naturally, I told him-"

Draco rolled his eyes rather extravagantly behind his newspaper and turned another page as his mother droned on about how splendid a young man Harry Potter had turned out to be.

It wasn't so much that she was wrong, even Draco could put his grudges aside and admit that Harry sodding Potter had worked his way up to become a respectable Auror after the war. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone but his reflection, let alone his mother. He would never hear the end of it.

He tried his best to avoid Potter and his good-for-nothing band of friends. And it worked in most cases. Draco had friends who weren't too keen on Potter. And Potter had his friends who weren't too keen on Draco and his friends. They could all acknowledge each other as mature adults if they happened to come across each other in public, but nothing more. Nothing like the huge spectacle that had blazed to life right after the war.

Draco shuttered and shut down that memory for another time. Preferably one where Firewhiskey would be involved.

"-, dear, you ought to bring someone next weekend when I'm hosting my fundraiser for this year's Hogwarts Donation."

"Yes, Mother," Draco answered without really having paid any attention to what she was saying. It was a reflex common enough, one he had failed to realize he had inherited from his father. Whenever Narcissa Malfoy would go on and on about something she was truly passionate about, there was no stopping her, and only by voicing his minimal agreement could he be left alone. Eventually.

Something caught Draco's eyes in his newspaper and he pulled it closer to read the moving headline.

Surely not, Draco thought even as he scanned the article that praised the youngest witch ever to accomplish such a feat as to find a new purpose for the Mandrake roots.

"The fundraiser is next weekend, darling, and since I'll be leaving for France this afternoon and I won't be back until Thursday, I need the name of whom you're bringing so I might prepare while I'm away."

"Yes, Mother."

Draco kept reading about the miracle of using the Mandrake root in the healing of frail minds that had been tampered with over a prolonged time. His mouth formed the words as he read on, while his mother kept talking beside him.

"Excellent dear. The fundraiser is Sunday, perhaps you would want to bring your, ahem, friend around for tea on Saturday for me to meet in advance?"

"Yes, Mother."

Draco's eyes reached the end of the article where it changed to include all manner of personal details and a reference to a picture on the following page.

"What is her name, dear?"

Draco turned the page, hardly paying any attention to his mother at all.

His eyes found the familiar face and brown curls. She was smiling timidly to the camera, and even while shaking some formal-looking wizard's hand, it was obvious to Draco she was trying to move out of the frame.

"Of course, Hermione Granger," Draco muttered under his breath in something akin to annoyance.

"The Hermione Granger?" Narcissa's voice rose an octave along with her eyebrows into a confused brow. "And just, may I ask, how long has this been going on?"

Draco, having only heard half the question and nothing of its meaning, turned back to the article and read flippantly. He mumbled a few words along the way, some of which his mother caught on to.

"Months you say? Well then. Truly it is only fitting that I should meet this remarkable woman you have been courting in secret. And about time, I would say. I shall expect the two of you for tea next Saturday."

"Yes, Mother."

Draco flattened the Prophet on his lap, his head turning rapidly to face the too-amused smile plastered on his mother's face.

"Pardon, what?" It wasn't often Draco found himself caught off guard any longer. Not since he had been forced to play house with a bunch of insane wizards. This was perhaps the first time he had been caught off guard in ten years and spoke too absently with his mother.

"You and Hermione Granger will look more than lovely together next weekend." Narcissa reached across the small table and patted her son's arm. In turn, Draco could only gape at his mother as the meaning of her words slowly penetrated his thick skull.

"Mother, I think you've mis-"

"Draco, darling, I must be off. My portkey awaits. Please tell Miss Granger that I'm very anxious to finally meet the woman who's stolen my son's affection."

"But mother, no- I-" But before Draco Malfoy could even try to think of an argument or rational thing to say, his mother had left a soft kiss on his cheek and was out of the parlour.

Leaving Draco Malfoy with a cold cup of tea and an issue of the Daily Prophet opened in his lap to the woman he - according to his mother - had been courting for months and was supposed to bring around for tea next weekend in advance of his mother's grand fundraiser event the next day.

"Bloody hell." Draco breathed and crumpled the Prophet before chucking it into the fireplace where he watched it burn to ash.

“Fuck.”

He needed to send an owl instantly.

Chapter Text

“I pray you, do not fall in love with me, for I am falser than vows made in wine.”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Draco threw back another drink of Firewhiskey and hissed as it went down. How many of these had he had tonight? He seemed to have lost count after he ran out of fingers on one hand.

Just as well.

He was in a foul mood and in no way any closer to sorting out the buggering conundrum his mother had somehow forced upon him.

"She's not bad to look at, is she?" Blaise Zabini plucked the still-crumbled Prophet from under Draco's nose and turned the picture around a bit before settling on an angle that apparently showed Granger's best side. That would be the one where she left the frame, Draco assumed as he swirled the liquid in the glass before him.

"Grown up quite nicely." Blaise squinted and held the picture right up under his nose." Nice pair of tits if you ask me."

"Well, I didn't, did I?" Draco downed his drink in one swift motion before thudding his head onto the bar counter.

"Cheer up mate." Blaise clapped him on the back and jumped down from his seat, straightening his lapels and eying the room.

"Could be worse. At least Granger's grown into her hair. And it's not like it has to be forever. Just till you can get your mum off your back."

Draco mumbled something unintelligible as the side of his mouth became firmly pressed against the countertop, swallowing his words.

"That's the spirit." Blaise cheered and clapped Draco on the back again. Then he dashed off hoping to find a bird to spend the night with, as he so eloquently put it.

Draco would have followed Blaise's lead if he hadn't been terribly drunk. A decent shag always helped ease his mind off horrible things.

But he supposed, in the grand scheme of things, that if he were to appear to have secretly courted Hermione fucking Granger for months it would be bad form to shag some stranger he met at his local pub. Even if it was just for the night and she had a very nice arse. Draco liked bums. Especially if he could get his hands firmly around each cheek and give them a nice squeeze. It always made the witch in question squeal rather delightfully.

But even after several drinks in, Draco deduced that squeezing unknown witches' bums for the night would be a bad idea. Even worse if he went ahead and did it anyway and the news got back to his mother.

Fearing Lord Voldemort was one thing, but fearing the wrath and disgrace of one Narcissa Malfoy was another thing entirely.

So, Draco conceded to drinking himself numb while Blaise and Theo went about searching for merry witches to spend the night with. During the time he was alone at the bar, Draco downed several more drinks of Firewhiskey and scowled endlessly at the picture of Granger. She scowled just as much back at him from the tiny frame, whenever she stayed inside the picture long enough. Most of the time, she tried to escape the picture frame but had little luck doing so because the other wizards in the picture kept wanting to shake her hand.

Draco kept reading bits and pieces of the article.

He had to admit - though he never would unless force-fed Veritaserum - that Granger's new method of using the Mandrake roots to restore minds was rather brilliant. Draco knew from their second year in Hogwarts that Mandrake roots could be used to restore people from being petrified. Of course, it had to be fucking Granger who figured out a way to use the roots to restore parts of the mind as well.

Bloody Hermione fucking Granger.

The brightest witch of their age.

She would see him coming miles away and would never be persuaded to do anything as silly as pretending to be his girlfriend to appease his mother. Because that was all it was.

His mother had wrongfully assumed Draco Malfoy was courting Hermione fucking Granger. So now said Draco Malfoy - whose liver seemingly determined to disappear under a heavy cloak of Firewhiskey - had to fucking court Hermione Granger into being his besotted girlfriend.

At least for the coming weekend.

More words were mumbled into the bar countertop and the bartender rumbled a laugh.

"Not going to argue with you on that point, mate." A glass clinked down next to Draco, who scooted it closer and in a feeble attempt tried to drink it with his cheek plastered to the countertop. When that didn't work, he peeled his cheek from the sticky wood and turned around to look at the visitors in the pub.

The Merry Mermaid had been a horrid place when he, Theo and Blaise had stumbled upon it on their way home drunk from the Leaky. But the horridness of the place had taken with them and since then, they had made it their second favourite place to drink. Even more so because the Firewhiskey was cheaper here than at the Leaky. Not that galleons were a problem for any of them, but it was nice sometimes to get drunk faster for less money.

Tonight was one of those nights.

As Draco emptied his glass for the 12th - or possibly 17th but who was counting anyways - time he saw Blaise on his way back. He licked his lips and ran a hand through his slightly mussed-up hair.

"That was fast." Draco snorted and got a smack on his arm from Blaise in return. Blaise shrugged.

"I may be a lot of things but I am still a gentleman. And a gentleman does not fuck a witch in The Merry Mermaid. It's too unsanitary." Blaise picked a piece of non-existent lint off his shoulder and then grinned.

"A gentleman only snogs the living daylight out of her in the promise of more later that evening."

"Well done, mate. Any sign of Theo?" They both craned their necks looking for the brown curls that were the tell-tale sign of Theodore Nott. But no luck.

"I suppose Theo has neglected his gentlemanly manners at home in favour of a quick fuck in the ladies' room." Draco snorted when they turned back to the bar and signalled for another drink.

"Theo never cared much for semantics that way." Blaise sipped his Firewhiskey while side-eying Draco who threw back half his drink in one go.

"Still not turned on by Granger yet?"

"Oh fuck." Draco plonked his head down on the bar top again and grimaced at the brunt force that penetrated his thick skull just then. His vision blurred for a brief moment. Perhaps just one more Firewhiskey before he called it a night and went home and tried to have a wank.

Enough words were muffled into the countertop again before Blaise hauled his friend back up.

"Let's get you going then."

As the true friend he was, Blaise hurried off to inform his awaiting and most willing witch that he would be just a moment. He had a drunk fellow he needed to tuck into bed before he would be able to tuck something else into her. Draco grimaced at the loud giggles that followed him and Blaise out of the pub and almost to the Apparition point.

It was a bloody miracle that Draco didn't vomit all over the expensive carpets in the room. Blaise let go of Draco and let him pour himself another drink from Blaise's fully stocked liquor cart.

"You only need a reason to go see Granger to get to talk to her." Blaise mused as he waited for Draco to finish pouring. Draco huffed and turned back with raised eyebrows at his friend.

"And what do you suggest then? She's a Healer and one of the best based on that article. I can't just-"

"Of course, you can."

"Can what?"

"Come now, Draco, I know you've sloshed and marinated that brain of yours plenty for the evening but do try and think a little."

"I don't want to."

Blaise snatched the glass from Draco before he even managed to raise it to his lips.

"You won't be drinking any of this before you've at least tried to have a think."

"I'd rather have a wank." Draco muttered and stared back at his friend.

"Well, who's to say you can't have both." Blaise waved the glass in front of Draco who scowled and then rolled his eyes in defeat. He ran his tired hands down his face and pulled his skin tight across his excellent bone structure.

"Fine. Granger's a Healer."

"Spot on."

"So to see her I would need to-"

"Yes?"

"Fund something at Mungo's?" Draco suggested with a shrug. Blaise hummed.

"You could. But it would take too long. Paperwork is always the worst. Try again, mate."

"I could take someone who's hurt to see her." Draco's eyebrows rose at this. For a brief second, he truly believed this could work. But then he remembered - quite impressively considering the amounts of alcohol his brain and liver had had to deal with that night - that she was not an emergency Healer. She was a specialised Healer and probably one you would have to book several days in advance to meet.

"Close enough." Blaise reasoned and handed back the drink to Draco. Draco accepted the glass, sipped it and turned his back on Blaise again to try and continue his rather brilliant idea of going about to see Granger.

"I just have to find someone, stupid enough to get injured to- OUCH! BLOODY FUCKING FUCK!" Draco whirled back, the glass crashing to the floor and making quite the spot on the carpets.

"Oh dear, Henrietta will be quite cross about such a stain." Blaise mused with a look at the spot where Draco had dropped his drink.

Draco huffed in panting breaths as he tried to look at what had quite suddenly immersed itself in his back, sending shooting pains through the rest of his upper body.

“You stabbed me in the back with a bloody fork?”

“A knife would’ve been too obvious.” Blaise continued over Draco’s indignant spluttering, waving a hand dismissively.

“Technically, I stabbed you in your shoulder with a fork. And you’re welcome by the way.”

“What the bloody fuck for?” Draco tried again to look at his shoulder where he could just spot something silver protruding.

“Now you have a reason to ask for Granger at Mungo's.” Blaise waved Draco off as if it was any other Saturday night. Not like Draco was standing in the middle of Blaise’s drawing room, small droplets of blood staining the chequered carpet while Draco’s shoulder throbbed in dull pain.

He supposed as he tried to crane his neck again to look at Blaise’s handiwork, it was a good thing he was already well on his way to being plastered. The stupid fork only twinged slightly if he tried to shrug.

Blaise spoke a few words about always being there to help his friend before he declared he had to be off again.

"A gentleman never leaves a witch waiting." And with a wink, he Disapparated.

The twinge in Draco's shoulder persisted. For good measure, Draco knocked back another drink of Blaise's best Ogdens. To take the edge of the pain off, of course.

That was just until he had to floo to the main entrance of Mungo's.

Stepping out of the green flames it felt like the scorching fire still licked across his shoulder, and Draco couldn’t care less for the pathetic whine that escaped his lips as he hoppled up to the front desk.

"Must see your best Healer." He managed to get out between pathetic whimpers. It truly was a good thing he was so well and solidly plastered.

The witch behind the counter started to hand him a bunch of ruddy forms for him to fill out with an explanation that there was a waiting line for all emergencies and that he would be dealt with accordingly. Draco turned around and spotted three other emergencies in the room.

One witch had a broom for a leg. The wizard and witch on the other side of the room sat so far apart as possible but kept looking at each other longingly. Draco had no idea what that was about, nor did he care until he tried to sit down in a chair between them and he felt the sickening pull of magic between them.

Right.

Some spell truly must've gone wrong between them.

Draco never even made his way to proper sitting before he was back at the little window and the witch behind the counter.

"I'm Draco fucking Malfoy. My family pays, ugh." He banged a closed fist on the desk when a twinge shot down his shoulder as if someone was twisting the bloody fork.

"Healer Granger, now!" He insisted with a look that usually meant he got what he wanted. It was a look he had perfected since childhood and it normally worked on anything from second helpings of ice cream to willing witches.

The witch behind the counter pursed her lips and ruffled her paperwork.

"Healer Granger is not on call this evening. If you insist on being treated by that person, you will have to wait."

"Bah!" Draco spat and strode over to the sign indicating which wards were on which floors.

"Mr Malfoy! You cannot just go-" The door swung shut behind Draco as he strode along for the lifts and then the proper floor where he assumed Granger's office would be.

It was a stroke of luck that he managed to find the right floor and that no other Healers were around. Even luckier still was it, that he managed to find Granger's office and close the door behind him before any security wizards found him.

However, it was less lucky for Draco Malfoy when he then passed out on the floor - just two more steps and he could've passed out on a bloody sofa - due to the combination of alcohol and pain induced by a bloody fork.

Chapter Text

”O, that's a brave man! He writes brave verses, speaks brave words, swears brave oaths, and breaks them bravely”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

The next time Draco Malfoy opened his eyes he was slightly confused about his surroundings. Instead of finding himself in his lovely bed in his home, possibly even with a witch wrapped around his legs, he found himself staring up at a ceiling with far too bright lights. 

His head hurt.

But then he realised it didn't hurt as much as it ought to when he remembered just how much he had to drink the night before.

It was at this moment his brain registered another sound in the much too bright room.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Click.

It made Draco's eyes twitch at the continued sound.

"I see you're awake." The sound of a soft and very feminine voice came from somewhere to his right. Draco strained his neck and was met with the rather blurry sight of one Hermione fucking Granger.

Oh, right.

The previous night came back into Draco's memories painstakingly fast. Instinctively, he extended his arm towards his shoulder as much as he could but only felt some soft fabric attached to his skin.

"Yes, we removed the fork. Did you want to keep it?" Draco turned his eyes back to Granger, who gestured to a metal tray on a table beside Draco's bed. Inside the tray lay Blaise's bloody fucking fork all cleaned up again. Then he returned his gaze to Granger, who was busy reading or writing something on the clipboard she held under her nose. 

She wore the distinctive green Healer robes but had left them unfastened at the front, exposing a snug black skirt underneath. A highly floral blouse adorned her upper body, and – as she set the clipboard aside and leaned forward to reach for Draco – it almost offered him a glimpse down her neckline. Not that he looked, of course, he was a gentleman.

Well, most of the time he was.

John certainly wasn’t.

Then he felt Granger's fingers, two of them, against the side of his temple, and she looked pensive. (Draco reminded John to stay quiet, now was definitely not the time.) A slight tingle ran across his forehead and around the back of his head before Granger removed her fingers from his head.

"Hmm." She mused and resumed writing on her clipboard in between the insane clicking her writing tool supplied to the otherwise stilted silence of the room.

"You haven't got a concussion. Your wound is healing nicely."

"How did I get here?" Draco opted for the most obvious question given the last thing he remembered was a very crashed welcome on Granger's office floors. Granger stopped her incessant clicking and looked at him. Her hair was drawn into a lengthy braid down her back, and her expression held a neutral gaze directed at him.  That only lasted for a moment before her lips pursed into a thin line.

"Security found you a little while after you had passed out. Thank you for that, by the way, you made a right mess for the Cleaners."

"Anytime."

Granger raised an eyebrow at him but carried on when he remained silent.

"Yes, well, the Healers on call estimated you wouldn't die immediately. They transferred you to one of my wards since I was the lucky Healer you specifically asked for. And here we are."

She resumed her fascination with her clipboard which allowed Draco a few moments to mull things over. He appeared in good health and could only assume Granger had been the one to patch him up, quite literally, since there was a patch stuck on his shoulder that he desperately wanted to itch.

"No itching." Granger administered the moment she caught his hand creeping its way up his collar.

"But it itches."

"Well, don't get stabbed with any more forks and you won't have to deal with itchy shoulders." She clicked her writing device rather furiously before stuffing it in her pocket.

"As it is, Malfoy, you are free to leave any time you wish. If you'll excuse me, I have other more urgent patients to attend to." She bent her head slightly to say her goodbyes and was halfway out the door before Draco's slow brain remembered the reason for Blaise's fork sticking out of his shoulder the previous night.

"Granger, wait!" He made the mistake of putting weight on his left arm and felt his shoulder twinge under it. To his dismay - and possibly Granger's delight because he was fairly sure he caught her trying to hide a grin - he grimaced in pain before he righted himself.

"Yes, Malfoy?" She paused with her hand still on the door handle that was a smidgen open.

"I have a proposal for you, Granger." Granger smacked the door shut in the blink of an eye and her eyes grew twice in size as well as she stared at him.

"A proposal?" Her voice came out rather shrill and Draco had to rub his ears to keep from going deaf at the volume of her voice. 

"Yes, I find myself in a bit of a situation in which I require, well-" Draco hesitated about which way to go about this. It would sound idiotic either way he put it. He decided to not think about it since Granger already thought him a bothersome nuisance with little brains left.

"I require your help."

"How so?" She narrowed her eyes as she crossed her arms above her chest and Draco fought valiantly like the gentleman he was not to look at her tits. (Though if he were to look, the glimpse he caught earlier told him they would be rather fine tits, indeed. Sod Blaise for being right about that particular point. And John would never let the fact down.) She hadn't moved from her spot by the door either. 

Draco shuffled as much as he could from where he sat in the horrible hospital bed - it was then he looked down at himself and saw the horrendous hospital outfit someone had fitted him in. Right. Not the best look to ask a witch to kindly pretend to be his lover of several months.

Nothing to do about it.

As he had quite firmly established with Granger, she still thought him a dolt and there seemed to be nothing to do about it.

"I kindly ask that you be my girlfriend for the foreseeable future."

Draco thought it was rather rude how Granger bent over laughing quite hysterically after having been asked such a serious question. He waited for her to stop laughing.

Then she looked at him, swinging her plait back across her shoulder and her face froze.

"You're quite serious?"

"Yes."

"But… You can't be."

"I am."

"Oh, bloody hell. Malfoy, just because I patch you up does not mean I want to be your girlfriend. It might've worked on any other witch, but not me. Now, goodbye."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Draco scrambled to climb out of his bed and was met with a delightful breeze around his hips and to John’s surprising pleasure. Granger paused right as Draco halted to look down at the horrendous hospital gown.

"Why am I not wearing any pants?"

Granger had the gall to bite her lip to keep from laughing again. Then she covered her mouth with a hand and pointed to a chair in the corner with the other where Draco saw his clothes neatly folded.

"Standard procedure with any unconscious patients," Granger informed him behind her hand.

Draco had taken up swinging his hips about. He found John enjoyed the light breeze around his balls for the moment. Then his brain made him think straight again and he turned his attention back on Granger and stepped closer to her. On her part, she held out a hand to keep him at arm's length.

"Granger, don't make me beg. I made a mistake and I need your help to fix this. Otherwise, my mother-"

"Your mother?"

"Yes, she's the one who made the wrongful assumption of our courtship, and-"

"Courtship is it now?" 

"If you would just let me finish speaking, I would-"

"I've given you my answer, Malfoy. Thank you, I suppose, but no thank you. You simply have to find someone else to court." And before Draco could say anything else - or run on after her in nothing but a sheet covering his lean figure, Granger had vanished from his room and taken his hopes with him.

"Bloody fuck." Draco swore while he worked out how to pull on pants without falling over again. The pain potions he had been prescribed seemed to be working just then and he rather liked the little buzz it gave him.

Eventually, he found himself dressed (though he'd forgone his pants in favour of his trousers and found it quite nice to hang about in that way as well. Quite the pleasant surprise, truth be told) and decided that the floo might be the best way for him to return home.

When he returned to the Manor he was met with a worried house elf that assured him that all plans for that Sunday had been cancelled.

"Mr Nott called to cancel late last night." She informed him while he was served a fresh cup of tea. Theo cancelling was rather curious, but Draco thought none more of it. 

He had more pressing matters to think about.

For instance, how would he persuade Hermione Swot-Extraordinaire Granger to be his girlfriend for next weekend? He only had five days, and with a stroke of luck, perhaps six, to successfully win her over.

Draco stayed up later than he should have that night. He sent off a few owls and just hoped what he had read in Valentina's Vivacious Valentine Vocations would be of the help he quite desperately needed.

< - >  < - >  < - >  < - >  < - >

On Monday he had a single red rose delivered to Granger with a simple note that said Please. She never responded. Truthfully, Draco hadn't expected her to, but he had relied, perhaps too much, on her do-goody Gryffindor traits. Monday was also the first night that Theo whirled into his parlour and dusted off the remaining ash from his lapels before he faced Draco with an utterly broken expression.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed and then he whirled away before Draco could express any confusion about this small intrusion from Theo. Draco shrugged it off and owled his next order to try and impress Granger to help him.

On Tuesday it was a dozen red roses delivered to her. He left out the note. He hadn't a sodding clue what to write to her anyway. Nor did he get any reaction from them either.

Theo returned that night, looking even more harried than the previous night. This time he managed to speak three words before he left in a flurry of flames again.

"Fuck, I can't-" 

Draco contemplated following him to get him to speak more than those three words but thought better of it. Frankly, he couldn't truly be bothered. He had other more urgent matters to tend to.

On Wednesday he had two dozen red roses mixed with two dozen white roses delivered to Granger and a small note that just said I need help. He contemplated that if she hadn't responded by early next morning he would have to turn to a more direct approach.

And so on Thursday midmorning, Draco was faced with still no reply from Granger and in need of a new way to go see her. He mildly entertained the idea of reutilising Blaise's fork - which he had taken home and hid in the bottom of his desk drawer - but thought better of it.

It was only with mild trepidation that he strode into the Malfoy gardens in search of the foul beasts. 

Draco was surprised at how long it took him to find the bloody birds now that he needed them. Normally, they flapped about the place as if they owned it and he couldn't get rid of them. 

The largest of the birds stood almost as tall as his hips.

Draco steeled himself and walked straight up to the largest female peacock - the mother of a herd his mother had purchased last year, and one that was insanely protective - and gave her a decent prod with his foot. She gave him a lazy look over and then started to walk away.

"Oh bloody hell," Draco muttered under his breath and followed the creature. 

"Right when I need you to be fucking scary you're the laziest creature to walk the earth. Of course, you ruddy are, you stupid bint!" Draco went on to kick at the ground but missed by a few inches and hit the end of the bird instead. It whirled on him instantly, its beak opening in a loud shrill shriek.

"Oh fuck!" Draco turned tailcoat and started running. He had never anticipated the bloody birds would be as fast as they turned out to be.

It was only with mild embarrassment he lay face down on a hospital bed later that afternoon, once again in one of those delightfully breezy hospital gowns, and waited to be seen by his personal Healer. (He had owled the papers the other day to make it clear in the Malfoy records at St. Mungo's that no other healer than Hermione Fucking Granger was to attend to any member of the Malfoy family.)

His backside pinched terribly and he hardly cared that the door to his room was left ajar after being seen inside a little while earlier. Quite the contrary when he picked up the voices of two witches outside.

"…says they even saw her smile yesterday. Before she handed them out to her patients, of course."

"You can't really blame her, can you? Anything like that and if the Prophet found out it would be all over the front page. Mind you, I wouldn't mind a secret admirer like that."

"Me either. I'm surprised whoever it is hasn't been able to persuade Granger yet. He seems quite determined to…" Their voices faded away as Draco's ego felt a tiny boost.

By the time Granger's tell-tale CLICK CLICK CLICK entered his room, he turned his head with far less embarrassment than any other wizard would in his situation to watch her. She had her attention fixed on her silly clipboard again, and Draco used the moment to give her a once-over with his eyes. Her hair was fixed on top of her head with some stray curls trying to escape. Under her healer's robe, she wore a similar skirt to the last time he saw her and a blouse in a dark blue colour this time. Less cleavage though, a shame.

She wore sensible shoes instead of the heels he was used to seeing witches prance around in. He supposed in her occupation she was on her feet most of the day and shoes like that were the best choice, even if they hid most of her ankles.

"What seems to be the problem today Mr-" A groaning sigh escaped her when she caught a glance at the name on her clipboard and her arms dropped to her sides in defeat.

"Malfoy." She gritted out through her teeth and strode over to him.

"This has to stop. Right now."

"Whatever do you mean, Granger?"

"The flowers. You showing up here. Just stop. This is where I work."

"Precisely."

"What do you mean, precisely?"

"I'm injured."

"Psh." The sound made her lips twitch as she raised the clipboard again to look at what was the cause of his injury. As her eyes glanced down the parchment he saw them widen slightly before they crinkled in amusement.

"A," She glanced back up at him. "Peacock bit you?"

"Yes. Foul bird."

"On your," Her eyes darted down his back and then quickly diverted back to his face.

"My arse, yes thank you for noticing."

"Why?"

"I hadn't realised how fast the buggers could be."

Granger ran a hand down her face in a tired groan before she turned to look at the ceiling. She was breathing deeply and appearing to battle some decision on her part.

"Fine. I'll have a look at your- at the bite wound. Lie still." She tossed the clipboard on the bedside table and pulled out her wand before she stepped sideways to where Draco could only see her out of the corner of his eyes.

He felt the gown being lifted from his arse as a breeze touched his skin. He half expected Granger to touch him then and felt a strange confusion about how to feel about that. He boxed it away for later when she would not be touching him. Instead, she softly prodded her wand into the side of the wound and muttered an incantation before he felt the pain go numb.

"You'll need a bruise paste for tonight and tomorrow morning, but that should do the trick." Draco felt immensely pleased that she couldn't keep the awkward smile off her face as she addressed him.

"Usually I take a witch out to dinner before I let her see my arse. Let alone prod it like that." He said as he rose onto his elbows the better to look at her.

"Lucky me, I suppose." Granger twitched her nose as she conjured a steaming jug of boiling water. Then she sank her wand into the thing and let it sit for half a minute.

"You haven't even heard my proposal, Granger."

"And I shan't. You can put on your trousers now, it shouldn't hurt any longer."
Draco moved to sit and found that he could with only a slight twinge on his left buttocks.

"My arse thanks you, Granger. As does the rest of me. Now may I take you to dinner to explain?"

"You're welcome. And No."

"Please don't make me do this."

"Do what?" Granger had turned her attention back to her wand which she withdrew and wiped on the corner of her robes before studying it for a moment and then returning to her pocket.

"Granger, I beg of you." She whirled her front back to him and Draco was surprised at how close she still was to him. He could see the stray curls fly about her face as she stilled to stare at him.

"What?" Her mouth parted in surprise. Draco cleared his throat.

"Granger, I beg of you to help me out of this situation. No other witch can do it. It has to be you."

"Why me?"

"Because my mother already thinks-"

"I'm going to stop you." She stepped back and looked him up and down. He tried to look suave but that was quite difficult in his state of being dressed in a hospital gown that ventilated his entire nether region. Granger narrowed her eyes and then groaned again. "Fine. One dinner to explain. And maybe I'll help."

"Thank you. I'll pick you up tomorrow for our date."

"It's not a date. And I'll meet you there, just tell me where."

"No, no. The witches I court always get picked up by me. I am a gentleman, after all." She gave him a scrutinising glare.

"Fine." Her nose flared as she bit out the single word. "But no magical places. Keep this discreet. Find a decent Muggle restaurant, and if you can't, I will."

"I have a place in mind."

"You do?" Her eyebrows flew into her hair at that and even more so when Draco shrugged innocently. Granger needn't know that Draco, Blaise and Theo had a favoured Muggle pub they sometimes frequented when they wanted to find women who didn't know a thing about the pureblood legacies (and knew more tricks in the bedroom than some pureblood witches). The pub in question just happened to be in a Muggle area where Draco had spotted a few restaurants on some of his visits and they appeared to look inviting enough. He would have to check once he left the hospital.

"Of course."

"There won't be any other way to get rid of you, will there?"

"Not likely."

"Fine. But you are to pick me up at 6.30 and no earlier or later. Please be as punctual as possible. And no Floo!" Before she turned on her heel, she scribbled an address on a corner of his medical parchment and handed it to him. When she was halfway out the door, she turned around.

"Thank you for the flowers, but kindly stop sending them to my workplace."

Draco sat back with a smug smile and felt quite pleased with himself for having persuaded Granger to at least have dinner with him in this manner. 

Now the question arose as to how he would persuade her to be his girlfriend.

Draco let out a deep anguished groan and threw himself back on the bed not even caring one bit that John would be up for a very public display in that position (He cared a bit more when a young trainee healer entered and squealed in surprise before she rushed from the room covering her eyes in surprise - an encounter that also bolstered Draco's ego further).

< - >  < - >  < - >  < - >  < - >

On Friday evening at 6.25 Draco made sure his muggle suit sat primly around his strapping figure - and thanked the few house elves that passed him true comments about the effortless perfection of his hair - and prepared to Apparate to Granger's address.

"Oh," He turned around to the waiting elf. "If Theo shows up, as I suspect he will be muttering nonsense, just give him a drink and tell him to wait if he pleases. Or send him off to Blaise's. He can be his problem for the night. Salazar knows I have enough to deal with." He muttered the last part under his breath and straightened.

He popped into existence again with a ringing in his ear and found himself standing before a small house with an overflowing garden out front. So many plants and flowers grew in the front garden that he could hardly spot the pathway to the front door. He dodged a pair of vicious plants that attempted to seal themselves to his still slightly sore arse before he was on the front steps.

Taking one final peek at his watch - it was 6.28 - and making sure he looked as Muggle as possible, he raised his hand and knocked on the door. There was a rustle from inside, the sound of something falling to the ground and then a tiny squeal of delight.

"Don't worry, dear, I'll get the door."

"No, Molly, you don't have to-"

"Nonsense. I'll just pop open the door for you. Hello-" 

Draco froze under the fixated stare of one Molly Weasley, whose eyes had narrowed to tiny slits, and it looked like her mouth had pursed itself to infinity. But to top everything off, a tiny creature bounced around the matron's kneecaps, but all Draco could see were bouncing curls and a huge toothy grin as a small girl, who looked like someone had shrunk Granger, stared up at him.

"Who are you?"

Chapter Text

”How many actions most ridiculous hast thou been drawn to by thy fantasy? Into a thousand that I have forgotten.”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Draco stared at the mini-Granger, who stared just as openly back at him. She even had a hand on her bloody hip, while the other was on the door handle. That was until Draco next saw a gobsmacked Molly Weasley and then a flushed Granger rush into her entry.

"Molly, could you take Rose to the kitchen? Please?" 

The redheaded matron narrowed her eyes at Draco for a scrutinizing moment - Draco was certain he felt his balls shrink to half their size under her stare - before she reached a hand for mini-Granger to follow her.

"Come along, dear. Your Mother has a visitor, whom I'm sure she'll tell us all about later." There was no mistaking that tone, and Draco shifted on his feet just to make sure his bollocks were all right.

Yep, still present and counting.

"Thank you." Granger patted a hand across the hair of mini-Granger as they passed by her.

Draco was then met with another glare that had his bollocks twitch inwards and he took a hesitant step backwards.

"I told you 6.30 precisely." Granger hissed and came to poke him in the chest.

Draco took another step backwards to get out of poking range.

"First of all, ouch." He rubbed at the spot on his chest where she had poked him surprisingly hard.

"Second of all, how was I supposed to know you had mini-Granger and Mummy dearest here when I arrived."

"Molly was picking Rose up—mini-Granger?" She stared at him and it allowed Draco a moment to properly look at her. She had her hair down in neat ringlets and pinned in a way that framed her face nicely - if he disregarded the evil glare she had focused on him at the moment. She wore a long-sleeved dress that hugged her hips decadently and Draco vaguely wondered how her arse would look in it. The dark blue colour of it complimented her hair better than he cared to admit, and he spent a few seconds appraising the cut of the dress, which afforded him a much better view of a promising cleavage.

"Who's Rose?"

Granger huffed an exasperated breath and threw her head back to groan at the ceiling like she was already regretting this evening.

"Rose is my daughter. Wait here while I do damage control." Before Draco could react in any way, she slammed the door in his face, and he could only hear muffled voices from behind it.

A daughter?

Fuck.

Granger had a daughter?

Fuck.

Why did Draco not know Granger had a daughter?

Fuck?

Was she still married?

Draco mentally tracked back to his interactions with her. All two of them. His mind tallied and scrutinised until Draco was positive he had never seen a wedding ring or any other magical indicator of her being married.

Fuck.

Before he had any more time to panic and bolt from the place, Granger wrenched open the door clutching a shawl and a small beaded handbag.

"Let's go." She almost growled and Draco hurried to follow her down the path that led out of her overgrown front garden. She stopped abruptly outside the little fence that ran around the place and Draco nearly bumped into her. With her arms crossed she raised an eyebrow and Draco felt extremely put on the spot. It was not something he cared for.

"Well?" 

"Yes?"

"Where are we going then?"

"Oh, right. Yes, here, I suppose." Draco held out an arm for Granger to take so he could side-along her. As they spun through nothing and everything it occurred to him that they might be slightly overdressed for his chosen destination.

They popped back into existence in a dingy alley and Granger brushed down her skirts and waited for Draco to take the lead, which was the second peculiar thing of the evening to happen.

Draco Malfoy held out his arm for Hermione Granger again to escort her through Muggle London to what was a date but not a date.

For a tiny moment, Draco let himself enjoy the fact that he was out with a woman on his arm. And from the looks other blokes sent his way, Granger was a looker. Just as Blaise had pointed out. He glanced sideways at her and tried to see it objectively.

But before he could reach any conclusion about her puzzling attractiveness, they had reached his destination.

"The Bumbling Badger?" Both of Granger’s eyebrows almost tried to fly off her forehead when she saw the place. Then she pulled her arm from his and stood still for a moment, her gaze fixed on that very spot. Finally, she let out a heavy breath.

"I suppose a drink here is as good as any." She muttered under her breath and strode inside instead of waiting for Draco to be the gentleman and hold the door for her. He hurried to follow her inside. Granger had already found a booth in a corner where she then sat with her elbows on the little table.

Draco went to order two glasses of wine to bring over before joining her.

"Muggle wine is surprisingly decent, all things considered, although I still prefer the ones off Blaise's vineyard in Italy, it-" Draco stopped talking when he watched Granger almost drain half her glass of red wine in one go. Then she leaned back in her seat and looked far more relaxed than a minute ago.

"You know you're an idiot, right?" 

Right, straight to the point then.

"You were always a charmer with words, Granger."

"I specifically told you how to pick me up to avoid something like this from happening. But of course not. Not only did Rose keep asking me who the blond man was, but now I'll have Molly breathing down my neck all weekend trying to interrogate me. I didn't ask for this!" Her voice grew shrill, a tone Draco had only ever heard from his mother when something was being delivered late to a party where she was the gracious host.

"I'm going to need something stronger than this." And before Draco could say anything, Granger had left the booth for the bar.

In the few minutes she was gone, Draco contemplated how best to go about this. From the sounds of things, he had better get the important details out first before Granger got herself properly sloshed. This was unfortunate because it meant Draco couldn't get properly sloshed that night himself.

When Granger returned, she had a drink in each hand. One looked frillier than the other and each tried to compete with the other for who could hold the most silly small umbrellas and straws.

Granger took a sip - a hearty one - smacked her lips twice and then directed her attention to Draco. Arms crossed. Waiting.

"Explain."

So Draco did, to the best of his abilities and with Granger sipping more and more from her drink the more he told her. By the time he was finished regaling his troubles, her first drink was empty and her second had been disposed of umbrellas. She was rubbing two fingers on either side of her temple.

"So you're telling me, that your Mother believes we're in a secret and very romantic relationship?"

"Yes."

"And she wants to meet me tomorrow before you take me to her fundraiser where we supposedly parade our hidden love to the rest of the world?"

"In a nutshell, yes."

"How in Godric's name did I end up being this fortunate?" Granger groaned and Draco had the inkling that she did not in fact feel as fortunate as she proclaimed. She sipped deeply from her drink again. Draco was still on his first glass of wine. It was a strange thing to witness a woman drinking the way Granger did that night.

"It'll only be for the weekend, Granger. On Monday you can go back to cursing my bollocks off - only metaphorically, as I'm very fond of my bollocks - and we shan't ever speak of this again."

Granger laughed at this. A deep and giggly sort of laugh that made Draco's mouth twitch strangely. Even more so when her laugh ended in a snort she tried to hide behind her hand.

"You think this will be forgotten after the weekend?"

"Right, perhaps not, but we won't have to deal with any-"

"Not you perhaps. But my life would be forever mixed up with yours. Whenever you find a new trollop, reporters will be knocking down my door to get my sad story. Poor brilliant Hermione Granger got left - again. Oh God, and-" Her voice that had started in resentment turned to anger before she suddenly started to cry, very wetly. Draco cringed.

"And Rose will have to live with that." She sniffled and pulled a handful of napkins towards her.

"The reporters will have a field day the minute I'm linked to someone like Draco sodding Malfoy, and oh god." She wiped at her nose as if she only just then realised she was crying.

"I can't believe this is happening to me. Why is this happening to me? I was supposed to-" She stared into space for a brief moment, seemingly to collect herself. Draco just waited utterly perplexed as to how to deal with this quite sudden outburst from Granger.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this." Then she really let loose and hung her head in her hands while she cried less silently than Draco would have liked. Her shoulders shook with each heave of air she pulled in to cry even harder. Napkin after napkin was disposed of under her face.

She was a right blubbery mess.

Draco was starting to think that perhaps this was a bad idea.

He'd never tried to cheer up any other woman other than his mother. Whenever a witch grew upset he usually found an excuse to leave or buy something to cheer her up. But he had a strong feeling that buying something for Granger would be the wrong thing to do. Nor would a hug around her middle - as his Mother preferred - be the right thing just now.

Draco scooted closer and awkwardly patted her shoulder.

"There, there." He muttered with each pat and a grimace on his face he quickly had to conceal behind something that would hopefully look like compassion when Granger whipped her face up to face him.

"Oh god!" She grabbed her ugly beaded bag and stormed off. Draco was halfway out of the booth when he saw she was headed for the loo and not the exit.

A small victory perhaps. Depending on how she would return.

If she would return.

The loo had windows.

Draco decided to give her three minutes to compose herself before he would send someone out to check on her.

During the first minute, he thought about how this was not the most awful non-date he had ever been on. There had been a very forward Bulgarian woman his mother had tried to set him up with. She had been far too old but very experienced, and she had tried to teach him much too publicly.

During the second minute, he wondered what it was specifically that had gotten Granger so upset. Surely it was not his splendid company.

During the third minute, he whispered into his hands that he would need a Sober Up Potion and that his house elf be discreet about it. The tiny bottle had just popped into existence when Granger emerged from the loo looking less distraught but still rather upset.

She flung herself back in the booth and glared at her last half-empty drink. 

"Before we say anything else, Granger. Maybe try this?" He pushed the tiny bottle across the table and her eyes widened in shock before she hurried to grab it.

"This is a Muggle pub." She hissed at him.

"Right. So better drink that, not make a mess of yourself, and risk accidental drunk magic." Her eyes narrowed quizzically.

"Yes, it's a thing. Don't ask me how I know. Just drink the damn potion." 

"Fine." She downed it like the pro she evidently was at downing drinks and the effect seeped through her in less than a minute. Her eyes grew smaller and her shoulders dropped slightly.

"Gods, Malfoy." He didn't respond to that. Usually, when he heard those two words it was from a witch with far less clothing on. He felt quite certain that would not be the right thing to say at the moment. 

Granger sat back and rubbed her temples a bit more while she just looked at him.

"This thing you're proposing will all be to appease your mother?"

"Yes. I shan't parade you around in any other way. It is strictly to right my mistake and to keep Mother from pestering me with witches she wants me to marry."

Granger stared at him some more, her head tilted slightly sideways.

"All right." She finally said and dropped her hands to her lap.

"All right?" Draco asked with raised brows, having no clue what she was suddenly on about.

"I'll pretend to be your girlfriend for the weekend. On one condition." She raised her index finger at him with a determined stare to boot.

"Nothing gets back to Rose. She stays completely out of this."

"Sounds fair."

Draco felt like they ought to shake on it, a kiss would be too odd. But then again, if she were to be his girlfriend for the rest of the weekend would he have to kiss her? That thought was…. Odd.

John was still thinking about this piece of information when Granger continued.

"If we're doing this though, I think it'll need a bit more information."

"Such as?"

"How long have we supposedly been hiding this grand love affair?"

"How long would you like?"

"Really? I'm to do all the thinking? Well, not much has changed, I suppose." She smirked and fidgeted with her bag.

"I resent that. I'll have you know I'm quite clever at many things." She raised her brows at him, and he found himself on the spot trying to think of what would impress her the most.

"I'm just not adept at making up love stories like the ones my Mother would expect." He admitted and waited for a smart comeback. None came.

"When would we have met?" Granger leaned forward on her elbows. 

Draco wracked his brain for a plausible time he would have met Granger this side of Hogwarts. It wasn't as if they ran in the same circles. Far from it. Draco hardly saw anyone save for Theo and Blaise from his days at Hogwarts.

"The Hogwarts Memorial." He offered the simplest and most obvious choice.

Granger gaped at him.

"That was," she paused and did the mental math and then her eyes popped. "Five months ago."

"Do you have any better ideas, Granger?" She opened her mouth trying to find an answer, but when she couldn’t, she closed it again.

"Right. About that, you should probably call me Hermione if we've been seeing each other that long."

"Hermione?" Draco rolled the name around his tongue to test the sound of it. It felt strange and peculiar, but she had a point.

"Then you ought to call me Draco."

"Okay.” She paused as if to think about it before she then said, “Draco." Why did it sound like her voice shifted when she said his name like that? Draco steeled his back to hide what it did to him to hear her say his name. John twitched at the sound and Draco had to take a very deep and calming breath for the both of them before he continued.

"So, Hermione," Draco leaned forward on his elbows as well, moving closer to her. She didn't move back.

"What else would I know about you at this point in our relationship?"

They spent the next couple of hours going over their story and revealing parts of their pasts that they each deemed necessary for the other person to know about. Granger was evasive on certain topics and point-blankly refused to talk about her daughter. She reasoned that even if she had been with any man for five months, she still wouldn't have introduced him to her daughter. Draco let it go after a few more digs and settled on other details instead.

When they reached the issue of touching, they both fell silent. It was late in the evening and Granger wanted to return home. It would have to be something they discussed at another point.

"Perhaps when neither of them smelled of fish'n'chips." Draco offered with a sly smile. It had been the decadence of their dinner. It was not Draco's most delicious meal, nor was it the worst Muggle cuisine he had tasted.

Draco offered to escort her home, seeing as she still had quite the amount of alcohol in her system, and it would be best for her not to Apparate on her own. Draco was a gentleman after all, even more so to his girlfriend even if she was just a pretend-girlfriend. She accepted the offer and clung to him more than he expected when they landed on the spot outside her house. 

Granger's hands held tight to his upper arms as she steadied herself with several mumbled noises.

"Oh no." She moaned and then Draco found the evening ended with Granger vomiting on his polished dragonhide shoes.

Chapter Text

” O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man’s eyes! ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

All in all, having Granger vomit all over his new shoes was perhaps not the best way to end their non-date. But Draco was a gentleman after all, and after he stressed the fact that it was fine - not the first time a witch had vomited on his shoes, truthfully, his elf Dolly had found a neat little trick to get it right out again - he helped Granger to her door.

As she stood with her hand on the handle, glancing back at Draco, her parting words were, "I must be losing my mind." Draco's eyes dropped for the smallest of moments to get a peek at her backside again. Just so he could report back to Blaise if Granger's arse was as fine as Blaise expected it to be. 

From the quick glimpse he had gotten, he supposed it was a decent enough bottom. Draco would have to study it more closely to give his final assessment another time.

He owled Granger first thing the next morning to confirm the plan for the day. His mother would arrive home in the small hours before lunch, and according to Narcissa Malfoy's schedule, she was prepared to meet the witch who had enthralled her son at her afternoon tea.

Granger owled back not long after that, yes, she remembered the plan, and yes, she would floo to the directory he had given her the night before.

Draco had gone through a great many scenarios of how this afternoon would occur. The only thing that kept popping into his mind was the otherwise repressed memory of Granger on his drawing room floor. A drawing room that had been sealed shut for the past many years and no one ever went near that wing of the manor anyway.

Draco instructed the elves on where to prepare for that afternoon's tea and after greeting his mother he excused himself to wait in his office. Rather, what used to be his father's office. Lucius Malfoy, however, had not stepped foot in the place, let alone the rest of the Manor, for several years. Draco sat behind the desk, unbuttoning his suit jacket. Dolly had picked his suit for today and he couldn't help but admire the cut of this muggle suit. It showed off his bum rather nicely. If only Granger - Hermione, he corrected himself - would appreciate it as well.

But of course, she would. It was Draco Malfoy's bum, after all.

Two hours later, the fire in the office turned green and the next moment, Draco's long-time, devoted (fake) girlfriend, Hermione Granger, stepped through. She dusted the remaining soot off her sundress and straightened. Her dress flowed around her knees and Draco was stuck looking at her bare feet in her heels for a moment. He didn't remember ever seeing Granger in heels, she hadn't worn heels last night, or he would've remembered.

The light blue dress flowed around her body and showed off her best features.

All right, so Blaise was right, she had a nice pair of tits too.

Not now, John!

She had plaited her hair down one side of her neck and carried the same ugly bag from last night.

"Right, I'm here." She looked up, and Draco caught himself gaping.

"What? Do I still have some soot on my dress?"

"What? Soot? Yes, um, let me just," Draco hurried to move across the room and stole the opportunity to glace up and down  Granger’s––Hermione’s––body once more. He paused with a hand hovering in the air and she just raised her eyebrow at him, waiting for him to do whatever it was he intended.

All right.

Draco stepped closer and pretended to brush soot off her dress. Right below a very delicate spot where her bum became her upper thigh. Granger jumped a step forward and made a funny sound.

"Right, about the touching."

"Apologies, Gr- Hermione. Soot." Draco made a gesture of brushing his hands with something that was not there in the first place.

"So the touching, could we keep it at a bare minimum? I don't want to accidentally do something that would upset your mother."

"Unless you plan to shag me on the plush carpets in front of my mother, I assure you, Granger, we will be fine." Her eyes went wide as saucers and a blush crept up her neck at that. On his part, Draco suddenly concocted a very vivid fantasy of Granger's naked bum on the soft carpets. Or what he thought her bum would look like naked. Because he hadn't the faintest idea. Which was a shame.

(He filed away the fact that John very much wanted to know too for another time.)

"Right. Not exactly what I had in mind."

"Look, Granger, Mother knows I'm fairly, um, shall we say, physically affectionate with the witches I'm with. She won't be disturbed by any of this."

"Not even if it's me?" 

Draco paused and looked at Granger. That was when he saw it in her eyes. The way they darted across his face to find a possible way out of this. Because she was muggle-born Hermione Granger and he was pureblood Malfoy heir of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Aside from anything else, that alone would upset far too many people whom Draco cared an absolute fuck for.

He ran a hand down his face and blew out a breath. It was bound to be something they would have to deal with, but he hoped this game of whatever it was didn’t have to play out for that long.

Draco decided to do this tiny little thing to help her nerves. All for his benefit of course.

"Granger," He held out his hand, palm up for her to take. "My mother practically adores you already." Her lips twitched on one side and then she hesitantly reached out and clasped his hand. Her hold on his was light but firm as if she needed his hand to anchor her for this. 

Draco curled his fingers around her hand and tried not to think about how soft her skin was.

"Well, Draco," Draco rolled his shoulders at the sound. "I think it's about time you introduced your devoted girlfriend to your mother." 

< - >  < - >  < - >  < - >  < - >

"Mother, you remember Hermione Granger?" 

Draco felt Hermione's hand clutch him for a brief moment longer before Draco let go to gently guide her forward - definitely not push - with a hand on the small of her back. She showed no reaction to this, to begin with, so Draco allowed himself to luxuriate in the feel of a woman under his fingers, even if it was Hermione fucking Granger. 

Her gaze flitted across the room, taking everything in or so he assumed. Draco and his Mother had agreed to meet for tea in one of the smaller parlours in the (west) wing of the manor, as far away from the drawing room of nightmares as possible (even if it had been sealed off magically until someone from the Ministry saw fit to come and clear the damn wing of the manor).

Draco watched Hermione's throat bob slowly as she looked to the burgundy walls with lit scones at intervals among the many portraits - none of which were ancestors of the Malfoy estate. These were all new portraits and paintings Narcissa Malfoy had acquired in recent years to lighten up the Manor. One entire wall of the room was taken over by large window panes and the afternoon sun gilded the silverware set out by the elves on the low coffee table in the centre of the room, around which stood a chaise and two high-backed chairs that were more comfortable than they looked. The floor was covered in assorted carpets that robbed the place of any sound of the heels both Hermione and Narcissa wore. Just then, his mother rose gracefully from her seat and turned on the spot.

Draco felt Hermione flinch under his fingertips, but her face revealed nothing of it. Instead, Draco assumed she dove into some of that ridiculous Gryffindor courage as she strode out of his hand and towards his mother.

"Of course, darling," Narcissa stepped forward and took Hermione's hand with an expression of admiration and sadness lingering in her eyes. Draco had a strong suspicion what that last sentiment was about and he hurried to suggest they sit for tea, lest anyone started to reminisce. 

That would turn the general mood of the afternoon right down.

"Thank you for having me, Mrs Malfoy," Hermione spoke in a voice Draco had no memory of hearing before. It was soft and friendlier than she had ever addressed him in any way. He wondered briefly, how one would earn the right to be addressed in this manner. And if it was something he wanted to achieve.

"Please, call me Narcissa." Narcissa clasped both her hands around Hermione's and the two women shared a look that Draco could not decipher. It scared him a great deal.

Women could be scary with the things they said without saying anything at all.

He cleared his throat.

"Shall we?" He gestured to the prepared assortment of treats for them and the steaming pot of tea before he ever so casually - she was his girlfriend after all - slung an arm around Hermione's waist to guide her to sit next to him on the chaise opposite where his Mother had been sitting just before. She sat next to him, only a bit further from where he would have liked given the situation. Instead of pulling her to him, however, he moved closer to her, once again putting his hand on her waist with a warm smile for her.

Just to see how she would react.

As it turned out, pretending to be in a relationship with Hermione fucking Granger was rather fun, when he had all these ways to push her buttons. Draco had half a mind to see how far he could push things. 

John started to ponder other buttons to push before Draco had the sense to smother that line of thought.

For now, at least.

When they were seated, Hermione smiled at him and that was rather peculiar to have her do that and not follow it with a vile comment in any way like she would have done back when they were still in school. Just when he thought he had pushed her far enough with his hand still lingering on her waist, she raised an eyebrow at him and gently placed her hand on his knee.

Draco stared at that hand for what felt like an eternity.

And he very fervently told John to stay out of things.

Was her hand always so delicate? Or so warm?

Narcissa started talking and Hermione responded kindly while none of them seemed any the wiser about the insane train of thought that had started to play inside Draco's head because Granger kept her hand on his knee and fuck! She started to move her thumb up and down on the inside of his knee and damn it all to hell, it sent shivers up the inside of his thigh.

Damn, she was good.

"You must tell me all about how this came about?" Narcissa clapped her hands much too enthusiastically before sipping her tea with a knowing look above her cup. Draco's hand tightened on Granger's waist for a tiny fraction of a minute while they both seemed frozen in disbelief at how quickly that question came into play.

Draco should've known. His mother was a nosy woman. Too nosy as far as he was concerned sometimes.

"Yes, well," Granger began and Draco reached for his tea, allowing Granger the honour of telling that fascinating story. She had been the one to come up with most of it last night anyway. The few ideas Draco had put forward had been shoved aside quite vigorously for being too nonsensical.

"Draco and I," Here she gave his knee a light squeeze that for all intents and purposes should look like something affectionate. However, his mother could not see the way her thumbnail kept pushing inside the tender flesh of his skin under his knee, forcing Draco to squirm in his seat and nearly spill his tea.

"We met again last year at the Hogwarts Memorial. We hadn't seen each other since attending ourselves, so things were a bit… off, shall we say. I had missed my Floo just by the last minute and Draco was staying in Hogsmeade, he encouraged me to join him for a late dinner before finding another Floo that would help me home."

"That sounds very unlike my Draco," Narcissa hummed and poured herself another cup of tea, having drained her first one.

"Yes, I thought so too," Granger admitted with a slight chuckle that sounded very unlike anything Draco had heard in connection to his name. Then she turned to look at him with a look he hadn't seen directed at him either. At least, never from her. It was kind and ugh, tender.

But it was part of the act, he reminded himself.

Just as they had agreed upon last night.

It was something they had gone back and forth and in circles about for longer than anything else. 

While Granger agreed to pretend to be his girlfriend of approximately five months of a relationship, they had very different opinions on how affectionate they would be towards each other at such a stage in said relationship.

Draco had been adamant on one thing in particular.

There would be no doubt to anyone they were together. No one was allowed to be told the truth (Granger had insisted she would have to tell Molly Weasley otherwise she wouldn't get her off of her back). To anyone who didn't know the truth, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger would look like two love-sick fools. 

Because there was one other thing they were both too aware of.

Eventually, there would be reporters.

Draco Malfoy knew how to charm most witches. Hermione Granger was not like most witches, and for that, he supposed it was a good thing they were both aware of the level of pretend they had to carry out for this particular performance. What surprised Draco was just how adept a performer Granger was.

Her smile directed at him was just the kind of lovesick smile he had seen on many other witches during what could barely be called first dates.

"As it turned out," Granger continued whilst running her hand around his knee - she really needed to stop doing that. Draco reached out to hold her hand instead. Just for good measure - and for his mother's sake - he pulled the back of her hand up to plant a soft kiss on it.

It made Granger stutter in her storytelling.

"Draco had made reservations at the Leaky for him and Pansy, who had kindly declined due to her new relationship. Draco only told me this a while later." Granger tugged lightly on their joined hands, presumably to prevent him from kissing it again. 

Draco relented even though it had been fun to do so, if for nothing else than to rattle her.

"It seemed a shame to waste the reservation," Draco shrugged and dared a look towards his mother, who paid too close attention to Draco and Hermione. 

"Indeed," she agreed and looked at Granger to continue the story.

"As it was, in the spirit of the day we decided to put the past behind us and tried to have a civil conversation. We succeeded for most of the night and parted on somewhat amicable terms. Draco owled me a few days later to ask me to a proper dinner and things progressed slowly from there." Granger sipped her tea to avoid answering any more questions for the time being.

Unfortunately, that meant Narcissa turned her piercing gaze to Draco with a twist of her lips.

"If you've been with Miss Granger-"

"Please, call me Hermione."

"All right."

Why was that odd for his Mother to call his (fake) girlfriend by her first name? He supposedly did it too. 

But that was also weird because it was Granger.

"If you've been with Hermione for the past five months as you say you have, who was that blonde witch I saw you with at the summer gala this year?" Narcissa's eyebrows rose as high as they could, and Draco closed his throat.

Shite.

There was the flaw in the plan.

All the witches his mother knew about for the past months - granted that was only about a quarter of the real number, but still, it didn't look good.

It wasn't better when Granger set down her teacup and turned to look at Draco with a cocked eyebrow as well. She'd pulled her hand away to cross her arms too.

"Yes, Draco," his name had too much enunciation. Draco cringed while his brain worked furiously to come up with a solution to explain Giselle away.

"She was, uh, a friend. I was introducing her to Blaise. Zabini, you remember him from school, right Hermione?" She narrowed her eyes at him. She knew he was lying, of course, she did. 

The real question was how much she was going to make him pay and then work to fix things in front of his mother.

"I do." She leaned back a bit as if to lean further away from him.

"I knew Giselle from France, see, and Blaise didn't so I only thought it fair to introduce the two. Sadly, it didn't work out." Draco hurried to reach for his teacup to avoid answering any more questions.

If Granger drilled him too much he might end up divulging just how badly things did not go between Blaise and Giselle, all in Draco's favour of course.

"Sadly." 

"Draco, darling, in the future you must let Blaise Zabini sort things out for himself. It is bad form for a Malfoy to be seen with a woman other than whom he is courting."

Granger snorted and then coughed into her tea and Draco had to pound her a bit on her back to get her to breathe properly again.

"Right. It shan't happen again, Mother. Hermione and I are too involved in this courtship for me to even look at another witch." He turned his most charming smile on Granger, who was still trying to figure out how to breathe normally and only gaped back at him. Draco hoped his mother would see it for the choking incident it mostly was.

"Aren't we, Hermione?" Draco held out his open hand for her again. She glared at it for the shortest of seconds before she hurried to take it and only slightly resisted when Draco decided to kiss the back of hers again.

"Yes, we are." She said in a much too calm voice, her eyes locked on Draco's face.

The conversation steered towards the fundraiser the next day and Draco tuned out for a while.

By the time his mother started talking about the long list of guests, Draco still hadn't found out what the fundraiser was even for and he felt Granger sag slightly in her seat from all the information-laden on her.

"Do you have a gown ready for tomorrow, dear?" Narcissa suddenly asked and Granger froze.

"I uh, well, I was only-"

"Not to worry. Nipsy." Narcissa turned to watch an empty spot next to her but with a small crack, it was no longer empty when Nipsy popped into existence.

"Nipsy, please help Hermione here find something to wear for tomorrow when she leaves for the evening."

"Oh no, that's quite unnecessary Narcissa, really I-"

"Nonsense. As Draco's courtee you should look your best, Nipsy will help you do so."

"Yes, Mistress." Nipsy curtsied so low her ears touched the floor before she stood up with a huge smile on her face and her hands in her overtly pink towel-toga.

Granger looked deeply uncomfortable.

"Hermione, if you don't want Nipsy to help you, I can always help you find a gown." Granger spun so fast to look at him with wide eyes that Draco couldn't help the smirk that made its way to his mouth. She saw it for what it was of course and pursed her lips, ready to find a proper reply. But before she could even open her mouth, Narcissa cut in.

"You will do no such thing Draco. Nipsy will help and that is the end of it," she continued to mutter to herself while sending Nipsy away again and Draco caught distinct words such as 'scallywag' and 'proper ladies' between vicious glares sent in his direction.

It was only a few minutes later before they all agreed it had been a nice tea, but Hermione ought to return home to find the right outfit for the next day.

Draco had his hand back on her lower back - it was warmer than earlier - when Narcissa halted them on their way out of the parlour.

"Oh, before I forget, now that you're making your courtship official tomorrow, I shall be hosting a small ball in your honour by the end of the month."

Granger spun so fast on the spot Draco almost thought she would carry on spinning if he didn't hold out his arm for her elbow. She ignored his touch.

"You really don't have to do that Narcissa. It would be far too much."

"It is the least I can do for my only son and the woman he has finally decided to court properly. I will owl you the date and details next week. I shall see you tomorrow." 

Before Granger could open her mouth to object even further, Narcissa walked over to the both of them, placed soft kisses on their cheeks and squeezed Draco's shoulder with an affectionate smile in his direction as well.

Once his mother was gone and well out of ear sight, Granger whirled on him and smacked him across his chest with her ugly beaded bag.

"Now look what you've done!" She whispered in a shrill voice. How she even managed to whisper and be shrill at the same time was a marvel to Draco, but he supposed Granger had managed to accomplish a great many things he had never even thought about.

"Again, ow." Draco pointed to his chest where she had hit him.

"I can't believe I have to carry on with this stupid charade for three more weeks!" And there was the proper shrill voice. Draco took a step back and twirled a finger in his ear, just to check things were still in working order.

"It could be worse, Granger."

"How could it possibly be worse?" And now her hands were on her hips. Draco took another step back, well out of beaded bag distance.

"She could be throwing a surprise engagement party." 

Granger didn't even have a response to that. She merely let out a high-pitched shriek, and attempted to smack him one more time with her bag - Draco had calculated his distance correctly, thank you very much - before she stormed off towards the nearest fireplace to floo away.

Right.

That went better than expected, Draco thought.

Chapter Text

” Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly. ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Draco avoided his mother for most of the next day. Partly, it was to avoid any questions regarding Hermione. And partly, it was to avoid having to help with anything to do with the fundraiser – which he still had no idea what was for. Or his mother's temper when the hired help couldn’t match the creative vision she had meticulously detailed for the event. 

Instead, Draco allowed himself to sleep in and enjoy the softness of his bed while he ate his breakfast in the most natural outfit provided by whatever God people decided to believe in. Draco liked the silken softness of the sheets on his skin when he slept. He never slept nude at Hogwarts. Well, he did once. 

But one usually avoids such a thing after waking up with rude ink doodles all over their body and seeing friends spit out their pumpkin juice from laughter the next morning.

After the slow and very delicious breakfast - Draco thanked his house-elves who bowed as low as they could without falling over before leaving - Draco headed for a long and soothing shower. 

It took less than five minutes before John demanded a very important meeting, which Draco happily obliged. 

After all, giving John his much-needed attention benefitted Draco as well. It continued to be one of his best ways to start the day.

Avoiding his mother for the rest of the day took little effort. He just had to steer clear of the east wing of the Manor and await Granger's arrival half an hour before the fundraiser was set to start. He spent most of the late morning going over letters from various solicitors his mother had approved and needed replies. One letter regarded his father, but Draco found he hadn’t the strength in him that day to dig up that turmoil of-  ugh- feelings. Instead, he buried that particular letter at the bottom of the pile and perused his father’s still well-stocked hidden bar in the corner of his office. 

A short time after noon, he heard the Floo go off in the adjacent parlour. As he was already impeccably dressed and prepared to dazzle in his new set of formal robes that had been made just for him – and which just happened to show off his best features, which just happened to be his arse, he turned his attention to the hearth in the office, which he had purposely shut off for the day. With his back to the door, he flexed his well-kept Quidditch muscles and brushed the non-existent lint of his hip before turning at the sound of heels on the hardwood floors.

He felt he needn't flash his splendid bum too much for Granger’s benefit just yet. She had already seen it naked and was ahead in that sense, but one could never remind a witch of his firm bum too many times. He assumed she would appreciate being reacquainted with his backside for a short time, but as he turned around he noticed she had hardly looked in that direction, in favour of pacing and fussing with the draped train on her dress.

Draco’s plan to ambush Granger with his bum fell short, as he truly took in the sight of her. She was still too focused on the long train of her dress and draping it just right to allow her to pace, which was fortunate. Otherwise, she would’ve spotted Draco’s slack jaw and look of astonishment splattered across his face for well over several moments.

She was in a floor-length gown in dark green colours that changed from light across her chest to the deepest emerald by her feet. One of her shoulders was bared only for her hair to drape over it. And her hair looked to be plaited in a strange way that made it look as thick as her neck and covered in tiny flowers and jewels. Draco let his gaze travel up and down her body for a moment - or four - taking her in. Only then remembering to snap his mouth shut.

He supposed he was starting to see what Blaise had meant about her cutting a figure. It's not that Granger was thin or skinny, unlike many other pureblood witches who were almost raised to look a certain way to snag the first and best potential husband. Draco had copped a feel of many of these witches and although the feeling of breasts was always a delight, Draco found he preferred them a certain size. As he preferred his witches in certain measurements.

From one look, Draco could tell Granger enjoyed a decent meal, but it suited her. Her hips were wider than most other women he'd ever been with. Not that that would be a problem. That wasn't part of the deal they had made, he firmly reminded himself - even if John wanted to argue the point. 

But even so, hips were great to hold on to and Draco couldn't stop himself from imagining just how well his fingers could dig into her hipbones to hold her steady as he-

Right. 

It was most unnecessary and bad timing for John to try and get his point across.

Draco shifted his attention elsewhere. But as his gaze rose higher his gaze halted on her chest. He could say he had been admiring the bust of her dress and how it hugged her body. The truth of the matter was that Draco had been staring at her tits. Because Blaise had been fucking right, they were glorious and plump tits put almost on display for him in that dress. Draco was sure they could fit just nicely in the palm of his hands. Or most of them, that is. Draco could feel his mouth smirking, and John waking up again.

Now was not the best time to want to introduce yourself, mate.

Draco adjusted his stance before he looked higher and found Granger staring back at him.

"Have you finished ogling me?" One of her hands had moved to her hip, which she pushed out in frustration and damn. There was a slit in the dress that showed her bare leg well above her knee. Draco cleared his throat.

He hadn’t been ogling her. 

All right, so maybe he had just a little.

He was just very surprised to see Granger dressed up this way. She looked- Shit. She looked beautiful and that was something he had never imagined to think inside that big brain of his.

"I could ask you the same question." He shot back just for the sake of it. Having been thoroughly preoccupied with staring at Granger's tits he hadn't the faintest idea if she had been ogling him back.

"I certainly was not ogling." She declared and pushed a fine strand of flyaway hair behind her ear.

A tense silence descended. 

Draco busied himself by putting his hands in his pockets, while Granger fiddled with her bag. It looked different than the one she had with her the other day, but her fingers kept going for a clasp as if she wanted to open it to check on something.

"Everything all right?" Draco offered as civilly as he could. 

"No, it is not." She blew a frustrated puff of air and dropped her shoulders in defeat.

"If you must know, I've had to send two international owls in preparation for today. I had no idea what to write in my letters to Ron and Harry because I have no idea how today will go and what will be in the newspapers tomorrow." As she spoke, she started to pace the room. Again. Draco waited for the stream of words to finish and let them sink in.

"Why did you have to send international owls for Potter and Weasley? And could you stand still?" She glared at him but kept on pacing albeit a tiny bit slower.

"Harry's in France at the moment for work. And Ron, well, Ron lives in New York."

"Stating their location doesn't clarify why you needed to owl them?"

"Harry will ask too many questions otherwise, I doubt you wanted that since he's somewhat friendly with your mother as far as I know."

"Fair point. But why Weasley? If he lives in New York, I doubt-"

"Ron is Rose's father, Draco." She said this in a tone that made it sound like it was the answer to the easiest and stupidest question in the world. She had stopped pacing to look at him like he was a complete idiot.

But how the fuck should he know who the father of her child was? He hadn't a clue what went on in Granger's knickers at any point - maybe he should? - and why should he care? Maybe he should start to care a little about that.

But if Weasley was Rose's father it explained a few things.

"Right." Draco just said and continued to fiddle with the bowtie he still hadn't tied around his neck. He usually had one of the house elves do it for him, but he always waited till the last moment lest it suffocated him in advance. Granger spotted his fidgeting and dropped her bag to the desk.

"Honestly." She huffed as she practically stomped over to him. Draco was on his way to take a step back - she might have set aside her bag, but he was fairly certain she would find a way to smack him anyway.

But she surprised him when she stopped in front of him and reached for the strings of the bowtie instead.

"How is it no wizard ever learns to do this?" Granger's fingers were deft and swift around his neck, and he felt her fingertips graze his neck briefly before she pulled back with a concentrated look on her face. Draco stood frozen for a brief moment. He could feel Granger's nerves still in her fingers, the tension of the tiny revelation from before still fresh in her. She couldn’t hold still on her feet, it was quite frustrating to have her tits jiggle just any tiny bit in front of him because of this. 

Draco dug very deep to pull out the gentleman in him and turned his eyes to the ceiling.

“So,” And without thinking – except wanting her to hold still before him – he reached out and placed both hands on her waist to hold her still. She froze under his touch at first but then resumed her fiddling with his bowtie. Then she relaxed a tiny bit while Draco kept his hands on her waist.

“What’s the deal with you and Weasley anyway?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“If you’re my long-term committed girlfriend, Hermione, I think it does.” He glanced at her and caught her narrowed eyes before turning to study the ceiling again. It needed cleaning.

“Fine. Ron and I broke things off several years ago. It-“ Her fingers paused for a moment and it allowed Draco to notice a thing or two about Granger as he continued to try and avoid looking at her.

The first thing his hands became aware of was the softness of the curves around her waist. Draco dared to steal a glance at her stomach. It felt softer than most other witches he had been with from just tracing his thumbs on the sides of it. Then he thought of the tiny Granger he had seen the other day. 

Draco found that he liked the softness of Granger under his fingers. However, he wasn't thinking about how that softness would feel without the hindrance of silken fabric between them. Certainly not. Nor was he wondering about other soft parts of Granger's body. Definitely not.

“It was an amicable split between us.” Granger shrugged and carried on with his bowtie. “We both realised we were trying to force too much between us. Obligating one another. And several other people around us. Ron then decided he wanted to get away from things. And George was set to open a branch of the shop in New York.” She sighed and paused her fingers again. Draco could feel the tips of her fingers tap against his neck as if debating what else to tell him. He chanced another look at her. As he dragged his eyes across her face, he noticed just how many freckles framed her nose and cheekbones. And how close they were. Her eyes were set on his bowtie, though.

“It wasn’t until after Ron had already moved that I discovered I was pregnant with Rose. We decided - I decided - to go ahead. Ron made a few trips back during the pregnancy, but I was alone for the most part. The reporters had a field day with that.” Her mouth twisted into a rueful smile.

Draco felt something new and strange in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t think he had ever felt it before, and he had no way of describing it as he looked at Granger’s saddened smile.

If it had been any other witch, Draco would easily have tipped her chin up which would have her mouth perfectly aligned with his to kiss her senseless. But that wasn't something he thought about with Granger, not in the least.

“Poor Hermione Granger, left by her husband to raise her child. All by herself.” She gave a rather angry tug on the string of the bowtie and Draco made a choking noise before she apologised.

“Can’t even keep Ronald Weasley in a relationship.” She puffed out a breath that danced across Draco’s chin.

“When I gave birth to Rose, Harry was the one to help me through it. Ron couldn’t get an international portkey until the day after. Molly has helped me every day since. Sometimes, I think she wants to smack Ron upside down for the way things ended between us. And because of Rose. The truth is, it’s neither of our faults. We just stopped loving each other in that way.” She stopped tugging on the bowtie and placed her palms on his collarbones, looking at her work.

“There.”

Draco should say something. He knew he should, and that it should probably be smart and meaningful after the story she just told him, even though he was sure there was more to it than just that. But his brain didn’t work properly at the moment. Then his mouth did that stupid thing again where it spoke without full agreement from his brain.

"I never noticed how many freckles you have." 

Granger paused and glanced up at him. Her mouth twitched on one side before she padded her hands across his collarbones to his shoulder to appraise her work.

"Why would you?"

"Right." Draco cleared his throat and tried to get his brain back to the approaching afternoon. It helped a little when he stepped back and he could shove his hands back in his pockets. His palms were still warm from Granger’s body heat.

"So Weasley's in New York. Any other past lovers I have to look out for tonight?" He tried to lighten the mood in a joking tone. It worked a little bit because Granger chuckled softly before shaking her head.

"I think it'll be very unlikely Viktor shows up tonight. What about me then?"

"What about you?" She crossed her arms and tilted her head, so her huge plait swayed a little.

"How many of your past lovers will I have to steer clear of tonight?"

"Ah. I will take care of that."

"How?"

"By not letting you meet any of them. Simple avoidance tactic. Works like a charm."

"Always the smart choice, I see," Granger smirked at him and he couldn't help but smirk right back at her.

"Naturally. Now, would you like to join my mother and welcome guests as they arrive, or would you prefer a late entrance and surprise everyone with our dazzling love affair?"

Her smirk vanished to be replaced by a scoff and serious contemplation. She paced a few more rounds while Draco did his best to wait patiently. It irked him tremendously, but he smothered it down in preparation for many things he assumed he would have to suppress for the afternoon.

"I suppose I would be prepared in that instance, but the other would get things out in the open much faster. Oh, one is just as horrible as the other." She seemed to be talking to herself, completely ignoring Draco which he thought was rather rude. Then she turned to him.

"Rip the band-aid, I say."

"I have no clue what that means, Granger."

"It means a late entrance and the surprise element."

"All right then." Draco went to pour them each a drink to calm their nerves while they waited. They talked a little while they waited. Granger asked what the fundraiser was for and Draco answered he hadn’t the foggiest. She followed up by asking who else would be attending.

“People with galleons to spare, or people they want to impress.”

“Ah.” She said and sipped her drink with a knowing look.

Draco knew that most of the guest list was people from his mother's social circles and hardly anyone would run in the same circles as Granger. Perhaps a few important Ministry officials, but aside from that they would be faces she knew of but nothing else.

She seemed to be thinking the same thing before she found her final question.

"And reporters?" Granger asked timidly, her fingers running along the rim of her glass.

"Yes. There will be plenty of those." Draco took Granger's partially filled glass and placed it next to his empty one on the desk. He then gently pulled her up from her seat with one hand.  He was surprised to discover that she let him.

"Meaning this ruse." He tugged her slightly closer and was even more surprised that she let him do this.

"Has to be utterly and completely convincing, Hermione. Think you can do that?" He let her name roll on his tongue in his most alluring tone of voice. It was one he had used many times to great advantage and knew knickers to disappear very easily.

Granger lifted her chin to look him in the eye. He saw her narrow her eyes for a brief moment before her entire face shifted. Draco felt something twist in his stomach as Granger blinked slowly before her lips parted in a lax smile, and her fingers then twisted in the soft strands of hair at the back of his neck. She leaned in a little closer and in a soft and whispery voice said;

"You tell me, Draco."

Draco nodded feverishly before he stepped back to check the clock.

Not now, John!  

Granger smirked with her pinky in the corner of her mouth, her eyes half-closed as she giggled.

Merlin’s beard.

It was a good thing it was time for them to move to the grand ballroom his mother had prepped for days. Draco chastised John for a silent moment before he turned back to Granger.

He indicated the door for them to leave and guided her in the direction of the ballroom – avoiding other specific parts of the Manor.

When they stood at the end of a long hallway at which end they could see the dazzling lights of the event, they paused side by side. Draco saw Granger take in a deep breath as he did the same and straightened his shoulders.

For a brief moment, he considered how best to attach himself to her. Had it been any other random witch, he would have slung his arm around her shoulders and pulled her through the door. Maybe even pinch her bum on the way.

As it was…

Granger was meant to be his committed and very courted girlfriend.

And his mother was present.

He found it best to dig out his chivalrous conduct again and held out his arm for her. She looked at it puzzled for a heartbeat before she wound her arm around his elbow. He pulled in tight, and she pressed herself close to his side with a demure smile in his direction. He reached with his opposite hand and placed it above hers before his Malfoy grin stole his mouth and led her towards the ballroom.

Chapter Text

”Whoever loved that loved not at first sight . ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

As Draco had suspected, his arrival with Granger caused several of the invited reporters to nearly drop whatever they had in their hands.

Upon entering the ballroom, Draco felt Granger's hand stiffen on his arm, and he reached across with his free hand to pat her gently. She loosened up a tiny bit while her radiant smile lit up the entire room.

Draco had a very brief and very unlike-Draco thought, that maybe this entire ruse wouldn't be such a good idea after all. Considering the doting look on Granger's face as she turned to look at him, he realised that she was far better at this game than he ever gave her credit for.

Then he was half blinded by flashes of dozens of cameras as he led Granger on to gasps elicited on either side of them and whispers that broke into hushed conversations in every corner. Draco kept a firm hold on Granger, who had barely moved a muscle in her face the entire time.

"Darling," Draco cooed out of the corner of his mouth and Granger twitched beside him at the endearment. He caught her eyes.

"Relax." He told her, and she took a deep breath, her shoulders instantly easing up. She nodded a few times, to whom Draco had no idea, but it seemed to help her. With his hand still covering hers, he started to stroke his thumb across the soft skin on the back of her hand. It was something his mother had always done to him when he had held her hand at big gatherings when he was a little boy. The motion had always calmed him enough to open his mouth and speak to the number of strange people his mother would present him to.

Draco had no idea how Granger would respond, but at least she didn't pull her hand away. She glanced down at their joined hands briefly, then turned her attention back to the room and the surrounding guests, just as Narcissa Malfoy swept in seemingly from nowhere.

"Darlings," she gushed and pulled Draco in for a kiss on the cheek and then something that could resemble a hug for Granger.

More whispers broke out around them. Draco scowled in the general direction without paying much attention to his mother.

"Hermione, dear, you look radiant." After planting a kiss on each of Granger's cheeks, his mother stepped back, casting a scrutinizing gaze up and down Granger, standing alongside Draco. Draco puffed out his chest confidently and saw another flash go off as he casually moved his arm around Granger's waist.

"Thank you, Narcissa. Nipsy was quite insistent." 

"Yes, well," Narcissa waved a polished hand as if to say it was nothing. "Nipsy knows a thing or two about our fashion. She comes from a long line of house elves from our French side of the family." His mother kept on talking about house elves and Granger listened very intently to everything his mother said.

Narcissa Malfoy had not been pleased after the war when it had been mandated that all house elves should be set free and offered payment for future employment to wizarding families. However, after all the Malfoy elves had been set free, there had been so much teary water to mop up that nearly all of the elves quickly accepted the suggested offer of payment to stay with the Malfoy family. It had only been a few elves who had served his father who had chosen to leave and never return. Draco couldn't blame them. Narcissa had found nothing had truly changed in her relationship with her many elves. Several of which had been with her since her childhood, and Draco's subsequently.

Nipsy, in particular, was well cared for by both of them.

Just then, Draco accepted two flutes of champagne from a passing house elf. He handed one to Granger, who gave him a most appreciative smile and sipped it daintily while his mother kept on talking.

"Hermione, dear, you must meet the Hamishons." Before Draco could do anything about it, his mother had collected Granger from his arm and pulled her off in the direction of the dreadfully boring Hamishons. Draco watched Granger turn her wide eyes to him and plead for help as Narcissa dragged her through the crowd.

"Sorry." Draco mouthed and Granger's lips thinned just before some old witch blocked her from sight. 

Draco didn't move for a minute or two, waiting to see if his mother would let Granger off easily. As it turned out, that was not the case. It was Narcissa Malfoy after all, and she had plenty of important people to introduce her son's courted girlfriend to.

With a shrug and a happy grin, Draco strode for the bar instead. As expected, he found his two friends in friendly conversation with the bartender, as if they had known the man for years, probably recalling him from various previous high-society wizarding events.

"Well done, mate." Blaise clapped him on his back and shared a toothy grin with a very sombre-looking Theo. Draco raised a brow in question at the meagre version of Theo. The Theo he and Blaise knew would be well on his way to finding a witch for the evening to fool around with in one of Draco's rooms. This Theo leaned against the wall, sulking into his drink and looking quite forlorn.

"Never mind him, he's gone barmy for the night. What I want to know," Blaise shrugged Theo's strange presence off and turned his devilish attention back to Draco. "Is how you managed to persuade Granger into all of this?"

"It certainly wasn't thanks to your bloody fork," Draco grumbled and motioned for a drink. Blaise chuckled beside him, and Theo kept his attention on the bottom of his glass.

"Ah well, I aim to help all my friends in any way I can. But do tell, mate."

"As far as you or anyone else is concerned Blaise, there isn't any story to tell." Draco straightened and turned to see if he could spot Granger in the surprisingly vast crowd of people. He figured her hair would be unmistakable, but even so, she was still a bit shorter than everyone else, so he had no luck spotting her. It turned his frown deeper.

"Hermione and I are courting. It's as simple as that." Beside them, Theo choked a bit into his drink. Blaise smacked him on his shoulder.

"Keep up mate, it's all just for a good show."

"A good show." Theo copied and set his drink down to scrutinise Draco. This made him feel rather uncomfortable. Theo always had a way of spotting things that were too well hidden to be let out in the open just yet.

"Draco," Granger's voice interrupted the conversation just at the right moment, and Draco felt her tiny frame press itself in between him and his friends. She had her front to him, and he once again had to suppress thoughts of how fit she looked for the evening in that dress and how it hugged her body.

"Darling, please tell me this bar serves something stronger?" She eyed the bartender as Draco contemplated just how much alcohol would be suited for Granger for the night and still be able to avoid a repeat of their first non-date.

"Perhaps a Gillywater to calm your nerves, love," Draco suggested and was met with a wrathful look from Granger.

"If I am to endure an entire evening with people as the Hamishons, I assure you, love, that I will need something stronger than Gillywater." The way she intoned the word 'love' had Blaise snickering behind her. As if the sound reminded her of their pretending, she softened a bit around the edges and leaned closer.

"No harm done, Granger." Blaise skilfully manoeuvred around her and took one of her hands, placing a delicate kiss on the back of it. Draco frowned at this, and his stomach twisted at the sight of Blaise's lips on Granger's skin.

"Blaise and Theo know." Draco cut in and ordered something stronger than Gillywater for Granger.

"They do?" She turned on the two of them instantly, her gaze sizing them up.

"I would say you have me to thank for this brilliant resolution, but I would hate to steal Draco's thunder." Blaise offered a wink for Draco and she actually smiled back.

"So you're the person I have to punch for this setup?" Blaise was a smart man, so he took a step back as Draco eyed where Granger's tiny purse was. Just to be safe.

"If you put it like that-" 

"Here." Draco pushed a sparkly purple drink in front of Granger and watched her mollify with the drink in hand before she took a dainty sip. Then she let out a deep sigh.

"I swear, if I have to listen to any more talk about stuffy old traditions that need to be revived for the sake of family lines, I'm going to hex someone."

Blaise took another step back, but this time it was to look Granger up and down appreciatively.

"Where do you even keep your-"

"Oi!" Draco smacked Blaise on his shoulder and pulled Granger closer as the protective and very possessive boyfriend he was supposed to be.

"Keep your eyes to yourself, mate." He returned his arm to around her waist and was very pleased with the fact that she let him, even in the company of Blaise and Theo who knew the truth.  He let his hand drift to her lower back as she continued to sip her drink.

He was just about to lean in to whisper something - he hadn't yet decided if it should be something teasing or simply to tell her she looked beautiful tonight - when someone walked into Granger and she nearly choked on her drink.

They turned their attention simultaneously to the individual who had bumped into Granger, and Draco's jaw dropped at the reason why this had happened. Behind Granger was a heavily pregnant woman in a deep blue gown that dipped far too much on her front. Not that Draco was opposed to breasts. He was very much pro-breasts, but there was something about breasts and pregnant women that was a bit off. He always suspected it was the prospect of those breasts being reserved for the coming baby and his limited access to those breasts in question.

However, these breasts belonged to none other than-

"La- Lavender?" Granger gasped and nearly dropped her glass as she stumbled backwards and her back came into collision with Draco's front.

"How- how lovely to see you." She continued with an even bigger and much-too-fake smile that even Draco could tell was far too over the top. The woman, Lavender, whom Draco tried to recall having seen before. He thought she looked familiar from their Hogwarts days, but couldn’t place her. Lavender, however,  did not recognise Granger’s fake smile. This could perhaps be due to the equally huge smile she had plastered on her face as she drew in Granger for a forced hug. As soon as Lavender let go, however, Granger bounced back to Draco's front and he felt he ought to do something about their positions, so he snaked an arm around her middle from where he stood behind her.

"Hermione! I never thought I'd see you at a place like this. And with-" Her big eyes widened even further as they focused on Draco's arm around Granger's middle, while her hands rounded on her very pregnant stomach. 

"Draco Malfoy." Lavender Brown frowned up at Draco before her lips formed a knowing smirk. Before either of them could say a thing, though, Granger interrupted.

"What are you doing here, Lavender? Shouldn't you be home resting?"

"Oh please." Lavender scoffed and rubbed a hand down her front. Lavender's chest appeared to try and escape her much too flimsy dress with the motion.

"It'll be weeks before this one decides to come out. Besides, Cormac's uncle is on the board and was invited so I came to support him." Her voice turned simpering when she started talking of Cormac, who at that moment crept up behind Lavender, encircling her waist with his large hands. This unexpected gesture elicited a small squeal of surprise from her, followed by a giggle that made Draco want to cut his ears off.

"Darling, look who's here!" She dragged Cormac McLaggen around herself and forced Granger's presence into the centre of the conversation again. Cormac McLaggen's eyes grew twice their size and his hands around his pregnant wife halted.

"Hermione." He breathed and Draco did not like the way her name sounded coming from Cormac McLaggen.

"Cormac, hello." Granger tittered and somehow leaned closer to Draco. He could hardly blame her; he had always considered McLaggen a slimy sort of git and from what he had heard, he had hardly changed over the years. 

"Hermione Granger?" Cormac’s gaze practically drank in her presence, lingering on her face and figure for a tad too long, much to Draco's discomfort, even if their relationship was, well…. He cleared his throat audibly.

"And Draco Malfoy? Who in their right mind would've pictured this? Darling?" McLaggen turned and planted a sloppy kiss on Lavender's cheek before grinning proudly back at Draco and Hermione.

"Yes, well-" Granger didn't get to say much more before Lavender cut her off again.

"But where is your daughter tonight then? We left ours with my parents, they just adore them, really, it's much too sweet." Draco noticed that Lavender had started to pull her husband's arm closer around her. It made him tighten his hold around Granger, for no apparent reason.

"Oh," She discarded her drink to the bar top and wrapped both her hands around Draco's arm.

"Rose is at the Burrow for a sleepover."

"The Burrow? Weasley?" Theo piped up and suddenly he seemed just as alert as he always did.

"I would've thought she would be with her father?" Cormac interjected and Draco caught on to the hidden grin behind Lavender's simpering smile just fine.

"Ronald is still in New York, and Rose loves her grandparents, so-" Granger faltered under the sickening couple that was Lavender and Cormac McLaggen. They were just as sickly apart as they were together. He could easily tell that some of Cormac's git personality had rubbed off on Lavender. As far as he could remember, she wasn’t that much of a bint from Hogwarts.

"Excuse us." Draco hurried to cut in and with a curt nod for the McLaggens, he pulled Granger away and through the crowd of people. He could feel the effect the couple had had on Granger and frankly, he didn't like it. To get just a touch of privacy, he pulled her to the dance floor that had opened only moments ago. 

As he swept her into his arms, he paid close attention to the gathered reporters around the room. He whispered their locations to Granger as he pulled her close and then watched her take a few deep breaths before her eyes turned back to the lively golden they usually had.

"Thank you." She offered as he led them around the dance floor to the soft tunes of a band he couldn't see.

"McLaggen has always been an idiot." Draco underlined and brushed his fingers across her lower back where he held her to him. She nodded in agreement.

"Lavender wasn't always like that. She's never liked me, of course, but because of me and Ron-" Granger trailed off and Draco didn't want or need to hear anything else.

"Let's just avoid them for the rest of the evening."

"What about everyone else?" Granger moved closer to rest her head on his shoulder, and to the rest of the room, it would look like a couple deeply in love dancing quietly to a slow tune that allowed them to touch and be close in public.

To Draco, it made his entire brain go haywire with the closeness. It was the closest he had ever been to Granger in all his life. Aside from the time she had punched him straight in the nose. But he shouldn't ruin the moment with broken noses.

All things considered; it was rather nice to be this close to Granger. He had to agree that she had grown into an attractive witch in several aspects. Personalities aside, she had curves just the way he liked and shapes that would surely fit into the palm of his hands.

Shit.

Not now, John.

He deliberately spun Granger for a twirl. Maybe two would be best?

Her face lit up surprisingly on the edge of his arm before he spun her back, closer than before. Draco took her hand and held it between them while his other hand returned to her lower back. They were even closer than before, and he slowly inched his face nearer to hers. He saw the fear in her eyes at the prospect of him kissing her in public like this. As much as he would like to rile her up in that way, he was rather torn between the question of whether she would kiss him back for the act or whack him around the head for being so presumptuous about it.

Instead, he opted to tilt his lips close to her ear to whisper parts of his intent.

"Every reporter in the room has their camera trained on us." He twisted slightly as the music swelled and she followed him easily without any indication about what he had just said.

"You should know if you were any other witch and my date, there would be far more touching." She looked at him with narrowed eyes, wondering what he was getting at. So he moved his lips close again to whisper his final warning.

"So I'm going to kiss you now, just for show, remember. All right?" When he pulled back, her lips were drawn thin again and her eyes as narrow as slits. His gaze dipped to her pinched mouth, and he barely shook his head. This made her relax just a bit but he could feel the tension in her body and that she was still on edge. Before he made his move, he stroked her back lightly with his thumb as he glanced around the room for the best way to place them for the reporters.

Once he was satisfied, he shucked in a breath, caught her eye one final time - she rolled her eyes and gave a minimal nod since she saw no other option - and moved to place his mouth just below her ear, right where her jaw began.

Her skin was smooth against his lips. His nose grazed the bottom of her ear, and as he inhaled he caught a strong whiff of her perfume. It reminded him of summers spent in the gardens around the Manor.  He found the sensation of Granger’s skin on his lips was not one he was opposed to. He could feel her fingers twitch where she held him with each second his mouth was on her. He counted to five before he decided it would be enough.

Meanwhile, John was demanding he stick out his tongue to lick that very spot, but Draco fought valiantly to disregard this suggestion.

Instead, he reluctantly pulled back as the clicks of several cameras brought him back to reality. There was a new smile on Granger's face when he looked at her again. Then her palm found his cheek before they continued to dance in silence and Draco's brain struggled to puzzle all this new information together.

As the evening progressed, Granger danced with both Blaise and Theo a few times to avoid other people. Draco highly suspected both his friends would question Granger on several things about him. When she returned from her dance with Blaise, her smile was mischievous, and Draco's gut clenched at the possibilities of what Blaise could've told her. When she returned from her dance with Theo, she looked put out and slightly annoyed.

At one point, his mother managed to steal Granger away again and she came back grumbling about having to deal with planning a stupid courtship ball. Draco watched in slight amazement as Granger downed an entire flute of champagne in one go. That was when he cut off her alcohol to avoid another vomit encounter.

Draco made sure to place them a few more times for the benefit of the reporters before the evening was over and he escorted a slightly tipsy Granger in a better mood than he expected.

"I rather enjoyed myself more than I expected. With a few exceptions of course." She paused to pull off her heels, and Draco knew precisely what she meant. The bumbling McLaggens had sought them out twice more throughout the evening and Draco had to cut the supposed conversations short. Otherwise, he would have ended up breaking noses.

Granger nearly toppled over as she struggled to get her shoe off, and Draco caught her by her elbow.

"Thank you." She straightened. His hand was still on her elbow when she looked up at him.

"I suppose I'll have to see more of you like this."

"Afraid so."

"Thought so."

"Grumblings aside, Granger, you clean up nicely." Draco felt somewhat obligated to state before the night was over. He was a gentleman after all. She looked quite surprised at the compliment.

"Um, thank you." 

Was she blushing? 

Merlin, she must be just the right amount of drunk to react that way to a compliment from him. That had to be the only reason.

Right?

"I should go." Yet she didn't move or even reach for the floo powder. She just stood and stared at him. Tilted her head slightly and pinched her eyes between blinks.

"You really…" Her hand was halfway to his face before she seemed to realise what she had been doing and she stopped herself.

"Right." She blinked several times and then located the floo powder. In a flash of green, she was gone.

That was odd.

"Was that Granger leaving? Damn!" Theo stormed into the floo parlour and cursed some more when he realised it was Granger who had departed. Then he spun Draco by his shoulders and stared heatedly at him.

"Mate, I need you to persuade Granger to help me." Theo looked desperate and quite frankly a bit mad. He looked the way Draco had felt during his sixth year. Obsessed and near possessed.

"What on earth for?"

"I need a date with Ginevra."

"The Weaslette?"

"Yes, her."

"Why?"

Theo hesitated and looked around to check they were alone.

"I shagged her last week and now she won't return any of my messages, and Draco, I can't stop thinking about her."

Chapter Text

”I was seeking for a fool when I found you . ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

"You shagged Ginevra Weasley?" Draco stared at his oldest friend, dumbstruck. Theo let go of Draco to pace about the room, running his hands through his messy curls. Draco looked at the fireplace from which Granger had vanished just moments before.

"Yes!" Theo rounded on Draco, and he returned his attention to his friend, just as Blaise found them.

"I thought I heard Theo's delicate voice." Blaise still had a drink in his hand, and Draco was starting to wish he had one, too.

"He told you now?" Blaise sauntered over next to Draco who nodded.

"How?" He just barely managed to get out and Theo let out a guttural groan.

"Last week at the bar, she was there. I thought I'd give it a go, you know, just for kicks." Theo started to laugh at his explanation, one hand moved to cover his mouth. Draco thought he started to look a bit crazed.

"Most of us assumed she was still with Potter." Blaise shrugged and finished his drink with a longing look towards the ballroom. Draco was sure he was looking for the blond witch he had seen him with before he had offered to escort Granger to the floo parlour.

"Well, she wasn't!" Theo exclaimed, strode up to Draco, and only stopped when they were almost nose to nose. 

"And she hasn't been for years. Ginevra has been flying solo for years."

"Testing brooms here and there." Blaise snickered and received a smack on his shoulder from Theo. Draco couldn't hold back the chuckle that escaped him as well and hurried to step back to avoid the other hand from Theo swinging at him.

"What has this got to do with Granger, anyway?" Draco extended his hands in a gesture of peace while Theo continued pacing, lost in his murmurs. Spotting an opportunity, Blaise sought out another blond to engage with, filling his time.

As he put it, he was fond of Draco but not that fond of him.

"I prefer my blondes with a bit more cleavage." And with a salute, he bid them goodnight before he returned to his blond witch.

"Theo, tell me again why your fascination with the Weasley witch has anything to do with me and Granger?" 

"I need Granger to talk to her for me. She won't respond to anything I've sent her."

"Theo, mate, perhaps you need to take the-"

"No! Draco, you don't understand."

"Enlighten me then." 

"She was- It was- The best night of my life." A look of pure bliss fell across Theo's face and Draco groaned. He knew Theo could get obsessed with things, it had been like this for years ever since he first found a pretty flower when they were four and nearly wept when it wilted. But he had never obsessed over a witch before. 

"Theo, this thing with Granger, it's not exactly- Look, if it's just about the sex, I can't do any-"

"It's not just about the sex. I mean, sure the sex was amazing, the girl knew some moves I never even thought were possible and damn, I-"

"Right, that's enough information for me, thank you very much."

"Draco, I'm telling you, this witch, she's done a number on me I never anticipated. I need your help." Theo's eyes were pleading by then and Draco could tell there was nothing for it. He would have to play matchmaker with his fake girlfriend. 

"Fine. It'll take some time, but I'll see what I can do. Maybe back off in your advances for a while?" Draco suggested as he prepared to call it a night.

Things had gone over well enough for the night. Now he just needed to wait and see what the fallout would be in the papers in the coming days. Some of it was bound to be… upsetting in one way or another.

< - >  < - >  < - >  < - >  < - >

"You do make a truly lovely couple, and Hermione looks magnificent in that dress." Narcissa Malfoy declared over morning tea the next day. She had the Daily Prophet splayed out on the table and Draco watched himself bend his head to tenderly kiss Granger's neck on a loop. From this angle, he also got a splendid view of Granger's eyes fluttering closed when his mouth connected to her skin. It was the same picture that covered nearly every newspaper and magazine his mother had splayed out on the table among the many platters of food. Draco couldn't stop watching himself lean closer and closer to Granger and the way her eyes tracked his every movement.

Draco caught his tongue darting out to lick his lips at the memory of tasting Granger's skin without realising it. He shifted in his seat, reaching for a pot of strong coffee in an attempt to clear his mind.

"Although, this does not exactly suit the declaration I have in mind for the Prophet after the ball I plan for you. Hmm." Narcissa hummed to herself, smoothing a hand over the picture before her as she daintily sipped her tea. She nodded decisively, seemingly arriving at some internal conclusion and Draco raised his head in anticipation of something he was sure he wouldn't like.

"Yes, I will have to send an owl to Alphonso and have him visit us in advance. Draco, darling, perhaps you wouldn't mind inviting Hermione for dinner this weekend?" 

"Um, I-"

"Excellent. Tell her Saturday at 6.30 will be just fine. Or come to think of it, perhaps 5.30 will be better for Alphonso to have the time to take the pictures. Yes, tell her 5.30, darling." Narcissa waved her wand and every newspaper and magazine rolled itself back together before vanishing, except one Daily Prophet. From this, she neatly sliced out the picture of him and Granger and she was sure to be extra careful with the corners.

"Nipsy," Narcissa called and then the tiny elf appeared next to his mother with a slight bow.

"Mistress called for Nipsy?"

"Yes, I would like to have this clipping framed and placed in my parlour, if you would be so kind?" Narcissa handed the picture to Nipsy with careful fingers and Draco groaned when Nipsy's eyes widened.

"Oh, how lovely mistress. Master Draco and Miss Hermione look splendid. So lovely, so lovely. Nipsy shall have it done, Mistress." And before Draco could utter any form of objection, the tiny and love-stricken elf had vanished again.

"Mother, I don't think any of this is-"

"Nonsense, dear. How often can I expect my only son to properly court a witch as accomplished as Hermione Granger? As her future mother-in-law, I must-" 

But Draco didn't catch what his mother intended to do in her role as Granger's future mother-in-law. He was too busy spluttering and choking on his coffee, which had also managed to burn his tongue and throat in the process. He leapt from his seat, unable to form any words due to his burned tongue, resorting to frantic arm-waving to communicate with his mother, who furrowed her brow in concern.

"You know I don't understand a word of what you say when you behave like this. You are no longer a child, Draco. I should hope you act more like the man I raised you to be around your courted." Narcissa merely clipped as she rose from her seat, having finished with her breakfast.

"'other, I 'ink 'ou 'ould 'ow-"

"Perhaps you should see your healer for some special treatment." His mother suggested with a grin that was far too smug before she left Draco panting in the breakfast parlour. His tongue was bruised and swollen and felt rather limp hanging out the side of his mouth.

Sod it all to hell, he thought before Apparating to St. Mungos.

< - >  < - >  < - >  < - >  < - >

The assistant healer at the welcoming desk looked him up and down with a curl of her lip. Draco kept his mouth tight, concerned that any excess saliva might ruin his rather fine suit of the day. It was a dark grey colour that he had been told matched his eyes quite nicely. It was also much more in the muggle style of fashion than he was used to, but he had discovered he liked it even more so than the floundering robes from time to time.

He passed over the slip of parchment indicating the person he was there to see and was then gestured to a seat to wait.

As Draco slipped into the seat in a far corner, his eyes caught on a copy of the Daily Prophet stuffed under a pile of old Witches Weekly. Nudging the magazines away, Draco soon found his lips on Granger's neck again and he let out a curse because his bruised tongue had wanted to lick his lips again.

Shoes suddenly clicked against the hard floors of the waiting room and Draco - along with the three other people seated - turned their heads in anticipation.

"Mal-" Granger cut herself off and raised her head with a look of surprise that turned into something he thought could perhaps turn into affection in the right settings.

"Draco, what are you doing here?" She strode over to him as he got to his feet. Both of them ignored the looks of the other waiting patients, one whose eyes went wide as saucers at the recognition. 

Draco straightened his suit jacket and leaned in close to place his lips on Granger's cheek. To his surprise, she let him. Though not without glancing nervously around.

"Not here." She then hissed and took him by his upper arm to drag him behind her.

"I'm at work, Draco, you cannot just barge in to see me all you like. I have other patients to tend to, and just because you and I have an arrangement, it does not mean that you can-'' She turned to him once they were in a private room and stopped midsentence when she looked at him again. She blinked a few times, taking in the sight of his now slightly numb tongue before her mouth twitched into a smile. Then she hurried to read his file which seemed to grow bigger and bigger every time he paid her a visit at Mungo’s.

"Right." She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose for a moment.

"Sit over there, will you?" Granger gestured at the made-up bed and Draco followed the instruction silently. 

"Coffee did this?"

Draco nodded.

"Hm. I thought you mostly drank tea?"

Draco shrugged.

"I'm, Merlin, I'm going to have to touch you a little bit. Open up, please." Granger stepped closer between Draco's legs as he opened his mouth wide for her to look. Her dainty fingers poked lightly just inside his mouth, and he felt a pad of her index finger press down somewhere in the middle of his tongue. Draco cursed his Mother into oblivion for stealing this moment from him. He had Hermione fucking Granger's finger in his mouth and he couldn't even taste it!

He could smell her though. 

Her hand smelled of lavender soap. Bits of her hair flew about her face and sent small whiffs of vanilla into his nose.

Granger poked her finger a bit more before removing her hand to reach for her wand.

"Right, it's nothing too bad. A bit of swelling that some cooling charms should help with. I'll find a neutral bruise paste for you to apply afterwards as well. Open up again, please." 

Draco swallowed a heavy lump but did as instructed when Granger pointed her wand at his mouth. The tip of her wand barely poked inside his mouth when he felt the cooling sensation spread across his tongue and, a moment later, it was back to its normal size. Granger withdrew her wand and started scribbling in his file.

Draco wiggled his tongue in his mouth, thinking it had returned to its normal state. He almost asked Granger to test it differently, but since they were alone, he hardly thought she would grant him the pleasure.

"Thank you." He said instead and was rewarded with a delightful smile from Granger. It was not as great as a kiss, but it was still a nice surprise to all the times she had hit him with her small bag.

"Of course. Just promise to be careful with your coffee in the future." She teased and closed his file. Draco looked her up and down for a moment while her attention was elsewhere. As usual, she wore the green healer robes unbuttoned to show off her muggle clothes underneath. Today, she wore a navy dress that fell to just below her knees and well, Draco had to be honest, it showed off her breasts quite nicely.

He was perhaps a bit preoccupied with staring at her chest when she cleared her throat and handed him a small jar with an orange paste inside.

"Flavourless bruise paste. Dap a little on your tongue if you feel a sting for the rest of the day." A pause as she assessed him. "Right, if that is all, as I said, I have other patients to attend to and-"

"Did you see the Prophet?" Draco couldn't help but blurt out in an attempt to keep her there.

He really was beginning to be a sorry wanker.

"I did." Granger folded her arms around the file clip she still held. Her posture was neutral but her chin was raised a tiny bit.

"Any uh, international owls to deal with then?" Where on earth did all this consideration come from in Draco? And why was he so reluctant to leave this otherwise boorish room at St. Mungo’s?

"No. Nothing yet. Rose hasn't seen it either, thank Merlin. Molly, however, is a different story." Granger rolled her eyes and Draco thought he saw a hint of a smirk around her lips.

"Like what she saw the old bird?" Draco stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets and took on his most suave pose as he stepped closer to Granger. Her response was to snort a laugh that pulled a tiny bit on Draco's smile.

"Something like that." Granger grinned. Her eyes had lit up again and Draco realised he liked to be the cause of this reaction.  It was a rather disconcerting realisation, prompting him to halt his progress toward stepping closer to her.

"Have a good day, Draco." She said again, this time with a tiny smile and a nod of her head before she moved to leave.

Fuck.

Think of something, Draco. Use that marvellous brain of yours.

He couldn't just ask her on a double date with Theo and Weaslette. Nor could he spring his mother's dinner/photo session on her like that. He needed a middle way to keep the ruse going without pushing things too far. 

But John wanted to push things very far as it was.

"Lunch!" He blurted as she had the door halfway open. She turned back to him.

"Lunch?"

"Yes," He cleared his throat and with the door open realised it was time to perform for the public eye.

"You do eat lunch, darling, do you not?" Her entire face changed at the term of endearment and her fingers twitched on the handle.

"I do." She hedged as he slowly stepped closer to her again.

"On Wednesday. I'm taking you to lunch."

"You can't just-"

"Are we not courting?" He made the bold move to take her hand between his and put on his most handsome smile. Her nostrils flared slightly, perhaps a bit more when a few healer trainees hurriedly shuffled by the half-open door.

"We are." She got out through her tense jaw.
"Then, please, allow me the pleasure of taking you to lunch on Wednesday?" 

She seemed to try and think about any reason to reject him, but he saw the moment she realised she couldn't. Her shoulders dropped a little and her face shifted into the polite smile he recognised from the fundraiser the other night.

"All right."

"Excellent! I'll see you on Wednesday then. Until then, darling." Before Granger or anything could come between Draco and his task at hand, he leaned in close and placed a soft kiss on Granger's cheek. For the short moment it lasted, she managed to be both stiff and pliant under his touch. The change was abrupt but most noticeable to Draco. So much so that he lingered by her cheek even after lifting his lips.

"Until then." She whispered in his ear before turning away. But not fast enough for Draco not to notice the slight blush that had found its way to her cheeks.

Feeling rather good about himself, Draco strutted to the Apparition Point with his head full of ideas on how to tease and court the shit out of Granger on Wednesday.

Chapter Text

”This was not counterfeit: there is too great testimony in your complexion, that it was a passion of earnest . ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Draco liked a challenge and wooing Granger proved to be just that. He felt it fitted in nicely with the proper boyfriend he was supposed to be, one who finally would have the opportunity to court his witch in public. If he continued to conceal his five-month relationship with Granger, it stood to reason that the Draco Malfoy known to the public would be overtly expressive about his relationship with Granger.

He didn't intend to woo Granger to win her over. That would be just ludicrous, Draco nearly snorted to himself as he fixed his very fashionable muggle-inspired suit. But if he managed to fluster and make her blush, he would take that as a delightful win for the day.

Draco went to retrieve the single red rose from the Manor Gardens he had charmed with a very strong stasis charm. It had been a suggestion from Theo, who had flooed Draco in a stupor after finding out Draco was taking Granger to lunch. It seemed Theo had not forgotten Draco's promise of getting Granger to help him get in contact with Weaslette. However, this lunch had more pressing matters than Theo's blue balls.

Once again, Draco had inadvertently promised his mother to bring Granger around for dinner this weekend. 

Before he was about to Apparate out of his home, however, he paused. Where should he apparate to? It wouldn't seem right to enter via the emergency room he had frequented most recently. Nor would it come across as knowing his girlfriend if he showed up not knowing where to look. Draco also mused that given their secrecy, perhaps he didn't know where her office would be. The only time he had been there, he had passed out on her floor and was half out of his mind from pain to remember any of the directions.

In the end, he decided to Apparate to the front desk and the welcome witch, whose eyes widened and teeth shone upon Draco's entrance.

"On which floor might I find Healer Granger's office, please?" The young witch blinked furiously at Draco, who pretended to ignore the blush that crept up her neck, even if it did bolster his ego.

"She's on the f-fourth floor, sir." The young witch fiddled with her hair some more when Draco thanked her and moved swiftly to the lifts that would take him to the fourth floor.

When the lift doors opened, a sign awaited him. The left arrow wanted him to go to the Janus Thickey Ward, while the right arrow pointed him in the direction of private healer offices.

The private healer offices looked almost as any other office might. Except most of the walls and doors were made of glass. Draco had not paid attention to this the last time, nor the fact that in the centre of the room, there was a large, circular desk placed in the middle, currently unoccupied. Low voices were coming from almost every office as Draco scanned the area. 

It didn't take him long to spot the dark and very curly hair of Granger in one of the back offices. He passed a few trainee healers on his way, nodding gentlemanly at them. He heard the muffled giggle behind him as he strolled along.

Without knocking, he leaned against the doorframe and plucked out the charmed rose from his inner breast pocket. He made sure one last time that his hair was in perfect position before he cleared his throat and had to keep himself from laughing when Granger threw nearly all her parchment in the air.

"Merlin's beard, Draco, what on earth-"

"Hello to you too, darling." Draco cut her off and took three steps into her office to plant a soft kiss on her cheek. She smelled of her usual vanilla but also a little bit of something he often smelt after the elves had done a proper cleaning of any room in the Manor. Granger glanced over Draco's shoulder, and he was fairly certain she would see some of the trainee healers shuffle by the door to her office. Considering the eye roll she hid from their view, Draco was quite certain about this.

"Ready to go to lunch?" He held out the rose for her to take, and her fingers briefly brushed his when she did. Draco made sure the brush lingered on her end and he watched her pause mid-motion.

"Thank you. Yes, I was just finishing," She turned to look at the mess of flying parchment that had loitered itself all over the floor and then she groaned.

"Thank you by the way, for that. Now I'll have to spend most of my afternoon doing paperwork I had almost finished in the first place."

"Apologies, love. Can I help in any way?"

She shook her head and stepped back a bit. Her cheeks had already turned a bit flushed, and Draco couldn't hold back his grin.

"No, thank you, it's fine, I'll just ask Sammy for assistance. I need to tell him I'm going out for lunch anyway." As she spoke, she conjured a vase on her desk to place the rose in. Draco kept watching her as one side of her mouth twitched upwards. Then his gaze darted around her office. There were filing cabinets covering most of one wall, the back wall had windows charmed to look like the weather in Muggle London and the other wall had picture frames dotted in neat rows. Draco stepped closer to inspect what turned out to be merits for Granger. There were quite a lot of them. But also, drawings in vivid colours and strange shapes. There were three of these drawings, each with an untidy scrawl in the bottom corner. The more Draco stared at it, he became increasingly convinced it was a name, but he couldn't be sure. Before he could ask though, Granger cleared her throat.

"You aren't taking me anywhere too posh, are you?"

"I would never!" Draco faked his hurt feelings as he stepped closer to her from behind. He put his hands on her shoulders to help her out of her healer's robes.

"You will not, however, need these." He dragged the robes from her arms and draped them over the back of her chair as Granger spun to face him. She wore a dark purple dress today with long sleeves and a simple neckline. It went to her knees and, from what Draco caught, it would show off her arse spectacularly.

"Will I need my jacket?"

"No need." Draco held out his arm for his plan to Apparate straight inside their destination.

"Wait a moment, I just have to tell Sammy I'm leaving." Draco followed Granger outside to the circular desk, which was now occupied by a young wizard with tousled brown hair and light green healers' robes that hung a bit around his light frame.

"Sammy, I'm going for lunch now. I'll be back in an hour."

"Sure thing, Healer Granger." This Sammy piped up and smiled a bit too widely at Granger for Draco's liking. He glared at the young wizard as he took the arm of His witch to Apparate the two of them.

"Heavens," Granger muttered a second later when he had materialised them inside the destined little cafe. Granger still hung on his arm, which Draco rather liked. He made sure she held on a little longer by placing his hand on hers as he led them forward.

A young witch popped into existence in front of them quite suddenly. She had bright purple hair that stuck up at odd ends but otherwise wore a fine uniform befitting the place in light blue and purple stripes.

"Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger, welcome. Let me show you to your table."

"I thought I said nothing posh," Granger hissed as Draco led her onwards.

"And it isn't." He insisted when he went to pull out her chair for her to sit. They had been seated by the window at the only table on this side of the cafe. From here, they had a splendid view of the bustling Diagon Alley below them. Draco gestured for Granger to take a look and her small mouth turned into a little round O in amazement.

"Are we," She twisted her head a few times to look up and down the street. "Are we at Little Treats?" Then she twisted in her seat to look inside the place. Draco nodded.

"We are. Are you impressed?"

"Maybe a little." She admitted with a wry smile for him as she unfolded her napkin in her lap.

It had been Blaise's idea to take Granger to lunch at this establishment. It was rather a new place in Diagon Alley and had only been open for a few years. But within those few years, it had gained a splendid reputation for quality food at reasonable prices and a service that was unlike anything seen before. Everything inside the place was decorated to mimic an old circus from the 1950s. There were old posters and ticket stubs on the walls and every piece of furniture was different and yet comfortable. Draco hadn't been to the place prior to the day before when he came to set up this reservation and the accompanying arrangements. At first, he had been appalled by the splendour and vivaciousness of the place. But upon waiting for his reservations to be complete, he could see why it would attract such a crowd.

There was a certain atmosphere about the place that screamed comfort and tranquillity despite the loud decor. The cafe itself took up the entire upper floor above an apothecary and from what Blaise had said, there were plenty of witches and wizards waiting for a chance to dine here. It was nothing like any of the restaurants Draco used to dine at, but he thought about what Blaise had said about Granger not being like any other girl Draco had ever been with.

And here they are.

It didn't take long before small platters of food started to arrive for them. Draco had specified that his partner would not have the luxury to dine for longer than an hour and so a meal had been prepared in advance for them. 

"I take it lunch is not something spectacular for you most days?" Draco asked as they started to sample the many small dishes. Granger nodded as she chewed.

"Caught that, did you?"

"The number of paper containers in your bin rather gave you away."

"Yes, well. I'm fairly busy at work and hardly ever have time to even sit down for lunch. I work through the day so I can go home and spend my time with Rose."

Draco nodded.

Right.

Rose. That must be the name he had almost been able to read on those drawings. Granger's daughter. While Draco thought about this tiny person in Granger's life, she carried on speaking a bit more about her work and daily life.

"I don't think I ever asked, but what have you been up to since Hogwarts?"

Draco paused.

"This." He shrugged and gestured around the two of them.

"What does that mean?"

"It means I entertain and promote the Malfoy name."

"By doing what exactly?" 

He could tell the impression from earlier was gradually fading from her. Truthfully, what could Draco say? He didn't do much. His days were spent loitering about the Manor trying to think of things to do. His mother handled most of the estate business and funding of various endeavours. Since he graduated, Draco had been left to his own, thinking he would find his place in life eventually. When his father sank lower and his mother pushed the final decision, Draco let her take the wheel of nearly everything else. She always knew what was best.

Draco had done his fair share of gallivanting around, spending galleons, drinking and shagging the most eligible witches he could get his hands on. While Theo and Blaise had been excellent company most of the time, in recent years even Theo had started to find other interests.

Draco had yet to find anything he could even consider the aspiration of a career.

It wasn't as if he needed one, he kept telling himself.

But the way Granger was suddenly looking at him, he felt a bit out of sorts.

So instead of answering her, he cleared his throat and approached his first hurdle of the day.

"A little of this, a little of that. Anyway, I was asked by my mother to invite you for dinner again this Saturday. And to arrive an hour earlier than normal if at all possible. She's arranged for Alphonso to stop by."

"Who is Alphonso?"

"Mother's private photographer."

Granger reeled in her seat with eyes the size of saucers. She seemed to calm herself again before she leaned forward a bit. From the look on her face, Draco halfway prepared himself for a speech of certain proportions. He directed his gaze to just below her jawline for the time being. He wasn't trying to ogle her breasts, definitely not.

"Look, Malfoy,"

"Draco," He gently corrected her. She bristled a bit but carried on as if uninterrupted.

"Look, Draco, you cannot expect me to come running to your every beck and call. I have a job where people need me. I'm a single mum, for heaven's sake. If this…" She waved her hands between them, indicating the fake relationship they were trying to put on for the rest of the wizarding world. This reminded Draco of where they were, and he leaned closer to reach for one of her hands. She closed her mouth, opened it again but then closed it.

"Apologies. I merely wanted to spend some more time with you, now that this thing has become rather more public than either of us expected."

"I can't just drop everything for you to make us appear happily in the papers every day. I have a life of my own that I would like to keep out of the papers. I've told you this."

"Yes, I know. Your daughter, Rose. Who, for the record, I still think I should meet at some point."

"This isn't a real relationship!" How Granger could shriek and whisper at the same time, Draco would never know, but she did. She looked far more annoyed than he wanted her to.

"Perhaps not. Be that as it may, will you be able to attend on Saturday or not? I'd rather like to let down my mother as fast as possible if that is the case."

Granger groaned and Draco continued to rub slow circles into the skin on the back of her hand. It amazed him that she let him hold her hand for this long.

"No, I'll come. I suppose I can ask Ginny to watch Rose this time."

"Thank you, Hermione," Draco spoke softly and squeezed her hand. They sat in silence for a few heartbeats, looking contentedly at each other while Draco rubbed her hand.

"I suppose I also have a favour to ask." Granger pulled her hand back to fish something out of her beaded bag. Draco instinctually recoiled from the violent thing. Granger placed a piece of parchment on the table between them that looked very much like a formal invitation.

St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries would like to invite Miss Granger and Mr Malfoy to the annual Christmas Ball.

Then followed some specifications of when and where this would be held along with a dress code. Draco glanced back up at Granger, who was biting her thumbnail.

"What's this?"

"It arrived yesterday. Apparently, since this Sunday, our romance has become quite public and your mother was quoted about us being romantically involved for close to four months, my usual single invitation was extended to you as well. Specifically."

"Meaning?"

"It means that while I've agreed to pretend to be your girlfriend for your mother's sake for the time being, I would like to ask something similar from you. At least for this Christmas Ball. A sudden break-up between us at this point would be too strange and circumstantial. I simply cannot think of any other-"

"I'll do it."

"You... You will?"

"Sure. You've helped me thus far, it seems only fair I return the favour. As we're discussing it, might I ask we extend this relationship to my mother's New Year’s Gala as well?"

"Yes, I suppose that would be fair. I do have one condition, however."

"Name it." Draco didn't want to sound too eager, but he was having a far better time than he could've hoped for and was quite pleased with the current progress of their relationship.

"While we're," she grimaced and seemed to struggle to speak the next words. "Courting." A deep inhale and exhale before she continued. Draco only grinned smugly.

"I will not be made a fool of. Every reporter in Britain already has it out to get me, I do not want to give them any more ammunition."

"I promise not to embarrass you, Granger."

"That's not what I'm worried about. I'm used to other people embarrassing me." Draco didn't know if he should be offended by this or not. "What I'm talking about is the number of witches that have been known to enter your orbit."

"Ah." 

"Ah, precisely. If we are to do this, I expect complete and utter fidelity on your end, even if it is just pretend for the two of us." Having pleaded her case, Granger leaned back in her seat again and plucked a bacon-wrapped date from a plate to place between her pink lips.

"Right, well. I can do that."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, please don't think so little of me, Granger."

"Because it would mean you probably won't be having sex for the next couple of months." Her blunt statement had Draco paling and John crawling inside his skin.

Relax, Johnny boy, she doesn't mean it like that.

Granger looked far too smug from that statement.

"Neither will you, then." He shot back. In return, she only huffed a snort and waved him off.

"Please, I'm a single mom to a four-year-old toddler. I've taken care of myself for years."

"Yes, well," Draco floundered for words that never seemed to find their way to him. This was not the conversation he had planned to have. John’s anxiety was palpable as a static sensation in his jittery balls, as he shifted in his seat. At the moment, he didn’t quite care if Granger noticed or not.

She most definitely noticed from the growing smirk on her face.

"Well, as long as we agree to everyone else that since June, I've been the one to see to that." Draco was quite sure he felt just as flushed as Granger looked then. There was a shine to her dark caramel eyes and her lips were pursed and pouted on the way to smiling at him. She nodded and kept on eating what little dishes they had left.

Draco was left with the rest of their lunch date to think about Granger's words.

If what she said was true, she hadn't had a proper shag since Weasley. Even then, that had been Weasley, that couldn't have been decent in any way, even if it meant the creation of mini-Granger.

Draco had to cover his continuous shifting in his seat by reaching for the water carafe to calm John a bit. From the way Granger smirked, he was fairly certain she caught it either way.

The remainder of their conversation centred around coordinating plans for the upcoming weekend dinner with his mother. They decided that he would once again pick her up, as anything else might raise his mother's suspicion. Granger relented begrudgingly before leaving for the ladies' room towards the end of their lunch date.

While she was off, Draco saw to it that their date from the day would become a regular occurrence over the coming weeks. Galleons were, of course, of no issue, and he left the bill open for the week after. When Granger returned, he escorted her back to her office and kissed her cheek and her knuckles before departing.

Draco's mother was nearly as thrilled about the Christmas Ball he would attend with Granger in December as she was about their upcoming dinner.

On Saturday, Draco Apparated to Granger's steps and knocked on the door at the precise minute he had been instructed, unlike last time.

The door opened, and Draco looked down at Mini-Granger, again.

"Hello." She said with a big toothy grin.

Chapter Text

”I will forget the condition of my estate, to rejoice in yours . ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

"Uh, hello?" Draco said to Mini-Granger, trying for a smile to match her big toothy grin. Draco was just about to open his mouth to speak again when Granger's voice came from inside the house.

"Rose? I've told you not to answer the door without me." She appeared behind the door, yanking it fully open and stopped short, one hand clutched to her chest to hold the sides of her robe together. Her hair curled in every wild direction, still damp from what he assumed would be a shower and her cheeks looked flushed.

"Malfoy? You- You're early?"

Draco checked his very expensive wristwatch and raised a brow at Granger because he was not early. He was very much on time as he had taken great care to be. Mini-Granger saw his watch and grabbed onto his wrist to pull it down to study it closer.

"Oh, it's pretty. Look, mum!" Mini-Granger beamed up at her mum, who started to pry Draco's wrist from the tiny hands.

"Remember what I told you about grabbing other people like that? Not everyone likes it, Rose." Granger unfurled the tiny fingers from around Draco and he straightened back up. Granger ushered her daughter into the house again before looking back at Draco. She let out a heavy sigh.

"Ginny's late from her practice." 

"Ah." Draco clasped his hands behind his back. He was already trying to think of an excuse to tell his mother about Granger's absence.

"You can," Granger hesitated, glancing back towards the direction Mini-Granger had gone. Then she opened her door further and stepped aside.

"You can come in and wait with us. I was just getting ready."

Draco tried to hide his surprise as best he could as he entered Granger's home. He paid more attention to it this time. The entry was modest with a staircase to the upper floor and a set of double doors on the opposite side that led to what he assumed was their primary living space. He saw the back of a sofa and a wall covered in bookshelves. Some things never change, he thought to himself as he stepped closer. There were another two doors at the end of the entry, but they were closed, and Draco was left guessing as to where they led off to.

Granger closed the front door and strode past him through the double doors. Draco assumed he should follow her and did so, still with his hands behind his back but with attentive eyes.

Through the double doors was a homely furnished room with one large sofa and three large, and very comfortable-looking, lounge chairs. One of which was occupied by something orange Draco assumed to be alive because it moved at a steady rhythm. While the entire back wall was covered in bookshelves, aside from the fireplace in the middle, there were also books strewn about the room. In one of the chairs, a small stack on the sofa table and even a few piles on the floor in the corner since there was not much room left on the wall.

Mini-Granger sat on the floor, bent over the sofa table with an assortment of colours all around her little station. Granger came over to pull her long and curly hair into a small bun on top of her head. With her hair out of the way, Draco could see she was colouring.

"Darling, I'm just going upstairs to get dressed. Aunt Ginny will be here soon (I hope)." Granger had crouched down next to her daughter, but she appeared far too immersed in her colouring. Granger glanced up at Draco.

"Mal- Draco will stay here while I get dressed, okay darling?" Granger smoothed a hand over mini-Granger's hair before she rose. Running a hand down her neck she looked to Draco.

"Right. I'm going to get dressed. You-" She looked down at Mini-Granger again.

"Can you just sit here? And, I don't know, just wait?"

"All right." Draco looked around for a bit for a place to sit. After a little deliberation on how many books to shift aside, he opted for one end of the sofa and folded his long body into sitting. Granger waited a few more moments before she left Draco alone with mini-Granger as if she were debating with herself about the sensible choice of the matter. Draco kept quiet. Truthfully, he was a bit daunted to be alone with mini-Granger, but she looked very occupied so he wouldn't have to talk to her. Granger must've thought the same because, after another heavy sigh, she went upstairs without another word.

For several long minutes, Draco observed his surroundings some more as Mini-Granger coloured. He noticed several framed pictures around the room. Most were Mini-Granger in various stages of her short life. The progression of her golden toffee-coloured hair was very distinct. When Draco's gaze travelled around the room, he suddenly landed on a pair of very brown eyes staring up at him. He started in his seat and almost grabbed his wand.

Mini-Granger had got to her feet and was staring at Draco.

"Can you draw a hippogriff?" She asked as she twirled a few crayons in her hands, looking at Draco with those big eyes of hers.

"Uh…" Draco muttered and then was forcibly handed a crayon in each hand before she tugged on his sleeve to come closer to her colouring station.

"You draw a hippogriff here, and then I finish this one." She pulled the papers across the little table and Draco saw shapes and colours that were somewhat reminiscent of creatures he thought to have heard of during his time at school. He pushed a very messy drawing of something orange to the middle of the table.

"What's this?" He asked, frowning to try and make out the shape, but it was much too blurry - or was it perhaps hairy? Mini-Granger looked up quickly before returning her attention to her newest creation.

"That's Crookshanks."

"Right," Draco said as if that made perfect sense. She then pushed some paper in front of him and gestured for him to draw the requested hippogriff.

He had barely put the crayon to paper when mini-Granger spoke again, and Draco broke the crayon in surprise at her blunt question.

"Are you mummy's new boyfriend? Gran says you are." She stared at him for a bewildering full minute before she turned her attention back to her colouring. Draco floundered like fish out of water trying to think of something to say, but before he could manage so, the fireplace lit up in green flames and out stepped none other than Ginevra Weasley.

She brushed off her clothes as she stepped from the fireplace and was tackled by mini-Granger, who launched herself into a crushing hug.

"Aunty Gin!" Her little voice squealed to a noise level Draco was unfamiliar with.

Ginevra pretended to be tackled by her niece and dropped to her arse to wrap her arms around Mini-Granger in a tight hug. Draco felt the side of his mouth tug upwards at the sight. Then he shook his head and directed his attention back to his hippogriff, which looked more like a sad cow.

"Hello, little flower." Ginevra cooed and mini-Granger giggled. "Are you ready for all the fun we're going to have tonight?"

"Yes!" Another squeal and Draco flinched a tiny bit.

"Where is your mum?"

"Dressing. Come colour with us?"

"Us?" 

It was only then that Ginevra raised her head to spot Draco halfway on the floor with his hands full of crayons. Ginevra's brows rose impressively as she got back on her feet, still dressed in what appeared to be her outfit for Quidditch practice.

Mini-Granger bounced back to her place beside Draco to take up her colouring again, utterly unperturbed. 

"Ferret Boy, what are you doing here?"

"Colouring, what does it look like, Ginevra?"

Ginevra came closer to study their drawings.

"It looks like a Skrewt threw up on your piece."

"What's a Skrewt?" Mini-Granger piped in without looking at either of them. Draco opened his mouth to tell mini-Granger about the abominable creature, but Ginevra beat him to it.

"Hagrid will tell you next time we visit."

"Okay." She went back to colouring with deep concentration.

"So, again, why are you here, Ferret?" Ginevra crossed her arms as she took up a seat on the other side of mini-Granger and started to fish for crayons as well.

"I'm waiting for Gr- Hermione. She said you would be late and if I would wait here while she finished. I'm taking her for dinner with my Mother."

"Yes, I know. The big relationship con." She snorted a bit and settled on a red crayon, which she handed to mini-Granger who accepted it without a word and swapped it for the one she already had.

"I still don't see why it had to be Hermione of all people. Why, Ferret Boy?"

"I didn't plan it, if that's what you're thinking. It's not like I woke up one day and thought of the best way to make my life even more difficult. It's not like it's easy to court Gra- Hermione." Draco valiantly argued his case and side-eyed mini-Granger, but she was not paying any attention to the conversation anymore. She just kept accepting the crayons Ginevra silently handed her.

What was taking Granger so bloody long to get dressed?

"Courting?" Ginevra snorted and threw her long red braid back over her shoulder.

"I suppose you would call it that. Poncy and posh as you are."

"I resent that." 

"Why? Because it's true?"

"I still resent it." Draco leaned his back on the sofa behind him and raised his knees in front of him. Ginevra shook her head slightly as if she couldn't believe she was having this conversation. Neither could Draco for that matter.

"So, dinner with your mother, that'll be pleasant? Are you taking her to the Manor, then?" Ginevra crossed her arms and waited for Draco to say something he was sure she would think would be too posh.

"Yes, I am. And before you say anything else, Mother has already met Gran- Hermione and she quite adores her. Hermione has already been to the Manor and was, well, she didn't leave right away. I'm not stupid enough to bring her to that part of the Manor." Ginevra snorted a loud and barking laugh.

"Anyway, that part of the Manor has been sealed off ever since. No one goes there." 

Except for Mother when she sees Father.

Draco pushed the thought away before it left him too melancholy. This was not the thing to be thinking. He pushed to his feet and started pacing the room.

"What is taking her so long to get dressed?"

"She's probably stalling." 

"For what?"

"It's too early for dinner. Why would you be picking her up at this hour?"

"I-" Draco faltered, and considered this. 

Of bloody course.

Brilliant witch.

It wasn't that Draco was too keen on having Alphonso take his and Granger's picture for the sake of keeping his mother happy. If it happened, he would do it gladly to appease his mother. But in reality, it would make things far too real. More so than they ever would be. It would complicate things a great deal more when they would have to fabricate the end of their relationship in a few months.

Instead of overthinking it too much, Draco made himself comfortable on the sofa again, crossing his legs and sending Ginevra a jeering grin.

"Theo sends his regards, by the way," Draco spoke evenly, and were it not for the slight hesitation of handing over a crayon, he would have thought Ginevra paid him no mind.

"Who?" She tried to brush it off, but Draco could tell the name had affected her. He just wasn't sure in what way.

"Theo Nott, the bloke you apparently–," He paused when Ginevra abruptly raised her head to stare daggers at him before nodding at mini-Granger. Draco mouthed the word 'shagged' before continuing to speak at a normal volume, "–a little while ago. The bloke you keep ignoring and who cornered me to talk to you."

"Ah, that one. Tall and curly hair?"

"That's the one."

"Well then, send my regards right back. That was a fun night."

"Theo certainly thinks it was." Draco grumbled and kept mumbling "Can't get the tosser to shut up about it."

Before either of them could continue the conversation, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and then Granger was in the room sweeping Ginevra in for a hug.

"Thanks for doing this Gin, I know it was last minute."

"It's fine. I love my niece, and we're going to have fun, aren't we, Rose?"

"Uh-huh." Mini-Granger agreed without looking up. Draco peeked at her drawing and saw a pretty impressive drawing of a unicorn. 

"Right, well I won't be long. It's just dinner, and-"

"Just go, Hermione. Rose and I will be fine. Go enjoy yourself with your courting." 

Granger grimaced and Ginevra chortled.

"So, you two talked."

"If you can call it that." Draco chipped in from his place on the sofa. He had taken the first moments to admire Granger in her dress. It was a navy blue one tonight and it suited her very well. It reached just below her knees and danced around her legs whenever she moved even the slightest. It fitted her body nicely and highlighted some of Draco's favourite places on witches. It was long-sleeved but with a very appreciative neckline. 

Draco rose to greet Granger again now that she was properly dressed. 

"You look lovely, Granger. Ready?"

"Yes, I just need to find my bag. One moment."

Draco's nostrils flared briefly at the mention of that violent bag and instinctively moved his arms to cover himself. Ginevra laughed at the move but said nothing.

"A word before we leave?" Draco offered and gestured for them to step into the entry where mini-Granger was less likely to overhear. To his surprise, Ginevra followed him.

"What is it, Malfoy?"

"Theo wants to know why you won't return any of his messages. He would very much like to see you again, even if you are an insufferable loudmouth."

"I doubt he said that last bit."

"Quite right. That was entirely me."

"Hmm." Ginevra crossed her arms and seemed to truly consider it. She was still considering it when Granger returned, her deadly bag slung around one arm. Draco ignored it in favour of how her dress swayed around her legs and allowed him glimpses of bare skin.

Down, John, down!

"What's this?" Granger asked as she came to stand beside Draco as if they were a proper couple about to go out on a date.

"Ferret Boy is asking me out on behalf of his mate."

"Which one?" Granger turned to Draco.

"Theo."

"Oh, I," She seemed to have to think about what to think about Theo before she continued that sentence.

"I think I liked him. He didn't say much last time I met him."

"Lucky you," Draco murmured.

"What will you do then, Gin?"

"Before you answer, Theo suggested we might, um," Draco cringed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn't believe he was about to say what he was about to say.

"He suggested we go on a double date. The four of us." He looked at Granger. This was beyond anything they had agreed upon and she seemed to think the same thing. This would not be for the public or his mother. In all likelihood, it would be as close to a genuine date as it could be between them.

Draco had no idea how he ought to feel about that at the moment. 

From the look on Granger's face, neither did she.

Ginevra shrugged.

"He was a decent enough shag. Not a lot of those around, I suppose. I don't hate the idea of a double date if Hermione's up for it?" 

Oh, she was a clever one, this one. Draco scowled at her as she just crossed her arms with a wicked smile plastered across her stupid freckled face.

Beside him, Granger was having a hard time finding words. She opened and closed her mouth several times without a word or sound coming out.

"I'll think about it." She eventually said before declaring she would just say goodnight to Rose one more time before they left.

"Still just a pretend courtship, Ferret Boy?"

"Of course. This wasn't my idea, remember?"

"Sure. Sure." Ginevra nodded along and then left without another word. Draco waited in the entry for Granger to return. She smiled fondly when she did and held on to Draco's arm immediately when he held it out for them to apparate to the Manor. Just before they spun on the spot, Draco heard Mini-Granger’s voice from the other room;

“What’s a shag?”

If possible, Granger whirled while being twisted into nothing and sent Draco the heaviest of glares that had the potential to murder him on the spot. It was at that moment that he was quite glad her bag was not able to carry out her intentions. However, once they had solid ground beneath their feet, she twisted from his arm and swung her bag heavily into his chest.

“Grumpf.” Draco uttered and covered his sore chest with a hand and couldn’t even apologise for what he was sure Granger would say was his fault. Even though it had been Ginevra who had spoken the word.

“Again, ow.” Granger just crossed her arms and continued to glare for a full minute before she shook her head and switched to her affectionate, doting girlfriend expression.

Draco and Granger then met with an affectionate Narcissa, who regretfully informed them that Alphonso had to leave just before they made their arrival.

"I will arrange another time for a proper photo of the two of you. It is about time we get one. Hermione, dear, you look lovely tonight," Narcissa remarked before commandeering the rest of the evening and dominating most of the conversations.

This left Draco much time to simply observe his mother and Granger around each other. Or just observe Granger, period.

She ate with proper decorum and was still able to carry her end of the conversation with his mother. Draco even noticed that when Granger gently dabbed her napkin to her lips, it was in the same fashion as he'd seen his mother do all her life.

Draco discovered he had so many questions about Granger that night.

After a delightful dessert that consisted of freshly made tiramisu, Narcissa bid them goodnight.

"I wouldn't want to claim your entire evening. I'm sure you will want some time to yourselves." She smiled mischievously at the two of them, which left Granger with red cheeks and downcast eyes. Draco smirked and loved his mother a bit more for her cheekiness, even if it was for Granger's benefit. Then he remembered it was Granger next to him. Not some random witch he would normally take through  a half-arsed tour of the Manor before taking her against a wall of ancient Malfoy relics.

Granger shifted on her feet and looked at the large grandfather clock in the corner of the room.

"I suppose I-"

"Would you like-"

They spoke in unison, and both halted to smile at the mishap. Draco cleared his throat a few times, while Granger simply looked at him. He could tell she wanted to return to her daughter most of all, yet she waited to hear what he said.

"Would you like a tour of the Manor?" Draco tried to draw forth the same charm he often used with other witches. However, this was Granger, and that charm did not work similarly.

"How many times has that line worked?" She scoffed and started to walk in the opposite direction.

"Truthfully?"

"Yes."

"I've lost count."

"That's quite disgusting."

"Or effective."

"No, that's not it."

"Worked on you, did it not?"

She glared at him, and Draco sidestepped a bit to avoid any conflict, should she choose to fling her bag at him.

"What do you want to show me, then?"

"What would you like to see?"

"Anything really, I've only ever seen-" Draco stopped dead at the prospect of what she was about to say. He had long locked that part of his life away in the wing of the Manor along with everything else. He shook it off his shoulders and carried on the best way he could.

"Well, knowing you, Granger, I'm quite certain I know which room will get you all hot and bothered." He teased and was delighted to have her smile back at him even if it was also with a glare. Draco showed her the way through the halls of the Manor, still keeping a respectful distance since his mother was not in sight.

"I highly doubt you could show me anyt-" She stopped dead on the spot when Draco opened the doors to the Malfoy library. He snickered as he stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets while Granger timidly moved inside the room mouth agape with wide eyes.

When Draco went to bed later that night it was with the thoroughly pleasing knowledge that he had fully rendered Granger speechless until she said her goodbyes half an hour later.

A small part of Draco's brain - but a very big part of John's small brain - couldn't help but feel rather nonplussed that he had managed such a feat without even touching her.

It was a very new, unsettling but not unwelcome feeling.

Chapter Text

”My better parts are all thrown down, and that which here stands is but a quintain, a mere lifeless block . ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

The following Wednesday, Draco once again showed up at St. Mungos fully prepared to take Granger out for another proper courtship lunch. He'd had plenty of time to think of ways to impress her. Not that he needed to impress her; she would pretend to be his girlfriend when it mattered either way. It was more of a personal challenge to see what exactly would make Hermione sodding Granger blush in his presence.

She, however, was not prepared and seemed utterly baffled when he loitered in the doorway of her office where she seemed to be in some sort of battle with several stacks of parchment.

"Ma- Draco, what are you doing here?" She slumped in her seat when Draco moved inside to shut the door behind him. Her hair had come loose from whatever way she had attempted to tame it earlier that morning, and she blew a curl away from her face as her hands dropped to her desk, making parchment scatter all around her.

"It's Wednesday." He said, shrugging casually and handed her the single rose he had brought along. Her eyes widened briefly before narrowing into a strange smile that stretched her mouth. It made Draco smirk.

She thanked him and, after giving the rose a delicate sniff, placed it in a tiny vase. He noticed it held the single rose he had brought her last week. The two flowers fitted together nicely, embellishing each other's colours.

"Yes, well, I know it's Wednesday because I'm terribly behind on paperwork and my patients are-"

"What I mean to say, Hermione—," Draco made sure to apply a certain vocal pressure to her name and his stomach jolted at the sight of her stopping dead in her tracks upon hearing it. Her hands dropped again as she turned her attention back to his face. Draco's mouth pulled up as he moved to perch on her desk when he continued (He felt it was rather a splendid idea to rest his bum closer to where her attention still drifted in hopes that one of his better features would lure attention elsewhere.) (It did not have the desired effect).

"—Is that I've come to take you to lunch."

"But that was last week?" Her voice rose a little and she rolled her eyes, though not offensively so.

"Correct again."

"Then why are you here now?"

"To take you to lunch, again."

"But-"

"It would come across as strange to many people, my mother included, if I do not choose to spend time with my very serious girlfriend, of whom the rest of the wizarding community now is very aware. Wouldn’t it now?" Draco rose to look down at Granger still in her office chair, looking nonplussed up at him. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, balancing back on the heels of his feet and without meaning to, his hips pushed forward a little. The little movement made Granger's eyes dart up and down his body before her eyes turned back to her desk.

"Well," Granger began, and Draco seized that as his opening to swipe the parchments from her delicate fingers and yank her out of her chair. She toppled into him having been caught off balance, but quickly steadied herself and stepped back. This was rather a shame, Draco thought. He always liked to help a witch to her feet. It usually meant he could grasp on to places he normally couldn't - and John could be lucky to feel something too. Although he had a feeling Granger wouldn't like it the same way other witches did. Nevertheless, one could always try another time.

"Excellent. I've made reservations in the same place as last week, you seemed pleased about that one, yes?"

"Yes, but-" Draco caught her hand and started pulling her towards the door, but she held back.

"I can't just leave my work and I-" Draco looked back to where his hand casually - to anyone but John - held onto Granger's. 

"Don't you have that annoying Sammy to help you?" Draco raised an eyebrow as he opened the door to glare at this Sammy character, who coincidentally was nowhere to be seen. 

"Where is the flimsy bugger?"

"Draco, please stop." Granger tugged on his hand, and he looked back at her. She was still in her healer’s robe, but he could spot the dark trousers and floral blouse underneath. She pulled her hand from his grasp and he rather missed the touch of her. 

This was odd.

He flexed his hand and she ran hers through her wild curls and noticed none of the turmoil going through Draco's head from having just held her hand like that. It made things in his body….react. He wasn't quite sure if he liked it or not.

John liked it.

That much was certain.

After several deep breaths, Granger steeled herself and looked straight at Draco.

"All right. I need five minutes to sort this out. Would you please, just wait over there." She gestured to a corner where a row of five chairs were set up around a small table with a pile of magazines in the middle. Draco restuffed his hands in his pockets and nodded before going to take a seat.

Granger vanished inside her office again but only closed the door ajar. He could hear her muttering even from where he was sitting. For some strange reason, it made him smile.

Draco pulled the magazine on the top of the pile closer and was met with-

A rather blurry portrait of himself in the lovely company of Granger from their lunch date last week.

Bollocks.

He didn't even bother to read the headline as he was sure it would be something stupid given it was on the cover of Sorceress' Societals. It was a bold and presumptuous gossip magazine he knew Pansy had once been favoured to until it started printing gossip about her. Draco paid one more look to the portrait before tearing it from the magazine and shoving it inside his breast pocket.

Just then, Sammy bustled into the room and hurried to his circular desk in the middle of the room looking quite flustered. He hadn't spotted Draco, which allowed him a solid two minutes of observing the young wizard, whom he did not like for no reason whatsoever.

His tousled hair looked even more ruffled than last Draco had seen him, and Sammy kept fidgeting with his healers' robes, adjusting the way they sat around his shoulders. Just when he moved to adjust his collar, Draco saw it.

Draco preened on the inside and his smile grew wicked.

He puffed his cufflinks on the inside of his forearms and prepared to call out for Granger, just as she pulled her door open again. She had left her healer’s robes over the back of her chair and pulled her hair back into a bun on top of her head, though several curls still framed her face.

If she were any other witch who wasn't pretending to be his girlfriend, he would have told her she looked pretty. In that moment, he would mean it. It struck him quite suddenly that Granger was naturally pretty with her dark eyes and cheeks that he had a newfound appreciation for making blush. 

He felt out of sorts with this realisation sitting in the pit of his stomach.

Inhaling deeply, he pulled forward his 'boyfriend' material as he stepped closer but maintained a narrowed glare towards Sammy.

"Darling," He breathed as he stopped right in front of her just as she closed her office door. Draco reached up to tug on one of her curls gently before pushing it behind her ear. Then he kissed her cheek, relishing the blush that followed, gloating silently to himself.

"Ready to go?"

"Yes, um, just one moment." Granger walked over to Sammy, who had wide eyes and kept pulling on his collar.

"Sammy, please make a note in my weekly calendar that I will be taking lunch on Wednesdays with—," She swallowed and looked back over her shoulder and straight at Draco. Draco's ribs did a strange squeezing thing inside his chest.

"—With my boyfriend."

"Sure thing, Healer Granger."

Just like last time, Draco apparated them to Little Treats where the same hostess greeted them. As she was about to steer them towards the same table from last week, Draco subtly shook his head, and the hostess quickly directed them to another table that still had a wonderful view of Diagon Alley but less obvious from onlookers outside. Granger, fortunately, paid no attention to this and took her seat without commenting when Draco pulled out her chair for her. That particular move didn't make her blush, but a soft smile was sent his way. 

The meal proceeded in a friendly manner. They shared a bottle of light wine - Granger still had to go back to work, and Draco, well, he supposed he had things to do as well.

"What do you spend your time doing when you're not pretending to court me?" Granger asked towards the end of the meal. Draco opened his mouth fully prepared to answer, except no words materialised.

He had told her before, he supposed, that he held up the Malfoy name. But she had not been impressed by this in the least. Rather the opposite. 

For years, holding up the Malfoy name had consisted of participating in anything his mother planned for the family. Since his father was unable to attend any sort of public affairs for years, Draco had unofficially been the Malfoy patriarch bar the proper title. His mother continued to oversee most matters concerning  the Malfoy estate.

In reality, all Draco did was fuck around and well, fuck.

It had been for many years and it suited him just fine. After his last and very horrible years at Hogwarts and the mild house arrests for him and his mother the following years, Draco had pledged along with Theo and Blaise to enjoy their lives while they were young and able.

And so they had.

At every opportunity given to them and taken by them.

However, spending galleons and shagging numerous witches did not seem to impress Granger.

This was most definitely not part of his plan to make those cheeks blush.

He closed his mouth again.

"I believe I already told you, Granger. I uphold the Malfoy name." It was all he could think to say at the moment.

"Yes," A pause. "You did." Her eyes seemed to lose some of the sparkle they had held from just a moment ago when their conversation had been warm and full of charm.

Draco decided to end the luncheon earlier than planned and Apparated her back to her office. 

He made sure to part with another lingering kiss on her cheek. Only this time, he noticed the blush was fainter than before their lunch.

Her smile was just as sweet as it always was when she placed her hand on his forearm to thank him for lunch and expressing anticipation for their lunch next week.

He Apparated back to the Manor with a heavy feeling in his stomach he couldn't put a name to.

For hours afterwards, he wandered the halls of the Manor, pausing occasionally underneath certain portraits or busts of his ancestors. He would stop and look at them, thinking back to what his father used to tell him about these people.

The accomplishments they carried out in their lives.

The achievements they managed for the sake of their families.

The rewards their lives were furnished with because of it.

It made Draco feel… something.

One particularly nosy and haughty bust wrinkled its nose at Draco and asked what all the brooding was good for.

"I have no sodding clue," Draco murmured and walked on a little only to stop when another bust further down the line piped up.

"Trouble with a witch?"

"Or maybe it's a wizard? I heard from those young people that some wizards do that now."

"Really? That is peculiar. Perhaps that is why my darling Arnaldo never grew flustered with my pantaloons. They were quite nice, I tell you."

"Oh, I believe so. My wife had a pair that would open just so and-"

"Yes! Thank you!" Draco snapped and the disturbing conversation halted. He rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes while the busts kept on whispering about the bloody pantaloons as if Draco wasn't even there.

"Bloody hell." Draco strode forward and just when he was about to leave the chatty busts behind, he heard one of them say; "In my day, you could snatch a witch over your shoulder and the next day she would be your wife. That's how I met my darling Izadora. Never grew tired of spanking my rear because of it."

He stopped outside the hall and closed his eyes.

He supposed they were right, in their twisted way.

He did have trouble with a witch. From inside his breast pocket, he pulled forward the blurry picture of him and Granger.

It was taken in the middle of their lunch date. He couldn't see things clearly, but the way their torsos moved he could easily remember the conversation. It was early on when he had sincerely impressed her with the destination of their date and the choice of food - not that the last part was a big feat considering the feeble sandwiches she was used to.

What was most stuck in his memory from seeing this picture was the way Granger had smiled at him. Like he had done something very right.

It was an odd and very unfamiliar feeling he had never truly experienced before. He couldn't even name it. After staring a few minutes longer at the blurry shape of Granger, he shook his head and stuffed it back inside his breast pocket. 

It was a cumbersome feeling, and he was not used to it. To properly shake it off, he flooed Blaise (Theo was no good as he still moped for the Weaslette) and called for a night of drinking.

Drinking with Blaise only made it worse, unfortunately.

"Shagged the Healer yet?" He prompted after they had finished their first rounds of drinks. The bartender raised an eyebrow at the two wizards, clear understanding of who they were referring to.

"Keep your bloody voice down, Blaise." Draco ran his hands through his hair. Gods, he was truly desperate for a shag. Being in this fake relationship with Granger was bothersome on most levels when he wasn't around her. The most of which was the fact that he was not meant to look at - or touch - any other witches. When she was near it was at least far more tolerable because he could look at her.

But he had agreed.

He had agreed to complete fidelity for her sake. He would have to endure.

Thus, another Firewhiskey made its way to him.

John berated the unfortunate luck of the foreseeable companionship of nothing but Draco's hands.

"I wanted to drink tonight to forget about all of that, just for one night. Can we do that?"

"Having second thoughts, mate? I'd gladly swap for a try."

"Oi!" Draco reared up from nearly dumping his forehead on the bar top. Something in him snapped at the barest hint of Blaise taking anything up with Granger.

"That is my girlfriend your filthy mouth is slandering about."

"Is it now?" Blaise's grin widened and Draco could see almost all of his teeth.

"Oh, shut it."

"If it's not Granger that's got your knickers in a twist, what is it then?"

Draco leaned back and tossed back the rest of his drink.

"This was all your stupid idea, Blaise. All to impress Mother and then it was meant to be over."

"Was Mother impressed?"

"Very! Too much, I think."

"What seems to be the problem, then?" Blaise twirled on his seat, putting his back to the counter to look over the rest of the patrons at the bar. His eyes were quick to spot several long-legged witches whom he had yet to acquaint himself with.

"We've gone and agreed to carry on with the ruse until after the new year. Granger has a Christmas thing at her work and well, Mother will be thrilled when I bring Granger to her New Year's Gala."

"That she will." Blaise hardly had his attention on the conversation any longer. Draco caught the line of his stare and rolled his eyes at the predictability of his friend and preferences for leggy blondes.

"My head hurts. Spending time with Granger makes my head hurt." Draco reached for a new drink and took a large gulpfull. Blaise directed his attention to Draco.

"I believe the uncommon sensation you are experiencing can be called thinking." Blaise chuckled as Draco grunted his reply.

"It is very unpleasant." Draco leaned on his elbows, making an effort not to glance at the group of witches gathered in the far corner, as he was certain at least two of them were casting glances in his and Blaise's direction. One of them looked to be very eager and Draco groaned again before signalling for another drink.

"What does she have you thinking about then?" Blaise quickly ordered the barman to send over a selection of drinks for the witches in the corner.

"Personal things." Draco only offered. He was not in the mood to discuss the painful soul-searching Granger's words had set in motion inside his now drunken brain. 

Leave it to Granger to throw a stick in his well-manicured life that up until that day's lunch date had been perfectly adequate to Draco. But now?

He was unsure of himself in the eyes of Granger.

This was another entirely unsettling thought in itself and he decided to quash it with more drink.

"Right, well not that this hasn't been highly entertaining, I regret to inform you that I have found company far more to my taste." Blaise clapped Draco on the shoulder before he sauntered over to the table in the far corner with the eagerly smiling witches. Draco watched him go with a sad longing in his trousers, absent thoughts about Granger swirling inside with copious amounts of Firewhiskey.

"Let's go home, John." He muttered and went to the floo to avoid any drunken splinching. 

John made his complaints by faking sleep the rest of the night.

Chapter Text

”You were better to speak first, and when you were gravelled for lack of matter, you might take occasion to kiss . ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

At their next Wednesday lunch, they agreed Draco would come over on Saturday evenings once Rose had gone to bed. To properly spend some time with his (fake) girlfriend.

His mother had been bothering him with (ugh) reasonable questions about when Hermione would visit the Manor again or why Draco didn't spend as much of his time with her now that they were a public thing. Draco had struggled for an explanation until he simply chose to leave the room when he spotted his mother. Or he locked himself in his father's office and pretended not to hear her calling for him.

The first Saturday was awkward and very quiet. They didn't talk much. Granger read most of the evening and Draco resorted to having to do the same. It resulted in another form of headache he didn't remember having since his final school days. A stark reminder of why he never pursued much more academia since then.

Granger, however, always had a new book whenever he saw her, and he would find it even stranger to just sit silently and watch her read. Like he did the first night for several long minutes before she tossed him a book at random, muttering under her breath about not wanting him to just ogle her. It had been one of her daughter's books with plenty of colourful illustrations. Draco had scoffed that he could read far above that level, but he ended up flicking through the pages and appreciating the story of the famished caterpillar.

This Saturday would not be for casual reading in friendly silence.

Draco was quite proud that he managed to persuade his mother to withhold the truly ostentatious official ball to celebrate her son's official courtship to one Hermione Granger. It was with mixed feelings he found new means to persuade his mother, but after Granger had nearly stomped her heeled foot on his - after raising that bloody bag, though not to hit him as she kept on insisting - Draco thought it best to try and appease one witch at a time.

So, he appeased Granger by promising to tell his mother that the 'ridiculous and far too pompous ball' simply wouldn't happen. As expected, his mother's lips nearly vanished with how tightly she pressed them together. She clasped her hands in front of her stomach and raised her brows at her son.

"Very well. If Hermione does not agree to a formal courtship ball, do you think you can persuade her to a formal dinner with some close relatives?"

Once again, Draco thought it best to appease one witch at a time, so of course he promised his mother he would persuade Granger - Hermione - to do this.

It took a lot of effort on his part, but he finally managed to convince her that by going through with this formal, but private, dinner, they would escape the clutches of his mother for the time being. Draco still had to pretend to court Granger properly, so they would need to continue to see each other publicly and most recently in private, too. All to appease his mother, of course. 

Not that he minded so much at this point; Granger turned out to be decent company. 

Even when she wasn't sloshed. 

So far, the sloshing had, unfortunately, only been a one-time event, and Draco suspected he had only seen half of what Granger could get up to in that state.

When she had agreed to the formal, but private, Malfoy dinner, he may have neglected to inform her that the Malfoy family was anything but small.

Draco and Granger arrived together because they were courting, obviously. She stopped dead beside him upon their entry to the dining room. To his mother's credit, she had the dining room magically extended to make sure all of the at least 50 guests would be formally seated.

"I thought you said this was a small and formal family dinner?" Granger hissed through her teeth as she tried to put on a fake smile since his relatives started to notice them.

"It is. I see very few of my European relatives." Draco craned his neck to get a better view of things. 

"Europe?" Granger was aghast and then she was delightfully surprised when Theo sauntered up to say hello.

"What on earth is Theo doing here?" 

"Ah, well, Theo and I share a very distant cousin. Or something. It's very far out and no one hardly speaks of it. Unless for things like this. But also—," Draco cut his whispered explanation short when Theo moved in to clasp Draco around his shoulders in a brotherly embrace. He caught Granger eying them curiously and her expression softened a little at the sight of them.

"Draco," He thumped Draco on his shoulder before Theo turned his full attention on Granger and practically ignored Draco. She was mildly surprised when Theo swooped in and took both her hands in his, his expression deeply sincere.

"Hermione Granger, my deepest apologies." His brows lowered and a small pout began to form around his lips while Granger looked on in growing worry.

"What-?" She hardly got her question out before Theo broke into a wide grin.

"For having to lug this oaf around all the time." He broke into a laugh that Draco copied in his best sarcastic manner.

"As amusing and entertaining as you are Theodore, Hermione and I must be-" Draco had taken Granger's arm and placed it in the crook of his own - without any complaints on her part, which was a new sensation altogether coupled with her leaning slightly closer to him too. Draco felt her fingers tighten just a tiny fraction around his forearm.

"I'm only joking, of course. No, you see, the real reason for my presence is you, of course, Granger." Draco halted at Theo's word. He was afraid of where this was going.

He had relented to Theo's pestering and held up his promise to deliver his message to Ginevra, but neither he nor Granger had spoken any further of it since. That had not kept Theo from going on and on and on about the redhead until Draco had been forced to hex Theo off his property.

"Granger," Theo grasped for her hand again and Draco allowed it. 

For the time being.

While Theo begged Granger to persuade Ginevra to give Theo a second chance, Draco's mind did a little detour around his actions.

He had allowed for someone else to take Granger's hand. As if he had the right to do so. But as her very devoted albeit fake boyfriend, why wouldn't he?

Truthfully, to her, he probably remained the idiot incapable of following instructions, someone only useful to empty one's stomach contents on after a good bit of sloshing.

But why was she being so sweet about it?

That was highly out of her character.

"All right, all right Theo. I'll-" Granger blew out a long breath and pressed herself closer to Draco in an attempt to avoid any more begging from Theo. "I'll talk to Ginny and see what I can do. But I will not promise anything."

"That is more than I can ask for!" Theo proclaimed and with an ear-splitting grin, he kissed Granger's hand, which he had yet to let go of. Draco's face did a strange crumpling at the sight of Theo's lips on Granger's hand. 

"Let's go." He gritted out between his clenched jaw and dragged Granger along with him, leaving Theo behind with a smile that had turned from joyous to suspicious.

Once they were a safe distance away and distant relatives began creeping their way nearer, Draco felt Granger lean even closer to his side. He felt overcome with a strange sensation and instead of holding her arm in his, he pulled free to wrap it around her waist, securing her to his side. The elderly couple in front of them - whom Draco had no memory of ever meeting and barely knew by name - smiled fondly at the pair as Granger smiled sweetly up at Draco.

Something somersaulted deep in his gut but he attempted to stifle that sensation with an approaching flask of champagne.

"Who are all these people?" Granger whispered out the side of her mouth as she accepted a flask of champagne as well.

"No bloody clue. Mother sent out all the invitations. I highly suspect most are distant relatives; she simply wants to impress you as a potential daughter-in-law." Draco had thrown the comment out in the open without any thought to how his Mother had made him choke on his tea not many days ago.

To his surprise and tiny delight, he now had to thump Granger on the back as she spluttered around the champagne that dripped down her chin a bit. Draco pulled a handkerchief from his inside pocket and reached to dab her chin.

"Pardon me, Hermione," he whispered and pressed the white cloth to her chin. He held it there for a moment longer and then her hand came up to wrap around his wrist. His mouth twitched as her eyes widened. He loosened his hold on her chin but swept his thumb across her cheek before dropping his hand to her shoulder and leaning forward. Her breath hitched as he pressed his mouth to the side of her chin where the handkerchief had just been.

Her hand was still on his wrist and her fingers tightened the instant his lips met her soft skin.

"What-" She took a deep breath before she had the nerve to speak again. "What are you doing?"

"Being your boyfriend." He pulled back to smirk at her. Which was enough to get her back on track. Within a moment her eyes changed from doey and surprised to playful and determined. Her smile was back, and she stepped to his side again to face the onslaught of his superfluous family. They were forced to meet with a few more elderly relatives before Narcissa called for dinner to be served.

Draco escorted Granger to their seats on the right side of his mother. He pulled her chair for her. She was only mildly surprised by this gesture but quickly pulled it together to accept it. When he pushed her chair in, he let his hands rest lightly on her shoulders for a brief moment before taking his seat next to her. 

The heat of her skin still warmed his palms as he unfolded his napkin.

Dinner proceeded without much incident. Narcissa kept the conversation flowing among the dozens of guests who all gawked in the direction of either Draco or Granger. Whenever they spoke in any capacity or simply looked at each other, Draco could feel the beady stare of any one of his relatives.

Draco found himself looking at Granger more than he anticipated. Despite their weekly lunches, this was something different. He was used to seeing her practically inhale her lunches on their shared Wednesdays. Tonight, she daintily held her cutlery and sliced her food into delicate bites she then placed between her red-painted lips. 

One of his French relatives mouthed off in French from further down the table. Draco ignored the crude comment - even though it sent off a spiel of pictures in his head - and his mother scowled at the old man.

At the end of each course, Granger would raise her napkin to dap at her lips. Draco watched the motion each time as one entranced. 

He tried to pay attention to the conversation between his mother and Granger, but his brain was too occupied with many, many other things.

What was it about Granger? And tonight especially? She looked beautiful again tonight just as she had at the fundraiser but there was something else about her. Aside from her sinfully red lips, her hair had been pulled from her freckled cheeks and Draco had a delightful view of her bare shoulders, which he had touched earlier. He very much wanted to touch her shoulders again. Maybe even lick them.

Well, that was an entirely new thought.

Draco glanced down and indeed felt that John had decided to join the conversation.

Not the best timing, mate.

Draco stifled his groan and hid his shifting by reaching for the bottle of champagne nearest to him. As the devoted boyfriend he was, he offered to refill Granger's glass first.

She smiled in thanks and Draco felt his throat close up momentarily.

What the fuck was wrong with him?
Why was the air growing so thick around him?

Thankfully, his mother soon announced the end of dinner, mentioning that drinks would be served for those interested.

To Draco's immense pleasure, most of the elderly people decided to call it a night. However, this also meant that Draco and Granger had to endure several old couples coming over to congratulate them on their courtship, tell them what a lovely couple they made and how much they looked forward to receiving a wedding invitation in the nearest future.

Granger choked on her champagne again the first time this was mentioned. Draco found a soothing rhythm to stroke up and down her spine after this and each time another elderly matron would hint at this. 

The half-open back of Granger's dress let Draco feel the soft texture of her skin on each motion up towards her neck. With every comment on their expected and upcoming (non-existent) nuptials, Granger's hold on his back twitched as she thanked the older women.

Draco had just gone to fetch a drink of water for himself and Granger (both of them were starting to feel the champagne), taking care to leave her with Theo for safe company when he was halted by a dark-haired supposed relative.

"Draco Malfoy." He boomed and his tiny dark eyes lit up as he clasped his hands onto Draco's shoulders in a vicelike grip. This was a splendid way for Draco to spill half of Granger's water and he mumbled a curse his relative decided to ignore.

"It is so nice to finally meet the honourable heir of the Malfoy family." He spoke in a rough and harsh accent Draco didn't recognise nor care to consider further. The dark moustache that took up almost half of his face twitched with each word he uttered as he failed to take the hint when Draco kept on walking to return to Granger's side.

"…must say your mother knows how to throw a party. Hasn't lost her touch."

"No, she hasn't. Here you go," Draco reached Granger's side and she thanked him with another one of her brilliant smiles for the utterly pitiful task of fetching her a glass of water.

Draco kept his eyes locked on Granger for a drawn-out moment and failed to catch what his distant relative said. He was too busy taking in the sensation of being the centre of attention of Hermione Granger.

Not in the horrible way it had once been - when her fist had collided with his jaw.

This time, when she lifted her hand, it was to caress his jawline in an awfully tender and completely surprising manner. Until her hand stiffened and Draco refocused on what his oaf of a relative rambled about next to them.

"…a shame really that mudbloods now are free to taint our lines. I find myself a bit disappointed in you, Draco. Were it not for the fact that-"

Draco whirled on the spot to come face-to-face with the man. His wife had retreated with an apologetic grimace. He didn't even dare look at Granger.

"Please, elaborate on those words." Draco stared down his nose at the portly man who was significantly shorter than Draco. 

"Draco, mate, maybe you shouldn't-"

"It's fine, Theo, my cousin here," Draco frowned at the man who seemed to battle between looking horrified or terrified. "Was just about to explain his poor choice of words. To me and my lovely girlfriend." For emphasis, he tugged Granger closer, wrapping his hand protectively around her waist. She followed silently but he could sense that she was uncomfortable.

He would make the man pay for those words.

Draco hadn't used those words himself since he saw them carved into a person's arm. The exact arm he was now holding possessively to his chest.

His cousin made a disgruntled huff and pushed his chest out. This made him twice his width. Which should have prodded Draco to take a step back.

However, it did quite the opposite.

"Mudbloods are and always will be a stain on our wizarding families. You cannot tell me the Malfoy family has forgotten this. If she-" he jabbed a finger in Granger's direction and coupled it with a sneer, "wasn't a famous war hero, you cannot claim to have any interest in filth like her."

Even Theo gasped at this.

Draco's nostrils flared and he felt Granger try to pry her hand away from him. 

"I shall ask this once. Please leave this property and never return. But before you do, I would advise you to apologise to my girlfriend."

Draco clenched his fists so tightly, he felt a knuckle crack.

The man scoffed.

"We shall leave, but you should expect no such thing from Armand DéPr-" No one heard the last part of his undoubtedly too-lengthy last name, as Draco's fist came in very close contact with Armand's jaw. He hadn’t even thought about reaching for his wand. His first and foremost reaction was just to make him shut up and save Granger from ever having to hear anyone say such nonsense in her presence ever again.

As it was, Draco had very little force in his punch, and he hurt his hand more than he appeared to hurt Armand. 

Why the bloody fuck had no one told him how to punch someone properly?

The next thing Draco saw was a shocked Granger about to rush to his side right before Armand's fist found a new place to call home in the middle of Draco's face.

 - - - - - -

When Draco woke again it was to a blinding pain shooting down the left side of his face.

"Here, take this," a soft voice advised, and he felt a bottle touch his lips. Gentle hands helped him down the content and a minute later the pain subsided before he felt it was all right to open his eyes. 

The dim light didn't hurt his brain too much.

Yet, it still felt like someone had vigorously shaken it..

"That is most likely from your stumble to the floor." The voice said, and Draco realised he must have said it out loud.

His vision blurred before focusing on the witch next to him.

Hermione Granger. She still wore the navy dress from the dinner. 

"How-"

"You've been out for a couple of hours. Your mother sent everyone home. Theo helped get you here."

"Here being?"

"Your bedroom."

He jolted upright at this and felt the shooting pain from his jaw down his spine.

"Careful." Granger was right next to him, and her hands palmed his face to look at him. He squinted and tried to focus through the aches in his entire body.

"Hurts."

"Yes," she hummed and rubbed gently along his jaw and up to his ears. The sensation was far more calming than he would have thought. Unless he focused on the fact that it was Granger doing it. "I would imagine it twinges a bit. Being smacked around the head and deciding to French the floor will do that to you."

"I Frenched the floor?"

"Theo's wording, not mine." She grinned a little, which made Draco smile. 

He had recently discovered that he liked to have Granger smile at him. It did something to him. Something he wasn't quite sure what to do with, not just yet.

"You'll be all right, though. Nothing's broken." She moved to step back but Draco hurried to halt her and have her keep rubbing his jaw in that way. Her mouth quirked but she obliged him even so.

Draco closed his eyes and just enjoyed the sensation of Granger's soft fingers on his skin.

It felt very good to have her touch him like this. He breathed in deeply and caught a very distinct scent of her perfume. Except it wasn't just perfume. It was something else. Something entirely Granger he hadn't noticed before. But now, with her this close and his other senses numbed, he could slowly inhale the flowery and sweet scent of her. He almost leaned forward but that would have placed his face much too close to her chest.

That would be inappropriate.

Right?

"Does that happen a lot?" She asked, her voice softening with each word. Draco sighed and opened his eyes again.

"Every other year or so, some relative pops up with a more obscure statement than the other. Mother invites them to her next formal gathering and things blow up from there. She is too forgiving on wanting to give everyone a second chance because she got one. I'm just sorry you were pulled into the mix of things."

She slowly removed her hands from his jaw, and he let her. Pulling her wand, she adjusted her stance and waited for his nod before she started to heal the cuts he felt on his lips.

"Thank you. And thank you for defending me." She moved her wand silently across his lips and he felt the cuts seal. Her fingers came up to inspect her work. She tilted his head slowly and ran a thumb across his bottom lip. Her finger lingered and Draco used every ounce of willpower not to let his tongue poke out to lick her thumb.

"I'm a Malfoy. I'll always defend what's mine." He said instead and felt the heat of her eyes lock on him. He saw it more than felt it, the way her breath hitched in her throat and the way her finger twitched on the edge of his lips. Draco reached to gently hold her hand in his. He looked at their hands as he continued speaking.

"Even if it is pretend." 

She nodded and smiled half-heartedly. 

"Right, well, thank you either way. That word… It's still…"

"I've never apologised for that, have I?"

She pulled her hand from his and shook her head. As if she was trying to shake something off of her.

"I suppose I have something to make up for then. One would think that taking a hit like I did tonight might constitute a very determined apology." 

He made her laugh at this, and he was glad to still be able to do so.

"I'm afraid I might need extra healing though. That floor was rather crude to my complexion."

"Always the drama with you." Granger rolled her eyes and was about to pack her things when Draco reached for her hand and placed it on his jaw again.

"I'm quite truthful, feel for yourself."

Draco felt Granger's finger linger on his jawline as she placated him for another jaw massage. He dared a look into her dark eyes and found them singularly focused on him. She was much closer than he had anticipated. He could make out plenty more freckles across her nose than ever before. 

But the thing that stole his attention was her lips.

Still painted that dark red from earlier in the night and right before his eyes. He tilted his head up further because if she was going to do what John screamed at her to do, he wanted to be ready.

He kept his eyes open the entire drawn-out moment. That was how he saw the change in her expression and the realisation hit her cold right before she steered her mouth upwards.

The touch of her lips to his forehead had his shoulders dropping as she turned her back to him.

It struck Draco then, quite painfully he might add, that he very much wanted to kiss Hermione fucking Granger.
He was pretty sure she had wanted to kiss him too for just a second. But she had chickened out.

"That's it?" Draco asked both affronted and disappointed. Granger turned back to face him with her fingers covering her very attractive lips. What he wouldn't give at that moment to put his fingers against her lips.

"What do you mean?"

"I defend your honour and all I get is a peck on the forehead? Honestly, I've seen more action from my grandmother when she was still alive." Draco scoffed and jumped to his feet, straightening out his waistcoat. He refused to acknowledge the wobble going on in his knees or the reason why they wobbled.

Granger scoffed too and Draco's ego grew a few inches when he saw his taunt was helping him towards his goal.

"What are you? Five years old?" She teased him right back.

"No. I'm a healthy young man who just got decked to the floor defending you in front of my crazy relatives. I would've thought chivalry was something you recognised in Gryffindor, but apparently-" He cut off when Granger took hold of his chin. She stood before him, inches between their faces. His hands were still in the air from his affronted gesturing, and they stayed there. Frozen in the moment.

She seemed to recognise it too. 

That they were standing on a cliff. Draco took a moment to let the view sink in. The vastness before him and the horizon. The desire to leap into the unknown and what Granger's lips might hold for him. 

Both seemed ready to jump into whatever it might be that awaited at the bottom.

"Fine." She gritted out. "Is this the reward you wanted then?" Then she pecked her mouth to his for the fastest kiss Draco had ever experienced - and he had experienced quite a few in his day. This one barely left the taste or feel of her against his lips. 

It happened too fast for him to even react with his lips against hers. She had already pulled back but her fingers were still curled around his chin. As if she debated herself about what she had just done.

Draco decided to leap off the cliff in one sweeping motion.

"Not even close!" His hands fell to her waist and pulled her close, before moving one hand to cup the back of her head. He hesitated for one minuscule second, gazing into her eyes to determine if he was crossing a line she wanted to keep bordered. 

Granger lowered her lashes and that was enough for Draco.

He kissed her. 

Properly.

Determinedly.

Sinfully.

He pressed his lips to hers and was utterly delighted to feel her press back. He held her head firm but gently to align her face to his so he could slant his mouth over her soft lips. Because they were the softest he had ever felt. For days now, he had wondered what they would feel like. He had tried to imagine the feel of her skin against his mouth every time John craved attention. 

But this?

This was nothing like he could have imagined.

Draco decided to push his luck and used the tip of his tongue to trace the seam of her lips. She let out a small whimper before she opened for him and reached for him with her tongue as well. Draco's knees nearly buckled.

The taste of Granger!
She tasted like divinity. Mixed with the fruity scent of the champagne they had both been drinking for hours. She tasted like a dream he had yet to wake from. She tasted like something he wanted to bottle up and save for eternity. 

It was a taste he instantly knew he would develop a craving for, and it would never be enough.

Fuck.

She tasted like she belonged to him.

Draco felt her fingers dance from his chin to wind up in his hair and tangle themselves there as they kept on kissing. In return, he curled his fingers into the loose curls at the back of her head, pulling her closer still. Locking his mouth to hers. 

Granger sighed into his mouth when he started to pull her yielding bottom lip between his teeth. Then he soothed it with gentle kisses again before he carried on ravishing her mouth. He had to stifle a low groan in the back of his throat when she arched her back to deepen the kiss further and he felt her chest heave into his.

Draco let go of all pretence and palmed her cheeks in his hands as he kissed and kissed her.

Granger let out a small moan. 

That was the breaking of the spell.

Her eyes flew open after being shut for such a deliriously long and pleasurable time. She stared at him, her caramel eyes wide and packed with conflicting emotions. Draco held on to her face. He didn't want her to step back. 

He wanted to keep kissing her.

He had no idea why.

John knew, of course.

Draco just knew that if they stopped….

If he let go of her… 

Granger pushed herself away, slightly shaking her head as her fingers danced across her swollen lips.

"I-" She took a stumbling step backwards and slipped through Draco's fingers. Draco reached for her, if nothing else to keep her from falling over. But she held up a shaking hand.

"I have to go." She managed to get out and before Draco could say anything to stop her, she had vanished out the door, and the next moment he heard the crack of Apparition.

Draco sat back feeling spent beyond anything he had ever experienced before.

All from kissing Hermione fucking Granger.

John would have a party of his lifetime later that night.

Chapter Text

”Nature, stronger than his just occasion, Made him give battle to the lioness, who quickly fell before him: in which hurtling from miserable slumber I awaked . ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Throughout his life, Draco always got what he wanted. He never had to ask for anything. The fact that he had to ask Granger to kiss him and then she did it was enough to make his brain cross-eyed.

He hadn't seen her since. 

A part of him - the part currently in a salacious meeting with his left hand - kept urging him to reach out to Granger. He muffled this part of his line of thinking and instead chose to do the thing most grown men do. 

Ignore it.

When that didn't work, he would have a meeting with John in solitude and both would feel slightly better afterwards.

When Draco was younger, he would always ask his father for advice. His father always had the right answers. Until he didn't anymore.

Draco contemplated this as he stood before the grand doors to the west wing of the Manor. They were locked, as always, and he just stared at the handles.

More than once, he had reached out and closed his fingers around the cold metal of the handle. He never turned them.

There was nothing for him on the other side of those doors.

His father…..

Draco let out a heavy sigh right at the moment his mother's heels clicked behind him.

"Draco? What are you doing here?" She came up next to him and placed a soft hand on his shoulder as they both stared at the locked doors.

"When was the last time you saw him?"

His mother took in a deep breath and slid her palm down to wrap an arm around his elbow.

"Last week. There is no change, Draco, nor will there ever be. The Healers say the same. We will do our best to carry on with our lives, until you are ready to…." As always, she trailed off when they talked about his father, her fingers unconsciously finding the pendant she always had hidden beneath her collar. Draco watched out of the corner of his eyes as his mother smiled sadly, her fingers wrapping around the pendant.

"As much as it might pain us to do so," she whispered, tugging on his arm. "Come, Nipsy will have tea ready for us in a few minutes."

Draco allowed his mother to take him to tea. 

He spent the rest of the day thinking about his father. Or more specifically, his father and mother. The relationship they had and the facade they presented to the rest of the world.

His parents never showed affection in public as Draco liked to do - even more so with Granger because it riled her up so much.

For a few other reasons too, if he were to be honest with himself.

However, Draco never doubted in his mind that his parents loved each other.

He drank several inches of Firewhiskey in his own company that afternoon as he mulled things over. As it happened, his brain got mulled over too with the amount of whiskey he consumed. Blaise would be proud, he thought, as he went to grab a handful of floo powder.

As he threw it into the grate, he realised he had no idea what to call out to get to Granger's house. She had always been the one to floo to his home.

The green flames danced in front of him as he stepped forward.

"Sod it," he said and took a chance and called out "Granger's place," before the flames swallowed him.

Normally, floo travel only took a few seconds. This time, however, Draco found himself twisting through unknown spaces for several minutes and the amount of Firewhiskey in his stomach started to look for an escape route rather vertically. Just when he was about to vomit all over a nicely furnished sitting room, he found himself spat out and sprawled on the floor in what he recognised as Granger's sitting room. 

Her ceiling had funny shapes in strange patterns that kept dancing before him. His hand clasped across his mouth while he lay flat on his back and adjusted to the sensation of being immobile after such a long time twisting around.

"M- Draco?" Granger's voice broke through the continued dance moves his brain insisted on doing. He waved a hand vaguely in the air without a word.

"What are you doing here?" There was a shift in the air between them. When he cracked an eye open, she was on her knees next to him. He didn't remove his hand from his mouth. She sniffed.

"Are you- are you drunk?"

Very slowly, one finger at a time, he peeled his hand away and looked up at her with narrowed eyes.

"There is a very large possibility that might be true." Then he shut his eyes again, because Granger had the nerve to not sit still above him.

"Hang on," she said as she rose and then left the room. Draco waved a hand again and tried to will the room to stop spinning. It didn't work.

Moments later, he sensed Granger return next to him. Her warm fingers gently lifted his head into what he assumed was the softness of her lap. It smelled nice, he mused to himself as he snuggled his head further into her lap. It was much more comfortable than the floor.

"Here, drink this."

He felt her soft fingers prod his lips before she tilted a cold bottle to them. The content was cold and tasted of ash as it went down his throat. He immediately started to cough and splutter, rolling onto his side, clutching his hands in whatever fabric Granger wore as he continued to cough into her lap.

As the ash-tasting liquid found its way to his stomach, it continued to spread to the rest of his body and he felt a different lightness to his head.

"You're lucky I had this. It was my last Sober Up Potion."

Draco continued to splutter a bit into her lap and felt much better when he felt her hands run through his hair in soothing motions. Once the coughing subsided, he managed to feel around his brain and realised he was embarrassingly sober again.

Then he realised he was still on the floor with his head in Granger's lap while she petted him like a small child in need of comfort.

Next came the realisation of how much he liked it.

"Why are you here, Draco?" She reiterated as he struggled to sit upright.

He peered over at her. She wore a very fluffy and very purple dressing gown that was loosely wrapped around her middle. He could just see the outline of some woodland creature on her loose nightdress underneath. Her hair had been let down and ran in wild curls across her back and shoulder. She had cleaned her face and looked as tired as Draco felt at that moment.

"I," he cleared his throat and looked for the clock he remembered she had on her mantle.

It was late.

"I'm not- well, it was a good thing I was spat out here. Otherwise, who knows which cretin would have let me in their house? They might have fed me tarts stuffed with gooseberries instead of Sober Up Potions," he looked sideways at her as she scrutinized him.

He did his utmost best - and failed spectacularly - not to look at her mouth. He watched it pinch as she realised he was watching her and then it seemed - or Draco hoped - they were both thinking of the last time they had seen each other.

When he'd had his tongue inside that mouth it had been anything but pinched.

"Of course," she said and broke the moment as she got to her knees and crawled back onto her sofa. 

Draco absorbed the silence.

He stayed on the floor for a bit. The rug he was sitting on felt surprisingly springy and had he not been so drunk he felt certain it had made a far more comfortable welcome.

Glancing back at Granger, he saw she had perched herself with a book she had abandoned upon his arrival. Draco took this return to their usual routines and went with it. 

With slow movements, he crawled onto the sofa on the opposite end and sat down with a heavy groan.

"Long day?" She asked from behind her book without looking at him.

"Rather." 

They sat in silence for a bit before she chucked a book at him to keep him from staring at her. Draco once again thought about how violent Granger tended to be without - and even more so with - provocation. When she adjusted in her seat, she winced.

"What's wrong?" Draco didn't even hesitate to ask as he leaned forward in his seat.

"It's nothing, I've just hurt my ankles a bit today," she started to rub along her ankle and lower calf, Draco watched in fascination as the fluffy robe revealed bare skin.

He gulped and hoped she hadn't noticed.

Why the fuck were ankles all of a sudden so tantalising to him?

"What did you do?" He did his best to keep his voice neutral and not the quivering mess he knew it would be if he kept looking at her bare ankles for too long.

She let out a sigh, her hand pausing as it rested on her ankle.

"Rose hid all my shoes today. Except for my heels."

Draco tilted his head in wonderment at this. Without thinking much more about it, and wanting to return the favour of helping him from his twisting turmoil earlier, he silently reached for her foot. 

"Why would that hurt your ankles?" He gently wrapped his fingers around her heel and pulled it to rest across his thigh. Then he proceeded to massage her heel and ankle. Before his first applied pressure, she had been tense and silent. At his touch, she let out a little contented hiss and relaxed.

"It was my tallest and most uncomfortable heels. Honestly, I should've binned them ages ago. I only kept them because Rose thinks they're the prettiest shoes in the world and reminds her of Cinderella." Granger smiled a little to herself. Draco had no idea who or what Cinderella was, but he just kept massaging her foot. He saw when she leaned further back and relaxed more and more with each heavy pressure on her ankle.

"I don't see the problem with pretty shoes for a pretty witch."

Her temper must've overshadowed the compliment, as the next thing Draco knew, a small pillow whacked him in the face, and Granger chuckled lightly.

"You try going to the shops in sparkling heels and see how your feet feel in the evening."

He tightened his hold on her foot and kept it locked in place with both hands. He felt his face spread in a grin.

"I might just do that, Granger." The laugh she let out in answer did strange things to Draco. It was an odd sensation he still had no way of describing despite how often he was starting to feel it in the presence of Granger.

"I'm sure I'll look dashing in sparkly heels," he continued with his eyes on her foot still in his lap. She adjusted the way she sat a little, making her more comfortable with her feet in his lap. Because the adjustment meant she suddenly placed both feet on his legs. Draco cocked a brow. She cocked one in return.

The moment stretched out between them before Draco slowly started to massage both her ankles. He caught her relaxing out of the corner of his eyes and felt rather good about himself. 

He was sure John had other ways to make a witch relax, but for now, Draco found himself quite comfortable with Granger's feet in his hands.

"Why are you here, Draco?" She asked some minutes later in a softer and much lower voice. Draco let it hang in the air for a long moment. He hadn't thought of an answer yet, because he hadn't had a reason to floo here. He'd just done it without a thought.

"Where is mini-Granger?" He asked instead. He was a Slytherin after all and was an expert at avoiding situations. Coupled with his Malfoys genes, he was quite the expert to steer clear of things he wanted to avoid for as long as possible. It was a trait he had picked up from his mother in recent years and he had perfected it quite well.

"She's asleep, it's long past 11." She let out a long yawn to confirm her time-tracking abilities and then shuffled herself further down the cushions. Draco kept up his light pressure on her feet. He copied the same pattern he had worked on her hands and lower back a few times now when they were in public. It wasn't long before he realised just how effective his ministrations were as Granger's breathing slowed down and he saw she had fallen asleep.

Draco froze.

He had slept with a certain amount of witches in his life but never had one fall asleep in this manner. For a long while, he just studied Granger sleeping.

When she was this relaxed, there was no sight of the frown or pinched lips she sometimes had in his vicinity. Quite the opposite, her lips were slightly parted and her entire face looked as relaxed as anything he had ever seen. He was briefly reminded of their adolescent years and the innocence they still carried with them. Both of them were far from innocent these days but there was still something pure about Granger in her sleeping state. He glanced at her mouth again and tried not to think about how it felt kissing her.

He wondered if she thought about kissing him, too, since the other night.

Without meaning to, he found that his hands had stopped massaging her feet and had instead begun to gently stroke up along her calves.

Shit, John, you bastard.

Draco jerked his hands away as if Granger had directed her wand at him. Running them through his hair and gawking up at the ceiling, Draco breathed deeply a handful of times before looking down at her again.

Taking care not to move her too much, he shifted her legs off of him and rose from his seat. The next moment, he stood before her fireplace with a handful of floo powder in hand.

Draco hesitated, glancing back.

Granger curled onto her side thus making her robe slide further off her legs. Draco saw bare knees and a small bit of thigh before he firmly shut his eyes and cursed inwardly.

It took him several long moments to mull things over. 

As much as he wanted to depart and leave her on her own, there was another part of him that mostly wanted to stay and watch her sleep.

To observe the peaceful side of Granger. One that wouldn't smack him upside the head with beaded bags or throw pillows.

"You're such a wanker," Draco scolded himself before he moved.

Getting on one knee, he reached for Granger's limp form. He took care to arrange her fluffy robe around her legs before he wound an arm under her knees. Tilting her head slightly, he reached his other arm behind and around her shoulders before he rose to his feet again.

"Unghf," he grunted as he staggered to gather his balance.

Fuck, Granger was heavier than she let on with her tiny figure. This was a stupid idea and despite how fit Draco thought he was, he was already short of breath from just lifting her off the sofa.

He shifted her gently in his arms and was rewarded with her seemingly snuggling closer to him. It made Draco freeze on the spot again.

He tried to control his breathing while Granger slung an arm around his shoulder and nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck.

Yes, yes, we'll discuss this later, John.

Draco inhaled deeply and then set on his way to her stairs.

Fuck.

He had forgotten about the stairs. Honestly, he had zero clue about the layout up there, except for knowing her bedroom was somewhere on that upper floor. 

Blood pounded in his ears as he pondered what he was supposed to do. He couldn't just drop her back on the sofa. Not now when he had her in his arms. 

"Bloody hell," he muttered as he began the slow and slightly torturous ascend upstairs. By the time he made it there, he was positively winded and sweat trickled down his back.

This was unlike any shag up against walls he had done previously in his life. It required far more work, and he was questioning his sanity thrice on his way up those bloody stairs. A wall shag was at least pleasurable in every sense despite the inconvenient angles.

"Right," Draco huffed as he tried to adjust to his surroundings and locate Granger's bedroom. On her part, she had barely jostled in his arms, and when she moved, it was only to snuggle herself closer to him. He supposed that made things better. She still smelled very nice.

The first door he tried turned out to be what looked like an office. He saw outlines of books on every surface where light from her hallway hit. Across from it was a bathroom, and he had to leave the door open, pondering how much longer he could manage carrying her.

Thankfully, the third door turned out to be her bedroom. At least he hoped it would be. There was a grand bed in the middle of the room, neatly made, of course. Using the toe of his shoe, Draco tugged the blankets haphazardly down before he nearly collapsed Granger onto the mattress and struggled to catch his breath. His arms were still caught under Granger's sleeping body.

How the bloody hell had she not woken up during any of his wheezing?

He pulled his arm from her knees, careful not to let her robe slip too much. Before he struggled to withdraw his hand from behind her back, he pulled the blankets up and over her. She snuggled contentedly and Draco saw a smile graze her face in her sleep.

"Mmmm," she hummed and Draco had to force his eyes shut at the reminder of how she had sounded when they had kissed. He needed to get out of here before he did something he was sure she wouldn't appreciate.

Reaching deep within himself for all the gentlemanly manners he had ever possessed, he slowly moved his arm from her under. He halted beside the bed.

She looked peaceful again.

Draco bent and kissed her forehead softly. If he lingered, it was entirely her fault for letting out such a soft and beautiful sound when he did it. It made him shiver and then stumble backwards a little.

He nearly backed into the door frame on his way out because he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Shaking his head on the way out he pondered what it was about Granger.

He was halfway down the stairs again when he heard something. One foot propped on the step above him, he turned and saw Mini-Granger stagger across the brightly lit hallway, her tiny fists rubbing her eyes while some form of stuffed animal was tucked into the crook of one elbow.

Without thinking, Draco drew his wand and knoxed the lights.

"Mummy?" Her little voice drifted across the landing to Draco and something clenched inside his chest when he saw the shadow approach the door to Granger's bedroom. Draco stood motionless and simply watched the door being pushed open as Granger's fuzzy voice came from inside the room.

"Come along, darling."

Then Mini-Granger hurried inside and Draco was alone again.

He didn't register how long he stood there, watching the half-closed door and thinking about the two people sleeping in that large bed together. The number of curls that was sure to be properly tangled in the next morning. Nor did he think of a tiny hand holding on to a bigger hand in the darkness.

There was an unfamiliar pang deep inside Draco's chest when he finally wrenched himself away in search of the floo powder.

He allowed the green flames to swallow him and throw him out in his office before he staggered onwards to his bed. 

Alone.

He didn't bother to disrobe and just flopped onto the made thing. 

Alone.

For a long while, he just stared at the draped canopy of his four-poster bed and tried to make sense of everything that had taken place over less than two hours. He had shaken something irrevocably unsteady deep within him without a possibility of settling it back in place.

Chapter Text

”A certain knight that swore by his honour they were good pancakes, and swore by his honour they mustard was naught: now I’ll stand to it, the pancakes was naught, and the mustard was good; and yet was not the knight forsworn . ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Draco tried many things to steady whatever it was he had felt in his chest that night.

He roamed the halls and talked to the chatty busts of previous Malfoy family members. They talked far more than they ought, most of which appeared helpful, only never to Draco’s particular situation. 

"You ought to try and comb your hair differently, my Francois always loved it when I could rake my fingers through it."

"I did. Although that wasn't the only thing I liked your fingers on, my sweet."

"Francois, not in front of your grandparents."

"Oh hush, Louise. It is nothing to be ashamed of. I remember on our wedding night, the entire family gathered around our marital bed to witness the consummation of our new marriage, much to your pleasure."

"Please stop talking," Draco groaned and rubbed his temples in frustration. He had forgotten what he had even asked the silly busts and was developing an increasing headache from their jabbering.

"It was such a lovely evening, my dear. I remember the first time I laid eyes on your ample bosom-"

"I remember when you licked my ample bosom," a snicker followed Draco as he hurriedly tried to escape the mad cackles of his ancestors. 

He would have to question his mother why they kept the silly things when all they seemed to want to talk about was their debauched lives.

The next couple of days passed by with paperwork in his office. He had owled a few acquaintances and had a few things to set up. It was crucial to Draco that these things were in order. Part of him wanted to discuss things with Granger, but he refrained from doing so.

He hadn't talked much with her since flooing into her sitting room as drunk as a badger.

Instead, he kept to himself and hardly even saw his mother except for lunchtime.

By the time Wednesday arrived, Draco pulled on his most fitting muggle suit. He made sure it showed his best features just right. He had learned early just how to flex the muscles in his thighs and arse to make it look quite edible. At least, that was what one particular witch had proclaimed right before she sank her teeth into one cheek rather harshly.

He felt certain Granger would not abide by anything as crude as biting.

Then again, he had no inclinations to what Granger would be up for, aside from a decent snogging when provoked.

He would have to find a way to provoke her again. 

However, today might not be that particular day.

Just then, Theo announced his arrival through the floo and brushed off his new muggle suit.

Draco frowned.

Theo's suit looked very nice, perhaps even nicer than Draco's. That wouldn't do.

He wordlessly summoned his best cufflinks and secured them in place while Theo jabbered on about something surely ridiculous.

"Right?"

Draco looked up with a feigned interest.

"Of course," he just said, grabbed onto Theo's shoulder and apparated them to their chosen destination in Diagon Alley.

Granger had finally persuaded Weaslette into going on a double date with him and Theo.

However, since both witches' schedules were cramped and tended to overbook each other (as well as the fact that Weaslette tended to be Granger's primary babysitter to keep the Matron Weasley out of her hair) they would settle for a lunch date as per usual with Draco and Granger at Little Treats. Granger had suggested they all go to a muggle establishment, but on further contemplation, she decided against it, because she reasoned she had enough emergencies to deal with in her work. She didn't fancy having to obliviate any number of muggles because someone (Draco highly thought she referred to Theo in this case) couldn't keep his wand in his pants.

Draco and Theo arrived first which meant Draco had to suffer even more from Theo's nervous chattering.

Their usual waitress showed them to a bigger table in a corner booth where Theo's arse hardly hit the seat before he jumped back up like a Jack-in-a-box with a stupid grin on his face.

Draco turned and saw Granger and Weaslette being helped off their cloaks by the entrance.

With a small pat on Theo's shoulder, Draco approached Granger and placed a kiss on her cheek in greeting.

"Hello, darling," he whispered, slowly pulling back, letting his cheek graze hers along the way. She shuddered next to him but allowed him to place his hand on her lower back as he stepped closer.

Little Treats was still a public place even if both Theo and Weaslette knew the truth.

"Hello, Draco," Granger smiled in greeting and leaned closer before he escorted them both back to their booth and the jittery nervous wreck that was Theo Nott.

"Malfoy," the redhead said in greeting, walking ahead of them, seemingly unfazed.

Draco kept his hand on Granger's back and let her warmth seep into his fingers as they returned to the table. Theo practically bounced on his heels when Weaslette stopped in front of him.

Theo dropped into a deep bow and kissed the back of her hand, to which Weaslette rolled her eyes and scooted her way into the booth, followed closely by Theo next to her.

Draco gestured for Granger to take her seat where he could slide in next to her.

It was unclear whether it was John or Draco himself who made sure he was sitting as close to Granger as possible, ensuring their legs touched from hip to knee.

Not that it mattered.

The only thing that mattered was that she didn't move away and even leaned in a tiny bit. From the way she had already picked up her menu and read it attentively, Draco didn't even think she had given it more thought before doing so.

This was very interesting to Draco.

"What's good here? You come here every week, don't you?" Weaslette asked the table at large even though they all knew who she referred to.

"Yes," Granger laid her menu on the table. "We do. The salmon and salad are very nice. The cheese quiche too, if you don't mind, well, you know." The two witches shared a small smirk and Draco found himself enthralled by this secret story between them.

"I think not, I still have practice later today. I'll stick with the salad. So," Weaslette leaned forward on her elbows, staring at Draco and Granger. She never even commented on the festive decor of the place, which was why Draco had chosen the destination in the first place to impress Granger.

"Still just a pretend relationship?" Her smirk was knowing and Draco felt Granger stiffen beside him. 

"Of course," she sipped her water and avoided any eye contact. "Please keep your voice down, Ginny."

"Why?"

"This is a public place, Ginevra," Draco cut in and placed an arm around Granger's shoulders. Something in his chest purred when she relaxed in his embrace and sent him a smile in return.

"To everyone here," he turned to face Granger with a lovesick smile, "we are madly in love."

Granger's breath caught and her mouth opened without any words before she shut it again.

"Right," she breathed. Then hid behind her menu again.

Draco smirked but faltered when he caught the knowing stare of Ginevra Weasley. He cleared his throat.

"What made you want to give Theo here a second chance?" 

"I already told you, he's a decent enough shag." Ginevra shrugged and sipped her water. Theo was unable to respond as their waiter approached with their usual selection of wine.

Everyone was poured a glass and ordered food before a strained silence fell again.

"Draco was decked defending Granger's honour this weekend," Theo suddenly blurted and Draco saw the futile attempt to impress Ginevra for what it was and chose to let it slide. 

This time.

"Really?" Ginevra leapt at the chance to hear the story.

It was only because Draco wanted one of his best mates to have a nice date with a nice witch that he kept sullenly silent through the entire story as he sipped his wine. Halfway through it, Granger's hand landed on his leg, giving it a silent squeeze. 

Draco was so startled he nearly choked on his wine that he only afterwards paid attention to which part in the story Theo had reached. It was just the point where Draco had punched his ridiculous excuse of a family member.

What had that little squeeze been about?

"Of course, then sturdy little Armand decked Draco properly and he dropped to the floor. Come to think of it, I didn't see the two of you for the rest of the night?" Theo turned his attention to Draco and Granger. Her hand was still on his thigh, only now it was frozen.

Draco downed his wine instead of responding and saw Granger do the same out of the corner of his eye.

"Maybe lay off the wine if you have to go back to work, darling," he gently pried the glass from her fingers. When their fingers touched, there was the briefest pause as Granger inhaled heavily, and then she pulled both hands to her lap.

"What happened after Draco was punched?" Ginevra steered the conversation back on its tense track.

"I healed Draco. Then I went home to Rose." 

Ginevra narrowed her eyes and looked back and forth between them.

"Right," she said, drawing out the syllable.

"When are you going to beat the Falcons this season?" Draco hurried to ask and was glad to find the rest of the conversation steered in the direction of Quidditch.

Both Draco and Granger allowed Ginevra and Theo to take the lead during the entire lunch. 

It was with a mild surprise that Draco found out how much he enjoyed his time with Granger this way.

Sitting close to her was a nice change. He very much wanted to keep this change permanent between them.

Back down, John.

She was soft and warm in all the places he could touch and whenever she sipped her water, Draco was reminded of how those lips felt against his own.

Shit.

Just as he was about to tune back into the conversation, he realised they were wrapping things up.

Ginevra announced she needed the ladies and Granger followed.

"All right, tell me?" Theo practically demanded and drew Draco's attention back from watching Granger walk away. He had recently discovered he had a new appreciation for her skirts and the way they hugged her hips. Draco snapped back and put on an insincere smirk.

"Tell you what, Theo? How to properly style your muggle suit with wizarding robes, because I can tell you-"

"Not that, you wanker! Tell me what happened with Granger after she healed you?"

"I escorted her home."

"That's bull. I saw her leave by herself. Why?" Theo crossed his arms and stared at Draco. Draco bit the inside of his cheek. Sometimes he forgot how cunning his fellow Slytherins could be, or how perceptive they always were.

"All right, I'll tell you." Theo looked giddier than a child about to get his first sweet. Draco groaned.

"We kissed. Well, snogged might be a better term."

Theo's jaw dropped onto the table before he guffawed.

"I fucking knew it."

"You know nothing, Theo," Draco hissed as he looked to see if Granger was on her way back. There was a very small part at the back of his brain that was sure she would not be pleased to hear him talking about this with Theo.

"And it will stay that way." 

Just then he spotted Granger returning by herself.

"Ginny said she needed an extra minute and we should just meet her outside."

"Oh, I'll just, um, go see if she, um, needs help." Theo's lips quirked with every word he spoke and Draco tried to murder him with his eyes. 

Unfortunately, it didn't work and Theo sauntered off towards the loos.

"Can I escort you back to St. Mungo's?" Draco offered Granger as he signalled for her cloak.

"Oh, um, well, yes, I suppose you can, thank you." She smiled at him when he fastened her cloak beneath her chin and then slid his palms across her shoulders. They both stood, silently watching the other, waiting for something.

If it had been any other witch in any form of real relationship, Draco would probably have snuck with her to the loo and shagged her against the wall. Quite suddenly, his brain was overpowered with visuals of Granger's legs wrapped around his waist. 

For Merlin's sake, he knew what her ankles looked and felt like.

She let out a little, content sigh and drew back. Her smile was still soft and Draco used the moment to study her just a bit closer. 

Her hair was done up as it usually was when she came from work on Wednesdays. Her clothes appeared to be the usual knee-length and hip-hugging skirt paired with a blouse that was both fitting and loose in the right places. There was something else about her that day, too. Draco couldn't put his finger on it before he registered how her nose was right in front of his. At a glance, he spotted her wearing heels.

"Did Mini-Granger hide all your shoes again?" He asked with a low chuckle. She looked down surprised and then chuckled too. 

"Oh, no, I found them. They were locked in her toy chest. I hadn't been able to accio them because her toy chest has a small ward to keep her cousins out of it. But no, um, I found them yesterday." 

"You don't usually wear heels for work?"

"No, I don't."

"You said your feet hurt too much."

"I did. They do. I'm changing when I get back to my office before I see any of my patients later."

"Then why bother wearing them for lunch?"

She fell silent and bit her bottom lip.

Fuck, she needed to stop doing that or John would become too insistent.

Granger shrugged.

"It felt necessary," she said as she stepped outside.

The air was cold as December was just around the corner. It had yet to snow but according to Nipsy just the other morning, she could tell snow was on the horizon from the way her nose twitched in the morning. Draco told Granger this as they waited for Theo and Ginny to exit.

Her laugh danced through the air and settled in his lungs as she braced herself on the cobblestones when laughing made her lose her balance slightly.

She kept holding on to him while they waited.

He cleared his throat.

"By the way, I'll need to change our lunch dates."

"Oh?"

"I have new engagements to take up my time. However, I've made it so we can have lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays instead. I've already made the future reservations and cleared it with Sammy." Draco cringed at the name of her stupid secretary who appeared more bother than help most days.

"Twice a week?"

"Yes, it seemed the way things would go in this relationship," he spoke in a soft voice with a hand on her back again, guiding her across a few cobblestones to make way for new patrons to enter Little Treats. Her eyes danced across his face and made his heart perform a jittery sort of dance.

"Of course. So I'll be seeing you three times a week now?" 

"Yes," he confirmed and was about to say more when Ginevra and Theo emerged from the restaurant. Theo looked flushed and his shirt was only halfway tucked into his trousers. Draco rolled his eyes at the same time Ginevra tried to flatten her slightly rumpled hair.

"Really, Ginny?" Granger admonished. Ginevra only shrugged.

"What? I had to see if he held up to the memory or if it was a one-luck type of thing."

"Good god," Granger groaned and hid her face in Draco's shoulder. Theo just grinned and shrugged like an idiot. Draco wanted to smack him.

Partially for getting a shag in the middle of the day like that.

"Turns out Theo here," Ginevra stepped closer and pinched the wizard in mention on his arse. Theo yelped in surprise.

"Lives up to his word." She wiggled her eyebrows. "If you know what I mean?"

"Of course, I bloody well know what you mean, Ginny."

"Right, because you're shagging ferret boy regularly?" Behind her, Theo nearly choked on his laughter. Granger turned crimson and her lips pinched.

"I'm only joking. This was nice," Ginevra turned to Theo and smacked him on the arse.

"Feel free to owl me for a shag another time." Then she turned on the spot and Apparated away.

Theo was still laughing by the time Draco awkwardly said his polite goodbyes to Granger and let her return to St. Mungo's on her own with another soft kiss on her cheek. He was more than pleased to feel her leave a kiss on his cheek too.

"You're an idiot," Draco declared as he stormed off down Diagon with a chortling Theo in his wake.

"Come off it, mate, you're just miffed because you didn't get a shag in the loos."

Draco only spluttered something incoherent as those visuals from earlier swamped him again and made him stumble.

"But listen," Theo came up beside him and was suddenly serious. He halted them with a hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Let's be serious for a moment," he stood tall and placed a hand over his heart. "I plan on courting Ginevra now. Truly."

"Smashing."

"Really, I thought she was just a great shag, she's that too, obviously, I mean just now-"

"Please, shut up."

"Right, well, what I mean to say, I think she's more than just a great shag. I'd like to court her and give it a proper go. Maybe you should too?"

"What? Court Ginevra?"

"No, you dolt." Theo smacked Draco on the back of his head, which prompted Draco to do the same to Theo as he had wanted to do throughout most of the luncheon.

"Ouch, stop, stop. I meant you should court Granger."

"I already am."

"I meant properly. Not just in public for your mother's or the paper's sake." Theo stood tall and waited for Draco to smack him again. Draco was halfway on his way to do so but closed his fingers into a tight fist instead.

He let out a frustrated breath that ghosted in the cold air. Briefly, he thought back to the small ways she had allowed him to get close during their lunch. Even when it had just been the two of them. Or the ways she sometimes touched him when she healed him. Or just touched him innocently.

"I don't think she'll let me," he finally admitted and his shoulders dropped. Theo nodded as they both thought about this for a moment.

"You won't know until you try, mate." Theo clapped him on the back before he too Apparated home and left Draco to his musings.

"Shite."

Chapter Text

”What manner of man? Is his head worth a hat, or his chin worth a beard? . ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Draco spent far longer on Saturday preparing to apparate to Granger's house. He had enlisted Nipsy to help him find something new to wear that would be smart but casual and something Granger would not find too offensive. This turned out to be difficult whenever Draco pulled on robes finer than the next ones and Nipsy would shake her floppy ears, closing her eyes, afraid to speak her mind.

For several hours, he roamed his rooms and office starkers, upsetting several paintings with his splendid bare backside, trying to think of something to wear. 

Finally, Nipsy had collected a pair of black and loose trousers (that still managed to flaunt his spectacular arse) and a white dress shirt which she instructed him not to button entirely.

"Two buttons is casual, Master Draco," she inclined while her small fingers worked the buttons. "But three buttons is too much, Nipsy always says."

Draco arched a brow, considering whom exactly Nipsy would have told this to at another time. That started a row of unpleasant images with the heads of the many busts and paintings of the Manor he quickly shut down.

He was jittery throughout dinner with his mother - who kept asking questions about Granger - and hardly touched his food before he descended to the wine cellar to select a bottle to bring along for the evening.

His mother stopped him as he was about to apparate to Granger's front step.

"Give my regards to Hermione this evening," Narcissa Malfoy brushed some invisible dust off of Draco's shoulder as she smiled at her son.

"Mother," Draco bit his tongue for what he was about to say. It could potentially ruin the secrecy of his pretend relationship with Granger and upset his mother. However, he knew no other women who knew more about courtship than his mother. Running a frustrated hand down his face and then through his perfectly combed hair, he damned himself by asking;

"What would be the first and most fitting step in a courtship?"

Narcissa paused, scrutinising her son.

"I was under the impression you and Miss Hermione were already courting, were you not?"

"We are," he cleared his throat through the hurried confirmation. "We are. However, given we had to uh, hide the entire thing for several months, I don't believe we have gone about it the proper way. In some instances."

His mother's expression cleared right up and she beamed at him proudly. Draco felt his stomach drop to the floor. She reached to straighten the lapels of his very fine muggle jacket.

"Given the circumstances and how far along in your relationship you already are, I would say you can skip a few steps. Perhaps you ought to try and invite her for a proper evening out instead of your luncheons? As she has her daughter, I would suggest taking some time to learn more about her, too." Narcissa stepped back, appraising her son as if she was sending him off to battle.

Draco supposed, that in a way, he was about to enter the most dangerous battle of his entire life.

"Right, um, thank you, mother." 

He turned up on Granger's doorstep, bottle in hand and made sure his hair was perfect again before he rang the doorbell. There was a riot of noise from behind the door, it sounded as if someone was racing to answer it. Quite suddenly it was wrenched open and Draco's smile faltered as he found himself face to face with none other than Harry “Chosen One” Potter.

The next moment, Mini-Granger hung around Potter's leg, giggling like a mad person.

"Not fair, you started without me, Uncle Harry," her tiny mouth pouted. Draco was reminded who her mother truly was in that instant. Potter glared a second longer at Draco before he scooped the girl up in his arms.

"Sorry, bud, you'll win next time. Malfoy," Potter directed his attention to Draco again. "What are you doing here?" Draco could see Potter draw on his Auror background and felt interrogated without any words. Potter's glare was vicious in the way it ran across him from top to toe. Before he even had time to form an answer, Granger appeared in the hallway behind Potter and mini-Granger, looking quite flushed. She lit up in a radiant smile when she saw Draco and it bolstered him beyond any other feeling to stand a little taller.

"Draco, you're early." Granger came up next to Potter and pulled her daughter from her friend’s arms. She looked expectantly at Draco, who still felt the penetrating stare of Potter.

"Apologies, Hermione, dinner finished early with Mother this evening." 

"It's all right, come in, I was just about to get Rose ready for bed."
"No, I'm not tired!" The little one started to object as Draco followed everyone into the sitting room. Potter kept his eyes narrowed and focused on Draco. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Of course, you aren't. You've just eaten a week's worth of chocolate cake, thanks to your uncle," Granger shot a quick glare at Potter, who then broke his vicious glare from Draco, shifting into the friendly uncle Draco supposed he was.

"You said one slice, Hermione. It's not my fault you let her cut it herself," Potter grinned as he started to tickle mini-Granger, who then squealed with laughter and ran from her mother's arm out of the sitting room. Granger sighed and gently shoved Potter. They could all hear the tiny squeals of laughter going up the stairs.

"Thanks for that, Harry," Granger bunched her hair on top of her head with a frustrated sigh. She glanced at Draco before turning back to Potter.

"You always spoil her. I don't know how long I'll be getting her down for the night. Just," she wrapped her hand around Potter's upper arm and looked up at him.

"Talk. No wands, please. I'll just," she sighed, stepping towards the hallway. On her way, she stepped past Draco and he felt a small rush of her presence so close suddenly. She turned to face him with another smile.

"I'll be right back, try not to hex each other while I'm gone." Then she surprised Draco completely by raising on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. It happened faster than he would've liked and it seemed she caught herself by surprise by doing so because of the way she hurried out of the room with her fingers pressed to her lips. Draco found himself frozen in place, staring after her feet as they vanished up the stairs.

"When Hermione owled me about this ruse of yours, I couldn't believe why she'd agree to do it," Potter's voice shook Draco from his surprise. The two wizards sat down on opposite ends of the sofa, facing each other as if this were the beginning of a duel. Potter shook his head in disbelief.

"She has too good a heart, I've always told her."

"Yes, well, I might agree with you on that one."

"So what's in it for you, Malfoy?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Potter?"

"Right. You just show up dressed like that and with a bottle of," Potter snatched the wine from where Draco had just placed it on the table. His eyes widened when he read the label.

"Fucking Merlin, that shit's expensive. Look," he let go of the bottle again and faced Draco. "I've seen the papers. Even if Hermione hadn't owled me, this thing you've got going looks pretty real to me. Despite what you both say." He held up a hand when Draco began to open his mouth.

"I haven't seen you for several years, Malfoy. I'll never be your biggest fan, nor will I understand what the hell this thing is. But from the looks of things," he glanced towards the stairs and they listened briefly for the low voice of Granger singing mini-Granger to sleep. 

Potter cleared his throat.

"Rose is my goddaughter, Malfoy. I love her as if she were my own. She and Hermione are my family."

Draco nodded at this. He assumed as much based on the small interaction he had just witnessed. He just hadn't factored in how it would affect something inside him. It made him shift in his seat as he strained to listen more carefully for Granger's voice. It grew lower and lower with each line of the lullaby she sang. It wasn't one he was familiar with. He assumed it might be a muggle one.

Potter kept watching Draco after giving his statement. Draco nodded.

"Understood, Potter."

"Right, well," he grabbed the wine again as he got to his feet. "You won't mind if I take this then unless you want Hermione vomiting all night and then passing out?" 

Draco would not, he had had enough of Granger vomiting on him once. Potter carried on without bothering to let Draco get a word in.

"Red wine and Hermione don't mix well. For future reference, you'll want to bring white or rosé. Champagne if you're treating her, but even then she can't hold her liquor much after she had Rose. She's a fun drunk, though. Handsy." Potter smirked as he said the last word. Draco gulped.

The next moment, they heard Granger silently come down the stairs and back into the sitting room.

Draco rose to his feet too. Granger clocked the situation and then stepped next to Draco.

"What's with the wine, Harry?" She wrapped her arms around her middle, closing the thin robe she wore. A part of Draco wanted to reach out and wrap his arms around her middle too. If it had been another situation, he might have. But with Potter and his too-inquisitive eyes, he instead balled his hands into fists behind his back.

"Oh, I'm off to meet with Dina. I'll leave you two to whatever this is," he waved between them with a mischievous smirk directed at Granger. She blushed prettily.

"Harry, whatever you think, I can tell you that-"

"It's fine, Hermione," Potter took her hand, pulling her in for a hug. His voice muffled in her hair but Draco still heard him.

"I'm not one to judge, just take care of yourself, all right?" 

Granger nodded into Potter's shoulder before she let him go and he grabbed the floo powder.

"Say hi to Dina for me?"

"Sure thing. I'll see you, Hermione."

Then he stepped into the green flames and was gone and Draco felt like he could breathe again for some reason. Granger still had her back to him. Her hair fell to her waist when she didn't do anything to it. Draco found himself severely tempted to reach out and touch it. To verify that it felt as soft as it had been when he had run his fingers through some of it while they kissed.

Bugger off, John!

Right, he shouldn't be thinking about that kiss at the moment. Especially not when she then turned around with a timid smile.

"I thought Potter was with some witch named Marie?" He retorted because it was the only thing he could think of that wouldn't remind him of other things about Granger.

"Oh, he is. Dina lives here though. Marie lives in Paris," Granger shrugged as if this explained everything while it only confused Draco more.

"He surprised us with a visit today. Got a last-minute portkey to see Rose. He has to leave for a new mission abroad again for some weeks and only had the weekend here in London. So he came here for the day," Granger explained as they took their usual seats on the sofa and she handed him a book. The same book from last week with his mark of where he left off. 

"He always spoils Rose rotten when he's here. I suppose that's because he sees her so little. She loves it when he visits, and says he's her favourite uncle," Granger let out a small laugh and to Draco's surprise she tucked herself in the sofa with her bare feet in Draco's lap. Draco almost dropped his book at this new familiarity. Granger seemed unbothered about it as she relaxed and ducked behind her book.

For some reason, having Granger's bare feet in his lap was enough to make John twitch.

Why the bloody fuck was he so turned on by her bare ankles?

This wasn't the 1800s when women were scandalised for showing ankles. He'd seen plenty more of her bare skin in some of the dresses she had worn for their public outings.

When he wrapped his fingers around her ankle, she let out a soft and contented sigh that made Draco's head spin. He started massaging without thinking.

Reading with one hand and massaging with the other, they fell into a comfortable silence only interrupted with a few shared words on something interesting from either of their books.

It was much later than usual when Draco departed through the floo.

Not before leaving a warm kiss on Granger's cheek. Her hand flew out and grasped his upper arm, causing him to linger longer than usual.

Draco swallowed, fighting the butterflies dancing in his stomach. They both lingered, cheek to cheek for a long moment.

This was different from the last time when he had practically goaded her into kissing him. As much as he wanted to kiss her again, he didn't want to do it that way. He thought about what Theo had said the other day and what his mother had advised him.

He let his cheek skim along hers as he drew back and caught her caramel eyes staring back at him. She wet her lips and John urged him to capture those warm lips.

It would be so easy to do so.

Fuck.

Draco stepped back.

"Goodnight, Hermione," he darted through the floo before doing what John wanted - what he was almost certain he caught her eyes asking him to do.

But as much as he wanted to snog Granger into her sofa, he wanted more than just that for one evening.

He wanted to court Granger properly.

- - - - - -

The days in December trickled by Draco and still, he hadn't found the nerve or the wisdom to try and properly court Granger. He still saw her every Tuesday and Thursday for lunch and spent the hour they had together watching her. Sometimes touching her in small manners that every attentive boyfriend would do.

When he would reach for her hand, tentatively playing with her fingers while she ate her salad one-handed, she'd let him. Sometimes she would even smile at him as he did so. Every time he escorted her back to her office at St. Mungo's, he would kiss her cheek and linger just a bit longer, moving closer and closer to the corner of her mouth. He would also scowl at Sammy on his way out because he still didn't care for the scrawny wizard who kept showing up to work without any glamour to cover the bruises on his neck. Draco refused to recognise that the reason for his scowling was that he wanted Granger to leave similar kinds of bruises on his neck.

As the date of the hospital Christmas Gala grew nearer, he was met with an even more flustered Granger each time he came to take her to lunch. He was pleased to find her more and more relaxed in his company when he came to her house on Saturdays. He hadn't seen Rose since Potter had stopped by unannounced and said things that made Draco think. 

It hurt his head, to be frank.

Though not as much as the things he was required to read for all the meetings he attended when he wasn't spending time with Granger or his mother. It seemed everyone wanted to cram as much knowledge into his brain as possible before the holidays were bound to blunder everything up again.

Draco went to his meetings and found he could understand most of what people told him. It was hardly new information, it was just information he had never cared to pay any interest in.

His mother accompanied him once or twice. She never commented on anything, though. Only kissed him on his cheek and smiled gratefully. It was an altogether new sensation Draco found it very strange to accept.

The Thursday before the Christmas Gala, he ignored Sammy completely, heading straight for Granger's door. When he opened it, she was buried in stacks of parchment with several flying around her head. 

As for Granger, he could only make out the top of her head thanks to the dropping bun of hair she had tossed together on top of it.

"Hermione?" Draco called as he stepped inside, leaving the door open behind him.

Her head popped up and her eyes softened a tiny bit before they grew anxious again.

"Oh, no, is it noon already?" Her head vanished behind parchment again before he saw her wand flourish in the air and several things flew to set themselves back in order on the shelves behind her.

"It is. Why don't you leave everything for an hour and take a break?" Draco carefully stepped around the desk and reached for her. Taking one hand, he began to tug her up from her chair. She kept writing, despite the quill drooping from her hold. Ink smudged across the parchment and Draco tugged a bit harder and found himself chest to chest with Granger.

She gasped at the proximity, dropping the quill she had been holding. Parchment fluttered from her other hand as she sagged.

"I'm sorry. I'm just terribly busy, between all my patients and this research, I've just… Rose and I still need to do our Christmas shopping. The Gala is this weekend, and I just… I thought I had everything I needed, and now it seems that the healers I contacted in America still can't-"

"Hermione!" Draco forced his voice through her ramblings, grabbing onto her shoulders to force her to look at him. They stared at each other for a brief moment while her brain worked to catch up to the rest of her. It was visible in the way her features slumped before calming.

"It's all right, Granger. You don't have to work everything out now. Let's go to lunch and you can jabber my ears off all you want about whatever this is." He still held on to her shoulders when she nodded.

He took her hand, which she clung to tighter than usual as they Apparated to Little Treats, where she did in fact jabber constantly. Draco had to remind her to eat between her ranting lectures about potions and magical herbs he knew very little about.

But when he escorted her back, she thanked him and seemed to breathe a little easier.
"I'm sorry." She hesitated at the door to her office, still holding on to him. He saw the moment she realised this and dropped his hand. Draco wanted to reach for her again.

"The holidays are always worse. I get… I overwork myself, even if I know every other healer has said there's nothing to be done. I still try. I still want to try."

Draco had very little idea of what it was she was talking about, but he didn't feel it mattered. He sensed that Granger just needed someone to talk to and he was rather glad he could be that person.

He wanted to be the kind of person who would help her in this way.

They stood in silence for a little bit before she let out another sigh.

"I'll see you Saturday, I suppose." Granger looked up at him with a tiny smile. Draco's lips twitched and he gently ran his thumb along her jaw.

"Of course, darling." Then he dipped closer, pressing his lips to the spot right next to the corner of her mouth. He purposely lingered to savour the feel of her. 

Salazar, he wanted to kiss her again.

"I'll be at your house, so we can Apparate together." Draco drew back and watched as Granger nodded, looking a little flustered by the almost-kiss he had just given her. 

It made his heart do something unfamiliar.

Chapter Text

”All made of passion, and all made of wishes; All adoration, duty, and observance, All humbleness, all patience, and impatience, All purity, all trial, all deservings; - And so am I for.. . ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

On Saturday, half an hour before they were set to show up at St. Mungo's Christmas Gala, Draco Apparated to Granger's house in an entirely new set of muggle-styled dress robes. It wasn't a muggle suit nor was it pureblood dress robes. It was something of a mix that Draco had ordered from the Malfoy tailor. 

Draco felt he looked rather dashing in the bum-hugging trousers and close-fitted jacket while a robe/cape-thing (whatever) draped around his shoulders. The dark green colour was so heavy it looked almost black and was matched with a light grey shirt underneath.

His hair looked better than ever if he should say so himself. With no one else around to do so, he felt it only proper to remind himself just how splendid he looked. On Granger's doorstep, he unpocketed the protected rose he had shrunk to fit there, before ringing the doorbell.

Several sets of feet could be heard on the other side to race to get the door. Draco halfway prepared himself to come face to face with Potter again. However, it was a redhead in a Quidditch jersey who opened the door.

"Good afternoon, Ginevra," Draco sidestepped her to enter without an invitation. Mini-Granger giggled behind one of Ginevra's legs. Without a word, Draco drew his wand and carefully duplicated the single rose he held.

"Afternoon, Malfoy," Ginevra drawled, crossing her arms, while she watched him perform his magic.

Once he had a second rose, he crouched down and held it out to Mini-Granger.

"A rose for a Rose," he said solemnly. He quickly charmed the thorns off before letting her little fingers wrap around the stem. He watched Mini-Granger for a moment longer, studying the way her mouth curled into an obvious grin right before she hid behind Ginevra's legs again.

"What do you say, Rose?" Granger's voice floated down the stairs behind Draco.

He just heard Mini-Granger say "Thank you, Mr Draco," before he turned around and was struck numb. Or dumb. Or possibly both.

Atop her stairs, Granger stood in a splendid dress that made her look like she emerged from a snowfall. Her bare shoulders glinted above the light grey fabric that clung to her figure and highlighted all her best features. 

Shit, her tits looked better than ever.

Shut up, John!

Her hips swayed as she walked down the stairs and Draco felt someone step up next to him. A finger touched his chin, pushing his mouth shut.

"She does look very beautiful, doesn't she?" Ginvera's voice needled him to get his bearings again just as Mini-Granger rushed to her mother to show off her pretty flower.

Draco cleared his throat as he came face to face with the visionary witch that was Hermione Granger. She had done something to her face, make-up he presumed, that gave her a rosy tint and bright eyes. Even her eyes smiled as she looked at him.

For once, Ginevra's prattling saved him from trying to find something appropriate to say to Granger.

"I still don't understand why this Gala has to be in the afternoon?" She swooped in to scoop mini-Granger up on her hip before she could tug too much on Granger's dress.

John had an- no! He wasn't not entertaining that line of thinking right now!

"I told you, Ginny. Not every healer can take off work. They can't just shut down St. Mungo's for all of us to party. Someone has to be on call. Besides, this is better. This way we won't have to deal with every old healer drinking too much and trying to-" She cut herself off and cleared her throat with a poignant look at Rose.

"Fair point. Don't be too late, though, I have a date with Theo for a proper-" and then she mouthed the word 'shag', causing Granger to snort-laugh.

"What? You told me not to say specific words in front of this little bud. She even gave me a list," Ginevra exclaimed, turning to Draco in exasperation.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." He smirked only to receive a slight smack on his shoulder.

"Ow."

"Be nice with your aunt. I'll see you when I get home later." Granger stepped forward to kiss her daughter on the forehead. Mini-Granger reached and slung her tiny arms around her mother's neck to kiss her soundly on one cheek. Granger chuckled before she unwound the small arms from her to avoid ruining her hair.

"We're going to feed the duckies!" Mini-Granger declared as she jumped from Ginevra's arms and raced off.

"Have fun with the duckies," Draco wished Ginevra, only to be met with a rude hand gesture the moment Mini-Granger was out of sight. Granger pursed her lips before Draco gently took her arm to side-along her to the destination.

They landed just outside the front gates of a large estate Draco recognised instantly and let out a deep groan.

"What is it?" Granger turned to him, reaching to straighten the lapels of his suit even if he knew they hadn't shifted the slightest bit. She stood close enough for him to whisper and she would be the only one to hear him. Before he let the bomb drop, he wrapped his hands around her elbows.

"This is the McLaggen estate." 

Her eyes widened and she turned to stare at the grand building before her face dropped.

"Bollocks."

They stood for a moment, mentally preparing themselves, before they headed for the doors. 

All too soon, Draco found himself in a ballroom with far too many older wizards and witches who had already had far too much wine to drink. Granger clung even tighter to his arm, a gesture he had no obligation to reciprocate. He adjusted their poses for him to casually drape his arm around her back to rest a hand on the small of her back. She twitched once when he touched her but made no other gesture.

Greetings were shared and hands were shaken. Drinks were offered, and some were splashed in unfortunate places.

Draco kept close guard on Granger while keeping an eye out for the sickening McLaggens they were bound to run into, unfortunately. Sure enough, almost an hour into the event, Draco cringed at the sound of a high-pitched squeal of a greeting.

"Hermione?! You're here, well, of course you are. Don't you look lovely?" Lavender McLaggen marched her way towards Granger and practically wrenched her from Draco's arm to wrangle her into a one-sided embrace. Lavender was no longer pregnant, although her breasts still looked like they wanted to escape her dress rather vehemently.

For perhaps the first time in his life, Draco found himself not wishing for this to happen. It was an odd sensation. Just for good measure, he glanced an extra time at the breasts in question. Just to make sure, of course.

Nope.

They did not affect him. 

Well, that was not true. They were still breasts, something he had always had a fondness for. However, recently, his fondness had become very selective.

His gaze drifted slowly sideways to what he was able to glean of Granger's cleavage and his attention was back at full speed.

Right, back to what was going on in front of him.

"…will be around here somewhere, you remember his uncle, Tiberius? You have to come to say hello, and Draco Malfoy," Lavender's voice suddenly turned sultry. Draco fought valiantly not to cringe or bat her off. He caught the way Granger hid her smirk behind her hand.

A hot palm touched his bicep and Draco's nostrils flared.

"I don't think any of us expected this turn of events," Lavender cooed, blinking suggestively.

"Right, if you'll excuse me, I believe my girlfriend and I are needed elsewhere," Draco extracted himself and reached for Granger to usher her away.

"Thank you," Granger whispered as she took his hand when he steered them onto the dance floor. It reminded him of his mother's fundraiser. Only this time they moved easier with each other. There was no tension or hesitation when he touched her. She willingly reached to hug her body closer to his as they swayed to the music.

Draco rested his chin above her ear where he could breathe in her hair. Granger’s scent was intoxicating to him at this point.

It was in moments like these when Theo's words barrelled through his brain and pushed him onwards. He kept testing things with Granger. Everything he had done so far, she hadn't backed down or scolded him for. It made him think that perhaps Theo was right.

They danced for two dances before an older wizard asked to dance with Granger. Draco obliged with a begrudging smile he didn't even have to fake. As he watched Granger dance and avoid her feet getting stepped on, he sipped his drink. 

For some reason, it only took one dance before he was surrounded by a small group of elderly witches who all wanted to know more about his and Granger's courtship.

"It was such a surprise when we all read about it."

"A wonderful surprise, of course, you are such a lovely couple."
"I imagine your mother is already busy preparing for a wedding."

"How did you even fall in love?"

"So sorry, what are you talking about?" Granger interrupted the chat right when Draco was about to open his mouth to answer the last question. The older witch who had posed it placed her hand on Granger's arm with a knowing look and a grin at her.

"Your handsome wizard here was just about to tell us the lovely story of your love."

"Oh," Granger flushed even more after all the dancing, before turning her attention back to Draco. He swallowed heavily a couple of times as he reached for two champagnes, handing one to Granger.

"Well, Hermione has always been a witch of a kind. It's difficult for anyone not to notice her, I suppose. Then again, in my younger years, I was not always the brightest. But then almost seven months ago, I noticed her."

All the elderly witches gushed and clutched their chests with loving eyes. Draco shouldered on. 

He took a deep breath. With his next words, he took a calculated chance.

"When Hermione allowed me to get to know her again, I noticed a great many things that made me fall in love with her. More so each day as I notice more about her."

"Oh, my, he is a charmer, isn't he?" One witch patted Granger gently on the arm with a knowing chuckle.

"He is," Granger agreed with a soft smile.

"How did he start your courtship?"

"Ah well, I, umm, maybe Draco should tell that story, as it was, um, well, he initiated it." Granger cleverly sipped her champagne and blinked to avoid any more questions. Every other pair of eyes turned expectantly to Draco. He shifted on his feet and deposited his empty flute before speaking.

"I believe it was nearly two months after the Memorial. I asked Hermione to join me for a picnic in a secluded and magical garden outside Wiltshire. I had rented the space for the entire day and made sure every flower in sight was some of her favourites, lilies and peonies for instance. I know how she feels about house elves, so in an honest effort, I put together the picnic myself. It was mostly fruits and nuts, so naturally, we were quite famished by the end of the day." He chuckled and was met with a loving chuckle from everyone else. He sought out Granger's eyes and felt their warmth the moment he caught her staring at him. Clearing his throat, he continued.

"As the sun began to set and we sat side by side, I took her hand in mine and asked her as our customs demand that I be the only wizard to hold her attention. I asked her to devote her time to us together and forsake any other wizard."

"What did you say, dear?"

Granger stood open-mouthed and gaped at Draco.

"I-"

"It may be old-fashioned but I still prefer some of the old customs. The beginning of a proper courtship where certain expectations are set out, I rather like."

"Oh, what were your expectations?"

"Hush, I want to- I mean, let Draco tell the story," Granger interrupted hurriedly and then blushed when they all looked at her. Draco smirked a bit. 

Just a bit.

"I told Hermione that I expected to be the one to make her laugh. To be the one to make her smile. To be the one to help her when she needs it. To be the one to support her when she needs it. To be the one to care for her when she forgets to do so herself."

He saw the way Granger gulped and turned - if possible - even rosier across her cheeks.

The other witches cooed and jabbered on about how lovely a story it was and how they wouldn't have been able to turn such an offer down from any wizard. Granger didn't say a word.

Before she managed to pull herself together, Draco excused himself with a small kiss to her temple. He didn't want to leave her alone but he was a coward, of course. He didn't want to see the look of rejection in her eyes when she caught on to the real meaning behind his story.

After several minutes in the afternoon air, Draco returned to the ballroom and his stomach fell to the floor. Along with nearly every other of his intestines.

Granger was back on the dance floor.

In the arms of Cormac fucking McLaggen.

Draco fumed and had to hold himself back from tearing the wizard away from his witch. Even more so when McLaggen's hand drifted further and further down Granger's back.

"Fucking wanker," Draco cursed to himself and strode across the dance floor not caring who he bumped into on his path.

"Apologies, McLaggen, I believe you have the wrong witch. Yours is somewhere near the canapes," Draco said as he carefully pulled McLaggen's meaty paws off of Granger. She visibly relaxed when she saw Draco and his ego bolstered an octave more. Even more so when Granger stepped straight into his open arm and flung her arm around his waist.

"Of course, Malfoy. I just asked Hermione to dance, for old times' sake, of course." McLaggen leered at Granger and Draco dug his fingers into her hip.

"Of course," Draco gritted out between clenched teeth. McLaggen made a small bow before he turned away and Draco whirled Granger into his arms for a final dance. 

"Thank you," she rested her head on his shoulder and Draco wrapped his arms tighter around her. Holding her closer.

"If you hadn't cut in, I'm fairly sure Cormac had been on his way to ask me how I wanted his family to fund my next research project. Not with galleons, ugh," she shivered in his arms and pressed herself closer to him for the familiar comfort.

"If I hadn't cut in, I probably would've hexed him from across the room for touching you that way." The words slipped from his mouth before his brain had the time to register the importance of them. He felt a tiny shift in her shoulders before she relaxed again.

"We should leave after the next dance. I don't want to get home too late to Rose."

Draco nodded. They kept silent for the remainder of the dance and the following one.

Waiting for Granger to make her rounds with colleagues and potential funders for research, Draco internally crumbled. The afternoon had been spectacular in the closeness with Granger but also horrible in so many other things.

When they apparated onto Granger's front step, she turned and placed her palms on his chest.

"Draco, wait," she stared into his chest. Draco watched her try to find her words before she looked up at him.

"That story? About the picnic? What… I…." She inched herself closer with each fumbled word and Draco wrapped his hands around her arms. He slid one up to her shoulder, slowly feeling his way.

"Did you just think of that tonight?" 

"No." The admission fell easily from his lips as they began to seek out hers. 

"When?"

"Does it matter?"

"I suppose…" 

Draco could almost feel the warmth of her mouth. They were so close. He just had to lean an inch more and he would be kissing her. Her behaviour told him she wanted him to do so. Her fingers were tight around his front. Her eyes fluttered and her lips parted slightly. Draco leaned.

"I thought I felt the shift in your wards." Ginevra wrenched the doors open and Draco almost fell over at the same moment Granger stepped back. Stumbling forward, Draco just managed to steer around the bannister and instead fell to his knees inside the doorway.

"Ginny, you startled me," Grange hurried to step in and close the door while Draco plopped his arse on the floor and hung his head between his knees.

The voices of Ginevra and Granger drifted to the sitting room and left Draco to himself.

Merlin's sagging bollocks.

Cock-blocked by Ginevra Weasley. 

Draco had half a mind to hex her in a way to cock-block Theo for his entertainment for the evening. As he pondered which hex to use, small feet came into his vision and he raised his head halfway.

"Are you all right, Mr Draco?" Mini-Granger stood awkwardly with her hands behind her back, wearing a truly ugly pyjama set with a pig in a red dress. Draco sat up again. He forced a smile back in place.

"I'm just fine, thank you for asking. I think your mother, um, where is your mother?" He glanced around Mini-Granger and could only hear the hushed whispered conversation from the next room.

"Telling off Aunt Ginny. We had cake for dinner." Her toothy grin made Draco chuckle.

"Lucky girl."

"One of the ducks bit me, see?" She held up a finger, almost poking him in the nose. Her finger sported a brightly pink thing wrapped around. This also featured the ugly pig in the red dress.

"I see, didn't your aunt heal it with magic?"

"Yes, but it still hurt, so I got a band aide. Then it stopped hurting." Her words made no sense to Draco but she spoke as though it was the simplest explanation in the world.

"Do you need a band-aid? I can get you one of mine?"

"Ah, no, thank you, I'm quite all right." He couldn't help but smile at her for her kind offer, even if he knew nothing of what it meant.

"Rose, come say goodbye to Ginny, she's just about to leave." 

"Coming, mum!" Rose jumped from sitting down opposite Draco and raced off to say goodbye. Draco supposed he ought to get to his feet too and return to the Manor.

Granger found him in the entry, still on his arse. She fidgeted with the train of her dress as she approached him.

"Rose is just saying goodbye to Ginny. Then I'll have to get her to bed in a little while."

"Right, of course."

"I was thinking," Granger began and dropped the train she had bunched in her hands. "It's still Saturday. Why don't you…. Well…. I'm going to put Rose to bed and change into some other clothes, but, I suppose I wouldn't mind if you stayed for the evening." She nodded to herself before Draco even had the time to open his mouth, leaving him on the floor.

He sat for a moment, listening for the sounds of the floo before Rose raced past him and up the stairs with a grin on her face.

"It won't be long before I'm back, you can um, make yourself comfortable in the sitting room," Granger gestured before she followed her daughter upstairs. Draco nearly fell on his face as he tried to watch her walk up the stairs.

It wasn't that he was staring at her arse. He just wanted to make sure she didn't turn back and tell him to go home as she changed her mind. The fact that he got a very pretty view of her backside was just a bonus. As was the lovely swish of her hips before she was out of his sight.

On his way to her sitting room - a place he was astutely familiar with at this point, having spent plenty of Saturdays on one end of her sofa reading or watching Granger - he unfastened his cufflinks and the top buttons on his shirt, freeing the tie that had nearly strangled him all afternoon. He dumped the things on her end table before taking a seat, grabbing the nearest book. He might as well read for a bit, he knew from experience that when Mini-Granger had too much sugar, getting her to go to bed took a bit longer.

Sure enough, nearly half an hour later, Granger returned to find Draco turning the last page of a riveting story about a cat with a hat. When he closed the book he was met with the sight of Granger wearing black leggings and what seemed to be an old D.M.L.E shirt. She had bundled her hair on top of her head again with an awfully yellow bow.

"Shall I make us some tea?" 

Why did she sound so nervous?

"All right."

Draco nearly bit his tongue to keep from making a strangled sound when she turned her back to go to the kitchen. Emblazoned across her shoulders on the damned shirt was the name 'Potter' in bold letters.

"Sodding Potter," Draco grumbled as he shrugged out of his jacket. A few minutes later, Granger returned with two cups of tea, handing him one and folding her legs under herself as she sat opposite on the sofa.

"Why are you wearing a shirt with Potter's name on it?" Draco asked, unable to stop himself before he would undoubtedly scold his tongue on his tea. Instead, he placed the cup on the table.

Granger looked down at herself before her eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Oh, I hadn't realised. Harry gave me this years ago, it's the most comfortable thing. It's not… if you think… oh god, I can't believe we're having this conversation," she hung her head in a silly chuckle.

"What conversation might that be?"

"The one where I have to stress the fact that Harry and I never have been nor will ever be in any type of relationship. Not that I would need to clarify any of this with you, since the thing we have is…." she trailed off, just looking at Draco for a long moment where neither said another word.

"Right, of course. Well," Draco reached for a random book to have something to do instead of looking at her. 

What the bloody hell was wrong with him? Not even an hour ago he was sure they had been well on their way into a delicious kiss - again. 

He cleared his throat.
"I feel obliged to inform you that any bloke witnessing another bloke's name on a woman would assume certain things."

"As I only wear this around the house, very few blokes have even seen this," she deadpanned and sipped her tea.

Silence fell again. Not the comfortable one they had found together as they read almost every Saturday night. This was a silence Draco had felt more either with his mother right before an interrogation or with a witch before she kicked him out of her bed. Draco was very unsure which he would prefer in this instance.

Of course, Granger was the first to break it.

"Can I ask you something?"

Right, interrogation it would be then.

"Yes."

"Will you tell me more about the picnic story?" Her voice sounded timid and nervous from very far away. Draco's eyes snapped up to her. Granger's cheeks blushed and she averted her eyes before finally settling on his face. He saw her knuckles turn pale as she gripped her mug tighter. Draco exhaled heavily.

Steeling himself, he reached to unwrap her delicate fingers from the mug before she broke it.

"There isn't much more to tell."

As he set the mug aside, he meant to let go of her hand, but her fingers wrapped around his wrist.

"Did you just tell it to impress?"

"Yes and no."

"Which is it?"

"There was only one witch I wanted to impress tonight."

He turned his wrist out of her fingers and instead laced his fingers with hers. He both saw and heard her breath catch in her throat. Draco inched a bit closer on the sofa.

"Was it old Lady Huttledon?"

Draco scoffed a laugh and used the sound to inch closer again.

"It was not."

"Oh, good." Her fingers twitched and twisted in his hold until they reached a certain point where they found a way to interlock that was equally comfortable.

"She can be a right pain to have to listen to when she talks about her dozen of-"

"Granger," he cut her off. He had moved as close to her as his knee touched her legs. With his free hand, he stroked a single finger across her knee.

"Did you make it all up, or," she let out a small whimpering sigh when he started to stroke another finger against her knee. It took everything in him not to just launch himself at her the way he wanted to.

"Or what, Hermione?"

"Did you mean any of it?"

He lifted his gaze to lock eyes with her and his hand forgot about her knee and instead started to graze her jaw.

"I meant all of it," he said solemnly as he watched his fingers dance along her jaw and her eyes slowly began to flutter. As he dropped his hand to caress up and down the side of her neck too, he felt her gulp.

"That would've… it would've been very hard to say no to," she managed to get out and Draco felt the sofa dip between them as they both leaned closer.

"What if I asked you those questions tonight, Granger? What would your answer be?"

Her eyes widened and she froze from the perilous path she was on towards Draco's mouth. He held still as he waited for her to answer. Her fingers tightened around his with one hand, while her other hand fidgeted in her lap. Draco moved to hold both her hands in his. She dropped her eyes to the gesture before facing him once more.

Draco felt his entire world was held in her tiny hands at that moment.

"Yes," the word escaped her lips on a silent breath and Draco felt air rush into his lungs again before he leaned closer.

She tasted just as he remembered.

Better, even.

Their hands drifted up their arms as their mouths sought to reacquaint themselves from their first encounter. Draco found her soft curls and wrapped his fingers in them while his tongue mapped a way across her lips. In return, he felt her nails scrape along his scalp as she poured herself into the kiss.

When he gently prodded her lips, she gasped and opened for him to intertwine their tongues. He grew bored with her hair in its tight hold and decided to free it, pulling the ugly yellow thing from it.

"Oh," she said into his mouth when her curls fell around her shoulders, caging them in. 

"Much better," he groaned and captured her mouth for his pleasure again. When she arched her back, Draco instinctually took hold of her waist and pulled her closer. In response, Granger one-upped him and slung a leg across his hips to straddle him, while her arms locked around his neck.

Her hair flew around them as he kissed every part of her he could reach. He wrapped a handful to pull away from her face, leaving him access to her jaw and neck where he left soft kisses down to her clavicle. However, she pulled him back up to her mouth and dipped her tongue back inside.

It shouldn't have been such a surprise to Draco how fantastic a kisser Granger was. He knew she liked to be the best at everything she did, why should snogging be any different? 

Holy fuck.

John awoke with a start at the idea of how brilliant she would be in bed.

Draco shifted with the intent to push her onto the sofa, but he lost his balance and ended up with her halfway on top of him.

"Umpf," he grunted when her elbow hit him in the sternum.

"Oh, are you all right?" She was halfway on her way to scramble off of him but he pinned her arms to pull her back.

"Just fine, get back here."

She giggled against his mouth and relaxed on top of him when he started to kiss her again. 

For several long and pleasurable minutes, hands roamed and kisses were dealt out in bounties. 

When he pressed his hands to the small of her back, she arched into him and he felt the swell of her tits on his chest. The groan he failed to suppress had her doing it again and he nearly came in his pants.

Fuck, she was a minx.

Daring the situation and falling to temptation, Draco slowly slid his hands lower on her back. She stiffened momentarily but only raised a brow at him before they resumed the wonderful snogging on her sofa.

Draco had just reached the upper curve of her backside when-

"Mummy?"

They froze.

"Shit!" Granger hissed into Draco's mouth and he was surprised at how much that turned him on. Unfortunately, he didn't get to ponder more about the fact before Granger scrambled off of him and hurried to straighten herself.

"Darling, what are you doing out of bed?" After a glance at Draco she strode around the sofa and Draco heard muffled whispers. 

It took a long moment of thinking about snakes in the manor before he would sit let alone stand up without standing at attention. Turning around, he saw Granger carrying Mini-Granger in her arms, whispering to her softly.

"I, uh," Draco struggled to find words since Granger had evidently snogged them out of his brain.

"Thank you for tonight, Draco," she smiled at him. It was a smile that meant several things. Draco nodded.

"Of course, any time, Hermione."

"Mummy, sleepy," Rose waggled what looked like a stuffed and then mangled animal in Granger's face.

"Yes, all right, just go back to sleep."

"Cuddles," her little voice whimpered into Granger's shoulder where she hid her face behind a double set of curls.

"Right, I, uh, I'm late for a very important meeting, so I best be off," Draco offered as he palmed a handful of floo powder. Granger watched his every move. Before he stepped into the green flames, he turned back. His mouth opened, but no words came out.

"Still yes, Draco. Goodnight," her voice was soft and caring and it made Draco falter and stumble through the floo as it dawned on him.

Bloody fuck.

He was courting Hermione Granger.

Chapter Text

”I beseech you, punish me not with your hard thoughts: wherein I confess me much guilty, to deny so fair and excellent ladies any thing . ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

The holidays took up much of Draco's time over the next couple of weeks. He barely had time to come to grasp the fact that he was properly courting Hermione Granger, let alone the fact that she had willingly allowed him to do so.

It wasn't until two days before Christmas, when his mother asked him what he had found for Hermione for Christmas that he truly panicked. This was followed by an hour pacing his office, trying to wrestle an enormous amount of hair from his head. His mother had left him in that state to pay her visit to his father. Draco declined to accompany her, as he usually did, in favour of panicking and hyperventilating.

The joys of the holidays.

When he wasn't panicking and hyperventilating, John requested regular meetings. 

Draco had a solid bank of memories of kissing Granger that lasted him through several days before his mind started to imagine what her arse would have felt like if they hadn't been interrupted by Rose.

The Sunday after her acceptance of his courtship, she had owled him that she unfortunately wouldn't have time to see him over the holidays. She and Rose would be travelling for the holidays and wouldn't return until the day before the New Year Gala his mother was already going ballistic about it. Granger ended her owl with a confirmation that she would send another owl with his Christmas present in a couple of days.

Of course, the spiral of panic that followed Draco around also accompanied him when Narcissa Malfoy finally took matters into hand and dragged her son along to Gringotts and their family vault.

"Mother, I highly doubt anything from our family heirlooms would befit Gr- Hermione," Draco groused as he perused a pair of diamond earrings. He tilted his head. Suddenly, John concocted an image of Granger wearing nothing but those earrings. Draco hastily dropped them and turned his back before John grew too eager.

Bloody fuck.

There were far too many earrings and bejewelled knick knacks he kept visualising adorning Granger's caramel skin. And nothing else.

"Have they turned up the temperatures in the vaults lately?" Draco asked as he undid the top buttons on his shirt, twisting around in an attempt to locate something that didn't conjure images in his head that would send John into a frenzy.

Narcissa looked at him peculiarly.

"No," she said as she let go of a beautiful bracelet and turned to Draco. "I don't believe they have. Are you quite well, Draco?"

"Just spiffy, Mother," Draco quipped and stalked to the next vault, which he hoped wasn't too stocked with jewellery. His mother followed slowly after, gently examining objects along the way.

"Listen, mother, I don't think Hermione would-"

"Draco," his mother cut him off and took a hand between her own. Draco studied her hands and noticed how frail they suddenly looked. He avoided her eyes for as long as possible. Because he was almost certain what would be awaiting him in her expression.

Sure enough.

Draco groaned.

"Draco," she repeated, tugging on his hand to get him to open his eyes again.

"Yes, mother."

"How do you see this courtship progressing?"

"I-"

"Because if you see nothing aside from some proper fun," his mother raised an eyebrow that made Draco internally feel strangled and nauseous altogether.

"Then I agree, we shall find nothing for Hermione here. In which case, I would expect my son to do the proper thing to a woman who also has a child and not carry on with anything that would hurt either person involved." 

Both eyebrows rose in his direction.

Fuck.

Draco gulped.

"However, "Narcissa carried on as if her carefully veiled threat hadn't just been left to make his balls shrivel a tiny bit.

"If you see something in the progression of your attachment to Hermione and her daughter, I would suggest you look carefully through our family's possessions and find something suitable to gift her. I am sure we will have something she would like."

Draco cleared his throat several times and tried to wrestle his hand away from his mother. Her hold on him was as tight as a vice, though, and Draco was forced to come to terms with what he had gotten himself into.

"She won't like jewels. It's too… too much," he finally confessed because he truly believed it to be true. He never pictured Hermione as a witch caring much about jewellery. For all the functions they had attended together in their relationship, she had never once worn much if any jewellery. If he were to be honest, he highly suspected Rose would appreciate a piece of jewellery more.

His mother finally dropped his hand, allowing him the time to look for something.

"If you gift her a book, Draco, I will have to raise my hand on you," Narcissa bit out just as he was about to reach for an ancient-looking volume he didn't recognise.

"But she loves books," he exclaimed and pouted.

"You can gift her a book for her birthday then. Books are not for Yule. Look again."

"Fine."

Almost an hour later, Draco felt nervous but sure about the item he had found for Hermione. It was beautiful but not too much, at least he hoped it wasn't, and his mother approved and called it a proper Yule gift among a courted couple.

Back at the Manor, Draco asked Nipsy to help him wrap it and then deliver it to Granger's house.

The next day, he recognised Granger's owl as it landed on his desk, and deposited a parcel and a scroll before it dashed out the open window again. He opened the scroll first.

Draco,

Thank you so much for your present, but it's far too much. I don't even know where to put it. Rose loves it, of course. She keeps trying to draw it. I never imagined I would own such a thing.  It's truly beautiful, thank you.

Rose says thank you for her present as well. I'm afraid to ask how old the tiara is, so I won’t. She loves it, and would barely take it off before bedtime last night.  

I hope you'll like our present for you. It isn't anything as extravagant as what you've given us, but we've both chosen it with much care for who it was for.

Happy holidays

Yours, Hermione

Draco had to force his lungs to set into motion again as he re-read her signature several times. He set her letter aside and reached for the neatly wrapped present. He ought to wait till Christmas with his mother.

Who was he even kidding?

Carefully tearing the wrappings away he found a folded piece of paper which revealed a drawing that was unmistakably by the artist Rose Granger. Draco tilted his head and turned the drawing upside down until he recognised it as a hippogriff with something pink wrapped around one of its front legs.

The rest of Granger's present was…

Draco stopped breathing for almost a minute before he picked it up and studied it carefully with a smile playing around his lips.

From what he had learned about Granger so far, she never did anything without meaning.

This present was a sign of hope to Draco and he cherished it with his very being.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - 

The last day of the year arrived in a flourish. Or in Draco's case a maddening case of planning and coordination at the hands of his mother, leaving him exhausted to the bone every evening and unable to look at a centrepiece of flowers without getting outraged for every unknown reason.

Don't even get him started on napkins and silverware. It was enough to drive any person to the brink of madness.

Draco excused himself from his mother's clutches after their much-rushed lunch, because someone forgot to add the right colour tinsel to somewhere in the Manor and his mother hardly finished her already too-small cucumber sandwiches. Draco withdrew to his office to go over some final papers that needed to be signed and owled off for the new year before he asked an elf to bring him a proper sandwich.

After some hours - and another impromptu meeting with John in the shower - Draco got dressed for the evening. He had chosen another ensemble half in the muggle style and half in the wizarding in a deeply black colour that would have him blend in with the night sky. As the final item, he summoned the bowtie Hermione had gifted him for Christmas. It was a muggle contraption with a tiny clip behind the bow that was already tied, which made it much easier for Draco to secure the thing under his chin.

Looking at himself in the full mirror he thought he looked rather handsome, indeed.

"Master Draco looks magnificent," Nippy croaked with teary eyes when she came to inform him that Miss Hermione was waiting for him.

"Right," Draco took in a deep breath.

Fuck, he was nervous. 

Tonight would be the first time he was going to see her after she had agreed to let him court her for real. The first time he would see her after snogging her into her sofa. Merlin, he wanted a repeat of that session.

Yes, John, I'll do my best. Now calm the fuck down.

She was busy studying some of the magical decorations his mother had set up around the Manor when he found her in the floo parlour. Draco stopped dead in his tracks and forgot to breathe for a long moment.

Hermione wore a silver dress that looked almost luminescent as it draped around her figure. The fabric shimmered with every little move she made, making it look like snow cascaded down her dress in the glittering lights. Her shoulders were bare and Draco had no idea how she even held the dress up because the cut on her back was dangerously low, giving him a wonderful view of half of her spine. Hair danced around her shoulders but unlike the unruly curls from their schooldays, these curls were tamed and fell in beautiful ringlets. They also shone with something that looked like sprinkled snowflakes dancing through it.

Draco cleared his throat and she turned on the spot, her surprised expression shifting into a warm smile. Draco was sure he was frozen in place under that smile.

She smiled at him.

Only him.

"Hello," she said softly, running a hand down the side of her dress to make the train of it behave accordingly. Her gaze dropped to the amount of fabric behind her for a moment and Draco closed his gaping mouth.

"You look beautiful," he said in a hushed voice but because they were alone she heard him, of course. Draco felt warmth bloom in his chest when she blushed at his compliment.

"Thank you." Then her eyes caught on his bowtie and she approached him, her hands reaching for the bowtie. Draco thought back to the first time she had tied one for him. It seemed such a long time ago when he had done his best not to ogle her. Tonight he had no issue about ogling her. He drank in the sight of her as she fiddled with his collar.

"I won't stroke your ego too much, your head is already much too big, but," she paused and rested her palms flat on his chest, looking up at him. "You look quite handsome, too."

Draco pushed a stray curl off her shoulder to cup her cheek. Her smile never wavered as he slowly bent to press his lips to her mouth.

The kiss was slow and tender, nothing like their previous kisses. This was a kiss to let her know he was sincere about this surprising turn of events between them. Her fingers twitched on his chest before he pulled back and their expressions of wonder were mirrored.

Draco cleared his throat and offered her his arm.

"Shall we? Mother is most likely beside herself with an aflutter waiting for us to dazzle every guest."

Hermione laughed as she took his arm, allowing him to lead them to the ballroom.

The night was as wonderful as anything Draco had imagined with Hermione on his arm. She only left his side once to dance with Theo while Draco danced with Ginevra, who had most graciously agreed to accompany Theo as his date.

"Still faking it?" Ginevra asked as Draco spun her in her twinkling green dress that clashed rather well with her bonfire hair.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Ginevra," Draco pretended as he unconsciously sought out Hermione who laughed at something Theo said just then.

"Of course not. She told me, you know."

"About?" Draco's attention was back on Ginevra and her smirk.

"How good a kisser you are. I'm half tempted to test her theory myself. However," Draco must have looked startled beyond measure based on the evil grin Ginevra sported as she continued.

"However, I promised Theo the chance to court me, so I suppose any snogging sessions with other wizards are out of the question." She seemed caught in thought about something for a minute before continuing.

"Any pointers on which rooms would be good for a quick new years shag?"

"I thought you just sa-"

"Not you, you dolt. Theo looks very dashing in his suit tonight, I have every intention to strip him of it before midnight. And maybe a couple of times after that too." 

Draco grimaced and struggled to keep visuals of a naked Theo out of his head.

When he and Theo traded back to their respective witches, Draco clasped Theo on the shoulder.

"Congratulations, mate, you've managed to find a witch who's just as despicable as you. Kindly refrain from ever telling me anything about what you may or may not get up to tonight. Ginevra." He tilted his head in the direction of the eastern hallway with a raised brow and her grin shifted as she took Theo's hand, wishing Hermione a happy new year.

"Everything all right?" Hermione asked as she stepped into him and brushed something off his shoulder. He studied her expression and once again brushed a curl off her shoulder, just because he could. He let his fingers linger across her skin and saw the tiny shift in her eyes at his touch.

"Much better now. We should say hello to Mother before midnight draws too near." He took her hand and let her through the crowd of witches and wizards who all tried to greet them and have their hands shaken by the importance of Hermione Granger.

Narcissa Malfoy looked radiant as always, but Draco could see the strain in her eyes as she tried to keep control of everything that needed to be under her control at the party.

For a brief moment, he dropped Hermione's hand and took both of his mother's into his.

"Mother," her gaze snapped to him. "Everything looks lovely, and you need to relax. Nippy will be cross with you if you ruin your hair otherwise."

Narcissa huffed and wrinkled her nose. Her eyes changed and Draco saw the melancholy as her gaze quickly darted towards that end of the Manor.

"Not tonight, mother."

"I know, I know, darling." She patted his cheek. It reminded him of when he was a child and his mother smiled, seemingly thinking the same thing. She wallowed one more minute before she drew forward her hostess smile and greeted Hermione.

"Hermione, dear, you look absolutely radiant. I hope my useless son has told you so," Narcissa beamed, pulling Hermione in for an awkward hug in which both witches tried to avoid wrinkling anything.

"He has," Hermione assured as Draco rolled his eyes behind his mother's back. "Though not in those specific words. Everything does look lovely, Narcissa. Thank you for inviting me."

Hermione stepped back to Draco's side and he let his hand rest on the low of her back. She leaned into his hand with an almost inaudible sigh.

His mother droned on for a little while about the trials of hosting such a grand event. Hermione answered in all the right places, nodding sympathetically when needed before they were able to extract themselves. 

They danced and sipped champagne for the rest of the evening. Draco found himself drawing closer and closer to Hermione with every dance she granted him. Her fingers tightened in his hand when he spun her. She pressed herself closer to him when she spun back. Draco ran his hand up and down her spine, caressing her bare skin. Her head fell to his shoulder as they twirled slowly under the glittering ceiling his mother had the elves bewitch for the evening.

Draco ran his fingers through Hermione's curls, wishing he could tangle his fist in it instead and pull her mouth to his.

Yes, yes, John, later!

Instead, he dropped his chin to the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her. He felt her chest expand against his own.

"Everyone gather around. It's almost midnight." 

Narcissa Malfoy rose to a podium set up in the middle of the room. She waved her wand and an image of a clock appeared above their heads, the seconds ticking by. 

Hermione pulled back slightly, her arms still wrapped around his waist as she gazed up at him.

Draco gulped.

"8, 7, 6,"

The corner of her mouth turned up a tiny bit as she pushed up on her toes.

"5, 4, 3,"

Draco cupped the nape of her neck, angling their heads.

"2, 1, Happy New Year!" People screamed around them as cheers erupted amid the well wishes.

Draco only had eyes for Hermione.

"Happy New Year, Draco," she breathed the words against his lips.

"Happy New Year, Hermione," Draco whispered before he pressed their mouths together.

There might have been flashes of cameras going on all around them, but Draco hardly paid attention. He only had enough of his wits together to focus on Hermione and the feel of her lips on his. The kiss was over far too quickly.

Draco had half an idea to drag Hermione to one of the rooms he had suggested to Ginevra earlier.

Instead - and much to John's annoyance - they swayed to a few more dances before he sensed the fatigue in Hermione and offered to escort her to the floo.

She paused with a fist of floo powder, looking at him.

"Would you-" She stopped herself and dropped the floo powder in the jar. She brushed her hands off before she turned back to face Draco.

"Does tonight have to end?"

Draco opened his mouth but had no words. He didn't want the night to end. He wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her. Do more than just kiss her.

"Do you not want it to?"

"No."

That was enough for him so he took her in his arms and kissed her. Every taste he gained of her was fuel to his desire for her. 

"What about-" he nipped at her bottom lip and she let out a breathy sigh against his mouth. Her back arched and Draco was very close to palming her tits. The cut of her dress hid them far too much for his liking.

"Rose," Hermione slid her hands into his hair, kissing him again before she continued. "Is with her father at the Burrow for the night."

Draco raised an eyebrow at this.

"Oh?"

"Oh, indeed."

"Do you want to-"

"Not here. Can't. It's too-" Draco cut her off with another kiss. She didn't have to explain anything to him about the horrors of his house. As much 'cleansing' as his mother had done, the history of the place sometimes still leaked from the walls. Despite the blabbering conversations of the busts.

"Should we-"

"No. Definitely not. Ron's bringing Rose home in the morning."

Draco nodded and they paused their snogging session as reality started to sink in. 

Quite suddenly, Hermione's face lit up in a way he hadn't remembered seeing on her since their days at school when she would curse another girl for spilling her secrets.

"I might know of another place," she wrapped her arms around Draco and he felt the softness of her breasts on his chest. To keep from palming her right that minute as John demanded, he wrapped his arms around her waist too.

"Lead the way," he said, kissing her right as she Apparated them away.

She had taken him to a dark hallway, just at the top of the stairs and he nearly fell backwards on his arse before she grabbed onto the front of his jacket, pulling him upright.

"Sorry, here, it's this way." In the dim light, he saw her fumble with a key before a door unlocked. Her hand closed around his wrist and she pulled him through. He felt the wards across his skin, but as he was not thrown immediately from the building, he didn't linger too much on the signatures in them.

Hermione closed and locked the door before she dragged Draco a little further into the flat that turned out to be modestly furnished. It was an open space with a kitchen on one wall, another wall was entirely windows overlooking London. Doors led to other rooms but Draco paid them no mind when Hermione magically lit a couple of lamps and invited him to sit with her on the sofa.

"Where are we?" Draco ran his hand over the smooth fabric of the sofa as he studied the sitting area. Aside from the sofa, there were two armchairs facing the fireplace, a large metallic screen hung on the wall next to it and glinting discs lay scattered on the floor beneath it.

Before Hermione answered, she slid into the seat beside him and took his hand.

"I'll tell you if you promise not to damage the place or do anything untoward."

"I would never- all right, I promise."

She shifted onto her knees to get closer to him and right before she was about to kiss him again, she said;

"This is Harry's flat."

Draco's surprised protest was muffled in her mouth. The objections or surprised reaction he might have had flew out one ear as he focused his attention on the shape and feel of her mouth. Their kissing quickly evolved, and soon she was on her back on the sofa with Draco on top of her. He had shifted his mouth to the expanse of her shoulder, wanting to taste and mark more of her skin. With each kiss he pressed into her skin, he inched the neckline of her dress down. Just a bit. She never complained or stopped him.

"Why are we," he sucked on her pulse point and she let out a little whimper. "In Potter's flat of all places?"

"I knew no one would disturb us here." Hermione panted through his trail of kisses up her neck before he reached her mouth again.

"What would we be disturbed from?"

"This." Hermione cupped his face, bringing him back to her mouth. They kissed for several long minutes and Draco lost the will to care about where he was - even if it was Potter's home - when he slowly began to slide his hands up her ribs. He ran his thumbs along the swell of her breasts and she gasped into his mouth. When she didn't protest or push him off of her, he slid his hands higher until they were full of Hermione's tits.

Merlin's saggy balls they were glorious tits.

Draco briefly thought back to his argument with Blaise at what seemed like ages ago when he had wanted nothing to do with Hermione's tits. What a fool he had been.

As he wrapped his fingers around the soft swells, he realised he would gladly be buried with his head between those two magnificent creatures.

Because yes, he had every intention of naming the beautiful things. 

Hermione let out a glorious laugh when he told her this, and the reverberations shook through his fingers, which he had no intention of moving.

He kept up his touching for several drawn-out minutes, exploring the soft feel of her under his fingers. Fingers that kept inching closer to the neckline of her dress for further explorations. When she didn't say anything, just watched his fingers move, he kept on going to unfasten the zipper he found under her left arm. A small sigh escaped her lips before she shimmied a little to loosen the dress from her torso and Draco was faced with pearly white fabric covering her tits instead.

John was starting to make certain demands which Draco desperately wanted to obey. But Granger had had a fair amount of champagne.

He rose to look at her for a second and was met with a gaze entirely focused on him like no other witch had ever looked at him.

"Granger, are you sure-" She cut him off with her mouth, pulling him in for another hard kiss that lasted so long that John started to hurt in his pants.

"Draco," she pulled back, looking up at him with sincerity. "I haven't had sex in five years." Her eyes held a sea of emotions. Draco mirrored their mutual desire. The intensity in her gaze spoke volumes. Draco understood.

"All right then." Draco surged back for her mouth, scooping her into his arms, cradling her chest to his. Piece by piece, clothing fell to the floor and hands touched skin where neither had thought they would ever touch the other. 

John screamed for attention. 

Draco gasped for breath.

He ran his hands along her legs, up her ribs, cupping her breast before making a space for himself between those legs. The sight of Granger beneath him, naked in the shades of the night was a sight that made Draco's brain go fuzzy. John barely made contact with her before she shivered and her leg knocked his knee, causing him to tumble and fall halfway on top of her and then halfway off the sofa.

"Oompf," Draco said.

"Ouch," Granger said as she tugged her squeezed breast from between them.

"Maybe we should move somewhere else?" 

Draco got to his feet and helped Granger too, which was a strange sight with both of them naked. He dipped for her mouth again, wrapping his hands around her. Somehow his hands ended up on her arse and her legs around his waist.

Maybe it was the lack of clothing, but she was lighter to carry than the last time she had been in his arms as she guided him through the flat until he could drop her on a bed.

"Legs," Draco lifted her legs and made room for himself between them while she made herself comfortable. He kissed her again just because he could and she responded eagerly.

They slowly adjusted to each other and Draco felt around her body, feeling his way to John's end destination. He moved slowly.

It had been five years for her, after all. Who knew what John would encounter upon contact?

Her fingers clamped around his shoulder and her mouth formed a little O when he started to push inside her.

Before he was sure she was about to say something, he kissed her and pressed his hips further into her. She whimpered into his mouth and he groaned in response while John jubilated.

"Oh, oh bugger," Draco heard her gasp into his ear when he dropped his forehead into the crook of her neck and shoulder.

"Good bugger, right?" He waited for her to confirm before he pushed in deeper. Granger nodded and rose to kiss him again.

"Go on, please," her voice lowered and Draco lowered the rest of his body to seal himself inside her.

Holy fuck , John bellowed to the rest of Draco's body but he was too busy watching Granger's face as their bodies connected and her mouth dropped open in a silent word he would never know what was.

Draco set to work to make his worth win over her five years.

He started slowly to persuade himself that this was really happening and not just inside his head. Mapping the curves and shapes of her body in case this was the only time he got to do so. He felt her hands do the same to his body and was mildly surprised when her fingers dug into his arse.

The sound he emitted was unlike any he had made before, but to earn the laugh she released, he would gladly make it a thousand times over.

"It's all right, Draco, please keep going."

He kissed a path along her shoulder and collarbone while he processed the fact that he was having sex with Hermione Granger.

Of course, sex wasn't something new to Draco. If history showed anything, he would say he was rather good at sex. He had tested certain techniques over the years but with Granger, he didn't want to do any of those things. He just wanted to enjoy the feel of her wrapped around him. 

When she came and John felt it, Draco shook above her. He only held out for half a minute more before he groaned and almost collapsed on top of her.

"Happy New Year, Draco." 

Draco moved them to hold her close because he didn't want to let her go. Even if he knew they should probably not sleep here in Potter's flat of all places. 

Surely five minutes would be okay?

"Happy New Year, Granger."

Of course, they fell asleep only to be woken by a rough voice several hours later.

"Hermione, why are you and Draco Malfoy naked in my bed together?"

Granger shrieked and bolted from the room, taking the covers along to cover herself in her hasty escape.

This left Draco to snatch a pillow to hold over John.

"You might want to hurry, Ron said he was going to drop Rose off within the hour." 

"Oh gods," Granger cried from the other room before Draco heard the floo, and then he was naked and alone. 

Well, not entirely alone.

"Happy New Year, Potter."

Chapter Text

”Is’t possible that, on so little acquaintance, you should like her? that, but seeing, you should love her? and, loving, woo? and, wooing, she should grant? and will you persever to enjoy her? . ”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Draco watched, only mildly upset at Granger's absence, as Potter rubbed the bridge of his nose and kept his eyes tightly shut.

"I can't believe I'm about to ask this, but," Potter groaned, peeking one eye open at Draco. Draco maintained what dignity he could muster, despite finding himself starkers in Potter's bed with nothing to hide behind but a soft pillow.

"Did you two shag in my bed?"

Draco shrugged before getting out of bed.

"Gentlemen don't tell such things, Potter. Surely you don't-"

"Oi! Pillow!" 

Draco glanced down hurriedly, realising he had left the pillow on the bed. In a rushed snatch, it was back covering John, and Potter was back to rubbing his eyes, groaning a little as he did so.

"In my defence," Draco attempted and received a glare from Potter. "This was not my idea. Second, weren't you supposed to be somewhere else?" Draco adjusted his stance, making room for John, who had decided to reminisce about his evening with Hermione.

Lucky bastard.

"I only came home to grab- no. You know what, I can't have this conversation with you right now. Put some fucking clothes on and come to the kitchen when you're done," Potter barked before he stormed out of the room. Draco heard some muttered expletives from outside the door right before his trousers came flying in to smack him in the head.

A little while later, Draco sauntered into Potter's open kitchen buttoning his dress shirt to find that Potter had prepared a small plate of toast and set out a jar of marmalade.

"I need some food, but don't think I can keep anything else down if I'm forced to have this conversation." 

"Ah," Draco started to butter a slice of toast before applying a healthy (unless you asked his mother) helping of marmalade. It was strawberry, which Draco favoured.

Potter kept his distance, leaning on the counter with a cup of steaming coffee in hand, or so Draco assumed based on the smell of things.

He bit into his toast and waited for Potter to open the conversation. After John was determined to make his case earlier, Draco was more than content to wait this one out.

Potter emptied his mug and went for a refill before he pulled up a chair across from Draco, his expression serious and slightly put off.

“You realise I can never sleep in my bed again?” Potter glared at him

“From what I know, you rarely do anyway.” Another glare was shot in his direction. Draco decided to direct his attention to his toast as Potter continued to mumble under his breath. A few select words slipped through Draco’s careless attention and he looked up.

“I’ll buy the bed off you,” he offered sincerely, not even paying attention to how much marmalade dripped from the spoon.

“The fact that I’m seriously considering your offer as opposed to burning the thing makes me question my sanity.” Potter leaned back, closing his eyes for another moment. Meanwhile, Draco contemplated just how many galleons Potter would demand for the bed in which Draco could map out every place Hermione’s limbs had trembled from his touch.

"Right,” Potter sighed. His attention was back on Draco, who sat straighter as a result. “Based on the sight of you two tangled in my bed, I'm assuming this is no longer just a pretend relationship."

"Your assumption would be correct, Potter."

Potter groaned, removing his glasses to rub at his eyes. Draco continued to eat his toast. Contemplating if another layer of marmalade would be too much.

Stay out of this, John.

"How many know about this development?" Potter asked from behind his hands, slowly running them down his face.

"Very few. It only, uh, progressed in this manner shortly before Christmas. Although I fail to see why this is important." 

"I'm sure you don't, but since Ron is back in England for the holidays, I reckon you don't want a surprise run-in with him about all of this."

"I've never feared weasels." Draco scoffed, reaching for some coffee. If he was to have this conversation rather than wake up for a second helping of Granger, he too required the strong beverage.

Potter chuckled, leaning back in his seat.

They sat in silence for a little while. Draco pretended to ignore the uncomfortable feeling it left him to have the Chosen One try and stare him down. After several tense minutes, Potter replaced his glasses on the bridge of his nose, pushing them back in place.

"How serious are you about her?" He crossed his arms. Draco was no fool. He noticed Potter's wand sticking up from his holster while his own was stuck in his pocket. Nor did he forget the fact that as much as he resented it, Potter was a highly respected Auror throughout Europe. There was a slight stubble on his chin, which meant he had most likely taken several days off of work for the holidays.

Draco absolutely did not resent him for his ability to grow a beard. Beards were overrated anyway. The itch to scratch at his chin was pushed down and quashed firmly. He brushed the last few crumbs off his fingers and placed his hands on the table.

"How familiar are you with the old customs of courting, Potter?"

"A bit. Ron's told me a couple of things. Molly, too."

"Of course." Draco tried his best not to scrunch his nose, he really did, because the Weasleys were not all bad, at least he supposed so. It was simply that their way of doing things strayed so far from the old pureblood traditions that it was difficult to spot what was left of their traditions.

"This may come as a surprise, but pureblood traditions of courtship are rather different than what I'm sure you've been told from any Weasley."

"I can imagine but for the sake of argument, please enlighten me," Potter leaned back, expectantly.

"Courtship is entered with a purpose in mind."

"If that purpose is to get in Hermione's knickers, I'll say this once-"

"I'll have you know, Potter, I haven't given Granger's knickers the faintest thought. Well, until last night. All right, there was this one time." Potter raised a brow. "All right, fine. More than once. You're getting off topic." Draco groaned and rose from his seat to gain a mediocre distance from Potter as he tried to explain himself.

"When my father began to court my mother, it was with one goal in mind. The same with Theo's parents, twisted as they may be. I'm sure it was somewhat similar to the Weasleys, even if they went about it incorrectly."

"Hang on," Potter got up too, imposing his tallness on Draco. Without thinking more about it, Draco straightened and held himself a bit higher. "Are you saying you're courting Hermione because you want to marry her?" Potter looked horror-struck. Gobsmacked. Like someone had just slapped him.

Draco opened his mouth.

No sound came out.

He closed it again and thought about what Potter had just said.

"I- that…. What?" The last word came out in a much higher pitch, and Draco deflated back on his chair.

"Do you want to marry Hermione?"

"I don't bloody well know, Potter. I've kissed her a handful of times and shagged her for the first time last night." Suddenly, the words rushed from Draco and he found himself unable to stop.

"Granger is the purest and brightest thing I've ever found myself lucky enough to be around. It frightens me how brilliant she is, and quite frankly, it still baffles me that she agreed to do all of this with me, let alone agree for me to court her."

"You and me both," Potter mumbled, pulling his wand to make more coffee.

"We both know I never planned for this, Potter. Granger is…. Granger." Draco deflated entirely as his mind ran through the realisations from the last couple of months.

Granger was an entirely annoying witch who spent far too much time working.

She was much too smart for any other wizard, let alone Draco. Her tits were absolute perfection and he planned to find the perfect names for them to match. When she kissed him, his world seemed to stop, and he found himself drowning in the taste of her. When she let him be near her, touch her or simply just be in her presence, Draco felt an ease he had forgotten was possible. She eased something in him that had been unsettled and shaken for years without him knowing. 

Why was that?

Possibly because he had attempted to shy from all of this with his escapades with Blaise and Theo. Truly, all those escapades had been great fun. Each witch was more pleasurable than the next.

And yet.

This morning when he had woken up with his arms around Granger and she slept happily alongside him, it was an entirely different feeling his chest was overcome with. Of course, that burst slightly when Potter interrupted and Granger bolted from the room.

Draco stared at Potter, open-mouthed.

"Fuck."

"You've got that right." Potter agreed and pulled on the roots of his hair. "Does she feel the same way?"

"She's allowed me to court her. She said yes."

"Right." Potter nodded again before he went about to clean up the meagre breakfast.

"You should go home, Malfoy. I need to see Hermione. I doubt Ron will be left out of this for long. You should, I don't know…." He waved about with his hands, gesturing for Draco to make himself scarce.
As if the last few moments hadn't been entirely life-altering for him to realise that he was possibly in love with Hermione Granger and wanted to marry her.

Sweet Salazar, how the bloody hell did that happen?

"I don't…" Draco stood up, looking towards the sitting room where he knew he could floo home should he wish to. 

"I don't deserve her," Draco said in a hushed voice before he started to head for the door, remembering their floo wasn't connected and he needed to step outside the wards to Apparate.

Potter stopped his tinkering and cleaning to follow Draco to the small hallway.

"Malfoy. Wait," Potter wrapped a hand around Draco's upper arm. The friendly gesture visibly seemed to pain Potter. Even more so when he continued to speak.

"You're right. You don't deserve Hermione. But for some insane reason, she's decided that doesn't matter. You want my final advice?"

"Not really, but I'm sure you'll give it anyway."

“Talk to her. Make sure you’re on the same page, if not, things….” Potter trailed off with a deep sigh. Draco sideyed him for a moment, watching as flickers of Potter’s past went by in a flash.

“Is that what happened to you and Ginevra?”

Potter nodded, crossing his arms.

“We realised we wanted different things. Some things we agreed on, others… not so much. I wanted to go abroad, get away from all the shit here. She didn’t.” Potter shrugged, leaning on the wall beside him as the memories seemed to flow easily for him to talk.

“For a long time, I thought Ginny was it for me. When that wasn’t the case, I left. Look, I’m only telling you all of this because you need to face up to what you want with Hermione. And Rose.”

“Which you didn’t want with Ginevra?”

“Neither did she.” Potter sounded defensive. Draco wondered why they were even having this talk. “Maybe she wanted that eventually, but we were young and things changed. Suddenly I was the Chosen One. It was too much for both of us. Look, I’m not telling you to do as I did, because it would seem you’ve been doing that for years already. If you truly think Hermione is the one for you, then make sure you’re worthy of her. Don't let her choice be for nothing."

Draco swallowed and nodded. He had no words left to convey any more emotions.

The pressure on his insides as he Apparated home was nothing compared to the tilt of his world as he sunk to the floor of his father's study with the realisation of his feelings for Granger.

"What do I do, father?" Draco looked at the empty picture frame where his father's portrait ought to be. 

Right.

Still no help, at all.

Some hours later, after Draco had showered and wished John a proper Happy New Year, the floo lit up and Draco grinned, expecting Granger to step out of the flames.

He was sorely disappointed.

"Malfoy, you fucking ferret, where are you?!" Ron Weasley stepped out from the hearth, brushing the soot off his jumper, looking around with furious eyes. He was already red-faced and Draco foresaw an argument much to rival their days in Hogwarts.

"Oi!" Weasley pointed a lanky finger into Draco's face, and Draco regretted not being able to step further back to avoid contact.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

"Well, I was tending to some business matters before you interrupted with your pleasant declarations."

"Don't play smart with me, ferret. I'm talking about Hermione."

"Ah."

"Don't you 'ah' me. I can't believe you've convinced her that you two are a real couple, how'd you do it? What spell did you use?"

"As much as it may come as a surprise to you, Weasel, charm is not always spell work."

"Oh, shove off."

"I have spent my time with Granger for the past many weeks, during which we have both come to realise that we-"

"Cut to the chase of your prattling, you twat."

Draco bristled, brushing down the front of his shirt. 

"If anyone cast a spell on anyone, it was Granger. I don't know how she did it. And frankly, I don't care much. All I care about… is Granger."

Weasley breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling rapidly while his eyes roamed over Draco, no doubt trying to find any clue as to whether he was lying. 

Draco held strong because he was certainly not lying.

Damned Potter and his questioning, making him realise he was in love with Hermione Granger of all people.

"Fuck." Weasley whooshed out before he shut his eyes and dropped his head. "She tried to tell me as much, I just…."

"What did she say?" Draco realised he sounded like a lovestruck teenager just then, but he didn't much care either way. Truthfully, he supposed that's what he was.

Weasley seemed to liven up at this and he chuckled.

"Oh, no, I'm not saying. I refuse to get in the middle of this… Mess. It was bad enough when I had to find out about your pretend relationship in the papers. Worse when Hermione told me this morning that you two…." Weasley gestured at Draco, still with his eyes shut, as if this would make the situation go away.

"Shagged all night?" Draco tried to help find the right words. 

And maybe boast a little about his night with Granger, being the first man she chose to take to bed five years after her last shag, who now stood before Draco.

The grin was wiped from Draco's face when Weasley's fist collided with his chin.

"Ouch! Fuck, that hurt." Weasley grimaced as he clutched his hand to his chest, hissing through his teeth. Draco rubbed his jaw and felt around his mouth with his tongue.
"I could've told you that, Weasley." Draco perched on the edge of his desk, with continued rubs along his jaw to alleviate the pain. 

"Look Malfoy, I'm not sorry. I've wanted to punch you since school. Can't even say I won't do it again. But…" He groaned and slammed a palm on the mantle.

Draco tried to hide his twitch from the gesture when he rose to his feet and stepped around his desk to put more distance between them.

"For some reason, Hermione's chosen to fall for you. Fuck if I know why. She's brilliant but barmy most of the time. In any other circumstances, I could probably, oh fuck, who are we kidding, I'll never be okay with this, but I won't stand in the way of Hermione being happy. If she's happy with you, then I suppose…." Weasley straightened and held out his hand.

Draco stared at it for a long moment, waiting to see if Weasley would punch him again before he shook it. Weasley nodded.

"Right. Then I suppose there's just one thing left to talk about."

"I doubt talking about Granger's-"

"Please shut your mouth before I punch you again. I'm talking about Rose, you idiot."

"Oh, right."

"Damned right, it's not just as simple of you and Hermione doing whatever it is you do. Rose is my daughter. I'll always-"

"I'm not trying to replace you, Weasley. Fuck, do you think I'm fit to take care of a child? I can barely take care of myself."

Weasley chuckled at this before he sat down.

Draco waited a moment, checking the time. Surely, it was the right time for a glass of Ogden's somewhere in the world. Weasley silently accepted the tumbler, draining it in one go. He grimaced, and Draco could only assume he wasn't used to the quality of this flask.

"Rose means everything to me," Weasley began, his eyes on the floor. "She's the best thing that came from me and Hermione not working. As much as I'm a crap father, I try. I really do."

"Mini-Granger is a spitting image of her mother," Draco supplied. Weasley looked up at this, his mouth twisting in a slight curl.

"Mini-Granger?" He scoffed a laugh. "Yeah, she does look like her mother. Good for her, too."

Silence fell between them for a long while. Draco was tempted to just leave the room to avoid any more awkwardness. Truthfully, he also wanted to see Granger.

Mostly just to have her look at his jaw.

Nothing else, John!

"I hate living so far from my child, but I know Hermione is the best for this. She has been all her life. Heck, she practically raised me and Harry. She's always been the perfect mother. She deserves…." Weasley faltered and stared at the ceiling.

"Can't believe I'm about to say this. If she's chosen you to make her happy, I won't stand in the way. She deserves as much as that."

Then he got to his feet and walked to grab a handful of floo powder.

"I'm spending the day with Rose and Hermione before I head home to stay the night at my parents’." The two wizards shared a look.

"Tomorrow, we'll all be at the Burrow and the day after that I portkey back to the States."

"Right."

"Try not to fuck this up, Malfoy. I have a whole store of items to set your arse on fire if you do. And that's after I let Harry deal with you. Oh, and don't think Hermione won't skin you alive if you behave all…. I don't know, Malfoy."

Draco didn't get to respond before Weasley stepped through the flames, leaving Draco to contemplate another life-altering discussion that day.

He thought it best not to think too much more that day lest it cause him to realise any more serious matters. 

It seemed to be enough that he was now aware of what these feelings were regarding Granger, let alone the fact that she seemed to feel the same way about him.

Draco eyed the bottle of Ogden's left on the desk before summoning his tumbler.

Getting smashed in his best company seemed the right thing to do.

Chapter Text

”Therefore, put you in your best array, bid your friends; for if you will be married to-morrow, you shall.”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Draco no longer had any track of time. Unless you counted the hours by the amount of alcohol he had consumed. The bar in his father's office had been cleaned out. Either by Draco or Nipsy, whom he was positive his Mother had sent to make sure he didn't drink too much.

Too late for that, Draco thought, as he swigged the last of the bottle in hand. He glanced at the label.

Ogdens, 1943.

Draco raised a brow. No wonder it had gone down that smoothly, 1943 was an excellent year for Ogdens. Draco stared at the empty bottle for several minutes before depositing it in the arms of a statue along the hall.

As expected, the doors were locked. For several long minutes, Draco stood before the doors, another unopened bottle in hand. The alcohol was beginning to take its toll on him. Yet, even with several bottles of Ogdens in his system, Draco still knew the basic spell to unlock doors - practically the first skill every child learns the second they receive a wand and want to sneak around their house without their parents noticing. He vanished the bottle before he drank even more. 

All the lights were out, save for a small fire in the fireplace. Every curtain was drawn, allowing Draco the scarcest glimpse of the room.

It was stripped bare of almost everything. A bed stood in one corner, stripped bare of any blankets or pillows. A grate had been set up in front of the fireplace. The only other furniture in the room was a large sofa with room for two, maybe three people. 

The door closed behind Draco. He lit the tip of his wand with a whispered 'Lumos'.

It took him a couple of minutes for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light, as well as his entire balance to adjust before he slowly approached a darkened corner of the room.

No matter how many times Draco came face to face with the sight that met him in the corner, it never failed to make his heart almost stop in his chest.

Huddled in the corner, clutching his knees to his chest, sat none other than Lucius Malfoy, muttering incoherently to himself. 

No one ever really managed to get a full sentence out of him since he was brought back to the Manor. It had barely taken three years in Azkaban for his mind to break.

With a heavy sigh, Draco slid down the wall opposite and sat on his arse. For several minutes, he just stared at his father, rocking slightly back and forth with his knees pushed up under his chin.

When Draco was a child, he had always admired his father. Now he felt nothing but pity.

And in the depth of his stomach, a growing sense of dread of how to deal with him.

Digging deep to find the right words, Draco instigated a conversation he knew would get no reply. It hardly mattered if his words might be a little slurred.

"Apologies for not coming to visit more often. I would blame it on the conversation, but as you hardly ever talk back that would be a poor judgement of my character." Draco gestured vaguely with his hand in the air, the movement briefly caught his father's attention. The glazed expression that stared back at Draco made his stomach drop.

"Dr-" His father began to form the word, but no sound seemed to escape him before he returned to his usual muttering. Draco cringed when single words escaped that he could make sense of ('Yes, my Lord. Of course, my Lord.').

"Master Draco!" Nipsy suddenly cracked into existence next to Draco, looking horrified to find him where he was (Draco flinched at the terribly rude noise). "You isn't to be here. Mistress will be so cross."

"I don't care. I need to have a chat with my father." Draco stared at his mumbling father, not sparing a glance at Nipsy.

Nipsy wrung her tiny hands, agitated about what to do next. Draco helped her before she hurt herself.

"Go tell Mother all you like, Nipsy." She was gone before he even said her name. However, instead of storming in with his mother in tow, Nipsy returned within a second, forcing a small phial into his hands.

“Master is to take this,” Nipsy said in a tone that brooked no argument. Draco hardly looked at the phial before downing it. The effects were almost instant. 

Drinking all that Firewhiskey suddenly felt lost when the Sober Up Potion worked its way through his system. However, a slight buzz remained. Seemingly, there was a limit to their supply of Sober Up Potion. Nipsy was gone again when he let the phial clink to the floor.

"Well, it's just you and me then, father." Draco leaned back, pretending his father hung on every word he said. Just as he had done when Draco was a child, returning home from Hogwarts to tell of his school year.

"I'm afraid I've mucked things up with her. I don't know how you did it. How anyone does it," Draco lamented, scratching at his chest, right above his heart. It felt like it was slowly climbing up his throat, suffocating him with all these feelings.

"Never been in love before. It's horrid. It's fantastic. Horridly fantastic. Merlin's balls, I probably shouldn't have drunk that last bottle of Ogdens. Nor perhaps the two before that."

Not that it mattered with the potion in his system as well.

"No, sir," came a muttered few words from his father.

Draco hummed, wondering just how lucid his father was at the moment. 

The few times he wound up 'visiting' his father, he was usually drunk. It made it easier to deal with the situation and for him to speak his mind. He never expected to get a reply or anything else in return from his father. That was the best part. Draco could speak his mind completely, free of judgment or any expectations. 

For a long while, Draco sat there opposite his father, lamenting his recent realisation of having fallen in love with Hermione Granger.

"I want this, but I don't know what to do. I just know…." Draco heaved a heavy sigh, pulling something from his breast pocket at the same moment his mother barged through the door.

"Draco, what are you-"

"I need to do this, Mother." Draco scrambled to his knees, crawling towards his father. He sat on his haunches, pulling Lucius' hands away from the hold around his legs.

"For Hermione," Draco whispered to himself, but of course, his mother heard as she moved right behind him.

"Draco, you know he isn't well. What do you mean this is for Hermione?"

Draco slumped against the side of the bed, letting go of his father for the moment. Then he looked up at his mother and confessed everything. 

The mistake she had forced upon him, the pretend courtship that suddenly turned very real and the amount of emotions Hermione Granger had suddenly evoked in him.

"It hurts, mother. Right here." Draco patted his chest. That’s when Narcissa Malfoy did something she hardly ever did and sat on the floor between her husband and son.

"Love can hurt." She looked at her husband. 

"But it can also be beautiful and powerful." She glanced at the papers Draco had pulled from his breast pocket.

"I see Miss Granger was all it took for you to be ready." Her smile was sad but wistful as she reached for Lucius' hand.

"I don't know what else to do, mother."

"You will do what is right, what your heart tells you to do. Miss Granger is a smart woman and one I would be proud to welcome to our family." Narcissa ran a palm down Draco's cheek. He closed his eyes at her touch, reminiscing a time long ago when all he had to worry about was keeping his knees clean.

"Will you help me, mother?"

"Of course, darling."

Together, they wrangled Lucius to hold a quill pricked with a droplet of his blood and somehow sign his name on the aged parchment. The instant he left the curl of the 'y' in their last name, Draco felt the change in the magic of the house. His father must have felt it too, because he sagged against his mother's chest and started to plead with no one in particular.

Draco rose, feeling slightly dizzy because of the rush through his head that was a mix of getting up too fast and the new tingles of the Malfoy magic accepting him as the Head of the House.

"Perhaps you need to clean up a bit before you pay Miss Granger a visit?" His mother suggested, glancing at his face and Draco nodded before he staggered from the room to pass out in his bed.

When he woke again, it was the next day and another Sober Up Potion waited for him on his bedside table. He hurried to drink the potion and shower before he flooed to Hermione, only to find himself in the middle of her sitting room where she and Weasley whispered heatedly among themselves, while Mini-Granger kept herself busy around the coffee table.

"Malfoy? What the f-" Hermione slapped her hand across Weasley's mouth, muffling whatever he had been about to say. He mumbled aggressively behind Hermione's hand before she withdrew it with a little shriek and then wiped it on her trouser leg.

"Very nice, Ronald." She stepped around him to approach Draco. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of his face. He couldn't blame her. It lacked its usual finesses, what with being all bruised and purple around the left side of his chin.

"What happened to your face?" Hermione tentatively placed her fingers on his jaw and he felt better right away. Who would ever need healing when they could just have Hermione's hands on them?

Well, most everyone else besides him, of course.

"Weasley punched me."

"You punched Draco?" Hermione squeakily whispered, whirling on her ex-husband. Weasley just shrugged.
"He had it coming."

Hermione began to splutter, fumbling for her wand in the back pocket of her trousers.

"This time, I think Weasley might be right. As charming as I can be, I fear it only works on witches most of the time."

Weasley snorted and Draco caught Hermione trying to hide a smirk before she grabbed onto his chin to hold him steady.

"Hold still, and try not to wince."

"I never win-" Hermione cupped her hand across his mouth before he could even utter one curse word as her healing spell coursed through the entire left side of his face. The burning sensation was over in less than a moment but still seared through him and left several expletives on the tip of his tongue, most of which would've been directed at Weasley were it not for Mini-Granger.

Hermione smoothed her hand down his cheeks, caressing his jaw as her eyes softened.

"There. All better."

"Thank you," Draco said before taking hold of her hand to place a kiss inside her palm. Behind them, Weasley started gagging. Hermione hastily withdrew her hand with an eye roll and a grimace.

"Rose, love, your father's leaving soon, he'll need all his goodbye hugs and kisses before he goes."

"Daddy!" Rose jumped from her seat, knocking over several stuffed teddies on her way, as she bounced across the room, jumping into Weasley's arms. All the while keeping a firm grip on the twinkling tiara still attached to her head. He twirled her on the spot, both of them laughing heartily. He carried her out to the hallway but not before Draco heard Mini-Granger's little voice.

"When will you be back again, Daddy?"

Beside him, Hermione's shoulders sagged a little, and they pretended not to listen to Weasley make a world of promises to his daughter.

Draco had a strange moment with a new feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he didn't get to digest it before Hermione turned to him again.

"I just need to talk to Ron before he leaves. Will you… will you stay here with Rose in the meantime?" 

"Of course."

"Great, I'll just be a minute." Then she rose on her toes and kissed Draco too quickly on the mouth before she turned her back to him. He saw his arm stretch out for her without realising he had done so and dropped it limply at his side, just as Mini-Granger bounced back into the room and started righting her stuffed teddies. She clattered around for a bit before she turned her big eyes up towards Draco.

"Do you drink coffee or tea, Mr Draco?"

"Uh…" Draco had no clue what to answer when he was trying to listen in on what Hermione and Weasley were talking about. But of course, she had thrown up a silencing charm to prevent that. With no other option, he folded his legs to sit cross-legged on the floor with Mini-Granger and a strange mixture of stuffed guests.

"I prefer tea," he said as he accepted an empty plastic cup on a saucer. Mini-Granger started to pour nothing into every cup set around the coffee table.

"This is Princess Peppa," Mini-Granger pointed to a stuffed pig, wearing a red dress and a plastic tiara. "It's her birthday." This last bit was meant to be a whisper but came out more like a small scream next to Draco's ears.

"Many happy returns," Draco toasted the ugly pig, pretending to drain his cup. Mini-Granger hurried to refill it. 

It was a good thing it was just tea, or Draco would've been sloshed all over again.

Mini-Granger was studying him closely.

"You need a tea party name. Mr Draco doesn't work."

"Why not?"

"It just doesn't. I think I'll call you…." She paused and tilted her head, making a humming sound as she pretended to think.

"Princess Polly." With that exclamation, she propped a tiara on his head and beamed.

"How do you do, Princess Polly? This is Mr Bear." She made a stuffed purple bear wave at him before she leaned in to whisper properly this time.

"Mr Bear gets really cranky if he doesn't take a nap."

"My kind of bear," said Draco, acknowledging the bear with a tip of his head. 

"More tea, Princess Polly?"

"Go on then." 

For the next couple of minutes, Draco pretended to drink no fewer than two pots of tea while Princess Peppa hogged all the biscuits and Mr Bear fell over on top of a bright yellow flamingo called Mingo. Draco felt rather brash at such an extravagant tea party.

That was until Mini-Granger pulled out a small suitcase and started lining up nail polishes in every colour of the rainbow.

"Which colour would you like, Princess Polly?"

"Uh, I don't think-"

"All princesses have painted nails. Susan said so yesterday."

"Right. Who's Susan?"

"I think purple will look pretty for Princess Polly, don't you think so Princess Peppa?"

Before Draco could get another word of objection in, Mini-Granger had seized his hand and started to paint his nails a bright purple.

She concentrated intensely, her tongue poking out and her little nose scrunching up her face. It didn't help that her curls kept falling into her face, even with the tiara holding some of them in place.

Then, right before she was about to snatch his other hand, she looked up at him seriously.

"Are you my mum's boyfriend?"

"Uh," Draco felt the tiara on his head slipping away with all the words in his brain. 

"Wait here," then she dashed out of the room before Draco could even think of a sound to make. It only took her a moment to return, hands full of make-up to Draco's horror.

"You need to look like a proper princess for the party."

"What party is this?" Draco asked just as Mini-Granger started to dab something on his cheeks.

"The princess party, of course."

"Right, of course. How could I forget? So, um, back to that thing you just said."

"Mm-hm." She narrowed her eyes, staring intently at Draco's mouth.

"Do you think," Draco was interrupted by the insistent prodding of lipstick in a colour he vaguely remembered smearing off Hermione's face amid heated kisses.

"Do you think your mother would like a new boyfriend?"

"I thought you were her boyfriend?" She made a pouty face, waiting for Draco to do the same. He obliged and kept his eye roll to himself.

"I was. Or I am. Do you think she'll want to continue to be my girlfriend?"

"Oh yes." Mini-Granger looked like she was smirking. Surely not.

"Would you be okay with that? Me being your mum's boyfriend?"

Mini-Granger stepped back, makeup brush in one hand and looked him over. She dapped a bit more on his cheeks before shrugging.

"Sure."

"O-okay then." Draco felt rather good about himself at that moment. He sat back with a straighter back and pushed the tiara straight on top of his head again, a smirk plastered across his lipstick-coloured mouth.

That was when he heard a muffled giggle from the hallway and Hermione stepped through the archway.

"Rose, maybe that's enough with the makeup for one day. I'd like you to put everything back where you found it."

"Okay, mummy." Rose hurried to pack things away, though, not before adding a bit more colour to Draco's cheeks. He figured he already looked dashing and let her do it, watching out of the corner of his eyes how Hermione's grin stretched wider. He waited for Rose to sprint out of the room before getting to his feet, making sure the tiara was still set right.

"How do I look?" Draco opened his arms and was pleasantly surprised when Hermione stepped into his embrace, wrapping her slender arms around his middle.

"I think this is the prettiest I've ever seen you." Hermione laughed silently, reaching up to stroke the back of her fingers down his cheek, ghosting the bruise she had healed not long ago.

"Weasley's left then?" 

Her expression changed instantly before it shifted back to something akin to looking happy.

"Yes, he was only here for the holidays to spend time with Rose. The shops in the States are faring quite nicely and he can't afford to be away for too long, unfortunately. Rose misses him terribly when he's away." Her arms dropped from Draco's side and he felt the cold in their absence. He watched as Hermione struggled with the pain her daughter must feel of missing a parent for such a long time.

"When, uh, when will he be back?"

"Not for a couple of months."

"Right. And how long did you listen just before." 

She looked up at him. He was more than pleased to see her eyes shine with something that made his chest constrict and his mouth go dry. She stepped back into him and ran her palm up his chest, before cupping his pink cheek.

"Long enough," she whispered before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Draco was quite certain that the only thing keeping him standing at the moment was the knowledge that Mini-Granger could bounce back in the room anytime. 

John mourned the short duration of the kiss and Draco quite agreed.

"Would you like to stay for lunch?" Hermione asked, her fingers still caressing his jaw as she gazed up at him. He opened his mouth but she beat him to it.

"I should warn you, Rose wants to make sandwiches and she tends to be quite experimental with her choice of ingredients." Hermione laughed just as Mini-Granger came barrelling into the room, wrapping her arms around both of their legs.

"Are we making sandwiches now?" 

Hermione scooped her daughter into her arms, smiling between her and Draco.

"I was just asking Draco if-"

"Princess Polly."

"I- what?" Hermione asked, confused when Mini-Granger stared determinedly at her mother. Draco pursed his lips to keep his snicker from escaping too much. That girl was sure to test him.

"He isn't Mr Draco. It's Princess Polly, look," Mini-Granger exclaimed as if her mother was completely daft for not seeing the obvious, waving in the general direction of Draco.

Draco took this as his cue to puff out his chest and tip his head to show off the splendid plastic tiara.

"It's the tiara, Granger, surely you can tell?"

Hermione laughed so hard that tears began to form in her eyes.

"All right then. Princess Polly, would you like to stay and make sandwiches with us?"

"Princess sandwiches!" Mini-Granger screamed, jumping from her mother's arms, and running off to the kitchen in a fit of giggles. They could hear cupboards opening from the kitchen next.

Draco chuckled.

"A gentleman never refuses a princess sandwich."

Draco followed Hermione into her kitchen. The rest of the day was spent in the wonderful company of Hermione and her daughter. Draco had never experienced anything like it. To the little girl, he was Princess Polly all day. Hermione took pity on him after they had eaten several plates of little sandwiches - including ones with pickles and peanut butter, ham and jam, cheese and cucumbers and Draco's favourite, one with a spread of chocolate topped with fried onions - and cleaned his face while Mini-Granger was busy with the muggle contraption with the moving pictures in the sitting room.

"You do make a pretty princess," Hermione stated after wiping the last bit of makeup from his face. Her face was crinkled from all the laughing and smiling they had done all morning. Draco pulled her into his arms, just as Mini-Granger let out a squeal of laughter from the other room. 

"Thank you. I told you I would look good in anything," smirking, Draco pulled her closer until their faces were inches apart. His gaze dipped to her mouth for a fraction of a second before her eyes fluttered closed and he seized the moment.

This time, she tasted slightly of peanut butter. Wanting not to waste a single moment, Draco slid his tongue into her mouth and was given a warm welcome. The kiss went on and on. All Draco could do was hold on to Hermione while they listened to the small peals of laughter coming from the other room and Draco felt his world change in that single kiss.

When she pulled back, he grinned.

"I'm keeping the tiara on. I think I look quite dashing." 

Even without her bloody beaded bag, Hermione smacked him gently on his shoulder before she set off into another fit of laughter.

Not long after, Mini-Granger came running into the kitchen, asking Draco to have more tea with her and all her stuffed teddies. Hermione started to protest that surely Draco had other things to do or places to be, but he stopped her, his hand on her arm.

"If it's all right with you, Granger, I'm right where I'm supposed to be?"

Chapter Text

”For since the little wit that fools have was silenced, the little foolery that wise men have makes a great show.”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

As it turned out, one could indeed have too many cups of pretend tea. 

Draco discovered this as Mini-Granger continued to pour him cup after cup of scented air, insisting he inhaled deeply while wriggling his little finger in the air.

He wound up staying for dinner as well, thankfully cooked by Granger, and it tasted far better than the sandwiches. It was a curious day altogether.

One that had started with the bottom of a bottle and a signature that changed Draco's life, ending with him on Granger's sofa, Mini-Granger snuggled in between them as they watched something called a movie.

Well, to be fair, both Grangers watched.

Draco spent the entire time looking at the minuscule changes in Granger's expression, sometimes catching her eyes before she averted her gaze back to either her daughter or the screen, as he learned it was called.

In all his life, Draco had never been around children as much as that day. He was surprised to find how easy it was to be around Mini-Granger. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he simply went along with everything she asked him to do. From dressing him up as Princess Polly to asking if she could meet one of his house elves, once she learned he had them. 

The look on Granger's face at that request would have been worth witnessing again if only Draco had a Pensieve.

What surprised him the most about practically spending the entire day with the two Grangers was how simple it was. Nothing was holding either of them back. When Draco wanted to touch Hermione, he simply took her hand and gave it a gentle kiss, or stole a real one when Mini-Granger had her back turned. When Hermione wanted to show him how much it meant to him that he was there, she would touch him with tender fingers that lingered before Mini-Granger stole their attention again.

It felt…

Draco had no words to describe the feeling, as it was one he had never experienced before. He wanted to put a name to it but decided that night was not the best night to risk getting a headache from overthinking.

Instead, he allowed Mini-Granger to curl into his side when she got spooked by something in the movie, clutching some orange furball to her chest. Hermione had told Draco it was a cat, but he remained unconvinced. Draco didn't pay much attention to the moving pictures; he simply kept his gaze fixated on Hermione. When Mini-Granger started to droop down his side, he awkwardly helped her slide down to rest her head on his lap. Her tiny feet lay in Hermione's lap while the movie finished to the sounds of Mini-Granger's little snores. Draco didn't hesitate in his offer to carry Mini-Granger to bed. Thankfully, the orange furball pranced off to a nearby armchair, though not before hissing a bit at Draco for having the audacity to carry Mini-Granger away.

As he gently laid her in her purple bed, he was much less winded from carrying Mini-Granger than he had been with Hermione.

"I'll be down in a minute," Hermione whispered before she started looking for sleepwear for her daughter. Draco waved her off, unable to speak. Despite being less winded, he was still out of breath to speak.

He just wanted to close his eyes for a moment when he sank into the sofa cushions – one wary eye on the orange ball of fluff that seemed still to be breathing. In all his life, he had never spent a day this happy. This included several outings with witches and alcohol that, at the time, had made Draco plenty happy.

This was another kind of happiness. This happiness sank into his bones and settled there, only to be reignited moments later when Hermione ran her hand across his shoulders as she came around the sofa to snuggle up in the same spot Mini-Granger had occupied just a little while ago.

"Thank you for today," Hermione said, resting her palm on his chest, her cheek snuggled into the crook of his neck. He rested his cheek on top of her head and breathed her in, closing his eyes because of what this did to him.

"I don't think Rose has had this much fun with anyone other than Harry or Ron in all her life."

Draco shifted, attempting to run his fingers through Hermione's curls. He failed at that, of course, mostly because her hair was so tangled that he ended up getting stuck in it.

After some untangling and tinkles of laughter, with Draco joking about her hair trying to strangle him, he gently cupped her cheeks and kissed her.

It was still a marvel to him that he could simply do this. Even more so, when Hermione kissed him back with equal enthusiasm. He savoured the feel of her lips against his for several moments before she smiled up at him, snuggling back into his side. She absently pushed some of the leftovers from the several tea parties Draco had been coerced into attending all afternoon.

He reached over and set Mr Bear right, afraid Mini-Granger would be upset otherwise.

The thought struck him as the fluff of Mr Bear still stuck to his fingers. He couldn't help the smile as he thought about the happiness of Mini-Granger and how it had suddenly become something of importance to him.

He looked back at Granger, who was pulling her legs under herself, rearranging her clothes. While she had gotten Mini-Granger to bed, she had changed into some of her more comfortable clothes, though, thankfully not the stupid shirt with Potter's name on her back.

"Why are you looking at me that way?" Hermione squirmed on the sofa as Draco sat back, opening his arm for her to slide into him again.

"In what way?" 

She shrugged and the motion made her snuggle closer to his chest.

"I don't know, like you're thinking… something I'm not sure I would even want to know about."

Draco chuckled at that, hugging her a little more. A heavy breath escaped him.

"Why did you do it, Granger?"

"Do what, Draco?"

"Agree to be my girlfriend? Fake girlfriend at first, I mean." She stiffened in his arms before losing a breath made her relax again. Then she sighed.

"I suppose you should know about that, all things considered at this point," Hermione let her palm rest on his chest. Draco laid his hand on hers, which seemed to give her the courage to continue speaking.

"Before I left with Harry and Ron to find the Horcruxes," she began. Draco involuntarily gagged in his mouth. This was not territory he ever wished to speak about. He shut his eyes tightly and remained completely still, determined to push through the discomfort. He could do this, of course, he could. 

For Hermione.

"I Obliviated my parents."

"What?"

"Yes," she sighed. She was silent for a moment before carrying on. "I made them forget about me before they decided to move to Australia. I knew they would be safe there, and they were. Once things had calmed down, Ron and I travelled to Australia and found them. They were happy. Ron and I talked about letting them live their lives, but I… I couldn't."

Draco tightened his hold on her. As much as he hated talking about the war, talking about this seemed to strike a nerve even harder. 

"When we met with them and told them the truth, of course, they didn't believe us. So I did what McGonagall did when she came to our house and told me I was a witch."

"You're an animagus too?"

Hermione scoffed a laugh and playfully jabbed him in the ribs.

"No, I'm not. I transfigured my mother's teacup into a mouse and back again. You can imagine they were stunned. But they were also less surprised than I had expected. It seems eight years of memories will leave a mark even if you try to erase them. They travelled back to England with us. They've been living half their time in St. Mungo's since."

"What? Why?"

Hermione reached up to wipe at something on her face before she continued. Draco found her hand again and laced their fingers to support her.

"We tried to find their memories again. At first, we thought it had worked but with time…. Their minds have scrambled. Some days they wake up as my parents. Other days they wake up as Mr and Mrs Wilkinson from Australia."

"What- what does that mean?"

"It means a medi-witch checks in with them every morning. On the days they are my parents, they go to Mungo’s for more tests and memory charms to try and set things right. Nothing has worked so far."

"I'm sorry, Hermione."

"It's not your fault, Draco. But thank you."

Draco kissed the top of her head, regretting many of his choices. 

Yet, he couldn't regret the ones that had brought him to this point. Holding Hermione close with her wanting to confide in him this way. It meant something to him.

It made him want to make much better choices going forward.

Being Draco Malfoy, he also knew that was most likely going to take a lot of bad choices to find the right choices.

But for Hermione, he would try.

"It's why-" she heaved a sigh. "It's why I worked with Mandrake roots as I did. The article you mentioned you saw me in. It's part of my theoretical work to try and restore their minds to something that's… Less scrambled."

"I see."

"It still didn't work. Not yet anyway, with my parents. It seemed to help the Longbottoms come a tiny bit out of their mental fugues. Not enough to make them recognise Neville, but enough to…" she trailed off and Draco felt a stone lodge in his throat.

"That still doesn't explain why you agreed to-"

"I know. When you mentioned it was to make your mother happy, I just…. I couldn't say no. I would want to make my mother happy in any way I could, so when you said…. Really, I did it for your mother. Not you."

"That just makes me feel much better."

Hermione giggled and pinched him in the sides again.

"Ouch."

"Well, you shouldn't feel bad. You're here now, aren't you?" She glanced up at him with a soft smile just for him. It was a smile that spoke of several mixed emotions and another something lodged in his throat.

"I am." 

They gazed at each other for a long moment, and Draco felt like one of those sappy couples his mother always rambled about.

For the first time in his life, he didn't mind it one bit.

"Hermione, I'd like to take you out." 

"What do you mean?"

"If I am to court you for real, I want to do this right. You-" He gulped and moved for them to sit up straight, facing her with the most earnest expression he could find.

It felt strange and hurt his face a little bit. But he shouldered on.

"You deserve as much."

"Draco, you don't have to-"

"Hermione, I want to. For that matter, I'd like to treat Mini-Granger to proper tea someday too." 

Hermione laughed, lacing their fingers once again.

"Only if you start calling her Rose instead of Mini-Granger."

"All right then."

"Okay, so what did you have in mind?"

Draco didn't want to divulge any of his charms just yet - mostly because he hadn't planned it all and he wanted to impress her more than anything.

Instead, they fell into a comfortable silence until Hermione fished out a book from somewhere and asked Draco to read to her because she was too tired.

He barely made it through one chapter (without any comments about the ridiculousness of the practicalities of wardrobes and talking lions) before Hermione's hand dropped from his chest.

"I should leave, Granger. You need to go to bed." Draco kissed the top of her head as he tried to wrangle himself from her sleepy arms.

"Stay the night?" Her voice stopped him with his hand hovering above the jar of floo powder. He turned on the spot, speckling green dust all over her rug.

"Wh-what? I thought you said-" He gestured in the direction of where he assumed Rose's room was upstairs.

"I did. We're just going to sleep, Draco," she shuffled up to him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Turning her back to him, she said,

"I find I slept quite well with your arms around me. Coming?" She stopped with a hand on the bannister, her eyes heavy on Draco.

Draco just nodded, dropping the rest of the floo powder on the floor to follow Hermione upstairs to her bedroom. She kept her clothes on while transfiguring Draco's clothes into something similar. He was about to object to the cheap fabric until he felt how soft it was. 

He climbed into bed with Hermione, sliding his arms around her and pulling her close to his chest. 

It scared him a little bit how easy it felt to do so, considering he had only done it one other night. But as with everything else with Hermione through all of this, it just felt easy and natural to do so.

"What about Rose?"

"I'll kick you out to sleep in her bed if she comes in here."

Draco muffled his laughter in her hair before he pinched her in the ribs gently. 

Shortly after they both drifted off to sleep.

Draco slept more peacefully than ever in his life, and he knew without a doubt the reason for this. 

To both their surprise, they woke up in each other's arms with soft smiles for each other, and time for Draco to pretend he just came by for an early breakfast. Rose jumped up to sit on a stool next to him at the counter while Hermione cooked breakfast.

Waiting for eggs and toast, Draco drew the best bloody hippogriff he'd ever seen.

Chapter Text

”Proceed, proceed: we will begin these rites, As we do trust they’ll end, in true delights.”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

For the next couple of days, Draco didn't see much of either Granger. She had to return to work after the holidays, and Draco had things to take care of as well. He left her little house with a tender kiss and a promise to take her out properly the following weekend, reminding her to arrange for someone to watch Rose. 

He still met with her for lunch on Tuesday and Thursday but evaded all her questions about what he did with his time otherwise. After all, he had two decades of practice of avoiding his mother and her keen questions, so avoiding a couple from Hermione was not an issue.

What was an issue, however, was the plans he wanted to carry out for his first official date with Hermione.

As the idiot he was, he invited Theo and Blaise over for drinks in the middle of the week while he spiralled between ideas of whisking her off to France or picking her up in a carriage drawn by Granian horses.

"Why don't you just do whatever it is you do to charm birds into bed?" Blaise drawled, pouring himself a drink, and glaring at Draco. The next moment, Blaise spluttered that mouthful of otherwise fine Ogdens all over Draco and half the carpet when he stated he had already had Granger in bed.

"As much as I appreciate a fine drink, this is not what I imagined. Also, Nipsy will be quite cross with you for that," Draco pointed to the spatters on the floor. Before Blaise could open his mouth, Nipsy cracked into existence and gave one look at the mess before Draco even had the time to point.

"Master Zabini is a horrid drunk," she yelped, smacking him across his shins before she started magically cleaning the carpet. Blaise withdrew to a far corner with his drink, waiting for Nipsy to finish her work. 

Before she departed again, she turned to Draco with a beaming smile.

"Will Master Draco be needing anything else tonight?"

"No, thank you Nipsy. Do whatever you wish for the rest of the day."

"I think what Blaise was trying to say," Theo continued to meddle as he always did, "is that while those ideas sound wonderful to any upper-class society pureblood bird without a brain, this is Granger you're courting."

"Right." Draco thought about it. His mind was not a lot of help that evening, least of all with the amount of Firewhiskey his friends had brought with them.

"None of that would work anyway, she'd see right through it."

"Meaning you need to use that head of yours, earn yourself that pain you talked about." Blaise tapped the side of his head with a meaningful look.

"I don't like it when my head hurts.”

"Stop crying about that poncy brain of yours," Theo said with a smack across Draco's back head.

"Ouch, stop that," Draco skipped out of smacking distance - having had nearly six months of practice of avoiding Hermione and her ugly bag.

"Salazar, you're a sorry wanker," Blaise complained right before he snatched up a bottle, declaring he would seek out better and more curvy company at the Leaky. Theo watched Draco battle his inner monologue as Blaise vanished in a puff of green smoke through the Floo.

"I think what our idiot friend tried to say was that you have to think about her in all of this," Theo added.

"What did you and Weasley do when you first took her out?"

"I took her to the VIP box to watch the Falcons get smashed."

"Right." Draco thought that made sense given Ginevra played Quidditch and it was an interest they had in common.

"Then I shagged her in the changing rooms once everyone had left." Theo displayed a facesplitting grin and Draco nearly chucked his glass at him were it not for the fact that it was crystal and would likely smash against Theo's thick skull.

By the end of the night, Theo had passed out on the floor, snoring heavily. Draco pushed him onto the carpet to drool before he went to pass out in his bed (not before John required quite a serious meeting) with an idea of what to do for Hermione. 

Saturday arrived both too fast and too late simultaneously. 

He woke feeling queasy and had Nipsy bring him a potion of Pepper-Up along with his lunch, which was the only time he felt ready to eat.

Most of the afternoon was spent trying on clothes, finding just the right one for the night. He even ventured back to the chatty busts of his ancestors for confirmation.

"Oh yes, those show off your bum quite nicely. Imagine what yours would have looked like in a pair of trousers this fit, Reginald?"

"I'd say our lad has inherited the Malfoy arse. Good for prancing and good for smacking on special occasions."

"Reginald, we said never to mention that outside of the bedroom!"

Draco left the room after this before his stomach decided it was time to revisit his lunch.

Flooing to Hermione's home, he was met with the flaming red hair of Ginevra Weasley, right before little Rose came bounding across the room to fling her arms around his legs.

"Princess Polly, you've come back. I've kept your crown for you, I'll go get it!" She grinned up at him before she tore off in search of her collection of tiaras - which she had proudly shown him the previous weekend.

"Princess Polly?" Ginevra snorted and didn't even try to hide her laughter.

"Is a title I wear with pride," Draco said, with a look that dared her to mock him.

"You're quite serious then?" Ginevra folded her arms to give him the one-over. Draco clasped his hands, taking up a confident stance with a nod.

"I don't just let anyone name me Princess Polly."

"I would imagine you don't."

Undoubtedly, she was about to say something else. Draco silently thanked whichever god was in charge for the night when Rose came running again. Jumping on her little feet, she tried with a determined eagerness to place the tiara on Draco's head despite her minuscule height.

Draco took the thing from her as he crouched to her level.

He cleared his throat.

"As much as I would love to wear this tonight, I don't think I should."

"Why not?" Rose pouted, her bottom lip protruding and big eyes pleading. In that moment, Draco felt with absolute certainty how fucked he was. As he placed it on her head, he tried to explain.

"Tonight is your mother's night. It would be unfair if I were to be prettier than her, don't you think?"

"I suppose," Rose whispered, touching her fingers to the tiara on top of her many curls.

"Tell you what, when I take you out for tea next weekend, you can wear your biggest and most beautiful tiara, how does that sound?"

The sound she made was so high-pitched that Draco squinted through her squeal when she flung her tiny arms around his neck and nearly toppled them to the floor.

"I take that as a yes, then," Draco chuckled and held the little girl to his chest as something shifted into place inside his ribs. He shook his shoulders gently to make sure it sat right inside him, finding it was not an unpleasant feeling.

Glancing up, he caught Ginevra staring at them on the floor.

"Never thought I'd see the day," she murmured before declaring she would get Hermione. While they waited, Draco and Rose continued some of their colouring.

"Draco?" Hermione's voice interrupted his intense study of drawing a bowtruckle. Whirling on the spot, his jaw dropped, and he was pretty sure something in his brain whistled. 

Standing at the bottom of the stairs, Hermione looked radiant in a periwinkle floor-length dress that draped around her shoulders, leaving them bare. The dress hugged her hips better than he expected even his hands would, but when she stepped forward and did a slow spin for him, he was quite sure he started to drool instead of thinking of any words to say.

The cut of the back was low. Dangerously low and only held together with a silver string between her shoulder blades. She had done her hair in a way that it braided around her ears but fanned out over one shoulder with a couple of loose curls to frame her face.

"I think I've caught myself a codfish," Ginevra remarked smartly when she stepped over to push Draco's mouth shut again. Draco cleared his throat a few times, failing to pull himself together as he approached her slowly.

"Will this do for where we're going?"

"Ngha." It was a sound that had no meaning to either of them, yet it made Hermione smile, which in turn made Draco's stomach revolt and John want to escape his trouser confines.

Yes, yes, calm yourself, John.

"Good lord, Hermione, have you turned him mute?" 

"I-" Draco glared at Ginevra before he beamed at Hermione again, still at a loss for words.

"Have fun tonight, you two. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." 

"Which isn't saying much, Ginny." Hermione stepped around Draco, going to hug Rose goodnight while he continued to try and find… words. 

That was what he was looking for.

"Mummy is going out tonight, Rose. Have fun with Aunty Gin, okay? I'll come and kiss you goodnight when you're asleep, I promise."

"You promise?"

"Of course, I always promise, love." Hermione kissed Rose on the top of her head before she picked up her beaded bag.

Draco shivered but held it together when she stepped back to his side, wrapping her hand around his elbow with a cloak wrap to take with her.

"Lead the way then, I suppose." Another beam in his direction and Draco's tongue curdled. He just indicated for her to hold on before he Apparated them away.

She still giggled when they emerged into a part of London he had only paid a visit to two days earlier. 

"Where are we?" Hermione started to shiver the moment they arrived. Draco hurried to help her into her cloak wrap, making sure to let his fingers brush against her skin which was still warm.

"Still no words?" she asked when he directed them down the street from where they emerged to cross Trafalgar Square. He turned to look at her, opened his mouth and still no words came out. She giggled again.

They walked the short distance from the Apparition point to the corner just off the main road. 

In a similar fashion to Diagon Alley, Draco pulled his wand slyly to tap a pattern across the bricks. Instead of opening to a shopping street, it opened to a small foyer of a restaurant. When he saw the impressed look on Hermione's face as they stepped through the archway, he felt rather pleased with himself.

A hostess appeared as if out of nowhere, dressed in a dark-coloured pantsuit.

"Welcome to the Silenced Suite, may I have your reservations?"

Draco cleared his throat several times, once more for good measure, when Hermione slid her hand down to lace their fingers.

"Malfoy," followed by a little croak before he continued. "Um, Draco Malfoy."

Once seated, Hermione took the lead again.

"I must say, this is quite something else than what I had expected. From all the time we've spent together, I've never once experienced you this tongue-tied nor put together."

"Well, you've never looked like this before," Draco spluttered and gestured at her, while she unfolded her napkin.

"And you're back."

"Right, well…"

"What is this place? I've never heard of it before."

Draco cracked his neck before explaining.

"The Silenced Suite is an expensive restaurant that keeps its mouth shut for all intents and purposes. Naturally, it takes quite the amount of galleons to even make reservations, but I wanted our first night in this to be, well, just us."

"That's sweet, I suppose. But Draco, you know you don't have to impress me in any way. I already know you're a posh git."

"A posh git who won you over with charm and my way with the-" He stopped himself at her raised brows. "Right, white or red for dinner?"

"What are we having?"

Dinner proceeded without much to prevent Draco from speaking again. Once he regained his verbal abilities, it was more the tiny glares Hermione sent him that made him stop speaking on occasion before he said something stupid. Other times, she didn't raise her brow in time, and he did say something stupid, to which she just rolled her eyes. This would also be the times Draco reached across the table to lace their fingers, just to make sure she wasn't about to bolt home for the night.

The Silenced Suite was nice but not too posh. They dined in a single room with no other guests to gawk at them, and the food was very delicious. Though, not as delicious as Draco thought it was to watch Hermione lick her lips after every course. 

The walls around them were bare save for scones of candles, which made up the majority of the light in the dimly lit room. There was a vague fragrance of spring in the air, adding to the ambience

During their second course, Draco braved his nerves and told Hermione about his father.

The story of how Lucius Malfoy had slowly lost his mind in Azkaban had thankfully been one kept from the press, so naturally, Hermione had unending questions.

"I'll answer any other questions you have on a different night. That's not the reason I wanted to tell you."

"What was the reason then?" She dapped the side of her mouth with her napkin, giving him her complete attention.

Right, in for a sickle in for a galleon, Draco thought before he began his explanation.

"Until quite recently, my magic had been tied to the Manor estate. My father was the Head of the Malfoy line and thus kept the reins, so to speak. Not so long ago, with the help of my mother, I had him sign over complete responsibilities of the family to me, which allows me to…" Draco stopped himself with a drink of their wine before he did something stupid like admitting it allowed him to propose marriage to any witch he liked, not just someone procured for the sake of the family.

"It allows me to take charge of certain aspects of my life I hadn't been able to previously."

"Oh, like what?"

"Truthfully, when you asked me what I did, I did very little. You made me realise I wanted to change that." For you.

He didn't say it, but from the way she looked at him, he had a feeling she heard it anyway. She was about to open her mouth when Draco continued after clearing his throat.

"Anyway, I began to look up matters of the estate. Turns out there are far too many things I knew nothing about. So I've been working to change that. Within a couple of months, I should have my legal documents to maintain properties and estates on behalf of those who do not wish to."

"Meaning what?"

"As it turns out, there are quite a few families who wish to sell their old family estates in the hopes of finding something new. And quite a few wizards who know nothing about ancient estates like that."

"But you do."

"To an extent. I'm learning, at least. I doubt Mother will ever want to sell the Manor with Father in the West Wing, but when the time comes, I'll be able to handle it myself. In the meantime, I will help other families move on to brighter and less tarnished homes. If they so wish to."

Hermione beamed at him. Draco would've kissed her at that moment had the waiter not appeared with floating trays of food for them.

Originally, Draco had placed the reservation for the full experience of five courses. But once he had suffered through Hermione eating a small portion of caramelised pears, with her failing to catch the drizzle down her chin on more than one occasion, Draco decided they were done with dinner. It had either been that, or John would demand to join their dinner party at the next emergence of her pink tongue.

Hermione looked confused when Draco refused the last two courses of their dinner and instead helped her to her feet to find her cloak wrap.

"How do you feel about a small walk?"

Arm in arm, they walked the short distance to St. James Park where Draco had the next part of the evening planned. Being in Muggle London he was faced with certain limitations. But with the help of Theo, who had asked a former muggle-born lover, Draco had managed to find what he wanted. Granted, it wasn't the magnificent Abraxan horses he had hoped for, but he supposed the white horses looked quite regal pulling the open carriage through the park.

"You can't be serious?" Hermione scoffed when he opened the little door and held out his hand for her. Waiting.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because this is… Draco," she sighed before accepting his help to climb in. He followed and signalled the paid muggle driver to take them around the park. Without anyone looking, he cast a couple of warming charms around him and Hermione before placing his arm around her back.

"This is far too romantic," Hermione grumbled as she snuggled herself into Draco's arm. Draco scoffed.

"Hardly. Even if it was, Hermione, you deserve all the romance in the world." She twisted a bit in his hold to look up at him, her eyes narrowing as she studied him.

"You really mean that, don't you?"

He nodded, folding his hand around her shoulder. The heat of her skin sang through her wrap and into his palm.

"I do."

A surprised smile flitted across her face before she fell back to being impressed, yet slightly annoyed with him. However, she leaned closer into his half-embrace of her, and that was enough for Draco.

For now.

The carriage ride was slow though not without its bump on the road. They had to stop on several occasions for either squirrels or a small family of ducks deciding to cross the path. At one point, Draco sat forward to slip a few more of those strange muggle coins to the driver, asking him to take them on to Hyde Park in the hopes there would be fewer ducks to stop for.

As it turned out, that was not the case.

Hermione eventually took pity on him and told the driver to let them off at a small gazebo overlooking a group of linked basins. They found seats inside the gazebo as the night grew colder. Draco pulled Hermione closer, not wanting her to feel any of the cold weather. She let him.

"This place was a gift, you know?"

"I did not."

"From a prince to his beloved queen. They were never meant to be married, truth be told, but I doubt any two people loved each other more than Victoria and Albert." Hermione sighed and looked around the place. Evidently finding what she was looking for, she pointed.

"See over there?" 

Draco squinted at something that looked to be…. Squiggles carved into the structure.

"Stories say that's their initials. I don't think I've known of two people loving each other more than those two." She sighed again. Draco found her hand under her cloak and laced their fingers.

"He died first, of course." Draco was about to blurt something that was most likely going to sound idiotic but thankfully, Hermione saved him from this mishap by continuing with her story.

"She never came out of mourning. Never remarried. Never stopped loving him."

"A bit morbid story, Granger," Draco tried to laugh, but stopped when she looked up at him.

"I suppose. I've always thought it was one of the best love stories in the world. Of real people meeting at a time they weren't supposed to and then love happened that they could never outrun. Or outlive for that matter."

Draco gulped and struggled for words, again. She turned to look at the still waters again.

"You always hear the big stories of people falling in love in fiction. But that's just it, isn't it? It's fiction. The real love stories are those that happen with real people." She turned her gaze to their intertwined fingers.

"True love stories happen when you least expect it. Sometimes even when you don't want them to. In the end, that's what makes them even better."

He reached to turn her face to him. For a long moment, Draco could just stare at her. The truth of her words floated between them and he knew nothing else than to kiss her.

So that's what he did. 

Sliding one hand to the nape of her neck, he slanted his mouth across hers and told her things he couldn't find the right words for with that kiss. Her fingers tightened around his hand as she tilted her head to let him kiss her deeper. Tracing the outline of her mouth with the tip of his tongue, she parted her lips to grant him access. Draco surged for the sweet taste of her he had burned on the back of his tongue from their previous kisses. The kiss grew more and more heated before Hermione drew back a little to rest their foreheads together.

"Maybe this isn't the best place for this," her breath danced across his mouth, making it difficult for him to resist leaning forward to capture her lips once more.

"Someone will surely see us if we keep this up."

"I know tricks that no one will know about," Draco teased with his mouth right beside her ear and was rewarded with a soft giggle. Grasping his hand, Hermione got to her feet, pulling him with her.

"Oh," she looked around the small gazebo as they stepped outside, holding her cloak wrap tighter around herself to shield from the cold air. "The carriage has left."

"Bugger. After I paid for an entire night," Draco bounced on the balls of his feet for a moment, looking around the place.

"It was a lovely evening, Draco." Her smile was back as she looked up at him. Draco pushed a stray curl behind her ear, letting his hand slide further down to pull her closer.

"I half expected one of those dates from you that I've seen plastered all over the Prophet over the years."

"One; You deserve far more than cheap champagne and canapes before a romp in the sack. Two; You've seen those?"

"Once or twice. Your head is too big to avoid the front page when caught out in public."

"I suppose it'll match your hair."

"Was that all they were?"

"What?"

"Romps in the sack?" She grimaced as the words left her mouth. Draco felt her arms around his waist loosen just a bit and he enforced his hold around her in return.

"For the most part, fortunately."

"Why, fortunately?"

"In some strange way, it led me here. To you."

"Quite a lot of detours."

Draco shrugged, slowly bending closer to her again.

"Worldly detours, one might say."

"One might not."

"Learning experiences, then."

They shared the same breath again, mouths nearly brushing.

"I'm surprised anything could get through that cheeky skull of yours," she smirked, her eyes glinting in the dim lights of the night.

"Whereas you know everything, Granger?"

"I might know some things."

"I might know some things, too."

Draco curled his fingers into the fabric of her cloak wrapped on her back, holding her flush to his chest.

"Care to exchange knowledge of said things?"

"Sounds educational."

"Far from it." Draco didn't let her say another word before he kissed her again. He had spotted a dark corner that would work just fine for Apparating and slowly stepped closer before tugging Hermione into his chest. She yelped into his mouth when he turned on the spot.

"Where are we?" Hermione spun out of his arms, taking in the grand room with gold decor and large windows overlooking the Thames.

"Somewhere no one will look," Draco explained, encircling her in his arms with his chest to her back. She tilted her head to allow him to pepper kisses along her neck.

"Mmm, oh bugger," Hermione said as she wrenched herself from his arms to face him.

"Were you planning for us to shag tonight?" She clutched her hands to herself. Draco's shoulders dropped.

"Uh, no." 

Yes , John piped in. 

Draco shifted on his feet, pretending to ignore the lavish room he had arranged for the two of them for the night. Not to mention the amount of galleons he had paid to the hidden magical hotel in the centre of London that hardly anyone knew a thing about. Nor all the extra things he had planned to be included in the room.

Hermione had her hands on her hips, glaring first at him and then the room. She let out a scoff when she saw the heart shape on the bed made out of flower petals.

"Yes, you were."

"No. This is purely coincidental, I assure you. I'll go tell the hotel right now, the impertinence-"

"Draco, stop." She grabbed his wrist before he opened the door to storm out and yell at some invisible staff member.

"No, no, I need to tell them they've offended you, and I-"

"I'm not offended. Surprised perhaps, but not offended."

"I'm not sure I understand…."

"I just…. I wish you'd told me." She smiled sheepishly, stepping back to take a seat on the bed, upsetting the flower petals, which she began fiddling with absently.

"Pardon me for not realising I had to schedule when to take you to bed."

"I know, I'm sorry-"

"No need to be sorry. If you don't want to, if there has not been enough warning to be faced with my prowess, I'll be sure to schedule next time in advance."

She groaned and threw herself backwards on the bed, pulling her wand from…. Somewhere. Draco eyed the part of her leg that poked out from a small slit up one side.

"Expecto Patronum," she said with deep conviction. Draco watched a silver otter hover above her head. "Tell Ginny it's plan B and give Rose an extra kiss from me." Then the otter bounded off, and Hermione rose on her elbows.

"It's not that I don't want to. But you need to know if we're doing this, I can't just answer to every one of your sexual whims. I'll always be Rose's mother and-"

"Hermione," Draco hurried to kneel before her, taking her hands in his as she sat back up. "I know you're Rose's mother. As much as I would love to have my sexual whims with you tonight I know Rose always comes first. I'll take you home right now, we can do this another night. John can shut the fuck up, and I'll-"

"John?"

"...make sure to check with you the next time my sexual whimsy takes over."

"I just told Ginny that I won't be home tonight."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. Now, mind telling me who John is?" 

"Ah, you'll be reacquainted with him soon enough." 

"I've met him?"

"Just the once." Draco shrugged. He suddenly realised he was on his knees in front of Hermione Granger, wedged between her soft legs, his hands on her thighs.

"Before you meet him again, I feel certain preparations are in order. Lie back for me?"

Her eyes narrowed but she followed his soft instructions even so, when he began to run his hands up and down the outside of her thighs. In slow and precise moves, he started to lift the skirts of her dress, kissing the inside of her knees and gently making more room for himself. She lifted onto her elbows again to look down at him.

"What are you doing?"
"Educating you, just lie back."

When he found her knickers, he gasped because they were pearly white with a tiny wet spot in the middle. Above him, she gasped when he placed his mouth on them. He drew her skirts over his head like a curtain before he started pulling her knickers down her hips.

"Lift," he urged with his palms on her arse and she complied, still completely silent above him.

Sliding his hands up her thighs, he blew a hot breath on her centre and felt her muscles tense.

"Draco," she gasped as he felt fingers trying to reach through the fabric covering his head.

"Prepare to be educated." 

Then he dipped his tongue to her seam and dragged it in a broad stroke through her wetness.

At that moment, Draco felt rather proud to elicit several swear words from swot extraordinaire Hermione Granger. Even more curse words left her mouth when he focused on her clit, drawing slow circles around it with the tip of his tongue. Her legs trembled around his head when he ran his tongue down towards her entrance and right when he pressed inside her with his tongue, she shrieked and kicked thin air.

Draco took his time to educate Hermione in the many ways his tongue could best her. She had no rebuttal for any of his teaching methods, only panting affirmations that he accepted eagerly.

Once she was shaking from pleasure, he emerged from his skirt-tent, a smug smile plastered across his face.

"Now, you get to meet John." Getting to his feet, he started unbuckling his trousers to take himself in hand.

"Don't let this get to your head, Hermione, but you might be his favourite person."

It was with some satisfaction that he watched her eyes widen and a grin take over her face as realisation hit her. Then she burst out laughing. Draco's shoulders dropped, and John grew rather impish.

"I'm aware you've been through a bit of a dry spell, but laughing at a wizard and his naked bits is rather frowned upon," Draco explained as he tucked John back inside his man cave.

On his part, John felt rather put out. In more than one way.

Hermione continued to laugh for a solid minute before she pulled herself together.

"I'm sorry, truly, I'm just…" Another laugh poured from her even as she yanked Draco down on the bed beside her. "John was not something I expected. I can't… You named your…. John?"

"I don't see how you are surprised. I told you I would baptise these," Draco grumbled, gesturing to her breasts, which were heaving under her dress. Though not for the reason he wanted them to. Hermione sobered, or at least tried to.

"And have you? Named them, I mean?"

"As a matter of fact, I have." Rearranging the two of them, he slowly released her dress from her shoulders and let it fall around her waist to reveal a strapless bra in the same pearly sheen as her discarded knickers. One hand at a time, he cupped her breasts, his gaze heavy on her face.

"Hermione, this is Olive," he gave the right one a gentle squeeze. "And this is Poppy," he kneaded the left one firmly. It was clear Hermione struggled to contain her laughter, Draco waited for her to control herself before she was able to speak again.

"Pretty names. Might I say hello to John again?"

"If you must," Draco shrugged, not wanting to remove his hands any time soon. His arms bent as she leaned forward and it was Draco's time to let out a string of curses when she slowly let John out of his cage of trousers. Her fingers were firm but gentle as she wrapped them around the bottom of his shaft and stroked him once.

"Hello John," Hermione murmured and let out a tiny whimper in response to Draco's grasp on her tits. In return, she stroked John again, harder this time.

"John says hello, and please if we might discard the rest of our clothes soon?"

"You'd need to let go of Olive and Poppy to do so," Hermione pointed out, glancing down at her chest. Draco grumbled. After a moment of hesitating, he hurried off the bed to chuck the rest of his clothes before he relieved Hermione of hers. 

Then he stopped.

His breath caught in his throat.

She sat on the bed, utterly naked, Olive and Poppy peaking and enticing for him to return his attention to, her knees drawn to one side in an attempt to shield herself from him. This, he thought, was utterly ridiculous considering the night they'd already spent together. He stole another moment of just looking at her.

"You're staring."

Draco shook his head and returned to the present.

"Pardon my desire to memorise this moment for future private meetings with John. He insisted." At this, the mentioned gave a twitch at the attention, and Hermione giggled again. Only this was a laugh that invited him back to her on the bed.

Draco took his time to crawl back up to her, cataloguing every dip and curve of her body in the golden light of the hour. With a snap of his fingers, he remembered one of the special features of the room and every light turned off to be replaced by candle lights. 

She looked even more beautiful in the flickering candlelight. When he told her this, she drew his mouth to her, and the kiss invited more. After several twirls of their tongues, Draco made good on his promise to baptise Olive and Poppy with nothing but his mouth.

Hermione asked to reacquaint herself with John and he let her. He let her take John in hand and tenderly guide him to where his new home would be.

It was warm and soft, and Draco half expected John never wanting to leave. 

Draco never wanted to leave.

On New Year's, it had been quick and just two people craving each other.

This was something different.

Draco was sure they both felt it in the way their breathing grew ragged between them, and in the way he couldn't stop touching her, nor did her hands lay slack beside her.

Not an inch of skin went untouched as Draco discovered a new way of life. 

One where Hermione and her soft smiles were enough to wake him in the morning. 

One where tender hands made him feel at ease and peace.

One he could quite suddenly envision as clear the sheen of perspiration on her temple. Draco leant down on top of her, kissing it away, tasting her skin before resuming to kiss her mouth.

John had the time of his life that evening.

He found a new place to call home and revisited it twice more before he nearly gave up his life for Draco.

When Draco snapped his fingers, much later, every candle but one on the bedside table went out. Draco lay with Hermione in his arms, both exhausted from their lovemaking and on the brink of sleep.

Tugging her flyaway curls away from her face, he curled around her to press a soft kiss to her cheek. She hummed her contentment and stretched against his lean chest. Were it not for the fact that John had been worn quite ragged, Draco was sure the feel of her curves bearing into his body would have awoken John instantly.

As it was, he helped Hermione turn to use his chest for a pillow before they drifted off to sleep.

When morning broke through the curtains neither had cared to draw, Draco discovered a slender hand in his, fingers entwined. A cheek was pressed to his pectoral, right above his heart, and a soft breath ghosted across his bare skin. His hair stood on end at the touch.

Unlike other mornings with random witches he had previously bedded, where he could not wait to rush from the room, this morning he simply wrapped his arms tighter around Hermione.

It was a strange feeling to wake up in this manner, but with the feeling of her warm body beside him, he thought it was one he could easily get used to.

Chapter Text

”If it be true that good wine needs no bush, ‘tis true that a good play needs no epilogue: yet to good wine they do use good bushes; and good plays prove the better by the help of good epilogues.”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Draco set forth his most charming smile and held out his hand, palm up.

"May I have this dance, Miss Granger?" 

The girl before him—well, she wasn't a girl anymore. A grin spread across the young woman's face as she intertwined her freckled hand with his, and he guided her to the dance floor. 

In every direction Draco looked, people were smiling. Some faces even showed genuine happiness as Draco stepped onto the floor with the young woman on his arm. On her part, she beamed up at him, causing the freckles across her nose to almost dance. For the occasion, she had let her mother style her auburn hair into a chignon, yet it didn’t truly tame the wild locks. Just before they took their places on the dance floor, Draco brushed a stray lock from her forehead.

"You'll do just fine, Rosie, just like we practised."

Her face grew anxious, yet she nodded with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Draco took her hands, guiding her feet as the dance began. The music flowed through the room, and within a few moments, Rose began to feel more at ease, her initial rigidity melting away with each step and movement they shared.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she whispered as she held herself closer to Draco, who smiled at her.

"I told you that you could do it. Anything you set your mind to, just like your mother."

"Mum can't dance." Her incredulous laugh sounded much like her mother, and the sound warmed Draco's heart every time he heard it. A low chuckle escaped him in response.

"No, she can't. But we shouldn't tell her that."

Rose Granger-Weasley (She went by Granger most of the time. As she got older, she got lazier with her full name, much to Draco's satisfaction.) completed her first ever Father-Daughter dance, following Malfoy traditions, with the biggest smile on her face. Despite her initial complaints about the fancy dress she would have to wear and the dance lessons (Draco had been surprised by the multitude of tricks she attempted to avoid and get out of them), she seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself.

"I'm sorry I've been such a pain, Papa. I'm really glad you wanted to do this with me. For me."

"You know I'd do anything for you, Rosie. I'm in this world for you, after all." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and she giggled.

"That's what you say to all of us."

"Well, it's true." Draco shrugged, twirling her through the next rise in the music. Her laugh echoed off the decorative walls and several guests started to applaud, though neither Draco nor Rose paid attention to them.

The rest of the dance required most of their concentration with every step unless he wanted Rose to step on his feet more than necessary. Once the music slowed, he let her step away briefly, doing a small curtsy, before he hugged her tight and kissed her forehead.

"Now go ask your Father for your second dance, I'm sure he's anxious to step on your toes."

"Papa!" Rose groaned, but she couldn’t hide her grin because it was true. Her eyes glinted as she practically skipped across the dance floor to hold out her hand for Weasley, who almost choked on his champagne before accepting the hand of his daughter. Draco let them have the dance floor to themselves, coming over to find his mother.

"You've done wonderfully, Mother."

"I beg your pardon," Narcissa Malfoy raised her brows at her son before she set her empty champagne flute aside. She wore another set of splendid dress robes as always, which highlighted her fair hair.

"Draco, I do believe it is you, who have done well," Narcissa said, as she began to straighten his bowtie, the same one Rose and Hermione gifted him all those years ago. It had been worn several times and the clip was starting to wear because of it. Narcissa's smile and eyes were warm, filled with the light and life he remembered from his childhood.

"Your father would have been proud." Wiping a stray tear from her eye, Narcissa began to turn away from Draco, but he stopped her.

"Thank you, mother. For today. For everything. Please, next time you visit his…." Draco couldn't get the word out. Not even these years since they had been forced to say goodbye to his father it was still difficult to talk about. 

"I'd like to come. I think Hermione wants to, too," Draco offered a crooked smile.

"That would be lovely, dear. Now go find your darling wife and tell her how proud I am of her planning skills for today." Draco kissed his mother's cheek before he went in search of Hermione. Out of the corner of his eyes, he just caught Weasley hopping off of Rose's foot before she winced and carried him to the next step of the dance.

With his attention elsewhere, he didn't notice the little buggers until they collided with his lower body.

"Oompf, bloody-!" he cut himself off when he spotted the set of curly red hair and matching grins.

"Shouldn't you be with your parents?" He scowled at the young boys, who had that look about them that told Draco they were doing something they weren't supposed to. His mouth was half open about to tell them off when he reminded himself that these were not his children.

Theo could deal with the menaces himself.

"Mum said to find something to do."

"So that's what we're doing."

"Right," Draco dragged the syllable into a long sound as he eyed the twins who, thankfully, favoured their mother's looks.

"I've seen nothing," Draco hurriedly interjected before turning his back on the twins, noting what he was sure were small bits of Weasley Wheezes fireworks sticking out of their pockets. He spotted Rose briefly and his heart twinged. Across his shoulder, he said to the demonic twins, "Although, if I'm to see nothing, it would work best at the far end of the hallway just south of here." He didn’t have to turn around to hear them scurry along, their annoying giggles trailing behind. Draco closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply.

They were not his problem.

Tonight was supposed to be about Rose.

"Why was Imogen giggling with her cousins headed for the south hallway just now? Please tell me that's not where you've moved all those Malfoy busts?" Hermione's soft voice sounded from his left, and he opened his eyes to find his lovely wife beside him. She wore a splendid golden gown that showed all the best features of her. Well, perhaps not all her best, as those would be best kept in the privacy of their bedchamber for Draco and John's pleasure alone.

"I have no knowledge of that." Draco pulled her in for a quick kiss. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him when she pulled back. 

"You know something?"

"I know I love you."

"Don't be a twat, Draco."

"He can't help it, it's in his blood," Ginevra Nott sidled up next to them, sporting a cheeky grin.

"Ginevra, lovely as always."

"Ferret Boy, you've done well with this thing after all."

"Thank you?"

"When you first mentioned it, I thought it was the ponciest thing in the world. But look at Rose," Ginevra's voice softened and they all turned to look at Rose, who was being spun around the dancefloor by a young wizard with dark curls.

"Who's that wizard?" Draco instantly inquired, about to cut in when Hermione wrapped her hand around his upper arm.

"That is Fredrick, technically her stepbrother. Remember? You've met him and his mother several times." 

"Oh, right, of course." Draco tugged on the lapels of his dress robes, though not taking his eyes off of this Fredrick. Hermione stepped in front of him, reaching to adjust his bowtie.

"Honestly, Draco. Freddie is 3 years younger. He's not the one you should be worried about." She laughed a little as she raised her wand to mend the bowtie once more.

"Who should I worry about then?" Draco was on his toes, craning his neck to try and spot any wizards that looked at their Rose in the slightest way that reminded him of… Well, himself at that age.

"Draco," Hermione dragged his attention back to her with a loving smile waiting for him. She caressed his cheek and kissed him tenderly.

"I love the way you love our girls, but please try not to hex anyone for looking at them tonight."

"Can I hex Weasley for looking at you then?"

"He's several years married too, he hardly ever looks at me as anything other than a friend."

"Still hate it," Draco murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist. Ginevra made her usual gagging noises and promptly departed.

"Yes, well, you'll just have to live with it."

"Fine. No hexes, then?"

"No hexes."

"Come on, let's see if we can find Viola. She's probably trying to sneak off to the library."

"She's her mother's daughter, that one," Draco chuckled and kissed Hermione's cheek once more.

It still baffled him some days. 

He was the luckiest wanker in the world because of the simple fact that Hermione loved him nearly as much as he loved her. He was lucky how easily it had been for him to become a part of the little family that was Hermione and Rosalind–Rose. His Rosie.

Because that's what she had become over the years.

She was as much his daughter as Viola and Imogen, which was why he wanted to throw her this Coming of Age Ball according to Malfoy traditions. Rosie may not have his name, but she was his family. His daughter.

Something swelled in his chest when he thought of the family he had made with Hermione.

John swelled with something else when he reminisced about how they had made that family.

Draco was just about to ask Hermione if they could sneak off to a corner of the house for a quick meeting with John when Theo clamped his hands on Draco's shoulders.

"Splendid party, Draco. I think even Blaise is behaving tonight. Oh, did you see my sons anywhere?"

"Nope," Draco spoke the word with a popping sound, and he regretted the fact that Hermione stepped aside, informing him that she would look for Harry.

No secret meeting then.

"Gin told me to keep an eye on them, the little buggers, but they always get away from me."

"They're your children, Theo, surely you know where they are?"

"Oh, I suppose you always know where your children are?" Theo snapped, still craning his neck to look for his redheaded children.

"Of course, Rose is just there dancing with-" Draco cut himself off with a curse when he saw just who Rose was dancing with. 

Calvin McLaggen was one year older than Rosie and almost a head taller. Draco thought he had cursed the stupid git off any of his properties when he first approached with a request to court Rose. From the looks of things, the dimwitted fool needed to be told twice.

"Excuse me, Theo, I just need to go murder someone," Draco grumbled, pushing through the crowd of people to get to his daughter.

"Mind if I cut in?" He asked in his most gentlemanly voice, thoroughly pleased to see Calvin McStupid falter in his steps when he spotted Draco.

"It's okay, Papa, Calvin was just-"

"Leaving," Draco intoned with a hard look for the young wizard. Rose sighed and rolled her eyes, looking just like her mother as she did so.

"L-lovely party, Mr Malfoy," McStupid bowed before scurrying off the dancefloor.

"You can't keep doing that to every wizard who expresses the slightest bit of interest in me," Rose groaned as Draco led her back into the waltz.

"I can and I will."

"I'm 17, now, Papa. I'm not a little girl anymore."

Draco faltered a step, catching Hermione's eyes across the dancefloor. She'd found Viola, holding her hand to keep her from going back to the library, no doubt. Next to them stood Potter, looking just as gruff with his annoying beard.

"I know you're not a little girl anymore. But you'll always be our little girl." Draco pulled his oldest daughter in for a tight hug and was delighted when she hugged him back.

"I love you, Papa. But I'm still going with Calvin to the theatre next week." Before Draco could argue, Rose lifted to press a kiss to his cheek and his composure melted away. She skipped away, leaving Draco alone in the middle of the dancefloor.

Not for long though, before Hermione stepped into his arms.

"She better not become a McLaggen," Draco grumbled. It helped a little to rest his hand on the small of Hermione's back, his fingers grazing the top of her bum. Her dress was cut low on the back, and if his mother hadn't been part of the many guests, he would have slipped a hand inside the fabric to squeeze Hermione's arse subtly. 

"Don't for a second imagine I'm a fan either." Hermione glanced across the room where they both spotted Rose chatting amicably with McStupid again.

"But Calvin seems to be the best of that ridiculous family. He's even asked for a chance to study abroad before he…" Hermione cleared her throat, not wanting to say the words they were forced to deal with more and more each day as Rose grew lovelier. Courting. Neither one of them was comfortable with the courtship request from McStupid for their daughter. It helped - just a tiny bit - that he wanted to make something for himself before he wanted to court Rose properly.

"I still want to feed him to the bloody peacocks."

"How many are even alive at this point?" Hermione looked out the tall windows to the gardens surrounding the Manor. The past had been swept away in the joy of family reunions and new friendships over the years.

"Only the hardiest of them all," Draco murmured. Hermione's mouth twitched.

"The one that-" Her eyes darted south.

"That's the one," Draco confirmed before spinning his wife in a great twirl of her skirts flying around her hips.

"I suppose a brief introduction to the Manor fowlery wouldn't be too bothersome."

"Hermione Granger-Malfoy, you know when you say stuff like that, John will want to play."

"Hush," Hermione clapped her hand across his mouth even though they were the only people who knew about John. Yet, mischief shone in her eyes.

"I'll play with John later." She kissed him, undoubtedly to shut him up some more. A little shriek escaped her when Draco held her closer to let her know just how excited John was about that promise.

They danced two more dances before Weasley asked for a dance, and Draco reluctantly agreed. 

"You know, some days I still think it is insane," Potter's voice drifted close as he stepped next to Draco for them to observe Weasley slaughter a perfectly lovely waltz with Hermione.

Draco grimaced when he stepped on her toes for the fourth time. Potter grabbed Draco's elbow right before he was about to leap to the dance floor.

"Leave them be, Malfoy. She always goes home with you, right."

"Damned right." 

"Absurd as it might be."

"Where is your paramour for the night, Potter?"

Draco hurried a glance at Potter who shrugged, before he returned to staring at his wife in the manhandling hands of Weasley.

"Allie went to freshen up, she'll be back in a minute or two."

"Which one is this, then?"

Potter chuckled but clinked his champagne to thin air.

"Allie is from Denmark, although she moved here for a new position in the Ministry, so we're trying to make things work."

"And how does that fit in with everyone else?"

Potter sighed.

"They're making it work. We all are."

"Ah ha, and how's that working out for you?"

"You'd think chasing baddies around the world would be the most stressful thing in the world. It's not."

"Why do you do it then?"

"Which part?"

"The witches."

"You tell me, you were the same once, remember?"

"That was many years ago, before Hermione."

"Exactly. I suppose I just haven't found my Hermione yet."

Draco fell silent at this. He studied Potter for a moment, noticing the smile on his face that spoke volumes about how happy he was for his best friend.

"You're lucky, Malfoy. Even luckier Ron and I've never had to curse off your bollocks," Potter chuckled again, giving Draco another clap on the shoulder before he left, no doubt to find this Allie person. Draco took a minute to appreciate his non-cursed bollocks. Even more so, when Hermione joined him again.

"We need to round up the girls. Your mother wants a photo she can slander every newspaper with, no doubt."

"Of course, she does." Draco rolled his eyes, kissing Hermione's forehead. They split up to search for their children. 

Draco took far too much pleasure in dragging Rose away from McStupid before he practically had to drag Imogen away from setting the skirts of her dress on fire with Weasley fireworks.

Hermione waved her wand several times to fix the little things in their dresses, while Narcissa fussed over positioning them all in the best light.

Once positioned, Draco wrapped his arm around his wife and gazed into her eyes.

"I'm glad we did this."

"Me too," Rose joined in with a grin for her parents.

"Anything for my girls," Draco crooned, placing a kiss on Hermione's temple. She turned to look at him, her expression one that always took his breath away.

“I would not wish any companion in the world but you,” Draco said in a hushed voice that was always only reserved for Hermione. In response, she smiled in a way that was reserved for him.

The camera went off. The next morning, every newspaper had plastered a picture of the adoring Granger-Malfoy family on their front pages for the rest of the world to see, Draco and Hermione unable to tear their eyes away from each other.