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The first week, she thinks she’s seeing things.
She catches just a glimpse of snow-white hair in her peripheral vision and the moment she turns, it’s gone. She dismisses it, shrugs it off telling herself that her eyes were playing a trick on her.
The second week, she just stands there and stares as the same head full of distinctive hair walks into the kindergarten, minutes after she herself was there. She doesn’t stay to wait for him as the impatient kids in the backseat insist they drive home. So she puts the car in gear and drives away, her head swimming with questions.
“Harry?” she asks Friday evening as she sits by the kitchen island at Grimmauld Place. Harry is focused on preparing pizza dough, his long sleeves cuffed to his elbows as his hands are occupied with yeast, water and flour.
Every second Friday he and Ginny host a themed night for their friends. This time the theme is Italy. She made tiramisu and it almost landed on the carpet when she saw Ron with a bottle of Rioja in hand. Somehow, she managed to restrain herself from commenting.
“Hm?”
She tentatively licks her lips. “Do you remember what happened to Draco Malfoy?”
Harry stops kneading the dough and leans over the counter before turning to face her. “Why are you asking?”
She shrugs, hoping to appear nonchalant.
“Hermione?” Harry raises his eyebrow.
“Damn you, Harry Potter,” she huffs, defeated. “I think I saw him.”
“You saw him?”
“Well, I think I did…”
Harry peeks over her shoulder to the living room where the rest of their friends is and waves his hand, closing the doors. “Don’t tell anyone else about it, please.”
Her eyes widen at those words. “What? You saw him too?”
When she thinks about it, it’s not that surprising. She only picks up the boys from the kindergarten on Tuesdays.
Harry goes back to cooking, using a spell to make the dough rise and then rolls it out on a baking tray. “Pass me the sauce, please.”
Mechanically, she stands up and hands him the bowl with the blended tomatoes and herbs, this time staying next to him, watching as he spreads the red sauce.
“Harry?”
She watches as her friend swallows hard.
“What is the last thing you remember about him?”
Hermione thinks for a moment before answering.
“Probably the article. In the Prophet .”
“The one about his wife’s passing?”
“No. A later one. That he didn’t come to Lucius’ funeral and the theories that he moved to America.”
Harry nods and puts the tray into the oven, taking a timer in the shape of an egg from a shelf and twisting it to the proper position. They don’t talk as Harry puts the spaghetti in the boiling water and she stirs the pasta sauce.
Albus and James run into the kitchen hoping to coax their father for a game of Quidditch outside but he declines, saying he still has lots of cooking to do and that he is talking with Auntie Hermione.
Hermione adjusts the kids' winter hats as they pass by her to go to the yard through the back kitchen doors.
With the spaghetti cooking and the pizza baking, they sit by the table on opposite sides, facing each other. Hermione toys with the cup of tea in her hands.
“His son is quite good friends with Albus. Nice kid.”
Hermione’s brow furrows. “It’s a Muggle kindergarten, Harry. And no one saw Malfoy in years, people say he died!”
Harry puts his hand on hers and squeezes lightly. “Hush, please, I don’t want Ron to hear it.”
She nods and acquiesces.
“I bumped into him maybe the second week when Albus started attending. We talked a bit. I promised not to tell anyone.”
“Why?”
Harry lets go of her hand and rubs his eyes. “He doesn’t want Scorpius to grow up as he did. They live pretty much like Muggles.”
Hermione is shocked.
“He really changed, Hermione. He’s a great dad. And less of a prat.”
The timer goes off and she goes outside to call their families for the meal.
Next Tuesday she comes earlier and watches as the four-year-old kids have their final half an hour of playtime. Immediately, she catches sight of platinum white hair, a stark contrast to Albus’ tar-like messy locks. They sit in the corner, isolated from other children and play with wooden figurines of animals.
The kindergarten teacher walks up to her and smiles, telling stories from Albus’ day. Her heart grows as she watches the happy faces of kids, and then the boy notices her and runs to hug her. Hermione kneels to be on his level and kisses the top of his head.
“Auntie Mi! Play with me!” Albus grabs her hand and pulls her to the corner. Scorpius has wide, gray eyes, and they watch her carefully as she sits in between him and Albus.
“Hi,” she says and smiles delicately. She doesn’t want to scare him off. “My name is Hermione, but you can call me Mi. I’m Albus’ aunt. Your name is Scorpius, right?”
The boy slowly nods. She notices he has a scar under his brow. She watches as he and Albus gather their toys and put them away in one of the boxes.
The teacher encourages other kids to follow their suit and clean up after themselves as well, praising Albus and Scorpius for their initiative. Hermione sees how Albus swells with pride, his puffy cheeks reddening.
Then, she hears someone say Scorpius’ name. And this time she’s certain. It is Draco Malfoy.
Scorpius runs up to his dad, which immediately picks him up and places him on his shoulders. Scorpius leans his cheek on his father’s head.
Albus grabs her hand and tries to pull her up. She stands, and she and Draco make eye contact. She doesn’t smile, but nods her head in acknowledgement. His face freezes and Hermione is almost sure he will sneer at her, but he just nods back and leaves.
Hermione exhales and turns to Albus.
“Let’s go get your brother, huh?”
The following weeks are not different. Each Tuesday they exchange glances and nods as the kids say their goodbyes. Every time Hermione bids to herself that she will try to say something, or that she will smile wider but she fails.
And then, one Tuesday, he talks.
“You weren’t here last week.”
His voice is deep and silky. She also notices he lost the pretentious tone over the years.
She tries to hide her excitement and shock. They stand by the shoe cabinets and watch the kids put on shoes. “I was in France for work.”
He doesn’t reply. Scorpius finishes putting his shoes on and they leave. Hermione giggles to herself when she sees Draco’s face after his son says “Bye-bye, Mi!”.
She takes Albus and James to the cinema that evening as Lily Luna has fever and Harry and Ginny want to focus on their youngest child.
The little girl is diagnosed with magical pneumonia the next morning and Hermione takes the boys to her flat so they don’t catch it. Her back hurts, but the kids love her bed, and with them and her Kneazle it would be a tight squeeze so she sleeps on the couch.
She starts work at 8.15 so they have to leave at 7.30 in order to have the time to drive to Muggle London and the kindergarten, park the car somewhere safe and for her to Apparate to the Ministry. The boys are not cooperating, but the fresh smell of pancakes makes them leave the bed. They sing to Disney songs on the way and Albus has a meltdown. He cries and asks for his mum. Hermione frowns at James’ who laughs at his brother.
She takes Albus’ into her arms and carries him to the doors, where luckily James sees his friends and one of the mums offers to walk him to the proper room. Hermione accepts it with relief and after a wave goodbye to the older boy she goes to sit on one of the chairs in the corridor.
Albus hides his face in her curls and almost chokes her, his little arms around her neck. Although she tries to fight it, she looks at the clock. She has ten minutes before she’s late and she can almost hear the calming voice of her therapist in her head, but it hurts anyway.
She exhales and puts those nagging thoughts away, stroking Albus’ back with her hands. She slowly explains the situation, making sure to highlight how brave Albus is and how much his mum misses him as well. He just sniffles from time to time when the teacher comes to get him. She wipes his face with her fingers and wishes him a nice day.
“You’re really good with him.”
She snatches up her head. Malfoy stands above her, wearing an immaculately ironed Muggle suit. His hair is sleekly combed with a side part.
“Thanks, Malfoy” she mutters, still taken aback. She stands up and straightens her skirt.
“Um, it’s Black now. I go by Black.”
She takes her handbag and they stand in front of each other. Hermione’s curiosity is intense but she needs to go to work. Suddenly, she feels emboldened and smiles widely. “Well, have a nice day, Draco Black.”
Walking to the spot where it’s safe to Apparate, she wonders how often Scorpius cries for his mother.
Lily Luna stays in St Mungo’s for two more days and is released just for the weekend with Ron’s birthday. The party takes place at Grimmauld, and Hermione can barely dress the boys as their excitement to go back home makes them agitated and they can’t sit in one place. She instructs James to keep a strong hold on Albus while they travel by the Floo Network, and that she will come just after them with their bags and gifts for Uncle Ron.
She gives Ron a giftcard to his favourite restaurant in Muggle London and he thanks her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and then rushes to show it to Daisy, his long-time girlfriend. When Albus and James give him the drawings they drew for him in kindergarten he pulls them both up and spins them, joking afterwards about how big they got.
Hermione sits next to Ginny for the meal and the red-head immediately puts dozing Lily Luna on Hermione’s knees. Ron thanks them all and invites them for dinner at the Burrow the next day. She smiles, but knows she won’t come. She misses the Weasley family and their loud dinners, but the need to spend some time alone in the comfort of her flat is stronger.
While she and Ginny watch Lily sleeping in her little bed, Hermione's mind wonders. Ron’s thirty. Ginny and Harry have three kids. In two months it will be 12 years from Voldemort’s final fall. Her career at the Ministry is going swimmingly. Harry is happy and has a family he deserves so much.
Ginny elbows her. “He’s so fit, right?”
Hermione’s breath catches. “First of all, ew, I think of him like he’s my brother, second, I shall remind you how you made me swear an oath that I’ll stop you from having a fourth kid.”
“I meant Malfoy.” Ginny chuckles and casts a monitoring charm on the bed in case her daughter wakes up. “Good to know you’re thinking about my husband with that face. I know, Harry is unbelievably fit.”
“I was just… Nevermind.”
Hermione shakes her head and they leave the girl’s room. They can hear laughs and snippets of conversations from the drawing room.
Ginny stops her on the last step of the stairs.
“I’ve been trying to convince Malfoy to come with Scorpius for Albus’ birthday, but he doesn’t want to.”
“Oh, but Albus and Scorpius are so close.”
“I know that.”
“So? You want me to try to convince him?”
Ginny winks. “You are so smart, Hermione Granger.”
Albus’ birthday is on April 24th so Hermione spends her Sunday preparing a meticulous plan on how to make the Malfoy’s come to the birthday party, a key to success in 8 easy steps. It all fails when the next Tuesday Malfoy follows her and the boys to the car.
“Granger!”
She turns on her heel and Albus’ little hand slips from hers as he sprints towards Scorpius and trips on the sidewalk. She rushes to go help him, but Scorpius and Draco are there first and Draco picks him up.
Hermione opens the door to her car and Draco puts him on the seat. Albus is crying and his trousers are ripped, showing scratched knees. After shortening the fabric with a spell, Hermione reaches to her bag and takes out a vial of Dittany.
“Oh, baby, can you tell me what hurts?” she asks, swiping his hair from his forehead.
“M-my k-knees. A-a-and my wrist.” Albus cries out and her heart rips in two. Taking the injured arm in hand, she sees it’s most likely sprained. Draco stands in such a way that no one can peek inside the car and she quickly mends it with a spell and cleans out the wounds on the knees.
“Scorpius, could you come here?” she asks, looking at the scared, blond boy. “I need your help, love.”
Malfoys furrows his brows but lets his son stand next to crouching Hermione. James is sitting behind the wheel and watching from behind the car seat backrest.
She gives the dropper to Scorpius and with her hand on his, she shows him how to treat Albus’ wounds. The blond boy carefully does as instructed with his tongue out. All three boys watch in amazement as the scrapes disappear.
“Thanks, Scorp!” Albus beames and waves his legs to show that it doesn’t hurt.
Scorpius sheepishly gives Hermione back the Dittany vial and walks to his dad to hug his knee. Malfoy strokes his son’s hair.
“Great job, Scorpius. Dad’s really proud of you, are you proud of yourself?”
Scorpius nods his head and sends a small smile to Hermione. “Thank you, Mi.”
She smiles back and puts her hand so the boy can give her a high-five. “Thank you , Scorpius. And thanks to Albus for being the bravest patient. Being helpful to your friends feels amazing, doesn’t it?”
They say goodbye and leave and only then Hermione wonders what did Malfoy want from her.
She doesn’t get to wonder for longer as she has to go back to work after dropping the boys at Grimmauld, and the Merpeople case is much harder than she expected. She leaves the Ministry at one in the morning and just falls on the couch without even taking off her shoes.
The moment she wakes up she knows she’s late and jumps to her feet, her eyes dry like a desert. Two owls peck at the kitchen window and Hermione opens it, taking two letters and feeding some snacks to the birds.
The first letter is from her boss. Due to the previous day's emergency, her department gets a day off. Hermione feels immediate relief since that means she isn’t actually late for work.
The second letter is even more interesting.
It’s from Malfoy, with an invite for a coffee during lunch hours. And without having to go to work, she has three hours of free time before going to the place.
She scribbles an answer on the other side of the parchment and sends it with her owl.
The cafe they are supposed to meet is not that far away from the kindergarten, making Hermione contemplate if Malfoy works somewhere in the area as well.
When she walks in, he’s already there, sitting by an oval table in a corner. She sits opposite him.
“Hello.”
“Hi.”
He’s wearing a suit again , and her palms get sweaty when she remembers how Ginny called him.
He is very much fit.
And he smells nice. Like rain with a hint of pine wood. She swallows and asks if he ordered anything yet. When he declines, they both go to the counter. She thinks she feels a ghost of his hand on the small of her back but quickly dismisses that thought.
She orders a cappuccino and a mozzarella sandwich, and he orders an Americano and pancakes. She laughs to herself as the memory of him receiving baskets of sweets from his mother in their early Hogwarts years resurfaces.
They sit again and wait for their orders in silence. Malfoy gets up to get them.
And of course, he starts talking when her mouth is full of bread.
“Granger, I asked you for a meeting for a few reasons.”
She hums and tries to bite and swallow quicker, only to choke on the dry sandwich and he pats her awkwardly on the back as she takes gulps of lava-hot beverage. Finally, she can breathe. Her tongue is burnt, her throat is sore and she’s certain her whole face is red like a tomato.
“Thanks,” she mutters.
“Yeah, about that.” Malfoy starts. “First, I wanted to apologise. For everything I did. For being mean, and for calling you names, and just… how I was. Now, as a dad, I can see even clearer how horrid and damaging that was. I’m sorry. And I know it probably doesn’t mean much, but I’m so sorry for my family as well. My father and my… my aunt, my aunt as well.”
She doesn’t reply and just blinks at him.
He clears his throat, looking confused. Hermione never imagined seeing such a persona as Draco Malfoy uncomfortable like that.
“Second, I wish to thank you. Scorpius really likes you and that was so great, that you thought about him when healing Albus. I couldn’t get him to sleep yesterday, he was so excited and happy. And it’s everything for me to see him like that. So thanks, Granger.”
She gets even redder. “I love seeing them interact with each other. James can get quite nasty to Albus sometimes, and Lily Luna is too small for Albus to play with, and he was so shy as a little baby Harry was afraid he wouldn’t make any friends. We all value his friendship with your son.”
“Lily Luna?”
“Yeah, she’s two.”
“Potter has one more kid? Oh, Merlin, have mercy.”
Hermione giggles.
“So, how come you don’t have any on your own?” Draco asks the question Hermione hears statistically once every two weeks for the last 4 years. “You’re just so amazing with the Potter spawn, and with my kiddo.”
“Thanks. Well, first, I was never in a secure enough relationship to think about having kids, and second, I’m infertile. And that complicates things a bit,” she says in the most lighthearted manner she can manage, but Draco’s face drops instantly either way.
“I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” he whispers. His expression changes. “Is it because of Bellatrix? Please, don’t answer if it’s too much.”
Much to his shock, she reaches out to put her hand on his, but he doesn’t pull away. “No. It was Dolohov in our fifth year. The Department of Mysteries.”
Draco’s face is hard and he looks through the window, his jaw clenched.
“Are you okay? We don't have to talk about the war if it's a sore subject for you,” she says after a moment.
“It's alright.” He answers and locks his eyes with hers again. They look like molten silver. “If you don’t mind me asking, how come you’re so calm about it?”
She lets go of his hand and sits back on the chair, shrugging. “I’m not. I mean, it makes me scared to enter any relationship. Luckily, seeing kids or taking care of them is alright, even when everyone always puts them into my arms. Pregnant women tend to make me jealous a bit, but I’ve learnt how to cope with that. And I have the best godchildren in the universe. I’m thankful for what I have.”
“Wow.”
“Hm?”
“You’re so brave, Granger,” he says, his eyes fixated on her face as he leans his head on his palm. “I’m in awe of you.”
“Gryffindor.” She jokes and points at herself. The corners of his mouth curl upwards a bit, but his gaze is still so intense. “And please, call me Hermione.”
“Okay, Hermione.”
"Look at that, Draco. That was so brave of you!"
He snorts at that and they spend the next two hours talking before he realises how late he's for work.
After that, they meet for lunch every Wednesday. They exchange longing glances on Tuesdays at the kindergarten and then spend at least an hour over coffee and sandwiches the next day, talking about everything and nothing. She learns he's allergic to peanuts and that he visits his sick mother every second Saturday. She tells him about her parents and her Kneazle. They both open up about their experiences with therapy, and Draco tells her how much it hurt to lose Astoria to an old family curse. She tells him about her favourite holidays, and he recalls the first time Scorpius said Dada and how it made him feel.
Their conversations flow and Hermione notices that the sweaty palms, blushes and stupid giggling only intensify with every one of their meetings. Especially when after the third time at the cafe, he leans over and kisses her cheek for goodbye, later adapting it as a recurrence. On one hand, she doesn't want their time together to end, but then the soft touch of his warm lips on her cheek makes her heart flutter like a butterfly in spring.
It's hard to say who is more surprised that she's late every Wednesday afternoon, she or her boss, but luckily, neither of them actually mind it.
April 24th comes quicker than anybody expected and Hermione’s plan worked, they even went to get a gift for Albus together. Draco is not thrilled to reunite with the Weasley family, but Hermione’s and Scorpius’s excitement makes it more bearable.
They agree to go to Grimmauld together through the Floo connection in Hermione’s flat. She spends the entire Friday evening cleaning every possible surface and trying to choose an outfit. She then has a meltdown over her behaviour and rereads Pride and Prejudice to calm herself down and get back her cool.
Both Draco and Scorpius greet her with a kiss on the cheek and all her stress vanishes. Draco compliments her dress, and she leads them to the fireplace light-footed.
Albus is elated when he sees Scorpius and invites him for a house tour, consisting of the staircase and his own room. Draco’s arrival makes the crowd silent for a moment, but when Harry and Ginny greet him with open arms the atmosphere loosens. George is the first Weasley that offers him a handshake and Arthur even pats him on the back. Hermione can see Draco is uncomfortable, but he bravely continues exchanging pleasantries. Luna hugs him so tight he coughs.
She takes him for a proper house tour as she pinpoints this once was his family’s house. Walburga Black, charmed silent and left in the attic, cries when she sees him. They stop by Albus’ room and her heart warms when she sees James, Albus, Scorpius and Lily Luna sitting around a charmed toy train. Scorpius whines he wants a toy train as well and Lily Luna walks up to her and puts her arms in the air.
“Up, up, Mi.”
Hermione obliges and the girl shyly looks over to Draco, who smiles so softly Hermione melts. Both she and Lily Luna are transfixed as he reaches to tuck a stray curl behind Hermione’s ear and conjures up a purple field flower and gives it to the child.
“Magic tricks, huh?”
Draco just smirks and they go downstairs again. Molly cooes at her as she always does when she sees Hermione with a red-headed child, a vision of her unfulfilled dream.
“Draco, your aunt is here,” she whispers as Andromeda walks up to them. She decides to leave them alone and joins Bill and Charlie on the sofa. The three of them always share their experiences with Magical Creatures, but she keeps an eye on Draco.
Andromeda has her hand on his shoulder and his head is bowed as he listens to his aunt’s soft words. She reaches to her pocket and takes out a few photos. Hermione chuckles when Andromeda tells Draco that Teddy is in Hufflepuff and the blond blanches a bit.
“You got it bad, don’t you?” Charlie elbowes her playfully.
She just rolls her eyes, but doesn’t deny it.
Draco finds her an hour later in the kitchen when she’s taking out the banoffee pie from the fridge. He takes the tray from her hands and places it on the counter, only to grab her into his arms and kiss hungrily. At first, she’s surprised, but then she throws her arms around his neck. They part, panting and smiling like loons.
“You didn’t need any convincing to come here, right?”
“Hm?”
“Ginny told me some time ago I had to persuade you to come with Scorp for the party.”
Draco chuckles and hugs her closer, his face hidden in the crook of her neck. “That little minx.”
Later, they leave Grimmauld together, with Draco’s hand on her back and Scorpius’ palm in her own.