It Takes An Army to Raise a Child
Hermione POV--Present
She loved her life, and she immensely loved her daughter, she truly did...but right about now, she was close to screaming.
She had started about an hour ago, but if at all it were possible, despite the rhymes, the flipping through a sizeable number of picture books, and even some bubble charms, some rainbow charms, and many other tactics, her daughter was nowhere close to sleeping, and in fact seemed more active than when they had started. And this was despite a full day of playing in the kids' park, going to a tea party hosted by her mother-in-law Narcissa, and coming back, coaxing her little one through her dinner, she was bone tired and wanted nothing more than Hazel to fall asleep so she could get some time to herself.
She was about to give up, when she felt rather than saw him behind her...and then their daughter's squeals of "Daddy!" confirmed his presence.
"How's my little princess. Have you been good for mommy?", Draco asked their daughter.
"Yes," their little one replied.
Hermione turned around to the sight of her husband. He looked at her beckoning her towards him. She exhaustedly got up and hugged him. For a moment she reveled in his warm embrace, which all too soon ended with their daughter demanding her daddy's hug.
She shivered slightly when he whispered close to her ear, "Go out. I'll get her to sleep."
She didn't need to be told twice. Yes, she loved her daughter, but an entire day with the energetic 5 year old had overstimulated her, making her crave some peace and quiet.
She went to the dining room, and requested their house elf Tilly to get her some ginger-honey tea, and set the dinner table for them.
She needed the tea as her throat felt scratchy, it felt like she had been shouting or speaking too much the entire day, or maybe it was just the past hour when her little one's story time had stretched on.
She waited for 20 minutes before Draco came out and sat across from her.
"How is it that you settled her within a short time, and here I was trying for the past hour, and she still wouldn't sleep", Hermione asked him.
"The trick is to let her tell you any story. If you start showing her the picture books, she'll keep up with her endless questions," Draco replied to her.
She looked at him with narrowed eyes before replying, "Or, I did the heavy-lifting for you, getting her near sleep, and you just took advantage of my hard work."
"That too," he said, giving her a smirk.
She didn't say anything else. This late in the day, her brain was fried, and she knew it wasn't her past hour's coaxing that had done anything. Their daughter was a daddy's girl who settled down quickly when he was around. She was a mix of both her parents with Hermione's brown hair, and her father's grey eyes. An irrepressible imp who was the light of their lives...but some days, like today, it was tiring to be a parent.
Past
Almost 8 years ago she had started as an entry-level employee at the Department of Magical Creatures. They had been testing for an improvised Wolfsbane potion, and since Hermione had been on the research team for drafting the legislation for providing access to Wolfsbane potions to werewolves who could not afford it, Hermione had been tasked with finding potion suppliers.
The Ministry had been looking for sources for getting decently priced potions, and that's how she eventually got reacquainted with Draco Malfoy.
Post war, she and Harry had testified for the Malfoys, particularly about Narcissa's help with lying to Voldemort that had shifted the War's tide in their favor. Draco was found to be underage when he was drafted as a Death Eater and he was placed under a 6-month house arrest and engrafted into community service. Narcissa was not charged, but Lucius Malfoy got a 2-year Azkaban term.
After the war, Harry had joined the Ministry as an Auror, Ron joined the shop with George Weasley, and as she herself joined the Department of Magical Creatures, she realized the diverging paths she and Ron were on, and they had both...not really broken up, but the relationship with Ron had just withered after the war and so when they went their own ways there were no hard feelings.
In the course of finding the best suppliers of potions, Hermione had shortlisted some shops, there were some options in Knockturn Alley, but no supplier could meet her guidelines on ingredient procurement transparency, till she came across TBD Potioneers, a new shop in Diagon Alley, but it was the only shop that met the transparency criteria. After a quarter's trial with the shop's performance, a permanent contract was signed with TBD Potioneers, and the supply of affordable Wolfsbane potions became a reality.
It was a year later as she was reviewing the documentation that she found out who the owners of this new shop were.
The shop was owned jointly by Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini and ... Draco Malfoy. TBD Potioneers had all the compliances in place, and yet Hermione had felt surprise about this venture the Slytherins had started. It was a good business and they were serving the magical society with low-priced standard quality potions.
She got a chance to meet Draco at a fund-raising gala hosted by Theodore Nott. She had been surprised by the invite, but she had gone as she was curious.
Opting for a floor length navy blue gown, she had paid particular attention to taming her hair, and while her frizz was not entirely tamed, the sleak-eazy had managed to give her soft curls that looked elegant instead of unkempt. All her dresses had in some way or the other got full sleeves and she had self consciously tugged at her sleeve where the 'mudblood' scar sat upon her arm.
She had greeted Nott, and caught up with Neville, Hannah, Katie, Seamus and surprisingly enough, even Luna. The event was also a reunion of sorts, because not just dignitaries and people with deep pockets were invited, a lot of their batchmates were also around.
She had no intention of particularly meeting Draco...but he had requested a dance. And then Hermione had asked him about TBD Potioneers, and that short conversation had become a long conversation.
And then, on an unassuming weekend when they were both free, they had gone on a date after that event...neither of them called it a date. It was just meeting at a Muggle Bookstore and then grabbing a coffee. They had gone on in this vein for almost an year--enjoying each other's company, going to meals or to bookstores, or even just walking together in the weekends...but they still had not given their relationship any permanent name.
Then one day, Draco had given her a potion. It was a scar-healing potion he had been working on. He had looked awkward, explaining that it lightened scars. He reluctantly mentioned successfully using the potion to lighten his death-eater mark, and she had never expected it, but he had ended with, "Granger, I'm truly sorry about what...Bellatrix did to you. I should have helped...I just couldn't. I'm sorry I didn't help you."
The contrition in his eyes had won her over. She thanked him as she took the potion. She had tried to reassure him that she held no grudge against him, he was as young as they all were, dragged into a war that neither of them had wanted, manipulated by adults who were prejudiced and led by a madman.
The scar on her arm never permanently went away, but it lightened considerably and was not the harsh jagged lines that it had earlier been.
It took them another 6 months to really acknowledge their feelings for each other, and then Draco had proposed to her.
Lucius was released two months after Draco had proposed. Narcissa was happy for both of them, but Lucius was not.
It had seemed that the relationship between father and son would not mend, but Narcissa had mediated between them, and while Lucius did not accept their marriage, he did not vehemently oppose it either.
Draco and Hermione had married at the Ministry, with Theodore, Narcissa, Harry and Ginny serving as the witnesses. They had later thrown a reception for close friends at the apartment they had bought.
The relationship with Lucius improved after the birth of their daughter. Lucius had never acknowledged Hermione, but after their daughter's birth, her grandfather had been unable to keep away. For the first time, the stiff-faced Malfoy patriarch had a soft look as he held his granddaughter, "This is the first time in five generations that we have a daughter in the Malfoy line. What would you name this little jewel?"
Hermione had tried to reverse the obliviate on her parents, but the spell had been too strong and further spellcasting would endanger the sanity of her parents. She had contented herself with introducing herself as a long-lost relative on her father's side to them. Her parents were settled practicing dentistry in Australia...but they knew her only as Jean Granger, a British relative on her father's side.
She knew that her daughter would not be able to meet her maternal grandparents, but she was happy to realize that at least Draco's parents would dote on their granddaughter.
She and Draco had been discussing constellations, but the moment they held their daughter, her striking eyes and chubby face made them unanimously decide on Hazel. Since Narcissa had been her biggest support throughout her pregnancy, Hermione had told them Hazel's middle-name, and there were more than one set of moist eyes when the full name of their little one was spoken.
Hazel Cissa Malfoy was welcomed into the Malfoy-household with the love and joy a newborn needed.
After the strain of Hazel's birth, Hermione relaxed her principles on house-elves because she understood within a day that handling her daughter was not something either Draco, Narcissa or Hermione herself could do on their own. At least two house-elves, extremely happy to help her had been with Hermione throughout Hazel's growth, and even now she knew that she and Draco could not manage without the help Tilly provided.
Present
After they had had their stew, and finished their meal with more hot tea, Draco and Hermione cuddled on their bed.
"Did you finally manage the crisis at the shop?", she asked him.
The TBD Potioneers shop at Diagon Alley had had a small mishap with a blasting potion, which had resulted in the shop requiring repairs. Luckily, when the incident happened, nobody was injured.
"The repairs will be done in another day. But the shield charms and wards are taking some time. I won't be re-opening till the shields are properly in place, that should take a week."
The subtext was that Hermione would have to handle Hazel on her own for a week, because Draco would be coming late, like he did today.
"Can I send her off to Narcissa?"
Draco's chuckles and shaking shoulders nearly dislodged her head from where she rested it on his arm.
"She is a handful," Draco finally acknowledged. "I'll ask mum, she can come here for a few days, till I get the shop running again."
"Thank you," she murmured to him. "Have I told your mum, that I love her for taking care of Hazel."
"Yes, you have, every time she comes here," Draco told her on another soft laugh.
"You know, I never thought having a kid would be this exhausting," she told him.
"I know, but we only have to take it one day at a time. And we'll manage," he replied looking at her with his quiet conviction.
When she looked up at him, his grey eyes so much like their daughter's were filled with warmth and affection, and as she agreed with him, she knew she could face any challenge with his strength and love that tethered her.
Fin.~