Kissing Frogs

Unexpected

-!-!-

Hermione had James in his stroller as she strolled down the avenue, the two headed to the park for a picnic.

"It's too nice a day to not be outside. Right Jamie?" Hermione asked the tot, even though she knew he wasn't quite able to talk to her yet. He garbled back at her, trying to look for her although his chubby neck wasn't quite useful yet. "It's just a little bit further up."

Meanwhile another occupant of Amor Est Vitae Park was also trying to enjoy his day although he did not know how he got himself in this situation. The little boat was rowing on its own as Draco sat on one end while his female companion sat on the other, her delicate features protected by a sun parasol. Her dark brown hair was pinned back so that nothing obstructed the view of her aristocratic cheekbones.

"So how's my sister?" Daphne Greengrass asked nonchalantly but Draco knew better. Blaise was not all right when he said that the two sisters were complying with their odd triangle docile. Astoria was the docile one, and in Draco's opinion, almost too sweet for him to believe she had ever been a Slytherin. Daphne on the other hand had been in all their classes without raising too much attention on herself, and yet she'd been known as their ice princess. Beautiful but cold... and calculating.

"She's your sister, shouldn't you know?" Draco asked.

"She doesn't want to speak about you to me, and avoids me most of the time. Such a strange creature, my sister that is, she's the one who proposed this whole situation." Daphne said bemused.

-!-!-

Hermione had found her favorite spot in the park, it was just in the shade of the cherry blossom tree that was spelled to bloom all year and overlooked a field of yellow tulips. However... someone was already in her exact spot. Someone that looked strangely familiar, at least the back of his head did.

Hermione made a face as she couldn't believe that someone had managed to snag her spot before she got to it. That never happened. And this time she even had baby James with her. The shade from the tree would've been perfect to prevent too much sun exposure on the infant. She tried not to huff out loud at the thought, but it seemed, almost like as if he could feel her glare, said someone looked back over at her. It was Dean Thomas!

"Hermione?" He asked loudly.

"Hello Dean."

"It is you," He smiled handsomely, his pearly whites almost glistening. Age had agreed with Dean, a lot.

"Well, uh yes," Hermione said awkwardly, feeling quite under dressed compared to Dean's bottom up, the rolled up sleeves giving a glimpse of the muscles underneath and a pair of muggle jeans. She'd been almost late to pick up James from his parents- causing them to almost be late to Ginny's event. So she'd forgone brushing her hair and had thrown on a pair of cotton shorts with a plain white gypsy like top. The top was a few sizes too big for her figure but utterly comfortable.

"Is it just you two?" Dean asked as he stopped right before Hermione and the stroller. He bent down to James' level. "Hey there buddy. You're a cute one aren't you." He greeted the tot. "Would you like to join me? I'm by myself and it's a little lonesome on such a beautiful day." Dean asked, still on James level so that the babe could grasp the big hand of Dean's with his chubby fingers. However his eyes were locked on Hermione.

Hermione's lips parted, however nothing came out. "I, I mean, I'm supposed to be taking care of James." She explained.

"This peanut can't be that hard to look after, plus I think two set of eyes are better than one." Dean smiled even wider. "Come on, Hermione, for old times sakes. We can even pretend James is Harry. We'll talk while he does his own thing."