Dramione: Skills for life

10. Stepping into parenthood

One Week Later

"Draco, stop that." complained Hermione, though it was half hearted. Her boyfriend smirked against the nape of her neck. She continued to beat the batter for the brownies she was cooking, but Draco was being really distracting. She spun around.

"Aw, Mione." grumbled Draco, pulling away. He gave her the puppy dog face but Hermione only laughed at him. She turned back around and began to beat the chocolate mixture again. She dipped her finger into it and brought it to her lips, grinning as the taste hit her tongue.

"Granger, are you trying to kill me?" grunted Draco, watching her. She giggled as she poured the batter into a pan and shoved it into the oven.

"So, are you excited for tomorrow?" asked Hermione, sitting down at the kitchen table. He looked at her.

"Excited? Not exactly."

"Aw c'mon Draco! We get our children." burbled Hermione, who was extremely excited for the upcoming project. Secretly Hermione's one wish in life was to be a mother. She loved children.

"Infants are annoying. All they do is cry and shit." replied Draco icily. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You do realize that everyone is an infant at some point."

"Yes, and I'll admit to be a nuisance when I was young. Of course, the house elves liked me enough."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Do you want kids?"

Thoughtfulness flashed across his features. "It's never been about want, more about necessity. The Malfoy line needs to be carried out, and I'm the only heir. I always assumed I'd have a single child."

"Draco, what would you name your kids?"

He stopped short. "I've never actually thought about that. The Black family usually names their children after constellations."

"I love the name Juliet." said Hermione thoughtfully. "Julie."

"Lovely." replied Draco sarcastically. She gave a soft chuckle and pushed him. They walked into the living room and turned on the television. The scent of brownies began to float around the house, making the couple's mouth water.

"I'm going to take the brownies out, find something to watch. Channels 500 to 557 have good movies most of the time." said Hermione, walking into the kitchen. She got out two bowls, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate fudge sauce. Her mother and father would make these for Hermione all the time when she was young- the few times the dentists would allow sweets like chocolate fudge. She scooped three scoops of vanilla ice cream, crumbled up brownies over it, and then fudge sauce to top it off. Sadly, Hermione didn't have a cherry. She walked into the living room and handed Draco his bowl and spoon.

"Hermione, this is amazing." mumbled Draco through a mouthful of ice cream. She giggled.

"Whatcha watching?" inquired Hermione, staring at the screen. A few men were standing on a rooftop, taking shots. The scene sped up to a fast beat song.

"The Hangover. It's funny so far." replied Draco. Hermione nestled herself into the crook of his arm, watching the movie and eating her ice cream.

The next morning was Saturday, the day they got their new children. Hermione woke early, excitement bubbling inside of her stomach. She got dressed and showered. It was only nine o'clock by then, so she began to clean the muggle way. She walked into the two spare bedrooms and the excitement.

The one question on Hermione's mind was, what kind of children? Baby dolls or something along those lines, is what Hermione assumed they would be given. They said that the ages would vary, along with genders. Her curiosity spiked when she wondered what they would do with a six year old. She wondered how old they would go, probably not teenage since they themselves were teenagers.

"Hermione?" called Draco.

"In here!" shouted Hermione. Draco appeared in the doorway, freshly showered.

"It's already five til noon."

Hermione's gasped, she hadn't realized that she was cleaning for so long.

"Time to go get our kids!" squealed Hermione, excitement evident in her voice. Draco frowned.

"Yay." replied Draco sarcastically. They got dressed in winter clothes and walked outside. The snow hadn't melted since the last weekend blizzard, but the roads were clear.

"Draco?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you excited?"

"Bloody hell Granger." groaned Draco. Hermione's mega watt smile only widened, if possible, as they joined the growing crowd in main square. She immediately went over to Harry and Ginny, who were both beaming. Draco followed her. Ron stood beside Lavender and Harry, but when he saw Hermione his face darkened and he stormed away.

"He'll come around." sighed Harry, though he was unsure of his hotheaded, stubborn friend.

"Maybe." murmured Hermione, turning to the stage. Tori appeared, her blonde hair curly and shining.

"Welcome all!" chirped Tori, her usually happy voice the same, if not happier, than normal. She bounced on the balls of her toes, looking like a ten year old girl at the fair. "Today is the day you start on the road of parenthood. Excited? I am!"

She paused before continuing. "Here's how we're going to play it. Since the number of babies and gender is random in real life, that's how we're going to do it today. Each couple is going to come up here and pick out of this bowl,"

Tori held up a fish bowl with papers in it. "Now form a line."

The crowd surged, Hermione and Draco just behind Harry and Ginny in the middle. The line moved quickly, as each couple lifted a slip and hustled to the side to find out. Finally the Potters got their slip. Draco felt Hermione's hand clasp his own, giving him a squeeze.

"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy." greeted Tori, holding out the bowl. They glanced at each other.

"You do it." said Hermione, nudging Draco. He pursed his lips, but stuck his hand in none the less. He felt around for about five seconds before extracting a slip. They shuffled off to the side and Hermione practically ripped it with excitement.

1 Girl

"A baby girl." murmured Hermione, sighing in content. Draco wrapped his arms around her.

"What did you get Mione?" asked Harry. Ginny grinned at her.

"A girl.

"We got twin boys." gushed Ginny, not waiting for Harry. He smirked at his over exuberant wife.

"Okay! Everyone's done, so onto your actual children. I know you're all wondering, are we going to get synthetic baby dolls? But we're not. This time around, we're going to partially adopt your children. After the war, the London Charm House, the local magical child orphanage grew over populated. So, they're building a new one. However, it will not be ready until February 1st, when this course is over. Now I want you to come up here and show me your slip. I will hand you a file on the child you will receive."

Hermione's mind reeled at that information. It was such a sweet idea. Kindness lurked around every corner. She stood beside Draco in the line. Harry and Ginny were quickly handed their files and then it was the Malfoys turn.

"One girl? Hmm, here you go." said Tori, pulling out a file then handing it to Hermione. She walked to the side and opened it.

Name: Olivia Avery Carson

Age: 3 years, two months

Birthday: October 5th, 2006

Hair color: Blonde

Eye color: Brown

Birth parents: Katherine and Donovan Carson, of Wales. Murdered July 16th, 2007.

Siblings: None

Family: None

Hermione lifted up the paper, which revealed a photo. It was of a very adorable three year old, with blonde pigtails and huge brown eyes. She was smiling and biting her finger, her other hand clutching a teddy bear.

"She's adorable." whispered Hermione. "She's ours."

Draco remained mute, staring at the photo and enthralled.