Hermione and Draco were in the Ministry with Gisella
"Ready?" Draco whispered
Hermione nodded and took his hand, they both left the Department of Magical Transportation
Immediately the whispers and pointing began, there was a bright flash before them and they started getting crowded with questions
"Isn't that Hermione Granger?—"
"Are you under the Imperius Curse?!—"
"So much for being Harry Potter's friend—"
"Are you cheating on Ronald Weasley?!—"
"Breath" Draco whispered into her ear, she was digging her nails into his hand
"Merlin's beard these people can't do anything else" Hermione heard Gisella grumble
They reached the Floo networks, they stepped in and Hermione threw the floo powder before they got engulfed in green flames
They emerged into the small office
"Quegli insetti non trovano altro da fare?" Gisella muttered in Italian
Draco gently cupped Hermione's cheek, her pupils were blown wide and beads of sweat trickled down her forehead
"I need you to breath for me" Draco instructed softly
Hermione let out a sob she was holding and wrapped her arms around his chest
"You're safe now, Love"
He let her cry out her panic attack, Gisella occupied herself by looking at the pictures of Hermione's riding competitions and admiring the trophies
After a moment, Hermione's panic attack passed and pulled away and Draco wiped her tears
"You okay?" He asked
Hermione nodded slightly, she turned to Gisella who was trying on her riding helmet
She giggled slightly before turning back to Draco and kissed him softly, they exited the office and made their way to the house, they struggled to walk through the thigh high snow
"It snows more here than at Hogwarts" Draco mumbled
They finally reached the house and dusted off the snow
"Mama Helen?" Hermione called out
"AUNTIE MIMI!"
Katie ran into Hermione's extended arms, hugging her tightly, she pulled away and turned to Draco
"Your hair is white" she stated
"It is" Draco confirmed
"I liked it better when it was red" she told him
"Would you like to see his hair red again?" Hermione asked, Katie nodded eagerly
"Don't you bloody dare" Draco warned her
Hermione smiled innocently before kissing his cheek
She pulled away and led a giggling Katie away
"You're so bloody whipped" Gisella smirked before following Hermione
Draco turned to the mirror and groaned with annoyance, she had turned his hair red again, he followed the girls and saw Hermione talking with Katie, he let himself ponder for a second how it would feel if he had a child with Hermione
He could picture perfectly a little boy with his hair and her eyes or a little girl with her hair and his eyes, and both of their brains
He didn't know he was smiling like an idiot until Hermione called his name
Draco glared playfully at her
"Turn my hair back" he ordered her
"I rather like it red, don't you Katie?" Hermione asked
Katie giggled
"What?" Hermione asked
Katie showed her a strand of her hair and Hermione glared at Draco
"Seriously Malfoy?!"
"You started it" he smirked
Hermione grabbed her green hair and groaned, Katie laughed loudly
"You think that's funny don't you? Very well" Hermione said
Katie squealed as her hair turned purple
"What have you done to my little girl?"
The three adults and the little girl in question turned to the door and saw Tom shaking off the snow
"Daddy! Auntie Mimi turned my hair purple" Katie whined and ran to her father who picked her up and looked at her hair
"I can see that" Tom said and looked at Hermione
"She started it" Hermione shrugged and walked to Draco
"You two finally got together then?" Tom asked
She nodded
"Tom, this is Gisella, Gisella this is Tom, he's one of the workers" Hermione introduced them
"Pleasure to meet you" Gisella said
"Pleasures all mine" Tom said
The group made their way into the kitchen
"Mama Helen, Hermione is here with Draco and another friend" Tom said
The housekeeper walked up to them and hugged them all
"Go get cleaned up, dinner will be served shortly" she ordered
"I'm actually going to go check on Vixen" Hermione said
She left with Tom, leaving Draco and Gisella with Mama Helen
"Well, go get cleaned up" Mama Helen ordered them
Outside Hermione and Tom entered the stables
"Philip! Hermione's here!"
A second later Philip came up to them and hugged her
"Are the gifts here?" She asked
"Yes, we've finally managed to control the two of them, do you think they'll like them?" Tom asked
"Katie had been begging for a horse ever since she could talk, and Draco's been adopted by mama Helen and he's good with the horses, and if he doesn't like him then Katie gets two"
They entered the back part of the stalls
A Friesian horse was pacing in one of the stalls
"Oh he's a beaut" Hermione gasped
"Bloody prideful too" Philip muttered, the horse in question turned to the trio and huffed, Hermione could immediately see Draco and this horse connecting
It came up to them and looked at Hermione, she could see the horse analyzing her, it nodded its head and Hermione raised a hand to pet it
"Name?" Hermione asked Philip
"Sage" Philip answered, the horse turned to him and pushed him away, Hermione laugh while Philip grumbled under his breath
"Oh this is definitely the horse version of Draco" Hermione told them
"Come on, let's get back inside" Tom ordered
They made their way back but Hermione quickly passed by Vixen's stall
"Hi my beautiful girl" she coo'ed, the horse came up to her and she kissed her mark
Hermione looked into the stall and saw a small box, she furrowed her eyebrows and entered the stall
"What do you have here?"
The horse nudged her before Hermione bent down and grabbed the gift
Ma petite fille bien-aimée, joyeux Noël
Hermione looked at the note and knew only one person who talked to her in French
"Hermione?"
Hermione sniffed and turned around, she saw Tom and Philip looking at her worriedly
"Um...did Madam Marie-Rose show up?" She asked them
They looked at one another and before turning back to Hermione
"No" they both said
Hermione looked back to the note
"Oh" she whispered
"Why?" Tom asked
She extended the note
"You were always Madam Marie-Rose's favourite" Philip said
"Was not" Hermione argued
"Hermione, she was with you the longest, you two had a connection none of us ever had, she loved us sure, but you were her daughter" Tom said
"I—"
"We all saw the way she loved you Hermione, she basically raised you, you don't need to feel guilty" Philip smiled
Hermione chewed her lower lip
"I never knew that" she confessed
"No hard feelings, now come on, I'm freezing my bollocks off" Tom told them
Hermione giggled and left the stall, they made their way back to the house, Hermione gripped the present tightly in her pocket, while listening to Tom and Philip complaining loudly
They reminded her of Ron and Harry, but they also reminded her of Theo and Blaise
Life worked in strange ways if she was thinking of those Slytherins