"Thank you for shopping at Granger's Books Imporium, please come again!" Hermione smiled brightly as the last customer for the day exited the book store. As December grew closer, the shop was gaining more and more traction from early Christmas-gift buyers.
Some days, Draco would drop by during his lunch breaks from his sports restobar or after having picked up Scorpius from school, and he would man the cash register while Hermione would help out customers search for specific books, or reorganize misplaced novels.
It warmed her heart every time he'd do something she wouldn't ask him to do, had it been anyone else it would have annoyed her, but there was something about him that made her feel at ease to let him handle things on her behalf.
Scorpius on the other hand, was quite the salesman. He made it his job to ensure any customer that came into the bookstore, while he was there, would definitely buy a book.
The boy grinned as he counted the fingers on his hand. Hermione gave him a curious look, "Now what are you up to, sweetie?"
His wide grey orbs met her warm brown ones, "Counting all the successful sales I've done today."
She chuckled and patted his head, "Thank you, I would've never gotten such high numbers without you."
He waved his hand nonchalantly, "Just let me read all the books here for free as my payment."
"You got yourself a deal young man!" Hermione grinned and shook his hand with a glimmer of pride in her eyes. She may not be his biological mother, but she definitely could've passed for it considering how many stacks of books he'd go through after a few days.
"Oh come on son, haven't I taught you better than that?" Draco peeked his eyes over his own book, having decided to read on a nearby loveseat, "You should've also asked her to order all the books you wanted to read, as she still doesn't have them in stock yet."
Scorpius paused for a moment, processing what his father just said. His jaw dropped in shock of his missed opportunity, and then went to go sulk in a corner behind the cashier's desk.
Hermione laughed, "Scorpius come out from under there! Don't you worry your handsome little head, I've already pre-ordered some GooseBumps and Geronimo Stilton books for you in advance. I know you were curious about American children's books."
The boy's head popped up from behind the desk, a large grin planted on his face, "Wow! Thanks Mum 'Mione!"
The woman blushed as she hasn't gotten used to her new nickname from him. After she and Draco had sat the boy down to discuss the prospect of the adults dating, Scorpius insisted on calling her 'Mum 'Mione' despite their unsuccessful attempts to tell him that if it doesn't work out, they'll only remain friends.
Draco sighed, "It's Miss Hermione, son. The wedding bells are not ringing any time soon, people should take time to get to know one another, and learn to love each other over time before that happens."
Scorpius gave his father a pointed look, "You've known each other since you were 11. You're both old now, you've had plenty of time to get to know each other and fall in love."
"That—it's not as simple as that! And I'm not that old!" Draco spoke defensively, having been caught off guard at his son's words.
"Also, weren't you and mum arranged to be married? You technically didn't fall in love with her before you married her," Scorpius spoke in a bored manner, flipping through a book on the cashier desk.
Draco opened his mouth but closed it once more, unable to think of a proper retort.
Hermione shook her head in amusement, "If I didn't know any better, and if you didn't look like a spitting image of your father, I would've thought you were my own child!"
Scorpius grinned before running over to hug Hermione's leg before she squatted down to give him a proper hug. Draco watched on, the scene in front of him melted his heart.
The man cleared his throat before getting up from the loveseat, "Let's go home, I still haven't gotten dinner started yet."
"Oh actually," Hermione looked over at him, "I was wondering if you both would like to come over to my house this time for dinner. I'm not much of a cook, but I was thinking we can order some pizza, build a fort out of pillows, and have ourselves a a fun movie night!"
"YES! Please? Oh please dad, can we please go over to Mum 'Mione's? Pleeeeeease?" Scorpius pulled out his infamous puppy dog eyes and pleaded, having made his way over to his father, and hugged his left leg.
Before Draco could say anything, Hermione followed suit, "Oh pretty please? Please Draco, come over! We'll have so much fun! I'll even order extra pepperoni for youuu!"
The man shot playful daggers at her as she hugged his right arm. He grumbled before giving her a quick kiss on the forehead and ruffled his son's hair, "Fiiine...I swear you both will be the death of me."
"Yeah!" Hermione and Scorpius punched the air and fist bumped each other.
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(A.N./ This is what their pillow fort looks like, but instead of Netflix it would be Disney's Beauty & the Beast)
"Mum 'Mione?" Scorpius asked after finishing his last bite of pizza.
Hermione quickly wiped away a few stray crumbs on his face and magically levitated his plate to the kitchen before it began washing and drying itself, "Yes darling, what is it?"
He leaned back on a pillow and yawned, "Can you be Mrs. Pots and I be Chip next Halloween?"
Hermione chuckled and kissed the boy's forehead, "Of course sweetie, regardless of whether or not your father and I work out by then, I'll still do that with you."
He smiled as he began to curl up onto a pillow with Hermione gently combing her fingers through his soft platinum hair. Within minutes the little boy had already fallen asleep while 'Beauty & the Beast' continued to play on the tv.
"Hey," Draco whispered from outside the pillow fort, "Is he fast asleep?"
She slowly got up from her comfortable position beside Scorpius and crawled out of the fort to stand in front of him, whispering back, "Yeah, the little one's out like a light. He looks so cute while he sleeps!"
"Can we go talk somewhere private?" He asked. She nodded her head and gestured for him to follow her, and led him to a room that most certainly was her own personal library.
(A.N./ I've begun to feel too lazy with descriptions lately, hehe. Here's what the home library looks like)
Draco whistled, "Nice library you got in here. I'm a bit surprised the rest of the house doesn't look like his."
Hermione chuckled as she took her place beside Draco, leaning against a couch cushion, "I don't have that many personal books...so what is it that you wanted to talk about?"
"I was hoping we could spend some more time together. Just getting to know each other." He took her hand in his, causing a blush to creep on her face, and causing him to smile.
"I must admit," she began, interlocking their fingers, "we've only been dating for a week now, but I have been wanting to be alone with you every now and then. I don't think we've had that since our first date at your backyard..."
He tucked a stray hair of hers behind her ear, cupping her face before planting a kissing on her forehead, and causing her to blush further, "I'm sorry about that, I hope I can make it up to you."
"And how would you do that?" She looked up at him through her eyelashes.
A small smirk grew on his face as he brushed his thumb across her bottom lip and she leaned closer to his touch, "I was thinking of kissing you, but I wanted to ask for your permission first."
Without another word, she slowly began to lean forward and capture his lips with hers.
The kiss started off with languid exploratory movements before he pulled her closer by the waist. A flame began to ignite between them as the kiss began to progress passionately with her hands in his hair, and his arms engulfing her. He licked her bottom lip, asking for permission, before she opened her mouth slightly, allowing him to deepen the kiss.
The next thing they knew, she begun to straddle his waist, and his hands trailed down her body all the way to her ass, and then feeling her up. They moaned into each others mouths before Draco pulled back slightly, placing his hands on her hips respectfully once more.
"We should slow down a bit," he chuckled, leaning his forehead against hers.
She bit her lip, "Yeah we should..."
"I want to get this right...I want you and me to have something deep and meaningful, but if you keep looking at me like that, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to control myself." He whispered as he cupped her face in hand, his mouth lingering closely to hers.
She pulled back a little, memorizing the lines of his face, "Thank you for being careful of me."
Before he could say another word, she leaned in once more to place one last gentle kiss upon his lips.
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Author's Note:
Wowie, things got a little hot there for a second, hehe
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know if you all prefer setting descriptions or if the pictures are better, and I'll see you in the next chapter! (^_^)