"How's your mother?" Hermione asked, as she strolled into his study uninvited, with a cup of steaming coffee for him.
Draco looked up from the reports he was reading and gratefully took a sip from the black liquid. He silently watched as Hermione comfortably stretched onto the couch opposite him and waited for his answer.
Normally, he would have snapped at anyone who intruded his personal room. Even Theo knew he shouldn't drop off into his room at any time he liked. True, he'd snarled at her and her daughter most of the time when they came barging in without his permission. But seeing Hermione here in his study, comfortably seated on his couch, made his stomach oddly flip with dangerous thoughts he desperately pushed aside.
"She's been discharged from St. Mungo's last night," he finally said, which also explained why he disappeared before having dinner with the mother and daughter. "Healer Matthews already gave me a set of new instructions, which I relayed to her House-Elves."
When she still expectantly looked at him, he sighed and said, "Yes, yes, I apologized to Healer Matthews." She gave him a pretty smile of approval, prompting him to roll his eyes. "Must you always be so pushy, Granger?"
She casually shrugged and absentmindedly brushed her curls away. "Anyway, do you have anything urgent to finish tonight?"
He eyed her suspiciously. "As of now, none," he slowly replied. "May I ask why you are asking my schedule?"
"Rose and I will be leaving tomorrow," she reminded, prompting him to scowl. "And, well, I just thought maybe you'd want to get out of your flat for a while and roam around with Rose and me."
Draco's eyes narrowed. "And where do you plan on bringing me?" he inquired.
A strange smile appeared on her face. "Now, where's the surprise in that?" she vaguely answered. He still looked highly distrustful. "Come on, Draco, you've been cooped up inside for days! I think all you need is some fresh air and may perhaps help you with your mood swings."
"I don't like going outside," he said, scowling at her jesting. "Anyway, I've changed my mind and declaring myself busy for the whole day." He made some shooing motions at her general direction. "Now go, before you make me kick you out."
She pressed her lips into a thin line and resolutely shook her head. "I'm not leaving until you promise to come with us later," she said, eyes glinting with sheer stubbornness that was very her.
Draco knew he didn't really have any choice, but refused to back down just yet. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and leaned closer to the brunette. "And what, pray tell, are you going to do to make me?" he asked in a deep, low voice.
"Is that a challenge, Malfoy?" she bit back, mirroring his expression by raising her own eyebrow. "I think you're quite forgetting that I'm a major bossy know-it-all, yeah?" Then, with a speed of light, her wand was at hand and his hair had turned into a brilliant shade of green with red spots all over.
Mortified, as he saw his reflection in the mirror behind Hermione, Draco threw daggers at the chuckling brunette. "What the fuck, Granger!" he growled, grabbing his own wand to retaliate, but Hermione had already put up some barriers to shield herself from whatever spell he would hurtle towards her.
"It's a handy spell taught to me by the George Weasley and it's a fairly new one," she explained, eyeing his shocking hair with mirth. "Meaning, only a selected few know the counterspell."
Draco made a feeble attempt to Finite the spell, but the spell didn't wear off.
"I suggest you promise to come with us to save your glorious hair," she said, before gracefully slipping out of his study.
"GRANGER, COME BACK HERE!"
__________
"Why is your hair funny, Draco?"
A muscle in his eye twitched when Rose's mother snorted behind her hand. Rose questioningly looked at Hermione, who merely shrugged her shoulder. The child, eyes glinting in amusement, shifted back onto him and waited for his answer.
"Ask your bloody mother," he growled, glaring at said brunette. Hermione merely smirked and it irked him how it was nearly perfect, even rivalling his own. Internally, he wondered if he was rubbing off of Granger. Strangely, that thought made him all warm and fuzzy, but he was supposed to be mad at her right now, so he pushed that other, strange feeling away.
"Shh, no bad words, Draco," Hermione calmly said, smirk still in place. "We don't want Rose picking up bad habits now, do we?"
This made him narrow his eyes more as he gestured to his hair wildly. "If you think jinxing people to have bright green hair and red polka dots is a bloody good habit for your daughter to pick up on, then you're sorely mistaken," he spat back.
Hermione merely chuckled and shook her head. Then, she turned to her daughter, "Are you excited for today, Rosie?"
"Yes!" the child exclaimed happily, and Draco was still utterly curious as to what this mother-daughter duo were planning for today. "I can't wait to ride the carousel, and eat cotton candy, and win a teddy bear, and..."
As Rose kept on yammering about what she couldn't wait to do for the day, Draco's eyes slowly narrowed into thin slits. Judging from Rose's excitement, he couldn't shake off the feeling today's going to be one of his worst days.
"Where are you taking me?" he hissed under his breath for only Hermione to hear.
The brunette had a wicked grin on her face. "Promise you'll be good?" she asked as she slowly pulled out her wand from her right sleeve. Draco eyed the magical stick with distrust, prompting Hermione to chuckle. "If you promise to be good, I'll magic your glorious blond hair back on your pretty face."
Draco petulantly glowered and crossed his arms. He didn't trust himself to retort anything back, even though a myriad of witty slurs sat at the tip of his tongue.
Hermione Granger was a bloody menace. He doubted she would leave him alone with a mere ridiculous hair if he protested more.
Her eyes glinted with mischief and he finally scowled.
As if he had a bloody choice in the first place, that witch.
__________
He eyed himself in front of his full length mirror, glorious blond hair already back in place, and noting in distaste how the Muggle clothing Granger called as 'denim pants' restricted his movements. Thankfully, Hermione had chucked a simple black jumper for him to wear. Although he usually wore Wizarding clothes, even at home, he still couldn't deny the comfort these Muggle jumpers brought him.
The pants were a whole different story, but he figured they were going somewhere Muggle, so he had to ditch the wizard robes in order to blend in.
"Draco, come on," Hermione's muffled voice called from outside, prompting him to scowl.
"Remind me why I'm going with them again," he muttered at Tippy, who was looking at his master with starry eyes. Apparently, it was also such a rare occurrence to see the Malfoy heir looking positively Muggle and Tippy was delighted.
"Master Draco cares for Miss Hermione and Little Miss Rosie," Tippy proudly stated, puffing out his chest as if he won a prize.
Draco's scowl darkened and opted not to answer back. He knew no amount of protest would refute his house elf's claim after all. Instead, he said, "Take care of whatever business ordeals come up. Tell them some emergency arose and I'll be out for the day."
"Yes, Master Draco," Tippy said with a deep bow, and then proceeded to apparate away from Draco's bedroom.
After one last look at his reflection, Draco finally walked out of his room.
"Finally!" Rose exclaimed. She was wearing Muggle overalls, her bushy, red hair held away from her face in pigtails, and she was carrying this weird, violet backpack with creepy eyes and mouth. Rose then held his hand and pulled him. "Come on, Draco!"
"All right, all right, Merlin," he said with a roll of his eyes.
Her mother chuckled in amusement, prompting him to glare at her general direction. Granger was wearing the same Muggle denim pants paired with a flattering blouse that brought out her curves. Draco had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes once more, thinking it was bloody unfair Granger managed to look attractive and irritating at the same time. It made his feelings confused.
"Oh, Malfoy, I'm sure you'll have fun," she said, rummaging inside her small purse to check that everything was inside.
"You still haven't answered me where we're going," he pointed out.
"Happy Land!" Rose exclaimed.
His eyes widened into saucers. "What?" he spat out, suddenly feeling dreadful.
Granger had that ridiculous grin on her face once more. "You heard Rosie, Draco," she said. "We're going to Happy Land."
__________
Whoever named this place as 'Happy Land' must be fucking insane.
Draco's eyes hadn't returned back to their normal size ever since Hermione side-along Apparated him and Rose to what Muggles fondly called as an 'Amusement Park'. There were loud screams from a Muggle contraption that looped through different courses and Draco swore it wasn't bloody safe. There were other weird machines, rides as what Rose pointed out, where people were either screaming their lungs out or ridiculously laughing at those who were screaming their lungs out. He even spied one Muggle puking in one of the bushes and scrunched his nose in disgust.
"More like Horror Land," he muttered under his breath. Hermione had heard him and couldn't suppress her grin any longer.
"It isn't too bad," she reassured, absentmindedly gripping an overly-excited Rose by the arm. "Once you tried the rides, you'll understand why this place is named as such, as ridiculous at it sounds."
Draco saw a huge wheel going around and around, mentally calculating that the peak was about several feet tall. It wouldn't take some genius to know that he would plummet to his death if ever he fell from it.
"You don't even like heights," he shot back with a frown. He had cajoled her before, to humour him by riding a broom and playing Quidditch with him, but Hermione had firmly refused and kept her feet on the ground.
"Well, yeah," she said. She then pointed at the huge wheel he had been eyeing before. "I don't particularly like riding Ferris wheels. They're impossibly slow and I always had this irrational fear I'd get stuck at the very top. But the other rides aren't so bad. They have seatbelts after all, so they're safe to ride."
He looked at her as if she was mental. "They do not have magic," he retorted back. "I don't think they're safe."
"Mama," Rose whined. "Carousel!"
"All right, all right," Hermione said with a laugh as she lifted Rose into her arms. She then looked back at Draco with a smile. "Come. We'll start with the safest ride in this whole place."
__________
Although undeniably safe, Draco swore he would never ride a carousel anymore.
The horses were ridiculous, too colourful for his own liking, but Rose insisted he must ride the horse that was beside hers. Hermione warned him Rose could always throw a monumental tantrum, and she was always extra spiteful when in front of a crowd.
'Very much a Weasley,' Draco thought with a sneer, flashbacks of red-faced Ronald Weasley throwing a temper every time things did not go his way.
He was the only adult man to ride the carousel, and he couldn't suppress the blush on his face when the other adult people who weren't on the carousel were cooing at him. He even heard one of the mothers commenting he was adorable for accompanying Rose and he couldn't accept that.
Draco could be described with a myriad of words but he was most abso-bloody-lutely not adorable.
What was worse were the swarming little children running around the carousel, despite continuously moving. One little girl even fell onto her face as she went off-balance and had cried shitlessly for minutes. As the only adult on the carousel, Draco had no choice but to console the girl until the ride stopped and she was able to be reunited with her parents.
Rose insisted for another round, and before he could protest, Draco found himself cramped on top of another puny horse and endured the mortification for another few minutes.
"That wasn't so bad," Hermione said as soon as they stepped off the platform.
"Sod off, Granger," he growled, cheeks still too warm from embarrassment and annoyance. The mothers were still eyeing him with appreciation and all Draco wanted was to get away from here.
"Rollercoaster!" Rose then said, as she grabbed each of Draco's and Hermione's hand with a grin. "Let's all ride the rollercoaster."
"Please tell me there won't be any creepy, inanimate animals involved," Draco grumbled under his breath.
Hermione laughed and shook her head. "Oh, trust me, there won't be any."
__________
The rollercoaster ride was marginally better... oh, who was he kidding? It was bloody magnificent and Draco didn't even protest when Rose requested for another round. It was particularly smaller than the roller coaster he had eyed a while ago, seeing that Rose was too young to ride the legit one, but Draco still had so much fun.
It was the closest thing to a broomstick ride and Draco couldn't help but to delightfully laugh when they swivelled to and fro, looped around and around, and mock Granger who was slowly turning green from all the turning.
Rose undoubtedly inherited Weasley's thirst for adventure and exhilaration and Draco couldn't help but think she would make a good Quidditch player in the future. Mentally, he prayed to whomever that she would be Sorted into Slytherin, her parents be damned, because she would be a bloody good asset for the team.
"I see someone had a lot of fun," Hermione commented, still looking positively green.
"What's the matter, Granger?" he asked with cheeky grin. "Aren't you having fun?"
Rose looked a worriedly at her mother, prompting Hermione to glare at Draco. "You're not, Mama?" her daughter asked, a small pout slowly growing on her face.
"Yes, I am, Rose, don't listen to Draco," she said, still glare in place. "Your mother just needs to rest a bit, yes? Why don't you go buy some cotton candy first and we'll ride another one after you finished it."
The little girl's eyes lit up in excitement, accepted the Muggle coins from her mother, and ran to the nearest cotton candy stand to buy her treat. Hermione opted to sit on the bench nearest to her daughter, and Draco followed suit.
"Green suits you, Granger," he commented with a smirk.
"Shut it, Malfoy," she growled, tilting her head downward and massaging the bridge of her nose. "I think I'm going to be sick."
His smirk slightly fell. "Do you need something?" he asked, slight worry heard in his voice.
"Water, perhaps," she said as she fished some coins from her purse once more. "You can buy one on that hotdog stand. I think I saw them selling water a while ago."
Draco nodded and grabbed the coins from her hand. He strode closer to the hotdog stand, feeling slightly apprehensive, but then schooled his features as soon as he faced the vendor. He was a grumpy, overweight man, with balding hair. The top of his head was too shiny and Draco had to shield his eyes, else they would be blinded by the sheer shininess of his head. The middle-aged man was wearing an apron that was impossibly small for his body size and had eyed him distastefully as soon as he arrived.
The blond stared at him for a while, feeling ridiculously nervous, when the man finally frowned and snapped, "Are you ordering or what?"
"Right, yes," Draco said, schooling his features and clearing his throat. "I'm here to buy some of your water bottles."
The man glared, then fished out a water bottle from a small box and handed it to him. Draco was amazed how it stayed cold despite being kept in a box without magic.
"That would be 20 pence," he mumbled.
Draco eyed the coins on his hand, unfamiliar with Muggle currency, before shoving the coins on the counter. The vendor eyed the coins on his counter, then at Draco, before scowling and rolling his eyes. He then proceeded to return at least five coins to Draco before hollering a loud 'Next' to the customer behind him.
'Rude,' Draco thought and returned to where Hermione was sitting. Rose was already there, happily eating her pink cotton candy. Thankfully, Hermione didn't look green anymore as she gratefully accepted the bottle of water and her change.
"Thanks," she said when Draco sat beside her. To her daughter, she asked, "Where do you want to go next, Rosie?"
"Ferris wheel?" Rose hopefully asked eyes wide and bright with pleading.
"Oh no," Hermione said, slightly shaking her head. Rose sheepishly smiled and deflated, but completely understood her mother's irrational fear of heights.
A wild glint appeared in Draco's eyes. "Oh yes," he said, the infamous Malfoy smirk growing on his face.
Hermione glared. "No, Malfoy," she said. "I told you I don't like riding ferris wheels."
"You forced me to ride on that bloody carousel, Granger," he said, not willing to back down. "Now it's time for me to force you to ride the ferris wheel."
"That's different," she protested. "Carousels are safe."
"Blimey, Granger," he said. "If something happens, I can just magic us away to a safe place."
Hermione was steadily growing paler, but Draco didn't want to back down now. After all, he was also quite curious why this certain attraction had the longest line in this whole amusement park.
"Please, Mama," Rose pleaded with a smile. "Draco will keep us safe, he promises. Right, Draco?"
Draco's smirk had widened when he could see the defeated look on Hermione's face. "I promise," he said.
If looks could kill right now, he would have died thrice if it was physically possible.
__________
Hermione had been muttering under her breath until they were gestured to occupy one of the empty slots of the Ferris wheel. Draco couldn't figure out if they were curses or prayers; all he could understand was that Hermione Granger was definitely, truly, absolutely terrified of the ferris wheel. He had constantly reassured her that he wouldn't allow anything to happen, seeing that she would most likely freeze up when an accident arose. Even Rose was trying to reassure her mother, but Granger was inconsolable, and Draco Malfoy was amused.
As the ferris wheel started to move, he eyed her hand that was gripping too tightly on the railing of the ride. "Granger, really, I'm sure this wouldn't be so bad," he reassured, shooting a quick glance at her worried daughter. "Blimey, you've faced off one of the darkest wizards in the history of mankind. You'll live, I promise you."
"I hate you," she merely replied through gritted teeth, prompting him to smirk and for Rose to look horrified.
"Are you fighting?" Rose asked, a tad panicked, as her eyes darted from her mother and the blond. "Please don't fight, Mama and Draco. We'll get off soon, Mama. Please don't be mad at Draco. It was my fault because I wanted to ride the ferris wheel."
Rose looked dejected, and Hermione deflated. With a shaky, pale hand, the older witch held Rose's hand and gave her a reassuring smile. "Sweetheart, it isn't your fault," she consoled. "Mama's just scared a little."
He snorted at her 'a little', knowing that Granger was merely sugarcoating her words, but it worked. Rose smiled before reaching for his hand with her free hand. "Come on, Draco," she coaxed. "Hold Mama's other hand so she won't be scared anymore."
Draco frowned at her request whilst Hermione grew slightly pink. "It's okay, Rosie," Hermione reassured. "I can just hold onto the railing."
"No, no," the little girl protested and shook her head. Her curls wildly whipped against her stubborn face. "You must hold her hand so she won't be afraid anymore."
He sighed and held out his free hand. "As if I have any choice," he told Granger. "Your daughter is a bloody menace, Granger. I won't be surprised if she'd managed to copy the spell you did on my hair with just her sheer stubbornness."
Hermione managed to quirk a smile and immediately grasped his proffered hand. He noted that her hand was small, clammy and cold, but it fitted perfectly in his and it made his stomach feel funny. "Blimey, Granger!" he exclaimed with a shout, as Hermione's hold on him tightened with their continued ascent. It was a fairly windy day, so their carriage kept on lightly rocking to and fro, and it didn't help Hermione's terror.
They were nearing the peak and Draco knew he had to do this. Her fear of heights was too irrational, and he knew it would help her if she finally faced it.
Now, years and years of being under Voldemort's command made him learn a lot of things, and one of it was wandless magic. It was definitely a perk, especially on torture sessions and he was forced to watch at the sides. Draco would always mutter under his breath, a small numbing spell here and there, towards one of the tortured souls. The Death Eaters never figured out why they all died without screaming anymore, blank looks on their faces.
They were finally on top of the whole amusement park and Draco muttered a soft 'Immobulus' under his breath. The ferris wheel instantly stopped moving, their carriage precariously shaking, and Hermione freaked out. Her grip on his hand had tightened and judging from the way Rose was grimacing, he figured that the child was also suffering the same fate.
"It's all right," he reassured, equally gripping her hand tight to relay comfort. "We're all right. We're safe."
She had her eyes closed, terrified beyond her wits, and Draco sighed.
"Come on, Granger, open your eyes," he coaxed. "The view is breathtaking and you're missing a lot."
She managed to release a soft 'no', eyes still tightly closed.
Sighing once more, Draco scooted closer until he was pressed against Hermione's back. The brunette made annoyed and frightened noises when his movements made the carriage swing once more, but Draco ignored them.
"Look, Granger, you can actually see the city from here," he said, his mouth a hairsbreadth away from her right ear. "It's beautiful."
And it was. Draco never understood Theo's strange fascination with the Muggle World, always claiming that they were actually quite bright and the bigoted Purebloods were biased. Their technology was astounding, and since it was already nearing night, lights scattered around and it looked like stars in the night sky.
"Dammit, Granger, just open your bloody eyes," he growled. "Where the hell is your Gryffindor bravery?"
He had to hold back a grin when he felt her stiffen against his arms. One thing he understood during his Hogwarts days was to never, ever question a Gryffindor and his or her damn bravery. He thought Granger was above this ridiculous cajoling, but apparently not, for she was now glaring darkly at him.
"Shut up, you slimy ferret," she mumbled, disregarding the fact that her daughter was watching.
Draco smirked, and held her head to turn it around. As soon as she was facing forward, Hermione had tightly closed her eyes once more.
"Come on, Granger, just a peek," he said.
She was tensed against his arms and Draco silently prayed she would finally relent. It was damn cold at the top, the night was already approaching, and Rose looked tired. It was only when he heard Hermione gasp when he finally let his smirk turn into a smile.
"It's... it's beautiful," she said, almost sounding breathlessly.
"It is, Mama!" Rose exclaimed, delighted that her mother was looking outside.
Draco silently Finite-d his spell and the whole ride started to move once more. It made him proud that Hermione was actually surprised they finally reached the ground and out of their carriage.
"Now, that wasn't so bad now, was it?" Draco asked with that cheeky grin.
Realization dawned on Hermione's face and she mustered the darkest glare she could. "You charmed the ferris wheel so that we'll get stuck on top, did you?" she accused.
"I am neither confirming nor denying your accusation, Miss Granger," he drawled, knowing fully well the smile on his face was a dead giveaway.
"I hate you, Malfoy," she grounded out once more.
"No, she doesn't, Draco!" Rose cried.
The blond chuckled and shook his head. "No, you don't, Granger," he repeated, prompting Hermione to harrumph in annoyance and turn away. Draco grinned down at Rose, who returned his smile. He didn't even protest when Rose grasped his hand with her tiny one and followed her huffing mother.
__________
Suffice it to say, it was the best day Rose ever had in her whole six years of living. It had been a while ever since they visited Happy Land; the last time was when she just turned four years old. Uncle Harry had accompanied both her and her Mama, and Rose remembered having a lot of fun, too. Funny, she thought, for she had too much fun today, and maybe it was all thanks to Draco.
Rose released a soft yawn and stretched her arms. She was tired from all the excitement and she wanted to go to sleep. Pattering barefoot into the living room, she was about to call for her mother to bed, but stopped when she saw the image before her eyes.
Hermione was fast asleep, her head leaning against Draco's shoulder. Said blond had his finger against his lips to signal for her to keep silent, and Rose wordlessly grinned and nodded her head.
A sudden thought came into mind and she ran towards Draco as noiselessly as possible. She clambered onto the couch on his other side and happily leaned against him.
"What are you doing?" he asked in a whisper, frowning at her messy mop of hair.
"Can I sleep here, too, Draco?" she asked with a pretty smile. "Mama looks too tired to sleep in our room, and I don't want to sleep alone."
To her delight, Draco sighed and muttered something under his breath. At the same time, his fireplace roared into life and Rose marginally felt warmer and happier.
"Go to sleep, Rose," he ordered, and she happily nodded her head and closed her eyes.
This was steadily becoming the best day she ever had. Her mother also had fun, much to her delight. She remembered how Uncle Harry also tried to force her mother to ride the ferris wheel, but she never relented. Today was a pleasant surprise, and Rose couldn't help but think it was all Draco's doing.
It was official. She likes Draco a lot now, and she prayed to Merlin or whomever that she and her mother would live with him for the rest of their lives.
__________
She was jerked awake when she couldn't feel any sensations to her right arm. Scowling, Hermione sat up straight and shook her dead arm to let the blood circulate once more. She half-expected to see Rose curled against her side, but was surprised to see that she was still in Draco's living room.
'I must have fallen asleep,' she thought with a smile. It was a tiring day after all, what with her facing her fears and chasing after Rose. It really shouldn't have surprised her she fell asleep almost immediately.
A soft snore from beside her made her flinch in surprise. Eyes widening, she looked beside her and saw a sleeping Draco, mouth slightly agape, and felt her cheeks grow warmer. She didn't notice she was sleeping against him, and hoped he wouldn't give her hell for making him a human pillow once he woke up.
A small smile appeared on her face as she remembered their small adventure in Happy Land. It was undoubtedly Draco Malfoy's fault why their ferris wheel carriage got stuck on top for minutes, urging her to look at the beautiful view and quash away her ridiculous, irrational fear. Although she had wanted to murder him right on that spot, Hermione actually felt grateful for what he did. It had thoroughly surprised her, too, how he was able to force her to do such a thing when Harry and Ron were never able to force her to face her fear of heights.
Hermione blinked in surprise when a mop of red, bushy hair peeked out from Draco's other side. Leaning closely, she peered and saw her daughter sleeping soundly against Draco. Rose looked contented and it made her heart warm a little bit.
Rose would be crushed when she discovered they would be leaving Draco's flat tomorrow. After a few weeks of staying here, Hermione knew her daughter liked Draco and the blond actually had come to care for her daughter in return.
It was... it was a sweet view, the image they were portraying, and an unbidden image of the three of them, as a happy family, came into mind.
'Whoa there Hermione,' a little voice inside her head reprimanded.
Eyes widening, she realized where her thoughts were taking her. She shook her head to get rid of such ridiculous notions from her mind. They were going to leave tomorrow, and she shouldn't really think of such things anymore.
Sighing, Hermione stood up and summoned Draco's blanket from his room. It came hurtling towards her and she leaned down. The blanket smelled faintly of Draco, and it made her throat dry. Shaking her head once more to rid of dangerous thoughts, Hermione finally tucked her daughter and the blond inside. Both Draco and Rose sighed in their sleep, huddling deeper into the blanket, and Hermione couldn't help but smile.
Although the notion was ridiculous, they undeniably painted a pretty picture. Hermione unwittingly thought it wouldn't be so bad if she included herself, too.
At least just for tonight.