All It Takes

t e n

Draco carried Lyra and placed her into her highchair then I began to set the table. Malfoy offered to help but I declined, so he sat down next to Lyra and across from me.

Dinner went rather smoothly. Lyra babbled for the most part and Draco and I laughed at the nonsense she would say. She then began to talk about her nursery and all her friends that she had there apart from this one boy; Lucas.

From what I could gather, he broke her sandcastle and ever since then, they have had an incredible hatred for each other, "That sounds awfully familiar." Draco said as he sent me a wink; his notorious trademark. I rolled my eyes and let a small smile creep on to my face as I reminisced on the days in Hogwarts, when seeing Draco's face would make my blood boil.

Once everyone had finished, I send Lyra into her room and Draco helped me with the dishes.

"So," I began, "Why a doctor?" I asked, "More specifically, a children's doctor." I added on. I looked across the counter top and grabbed another plate to continue washing up.

"Well, after the war I went into hiding for a while. I- I didn't really know what to do with myself," I took my focus off the plate and looked at Draco who was focusing on drying a glass. He looked as if he was filled to the brim with guilt, "But then I decided that I wanted to help people, to clear my conscience I think." I began to think about all the pain Draco went through during the war. I realised that not all of his actions were done completely on free will, and I began to pity him.

He cleared his throat before continuing on, "And I guess I focused on children more as I remember all the pain I went through as a child, and that I always wished I could be helped in some way."

I was touched by Draco's story and began to look back on his decisions, when we were younger, in a different light.

I was apparently so touched by Draco's story that I lost complete focus on the plate and dropped it on the ground, "Dammit!" I hissed as I bent down to pick up the glass but me being a klutz, I cut my finger on one of the shards.

You have got to be kidding! I thought to myself.

I began to run my finger under the cold water.

"Where are the plasters?" Draco asked as he began to search the kitchen cabinets, "Draco, I'm fine, don't worry." I replied, not wanting to make a big fuss as I was already embarrassed enough.

"Hermione." He said sternly, "Where. Are. The. Plasters." He gave me the death-stare to end all death-stares.

"Bathroom cabinet, second shelf." I huffed, and watched him walk into the bathroom and return with a blue packet.

"Here, let me." He said as he tore open the blue paper to reveal a beige plaster inside. He carefully took my hand, and I couldn't help but blush as he held my hand in his and wrapped the plaster around my index finger. He then brought my finger up to his mouth and kissed it, "There. All better." I looked into his mesmerising grey pools and he stared back into mine.

"Are you okay Mummy?" Lyra said as she pattered her way into the kitchen.

Malfoy and I suddenly put some distance between ourselves and I continued to pick up the broken fragments that were scattered on the ground, "Yes, Ly, I'm fine but stay back sweetheart, I dropped a plate on the ground." I explained to the inquisitive little girl. Draco knelt down next to me and began to assist me picking up pieces of the broken plate, and Lyra walked off again to re-enter the world of her imagination.
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Though there was a brief awkward silence once Lyra had left, we quickly changed subject and began talking about Draco's new house he was thinking on purchasing and how he's hoping for a promotion soon. We jumped from conversation to conversation and before we knew it, it was 10pm.

We were both sat on the couch and I was at peace knowing that Lyra was in her bed and I felt content under the recent circumstances. We had just finished watching an episode of "24" as I insisted that he had to watch at-least one before he left.

"Okay, I'm not going to lie. That was pretty good." He claimed which sent a proud smile onto my face, "I told you it would be! You need to have more faith in me sometimes." I spoke jokingly which caused him to scoff, "Hermione, no offence, but you read and clean for fun. Don't blame me for thinking this was going to be a huge trip to snooze-ville." He debated against me. I opened my mouth in disgust, "Cleaning is so satisfying." He laughed at my comment.

"Only you, Granger." He said to try and get on my nerves.

"Well, uhm, it's pretty late." I said as I fiddled with my fingers a bit.

"Yeah, I should get going." Draco said, getting up from the couch and heading for the door. I got up to walk him out and once we reached the door I opened it for him and he placed a light kiss on my cheek. My skin began to buzz and for a split second, I felt as though I was floating.

"Thank you for tonight, Hermione. It meant a lot to me, more than you will ever know." I smiled, "She really likes you, you know?" I said. I saw a smile appeared on Draco's face.

"I'm sure she would love to have you over again." I watched him turn from innocence and pure to cocky and big headed within a matter of milliseconds.

"Are you sure you aren't talking about yourself, Hermione?" He whispered in my ear.

I gulped. Oh lord, I walked right into that one.

-1052
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Thank you so much for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed as I'm having a lot of fun making these. Remember to vote and comment and most importantly, have an amazing day!