Hello my lovelies!

How is everyone doing?

I hope everyone is keeping safe and sane with everything that has been happening lately. It's been a crazy couple of weeks to say the least and I really hope everyone who reads this is doing well physically, mentally, and emotionally. We're all going through a tough time but we must continue to shoulder on despite everything which I know is easier said than done but this is all we can do for now.

I am once again saying sorry for neglecting this story for a couple of months because of uni and I do still have lots of stuff to do for uni but I'm just ignoring them hahahaha

I hope this update will at least entertain you for a bit and please do not hesitate to leave a comment to say hi or to reach out for someone to talk to. I know we need that the most right now.

Enjoy this update and leave a review! I really love hearing from you guys!

Blaise looked at the two guilty parties in front of him. His gaze swinging from a blushing Granger who is determinedly focused on her plate, to a confused looking Draco who kept stealing glances at Granger like an idiot. Neither of the two has spoken more than 3 words to each other and Granger is still refusing to meet Draco's eyes like he was the Basilisk incarnated. Teddy of course was having the time of his life being oblivious to the tension surrounding the lunch table, perfectly happy in enjoying his spaghetti and meatballs as the four of them were having lunch in the beautiful sunroom of the house, its glass walls giving them a good view of the greenery outside.

The awkward lunch went on for a couple more minutes before the whole table was saved by an owl carrying an urgent work letter for Draco to attend to. Blaise watched with amusement as Draco opened and closed his mouth several times, as if on the verge of saying something but quickly stopping himself, all the while staring at Hermione like a dolt.

"I'm so sorry but I have to take my leave. There's an emergency at the headquarters and I want to be present to fix whatever needs to be fixed." Draco stopped and only stared at Hermione as if waiting for her to meet his gaze. Hermione, however, only nodded and continued to rearrange her food around her plate.

Draco sighed, "I'll talk to all of you soon." he stressed the word all as if a small threat, earning a smirk from Blaise.

With quick nods to Blaise and Hermione, and a hug for Teddy, Draco apparated out of the room.

A couple more minutes after Draco's departure and Hermione still hadn't taken her eyes away from her plate and was still refusing to participate in any conversation. The only noise that can be heard were the sound of silverware and the occasional chatter between Teddy and Blaise.

Finally, Blaise has had enough as he rolled his eyes and took a sip of his red wine.

"Be careful Granger, you might burn a hole through your plate."

Hermione jerked with a start and glared at Blaise. "Ha ha, Zabini."

Blaise only smirked, "How are you liking your quiche, Granger?"

Hermione's eyes widened, "My what? My kiss? I - ."

"Quiche, Granger. The thing you're eating, it's called a quiche." Blaise rolled his eyes and smirked. "At this point I'm going to roll my eyes all the way to another galaxy." he whispered.

Hermione blushed, "It's really good, Zabini. Thank you for preparing lunch today. It's a shame Draco had to leave before he could finish his food."

Teddy nodded his assent, "Yeah it's really good, Mr. Zabini. I am sure that D is so sad that he didn't get to finish his kwi - kiss. I bet he's thinking about his kiss right now."

Hermione all but choked on her wine. "It's a quiche, Teddy, love. It's called a quiche."

"Kwi - Kiss. Yeah he said he really liked his kiss." Teddy nodded solemnly.

Blaise smirked at Hermione, "Oh I'm sure Granger here likes hers too."

"Shut up, Zabini." Hermione blushed.

Blaise's eyes widened as he smiled at Hermione, "So there was a quiche!"

"Shut up, Zabini." Hermione repeated, her face growing even hotter.

"Touchy touchy are we?"

"I just don't want to murder you in front of a child, that's all." Hermione flipped her hair.

Blaise placed his fork down and steepled his fingers underneath his chin like a schoolgirl waiting for gossip, "Ok how about we say that hypothetically, there was a quiche. Can we talk about the quiche then?"

Hermione sighed and looked at Blaise tiredly, "Hypothetically, there was a quiche -"

Blaise wiggled his eyebrows at Hermione, prompting her to continue.

"- But, the quiche was confusing so now everyone is confused because no one was expecting the quiche but it happened and now no one knows how to deal with the quiche because honestly, how did that even happen? One moment it was nice and peaceful and then bam! A quiche! In front of my face!" Hermione exploded, "I mean - hypothetically of course."

Blaise was about to open his mouth when Teddy interjected, "But was the kwish - kish - good?"

Blaise pointed at Teddy and looked at Hermione expectantly, "Yeah, Granger was the quiche good?"

"I mean we're still talking about this hypothetically right?" Hermione blushed as Blaise eagerly nodded.

"Yes, of course, Granger. Hypothetically."

"Then yes, hypothetically, the quiche was good."

Blaise laughed, "Just good? Damn I guess he needs to work on his quiche then."

Hermione buried her face in her hands and groaned, "Please don't tell him that. We are talking about a hypothetical situation! And it was more than good anyway - hypothetically!"

Teddy stared at the two adults confusedly, "If the kwish was good then what's the problem, Aunty?"

Hermione stroked Teddy's hair and smiled, "It was good but it was confusing. I'm not really sure if I like it or not or if I should even like it in the first place. Everything about that quiche was just confusing."

Teddy shrugged, "So? You can still like things that are confusing. Quidditch is confusing and sometimes I don't know what's happening but I still like it."

"The kid's right, Granger. If you like something then you like it. You don't have to figure everything out about something to like it. There's no need to overthink things, especially things that make you happy." Blaise smiled softly.

Hermione looked at Blaise and gave him a small smile, "Easier said than done huh?"

Blaise shook his head, "No, not at all. You Gryffindor lot should know this of all people. All that doing before thinking and being brave bullshi - bullseye!" Blaise chuckled awkwardly while looking at Teddy. "Anyway, It's just a quiche and now you got to sample the goods." Blaise winked.

Hermione actually gave out a small chuckle despite herself.

Blaise continued, "Stop overthinking - or you know what? Stop thinking altogether. Listen to your heart from time to time and let your brain rest. It's ok to like the quiche, Granger." Blaise finished with a small smile.

"Seriously just shut up, Zabini." Hermione rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Yeah Aunty, it's ok to like the kiss." Teddy nodded.

Draco threw himself on his bed and groaned. He just arrived home from an emergency business trip in France that lasted way longer than it should have. He had meetings on top of meetings with their suppliers and to be completely honest, all the meetings started to blur after the third one. He considered the trip a success as he walked away with a new contract with a Lavender farm.

He's been toying with the idea of using lavender in one of his potions and now he can finally begin the process of actually concocting and inventing it. This has always been his favorite stage of potion making, the trial and error, and the creativity of using different ingredients for different purposes.

He was just about to drift off to sleep when a weird red glow caught his eye. He was about to ignore it when he realized that it was the enchanted parchment which made him bolt out of bed. The first message was from 2 days ago, 4 days after they visited the house.

Hello Draco,

The house was very nice and Teddy really loved it.

The next message was written after a few hours or at least a few minutes judging by the space between them. There was also a weird smudge in the space between much like the smudge that you see when someone erases something on paper.

I hope everything is fine with work and that the emergency is all fixed now.

Draco smiled and accioed his quill.

Hello Hermione,

Good to hear that Teddy loved the house. How have you been doing? I hope work isn't keeping you awfully busy. I was wondering if you and Teddy are free this week? Crabbe and Goyle just sent over new sweets they're trying out for their shops and I think Teddy would really enjoy tasting them. I can come over at your office with the sweets anytime you're free.

Hermione read the message a couple of times over in her head. It's a nice innocent plan right? He even suggested coming over to my office so it's not like he's luring me somewhere, she thought amusedly.

Sure! I think Teddy and I would love that very much. Will Friday work for you? You can come by at around 4.

Draco yawned and smiled as he wrote one last message before finally collapsing on his bed.

Tuesday at 4 then. Not to be the bringer of bad news here but we do need to talk about things, Hermione. So I suggest you once again bring your Gryffindor courage and I'll bring the sweets. Say hi to Teddy for me. I'm going to sleep now.

Hermione took a deep breath and nodded to herself. He's being more of an adult than she is in this situation which in itself is quite a feat for Malfoy, she thought amusedly. Hermione quietly rolled up the enchanted parchment and stuffed it in her purse, before once again focusing on the stack of documents on her desk.

To say that Hermione loves her job is quite the understatement. The whole department she's spearheading was conceptualised and pushed by Hermione herself. When everyone was talking about the economic casualties and the death all around them after the war, it seemed like Hermione was one of the few people who was thinking about the children that have been orphaned by the exact same war. Harry of course was another person concerned about this, considering who he is and where he came from so he really helped pushed forward Hermione's ideas to Shacklebolt and he continues to be one of her biggest supporter even now that she is in the thick of things and everything is moving steadily in the department.

Hermione didn't just want to set up orphanages all over Britain especially for the younger orphans just like Teddy. She wanted the children to be with family, with a solid support system that will not just feed and clothe them but will also help them heal from the psychological implications that the war may have caused.

It was actually Harry's idea to look into the genealogies of the orphans to track down close family members that can provide a safe home for the children. There are of course complications to this as some families are better equipped than others in basically adopting children, and this is where Hermione's department comes in. She doesn't just drop off the children at the families' doorsteps, she makes sure that the families are able to provide safety and care for the children. Loads of interviews and background checks are gone through before the children are actually entrusted to their families, and of course there are also the children's outputs that need to be taken into consideration. If the children don't necessarily feel comfortable with their respective families then other alternatives are always out there.

Homes have been set up for the children who are still in the process of finding families or have decided not to go to their families. The support she had been receiving for her department had really overwhelmed Hermione in the past couple of months. Donors, families, and institutions have all been in touch with her in catering to the needs of the children.

Molly and Arthur Weasley, for example, have stepped up and are currently housing several children in a better built burrow, which is now taller and more topsy turvy than ever. Not to mention several other witches and wizards who have graciously opened their homes and are volunteering to be in charge of orphanages if the need to build more arises. Several experts in magical fields have also reached out to Hermione to offer apprenticeships with free food and lodging for the young witches and wizards that are in need of security. And of course, dear old Hogwarts had opened its doors year round to be the home of witches and wizards of age who may need the place to stay.

At the end of the day, Hermione wanted the children to stay in a place they feel safe in. Everyone has gone through a long period of uncertainty with the war and that's where it should end. She wanted the children to know that they have the choice in where they want to go and that her department will try everything in its power to get them there. This was how Teddy ended up with Hermione in the first place. Teddy had always been in the care of all the Order of the Phoenix members, but it was Hermione that he really bonded with the most. Even during Tonks' pregnancy with Teddy, Hermione was one of the people who was always at Tonks' side, reading baby books and sending her potions for her health. When Remus and Tonks died, there wasn't even a question of where will Teddy stay. Everyone just knew he had chosen and will continue to choose Hermione even without saying it out loud. Teddy was one of the biggest inspirations for Hermione's department as he is the exact reason why it even exists.

Hermione's personal bond with Teddy had made the decision to introduce Teddy to his living relatives, the Malfoys, such a tricky decision. However, towards the end she realized that these things aren't meant for her to decide, the decisions have to come from Teddy. She needs to at least give Teddy the opportunity to get to know his own lineage and in the process give the Malfoys the chance to get to know Teddy.

And now here we are. Truly in the process of getting to know a Malfoy.

"Hermione, your 3 o clock meeting is here. It's one of the child therapists you wanted to interview for the job." Lavender peeked through her door, startling Hermione from her work.

"Oh right, send him in whenever he's ready."

Lavender nodded, "Take a break after this, alright? Maybe get some tea or coffee"

Hermione smiled and nodded, "Yes mum."

Lavender only rolled her eyes and whispered, "The bloke is quite cute. Maybe you can get coffee with him after the interview," before closing the door on a laughing Hermione.

Wrote this update in less than 3 hours hahaha I hope it still came out ok even though it was a bit rushed. I was just on a roll and words were just flowing out so yeah hahahaha I apologize if there are mistakes and inconsistencies throughout!

Hope you guys liked it! Tell me what you think!

Love lots,

Viktoria (TheMalfoys)