Disclaimer: I make no money from writing this story. This story is based on characters created and owned by the marvellous J.K Rowling. I can only stand by green with envy writing silly little stories that will never amount to even a quarter of the pure awesomeness that is her series Harry Potter.

- Friday -

Draco Malfoy was rushing. He hated rushing but, unfortunately, it was a big part of his life. He maintained a hectically scheduled life. That was par for the course when you were Seeker for the Montrose Magpies and owned your own Quidditch supplies store. Managing busy sporting stardom and running your own business was no easy feat but Draco wouldn't have it any other way.

On this particular day, Draco had been in Diagon Alley checking on his store. "Malfoy Quality Quidditch Supplies" was a very popular store namely because of who Draco was but also because he only stocked the best of everything to do with Quidditch. His manager Theo (yes Nott) ran the store with the help of Adrian (yes Purtell) and they did a good job but Draco liked to get involved whenever he could. It had just so happened that that very morning Draco had had free. His team's training wasn't until late afternoon. Draco had only stepped into the store an hour ago before he was suddenly being summoned by his personal house elf Whisper to return home immediately – there was an emergency.

So now Draco was rushing. One could not simply just apparate or disaparate anywhere in the middle of Diagon Alley. The crowd population was often too high and one risked appearing in on top of someone. There was a designated point of apparition – which Draco now realized seemed annoyingly far away from his store. He passed many stores on his hurried way but there was one that always always always caught his attention. It was a large storefront with a sign out the front that read, "Baby Magic". Draco knew it to be a childcare centre owned and operated by Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger. He knew this because every time he passed the store he had to pause for a moment. He paused because more often then not Hermione Granger was working at the front of the store and the sight of her captivated Draco. She had grown up a lot since the end of the War, she'd come into her looks and into her personality. She was successful, independent, annoyingly kind and devastating gorgeous. Draco had, on occasion, seen men pacing out front of the store trying to devise a plan to capture Granger's attention. He didn't think any of these men had yet to have been successful – the most obvious downfall in their plans – no matter how creative – being their obvious lack of child. Men with children, as attractive as they also found Granger, were often married men and that ruled them squarely out of the game.

A slight pause later, Draco remembered he was rushing and dashed off to the apparition point. A loud crack, a short trip in a magic elevator and wave of his hand later and Draco found himself rushing into his penthouse apartment and calling for his elf. He expected the tense vibe of stress, he expected Whisper's terrified look (the elf was far too nervous around him) but what he did not expect was the cry of an unsettled infant as Whisper abandoned his post in order to greet her master at the door.

"Mister Draco" Whisper rambled out, "I is not expecting a baby Mister Draco. Boots is leaving the baby and the paper with Whisper suddenly!"

Boots was an elf who worked over at Malfoy Manor, Draco's childhood home, that had been shut up and basically abandoned by Draco the moment his parents were sent to Azkaban. The family's elfs still continued to work there cleaning and preserving the house, all except Whisper who Draco had taken with him.

"That's- ah – Whisper why – a baby?" Draco finally managed to stutter out.

The child couldn't have been more then two years old Draco reasoned, younger he would think. It was clearly a boy, he was sitting on the floor in front of Draco's black suede couch with the tell-tale Malfoy platinum blonde hair and grey eyes. This child's hair was straight, like Draco's, and fell just above his eyebrows, just like Draco', and clutched in his hand a stuffed green dragon. From a distant, he seemed upset, although when Whisper quickly rushed back to him, patting him softly on the head the boy seemed to settle.

"Whisper can be bringing you the paper Mister Draco" Whisper muttered quietly.

For a moment longer Draco just stared, this child was obviously his own, he looked so much like him. But how? How was it possible that Draco had managed to help create a child and not know that it had existed? Who was its mother and where was she? It took another second but Draco slowly realized he would have to read this paper Whisper kept mentioning. It probably would hold more answers then Draco was likely to devise just standing there.

"Where is the paper Whisper?" Draco croaked out, "I'll fetch it, you just stay with the - you just stay there"

"Whisper is leaving the paper on the kitchen bench Mister Draco" Whisper told him quickly.

With one final confused glance at the child, Draco strode into the kitchen and snatched the rolled up piece of parchment, roughly pulling it open as though the parchment itself had done this to him. What he found was a letter, addressed to him written in neat cursive,

"Dear Draco,

There is no easy way to explain any of this to you and, frankly, if I'd tried to contact you personally I believe you'd have probably tried to pay me off. However, I can not do this anymore. I am not mother material and…well… you are his father.

Draco this is your son Scorpius. He was born July 3 – he is 16 months old. I don't know if you'd even remember me but we had a one night stand just over two years ago. I'll admit I was niave back then. I thought perhaps – after spending three days chasing me – you might be a little bit more serious then you actually were so I was hurt when you kicked me out of your bed the following morning. I was just beginning to get over you when I realized I was pregnant. I tried to contact you – twice – but both times I got no reply.

Scorpius is every bit your son. He looks like you, his first word was "no" and he will not allow me to rid him of that stupid green dragon. I used to have a life Draco, I used to be able to go out and enjoy myself before I got tied down with your child and I just can't do it anymore. I want my old life back. So do with him what you will – either keep him or give him away but either way I am not cut out to be a mother. Hopefully, you are cut out to be a father.

Please don't contact me.

De-Vine"

Draco allowed himself to read the full letter, taking in the all details, before he scrunched it up and threw it angrily into the bin. Yes, he knew exactly who De-Vine was. She was some stupid Pureblood slut from America that he had allowed himself to sleep with one day when he'd met her on a Vacation over in the UK. Her name was stupid, she was stupid and she'd been a lousy fuck. He had thrown her out of his apartment as soon as possible the next morning. He couldn't believe he'd been stupid enough to get the cow pregnant.

"Mister Draco?"

Draco's head snapped to the entrance to the kitchen where Whisper stood quietly, the small boy toddling behind her. Was it normal for children to be walking at 16 months of age? Draco didn't know.

"Yes?" Draco snapped.

"Yous is having your training in 2 hours Mister Draco" Whisper told him hesitantly.

Then, right in that moment, it all began to dawn on Draco. What was he going to do? He was a Qudditich Star, bachelor, heir to the Malfoy line who had just now discovered he himself has produced an heir and he was in no way prepared to be a single parent. He would probably accidently kill the child before the day was out. He knew nothing about children. He needed some serious help. It was as if a light bulb went off in Draco's mind. Help, he needed help! He needed help from someone who knew about this kind of stuff, did this kind of stuff for a living. Granger!

A sudden something started tugging on his leg and Draco looked down to see his "son" had made his way across the kitchen to Draco and was holding onto his leg, gazing up at him with big grey eyes. Slowly and carefully, Draco lowered himself to the level of the boy and looked at him very seriously.

"Hello Scorpius" he said softly, "I'm your father"

"Da!" Scorpius said, happily.

Draco frowned for a moment before he nodded,

"Ok. I'm your dad" he said.

Xxxxx

Hermione Granger was having a very busy day. She had started early at 7am that morning when one of their staff who was supposed to open the centre had called in sick. Hermione didn't mind this so much, she didn't mind rising early, it was just that she'd had a late night having trouble sleeping.

Hermione and Ginny had opened "Baby Magic" shortly after the war. They had wanted to do something positive, lead careers that felt rewarding to them, not just your typical Ministry of Magic job. They had started in a one room building and now in the four since they'd opened, they'd grown into a five room centre. Ginny still taught in a room as a Room Leader but Hermione much preferred the admin side of things and so she fulfilled the 'Director' role. However, she did enjoy taking the time out to spend with the children.

On this particular afternoon, Hermione had just sat down behind her desk to relax for a second. She'd just come from dealing with a new enrollment and the tour of the centre had been torturous given the heels she had chosen to wear to work that morning – a disastrous error in judgment in hindsight. Hermione always dressed professionally when going to work, this morning was no different with a tight, black pencil skirt and a silk grey singlet top that she'd tucked into the skirt, she'd finished her outside off with a pair of her favourite black pumps- which she now realized she should save for "going out" nights. So she'd returned from her enrollment tour and taken refuge behind her desk, dreaming of slipping off her shoes when she'd heard the faint "ting" of the centre's door charming alerting her that someone had just entered the premise. Sighing, she got back up and moved into reception to greet whoever it may be.

What Hermione hadn't expected was to find Draco Malfoy standing there, child in his arms, looking very stressed as he glanced around desperately.

"Malfoy?" she said, surprised, "Is that a child? Is that your child?"

The resemblance between the little boy and Malfoy was uncanny. It had to be his son, Hermione rationalized.

"Granger I need help" he said, no hesitation, no time spent covering the tone of distress in his office.

Surprised by this, Hermione silently gestured towards her office. Watching as he didn't waste a second moving inside and taking a seat at her desk. Respecting his need for privacy, Hermione also moved inside her office, shutting the door behind her. Malfoy wasted no time thrusting a piece of parchment into her hands.

"Read this!" he said, his words slightly more coloured with anger now.

Hermione took a seat behind her desk, eyes skimming the letter as her eyebrows raised in total shock. Malfoy had fathered a child, with a complete stranger it would seem, and judging by her words and his demeanor he had known nothing about it. No wonder he looked so stressed. Carefully placing the letter onto her desk, Hermione studied the boy perched on Draco's lap.

"Well he certainly looks like your son Draco. Do you mind?"

"Not at all" he said.

Feeling the occasion for formality had well and truly passed, Hermione kicked off her heels and stood up, reaching out and retrieving Scorpius from Draco's arms. The boy gurgled away excitedly and reached out to touch Hermione's face.

"Well he's friendly" Hermione said.

She brought Scorpius back to her seat and sat him on his own lap, taking a hold of one of his hands before she pointed quickly at Draco.

"Look at daddy Scorpius" she cooed, "Where's Daddy? There he is"

With the little boy's attention fixed on Draco for a moment, Hermione took the chance to point her wand quickly at his chubby into index finger and make a quick jab. A small droplet of blood welled up which the baby didn't even notice, but Draco did.

"For Merlin's sake Granger what are you doing?" Draco roared, "I wanted you to help me not hurt the damn child!"

"Oh settle Malfoy" Hermione hushed dismissively, "and give me your hand"

She dropped the droplet of Scorpius's blood onto a tissue on her desk before she pricked Draco's finger as well, adding his blood to Scorpius's and mutter a quick spell. The two different bloods mixed together and formed a small plus sign.

"He is definitely your son, no tricks" Hermione announced.

For a moment, Draco heaved a sigh before dropping his head into his hands and Hermione realized she felt quite sorry for him.

"Malfoy" she said quietly, "Its going to be ok…"

"How?" he snapped, "This morning when I woke up I was a happy bachelor, I went out to bars, I picked up women, I had my way with them and they left. I was a Quidditch superstar, a business owner, a son, a nephew, a heart breaker but certainly I was no one's father. Now though, in the space of an hour, all that has changed and, suddenly, I have a son!"

"Are you going to try and contact this De-Vine woman?" Hermione asked him.

He shook his head sharply, "The first thing I am going to do in regards to De-Vine is contact my lawyer and transfer full custody of Scorpius over to me and then she will never see him again! What kind of mother abandons their own child I ask you!"

Hermione nodded quietly, she could understand Draco's despair. She gazed down at Scorpius who sat on her lap, quite content to play interestedly with his own ten fingers and toes.

"I don't know what to do Granger. I am not prepared for this. I have no idea how to be a father, let alone a good one. I need help" Draco sighed.

Heaving a sigh herself, Hermione stood, walking across her office and placing Scorpius on the floor next to a box of toys she kept in her office especially for meetings with parents. Then she took a seat in the chair next to Draco and placed her hand comfortingly on his leg.

"The first thing you need to do Draco is realize that you have a beautiful, healthy, happy baby boy" she said to him comfortingly, "Scorpius does not seem to have been overly affected by any of this sudden change and that is a good thing. Look, he's happy"

She watched as Draco glanced quickly over at his son and felt him relax slightly.

"The next thing you need to do is focus on the basics. He's going to need a bed, a change table, toys, clothes, nappies and food"

"I have a designer who can organize all that for me" Draco said, after a moment.

Hermione nodded, "Then we must send her an owl. Scorpius is going to need all that stuff today"

"I can do that" Draco affirmed.

"Good" Hermione replied, "Now might I suggest I get you an enrollment form and you enroll Scorpius into our centre. As a single dad you are going to need someone to look after him during the day and I can assure you we provide the best care"

"Ok"

With a snap of her fingers, Hermione had a form flying across the office and into her hands which she then placed in front of Draco with a quill. It took him a few minutes but he filled out the basic information and signed his name at the bottom.

"The last thing Scorpius is going to need" Hermione told him, "is his father. He's lost his mother and whatever other family he might have known. You're all he's got right now and he's going to need you"

She watched, relieved when Draco nodded again. She was beginning to worry she had overwhelmed him with all her talk and that he was about to dump the little boy and race out of the centre.

"I still know nothing though" he told her, "I don't know how to change a diaper or feed him or put him to sleep or anything and I have to get to training soon!"

He was right, Hermione realized, he knew nothing. Malfoy was an only child, he'd had no experience with younger children ever and he was living completely alone, no girlfriend, no mother, no one.

"I will help you" Hermione told him, disbelief at herself as she spoke the words, "I am due to finish my shift in a moment anyway. I will come with you to training to mind Scorpius and then I will teach you everything you need to know"

Malfoy looked shocked. For a moment, Hermione squirmed uncomfortably as Draco just stared at her, surprised etched into every line on his face. Hermione, like every other woman in the world, was very aware of how attractive Draco Malfoy was. Even during this meeting, during one of the hardest moments in his life, Hermione had found herself examining him. He was built – much more developed since Hogwarts -, his hair had been grown out a little longer and was no longer gelled back but instead hung loosely. It was incredibly hard for Hermione not to reach out and just touch it. His eyes were still their same shocking grey but his features seemed less pointed, more approachable. His skin even had a slight tan to it, probably from hours spent outdoors training for and playing Quidditch.

"Are you sure Granger? I mean I know I said I needed help but …"

"Its fine" Hermione assured him, "I'll just go and let Ginny know I'm leaving"

Xxxxx

Draco watched as she quickly bounded out of her office and down the hallway to find the Mini-Weasal. He could not believe Granger had just offered to help him so readily and help him way beyond what he had been expecting. He'd expected her to turn him over to a nannying service or something. He glanced over at Scorpius again who had forsaken the box of toys in favour of his green dragon again. He sat happily on the floor and played with it, he didn't even seem the slightest bit bothered.

Perhaps Granger was right, Draco reasoned, he was simply lucky that Scorpius appeared to b a happy and healthy child. His heir. Surely, Draco could learn how to do this, he could learn how to be a father. After all, if those bloody Weasley's could keep reproducing and not even kill a child then Draco could certainly raise one child. He would learn everything he could from Granger and he'd show stupid De-Vine that even an idiot could raise a child and if an idiot could raise a child then what was she? Truly?

Draco's thoughts suddenly flicked to Granger again. Fuck, she was sexy. The moment she'd met him out in reception in her tight skirt and towering heels Draco had felt his pants become a little tighter, she didn't even appear to notice how appealing she was. When she'd placed her hand on his leg and called him Draco, well the single bachelor Draco who didn't find himself suddenly throw into fatherhood, would have turned her over on her desk and given her the good pounding he desperately wanted to give her. Unfortunately though, he was no longer single, bachelor Draco with no responsibilities. He was now single parent Draco with a 16-month-old son.

"I'm back" Hermione announced, "Lets go!"