Ég er með lengri kafla núna…. Enjoy

Draco Malfoy

I was in desperate need of a nanny. I had two daughters, Luna and Stella. They didn't have a mother anymore… she was a complete jerk.

Fleur Delacour may have been a vela, but that doesn't make her a good person. Sure, we were in love, but soon things started to change.

It seems that Fleur was working her “vela magic” on more than one person. I caught her with some guy one day. The worst part was that they were in my house. I mean, come on… how thick could you get? She was just as bad as Pansy Parkinson sometimes!

But all of this is beside the point. I needed someone to watch after the kids. My new fiancé hated kids… and unfortunately, I couldn't just dump my daughters off in France with their mother (for obvious reasons).

I looked at the unemployed list, and one name in particular caught my eye… Hermione Granger.

I remembered Granger well. She had serious hair. And she was always so… cheery. The thought of having her raise my kids was both extremely unnerving and kind of comforting at the same time. Back in school, Granger and I were mortal enemies. She didn’t like me; I didn’t like her, and that was okay. We came from different worlds, had different friends, and different goals in life. I was arrogant and snobbish; she was down-to-earth and friendly. When I called her a mudblood, she looked like she would cry… and I looked like I would laugh. I guess I was kind of a moron back then. I mean, that was when my father was still around, monitoring my every move, making sure I didn’t come off as “Un-Malfoy-ish.”

Anyway, I was utterly surprised to see that Granger had no job. Surely the brightest witch Hogwarts had ever seen was making tons of galleons and had a large home.

Apparently not.

I did my research and found out that Granger was working in the ministry. Dumpy place… why on earth would she work there? She seemed to have so much going for her back in our Hogwarts days…

Worst yet, Granger was a secretary.

Anyway, I thought about it and realized Granger would be the best one for the job. No way in Hell was I going to let Ginny Weasley or Seamus Finnigan near my children.

So I sent her a letter. I was expecting to get a rejected response, but surprisingly she sent this reply:

Mr. Malfoy,

As much as I am surprised you want me to watch after your children, I have decided to come and work for you.

A good time to meet and talk things over would be Friday night at 7:00 at The Three Broomsticks. Please send an owl back stating whether or not you can make it.

Thank you again for your offer.

Sincerely,

Hermione A. Granger

I wrote back a quick note thanking her and agreeing to her suggestion. I glanced at the clock and realized I had exactly an hour before I had to meet her…

I sighed, got dressed and wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into.

Hermione Granger

I received Malfoy's owl an hour before seven. I cursed under my breath and quickly searched my closet for something to wear. Something that said “professional but fun.” And I had zero fashion sense to pick something like that out. But I tried, really, I did.

I decided on a colourful skirt that reached just above my knees and a long sleeved blouse in pale blue. I slipped on my ballerina-like slippers that were a nice crème colour. I left my long hair hanging down and slipped on a crème coloured sweater to pull everything together.

I decided to walk to the bar because traveling by floo can really mess up one's look. I've learned this by experience. A word of advice: never travel by floo powder if you are going on a date. This results in getting soot all over your face and clothes. And your date won’t really want to be seen with you. In fact, usually, your date will totally pretend to not see you and then run off with some waitress. Oh, well. I’m engaged now, so what do I care?

Anyway, I walked to The Three Broomsticks and waited for Malfoy.

He was fifteen minutes late.

Twenty minutes late…

I was beginning to think this WAS a cruel joke. Maybe he was setting me up so he could laugh at me.

I looked around the room. My eyes stopped on a man sitting at a table and looking at the door. I noticed his pale blonde hair and blue eyes. There was no way in hell that was Draco Malfoy. No way.

I sat for another minute, debating whether or not to go over to where he was sitting. I looked at my silver and glass beaded watch and back up at the man. I thought back to Hogwarts days and remembered how mad Malfoy used to make me. I questioned my decision to even accept this job. I looked at the door. How tempting it was to just get up and walk out!

No. The voice of reason said in the back of my mind. You need this job. You are going to become broke if you don’t take it. And besides, Malfoy’s loaded—I can predict a wonderful salary! I sighed. And I knew that was all true.

After another three minutes, I got up and went over to him. “Mal-foy?” My voice cracked as he looked up at me.

“Granger?” he asked, his eyes wide.

I sat down. I didn’t know what to say. Malfoy was so different. I didn’t know how to treat him. I chose to act like the employee I was about to become. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah…” He said, looking me over. “So, Granger, what have you been up to?”

I sipped my butterbeer and almost spat it out. Malfoy was asking me about my past? Since when did he care? “Well, up until this week… work.”

He said, “So, what is this I hear about you being a secretary?” He asked.

“Well… I was a secretary for the past five years, yes.”

“What did you do for the two years before that?” He asked curiously. I knew that was coming. He was always good with numbers. He’d know that there were two years before I was a secretary. I should’ve lied.

“Well…” I looked at the ground uncomfortably. I had no intention of informing Malfoy of my two years of traveling and partying. It wasn’t my greatest accomplishment. Besides, I honestly couldn’t remember a lot of things that went on. Shocking, I know, but I figured that you’re only young once and I decided to make the best of it. “I was traveling. And thinking about my life.” That was a huge lie, I know, but Malfoy didn’t need to know my entire life history!

“Oh.” He said, his eyes moving down to my left hand. “You're engaged?” He asked, looking at the ring that was on my finger.

“Yes,” I smiled. I was engaged to the most wonderful person I knew. It took me a long time to see what had been right in front of me, but now I knew I had found the One.

”Would I know your boyfriend?“ He asked, taking a sip of his butterbeer.

”Yes… you would.“ I said slowly. ”Ron Weasley…?“

He nodded and then chuckled. ”It figures you two would hook up. You always liked each other during Hogwarts.“

”That's not true.“ I said honestly. ”I didn't like him more than a friend until after Hogwarts.“ I said and I slipped my sweater off.

”It certainly didn't look that way from an outsider’s point of view.“ He said, obviously amused. “You two were always into each other! And Potter!” He was getting all into this conversation. I wanted out.

”Well anyway,“ I said, steering away from the direction this conversation was headed. I didn’t want to relive Hogwarts with Draco Malfoy. I almost shuddered at the thought! ”What about you? All we've discussed so far is my love life. How's yours?“

Surely the Draco Malfoy I knew would be more than happy to talk about himself.

”Well… it's a long story. Let's just say I married Fleur Delacour, and,“

I snorted. I know it's terribly impolite and unladylike, but I could just picture him and Fleur together. It was such an odd match.

He threw me a look as if to say, ”Do you think that's funny?“ I sipped my butterbeer and motioned for him to go on.

”Anyway,“ he said, still looking at me in an odd way, ”I married Fleur and we had two daughters, Stella and Luna.“ He his train of thought derailed for a moment and then he said, ”Fleur turned out to have been unfaithful.“ If this wasn't the Draco Malfoy who had tormented me since I was eleven I would have felt sorry for him. But I didn’t feel bad for him… I secretly thought he deserved it. ”So now I'm engaged to Miss Elizabeth Tanner and she hates children. That's where you come in.“

I had totally forgotten the reason I was here in the first place. It felt kind of like catching up with an old friend… but Malfoy was far from that. VERY FAR from that!

”I'll provide you with a place to live and meals. All I ask of you is that you take good care of my daughters. They can require quite a bit of work sometimes… but other than that they're good kids. I'll pay you 10 galleons a week.“

I was surprised at how much he was offering. I had gotten three galleons a week at the Ministry. But something he said bothered me. “What do you mean by ‘they can require a lot of work’?”

He frowned. “Well.” He sipped his butterbeer and looked like he was choosing his words carefully. “Luna’s a doll. She’s only four, and she’s a really great girl. But Stella…” He sighed. “Stella’s a different story. She’s seven. And she is the real problem.”

I didn’t like the sound of this. “What, is she like, a pyromaniac or something?” So much for being professional.

“No.” He glared at me. “Stella has been desperately trying to get rid of anyone I hire to be a nanny.” There were others, huh? Interesting. “Stella can play pranks, and one time she…” He stopped, probably thinking better of what he was about to say. “Never mind that. Just think of the salary, Granger.”

Malfoy sure knew how to hit you where it hurt.

“I think I’m going to regret this, but I’ll accept.” I was thinking strictly of the salary. “When should I start?”

“A week from tomorrow.” He stated. “I just want you to meet them first.”

A week? He was giving me a week? He must really be desperate…

”Yeah, sure, sounds great!“ I faked a smile. Sucking up to the boss never hurt, especially when the boss was Malfoy. ”When should I meet them?“

”Well, how's Sunday afternoon? We could meet up in Hogsmeade or something.“ He suggested.

I thought it over. ”Sure, that should be okay. How's 4:00… where should we meet?“

”Stella and Luna love Zonko’s, and they’ve been bugging me to take them there, so…“

”Alright." I took another sip of my drink and glanced around the room. I almost spit out my butterbeer when I saw who was sitting in a booth across the aisle…