Chapter 2 - Flourish & Blotts

Draco Malfoy awoke to the sun shining brightly in his face and the warmth of a naked body curled up next to his. He slowly opened his eyes and looked down at the blonde that was currently occupying his bed. At least she's hot, thought Draco to himself. On countless occasions he had woken up to find some of the ugliest girls next to him with no idea of what had happened the previous night. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he sat up groggily. This sudden movement caused his companion to wake up. Draco looked down at her; a look of pure disgust on his face, but the poor girl merely smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Draco easily shoved her off and got out of bed, wrapping a silk black sheet around his waist.

"Where are you going Drackie?" called the blonde, making Draco cringe, "Don't you want to have a quick round before we start the day?"

Stopping in his tracks, Draco turned himself around, almost robotically. He stared at the girl, wondering how anyone could possibly have such little respect for themselves, but if there was one thing that he couldn't resist in this world it would be sex, and since she was offering so generously, who was he to refuse the opportunity. He walked over to the bed, dropping the sheets and crawled on top of the blonde, stroking her hair affectionately.

"What's your name?" he asked casually.

"Stacey," replied the girl, looking a little hurt

"That's nice," said Draco before bringing his lips to hers, kissing her fiercely.

Ten minutes later, Draco once again got out of bed and demanded the girl to leave his house at once. She protested, of course, but upon receiving a menacing glare from Draco, she gathered up her things and ran out the house as fast as her five-inch stilettos could carry her. Laughing to himself, Draco made his way into the bathroom to shower. As the hot water pounded his head and shoulders, Draco thought about his life. He was filthy rich, he mused to himself, smirking. But the thing that really made him proud was that his wealth had nothing to do with his inheritance. You see the bank balance that his father had left him when he died was a mere fraction of what Draco had turned it into.

After inheriting all of his father's enterprises he used it to expand his already hefty fortune. Draco was now the owner of a very large, very successful company known as Malfoy Inc. It was a company that sold electronics, as surprising as that sounds. Though Draco had hated muggleborns with a passion he had always been fascinated at how they managed to cope without magic. The discovery of things such as the television and iPod had knocked Draco off his feet, and he had taken the liberty of introducing them to the rest of the wizarding world. Today Malfoy Inc. had a branch in every country that had a wizarding community large enough. They sold TVs, fridges, stereos, video games, household appliances, computer, you name it. But the best part about it all was that they all ran on magic, no electricity required.

Besides being of one the richest wizards in the world, Draco was also one of the most eligible bachelors. What with his good looks, charm and massive bank account there was not a single female out there that could resist him. They fainted at the sight of him and lined up outside his office building just to get a glimpse of him. His face was on the cover of every wizarding magazine not only within Britain, but all around the globe. The problem with Draco, however, was that he loved being single and did not plan on settling down any time soon, especially with one of his lunatic fans. Females to him, even at this age, served one purpose, to give him release and that was it, he did not want any more from them. Besides, being single meant that he could have a different girl every night and he did not even have to worry about disappointing her, not that Draco ever did. Smirking once again at this thought, Draco turned off the tap and got out of the shower.

Fifteen minutes later, he was seated at the dining table, slowly sipping his espresso as he leafed through the Daily Prophet. There was nothing interesting in there, as usual, there never had been since the war; just the same old Ministry feuds. After finishing his breakfast, he decided to go to Diagon Alley, he had a few things to do and then he had the rest of the day off.

Hermione woke to the sound of her alarm clock. She sat up slowly and stretched her sore muscles. Looking around her bedroom, she was surprised to see Nick lying there beside her. Just then, however, the events of the previous night came flooding back to her and she remembered exactly why he was there, and she'd rather not think about it. It was such a difficult topic to discuss with anyone let alone her own little four-year-old boy. She quietly climbed out of bed and made her way to the bathroom to freshen up for the day. Her and Nick had decided last night that they would go to Diagon Alley today as it was Saturday and apparently, Nick's toy collection was running short. Upon returning, Hermione found Nick wide awake. He was playing some sort of fighting game with his hands. Smiling at how adorable he looked, Hermione walked over to him.

"Hey Nick." She said as she scooped him up in her arms. "We're going to Diagon Alley today remember?"

"Yay!" Cried Nick, throwing is hands up in the air and making Hermione laugh.

After breakfast Hermione apparated to Diagon Alley Nick in her arms, she laughed out loud as Nick literally flew out of her arms and into the closest shop: Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Following him inside, Hermione was greeted by a beaming Fred.

"Hermione," He said "long time no see."

"I've been working," Laughed Hermione. "St Mungo's just discovered a cure for dragon bites and there's been so much paperwork. Todd's been on my case about it!"

Fred chuckled at this and then looked past Hermione to see Nick running up to them, a large box in his hands.

"Mummy, mummy, can I have this?" He asked, jumping up and down.

"What is it?" Asked Hermione looking at the box warily, knowing Fred and George it was probably extremely dangerous.

"It's a Weasley All Time Prankster Set!" Replied Nick smartly. "Uncle George said it was just the thing a young prankster like me needs."

"George!" Exclaimed Hermione, glaring at the twin as he made his way over to them.

"What?" He asked a mock look of innocence on his face.

Hermione just rolled her eyes and laughed. "Nick dear, I'm pretty sure that Uncle George can find you something that won't hurt you."

"But Mummy."

"No buts Nick." Said Hermione firmly.

Giving in Nick went to put the box back where he found it. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the cage full of Pygmy Puffs and without waiting a second longer he bounded over to his mother and dragged her by the hand over to the cage.

"Mummy can I have once, please Mummy, I promise I won't get hurt by it."

"Alright I suppose you could, I mean Ginny had one in sixth year and they are rather adorable."

"Yes!" Shouted Nick, jumping up and down.

Ten minutes later, they were walking out of the joke shop, Nick holding a small cage containing his Pygmy Puff that he named Squeak simply because every once in a while, the creature would make a loud squeaking noise that Nick found absolutely hilarious. They had decided to go to Flourish & Blotts as Nick wanted more bedtime stories and Hermione too wanted a good book to pass her spare time.

They walked into the shop and the familiar ding of the bell echoed throughout the unusually empty shop. Hermione hadn't even stepped two feet into the shop when:

"Hermione!" Came Harry's voice from behind a bookshelf.

Hermione walked up to him to find he was accompanied by Ginny. Harry and Ginny had gotten married last year, and Ginny was currently two months pregnant. Hermione hugged both of them and the three friends were so engrossed in catching up they didn't notice Nick slip past them into the kid's section.

Nick walked past the many bookshelves until he came to one that fitted his liking. He spotted a book on the top shelf that had a picture of a young boy on a toy broom stick flying in the night sky. As Nick couldn't read, he didn't know what the book was called but still wanted to look at it. He looked up and down the aisle to see whether there was anyone that could help him. He spotted a tall, pale man with platinum blonde hair walking towards him, muttering under his breath.

"Excuse me." Called Nick.

The man stopped in his tracks and simply stared at the little boy that had so unexpectedly greeted him.

"Could you please help me get that book?" Nick asked pointing to the book he wanted.

The man walked up to him and stood towering over him, looking down with a piercing gaze. This frightened Nick somewhat and he looked around to see if there was anyone else that could help him.

Draco looked down at the small child standing in front of him. He reminded him of someone, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Seeing the child look away down the aisle Draco thought he'd probably freaked him out and so he reached up easily and grabbed the book that the little boy wanted.

"Here you go." He said, holding out the book to him.

The boy gratefully took the book and thanked him before putting down the cage he was holding and excitedly began flipping through the pages. Draco watched him, shocked. The only person he had ever seen this excited about a book was Granger, and now that he thought about it, the boy did look a bit like Granger, but that was impossible, wasn't it? The boy seemed to notice him staring because he looked up at him and asked, "Is something the matter, mister?"

Laughing, Draco said. "Oh no of course not. I was just wondering, what's your name?"

"I'm Nick" Replied the boy. "Nick Ga...ga...well Mummy sometimes calls me Nicky G"

"Does she now?" Said Draco, chuckling once again "Well Nick you look pretty small to me, do you know how to read?"

"No, I just look at the pictures and then Mummy reads to me later."

"Well would you like me to read it to you?"

He didn't know why he asked, but he felt some sort of connection to the boy. Nick nodded eagerly and so Draco walked him over to the armchair that was in the corner of the aisle. He placed Nick onto his lap and began reading.

"Once upon a time in a land far, far away..."

After waving goodbye to Harry and Ginny, Hermione looked down to see that Nick was not at her side. She ran up and down the aisles of the store, bile rising up in her throat. How could she have been so careless? Hermione Granger was not one for making careless mistakes. As she ran down the children's section, she saw something that made her heart stop. There was Nick sitting in the lap of the man that she'd never thought she'd see again, well not personally any way, his picture was all over the wizarding media, but that was beside the point.

"Draco Malfoy, what the hell do you think you're doing with my son?" She yelled across the aisle.

Draco's head snapped up as he heard a voice, he had not heard in four whole years, but the moment he did he knew instantly who it was. He looked down the aisle to see a furious Hermione Granger, stomping her way over towards him, her hair just as bushy as ever.

"Well, well, well, Granger, what a pleasant surprise." He drawled sarcastically.

"Get away from my son Malfoy." Said Hermione, trying very hard to control her temper.

"So, this is your Mummy?" Draco said to Nick, who nodded, clueless. "Never thought I'd live to see the day Hermione Granger actually had children."

Hermione was absolutely furious as Draco laughed loudly. How dare he, she thought. Deciding it would be best to ignore him, she looked at Nick and said, "Come on Nick, we're leaving."

"But Mummy, the nice man is reading, and we just got to the good part." Whined Nick, refusing to get off Draco's lap.

"That's not a very nice man Nick. Now come along, I'll finish the book for you later."

"He is a nice man, Mummy, he got the book for me and then read it to me with funny voices."

"I think he's taken a liking to me; don't you think Granger?" Said Draco, smirking and stroking Nick's platinum locks.

"No, I don't Malfoy." Said Hermione. "Now-"

But Draco cut her off by asking "who's the father, huh Granger?"

"I believe that that is none of your business whatsoever."

Draco didn't reply, he simply stared into Hermione's eyes. One of the most useful powers that Draco had possessed during the war was his skill at Ligemency. He was a powerful Ligemens and had been able to extract very useful information for the order. Hermione didn't realise what he was doing until an image of a much younger Draco flashed across her eyes. Her eyes, as well as Draco's, grew the size of saucers. Draco let go off Nick instantly as though he was some sort of disease and looked at Hermione before saying in a dangerously low whisper:

"What is the meaning of this Granger?"