A/N: So, I lied when saying I'd be right back. Sorry everyone! I went back to work, then quit, then moved across the country, so I do have an excuse. But seriously I have missed writing on here. I won't promise anything, but I will try and get up the next story ASAP! Enjoy part 2 of this short fic, I definitely enjoyed writing it. Also thanks everyone for the kind reviews!

Draco Malfoy; the Baby Whisperer

Chapter 2:

"Stop fidgeting, you're a worse two-year-old than Teddy."

"Granger, if I'd known you were dragging me to a Muggle store, I wouldn't have even let you in my house this morning."

"That's fine, your mother would have let me in. Then I would have shot tickling spells at you till you agreed to come with me."

Hermione smirked when she saw the blond shudder, most likely at the memory of when she really had done that, just the month before.

"Well, hurry up and find something. Why couldn't we have just gone to Flourish and Blotts Like a normal witch and wizard," he whined.

"Everyone will have gotten their cards and gift bags from there. Do you really want to be ordinary? Do you really want to be mediocre?"

He rolled his eyes. Selecting a card at random, he picked it up and opened it. "'Let's celebrate your birthday with Elmo.' Who's Elmo? Is he the red demon on the front of the card?"

Hermione snatched the card from his hands and put it back. "Elmo is not a demon. He's a character from a children's television show. I'm actually quite fond of him."

"Well, if you like him so much, why don't you get the card?"

"I doubt Andromeda shows Teddy American muggle television shows."

Draco shrugged. "Last time I was over, they were watching some alarming thing with brightly colored creatures jumping around everywhere. I highly doubt it was intended for someone Andromeda's age."

"Still, I'd rather be sure I knew he liked Elmo before I got him the card." She gently placed the card back where it had come from. Grabbing Draco's arm, she moved him further down the aisle.

"Musical cards? How do muggles get music inside of their cards?" He opened one and jumped in surprise when it played a loud and obnoxious party song. Hermione had to stifle her giggles at his expression.

"I'm sorry, it's just, the face you made," She managed to control herself when he shot her a stern look. Clearing her throat she took a look over the rest of the cards, finally selecting one with a normal, only slightly irritating song. "I bet Andromeda will try to shut it off using magic. But since it's muggle technology, it won't work."

Draco smirked, comprehension dawning. "I can't wait to see her struggle with it. Let's get it." He put it in the basket he was carrying and turned to head towards the cash register. When Hermione didn't follow, he turned back around. "Granger, come on, what are you doing?"

"Oh, I still need a card for Teddy too." She was eyeing the cards designated for specific age groups reluctantly.

"Don't be thick, just put your name on my card, and we'll call it a day. We're giving him a gift together, anyway. It makes sense."

Hermione's cheeks turned slightly rosy, but she nodded and followed him to the cash register.

The Weasley house was bustling with activity when Draco flooed over. He nodded at Arthur, who was in the living room, but stayed by the fireplace for Hermione who should have been a second behind him. When she wasn't plagued with getting the Wonder Boy and the Witless Boy ready, Hermione was actually quite punctual, and so when she shot out of the fireplace a moment later, they were nearly 15 minutes early.

Mrs. Weasley put them immediately to work decorating the cake she'd made. This year's party was much less of a grand affair compared to the previous one. Andromeda had refused an expensive venue again, much to his mother's disappointment. Draco wasn't too upset by the fact.

After the initial awkwardness, he'd grown rather fond of the Burrow. The house, regardless of the amount of times he'd visited, still gave him the urge to call those "Hoarders" people from the show Hermione had made him watch once. Either that, or summon his house elves to give the place some much needed help. Regardless, he loved the atmosphere of the place. It oozed a welcoming vibe, and Mrs. Weasley was constantly feeding him. All the money in the world hadn't graced the manor with that warm atmosphere. Although one particular visitor had begun to changed that of late.

Draco glanced at Hermione as he placed tiny, edible quaffles on the edge of the first cake layer. Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she transfigured the frosting into edible block letters and placed them precisely on top. She noticed his gaze and looked up.

"You're quaffle line is crooked," she commented, waving her wand. He looked back at the line he'd made and watched the haphazardly placed quaffles zip into being evenly spaced. He needed to stop letting his mind wander, and focus on the matter at hand. He'd already made his decision.

Under Hermione's careful watch, he finished placing the quaffles to her specifications.

"Ready, ok HIDE!" Andromeda shouted.

The room full of adults and teens quickly dispersed, most of them acting like giddy children. Teddy was with Andromeda in the Weasley's kitchen until everyone had hidden.

Hermione gave a quick look over the living room and parlor, finding people hiding in every available spot. Running to the foot of the stairs, she paused to listen for Andromeda's counting to see how much time she had. She heard footsteps behind her, and turned to see Draco grabbing her hand.

"Come on, you're going to get caught if you keep standing there," he said, pulling her away from the stairs.

"No, this way, all the good spots are gone down here," protested Hermione, pulling him the other way. They heard Andromeda announce her and Teddy's exit from the kitchen and jumped into a cupboard with quidditch supplies.

Hermione fidgeted in the cramped quarters and tried to create more space between them. She was used to being around him now, but she couldn't recall ever being quite so...cozy, with him. It was decidedly unnerving.

She finally settled for having her shoulder pressed up against his chest. She was surprised to feel his heartbeat racing, at odds with his calm demeanor. However, the longer they stood there, the more uncomfortable he seemed to become, and also began pushing away from her, knocking over a broomstick in the process.

"Found you!" Teddy yelled as Andromeda pulled the door open on them. She gave a funny look at the obviously flustered teens and stepped aside to let them out.

Draco didn't seem put out that they'd been the first to lose, but Hermione marched huffily after him and his relatives as they continued their search, shooting glares in his general direction. She knew he was all too aware of her competitive streak now, given their past year of friendship. Hopefully, he would suspect her flustered attitude was a result of that, and not their close proximity in the closet.

Potter was eyeing Draco suspiciously, and he didn't like it. The raven haired young man had already taken him aside last month and spoken about his suspicions, which Draco had of course claimed were completely unfounded. The problem was that those suspicions were actually very well founded. Could not be more well founded, in fact. He wished Potter weren't so frustratingly perceptive.

He tried to keep a healthy enough distance between himself and Hermione to ease Potter's suspicions, but then he reminded himself that it didn't really matter. Soon, hopefully soon, if all went well, Potter would have every reason to smirk knowingly in their direction. He just had to work up the courage to change the subject from their typical dragon hearts and newt eyes, and steer it towards the subject of human hearts...namely, his own.

He felt a prickly feeling at the back of his head and turned to find his Aunt's gaze on him as well, and gave an exasperated sigh.

At last, they found the remaining hiders, George and Ginny, who had chosen a somewhat unfair location for a two-year-old to discover. They crawled out from under Ron's old Cannon's bed, hidden by the Orange dust ruffle. Ginny had giggled at a joke George had made while the rest of the already discovered party explored the room, and of course Teddy had found them.

He eagerly awaited the party's end. To get away from all these prying eyes, and to finally get the chance to give those prying eyes something of substance to smirk over.

"'Moine! There you are." Ron trotted over to Hermione, who was heading for the kitchen with the platter of remaining cake.

"Are you leaving already?" It was strange not having him as permanent resident of the Burrow, as he and Harry had a small place near Diagon Alley.

"Well, yeah, party's over. Me and Harry are headed to the new ice cream shop that Lavender's family opened. You wanna come?"

She didn't really want to watch Lavender flirt with Ron over ice cream samples, but she wasn't opposed if at least Harry and Draco were in tow to distract her. As if on cue, Draco emerged from the kitchen with Teddy on his back, and he made a beeline for Hermione.

"You too, Ferret-face, come with us for ice cream on Diagon Alley," proposed Ron. It had taken some time, but, despite what the nick name implied, Ron had warmed significantly to the blond.

"Fewwet-face!" echoed Teddy. "Dwaco is a fewwit-face!" He looked up at his cousin, as he was put on the ground. "What's a fewwit?"

"A beautiful and magnificent creature, Teddy," Answered Draco solemnly. Ron and Hermione snorted.

"So," urged Hermione, eager for his answer, "Are you coming?"

She watched as the blond fidgeted with the hem of his shirt before he evasively answered, "Uh, actually, I have to take Teddy back to my aunt's. I promised I'd take him back for his nap and put him down while she finished up here."

"Oh, ok. I suppose I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Uh," He began again, awkwardly, "I think she wanted you to go with us too."

"Teddy doesn't need two people to tuck him in," interjected Ron, confusion on his face. "Hermione, come on, let's go get ice cream."

"No! Wait, Hermione, you can't go get ice cream."

"...I CAN'T get ice cream?" Hermione repeated icily.

"I mean, you can, it's just really important that, well, TODAY, you come over with me, to Andromeda's. We can join them after, if you want."

Hermione stared at Draco for several very long seconds, realizing that something was definitely up with her friend. "Ok," she said finally, observing the relief that flooded his face.

Curiosity was her initial reaction to the situation, but as they gathered Teddy's things and said goodbye to the remaining guests, a small flutter of nervousness took over. She thought of their moment in the closet, when Draco's heart had been beating so fast. Was it the close proximity? It had certainly been the culprit for her own racing heartbeat at the time.

Despite his relief at her agreeing to accompany him to his aunt's, he was uncharacteristically jittery. It reminded her of Ron's demeanor when he'd tried talking to her about their war-time snog. But the idea of Draco wanting to talk to her about anything of that nature lead down a road she knew she couldn't start on. Every time her mind wandered towards it, she reminded herself that, though Ronald found her attractive, not many people liked bushy-haired know-it-alls. And Draco had definitely made his distaste for those two features known in their less-than-pleasant past.

Letting Draco go through the floo with Teddy first, she took a deep calming breath before stepping in with her handful of floo powder. Upon arrival, Draco went about doing all the things they normally did when they babysat Teddy, putting her mind at ease. Perhaps she'd been worried for nothing. As Teddy drifted to sleep, Hermione left Draco by his bedside and wandered to the library.

She picked up one of the advanced potion books from the shelf and began perusing the pages. The potion was the kind with hundreds of ways to tweak the process to get the desired outcome, and she became so engrossed in it, that she didn't hear the footsteps approaching.

"I thought I might find you here."

He tried not to smirk at the way Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice. She'd obviously been caught up in the pages of the potions book. It was one of the many things he loved about her. Not many people found potions instructions to be riveting. Her nervousness was palpable, as he was sure his own was, and for some reason, that comforted him. It gave him hope.

He watched as she gracefully set her book down and rose from the comfy chair to approach him. Her hair was extra wild today after such a festive day, and he found that after all this time, it was his favorite look on her. She looked at him expectantly.

"Granger, do you remember what happened a year ago in this very room?"

Her brows furrowed together for a moment before she looked up at him again. "Oh, you forced me to hold Teddy for the first time, right?"

Draco chuckled, then said, "True, that did happen. I suppose it's the reason why we...well, we started being friends that day, which is what I was thinking of. The two memories go hand-in-hand. " As he said this, he gently reached out and took her hand. His own was sweaty, which he hoped she didn't notice. He didn't know whether it was good or bad that her eyes widened at his gesture, but he continued on. "Granger, over the last year, I've learned so much about you. I can't believe I let such stupid notions about purebloods, and house rivalries get in the way of what could have been seven extra years of having such a person in my life. Those things got in the way of me realizing that you're the best friend I could ever have, and that I...that I..." He took a deep breath and went for it. "That I have feelings for you, and I'd like to date you." When she didn't say anything immediately, he let go of her hands and looked down. "I know, I treated you badly in the past, and some of my family has tried to kill you, and well, you're beautiful, and you could do much better than me, but I was hoping that-"

Hermione cut him off with her finger to his mouth. When he looked up, her face was inches away. She leaned forward and softly pressed her lips to his. For a moment, he was so surprised he didn't react. Then instinct took over and he circled her with his arms to pull her close.

"WHOOSH!"

Hermione sprang away from Draco where he'd somehow gotten pressed into a bookshelf, and was looking very disheveled. She didn't want to know what she looked like, not when Draco had been running his hands through her already wild hair, all the while muttering things about how soft it was.

It was likely just Andromeda who'd just flooed in, but either way, she didn't want to be caught in such a state.

She looked at Draco, who didn't appear too perturbed by the situation, and retrieved her wand to cast a quick tidying charm on them both. However, before she had a chance, Andromeda rounded the corner in the hallway and spotted them in the library.

"There you two are! Did you get Teddy to-" she stopped, having only just taken in the appearance of them both. "oh, it's finally happened..." Andromeda whispered gleefully.

"What's happened?" Asked Hermione.

"You two, you've finally figured it out!"

"Um," mumbled Hermione, looking awkwardly at Draco.

"Oh, it's obvious you two have been having a snog, don't deny it. I know the signs, I was your age once."

Again, Hermione was mortified, but Draco looked almost like he was enjoying this. "Alright, Aunt 'Dromeda, you caught us."

"I can't wait to tell everyone! We've been waiting for a while now, for this to happen. Looks like Molly was right about the timing. Teddy's Birthday, it does make sense, I suppose."

Hermione felt her pulse jump at Andromeda's words. For once, her heart knew exactly what it was feeling and why. She'd even had the gumption to kiss Draco. And, of course, they'd been interrupted.

"Andromeda," began Hermione, "would you be able to give us just a few minutes alone? We actually have some things we should probably discuss."

Comprehension dawned on the older woman's face. "Of course!"

"And," chimed in Draco, " If you could wait a bit before telling everyone."

"I understand. You do it in your own time," she said, smiling kindly, then sweeping out of the room in Teddy's direction.

Hermione turned back to Draco, her cheeks a brilliant red now. "So," she began, "you like me."

"And I sort of got the impression that you like me too." At Draco's statement, Hermione's face became even more crimson.

"And apparently everyone knew we liked each other before we did," she said, shyly smiling.

"I only knew about Potter. He confronted me last month. I denied everything, of course."

Hermione laughed. "Of course Harry knew. He always knows."

"He's going to have the biggest, most infuriating smirk when he finds out," confessed Draco.

"Actually, that'll be relatively soon, since we're supposed to meet them for ice cream right now," reminded Hermione, a fairly big smirk appearing on her own face at the way his drained of color. She reached out and took his hand in hers. "It'll be fine. And, for the record, yes, I'd like to date you, Draco Malfoy." He kissed her tenderly for a moment, then stepped back and took out his wand.

"So, let's allow our words to tell Potter and Weasel, rather than our, um, appearance, shall we?"

Once they looked presentable, they said goodbye to Andromeda and flooed to Diagon Alley, where they walked to the ice cream shop hand in hand.

And Draco was right, Harry did have the biggest, most infuriating smirk when he saw them.

The End

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little story! Thanks for reading, and please review :)