"Er- Hermione, erm, I was, I can, can we, uh- talk in private?"

Draco, Blaise and Scorpius were standing staring at Harry Potter, the first two glaring, the latter bemused. Hermione Granger was glaring at him, too.

"Fine." Hermione stomped her way towards Harry, muttering,

"Two minutes."

She grabbed Harry by his sleeve and pulled him over to the side of the street, a couple paces down.

"I feel so blessed right now," Blaise immediately exclaimed, turning towards Draco. "It's true what they say, 'Every good deed is your own Felix Felicis'. I came to my friend's aid, and I've never been so happy in years!"

"Shut it, Zabini," Draco huffed, shoving him to the side as Blaise moved to dramatically hug him.

"Smooth in there," Scorpius offered, patting his brother pityingly on his shoulder.

"Can we just-" Draco started, before he was interrupted by Blaise.

"I just love the way she calls you Draco now. Scorpius, can you share your memory with me when we get back? Describing it just won't be as good."

"Will you stop being incorrigible for a damn minute?" Draco huffed, shuffling closer to where Harry and Hermione had moved. "I'll give you the bloody memory if you'll just let me hear Granger yell at Potter."

"Oh, is that what we're doing?" Scorpius asked, as they all slowly edged closer to the pair.

"Excellent. This night is getting better by the second," Blaise exclaimed, as he pulled an Extendable Ear from his pocket.

"I've only got one, sorry.'

"I suppose you just happened to have one of those in your pocket," Draco said, narrowing his eyes.

"I'll be magnanimous enough to let you be the one to listen, then," Blaise said, shoving the end into Draco's ear and pulling him to the side so that Scorpius and Blaise covered him. Draco cast a disillusionment charm over the ear just as Blaise dropped the other end on the ground. All three craned to listen.

"...begged you to come and then you do this, which makes it worse."

"I know, Hermione. I just thought I could see if they were up to something if-"

"Really, you haven't grown up a bit. We're not still in Hogwarts. No one is up to something. There are no more Death Eaters. You know the Aurors have been monitoring Draco and have found nothing-"

"Damned Ministry," muttered Draco.

"Shush!" whispered Scorpius.

"When did you start calling Malfoy by his name?" Harry asked.

"I can't call them both Malfoy, can I? Hermione answered, looking more annoyed by the second. "What were you honestly expecting to achieve out of this, Harry? I'm not an idiot and I can certainly protect myself if the need arises. Go home, Harry. Don't even think about following us again or I'll curse you myself."

Harry had the decency to look ashamed.

"I'm really sorry, Hermione. You're right, I'll see you tomorrow."

She nodded and he disapparated with sharp crack.

The other three men hurried to look nonchalant as they stuffed the extendable ear back into Blaise's pocket.

"I'm sorry about that," Hermione said, as she made her way back to the three men.

"Oh, don't worry," Blaise replied breezily. "Although, Scorpius here would have liked an autograph."

"I what- no," Scorpius blustered.

Hermione laughed.

"I'll have Harry send a signed photograph along with his apology tomorrow morning."

Draco, in a much better mood, grinned and held put his arm for her to take.

"Excellent idea, Granger. I'm sure I'd love one as well. I almost wish Weasley were with him, too."

Hermione pursed her lips, then laughed as she took Draco's arm.

"You should have gotten Harry's autograph when he was in second year, along with Lockhart's." she replied.

They all laughed at the ridiculous image, Scorpius not quite in on the joke.

Making their way to the quaint little shop, Scorpius continued his story about the inferi, filling Blaise in on the details he'd missed.

"So there's me, wand gone, not even sure what's attacked me. Then I fall and hit my arm on a large stone erected in the side of the room. It's partially broken and falling apart and I realize it's the casket that the ancestor was buried in."

He paused as they walked into the warm shop and had a seat at a comfy table with big puffy armchairs. A pretty women came up to them, greeting Blaise warmly and smiling at them all.

"What are you in the mood for, Granger?" Blaise asked.

"Whatever you were describing earlier, I think. I can't decide." she replied, looking at the countless displays of treats before them.

"Pick whatever's best for all of us, Blaise?" Draco asked lazily, a he breathed in the heady aroma of melted chocolate in the air.

They waited as Blaise ordered bits of quite a few treats that all sounded wonderful, while flirting quite a bit with the pretty witch.

They all grinned as they watched him watch her walk away.

"I'm going to be extremely disappointed if the only reason you brought us here is to look good in front of the pretty shopkeeper," Draco warned.

"Trust me, you'll be spending just as much time as I have in here, once you've tasted what I've ordered," Blaise replied.

"I hope so, because this smell is making my mouth water for something chocolatey," replied Hermione.

"You, too? I thought it was just me," added Scorpius.

They all took a moment to breathe in deeply, taking in the rich aroma with a hint of spices and heat. Then they all looked at each other and started laughing.

"So, you were about to be murdered by a inferi, go on, Scorpius." said Draco, leaning back, his arm resting behind Hermione's armchair. Blaise tried to catch his eye but Draco ignored him. Scorpius started again,

"Oh, right. So, I feel my way around in the old casket, throwing bits of rock in between at whatever's attacking me and I find the wand of the wizard or witch who was buried in it. I light up the room, figure it's an inferi and blast it with a few incendio's. Then I look down and the tomb is empty."

"You mean-" Hermione laughed, as Scorpius explained.

"Yep, I had just blasted the inferi with it's own wand, poor thing."

"I didn't realize you had it in you, Scorpius." Blaise remarked, sounding impressed.

"Did you find the treasure it was supposed to be guarding?" Hermione asked.

"Yep, loads of cursed jewellery. More work for me. I don't know why people bother cursing all these treasures so no one can use it. I mean what's the point, then."

"You should have asked the inferi before you blasted it," replied Draco, and they all laughed again.

Hermione smiled to herself as she realized she was enjoying her evening out with Draco Malfoy, Scorpius and Blaise Zabini. Who would have thought? She was almost glad Harry didn't come as he might have made it much more awkward, though she imagined she probably wouldn't have lost her temper. But on the other hand, Draco certainly wouldn't have apologized in front of Harry, so maybe it was for the best.

"Enjoying yourself, Granger?" asked Blaise, as though he had read her thoughts.

She blinked, blushing, before replying,

"It's Hermione, and ask me again once I've had the hot chocolate."

"Blaise, then." he replied, winking at her and looking pleased with himself.

Right on cue, their order arrived on a floating tray, complete with little cards with the names of the desserts.

"Okay, so I've ordered a bit of all my favorites so we could share and try everything. I hope that's okay?"

They all nodded, Draco inwardly cursing Blaise. He knew Blaise was doing this to make him uncomfortable and watch him squirm.

"So, there's the BFG hot chocolate, of course, gingerbread ice cream, cherry isle bar, blackcurrant Eton mess, chocolate hazelnut cream cheese puffs and the classic sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream."

The items glided gently onto their table as Blaise described them. They all looked like masterpieces and Hermione couldn't wait to try them.

"So, dig in?"

They all attacked, spoons diving into the little works of art. For a little while, no one spoke.

"This gingerbread ice cream is absolutely fantastic," commented Scorpius, as he helped himself to a third spoon.

"Really?" asked Draco, as he abandoned the sticky pudding for the ice cream just as Hermione blocked him with her spoon like a little sword.

"Wait, don't finish it, I didn't get a taste!"

"You should have thought of that before you finished the last chocolate cheese puff," replied Draco, grabbing the dish with his free hand as he battled with her spoon.

"Split it?" Hermione countered, as she tried to reach it with her spoon and was unsuccessful.

He let her take a spoon before he finished off the last scoop.

"Ugh, it's amazing," exclaimed Hermione, looking woefully at the empty dish that Draco was now scraping.

"Can we try the hot chocolate now?" asked Scorpius.

It sat in a brandy glass, a soft cloud hanging just above the level of the chocolate. Scorpius pushed it towards Hermione. She took it, feeling like she was an initiate in a cult, with everyone staring at her, or rather the glass. She tipped the glass and felt the sweet essence envelope her and took a deep sip of the chocolate infused with alcohol and spices.

She put down the glass.

"Wow."

She passed the glass to her left towards Draco. He took a large sip and passed it to Blaise, then Scorpius and it was soon over after another round.

"How about four more for the table?" Draco asked.

"Definitely," Scorpius agreed.

"Hermione laughed and nodded. Blaise looked pleased with himself and gave the order as the empty dishes vanished off the table.

"I knew you'd love this place, mate," he said to Draco. "He's got quite a sweet tooth," he added to Hermione.

"My parents are tooth healers in the muggle world. They would definitely not approve of this place," Hermione replied.

"Let us take you over to the Dark side, Hermione," Blaise cajoled playfully, "It's much more delicious."

He winked suggestively.

Draco cleared his throat.

"So, I've heard from an acquaintance that you've put in a proposal for merfolk rights, Granger."

He seemed to revert back to Granger randomly whenever he felt uncomfortable.

"Oh, really? I didn't realize it was that newsworthy of a proposal. It got shot down by the Wizengamot, so-" Hermione shrugged.

"Oh, really? I hadn't heard. I'm sorry," Draco replied, as Blaise rolled his eyes at him.

"I'm submitting a revised proposal in three months, so hopefully this time, it won't be a complete waste of time."

"Do the Merfolk appreciate your assistance?" Draco asked skeptically.

"Well, I don't do it for their appreciation, " Hermione replied, defensively. Draco raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I've asked them for an audience several times regarding this issue, but they haven't been responding."

Draco smirked.

"Merlin, Granger. You're just such a typical Government employee."

Hermione frowned.

"I don't do my work for fame or money, I do it because it's the right thing to do; if that's what you mean.

"Dear Circe, not again," muttered Scorpius.

"Do you know a Dr Maurice Kottelat? He's an acquaintance of our friend, Theo Nott, do you remember him?" Draco asked, ignoring Scorpius.

"Oh, Nott, of course. He worked with Harry for a while, right?"

"Right, well. I think I can get you an audience with the Merfolk you need, if you send me a copy of your proposal with the points you're thinking if changing. Or your salient talking points."

Hermione stared at him.

"It's true," Blaise added, nodding at Hermione. "That's brilliant, mate. It would help us with Dr Kottelat, as well."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"We've been wanting certain expert advice in magical aquariums and magical fish from a Dr Kottelat, but he's extremely busy with his work in magical ichthyology and not at all interested in money," Draco explained. "What he would be interested in is your legislation for Merfolk. He has a good relationship with the Merfolk in various regions. He could introduce you."

Hermione's eyes sparked as Blaise added,

"We help you, you help the Merfolk, Dr Kottelat helps us."

The hot chocolate arrived and Blaise raised his glass playfully,

"To connections."

"To defeating the wizened Wizengamot," Hermione answered, laughing.

"To weird old wizards and their obscure research," added Scorpius, grinning.

"To the Department for Safeguarding the Equality and Rights of the Magical Populus, and it's fearless leader," Draco said, his eyes twinkling as he looked at her.

Their eyes met as they clinked their glasses, both smiling.

...and they lived happily ever after...

lol. Let me know what you think? It would mean a lot!