The Babysitter (Dramione Fanfiction)

The Request

"Relax, Granger. Everything's going to be all right."

She threw Draco a withering glare as she brushed off another invisible lint off her crisp business robe. Hermione ignored how her daughter giggled over something Draco whispered at her, as both of them were now looking at her with amusement in their eyes.

Instead, she checked herself on her full length mirror once more and glared at the stubborn curl on her forehead. Brandishing out her wand, she summoned a hair tie from her drawer and gathered her voluminous curls to keep them into a ponytail.

Hermione couldn't afford to look nowhere near impeccable today. It was Rodolphus Lestrange's trial and she would do whatever she could to finally put that bastard behind bars. Although his list of offense was abundant, Hermione still felt uneasy at how things were going to end today. It didn't help that this man both killed her husband and kidnapped her daughter; it would take all of her willpower to rein in her emotions and not make a fool out of herself in front of the Wizengamot.

"Rosie," she heard Draco say, "why don't you prepare for our Diagon Alley trip later?"

She saw her daughter look at her worriedly through the mirror and it somehow marginally made her calm down. "Do what Draco says, love," Hermione said, craning her neck to give her at least a reassuring smile. "We'll be going soon."

"Okay, Mama." Rose then ran back to her room to start gathering her things.

Once she was gone, Hermione belatedly regretted her decision and letting Rose leave. Now, she realized that she was alone with Draco Malfoy in her bedroom. It didn't help her nerves one bit.

"Why are you so nervous about today?" he asked, sidling up beside her in front of the mirror. Hermione secretly marvelled (and envied) how not a single strand of hair was out of place on his head. It wasn't really fair, she thought, tugging petulantly at an aberrant curl that escaped from her hair tie.

"I don't know," she scowled when he lifted an eyebrow, obviously catching her staring at him for a little too long. "I've just wanted this day to arrive so much and I'm afraid that something's going to happen."

"Nothing's going to happen," he retorted with an eye roll. "Blimey, Granger, have you forgotten this is Rodolphus Lestrange we are talking about? His track record would undoubtedly send him straight to hell if skipping Azkaban was an option."

Despite her nerves, she cracked a smile at his attempt to lighten her mood with his humor. "You have no idea how much I've wanted to finally stare Lestrange in the eyes, knowing that he had nowhere else to go but in Azkaban for all the things he had done to my family and the Wizarding World," she said, disgust and vehemence in her voice at the Death Eater that made her life miserable for the past few years.

"That's the spirit," Draco replied with a wide grin on his face. "Channel that energy in your testimony later. I think the Wizengamot won't fault you if you've said a bad word or two. Don't worry, Rose won't be there after all. It won't break her poor heart when she discovered that the mother she loved and respected is able to utter such despicable words to other people."

Her smile morphed into a wide, disbelieving grin. "Thank you, Draco," she said in jest. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Also..." He reached out and removed her hair tie. She squeaked in protest, but the noise died down from her lips when Draco gingerly ran a hand through her hair and successfully tucked the annoying curl behind her ear. His eyes were glinting with an emotion that caught her breath. "Wear your hair down. It makes you look like a ferocious lioness. Show Lestrange that he shouldn't have messed with Hermione Granger in the first place."