Ok, this chapter is kinda long (not super long, just kinda long). Things kinda start to get kicked into gear now I guess you can say.

Chapter 4
Personal Owl

Hermione didn’t say a word to Draco, let alone look at him for the next few weeks. She was mad. He’s been nothing but problems ever since he came to Grimmauld Place. She couldn’t help but think that it just might be easier if they were together again, but upon thinking that, Hermione pushed it away and remembered Harry, the one that was there for her when she needed it the most, the time when Draco wasn’t. She had suffered nine months of pregnancy with Dezi after making the mistake of going into Draco’s bedroom near the end of 7th year. While he was out torturing innocent wizards, Hermione was at home with the aid of everyone, especially Harry. Harry was there to help her roll out of bed when she couldn’t even get up, he was there to hold the bucket when Hermione couldn’t make it to the bathroom to vomit, he was there when Dezi was born, having to fight to stay, he was always there. Harry even took the role of adoptive father for Dezi, and he did a great job. He took the place of where Draco should’ve been. And now that Draco knew he had a daughter, that he had a child, he wasn’t even close to acting like a true father should. Hermione wasn’t sure if it was because of his father, Lucius, or if it was something else. Sure, Lucius was cold, had no heart, and even beat up his son physically and verbally, but Draco doesn’t need to be that way, he could be his own person, at least try.
“Is anyone free?”
Everyone at the table looked up at Hermione, Dezi semi-hiding behind her.
“What for and how long?” Ron and Harry asked at the same time.
“Just a few hours,” Hermione responded, shrugging.
“Well I’m going into work in a few minutes,” Harry stated as he shoved the last bit of his toast in him mouth.
“And I got pulled into babysitting Fred,” Ron responded airily as he reached across the table to grab the butter.
“Fred?” Hermione asked, stifling a giggle.
“What about him?” Ron looked up. He didn’t pay attention to what he just said.
“How can you baby-sit your older brother?”
“I said I was babysitting Heath...”
“You said Fred,” Hermione responded flatly.
“Fred, Fred’s son, same difference,” Ron responded as if it was nothing, shrugging.
Hermione looked at Tonks.
“Sorry, I’m going into work as well,” she responded.
Hermione looked at Ginny hopefully.
“Ron’s pulling me along with looking after Heath as well. He’s just as bad as Fred and George were when at Hogwarts, honestly... even four eyes watching isn’t enough.”
Now getting desperate, she turned to Lupin.
“I’m meeting with Molly and Arthur in a few minutes as well.”
Starting to panic, she looked at Mad-Eye Moody, who just Disapparated as she looked at him.
“Hey, Draco, you’ve been complaining about not being able to go outside. Why don’t you go?” Ron shot at Draco, who was sitting at the far end of the table.
Harry kicked Ron as soon as the suggestion came out.
“Oi!” Ron yelped.
“I’d rather wait,” Hermione said icily, refusing to return Draco’s glance.
“No...” Dezi whimpered as she tugged Hermione’s pants lightly, lower lip quivering.
Hermione felt slightly torn. It was either have a screaming four year old that really wants to go out, or suffer for a few hours with Draco there.
“Fine,” Hermione spat. She knew sacrifices would come with Dezi, and it looks like putting up with Malfoy for her daughter’s sake would be one of them.
“So where are you planning on going?” Draco asked, a small mocking smile flickering on his mouth.
“Shopping.”

Draco thought he went crazy by taking up the offer. He had spent three hours lugging all of Dezi’s bags, and even some of Hermione’s, going from store to store in Diagon Alley. Just when he thought there were no stores left, he got pulled into another.
“D’ya want to go and see Fred and George?” Hermione asked Dezi.
Oh God, no... Draco thought.
“Yay!” Dezi exclaimed, clapping happily. Hermione turned to Draco.
“One last stop,” she said in a cool manner.
“You said that last time,” Draco mumbled under his breath as Hermione Disapparated with Dezi. He considered skipping Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes and just going back to Grimmauld Place. He thought it was a good idea actually; no one was there, so he wouldn’t have to endure being yelled at or hexed. So that’s what he did, and with a small pop, he was back in the kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. As soon as he put the bags on the counter, he heard another pop.
“I knew it...”
Draco looked up and saw Hermione smirking.
“Haven’t changed, have you Malfoy?” she asked, still smirking.
“Neither have you, Granger,” he responded with a mocking smile. “Or should I call you Potter as well?”
“Can’t stand a few hours of being outside?” She chose to ignore the Potter question.
“I said I wanted fresh air, not inhaling the smell of another cramped room,” he shot back.
“In between those times you got ‘out’.”
“Yeah, only to be dragged into another store,” he sneered. “There’s a difference between stretching your legs and fresh air.”
“This is why I didn’t even want you to come along in the first place!” she yelled.
“Then why did you string me along?” he yelled back.
“You’ve never heard your child scream before apparently,” she said bitterly. “But then again, there’s a lot of things you don’t know about her.”
“Like her existence!” he pointed out.
“You said yourself that you didn’t think we should be together, and part of that came with no correspondence. Don’t blame me for your not-knowing, because you had your chance, and you pushed it away.”
“What chance?” he exclaimed, slightly frustrated.
“I remember things clearly, Malfoy. I remember the second-to-last day before the end of 7th year, how you said you couldn’t fight your father anymore. I gave you the chance to come here, but you didn’t. If you did come here, you wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place!”
“Well you don’t know my parents then,” Draco sneered. “They have their sources, and your little Kreacher? He came to my mum before, he could do it again. My family has sources unimaginable to you; all would’ve been too easy for them to find me here.”
“Well you’re here now, yet you’re not found.”
“That’s because my parents are dead.”
Hermione was taken aback. She knew his dad was a Death Eater obviously, but she didn’t think he would be one to get killed. She didn’t know anything about his mother, other than how she looked down on muggle-borns, making that clear to her in the summer of going into 6th year.
“Both?” she asked quietly.
“Mother is at St. Mungo’s really...” Draco responded, just a bit quieter.
“What for?”
“A couple too many hits from Father.”
“You mean he... abused her?”
“Just before the battle he got really angry and took it out on her. She’s been in there since. He would... always take his anger out on her and me.”
Hermione was slightly shocked. She remembered him saying how Lucius had physically abused him a few times, but Draco made it sound like it more than she thought.
“Can’t believe I’m even telling you this, myself,” Draco added.
Hermione, looking down, smiled weakly. She never saw the side he portrayed for the first six years at Hogwarts after her 7th year, but it was coming back slightly, just not as horrible.
There was a faint pop. Hermione looked towards the kitchen door and saw Harry. Her smile expanded.
“Hey,” Harry said. Draco turned and looked at Harry with a cold, guarded expression. Harry returned it with a glare.
“Where’s Dezi?” Harry asked.
“Fred and George...”
“You trust them enough?” Harry sounded astounded. He knew how she disliked the twins’ ability to do things responsibly, like spending 1000 Galleons on a joke shop (in her opinion).
“Well I had a feeling my assistant would abandon me,” Hermione glared at Draco. “So I left her with the two to check.”
Harry turned his attention to Draco.
“You left?” he asked in a blunt, angry tone.
Draco just shrugged in response.
“I let you stay in my house, eat my food, have your own room and this is how you repay me?” Harry stormed up to Draco and pushed him back in anger. Draco stumbled backwards. “One simple thing and you can’t even do it!” He pushed Draco back harder. “Don’t you Malfoys even know of common courtesy? By the look of it, you don’t, considering you broke into innocent people’s homes and torture them!”
Harry pulled his wand out and held it right under Draco’s jaw, making his head go up. Draco didn’t even look afraid, compared to how Hermione did the same in 3rd year and back then he had a fearful expression, but he was fourteen then. Draco kept his guarded, cold expression, despite the threat Harry was attempting to pose.
“I knew it was a mistake to let a Malfoy stay here...” Harry muttered darkly.
“I’m not only a Malfoy,” Draco started with a mocking expression. “But a Black as well. You should pay attention to what’s inside ‘your’ house, Potter.”
Harry had a loathsome expression on his face. Draco was deliberately reminding him he is related to Sirius, that the two were both on the Black family tree.
“I don’t care about your family origins, Malfoy. You’re just dirtying up this house more.”
“People like you smirch the House of Black, Potter,” Draco spat.
Harry jutted his wand into Draco’s throat, making him gag momentarily.
“Stop it!” Hermione cried out before Harry could do anything else. “Just stop it!” Tears flowing out of her eyes, she Disapparated, Apparating into the store of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, wiping away tears. She walked through the sections of muggle tricks and saw Dezi sitting on a chair behind the main desk.
“Mommy...?” she asked, sounding somewhat worried and scared.
“Good afternoon! Welcome to... oh Hermione, hi.”
Hermione looked up and saw who she assumed was Fred coming out to greet her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly.
“Harry... Malfoy... horrible row...” she managed to get out. She didn’t want to get into details with Dezi watching.
“Hey Dezi, want to see the back room?” Verity asked in a cheerful way as she came up to the desk. Dezi smiled broadly and nodded. The shop assistant helped Dezi onto the ground and led her out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“Really? Been awhile since they had a row...” Fred commented as soon as the door was shut.
Hermione scowled.
“What happened?” he asked intently.
“Malfoy was supposed to... follow me here...”
“Personally I’d only let ‘im in here if he was gonna buy something other than the Instant Darkness Powder...”
Hermione glared warningly. It wasn’t as menacing considering she was sniffling.
“But if he was here with you as your personal owl, then he’d be fine,” Fred finished quickly, smiling in a quick, innocent way. “Anyways, what else happened?”
“He Disapparated to the Headquarters instead.... I left Dezi here to check if he was there and he was. We had a quick row, but it turned into a short-lived conversation when Harry got back from the Ministry... found out Malfoy abandoned me and he started threatening Malfoy with his stay at the Headquarters and wand... nearly choked him when I left.”
“Boy that would be the day... just tell me when that happens and I’ll...”
“Fred!”
He chuckled.
“He deserves anything that flies his way, and if it’s a wand through the throat...”
He stopped when Hermione’s eyes watered up.
“So... we’ve got a new batch of Skiving Snackboxes, stronger doses now. You can faint for up to ten minutes now...”
He kept rambling on about new products, attempting to keep Hermione distracted from the row she witnessed and no awkward silence. There was a small pop a distance behind them.
“Oi, Harry, haven’t seen you here in awhile!” Fred exclaimed.
“Welcome back Harry!”
George closed the door Verity led Dezi through minutes before.
“Is Dezi still back there?” Hermione asked, ignoring the sound of Harry’s footsteps getting louder as he got closer. George nodded.
“She should come back more, loves sorting everything back there,” he commented.
“Great memory for a first job, eh?” Fred added.
“Yeah...” Hermione said as she went around the twins and into the back room. She quickly got Dezi and Apparated home before Harry could even get into the room.