Song- Burn The House Down

Durmstrang was far from perfect.

Homophobia was still a widespread idea, and Hermione and Pansy were very disliked as rulers. Despite this, respect for Narcissa was overwhelming, and the people were giving Hermione and Pansy a chance.

Narcissa had stepped aside as queen, allowing Pansy and Hermione to take the crowns.

Pansy's first act as queen of Durmstrang was building a large building in town as a safe space for youth to communicate with each other and feel safe. It had 24 hour guard protection and Pansy herself liked to visit there every once in a while.

Hermione was working on a side structure that would be connected to the castle to be a center of sorts to house youth who had been kicked out of their homes. It would give them access to shelter, food, and clothing. When she had told Pansy about it, Pansy had thrown her arms around her with joy.

Pansy's parents were displeased with the entire arrangement, and had moved away to fuck-knows-where. Pansy had cried a bit, despite everything they were still her parents, but Hermione had comforted her and hugged her and Hermione's parents were so sweet and treated Pansy so well that they almost felt like they could be her parents.

Speaking of Hermione's parents, they were staying in the castle now, and somehow, despite extreme status difference, were getting along very well with Narcissa. Narcissa was fascinated by their careers and was trying to learn how to make glass figurines like they did.

"Do you think we're ready for a child?" Hermione murmured, staring at the ceiling.

"Why are you laying on the floor?" Pansy retorted without missing a beat.

"Comfy. Do you think we're ready for a child?"

"Darling, I'm ready for anything with you. If you think we're ready, we're ready."

Hermione sat up. "Kids are a lot of responsibility."

"And they're loud," Pansy agreed.

"What if we adopted one that's a bit older? Statistically, they get adopted much less and generally, they're more mature and less wild. If we want more children later, it would be a good start."

"Like a teenager?"

"That's right."

"That's actually really smart." Pansy moved to lay down next to Hermione, joining her in staring at the ceiling. Hermione reached out and held her hand. "I think we can handle that."

*******

"I had no idea there were so many orphaned children," Pansy whispered breathlessly.

Hermione nodded sadly. "It's sad, but Draco and Harry have been working on funding all the orphanages they can find to make them more adept at handling so many children and make it easier for them."

"I heard. What about him?" Pansy nodded toward a boy who was giving one of the little girls a piggyback.

Hermione studied him. The boy was fair-skinned, with dark brown curly hair and brown eyes. A smile was on his face as he spun around, the little girl on his shoulders squealing with delight.

"His name is Josiah. He's seventeen," the man next to them said in a short, clipped tone. "Is that the one you want? He'll be out in a year anyway."

Pansy wrinkled her nose. "Don't say 'is that the one you want' like he's an item. And I don't care that he's out in a year. A child doesn't stop being your child once they're a legal adult."

The man looked bored. "Is that a yes, Your Majesty?"

"Yes," Hermione said firmly, her hand tightening around Pansy's. "We'd like to adopt Josiah."

Upon hearing his name, Josiah looked up, confused. His eyes widened at the sight of the queens of his country. He inclined his head, unable to bow due to the little girl on his shoulders.

Hermione smiled at him, and, if possible, his eyes went wider. He seemed to have realized what was happening.

Durmstrang may have been far from perfect, but Hermione and Pansy's worlds were.