Chapter 1: Plenty of Years Later

"Scorpius, wait!' Draco yelled as he took off after his son who was running towards Ollivanders Wand Shop.

"Come on, dad. Please can I get a wand. I'm almost old enough." the little boy begged as he pressed his face against the glass window.

"You're only seven, buddy. You have a few more years to go before you can get paired with a wand." he explained calmly, taking his hand and turning the boy around to walk in the other direction. "Now remind me what else we need to get." he smiled down at his son as they headed down Diagon Alley.

"We need to get candy. I remember that was on the list." his son grinned, pointing across the path at Honeydukes Sweetshop.

"Oh you're right, Scorp. I believe that was the only thing on the list." he played along. "How about we go inside and I'll let you pick out one thing for being such a good boy today."

"Thanks Dad!" the boy squealed, rushing inside the store, Draco following in after him.

"Just one thing, sport. And remember not to make a mess, this isn't a playground." he called out, getting a nod from Scorpius in return.

He watched as the small 7 year old eagerly rushed around the store before standing in front of the Bertie Botts display.

"My favorite one is peppermint." a small girl said to Scorpius. She reached up to grab a single box before hugging it to her chest. "What's yours?" she asked, her voice excited about meeting a new friend her size.

"I like the pumpkin one." Scopius explained happily, grabbing a box as well.

"My name is Samantha Granger. What's yours?" she asked curiously.

"Scorpius Malfoy." he replied.

"You seem nice. Do you want to play at my house sometime?" she invited.

"I'd have to ask my dad but that sounds fun!" he smiled, running over back to Draco, Samantha at his heels.

"Dad, Dad! Guess what?" he was jumping up and down.

"I hope it's not that you ate a ton of candy in the store and that's what made you so hyper." Draco jokes, picking his son up and throwing him over his shoulders, tickling his side. Only then did he see the small girl who was standing behind him. He was now looking down at her shoes, her expression very shy.

"I'm sorry, miss. I didn't see you there." He apologized, letting his son down and crouching in front of Sam.

"It's ok. I'm small and hard to see sometimes." she smiled, now standing straight with a friendly tone.

"Did you make a new friend?" He asked his son.

"Yea, her name is Samantha Grrrr- " he trailed off, looking to the girl for help.

"It's a long name." she giggled. "Samantha Granger." she introduced herself. "I'm 5" she added, holding up that many fingers for Draco to see now that he was down at her level.

"It's very nice to meet you." Draco said, shaking her tiny hand in his. So it looks like the Gryffindor Bookworm had a daughter. I'm surprised she doesn't have bushy, bright orange hair.

"There you are, Sam. Did you pick out a treat for after dinner?" a voice called from across the store, a petite witch walking over to them.

"That's my mommy." the little girl smiled, now holding out the box of candy towards the older woman.

Wow. I was not expecting her to look so different. But I guess it has been a while. After all, we aren't children anymore. I'm 27 with a child of my own. And it looks like she is too.

"I'm terribly sorry." Samantha's mother said, taking the box of candy from her daughters hand and gently grabbing her small hand in her own. "Samantha is very friendly, I hope she didn't keep you, Mr..." she started, waiting for him to introduce himself.

"She was no bother at all." Draco assured her, standing up at his normal level again, his face now in view. He could tell the moment she recognized him because her eyes widened in surprise.

"No Mr. please. It makes me feel about a hundred." he joked, extending his hand out to her, Scorpius hanging on to his robes behind his legs. "Just Draco."

"It's been quite a long time. It's nice to see you again." she shook his hand politely before leaning down to pick her daughter up into her arms.

"Mommy, I invited that little boy over to play." Draco heard the little girl whisper into her moms ear.

"Yes, I'm sorry. This is my son, Scorpius. Looks like he is just a bit older then your daughter." he explained, ushering the tall boy out in front of him. "Don't be shy, buddy. Say hello to the pretty witch." he coaxed gently.

She smiled at this and knelt down in front of him. "Hello, Scorpius. That's a pretty cool name. My name is Hermione Granger. Don't feel bad if it takes you a while to say it. It can be tricky." she grinned, pushing his blonde hair behind his ear as if they were sharing an inside joke. Scorpius smiled back at her.

"If it's ok with your father, we would love to have you both over tonight. Sam goes to bed by 9 but you two can play until then. I was going to make chicken fingers anyways. Do you like those?" she asked, her voice excited as she spoke to him as if this was the most amazing idea in the world.

"I love chicken fingers!" the boy clapped, turning back to his father.

"Oh, can we can we can we?" he asked, tugging on his fathers leg.

"What do you say, Scorpius?" Draco reminded him.

"Please and thank you." the small boy answered, Hermione smiling at the scene in front of her as she brushed her daughters long brown hair out of her face.

"If you make sure to use those words when you are a guest in Samantha's home, you may go. Do you promise to be polite?" he asked, now eye level with his son.

"I pinky promise." he said, shaking pinky's with him

"That's my boy." he whispered, a smile of pride now over Scorpius face.

"You sure it wouldn't be a bother, Miss Granger?" Draco asked, holding his sons hand as the grown ups spoke.

"Let's not pretend we don't remember one another." she smiled, putting Sam down the walk beside her. "I think you can finally call me Hermione. And you are both of course welcome over. We live just outside of Diagon Alley near the city. We can floo there."

"Your husband wont mind?" Draco asked, remembering a few years ago reading in the paper about her engagement and not wanting to impose.

Samantha giggled beside her mother, covering her mouth with her small hand before Hermione answered.

"And while the kids play, it seems we have much to catch up on. It's just Sam and I so you're not imposing at all." she assured him.

Draco wasn't surprised that she wasn't married. Because it's been years and a lot has changed just in the last few minutes. He remembered a bushy haired smart ass 16 year old but saw in front of him a completely different witch.

Hermione was still fairly petite, standing about a head shorter them Draco. Her hair was dark and long with loose waves cascading down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were still the bright green that he remembered but she was wearing muggle clothes, which he had never seen her in before. She had on a pair of tight black jeans and a maroon, long sleeved shirt that hugged her curves in all the right places, a witches hat atop her head. He noticed Sam had on a pink one to match, making him smile to himself.

"Sounds great. As long as you let me help with any dishes from dinner."

"Deal." she grinned, the four of them now walking down the street to the floo stops. One green burst later and the 4 of them were standing on a dimly lit street in front of a cozy muggle home.

Draco held Scorpius hand as he took in his old classmates new life just by standing in front of her house. It looked to be two stories, the lawn neatly kept and the door an inviting bright red. There was a small chimney off the one side of the house, the dark wood a rustic, deep brown.

"This is it." she said, unlocking the door with a muggle key, Samantha racing inside immediately.

"Come on, Scorpius! We can play in my room!" she called behind her, taking the stairs two steps at a time, the small boy following close behind her.

"Dinner will be ready shortly, you guys so have your hands washed in a few minutes." Hermione called up the stairs when she and Draco crossed the threshold.

"No need to look so nervous, Malfoy." she joked, closing the front door and locking it before heading to the kitchen.

"Have a seat." she offered warmly, gesturing towards the small table on the far side of the kitchen. "Coffee?"

"Sure." he accepted, taking a seat in the cushioned, wooden chair.

"So, how old is your son? You mentioned he was close to Sams?" she asked, setting a mug in front of him before grabbing a bag of frozen chicken fingers from the freezer.

Draco was taking in every move she made. This was nothing like his own home at all. She was living like a muggle almost, even though he could see her wand poking out from the top of her boots. She placed the pan of chicken stripes in the oven, making him realize she didn't even cook with magic. She set the timer beside the stove for ten minutes before sitting down in the chair beside him with her own warm mug of coffee. She crossed on leg over the other and turned so her body was facing his, causing him to move his legs from under the table to do the same.

"He just turned 7." he explained, taking a swig of his warm drink. "Is it rude to say you have a interesting home?"

"It depends what you mean by interesting. If you mean interesting as in disgusting and filthy, then yes that's rude. If you mean interesting as in, muggle, like I'm assuming you mean it, then no that's not rude at all." she said with a laugh. She took off her hat and hung it on the back of her chair before running her fingers through her dark curls a few times and securing them over her shoulder with a silver band.

"I definitely did not mean disgusting and filthy." he confirmed, looking towards the stairs when he heard high pitched laughter coming from the second floor. Hermione smiled as well.

"Who ever would have thought our kids would be such quick friends." she said in disbelief.

"I'm still surprised that I even have one sometimes." he joked.

"You didn't plan it?" she asked curiously, wondering about his life. It had been almost 10 years since she had seen the blonde slytherin and he was so different then she remembered.

"No, when Astoria and I were married, we both we certain that neither of us wanted to have children. I didn't want to be the kind of father that Lucius was and she didn't want to be a mother, period. But things doing always go as planned. And I'm glad cause I got a pretty cool son out of it." he said lightly, not wanting to get to personal with emotions with someone he barely knew.

"He seems pretty fond of you, that's for sure." she complimented. "So do you get him every weekend or something like that?"

Draco leaned back in his chair and smiled. "I've had him all day, every day, since the day he was born."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were still married." she seemed embarrassed now as her eyes left his and went to stare into her coffee.

"I'm not. When she had Scorpius, she gave him to me and we parted ways. I haven't seen her since." he said with a shrug.

"That's horrible, I'm sorry to hear that it turned out that way. I don't know how someone could ever just leave their child behind. You've really done a remarkable job with him, you know."

"I try to do the best I can with what I have. The same as you I am sure. And since you have asked me about my past, I think it's only fair I ask about yours." he smirked, running his fingers over his light hair, getting it away from his face.

"I suppose." she waved her wrist as if allowing him to go on.

"Where's Samantha's father?" he asked, the big, personal question in the lives of single parents.

"I'm sure you thought her father was Ron but it's not. Harry and I got engaged a few months after the War ended and I was pregnant with her shortly after that. He stuck around for a few years but he..." she searched for the right words as she swirled her coffee around in its mug.

"He wasn't who we needed in our lives." she spoke in a soft voice. A voice, Draco knew, that meant something terrible had happened to her. Something she kept locked away inside of herself.

"You don't need to say anymore." Malfoy whispered, touching her knee lightly.

"Good, because dinner is just about ready." she said, putting a smile on her face immediately as she retrieved the tray from the oven. "As you can see, I have extraordinary cooking skills." she joked, setting the tray on top of the stove, turning the oven off. She retrieved 4 plates from the cupboards just a bit beyond her reach. As she lifted up to her tip tops and reached up for barely a second, Draco let his eyes rake over her flawless body that he use to insult and poke fun at back at Hogwarts. Her shirt rose up to reveal her flat, toned stomach, a long white mark running up her side. Her skin was a dark, perfect canvas that made the mark stand out immediately, the rest of it disappearing under her shirt. He made sure to tear his eyes away as the heels of her feet touched back down, 4 plastic plates in hand.

"Let me help you." he said, pushing up from the chair and going to join her near the oven. He took the plates from her hands and set them around the table. She came behind him, setting glasses by theirs and plastic cups by the kids place settings.

"There is milk in the fridge if you want to just pour some while I go get the kids." she offered, heading towards the stairs.

"You know Scorpius has never had chicken fingers before, right? He was just being polite at the shop." Draco grinned, grabbing the milk from the fridge.

"I know." she smiled back, wrapping her hand around the banister before jogging up the stairs to get the kids washed and ready for dinner.

Chapter 2: Kids Speak The Truth, Even The Secret Ones.

"How have I never had chicken fingers before, dad! These are so yummy. And you dip them in this sauce; how cool is that!" Scorpius beamed, dunking a piece of breaded chicken into a spot of honey mustard.

"Honestly, Malfoy. You must be the worst father of all time." Hermione joked, grinning across the table in his direction.

"Oh, no no daddy, that's not what I meant. You're the best!" his son said quickly, reaching out and grabbing his hand. Hermione couldn't help but smile at the sweet gesture.

"See, Granger. I'm the best." he raised as eyebrow at her, raising their laced hands up for her to see, as if it was proof that he didn't need chicken fingers to be the best.

"Mom, Scorpius said his dad has a scar on his arm just like you do. Isn't that neat?" Sam exclaimed from her spot at the table, a small gasp unable to be contained from Hermione's mouth.

"Man, people were not kidding when they warned you that kids will say exactly what they are thinking." Malfoy took a drink from his glass, wiping his mouth with his napkin as he tried to stay unaffected by the turn in conversation. Everyone was done eating as Draco rose to clear the dishes, running his hand over Sams hair gently as he passed.

"I don't think it's the same as mine, sweetheart. But it's not polite to talk about other peoples secrets." she said calmly to her daughter, pushing her long hair behind the little girls ear.

"I'm sorry mommy. Do you think his has a bad word on it to?" she whispered. Draco washed the dishes thoroughly in the sink, watching the girls interaction as he did so. Scorpius was handing him each dirty dish one at a time as he scrubbed them clean.

Draco couldn't believe he had forgotten that night at the manor. It was almost 10 years ago but it was as clear as day when he thought back to it. She was laying on her back on the cold, stone floor of the meeting room, his aunt kneeling over her, a hideous smirk on her face. She had her wand to the younger girls arm, demanding answers about her vault and what was hidden inside it that they had taken. Draco remembered how impressed he had been with her courage and bravery as she refused to spill any secrets, staying silent to protect her friends and future generations that they had indeed saved in the end.

His aunt tortured her for what seemed like hours, carving the word he had taunted her with daily into her arm with a cursed quill. The word Mudblood would be there until they day she died. And every day after that until her body was no more. And he had watched her scream and thrash against the wet, stone floor as blood flowed down her arm. It wasn't muddy at all, but a bright, vibrant red. Just like mine.

"I don't know what scar you are talking about so I can't say. But I don't think it's polite to ask him, ok?" Hermione spoke slowly and carefully to her daughter, hoping she understood. "We wouldn't want to hurt his daddy's feelings, would we?"

"Oh no no mommy! I don't want to make anyone sad ever." Sam whispered loudly, shaking her head hard from side to side, her dark hair whipping around her face.

"That's because you're a sweet girl. Why don't you go play with Scorpius for a few more minutes while the grownups clean up, ok? Just for a bit though because you have to get ready for bed soon, as I'm sure he does too." she said.

"Ok." Sam said with a smile, leading Scorpius back upstairs to her room. Draco had finished the dishes by then, the plates and glasses already put back into the cupboards.

"I'm sorry about that." Malfoy said leaning back against the sink, his hands on the counter behind him. "I don't know why he told her about that."

"I don't even know what she was talking about. I figured it was just a cut or something you got from battle. Is that not what she meant?" Hermione raised her stare at him. She walked over to stand in front of him in the kitchen, leaning on her side next to him, her hip against the counter.

"He meant my mark, Hermione." he sighed, her name finally coming out the way it would between friends or even strangers but never had before between the two of them.

"Oh." she said, running her hand up and down her left arm where her scar was hidden beneath her sleeves.

"I will make sure to have a talk with him when we get home about how that isn't something we discuss with other people." he assured her sternly.

"And when he asks why, what will you tell him?" she wondered with a shrug. As a parent, there were many of these conversations about topics and words that were not meant for civilized conversations. Don't use swear words, don't run in the house, don't use outside voices inside. Stuff like that. But she couldn't imagine how he would talk to his son about something like his dark mark.

"I told him before when he saw it that it was a picture that I will have forever to remind me of terrible choices I made as a child. And as long as I have it, I can look at it and remember to not make choices like that again. To not hurt anyone ever again." he explained. "But I will tell him that it is our secret because if people knew his daddy had that mark, they would be afraid."

"That's not true, Malfoy. Now that I know you have it, I'm not afraid because of it." she whispered sadly, touching his arm where she knew the mark hid beneath his shirt.

"I made you afraid of me for ten years, Hermione. Because I was a horrible person to you. I mean, I threw that word around at you like it meant nothing. Like it was your name."

She looked up at him as she moved to stand in front of him between his legs as he stayed leaned back on the marble counter top.

"But you don't call me that anymore. And I am definitely not afraid of you anymore." she whispered, letting her green eyes stare into his until she knew that he believed her.

"You shouldn't be. I'm pretty harmless now that I'm a dad." he smirked. "Thank you again for having us over for dinner but it's getting late. Scorpius has to get home and ready for bed and I'm sure Samantha does too." he pushed himself away from the counter, cupping her hip lightly as he brushed past her.

"Yea, it's almost her bed time and she needs a bath after running around all day." she said, now back into mom mode.

The kids cleaned up Samantha's room before saying their goodbye.

About an hour later it was a bit past 9 and Draco had put Scorpius to bed all tucked in. He changed into his pajama pants, no shirt and sat down at his desk. He grabbed his quill and started a note to the witch he had seen only moments ago.

Hermione Granger he wrote formally on the top of the page

Scorpius could not stop talking about Samantha all through bedtime. She must be one special little girl. Here is my address. If you are comfortable enough with it, you are more then welcome to connect fireplace floo. I already cast a spell to allow you two. We will have to get the kids together again sometime. I hope you both are having a safe, quiet night.

Draco Malfoy

He wrote his address at the bottom of the parchment before attaching it to his brown owls leg and sending her off.