A/N: Cute one-shot I wrote about Lucius and Hermione's relationship. Hope you like it!
Tallyho!
When Lucius Malfoy found out about his son's relationship with muggleborn Hermione Granger, he destroyed the nearest object, which just so happened to be a 200 year old vase that took months for Narcissa to find. Sighing in frustration and annoyance at her husband, the Malfoy matriarch sat her husband down and began to lecture him on controlling his temper around his son and his girlfriend whenever they came over.
"She's a muggleborn, Narcissa!" he practically yelled. "How can you be okay with hundreds of years of the Malfoy and Black pureblood lines being ended with her?!"
Narcissa rolled her eyes. "Really, Lucius, you think after going through the war and Voldemort living in this bloody house, I would still care about blood purity? I almost lost my son to unnecessary violence once; I will not lose him because I don't like his choice of girlfriend. I want him to be happy and if he's happy with Hermione, then so be it."
Lucius muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like "Not if I have any say in it."
"Lucius, enough!" Narcissa bellowed, catching her husband by surprise at her outburst. "You will not sabotage Draco's happiness just because he's with a muggleborn. She happens to be a lovely girl, she's very intelligent, and she manages to keep Draco in line, unlike that Parkinson girl who let him get away with anything he wanted; he's happy, Lucius. I haven't seen him smile the way he does when he's with her in years!"
She took a deep breath before sitting down next to her husband and taking his hands in hers. "Please, Lucius, for Draco's sake, try to at least get to know the girl. You never know; you might like her."
Lucius muttered something along the lines of "Unlikely," under his breath but sighed in defeat and squeezed Narcissa's hand. "Okay; for Draco's sake."
The first time Draco brought Hermione over to the Manor for dinner, it was a tense event to say the least. Narcissa was very warm and welcoming to the young woman but Lucius remained cold and silent all throughout the meal. Anytime he looked at Hermione, it was with disdain or contempt; she refused to look at him after he had sneered at her early into dinner.
It was obvious Hermione was nervous, as she kept fiddling with her napkin during the meal. When dinner was finally over and Draco took her on a walk through the gardens, she expressed her frustrations to her boyfriend as they sat on a bench by one of the fountains.
"Draco, he didn't say a word throughout dinner. He didn't even say hello! He hates me! There's no way he approves of us!"
Draco took her hand in his and lightly kissed her fingertips. "He doesn't hate you, love; he's just still adjusting to the idea that we're together."
"What if he never adjusts?" she asked quietly, fighting the tears that were threatening to escape.
"Hermione-"
"I'm serious, Draco. What if he never adjusts to us? What if he spends the rest of his life disapproving of us just because of who I am? You think he'd be proud to say that his daughter-in-law is a muggleborn or that his grandchildren would be half-bloods? He's still stuck in his old ways, Draco." She sniffed and wiped away an escaped tear. "I don't want to be the cause of a rift between you two."
He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to him while using his free hand to wipe away her tears. "Hermione, look at me," he said. She complied and sniffled. "You're not going to cause a rift between us; he'll learn to accept us. If my mother has any say in it, he won't have a choice. He doesn't know you yet, love. I promise, once he gets to know you and sees how happy you make me, he won't have anything to complain about. And if he can't get over it, well, then we'll run away together. "
Her eyes widened at that. "Draco, no, I don't want to take you away from here. This is your childhood home; your future home. You can't just leave it all behind for me."
"As far as I'm concerned, Hermione, you are my future. Everything else, this," he pointed to the Manor, "my inheritance, my name, they're just titles and status pieces. They're trivial compared to you. Nothing else matters as long as I'm with you."
She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "How can you be so willing to drop everything just for me?"
He gave her a small smile. "Because, I love you, Hermione. I always will."
She teared up again, tears of happiness this time. It was the first time he had said that; sure they had discussed their future briefly and knew that this was more than a fling but to hear him say it, to hear him say those words and for him to be willing to give everything he's ever known up for her made her want to cry again. She wiped the tears away and kissed him lightly but with just enough passion. When she pulled away, she rested her forehead against his and smiled. "And I love you," she whispered against his lips.
As they continue to go back and forth between kissing and talking in the garden, Lucius, who had been watching the exchange from a nearby balcony, wandered back into his study. He sighed and sat at his desk as he thought about what he had seen. It was obvious Draco loved the girl; he didn't have to hear his son speak the words to know. He had seen it at dinner in the glances that Draco had snuck her way making sure she was okay, the way he smiled at her when she bantered with Narcissa after first arriving, and the way he looked at her as if he would die without her. He couldn't deny that Draco seemed to be very happy.
So, with a heavy sigh, he decided to be nice to the girl. For Draco's sake, he told himself.
When Draco and Hermione announced their engagement six months later, Lucius had congratulated the couple with a strained smile. He was happy for his son, truly; it was just going to be a bit difficult getting used to having Hermione around. She didn't emit the Lady of the House personality like he had hoped Draco's future wife would but she made him happy; he supposed that was more important than someone with the right breeding.
The day of the wedding, Lucius made a point to stay on his best behavior; this was his son's wedding day and he would not mess it up. He bit his tongue when the Weasleys and Potters showed up at the Manor, choosing instead to entertain himself with a strong glass of Firewhiskey. Narcissa simply rolled her eyes and said nothing, happy that her husband seemed to have accepted that Hermione was here to stay.
The ceremony was short but beautiful. Draco and Hermione had written their own vows and both teared up as they spoke words of adoration and love to one another. Lucius' lips quirked up at Draco's simple but loving vows as his son promised to love Hermione with all his heart and to always remember to put the toilet seat down, causing some of the guests to laugh. When Hermione began her vows, promising to be there for him on his good days and bad, love him unconditionally, and to never walk away no matter how bad things get, a genuine smile grew on Lucius' face. For the first time, Lucius began to see what Draco and Narcissa saw in Hermione: a fearless, confident, intelligent young woman, who was incredibly loyal to those she loved. He saw, for the first time, just how good and strong of a couple they were.
Afraid someone might see him, however, Lucius wiped the smile off his face but not before Narcissa saw it.
During the reception, Lucius surprised both the bride and groom by asking Hermione for a dance. She accepted, however, and followed her father-in-law onto the dance floor. The beginning of the dance was slightly awkward as they said nothing and simply danced in small circles. Finally, Lucius spoke.
"Hermione," he said, very aware of how strange it was to say her given name, "I believe I owe you an apology."
Her eyes widened. "Y- you do?"
He nodded. "I'm afraid I haven't been very fair to you. My son brought you into our lives as someone important to him and I shut you out due to my own stubbornness. And for that, I'm sorry. I see now just how happy you make Draco and, in the end, that is far more important than your heritage. You are a very lovely young woman and I am, truly, glad that he chose you to spend the rest of his life with him. Not many women would be able to keep up with him, but I have no doubt you'd have any trouble matching him in wit."
Hermione blushed. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy. Your approval means more than I could ever say."
He gave her a small smile. "We're family now, Hermione. I think it's quite alright if you call me Lucius."
She returned the smile. "Lucius, then."
Two years later, Hermione gave birth to a baby boy. It had been a long, stressful labor but she made it through and both she and baby were happy and healthy. Draco had cried when he held his son in his arms for the first time and Narcissa had nearly crushed Hermione in a tight hug; Lucius stayed in the background observing, with a small smile on his face.
Currently, Draco was fast asleep next to Hermione and she was holding the baby in her arms, humming quietly to him as he drifted off to sleep. There was a soft knock on the door and she told the person on the other side of the door to come in before returning to hum to the baby.
Lucius walked in and gave her a small smile. Over the two years that Draco and Hermione had been married, she and Lucius had grown quite fond of each other. The more time Lucius spent around Hermione, the more he grew to admire her quick wit and ability to, quite literally, have an answer for everything. Very quickly, he had grown to care for her as a daughter, much to Narcissa and Draco's happiness. Now, they were completely at ease with one another and bantered with each other as if they were old friends.
Hermione smiled at the sight of her father-in-law. "Can I come in?" he asked, quietly.
She nodded and Lucius walked into the room and sat in the rocking chair by the bed. "How are you feeling?"
She yawned in response. "Good but I think the exhaustion is starting to catch up with me."
He chuckled. "That tends to happen after an eighteen hour labor. I remember Narcissa slept like a rock after Draco was born. The only time she woke was when she needed to feed him; otherwise, she was passed out."
Hermione chuckled and adjusted the baby in her arms. "May I?" Lucius asked, referring to the baby.
Hermione nodded and handed her son over to her father-in-law. Once Lucius had the baby in his arms, he sat back down in the rocking chair and rocked the baby back and forth to keep him from waking. "Have you decided a name yet?" Lucius asked.
Hermione sighed and nodded, much to Lucius' surprise. Draco had wanted to name the baby after a constellation, continuing the Black tradition, but Hermione had wanted to do something a bit more normal. They had argued about it for months and still didn't have a name planned when Hermione went into labor. To hear that a name had been picked was surprising. "What did you decide?"
Hermione looked to her sleeping husband and entwined her fingers with his before looking back to Lucius. "Scorpius. Scorpius Orion Malfoy."
Lucius raised his eyebrows. "You decided to go with Scorpius after all; last I checked you were firmly against it. What changed your mind?"
She shrugged. "Hugo just didn't feel right. After I looked at him, I realized that maybe keeping the Black tradition wouldn't be so bad after all. So, for Draco's sake, I decided on Scorpius."
He smirked at that. "Does Draco know?"
She shook her head. "I was going to tell him in the morning."
Lucius nodded in understanding and looked down to the baby and smiled. When he looked back up, he saw that Hermione had fallen asleep, her hand still entwined with Draco's. He chuckled and looked back to the sleeping newborn. "Hello, Scorpius," he said quietly. He smiled as he thought about how far they had all come since he first found out about Draco and Hermione. Who would have thought that he'd like his muggleborn daughter-in-law; well, Narcissa did, that's for sure. Like Hermione, she seems to have a knack to know everything.
"For Draco's sake," she had said at the time. He smiled at the memory. For Draco's sake, he had accepted Hermione into their lives (although it had taken some time) and for Draco's sake, Hermione had named their son after the Black tradition. He could hear Narcissa now: "See? Not all compromise is bad, Lucius."
He rolled his eyes at the thought and smiled at his grandson. No; compromise wasn't bad at all. Not for the first time, he was glad he had put his stubbornness aside for his son's happiness. They wouldn't be where they were if he hadn't.
All for Draco's sake, he thought.
P.S. Hope you liked it!
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