It was Scorpius' first day, and Draco could not help but feel flooded with pride. The boy immediately looked around, eyes wide, turned to Draco, nodded, and walked away. Draco remembered his own independent spirit and felt that his son embodied all the better parts of himself. The boy was practically a carbon copy of his father anyway. His only hope was that Scorpius would manage not to make the same mistakes he had.
Of course, his wife Astoria did not find Scorpius' sudden departure so remarkable. With an audible squeak she immediately took off after her son, calling his name desperately in a way that would have embarrassed Draco and was probably mortifying Scorpius.
It was natural. Though the war was over, the discrimination and pure-blood superiority lasted. All of Draco's friends and his wife still were assured of it. Even now, Draco knew that in the back of her head, Astoria was watching the other children, sorting the muggle borns from the halfbloods and the purebloods...
Draco claimed to be indifferent on the matter, though he would crack a hurtful joke now and then when his buddies got together. But that was the thing. None of his buddies got together anymore. While blood was thicker than wine, friendship ran deeper than blood. It was true, that Draco saw more of that nincompoop Longbottom than even Crabbe and Goyle.
Truth was, Draco had grown up. He was still conceited and over proud, but the Battle of Hogwarts had changed many lives, and even Draco was affected. Being spared twice by non-purebloods in one night had an effect on him that even his wife could not understand. He was beginning to see what he had been blind to throughout his Hogwarts life. That muggleborns could be intelligent, that blood traitors could be loyal, that half bloods could be decent...
And so, Draco was not sorting the children. As he watched Scorpius climb onto the train, waving heartily having finally shaken off his mother, he looked around and hoped that Scorpius would make friends with any single kid there.
He glanced over and saw Astoria gravitating towards the usual group; her sister Daphne, Pansy Parkinson, the usual group of girls. He sighed and walked towards the train, eyes subconsciously scanning. He knew what he was looking for; red hair, black hair, bushy hair...
He shook his head. That did not matter to him. Why would it matter to him?
The train whistled once and students sprinted for it, launching themselves into compartments, screaming their good byes and waving madly. There was still time to kill, but now everyone was getting ready.
He turned, deciding to seek out his wife and saw what he thought was her. He walked over to the figure and took a place next to her. He could hear sniffling. He stared at the train. "Proud?"
The figure let out a gasp of surprise and he turned to his wife, a joking grin on his face. Only it wasn't his wife. The grin slipped off his face.
Hermione Granger's hair was less bushy than he had remembered. And shorter. He had never realized that his wife and her had a similar stature.
Whoops.
Her eyes widened. "What?"
He gulped. "Sorry, I...uh..." He was not going to bring up his wife. That was awkward. Instead he said, "You have a kid going to Hogwarts?"
She nodded, eyes full of tears. "Yes. Rose. It's her first year." She nodded even more furiously. "She is my first to go to Hogwarts."
He nodded. He was very well aware that she had married Ronald Weasley. He knew they had kids. He had never imagined that they had one his own kid's age.
He didn't speak at first, but finally he forced himself to say "It's my Scorpius' first year." He glanced around. "Where's your husband?"
She chuckled softly. "Ran off with Harry. They are intent on tracking down their old dormmates and every single Weasley." She shook her head and then let out a shaky breath.
He bit his lip and then turned to her. "Are you okay?"
She kept her composure through her tears. "Yes, of course. Yes, yes..." She trailed off. "No. No, I"m not."
He nodded but said nothing. She was staring off at the train.
"It could happen again," she said finally. "It was terrible, our fifth year to our seventh. The fear. The pain. The losses. I can't watch out for Rose, she could be hurt. Hogwarts is full of terrible things; nasty teachers, three-headed dogs, basilisks, Quidditch injuries, forbidden giants, demented books...She could be hurt and I can't do anything about it."
Draco stared at her. He had no idea where half of that had come from. When the bloody hell had there been a three-headed dog at Hogwarts? But obviously, Hermione had known of one. He looked away, eyes scanning the train as he tried to think of a reply. Hermione was shaking, he could see her out of the corner of his eye. Finally, the silence had stretched too long. He turned back to her.
"Look. Were your parents lurking over your shoulders when you were at Hogwarts?"
She shook her head. "No, but-"
"And you turned out fine," he said persistently. "I don't see any missing limbs."
She shook her head harder. "No, but I was so close, so many times."
He said, "Look, Granger." Some habits never change, yet this time when he said her name, he did not spit it out, but said it softly. "We all went to Hogwarts with our parents terrified, and we were freaking out too. But when we came out of it, even with all the danger, and pain, and...and the feuds..." He grimaced slightly. "We came out better people than we had been before. I mean, look out you. One of the brightest witches of our age, married to Ronald Weasley who has done well and you have a kid."
"Two," she said softly.
He nodded. "Right. And you are surrounded by your friends." This pained him to say, for he had not been able to retain friendships with his friends. Turned out, that without Crabbe and Goyle's fists as motivation, many people did not like him. He pressed on, "You are surrounded by people who love you. Don't you want the same for your daughter?"
She looked up at him, tears abating, eyes searching his face. "Draco. You've grown up."
It was the first time she had ever used his first name, he was fairly certain. He smirked, just like old times. "Had to some time."
She laughed through her tears and the next second she was hugging him. He tensed as her arms flew around him and her bushy hair flew into his face. At first, he kept his arms straight out awkwardly. But slowly, he bended his arms and slowly patted her back.
He heard her speak, faintly, her mouth muffled by his shoulder and his hearing impaired by her ears. "How can you be sure she will be fine? I had all of my friends. How can you know someone will be there for her?"
The train let out a whistle and Draco glanced over her at the train. A smile spread onto his face. He tapped her shoulder and she looked up at him and saw his staring at the train. She turned.
There was Scorpius, waving madly out the window, and stuck out the window next to him was a small figure. A young girl, with flaming red bushy hair.
Hermione's face softened, a tender expression on her face, eyes watering. A strange smile emerged on her face and a single, desperate laugh escaped her lips.
Draco leaned over. "I'll see to it that she is watched over."
She turned back to Draco and he smiled.
"OI! HERMIONE!"
"DRAAACO! YOO-HOO!"
Draco and Hermione both jumped and said, "Sorry! I have to go." They both smirked and let out a laugh.
"HERMIIIIOOOONNNIIIE!"
"DRACO!"
And with that, they both turned and walked away. Astoria was looking furious. "Draco! Who was that?" She gasped. "You were talking to Granger! Ew, Draco!"
Draco rolled his eyes and a dull expression fell on his face. From behind he could hear Ron bellowing "Hermione! You know I hate him!"
Hermione's reply was "Oh, stick your head in a toilet Ron."
Draco smiled to himself. He looked back at the train to see a little blond head and a little red head nodding amicably.
Seems like Scorpius had managed to do something right that Draco hadn't. His smile widened.
"And just what are you smiling about?"
"Nothing, dear."