Hello all, it was pointed out to me that my math is terrible (it always has been (:) and there was a slight mess up with ages. I've fixed it, along with some other glaring mistakes on my part. Thanks for your help!
"Hey Draco! There's a little girl standing at your gate."
"Theo, mate, I can't hear a word you're saying." Draco Malfoy shouted at his friend Theo Nott. Giggles erupted from around Draco; girls surrounded his lounging form. He smirked at his other friend Blaise Zabini, who was also covered in girls.
"Seriously, there's a little girl standing at your gate." Theo was sitting in front of the Malfoy Manor security system. Multiple screens showed all entrances, and most of the grounds. Theo was much more interested in the high tech magical security system than the flock of scantily clad women in the next room.
"Tell her we don't need anymore girls, we got quite a few lovely ones right here." Blaise tried to dismiss the boring conversation, preferring the jiggling breast surrounding him.
"It's not a woman I told you, it's a little girl, probably five or six years old. Damn, she looks cold." Theo stared anxiously at the small figure. Draco sighed before standing and wandering into the security room. He leaned on the desk in front of the screens, focusing in on the view of the front gate.
"How long has she been there?" Draco was stumped. How had this small child arrived at his rather isolated home? Why didn't she leave when no one collected her from the gate? He continued to study her, noting her lack of hat or mittens. It was late December and bitter cold, yet she appeared to only have a blanket wrapped around her. Just as Draco was about to call a house elf to send the girl away, she collapsed into the snow bank.
"Theo, get rid of the others." Theo started as he watched Draco race out the front door in his shirt sleeves.
Draco reached the small girl in the snow quickly. He carried her inside, cuddling her cold body to his chest. Up close he could see that her hair was a curly platinum blonde, eerily similar to his own. Inside, he gently placed her on the couch he had recently vacated. He conjured a heated blanket and carefully tucked it all the way around her body. Sitting back on his heels, Draco glanced up at his two friends standing in the door way.
"What?" Draco asked, irritated. "I wasn't going to just leave her out there. If she had died, I'd never hear the end of it from Potter and the Ministry."
Blaise laughed, nodding at the truth in those words. Theo ignored both of them, choosing to study the unconscious girl instead. She was small, maybe five years old. He facial features were petite and defined with a button nose and perfect cupid's bow lips. She was a beautiful child and looked suspiciously like Draco.
Even Blaise made the connection. "Mate, she looks an awful lot like you. Are you sure you don't have any love children out there?"
"Shut up, Zabini. I have no clue where she came from. Plus, she's much too old to come from any of my more recent dalliances. We'll just have to wait for her to come around." Draco brushed the girl's hair out of her face, his soft touch duly noted by both his companions.
As if the touch was a trigger, the girl slowly opened her eyes. All three men stared, one eye was a familiar grey, the other a warm brown. Blaise and Theo were confused, there were no brown eyes in Draco's family, just grey and blue. Draco, on the other hand, knew exactly were the brown had come from. It was a colour he was intimately familiar with, and one he thought he would never see again.
"I know you." Draco started out of his memories when the girl spoke. Her voice was steady and sure.
"I'm sure you do. But I don't know you. What's you name, little one?" Draco watched the girl intently, ignoring the odd look passed behind his back.
"Ara. Is this your house?" Ara looked around at what little she could see from her prone position on the couch.
"Ara." The name almost threw him. It followed his family's tradition of celestial names. He regathered his thoughts and focused on the girl. "Yes, this is my house. How old are you Ara?"
"Five, almost six. My birthday is in three months. Can I live with you, now?" Ara was quite forthcoming, trusting the man in front of her. She knew who he was.
Draco quickly did the math. His stomach clenched at the thought of his love being pregnant in the middle of the war. No wonder she had looked so pale that terrible night over Easter, almost six years ago. Draco frowned in confusion. They had seen each other after the final battle. Why hadn't she said anything?
"Can I live with you now?" Ara repeated her question, once again shaking Draco out of his thoughts.
"What about your mum? Don't you live with her?" Draco's stomach fluttered.
"Mama is gone, and I can't look after Caelum by myself." Ara pouted, then realized what she had said. "Oh! You have to go get Caelum, he's all alone, and I miss him."
"Who is Caelum, sweets?" Draco was getting more confused with every question, and a sense of guilt was spreading through his body.
"Caelum is my brother. He's four, almost five. His birthday is in three months, too!" Ara exclaimed, distracted from her worry.
Draco' worry only grew. He had one, possibly two children, and their mother appeared to be missing. What was he going to do?
HGDMHGDMHGDMHGDMHGDM
Two hours previous.
"Ara, let's go, it's time for bed."
"Mama, do I have to? I want to read another story."
"No way, kiddo. You've read enough for tonight, off to bed with you." Hermione Granger shooed her daughter down the hall towards her room. "I'll be right in to tuck you in, so put your pjs on."
Ara quickly put her pyjamas on before hopping into bed. She waited quietly for her mother for a few minutes, then got out of bed and moved to the door. Peaking out she saw her mother being held by two tall men, both wearing hoods that covered their faces. Her mother was struggling and muttering angrily, just low enough that Ara couldn't hear what was being said. Suddenly the men laughed. Together they spun on the spot, whisking her mother away into nothingness.
"Mama?" Ara called out, confused. Her mother was supposed to tuck her in, not go away. But it hadn't sounded like her mother had really wanted to leave, maybe she had been forced. Ara thought about what to do. Her mother had always told her about her father, about how he was a nice man and that he loved her, even if he couldn't be around. Ara just knew that her father would take care of her until her mother came back. Ara decided that she would go to her father. She tried turning on the spot, like her mother did when they travelled. It didn't work, she was still in the hall. She tried again. Nothing. Again and again she tried, getting more frustrated and scared by the second. She heard a noise coming from the kitchen. A dull thump and an oath issued out. Ara was frantic now, her mother never spoke like that. She tried turning on the spot once more. This time it worked.
HGDMHGDMHGDMHGDMHGDM
"Harry James Potter and Ronald Billius Weasley. Unhand me this minute." Hermione smacked both men across the head, causing laughter to ring out from the crowded room. Hermione glanced around. All of the Weasleys and some of her friends from school were stuffed into the living room of the Burrow. She smiled at everyone before turning her fury back on her best friends.
"You can't just take me away! I have children that need looking after, I can't just up and leave them." She fumed at the now cowering men.
"Aw, come on Hermione, you never come out unless we force you. You need to spend time with adults now and then. It's a Christmas party." Ron put his hands out pleadingly.
Hermione turned her frosty glare on him. "Next time Ronald, maybe give me some warning. That way I might have someone to look after my children!"
"We already thought of that, Hermione." Harry inserted his body between his friends. He reached around Ron to pull a heavily pregnant Ginny forward.
"Really, Hermione, relax. I'll go over and look after the munchkins. This lot has already tired me out. Right now I'm just looking forward to crawling into your comfy bed and sleeping." Ginny gathered Hermione's hands in her own, reassuring the older woman. Hermione returned with a squeeze before letting Ginny apparate away.
Hermione was just getting settled on the couch with a drink when there was a small shriek from the kitchen. Every head turned as Ginny hurried into the room, carrying a sleeping boy in her arms, Molly right on her heels.
"Hermione, I'm so sorry. I couldn't find Ara anywhere. I looked and looked. She's gone. Oh, oh, I'm so sorry!" Ginny wailed. People converged on her, Hermione taking Caelum while Harry and Molly helped her to a seat.
Hermione backed away, clinging to her sleeping son. The words circled through her mind, she's gone, she's gone. How could she be gone? It was barely ten minutes between Harry and Ron taking her away and Ginny leaving the Burrow. How could she have disappeared that quick?
"Hermione." A tug on her arm, pulled from her thoughts. It was Luna Lovegood, her whimsical features masked with concern. "Let's go look for your lovely daughter, shall we?"
"The others..."
"Neville will tell the others we've gone." Luna nodded at Neville Longbottom, who nodded back in understanding. Without anyone else noticing Luna and Hermione, Hermione still clutching her son, apparated away.
HGDMHGDMHGDMHGDMHGDM
"Draco, she's asleep, mate. Come tell us what's going on." Theo dragged his friend up from the floor and pushed him into the opposite couch. He then sat on the coffee table with Blaise next to him. Both watched the conflicting emotions race across Draco's face, something rare for the normally distant man.
"Come on, mate, tell us what she was talking about. How does she know who you are? And why did you know that she knew you?" Blaise was concerned for his friend, but ultimately frustrated by the somewhat cryptic conversation between Draco and the child.
"She is," Draco paused to gather his thoughts. "She is my daughter, and Caelum is most likely my son."
Theo and Blaise glanced at each other before turning back to Draco, waiting for a better explanation.
"She can't be your kid, mate, you would've been 17 when she was born." Theo stated.
"Yeah, and you think we would have noticed a pregnant girl at school." Blaise scoffed.
"You never knew about her, well, about our relationship. I never knew she was pregnant and she didn't come back for her seventh year." Draco responded wearily.
"Who is she Draco? And when did you find time to knock her up? Twice." Blaise demanded.
"Well, from what Ara said, she was conceived about a month before the end of my sixth year. And if Caelum is mine, than he was conceived right after the final battle. Why she didn't tell me about Ara then, I don't know." Draco looked at his sleeping daughter.
"Draco, tell us who she is so we can go find her! You are obviously still in love with her. We need to find out what happened." Theo grabbed Draco by the shoulders, shaking him slightly.
Draco jumped to his feet. In two strides he reached his daughter, pulling her into his arms. "Well, grab on. I have an idea of where to look first."
HGDMHGDMHGDMHGDMHGDM
"Ara!" Hermione called to her daughter, while trying not to wake her son in the process. She began searching through the house, looking high and low for her little girl. Luna meanwhile, waved her wand in a large circle.
"There's no one here, except us." Luna said sadly.
Hermione choked back a sob. She sunk into the couch in the living room, hugging her son even tighter.
"Hermione look." Hermione turned her head to find Luna at the front door. "The door is still locked, both magically and by muggle means."
"That means, that means she was either taken or she somehow left by herself. To take her it would have to be someone with access to my wards. Everyone with access was at the Burrow. That means she left on her own!" In her excitement, Hermione shouted, waking her son.
"Mama?" A sleepy voice alerted Hermione to her son's wakefulness.
"Oh, Caelum, I'm sorry sweetie. I didn't mean to wake you." Hermione rubbed his back, hoping to lull him back to sleep. Caelum was having none of it. He squirmed around until he could see the room, spotting Luna by the door.
"Auntie Luna! Why're you here?" He said.
"I'm here to help your mum with something. Tell me Caelum, if your mum had to go away, who would you like to look after you?" Luna sat next to Hermione, waiting for his answer.
"Mama going away?" Caelum looked at his mother fearfully, clinging to her tightly.
"I'm not leaving sweetie. Aunt Luna was just curious. I'm curious too. Who would you like to look after you?" Hermione stroked his hair.
The little boy thought for a moment. "Papa."
Hermione and Luna looked at each other. Neither had thought of the children's missing father. Hermione had told her son and daughter only good things about their father, even though she knew he was less than perfect. In their eyes he was the next best thing, after mum of course.
"She probably heard Ginny come in and got scared." Luna said thoughtfully.
"She must have apparated away in fright. I've read that it can happen in certain situations." Hermione rambled on.
"Does he still live at his Manor?"
"Yes."
"Let's go."
HGDMHGDMHGDMHGDMHGDM
"It's all my fault."
"No it's not."
"Yeah, it's Harry and Ron's fault."
"They're the ones that didn't give her any warning."
Draco, carrying Ara and followed by Theo and Blaise, stepped through the back door of the Burrow. Quietly, and listening to the conversation in the other room, they moved into the living room. Neville, sitting by the door, spotted them first. He also spotted the sleeping girl in Draco's arms.
"Hold on a second guys, I'll let them know you're here." Neville stood, meaning to step into the argument. Draco grabbed his arm.
"They may not welcome me, especially considering." Draco gestured to the sleeping child.
"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised." Neville chuckled, turning to the larger group. "Oi, you lot. We have guests."
Immediately, every head turned towards the group standing in the doorway. Harry was the first to speak.
"Oh, thank god you have her." Harry said, moving forwards.
"What do you mean? Shouldn't you all be yelling and waving your wands and telling me to give you back the girl?" Draco was more than confused. This was not the reaction he had expected at all. Nobody seemed upset, the only emotion he saw was relief. What Draco didn't know was for years Hermione had been saying that he was good, and that everyone needed to give him a chance. His reclusive ways since the end of the war had only helped his image in the eyes of his somewhat extended family. They didn't know everything Hermione did, and Hermione didn't know everything Draco did, but they knew enough to not curse him on site.
"Where's Hermione? I believe we need to talk." Draco evaded Harry's reaching arms to talk to the room at large. Now that he knew about his daughter, he wasn't giving her up until he had a decent explanation from her mother.
"She left." Neville stated from behind Draco.
"What?" Several voices echoed the word.
"Hermione and Luna went to check out Hermione's place again, just in case Ara went home." Neville explained to the group. He turned to speak to the small group of Slytherins. "Come on, I'll take you there. I think Draco could get through the wards, but I don't think Nott or Zabini could."
HGDMHGDMHGDMHGDMHGDM
"Luna, did you hear a pop as we left?" Hermione asked when they had appeared at the front gates of Malfoy Manor.
"It's possible, or we could have caused a slight echo. There are creatures that will echo sounds back at you when frightened, they're called-"
"That's nice Luna, but we need to see if Ara came here." Hermione made her way to the side panel of the front gate. She knock on the large, ornate panel, which she knew looked very similar to the large front doors.
"Yes Miss? What can I do for you Miss?" A small house elf appeared before them, bowing. She was wearing a fluffy hand towel, designed to keep her warm.
"Is Draco Malfoy at home?" Hermione asked kindly.
"No Miss, the Master is not home. He left a short time ago." The house elf's ears drooped apologetically.
"Was there a small girl at the house in the last hour or so? Did Mr. Malfoy take her with him?" Hermione asked, somewhat alarmed that he wasn't home.
"Yes, Miss. Master took the girl child and warmed her. Master took her to find her mother." The house elf smiled, remembering her master's kindness towards the girl.
"He's looking for me, that means he figured out that I'm Ara's mother. We should go back to my house, he might be there." Hermione started away, then remembered the small elf. "Thank you very much for letting us know she was here, have a good night."
The house elf nodded and popped away. Hermione and Luna nodded at each other, Hermione clutched Caelum closer, and they spun into nothing.
HGDMHGDMHGDMHGDMHGDM
"They're not here." Draco looked around the small but comfortable bungelo. The kitchen looked down into the living room, while a short hallway led to the bathroom and bedrooms. Everything was neat and orderly, with plenty of books. Draco noted that on every bookshelf he could see, the lowest shelf was dedicated to children's books. He also noted that the dishes were half done, and things were left out, like the occupants had left in a rush.
Blaise flopped down on the couch. "Maybe we should just wait here. I mean she has to come back at some point."
Theo moved to the bookshelves, nodding in agreement with Blaise. Draco sighed, before settling down in an armchair, Ara draped across his chest.
"That is a good idea. Eventually Hermione will want to put Caelum back to bed. I'll make tea while we wait." Neville moved into the kitchen, rattling around while he made tea.
Draco thought about everything he had learned in the last two hours. He had a daughter. He had a son. The love of his life, once a forbidden love, was the mother of his children. But she had hid them from him. He tried to rationalize her decision. He was living with Voldemort. She was on the run from Voldemort. His parents were being used as leverage against him. She and their daughter could have been used against him as well. Hermione could have died at anytime but she still kept Ara away from him. Draco was still frustrated, all those reasons only accounted for the time between Ara's conception and the end of the war. He should of found out the night they had conceived their son, instead Hermione told him that they couldn't be together again. Now he had missed years of his children's lives, and he didn't know why. He had to know why.
Twin pops sounded in the kitchen, startling Neville into breaking several pieces of the tea set. He repaired them, then turned to greet the two women standing next to him.
"Welcome back. Malfoy, Nott, and Zabini are all here. Draco has Ara and she's okay, just sleeping." Neville said quietly. He gestured towards the living room. Hermione moved around the dividing half wall into the other room. She stopped abruptly when she saw Draco, her daughter sleeping peacefully on his chest.
Draco stood when he felt her eyes on him, still holding his daughter. She was holding a boy in her arms, similar to how he was holding Ara. He stared at his small son avidly. The boy was awake and staring at him with the same mismatched eyes of his sister. Where Ara's hair was a mash of his colour and Hermione's texture, Caelum's was the opposite. His hair was a warm brown and completely straight.
Caelum grinned when he recognized his sister and the man holding her.
"Papa!"
"Um, hi, Caelum, Hermione." Draco answered nervously.
"Alrighty then. Theo, Longbottom, Lovegood, shall we?" Blaise gestured to the front door. Neville, Luna, and Theo hurried to the front door. Blaise turned back. "Draco, deats in the morning, mate."
Hermione moved automatically towards the bedrooms. She indicated that Draco should follow. For a wild moment he had the insane idea that she was taking him to her own room, but she turned into a small bedroom decorated for a young boy.
Stowing Caelum in bed, with reassurance that his papa would be around in the morning, Hermione kissed her son goodnight and closed the door. Moving to the bedroom across the hall, she opened the door to show a girl's room, complete with gauzy white drapes over the bed. Silently she took her daughter from Draco and tucked her into bed. Kissing Ara's forehead, Hermione left the room with Draco in tow. She led him back to the living room, not wanting to go anywhere near her bedroom, not yet at least.
"Ask away." She said when they had settled at opposite ends of the couch.
"Why?" Draco asked right away. Hermione looked down, knowing exactly what he wanted.
"I needed to protect them. Not from you." Hermione hurried to finish her thought before he exploded with the anger brewing on his face. "At first I need to protect Ara from Voldemort, and you as well. If Voldemort knew you had a child with a muggleborn, he would have killed you. And there is no doubt she is yours."
Draco nodded excepting the first of her answers. "And after the war? Why didn't you tell me the night we made Caelum? Or when you found out you were expecting? Or even when he was born? Why keep them hidden now, Hermione?"
"I saw how much you were affected by the trials, especially your father's. At that point I didn't want to put any extra stress on you. After the trials were over I watched you, looking for an opportunity to bring you into our lives. But I didn't like what I saw Draco, I wasn't going to introduce my children to that."
Draco winced. He knew she was referring to the nights spent partying and drinking, and then the nights just drinking. He had tried to drown his sorrows for almost two years after the war, only coming out of it when he saw his mother deteriorate before his eyes from stress. He pulled himself out of his own misery to care for his family. He left the drinking behind, but the parties and the endless girls remained. He had used the girls to try to forget Hermione, it hadn't worked.
"I understand." Draco admitted. "I was trying to forget. Forget the war, forget the trials, but mostly to forget you."
It was Hermione's turn to cringe. She had left him all alone to deal with the consequences of the war. She had abandoned him with no explanation and no warning. She had expected anger and yelling, typical behaviour in Draco's younger days. She was a little off put by the calm understanding.
"You've changed." She said quietly.
"I've had to." Draco replied. "I needed to grow up, for my mother, for myself. The parties were all for the amusement of my friends. I never truly wanted to be there."
"I have missed you, you know." Hermione looked at her shoes.
Draco moved closer. He reached out to turn Hermione's face towards his. "Maybe we can start over, as the new people we are now, instead of the scared teenagers we were."
Hermione leaned into Draco's hand, nodding slightly. She turned quickly and kissed his palm. "We need to move slowly."
Draco nodded in return. "Can I hold you?"
"Yes." Hermione snuggled into Draco's side, eliciting relieved sighs from both parties.
HGDMHGDMHGDMHGDMHGDM
"Mama!"
"Papa!"
Twin shouts startled Hermione and Draco from their cramped sleeping position on the couch. Jerking away from Hermione, Draco sent himself tumbling to the floor, where he was quickly jumped on by his small son.
Ara climbed over Draco and Caelum to cuddled into her mother's arms. "Mama, I'm so happy you're safe." The little girl was almost in tears.
"Shh, sweetheart, I didn't leave on purpose, Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron were trying to play a joke."
"It wasn't funny!" Ara cried, a petulant pout gracing her fair features.
"No, it wasn't. How about we go give them a piece of our minds?" Hermione asked her daughter.
"Yes! Can Papa come too?" The innocent question forced Hermione to look at Draco, who had been avoiding looking at her by concentrating on the babbling four year old in his lap.
"Well, Papa? Want to come?" Hermione's tone was light and teasing, but her eyes spoke of her uncertainty about his feelings. Draco thought it over. He knew Blaise and Theo would want answers, but he was reluctant to face them now. What he truly wanted was to spend more time with his new found family. Overall the decision to go with them was an easy one.
"I'll come along, just to see Mama put Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron in their place." Draco's tone mimicked Hermione's, and the small smile he gave her let her know he was beginning to forgive her.
"Okay, let's wash up, get dressed and head out. Papa, you're in charge of Caelum, I'll get Ara ready." Hermione leaned down to whisper in Draco's ear. "Good luck."
Draco looked up sharply, but she just laughed and whisked her daughter off down the hall. Draco sighed. "Come on, bud, let's get ready."
Draco quickly figured out why he needed luck. Caelum never stopped talking, making it almost impossible to brush his teeth, the muggle way. Draco shot a mouth cleaning spell at his son the second Hermione had her back turned. Caelum also had a real problem making decisions, he couldn't decide what to wear or what toy to take with him. He was also consistently distracted by whatever was around him. Draco was slowly losing his patience and his mind trying to get the small boy into a fresh set of clothes.
"Need some help?" Hermione asked from the doorway. She had given him thirty minutes with the frustrating boy before going to his aid, and found the whole thing quite humourous.
"Argh, please." Draco looked back at woman he loved and the mother of his children. She was silently laughing at him while their immaculately dressed daughter peered out from behind her legs. Draco got up and moved to the doorway, allowing Hermione to take his place in front of Caelum. Ara surprised him by taking his large hand in both of her smaller ones, leaning her body against his leg. He picked her up so she could lean on his shoulder.
"Okay, come here, munchkin." Hermione waited until she had her son's attention. "Blue or green underwear?"
"Blue."
"Blue or brown pants?"
"Brown."
"Orange or green shirt?"
"Orange."
"Black or white socks?"
"White."
"And there you go, one completely dressed little boy." Hermione gave Caelum's stomach a quick tickle. He erupted in laughter, escaping from his mother to run to his father. Hermione's gaze followed her son. The sight before caused her breath to stop. Draco holding his peacefully sleeping daughter in one arm while he laughed and ruffled his son's hair with the other. The ease of trust between her children and their father was instant and concrete. Hermione had to clear her throat and regain her composer before standing up to join her suddenly complete family. She stretched to kiss Draco's cheek. With a wicked grin she said, "Let's go confuse my poor best friends to death."
A matching grin met hers. "Let's."
HGDMHGDMHGDMHGDMHGDM
Six Years Later
"Papa, hurry up!" Ara pulled her father down the train platform. "You have to do it before I leave!"
Draco picked up the toddling three year old slowing him down. "Ara, we have lots of time. And we don't want to lose Libra."
Up ahead Ara spotted her mother talking to Uncle Harry and his family. Hanging off Hermione's leg was six year old Cetus, fending off jabs from his twin sister, Vela. Ara pulled more insistently on her father's arm.
"I'm coming, I'm coming."
Hermione and Harry turned to greet the rest of her family. "Where's Caelum?"
"Here, Mum." Caelum appeared beside her, focused on a handheld video game.
"Alright, Papa, everyone's here." Ara said, looking at her watch.
"Not everyone is here, Ara. We still need your Uncle Weasel to show up." Draco replied.
"Who's a weasel? Still better than a ferret if you ask me." Ron laughed, walking up to the group casually.
"Ron! What are you doing here? Your kids aren't old enough to go to Hogwarts yet." Hermione beamed as she hugged Ron.
"I'm just here to see Ara off. She is the first on of the bunch, even Teddy doesn't go 'til next year." Ron smiled down at his niece. She smiled back before giving her father one more tug on the arm.
"Fine, fine." He grumbled. He tried to pass off his youngest daughter but she wouldn't budge. Sighing again, he got down on one knee, balancing the child carefully before letting go. "Hermione."
Hermione looked down at the sound of her name. She almost broke out laughing at the sight. Draco Malfoy, down on one knee in a busy train station. Balancing a toddler on one knee, while another child jumped on his back. Yet another child was leaning against his shoulder, while a fourth one tugged on his shirt. Finally a fifth child sidled up behind, not taking his eyes off his video game.
"Hermione Granger, will you marry me?" Draco asked seriously, ignoring the squirming children around him. At that, Hermione did burst into laughter, incredibly, insanely happy laughter.
"Of course I'll marry you!" Hermione calmed her laughter enough to lean down to give Draco a kiss. He stood up, bring three children with him. Ara was yelling and dancing around them, even Caelum couldn't keep the grin off his face. Harry and Ron laughed in the background, the raucous family causing many on the platform to look around in confusion.
"I have to ask of course, why now?" Hermione asked, still smiling.
"We gave him an ultimatum." Caelum's quiet words answered.
"Yeah, yeah, we told him he had to before I went to school, so it would be before-" Ara slapped her hands to her mouth so she wouldn't give away her mother's secret.
"Before what?" Draco asked, suspicious.
Hermione ignored him, choosing to continue her own line of thinking. "You know I thought you would never do it. I mean after six children, what's the point?"
Draco narrowed his eyes at her words. "Uh, Hermione? Last time I checked we only had five children. Ara, Caelum, Vela, Cetus, and Libra."
"Don't forget Leo."
"Leo?"
"Yes. Leo." Hermione placed a hand to her still flat stomach, grinning at her now fiancé.
"It's a race then."
"Yep, wedding versus baby."
Happy laughter echoed around the train platform.