Title: The Runaways
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 7126
Summary: Draco and Hermione join forces after Rose and Scorpius runaway from home.
Warnings: light language, vague sexual references
A/N: Written for the 2010 dramoine_duet exchange. Big thanks to bitchet for betaing this at the last minute. Any and all mistakes are my fault. Atalanta84 wanted: banter, sexual tension, sarcastic humor, "grown-up" Draco and Hermione. The prompt I chose to use was 'a misunderstanding.' Rather than it being a misunderstanding between Draco and Hermione, however, it's more of them misunderstanding their own emotions and motivations.
"Are they here?"
Draco stumbled back as a wild-eyed and even wilder-haired Hermione Granger Weasley pushed past him into the foyer of Malfoy Manor.
"Good morning, Granger. Is there some way I can help you? Get you a cup of tea, perhaps? Maybe Floo your shrink?"
"Have you seen Rose or Scorpius this morning?"
Draco frowned. He knew Granger had the manners of an ill-bred troll, but this was abrupt even for her. He glanced toward the clock near the door. "It's not even eight, yet. I imagine Scorpius is still lying in and I haven't seen your daughter since you forbid her to step foot in this house at the beginning of the summer."
Granger started up the stairs. "Which room belongs to Scorpius?"
Draco grabbed her arm; he'd had enough. It was one thing for people to treat him like a leper at the Ministry or on Diagon Alley, but he'd be damned if he allowed it inside his own home. "Just what are you on about, Granger?"
She turned toward him, her brown eyes flashing with indignation. "My name hasn't been Granger in over twenty-five years, Malfoy. Get it right!"
The right side of Draco's mouth quivered as if he was holding back a full-blown smirk. He did so love ruffling feathers. "My apologies, Ms. Weasley."
She shook her arm free of his grasp. "I need to speak to your son, immediately."
Draco refused to be unsettled by the urgency in her voice. "Are you here on some official Ministry business or is your visit of a more personal nature?"
"It's personal," she said shoving a piece of parchment in his face.
Draco yanked the missive from her hand so it was no longer pressed up against his nose. He held it as far away from his face as possible and squinted. Sighing deeply, he pulled a pair of reading glasses from the front pocket of his dressing ground and began to try and decipher of scrawling on the parchment.
Mother Hermione, I am leaving home. I can no longer live separated from Scorpius. I know you don't believe that I really love him, but I do. You've never understood me or taken my side, but things have gotten worse since Dad died. Now that I'm of age, I refuse to allow you to dictate to me any longer. Good-bye forever, Rose
"My goodness. I wouldn't have guessed Rose was such a drama queen. I can't imagine she got that from you or Weasley. If she didn't have that red hair I would suspect you'd and Potter had had a fling."
"Shut up, Malfoy. She's seventeen. All girls go through stages. And I would never... Harry would never..."
Draco snorted softly, which was apparently a mistake since it turned Hermione's wrath back toward him.
"What do you know about this? Did you know they were planning on running off?"
"Please. As if I could countenance such an impetuous act. They still have another year of school. I have much bigger plans for my son than to see his life ruined by a misalliance this early in life. Besides we don't know that they've gone anywhere. Scorpius might be in his room. Have you looked for Rose anyplace but here?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, this was my first stop after searching the house. I thought maybe I could head them off before they did something foolish."
Draco shrugged. He'd told his son over a year ago that getting involved with Rose Weasley was foolish. When he hadn't listened, Draco had decided to save his breath and try to be marginally supportive. He had hoped that by earning his son's confidence this type of unreasonable behavior would never happen. Obviously, Hermione had not followed the same parenting philosophy.
"Let's check upstairs, shall we?"
Hermione nodded and began to stomp her way past him. He let her go, following at a more sedate pace. He wasn't going to get worked up for no good reason. If Granger wanted to waste all her energy trudging up stairs and flinging herself around, it wasn't his problem. Besides he rather enjoyed the view of her backside as she preceded him to the second floor. Ever since he and Astoria had divorced last year, he'd made a habit out of admiring those witches his age who'd managed to maintain their figures. Hermione Granger-Weasley definitely fit the well-preserved category.
She was standing on the landing waiting impatiently for him, when he finally arrived. "Which room?"
"Follow me." He walked down the hall and stopped before a door about halfway down the corridor. He knocked softly, but got no answer. Hermione reached around him and banged loudly.
When there was still no answer, Draco pushed open the door and looked around his son's room. The bed was unmade and there was a small pile of clothing on the floor near the hamper. Nothing big was out of place. There was no sign of a hurried escape or a rushed meeting. He glanced at the top of Scorpius desk and didn't see a note. He couldn't imagine Scorpius would run off without saying a word. The boy knew his father would worry.
Hermione pushed by him and threw open the closet doors. "Is there he keeps his trunk? Is there anything missing?"
Draco nodded to her first question and ignored her second. He watched Hermione bend over to root around his son's possessions, admiring her lovely bottom assets. He felt no need to worry about Scorpius; this was obviously some Weasley-Granger family nonsense that had nothing to do with his son. His attention was pulled away from Granger's backside by the tap of an owl on Scorpius' window sill.
"What was that?" Hermione asked, withdrawing her head from the closet.
He moved toward the window without answering her question. Removing the parchment tied to the owl's leg, Draco stared at for several seconds, trying to calm the now rapid thump of his heart.
"What's that?" she asked again.
"It's a note from my son."
As Hermione marched over looking like she was going to rip the parchment from his hands, he tightened his grip on the letter. There was no bloody way she was getting a look at it before him. "I need to get dressed. I'll meet you downstairs in fifteen minutes."
"No! I want to know what it says now."
Draco narrowed his eyes. He was not going to allow this bossy woman to order him around; he didn't care what her position was in the wizarding world. "Downstairs in fifteen minutes or you don't get to see it at all."
When she screwed her face up to argue, Draco turned his back on her and walked quickly out of the room.
0-0-0
Hermione couldn't believe that Malfoy had left her to cool her heels in his drawing room while he read whatever Scorpius had written. He obviously didn't realize that time was of an essence. The longer it took them to discover where their children had gone, the longer it would take them to get them back.
She ground her teeth together in frustration and tried to focus just how much Malfoy annoyed her. Unfortunately, it distracted her only temporarily from thoughts about Rose. She wondered, for the hundredth time since finding her daughter's note, how things between them had deteriorated to this point. While their relationship had been tense even before Ron had died two years ago, she'd chalked up Rose's attitude to normal rebellion. Most teenage girls back-talked, insinuated their mothers were stupid, and missed the occasional curfew. Although, Harry and Ginny and told her not to worry, that Rose was a good girl who would get back on track, Hermione had become controlling and over-protective after Ron's passing.
Moreover, things had only gotten worse once Hermione discovered that Rose was dating Scorpius Malfoy. It wasn't that she disliked Scorpius. She barely knew him, but she worried that Rose was getting too serious, too young. She wanted her to have a chance to travel, to have fun, to explore, all the things that Hermione had never been able to do because she'd been helping rebuild the wizarding world after the war.
It was now clear that she had made a big mistake at the beginning of the summer refusing to allow Rose to see Scorpius. However, after finding a birth control potion in Rose's trunk, she'd flipped out. Instead of being thankful that the girl was taking precautions, all Hermione could think about was that she was too young and that Ron would have never allowed the relationship to continue. She had been an idiot and now Rose was gone.
"You're an idiot," Draco announced as he walked into the room. He was wearing stylish and well-tailored robes, but his features were marred by a deep frown. He dropped a parchment in her lap, and stood by the fireplace, glaring at her.
She unrolled it and read its lines quickly.
Father, Rose has been having problems at home. She and I are going away. I'll write again once things are settled. Scorpius
"Your son is a real fount of information."
Draco narrowed his eyes.
Hermione snorted. A little eye-narrowing could not intimidate her. "What are we going to do?" She was immediately appalled at herself for that question. She and Draco Malfoy were not going to do anything together. If she needed help, she'd ask Harry. Of course, Harry was in the States for the next two weeks at an International Auror Conference and might not be able to return immediately.
As Hermione considered whether she'd be more likely to murder George or Percy if they were to assist her in finding Rose, Draco interrupted her thoughts. "We are going to find them and convince them that running away is unnecessary since we – and by we, I mean you – won't be placing any further impediments in the way of their relationship."
Hermione felt herself growing angry. How dare he attempt to dictate how she interacted with her daughter? "Or perhaps, you could lock your son up so that he isn't a threat to any other respectable girls!"
"You're not serious!" he demanded incredulously. "Anyone with even a modicum of sense can tell from their notes that this entire situation was Rose's doing. She felt threatened by you and convinced my son to run off. If anyone is the predator in this situation it is your daughter."
Hermione ground her teeth together. Draco Malfoy was just as big a prick now as he had been back at Hogwarts. No surprise, really. She was tempted to storm off and find Rose and Scorpius on her own, but decided against it. Why should he get off from doing his parental duty? Besides, she didn't know Scorpius well enough to determine exactly where he might have taken her daughter. She needed Draco along for the information he could provide on his undoubtedly degenerate son. After they'd located the missing couple, she'd tell him to bugger off and to take his miscreant progeny with him.
"I don't want to have this argument now," she told him. We need to cooperate to find our children and that can't happen while we are attacking each other. Let's declare a temporary truce until Rose and Scorpius are located."
"And once they are found, the truce will be off and I can honestly critique your lack of parenting skills?"
Hermione bit her tongue to keep from yelling insults at him and nodded slowly.
"Fine. No more insults. Where do you think we should start looking?"
Hermione pulled a notebook from her back and opened it. "I've comprised a list of her friends."
Draco looked surprised. "You know all of Rose's friends?"
"Of course I do! Well, I think so. When I searched her room I found letters from several of her housemates in Gryffindor and she's close to her cousins. I also forced Hugo to give me the names of a couple of other people I can contact. Why? Don't you know Scorpius friends?"
"Scorpius doesn't have many friends. For some reason, parents have been leery of letting little Tommy or Billy visit the Manor or become intimate acquaintances with the son of a Death Eater."
Hermione felt a twinge of guilt because it was partly Draco's past that had convinced her to keep Rose away from Scorpius. "Well, you can't really blame people for being nervous about the association."
"You're wrong. I do blame them. Scorpius shouldn't have to pay for my sins. He should have a clean slate, he should be judged by his actions alone, and I am not just going to 'get over' the fact that he hasn't been."
For the first time in her life, Hermione felt a modicum of grudging respect for Draco. "Let's just find them."
Draco nodded.
They started their search at the Potter's residence sitting at the kitchen table across from Albus, while Ginny stood at the sink, glaring at the back of her son's head. Al was Scorpius's dorm mate and Rose's favorite cousin. If anyone knew the details their plans it would be him.
"Al," Hermione pleaded, "I must find them. Did you know what they were planning? Did they tell you where they were going?"
"No! Yes. I mean... I knew that they were considering going away, but they didn't tell me where they might go or anything. I just figured it was one of Rose's wild rants. You know how she gets when she's angry. She's always saying things that she never follows through with – like threatening to kill Hugo or hex Lily's hair off. I just thought this was another of her outbursts. Besides, Scorpius is usually the level-headed one. I didn't figure he'd let her do anything stupid."
"Well, when she was ranting what did she rant about?" Hermione asked.
Al shrugged. "A lot of stuff."
Ginny hit him on the back of the head with a copy of the Prophet. "Better details than that please!"
Al sighed.
"Look, you aren't betraying them," Draco broke in. "We aren't mad and we aren't going to punish them. We just need to make sure they are okay and let them know that this wasn't necessary. They didn't have to run off to be together."
Al looked unsure.
"Please, Al," Hermione urged. "I can't stand not knowing if she is safe or not. Not after losing Ron."
Al nodded. "I really don't know where they are."
Hermione nodded slightly, encouraging him to continue.
"But, Rose talked about how they could borrow James' tent, the one he bought to camp out at last year's World Cup Game, and use it to avoid detection. She said if you and my dad could hide from Death Eaters for months during the war, she and Scorpius could surely avoid detection from you for a few months."
Hermione sniffed. "I never should have told her war stories."
Ginny sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "If you hadn't, Ron would have."
"Ron would despise this situation," Hermione sighed, sounding more depressed than Draco had ever heard her.
"And you would have been here to keep him calm and focused," Ginny replied softly. "What made you and Ron work so well is that you were a team. Alone the both of you tended to go off half-cocked and determined that it was your way or the highway, but together you had a pretty good balance. You've been trying too long to go without some balance, Hermione. You can't be both Ron and yourself for the children. Moreover, by trying to figure out how he would have acted and responded to situations, you are denying Rose and Hugo you."
"I can't just ignore what he would have wanted!"
"Hermione..."
"I can't," she wailed, laying her head on Ginny's shoulder and sobbing loudly.
Draco grabbed Albus by the sleeve. "I'm going to take the boy outside and question him further about what he knows."
Al looked concerned, but Ginny gave Draco a smile of gratitude for clearing out the kitchen.
Once the door was shut, Al started protesting. "I swear Mr. Malfoy, I don't know anything else about what Rose and Scorpius planned."
"Right," Draco replied. "I believe you."
"Then why did you drag me out here?"
"There are certain times when women do not want men around. First are times like these." He nodded toward the kitchen door. "When a woman is having a big sob about something they've fucked up, they prefer to only have their female friends around."
"Why?"
"Their girlfriends will to lie to them about how it wasn't their fault and how the rest of the world is just out to get them. I've seen it occur dozens of times even when the entire world knows the woman just fucked up."
"That's kind of mental."
"Yes, well, we are talking about women."
They were silent for a minute. "What are the other times?"
"What?"
"What are the other times that women don't want men around?"
"They don't want a man in the room when they are comforting a woman who's recently been dumped. They descend into 'all men are arseholes' diatribes and hate for rational men to overhear their lunacy."
"Wow," Albus said. "I never heard any of this before."
"I'm not surprised," Draco replied. "You're father only dated two women before marrying your mother. He hasn't had the life experience necessary to attain this kind of knowledge."
Albus nodded. "Any other advice?"
Draco nodded. "Yes, stay away from packs of women who have gotten together to talk about someone's new boyfriend. What they really want to do is gossip and compare the sexual prowess of every man they've ever slept with."
"That might be kind of interesting."
"It isn't. Trust me. You are never going to look at your best mate the same away if you know he likes to wear women's undergarments and get spanked by his wife."
Al's eyes grew large. "Who?"
"Never you mind. Just trust me."
They were both silent for several more minutes.
"You know…" Albus began slowly.
Draco cocked an eyebrow at him.
Albus wet his lips. "Scorpius didn't run away just because Rose was upset with Aunt Hermione."
"Of course he did."
Albus shook his head. "No. That was the main reason and he probably would never have decided to leave on his own, but he had his own issues he wanted to escape."
"What issues could he possibly have? He has the best racing broom, the most expensive robes, tons of spending money. I don't keep tabs on his social life or interfere with his friendships. There is absolutely nothing for him to rebel against."
Al shrugged. "Well, he always feels a bunch of pressure."
"From who? Rose? His professors?"
"No. From you."
"Impossible."
"He really respects you and wants to make you proud, but your expectations are pretty high and he never feels like he is living up to them."
"Inconceivable. I don't ask him to do anything he isn't perfectly capable of accomplishing. So what if want him to get good grades, succeed on the Quidditch pitch, and be respected and admired by his professors and other adults? None of these things can hurt him."
"Yeah. Maybe. But he feels like he if fails at any of these things he is letting you down, his grandparents down, and all the future generations of Malfoys down. He can't be responsible for his own life, when he has to live it to make hundreds of yet-to-be-conceived Malfoys proud."
Draco frowned. The Potter child was obviously a moron, still there might be a small ring of truth to his words. Before Draco could question the boy further, however, Hermione marched out of the house.
"Let's go," she told him.
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Really, I'm your lap dog now?"
Hermione ground her teeth together certain that her dad would insist on fitting her with crowns at her next dental appointment if she had to remain in Draco's presence much longer. "Sorry. I'm headed to James' flat to see if Rose and Scorpius have been there. Would you like to accompany me or would you rather sit on your arse and let them fall prey to whatever horrors await young people without protection these days?"
"Oh, they have protection," Albus interrupted. "They took their wands and a box of Muggle condoms."
Hermione's mouth dropped open and Draco glowered. He eventually decided that it was best to ignore Albus' comment and address Hermione's question. "Thank you for the invitation, Granger. I'd enjoy accompanying you to James Potter's home."
James turned out to be even less help than his brother.
"Sure, I lent them my tent. Why wouldn't I?"
"Do you actually think I would give Rose permission to run off camping with Scorpius for Merlin knows how long?" Hermione asked her nephew, a look of disgust pasted on her face.
"Well, don't know why she needs your permission, really," James responded, sounding a bit disgusted himself. "I mean she is of age and just because you choose to treat her like she's still eleven doesn't mean she is."
Hermione glared. "You don't know the first thing-"
"Settle down, Granger. The boy has a point," Draco interrupted. Getting into a fight with James wasn't going to get them any answers.
Both Hermione and James stopped glaring at each other to glare at Malfoy.
"I'm not a boy!"
"My name is not Granger!"
Draco waved away their comments. "The point is, that no matter how justified you may have been in loaning your cousin your tent, it is imperative that we speak to her and Scorpius. So if you could just give us the information about where they were going camping we can let you alone and go speak to them."
James crossed his arms over his chest. He looked so much like Ginny at her most pig-headed that Hermione wanted to howl in frustration. "Why exactly do you want to talk to them?"
"Hermione wants to apologize for letting Rose think that the only way she could see Scorpius was by running off with him."
"I do not!" Hermione began, but Draco spoke over her. "I, on the other hand, need to make sure that Scorpius has everything he needs."
James cocked his head, clearly unconvinced by the claptrap Draco was spewing out of his mouth. "What could he possibly need you to bring him?"
"Food, clean clothing, and Muggle money."
"He already has those things."
"How do you know? Surely the two lovebirds didn't allow you to root through their belongings."
"Well you are wrong there," James said. "They fairly begged me to give their kit a look and see if they were missing anything."
Draco frowned at all the thought that had gone into the runaway's plan. This hadn't been a spur of the moment decision. "Why would they be so careful?"
"Because they didn't want to be found."
"They don't want to be found by Granger, but I'm certain if Scorpius knew I was looking for him…"
James shook his head. "He wasn't happy, either. You put too much pressure on him. Hell, half the time he thinks you only approve of Rose because it reflects favorably on the Malfoy family."
"It does?" Hermione asked, sounding surprised.
James continued speaking to Draco, not glancing at Hermione. "He doesn't think you see him as a person at all, just as a tool to restore your family's honor."
Draco looked like he wanted to cast an Unforgivable. The truth was never an easy thing for a Malfoy to swallow.
"Be that as it may, James," Hermione interrupted before Draco could regain his voice and say something shocking. "We can't just let them go off on their own like this. It is too dangerous. You need to tell us where they are. How can we ever address these problems, if we can't even talk to them?"
"Sorry, Aunt Hermione, but I don't know where they are. They didn't tell me and I didn't ask. I figured you or my Mum would be around here soon enough and I didn't want to be the one who ratted them out."
Hermione eyes filled with tears. "But if you hear from her?"
"I'll tell her to contact you," James said softly.
"Come on, Granger," Draco growled, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her out of the flat.
Hermione sniffed. "You might as well go home. There is no point in looking for them now. Rose heard too many of the stories about me, Ron, and Harry hiding from Voldemort. If they don't want to be found, they won't be."
Draco shook his head. "You are forgetting something."
"What?"
"You were found. The Snatchers captured you. All we have to do is replicate whatever they did to capture you and we can find our children. Do you have any ideas about how they located you?"
Hermione shook her head. "I don't have to speculate about how the Snatchers found us; I know exactly how it happened."
0-0-0
They decided to make the Hanged Man in Little Hangleton their headquarters. It was in the center of England and they had the best chance of Apparating successfully to whatever part of the countryside Rose and Scorpius were hiding in from that location. The drawback was that the pub only had three rooms and two of them had already been let for the week, leaving Hermione and Draco to share the other.
"This is unacceptable," Hermione had huffed.
"There are two beds, Granger. Stop being such a prude."
"It isn't being a prude to want a bit of privacy."
"What if I promise to keep my eyes closed whenever you walk around in your knickers?"
"I'm not going to be walking around in my knickers!"
"Then why are you concerned about needing privacy?"
She rolled her eyes. "Just forget it, Malfoy. This is obviously something that only a gentleman would understand."
"And we both harbor no illusions that I qualify for that distinction."
For the first time in years, Hermione looked at him closely, determined to judge him fairly. He did appear on the surface to be a gentleman. His robes were neat and of high quality, his facial features were no longer marred by the perpetual sneer he'd worn back at Hogwarts, and he'd remained calm and moderately civil throughout their entire investigation – something Hermione could not claim for herself. While it was true that one didn't have to dig very deeply to uncover that sharp tongue and air of superiority that had once dominated his personality, at least you did have to dig. It wasn't sitting on his shoulder forcing everyone to acknowledge and deal with it. Before she could acknowledge that he had, perhaps, improved a bit with age, he'd begun questioning her on how to locate their children.
"Exactly how does this work?"
"I'm going to cast a spell to make a particular word Taboo," Hermione explained. "As I'm sure you remember, during the war, whenever anyone said the name 'Voldemort' it broke down protective spells and alerted Snatchers to the location of the speaker."
"So, if Rose or Scorpius says the word you make Taboo, we'll be able to locate them?"
Hermione nodded. "Actually if anyone says the word we'll know about it. If we aren't careful choosing a good word, we'll spend all our time Apparating around England on wild goose chases."
Draco's brow furrowed. "Why would we end up chasing any type of geese, wild or domesticated?"
Even after living amongst them for thirty years, sometimes Hermione forgot that many wizards didn't understand Muggle sayings. "I just mean we aren't going to know who has said the Taboo word until we Apparate to the location it was said. If we pick something too common it could easy be said hundreds of times during the day. We need a word that is uncommon, yet likely to be spoken by our children."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"I was thinking of just using 'Scorpius' it's uncommon enough."
Draco frowned, Astoria had accused him of having picked a singular distinctive name for their son's name, too. "It isn't that unusual."
"It's more unusual than Rose."
"What isn't? I can't imagine picking something so pedestrian for my child's name."
Hermione shook her head. "I've gone through life having everyone either mispronounce or misspell my name. I wanted to spare my child that same headache. Besides Ron and I figured our children would get enough attention without having unusual names."
Draco snorted.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"It isn't nothing. What is your problem?"
"I am just surprised that you even bothered considering how your children might react to their names. You seem more a do the right thing and damn the consequences person."
Hermione wanted to throw something at him. "I love my children and their happiness and interests are important to me."
"Even though your behavior toward Rose dating my son belies that sentiment," Draco replied mockingly.
Determined not to give him the satisfaction of trying to justify herself, Hermione turned the tables on him. "I'm not surprised you picked something so unique for your son's name."
"Naming one's child after a constellation is a Black family tradition."
"Of course it is," Hermione said with a nod and a condescending smile.
"What? You don't believe me?"
"Leo is a constellation, but isn't quite as odd as Scorpius. It's apparent that maintaining the family tradition wasn't your only consideration in choosing his name."
"Oh, I can't wait to hear this," Draco replied, trying to sound bored.
"It's clear you want Scorpius to stand out from the crowd. You've saddled him with a name that makes it impossible for him to slip into the background or be confused with anyone else. James was right; you do expect him to redeem the Malfoy family's reputation."
Draco cracked his knuckles, unhappy at her presumptions. "You don't know a thing about it, Granger."
Hermione shrugged. "It's none of my business. It's just an interesting insight into your character."
"Almost as interesting as why you have attempted keep Rose away from my son."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't you think there is something rather telling about a mother who is so protective that she interferes with her grown daughter's love life? It might suggest that you don't want her to fall in love and to risk the sort of loss you went through with Weasley, or it might indicate that you are jealous she actually has a love life. A love life that you've seemingly cut yourself off from since your husband passed away."
"Exactly what do you know about it Malfoy?" Hermione growled her temper raging. Who the hell was he to question her romantic choices?
"Only what I read about your celibacy in Witch Weekly magazine."
"I'm discriminating."
"There is a difference between being discriminating and being dead."
"I'd rather be discriminating than be seen with a different young witch on my arm every month."
"I didn't know you cared."
"I don't. I only worry now that we are sharing a room that you've caught some sort of airborne virus passed between those who engage in indiscriminate physical contact and I'll be infected."
Draco smirked. "Airborne? No worries. Now if you'd like me to pass you something through the exchange of bodily fluids that could be arranged."
"N-no thank you," she stammered, blushing in embarrassment.
He grinned, starting to enjoy her quick wit – even when it was directed at him. "You really are lovely when your cheeks are stained with red."
"Shut up."
"As you wish."
"And stop looking at me."
Draco laughed and dropped down on his bed. He pulled a book from the bookshelf in room, put on his glasses, and began to read.
0-0-0
It turned out, much to Hemione's mortification, that the word 'Scorpius' was used much more often throughout England than one would have suspected. She'd cast the spell marking the name as Taboo early the next morning. By ten a.m., it had already been used nearly twenty times. Unfortunately, there was no way to know who was saying the name or in what context it had been used until you Apparated to the site where it had been said.
Hermione had been so sure that Rose had spoken the first instance of the name that she'd grabbed Draco's arm and Side-Along Apparated them immediately to the location it had been spoken. This turned out to be the science classroom of a Muggle primary school. She and Draco had been caught up for the next two hours working with a representative of the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee and two Oblivators explaining what had happened and helping modify the memories of all the school children who'd seen them appear from thin air in the front of the classroom.
"Well that was fun," Draco groused when they finally made it back to their room at the Hanged Man.
"Okay, we obviously need to approach this more deliberately," Hermione stated, although Draco wasn't sure whether she was talking to him or trying to convince herself of something. "We need to cast Disillusionment Charms on ourselves before we Apparate. That way if Muggles were using the term, we should be able to leave before the Ministry finds out what occurred."
"I thought you just promised the Obliviators you were going to stop perusing this and let some Aurors track down Rose and Scorpius?"
"Oh please," she huffed. "You heard them! They won't treat this like a missing persons case since Rose and Scorpius are both of age. The most they will do is place some bulletins around and notify me if they end up in trouble. That isn't good enough."
"Can't you get fired if you continue to pursue this?"
"I'd like to see them try."
Draco had to smile at her strengthen. Merlin knew that Astoria would have back down at the first signs of resistance. To be honest, without Hermione pushing him, Draco probably would have stopped looking for them, too. Hermione, on the other hand, wasn't going to let anyone prevent her from doing what she thought right.
0-0-0
Their second attempt to locate Rose and Scorpius was no more successful. They ended up in the bedroom of a group of giggling fifteen year old witches, discussing the boys at Hogwarts they found most sexy.
After eighteen more failed attempts to locate their children, Draco and Hermione were exhausted and decided to call it a night. Draco had claimed the shower first and was settled down in his bed when Hermione returned from preparing for the night. Her face had been washed clean of make-up, her hair was wild around her face, and her dressing gown was tied tightly at her waist. Draco still found himself turned on by the sight of her. He missed the intimacy of living with a woman. The encounters he'd had since his divorce might have been physically satisfying, but they'd left him unfulfilled emotionally.
He knew Granger, would never be interested in a liaison either physical or emotional with him, but maybe he could find someone like her, someone strong and lovely, with whom he could pursue a lasting relationship. He chuckled softly, because even after spending less than 48 hours with her, he knew there was no one else like Hermione.
"What are you laughing at?" she asked.
"Just marveling at how wonderful you look. Even emerging from the bathroom, you are one of the most attractive women of my acquaintance."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Please, spare me your lies. I know that I'm not attractive, especially not like this." She waved her arm in front of herself; her gesture encompassed her entire body and hair.
"I'm not lying, Granger. If you'd like to sit on the edge of my bed or even invite me into yours I'd be more than happy to demonstrate my interest."
She glanced toward him, her eyes widening slightly at what appeared to be some indication beneath the bed covers of his physical interest. "Erm... no thank you, Malfoy."
He chuckled again, not at all surprised at her response. "I didn't think so."
0-0-0
They finally found what they were looking for on the fifth Apparation of the third day. They ended up in a clearing surrounded by woods, a half-dismantled tent stood in front of them with Rose and Scorpius next to it, arguing so passionately that the 'Pop' of Draco's and Hermione's appearance had gone unnoticed.
"Accio wands," Draco called out, catching wands of Rose and Scorpius in his free hand.
"Mother!" Rose exclaimed loudly, looking shocked and still angry from whatever she'd been fighting with Scorpius about.
"Dad…" Scorpius said more quietly, his voice trailing off into a whisper.
"Give me back my wand!"
"Darling, I just want to talk to you," Hermione almost begged.
"Well, I don't want to talk to you!"
"Rose…" Scorpius murmured.
Her head whipped around and she glare at him. "I don't want to talk to you either!"
"Will to talk to me?" Draco asked calmly.
"Do I have a choice?"
"Not if you want your wand back," he admitted, with a slight shrug.
"Fine," she spat, stalking past him into the woods.
Draco followed her. She finally stopped walking and sat down on the trunk of a large, fallen oak. Leaning against a nearby tree, Draco faced her and waited for her to speak first.
"So what do you want to talk about?" she asked with the attitude of someone who was being unfairly mistreated and abused.
He stroked his chin. "What do you think the Cannon's chances will be next season?"
"You're a real comedian. No wonder Scorpius finds you to be monumental pain in the neck."
"It looked to me like he considered you a pain in the neck, as well."
Rose tossed back her hair. "He'll get over it. We love each other even when fighting. Besides our latest row was more over methodology, rather than substance."
Draco arched an eyebrow.
She arched an eyebrow right back at him.
"Alright, I'll ask," he said, secretly pleased by her refusal to be intimidated. It reminded him of her mother. "What were you and my son arguing about?"
"He wanted me to contact my mum and I was refusing."
"She's been very worried."
"Good."
Draco frowned in disapproval at her flippant response. "She's had a number of people tell her that she was wrong to try and separate you and Scorpius. I'm pretty sure she's seen the error of her ways."
Rose looked unconvinced. "Even if she is willing to back down about Scorpius, she will still treat me like a child about other things. I can't return now or she'll never see me as a truly independent adult."
Draco felt like reminding Rose that she wasn't truly independent. She might be of age, but as long as she lived under her mother's roof, ate her mother's food, and accepted a clothing allowance, she was still a child. Unfortunately, that observation would most likely be counter-productive. "Don't come home immediately then."
"What?" Rose looked confused.
"Spend the rest of the week camping with Scorpius. Then when you do return home it won't be because you've caved in or because she made you, but because you want to give your mother a chance to set things right."
"She'll never agree to let me stay away from home."
"Yes, she will. She knows she made a mistake and she wants to fix it."
Rose bit her lip and stared at the ground in contemplation. When she finally looked back up, a determined gleam filled her eyes. "I'll accept you proposal on one condition."
"Blackmail?" Draco asked, feeling a tad impressed at her gall.
Rose shrugged. "I thought we were negotiating?"
He gave her a smile, fully impressed now. "What is your condition?"
"You need to do something to restore the Malfoy name."
"What?"
"You have to stop putting your desire to have the name Malfoy respected again on Scorpius' shoulders. He doesn't deserve that burden and it's unfair of you to expect him to fix a problem he had no hand in creating."
"And what exactly do you think I should do to make my family name respectable again?"
"Start a charity, appear on a game show, travel around the world in eighty days – I don't care. Just do something so that Scorpius knows you don't think it is his responsibility."
"I probably won't be able to restore the good name of the family. The wizarding world's unhappiness with my participation in the last war is not just going to fade away because I raise money for orphans or build a new wing for St. Mungo's."
Rose stood. "Whether you succeed or not isn't as important as Scorpius seeing you work for it."
Draco nodded and started to walk with her back toward the clearing. "You are quite devious for a Gryffindor, Ms. Weasley."
"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy. I've found you to be quite reasonable for someone older than thirty."
0-0-0
The moment they Apparated back into their room at the Hanged Man, Hermione began to complain.
"I can't believe you agreed to let them remain on 'holiday' for the rest of the week! The entire point of our search was to find them and bring them home. I found them, but when push came to shove and you were left to get them home, you completely fell apart. I should have made Percy my partner in tracking down, Rose. He, at least, can follow directions."
Draco let her rage for a few more minutes, but eventually got bored. "Hermione, shut up."
She looked shocked. "How dare you!" she exclaimed, opening her mouth to continue when he put an end to her nagging by pulling her roughly into his arms and pressing his lips against hers.
Draco steadied himself to be pushed away. He braced himself to be slapped. He was not prepared, however, for Hermione to wrap her arms around his neck and push her tongue deep into this mouth.
When he finally lifted his head to gasp for air, he was surprised to see her looking as wild and out-of-control as he felt. "Hermione, are you okay?"
"Shut up," she growled, placing a hand on his chest and pushing against him until he fell back against his bed. She quickly straddled him so he couldn't rise. "You have been nothing but a thorn in my side since this entire mess began. I don't want to hear another comment out of your mouth, unless it is to say something nice about me or to agree with me."
Draco raised both his eyebrows in surprise, but nodded silently.
"Good," she replied, making no move to get off him. "I've been thinking the last few days about Ginny's idea of balance and what you said about me being jealous of Rose's love life. I still think you are both wrong, but I am willing to do a bit of research to make sure my analysis of the situation is correct."
Draco remained silent and unmoving beneath her.
"I am going to need, however, a partner in my investigation. Since you're here and convenient, I was wondering if you'd be willing to assist me."
He nodded again, hoping that her research was of the physical variety and that she wasn't going to Apparate them to the nearest library to examine old copies of Psychology Today.
"Wonderful," Hermione smiled, bending her head down until her lips almost touched his. "I do enjoy fully exploring all possible scenarios to my research questions." Then with a flick of her wand, she lowered the lights in the room, stretched out her body against his, and began to study the entire hypothesis of whether she was sexually dead or just discriminating.
The End