Author's Note: I wasn't sure about the speech development of a 3 year old (my husband and I aren't parents yet), so I looked it up online. Please forgive if his speech isn't normal for a 3 year old. This is a long chapter, as it has a lot of explanations. Sorry! I still don't have a beta, so I apologize in advance for any and all mistakes.

AN2 (11/23/13): I updated, only changing the way Scorpius said the "r" sound, and one grammatical error I noticed after posting.

Chapter 2

3 years later

"Pick up, Daddy,"

Draco looked down and saw Scorpius looking up at him, arms raised high. He smiled and bent over to pick up his son. Scorpius smiled at his father and said, "I want juice, please."

"Good manners, Scorpius. I'm glad you remembered to say, 'please'," he replied, as he began walking to the kitchen. His son beamed at the compliment and hugged his father.

Draco couldn't help but smile at the affection from Scorpius. He had determined long ago that he was going to be a different father from Lucius. Lucius rarely gave physical affection and was cold and distant as a father. Scorpius didn't know his paternal grandfather, as he had died in Azkaban before he was born. His paternal grandmother, on the other hand, was a constant in his life. Narcissa had become a loving and doting "Nana" to Scorpius, a fact that left Draco very pleased. Astoria's family was also in Scorpius' life, but to a lesser extent. Draco had accepted their help quite a bit during the year following Astoria's death, but as he grew more confident in his parenting skills, he became less dependent upon them. This worked out well, as Astoria's sister, Daphne, had 4 young children of her own, and they spent much of their time helping her.

"Scorpius, would you like to visit Nana today?" he asked his young son.

The boy's eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Yes! I want see Nana!"

"Good. We need to visit Diagon Alley first, then we'll go to Nana's," Draco replied.

Scorpius started dancing around, singing "I'm going to Nana's" to himself and Draco couldn't help but laugh. He went into Scorpius' room to get the boy's shoes and stopped to look at the picture on the dresser. It was of a pregnant Astoria and himself, smiling for the camera. They would laugh at something the photographer said, and smile again.

"He's a wonderful boy, Astoria," he whispered to the picture, "I wish you could be here to see him."

"Daddy! I hungry!" he heard from the other room.

Draco laughed and shook his head as he left the room.

Tap, tap, tap.

Hermione looked up toward her window and saw an owl tapping on it. She sighed and walked over to open it up. She had just started reading a book she recently bought, and was not wanting to be interrupted. She patted the owl and took the piece of parchment, looking it over to determine who it was from. Ginny, she thought.

As she opened it up, she discovered that she was correct. It was an invitation to dinner at the Potter household for tonight. Hermione smiled and looked up at the waiting owl. Apparently Ginny wanted an answer immediately. She replied, stating that she would love to come over tonight, and couldn't wait to see their children. She attached it to the owl's leg and closed the window.

Ever since she and Ron had broken up, Ginny and Harry had gone out of their way to spend time with her. They wanted to show their support for her, and Hermione appreciated it. She and Ron had finally begun to be on speaking terms again, but it was nowhere near the friendship they once had. Hermione doubted she would ever think of Ron as a "true friend" again. However, for the sake of her two best friends, she had decided that she could be civil to her ex-boyfriend.

Thankful that today was Saturday, Hermione began to write a list of what she would need to buy at Diagon Alley before visiting the Potters. Flowers for the table, Wine for after dinner, A date for me, she added with a sad smile. As she erased the last entry, she thought about her non-existent dating life. After Ron's betrayal, she had had no desire to become romantically involved with anyone. Now, however, she had watched many of her old classmates getting married, having kids, etc., and it made her wish for something similar to happen in her own life. She sighed again, and got up to get ready to go shopping.

Draco held Scorpius as they walked down Diagon Alley, stopping to look in windows at Quidditch brooms and various items. Draco noticed that he got a few looks, but most were pleasant. After the War, it had come out that he had practically been forced to do Voldemort's bidding in order to protect his parents. He was still not liked after that, but the trial and subsequent press had forced him to do a lot of soul searching. He had not liked what he had found. He still winced when he remembered the awful things he said and did as a child and into his teenage years. After his father was sent to Azkaban, Draco spent a lot of time with his mother, confessing some of his actions and listening to her advice.

During this time, he learned a lot about his mother. Narcissa had never become a Death Eater, but Draco had assumed that she held the same beliefs as his father. Turns out he was wrong – to a point. Narcissa never believed in Voldemort, but followed her husband's leading. She did believe that Muggles were beneath them, but didn't think they should be killed or punished for being what they were. She also didn't think Muggleborns or Half-Bloods should be harmed or killed, either. True, Narcissa was very proud of her Pureblood heritage, but she didn't think it gave her, or anyone the right to kill anyone who wasn't.

They had decided together that they needed to come out from behind Lucius' shadow and present themselves as the people they wanted to be. Narcissa began by publicly purging Malfoy Manor of any and all Dark Magic books and related objects. She gave to charities and helped organize dinners to benefit war orphans.

Draco finished school via private tutor, and obtained N.E.W.T.S. in all of the subjects he took. He applied for, and gotten a job in the public relations office for the Puddlemere United Quidditch team, which he loved. He worked hard and kept out of trouble, which got him a promotion and his own office – all of which was reported in the Daily Prophet. His boss had stated for the paper that "Draco is a great example of how one can turn their life around for the better," for which Draco was immensely grateful.

At one of his mother's dinners, he was reacquainted with Astoria Greengrass, and instantly became smitten. She was one of few people who either didn't snub him because of his past, or instantly tried to latch on to him for his money. Astoria was well liked in the wizarding community – her family was one of few Pureblood families that had stayed out of the War. She was an accomplished student and one of few Slytherins that returned to Hogwarts after the War. She had been appointed to Head Girl her seventh year, a position that not many Slytherins had held. So when Draco began courting her, it was big news. When they married in a huge ceremony, the press had a field day. There were lots of pictures in the Daily Prophet, with mostly positive stories (it helped that his mother knew several of the people who worked there). When Astoria became pregnant, it was news fodder once again. Beaming pictures of the couple were all over the Society section of the paper, and when Astoria died in childbirth, the wizarding community grieved with Draco.

Now, he was thankful for all of the positive press he had received, primarily for his son. He did not want his son to suffer for his mistakes, as he had done for the mistakes Lucius had made.

Draco stopped in front of a florist's store and looked at his son. "Scorpius, should we get Nana some pretty flowers?"

Scorpius thought for a moment, then nodded his head and said, "Pwetty flowers for Nana."

As they walked in, Draco noticed an elderly witch that was about to drop her vase full of flowers and put Scorpius down so he could assist her.

"Thank you, young man. I would have hated to break this vase. It's quite beautiful," the witch said.

"No problem. It is a beautiful vase," Draco agreed.

As the witch smiled at Draco and walked away, Draco heard his son ask, "I smell flowers?" Draco turned and walked around the store until he found Scorpius smelling flowers that a young woman was carrying.

"Mmm…smell pwetty," Scorpius said.

The woman laughed and Draco's eyes opened wide as he realized who she was. Hermione Granger. He had seen her around before, but not very often, and they hadn't spoken since leaving the school.

Scorpius turned and said, "Daddy! I smell flowers! They smell pwetty!"

Hermione looked at "Daddy" and a look of shock came over her face. "Malfoy?" she asked.

"Hello, Ms…Granger? Or is it Mrs. Weasley?" he asked in a polite voice as he picked up his son.

She frowned and said, "Ms. Granger".

"Gwanger has pwetty flowers," Scorpius added as he smiled at Hermione.

Hermione recovered and smiled at Scorpius. "Thank you…uh…"

"His name is Scorpius," Draco supplied.

"Oh. Thank you, Scorpius. I'm glad you like them," she finished.

"We get Nana flowers," Scorpius informed her.

"We are here to get my mother some flowers," Draco explained.

"How nice," Hermione awkwardly said.

Draco knew she was uncomfortable around him. He didn't blame her. He had said and done awful things to her and her friends during his time at Hogwarts.

"Um, Ms. Granger, I…I would like to…" he began, but was interrupted by the shopkeeper, asking if he was interested in any flowers.

"We'll take a dozen of the same flowers," motioning to Hermione, and the shopkeeper went to get them.

"Well, I better be off. I'll be late for dinner. Bye, Scorpius," she said with a wave.

"Gwanger come dinner with us?" he asked.

"Oh, no, sweetie, I'm having dinner with some friends," she said as she knelt down to his level.

Scorpius frowned. "I Gwanger friend, too?" he asked.

Hermione smiled. "Of course you can be my friend. You seem like a sweet boy," she answered.

Scorpius grinned and said, "Come over later to my house?"

Hermione's eyes widened slightly and looked at Draco, who looked a little surprised.

"Well, maybe later, okay?" she said to Scorpius.

Scorpius nodded and held out his hand. As Hermione held it, he shook it and said, "It's a deal."

Draco laughed to himself – Scorpius must have heard him use that line with business contacts.

Hermione stood up and looked at Draco. "Um, well, bye Malfoy."

"Goodbye, Ms. Granger. I hope you have a pleasant evening," he replied.

She again looked surprised, but said nothing and left the store.

"She pwetty," Scorpius said.

"She's a little too old for you, son," Draco said and pulled out his wallet to pay the shopkeeper who had walked up with the flowers.

"Yeah, but she pwetty. She nice, too," Scorpius added.

Draco grabbed his son's hand and walked out of the store, thinking that he owed Ms. Hermione Granger, along with her two friends a long, overdue apology. He had thought about doing it before, but then he met Astoria, and she consumed all of his thoughts. After they married, the two of them had talked about it – Astoria thought it would be good for him to apologize, and he had agreed. Before he could though, she became pregnant with a very difficult pregnancy, and all of his energy went into taking care of her. After her death, well, he didn't think of anything but taking care of Scorpius and his own grief.

Draco sighed as he thought about apologizing. It was something he knew he needed to do, but he wasn't sure how to do it. He needed some advice. I wonder what Mother will think, he thought.

"Ready to give these flowers to Nana?" he asked.

"Yup!" Scorpius replied.

Draco smiled at his son and watched his son smile back. "Then, let's go," he said as they made their way to an apparition point.

A/N: Sorry so long! I felt that I needed to explain some things before I went on with the story. I'm not sure when Draco/Hermione shippiness will happen, but I promise it will! I want it to feel right, not rushed. Please review and leave constructive criticism. Again, if someone wants to beta, let me know!