"I'm headed straight for the castle
They wanna make me their queen"
Halsey
Hermione was trying to hide until their final meeting before her little school was built. Flourish and Blotts was always a great spot and getting lost in books was a sound idea. Hermione was waiting for Remus and Sirius to show up, so they could apparate to the location Kingsley had given her. Some small muggle restaurant he took her to last time, but now she needed to sidelong with them so that they could get there.
She needed some new books on werewolves and magical theory, so it was catching two birds with one spell. The witch stood there gazing at the books for some time before she realized she was being watched. Glancing around, she noted a small boy peeking around the corner of a shelf. He seemed alone, and her eyes traveled nearby to see if he had just wandered.
"Hello," the child said.
Hermione waved with a smile. "Hello there," she murmured.
The boy approached tentatively and held a book in his hand. "You're the girl in the paper," he noted.
Ducking down, she tilted her head. "And you're by yourself in here? Where are your mummy and daddy?"
"Mummy is in the stars and daddy is a wee," The boy said with a nod and held out his book. "This," he declared.
Hermione tilted her head and read the book's title. "You are getting a book on dragons. That is nice," she replied as she sat down on the ground.
The child did not ask, he climbed over and nodded. "Yep, dragons. I like," he paused and turned the pages to a big white one. "This one."
"Ah, this is a pretty one. They live in New Zealand, and their main diet is fish and large game," she responded, still a bit wary about a stranger's child sitting in her lap.
Hermione knew it was hard to run around with a child. She ran errands many times with Teddy as a young boy, and he was always trying to wriggle away from her. Lucky for her, she never had to yank him away from a stranger. Hopefully, the boy's parents weren't too far.
"This, that's pretty," the boy said and pointed to a green dragon.
"What is your name?" Hermione inquired gently, and the child giggled.
"Scorpius, what are you doing? I told you to wait by the door," A stern voice entered the space.
Hermione bristled and gazed upon a weathered-looking Draco Malfoy. He took in the view, and his eyes grew even more furrowed when he noted who his son was occupying.
"The girl from the paper wanted to read," Scorpius declared with a nod.
Hermione had the boy climb from her lap, and she stood up, straightening her dress. "Well, he seemed a bit interested in sharing, and he looked alone. I didn't want him to go wandering," She murmured, not meeting his eyes.
"Do you randomly save children that appear alone?" Draco's voice was abrasive.
She glared at him, folding her arms. "Excuse me for being a decent human being," she spat, tossing her curly mess of hair over her shoulder. "You don't need to be a tosser."
Scorpius tugged on Hermione's dress. "Grandmother says it is bad to say that word."
Hermione softened her expression and glanced at the boy. "I am sorry."
Draco's eyes darted from his son to the woman in front of him. "What are you doing here anyway?" he questioned and then waved it off. "Never mind, Granger. It is a bookstore, I should know better."
"We are getting books then lunch and then ice cream," Scorpius said with a nod. "Do you like ice cream?"
"Come along, son. Let's leave the witch alone," Draco declared and waved his hand for the boy to follow.
He frowned up at Hermione. "You don't like ice cream?"
"I love ice cream, but I think your father wants to go," Hermione told him with a sympathetic expression.
The blond child scampered over to his dad. "Dad, can she come too?"
Draco seemed a bit out of his element as he narrowed his gaze at his son and then glanced back at Hermione. "She has her own shopping to do. Let's go."
A flash of magenta entered the area, and a child's gasp was heard. "Cousin Draco and Scorpius! Hermione, you found them," Teddy declared with a happy clap.
"Teddy! Look, I have a new book," the child declared with a nod before handing it to the Lupin.
Hermione and Draco stood awkwardly as the boys glanced at the pages. "I like this one. My Uncle Sirius got it for me when I was younger," Teddy told the young Malfoy.
"This," Scorpius said and tapped the green dragon. "I like him."
"That is a Green Welsh; they are from out here, ya know?" Teddy asked the younger boy.
"Wow!"
Hermione shuffled her feet and exhaled. "Teddy, where is your father and Uncle Sirius?"
An arm snaked around her waist, and she felt stubble against her cheek. "I never liked that you called me Uncle Sirius, love. I have another pet name if you want to call me that," Sirius snickered, causing Hermione to roll her eyes.
"The only person who will call you daddy is the man you shag daily, Sirius," Hermione said testily before pushing him away.
Draco's expression lessened, and a small curve reached his lips. "Granger, you said that without even blushing."
"Sirius used to make me turn red with mortification years ago… now he just a pest," Hermione retorted with a grin and sighed. "I am sorry we crashed your shopping day, Malfoy. I was waiting for them so that we could go to a meeting. I thought Remus said Andromeda was going to watch Teddy." She finished turning to the animagus.
Sirius waved his hand in theatrics. "Well, you know how witches are with their needs. It seems Drom had her own errands last minute and wasn't home. Now we have the kid for the day."
Teddy made a face up at Hermione. "I want to spend time with Scorpius. I never get to see him," the Lupin declared, and Hermione bit down on her grimace.
"Edward, you did not even know about him until a few days ago…" she said carefully. "We don't have time to go shopping today."
"Neither did you and I want to spend time with him," the boy retorted, and Draco covered up a bit of laughter.
"I am not hearing you argue with Hermione, am I?" Remus asked as he walked next to Sirius.
"Hello, Lupin. It seems we are meeting like this more often than not," Draco mused, and Scorpius nodded.
"See, my dad will let us," the blond replied and patted Teddy's arm.
Sirius arched an eyebrow at the smirking Malfoy. "You want to come with us? We are going to some muggle joint."
Remus and Hermione both groaned. "Sirius, he doesn't want to bother with our silly business," Hermione snapped.
"Well, I could sit with the children at another table while you have your meeting," Draco offered and pointed a thumb at the boys mumbling over books by the shelf. "They are pretty engrossed."
The werewolf contorted his expression and turned to Hermione. "We wouldn't be far away," he mumbled, and the witch scrubbed her face.
"Alright! But you best not make a scene Malfoy, or I will hex you. I don't care what you have done with your hair; it will be purple by the time I am through with you." She snapped and walked away, her books tight against her body.
All three men watched her as she left and Sirius exhaled. "I do love when she is slightly annoyed. You never get the same swing in her hips with any other mood." He teased when she was out of earshot.
Remus elbowed him. "Time and place, Pads. Wrong company to be speaking so poorly about her," the werewolf hissed and followed the irritated witch.
The animagus looked over at the Malfoy who was still smiling. "Don't worry, I understand," Draco said, and his smile etched widely.
"You shouldn't admit that, she hates you," Sirius snickered, and Teddy walked up.
The Lupin nodded. "Mhm, it's true."
Scorpius held another two books in his hands when he approached. "Dad, I am hungry," he declared.
Draco waved two fingers at the books in his son's hands. "Give them here. Let me pay for these so we can go to lunch. We are going to sit with Teddy while his father and company take care of business."
Teddy and Scorpius grinned in unison. "Thank you, Draco," Teddy replied, his hair bright pink.
Scorpius handed his books to his father and took Teddy's hand. "I want to show you the peacocks. They are white like my hair," He announced as he tugged the older boy down the stairs.
Draco groaned and shook his head. "Our hair isn't white it is blond!" Draco shouted, and Sirius snorted.
"Come along, cousin. It is going to be a long day."
Draco was sipping his cappuccino and watching the boys talk about things. He actually enjoyed watching his son socialize. To be honest, he had been wary of exposing him to people since Astoria's passing. Hermione, Remus, Sirius, and Kingsley were sitting across the way still in view, but enough of a distance for privacy.
"So, tell me something, little Lupin. How often does Hermione go stay with you?" Draco asked.
Teddy glanced over at him and tilted his head. "Well, she used to come stay all the time before Uncle Sirius came back. Uncle Sirius did something naughty, and now she only comes over once and awhile." The older boy said with a nod.
"What naughty thing?" Draco murmured leaning closer to the children.
Teddy shrugged his shoulders while sipping his chocolate milk. "I don't know, but dad got mad. Uncle Sirius had to buy him flowers, and Hermione didn't come over or see me for months," the boy finished and frowned. "To be honest, Uncle Sirius tends to make Hermione twitchy. I love my uncle, but he can tease meanly. Hermione is too nice to say it hurts her feelings," the boy mused with a sad expression.
That made Draco feel a twinge of guilt. He did his fair share of teasing the brilliant muggleborn. "She is. You must be very fond of her," Draco was trying to coax more information from him.
The young Lupin must have known because his eyes turned suspicious. "Why doesn't Hermione like you?"
Scorpius made a face. "Herminny doesn't like you, dad?" he asked.
"I wasn't very nice to Hermione in school. I wasn't a very nice boy. We haven't really talked since," he admitted, but it was partially a lie.
They spoke two years after the war. It ended badly when Hermione said she could never forgive him for his actions, no matter how misguided. The only reason she ever showed any neutrality was because of his efforts at the manor to hide Harry's identity. Draco figured that was as much as he could expect from her. He watched her get tortured, and it broke a piece of her off for the room to see. He knew there was little he could do to fix what he participated in by being present.
Scorpius tilted his head and hemmed. "Dad, why? I like Herminny," he stated, bringing the father back to the present time.
"Sometimes people do bad things. I have no excuse no matter how sorry I am for doing them now," he replied, and Teddy nodded slowly.
"Well, I like you now, Draco. Grandmother told me we have to have forgiveness for the past," Teddy declared and patted Scorpius's shoulder. "Did you know your grandmother and my grandmother are sisters?" he asked the younger Malfoy.
Scorpius gasped and shook his head. "Really? I wish I had a brother," he murmured, and Teddy bobbed his head.
"Me too. My mum went to heaven too," Teddy replied with a subdued expression.
Draco choked a bit on the emotion and exhaled. "How about we get some dessert after lunch?" he asked them.
The boys nodded and finished their plates. It gave Draco time to recover such a substantial conversation. He wasn't prepared to feel so emotional while watching the little Lupin. Despite being raised by his father, he held an eerily similarity to Hermione's perspective and her matter of fact demeanor. That threw him off when he was in school and gave her an edge.
"Darling, don't eat too many sweets, alright?" Hermione's voice brought Draco from his thoughts, and he looked over at her.
"Well, thanks for your concern, Granger," Draco snickered, and her cheeks bloomed with color.
She was standing over Teddy; her hand caressed the boy's shoulder. "I was speaking to Teddy. Whether you let your teeth rot with sugar is your business, Malfoy," Hermione retorted with an arched eyebrow.
"You're delightful," Draco sneered as she kissed the boy's hair.
Ignoring his jabs she sighed. "We are almost done, love. Then we have to take a trip to Hogwarts. Would you like to come?" Hermione murmured against Teddy's cheek.
"Yes!"
"Good. We are just talking about how we can afford the new building, and then we will be finished." She confirmed and straightened her posture.
Draco tilted his head as he arched an eyebrow. "How much are you looking for, Granger?"
Hermione seemed visibly startled by his interest. "Oh, well, I was just planning on taking a loan out from Harry and Ginny," She simpered and straightened her clothing. "Enjoy your dessert."
The witch walked away, and Teddy smiled at Draco. "I can't wait to go to Hogwarts."
Scorpius scowled. "I want to go too," the Malfoy child grumbled.
Draco scratched at his beard with a nod. "Well, we shall see…" he trailed off, and the waitress brought their fudge sundaes to the table. "Let's eat these and I will have a conversation with our beloved Minister."
The two Malfoys and the Lupin ate their dessert while Draco contemplated. A musing was surfacing, and he felt his late wife would agree; he should help get this school started. That brought him a sense of purpose outside of his son… something he hasn't felt in years.
