She was bursting with fury as she launched into heavy pacing after exiting the fireplace. Hermione could not believe Kingsley let that… that… Malfoy contribute to her cause. Naming her school? Participating in its creation? Had their minister entirely gone around the bend?
The witch growled and heard the fireplace go off again as green light filled the drawing room. "Hermione, calm down," Remus sighed, and she pivoted toward him.
"No! I am not going to calm down, Remus! He slithered into our plans and now has his fingers in a project I had planned for years!" She screamed in hysterics.
Another flash of light announced Teddy's arrival and Remus exhaled. "You go ahead and go get cleaned up, son. I have to talk down Hermione."
The boy's hair was a greyish color. "Okay," he muttered before heading out of the room.
"Remus, he is plotting to ruin our dreams. This is clearly a task his father set him up for. How could he ever want to help people like me?" She snapped, nearly crimson from her anger. "His father looked me in the eye and told me that I was signing a death warrant for myself. That man is going to kill me. Whether his son participates in it or not."
Green light filled the area, and Sirius walked into the room. "Love, you need to relax. You looked like you were going to manifest daggers to stab Kingsley with," Sirius murmured, and her glare turned toward him.
"Merlin's wrath, Sirius, why couldn't you stay silent instead of inviting that snake to dine with us today? I cannot believe you could be so bloody dense. Clearly, this was his plan the whole time! How could I have stood there like a fool while he played me like a quaffle? Acting standoffish and protective of his son… I was a bloody moron!" Hermione was nearly spinning in her rage at this point.
The male animagus thinned his lips. "I doubt that he had planned to be invited, Hermione," he countered, and the witch scrubbed her face.
"This is completely mad. Have I fallen into some sick nightmare that I cannot wake up from? When did Draco Malfoy become a participant in any desire of mine? The last person on this earth that I wanted to share this marvel with was him!"
"How about you go get into a soak and I will pull out the good brandy? You can twist and writhe while drowning your angst after Teddy goes to bed," Remus finally suggested and her eyes faded from their flickering passion.
"I should probably go. I have to get up early and go speak to Kingsley about this in the morning," she murmured as her posture shrunk.
"No, no, no, you are staying with us tonight. I am not letting you go home and twist yourself into a ball of tension while trying to decipher this nonexistent plot," Sirius retorted standing in front of her. "Go be a good witch and loosen up while we take care of the wee Lupin."
She sagged in defeat and sighed. "Well, there is no use arguing. However, I am using your bathroom and that expensive bath oil you have in there," she grumbled, stomping from the drawing room.
Remus finally released the deep breath he was nearly holding since Kingsley told them. "Well, this is what happens when we let her tell us she wasn't going to use your inheritance…" the werewolf mumbled, lacing his fingers through his greying hair. "What are we going to do about this mess?"
Sirius scratched his chin before shrugging his shoulders. "I told her. Many times over. I don't need to buy her affection; it was a gift. She just doesn't like to listen to me."
Remus's brow furrowed and his lips shifted to one side. "I wonder why that is? Maybe it has to do with what you said to her?" his voice was sharp despite its calm tone.
The animagus sneered and waved a hand in the air. "That was years ago, Moony! Two bloody years and I have yet to live this down? If you would have just shagged her as I told you to do, we wouldn't always be going back to this conversation!" He spat, and Remus growled.
"Oh, yes, that is just a reality we all would love to participate in, Padfoot. She would look at me like a monster. She already must avoid the press as it is… imagine if word ever got out that she shagged a werewolf? My gods, she would be ruined. Do not wish that upon her."
"Let me remind you that she offered. She did! When that fell through she came to me. A last-ditch effort I assume to recover from her wounded pride that you rejected her. I told her the truth! If she wanted to shag me because of it, then she was barking up the wrong tree. I love you too much to allow such a thing to happen." Sirius snarled, racing a hand through his wild hair.
Remus huffed. "No, you let your own vanity get wounded from it. You shot her down viciously and without proper kindness," the werewolf spat in frustration.
"It was wounded because she never wanted me back! The amount of disappointment that witch suffered when I returned was unheard of! She wanted to continue to romance you from afar silently," Sirius snapped, and his cheeks tinted pink. "I was just a bloody tumor on her fantasy. Never a leading role."
Remus raised his eyebrows in shock at his partner's admission. "Sirius, she loves you," he reminded him.
The animagus chewed his cheek before shaking his head. "She loves me for you, Moony. I never wanted anything from her aside from the adoration she held for everyone else. She is kind, but she will never love me because I took you from her," he murmured as his eyes glinted with pain.
The werewolf placed his hand on Sirius's shoulder. "Love, she was the first person to race to greet you when the Ministry released you. She cares for you more than you know."
Sirius closed the gap between them and buried his face in the crook of Remus's neck. "I hate myself for hurting her," he grumbled, and the werewolf snorted.
"My poor self-deprecating dog… You need to let it go and stop trying to fix it. If anything, Hermione knows you are doing things out of guilt, and it only makes her more uncomfortable. You did not take me from her. Our lives are far better with you in it," Remus finished as he ran his fingers over the animagus's back. "A large void in my heart was filled with your return. Never forget that she knew that too. We spoke at length about my love for you and how I realized it too late. If anything, Hermione knew she didn't have a shadow of a chance with me losing two loves in my life."
"You don't need to lie to me to make me feel better, Moony," Sirius choked and pulled away with a soft smile. "I know that in any other circumstance, she would have made you immensely happy."
Remus ran a thumb over the small silver tear trail against Sirius's cheek. "Maybe, but this isn't another circumstance, and I am deeply in love with you. All the pain we shouldered together. You loved me when no one else knew how. You were my first, and somehow I never could figure out how I could be attractive to someone like you."
Sirius chuckled, shaking his head. "Moony, you were always bloody attractive; in a self-loathing but intellectually elevated way. Loving you was like breathing," he said with a smirk. "Now, I am going to go check on our little twitchy witch companion while you make sure your son is alright."
Remus gave him a nod before kissing Sirius softly. "You were always better with her when she gets like this," the werewolf sighed with curved lips. "Quite possibly because you share the same temper."
"Very true. I still stand by what I said. You should have shagged her. She would have made an outstanding bedside contender," Sirius teased while waggling his eyebrows. "Alas, a fantasy I will only get to live out in my own wicked dreams."
Remus scrunched his face. "I still stand by my own answer. It would have given her nothing but heartache. It is better for her that we never did, and I am not selfish enough to drag her through the struggles of public disgrace," he replied with a tilt of his head.
Sirius snagged the werewolf's lips with his own once more before bowing a little and smiling. "I will see how the fair lady is coping. See you after the spawn is asleep."
The animagus climbed the stairs and felt vulnerable. A confession such as that never really left the recesses of his deep confounding heart. He never liked hurting people. He hated himself more for hurting her, but it was hard to cope with her pining. She loved Remus almost as much as he did. It was a scary assessment to trudge through when he returned to the land of the living.
He came back to a place he hardly knew. The world had shifted without him, but Remus was waiting with open arms… to Hermione's own detriment. His return had ruined her in a way he had not meant. The first month was easy; tons of shagging, quiet moments in bed, and even breakfast with the youthful boy and his father. The second month was harder. Hermione's heart broke the more it was affirmed that it wasn't just a relieving fling of the resurrected.
He approached the bathroom door and did not knock; he just went inside. "Sirius!" she growled sharply, water splashing as she covered her more private bits.
"Ello, lovely. I was coming up to see if you needed your back washed," he snickered and found himself a dry space on the nearby counter.
Hermione grumbled something incoherent and reached for a white vial on the ledge. Splashing a few doses into the tub, the water went milky white and concealed her body below it. "What are you doing in here. I thought I was supposed to be decompressing, not returning tension to my mind."
Swinging his legs as his hands held to the edge of the counter, he looked down at the floor. "I wanted to make sure you were alright."
Hermione always found moments like this a rarity with the hardened animagus. He had a youthful sincerity that she greatly admired when he took down his defenses. It made her silently wonder if that was how he was at Hogwarts. The witch shifted in the tub and rested her neck on the rim.
"I will be. I am going to borrow the funding from Harry tomorrow and insist that Kingsley doesn't use Draco. It will only cause us more issues," Hermione sighed as she closed her eyes.
"Why wouldn't you let me do this? I have more reason to than anyone else. We both love Remus and if you want his success in this, then let me help you both, please? This whole debacle is clearly a sign, so please let me?" Sirius asked, his voice was full of uncertainty.
Hermione exhaled and rubbed a damp hand over her face. "Sirius, I have been selfish, I am sorry."
"Then you will let me?" he asked.
She glanced over at him, and he was chewing his bottom lip. "Yes, if you really want to. It was years of us two fighting the injustice of the world together that I forget he has a partner now who loves him deeply. It was the residue of my apprehension to let anyone hurt him as he has been in the past. I am sorry."
Sirius frowned while shaking his head. "You have no clue as to how much I appreciate and care for you because of how well you treated him, Hermione. It is endearing, and I can only hope you know that I love you more for it," he replied, and the witch sat up.
"Coming from you, that means plenty. I know you don't find your loyalty to people effortlessly. They must earn it," she said which made him smile.
Sliding off the counter, he maneuvered next to the tub and propped his legs out in front of him. "Now, are you going to tell me why you won't let me see you nude?" he teased with a bright smirk; his recovery was strikingly swift.
"Get out, I am almost done," she groaned while her eyes swiveled in annoyance.
Sirius climbed off the floor and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Take your time, love. We will be waiting for you when you are finished," he whispered.
Hermione's wet hand ran against his cheek before he pulled away. "Thank you, Padfoot. Sincerity is a nice color on you," she sighed and pulled her fingers from his face. "I will be down shortly."
The marauder flashed her a toothy smile as he stood up and winked. "Preferably in something skimpy? It has been awhile since I have seen a witch in near nothing," he taunted, and she splashed him.
"Shoo, you awful dog," she spat through a stifled smile.
Sirius left the bathroom, and Hermione exhaled, feeling that her bath was no longer a release from her troubles.
Draco walked into the manor with his son asleep over his shoulder. The boy was getting far too old to be carrying this much. He felt relieved with the turn of events, and even Hermione seemed more passive than he expected her to act. It felt… good. Yes, he felt happy to be participating in this evolution. He wanted to show repentance for his past, and this was a sound way to do it.
He managed to get Scorpius to his room and transfigured his clothing to nightwear before departing from the slumbering child. His trek down the stairs was silent, but he found his parents in the dining room. Narcissa was sipping a teacup while his father was grumbling.
"This is ridiculous. Now that girl is doting on my grandson?" Lucius hissed.
"Well, father, I see you have remained in this decade-long sour mood," Draco droned as he sat down next to his mother. "Good evening, mother," he murmured and kissed her cheek.
"Draco, what is this business about you letting that witch read a book to our grandchild? That Skeeter witch sent me a copy of her article for tomorrow's paper," Lucius growled and tossed a parchment at the younger Malfoy.
Taste for Blood After All?
Hermione Granger, a witch of seemingly honorary goals in the latest of news. Bills of equality. Notions of transitioning from old ways of thought to new outlandish ideas. However, has her personal tastes moved to a more purist view after all? Miss Granger has been quite elusive since her debut release of the Condition-influenced Wizard's Act, also known as the Werewolf Equal Rights Edict (W.E.R.E. for short). Dodging, what many say, rumored engagement with princes, foreign diplomats, and heirs to hefty sums of wealth and fortune.
However, Miss Granger has always had a fond taste for celebrities and wealth, so it is sure that most of these rumors are false, withstanding her tastes. She has rarely been seen outside of her typical routine of working at the Ministry or stopping in to buy another book on werewolves at Flourish and Blotts… until yesterday.
The young witch was seen innocently coddling a child as he pointed out different things in a book, but low and behold the craft of such a fiercely determined witch. It was none other than Draco Lucius Malfoy's son who she had cohered into her scheme. The youthful Malfoy tripped upon them reading, and Miss Granger played the remarkably false innocence that she had not a clue whose child she was clutching. Is this plotting witch out for quite possibly another heart to break? Hopefully, the widower will know the type of witch was in his company before it is far too late.
Draco started at the gossip article and sneered. "This is grotesque even for that yowling harpy."
Narcissa pursed her lips. "Darling, what happened?" she asked, and Draco snorted.
"I went to the loo for a minute in the bookshop while Scorp was deciding between which books he wanted and was near the door. I came out, and he was gone. Panicking I glanced around and saw him curled up on the floor with her. She said he wandered over to her and he remembered her from the paper," Draco grumbled, running a hand through his wild hair.
"Draco, why didn't you just drag him in with you?" Lucius hissed and waved his hand. "I taught you better than that!"
"Because I had a bloody moment, father! He was wearing the tethering charm, and I knew he wasn't going to be able to leave the store. I needed to gather my wits because I thought I saw my dead wife in the corner reading to my son," Draco snarled, slamming his hand down on the table.
Narcissa's expression faded to empathetic, and she caressed his clenched arm. "I am sorry. I know that it can be hard and I can't even understand your pains you face daily."
Draco huffed and rubbed his face with his other hand. "Then I walked out there to see her holding him. For a split second, I wasn't sure who it was. All I saw was a witch cradling my four-year-old boy, and my heart shuddered."
"Clean this mess up," Lucius said through his teeth and pointed at the paper. "We do not need this."
"I am. Which is why we are donating toward her cause. We are going to fix what mess you made, father." Draco retorted with a scowl.
"We most certainly are not," the patriarch growled.
"We are. It is already done. I sign the papers tomorrow and head to the site where it is being built. This time next week I will be walking through my new investment. How can we say that we are rightfully a House of respect if we do not respect change?" Draco's tone was distinctly sounding a challenge to his father.
"You will not do this, Draco. We have worked too hard to fight past those awful rumors," Lucius retorted and waved a hand at the parchment on the table. "That should be more than enough of a warning what will come. Your son-" Lucius paused as Draco stood up.
"Father, you are a miserable, old, vicious codger. Unless you plan to disown my son and me, you will live with my decision to do this. My wife would have wanted this," Draco snapped. "Now, I am going to go for a walk in the garden before I head to bed. Good night," He finished and leaned to kiss his mother good night.
"Good night, my lovely," Narcissa murmured and kissed his cheek.
Draco left his parents to argue likely… that was all they ever did anymore.