Merlin's balls, finally an update- right?!
After Pansy departed via Floo, Draco had his time to be alone. Noon became evening, and soon, evening became night. All the man did was basically sit in his study and ponder about tomorrow's first day on the job. But when dinner called for him, he had no choice but to be removed from his quiet study and into the dining room on the other side of the Manor, and join his family.
"Did Pansy visit you?" Narcissa chimes, cutting into a piece of her steak with her knife. "I passed by your study and could've sworn I heard her. Did you know that Blaise Zabini has proposed to her recently? They've been together for quite a while and I was surprised they weren't engaged yet until now."
"Mmm, maybe your time is running out, son. I thought you were to marry Parkinson, she's obtained a fair reputation in this world as a journalist." his father adds. "That Greengrass Miss isn't married yet, so I've heard. I know you've already said you wouldn't enjoy the thought of marrying Daphne, but her sister-" he inhaled a sharp breath. "-she's still waiting to be betrothed, and she does take a fancy on you, her father's told me." and Draco sits across his parents, from the other side of the extended dining table, and stared at them for a second before he set his utensils down on the rim of his plate and straightened himself out.
"Oh, Love, we just want you to be happy and marry the woman who will love you and give you such beautiful children!" his mother sighed. "There isn't much of an open window, anymore. You need to marry soon, and you understand that."
"I am a powerful man. A powerful man who can chose when and whom to marry at any time," Draco drawls. "I don't need to have my marriage and choice of women dictated."
"Well, maybe we're just trying to steer you into a good path. Draco, please. This is something...something you should start considering. I for one, don't even care if the girl's blood, just marry someone who-"
"Now, now. Shouldn't I have a say in that, Narcissa?" Lucius chimes in abruptly. "Excuse me, but after everything, I believe the Malfoy line should not be tainted, instead, kept pure. For the sake of the Malfoy line and Draco's status."
"Do you want our son to marry or die alone?" Narcissa questioned. "All I'm saying is, Draco," she locked eyes on her son and sighed, "marry whomever you please- just do it soon, for your father- for me, please." and there was a long pause before Lucius cleared his throat to speak.
"Blood is blood, yes. But it is family we are trying to care for. Just...make sure she's smart. So your children will be smart, of course. Hermione Granger smart." oh, the irony in this...
"That reminds me, I was catching up with Blaise Zabini's mother- she's quite iffy on the whole proposal but anyway-" she leans back in her chair and clasps her hands together. "I've managed to catch up with her and catch up with the events that has happened in Britain while we were gone. Did you two know that all the members of the Golden Trio have children? It's very lovely." she chimes sheepishly. "Though, she was very ill while speaking about Miss Granger. Did you know that she is not married and has two children? Father is unknown to them. Such a shame." she shudders. "The poor girl."
"That's not what I heard," Lucius snorts, raising his nose in the air as he took a sip from his wineglass. "Miss Granger was apparently a skanky girl, and made wrong choices. She may be a fair beauty and the brightest witch, but her life choices are ill."
"Have you seen the children?" Draco asked, picking at his food with his fork. "Any of the Trio's children? Perhaps they're quite ghastly in appearance." his mother laughs and shakes her head.
"Hermione Granger's children are rumored to be quite the view. She is very lovely looking, oh- they apparently dislike the idea of bringing their children out into the eye of the world often. What's with that face, upset that your old rivals have beat you to the altar, Love?"
"No, no." Draco drawled, blinking repeatedly as he tried to sink this new information of Golden Girl Granger in his head. Unmarried? Two children, for Salazar's sake! He knew the Granger girl- she liked things being perfect, grades, status, appearance- okay not so much appearance during school, but she did look rather delightful when he saw her barge into the meeting room the day before- but why wasn't she married? There could be some reasons. The bloke could've shagged and ditched. Or, she was probably too bossy. No, no. That's not it. Granger could probably get any man she wanted with her title out in the Wizarding World. "Don't you think it's odd, though? Granger, I mean. Children and unwed."
"Not everyone makes pleasant choices." Lucius stated in an uninterested tone. He sighed. "Speaking of her makes me want to cringe. Let's not...In other news related to the long lived Golden Trio," he inhaled a sharp breath before eyeing his son. "The Malfoy's will be attending Harry Potter's birthday," and Draco eyes his father as if he was starting to go crazy. "...to maintain our status and show that we are past our old ways and are neutral between him and his family and friends, of course. We don't want to pass up the opportunity."
A gurgling cry came from the crib as Harry approached it, peeking over to see his beautiful baby girl happily thrashing her hands and and legs about.
"I don't think inviting the Malfoy's are a good idea, Harry." Ginny walked into the room and pulled off her muddy Quidditch uniform. "I mean, think about how Hermione would feel when she sees them- think about how the children would feel if something happened."
Harry picks up Lily from her crib and places her on his hip.
"What if I died during the War, what would happen?" he asked. "Being hypothetical."
"You wouldn't die, because I would've killed anyone for you." she laughed.
"No no, I mean. If I died, then James wouldn't get to see me."
"And he would be sad, obviously." Ginny added. "Where are you going with this, Harry?"
"Gen and Scorpius must feel sad too- and confused, not knowing who their father is- being lied to and being told he was dead for bloody sakes-"
"Harry watch your language-"
"-I just think what Hermione's been doing is wrong, and that the children should not grow up without a family."
"But we are their family, Harry."
"Without a Dad is like missing out on all the good things in life, I want my godchildren to at least not feel left out. Hermione's just..." Ginny carefully takes Lily from his hip and starts toward the vanity to fetch a new pull-up nappy. "She's- she's been lying for twelve years. It's like a sin...or something that the Dursley's would say whenever I would do magic. Point is, I just...want Hermione to stop lying to herself and the kids."
"Okay, Harry." Ginny grinned. " I understand what you're trying to do for them, and I know it's hard. It's okay if you invite them, I won't tell Hermione."
It was lovely at this time in London, nighttime. It was also still a bit humid, but it did not bother Hermione as much. After eating out for dinner, she and her children walked back to the flat.
"I call dibs on Mum's bathroom, I think I need to use it when we get there." Scorpius declared, and his sister scoffed in disgust.
"God, that's gross!" Gen hissed. "Honestly. Mum, I'm sure he's been with Uncle Ron and Teddy too often. Oh! Since we're here, I want to buy Uncle Harry a present. She pulls a small wallet from her back pocket and waves it in her brother's face.
"Wait, wait, wait. When did you get money?"
"Granny Jean."
"How come when I ask for money she says no?"
"Granny Jean doesn't appreciate when you step on her lilies, that's why." Genevieve remarked. "Could we stop at that little antique shop over there? I saw something there once and begged Uncle Harry to take me inside and I saw something he liked."
The shop was cozy and smelled of dust and moldy wood. Many of the things that were showcased on the shelves were caked in dust specs and spider webs. It was nice though, but a bit odd feeling. Hermione wandered around the store while Hermione went to hunt for the present, and Scorpius was looking at some old wooden dolls. The store had reminded Hermione greatly of the very creepy shop Borgin and Burkes that was back in Diagon Alley, except this store was slightly different and didn't have you feel like you would be attacked with Dark Magic if you touched anything. It wasn't until a good twenty minutes where Genevieve called over Hermione to look at his findings.
"Look, see?" She's pointing at something in a small showcase. As Hermione inched closer, she couldn't really believe what she saw.
It was a ring- but this ring, she's seen it before. She knew that ring like she knew the History of Hogwarts. The two snakes coiling together to makeup the gold band, green encrusted gems making up the eyes- Latin carved into the inside of the band. Even though it was collecting dust and its surface was nicked with dirt, it was still recognizable. What was it doing in Muggle London, exactly? It could carry Dark Magic, for all Hermione knew!
"I thought it looked really cool, see? Uncle Harry couldn't stop looking at it when we came in. It's got snakes on it." the shopkeeper wandered over from behind the counter to open the small showcase and collect it for her.
"My son found that ring in our house before we moved in long ago. It was probably some bum who use to squat in the house before it was sold. Picked it up and said it made him feel weird, like burning, but he was a bit of a nutter then." he said with a small chuckle. "But then again, it made anyone who touched it feel weird, hell, it felt like my hand was burning when I slipped it on. Tried pawning it but they said it had no value. D'you want a price? I'll ring it up and package it."
"Love, why don't you find something else?" Hermione asked, and Genevieve whipped around and crossed his arms in protest.
"What, why? It's okay, see? And look-" he reaches into the box, and before the shop owner could caution the girl, she had the ring in her palm. "-There's nothing wrong with it."
"No, that ring could have belonged to someone. Have you tried asking around?" she asked the storekeeper. He nods.
"No one has claimed it- been about ten years or so. Thought I could keep it to sell. For you, little lady," he nodded at Genevieve. "I'll sell it to you for sixty-two pounds,"
"Fifty-five."
"Sixty?"
"Fifty-five!"
"You like to drive bargains, don't you?"
"Well it's all I-"
"Genevieve...you are not buying this ring, you can't."
"Well why not?" Genevieve protests. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."
"I forbid you to buy that ring, Genevieve, and that's final. Put it down, so we can stop at a different shop." and she made her way out of the shop in a huff. This...this was the only time where she would disobey.
"Forty-eight pounds and you don't have to wrap it," she said finally. Genevieve had the ring in the palm of her hand while it was shoved into her pocket on the way home. It felt good.
It wasn't until a few days later where Hermione angrily barged into Harry's office and tossing a manilla folder on his desk aggressively.
"Harry, what is this?" she shouted. "Margy just gave me this- why?"
"Uh, Hermione you might want to shut the-" she slammed the door shut. His desk practically rattled "-okay. Um, I can tell you're angry."
"Harry James Potter, of course I'm angry! Why is Draco Malfoy dispatching all of my convicted suspects for some of my cases? I had to get Ron and McKinney to track them down again earlier this morning and bring them back!"
"Hermione...Shacklebolt gave him full permission to overlook cases, it's not just me now." he admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I tried to talk him convince him otherwise, but he insisted it would be good."
"The Head of the Council of Magical Law can look through cases and trial them herself, thank you very much, Harry." she hissed. "Malfoy wants my knickers in a twist, I'll give him a twist." she huffed, running a hand through her hair. "Dammit, dammit, dammit."
"Calm down, 'Mione. At least Ron and McKinney retrieved them, right? Am I right?"
"Harry, he's practically trying to do my job! And at a bad way! What the hell is that?" but before Harry could speak she turns to the door. "It's going to be fourth year for the stupid bloke all over again!" she declared, storming out in a hurry.
"Don't punch him too hard- no, wait! Don't even think about it!" but she didn't hear him.
The Head Auror office wasn't as big as Draco's old one in Spain. In fact, it was quite smaller and smelled of damp wood- something he should probably inform his Mother on when she decides to redecorate. But, besides that, it was quite and had a calm atmosphere, and that's all Draco could ask for- in Spain there were never Silencing charms put on rooms, so he would hear everything going on behind his door- sometimes even walls.
He reclined comfortably into his imported South American leather chair and sighed. He'd only been on the job for a good week or so and he was already bored. Though, he did have the granted wish to look over the Council of Magical Law, and with that advantage, he took the liberty to dispose of all the recent cases- simply because 1; He could, and it would be Hermione Granger he would see in fumes, and 2; they all were innocent- practically screaming innocent by the lack of evidence written on the parchment, which Hermione obviously did poorly on reviewing, so why convict innocent people for things they didn't it were forced to do? So he pulled the plug, and dispatched all four of them. Well, until the next morning, where he saw all of them back where he had last seen them. Granger had tracked them down.
There was a knock on his door.
"Come i-" and the door swings open and hits the wall when it is pushed back. Standing there in the doorway, is an angry Hermione Granger. Typical, really.
"-knocking would be courteous, shows manners."
"You- because of you I had to track down all of the suspects again. You have no right to be doing a job that you're not qualified for!" and she bites her own tongue and groans. "And why am I even talking to you, this is pointless anyway. I'm going to Shacklebolt and having you repealed from your ability to snoop into my side of the department." she begins to turn on her heels, but Draco's snicker stopped her halfway. How dare he!
"I let them off because if you can't notice," he props his feet on the corner of his desk and rests his hands on the back of his head comfortably. "Three out of four are innocent, the one with very unattractive hair- Polek, however, is the guilty one. Why are you looking at me like that? I just read the work, Granger. Polek used Imperio. Isn't it obvious?" He raises a brow at her, but she scoffs.
"Stay away from my work, Malfoy. I know what I'm doing, so stop being such a bother. I believe your assistance isn't needed in my department, so worry about yourself. And don't speak to me as if you know me in a particular manner." She turns fully away from him now and starts for the door.
"You didn't marry, Granger. Skeptical about that."
"I cannot believe you! My personal life doesn't have anything to do with you." she whirled around in anger, fists clenched. "Mind your bloody business and just- just don't, don't ever think you can talk to me as you please just because of working terms!" she scowled bitterly. "I can never, forgive you." And she's was gone before Draco could even open his mouth to snap back at her.
"Don't tell me- is that what I think it is," Scorpius gaped. He had poked his head down on the lower bunk to see if his sister was awake. She was, but also fiddling with the ring she and their Mother fought about a while ago. "Mum told you not to buy that ring, Gen. She's going to..." He trailed off and climbed off the top bunk to approach her. "She's going to kill you! And I can't believe you would even disobey her like that..." Genevieve holds out the ring in front of him quietly, and he hesitates before he takes it into his palm and slips it on.
"Remember when the shopkeeper said his son felt-?"
"-I don't feel anything." He quickly stated, rolling it in her palm. She hands it back to him. "I think he was fibbing, Gen. He tricked you," he shook his head. "Then again, it's not that hard to."
"That's not...okay, look." she heaved herself out of bed and wandered over to the desk and picked up a notebook filled to the bottom with notes poorly scribbled in pen. "That guy said it burned when he put it on, and it burned when his son put it on. I think this ring only reacts to non-magical beings. Like, only wizards can wear it."
"Well good job, Gen. So it's a ring made from magic, at least Uncle Harry isn't a Muggle." He tosses the notebook aside after starting at the pointless notes that Gen had jotted down. "Another plus on giving it to him."
"But why would Mum tell me not to buy it?"
"It is kind of ugly, you know." he replied, sliding open the closet door and disappearing inside of it before he emerges again, but changed out of his pajamas. "Maybe Mum just thought it wouldn't suit him. Matter of fact, that stupid thing was pricey."
"I saw Uncle Harry looking at it though- practically gazing. He likes it, so I'm giving it to him."
"Sure beats the thing I got him."
"Which was?"
"A book about wizards. Information is very poorly written, but I think he could take it as a joke."
He was right. Draco Malfoy managed to prove her wrong. After rereading the reports and various notes, Domion Polek, whose father was a part of the Dark Lord movement, had finally lost his marbles and lost his conscious and had finally snapped, using the Imperius on innocent Wizards and started a killing spree on Muggles. At first, it was portrayed as a group attack. Over the years there have been cults attempting to bring back what the very infamous Tom Riddle had attempted to create. It was a relief when they caught him in time and stopped the curse. Twenty-seven innocent deaths. Twenty-seven children, specifically. It was horrid, having to visit the scene with Harry and Ron. So much blood...
"Hermione, we're going to start the trial for the Polek case. The first one is-"
"Margy, set it so Polek is the only one being questioned. The others are innocent, Malfoy was right." she admitted. "I need to set up a testimony really quickly..." and she's scrambling to grab parchment and a writing utensil.
"Mr. Malfoy already set a testimony, Hermione." the secretary piped up sheepishly. "He said you might need this," and she handed the brunette a long piece of parchment before retreating back outside to her desk.
The Burrow was packed with family and friends. The birthday dinner was to be set in the backyard with the stretched out table inside the newly set tent. Scorpius and Genevieve, along with the other older children, have been helping set the table and clean the outside of the Burrow while the young ones helped Grandma Molly prepare.
"This family is huge, I tell you," Teddy sighs as him, James, and Scorpius and Fred are lifting the last table and connecting it's end with the other. It was a long table set, with many chairs and plates set. Almost like those tables Scorpius would see when he read books about kings and princesses and dragons.
"No kidding," Scorpius replies. "since we're done here, how about we go play some quidditch in the lower field?"
"No, if you're going, I'm going too." Victoire chimed all the way from the other end of the table. She was setting utensils and glasses with Genevieve and Roxanne. "We're going."
Genevieve scoffs, "I'd rather eat dirt than play against them."
"Scared, are you Gen?" Fred cooed, bending his arms and flapping them. Genevieve turned to them in protest. Even though they were fairly far from the girls, they could see the fiery flame in Genevieve's eye.
"Excuse you, Freddie," she hissed. "But just because I don't look like flying material, I'm sure I could beat you guys in a round."
"Let's try and play then, we'll be back right before the dinner starts."
"Fine!"
Draco stared himself down in the mirror and adjusted his tie. He would depart to Devon for the Weasley residence with his family in fifteen minutes, and just the thought of it made him uneasy. He was still on bad terms with some of the family- Weaselbee, Granger, Percy... he shook his head and finally fixed his tie, then checking himself one last time before he headed out into the hallway to the main parlor where his Mother would be waiting. The day before, he had practically saved Granger's arse during the Polek case. If she were to sentence the wrong people, she would've ended up in the cell herself. Polek confessed that day, in the cage. Every bitter detail, he confessed, and Granger had smothered him to the ground with her words, and with his testimony. Of course, this was just work. He had to write it, otherwise she wouldn't have had the time to conjure one for the trial. He was just doing his job, as all...
"You look rather handsome, Draco." his mother beamed sweetly. "Your father has gone off to the carriage. We better head there now."
"You're cheating!" Genevieve screeched from high off the ground. The score was 79-63. Boys to girls. Luckily, Lucy decided to join in the fun. During streak of the girls' three times in a row score, Genevieve's broom started to go faulty. She knew it was the works of Fred. Damn, he was a mischievous one. So Genevieve held onto her broom as it jolted about, Victoire speeding past her to take over for her. "Fred, you are so dead!" she shrieked angrily, trying to maintain her out of control broom. For a second, it was still, then it jolted once more before it took off. Toward the Burrow.
"Has Hermione shown yet?" Ginny called into the den. Apparently, Hermione would run late due to work. But that was fine for Harry and her. Less tension if she and Malfoy saw each other after they were seated for dinner.
"What about the older kids? I haven't seen James."
"Lower field." Percy's eldest daughter Molly chimed. Oh, she had a thing for tattling.
"Playing Quidditch?! George why did you let them into the shed?" Ginny demanded, stalking toward the window to try to get a view of the field.
"Why are you assuming me? I wasn't out there. Probably Fred. Mischievous, I tell you."
"Gee, never heard that before." Ginny replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Molly, could you walk down to the field and fetch them? They're in trouble now."
"Let them have fun, Ginny. It's quidditch."
"James could be using my latest Nimbus, for all I know, George. I can't have him trash it." she reminded, then heading back into the kitchen to help finish the rest of the food to bring out to the tent.
It was a good twenty minutes later where the family started to head out back toward the tent. Dusk were to fall soon, and Molly did not return with the other children yet.
"I swear," Ginny mumbled after she stepped outside, witnessing a black and green colored carriage descend from the sky and slowly come to a landing a few feet from The Burrow. "Where are those children-?"
A figure quickly swooped past her, wisps of hair flying around as she tried to adjust her eyesight. Squinting, she caught a sight of blonde wispy hair. Screaming- yes, it was Genevieve!
"Look out!" James shouted, him too zipping by on a broom, followed by Teddy and Scorpius and Fred and the girls.
"What's going on out here, Ginny-" and George bit on his own tongue before he finished his sentence. "Dammit, Freddie."
"George, Genevieve is going to get hurt!" but she spoke too soon, because the girl with the blonde hair holding onto the faulty broom crashed into the Malfoy carriage.
Unfortunately, Gen's broom had collided into a parked carriage. She wasn't hurt- or at least she thought. She was laying next to a black stallion, who bucked once she stirred. Mum is going to kill me...
"Are you out of your bloody damn mind?!" a voice bellowed. She rolled over and groaned, mumbling curse words while she finally regained her balance and was on her feet. It was a bulky man in the finest attire. Long, near white-blond hair, and in hand- a cane. Looking over to the carriage, Genevieve found it to be undamaged. Wards, it probably was, because there on the evergreen grass was broken wood, and bits of what was a broom. The man in front of her was shouting nonsense, but she quickly eyed him and told him to be quiet. Bold, she was. No, crazy, she was! The man just stared. He stared and stared.
"Gen! Gen! Gen, are you alright?" Scorpius shouted from a distance. When he finally approached on his broom, he clumsily got off and rushed over to his sister. "Mum's going to murder me, ooh, cricket!" he sighed, and turned to the boys who had followed. "Fred, you're so dead! She's bleeding!" that's when Genevieve noticed a sliver of red on her nose. She was fine- she didn't break anything, did she?
"Lucius, is everything okay out- oh my, what happened?" it was a woman, with strips of black and blonde in her hair. She was frightened, from her reaction to seeing the broken broom and children gathered around the little girl. "Is she alright, Lucius, what happened?" she questioned again, but Lucius did not reply. He was still gaping at the child with the muddy blonde hair and bleeding nose bridge. And Narcissa saw it too-
"James Sirius Potter you are in big trouble!" a very angry Mrs. Potter fumed as she made her way toward the carriage. "How dare you go along with this charade to cause your cousin to get hurt! She could have a concussion!" she quickly went over to the girl and grabbed her shoulders. "Gen? Where are you right now? Can you tell me what day it is?"
"The Borrow for uhm...Uncle Harry and his birthday. You planned it on a ...Sunday? I think.." and the redhead sighed in relief and pulled her into a hug. "Who are you?" she asked. Genevieve was referring to the two people standing near the carriage. Ginny quickly turned Genevieve around and patted her back. "Scorpius, Fred, the lot of you will be in trouble! Take Gen to Grandma Molly. She's bleeding..." she watched them stalk off and then turned to the Malfoy's. Luckily, Draco just climbed out of the compartment after the children stalked off.
"What the bloody hell was that?" the young blond demanded, brushing off his clothing once he stood next to his parents. "Potter," he mumbled. Ginny nodded.
"Malfoy's," she sighed. "Glad you could make it- don't mind her, she's tougher than she looks."
Ginny knew that they were catching on- Lucius and Narcissa. This wasn't going to be a very comfortable night.
Author's Note: I know i'm really behind, and im sorry- but I've been prepping for school since it's starting and school is terrible, guh...and I had to rewrite some of this because I just wasn't feeling it. Anywhoozles, I'll still be updating as fast as I can, but school could become a small problem, but don't worry. i will update often! so yeah, thanks so much for sticking with me, holy crickets! Oh, and I know many of you are wondering, "omfg ewh, why is Gen in Hufflepuff?" Well, there's kind of a side story to that, and it will be posted much soon. Alright, Much love, ~drinkblacktea