I deleted this, then rewrote it, then deleted the second copy and went back to the first (thank god for ctrl+z) and well...gah. I just don't know. The next chapter will be the birthday party and then we are time jumping the shit out of this story. My creativity needs it. So my apologies that it's short, and it's ok if you hate it, because I know it's not my best chapter. I want to rush this story at times and just have it sync up with "show me" but I think I can figure out how to have the best of both worlds over the next few days or so.
Hermione had spent most of the day trying to contain the chaos of her house before her guests arrived. It was New Year's Eve, and their turn to host the New Year's Eve party - which had become a tradition over the years. Sparking grape juice was brought for the kids, wine for the adults, and with their finest party hats and noise makers, the evening was spent enjoying each other's company while counting down the moments to the new year. She made a deal with Jori that she could make the food for the evening if she promised to leave the cleaning up to her. Hermione wasn't sure what it was exactly, but she felt less guilty about the elf cooking than she did cleaning. Draco of course didn't understand why Hermione didn't just use magic to clean up the tornado of toys, but she reminded him that it only worked when the toys had a permanent place to go - and right now, she didn't know what to do with any of them. It was evident that they couldn't all be contained in her nursery, and that one of the rooms in the house would eventually have to become a playroom.
Harper was sitting in the middle of the floor, playing with some of her foam blocks and babbling to herself as the piano was charmed to play a variety of children's songs, which Harper always enjoyed. Hermione was glad her daughter seemed to be interested in music and hoped that it would continue as she got older. She wanted to be able to teach her daughter to play, just as her mother taught her. Collecting a couple of dolls and a basket of books, she set them off to the side in the corner of the living room where she had been corralling her daughter's toys as of late. It was just as good of a place as any for now, she told herself, scowling a bit as she stared at the overflowing toy box in the midst of the toys surrounding it. She needed to go through them, figure out which ones to save and store for their future children.
The thought about future children brought a small smile to her face. She'd been thinking about the idea more and more as of late, becoming comfortable with the idea of trying again. She still wanted to wait for Harper to be a bit older, but she also didn't want her daughter to be an only child. Turning around, Hermione placed her hands on her hips at her daughter, watching her as she stood, her hands holding onto the coffee table for a moment before realizing her daughter was standing.
"Draco!" she screeched. "Draco get down here! Quick! Draco!"
He clearly heard her cries, the sound of his feet trampling down the stairs as if the place was on fire echoing through the house. "What!" Draco exclaimed, catching his breath as he screeched to a halt in the family room. What is it?"
Hermione smiled with her eyes, biting her lips together as she pointed to their daughter, still standing at the coffee table. She wasn't even using it to balance all that much, as her hands were waving and clapping at the sight of her father. "Da da da!" she squealed. "Da da da da mum mum mum mum!"
"Merlin's beard!" Draco exclaimed. "She's standing! She's really standing! Isn't it too early for standing?"
Hermione grinned. "James was standing at nine months, and walking a few weeks after."
Draco dropped to his knees, smiling at his daughter as he stretched his arms out to her. "Can you walk? Can you come to Daddy?"
Harper laughed, shaking her head no as she continued to stand.
"Please?" Draco begged. "Pretty please?"
Harper continued to babble, ignoring her father's pleas as she held a block in each hand, smacking them into the table.
Hermione laughed as her husband let out a defeated sigh. "Look at you…reduced to begging with a noncompliant baby. It's cute."
Rolling his eyes, Draco stood up and grabbed ahold of Hermione's arm, yanking her towards him as she giggled. "Cute, huh?"
She flicked her finger against the tip of his nose. "Maybe. Just a bit."
"Keep that sassy attitude of yours up - see how far it gets you."
"Trust me, I'm aware of just how 'far' my sass will get me, Mister Malfoy."
He pulled her close, their noses touching when the sound of the floo in the dining room peeled their attention away from each other. They heard Narcissa before they saw her, calling out Harper's name as she made her way through the house. Narcissa gasped as she found her granddaughter, clapping her hands together as Lucius appeared behind his wife, beaming at the sight of Harper. "Lucius look! She's standing! Oh my goodness - look at her!"
"Well of course she's standing," Lucius replied, moving past his wife. "She's only been attempting to pull herself up for weeks now. It's high time she accomplished the task." He stood a few feet away from Harper, looking down at her with a small smile. "Can you walk to Grandfather?" he asked.
Draco shook his head. "I already tried it, Father. She won't do it."
"Well you aren't me, now are you?" Lucius replied, glancing at his son for a moment before his attention returned to Harper. "Come here, Harper Grace. Come see Grandfather."
A block in each hand, Harper looked at Lucius, sucking on her lower lip as she appeared to contemplate the request. With a look of determination eerily reminiscent of her mother, she stayed close to the coffee table, shifting her feet as she took a few sideways steps, always within reach of the table to balance. It wasn't until she reached the edge did the little girl with a high, curly bob of a ponytail in her hair and a bright red jumper dress with white tights and shiny black buckle shoes take one small step towards her grandfather.
Then another step.
Then another step, watching her feet intently as she held the blocks in her hands. Two more steps closed the gap between her and Lucius, who scooped her up after the final step and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek as she cheered, the rest of the adults in the room somewhat awestruck.
"Please remove that sour look from your face," Hermione requested of her husband as she eyed him through the mirror while applying a final coat of mascara. "Your daughter walked for the first time today. Be excited!"
"But she walked to him!" Draco all but whined. "She always listens to him!"
Hermione laughed, replacing the wand in the container. "I don't know - why did she say 'Da' first? I'm the only who only had to carry her, have her jam her feet into my ribcage when I wanted to sleep and elbow my bladder during the most inopportune of times. Your nipples didn't feel like they were rubbed raw by the rough end of a dragon's tail from breast feeding, yet your name was the one she said first - not mine - yours. And did you see me throw a pity party? Of course you didn't."
Draco sighed as he vigorously looped a belt through the top of his pants. "I'm not throwing a pity party."
"I beg to differ."
"I just…don't you find it a bit odd that our daughter is attached to a man who barely has the ability to comprehend what emotions are, let alone have them?"
Hermione cleaned up the makeup from the counter, replacing it back into the organizing containers on her side of the vanity as she shook her head. "Harper adores her grandfather and that sentiment is returned. You always say that our relationship was a second chance for you - and that's what our daughter is for your father. A second chance to do things right - to be a better person. Your father isn't the same person he was - just like you aren't the same person you used to be. Either you accept that notion completely or you don't. You cannot waiver back and forth between the two. It isn't fair."
Sighing once more, Draco chewed on the inside of his cheek as he buckled his belt. He knew his wife was right, but he couldn't help how he felt. It wasn't that he was faking his feelings of general civility towards his father - it had genuinely began to get better between the two since Shacklebolt and Harry found Lucius a few years ago. But when it came to his daughter and her affections, Draco sometimes found it to be somewhat of a bitter pill to swallow.
Setting a wide black headband in her hair, Hermione grabbed an even wider black belt from the countertop and fastened it around her waist. She, like her daughter, was wearing a long red sweater dress with black tights and glittery black heels to match, the belt fastened around her waist to give the dress some shape. There weren't many outfits that Hermione had that matched Harper, but the few that they did have, Draco found adorable.
He walked up behind her as she watched herself in the mirror, fastening her new, emerald cut diamond earrings into her ears. Wrapping his arms around her middle, he rested his chin on her shoulder, placing a kiss on her neck.
"I still think you should have let me get Harper diamond earrings for Christmas," he mumbled, kissing her neck again.
"Again, it's a completely unpractical gift for a baby," Hermione replied. "When she gets her ears pierced, you can get her a small pair of diamond studs if you choose to do so. But she will not be piercing her ears any time soon."
Draco laughed. "Yes, dear."
"There's no point in piercing them unless she can take care of them."
"Of course, dear."
"And you know how I feel about you patronizing me," Hermione warned, spinning around in his embrace so that she was facing him, pointing a finger into his chest.
He hugged her closer, smirking his infamous Malfoy smirk. "But just think, I only have a few hours left this year to patronize you."
"I'm certain you could save it for next year," Hermione teased, her high heels adjusting her height so that she was nearly at eye level with her husband.
He planted a kiss on her lips and grinned. "I'm certain I have enough in me to last a lifetime."
"Of course you do," she snarked with a laugh.
"Where's Blaise?" Harry asked, retrieving a beer from Draco's fridge as the two of them secluded themselves to the kitchen. "He's coming, right?"
Nodding, Draco popped the cap with an opener and handed it to Harry. There weren't too many things Draco found sheer satisfaction with in doing something 'the Muggle way,' but popping bottle caps was one of them. He didn't know what it was, exactly, that he liked about it, but to him was fun. Simple, maybe, but fun. "He said he'd be here a bit later. Why? Did he say something to you?"
Harry shook his head. "We just haven't seen much of him since he saved me by hauling my wife out of the Burrow."
Chuckling a bit, Draco took drink. "Yeah, I'm not quite sure. Blaise is a bit…out of sorts lately. I don't know how to explain it, really. He's a bit more complicated than he appears."
"Most people are," Harry replied, leaning against the countertop.
"Touché."
The swinging door to the kitchen opened, though its intruder wasn't seen until he rounded the kitchen counter, dragging his stuffed dragon with him by the tail. "Hey Al," Harry said with a grin. "What are you doing?"
Albus shrugged as he gave them both a toothy grin. "Hi," he said.
"Hello to you too," Draco replied, setting his beer down on the island. He held his hands out to Albus, who laughed as he reached up for his godfather. Perching him on his hip, Draco kissed the top of his head and retrieved his beer. "What are you doing? Huh? What are you doing?" he teased, bouncing him a bit, Albus' giggles filling the room. "Are you ready for the new year? Do you have a resolution?"
Harry laughed. "Hopefully it's to learn some more words, and finish growing teeth so it doesn't take Daddy ten minutes to figure out what you're talking about. What do you think, Albus? You think you could learn some more words?"
Albus shrugged. "Yeah!"
Draco and Harry laughed as Ginny and Hermione walked into the kitchen. "Well, might I ask what is so funny in here?" Ginny asked, popping her hands playfully on her hips.
"Nothing really - just enjoying Albus' new response to everything, isn't that right?" Draco asked.
"Yeah!" Albus chimed in on cue.
"Well if you'd like to see something funny," Hermione said. "You ought to find James and Teddy, who are trying to get Harper to walk to them."
Harry took a drink of his beer. "And why is this funny?"
"Because they're begging her, and she's perfectly content standing at the coffee table between them," Hermione replied. "Your father is finding it quite humorous. He might have even laughed."
"Stop it," Draco scoffed. "Don't tell lies."
"She speaks the truth," Ginny interjected. "Saw it with my own two eyes."
Draco appeared slightly impressed. "Well…maybe his New Year's resolution is to be more jovial?"
"Doubtful," Draco wryly remarked. "That would require a personality transplant."
"Or more grandchildren," Harry added with a smirk. "Harper's going to be one soon, you know."
Hermione walked over to her best friend, teasingly stabbing a finger into his chest. "Listen here, Harry Potter, you took your sweet time before you gave James a sibling."
"But I was in the midst of auror training - establishing a career," Harry replied with a grin. "You have already done that. Besides - it's no secret that your father-in-law is much more enjoyable when Harper is in the room. Another grandchild could do the wizarding world wonders."
"Of course," Hermione replied, shaking her head. "Speaking of grandchildren - how are Molly and Arthur enjoying the twins?"
Ginny laughed, reaching out for Albus as he leaned towards her. "Oh you know Mum…keeping busy. They're so cute though. Absolutely darling. Ron of course still has that shell shocked, 'what in the bloody hell did I get myself into' look about him, but he'll figure it out."
"I'm sure he will," Hermione confidently replied. "I'm hoping we can visit next week once their better settled. Harper's just getting over her cold and we didn't want to bring germs over."
"We told them," Harry reassured Hermione before looking at Draco. "And you'll be relieved to know, Draco, that little Oliver and Briony do not appear to have inherited the Weasley hair. It's as black as Pansy's."
Draco laughed as Ginny scowled. "You know, Draco, Harry's new life mission is to give me a daughter and if she comes out with ginger hair you'd better change your attitude."
"You better hope this future daughter of yours doesn't have ginger hair," Draco warned.
"Oh really? Why's that, Malfoy?"
"Because if she does, you'll no longer be my favorite ginger."
Ginny's shoulders dropped, her scowl melting from her face as she sighed. "Damn it, Draco!"
"Pity, I know. You were all ready to be mad at me and I ruined it," Draco teased.
"Just a bit," Ginny confessed.
"The Ginger? Get mad? Never." Everyone turned their heads, finding Blaise standing in the kitchen carrying two bottles of wine. "Sorry I'm late…had to find the right sort of spirits for the evening back at the villa before taking the portkey back here to spend the evening with you dodgy lot."
"Dodgy?" Hermione exclaimed, feigning hurt as she clapped a hand over her chest.
"Granger. You know you're always the except to every rule."
Draco finished his beer and tossed the bottle into the trash. "You know what, Blaise? I think I've discovered what you're New Year's resolution should be - to quit hitting on my wife."
Blaise laughed, setting the wine on the kitchen island as he removed his coat and gloves. "If only I made resolutions."
"If only," Draco exasperatedly repeated, clapping his friend on the shoulder with a smirk.
