A/N: Thank you so so so much to everyone who has followed this story. When I started I didn't expect to reach 100 followers, so thank you to all of you who follow this first time attempt at a Dramione Fic (or any fic at all). I started Unit this week so updates will take a touch longer than my original rapid-fire postings, but I really hope you all enjoy this chapter! As always, I love reading your reviews so keep em coming. They motivate me to keep this going.

Florean's was one of her favorite places in the Alley and she was glad Florean had survived the Wizarding War. The cloud that had hung over them since leaving the hospital lifted just a little as Scorpius showed glimpses of the child he still was, chattering away to his father about which flavor he should pick, being stubbornly stuck between toffee apple, Butterbeer, and strawberry-peanutbutter. After assuring him that, just this once, Scorpius could get a dish with a scoop of each flavor, Draco ordered a scoop of sticky-toffee-pudding and Hermione requested a cone with a scoop of her favorite ice cream, Earl Grey. It was something of a guilty pleasure of hers, though he chastised herself for the sheer Englishness of it.

They settled at a small table inside the ice cream parlour and quietly ate their creamy sweet treats. Breaking the silence, Scorpius spoke up.

"Dad?" Scorpius' voice cracked just a little and he blushed.

"Yes, Scorp?"

"Why… Uh, why did Hermione come today?"

"Scorpius!"

"No, no, I mean, I'm glad you're dating someone, but I'm just surprised mum was okay with her coming. I mean, she never brought her guys around you. Or me for that matter. She only really dated when I was away at school."

"Your mum wanted to see how you and Hermione got along."

"Why? Why would that matter unless… Dad? Are you marrying Hermione?"

"Scorpius!" Hermione shrieked. The few people in Florean's at this hour spun to look at their table and continued to stare when they realized it was Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger there. At least, they stared until Draco turned a condescending pale grey gaze their way, at which point they rushed to go about their own business.

"Scorpius, you shouldn't have said that," Draco said softly. Hermione huffed a sigh of relief until he continued, saying, "You've gone and ruined the surprise."

Hermione's face froze. He couldn't possibly mean… and yet the sly grin on his face… It was preposterous. They had just visited his dying ex-wife. They were having ice cream with his son, who was about to lose his mother. This wasn't a time for engagements. This was a time to support one another, support Astoria and Scorpius, and handle the emotional tsunami that would strike when Astoria breathed her last. Her chest was tightening as she looked at Draco.

"You c-can't be serious. Now? Bloody now?" She sputtered.

"Scorp, would you mind…?"

"No problem, bye!" Scorpius darted out of his chair and down to the broom shop in a flash.

"I didn't mean to surprise you like that, sweetheart, but-"

"Oh, no. You can't possibly be serious. We're dealing with the mother of all family crises, literally, and you think now is the appropriate time for an engagement?"

"No." He said frankly. "I've had years of imagining how this day would go and all of those imaginings involved roses and starry skies and champagne and romance. They bloody well didn't involve my ex dying and my son becoming motherless. This isn't how I wanted to ask you to spend the rest of our lives together, but now I don't have much of a choice. And before you go off about how I'm only doing this for Astoria's sake, I will tell you now that you're wrong. I was already looking at rings when you came to me about Daphne's visit.

"I had the whole fucking thing planned. It was going to set the bar impossibly high for every man after me. Moonlight and doves and your favorite foods, and instead I'm sitting in an ice cream parlor, after spending hours with you and my ex-wife in a fucking hospital, about to beg you to come with me to the licensing office to sign a marriage contract and undergo the spell with me. I don't have time to be romantic, I don't have time to dazzle you with my ability to plan terribly expensive surprises, I don't have a choice.

"Astoria never had a chance to get full custody because my father bullied the judge. Well now my father is dead, I refuse to sink to his level, and her family could easily say that a single father is not a fit parent and take him. This is about as far away from romance as I can possibly imagine, but I am a father before all. I wanted you, I have always wanted you, and I swear to you that I had decided to ask you to marry me before I ever knew of Astoria's condition, but we're on something of a short timeline. Astoria isn't likely to hang on much longer. We need to marry, preferably today. She may not live to see tomorrow."

Hermione sat ramrod straight in the spindly wrought iron chair, the only sign of inner turmoil were her teeth worrying her lower lip. He was right. This wasn't romantic. This wasn't how she pictured her dream proposal as a young woman. Then again, at her age, she never expected to get a proposal at all. She never thought she'd find someone who she could trust enough to be completely open with. And yet… Draco Malfoy, bane of her school years, favorite Prince of Slytherin, son of a Death Eater, actual Death Eater, was somehow everything she had been looking for. And it didn't matter that it wasn't romantic. It didn't matter that there were no flowers or candles or moonlight or champagne. What mattered was that this man, this flawed, intelligent, brave, strong man wanted her at his side. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, to support her and need her and to help raise his son. Perhaps even to have children together.

And in an instant she realized that the romance wasn't what was most important in a proposal, the intentions were. And this was a man whose intentions were loving and true. Just like that, she was decided. She didn't need romance, she didn't need perfect timing, she only needed him.