A/N: Hello my lovelies! Please accept my humble and sincere apology for taking too long to post this chapter. I had a different story invade my brain that would not let me work on this one at all. It consumed me to the point that I wrote and posted it in its entirety in one week. It's called "He's Gone Away" and it's a story about Hermione and George and their struggle to cope with the aftereffects of fight a war as a teenager... they may or may not fall in lurve during said struggle. ;) I'd love to hear what you all think about it, so go check it out after you read (and review!) this chapter. I love you all, thank you so much for reading! And for not yelling at me for not posting frequently enough. Seriously, y'all are the best.

Three weeks later they were successfully moved into their new home and Hermione was putting the finishing touches on the food for the housewarming party… and by that she was setting out napkins. She had cheated and had the party catered. She was totally fine with that.

Draco was sitting at the counter watching her bustle about, counting down the next half hour or so until the first guests arrive.

"What about Lyra?" He asked, looking up from the paper he was reading.

"Lyra. Hm. It's got potential." She responded happily. She had quickly gone from shocked to full-on excitement about the baby. It had taken her about a week, but she got there. Draco had surprisingly done the same.

"Adara?" He questioned, looking thoughtful and abandoning all pretense at reading the paper. He had accepted the news about impending parenthood much more quickly than she could've hoped for. He and Harry had spent an afternoon out together and had some super-secret man conversation that neither would tell her about. Hopefully they had had the 'brought up by a horrible man' discussion and felt better about their own parental capabilities now.

"Adara… that sounds familiar." She sat in the chair next to him… where had she heard that before?

"Yeah, it's a star."

"Oh shut it. I feel like I've read it somewhere…"

"Maybe… astronomy class?"

"Don't be an arse." She swatted him and he grinned at her. "Adara. I… I really like that." She replied, a smile lighting up her face.

"I do, too. We'll have to remember that one."

"I have a feeling it would be shortened to Addy… will you tolerate that?" She laughed when he immediately wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"I doubt I will. There's no sense shortening the name; you don't call me Drake and I don't call you… 'Mione or whatever hideous thing Weaselbee does to your name." Hermione laughed and started to retort, but their conversation was cut short by a knock on the door signaling the arrival of their guests.

Their home quickly filled with their friends and loved ones during the next half hour, wine was poured, hors d'oeuvres were passed on fancy trays, tours of the new home were given and she managed quick conversations with a few people. She found Dennis and confirmed their lunch time meeting for Tuesday. Ginny gave her a hug and a knowing look while Harry mimed zipping his lips. She and Gabrielle had a quick chat about how well she and Ron were doing- in French of course, to make him as uncomfortable as possible; Fleur even joined in, enjoying the game. It took Hermione and Draco nearly an hour to greet everyone and when it was finally time for dinner and everyone was seated at the magically expanded table Draco stood and got everyone's attention.

He cleared his throat, looking a little flushed. "If I could just take a moment before we start eating… I want to thank you all for coming today, it means a lot to me and Hermione." He reached for her hand and pulled her to a standing position next to him. "In addition to the new house we've got some other new to share with you…" He grinned down at Hermione who had also turned a bit red; he pulled her lovingly into his side.

"You're pregnant!" Ron suddenly shouted before being elbowed from each side by both Ginny and Gabrielle. " Ow! Sorry…" he mumbled quietly.

Every eye at the table swiveled from Ron back to Draco and Hermione. There were a couple nervous laughs.

Mrs. Weasley had clapped her hands together immediately, having reached the same conclusion as her son. "Are you really?" She asked, her eyes shining.

Hermione took over from Draco, who looked as though he'd just eaten something sour. He hated to have his spotlight dimmed, she thought with a wry smile. "Yes, I'm due in July." Everyone immediately erupted into shouts of congratulations and other exclamations. Narcissa, Mrs. Weasley, and Mrs. Granger were all in some stage of crying and were trying to get through the crowd to hug their children.

"Is a girl or boy, do you know yet?" Someone asked loudly and immediately everyone quieted to wait for the answer.

"A girl." She said with a smile, she and Draco had already decided to let everyone know, that way they'd have an easier time buying gifts and things. There was second surge of cheers.

Narcissa made it first and she threw her arms around both of them. "Oh, I'm so excited! Finally a little girl to spoil! Oh I can't wait to go shopping. But I'll have both of you know that I am far too young to be a grandmother!" She whispered the last word as though it was slightly inappropriate.

Finally Draco reminded everyone that the food was getting cold and there would be plenty of time after dinner for congratulations. Several toasts were given and Draco was treated as though he was the first man to ever impregnate a woman. It was a happy and boisterous meal that lasted quite a while and the guests stayed later still, all in a very good mood.

Hermione was in the kitchen opening another bottle of wine when Ron came in, dragging Harry behind him. Harry was sporting a guilty expression.

"Hermione!" Ron burst out, "Why did you tell Harry weeks ago? How come Harry got to know before I did?"

Hermione laughed at his scandalized expression, "Because Draco and I were panicking and needed Ginny to do the charm to confirm it before we lost our minds. There was no way to keep Harry in the dark after that." Ron closed his mouth but still looked a little pouty. "Should I have come ask you to do the charm instead then?" She asked with a smirk, handing him the wine to take to the living room.

He laughed, "No, I suppose not. Fine. But next time I get to know before Harry!" He grinned at her, sat the wine down and pulled her into a tight hug.

She giggled and returned his hug. She missed Ron; he spent so much time travelling with the Cannons she hardly got to see him anymore. "I'll try to remember that." She promised, thinking that next time wasn't even on her radar at the moment.

They carried the wine back into the living room and without her asking, Ron made the rounds and topped off people's glasses. She smiled happily at their assembled loved ones, all clustered about in twos or threes talking happily. She saw her mum, Narcissa, and Mrs. Weasley in a tight group, all three women looking extremely excited. She studied Narcissa for a moment, her own smile faltering. Not much had been said of Lucius' sudden demise. She knew that Draco was battling some guilt for feeling slightly relieved that his father was no longer an obstacle in his life. She wondered if Narcissa wasn't feeling a bit of that as well. Hermione was always afraid to bring it up, but she knew that mother and son had had a few discussions about it. She didn't know how productive they'd been, but at least they were talking about it. She and Narcissa had grown close over the last couple of years, but it wasn't a topic she was comfortable bringing up to her. She'd just wait and see she supposed. Her eyes wandered away from the trio and surveyed the rest of their guests. Ginny was sitting on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table, bless her heart, her feet swelled if she stood longer than a half hour. Harry sat obediently at his wife's side making sure that she was comfortable and entertained. Every now and then he would rub her belly and they would share a secret smile. She saw Charlie leaning against the mantle speaking to Mr. Weasley. She'd been surprised that Charlie had bothered to come all the way from Romania, but she'd overheard earlier saying that there was talk of opening some sort of conservatory for some of the tamer magical creatures in England so that school children could see them in person. He had apparently been tapped to help design a dragon enclosure for a pair of Welsh Green dragons- the least aggressive of the dragon species. She hoped he'd move back to England, he was a great addition to their group. As she watched him she noticed his eyes flicked to Narcissa a couple of times. Interesting. Narcissa didn't seem to notice, at least not in the couple of moments that Hermione observed. It seemed that Charlie had definitely enjoyed the dance they shared at the wedding, she wondered if they had kept in contact after that… she suspected that they might have; Charlie was showing just a bit too much interest for just having the one dance. Hermione smiled at the thought of the forty-two year old mother of two with the thirty one-year old bachelor… stranger things had happened. The fact that she was a Malfoy nee Black and he was a Weasley would cause far more gossip than their age. Hm. She resolved to keep an eye out to see if Narcissa returned Charlie's interest. Though Hermione suspected that even if she did, she wouldn't act on it until an acceptable period for mourning had passed.

Suddenly there was an impact on her legs and she heard. "My-knee!" She looked down and grinned at her toddler brother-in-law, the thought made her giggle.

"Hi Scorp!" He grinned up at her and raised his arms in the universal sign for 'pick me up!' She obliged immediately and settled him on her hip, both grinning at the other. He puckered his lips and leaned in to give her a slobbery kiss. "Mmmwah!" They both said and giggled. "Aren't you the sweetest thing?" She asked and gave him a squeeze; she could not resist this kid. Draco came up grinning at her and made a silly face at his brother.

"You're going to be such a good mummy." He whispered in her ear and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She grinned up at him; she was ridiculously happy right now.

"Day-co!" Scorpius leaned immediately to his brother who accepted him into his arms and immediately began chattering a mile a minute.

"Oh really?" Draco asked as Scorpius had a very serious expression on his face. Scorpius reached for a fistful of his hair and kept on babbling. "Well, tell me all about it." Hermione laughed as she watched the two brothers. Draco listened intently to Scorpius' baby-talk as though they were having a serious conversation. Good lord, she loved this man.

The evening continued in the same light hearted manner until guests began to depart with more congratulations and well wishes.

It was past midnight when Draco and Hermione finally settled into bed.

"That went well I think." She said, settling on her side facing him.

"Except for Weaselbee." Draco answered immediately but she could tell he wasn't really angry.

"Yes, he's not particularly good at filtering his thoughts, is he?" Draco scoffed in response. "Enough about Ron, what do you think about Charlie?" She asked, trying to keep the smile out of her voice.

"He seems like a good bloke. I like him better than the rest of them, besides Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. I've always had a soft spot for dragons you know… with my name all." He smiled. "He's got good stories." He clasped his hand behind his head and stared at the ceiling. "I wouldn't mind checking out that park if they go through with it. Can you imagine the look on Scorp's face if he got to see a real life dragon?" He chuckled.

"Aw, that would be fun. I got the impression that Charlie would move back if they get the go ahead on it," She absently tucked a foot underneath his leg, wanting some contact. Plus her feet were cold.

"That would be alright, I know it would certainly make all the Weasleys happy."

"I have a feeling it would make more than the Weasleys happy…" She said, unable to keep the teasing note out of her voice this time.

"How do you mean?" He asked, turning to look at her.

"I think Charlie fancies your mum." She said with bated breath, wondering what his reaction would be.

"What?! That's…" He had a slightly disgusted look on his face. "She's old enough to be his mum!"

"No she isn't. Twelve years is all. That's not unheard of by any means." She said, thoroughly enjoying his distress.

"But… what makes you think that?" He asked, looking to shoot down her theory.

"Well, they had a little moment at our wedding," He opened his mouth in shock but she continued. "And he watched her all night tonight."

He blustered for a few minutes before saying "There's no way my mother would fancy a Weasley, even if he does her. Which I'm not surprised about, my mother is a beautiful woman and he'd be lucky if she gave him a first glance, much less a second."

"If you say so. I think it would be brilliant though. I have a feeling that Charlie would treat her like a queen and she deserves a chance at happiness."

"Yes well. I don't want to talk about this anymore." He said uncomfortably and rolled away. She giggled and scooted closer to put and arm around him.

"Alright, good night then." He grabbed her hand and pulled her arm more securely around him and she knew she was forgiven for bringing up an uncomfortable topic. "I love you." She whispered against his bare shoulder.

"Love you, too. You daft woman."

Hermione smiled to herself and thought over their evening as she drifted off to sleep. It was brilliant to have all their friends and family gathered together for the occasion. She hoped everyone had had as wonderful a time as she had.

But what Hermione didn't know was that not everyone had enjoyed the evening. Indeed, no one noticed the slight young man who slipped away from the festivities as soon as the meal was over. No one noticed that he had sat there quietly the entire time, his face pale and slightly sweaty only pretending to eat. No one saw him walk home by himself, muttering and fisting his hands in his hair.

A/N: Oh my, I feel like it's getting close to Dennis' breaking point! Eep!