George introduced himself properly to Draco while everyone was heading over to the large table. Draco was relieved that George seemed to be acting friendly enough towards him as he knew that George was the only other member of the family, apart from Ron and Ginny, that he had come into regular contact with during his school years when he had been less than pleasant. Draco distinctly remembered several encounters in fifth year between the Inquisitorial Squad and the Weasley twins and he had been worried that George would hold it against him.
When everyone sat down George deliberately sat opposite Hermione and Draco, eager for an explanation for what he had overheard a few minutes earlier. Unfortunately for George it looked like he would have to wait a while for his answer as when everyone first sat down Molly immediately started asking Hermione and Draco about their wedding and honeymoon.
Draco was pleased to find the conversation flowed easily and he was made to feel very welcome with the Weasley's. Percy was a bit standoffish but Draco quickly realised that it was just his nature. Arthur was more wary of Draco then everyone else but Draco put it down to the fact that the elder man had endured several nasty run-ins with Lucius in the past and was waiting to reserve judgement on Draco himself.
Draco was surprised to find he was actually enjoying how low key and informal the lunch was. Bowls of food were passed around the table and often people shouted out for something they wanted. Draco's family had always been very reserved and all meal times were conducted with a lot more formality than he was currently witnessing.
The constant noise and laughing actually reminded Draco of dinner in The Great Hall, the Gryffindor table had always been the most boisterous of the four house tables and Draco could see why with so many Weasley's sorted into that house. George especially was proving great fun to be around as he told outrageous stories about adventures he and Fred had experienced during school.
By the time dessert was served there were several different conversation taking place around the table. George capitalised on the fact that Hermione had just finished talking with Charlie and had turned back to Draco, who was busy discussing Quidditch with Ginny.
"So Hermione are you going to explain about kissing Fleur?" George asked, grabbing Harry's attention from his place next to him.
"What? Why is Hermione kissing Fleur?" Harry asked bewildered by the conversation.
"I'm not. George just got hold of the wrong end of the stick." Hermione explained to Harry and Ginny, who had broken off her conversation with Draco when she had heard her brother's question to Hermione.
"So what's the right end?" Ginny asked.
"Fleur and Draco were just explaining how they knew each other." Hermione said.
"What's kissing got to do with anything?" Ginny asked.
"That's how we met." Draco explained. "We ended up kissing at The Yule Ball after getting stuck under enchanted mistletoe."
"No way, I don't believe that." George said shaking his head.
"Neither do I. There's no way you would have kissed Fleur and not bragged about it." Harry said.
"I may have been a git back then but I still had enough class not to boast about girls I kissed." Draco said.
George and Harry both laughed, George was impressed that Draco had been honest enough to admit what he had been like when he was younger. George then started pressing Draco for details of his kiss with Fleur, without much luck as Draco refused to add any more to the story.
"Can we talk about something else." Hermione said, interrupting George as he asked yet another probing question.
"You're not getting jealous are you Hermione?" George teased. "After all it's pretty hard to compete with a part veela."
"I am not jealous." Hermione said, sounding less than convincing.
Draco leant closer to Hermione so he could speak directly into her ear. "There's no reason for you to be jealous of Fleur or anyone else. Just so you know there's no contest, you beat everybody." Draco whispered to Hermione.
"Really?" Hermione asked, turning her head to face Draco.
"Really." Draco said quietly before quickly brushing his lips over Hermione's.
Hermione smiled and gave Draco a proper kiss before she turned back to the table to discover the whole family had been watching them. Ginny, Molly and Fleur had smiles on their faces as they looked at the couple. Harry and George were trying hard not to laugh as Harry was quietly telling George he had been right about the couple's public displays of affection. Arthur was looking at the couple intently, he could clearly see how in love the pair was and he could also see that Draco was nothing like his father and deserved to be given a chance.
Hermione waited for someone to say something but Molly quickly intervened, demanding that people help tidy the dishes before the afternoon's game of Quidditch began. Within minutes the table was empty and returned to the house as people settled down for the afternoon.
Hermione encouraged Draco to play Quidditch and he found himself on a team with George and Bill while Harry, Ginny and Charlie made up the other team. As usual Percy declined an invitation to play, instead he went inside to do some paperwork.
As the Quidditch game got under way Molly brought out a large picnic rug and settled it on the grass alongside a couple of garden chairs. Molly and Arthur then settled on the chairs to watch the boys and Ginny while Hermione lay on the rug. Fleur had headed indoors to get her daughter and Hermione was looking forward to meeting the baby of the family.
While she waited for Fleur to return Hermione watched Draco for a while. She was thrilled to see him laughing and joking with the Weasley's and Harry as they played Quidditch. George in particular seemed to get along with Draco well, it was the first time Hermione had actually seen George so happy and carefree since Fred's death.
Hermione's attention was drawn away from the sky when Fleur suddenly appeared beside her carrying a beautiful little girl in a pink dress.
"Hermione this is Victorie." Fleur said as she sat down next to Hermione on the picnic rug.
"She is so gorgeous, Fleur." Hermione said, stroking the baby's fine red hair. Fleur's genes had obviously had an effect on the baby as her hair wasn't the same vivid shade of red as the rest of the Weasley's, instead it was a much softer shade of red.
"Do you want to hold her?" Fleur asked.
"I would love to." Hermione said, sitting up on the rug.
Fleur handed Victorie over to Hermione and made sure the brunette witch was holding her small daughter correctly before she sat back. Hermione looked down at the small bundle in her arms, immediately falling in love with the beautiful girl with big blue eyes she was holding.
"You're a natural, Hermione." Molly said, smiling at the sight of Hermione holding her first grandchild.
"Are you planning on having children?" Arthur asked.
At Arthur's question Hermione was immediately hit with the thought of having children with Draco and the images in her head of what their children could potentially look like made her smile. "I've never really thought about it. But I think I would like children someday." Hermione said, answering Arthur's question.
"Someday. Not anytime soon, then?" Molly asked, sounding disappointed.
Apart from Bill the only other one of Molly's children in a relationship was Ginny, who was just embarking on her career so obviously didn't plan on having children soon. So Molly had been thinking that her next grandchild would come via her surrogate daughter, Hermione, as she was the only other person in a serious relationship. Obviously she would have to rethink her hopes of having another baby around the place any time soon.
"I don't think so." Hermione said. "We're just setting up the business and we've only just got married. I think it's probably wiser to wait a few years."
"I think that's an excellent idea." Arthur said, pleased that Hermione was thinking cautiously despite her quick marriage.
"I suppose it is sensible to wait until you're more settled." Molly conceded.
"Hopefully by then Lucius will have come round and will be more accepting of a half-blood grandchild." Hermione said as she wondered if Lucius would actually ever accept any children she had with Draco.
"I take it he reacted badly to you and Draco." Arthur said. He had been eager to know how Lucius had reacted to his son's marriage but he hadn't felt comfortable asking Draco and he had had no opportunity to speak with Hermione until now.
"He actually reacted better than I thought. We managed to have dinner at the Manor and he at least promised to try and accept our marriage." Hermione said, explaining about the previous week's dinner with Draco's parents.
"But you haven't actually heard from him since." Molly said.
"No." Hermione sighed. "Hopefully he'll contact Draco soon."
"What'll happen if he doesn't accept your marriage?" Molly asked, wondering if Lucius would pressure Draco into leaving Hermione.
"Then he'll not be a part of our lives." Hermione said. "I hope it doesn't come to that though, Draco would be devastated to lose his father."
"Do you honestly think Lucius would just walk away?" Arthur questioned, wondering if Hermione and Draco had considered Lucius when they decided to marry. "Surely if he's unwilling to accept your relationship, he'll try and separate you."
Hermione looked surprised at Arthur's questions for a minute until she remembered that she had never actually mentioned the fact that her and Draco were also bonded. "He can't separate us, we're bonded." Hermione said.
Molly and Arthur both looked shocked and immediately started questioning Hermione's decision. However by the time Hermione had explained everything to them they had calmed down and understood that Hermione and Draco had known what they were doing and they had made the right decision for their relationship.
For the rest of the afternoon Hermione lay on the picnic rug playing with Victorie while Draco played Quidditch. When the time came to leave Hermione noticed that Draco was arranging to have a drink with Harry and George the following week. Hermione and Draco said goodbye to the family outside before heading into the house where Molly and Arthur were waiting to say their goodbyes.
"Thank you for having me, it's been great." Draco told Molly and Arthur politely. He really meant it as the afternoon at The Burrow had been thoroughly enjoyable.
"I hope this means the pair of you will be regular visitors." Molly said, hugging both Hermione and Draco.
"Of course." Hermione said, turning and hugging Arthur.
When he had finished hugging Hermione, Arthur turned to Draco and held out his hand to the blond. "Welcome to the family, Draco."
Draco smiled and shook Arthur's hand. He knew that Arthur accepting him was proof that the older wizard truly believed he had changed and was worthy of being with Hermione. "Thank you." He said.
Molly smiled and kissed her husband on the cheek as they watched the young couple grab some floo powder and prepare to head home.
"Thank you for giving him a chance, I'm sure Hermione appreciated it." Molly said once Hermione and Draco had disappeared in the green flames.
"He deserved a chance. Any fool can see how in love he is with Hermione." Arthur said. He had actually been shocked to witness how affectionate Draco was towards his wife as he had always viewed the Malfoy family as cold and uncaring, but clearly the youngest member of the family was different.
"It is rather obvious how much he loves her. Although the feeling's clearly mutual, Hermione's practically glowing with happiness." Molly said with a smile as she thought about how happy Hermione clearly was.
Arthur nodded in agreement as the couple turned and headed back outside to the rest of their family.
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Since returning from The Burrow Hermione had been thinking about the conversation with Molly and Arthur about children. Until Arthur had asked her about children Hermione hadn't really given it much thought and it was only just occurring to her that her and Draco had never once discussed children and if they were a part of their future.
Hermione knew that she needed to speak with Draco about children but when they first returned home she had put it off as they discussed the fact that the Weasley's had accepted Draco. Hermione had then spent the next couple of hours sorting out one of the spare rooms and turning it into a library as she wondered how to broach the subject of children with Draco. When she was finished in the library Hermione took a shower before she returned to the front room where Draco was sitting.
"Hi, beautiful." Draco greeted Hermione as she walked into the room and pulled her onto his lap as she gave him a kiss. "Are you alright? You've been quiet ever since we returned home."
"I'm fine. I've just been thinking about something." Hermione said as she made herself comfortable on Draco.
"Is it anything to do with the baby you spent the afternoon playing with?" Draco asked. He had spent a good amount of the Quidditch match sneaking looks at Hermione and watching what she was doing.
"How do you know what I was doing? I thought you were meant to be playing Quidditch." Hermione said, surprised that Draco had immediately known what she was thinking about.
"Just because I was playing Quidditch doesn't make me blind. I could clearly see what you were doing and Bill was bragging about his little girl several times." Draco explained.
"I suppose it does have something to do with Victorie." Hermione said, answering Draco's earlier question. "Arthur and Molly were asking about children and if we planned on having any."
"What did you say?" Draco asked.
"I told them that I wanted children someday, but not just yet." Hermione said. "Then I realised that it's something we've never discussed and for all I know you don't want children."
"Is this your way of asking me if I want children?"
"I suppose so." Hermione said. "Do you?"
"I've honestly never thought about it before today." Draco admitted. "But then I saw you with the baby and I figured that maybe having children wouldn't be too bad."
"You don't exactly sound enthusiastic." Hermione said, disappointed with Draco's lacklustre response.
"Having children with you would be amazing, I'm just worried." Draco said.
"About what?" Hermione asked.
"I'm worried that I'll be like Lucius. I haven't exactly had a good role model for being a father, what if it's something I can't do." Draco said quietly.
"First of all you're nothing like your father. This last year has proved that." Hermione said, brushing Draco's blond hair out of his eyes. "And secondly, you'll be a great father. The fact you're already worrying about your abilities shows how much you care."
"I suppose I will have time to get used to the idea." Draco said. He was touched that Hermione seemed so confident in his future abilities as a parent. "So how many children were you planning on having?" He asked.
"I don't know. I think I would like more than one but not too many, maybe two or three." Hermione said.
"So you don't want to emulate the Weasley's and have a whole herd." Draco said, slightly relieved that Hermione wasn't keen on numerous children. Two or maybe three would be good but Draco wasn't impressed with the idea of any more than that.
"God no." Hermione laughed. "As much as I love them, there's no way I want such a big family."
"That's a relief. The house would be chaos with that many children, especially if they were Slytherins." Draco said.
"What makes you think our children will be Slytherins?" Hermione demanded. "I was a Gryffindor and very nearly sorted into Ravenclaw."
"Malfoy's are always in Slytherin." Draco said with a smirk.
"And Malfoy's always marry purebloods and have perfect little pureblood brats." Hermione retorted. "I think you and I have changed a lot about your family, so there's a good chance that not all of our children will end up in Slytherin."
"Maybe you're right." Draco said finally. "I suppose I could just about cope with a child in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw would be fine as well."
"What about Hufflepuff?" Hermione asked.
"I'd be very shocked if that happened. What sort of child of ours wouldn't be cunning enough for Slytherin, bright enough for Ravenclaw or courageous enough for Gryffindor?" Draco said, snorting at the ridiculous notion that a Malfoy could end up in Hufflepuff.
"There's nothing wrong with being in Hufflepuff." Hermione said sternly.
"Whatever you say, darling." Draco said, dismissing Hermione's arguments with a wave of his hand. "Instead of fighting over our future children's houses perhaps we should practice making them first."
"I hardly think we need any practice." Hermione said with a smile. "Besides we're not exactly planning on having children right now."
"I know, but think of the fun we'll have before then." Draco said smiling seductively at Hermione.
Hermione smiled back at Draco and bent her head to kiss him. "Okay, I suppose we can practice." She murmured against his lips.
Draco smirked as he deepened the kiss and started to remove Hermione's top. While the couple weren't quite ready to start trying for a baby they had no problem practising for when it would happen.