Disclaimer: The characters in ths story belong to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 24.
Fleur-de-Lis
"Mom, can we come through?" asked Rose in a floo call.
Hermione was fixing Sunday morning breakfast and remembering the wonderful ending to the night before. Draco had accompanied her home and they had cuddled and talked until the wee hours of the morning only breaking to share a kiss from time to time. Then he had said good night and gone back to his flat.
Hermione had lain awake until almost dawn reliving the events of the evening and trying to figure out what her emotions were trying to tell her brain. She had not felt so alive since the beginnings of her relationship with Ron. With Ron they had not lasted past the birth of Hugo and they had gradually grown apart. Each had their own agenda and was stubbornly clinging to their positions throughout the remainder of their marriage. They rarely fought. In fact, they rarely even talked in the last few years of the relationship. They were the proverbial ships passing in the night. Hermione was wary of committing herself to a relationship that might end. Her emotions told her it might not while her brain argued that she didn't know.
"Come on through, I am baking a strata for brunch since I was out late," Hermione answered the floo call.
"Did you make sticky buns, too?" asked Scorpius as he stepped out of the floo.
"When did I ever serve strata without sticky buns?" answered his mother-in-law, placing a kiss on his cheek and hugging and kissing her daughter. "I wanted someone to share with. The coffee just finished, so why don't you pour, Rose?" Then directing Scorpius with an oven mitt, "Set up the breakfast nook for three while I get this out of the oven," Hermione said.
Hermione's mobile rang the alert for a text message. "Check that for me, Rose. My hands are full of hot dishes."
"Good morning, Gorgeous! Want brunch? 3," Rose read aloud. "Mom, are you seeing someone seriously after all this time?"
"Yes," was the short answer from her mother.
"There is even a heart emoticon! When can we meet him? Why the secrecy? When were you going to tell us?" The questions fell fast and furiously from the young witch.
"More importantly you should ask do we know him and will we like him," stated Scorpius.
Hermione blushed, "You know him; you like him; we just wanted to be certain before we came out…" before she could add "as a couple" Rose interrupted, "you aren't gay are you?"
"No, I most certainly am not gay. Rose just send a text reply in real words and ask him to join us for brunch here."
Rose sent the text reply as Hermione pulled the sticky buns from the oven and Scorpius poured another mug of coffee.
"Mom, can I come over," Hugo floo called. "It is getting nuts here because everyone is trying to get ready to go to the Burrow for dinner. Grandma Molly said that right now brunch is too hard to handle with everything else going on."
"Whoops, that was the message I forgot to give you," said Rose.
"Come on through, Hugo," his mother called. "It's okay, she owled me yesterday. That's why I had a strata and sticky buns ready here. I was going to take them there until they cancelled." With traffic cop efficiency, Hermione directed, "Set one more place, pour one more mug of coffee and I will get the pumpkin juice out."
"If we have anyone else, we will have to move to the dining room," Rose pointed out.
Hugo stepped out of the fireplace, hugged and kissed his mother, hugged his sister and shook hands with his brother-in-law, "Sticky buns and strata! Wow, what could make a self-invite to brunch better!"
"Ps-s-s-s-t, Hugo," Rose whispered as Hermione left the kitchen to freshen up before the meal, "did you know she is seeing someone?"
He nodded his head and sat down at the table. "She has been so melancholy since she found out we were not going to be here on Christmas, then suddenly she cheered up. That's what it must have been," he whispered back.
The three at the breakfast table heard the whoosh of the floo and saw the green flash through the doorway. "Hello, Sweetheart," cooed Draco as Hermione met him in the living room.
She returned his kiss, then said, "We are being outed to our children this morning. They are all here for brunch."
"Thanks for the warning." The tall blond man walked into the kitchen, "don't get up." He greeted what looked like his younger self, "Good morning, Scorpius." Turning to his daughter-in-law he kissed her cheek, "Good morning, Rose." He nodded to the red-headed young man, "Good morning, Hugo." Turning to Hermione he said, "I brought you another ornament for your tree." He handed her a small box.
"Please have a seat, Draco. We were just sitting down. I do want to start another pot of coffee before I settle." She put the box on her plate.
After using the time while the others were serving themselves and she was making coffee, Hermione gathered her thoughts and decided to let her emotions beat her brain this time. She sat down and squeezed Draco's hand under the table. She removed the green and silver ribbon from the white box. Inside was something fragile because it was wrapped in an inordinate amount of bubble-wrap and then tissue paper. Removing all the wrappings, Hermione carefully extracted a Waterford crystal fleur-de-lis with the year etched into one side and "To H From D" on the other. "Oh, Draco, it's truly beautiful!" Hermione exclaimed with tears in her eyes. Then she kissed his surprised lips right then and there in front of their children. He returned the kiss with a little more ardor than anyone present expected.
"Ahem, Draco," said Hugo in his most grown up voice, "what are your intentions toward our mother?"
"Yes, Dad," echoed Scorpius, "are you serious about your relationship? Are you going to treat her with the utmost respect and honor?"
Draco laughed, then put on a serious face, not quite hiding the glint in his eyes, "Hugo, I intend to date your mother as long as she will let me. And Scorpius where are your loyalties?"
"She is my mother-in-law and I promised to look out for her interests when I hitched my wagon to Rose's star."
"Then, Scorp," his father answered soberly, "I hope our relationship is serious and I will treat her like the lady she is."
"And no unauthorized sleep-overs!" put in Rose. "What, Mom? Isn't that what you told me before Scorp and I were engaged?" Then she asked, "When did she first interest you, Draco?"
"When she punched me in the nose in third year," he deadpanned. "But let me tell you she was the most beautiful girl at the Yule Ball in our fourth year."
"Why do you say that?" Scorpius asked. "Didn't you go with Aunt Pansy?"
Draco paused with a glint in his eye and pretended to think, "Yes, I went with Pansy and that was a disaster, but it was mostly my fault. When the music started and the Triwizard Champions and their dates paraded in it was amazing. Cedric Diggory's partner was Cho Chang. Then Fleur Delacourt from Beauxbatons came in with Roger Davis, a Ravenclaw. Harry's date was Parvati Patil, whose twin sister, Padma, incidently went with Ron. Then most famous Quidditch player in the world, seeker for the Bulgarian National Team, and Triwizard Champion from Durmstrang Institute, Victor Krum entered with the most beautiful witch in the school. His date was Hermione Granger. Her dress for the Yule Ball was a bluish-purply colour. She was breathtaking and all the wizards there wished she was their date, especially me."
"Oh, Draco," Hermione said, "I didn't know."
"At least, I know who she is going to the Malfoy New Year's Eve Ball with and it isn't Krum."
"That went better than I had expected," Draco whispered in Hermione's ear, then gave it a quick nip causing her to jump.
"Sometimes you are just happy that your parents are finally growing up and dating," smirked Scorpius.
After all the food had been either eaten, or put away for later in the case of the rest of the sticky buns, and the dirty dishes put into the dishwasher, they moved the party to the living room. Rose brought up the rear with a hot pad and the fresh pot of coffee. Hermione went to the dish of ornament hangers took a pure white ribbon and ran it through the loop at the top of the fleur-de-lis and then attached a hanger. She put it in a place of prominence on the tree and went to her favorite seat on the sofa. Draco was sitting beside her and he put a protective arm around her shoulders. Scorpius and Rose had taken places on the love seat and Hugo was in the recliner.
"Oh, I almost forgot why Scorpius and I came over," said Rose. "Pansy Parkinson-Flint called me this morning and wanted to know if I would like to work for them making tatted and crocheted lace for their Lavender Pansy collection. They are going to pay me enough to quit both my jobs and depending on how much demand is created once the first pieces are on the market." Rose went on to explain that there would be the formality of interview and paperwork tomorrow morning, but Pansy already made her an offer. Pansy did say that you told her I learned to tat from you and she liked what she had seen of your work.
"That's great, Rosie!" Draco exclaimed.
"When do you start?" Hugo asked.
"Scorp and I are going to the craft store for supplies and I am starting while we are at Grandpa Arthur and Grandma Molly's tonight. You know, while everyone is sitting around visiting." Then she added, "So, Mom, are you and Draco going to Arthur and Molly's together this evening?"
Advent Calendar Day 23 prompt: Yule Ball
A/N: Strata is made in layers of bread, cooked sausage, cheese, bread, cooked sausage, cheese, etc. to fill a casserole dish. A beaten egg/milk mixture is poured over the top and allowed to marinate, refrigerated over night and then baked the next day.