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Harry and Remus left the pair alone, walking through the house and out into the garden, and put up silencing wards.

"My best friend and my dad," Harry whimpered, beginning to freak out all over again. "I want them to both be happy… but I didn't think that they'd be happy together."

Remus sighed. "I didn't see this coming, I saw Hermione's crush, but James is usually more obvious about these things. So it didn't occur to me. But is this really so bad?"

Harry nodded. "What if they break up and I have to choose between my best friend and my dad? What if they get married? What if Hermione becomes my step-mother? What if they have a baby?"

Remus chuckled. "Well, I doubt the first one will happen. Your father isn't the type to date around. They'll just have dinner and see if there's a connection I believe."

"How long after my dad started dating my mum -"

"He proposed on the first date," Remus interrupted. He looked back at the house in concern.

"You know… I always wanted a brother or sister," Harry said, thoughtfully.

"I don't think Sirius is ready for this," Remus stated. "He's going to kill James!"

"He can't expect Hermione to stay single forever…" Harry paused. "Okay, yeah he probably does."

"He can be very protective," Remus sighed. "James is going to be in a lot of trouble!"

"There will be over twenty years between me and my sibling though," Harry muttered. "Also, my child will be older than their aunts and uncles on the Potter side. That's not right."

"It also means that Hermione's child - if she does marry your father - will grow up with all the other children and have a lot of friends," Remus replied.

...oOo…

James sat down next to Hermione. "Well, that went better than I thought."

"It did," Hermione agreed.

"Look, I'm going to be straight with you here," James began. "I'm attracted to you and I'd like to take you on a date. I don't know if this will go anywhere and in case it doesn't, we need to think of Harry, Remus and Sirius."

"Well, maybe we could go on a few dates and see how well we connect?" Hermione suggested. "If we're not feeling it, we settle to be friends instead. That way it's not upsetting for anyone else."

"That sounds like a good idea," James agreed. "So, how about dinner tomorrow night?"

"Should we tell Sirius first?"

James sighed and nodded. "If we can find a good time," he said. "Or we could have the dinner first and make sure there's something there?"

"Yeah… we'll tell him on Saturday," Hermione agreed.

...oOo…

Friday came quickly, and instead of looking forward to cooking for Hermione, James and Sirius were on their way to Azkaban to collect Lucius Malfoy. They now had the authority to free him, and his son had arranged clothes for him.

The clothes were in the Ministry, waiting for him. The Aurors were to escort him to the Ministry, let him into the small room to wash and dress. They would go over what was expected of him, and his limitations of magic, before finally allowing him to walk out and hope he would hold up his end of the bargain.

...oOo…

Lucius took a long shower at the Ministry - not that the shower that was offered was much. The water flow was useless for a start.

But it was the first shower of freedom and he savoured it, considering what Draco could have packed in his suitcase for him.

Since the first meeting, he knew they would return to free him. Dolohov was unpredictable after all, and at least they could count on Lucius Malfoy knowing the ins and outs of the darker side of the Magical World.

He was allowed to go there, to seek Dolohov out - but he wasn't allowed to hurt anyone, unless in defense - the special bracelet they had provided stopped him from doing that, and Potter had announced, with a grin, that it would alert them if he even hit a house-elf.

It also detected magic cast - so it would know if he used dark spells.

He wasn't impressed by that in the slightest - even less so when he was told that it was modelled after a muggle item that was used for petty criminals. He was being treated as a petty muggle criminal and it disgusted him.

But he had managed to get his freedom, and he could at least cast a disillusionment charm on the cursed item.

He pulled out his favourite shirt and trousers and a dark green set of robes and smiled at the sight of his cane. It was without the wand inside, of course, but that would be rectified soon enough.

He dressed in front of the mirror, wincing at the sight of himself. The food was better than it had been his previous stay in Azkaban, and the amount of Dementors were dramatically reduced, but the imprisonment still took it's toll.

And he could always get around the hurting a house-elf rule by ordering them to hurt themselves. He smirked at the thought. His freedom - even with every move being watched - was better than imprisonment. Even if the cost was becoming the Ministry's tool.

But it was the best offer, and Lucius wasn't stupid enough to turn it down.

Plus, he had a debt to Potter - he had stopped Lucius being sentenced to the kiss for his crimes, and stepped in and stopped Draco going to Azkaban. Though Harry owed one debt for Narcissa saving his life. His helping catch Dolohov would be his repayment.

Lucius Malfoy hated owing anyone anything.

...oOo…

Once out, Lucius decided it was time to make his freedom known. He refused the private portkey that would take him home, instead choosing to send a letter to Draco and Narcissa, asking them to meet him in Diagon Alley.

The Malfoys were back.

He strolled out of the room and walked through the Ministry as though he was in charge - and knew one day he'd be back in power. He still had a lot to offer, he still knew about Death Eaters roaming around. The Ministry wouldn't stop needing him - and he would help them, and help himself.

Whispers followed him, as he walked towards the floo network, with two Aurors trailing behind him. They were his guards for the day, he supposed, to make sure no-one attacked him upon his release.

Well, until he had his wand to defend himself. He allowed them to stop into the floo with him, calling out for Diagon Alley, and finding themselves in the Leaky Cauldron.

It wasn't long before his son and his wife turned up at Gringotts. The greeting was quite formal, but he could see the happiness radiating in his wife's eyes. He couldn't wait to go home and sit down to dinner and talk with his son and take his wife to bed.

But that could wait. He needed everyone to see that he was a free man, that he still held power over them. That he was able to use magic.

After all, that would be what would draw Dolohov out and get the man to seek him. That way Lucius' freedom was guaranteed.

...oOo…

James moved around the kitchen, cooking the muggle way. He found that food tasted better if cooked on a proper oven, and thankfully Hermione had managed to get the kitchen in full working order.

He decided on something simple for dinner - he wasn't a Malfoy who made everything overly fancy, and Hermione struck him as a down-to-earth girl who would feel more comfortable with something like Lasagne or a Shepherd's pie.

And he made amazing Shepherd's pie.

The salad was ready, sitting on the counter, and he had some nice crusty bread on the side, not certain which Hermione would prefer. As the food continued to cook, he arranged the bread onto a plate, before bringing it into the dining room and setting it in the middle of the table. He set out some candles and set out the bottle of wine he had purchased. He ignored the pesky little voice inside his head that was asking him if he was overdoing things. That voice clearly just liked to spoil his fun, and James rarely paid attention to it.

He turned on the radio, finding a station that played some soft music, and kept the volume low. The lights were dimmed and he lit the candles, quickly casting a containment spell to seal the flames so the room wouldn't burn if a candle was knocked.

Finally he headed back to the kitchen and took the food from the oven.

...oOo…

Hermione felt quite nervous. Remus had casually dropped into conversation that James had a tendancy of overdoing things, and that a quiet little dinner would be a bit more than that. Hermione had ignored the jeans and pretty shirt she had considered wearing for dinner, instead choosing a periwinkle dress with black leggings and matching pumps. Her hair was untameable that day, and she let it loose around her head.

Around her neck, she wore the pendant James had given her.

She watched the clock, seeing it turn seven, and allowed Tonks to apparate them both back to Grimmauld Place - the older witch just as excited over the dinner as Hermione was.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Tonks said, winking at her, and leaving Hermione to wonder what exactly Tonks wouldn't do, she headed through the house. She glanced in the sitting room first, before heading towards the dining room. hoping to find James quickly.

She looked in the dining room, her eyes falling on the romantic setting. Rose petals were scattered across the table, and the candles floated around it. Two plates were set out, and she could hear the music.

"Are you ready for our date?" James murmured into her ear, almost making her jump. "It looks amazing," she said.

"Surprised?" he asked, grinning. "Well, let me get you seated." He led the way to the table, pulling out a seat for her. She sat down, and he pushed it in.

"I'll be right back with the food," he said.

...oOo…

Hermione thoroughly enjoyed dinner. She had half-expected James to have prepared something over the top for dinner, and was extremely relieved to see a simple Shepherds pie placed in front of her, with a side of salad. A bowl of cheese was placed into the middle of the table, next to some steaming hot crusty bread.

The wine had tasted wonderful too.

Hermione stared mournfully at the empty plate - it was the best she had tasted, and she was annoyed that she ate it so fast and didn't take her time savouring it.

"That's not the only thing I can cook," he assured her. "Maybe for our next meal, I can make something else - lasagne, stew, casserole?"

"Our next meal?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, well this one is going quite well, so hopefully you'll do me the honour of another meal."

Hermione pushed back her chair and headed over to James, who was leaning forward against the table, his hazel eyes following her.

"It is going well," she said, taking the seat next to his and placing her lips on his cheek. "Thank you, dinner was wonderful."

He turned towards her, noticing that once again she hadn't pulled far away.

His lips quickly pressed against hers, and before Hermione knew what was happening, James had pulled her onto his lap, not allowing their lips to part for more than a second. She could only be annoyed for a second before she lost herself in the feel of his tongue gently pressing past her lips, before she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back.

Both of them were glad that Sirius and Remus were out on a date themselves that night. This time they had no interuptions.

...oOo…

Lucius Malfoy took a seat in his study, savouring the feel of his chair. It had been too long. His hands ran over the desk in front of him, the one he had his wife laying across not even an hour ago - before she headed off to shower, with promises of what would happen when he came to bed later that night.

He smirked at the thought, before opening the drawer and pulling out his financial records to see how his investments were doing.

Draco had assured him about the investments, making some of his own, and Lucius was pleased to see that Draco had gained his sense about what investments to make.

He was just closing the folder when an owl appeared at the window. Lucius flicked his wand, opening the window and watching the bird land on his desk.

He took the letter, watching the bird look around, before setting it's gaze on him. So, it was waiting for a response.

He cast detection spells on the letter to ensure it wasn't cursed. Finally satisfied, he opened the letter and pulled the parchment out.

'The usual place, tomorrow evening.'

He had been expecting this letter - Dolohov hated waiting around. Lucius wrote his confirmation on the parchment, before attaching it to the owl. He watched as the bird flew back out of the window.


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Next up: Sirius finds out.