Thank you to all the readers who have taken the time to read and especially those who have reviewed...some every chapter! Happy New Year to all!
September 1st, 2011 was an emotional day for the Malfoy family as they found themselves at 10:42 am in the morning walking onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters to see their son off to Hogwarts for his first year of school.
Draco was stoic, but Hermione had been an emotional mess all morning long. In fact, for the past several days she'd been unlike her normal self...crying at the drop of a hat and a bit too easily riled.
She'd even hexed her husband when he'd mentioned it to her yesterday morning at breakfast.
Scorpius was excited for school. He'd read Hogwarts a History cover to cover so many times—he'd had it memorized by now. But at this very second, he was being fussed over by his grandmother and parents. His grandfather looked bored, but Scorpius had seen his grandpa's moods enough to know that he was just as excited as the rest of his family.
A hand fussed with his robes and he sighed in exasperation.
"Mum, I look fine! You need to stop worrying yourself. I'm going to be okay. I'll make friends and stay out of trouble. Besides, you know all the professors and Headmistress personally. What sort of trouble am I possibly going to get into?"
Hermione sniffed, but her eyes were glassy as she looked at her baby boy with unmitigated pride and love.
"I'm just going to miss you. I can't believe my son is old enough to be leaving for Hogwarts. Do you have everything you need?"
"Darling, let our son be. He has everything. You triple checked it this morning, remember?"
Hermione nodded and smoothed her son's robes down one last time and then watched as Scorpius said his goodbyes to his grandparents. When he got to Draco, the two clapped each other on the back and when Scorpius stood in front of Hermione, he shuffled his feet nervously and swallowed.
Then he pulled her into a fierce hug.
"I love you Mum."
"Oh, Scorp...I love you too. Don't forget to send an owl and let us know what House your in."
"He will be in Slytherin love."
Hermione huffed but didn't reply as she was tired of the same argument.
When her son pulled back, she ran a loving hand through his hair and smiled.
"We are so proud of you Scorpius. If you need anything, let Minerva know and she will floo your dad and I."
"I will Mum. Promise."
Hermione nodded and felt Draco pull her back into his side as he gave his son a final nod in parting and watched with a heavy heart as his baby boy took his first steps into adulthood.
Scorpius found an empty compartment and stood at the window, waving to his parents and grandparents until the compartment door opened and someone cleared their throat.
"Hey Scorpius, are these seats taken?"
Scorpius turned around and saw a pretty girl with blue eyes and long blonde hair and a older boy with blue hair and bright gold eyes.
"Hey Victorie, Teddy. Come on in."
His two friends quickly entered and waved to the departing Malfoy family as the train left the station. Once his parents were out of sight, Scorpius sat down and sighed.
"Nervous?" Teddy asked with a grin and Scorpius shrugged.
"A little. Mum seems to think she needs to make sure I'm going to be okay and Dad just humors her. But truth is, I'm going to miss them both."
"Your Mum will be busy though with her new position."
Scorpius smiled and nodded. He was proud of his Mum. She'd just been elected Minister for Magic three months ago. His Dad was rather chuffed about it too.
So was his grandfather, who seemed to be at their house more than the Manor these days—talking politics with his Mum.
"Yeah. It's great you know, but I just don't want her overworking herself. Especially now."
His friends smiled and nodded, then Teddy pulled out a deck of exploding snap and they played several games until the trolley came around.
Back in London, Draco was busy escorting his emotional wife back home. She'd taken the day free from work so they could see their son off to boarding school. When they got through their floo and into the large living room, Draco sat them both down on the couch and snuggled his wife next to him. They cuddled for a bit, Draco's hand splayed over his wife's expanding belly and he smiled when he felt the nudges, kicks and rolls underneath his palm.
When he and Hermione married the late fall after he'd proposed, Draco had been thrilled and happier than he could ever remember being in his life. His witch and mother had successfully put together a wedding that combined the intimacy that Hermione wished for with the pomp that his parents expected. Among the throng of guests were several Ministers from various foreign ministries, most of the Hogwarts staff, most of Hermione's friend's from Dumbledore's Army, a few Weasleys, a singular Potter and the British Minister for Magic—who officiated their marriage ceremony.
Pansy was Hermione's Maid of Honor and Blaise was his Best Man.
Even Daphne and Theo had attended.
But the bright spot had been their little champ, waddling down the wedding aisle in his formal dress robes with the wedding bands magically sealed onto the antique pillow that had been used in his parents own wedding, years prior.
Skeeter had been given the exclusive for the day and she'd done her due diligence and written up a complimentary article with quotes from many of the guests. The fallout of that article had been seen a month later at the charity ball that his Mother co-chaired with Posy Parkinson.
It had been an unequivocal success and had supplanted his Mother back into her former social standing.
Posy Parkinson had managed to convince her husband to send a betrothal contract and a dowry to Elora Zabini one week prior to the announcement of Poppy's betrothal to Marius Flint. Both Blaise and Pansy had been shocked when Blaise's mother had shown up in Milan unannounced while Draco and Hermione had been visiting with Scorpius. Elora had tossed the sheet of parchment down on the table and demanded to know how this had happened.
Everyone had turned to Hermione and she had smiled in welcome to the other woman—who scowled at her, insulted her and then demanded that if Blaise was serious about marrying 'that girl' then he needed to sign the contract post haste and send it back.
After Elora had left, Pansy reached for the contract and read it—tears converging into the corners of her eyes as she stared at her friend and asked 'How did you do this?'
Hermione had hoped Pansy wouldn't ask, but she wasn't going to lie. At least not to her friend, so she told Pansy of her suspicions and the confrontation she'd had with her Mother the night of the gala. Both Pansy and Blaise listened completely stunned and then Pansy threw her head back, laughed uproariously and claimed in a smug voice that 'You really should've been sorted into Slytherin Hermione' and that had been that.
At least for a few years, until Edmund had finally gotten his head out of his arse and had discovered his wife's secret affair. He'd been furious, and although divorce wasn't common in the Wizarding World—he'd sent his dear wife away to distant relatives in Germany for a few years. To everyone else, and Rita Skeeter—Lady Parkinson was taking a sabbatical for stress.
Poppy's heritage still remained a secret.
Dagmoor Broadhead had finally managed to get himself out of the Department for Magical Creatures and was currently working as the Deputy Head in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. His wife had become a good friend to Hermione over the years. As promised, Hermione had introduced Maryanne to George and the two had patented her potion and it had been one of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes biggest sellers. The royalties from that alone, had given the witch a bit of autonomy in her marriage and a bit more respect within her own family.
But the biggest change had to be the relationship between Draco and Daphne.
After the wedding ceremony and during the reception, Daphne had finally made the overture to her nephew. Scorpius was cautious at first and it took a while for him to open up to his aunt but now they were rather close. When Theo and Daphne married—they'd invited Draco, Hermione and Scorpius to their wedding. It was about a year later that Hermione had come to Theo one day in his office with a letter from Pius Thicknese requesting a meeting. Theo had been stunned, had thanked her graciously and a few months later left his job and found a new one.
No one knew what he did in the DoM.
Well, no one except Hermione.
Now it was ten years later and as Draco found himself thinking back on the past decade, he realized that he'd never been happier in his life. He had his wife, son and now...
He smiled down at his wife, who was fast asleep at his side. She was tiring out more easily these days.
As he cupped her belly again, he couldn't help but be grateful to his Aunt Andromeda for her help.
Once his mother had finally convinced her sister to meet, the last of the old hurts from the War and prior—had fallen in spectacular fashion. The two sisters had spent several days locked away in a room at Malfoy Manor while Teddy stayed with Harry and Luna. No one knew what was said or what happened but when they'd finally emerged the afternoon on the third day—both sister's were arm in arm and smiling.
Lucius had been pleased that his beloved wife finally had a measure of her family returned to her.
When Draco had suggested that his wife talk with Andromeda again about her condition...Hermione was reluctant to pursue anything but eventually complied.
His aunt had suggested going to a Muggle healer who specialized in infertility and Draco had been stunned. Muggle's had specialists for this sort of thing?
Hermione hadn't been surprised. Her own Mother had difficulty getting pregnant with her, but beyond that she didn't know any particulars.
When they'd researched it a bit, Hermione found the name of her Mother's doctor and made an appointment.
And that was when things finally fell into place.
The infertility that the Healers at St. Mungo's had diagnosed was in actuality a case of endometriosis that was in Stage 3. The scarring of her Fallopian tubes had led to the diagnosis of infertility, but as the Magical World had no understanding what endometriosis was—they'd given Hermione the worst case scenario and left it at that.
Whether or not her condition had been exacerbated by the Dark Magic she'd suffered from during the War—no one knew for sure.
But in the Muggle World, endometriosis was highly treatable and Draco had spared no expense finding the best Healers in the world to treat his wife's condition. They'd found it in America at a hospital called John's Hopkins. Hermione's surgery had been a resounding success and with the help of a procedure called IVF—they'd finally gotten pregnant.
And she was due to give birth to twin girls any day now.
Scorpius had been thrilled for his parents and had spent time talking to his Mother's belly. He'd even taken to naming his siblings when he spoke to them. Alula and Gemini—which were both twin constellations.
Both Draco and Hermione had secretly loved the names and had decided to keep them.
Even Narcissa had thought them very appropriate.
He gazed down on his wife's sleeping face yet again and felt his heart brimming to bursting with the overwhelming love her felt for his witch. She'd forgiven him, loved him and loved their son with everything she had to give. Her kindness was boundless, her cunning was beyond arousing and her intellect was staggering.
It all came together into the perfect package that was simply...her.
He leant down to place a soft kiss on her forehead when her eyes flew open and she gasped in pain...clutching her bulge in shock. Draco knelt down in front of her and took her hands and mimicked the breathing exercises they'd learned from that Muggle Lamaze class they'd gone to last month.
Once the contraction stopped, Hermione smiled lovingly at her husband. They'd been coming sporadically for the past day and they hadn't wanted to worry Scorpius as she was still technically three weeks out from her due date but Andromeda had told her that the twins would likely arrive early.
"You okay?" Draco whispered and Hermione nodded.
"Yeah. I just wish they had decided to make their appearance before Scorp left for school."
"I know, but he will understand. I'm sure Minerva can be convinced to allow Scorp to make a quick visit through her floo to the hospital. I'll put Mother on it if need be. You know how close they've become in recent years."
It was true. Since Narcissa's return to society the witch had been a force of nature. She'd set up several charities for War Orphans, Hogwarts and St. Mungo's. Pansy's new line of boutiques had been a rousing success too and together they'd hosted a fashion show in Magical Paris that was attended by every witch that had galleons to spend.
That night raised over three million galleons for various charities and was now the annual event of the year.
"True." Hermione grimaced as another contraction hit. Her eyes widened as she looked at the time and frowned. "That was only about seven minutes apart, right?"
Draco nodded and cast a tempus...waiting for the next one to hit which it did like clockwork.
"It's time love. I'm going to grab your bag and let Mother and Father know."
"Alright."
It wasn't but fifteen minutes later the new Minister for Magic was being led into her private area at the hospital to give birth. Draco had joked that she was the first Minister that he was aware of, to give birth while in office.
She'd sent a stinging jinx to his arse and he'd yelped, scowled and then wagged his finger at her in warning.
"No magic love."
"Sorry." She pouted, but he just kissed her and went to get himself dressed in his hospital gown for the birth.
It wasn't but a couple hours and a C-section later that Alula and Gemini were born into the world on September 1st, 2011 at 4:47 in the late afternoon.
Draco had floo'd Minerva with the good news and she promised to let Scorpius know once the sorting feast was done.
Lucius and Narcissa were thrilled as they each held one of their granddaughters while Draco helped Hermione get adjusted on her clean bed...her incision from the surgery already starting to heal with the dittany that had been applied.
It was about nine that night when there was a soft knock on their door and Draco opened it to see his son smiling up at him.
"Hey champ."
"Hi Dad. So Mum couldn't have decided to do this yesterday huh?"
"Nope, I think she missed you too much and was just looking for an excuse to get you back home for a bit."
"Stop it, both of you." Hermione groused as she held Alula to her while Gemini was being rocked to sleep in her Grandfather's arms.
"Wow!" Scorpius moved forward and stared down at his baby sister who was looking back at him with eyes that were just a bit brighter than his own.
"This is Alula, darling and your Grandfather is holding Gemini."
Scorpius swallowed and nodded, secretly pleased his parents had decided to use the names he'd chosen for his siblings.
"They're beautiful Mum. Just like you."
"Oh sweetheart...you're a charmer. Just like your father."
Draco scoffed but didn't deny it. When Alula was done feeding, Hermione handed the twin to Draco who burped her and then gestured to their son to sit next to his grandfather so he could be properly introduced to his sister.
All eyes were on Scorpius and Alula as he hummed and cooed softly at his baby sister, who seemed to be as interested in his voice and he was in her.
"I think she recognizes my voice, Mum."
"It's possible." Hermione grinned happily up at her husband, who was beaming in pride at his family and wondering how he'd gotten so blessed.
"So?" Draco drawled and Scorpius looked up and smirked. He could see both his grandparents out of the corner of his eye patiently waiting for the announcement to come.
"Slytherin, Dad."
Draco raised a fist in the air like he'd won the Quidditch World Cup all on his own causing everyone to laugh at how utterly ridiculous he looked.
"What?" He pouted unconvincingly. "Can't I be proud of my Son."
"Our Son, darling and yes...you can be proud of him."
Draco gazed lovingly down into his wife's amber eyes and nodded.
"Yes, our son. Have I ever told you thank you for loving me and giving me a chance to love you in return?"
Hermione cupped her husband's cheek and sighed in adoration. "You might've mentioned it a time or two. Thank you for giving me a family, my love. Along with your love it's the greatest gift I've ever received."
Hermione turned her head and smiled radiantly at their son and daughters. She then nodded at her in-laws and felt her heart bursting with happiness when they returned the sentiment with pride shine from their eyes.
Yes...their family was everything.