The rest of Christmas had been relatively pleasant for Draco spending it with his in-laws. They seemed to innately understand that he was not very talkative, that he was emotionally spent and gave him the space he needed, but were still polite and kind.

After everything he'd done to their daughter and all the ways in which he'd hurt Hermione, he didn't understand how they could be so accepting of his role in Hermione's life.

His wife, had stayed close during dinner and into the evening. They'd fallen asleep nestled into each other's arms and had woken up spooned together perfectly...then made love until it was time for breakfast.

It wasn't until several days later, that Potter had come over with the Weasel and Potter handed him that morning's copy of the Daily Prophet.

And Draco's heart sank into his chest as the words jumped out on the page...

Malfoy Heir No Longer

By: Romilda Vane

In an unexpected turn of events, it has come to this reporters attention that on the Eve of Christmas, former Death-Eater and now husband of Gryffindor's Golden Girl and Brightest Witch of the Age...has renounced his place as Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy.

The Wizengamot, in a closed session yesterday morning...was given testimony that Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy in secrecy, plotted to remove the new Mrs. Malfoy permanently from the Ministry-mandated matrimony with their son, Draco Lucius Malfoy.

Rita Skeeter, who was brought in for questioning along with the former Pansy Parkinson, (now Pansy Finch Fletchley), has been formally charged for conspiring with the Malfoy's, for helping to violate the Malfoy's probation and for being an unregistered animagus. Mrs. Finch-Fletchley will be arraigned tomorrow in front of the Wizengamot for her role in the conspiracy as well as the subsequent cursing of her husband.

It is unclear just what role the former Malfoy Heir played in this scenario. Word has come down through Gringotts that Mr. Malfoy has taken on the legal surname of Black as well as the Lordship of that Noble House. Does this leave the Malfoy Family without a proper heir? The terms of his probation and house arrest are now being overseen by his wife, the new Lady Black.

We at the Prophet have to wonder if Lord Black will be called in to testify against his parents and former girlfriend? Was he the one responsible for uncovering the plot to harm his wife and decided to make the brave decision to stand by her and if rumor is to be believed, their unborn children.

Was that the impetus for the Malfoy's trying to harm their daughter-in-law?

Do old prejudices run so deep that Lord and Lady Malfoy would see their unborn grandchildren dead before accepting half-blood progeny into their already tainted line?

We here at the Prophet will keep you appraised of the ongoing developments as they continue to unfold. For now we wish the new Lord and Lady Black and their emerging family all the very best for a safe and happy pregnancy.

Draco handed the news article to his wife, who stared at it with an incredulous look.

How in the world did they find out about the children?

Sighing in resignation, she set the paper gently down on the kitchen table and took Draco's hand in hers...feeling his distress.

"What's going to happen to Draco's parents?"

Harry sat down and glanced briefly a the entwined hands on the table before he shrugged.

"Pansy will have to give testimony, but it's really pro forma at this juncture. She was given Veritaserum and confessed to using some kind of obscure curse on Justin. Luckily, we got him to St. Mungo's and the countercurse was administered in time. It was draining his magical core. A few more months and he'd have been dead."

Draco shook his head in disgust. "She offered to do the same for me." He tilted his head down in anger, clenching his jaw. "My guess was that Justin was a test run. If it worked?"

"Then Hermione would've been next." Ron finished with a sneer.

Draco didn't reply and he didn't need to. It was fairly self-explanatory what the endgame would've been.

"And my parents?"

"There was no way to keep them out of this. They will go in front of the Wizengamot probably right after the first of the year. My best guess? Your Mother's House arrest will be added onto. Maybe another five years? Her wand will either be confiscated, or monitored. As for your Father? Due to his past transgressions, best case scenario he will suffer the same fate as your Mum. Worse case? He'll go to Azkaban."

Draco nodded and then stood up, leaving the room for a few moments to head upstairs...not seeing the looks of confusion on everyone's faces. When he came back down, he had a stack of parchment in his hand which he gave to Harry.

"What's that?" Ron demanded lowly and Draco just glowered for a moment then sighed in defeat.

"It's a list of all the members of the Wizengamot that my Father bribed this last time around to save himself from Azkaban. He didn't believe my Mother would need the help, as she'd saved Potter's arse and I was basically left to fend for myself because he didn't seem to think that I'd be treated harshly due to my age at the time I was marked."

Potter and Weasley both blanched in shock, but it was Hermione who spoke out.

"He couldn't have known that, though?"

"Maybe?" Draco hummed, "But as you can see from the list, there are many people who owe my Father favors. Some he has blackmail on, others he bribed."

Harry looked over the list and his eyes widened comically as he sputtered out, "Malfoy, this is over a third of the existing Wizengamot members?"

Draco smirked and nodded. "The information is all there, or at least what I could remember of it. What he paid to whom, what information he has against whom. If Shacklebolt really wants to reform the Ministry from the inside, this is as good of a place to start as any."

Harry just stared back at him, almost impressed in spite of how he felt personally about the ferret.

"Does Lucius know you have this information?"

Draco thought about it, and slowly shook his head. "My Father has never given me credit for being as Slytherin as he is. But I've paid attention, and listened when he thought I wasn't. I'm sure there's more out there than this...but for now it's all I can offer."

Harry nodded, pocketing the parchment with a small smile. "I'll take this to Kingsley immediately. He may want you to come in and verify a few things."

"Sure," Draco drawled, "what difference does it make. I've lost my parents and whether you lot agree that it's for the best? They're still my parents and I didn't want them to suffer, but that doesn't seem to be an option now."

The Golden Trio watched sadly as Malfoy stood and walked out of the room, stunned and saddened.

"I can't imagine how hard this must be for him." Harry offered quietly, and Hermione nodded.

"He won't talk about it. At least not yet, but I know it's got to be eating him up inside."

"I just can't believe that he decided to protect you and the babies," Ron admitted sheepishly, "I didn't think the ferret had it in him."

"Ronald..." Hermione's voice held a warning edge, causing her best friend so blush in apology.

"Ron doesn't mean anything bad, Mione...I think he's just shocked. We all are, frankly. Even Kings was stunned when I told him what was happening. But I just want to inform you that there's a good chance Malfoy might get his probation reduced if this pans out."

"I don't think that's going to make him feel any better, Harry. He's lost his parents, and speaking from experience, I'm not sure if that's something you can ever really get over."

"You don't think he'll hold it against you, do you?" Ron asked worriedly.

"I'd like to think not, but the truth is if it hadn't been for me getting pregnant and our subsequent marriage, Malfoy would've married Astoria Greengrass with none the wiser about these babies."

"You'd have kept it a secret?"

"Most likely." She admitted with a sigh, ignoring the disapproving glare from her red-headed best friend. "The Marriage Law forced my hand, and at the time I did what I needed to do as far as protecting myself and these babies, and Merlin help me, I'd do it again. I just wish that Draco's parents could've found it within their hearts to be more accepting. I can't imagine that they'd ever thought he would've made the choice he did."

"That's a given." Harry agreed readily. "The Draco Malfoy before the War would've never gone against his parents."

"No, I don't think he would have."

"Well, Ron and I should get back to the Ministry and show this information to Kings. I'll let you both know what he says and keep you in the loop."

"Thanks Harry."

Hermione hugged her friends and watched them floo away, before she made her way back upstairs to her room with Draco.

When she walked inside, she saw him sitting in the bay window, staring out over the gazebo where they'd had their wedding reception.

"You okay?" She whispered, as she moved towards him but he didn't turn to face her...only held out his hand which she took without hesitation before he resettled them both more comfortably on the large seat.

"No, but I will be."

Silence pervaded for a while, before Hermione felt compelled to inquire...

"Why did you give that information to Harry?"

More silence.

It was at least fifteen minutes before Draco spoke and when he did his voice was thick with emotion. Something that in all the years she'd known him...Hermione never believed him capable of.

"I wish I could give you a clear cut answer, but I can't. I honestly wanted to believe that my parents would accept our children and my marriage to you. I know it wasn't what they'd envisioned for my future, and I've spent my entire life trying to please them it's true. But this? I know my Father and Mother, and I know what they're capable of. I suppose it was to send a message. I am going to be seen as a blood traitor now...there's nothing for it. I've spent my whole life being proud of the name Malfoy until the War and everything that happened. I have a chance for a new start, but I also need to make sure you and our children are safe. I can't get over the fact that they were going to have you and our babies killed. Of all the things I've forgiven my parents for? This was the one thing I couldn't."

"So this was revenge?"

Draco shrugged. "This was me making a choice and trying to get the point across to them that their actions have consequences. Real ones. My Father would continue to maneuver and manipulate as any good Slytherin would and eventually he'd find a way to retaliate. It's just who he is. With this? He won't be able to."

"And your Mother?"

More silence and it was a few minutes later, Hermione heard Draco sniffles softly behind her. She tilted up her head to look behind her, and her heart broke at the wetness in her husband's eyes as well as his expression of despair.

"I love my Mum," Draco whispered sadly, "and I would've done anything to protect her, save kill Dumbledore. She was the most important person in my world and I mistakenly thought I was that for her. But I was wrong. It's hard to admit to yourself that your parents love isn't unconditional. That they could so easily withhold their affections from me to try and coerce me into doing what they wanted, makes me wonder if they ever really loved at all."

Turning around, Hermione grasped Draco's hands in hers as she shook her head emphatically.

"They love you Draco." At his scoff, she squeezed his hands tighter. "I'm sure of it. They were both frantic to find you during the Battle of Hogwarts. Your Mother lied to Voldemort to get to you but sometimes, our definition of love and another person's, even our parents? Don't always coexist in the ways we need it to. I think you have so much love to give, and perhaps you've never felt safe enough to express it. We have two children who will need their Father to be able to give that to them. To love them unconditionally, and I think you've proven that you do. You put their needs ahead of your own. You chose them."

"And you." He smirked slightly and Hermione blushed, her eyes falling away in uncertainty, but Draco wasn't having any of it. He pulled her onto his lap and cupped her face within his hands as his stormy grey eyes bored into hers.

"Look, I know you believe that the only reason I chose to do this with you was because of our children, and I know that my actions might've given you that impression? But...the truth is far more complicated than that. Our last year at school, I never intended to act on the feelings that were growing between us. When I watched through those memories of that time, I realized belatedly that there was so much I hadn't seen. Maybe I chose not to? Or maybe I was just an idiot, it's hard to know."

"I'm going to vote for the latter." Hermione quipped with a smile, and Draco snorted, but his lips quirked up so he wasn't too offended.

"Story of my life so far." He replied half-serious, half-joking.

"Did you hate me?"

Draco thought about it and shrugged. "There was a time I seriously thought I did. You were always better in classes than I was, and it angered me that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to beat your scores. Then the War happened, and all that I'd been taught as truth seemed to be built on a shaky foundation. The things I witnessed...the cruelty and viciousness of the Dark Lords followers? I might've been a bully, but I don't think I was ever in that league of just pure..."

"Hatred?"

Draco nodded—although secretly he was unsure if anyone but himself would agree with his own assessment of his former personality.

"You were rather vile and cruel at times, Draco."

His face shuttered and Hermione could tell he felt regret and remorse for those actions.

"I know." He murmured. "And nothing I can say will undo the past."

"No, but it's in the past and you have to learn to let it go and try to forgive yourself."

"Have you forgiven me?"

Hermione just cupped his cheek and nodded. "I have. It wasn't easy, and there are times that I wonder if you'll regret walking away from your parents and blame me or our children."

"I'd never do that!" His voice was resolved, "you have to believe that."

"Part of me already does."

"And the other part?"

"Knows that the only thing that will fix what we've broken is time. Time to heal and move forward."

"You really believe that?"

"I do," Hermione's voice was gentle and soothing. "I believe you're worth it."

Draco felt his chest tighten, and the emotions he'd spent years locking away burst forth as tears fell down his cheeks at the open and honest expression on his wife's face.

Not even his parents had ever made him feel as if he was worth such love and consideration.

No wonder he was so screwed up.

He watched Hermione's expression morph to one of sympathy and worry, as she wiped his tears away with loving concern.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you." He whispered out on a sob and Hermione just shook her head.

"Everyone deserves love, Draco. It's not something you have to keep earning over and over again, at least not at the expense of your own happiness and sanity."

"You love me?"

"Merlin help me, but I do." She admitted with a shrug. "I didn't want to, believe me. There were nights I'd lay awake in my dorm room actively trying to talk myself out of it, but..."

"I love you too." He interrupted, and almost choked out a guffaw at his wife's gobsmacked expression.

She clearly wasn't expecting that admission from him.

"You're serious?" She breathed out in wonder, and Draco just chuckled and nodded.

"More than."

The next thing he knew, his wife's lips were pressed down heatedly on his own, and his own response was immediate as he kissed her back with all the pent up emotion in his heart.

As he rolled her underneath him, he pulled back slightly and broke the kiss...smiling down at Hermione's countenance that was filled with awed happiness.

"You didn't think I'd ever say it, did you?"

She just swallowed heavily and shook her head, causing Draco's gut to clench at how vulnerable she appeared in that moment.

"I'm so sorry, love."

"Don't," she pleaded emotively, "we need to heal and move forward. I'm willing to start fresh if you are?"

"Whatever you want."

And then he kissed her again and finally allowed his fractured heart to heal from all the pain and loss the last few years had wrought upon his soul.

Draco didn't know what the next few weeks would bring, but he did know that Hermione was the strongest witch he'd ever known and there was no way in Salazar, that she'd ever let him fall or fail her again.