Lucius had never suffered from nerves, but as he got ready to have Sunday lunch with his family, his entire body was racked with them. He'd changed outfits several times, not wanting to be too formal and stuffy, but not wanting to look as though he was trying too hard. In the end, he'd decided to forgo his usual robes, and just wear his normal clothes of trousers and a smart shirt.
"Maybe I should go and put my robes on," he muttered to Narcissa as they got ready to leave.
"You look perfect as you are," Narcissa assured her husband. She understood her husband's nerves, but she also knew that the longer they spent getting ready the worse it would be for him. "Shall we go?"
Due to the estrangement with Draco and his family, a floo connection wasn't established between their house and the manor, meaning apparition was the only way for them to travel. However, since Lucius had never visited the village his son lived in, it was up to his wife to lead the way. Lucius had never put himself in Narcissa's hands when it came to apparating before, and even though he knew she was a talented witch and he trusted her implicitly, he couldn't help but be nervous. Yet again, he was doing something he'd been raised not to do, and that was to let a woman take charge of the travel arrangements. As a gentleman, he'd been raised to be the one who escorted women, not the other way around.
"Don't look so nervous," Narcissa chuckled as she slipped her arm through her husband's. "I've never had an accident, yet. I won't splinch either of us."
"I know you won't, but this does not feel right," Lucius muttered. "I should be the one taking charge."
"You can take charge in the bedroom later," Narcissa promised him with a sultry smile, before she pulled out her wand and they vanished with a small pop.
True to her word, there were no splinching issues and Narcissa delivered them to their destination in one piece. Although the one good thing about arriving outside, was that he got a chance to see where his son lived. The village they lived in seemed nice and pleasant and the surrounding countryside was gorgeous. As for his son's house, it was far smaller than anywhere a Malfoy had lived for generations and Lucius knew he would have to work hard not to be disparaging about the size of his son's house. The last thing he wanted to do was to blow his second chance by being a snob.
"It's a lovely house," Narcissa said as if reading her husband's mind. "Not as big as the manor, but a lovely size for a small family."
"I'm sure it's very nice," Lucius replied with a nod.
Taking hold of her husband's hand, Narcissa led the way up the garden path and rang the doorbell. Within seconds, Hermione answered the door and ushered them inside with a warm smile.
"Go on through, the boys are in the living room," she said, pointing the way for Lucius's sake.
While Hermione headed towards the back of the house, Lucius followed his wife towards the living room. Entering the room, he paused momentarily when he spotted his grandson sitting on the floor playing with his dragons. However, his grandson wasn't alone as sitting beside Scorpius, making the little boy laugh, was Blaise Zabini.
"Father, Mother," Draco greeted, rising from the chair he'd been sitting on. "You remember Blaise, don't you?"
Noticing the challenging look in his son's eye, Lucius realised that Blaise's presence was a test for him. The message his son was sending out was loud and clear. Either he accepted Blaise, or he walked away and they ended this now.
"Nice to see you again, Blaise," Lucius said with a polite nod of his head. It wasn't exactly true as he'd never taken to his son's brash best friend, but he could be polite and he could learn to tolerate the younger wizard if it meant reuniting with his family.
"Mr Malfoy," Blaise returned with a slightly incline of his head. "Mrs Malfoy."
"Blaise," Narcissa greeted stiffly, before turning to his grandson with a smile. "Hello, Scorpius."
"Hi Nana Cissa," Scorpius cried, jumping up and bounding over to his grandparents. "New Grandpa, you're here."
"New Grandpa?" Narcissa queried with an arched eyebrow. "I think we need to find you a better name than that. How about Grandpa Lucius."
"Grandpa Lucius," Scorpius repeated carefully. "I like it," he announced after a moment's thought.
"Thank Merlin for that," Lucius muttered with a slight chuckle.
"Can I get either of you a drink?" Draco asked his parents as they took seats near to where Scorpius was playing.
"That would be lovely," Narcissa replied with a smile.
"Blaise?" Draco checked after finding out what his parents wanted to drink.
"I'll not say no," Blaise answered as he hauled himself up from the floor and settled in a chair.
"Uncle Blaise, you're playing dragons with me," Scorpius pouted.
"Uncle Blaise is tired," Blaise said.
"More like Uncle Blaise is hung-over," Draco snorted as he handed round the drinks.
"I am not hung-over, I was in bed long before midnight," Blaise countered.
"Alone?" Draco asked in amusement.
"What do you think?" Blaise countered with a wiggle of his eyebrows which revealed that he hadn't been alone.
"Play with me Uncle Blaise," Scorpius pleaded.
"How about you play with Grandpa Lucius?" Draco suggested. "I'm sure he would love to play with you."
"Yeah, will you?" Scorpius asked, turning to his new grandfather with an eager grin.
"Of course I'll play with you," Lucius said as he elegantly slid onto the floor to engage with his grandson. Playing on the floor wasn't something he'd done a lot of with Draco, and it was one of the things he regretted about his son's childhood – not spending enough time with Draco when he was a child.
"You can be the blue dragon and the red dragon," Scorpius said, passing two small dragons to his grandfather. "You have to make dragon noises. Can you do that?"
"Instead of making dragon noises, how about we give the dragons voices?" Lucius suggested, not really fancying the idea of roaring like an idiot.
"How?" Scorpius asked with wide eyes.
Reaching for his cane, Lucius pulled his wand from the top and used it to cast enchantments on his grandson's toy dragons, causing the little figures to roar like real dragons.
"Wow," Scorpius cried in amazement. "Dad, look what Grandpa Lucius did."
"Amazing," Draco replied with a smile.
"Come on then young Scorpius, let's play dragons," Lucius said, picking up one of the dragons, ready to do battle with his grandson.
Despite never having done anything like it before, Lucius soon found himself caught up in the game of dragons. In the midst of it all, he was aware of Hermione entering the room and settling herself at Draco's side. He was also aware of his wife asking questions about the baby, and congratulating them on the fact they were having a girl.
"Are you looking forward to having a sister, Scorpius?" Narcissa asked when there was a break in the dragon play.
"No," Scorpius replied with a pout. "I wanted a brother."
"Better luck next time, Scorp," Blaise chuckled, ruffling his godson's hair affectionately.
"Next time?" Scorpius's eyes widened in horror as he gazed at his parents. "Are we having another baby?"
"No, just the one," Hermione assured her son with a light laugh.
"But maybe in the future, we'll have another one and that one might be a boy," Draco said.
"No," Scorpius said with a shake of his head. "No more babies."
"Let's not worry about something that might never happen," Hermione said lightly. "Go and wash your hands, Scorpius, dinner is nearly ready."
"Come on squirt, I'll take you," Blaise offered as he got to his feet.
"Last one there, is a rotten egg," Scorpius called as he took off and ran laughing from the room, Blaise hot on his heels.
"He seems fond of Blaise," Lucius remarked as he used his cane to help himself back to his feet.
"He is," Draco answered. "Blaise is family."
"We get the message, Draco," Lucius said with a slight chuckle. "I understand that Blaise is an important part of your life, and I'm very grateful for him for being there for you when I wasn't."
"Yeah well, he's a good friend," Draco replied with an awkward shrug. He knew they couldn't ignore the past, but he felt as though things would be easier with his father if they didn't dwell on the mistakes Lucius had made.
"Shall we move into the dining room," Hermione suggested. "We don't want Scorpius to eat everything in sight."
"He's a growing boy, he needs his sustenance," Lucius chuckled.
"I swear that boy has hollow legs," Hermione laughed, directing Lucius and Narcissa into the dining room as she and Draco headed for the kitchen to grab the food.
Hermione had made a traditional roast beef dinner, and Lucius was mightily impressed with the fact she'd done everything herself. In fact the meal was almost as good at what he would expect the elves to make at the manor.
"Mum, can I have another pudding?" Scorpius asked, eyeing up the platter of Yorkshire Puddings.
"You've already got three on your plate," Draco pointed out.
"But they're the best," Scorpius replied, picking one of the puddings up and dunking it in his gravy before stuffing it into his mouth.
"You can have one more," Hermione allowed. "But only once you've finished everything on your plate. Including the sprout you're hiding under your mashed potato."
"I don't like sprouts," Scorpius whined.
"Yes, you do," Hermione said. "Don't be picky, Scorpius. Eat your dinner, and then you can have another pudding."
"Yuck, sprouts," Scorpius sneered, pushing the round vegetable around his plate as his polished off everything else.
Chuckling at his grandson, Lucius watched in amusement as Scorpius waited until Hermione wasn't watching him before flicking his sprout from his plate onto Blaise's. Lucius witnessed Blaise giving Scorpius a conspiratorial wink as he speared the sprout with his fork and popped it into his mouth.
"Mum, can I have another pudding now?" Scorpius called.
"Is your plate clean?" Hermione checked. "Have you eaten everything?"
"Every last sprout," Scorpius lied, sounding like a little angel.
"Then you can have another pudding," Hermione said as her son reached for one of the few remaining Yorkshire Puddings. "And thank Uncle Blaise for eating your sprout for you."
"What are you suggesting, Hermione?" Blaise asked in mock outrage.
"I'm suggesting that I know you and my son far too well," Hermione replied with a smile. "I know the trick you play. When you think I'm not watching, Scorpius moves whatever he doesn't want to eat onto your plate and you eat it for him. Do you think I'm stupid, Blaise?"
"No, but you're a damn sight more observant than I gave you credit for," Blaise muttered.
"You can't get anything past my wife," Draco said proudly.
"Just you remember that when Scorpius gets older and the pair of you are scheming together," Hermione said as she got to her feet and began to gather the plates.
"As if we would scheme," Draco tutted, helping his wife clear the table.
Once the dinner plates were cleared, with Hermione promising to keep the leftover Yorkshire Puddings for her son, dessert was brought out. Dessert was a large black forest gateau, and it was every bit as delicious as the main course.
"This is beautiful," Lucius informed his daughter-in-law. "You have a real talent in the kitchen."
"I'm afraid I can't take credit for the dessert," Hermione said. "Molly dropped it over this morning."
"Granny Molly makes the best cakes," Scorpius said, licking cream from his lips.
"I'll second that," Blaise agreed with an appreciative nod. "This is lovely. Is there more?"
"Help yourself," Hermione said, gesturing to the half eaten cake in the centre of the table. "I'd hate to have to tell Molly that her cake wasn't finished."
"Don't worry, it'll be finished," Blaise said, diving in for seconds. "Here Scorp, have some more."
"Don't give him too much," Hermione warned.
"Yeah, if he's sick tonight, you're staying to look after him," Draco threatened.
Luckily Scorpius didn't eat too much, and he bounded from the table, eager to play some more. When Draco offered to clear up for Hermione, so she could join their son in the front room, Lucius hung back so he could speak to his son in private.
"Thank you for today, it's meant a lot to me," Lucius said softly.
"It's meant a lot to me too," Draco admitted. "Even a few months ago, I didn't think this would be possible."
"I'm pleased it is though," Lucius said. "I'm just sorry it's taken me so long to see sense."
"You always have been a stubborn man," Draco snorted.
"I have," Lucius agreed.
"Not that it matters now," Draco added. "I just want to draw a line in the sand and start over. I don't want to wallow in the past and go over what was said and done. Today should be the start of our new beginning."
"It should," Lucius said with a nod. "And I don't want to spoil things, but I have to ask. Scorpius's reference to Granny Molly, he meant Molly Weasley, didn't he?"
"He did," Draco replied shortly. "And don't for one minute think that will stop now you and Mother are back in our lives. Molly and Arthur are his grandparents. They've been there for Scorpius his entire life, and they've been there for Hermione and I since the beginning."
"Something which I can't claim to have done," Lucius said, finishing his son's sentence.
"No you can't," Draco said. "But that doesn't stop you from being there now. But you will have to accept the Weasleys are part of our lives, they're our family."
"I can accept that, as long as there is room for your mother and I," Lucius admitted. Accepting the Weasleys wouldn't be easy, but he was guessing their paths would only cross on a few occasions and even he could manage a couple of hours a year being civil to Arthur Weasley and his motley crew of redheads.
"There's room," Draco replied in a quiet voice. "But only if you really have changed. I'm warning you now, father, if you break my son's heart, I will break you."
"I would rather die than hurt Scorpius," Lucius vowed sincerely. "I am going to be a good grandfather to him and the new baby, Draco. I swear to you. I will prove to you that you were right to give me a second chance."
Not wanting to waste the second chance he'd been given, Lucius returned to the front room where his grandson was playing, and he spent most of the afternoon helping Scorpius draw a picture of Hogwarts. By the time he and Narcissa left, he had hope that their visit would be the first of many, and he was even hopeful that in time Draco would see fit to bring his family to the manor. It would be good for the manor to be full of Malfoys again, and he couldn't wait to show his grandson around the home which would one day belong to him and his family.