A/N - I apologize for the late update again! Life has been busy but will slow down a little once fall sports are over. Hopefully, I make it up to you since this update is over 6,000 words!
I decided to write a couple of scenes from Hermione's POV in this chapter, so be sure to let me know what you think. Would you like to see more from her?
For those wondering, a sledge is a sled. You'd probably be able to figure that out given the context, but I'll just say it here to be sure.
I've been trying to do my best at using British words/spelling when I can, but I couldn't bring myself to spell skeptical with a 'c' instead of a 'k'.
Chapter 7: A Time for Family - February 2, 2008
"Mummy! Daddy!" Scorpius yelled from the other side of the bedroom door, knocking furiously and causing Hermione and Draco to wake with a start. Having a lie-in with three young children was nearly impossible. "It snowed!" the boy announced happily. Few things made Scorpius Malfoy more excited than snow. To him, there was nothing like sledging down a huge hill. The last time they'd had a big snowstorm, Pop, Hermione's dad, told him it was the closest thing that Muggles had to flying on a broom aside from skiing, which he'd promised to teach the children soon.
"We'll call Pop and Nan in a little while, Scorp," Draco called with his eyes still closed and face buried in his wife's hair as she lay on his chest. Next to him, Ori was curled into Draco's side and beginning to stir. At some point during the night, the boy had crawled into his parent's bed to snuggle.
"Nan said I could help make hot chocolate on the next snow day!" Cassie cheered. The sound of the twins screaming and jumping up and down in the hallway filled the room, and Ori began to cry.
The noise they made immediately stopped as the youngest Malfoy cast a wandless silencing charm on his siblings. Hermione reached over to soothe her little boy, but he simply grabbed her hand into a hug, rolled to his side, and fell back asleep.
"We can't just leave them silenced out there all morning," the curly-haired witch whispered, slowly releasing her youngest son's hand. "I'll get the twins ready for the day and call my parents if you want to stay in bed with Ori for awhile."
"Let's pawn them all off on someone tonight, so you and I can have a proper lie-in tomorrow," Draco suggested with a smirk. Hermione stared down at him and considered his plan. "Your parents, the Weasleys, hell, even Blaise. I don't care at this point."
"Do you think you'd be comfortable leaving them with your parents overnight?" she wondered. He hadn't expected the question. Lucius had only been free about a month, but even Draco had to admit he could see a change in his father. Surprisingly, the older wizard really did seem to love the children and want to spend time with them. He'd even noticed Cassie practicing the steps to that blasted Viennese waltz in her room when she thought nobody was watching her. She was quite good for a five-year-old. Clearly, Lucius was behind her learning to dance, but Draco kept it from his wife since his daughter seemed to be enjoying herself. It'd taken the blond wizard an entire year to learn that bloody dance as a child for one of the annual New Year's Eve balls the Malfoys hosted. Lucius had forced him to continue his lessons at Hogwarts with a private instructor every Sunday of his third year to make sure he executed it properly at the event.
"I'm not sure. Maybe we should consider the possibility," he replied. "What do you think?"
"Well...I firmly believe that he loves the children very much and wouldn't hurt them," she replied. "At the very least, he has been polite towards me, which is more than we hoped for at this point."
"Let's not discuss this now. I'm furious that we would even consider settling for basic cordialness," he huffed. It killed him that his wife should be treated as anything less than a daughter by his father. The Grangers certainly treated Draco like the son they never had. Aside from their first awkward encounter, David Granger was one of the kindest people he'd ever met. Hermione nodded and kissed him quickly before slipping out of their bedroom door to take care of the twins.
As she watched her husband and dad play with Scorpius, Cassie, and Ori in the snow, Hermione couldn't help but smile. There was nothing sexier than a man who loved being with his children. They'd been playing in the snow for hours. She laughed when Ori hit Pop with a snowball, and he pretended to chase the little boy around the yard, Ori squealing and giggling while he hid behind Draco. The blond wizard conjured a dozen snowballs for Scorpius and Cassie to throw, and Pa finally raised his hands in defeat.
"Are they headed inside yet?" Jean Granger asked her daughter with a knowing smile. She'd been baking cookies while Hermione sat on the couch with her feet up and watching her family have fun in the cold.
"Honestly, I'm surprised they stayed out that long. Work has been taxing for Draco this last month. He's been exhausted," she said, unsure if she should go into detail about the case that had her husband stumped. Over the years, he'd become the go-to Auror for what others believed to be unbreakable curses. He'd more than proven himself as an asset to the wizarding community with the level of his skill. Along with all of his tireless effort, he had truly changed what it meant to be a Malfoy just as he'd set out to do so many years ago. Hermione was so proud of him. Of course, he still had his moments of doubt as Scorpius and Cassie grew older and became curious about the many strangers who constantly thanked their mother in public but not their father. Sometimes the dread of having to tell the children about his seedy past consumed Draco. He knew the time to face everything he'd done back then would be coming sooner than later. The Malfoy children were much too observant to be kept in the dark for much longer.
"I noticed he looks a bit tired. Is everything alright?" Jean wondered, bringing Hermione back from her deep thoughts.
"Yes, he's fine, but the job has been tough on him. He's not used to working so hard to solve a case."
"It must be terrible. Isn't he considered the best of his kind?" Jean asked. Hermione couldn't help the small surge of pride at the mention of her husband's reputation.
"It is terrible. Whatever dark wizard behind this case is cursing children. It's so sad. Luckily, the two victims are undergoing treatment at St. Mungo's and are expected to recover. but Draco is worried because the second victim is worse off than the first. He believes the culprit is just proving the power of his magic, and it'll continue to worsen if they don't catch the criminal soon. The pressure to solve these cases is high because he doesn't want the blood of children on his hands. The guilt plagues him," Hermione explained, worrying her bottom lip.
Suddenly, the door burst open, bringing with it a gust of chilled air and Hermione's snow-covered family. Their faces were red from the cold, but their smiles were bright.
"Let me help you out of your snow clothes, Cassie, so you can help me make the hot chocolate," Jean said as she unwrapped her granddaughter from her pink and purple scarf, gloves, woolly hat, and parka. The little girl was jumping up and down as if her body couldn't contain all of her excitement and she might burst. She prattled on about playing in the snow and how Daddy let her sledge all by herself once without his help. Hermione thought she looked as thrilled as her father the first time she'd taken him sledging.
It was the first Christmas they spent with the Weasleys, and Draco was relieved when Ron, George, Ginny, Blaise, and Angelina were as skeptical as he was when Harry and Hermione told them about their favorite Muggle pastime in the snow.
"You want us to slide down that steep hill on nothing but a piece of wood fastened to two blades?" Ron questioned in disbelief.
"How is that any less dangerous than riding a broom hundreds of feet above the ground?" Hermione countered.
"You can control a broom with magic, Granger. What you're suggesting sounds like we should be fully stocked in Skele-Gro before we begin," Draco argued as the others nodded in agreement. Hermione and Harry exchanged an exasperated look.
"Why don't we just show you?" the dark-haired wizard said, grabbing Hermione's arm and apparating them to the top of the hill with the sledge they'd transfigured from a branch. As soon as Draco saw Hermione sit between Harry's legs for them to ride down together, he apparated up with them and volunteered to take his former rival's place.
"It seems that jealousy brings out the real bravery in you, Malfoy," Harry jeered.
"Shut it, Potter. I don't care. I'll risk my life to keep my fiance from sitting between another wizard's legs," Draco sneered without any real malice. To calm him down, Hermione kissed him on the cheek, and the two friends explained to the pureblood wizard how to steer the sledge by leaning back and forth. "Alright, Potter, give us a push and get us going," Draco said with a slight quiver to his voice.
Even by Muggle standards, this hill was high, steep, and dangerous, but Hermione never revealed her own apprehension to Draco. They started off slow at first, and the blond wizard's deathly grip on her relaxed slightly. His confidence didn't last long.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" he chanted as they began to pick up speed.
Just as they neared the bottom, they hit a snow-covered log, causing them to sail through the air and land in a heap of limbs in a soft pile of snow. They were covered.
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked once she realized she was fine except for the cold. At first, all she felt was the shaking. Her heart clenched in her chest when she thought Draco had been hurt, but when she turned to check on him, he was laughing. Tears were streaming down his face and he had to gasp for air several times. It was one of those deep, soundless laughs that took over your whole body. He'd never looked more striking than at that moment. Unburdened. Joyful. Free. Hermione couldn't help but join him. By the time the others reached them, they were clutching one another in a fit of giggles.
"I can't believe that Slytherin git was braver than a group of Gryffindors!" George exclaimed. Something about this statement caused Draco to collapse into a fresh wave of laughter. The two of them laid there in the snow for a few minutes trying to control themselves.
"I love you," he declared, kissing her on the forehead. "There is no other witch in the world for whom I'd voluntarily climb onto a Muggle deathtrap in the snow without a warming charm."
It was one of her favorite memories with Draco. As it turned out, he'd make the sacrifice of climbing on a 'Muggle deathtrap' in the cold for his little witch and wizards just as he would for his wife. In spite of his upbringing, Draco Malfoy turned out to be a loving husband and father.
"Why didn't you use a warming charm out there?" Hermione asked Draco when he sat beside her on the couch, teasing her neck and shoulders with his cold fingers on one hand and rubbing her growing belly with the other.
"Your children wanted the 'real Muggle experience' while we were out there, so we all nearly froze to death," he chuckled. "If they won't let me spoil them with toys, then I certainly won't deny them when they make darling requests like that," he explained with a smirk, wagging his eyebrows when he caught her glancing at his full lips. She smacked him playfully when his mouth morphed into a full grin.
"Don't be arrogant," she teased.
"It's not arrogance to know your wife thinks you're devilishly handsome," he whispered before placing a languid kiss just below her ear. Hermione squirmed in her seat, and he chuckled low, knowing the effect he had on her.
"Well your wife doesn't find it attractive when you act like a cocky little git," she replied with a smile. Draco lowered his head toward her stomach.
"Do you hear that, son?" he said just high enough for Hermione to hear. "Your mummy is a bit of a liar. We both know she finds me to be especially irresistible when I'm acting like a cocky little git." She smacked him again with mirth. "You see? She can't keep her hands off of me."
"I'm officially a changed man, gentleman. I'm in love!" Blaise declared, slamming his drink on their regular table at the Leaky Cauldron. He was grinning like an idiot. It was the first time Draco had seen his best friend truly happy.
"Ey'm right proud of yeh for finally gettin' yeh're head out o' yehr arse," Hagrid boomed as he raised his glass and clinked it with the group of friends.
"Me too, Hagrid," the Italian wizard admitted. "She's the only witch to make my heart race and all we've done so far is kiss a few times."
"We didn't come here to hear about your date with Luna, you raging tosser!" George yelled. "Tell us how you survived your camping trip with your bollocks intact!" The table of wizards burst into raucous laughter, causing other patrons to turn and glare at them. The wizards didn't notice or care. No one would dare to kick the Chosen One out of their establishment.
"I cooked her a lovely dinner all by myself," Blaise continued as if George hadn't said anything. "Of course, I ruined it. Who knew you had to stir the pasta while it was boiling?" he shrugged his shoulders. "As I assumed, she appreciated the gesture. She even went so far as to eat it as if nothing was wrong. With all my faults, that witch accepts me for all that I am. In the end, we ordered takeout from a Muggle Thai restaurant instead."
"No one cares that you're shite at cooking!" Ron shouted, smiling wide. "Tell us about what happened with her dad!"
"After dinner, I arranged an international Portkey to my villa in Italy where we walked the grounds in the moonlight," Blaise went on, ignoring the jeering from his friends.
"You mean your mum's villa?" Draco quipped, elbowing Harry in the side and they both chuckled quietly.
"Quit interrupting, prat! I meant my villa since it was my real father's and he left it to me in his will."
"Stop holding out and tell us what we want to know!" Harry burst with a drunken giggle. It had been an especially difficult few weeks for the Auror department with what appeared to be the beginnings of a serial killer on the loose, so Harry and Draco needed these weekly drinks with the boys to stay sane.
"Ey remember Xenophilius as a boy. A bit odd, tha' one," Hagrid commented off-handedly.
"We talked about everything and nothing under the stars. It was perfect," he smiled to himself.
"Stop boring us to tears, Blaise!" George complained loudly.
"And that's when I asked her to be my wife," he revealed with a smirk. Silence. It was the first time in the history of their strange friendship that anyone had ever stunned the entire group into complete silence. "You can all congratulate me now. She said 'yes', of course."
"You're serious?" Draco finally asked apprehensively. "After one date, you're absolutely sure?"
"It's more than one date, isn't it?" the Italian wizard replied. "It's a thousand letters we've written back-and-forth over almost a decade; the time we've spent together throughout the years as friends and with all of you; the way I know there is no one else but her; it's everything that has led us to this point. Now that I've finally come to my senses, I refuse to live another moment without her," he said with conviction.
"Well, -er, alright, mate," Ron said with an apprehensive smile. "We're happy for you!" he exclaimed as he stood up and motioned to the bartender for another round of drinks. The other wizards chimed in with their congratulations and claps on the back.
"Not to ruin the moment," George started, "but if you don't tell us what happened on that camping trip, I'll go to the Lovegood home right now and ask that crazy old man myself."
"Oh, that," Blaise looked around abashedly. "He spent the first night explaining in great detail all the ways he'd torture me if I continued to play games with his daughter. I -er...well, I'll be honest...I actually...pissed my pants when he woke me in the middle of the night with his wand to my throat," he closed his eyes waiting for the laughter.
"Did he actually hex you?" Harry wondered.
"No, but it was still scary as fuck! His eyes were mad like he'd do anything to save his daughter from me. I would ask what you would do if it happened to you, Potter, but you've probably actually woken up like that on more than one occasion and handled it exactly as we would expect from a Gryffindor," he joked.
"What'd yeh do? Yeh must o' gotten him to approve of yeh somehow," Hagrid said thoughtfully.
"I did what any resourceful Slytherin would do and shoved the ring I picked out for her in his face. Can you even imagine your lives without me if I hadn't thought to bring the piece of jewelry that saved my bloody life?"
"You'd think the ring would make him even more upset," Ron mumbled.
"I wasn't sure what he'd do, but he teared up a bit and went back to sleep," Blaise explained. "The next morning, he was treating me like a long lost son. He said he figured if I wasn't serious about Luna, I'd have run off by morning. That trip was nothing short of bizarre."
"When exactly should I clear my schedule to be the best man for this wedding?" Draco asked.
"Now that we have to plan it around all of your bloody wives being pregnant, we decided next month would be best. Will my favorite godson, Ori, be able to be our ring bearer?"
"You've only just gotten engaged last night. When did you have time to discuss the particulars?" George questioned in surprise.
"As soon as she told me she was making me wait to shag her until our wedding night, my first priority was to sort out the details as soon as possible," Blaise said as he tossed back the rest of his drink.
"I'm happy for you, mate," Draco congratulated the Italian wizard as he stood to leave, "but if you'll excuse me, my wife is waiting to shag me since her parents are watching the children for the night." Hagrid, Harry, and Ron fought off looks of disgust while George giggled at their discomfort. "When I tell her that you got engaged and pissed your pants, she'll forgive me for making her wait." The table erupted with laughter when he reminded them of the part of Blaise's story that they'd overlooked after he dropped his news about his engagement.
"You tosser!" Zabini called after Draco. The blond wizard could hear the group teasing his fellow Slytherin as he made his way out of the pub to get home to Hermione.
February 3, 2008
"Is this entirely necessary, Cissa?" Lucius complained for the third time in as many hours. Today would be the first gathering with the Weasleys. His wife was running around as she always did when hosting an event though he didn't see the reason for the effort today. The moment he saw her shoulders tense and her steal a deep breath, he knew he'd gone too far. His wife turned on him with an agitated glare.
"Regardless of how you may feel about the Weasleys, they have been nothing short of kind to me and my son over the years when we needed friends most," Cissa began. "What's more, is they've treated us like family and without judgment. Molly was a mother to Draco when I could not be, and whether you want to hear it or not, Arthur is the best example our son has ever had of what a father should be!" she insisted as her hands clenched into fists by her side. "And in case you haven't noticed, not one person you've placed in high regard above the Weasleys is anywhere to be seen and haven't been in years." The blond witch pinched the bridge of her nose and her shoulders shook violently. There was a time during their marriage when he wouldn't have reached for her and would have left her there to cry. Those times were over. He closed the gap between them in three long strides, engulfing her in his arms and whispering apologies into her hair.
"You're right. I know you've told me already," he said as he rubbed small circles into her back. She started to pull away, but he tightened his grip. "Please, Cissa. Truly. I'm sorry. Call it nerves or embarrassment...I'll be a complete gentleman. I promise...Please," he pleaded. When she finally softened and leaned into his embrace, he let out a deep breath of relief. Only when they heard the soft pop of apparition a few minutes later did they break apart.
"We're here!" Scorpius announced as he made his way into the dining room, running toward Narcissa with open arms.
"Grandfather, you did it! Now you're just as handsome as Daddy!" Cassie squealed with joy before jumping up and wrapping her arms around Lucius's middle. Self-consciously, he reached back with one hand to finger his shortened locks. He could hardly resist his little granddaughter's request earlier in the week for him to cut off his hair. Cassie had every male in her life wrapped around her adorable little finger. It'd been nearly four decades since he started growing his hair, and he caved to this five-year-old loveable, little witch.
"Is that what I'll look like when I'm old too?" Scorpius wondered as he looked up to his granddad. Lucius couldn't help but smile at his innocence.
"You're much better looking than these two tossers, Scorp!" Blaise said, entering the dining room holding a sleeping Ori with one arm, and punching Draco's side with the other.
"Mr. Zabini, I see your manners haven't improved since you were a boy," Lucius said sternly.
"Yours have. It's wonderful to see you actually hugging children instead of frightening them half to death," Blaise retorted with a grin. Even as a child, the Zabini boy had never taken anything seriously. He'd play the part when he was in trouble, but Lucius always heard him cracking jokes to the other boys as soon as he turned his back.
"Guess what, Uncle Blaise?" Cassie sang, twirling around and hugging the Italian wizard's leg.
"What is it, beautiful?"
"You owe me five galleons! Grandfather really cut his hair, and you said he wouldn't when I told you," she announced. Blaise looked back at Lucius in shock.
"You sly little witch," he beamed. "We might have ourselves another Slytherin yet!" he exclaimed, throwing his free arm around Draco.
"Betting with children. Charming," Lucius rolled his eyes and absently ran his fingers through his hair again.
"Grandfather's haircut is so handsome that I don't want your galleons anymore, Uncle Blaise," Cassie said sweetly. With that, she danced her way back to Lucius and happily twirled around his hand. The older Malfoy smiled down at the girl. His heart squeezed at how lucky he was to have her unconditional love. He ignored the two wizards when they shook their heads and Blaise whispered something about Cassie being too pure to be a snake. As far as Lucius was concerned, he was eternally grateful that his granddaughter's kind heart was helping to make him a better man.
At first, the tension in the dining room was palpable. No one knew what to say to the once-loyal Death Eater among them. Arthur and Lucius greeted one another with a terse nod that wasn't quite friendly yet not entirely hostile either. Draco almost felt sorry for his father, the obvious outsider in this crowd. It was Molly who finally broke the ice, stumbling through the floo a few minutes later than the rest with several plates of pies and pastries floating behind her.
"Oh, Lucius, aren't you a sight for sore eyes, dear!" the Weasley matriarch exclaimed once she settled in and locked eyes with the older Malfoy. "Don't you look smart with a fresh haircut," she gushed. In a rare display of embarrassment, his face flushed. Draco could feel Blaise smacking his arm the way he used to as teenagers whenever a dramatic scene was about to unfold while Harry snickered loudly on his other side.
"Thank you, Molly. It is lovely to see you as well," he answered stiffly. The matronly witch smiled brightly in return.
"I don't know how you ever let him out of the bedroom when he looks like that, Cissy," Molly whispered conspiratorily to Narcissa louder than she intended. The chorus of groans and squawks of protest immediately followed her comment, and Lucius's cheeks burned an even brighter shade of crimson.
"Mum, gross!" George and Ron grunted in revulsion simultaneously while Pansy and Angelina stood behind the two wizards stifling their laughter behind their hands.
"What? I don't have eyes? I didn't mother seven children by turning a blind eye to a handsome man," she said as she gave Arthur a kiss on the cheek.
"This is exactly why I came early today," Blaise giggled by Draco's side, enjoying his best mate's current state of disgust.
Luckily, the children were oblivious to the awkwardness. At Scorp's request, Rose walked right up to Lucius and began asking a line of questions ranging from what was his favorite Quidditch team to where has he been all these years. To his credit, Lucius answered each query with a surprisingly high level of patience. Before long, James cautiously followed Cassie over to the newcomer, and the rest of the children weren't far behind. In less than a half-hour, the oldest Malfoy wizard was surrounded by nine children clamoring for his attention.
"Grandfather, will you please tell my James the story of when our daddies played Quidditch for the first time against one another?" Cassie asked politely as she grasped the young Potter's hand in her own. Small sparks of magic sprang out from their clasped hands, and Lucius jumped up from his seat to protect his granddaughter from the perceived danger. Without his wand, he looked around frantically for help, but the other adults stood staring at him in confusion. Before anyone else realized that he thought Cassie was hurt, Hermione had crossed the room to explain the situation.
"Lucius, it's alright," she said soothingly. "Calm down. They are fine."
"What-...what was that?" he asked, holding the little girl closely and kissing the top of her curly head.
"Just another example of a Malfoy taking whatever they want," Ron murmured with a slight bitterness in his tone.
"Not now, Ronald!" Hermione scolded him and turned back to her father-in-law.
"We're still not entirely sure how it happened, but Cassie and James are soul-bound as are Scorpius and Rose. The small sparks you just saw is what happens when their magic connects," she gently explained.
"But that is very rare," Lucius replied, relaxing his defensive position and once again settling into his seat with his granddaughter on his lap.
"Just like Mummy and Daddy," Scorpius said proudly.
"Not exactly like us...or not yet at least," Hermione hesitated before sitting at the table beside her father-in-law. "I'm sure you recall the markings you saw on Draco's back during our third year, which alerted you that he was soul-bound."
"Yes, of course. I demanded to see Dumbledore immediately to make sure he would not be bound to…," he trailed off. Draco cringed at his father's almost-blunder. "...yes, I do recall the marking." Cissa and Molly glanced at one another, knowing they needed to find a way to remove the little ones from this particular conversation.
"Children, I have some treats for you over here," Mrs. Weasley called in an attempt to steer young ears from hearing something inappropriate. The horde of children ran over to her, squealing with delight. A giant child himself, George ran over to his mum for the first serving, but she swatted him aside.
"Pudding before our meal!" James whooped as he excitedly clapped Scorpius on the back.
Once Molly and Cissa had the children occupied, Draco sat beside his wife, unconsciously reaching for her hand. They'd been trying to research the effects of soul-bonds on adolescent bonded pairs for nearly two years without any luck. Although Pansy thought it was cute, Ron had completely lost his temper when he found out about the bond between his only daughter, Rose, and Scorpius. Every time the topic came up, they had to re-explain to him that little Scorp didn't choose her on purpose.
"So far, it's different for them than it was for us," Hermione began. "By the time we realized our bond, Draco and I were both adults. Our markings are the ancient runes of love and marriage, but for now, all four of them only bear the ancient rune of friendship."
"Is that the only difference?" Lucius wondered. "I can't imagine a need for a soul-bond just for friendship."
"Another way the bonds are dissimilar is that we felt an overwhelming need to, -er, complete our bond, whereas, they do not," Hermione said. "Our theory is that the runes and feelings might change once they come of age. The question now is what is 'of age' in regard to the bond? All the couples that came before us were married young. One witch was only 14-years-old. Whether it is coincidental that Draco and I were over 17 when we realized we were connected in this way, we don't know. Obviously, we don't want them to feel compelled to complete the bond at such a young age."
"That son of yours better stay as far away from my daughter as possible, Malfoy," Ron fumed. He'd been awkwardly standing by the table with his wife, Harry, and Ginny. Every time this conversation came up, the ginger wizard griped about the situation. Sometimes Draco would goad him for the fun of it, but that was usually when they were drinking and George and Blaise would join in. Now wasn't the time.
"Ronnie, please not now," Pansy begged him. "Look how innocent they are," she pointed over to Scorpius reading a picturebook to Rose while she ate her sweets. The Gryffindor rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath, which earned him a slap from his wife.
"Rose will be lucky to have a wizard with the looks and wealth of a Malfoy and the wit of a Granger," Blaise chimed in. "Just ask your mum, Weasley!"
"That's enough, Mr. Zabini," Lucius silenced the Italian wizard's laughter with a glare. "Hermione, you mentioned having two marks, however, I remember my son only having one rune on his back. The last time I checked was possibly just before he turned 17."
"That's quite interesting," she turned to Draco. He could tell she was wondering the same thing as him. "Had it not changed yet because of his age or because we hadn't touched again until over a year after the last time you saw it?"
"Shall we continue this conversation after lunch?" Harry interjected their musings, pointedly motioning toward an agitated Ron and signaling that they were testing the limits of his temper. The red-haired wizard hated it when they discussed his daughter as if she were a nameless case study.
Surprisingly, it was Arthur to extend an olive branch to Lucius. Hermione watched from the opposite end of the table as the two wizards conversed over their meal. It was stilted at first. They'd hated one another for years. Their families had feuded for almost the entirety of wizarding history. At least they were being civil. Draco squeezed her leg under the table, watching her as she silently observed everyone around them. The children looked adorable sitting at the small dining room table Narcissa had conjured just for them. Little Fred was entertaining the younger kids just as his father used to do back at Hogwarts when he was younger.
Abruptly, Ginny pushed herself away from where she sat in the middle of the table. The frown she pinned on Harry had the raven-haired wizard raising his hands up in defeat. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down. Before he could say a word, Ginny held up a hand to stop him. It wasn't often that her best friend had to face his wife's wrath. Hermione wondered what could make the youngest Weasley so agitated.
"You, you, you, and you will tell me the truth right now!" she demanded, pointing her accusing finger at each wizard, Blaise, George, Ron, and Draco. Each man looked at the fiery witch with wide eyes. "What did my husband reveal to you at the pub last night?"
"Harry was supportive, I swear it!" Ron implored. "He even congratulated him. We all did." They looked around at one another, nodding in agreement.
"What?"
"Not that news, mates," Harry whispered loudly. He still hadn't moved from his position of surrender as if he thought the smallest turn of his head would anger his wife further.
"Did he or did he not inform you that I am pregnant?" she gritted through her teeth, ignoring the cheers and gasps from those around her.
"He said you already told him," Harry pointed to George, whose head snapped back in surprise.
"I said no such thing. This is the first I'm hearing about this, Gin. When is the newest Potter due?" the older Weasley recovered quickly. The wink George slipped Draco was nearly nonexistent.
"Another Potter? Are you trying to keep up with us?" the blond wizard joked casually as he slipped his arm around Hermione. She knew they were covering for Harry, but she wouldn't give them away when Ginny was so angry. Draco had divulged the pregnancy news to their unborn son one night when he thought Hermione was asleep.
"The question you should be asking yourself is why haven't you told me about this baby yet? As an apology, I am willing to be godfather," Blaise said smoothly. Ginny turned to Ron. If his reddened face hadn't given him away, it was the sputtering. The Italian wizard gave the Gryffindor a Professor Snape-worthy glare, which triggered something inside his ginger head.
"Why should he be godfather? That's not fair!" Ron complained to his sister. He may not be able to lie, but he sure could take the heat of Harry with an argument about something insignificant.
"Why are you whining? You and Pansy are already godparents to Albus!" Ginny countered. It worked, she was distracted. Ron kept up a weak argument and played his role as the others took a deep breath of relief.
"Wait. I'm confused. Who was Harry congratulating last night at the pub?" Pansy wondered.
"I'm glad you asked, Pans. Let me allow all of you to congratulate me since I told the boys last night: Luna and I are engaged!" Blaise announced with his usual flair. If he expected a response other than a dining room full of mouths agape, he was sorely disappointed.
"I didn't even know you were dating her," Arthur gasped.
"Where is she? Shouldn't she be here to accept our congratulatory sentiments?" Molly wondered.
"When did the Lovegoods start arranging marriages?" Lucius whispered to Narcissa.
"Why would Luna marry you?" Angelina asked with a look of surprise.
"If you must know, she isn't here because she doesn't enjoy the spotlight nor did she want to field all of your questions," Blaise said diplomatically. "It is not an arranged marriage, though it does carry both the Zabini and Lovegood lines one generation further," he smirked at Lucius, knowing his comment would rankle the older wizard's nerves. "Mr. Weasley, you of all people must have noticed she and I have been skirting around one another for years. Though we haven't been formally dating for long, we are in love," he explained to the man that was more of a father figure to him than any of his mum's many husbands. Finally, he turned to Angelina. "Quit kidding yourself, witch. Even your husband knows I'm a catch!" As if on cue, George popped up and ran around the table to give Blaise a kiss on the cheek which caused Angelina to dissolve into a fit of laughter.
"Please join me for a toast," Arthur stood and raised his glass with a bright smile. "We have much to celebrate with another baby on the way, a wedding, and...a homecoming," he said, gesturing to Lucius on the last point. "Cheers to our expanding families. Come Christmas, we'll be bursting at the seams!" he crowed before holding his tumbler high and draining it. In a subtle act of acceptance, Lucius tipped his glass to Hermione and swallowed the rest of its amber liquid.
A/N - Please comment and let me know what you thought of this chapter! I always enjoy your feedback and ideas!
Once this story is complete, I do plan on writing a Bluna one-shot centered around their date and/or their wedding night.