On Saturday morning, Draco woke abruptly, darting up into a seated position in his bed. A lot of sunlight had been let into his bedroom all at once, and he was startled.
"Master Draco, it bes going on eleven! Don't you has things to do?" Elphie asked pointedly, tapping her tiny purple shoe on the floor.
"Like what?"
The elf sighed. "You is needing to talk to the Lady Minister, Master Draco. You is in the paper this morning, and she will see!"
He held out his hand for the newspaper, and Elphie huffed, handing it over. "Elphie doesn't know why you was there, but she is not happy about it!"
On the third page, there was a picture of Draco entering The Widow's Web, and the author — Alexandra Hamilton — had written that he hadn't come out until hours later, a smile on his face.
"Vile fucking woman," Draco grumbled. "Elphie, the Lady Minister — Granger — knew I was going there. No need to worry."
"There is need!" she shrieked. "You cannot court the Lady Minister and bes in places like that!"
Draco pressed his fingers to his eyelids. "She knew I was going there. It was for work."
"Gets in the shower!" She snapped her fingers, starting the water for him and sending fresh towels flying into the bathroom. "And then you needs to Floo call her! Once you is clean and dressed!"
"But—"
Interrupting him, she shouted, "No buts! Gets ready!"
And then she scurried away, leaving him to contemplate what would happen if he disobeyed her wishes.
Honestly, he didn't want to find out, so he peeled himself out of bed, obeying the command of a house-elf.
Standing in front of the Floo, Draco settled his hands on his hips, looking down at the empty grate. He thought calling Hermione was probably unnecessary, but if she answered, he might be able to see her today.
And the idea of that was so appealing he immediately dropped to his knees, threw some powder, called out her address, and stuck his head into the grate.
"Hello? Granger? Are you there?" he called into the seemingly vacant flat. "Please, Hermione, if you're home, I need to speak with you."
Nothing.
"I'm so sorry about yesterday. I—I just, it's complicated for me, and I wanted to talk to Scorpius. I thought you knew that, and... Shit, are you here?"
Still nothing.
"Fuck," he growled before pulling back and finding himself back in the Manor.
Of course, Elphie had been listening in. "What does you needs to talk to Master Scorpius about?"
"I need to ask him how he'd feel about me dating so soon," Draco replied. "I can't just assume that he'd be okay with it."
"But Master Scorpius loves you very much and wants yous to be happy."
"Astoria just died. It's barely been a year."
Elphie nodded sadly. "I knows, Master Draco. And Elphie is very sorry, but Mistress Astoria… she wouldn't wants you to be alone."
Draco knew that was true — Astoria had told him as much for years. She'd even encouraged him to try and meet someone while she was still alive.
The idea had been unfathomable.
"I know, Elphie. I just don't want Scorpius to find out I'm dating the Minister of Magic by reading it in the morning Prophet."
"Aha!" she shrieked, clapping her hands. "You is dating the Lady Minister! You has been lying to Elphie!"
Draco sighed. "Maybe? I'm still not sure."
"Go to Hogwarts," she chirped, handing him the Floo Powder again. "You don't wants Master Scorpius to think you is going to—to—"
"A brothel?"
"Yes!"
He supposed she had a point there.
"Mr Malfoy, I'm surprised to see you here."
Minerva McGonagall appraised his appearance, much the way she had when he was her student. Honestly, he couldn't believe she was still at Hogwarts over twenty years later.
"Headmistress, how are you doing this fine Saturday?" he asked, smiling at her warmly.
She gave him a suspicious look, eyebrows moving towards her hairline.
"I'm doing well, though I'd be lying if I tried to say I wasn't excited for the end of the school year," she replied. "It feels a lot longer on this side of eighty."
"I can't imagine it's easy being around hordes of teenagers for months at a time."
With a small smile, she said, "It's easier now than it was during your time at school. We don't have a disaster at the end of every year."
"That wasn't always my fault," Draco answered, returning her smile. "In fact, the only end-of-term mayhem that can be directly attributed to me occurred in sixth year. For the rest, well, you'll have to speak to my boss."
McGonagall laughed, shaking her head. "How the two of you have managed to work together for over a decade at this point, I've no idea."
Draco shrugged his shoulders.
"So, Mr Malfoy, what can I do for you today?" she asked, getting down to business.
"I'm just here to see my son. There was an article in the Prophet, and I want to make sure he knows I was—" he stopped himself from saying 'at a whorehouse' "—on a case. Not…"
"I saw it, Mr Malfoy. That woman is just as foul as Rita Skeeter," McGonagall said with a scowl. "How are you holding up? Since Astoria's passing?"
"It's getting better," he replied, and it felt like he was telling the truth for once. "As you know, she was ill for a long time."
McGonagall nodded. "I'm glad to hear the pain is dulling. Losing a spouse is never easy, especially when you're young. It's not supposed to be that way."
Knowing she was speaking from experience, he took her hand and squeezed it.
She returned the gesture."I trust you know how to find the Slytherin common room on your own."
With a laugh, he released her hand and said, "I think I can manage."
"It was good to see you, Mr Malfoy. Let me know if you need anything. We always have accommodations available for parents, should the need arise."
Draco was confused by her words, so he shrugged them off and headed down towards the dungeons, leaving McGonagall in the entrance hall.
"Dad, you really didn't have to come all the way here," Scorpius said before taking a bite of his Cornish pasty. "If you want to have sex—"
"I don't want to. Not like that. And I didn't want you to think that I'd be visiting a place like that," Draco said, interrupting his son. "It's not exactly… proper."
Scorpius shrugged. "Honestly, an owl would've been enough. Though I'm grateful to be able to come into Hogsmeade when the other students are stuck at the castle."
They were sitting in The Three Broomsticks, sharing a meal and two Butterbeers.
"Well, actually, there is something else I wanted to talk to you about."
Draco waved his wand, casting a Muffliato. He looked to his son and saw the tremble in his fingers.
"Are you sick?" Scorpius blurted.
"What? Merlin, no!" he answered, realising his error. "Shit, I'm sorry, Scorp. I'm fine."
His son let out a relieved exhale.
"It's sort of along the lines of what you said before—"
"Having sex? Dad, I'm barely fourteen. I haven't even kissed anyone yet."
"Gods, I'm royally screwing up this conversation," Draco said, running a hand through his hair. "I meant me, Scorpius. How would you feel about me—"
"I wouldn't want to know," he interrupted. "Did you want to think about your parents having sex?"
"Just listen! I was going to ask how you would feel about me dating!"
Scorpius set his fork down and reached for his Butterbeer, thinking about what he wanted to say before speaking. It was something he'd learned from Astoria — her quiet, thoughtful manner — and Draco was happy about it. His son was the complete opposite of what he'd been as a teenager.
"Mum talked to me about this before she died, you know," he began, looking Draco in the eyes. "She said that one day you would meet someone or reconnect with someone, and you'd want to move on."
"Did she?"
With a nod, he continued. "She knew you would be worried about moving on and how it made me feel. I didn't think it would happen so soon, but she said that when you found that person, I should be happy for you and tell you it was okay."
Looking down at his hands, Draco said, "It might not be anything, but I've been spending time with someone this past week, and I'm not sure. I think she's interested in me."
"Do I know her?"
He'd been dreading that question. He could easily say no — Scorpius didn't personally know Granger, but he definitely knew of her.
Draco decided to keep things vague, not wanting to set the Hogwarts rumour mill ablaze with news of the Minister. "You'd recognise her."
"You don't want to say who she is?"
"Not yet. Like I said, it might not be anything."
Scorpius ran a hand through his hair, and Draco almost laughed. It was the same nervous tic he'd had his whole life, and he'd passed it on.
"Fine, Dad, but you're telling me when I get home on Thursday."
"Deal. We might be seeing her — and her family — at some point over the summer. They have prime Quidditch seats, and—"
"You know I'm not a fan of Quidditch," Scorpius groaned. "But I'll go if it helps you with her."
Draco laughed. "You'll learn how to be a proper wingman at the very least."
"Can we stop off at Honeydukes?" Scorpius asked, looking down the main road in Hogsmeade. "It would be good to have some sugar quills and the like for studying. I've got my own Galleons—"
"We can stop anywhere," Draco answered, shrugging his shoulders. "I've nowhere to be today."
They started walking towards the candy shop, side by side.
"In that case, I also need to get a few new quills. Wouldn't want to break one and not have a few spares during exams."
Scorpius ducked into the doorway of Scrivenshaft's and Draco followed, knowing full well his son wouldn't pick out the ordinary student quills. He reached into his pocket to grab his money bag and collided with someone.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" a girl said, looking up at him with big brown eyes.
Big brown eyes that were the exact same shape and colour as her mother's. Draco took a step back, looking at the girl. She had wild Weasley red curls, but her facial features were all Hermione.
"My apologies, Ms Weasley," he replied, smiling. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
"It's actually Granger-Weasley," she corrected. "And you must be a Malfoy."
"Afraid so."
Just then, the door to the shop opened again, and Granger walked in.
"Rose, I'm so sorry! She wouldn't stop talking—"
Her words died on her tongue when she saw Draco standing beside her daughter.
"Malfoy," she greeted, her cheeks flushing the tiniest bit. "Why are you here?"
Draco gestured towards Scorpius. "I came to take my son to lunch. There was a rather unfortunate article in the paper, and I wanted to speak to him—"
"I saw it," she answered, looking up at him. "I'm so sorry that absolute hag hasn't been sacked yet. I've been trying to convince them to get rid of her for months."
Rose looked back and forth, her eyes moving between Draco and Hermione. "I'll let you two talk. I need to get some new quills, as well," she said before making her way over to where Scorpius was and nudging his shoulder with hers.
"Are they friends?" Draco asked, looking to Granger.
"I didn't think so," she replied quietly, "but I hope they are. It would show how much things have changed over the years."
His stomach twisted.
"Listen, about yesterday—"
"Please don't. Not here. Not in front of Rose."
He heard the quiver in her voice, so he bit his tongue, holding back everything he wanted to say to her.
"Can we step out? I'll give Scorp the Galleons to cover whatever they want," Draco offered, and Hermione sighed.
"I suppose so. I want to know what happened so I can be prepared for questions." She took a few more steps into the shop, and they approached Scorpius and Rose together. "Rose, we're just going to step out for a moment. Auror Malfoy just needs to update me on a case he's been working."
Scorpius raised an eyebrow since he was out of Granger's line of sight. Draco shook his head, begging him not to interject. But he could tell that his son was putting the pieces together, reading him like an open book.
"And, Scorp, here's my money bag. Get whatever you need, plus what Ms Granger-Weasley wants since I'm borrowing her mother for a few minutes."
"Ah, okay," Scorpius replied, his pale cheeks growing pink. "I can do that."
Draco offered his arm to Granger and led her outside, his nerves building with every single step.
"Did you get the blackmailer?" she asked as soon as they'd ducked into the alley beside the shop.
For a moment, he'd thought that she was using the case as an excuse. Now he realised she actually wanted to know what had happened.
"We did," he answered. "The woman that Ron was… seeing—"
"Fucking," Hermione corrected. "There's no point in pretending, Malfoy."
He reached out to take her hand, but she tucked it in her pocket before he had the chance.
"Well, it was Romilda Vane. But she wasn't the blackmailer."
Her eyes narrowed. "So who was?"
"Listen, you can't go charging off to the Ministry when I tell you. I've seen you angry a fair few times, Granger, and this problem isn't going to be solved by the Minister for Magic punching someone in the face," Draco teased, hoping she'd smile.
She didn't.
"Just tell me, Malfoy."
"Lavender Brown," he replied.
He saw her anger flare in her eyes. "Of course it was. She was probably hoping he'd go running to her when he got bored of me, and then he turns up at her workplace… Wait, Malfoy, why didn't he just pick back up with her?"
"She was Polyjuiced," he told her, carefully watching her. "Had been using the potion every day for years to hide her bite scars."
"And she sees Ron carrying on with a whore and decides it's time to get her revenge," Hermione said, putting the pieces together. "I'm surprised she didn't go straight to Parvati at Witch Weekly with those photos."
"So now you know about that. Can we please talk about yesterday morning?"
Her cheeks flushed again.
"No, it's fine. I understand. You just lost your wife. You need more time, and my life is a mess, and—"
The bell on the door of Scrivenshaft's jingled and Scorpius and Rose stepped out, laughing.
"—and Albus wanted me to go with him! I mean, who actually wants to talk to that old bat Trelawney?" Scorpius said, his voice shaking with laughter. "She actually told me I was going to die last year. Can you believe that?"
Hermione smiled and said, "She predicts the death of a student at every term. Luckily, your father and I were in a class with Harry, so she jumped straight to the logical choice."
Rose shook her head. "So predictable!"
"Well, she is in the business of making predictions," Draco added, trying not to fixate on how he'd just lost the opportunity to speak with Hermione. "Did you two get everything you need?"
"Yes, thank you so much, Mr Malfoy," Rose replied. "I told Scorpius I didn't need that peacock quill, just for the record, but he insisted."
Wrapping an arm around Rose's shoulders, Hermione said, "Well, the Malfoys do believe that people need the best of everything. At least Scorpius seems a bit more modest than his father at the same age."
Draco wasn't sure if he should be worried that she was teasing him or savour it.
"We're going to Honeydukes now," Scorpius began, looking to Rose. "Did you need anything there? I'm sure Dad is willing to pay again."
"Oh, we really should be—"
"I am running low on Tooth-Flossing String Mints," Rose said quickly, talking over Hermione. "Besides, I'm sure you need to talk to Auror Malfoy more. We weren't in the quill shop long."
"Let me pay this time," she offered, reaching into her handbag. "I'm sure whatever you got for a quill was quite expensive. It's the least I can do."
"Granger, you know that's not necessary—"
"I do, but I want to pay. It was kind of you to handle the quills. Let me repay you," she answered in a firm tone as she handed some Galleons over to Rose. "After you two finish up in Honeydukes, I do have to head home, Rose."
Her daughter nodded, fiery curls swaying with the motion, before pulling away and entering Honeydukes. "I know. I was surprised you stayed to visit last night."
Granger looked like she didn't know what to say, so she hung back. Draco stood beside her, watching Scorpius rose walk around together, smiling.
"This is awkward," she said, kicking at the stone pavers that made up the high street in Hogsmeade. "I'm sorry about yesterday morning, Malfoy. I just… I misread the situation, I think."
"It's not what you think," Draco replied, his hand finding her forearm. Her head snapped up and she met his eyes. "Listen, this whole week has been complicated and—"
A camera flashed, and a reporter started asking questions.
"Minister Granger, are you and Draco Malfoy involved? How long has this been going on for? Where is your son if you're turning this into a family outing?"
Her eyes widened in surprise, though Draco was sure she wasn't really shocked at all. Stepping in front of her, Draco narrowed his eyes at the reporter.
"Honestly, how rude are you? Minister Granger was taking her daughter to lunch, and I was doing the same with my son since someone in your lying rag of a newspaper inferred that I was visiting a brothel for services last night," he began, keeping her out of view. "We were simply having a conversation, and you're trying to make it into something scandalous."
"Your hand—"
"—was on her arm! Not her arse, for Salazar's sake!"
It didn't matter that Draco wished his hand was on her arse. The fact of the matter was that they'd been doing nothing wrong.
"Mr Malfoy, it's unusual that you're both here at the same time—"
Gesturing towards the castle, he said, "Why don't you go and interview the Headmistress? I arrived at the castle alone this morning and asked to speak with my son so I could make sure he knew I was working last night."
"Minister Granger, do you have a comment?" the man had the gall to ask.
She stepped out from behind Draco, her cheeks reddened. "Auror Malfoy and I have known each other for over twenty years. A chance encounter in Hogsmeade when we both have children at Hogwarts isn't anything that needs to be talked about. We're simply letting Rose and Scorpius get what they need for final exams and having a conversation." After a pause, she added, "And my son, Hugo, is at the castle studying. He'll be sitting his first Transfiguration exam tomorrow, and he's quite nervous."
"And when did you call on the castle?" the reporter asked suspiciously.
Granger rolled her eyes. "Last night. I stayed overnight since I had plans with my daughter this morning and didn't want to Floo back and forth. As you know, I'm quite good friends with Minerva McGonagall, and we were going over a proposal for a new class to be offered in the autumn."
"You've known each other for twenty years, but you've never been friendly before," the man commented, his eyes jumping between Draco and Hermione.
Draco held up a hand. "Stop right there. You don't know if we've been friendly or not. Just because we haven't had any public contact doesn't mean we haven't interacted over the years."
"Mr Malfoy, your wife died right before your son returned to school this autumn. Are you planning on courting someone new?"
Courting?
He thought back to Elphie's ire, and he decided that maybe he would have to do things properly.
"I don't have any active plans, but I'm open to remarriage if I feel a connection to someone," Draco answered, hoping that Hermione got his meaning. "If you don't mind, I need to carry on with my day."
"And I do, as well," Granger added. "Feel free to print whatever boring photo you managed to capture and try to spin a visit with our children into something lurid. I daresay you'll be looking for a new job by noon tomorrow."
In his mind, Draco applauded the Minister's comeback.
"Shall we?" he said, offering her his elbow as he opened the door to Honeydukes.
Giving the reporter a pointed look, she linked her arm through Draco's and they moved into the store together, holding back laughter. As soon as the door closed behind them, she pulled her arm free and looked up at him.
"Thank you. I wasn't ready for that kind of assumption."
"It's fine, Granger. I'm sorry if they print that we have some kind of secret lovers' flat concealed above Honeydukes."
"Ahhh, but there would be plenty of chocolate on hand to melt for our tryst," she quipped, laughing.
The very thought threatened to make him hard.
Scorpius and Rose noticed them and strode over. "I thought you were waiting outside?" Rose asked, carefully examining the way that her mother was smiling.
"Reporter ambushed us," Draco answered, tearing his eyes away from the Minister. "Apparently we planned this little run-in."
Rose looked between the adults. "Did you? I know Mum mentioned going to Quidditch this summer..."
An urge to curse rose up inside Draco as he watched the full realisation dawn over Scorpius.
"I did," Granger said quickly. "But I had no idea Auror Malfoy would be here today. I was thinking we could go to Quidditch next weekend, or the one after that. We hadn't really discussed it further. He might not want to go—"
"I want to go," Draco stated, interrupting her ramble.
Tension filled the air between them, but Scorpius broke it.
"Next weekend could be fun. Dad and I didn't have any plans, and I think the Prophet said the weather will be good."
Rose was taking everything in carefully, watching both her mother and Draco's reactions.
"Are you seeing each other?" she asked boldly.
"Rose!" Granger scolded. "This isn't the time or place! And you don't put people on the spot—"
Draco took a deep breath and looked right at Hermione and her daughter. "We've spent some time together this week. I'm not sure what it is, but I've enjoyed it. Very much."
Scorpius sighed. "And he wants to keep spending time with her to see where it goes. He already told me that much."
"Scorpius!" Draco snapped.
His son shrugged and said, "Let's pay, Rose. I think they have things they need to talk about."
Rose looked between them again, trying to figure out what had just happened, and Draco pushed his hair back, tousling it the slightest bit. Granger's eyes locked on his fingers and she looked up at him.
"So, Quidditch next weekend, then."
Nodding, Draco smirked. "Most definitely, Granger. I'll pay for the Butterbeer."