From last chapter: "Draco, look at these base ingredients. Do you see any commonalities?" Draco scanned the list several times, and then his eyes widened.

"Bloody hell," he breathed. Hermione looked at him, eyes wide herself, as she seemed to have reached the same horrifying conclusion he'd come to. "We've got to get Potter over here, now."

Hermione ran to Draco's fireplace to call Harry, but they didn't have a floo connection between them. Quickly, she traveled to her house, calling him from there.

Harry stepped up to the grate. "Hi, Hermione! What's going on?"

"Hi," she rushed out. "I've been at Draco's, working through the stolen potions lists you gave him. Can you come over? We think someone's conducting experiments on patients. We discovered a pattern in the base ingredients of the stolen potions." She twisted her hands.

His eyes widened. "Hang on." He stepped out of view, and she could hear mumbling between Harry and Ginny in the background, before he appeared back at the fireplace. "I'll be there in five minutes, Hermione. Just let me wrap up here."

Once he stepped into her house, they immediately took the floo to Draco's. Gathering in the study, Hermione and Draco explained what they had found. Draco pointed to the various lists they had developed while looking for commonalities among the potions.

"This one here," he grabbed a list in Hermione's handwriting and held it out for Harry to see, "lists the base ingredients for each of the potions. Every stolen potion has at least one or two bases with the primary purposes of magic suppression, strengthening properties, or disease inducement."

"Disease inducement?" Harry brows furrowed. "Why would a hospital have potions that induce disease? Aren't those dark magic?"

"No; that's what's interesting about this list of potions," Hermione said. "A base ingredient's main purpose can be different from the finished potion's use. So this potion," she pointed to one on the list, "is similar to Skele-grow. One of its base ingredients is sumac, which has a main purpose of disease inducement. But once sumac is mixed with the other ingredients in this potion, it helps regrow bones."

"Okay…" Harry trailed off. "So all the stolen potions have bases used for magic suppression, strengthening, and disease. What does that mean?"

Draco replied, "Given how the bases interact with each other, we think the potions are being modified; we think they're increasing the base potency and then using them to experiment on patients. For instance, if you add a strengthening base to magic suppression and disease inducement bases, you could increase disease intensity and transmission in patients."

Harry took a moment to fully take in Draco's explanation. "So, you're saying they're modifying potions to cause illness and contagion?"

"That's what we think, yes," Hermione responded.

Harry asked, "Okay… but if you wanted to develop a potion to cause contagious disease, why steal potions from St. Mungo's? Why not just obtain the ingredients from an apothecary and develop the potions on your own?"

Hermione tilted her head, thinking. "Most of the potions on your list are proprietary to St. Mungo's. Mungo's sells them to group homes and other facilities, and they can't be purchased anywhere else. If someone wanted to modify them, they'd have to steal them so they could derive the recipe and then revise it."

"Makes sense. But how do you make the leap from tampering with potions to experimenting on patients?" Harry asked.

Draco said, "I think the thieves' intent is to increase the potency of the dark base ingredients so that the potions appear to be the same — so the healers using them wouldn't notice the difference — but ultimately make patients sicker. If they replaced the original potions at St. Mungo's and the group homes with the tampered ones, the potions would be used on patients without the healers realizing they've been modified."

Harry nodded. It was confusing, but the explanation seemed possible. "Alright. Why would someone want to do that?"

Hermione looked baffled, but Draco's face twisted into a grimace. "I think it might be similar to what we discussed at The Alchemy Room. If the new Death Eater group is behind it, they could be testing whether certain diseases make Half-bloods or Muggle-borns sicker than Pure-bloods, or experimenting to see if they can make those groups susceptible to CoVID specifically. It would fit with how they're using the pandemic politically to try to isolate Muggle-borns."

Hermione gasped, not privy to Draco and Harry's prior conversation, and Harry's brows furrowed in concern. "Well, hopefully your theory is worse than reality. But, we all know fear is an effective means of political control... I'll get the DMLE moving on this first thing in the morning. We'll need to ask the directors at St. Mungo's and the group homes if their stores of these potions have been tampered with or replaced.

"If your suspicion is correct, Malfoy, perhaps the thieves — or Death Eaters, whoever's behind it — have an employee at the facilities who's carrying all of this out and monitoring patients' responses to the modified potions." He nodded to the parchment Draco had been holding during their conversation. "Can you make me a copy of that list of base ingredients and uses?"

Malfoy duplicated it and handed the copy to him.

"Thanks," Harry grimaced. "I'll let you know how the investigation goes — hopefully we'll have some kind of news by the time I see you at the Quidditch game Saturday." He shook Draco's hand and gave Hermione a quick hug before leaving, preoccupied with the information they'd relayed.

Hermione turned to Draco, suddenly exhausted. "I think I'm heading home now. I'm really tired, and I have a long day tomorrow."

Draco nodded, but before he could say anything in response, they heard his mother's voice calling from the fireplace in the living room. Draco breathed, "Hopefully Mother has news from Gareth's meeting with Flint tonight. Will you hang out here 'til I'm done?"

Hermione nodded assent, and Draco left the room. Knackered, she flopped onto the leather couch by the window, trying to make sense of everything they'd discussed. She couldn't come up with anything useful though; she was too worn out for problem solving. She leaned forward when Draco returned. "What did your mother say?"

"Gareth met with Flint tonight. He convinced Flint of his support for the anti-Muggle legislation and asked how else he could help. Flint invited him to the meetings at The Alchemy Room, which is great news. The next one's a week from today, so we don't have too long to wait, thankfully."

Hermione let out a sigh of relief, feeling things were finally moving in the right direction; hopefully they could get enough information to stamp out this Pure-blood supremacy drivel. She rubbed her temples and gave him a tired smile. "I really need to go to bed, babe; I'm worn out."

Draco held out a hand to pull her up. "Are you sure you don't want to stay here? I can get you settled…"

She shook her head and smiled feebly up at him. "No, that's okay. I'm just tired. I'll probably fall asleep as soon as I get in bed." She hugged him, pressing her cheek into his chest before they parted with a gentle kiss.

"That's it, Rose! To the right!" Ron yelled. Hermione was on her feet, too, fists clenched in anticipation as their daughter neared the Slytherin Keeper with the Quaffle tucked under her arm. Hugo bounced up and down between his parents, cheering his sister on. They were at the last Quidditch match of the school year, and Hermione was looking forward to Gryffindor soundly beating Slytherin so she could tease Malfoy about it.

With a quick feint to the left, a dodge under an oncoming Bludger, and a lightning fast rush at the goal posts, Rose scored, the Quaffle passing just out of reach of the Slytherin Keeper's fingers. The entire Gryffindor section jumped up in claps and cheers, and Ron and Hugo held their wands up, emitting celebratory gold sparks. Several seats down, Lily and Harry did the same.

The two teams had been neck and neck for the past half hour. Rose's goal brought Gryffindor ahead by 10 points, the current score now 80-70, while the Seekers flew high above the other players, looking for the Snitch. Hermione looked across the pitch at the Slytherin section, eyes settling on the flash of white-blonde hair between Narcissa Malfoy and Gareth Greengrass.

"Mum, look!" Hugo grabbed her knee to get her attention. "James and Mabel are fighting over the Quaffle!" He pointed to the far side of the pitch, where Harry and Ginny's son was engaged in a tug of war with Marcus Flint's daughter.

Hermione felt slightly sick watching them careen around with only their legs gripping their broom handles, while their hands grappled over the Quaffle. A Bludger came their way, and they dodged apart in different directions, Flint's daughter coming out of their skirmish victorious with the Quaffle in her hands.

Hugo let out a loud moan and slammed his fists on his thighs, red curls ruffling in the windy afternoon breeze.

Ron bumped shoulders with him. "He'll get it back, Hugh. James is one of the best Chasers ever."

"You know it!" shouted Ginny from Ron's other side. "Best one since me, at least!"

Harry laughed next to her and shook his head. Looking down the row, he said, "Hugh, don't ever look for lessons in humility from your Aunt Ginny."

Hugo grinned at them both and turned his attention back to the pitch, just in time to see Flint's daughter score on the Gryffindor Keeper, tying the score back up at 80-80. "Argh," he moaned.

Their son stood during a brief lull in the action, pocketing his wand back in his robes. "Mum, dad, I'm heading back to my mates. I'll find you after the game to say 'bye."

Hermione dragged him into a hug, which he returned half-heartedly. Age twelve-and-a-half was about the time Rose had started pushing her parents away, too. Hermione was happy he'd agreed to sit with them at all. Hugo gave his dad, Ginny, and Harry fist bumps as he scooted past them, and he dragged his cousin Lily away with him to rejoin their classmates, his robes slightly askew and tie haphazardly knotted.

"Think he'll try out for the team next year?" Ginny asked Ron.

"I think so. But probably not for Chaser; I don't think he wants to play the same position as his older sister." The siblings settled into Quidditch talk, and Harry stepped around them to come sit next to Hermione.

Keeping his voice low, he told her, "My lead investigator and I met with all the hospital and group home directors Wednesday. I've heard back from most of them at this point. The same set of potions appear to have been replaced with modified versions at each facility. As Malfoy surmised, the modified ones seem to have essentially the same ingredients as the originals, but different potency — at least, as far as we can tell prior to lab analysis."

"What are they?" Hermione asked.

"Pain Potion, Energizing Elixir, Dozing Draught, and Replenishing Remedy." He glanced at his son whizzing by, following one of the Slytherin Chasers.

Hermione frowned. "Most of those are just general potions, like taking a Paracetamol or Sominex."

Harry nodded. "Right. Since they aren't specific to an illness, they're administered to most patients regularly, regardless of their particular condition, making them perfect to experiment on a broad range of patients."

Hermione rubbed her temples, feeling a stress headache coming on. "So, have Mungo's or the group homes reported any unusual illnesses or other reactions? Can they tell if experiments are really happening, or if the modified potions are affecting patients?"

"No, not yet. The facilities said they'll look closely at patient health records, but so far, none of the healers have noticed any patterns of unusual illnesses or reactions. My team's gathering potion samples to analyze in the lab, and hopefully that'll provide more information. We may end up needing Malfoy's help, but I'd like to let our investigators have a go at it first." Harry leaned forward to watch James score a goal, and they cheered with the rest of the Gryffindor section.

When the noise died down, Ron turned to them. "I overheard the end of your conversation. What's this about potions and experiments?" he asked, his face concerned.

Hermione turned to Harry, asking, "Have you told him about the potions thefts?"

Harry shook his head. "I haven't talked with anyone else outside the DMLE about the potions or the political issues at the Ministry." Looking at Ron, he said, "We're investigating a neo-Death Eater group that seems to be pushing an anti-Muggle agenda at the Ministry, and possibly internationally.

"We're also investigating a string of potions thefts, which may be related to the Death Eater group, but we're not sure. We think the stolen potions are being used to experiment on patients, possibly to see if the potions can make Half-bloods and Muggle-borns sicker or more susceptible to illnesses than Pure-bloods."

Turning to Hermione, Harry noted, "The Minister returned from Romania a couple of days ago. Teddy and I aren't at liberty to share details, but there does seem to be a coordinated Pure-blood supremacist movement across multiple countries."

Ron looked at Harry in shock. "Bloody hell. We fought and won a war to end this shite!" Then he frowned. "Have you involved Hermione in your cases, mate?"

"No, I didn't ask her to help with this. Um…" He glanced at Hermione, asking with his eyes if it was okay for him to explain Draco's involvement. Hermione gave him a minute nod, and Harry shifted his gaze back to Ron. "We need better potions expertise than we have on staff in the DMLE, so we've asked Malfoy to consult for us. Hermione helped him figure out what's going on with the stolen potions."

Ron raised his brows in question at his ex-wife, his expression troubled.

She confirmed Harry's statement, with a chagrined look on her face. She knew Ron would be unhappy to hear she was working on a DMLE investigation of Death Eaters, and with Malfoy, no less.

With a sigh, Ron asked, "Are you in any danger, helping out like this?"

"No, she's not in any danger," Harry broke in. "She knows about what's going on because of her consultant position with the Department of International Magical Cooperation, since there's an international component to the case. But she's not involved."

"I don't know that I believe either of you, but I know I can't stop you two." He looked at Hermione pleadingly. "Please be safe, Hermione. Don't put yourself in harm's way if you don't have to."

Affected by the concern of the man she'd shared her life with for two decades, she reassured him, "I'll be safe, Ron. I'm not directly involved in Harry's investigation, I promise. I just helped Draco figure out the pattern among the stolen potions. I won't be anywhere near whatever they're going to do after this." She glanced at Harry, who confirmed her statement. "I appreciate your concern, but really, you don't need to be worried."

Ron looked unconvinced but begrudgingly returned his attention to the game. Hermione followed suit, her eyes returning every so often to Draco's hair glowing brightly in the afternoon sun across the pitch. At one point, it seemed he was looking at her, too. She gave a small wave, and when he returned the gesture, a broad smile spread across her face and warmth settled in her gut.

In the end, Draco had been right about the winner. Scorpius did indeed catch the Snitch before Gryffindor's new Seeker, ending the game with a Slytherin victory. Hermione smiled as she imagined Draco's bluster over his son's performance the next time she saw him. She found his braggadocio strangely endearing now that she knew him better.

She and Ron filed out of the stadium, looking for Rose before she made it to the team's changing rooms. Hugo shouted out a quick goodbye as he ran back to the castle with his friends, and Hermione and Ron exchanged a humorous head shake over his disinterest in his parents now. All babies grow up eventually, Hermione thought.

They found Rose near the changing room entrance and congratulated her on her goals. Ron pulled her into a one-armed hug, which she accepted while rolling her eyes. Hermione gently admonished Rose with a shake of her head. Teenagers...

Stepping away from Ron, Rose looked back and forth between her parents. "Was the game okay for you?" she asked quietly. "Having to still pretend that everything's fine… ?" she trailed off.

It tore at Hermione's heart that Rose was still worried about their split. She and Ron looked at each other, debating silently who should answer. Hermione hung back an extra second, giving Ron the time to respond first so he didn't perceive her as being overly controlling of the situation.

"It was fine, sweetheart," Ron responded, and he cast a Muffliato so no one else could hear them. "Your mum and I still spend plenty of time around each other. Even though we're not married anymore, we're still friends, and we still spend time together with your grandparents and aunts and uncles. It was nice for us to catch up" — he looked at Hermione, who nodded in agreement — "today during your game. And we loved cheering you on together."

He did quite a nice job. He's actually much more enjoyable to be around as an ex… "Rose, we loved being here to watch your game, and like Dad said, we're happy to be here together." She stepped closer to Ron, and he understood her intent; they wrapped an arm around each other's waists, putting on a happy show for Rose and anyone else looking on.

Rose's shoulders loosened, and a tentative yet genuine smile graced her features. "Okay. I'm glad you came today, even though we lost." Their daughter wasn't sure what else to say, but she stepped toward them, and they shared a hug with her, reassuring her through their touch that she didn't need to worry about them. "I love you," she muffled into their shoulders.

"We love you, too," they both replied.

Rose released them and stepped back. "Well, it stinks that we lost today, especially because Scorpius and Albus will lord this over me for the rest of term" — she rolled her eyes, but the corners of her lips curled in a light smile — "but we played well. There's always next year," she sighed.

" 'Course there is!" Ron responded. "Your Seeker will have an extra year under his belt; I bet he kicks Scorpius's bloody little arse next year."

"Dad!" Rose laughed at his language, which she certainly used with her friends, but didn't usually hear from her parents. "I gotta go; thanks again for coming. Love you both. 'Bye!" she called.

They waved to her as she disappeared into the building, long red hair flying behind her. They joined the other Gryffindor parents and supporters on the walk to Hogsmeade for a post-game drink at the Three Broomsticks.

-o~0~o-

When they entered the pub, the Slytherin group was already there, loudly celebrating their team's win in the center of the room. Hermione's breath caught when her eyes landed on Draco. He was lowering a butterbeer from his mouth when he saw her, and he slowly licked the foam from his upper lip while he stared at her and winked.

She ached down low at the sight, even though she had been with him this morning. They'd spent four nights together this past week, and she had loved every minute with him, not once regretting her decision to try out a real relationship. She raised her brows at him in appreciation before following Ginny over to the rest of their group.

They levitated several tables together on one side of the pub, while their server brought rounds of butterbeers and firewhiskeys over. Hermione positioned herself so she could easily see Draco from her barstool. He eventually made his way to a different spot in his own group so they could watch each other for the rest of their time in the pub.

After several hours, both parties started clearing out for the evening. Hermione, Ron, and the Potters were sticking around a bit longer before dinner at the Burrow, and Dennis Creevey and his husband stayed with them for a last round of drinks. Hermione excused herself to use the loo, and Draco was waiting for her in the hall when she came out.

"Hello, gorgeous," he murmured, pulling her to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck with a smile and greeted him with a slow kiss. "I haven't been able to keep my eyes off you this afternoon," he drawled when they parted.

She smiled self-consciously. "Same here." And if you'd like to take me in the bathroom, I wouldn't object! She giggled to herself. No one had bathroom sex except the main characters in smutty fiction. And also the author of one of her old pregnancy books, who conceived baby #4 in an airplane bathroom. How could two people even fit in there? She couldn't imagine being horny enough, ever, to attempt sex in a plane lavatory. Not even with Draco.

"How much longer are you planning on staying?" His voice pulled her mind out of airplane bathrooms.

"A bit longer before we head to the Burrow for dinner."

"Can I join you? The rest of my group just left."

She hesitated, not wanting to throw their relationship in Ron's face again, but decided he'd have to get over it. He knew they were still seeing each other; he had asked her about it during the game, before the whole Death Eater and potions discussion had come up with Harry.

"Are you still seeing Malfoy, or have you discovered what a massive wanker he is and decided he's not worth your time?" Ron had asked the question in good humor, despite the underlying truth of his feelings about Malfoy.

"Still seeing him," she replied. "And he's really not such a wanker when you get to know him, Ron."

"Well, for your sake, I hope you're right. You're all moony-eyed over him," Ron had observed, scowling just the tiniest bit but trying to be neutral. "Have you said anything to the kids?"

She had looked at him, startled, brows furrowing. "What? No! I don't want to talk to the kids about either of us seeing anyone else, unless you and I have talked about it together first."

A look of relief had crossed his face, and he'd wrapped his arm around her shoulder and given her a squeeze in thanks.

She hesitated, then said, "Things have gotten more serious with Draco though, so I guess we probably should discuss what makes sense to tell them and when — though not here at the game. "

Ron had nodded, shaking his a bit that Malfoy was her chosen love interest, but otherwise seemingly unruffled by her dating someone.

Hermione figured she might as well test whether Ron's amicability could stand Draco's physical presence. "Sure," she replied, lacing her fingers through his for a moment before pulling away. In a month, Rose and Hugo would be home from Hogwarts for the summer, meaning she and Ron could publicly announce their divorce, and she and Draco could openly date. She was tired of hiding things.

Draco followed her back to her table and sidled up between her and Ginny. Nodding at the group, he said, "Weasley, Potter, Potter" in greeting.

Ron's jaw tightened, and he glanced at Hermione with irritation flashing in his eyes, but he nodded and said, "Malfoy," before returning to his conversation with Harry.

Draco held his hand out to Dennis and his husband for an introduction. "Draco Malfoy."

They each shook his hand. "Dennis Creevey," and "Jason Fitzpatrick, good to meet you." Hermione saw Draco's face fall slightly when Dennis introduced himself. She assumed Draco knew that Dennis's brother Colin had died during the Battle of Hogwarts, and that Draco was debating whether he should acknowledge it and apologize for his role in the war, or whether that would bring the entire table's conversation to a screeching halt.

"You were both in Gryffindor?" Draco asked them. I guess he's decided to feel them out before deciding whether to apologize.

They nodded yes, and Dennis said, "We were three years below you. We have a daughter in second year; she's a backup Seeker." He glanced at his husband and they shared an amused smile. Dennis continued, "We hear about your son constantly; Anna thinks he's the best Seeker at Hogwarts, and she studies his plays during every game."

Hermione saw the relief that passed briefly across Draco's features — Dennis didn't hold Draco's past against him — before he composed himself and chuckled. "I'm glad she's learning from him. I won't let Scorpius know though; it'll go to his head, and he doesn't need a bigger one than he already has."

Hermione hated that Draco often kept his true self hidden due to fear of being judged for his unsavory past. She knew that in a different situation, where he was more comfortable with the company, he'd have made some snarky remark about being the one to teach Scorpius everything he knew.

Jason laughed, then asked, "How's your vaccine progress going?" When Draco looked at him in surprise, he explained, "We own Muggle stock in PotionLab. Dennis is Muggle-born, and we're heavily invested in the Muggle stock market. I'm a financial advisor, and when he introduced me to the Muggle stock market, well… I've been trying to create something similar in wizarding society, but I haven't been successful so far."

Draco quickly settled into an enthusiastic business and financial conversation with Dennis and Jason, and Hermione turned back to Ron, Harry, and Ginny, who were attempting to hide their incredulity at Malfoy hitting it off with the couple. Hermione smirked at them — there's more to Malfoy than you think, my friends — and Ginny hissed under her breath, "You're even starting to smirk like Malfoy, stop it!" At that Hermione smirked further, and Ginny rolled her eyes.

After another half hour of conversation, Dennis and Jason left for dinner reservations, and shortly after, Hermione walked out with Draco, Ron, and the Potters.

As her friends apparated to the Burrow, Draco grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her back a bit. It was still fairly early, only six o'clock, and the street was mostly empty. Draco's eyes were heated, and Hermione stepped toward him, a longing low in her belly at his nearness. She wanted to go home with him rather than to the Burrow for dinner — to be consumed by him tonight yet again. They pressed together and embraced with a kiss that would tide them over until tomorrow.

She pulled back after several seconds, breathless. "I wish you could come to the Burrow with us. I don't want to leave you."

He held her close, his hands on her lower back and hers on his bum. He bent down and nuzzled his nose into her neck, speaking low. "I'll be happy to join you at the Burrow in a few months, love, if they'll have me... as soon as your divorce is public and we can be open about us. And preferably once your ex is dating someone else, too..."

She shivered at the feel of his breath humming against her ear and pulled him back into a last kiss, squeezing his arse. God, she was captivated by this man. She really wanted to spend every waking moment with him right now. "I'll miss you until tomorrow," she murmured to his lips.

"I'll miss you, too, love. You'd better go, or they'll start worrying about you."

With one last kiss, they parted, Draco apparating home and Hermione to the Burrow, heart full of the snarky blonde wizard who'd worked his way under her skin.

Hermione woke the next morning to Ginny's voice calling to her from downstairs.

"Hermione! Hermione?" Ginny's voice grew louder as she came up the stairs. "Hermione, are you awake?"

"I am now," she grumbled.

Ginny appeared in the doorway. "Hey, sleepyhead. Sorry to barge in on you, but it's important. Get up and meet me downstairs; I'll whip together some breakfast while you dress. You're going to need the fortification."

"What's going on?" Hermione frowned in confusion. "Is Harry okay?"

'Yes, yes; everyone's fine, no one's hurt. Get dressed and come eat," she said tersely, disappearing back down the stairs before Hermione could ask any more questions. Maybe Ginny was here because Harry had some bad news from his investigations?

She met Ginny in the kitchen ten minutes later. "Thanks for making breakfast, Gin. This looks delicious." Digging into her muffin and egg, she asked, "Did Harry find something really bad in his potions investigation?"

"What?" It took Ginny a moment to understand Hermione's question, then she waved her off. "No, no, this has nothing to do with Harry's work." She pushed the morning paper across the countertop to Hermione. "I'm sorry to be the one to ruin your morning, but you need to take a look at the paper."

Hermione frowned at the Sunday Prophet in front of her. One of the front page headlines was about the progress of the formation of the Wizarding European Union, which Hermione had been working on for the past two years. She'd been interviewed for the article, and her stomach dropped. "Did they misquote me or attribute something terrible to me?"

"No, no, it's not the front page article, that was fine. Open to the Society pages." Ginny flapped her hand impatiently at the newspaper.

Hermione flipped quickly to the back of the paper while she ate, stopping briefly at the Sports section and exclaiming in delight over a photo of Rose scoring a goal yesterday. "Did you see this?" she asked Ginny, watching the looping movements of the Quaffle leaving her daughter's hand and soaring through the goal hoop. "Oh, this is lovely!"

Ginny smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes.

Hermione finally reached the front page of the Society section. It took a moment to realize what she was seeing, before her face paled, and she looked wide-eyed at Ginny.

The redhead's lips were pursed in a grim expression.

Looking back down, she stared at looping photos of herself and Draco from outside the Three Broomsticks yesterday, under the headline "Malfoy and Golden Couple Together in Hogsmeade." She picked up the paper, hands shaking, to skim through the brief spread.

Draco Malfoy was seen yesterday evening at the Three Broomsticks in the company of Golden Couple Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger-Weasley, Harry and Ginny Potter, Dennis Creevey, and Jason Fitzpatrick.

A photo showed Draco sitting at the high top table between Hermione and Ginny, with Ron across the table from them. Hermione wondered who had taken the photo without any of them noticing.

After leaving the pub, Malfoy and Granger-Weasley were spotted being intimate on High Street after the rest of their party left.

Three large, colorful photos looped continuously. One showed them gazing at each other intensely, lips moving in conversation, with their arms wrapped around each other's waists. Another showed them pressed close together, Draco's face in her neck and her hands on his bum. The last picture showed them passionately kissing, and the moving photo showed her hands squeezing and gripping his arse while he pushed his hips against her. She felt nauseous; her children were going to see this!

Has the Golden Couple split? Have they welcomed Mr. Malfoy as a third partner to spice things up? Or is the Golden Girl cheating on Mr. Weasley under his nose? Sources close to the witch and two wizards could not be reached for comment. Whatever the arrangement, things are clearly getting hot and heavy between at least two of the three parties.

The rest of the article was nothing but a bunch of background details on the three of them, which everyone already knew. Hermione lowered the paper to the counter. Her immediate thought was of Rose and Hugo finding out about her and Draco's relationship at breakfast this morning in front of all their friends.

"Ginny," she moaned, tears forming in her eyes, "my kids are going to see this! I have to get in touch with Minerva and go see them to explain. Maybe I can get there before they make it to breakfast, and tell them before they see the paper… Maybe Ron and I should go together, so we show a united front…"

Ginny came and put her arm around Hermione's shoulders.

Looking back at the paper, Hermione's eyes fixed on the paragraph under the embarrassing photos. "Spice things up?" she squawked, her voice two octaves higher than normal. "How… how can they even print this kind of speculation?" she sputtered. "Cheating on Ron under his nose?" Burying her face in her hands, elbows planted on the countertop, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths while Ginny rubbed circles on her back.

"Did Harry go visit Ron while you came here?"

"Yeah."

"I'm worried about Rose and Hugo more than anything else. I hope we can get there before they hear about this over breakfast in the Great Hall." Hermione heaved a breath and wrung her hands, panic warring with anger in her eyes. "I'm going to Ron's, and we can call Minerva from there." She hopped down from her stool, leaving the remains of her breakfast uneaten.

Before she made it from the room, her floo sounded, and Ron and Harry came through and followed the women's voices into the kitchen. Ron was angry, his face flushed, and he held the Prophet in his hand.

Without preamble, he hissed, "What the hell, Hermione? This is what I wake up to on Sunday morning? For someone known for her intelligence, kissing Malfoy in the middle of bloody Hogsmeade was appallingly stupid. Why the fuck did you do that?" Outrage colored his words. "The whole world is going to see this, and no one even knows we're divorced! Which we kept quiet because of the kids! So the kids could get through the end of term without being gossiped about! And now you do this!?" He shook the paper in his hand.

She wanted to yell back at him, but kept her temper for now. "I'm sorry, Ron. It was a dumb thing to do. The street was empty, and we didn't think anyone was around."

Ron gave her an incredulous look. "There's always someone around when you, Harry, and I are together! Add Malfoy to the mix…" He threw his hands in the air. "Do you have any idea what the kids are going to go through because of this? And they're going to find out their mum is involved with Draco Malfoy at the same time as everyone else! They'll get pummeled with questions: 'Did your parents split? Is your mum cheating on your dad? Is Scorp's dad shagging both your parents like the paper says?' " Ron's face twisted in revulsion.

"Yes, Ron," Hermione fired back. "I'm well aware of what the kids are going to go through. And it will be even worse if we don't get to them before they find out about it from the paper." She scowled. "Can we focus on getting in touch with Minerva?"

Ron crossed his arms over his chest, stone-faced. "And what exactly do you plan for us to tell them when we get there? Sorry kids, mummy's fucking Scorpius's dad and made a mistake by kissing him in front of a reporter last night?"

She gaped at him for a moment before she found her words. "Fuck you, Ron! Get out of my house!" She pointed back to the floo.

"No!" he yelled. "You don't get to shut this down just because you're mad. This is your mistake, not mine. You made a fool out of us in the fucking Sunday Prophet!" He jabbed his finger into the paper again, emphasizing the last three words.

Hermione closed her eyes, trying to stay calm and keep her tears at bay. She tried several times to speak, but couldn't do it without crying. Turning to Harry and Ginny, who had been slowly inching out of the room, she choked out, "Can you two please leave us alone?"

The Potters looked at Ron for agreement, and when he nodded, Ginny said, "Call us if you need help with anything." Then the Potters hightailed it to the fireplace.

Hermione sat down on a stool at the kitchen island and leaned against the countertop, burying her face in her hands and crying silently, trying to pull herself together enough to talk to Ron.

"We need to deal with this, Hermione." Ron's voice was tight, controlled, clearly trying to keep his patience so she didn't start crying harder. "We need to get to Hogwarts and try to explain this to Rose and Hugo and do some damage control. We can figure out how to deal with the Prophet later. Fucking wanker of a reporter," he muttered.

Deciding there was no way around crying while talking to him, she turned to face him, sniffling and wiping her wet cheeks with her sleeves.

Ron glared at her. "I think you need to do most of the talking to the kids at the start. This was your mistake — yours and Malfoy's — and you need to be the one to explain it to them." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll do my best to act supportive so that we don't add 'mummy and daddy fighting' to their list of worries."

Hermione closed her eyes as tears continued to leak out. She wanted to yell back at him, throw his anger back in his face, but she knew he had every right to be angry. She had created a huge mess, particularly for their kids, with her indiscretion.

"Okay," she said in a small voice. "Let's call McGonagall. Hopefully she can pull them from their dormitories before breakfast. Let me grab my bag." She hopped off the stool, wiping her eyes, and her floo sounded again.

Moments later, Draco walked into the kitchen holding his own copy of the Prophet, and her stomach dropped. Draco froze when he saw Ron, and Ron's face twisted in anger, a red flush rising up his neck once again.

Ron took a step toward Draco, his extra couple of inches of height and angry energy rolling off his frame making Draco, uncharacteristically, flinch away from him.

"Get the fuck out of here, Malfoy. Hermione and I are leaving for Hogwarts to try to explain this mess you two made to our kids. Go deal with your kid on your own. I will not be seen walking around the school with you and fueling speculation that we're all in bed together." Disgust and resentment colored his features.

Draco shifted his gaze to Hermione, and she nodded her head infinitesimally, tears pooling in her eyes again. Draco's face fell, and he rubbed the back of his neck, before turning around and leaving.

Hermione got her bag from the entrance hall and met Ron at the fireplace. Minerva didn't answer their floo call — of course, she was unlikely to be in her office on a Sunday morning — so Ron sent a patronus to her, asking to meet. They waited in awkward silence in the living room until McGonagall's cat arrived, directing them to be at her office entrance in 20 minutes.

A/N: Thank you, as always, to canttouchthis and Astrangefan for all their help; you're the best!

One of my main goals for the Pure-blood supremacy plot is to keep it simple enough for readers to easily follow, particularly while reading as a WIP. Not sure I've fully met that goal, and Harry's short summary to Ron at the Quidditch game is really all you need to know going forward.

I know there are a broad range of opinions on Ron in the Dramione world. In this story I've crafted him (or have tried to) as a complex, three-dimensional side character who has matured along with the rest of the characters and is a good person, though he continues to carry around some of his old insecurities.

I'll continue to update every other Saturday till the story is finished, around 20 chapters total, give or take.

Footnotes:

The pregnancy book Hermione refers to is The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine.

Paracetamol is the name Tylenol is sold under in the UK; Sominex is a non-prescription sleep aid.

Correction:

For any sticklers for detail, I made an error in Ch 5 when I indicated Lily was still living with her parents and not at Hogwarts. I've corrected Ch 5. There's disagreement on fan sites about her birth date, so she's either a first year with Hugo or a second year. (Rose and Scorpius are fourth years, and James is a sixth year.)