Brunch with Draco's parents was supposed to be lowkey and quiet. We'd be celebrating Draco graduating and be going over last minute wedding details.
But when I walked into Malfoy Manor the next morning, there was immediately something amiss. Draco opened the door, as opposed to a house elf and he looked completely exhausted.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
He motioned behind him and I could hear the arguing.
"They've been at it all morning," he said. Mira was clinging to his leg now and he ran his fingers through her hair. "It's worse than I anticipated."
"Have you tried to talk to them at all?" I asked.
"And say what?" Draco asked.
"Something. You're their child. They should know they're upsetting you," I said.
"Gramma?" Mira said, tugging on Draco's pants leg.
"Yes, go see Grandma," Draco said. He urged Mira off in the direction of the dining room, and she ran, screaming for Narcissa at the top of her lungs. The arguing quieted and was replaced with shouts of glee, urging Mira on. "At least they won't argue in front of her."
"Do you know what they're on about?" I asked.
"Everything they've been ignoring for 20 years I assume," Draco said. He placed his hands on my shoulders. "I know I've said this to you before, but promise me that if you're ever unhappy you'll tell me? That Mira won't have to open the door to her fiancé and have to apologize for her parents fighting in the other room?"
"I promise," I said. I kissed him and took his hand. "But you should talk to them. Really."
When we reached the dining room, Mira was already in Narcissa's arms, holding a silver headband in her hands, trying desperately to pull it apart. Lucius sat across from them, sipping from a mug of coffee.
"Hello, Hannah darling," Narcissa said. That was the greeting I'd been getting a lot these days. Hannah Darling. At the very least, we were mostly getting along these days. Enough so for me to bring Mira over and for us to chat politely over a cup of tea.
"Good morning," I said. "Lucius."
He gave me a curt nod and went back to his coffee.
"Draco said you feel strongly about house elves," Narcissa said as I sat down. "Or your friend, the one marrying the Weasley is."
"Yes. Hermione started the Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare, or SPEW, when we were in fourth year," I said.
Narcissa nodded. "Anyway, we've freed all of our house elves at his insistence."
I looked over to Draco who was sitting beside Lucius. Then I looked to Narcissa.
"That's very big of you," I said. "Your family is so influential, even now, that others will probably follow suit and-."
"Our family," Narcissa said. "Or have you forgotten that you're also going to be a Malfoy."
I paused. "Right. I just meant that. . . You're both from two of the oldest wizarding families there and people expect you to hold to such a high, traditional standard and nixing the house elves is exemplary. I'm touched, honestly."
I heard Lucius scoff.
"Please," Narcissa said. "Surely you can keep your opinion to yourself in front of your granddaughter."
"Oh, certainly," Lucius said.
"Let's not talk about the house elves. This morning is about Draco after all," I said. "He's graduated at last."
"And what will he do with his life?" Lucius asked.
"Please," Narcissa hissed at him.
"He doesn't have to decide immediately. He has time," I said. "We haven't been particularly worried about it."
"Certainly not," Lucius said. "Nothing pressing to cause you worry. You have a home and money. No worries at all."
"Lucius, that's enough," Narcissa said.
"Yes, of course," Lucius said. He sat his mug down and rose from the table, leaving the room. Narcissa shook her head and sat Mira in my lap.
"Excuse me," she said and followed him from the room.
I looked over to Draco.
"Welcome to my hell for the next two weeks," he said. "How can you not have seen this was happening?"
I scoffed. "I'm sorry to say that I make kind of a point to avoid your father under most circumstances and he does me the courtesy of doing the same. Your mum and I aren't exactly bosom buddies so when we chat we don't exactly discuss her marriage. You said so yourself it's not as if she was going to talk to me about it."
Draco sighed and rested his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry," I said. "Either you can talk to them or-."
I could hear Narcissa and Lucius's raised voices on the other side of the door. They weren't shouting, but they were clearly not happy.
Draco lifted his head. "And what I am to say to them?"
"Whatever you think you should say," I said. "But I don't like seeing you like this, and you don't like seeing them like this. Your mother is clearly fed up with it and your father doesn't care. If you don't want to live the rest of your life listening to them shouting at each other, then you need to tell them."
I got up from the table.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Mira and I are going to go for a walk in the garden, or do you really want her to be audience to this?" I asked.
"You're right, you're right," he groaned. "Isn't today supposed to be fun? Why am I already so miserable?"
Now Narcissa and Lucius were shouting. I looked over to Draco. He was staring at the door.
"Draco," I said. He looked over to me. "Whatever happens, it's going to be okay. You know that right?"
He nodded. "Of course it's going to be okay; I've got the two of you." He walked around the table and kissed me and Mira. "I'm going to go into the dragon's lair now."
"Good luck," I said.
888
After half an hour of roaming around, Draco came out to find us and told me to head out because his parents were going to be at it for a while. I took Mira and headed to Grimmauld Place after leaving Malfoy Manor. Harry had been settled in for a while, and Ginny didn't have much so moving in hadn't been much of a struggle for the two of them.
When I arrived, they were straightening up the lounge.
"You're early," Ginny said.
"I thought you were having brunch with the in-laws," Harry said.
"I was," I replied, plopping down on the couch. Mira was thankfully asleep and I laid her down on the couch.
Harry sighed. "There are few things cuter than a sleeping toddler. Especially since you know when they wake up they're someone else's responsibility."
I rolled my eyes.
"Why did you skip brunch?" Ginny asked, laying a throw blanket over Mira.
"His parents," I started.
"Still arguing?" Ginny asked.
"I wasn't there five minutes before they had to excuse themselves to another room to have a shouting match with each other," I said.
"Poor Draco. He said they weren't getting along, but I didn't realize it was that bad," Ginny said.
"Neither did I. Neither did he," I said. "I don't have any advice to give him. The only long term relationship I have to compare it to is your parents."
"And they are annoyingly perfect role-models," Ginny agreed. "That's why I'm rebelling so hard."
"I don't think what you're doing is technically considered rebelling," Harry said.
Ginny scoffed. "Tell that to my parents. The letter I got after I told them I was moving out was insane. What's even crazier is that they were all on Fred and Bill's cases for getting married so fast and so soon, but I want to actually take things slow and suddenly I'm the problem child."
"They just don't understand. Why not just have a career and make your own way before you get married and forever saddle yourself with the inescapable moniker of 'Harry Potter's Wife.' Can you imagine joining the Harpies and having your jersey say Potter?" Harry asked.
"Bold of you to assume that I'd take your name," Ginny said.
Harry nodded. "True."
"Guys," I said, with a sigh.
"Sorry," Ginny said.
"You can't make his parents get along. And he can't either. If they want to save face and keep on being married, then there's nothing Draco can do to talk them out of it probably. But you're both about to start your own life now. It's not your job to worry about them. They're adults. You've got MJ to worry about. You've got each other to worry about. And I'm sure it's horrible to see your family fighting like that but, what can you do, really?" Harry said. "Sometimes you've gotta hunker down and think about yourself."
"That's great advice, Harry," I said. "Please be sure to give it to my fiancé when you see him tonight."
"What are you doing tonight?" Ginny asked. Then she gasped. "Should we have a contest to see who sees more boobs today?"
"Then we both get to start the day with two!" Harry said. He and Ginny high-fived each other and I rolled my eyes.
"You two are obnoxious," I said. "And we won't be seeing any boobs tonight, Ginny."
"Aww," Ginny said with a frown. She turned to Harry. "What are you guys getting into, tonight?"
"If you are seeing boobs tonight, don't tell me," I said.
"Getting absolutely pissed right here," Harry said. "It'll be fun to be able to just pass out in my own bed. I'm glad Blaise suggested it."
"Aren't Crabbe and Goyle coming?" Ginny asked.
"Yep," Harry said.
"Merlin, I wish I could be here to see what those two are like when they're wasted," Ginny said. "They're kind of hilarious now that they're not bullying us anymore and we know how harmless they are."
"I'll give you a full report when you get back home," Harry said.
Ginny's eyes lit up. Because her home was with Harry and she was going to get to come back here to him. It made me really happy to see them.
888
Hermione placed a plastic tiara atop my head. Then she placed her hand over her heart.
"Beautiful," Hermione said. I rolled my eyes. "Don't act like you're not excited." She reached into her bag and pulled out a pink sash.
"Hermione," I started to protest.
"Six months from now, my bachelorette party will be in your hands and you can do whatever you like. Just let me have this. I'm not going to be anyone else's maid of honor," she said. "I am absolutely intolerable as a best friend for anyone else but you and Harry."
I sighed. "Fine. I guess that's why I let you put this gaudy thing on me in the first place."
"You want to talk about gaudy, you should look at that engagement ring you have," Ginny said from my couch. I looked over at her and frowned. "What? No one needs an engagement ring that big. I don't care how rich you are."
"Ginny, how much champagne have you had?" I asked.
"A few glasses," she said. She picked up the bottle. "Oh, it's nearly gone. I'll just. . ." She tilted the bottle back and drank the last few gulps down.
"Well, at least you'll certainly be in for a fun night," Hermione said. There was a knock on the front door.
Ginny hopped up to her feet and pulled the door open.
Emily, Parvati, and Kaitlin stood there.
"Hello, ladies," Ginny said.
"How much have you had already. Your face is absolutely flushed," Emily said.
"She's had quite enough for now," I said.
"Champagne is just so delicious you don't even notice you've had so much until you're in over your head," Ginny said.
"Lucky for you, we're all still able to police you," Hermione said.
"For the moment," Emily said, picking up a glass and filling it to the rim with champagne. "Newborns are exhausting. Fred and I agreed that I deserve a night of being blackout drunk." She drank the whole glass down in three gulps and then filled her glass again. "Cheers to being child free for the evening."
"Cheers to that, bitch," I said, lifting my own glass.
"I don't think I want to ever have children," Parvati said. "You can't improve upon perfection after all. Bringing some guy's genetics into the mix would only water things down."
"I think the world is probably safer that way at least," I said.
"Haha," Parvati replied dryly.
888
When we left my house, we went out to a pub for dinner and drinks. Hermione had adorned the other girls in frilly pink feather boas and had, in addition to my tiara, fitted me with a sash that said "Bride to Be."
I felt the slightest bit anxious being out and about wearing a tiara and a sash—I couldn't remember the last time I'd walked around and made myself so publicly recognizable, but after a few drinks I didn't much care. Everyone at the pub was eager to send us drinks and even the ones that wanted to gawk at me or Hermione or Ginny were pretty polite and made a quick getaway.
It was nice, being out and feeling normal. I didn't think I'd ever felt normal in my whole life.
"Are you just, totally excited to be married, Hannah?" Ginny asked.
"Yes. Because it's like, we're gonna be together forever. For like, forever," I said.
"I'm so glad he's not a piece of shit anymore," Parvati said. "I used to want to punch him in his smug little face."
"I did one time," Hermione said. She was much drunker than I thought she'd let herself get tonight, but Hermione had been through literally everything with me too. This was probably the first time she'd felt normal too. "It was third year and he was like 'I hope they kill that hippogiff and that they sack Hagrid and you're a mudblood' and I was like 'kapow' right in his nose. He went down and we all laughed."
"That was a great time," I said.
"And now you're marrying him," Kaitlin said. "Sometimes I can't believe old Draco is the same person as the Draco I know. Because he's so nice."
"I know! I can't either. When he started being nice to me, I thought it was because he had some ulterior motives. But it was actually because he liked me," I said.
"The ulterior motive was that he wanted to fuck you," Parvati said.
"Probably that a little too," I said.
"No, probably, like, a lot. Draco told me once that the first time he saw you Diagon Alley he knew he was gonna marry you. So I think getting in your pants was high on his priority list," Ginny said.
"You know you can love someone without immediately wanting to get in their pants," Hermione said. "Like, you can want to, like, just be with them all of the time."
Ginny shook her head. "Can't relate. I remember being 10-years-old and seeing Harry Potter at Kings Cross and I looked at him. . . And I thought to myself, I thought 'I want. . . I want to eat his face.'"
We all laughed as Ginny took a drink her beer.
"Harry does have a nice face," Parvati said.
"Never have I ever kissed Harry Potter," I said.
Parvati and Ginny laughed as they took a drink, followed by Hermione with a groan.
"When was this?" Kaitlin asked.
"Third year and I don't want to talk about it," Hermione said. "If I had a brother, I imagine that's what it'd feel like to kiss him."
"Harry's, like, basically like your brother anyway," Parvati said. "Because in like five years, him and Ginny and going to have an 'oops' and then all of a sudden they'll be like 'We didn't elope because we got pregnant, don't be crazy.'"
"That's not entirely implausible," Ginny said with a laugh. "Can I just say though, the best thing about living with Harry Potter is-."
"Not having to sneak around Ron," Parvati said.
Ginny cackled. "I was going to say that he cooks, but that is also a delightful perk." She and Parvati clinked glasses.
"Never have I ever snogged the same boy as Parvati," Emily said.
"You'll have to drink for Seamus," Parvati said. I rolled my eyes and took a swig.
"You know," Kaitlin said. "I wonder what the boys are doing."
"Sitting in Harry's house drinking," Ginny said. "Probably being awkward since Crabbe and Goyle are there."
"I wish we could, like, hang out with them," I said. "Like, this is fun and we've gotten lots of free drinks-."
"But we could easily force the boys into seeing which group has the superior drinking skills," Ginny said.
"We could make them play never have I ever and really get shit crazy," Emily said.
"Then lets do it!" Hermione said.
"Really?" I asked.
"Fuck yes. It's your night. You want to get absolutely smashed with the boys, you can," Hermione said. "Go outside. Go, go, go."
Hermione and I left money for our tabs on the table and then walked outside. She pulled out her and then held it out in front of her towards the street. A moment later, the Knight Bus rolled into view.
"Hermione, you genius," I said kissing her cheek.
The doors opened and we climbed aboard.
"Looks like we've got ourselves a Hen Party, Ernie," the conductor said.
"We need to go to Grimmauld Place in London, if you don't mind," Hermione said. "And we are quite intoxicated, so-."
"Get us there quickly so we can drink a bunch of boys under the table!" Ginny cheered. We all cheered with her and, holding on tightly to the poles, we sped off.
