Ron visits the Grangers. Draco tests his spying skills. A little talk with Hermione.
The next day, Draco was carrying Scorpius through the Alley. He needed a new suit and Scorpius needed some toys. He stopped in at Tattings and Twilfit just long enough to pick out both a color and style of suit. The women had long had his measurements already on file. They went next to the toy store. After picking out a toy broomstick that Scorpius wouldn't need for a while, he picked out some bath toys and a stuffed dragon. After the toy store, he drifted into Weasley's Wizardly Wheezes. He'd only been in the store a few times over the years. As he walked around, looking at the newest products, he overheard a conversation. Normally, he wouldn't pay any attention but this was different. The people mentioned the Weasel.
"So, is he still going there every week? I'd figure either they'd get bored with the babies or he'd get tired of going all the time." a male voice spoke.
"Yes. He's still going there every week. They're his babies' grandparents. He's not going to cut them out of the babies' lives, you know! Just because they lost their daughter doesn't mean they're also going to lose her children." a female voice replied.
Draco didn't recognize the man but he did recognize the woman. It was the Weasel's sister, Ginny. He sidled closer to better hear what they were saying. 'Something about Granger's parents?' He was rewarded as Ginny kept talking. "Yeah. He and Hermione took Rose every week and he's kept up with it. Only now they have Rose and Hugo to play with. He takes them every week before they come back to the family supper at Mum and Dad's. The Grangers were afraid he would cut them out of the children's lives, too. But Ron told them that would never happen. If he did try that, Hermione would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life!" Ginny laughed. The man laughed, too.
Draco left and immediately went to the Ministry. He had a few friends on staff there who owed their jobs to him. He knew where the Weasley parents lived but he wasn't sure of the Weasel's home or the Grangers location. Once he had both addresses in hand, he went home. He took Scorpius to his mother and went to his study. There, he sent two fire calls and waited. Within minutes, his two best friends stepped out of the Floo. Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott looked at him quizzically.
"I need your help." he declared. Then he amended his statement. "Well, not you help necessarily but I need your support."
"Of course." Theo replied immediately. He knew Draco didn't ask for help or support for just anything.
"I'm here for you, mate." Blaise told him. They could both count, on one hand, the number of times Draco had broken down and asked them to help him.
"Good." he took a deep breath. "I'm going to spy on someone this weekend. Will you both go with me?"
They smiled as they agreed. 'Draco Malfoy? Spying on someone?' This would be good. They'd get to see who their friend was interested in! They had watched dozens of witches over the years throw themselves at Draco's feet. They would unobtrusively steer them away from him. Their wives would also be interested. They'd been discussing possible males they could throw into Draco's path. They agreed on a time to meet up Sunday morning.
Draco knew they would be greatly surprised at who he was spying on. They would probably pass out from sheer shock! He couldn't believe it himself. Never in a million years would he have ever thought he'd be spying on the Weasel. But he just had an overwhelming urge to see how he was coping with the loss of his wife. 'Was he showing any interest in other women yet?'
Knowing they'd be in the Muggle world, he sent Theo and Blaise a note to that effect, telling them to dress in Mugglewear. Of course, he also had to figure it out himself. Thinking back to his school days, he remembered seeing Potter dressed in Muggle clothes. He retrieved a Pensieve from his father's study and pulled a memory of Potter from first year. Staring at their second meeting, he could now see where he'd gone wrong with that greeting. He shouldn't have been so insulting to the Weasel. Maybe then he and Potter could actually have been friends. 'Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk and all that rot!' He couldn't go back now. It was all said and done. All he could do now was move forward and hope for the best.
Sunday morning dawned bright and early. His mother was thrilled because she got Scorpius to herself all day. He went down to his study. Now if Theo and Blaise would get there quickly. He was about to lose his sodding nerve and call the whole thing off! Just then, they walked out of the Floo. They were both dressed simply in blue jeans and T-shirts as requested. Being as it was a chilly day, they also carried hoodies with them.
"All right! You look very Mugglish, Draco!" Blaise said approvingly. Draco was also dressed in jeans, T-shirt and carrying a hoodie. "Onward, fearless leader!" Draco rolled his eyes at him as they left.
"So who IS this mystery person we're spying on?" Theo asked. He was bursting to know. If he didn't come back with a name, Pansy would chop him up and scatter him all over Wizarding Britain!
Draco shook his head. He wasn't about to say the name. He was still disbelieving his own actions. When they saw who it was, they'd have their answer soon enough. He just hoped they didn't make a wasted trip. He hadn't thought to snoop around and find out what time they should be ready. He imagined if the little boy was anything like Scorpius, he had probably been up quite a while already. They walked through the Leaky Cauldron into the Muggle side of London. It had surprised him to learn that Weasel lived outside the Wizarding world. Then he remembered his mother talking about Grimmauld Place, the home of her late cousin Sirius Black. It was in Muggle London, too. That was where Potty and the Weaselette lived with their kids. He led the way to a grove of trees and Apparated them to a small park. It was across the street from Potty. He figured Weasel would leave from here.
They settled onto a bench and waited. Theo and Blaise were intently watching the house across the street. Draco was getting increasingly nervous. He was about to give up and call it a day when the front door opened. "Are you absolutely certain you don't need us to go with you, Ron?" Ginny asked worriedly. Ron snorted at her.
"Ginny. Don't worry. I got this. Trust me. When I walk in the door, they're going to do what they've done every Sunday morning. They'll take the babies, tell me I look exhausted and send me up to 'Mione's room to take a nap. That way, they can have uninterrupted grandparent time with them." Ron laughed. Ginny smiled as she hugged him. He turned and walked across the street. Ginny was watching and noticed the three men who hurriedly opened up newspapers. She frowned. 'If she didn't know better, she'd swear that was the Ferret and his two best friends!'
Ron didn't seem to notice anything as he walked past them. They had to wait until Ginny went back inside before they could follow him. Draco had noted that he DID look exhausted. He wondered just how much the Weasel even let anyone help him. From the looks of him, he was trying to be both mom and dad to the kids. Blaise and Theo were about to lose their minds. 'Weasley! They were spying on Ron Weasley! The Weasel himself!' Pansy and Daphne were going to have a heyday with this news!
They got up and followed the path he'd taken. Hermione's parents surely lived in walking distance from both Weasel and Potty. Then Ron walked over to the train station. They hurriedly caught up in time to jump in the doors down from where he had entered the train. They inched their way closer. Once they were within a few feet, they stopped and tried to blend into the crowd. And it WAS crowded on there. They were forced to hang onto the overhead straps. Ron was standing with ease, leaning against a pole. It was obvious he'd made this trip many times.
At long last, they apparently reached their destination. Ron straightened up and moved to the door. They moved back as he glanced around. Then he left the train and walked off down the street. They followed him cautiously as he seemed to be in a hurry. He turned left and headed up a walkway. There was a bus stop bench across the street from the house. They headed for the bench. They watched as the door opened and two people came out to hug Ron and coo over the babies.
The woman looked like an older Hermione Granger. It was easy to see that she was the parent who'd passed most of her characteristics on to Hermione. The older man took Rose and tossed her up, to her squealing delight. It was the woman Draco watched though. She was the one who was cuddling little Hugo. Draco longed to be in her place. He could almost feel the little boy's weight still in his arms. Hugo was slightly heavier than Scorpius. He crossed his arms and bit his lip as he glared at the woman. Blaise and Theo took note of the jealous expression on his face. They leaned back and exchanged a laughing wink behind his back. 'He definitely wanted to be in the Weasel's life!'
Ron smiled as the Grangers came out to greet him. William hugged him and took Rosie. Jean hugged him, kissed his cheek and took Hugo. "Ron, sweetheart, you look exhausted. Are you getting any sleep at all, dear? You know our door is open anytime, right?"
"I know. I get a few hours of sleep. I just can't settle down for long, you know? I'm just not used to Hermione not being there yet." he laughed softly as Rose squealed in delight. Grandpa Granger was making a Rosie plane with her.
"Well. You just go on up and take a nap. We'll call you down when lunch is ready, all right? In the meanwhile, we'll play with the babies." she smiled tenderly at her young grandson. Ron headed upstairs after dropping the diaper bags in the living room. He walked in and dropped onto the bed. Beside it on the bedside table was a picture of Hermione soon after their wedding. It was one of the few moving pictures in the house. He'd had many discussions with this picture over the years.
"Good morning, Ron. How are you today?" Hermione greeted him. He smiled and stroked the picture.
"I'm doing good. The kids saw the healers yesterday. They got their shots. I did that little trick with Hugo. You know, the one you showed me with Rosie?" he told her.
"Oh, my poor Hugo. I bet he didn't like that." she cupped her mouth.
"No. He didn't. He didn't cry though. He let out one little whimper and that was it." Ron said proudly. Hermione smiled.
"Is that all that happened? How did Rose do?" Hermione asked. Ron smiled proudly.
"She did good as well. Not even a whimper." he told her. "Not like another child who was there."
"What child was that?" she tipped her head. Ron snorted.
"The Ferret's child. He actually reproduced. Can you believe it?" he told her with a smirk.
"Now, Ron. Be nice. Let bygones be bygones. He made some bad judgment calls in the past. He made up for them with his community service. So his son was the one crying yesterday? How did he get him stopped?" she wondered.
"He didn't get him stopped. I did." As Hermione smiled proudly at him, Ron shrugged sheepishly. "Poor little thing just got shots. He was scared and hurting. So I rocked him and hummed a bit. Just until he calmed down. Then I gave him back to Ferret."
"Well, that was very nice of you. I'm glad you and Malfoy didn't fight." she replied.
"We almost got into it before the shots. Luckily we were called back at the same time." he shrugged.
"Ron. You have to set a good example for the babies. You're an Auror, for goodness sake. I know you and he had the worst moments in the past but you have to let the past go. If you can't be friends with him, at least try to be civil. Please?" she asked.
"All right. All right. Ok. I'll try, ok? I won't start any arguments or fights with him. But if he picks a fight with me, don't expect me to stand down. But for you, I'll try to be civil, ok?" he smiled at her. "Now, the babies are downstairs visiting with your parents. Go down and see them. Once we have lunch, we'll be heading on over Mum and Dad's for supper. Oh, and guess who is outside right now. I saw them outside Ginny and Harry's."
"Who?" she giggled. He laughed at her little grin.
"Malfoy, Zabini and Nott. Why, I don't know but they're outside. On that bench across the street." he shook his head. He hadn't let on that he'd seen them. He just wanted to see what they were up to.
"Hmmm. You might want to be careful when you leave. Maybe you should take the Floo to your parents' house." she said worriedly.
"Nah. I'll go back the way I came. They didn't mess with me on the way here. I don't think they'll mess with me when I leave. I'm just wondering exactly WHY they're following me." he wondered. "Listen. Go on down. Send time with the babies." Hermione nodded happily and left the frame, headed to the moving picture downstairs in the living room.
Ron laid down and sighed. 'Making nice with the Ferret! Bloody hell! Oh, well. He'd given his word to Hermione. Do or die, he was going to be civil with him!'