Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Draco and Hermione only talked at first.
Day by day, they slowly transitioned from enemies to not-so-big-of-enemies.
It took some time but Draco eventually worked up the courage to ask Hermione to dinner.
Their wedding took place a year later.
Two years after that, their son, Scorpius Malfoy, was born.
The boy proved to be an external copy of his father and an internal copy of his mother.
As the decades rolled by, Draco kept Hermione by his side and he stayed by hers.
The couple shared all of life's experiences together.
The good and the bad.
The only child of only children, Scorpius grew to be kind and self-sufficient.
Although it was difficult to say which Malfoy man grieved more deeply when Hermione fell ill in her old age.
Until she passed, Draco was positioned loyally at her bedside, his handsome face marred by wrinkles, his grey eyes dulled by the passage of many years.
Draco sat holding Hermione's hand while she smiled softly up at him with her silver hair fanned out behind her.
"You can't leave." Draco insisted, his voice as harsh and as demanding as it had been during their school days, "You can't expect me to survive without you, not now."
"You won't be without me." Hermione said quietly, squeezing Draco's hand as hard as she could, but only managing to produce a slight pressure.
Raising her hand to his withered lips, Draco pressed a gentle kiss on her knuckles.
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On the day that Hermione was laid to rest, Scorpius kept his father some company that evening after the services. Parent and child sat talking by the large fire in the Malfoy parlor, delaying the inevitable.
Scorpius was a grown man, pursuing his own career.
He no longer inhabited his grand, childhood home.
They both knew that when Scorpius left for the night, Draco would be…….alone.
…….Alone in Malfoy manor for the first time in his long life.
And that terrible moment finally came as the hour grew late.
Scorpius slowly stood from his chair.
Draco walked him to the door. The two said their goodbyes and Scorpius left, driving away in the black muggle luxury car he had rented for the day.
Apparating seemed too rude for some reason.
Standing with the support of his black cane, crowned by a striking silver snake's head, Draco closed the door with a shaking hand and blinked his aged eyes at the void of emptiness his home had become.
He was on his own in the vast manor, except the few servants that he still employed as household staff.
Servants, not house elves, that had been Hermione's demand.
But the servants all lived on the right wing of the mansion, which was far away from the main part of the house where Draco resided.
Melancholy and lacking a purpose, Draco shuffled off to bed.
With a sigh he laid down an hour later and tried to sleep.
How was he supposed to do that ever again now that she was gone?
At some point during the night, Draco's old body gave out and he drifted off into a troubled slumber.
It was rather nice, really.
In his dreams, Draco saw his precious wife again.
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Too early the next morning, Draco was awoken by the slightest of tugs, the likes of which he hadn't experienced since the days of his early manhood.
Draco's wrinkled eyes cracked open and he turned his head in the direction of the sensation.
A gasp escaped Draco's dry throat.
His expression changed to one of pure shock as he gazed at someone he hadn't seen in a very, very long time…….
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"How are you doing, Father?" Scorpius asked as he held his IPhone to his ear, looking out of his hotel room in Egypt at the pyramids that loomed in the distance.
"I'm well, son." Draco said confidently, speaking into his own iPhone as he sat by the fireplace in the parlor one evening a month after Hermione's death, "How are you?"
iPhones were just some of the many muggle objects that Hermione had raised her child to know, simultaneously incorporating their use into Draco's daily life, much to his chagrin.
"I'm fine. My research is going very slowly, but it's going…...I'll come visit soon. I know you must be terribly lonely." Scorpius said as he leaned against the doorway to his room's balcony.
"Not as much as you probably think." Draco said with a deep laugh coming from his weathered throat.
"I'm glad to hear that…...see you soon, then, father?" Scorpius asked.
"See you soon, son." Draco replied.
Both Malfoys hung up at the same time.
With a sigh, Draco leaned foward towards the tea tray that had been placed on the table beside his chair. A soothing blend of chamomile sat in the pot, still warm. Using a surprisingly steady hand, Draco poured his porcelain cup full.
But he didn't put the teapot back down just yet.
Moving over to the far side of the table, Draco concentrated very hard on tipping the teapot just enough.
His eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed as he focused.
Just…...
Enough…….
A single drop fell from the lip of the teapot and splashed into the tiny porcelain cup that Hermione's little sack doll held in her handless arms as she sat on Draco's lap.
"There you are, my dear." Draco said with a contented chuckle as he placed the teapot back on the table.
Hermione's little sack doll was every bit as tiny and as adorable as he remembered. Together, they sipped their tea.
Actually, together, Draco and his secret doll did everything.
Draco gazed down at his wife's miniature warmly and she beamed up at him with a happy smile, once again wearing that beautiful dress he had purchased for her so many years ago.
Draco reached out and opened his hand, allowing the little sack doll to climb onto his palm. Moving her to his lips slowly, Draco pressed a kiss to the mass of vibrant, brown curls that covered her round head.
Hermione's miniature accepted Draco's affection with an elated little chirp of sheer joy.
The sound was lovely to Draco and he smiled in spite of himself.
The little sack doll wasn't the same as having his beloved Hermione with him, but to Draco, it was much better to have a piece of his darling than nothing at all.