A/N - This is it. I hope you enjoy the epilogue to see how everything turns out. As always, I'm grateful for the time you given to read my story.
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By the start of the next week, very few things changed at Hogwarts. Hermione and Draco continued their responsibilities as head students. They completed rounds, assigned detentions, took points, participated in silly arguments, found the quiet corners in their common room as nice as the one in the library, studied at the same table and found the distance between them shrinking.
Almost daily letters from Narcissa detailed more and more prominent families requesting information on setting up trusts in order to support the continuing efforts of their favored groups. Hermione found herself being asked to help with the newly established trusts in a role similar to what she will do with the Black trust.
Narcissa assured the other families she would personally assist each trust find their own person as Hermione would be too busy with the Black Trust to provide the others the necessary level of attention. Hermione would, of course, be available to give guidance to the other trust managers while they trained and learned the responsibilities of their role.
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The school year ended, as it always did. The students returned to London and looked to their futures. The now former Hogwarts students began to decide what they would do with the rest of their lives. Some married, some didn't. Some had children, others did not. Some started careers, while a portion followed their dreams.
Hermione Granger did a little bit of everything. After graduating, she and Draco worked closely to determine how the Black Trust would distribute funding. With Narcissa, they pair discussed what documentation and follow up evidence would be required for the organizations to maintain the established funding.
Draco unsurprisingly found Hermione to be exceptional leader. She managed the fund with the expected integrity. She treated each of the groups with respect and received it in return. She knew the workings of each of the eighty organizations under the Black Trust. When asked, each felt they were the only one when speaking with Hermione.
As the years progressed, Hermione and Draco grew closer dealing with issues related to the trust, and in how the various trusts interacted. After five years, Draco asked Hermione to dinner. It was a prelude to dating, both knew it and looked forward to the relationship moving to the next phase. It took Draco, a self-preservationist to the core, a few of those years before he determined Hermione's interest in him.
Both dated others casually over those five years. Neither having more than one date with anyone. Most often the two commiserated with each other over a glass of wine or cocktail before enjoying a pleasant dinner. The main reason neither pushed the relationship or officially changed their status to something more than friends and business partners was the Malfoy parents.
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After graduating, Draco sat with his parents and discussed the 'Hermione situation,' as his mother called it. Draco stressed his desire to see if a viable relationship could be had. His parents were weary, they wished for him to explore more acceptable witches. The witches deemed acceptable were dull. Draco informed his parents of the reason why one witch or another would not do. Eventually he wore them down and they, with a great deal of reticence, accepted the possibility of the muggleborn perpetually in their lives. Of a muggleborn on the family tree.
The pair dated for two years before he proposed and their engagement lasted for eighteen months while Narcissa and Jean planned the two ceremonies. Hermione told them to not go overboard, it didn't do any good as the two mothers quickly became conspirators with a shared goal.
Eventually tiring of the questions, Hermione gave the pair of mothers a list of things she and Draco were firm about, the rest would be left to the planners. After the fact, Hermione mentioned giving the pair carte blanche wasn't her best idea of late. Her friends disagreed as they felt the weeklong celebration with daily gatherings of food and alcohol was the best party any ever experienced.
Two months shy of their second anniversary Hermione discovered she was pregnant. They wanted children and started to try in earnest. Like many couples wanting to start a family, they had concerns and worries on a host of things. The ease in which Hermione became pregnant came as a pleasant surprise to everyone and only gave them more comfort the decision was the right one.
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"I think it's time we dropped the bomb." Draco stretched across their bed with his head near the large bulge housing their son. Scorpius kicked at the noise.
"Not so loud, you know how it disturbs him." Hermione murmured, before she gave a swift kick to Draco's side. "Why now?" In fact, Hermione and Draco debated the correct moment to release their theory on muggleborns. For years the couple quietly researched every muggleborn they knew, traced their family back to the suspected rejected squib and their probable family. The ones who had at least one Black relative were the only ones they knew for sure.
Reams of parchment dedicated to each muggleborn on their family histories remained secure in the Black vaults. The pages represented some of the proof needed by the Ministry and Gringotts to support the claim and finally contact information for their new families.
"It's time. The Malfoy Trust is finally up and running like I want. We have the assistance needed to support the muggleborns we haven't researched. There are hundreds Hermione. Hundreds of people who don't know they have family." Hermione hummed and ran her fingers through Draco's hair.
Looking at her husband, Hermione smiled. She knew his greatest desire had always been to have a family and this was how he would do it. He'd find those who were blood, regardless of parents or upbringing, they were family.
"If you feel it's the right time, I won't argue. You've played this so well already, I have no reason to start doubting you now." Draco smiled into her belly and quietly whispered to Scorpius.
"Remember this moment, Mummy rarely admits Daddy's right." Hermione laughed and the boy in her belly pushed more gently this time to acknowledge his father.
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Draco spent the preceding years slowly building a relationship with his cousins. Those were easier than with his aunt. Andromeda's hurt was so deep sometimes just the sight of Draco brought up too much. Draco found Aunt Andi's daughter, Dora, well Nymphadora but no one called her that except her mother, accepted Draco quickly.
In fact, the reason Draco and Andi now had a solid relationship was due to Dora and her son. Two years after Draco and Hermione graduated, Dora married the Hogwarts Defense professor. Remus Lupin, a life long friend of Sirius and James Potter, hadn't met Dora Tonks until he wanted to have an auror speak to the NEWT level DADA students.
The professor's idea was based on an anonymous suggestion received from a former student after lamenting some of the issues with his course. The comment only stated how difficult it was to really understand some of the more advanced topics in the course and the reasons they could or should be used.
Taking the suggestion seriously, Remus discussed with the Headmistress who made the official request to the Ministry. Auror Tonks volunteered and since no others wanted to do it, she received the approval to spend a couple of weeks at the school.
Dora found herself immediately drawn to the man, though it took him longer to come around and accept his feelings. With the assistance of his friends and her family (which included Draco), she won Remus over. Or more to the point, got Remus to break and admit his feelings for her, either way it went, they were then a couple.
A few years after meeting, their son, Edward was born. Like his mum, Edward didn't use his given name, his "uncles" wanted to call him Little Moon, that was turned down quickly. For the first few months the little boy didn't have a standard name, every person called him something different with his uncles still slipping in the occasional moon reference. Eventually Remus decided he liked Teddy and from that moment forward, Teddy Lupin became everyone's favorite baby.
Teddy turned out to be the link bridging the distance still felt between Andi and Draco. One day, Andi arrived to the Lupin home not expecting to find Draco singing to her grandson. She watched as Draco held Teddy close gently swaying and sang the same song Andi's mother used to sing to her.
When Dora came home, she found Teddy asleep on Draco's right shoulder and her mother crying on his left. The wizard smiled and shook his head. Dora chuckled before taking her son and allowing the other two to talk. It wasn't long after before Andi agreed to assist with some of the initiatives Hermione wanted, but couldn't find the time to dedicate.
Draco's reclaiming of family was met with overall approval from the readers of the Prophet. Those who wondered what the young Malfoy was doing, kept their questions to themselves. It seemed the old guard were losing their place and if they wanted to remain relevant and in their positions they needed to adjust.
Narcissa and Lucius weren't the first to fully accept muggleborns, but they were the first of the old guard to have a muggleborn in their family. After Hermione and Draco married, other families began to accept the changes weren't temporary. This allowed for the younger generation to more publicly incorporate muggleborns into their lives.
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As Hermione's due date neared and Scorpius got more uncomfortable in the restricted space, Draco finished preparing for the announcement. He'd asked his parents over for dinner and planned to reveal everything to them. Hermione paced the room slowly and Draco watched her carefully. She was a petite woman and Scorpius was apparently a very healthy baby.
Her belly shifted her center of gravity making quick turns or changes in altitude a bit dicey. Draco also knew she was nervous and sitting on the couch would do her no good. At the sound of the floo, Hermione went to Draco's side and they welcomed their visitors.
"Hi Mum, Dad," Draco leaned in and kissed his mother while shaking his father's hand. Hermione was greeted by Narcissa, who gave the soon-to-be-mum a warm hug and kiss before gently cupping her grandson. As Hermione's pregnancy progressed, she told Narcissa it would be ok for her to touch the belly when they were in the privacy of their home.
Narcissa took the invitation to heart and every time she saw Hermione, Narcissa would rub and speak to her grandson. It was incredibly cute. And it was that moment Hermione realized why Draco wanted to do this now. She caught his eye and he seemed to understand, he smiled back at her.
Narcissa's excitement with Scorpius was contagious. Lucius came to not only accept his daughter-in-law, but grew to love her. He also knew a child would eventually arrive, though still mourned the loss of their pureblood status. Draco knew this and the two wizards spoke often on the topic. It was only a few weeks earlier when Lucius appeared and offered a small package to Hermione.
Draco shrugged not knowing what it contained and waved her on to open it. When she did, the box held a small silver rattle and spoon. Both were obviously very old, "Those are traditionally presented to the mother of the newest Malfoy heir by the head of the house prior to birth. Scorpius will lead our family in the future. I could not be more proud to have him in our family." Lucius cleared his throat with his gaze remaining on the large belly pointing at him. Draco hugged his father for the first time in many years.
Hermione quickly dabbed the tears at remembering the moment while Narcissa's attention remained on Scorpius commenting, "I cannot wait to meet him. My goodness, he is going to be the largest baby in the Malfoy family for generations."
Draco gave Hermione a reassuring smile and caught the attention of his parents, "Mum, Dad, the reason I asked you here so early is to discuss something Hermione and I discovered after the healer told her to stay home." Draco motioned for everyone to follow him, "When Hermione's grandmother passed away she left a large amount of paperwork and it's taken the Grangers years to sort through it all. In helping Jean and Rich, Hermione came across a family bible that included about ten generations of their family. There were some very familiar names."
Draco flicked his wand making the Bible float toward his mother's outstretched hand. As the Malfoy parents read the pages, their brows furrowed. They continued to alternate between reading and glancing at Hermione. Each looked to see if they could find something, anything familiar. "Yes, I thought the same, but we didn't know how. It took quite a bit of research before we found the first solid evidence." He waved his parents to the large parchment on the table.
"This is Hermione's family tree, —" the writing so small it was almost impossible to read, "I'm going to focus on Rich's side and the direct line. The information we've found is astounding." Draco tapped the page a few times with his wand and the information shifted to show Hermione and how she was related to Pleiades Black. Narcissa didn't recognize the name other than it was celestial.
Hermione sighed and moved next to Draco. "Pleiades, a squib, was taken in by the Granger family as a very young boy. The family was daughter rich, but without a son to carry on the name. When Pleiades married the eldest daughter, they retained the name Granger. He was the first squib we identified in my family line." With her wand, Hermione tapped the page and each squib began to flicker showing how many there were in the line started by Pleiades.
"I was able to find Pleiades in the family book and verified his abandonment was due to him being a squib. Hermione and I have researched what we could, but without revealing our theory, it's difficult to confirm everyone on this list." Draco looked up and twitched his nose. Narcissa knew there was something he wasn't saying, so she stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm.
"You always know Mum." Smothering a smirk at still being able to play both mother and occasionally his wife, Draco let out a sad little sigh Narcissa knew was because he couldn't put anything over on her, "We've been able to determine every few generations there was a magical child, we aren't sure if they moved into the magical world or not, but the Bible denotes these children as having special talents." They did know most remained in the magical world and were the ancestors of many current day witches and wizards. There was no need to admit that fact.
It was Lucius who sucked in a breath. His fingers ran over the names, pausing on the families that no longer existed. He started at the top and traced all the way to Hermione three times. His lips moved in a quick silent motion. Lucius was doing what Sirius and Andromeda did all those years earlier and started running through the old family trees.
He looked again at the tree and noticed it appeared to be a style similar to tree documenting the Malfoy family. He also watched how Hermione and Draco got the tree to show what they wanted. Curious, he pulled his wand and when he tapped Pleiades' name, the names of his parents appeared.
Lucius swallowed and quickly tapped each of the identified squibs, as the very recognizable names appeared Lucius started running the trees again until he made the same conclusion as everyone else when presented with the information, "Hermione, you realize what this means if your research is accurate?"
Hermione stepped from Draco and nodded, "Yes, it's why we've kept it a secret."
Lucius raised his hand, "I need to say this now, I am so glad you married Draco and it has nothing to do with your family. You're the daughter we always wanted and I am so pleased I was able to push aside my old beliefs." Lucius cleared his throat, "There are many families out there who would have seen you as a prize and done anything to get you. At least in Draco, you knew his motives were always pure. Even if Narcissa and I were slow to see it." Hermione sniffled a bit at the comment.
"Thank you Lucius, I feel the same way. I'm thankful everyday for Draco. He and I have spoken on the potential outcomes and decided there are many ways this could go. Unfortunately, we think most of these families will deny the squib ever existed. I would bet, if any evidence still existed, it would be destroyed before anyone could find it." It hurt Hermione to think about history being destroyed just to ensure it wasn't known.
Lucius chuckled and nodded. "I agree that could be the result if you went about this the wrong way. But I think with Draco and I, we could come up with a plan to get all the information from the families. You'd be able to present a complete theory then, with support from the dissenting family documents." Draco hadn't thought his father would be onboard with the idea quite so quickly, let alone be on the same wave length.
"I was hoping you'd think that Dad. I already have the documents from Theo. He doesn't know why, I know he's always wanted to find his sister. And I know there are at least another dozen or so who wouldn't ask questions." Lucius closed his eyes and nodded.
"Yes, that was a difficult time. I still wonder how Thoros was able to do it. I…I don't think I could have, even before, even with those old beliefs." For the first time Hermione saw the man Draco told her existed under the icy exterior. "If this is true, it would give the boy some measure of hope for the future. If he is the man I think he is, he will set something up for her children's children. We need to come up with a way for muggleborns to identify their families."
Hermione began crying almost as soon as Lucius started speaking. The older wizard, concerned something was wrong, stopped speaking and reached for the witch. She stepped into his arms, "If you are agreeable, I have an idea on how we do that." Lucius, seeing a bit of determination in her brown eyes smiled.
"Is this something Draco and I would be better off not knowing?" The family laughed while Hermione shook her head.
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Six months after the birth of Scorpius Malfoy, the Malfoy Family Trust announced the audacious project to document the families of every person in magical Britain. Using a bit of muggle technology, with a dash of magical assistance, the end product provided a definitive family pedigree for at least the last five hundred years. The output would be compared to family records and certified. As time moved forward these trees would be the basis for future generations.
Lucius discussed this with each member of the sacred twenty-eight and requested a copy of their complete family history. When met with reluctance, Lucius reminded them the Black family history was already on the shelves and whose family could have more embarrassing secrets than his wife's.
The person worried about providing the documents laughed and agreed with no further questions. Influential, but not sacred twenty-eight, had fewer reservations and were more pleased with being included than concerned about skeletons. The families that were gone, those documents existed but until Hermione claimed her place, they would remain in the various locked vaults.
To show the validity of the process, Hermione and Draco volunteered to be the first to have their respective families documented. As a muggleborn, Hermione didn't have a magical family history. She acknowledged there was nothing magical to confirm the results, but informed everyone she had a muggle tree based on family records and government documents. It was enough and even magicals acknowledged government documents should be relatively accurate.
When the pair of trees flickered to life, Hermione was pleased to see it matched the information she'd put together over the years. Draco and Lucius reviewed the Malfoy results and discovered a couple of differences they needed to investigate. Nothing as severe as disinheriting children, but multiple marriages when before it was just the one. Somewhere along the line, the family decided subsequent spouses did not need to be identified.
Three days after the results were certified, they were released. The reaction was immediate and varied. Most were stunned to find the muggleborn who married into the Malfoy family was actually a descendant of almost all of the sacred twenty-eight. The more astounding part was when the goblins of Gringotts agreed with the results and released the sealed vaults to Hermione. It was the last proof any needed.
Hermione, playing as if this was the first she knew of her family, contacted her muggleborn friends and asked them to agree to be part of the initial phase. All agreed and after the results arrived, they were shocked at their histories. Hermione and Draco assisted in getting the necessary documents to validate the results and soon every muggleborn in Britain lined up to be tested.
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In the fifty years since family testing started, Draco authorized the addition of hundreds of people to the Black family tree. The tree was no longer dead and now was filled with new branches and people every year. The family's annual summer reunion continually amazed everyone when a new member was identified.
Recently the trust expanded its reach and offered the family testing services globally. After seeing how diverse the UK became, many magical governments wanted to achieve the same thing. Each government was responsible for accumulating the family documents and maintaining them. However, the testing was performed by the Black Trust and results submitted to both the individual and the respective government.
The Black family now had a very international flare with members begin found on every continent and almost all countries with a magical population. The pot luck at the annual picnic quickly became the unofficial competition on who would bring the best dish from their branches of the family.
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Theo Nott waited almost his entire life for this day. He had been one of the earliest supporters of the family testing project with only one hope. He wanted to see his sister one more time. Even if she didn't remember him, he remembered her. Once his father died, Theo spent years searching the files for any hints on where she was sent and he never found anything.
When Hermione announced her theory on muggleborns, Theo had a glimmer of hope. It dimmed when he discovered it would probably be the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of his sister that presented magic. Not knowing if he would meet his distant niece or nephew, Theo split his inheritance and placed half in a trust for the family Catherine Nott.
Three days earlier Hermione requested Theo to look at a muggle family tree and he saw the name he searched years to find. Today would be the day Theo would meet his long lost relative. He sat in one of the parlors of Malfoy Manor, waiting anxiously until the door began to open. The nervous man stood and watched as Hermione walked in with a young girl. She had light brown hair and striking blue eyes. Tears began to run down his cheek as the girl looked up, she was an exact copy of Catherine. Or what Theo always imagined his sister would have looked at eleven. He couldn't move, but stretched out his hand. Hermione sniffed at the sight.
"Katie, this is Theo, he is your grandmother's brother. He's been looking for you for a long time now." Katie stepped forward and smiled before opening the folder she had in her hands. With a shaky hold she passed an old photo to her great-uncle. Theo sobbed at what he saw, Katie had a photo taken when Theo and Catherine were children. In the photo, Theo hugged his sister while she looked at him in complete adoration. She was gone a few months later. "How?"
"Grandmama said she had it in her hand when she was taken and no one noticed. She kept it with the family papers. She said sometime in the future it would be important. She always seemed to know that sort of thing."
Theo licked his dry lips, "Seemed?" He was too late. "Is she…"
"No, she's alive, she's just in a care facility. She can't take care of herself anymore, but when I told her I was a witch she pulled this picture and told me to find Theodore Nott. She said you would help me find my place in this new world." Theo nodded and pulled the girl into a hug.
"Yes, I will. Do you think I could see Catherine?"
"She knew you'd ask. Mrs Malfoy, you said you could help?"
Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. "I have a portkey Theo, it will drop you and Katie around the corner in an alley. You'll be disillusioned, so end that spell. When you are ready to leave, you can use that same alley, we placed some muggle repelling charms on it. Figured you'd want to go back. You can apparate home."
"Thank you Hermione." Theo took the portkey and had Katie hold it as well. The pair disappeared. Hermione watched the empty space and thought back on her life. Never did she think a surprise snowstorm in the early Scottish spring could have changed her life and the lives of so many others so dramatically.
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