Draco quietly closed the bedroom door behind him and went back out to the kitchen to finish preparing breakfast. Seeing the eggs were burnt to a crisp, he silently cursed himself for not remembering to cast a self – cooking spell before turning his attention towards caring for Hermione. Scraping the burnt offering into the trash bin, Draco decided that he and Scorpius would go out for breakfast. With a wave of his wand, he cleared the kitchen of the mess he had made and went to tell Scorpius where they were going.
Walking carefully around the toys scattering the path to the living room, Draco stood in the doorway and watched Scorpius as he pretended to slay an imaginary Dark Lord.
"Die, Lord Voldy, die!" Scorpius cried, waving his wand around wildly in the invisible Dark Lord's direction.
Draco smiled at the few sparks that sputtered out of the old wand that had once belonged to him. He almost hated to interrupt his son's war reenactment, but his stomach growled, reminding him of his mission. Draco got down on his hands and knees, crawled into the living room and snuck up behind Scorpius, who was too caught up in his war games to notice. He wrapped his arms around Scorpius and pulled the little boy backwards into a hug. Scorpius squirmed, trying to break free of his father's grasp.
"Daddy, let go!" Scorpius squealed.
"Nope, I don't want to," Draco said. He tightened his grip, refusing to let Scorpius escape.
"But he'll get away!"
"Well, we can't let that happen, can we?" Still holding onto Scorpius with one arm, Draco used the other to pull his wand from the pocket of his robes. He let Scorpius go, stood up and pointed it at He-Who-Could-Not-Be-Seen. "Petrificus Totalus!"
"Yay! Daddy, you got him! You got him!" Scorpius cheered while jumping up and down in excitement.
"Shh." Draco put a finger to his lips to warn Scorpius to be quiet. "It's time to settle down. Mummy's trying to get some rest."
Scorpius quit jumping and whispered, "You got him! You got him!"
"Vanquishing Dark Lords makes me hungry. Why don't we go celebrate Voldemort's defeat by going to The Three Broomsticks for breakfast?" Draco suggested.
"OK!" Scorpius shouted, forgetting to whisper.
"Shh." Draco reminded him.
"Oops!" Sorry!" Scorpius lowered his voice and put a finger to his lips, copying Draco.
Glancing out the window, Draco noticed how cloudy it was getting. "It looks like it's about to rain. Go get your coat, and I'll go write Mummy a note so she'll know where we'll be, if she gets up before we get back."
Scorpius rushed off to get his coat from the closet. Draco went over to his study to grab a piece a parchment and a quill so that he could scribble a quick note to Hermione. He didn't want her to worry about them if she woke to find that they weren't home.
Though, considering how she was acting this morning, she might be relieved we're not here. Draco tried to push this thought to the back of his mind. He desperately hoped that whatever was going on with Hermione would be all straightened out by the time she got up. He didn't know what the hell he was going to do if she didn't snap out of this mysterious memory lapse of hers. Trying hard not to think about the possibility of this not being a temporary situation, Draco turned his focus towards writing the note.
'Mione,
Scorp and I have apparated to The Three Broomsticks for a quick bite to eat. We shouldn't be gone long. I'll bring back that bagel sandwich you like so much. I love you, Sweetheart and hope that you feel better.
Love,
Draco
After finishing the note, Draco put it on the kitchen table at Hermione's place and went to check on Scorpius. He smiled when he saw that Scorpius had put on his coat backwards.
"I put my coat on all by myself," Scorpius said beaming proudly at his accomplishment.
"I can see that," Draco said, trying not to chuckle. He thought about telling Scorpius that he had put his coat on the wrong way but decided against it. "Do you need help with the zipper?" he offered, struggling to bite back a snicker.
"Yes, please," Scorpius replied. He turned around so that Draco could zip him up.
If Hermione saw I let Scorp leave the house with his coat on backwards, she'd have a mooncalf, Draco thought with a smirk.
"Are you ready to go, bud?" Draco asked.
"No," Scorpius answered.
"Why not?"
"Mummy's not up yet."
"Mummy's tired and needs her rest. I thought it'd be fun for just you and me to out for breakfast today."
"Mummy needs to eat too!" Scorpius insisted.
"Yes, she does," Draco agreed. "Tell you what, why don't we bring back something for mummy to eat later?" Draco suggested.
"OK!" Scorpius agreed. He grabbed Draco's hand and started pulling him towards the door.
Relieved that Scorpius hadn't played his usual game of twenty questions, Draco allowed himself to be yanked out the door towards the apparition point.
They arrived right outside of The Three Broomsticks and went inside. Draco led Scorpius to their usual booth in the back corner and got him settled in before going back up to the front counter to place their order. Thankfully, the line wasn't really long so that Draco was able to get their food and return to their table without having to leave his restless preschooler to his own devices for very long.
On his way back to their booth, Draco was pleasantly surprised to see that his friends, Theo and Daphne Nott, were talking to Scorpius. The couple was listening intently to Scorpius's tale of his encounter with Lord Voldemort and didn't hear Draco walking up behind them.
"Well, if it isn't the honeymooners!" Draco said. I didn't think you'd be back from Muggle Paris until next week."
Theo jumped and turned around to see Draco grinning at him. "Mate, don't scare me like that!" He reached over and punched Draco in the arm. Draco managed to put the tray on the table before dropping it and handed Scorpius his plate.
"Is that any way to treat your best mate?" Draco gripped his arm, pretending to act wounded. He walked over to Daphne and hugged her with his "good" arm.
"Hey Mate, keep your paws off my wife!"
"I think a hug from this pretty lady will be your payment to me for the physical assault I have suffered."
"Drama King," Theo muttered.
Ignoring his friend, Draco hugged Daphne again and said, "You're looking well, Daph. Is this scoundrel treating you all right?"
Daphne giggled and kissed Draco on the cheek. "Theo treats me like royalty. I couldn't have asked for a better husband."
"Well, you could've, but you would've had a tough time finding one," Theo quipped as he tried to loosen Draco's hold on Daphne. "Come on, Draco let her go. I'm going through withdrawal."
"You've had her all to yourself for a week. I think you need to learn how to share."
"I don't wanna," Theo pouted.
"If you two want to stand here act like children, I'll just have to go find myself a real man," Daphne said. She managed to extricate herself from between Draco and Theo and went over to sit beside Scorpius who was shoveling eggs into his mouth like his little life depended on it.
"All it took was one week of marriage to decide she was sick of you." Draco clasped Theo's shoulder and shook his head sorrowfully. "Well, better luck next time, Pal."
"Bested by a five year old who doesn't know how to put his coat on the right way," Theo sighed dramatically.
"Who's being the drama king now?" Draco teased. He went to the booth and slid in across from Scorpius and Theo sat beside him.
"There's something wrong with this picture," Theo grumbled.
"Yes, there is," Daphne agreed, smiling sweetly. "I'm hungry and don't have anything to eat."
"I don't know what you're complaining about," Theo said as he reached over and snatched a piece of toast from Draco's plate. "We've got plenty to eat."
"Who's this "we" you're referring to?" Daphne asked.
"Why, me and Draco, of course! I figure since you're leaving me for Scorpius that I'll just take Draco as my replacement." Theo turned to Draco and batted his eyes at him. "What do you say, Draco, will you marry me?"
Draco smiled, slung his arm around Theo and said, "I don't know how I can possibly refuse such an offer. Sure, I'll marry you."
"I'd love to be around when Hermione finds out you left me for him, you homewrecker!" Draco and Theo burst into laughter as Daphne stuck her tongue out at them and with mock indignation; she grabbed her purse and marched up to the counter to order her breakfast.
After their laughter had subsided, Theo asked, "Speaking of Hermione, where is she?" He looked around the restaurant as if expecting Hermione to materialize in front of them at any minute.
"'Mione wasn't feeling well this morning so she's at home sleeping." Draco picked at his eggs which had long since grown cold.
"I hope it isn't anything serious."
"Nothing a little extra rest shouldn't be able to cure," Draco replied. To his own ears, his reply sounded way more optimistic than he felt; he hoped to Merlin that Theo wouldn't notice how fake he sounded and started asking questions that Draco didn't know how to answer.
Thankfully, before Theo could ask anything else, Daphne returned carrying a loaded breakfast tray. Theo got up and took the tray from her, allowing Daphne to slide back into the booth.
"Did I miss anything?"
"Me I hope." Theo sat back down and gave his wife a quick kiss on the lips before diving into his pile of bacon and eggs.
"Of course, I missed you." Daphne smiled, turned towards Draco and repeated, "Did I miss anything?"
"Oh, nothing much," Draco smirked. "We were just planning our wedding, weren't we Sweetheart? I was thinking a summer wedding would be just lovely. What do you think, Theo?"
"Oh, whatever you want, darling, "Theo replied. "I'm not picky, just as long as I'm with you." He reached over and clasped Draco's hand with his own.
Daphne rolled her eyes at the boy's antics, reached into her purse, and pulled out a cream- colored envelope. She handed it over to Draco saying, "Before I forget, you and Hermione are invited to a house-warming party I'm throwing in a couple of weeks. I hope you and Hermione can make it."
"We'll try," Draco promised. He pocketed the invitation and resumed eating.
For a while, the only interruption to their companionable silence was the clinking of silverware against plates. Draco was just finishing the last of his bacon, when he heard the sound of flapping wings. He looked up to see a delivery owl with a piece of rolled up parchment in its beak flying in his direction.
"O-o-h, Drakey's got a secret admirer," Theo taunted.
"Belt up, Nott!" Draco fished out a few sickles from his pocket in exchange for the note and dropped them in the coin purse attached to the owl's leg. The owl dropped the parchment onto Draco's empty plate, hooted its thanks for the tip, and flew out the nearby window.
Everyone watched in silence as Draco untied the string and unrolled the piece of parchment, even Scorpius stopped playing with his food long enough to pay attention. Draco's scanned the note silently, the food in his stomach threating to make an encore appearance. He fought to keep his expression neutral as he rolled the parchment back up and stuffed the offensive missive in his pocket. He looked over at Theo and Daphne and said, "Something important has come up and I need to run a quick errand. Would you mind looking after Scorpius for a while?"
"We wouldn't mind a bit," Daphne answered.
"Not at all," Theo agreed. "You go ahead. Take all the time you need."
"Thanks, Mate, I owe you one," Draco said.
"No problem," Theo answered. He looked over at Scorpius and asked, "What do ya say, Scorp? Wanna spend a little time with Uncle Theo and Aunt Daphne today?"
"Where's Daddy going?" Scorpius asked worriedly.
"I have to run an errand buddy, but I should be back before you know it." He hugged Scorpius and said, "You be a good boy today, OK?"
"OK," Scorpius agreed, still looking a little worried at being left behind.
"He'll be OK, Daphne assured Draco. "Now, go!"
Draco gave Scorpius one last hug before getting up and half-walking, half-running out of the restaurant. As he ran towards the apparation point, the only thought circling frantically through his mind was, Hermione, Where are you?