FOURTEEN: PLUM

Retirement didn't set well with Severus. Research only entertained one for only so long, and he had been entertained enough. Hermione, after the cancer, began saving up for their home, which was built on the Hogsmeade side of the Dark Forest. They both retired at the same time, the year that Aiden's youngest, Jon, graduated from Hogwarts. When Hermione retired, Ginny took over the roll as Deputy for Harry, and Severus chose the new Potions Master.

What surprised everyone the most throughout the years since Hermione's cancer was the resurfacing of Lucius Malfoy. Draco, of all people, was who he contacted first. When it was all over, Ron and Draco were left with enough money to get themselves a home almost as big as the old Malfoy Manor, which had been torn down by Ministry orders after Lucius was taken into custody. Their son, Martin, was also left with quite the sum of money in which he used to support his new family. After graduating Hogwarts, Martin went to the Wizarding University of London and received a Masters in Potions, then went on to teach at Hogwarts. He also married a classmate from Hogwarts and they already had a child. Lucius, with all his mystery, seemed genuinely proud of his son, son-in-law, and grandson.

After seeing his remaining family, Lucius went next to Severus and Hermione. Once there he apologized profusely to each, telling them of his soul-searching and the realization that he needed to recompense so as to pass on when the time came. After the Snapes reassured him that he was forgiven, he handed them each a gift. For Severus it was a bonsai tree, from which clippings were used in many Japanese potions, and a Japanese Potion manual; Potion Masters of Europe didn't commonly use Asian potions, but he thought that maybe Severus would benefit from the book and tree. He gave Hermione a collection of Japanese spellbooks, all of which were written in characters; the Japanese author wrote a spell for Lucius on the first page in English that would allow for the book to translate itself.

Everyone he visited asked what happened, and he would tell them: After he helped the Ministry catch all the remaining Death Eaters, and wrote out everything into books as they requested, he was no longer useful to them. So they released him. But he was afraid to go into the British Wizarding community, and he wasn't sure about venturing into the Muggle community without any true knowledge of their culture. He was still a fully-trained Pureblood; he knew nothing relative of Muggles. But he had nothing against them anymore; while working with the Ministry, he was told to go out into the Muggle world many times to do something and had learned a few things, but that didn't help him to survive it on a daily basis.

So he went soul-searching. This led him to the Wizarding community of Kyoto Japan. He toured the rest of the country, but always came back that first city. There he met a woman who took his breath away, a woman who made him feel twenty years old again. She was a Muggle who knew he was a Wizard, but didn't care. She loved him, and he loved her. They married a year after meeting one another and were happily married for almost five years; she died in a car accident two weeks before their anniversary. He mourned her for another five years, visiting her grave once a week and continuing his job. They both never had much, but after her death, he had to move from their home overlooking Kamo River in Fushimi-ku into a one-room apartment in Shibuya-ku in Tokyo. They never had the chance to have children, so he saved up for his journey back to Britain, where he planned to dot on his son and remaining family.

After his first twelve years in Japan, he decided to leave again, and with him he took over a million in Euro along, not to mention his gifts. His first trip was to Draco, who was surprised to put it lightly, to open the door and find a man he believed was dead. Lucius, being the storyteller, retold the encounter:

It took Draco a few minutes to get his bearings back, but he eventually motioned for Lucius to enter. Upon entering, the elder Malfoy noticed a boy sitting at the table, writing furiously on a piece of parchment, a rather large tome sitting before him. After Draco closed the door and ushered his father into the living room. Sitting down, Draco still couldn't come up with saying anything, so Lucius took over.

"How have you been?" Silence. "I know it's been a few years since we last spoke, but I've come back a different man Draco. And shut your mouth, you don't want to catch flies that way." Draco blinked for a moment before speaking.

"You have a sense of humour now?"

"I have a lot of things now, including another fortune that I want to share with you and your wife."

"I don't have a wife Father."

"Then who's son is studying out there?"

"Mine."

"And?"

"I'm gay Father. Have been for many years. You never talked to me after the Final Battle, so I never got the chance to tell you…" Stopping, he prepared for his father to yell at him, curse him, or even hex him.

"Then who's your partner?" Lucius, who would have normally blown up over the news, smiled back genuinely.

"Ron Weasley." Draco prepared, again, for his father to get angry, but he didn't.

"As long as you're happy." As they talked a while long, Martin finished his homework for college and stepped into the living room, looking for his father. Finding a strange man in the house, he whipped out his wand in record time.

"Martin, put down the wand. This is your grandfather, Lucius Malfoy." The youth cocked his head for a moment, looking between his father and his grandfather. After putting his wand away, he sat in a chair nearby the couch where Lucius was sitting.

"You must be where Father gets his temper from, right?"

"Draco get his temper from me? No, you should have seen your grandmother. She was a banshee on crack when someone pissed her off; I would say your father gets it from her, he only seems to have my looks and brash."

"I know what you mean."

"Really? And your other father doesn't mind?"

"Dad doesn't really know. Father only gets pissy when I do something I shouldn't. Father is a really great role-model. So is Uncle Severus."

"You still see Severus then Draco?"

"Of course."

"Is he still married to Hermione Granger?"

"Granger-Snape. Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering. I mean, don't they know that under Muggle law, they could have gotten a divorce after the Dark Lord fell, since Mrs Granger-Snape is a Muggleborn."

"Well, by that time they didn't need to get a divorce. They love one another, and have since probably the second year of marriage. The Dark Lord may have forced them together, but Severus and Hermione found that they really were made for each other. They even got married a second time back in 2017; Severus wanted to marry her because he loved her, not because Wizarding law said they had to."

"I understand. Maybe I should go visit them."

"They live in the woods beyond the Dark Forest, there's a trail at the end of Hogsmeade Road that leads to a few homes. Severus and Hermione live at the very end."

"Well then, here," Lucius stood up, took a piece of paper out of his inner coat pocket, and handed it to Draco. "This is for you, Ron, and Martin. I want you to have this." Draco opened the paper and fainted when he finished reading it. Martin walked over and looked at the paper.

"Why are you giving us this much money Grandfather?"

"Because you all deserve it, and because I still love Draco, and don't call me that until you talk to your Fathers first. Ron may not approve of me in you life, and I respect that. Tell your Father I shall be in touch." He disapparated.

"He wants to WHAT?"

"Hermione told me you reacted the same way when she told you about her marriage to Severus. It's not that big a surprise that Father wants to know his grandson, or for that matter, his son-in-law!"

"You mean he doesn't mind that we're together?"

"Couldn't care less. Father is only happy that I am happy. He's changed Ron, really he has. He told me everything that has happened to him since he disappeared. He went to Japan, fell in love. He's not the same person anymore."

"Alright Draco, I'll give him a chance, because I love you too much to lose you over something so trivial."

"You know what?"

"What?"

"Everything will be fine, I know it. Because you've changed too Ron, and that makes all the difference."