Chapter 6
It was a normal Wednesday when the other shoe dropped.
Draco could have kicked himself, because he should have anticipated it. His parents had dealt with the changes in his life with a little too much grace. It was suspicious. But life was just so good, he was so bloody happy that he'd let his guard down.
The first sign that something was awry was when he stepped out of the floo at home from the office and didn't smell dinner cooking. Effie was a machine, she absolutely insisted on cooking dinner. He panicked momentarily, wondering if she had been injured. But surely if that was the case then Hermione would have contacted him immediately, she knew what the elf meant to him.
He called out to his wife and she called back from the direction of the living room. That was the second sign: something was off with her voice. He picked up his pace and found both his wife and his son cuddled up on the couch staring listlessly at the telly. Both had obviously been crying.
"What's wrong?!"
Hermione's head snapped around to look at him and her eyes flashed dangerously. "Not 'what,' 'who.'"
"Who?"
"Your darling parents."
Oh no.
Proceed with caution.
He moved slowly and sat down gently beside her. Her eyes tracked his every movement and her grip tightened on Scopius who didn't try to escape to greet him nor did he really acknowledge him in any way, which was very troubling.
"Please tell me you weren't in on this. Scorpius and I don't feel like being kidnapped by any more Malfoys today if there's more up their sleeves." The moment the words left her mouth her eyes widened in horror. "Oh Draco, I'm sorry. I know you wouldn't do this and I promised I wouldn't take it out on you! But then you were just here looking so perfect, but also so much like a Malfoy and I kind of snapped."
A little stung by her words but more concerned by the fact that she looked like she was about to burst into tears he took a deep breath before speaking.
"Okay, well I can assure you whatever my parents are up to, I had nothing to do with it." She nodded and motioned him closer, he put an arm around them both. "Will you tell me what happened?"
She nodded again and took a deep breath. "They arrived here sometime this morning, relieved the nanny of her duty- which put her in a terrible position, Draco!"
He nodded, eyes closed in mortification. He knew his parents well enough to know that they'd not really given the poor woman a choice. He hoped they hadn't scared her.
"They packed Scorp a bag- inadequately, may I add, but I'll get back to that. Then they came to the Ministry and demanded to see me. Narcissa informed me that they were there to take me to lunch, and 'isn't that lovely!'" She finished in a falsely sweet voice. "And, of course, the whole department was trying to listen. Plus, our son already had chocolate smeared all over his mouth!"
Draco felt his temper flare at the position they'd put her in, she couldn't turn down what outwardly looked like a really nice invitation without appearing ungrateful, or that there were problems within the family. Typical Malfoy powerplay.
"So I thought I'd just take an early day, because I know how long those productions your mother calls meals are, and then Scorpius could come home with me. It's not that I think they'd ever hurt him intentionally, but I'm not blind to the fact that the elves do most of the dirty work when he's with them."
He just nodded along, both unwilling and unable to interrupt.
"I just didn't think they were prepared to take him out on the Alley without assistance. Especially since they'd already fed him something chocolate before lunch."
"Gods Hermione, I'm so sorry." He felt his face heat with a combination of continually rising temper and embarrassment. "I guess it's too much to ask that be all?"
"Oh," she snorted, "not even close. So we get to the Alley and it turns out- surprise! Your mother had made an appointment at one of her favorite boutiques, and I can't refuse because it's one of those places that takes appointments. It's also, as I would soon discover" she cut her eyes in his direction, "one of those places that caters almost exclusively to pure bloods."
He was going to kill his own mother. And maybe Lucius for good measure, even though he suspected he actually had done very little but follow his mother's orders.
"I asked her politely to, in the future, ask me before she planned something like this so that I could fit it into my schedule because if I hadn't already taken the rest of the day on my own, an outing like this was obviously going to take quite a while longer than my scheduled lunch hour and just disappearing for half a day was unprofessional."
He continued to nod- not to mention that having her schedule disturbed really upset Hermione, something his parents were clever enough to have determined by now.
Hermione took a few deep breaths through her nose. "She literally waved me off and told me that I was personal friends with the Minister for Magic and surely he wouldn't begrudge me a few hours. She had the nerve to tell me to use my relationship with Kingsley to skive off word to go shopping. She really just does consider my career to be some little hobby, doesn't she?"
Draco didn't know what to say.
"And then, oh then!" She handed Scorpius to Draco, pushed herself off the couch and started pacing. "When we arrived, do you know who we discovered also had a midday appointment at this very small, very exclusive boutique?"
"I'm afraid to ask." He really was.
"The Greengrasses!"
He groaned out loud.
"Right, what a coincidence!"
"You know that it wasn't," he said softly.
"Oh, I know. And if I can figure it out, so can they. But it at least solves the mystery of why she suddenly had the urge to take me on a shopping expedition in the middle of the day on a Wednesday. She absolutely paraded me in front of them. 'You've met our daughter-in-law, haven't you? Oh yes she's expecting, it's a girl, we're so excited!' It was all our daughter-in-law this, our daughter-in-law that' as if to make sure to emphasize that was a title their daughter no longer held. And here I am like some kind of trophy, being talked about but around, because I was definitely not invited to join the conversation. It was mortifying."
"I suppose it would be too much to ask that when you said "'The Greengrasses' it was only Hugh and Eleanor."
Hermione let out a slightly maniacal laugh. "Of course not, Astoria was there, and Daphne too. Apparently, Blaise is in town on business and she accompanied him."
"Oh well, I suppose Astoria never would pass up an opportunity to let Mummy and Daddy foot the bill for a shopping trip."
Hermione let out a little snort. "Let me tell you Draco, that woman is either completely heartless or she has one hell of a poker face because Scorpius was right there, he was right there," she waved her hand for emphasis, "and I don't think she so much as glanced at him."
"I don't pretend to understand her," he answered softly. Truth be told he was simultaneously horrified that a mother could be so apathetic to her own child, and thrilled that she didn't seem inclined to interfere in their lives.
She sighed. "After we finally exited that excruciating situation, with your mother looking oh so smug which I truly don't understand, because it was so awful, but I kind of wanted to slap her."
"She was feeling superior, showing off these things she has that they don't. She does that, it's not one of her more endearing qualities, and it's especially terrible given Daphne's struggles with infertility, and here she was flaunting your pregnancy and Scorpius. But she doesn't know about that, so at least she isn't that cruel."
"That's the weird thing though, neither of your parents said a thing about Scorpius. It was like he wasn't there. The only person to even acknowledge him was Daphne."
Draco shrugged. "Maybe she didn't want them to feel like they didn't have a right to know anything about him. He was just a prop. But you're right, it's strange, I wouldn't have thought they'd voluntarily allow him anywhere near them."
"A very loud, very rambunctious prop, may I add."
Draco let this sink in. "At one of those snooty boutiques, ugh Mother!" He clapped a hand over his face in delayed embarrassment for his wife.
"Right? And the staff were already looking down their noses at me. I could tell they were just thinking 'look at this jumped up muggleborn who doesn't know what's appropriate.' But obviously they wouldn't dare say anything in front of your parents."
"I won't insult your intelligence by telling you that you're wrong," he said softly.
She sighed and sat back down beside them. Scorpius, who had been lulling against Draco's chest, suspiciously quiet, reached over to rub her belly which startled a laugh out of the two adults and broke some of the tension in the air.
"Anyway, the next three hours were what I imagine muggle hell is like."
In any other situation he would have laughed at her dramatics, which were so unlike her, but there was nothing funny about how wretched she clearly felt over the whole thing.
"First, I had to be measured for the bespoke robes your mother had commissioned for me for Samhain. And they are terrible! They look like something out of a Renaissance painting, like something only the staunchest traditionalists would wear and generally only witches quite a bit older than me. I'm going to look ridiculous, like I'm trying too hard and playing at being a pureblood now that we're married."
"You won't have to wear them," he responded immediately.
"How am I going to get out of it without your mother throwing a fit and then pouting for the next decade?"
He was shaking his head before she could even finish her sentence. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
It spoke to her exhaustion that she didn't argue with him.
"Okay, thank you." A smile flashed briefly across her face. "They have these enormous skirts, I'm not even sure I could manage them without breaking my neck. But anyway, when I came out wearing the mock up they made for me to try-on, Scorpius let out this delighted little sound, high-tailed his little bum over, and darted underneath them. And then-" she started to laugh in earnest, "and then he started playing peek-a-boo!"
"No!"
"Oh Merlin, you should have seen their faces!"
"I would pay quite a bit of gold to have seen that."
"Yeah, well that was the highlight of the day. Of course, then your mother had to make some snarky little comment about being sure we didn't need a live-in governess especially if I insist on keeping my job because Scorpius is clearly quite the handful and who knows how Lyra might turn out given that I'm so very spirited. Which is just code for my refusal to acquiesce to her every suggestion."
Draco sat up a little straighter. "Wait a minute, she said that, she actually called the baby 'Lyra,' like it was a done deal, like we haven't already explicitly told her that it's out?"
She nodded. "I reminded her of that and she demanded to know why and since you can't exactly tell a woman that while yes it's a very pretty name, my husband and I think using the name his mother picked out for the daughter she never had was weird and a little bit too much like wish fulfillment on her part. So, I just told her that it didn't feel right. She sniffed, and said that she was sure you liked her choice."
"Gods, Hermione I'm so sorry."
She shook her head. "And maybe I should apologize for this, but after that remark about the governess, because how many times have we told her we don't want one? I just snapped. I told her you were the one to officially rule out the name choice and she could ask you if she didn't believe me, but that I would be grateful if she would be more respectful of our parenting choices in the future. She just stared at me and I had to stand there in silence on one of those stages in the middle of the store for everybody to see in those monstrous robes until they finished measuring me."
"You know she's just trying to justify her own choices by pressing them on us, don't you?"
"Yes, and in some ways I feel sorry for the things she missed in your childhood by following tradition, but my sympathy is rapidly dwindling. Because just knowing that doesn't keep it from hurting when she speaks to me like that."
"Of course," he agreed quietly, and his thoughts turned to the man who had only been a small player in the drama so far. "Where was Father in all of this?"
"Sitting on a settee reading a book like he didn't have a care in the world, including his grandson."
Draco let out a little scoff. "He couldn't be seen rendering childcare in public, he was just there to escort you helpless ladies, as is proper," he finished with heavy sarcasm.
"Yes, and can I say that little pureblood tradition is weird. Trying on clothes in front of your father was very uncomfortable."
Draco winced. "I can imagine. For the record it's supposed to be chivalrous. But really it just comes down to the fact that a lot of wizards don't trust their wives with their galleons so they come along to supervise."
Hermione wrinkled her nose but her next comment was sarcastic instead of furious, so he figured she'd already figured out that facet of pureblood society.
"Well, I suppose I should thank you for not attempting to put me on a veritable leash."
"Love, I'm not stupid, I value all of my body parts."
She just smirked at him so he assumed she had taken the comment in the complimentary spirit it had been given. But then she was off again, pacing back and forth in front of them.
"But hold that thought about your father and childcare until you hear what happened later."
Lovely.
Draco tried to settle in, and settle his son, but the toddler was too attuned to them both. "Right, of course there's more. Lay it on me."
"Well Scorpius got bored, so he got grumpy and then he got hungry. I made the mistake of mentioning that in hopes of speeding up the little excursion. Lucius' solution to that problem was to sneak him several petit-fours and macarons from a tray they'd brought out as refreshments while my back was turned, picking out robes for the rest of the wardrobe your mother bought me as a gift. I asked him to stop. He didn't. So I finally just brought Scorpius around the shop with me, much to the displeasure of your mother and the shop assistants."
"That's why he looks so peaky." He rubbed his son's stomach.
"Yes, and who knows what they fed him before they picked me up. Daphne, bless her, came over and tried to help with him after she finished her fittings but it was a lost cause by then."
"How bad?"
"There was screaming, there was wriggling out of arms to throw himself dramatically against the floor, there was running as fast as I've ever seen him to hide under a rack of robes and staying absolutely silent no matter how much we called for him. Which," her eyes welled with tears, "was the most terrifying two minutes of my life. I just kept thinking: what if he found a way to slip onto Diagon Alley?"
"Oh love, come here please, unless you'd prefer to stand and shout at me on behalf of my parents."
She just shook her head and settled back on the couch, cuddling into him.
"Dare I ask if there's more?"
He felt her shrug. "We went to lunch because I'm too stubborn for my own good and I refused to throw in the towel. Scorpius fell asleep in his pram and Lucius shot me this little smirk like 'see, no harm, no foul,' but I refused to explain a sugar crash to him again. It was tense, I think by the end they had the grace to feel a little embarrassed but I rather hope Scorpius' behavior gets us banned from that place so I have an excuse to never go back."
"I'm sorry to break this to you, Sweetness but all those places really care about is the size of your vaults, and ours are known to be vast."
She made a grunting sound that was half agreement, half frustration.
"Did you like anything my mother bought you?"
"No," she said without hesitation, "you'll see. Take a peak, most of them are in a shrunken truck in my bag. Obviously you'll have to wait to see the bespoke ones."
Unable to resist his curiosity, he played pass the baby with Hermione yet again and went to check it out. What he found would have made many witches' dreams come true: luxurious fabrics, fine craftsmanship, robes for every season with matching hats, cloaks, and little bags. Things his mother would wear, but the styles and cuts were for younger witches. There were thousands of galleons of clothes in this trunk. On the surface it was an extravagant gift.
But he saw it for what it obviously was: a manipulation; Lucius and Narcissa had bought it for her, she would have to wear them. He didn't see a single thing in the entire collection that he could imagine Hermione wearing voluntarily, at least not without significant alteration.
Hermione was right, she would look like she was playing dress up at being a pureblood. Especially because she had her own signature style. She was something of a trendsetter. She and a few others were credited with bringing more muggle style into wizarding Britain and it had become very popular. And what was really troubling is that his mother knew all of this and was ignoring it.
"What do you think?" She eventually asked.
"I think they went to a whole lot of trouble to make you feel indebted to them," he answered as calmly as he could. How Hermione had managed a civil afternoon with his parents was astonishing.
"Maybe I could, I don't know, work some of it into my wardrobe to keep the peace?" She replied hesitantly.
She was trying so hard that it made his chest ache. He took a deep breath and considered his response. "Is there anything in here you like, at all?"
She took her own deep breath. "I don't know, I was just so upset by the time we got to shopping that I hardly paid attention. Some of the hats were cute, I think. Maybe a couple of the day dresses?"
"Okay, well what I propose is that when you feel like it you look through these again and keep anything you actually like and we'll donate the rest."
"Draco, we couldn't!"
He was shaking his head before she finished her sentence. "I was thinking of that charity you were telling me about that outfits witches to get prepared to enter the workplace. We'll do it in my mother's name, of course, it would only be right," he smirked.
"Draco!" She squeaked, clapping a hand over her mouth. "We couldn't!"
"That's the beauty of a gift my dear, you can do whatever you want with it. And seriously, a lot of witches would give their wand arm for one of these outfits, this could really do some good."
"I don't want to seem ungrateful."
He held out his hand in her direction to stop the babbling monologue that was almost certain to ensue.
"You don't." He just stared at her, willing her to read in his expression what he couldn't quite articulate.
She deflated after only a few moments and he congratulated himself, once again, on marrying a woman who understood him so thoroughly but loved him anyway.
"Thank you Draco."
"Of course. May I ask where Effie is?"
"I asked her not to cook." She must have noticed the look on his face because she hastened to assure him. "Don't worry, I sent her out on some very important errands so she wouldn't feel unneeded. And," she raised her chin a little defiantly, "I need pizza, Draco. I deserve pizza."
He laughed. "Whatever you and baby want. Have you ordered it already?"
"No, I was waiting for you, it never tastes as good after it's been under a stasis charm."
"Okay, well go ahead and get what you want, I have a quick errand to run."
"Where are you going?"
"The Manor."
"No, Draco! I can fight my own battles."
"Yes, but this is my battle too. And honestly I think this is more my battle than yours."
Ever curious she tilted her head in consideration. "How so?"
"Because I know most of their tricks and it would be significantly more difficult for them to manipulate me than it is you, and they understand enough about our relationship to know that for every ounce of control they gain over you, they gain it with me. I'm sure they've deluded themselves into believing they're doing me a favor in trying to mold you into the type of woman I was raised to believe I would marry."
"Did they ever like me at all, or was this all just some- some game?"
Her voice sounded, not angry, but sad and if he'd needed any more courage, that would have lent it.
"They do and they did, I can promise you that, they're not that good actors. But yes, there is something of a long con going on here."
He should've put his foot down long ago, there had been a comment here and there over the months, particularly about their choices for the kids and Hermione's career, but they'd put them straight quickly and his parents had always moved on equally as quickly and so he'd foolishly let it go.
"And what you said earlier, about wish fulfillment? I think that a lot of what happened with my mother today had to do with that. She likes you very much but she has a hard time giving up control."
"Maybe I should come with you?"
"No," he said immediately, "I know you're going to hate this, but unless it comes from me, and me alone, as their son and the Head of House they'll assume I actually agree with them and am giving them tacic permission to continue to push."
She sighed, sinking into her seat. "Okay, but only because I'm so tired. And for the record that entire way of thinking is gross."
"It's what they know."
"I guess I have to accept that or be a hypocrite who expects everybody to just convert to my way of thinking with no regard for theirs."
Draco nearly startled at this concession. "Well I'm not sure I'd go that far but I do appreciate your willingness to try and find some understanding for two people who made you thoroughly miserable today." He glanced at his watch. "I need to go before they retire for the evening. Will the two of you be okay, can I get you anything before I go?"
"We'll be fine, I just needed to get all of that off my chest."
He leaned down to kiss both her and Scorpius who had visibly relaxed. "I don't intend to be long, but on the subject of baby names, I think I may have found something," he nuzzled Hermione's ear, "I have a really good feeling about this one."
"What!" She perked right up. "You can't just leave without telling me what it is!"
"I need something to look forward to later," he called as he strode away. "And by the way Granger, keep that disgusting Hawaiin mess you love so much away from me."
Her face scrunched up in adorable irritation. "That pizza is for me, Malfoy! I was going to get you something that you like but maybe now I'll just let you starve! And don't think you're getting any spousal privileges later either!"
He allowed himself a small chuckle- the witch was such a liar- before girding himself and stepping into the floo.
A/N: Well...I'm back.
Let's try that again.
I'm back! I know this isn't the fic a lot of you would have liked to see updated, but it's been a rough year y'all, there was no pushing the muse. That said, none of my fics are abandoned and most of them will be updated shortly. I apologize for being so behind on my PMs. To those of you who have asked after my well being, I can't even express my gratitude. But THANK YOU.
Alpha and just general love for not letting me give up to Weestarmeggie. And to the rest of you darling readers who kept on leaving follow, faves, and reviews despite my absence. xoxo