It had been a month since he'd reconnected with his sister. Draco was fidgeting nervously as he waited on Astoria to get ready. His mother had met with her several times, with and without him and there was a renewed energy about her that had been missing for a long time. It was all still tentative, but they were encouraged that she appeared to be willing to get to know them, even if it was slowly, that she had not yet changed her mind and cut them out.
This was the first time he was meeting her on his own, he and Astoria had been invited for dinner at Hermione's home and he was nervous. He needed not to balls this up and he was terrified he was going to.
"You're meeting her again?" Draco turned at the sound of his fathers voice.
"Yes," he sighed. "Astoria and I are going for dinner."
Lucius nodded, unconcealed misery plain on his face. "Will she ever agree to see me, do you think?
"I don't know, Father." he said gently, not wanting to crush him but unwilling to give hope he wasn't sure was there. "I can ask?"
Lucius shook his head. "No. I am grateful she is seeing you and your mother. Don't give her cause to rethink that, your mother would never survive it."
Draco watched the man he had once idolised walk away with a defeated slump to his shoulders.
"He's not coping well with this, is he?"
He turned to face Astoria and shrugged. "Not really. I don't know what to do though. I understand why she doesn't wish to see him and I'm unwilling to give her a reason to stop seeing me. But seeing him like that…..he's still my father, regardless of what he's done."
Astoria nodded, smiling at him sadly. "Maybe she'll come around eventually. You cannot fix everything Draco. For now, you just have to focus on getting to know your sister again."
"I know. Let's go before I convince myself this is a terrible idea."
She laughed at him. "She's tolerated you for a month, Draco. I'm sure it will be fine."
They flooed into a spacious room that gave no clues whatsoever to where they were. Theo greeted them from the door, his eyes going slightly wide as he spotted the tiny bump forming under Astorias robes.
"Come through, Hermione will be here shortly, she got called to the Potters earlier. Ginny was panicking about something."
"You sound like you know them well?" Draco ventured watching as Theo paused, clearly choosing his words carefully.
"Harry and Hermione are exceptionally close. He thinks of her like a sister, if he didn't approve, there would have been no relationship. They spend a lot of time together, even now, a product of relying on each other for years, exclusively at some points. I'm just grateful that he was able to look past my last name when she introduced us."
Draco's eyebrows went up. "I see," he murmured. "How likely is it that I'm going to have to play nicely with Potter?"
Theo snorted. "Very. Draco, you have to understand, even discounting all the stuff they got up to in school, they spent several months alone in a tent with just each other. They had no one else to rely on, they were freezing, starving and being hunted. It left them with a relationship that I honestly envy at times. I'm glad I have Ginny, she was the one who explained it to me when Hermione and I first got together or honestly, my jealousy would have ruined everything. Harry Potter is the person who knows my wife better than anyone else, even me. He understands her in a way I never will and it took me a long time to come to terms with that. They know what the other is thinking without having to ask and they have some weird sixth sense when the other needs them. I've come to be grateful that she has someone like that in her life. But I'm not going to lie, it's going to make things very difficult for you. She'll tolerate Weasley not being fond of you, but you're going to have to win over Harry."
"Fuck. Seriously? Where was Weasley when she and Potter were alone in that tent?"
"He left them. Couldn't cope with the hunger, the cold, or the lack of a plan. Dumbledore really screwed them over. The fact they were taking turns wearing a horcrux did not help. He found them again but they were on their own for over three months."
"They were wearing a horcrux?" Draco asked horrified.
"Yes. And I gather that the effects aren't pleasant. They've forgiven Ron, but they're still closer to each other than him. So. Play nicely with Potter and you'll get to keep your sister in your life. Don't, and well, she's always going to pick him."
"Even over you?" Draco demanded, not wanting to think about her refusing to see him.
"I don't honestly know. I don't think so, not now, but she'd be devastated to have to make that choice. I know she loves me, I know she's never thought of Harry as anything other than a little brother. And truthfully, I like the man. We're friends believe it or not."
The sound of the floo activating cut off the conversation as Hermione wandered into the room, her face carefully blank.
"Everything alright, sweetheart?" Theo asked cautiously, taking in her appearance.
She sighed, smiling slightly. "Everything's fine."
He frowned slightly but nodded.
"Have you met Astoria?"
She shook her head smiling at the blonde woman who had stood as she entered the room. "No. It's nice to finally meet you, Draco speaks of you often."
Astoria smiled, seeming relieved at her warmth, "I imagine not quite as often as he speaks of you. Congratulations on your pregnancy. How long have you got to go?"
"Ugh. Eleven weeks give or take. I'm ready to be done now, I'm the size of a house." Her eyes drifted down to Astoria's own abdomen and she raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"I'm only sixteen weeks. I….its the longest I've held a pregnancy. We're cautiously optimistic but I admit that until it reaches viability, I'm reluctant to get too excited."
Hermione smiled in understanding. "I'm sorry for your losses." she said softly, reaching for Astoria's hand, squeezing it slightly. "I hope to offer my wholehearted congratulations in a few more weeks."
Astoria smiled at her gratefully. "Thank you."
Hermione turned to her brother, "I'm afraid I have no idea what you actually like to eat, and quite honestly, manoeuvring in the kitchen to do anything more than boil pasta or chuck something in the oven is becoming challenging; Theo can burn water, I don't trust him to cook anything. So, we thought we'd order in. Do you have a particular cuisine you like?"
"Order in?" Draco asked, looking thoroughly confused.
"Yes. You place an order with a restaurant and they deliver."
"What? Seriously? They just turn up at your house with food?"
Hermione laughed. "Oh I'm going to have so much fun with you, Draco Malfoy. Pick a cuisine and we'll go from there."
"Um…."
"Maybe you should give him some examples sweetheart." Theo laughed.
"Oh. Um, Indian, Italian, Chinese, traditional English, American, Mexican, sushi, Thai?"
"You can get all that sent to your house?" Draco asked, eyes wide. Astoria was slightly more composed but even she looked surprised.
"Yes, Draco."
"Maybe we should stick with either traditional English or Italian," Astoria ventured, looking at her husband. "We can branch out next time."
Hermione nodded and handed her two pamphlets. "Have a look at these and see if there's anything you like the look of." She pointed at one of the menus, "That's not technically traditional Italian but I think you'll like it."
"You can pick anything from these things?" Draco asked, looking at the menus in wonder.
"Yes. Then you order online or over the phone and they send it to you."
"Online? Over the phone? What?" he asked bewildered.
"Oh. Oh my god, I don't even know where to begin to explain that." Hermione laughed at him. "We need to get you out into the muggle world, brother."
Draco froze, drawing in a sharp breath, she'd never acknowledged their familial connection before. "Whatever you want," he replied softly.
Hermione introduced Draco to a mobile phone while they were waiting on dinner, Astoria and Theo watching them in amusement as they bickered on the sofa, Draco fascinated but resolutely refusing to denounce the usefulness of a floo call, Hermione arguing that it was outdated and uncomfortable.
"I'm glad we did this," Theo murmured, "This is the most comfortable I've seen her around him."
"He's so worried she's going to disappear again." Astoria replied softly, "It's nice to see him relax enough to tease her. I've known about Cassie from the beginning, of course, but I don't think I ever realised how big a piece of him was missing before." she paused looking at Theo seriously. "How big of an obstacle is Harry Potter going to be?"
"Truthfully? I don't know. He wants her to be happy, he's not going to sabotage their relationship deliberately. The biggest test will be whether they can learn to be civil to each other. And that's mainly going to be on Draco."
Astoria nodded. "He'll be fine. Theo, he's not going to do anything to jeopardise this relationship, even if it means befriending Harry Potter."
Theo nodded, letting out the breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding. "Good. Because despite my initial reservations, I think he'll be good for her. And Merlin knows she'll definitely be good for him. I predict she'll have him out in the muggle world properly within the week."
Astoria laughed at him. "I won't disagree. He can make it to a pub but that's as far as he's got so I imagine it'll be interesting. At least he's figured out how to work their money. The first few times were a disaster."
Theo laughed, "Has he encountered a debit card yet?" Astoria looked at him in confusion, shaking her head. "Oh gods, she really is going to have so much fun with him. I feel like I should apologise now." Theo smirked.
The twins were pulled from their argument as the bell was rung, Theo leaving to acquire their food, depositing it on the coffee table.
"This is technically designed to be eaten straight from the box," he explained, "However we can move to the dining table if you'd be more comfortable."
Draco glanced at Astoria and then shook his head, watching as Theo opened all of the boxes revealing the pizza's his sister had assured him he needed to try, some sort of chunky potato things she'd called wedges and garlic bread, that he'd at least heard of before.
He watched, unsure of what he was meant to do with this, there was no cutlery, no crockery, it was nothing like any dinner he had ever had before. Hermione grasped the edge of one of the pizzas and it pulled away in a slice.
Gingerly he copied her movements, wondering what their mother would think if she could see them eating with their hands while sat on the floor. He forgot that thought moments later when he tasted the pizza that Hermione had been absolutely correct to insist he tried, already trying to figure out if he could teach the elves to make it or if he could somehow bypass the manor wards to get it delivered. One look at his wife's face was enough to know she'd help him figure it out.
"Sweet Merlin, how have we never had this before!" Astoria exclaimed.
"Probably because muggle establishments don't accept floo calls," Hermione teased, grinning at her brother.
"If you teach me how to get this again, I'll concede your point." he shrugged. "I'll even let you take me to get one of those little number boxes."
"Number boxes? You mean the phone, Draco?" she laughed.
"Yes. That thing."
Hermione shook her head, laughing at him. "Who knew the secret to getting Draco Malfoy to embrace muggle tech was to introduce him to pizza."
Draco sat on the floor, food long gone, as he watched his sister struggling to move, refusing to look at Theo who was stifling a laugh, lest he incur her wrath.
"Theo help me! I'm stuck and I need to pee!"
Theo nodded, visibly composing himself in the face of her glare. "Don't you laugh at me Theodore Nott! This is your fault!"
He watched as Theo helped her, catching her in an embrace once she was finally on her feet as he lent in to kiss her.
"It'll be worth it, no?" he heard the other man murmur.
"Ask me once they're here." his sister replied drily, but the soft look on her face as she looked down at her swollen abdomen belied her words. Theo tucked a curl behind her ear as he smiled at her, letting her go.
Draco studied him after she had left as Theo quirked an eyebrow at him.
"You're not what I expected, either of you." he said eventually.
"Oh?"
"We were taught, both of us, that emotions were for the weak. I still struggle." he said with a shrug. "Watching you with Hermione, you're much more open than I expected."
To his surprise, Theo laughed.
"Give it time. Gryffindors are a touchy feely bunch, the first time she kissed me in public I just about died of embarrassment. Although the time Ginny hugged me when we were leaving their house may have been worse. At least Hermione and I were in a relationship when she kissed me. You get used to it, they sort of wear down your defences without you realising. Pansy coming to that conclusion was the funniest thing I think I've ever seen."
"Pansy? Pansy Parkinson?"
Theo shot him an odd look.
"Hadn't you heard she got married?"
"What? No! Had you?" he asked, turning to his wife who fidgeted slightly.
"I didn't think you'd be interested, Daph mentioned it."
"Who did she marry?"
The grin Theo gave him was sharklike. "Ron Weasely."
"No. No, I'm sorry I cannot possibly have heard that correctly."
Hermione reappeared. "Heard what correctly?"
"Your husband is trying to convince me that Pansy Parkinson married Ron Weasley. Which is utterly preposterous."
Hermione laughed, loudly. "Oh they're married alright. It works, surprisingly. He calls her out when she's being a bitch, she reigns in his temper. She's currently pregnant with their second, Violet is one."
Draco gaped at her. "You're serious? This isn't some elaborate joke?"
"Nope. No joke. We all wondered in the beginning but truly, I can't imagine him with anyone else."
"Hermione and Pansy are friends." Theo cut in.
"You? You're friends with Pansy Parkinson? Have I ended up in an alternative timeline?"
"Best friends," Theo added. "It's terrifying to be honest. Hermione, Ginny and Pansy in a room together. We're convinced that one day they're going to take over the world and no one will have a clue until it's done.
Hermione smiled at her husband sweetly. "Don't exaggerate darling, we promised to let you know before we were completely finished."
"That….that's fucking terrifying Hermione."
She grinned at Draco. "We know. Want in?" she asked Astoria.
"Definitely."
"No! No, absolutely not! Don't corrupt my wife, Hermione!" Draco whinged at his sister.
"But it's so much fun!"
Both Draco and Theo groaned.