The Eighth Year Universe

Love Wins

Will We Look Back Down on 99 Years of a Wonderful Life?


The chapter title is from the song:

99 Years – Josh Groban and Jennifer Nettles.


.


Good morning, you are listening to Classical Radio.

It is 6 am, Saturday the 18th of September, and the day is dawning brightly.

The autumnal equinox next week signals the start of Autumn, so, as the last embers of summer die out, let us unwind with Vivaldi's autumn concerto.


Blacknot Castle

7 am

"You're not going into the ministry today, are you?"

Draco shook his head and rolled over in bed. He put his arm over Hermione and pressed a kiss against her shoulder blade, "Not unless the world ends, again."

"Hm," Hermione murmured contently, "Good."

"Yeah, I second that," Theo mumbled from Hermione's other side. He opened an eye and looked over Hermione at Draco, "I don't plan on getting up until at least 10 am."

Hermione yawned and rolled over to say good morning to Theo, which was when she saw Sadie sitting on the balcony.

Sadie sighed, she had been awake for a while, but the cup of tea on the table in front of her was cold.

Hermione disentangled herself from the two men and got to her feet, throwing on a gown before joining Sadie on the balcony.

"Did you sleep last night?"

Sadie shook her head and looked into the bedroom at the two men, "Not much, and when I did sleep, I had nightmares."

Theo pushed himself into a sitting position and sighed, "The old ones?"

Sadie nodded and glanced down at the table.

Hermione reached across the table and took Sadie's hand, "The ones you had during the war?"

"No, they were mild in comparison," Sadie said with a sigh.

Theo got up and threw his robe on, "You're talking about the nightmares you had after the war, aren't you?"

Sadie nodded, and Theo wrapped his arms around her. He looked over at Hermione and explained, "The collapse of the central tower in the Battle of Hogwarts."

"Of course," Hermione realised, "Sorry, Sadie."

Sadie shook her head, "I replayed that so many times, wondering if there was anything I could have done to stop it from happening."

Draco got up and joined them on the balcony, "Sadie, you can't hold yourself accountable for your parent's sins, trust me."

"Trust us," Theo added.

Draco nodded and looked Sadie in the eye, "Trying to will tear you apart."

Hermione squeezed Sadie's hand, and they fell silent. All of them looked out over the horizon as the rising sun broke through the clouds.


Potter Manor

7.30 am

Daphne was humming along to something in the kitchen when Harry stepped in, fully dressed.

"You're up early."

"Couldn't sleep," Harry admitted. He paused behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Daphne stopped making the coffee and turned around in his arms, "You're not going into the ministry today, are you?"

"No," Harry murmured. He leant down to kiss Daphne, and she obliged, her hands going to the back of his neck on autopilot as he pressed her against the kitchen work surface.

"Ugh, guys! Do you have to?"

Harry pulled back and shot a sheepish smile over his shoulder, "Sorry, Andie."

Andrea made a face and muttered, "I need to move out."

Daphne smirked at Harry, and he smiled slightly in response.

"Neville and I are heading up to Hogwarts today. There's a hell of a lot of planning to do before the term starts next month," Harry said by way of explanation, "What are your plans for the day?"

Daphne shrugged and looked over at Andrea, "A pampering day, I suppose – there are no shops and no Quidditch games after all."

Andrea nodded glumly, and Harry leant in to kiss Daphne again. It was only a peck this time, as he reached past her to grab a cup of coffee, "I'll drink this on my way over to Nev's greenhouse, then I'll head off. See you later this afternoon."

He stepped out of the door and called, "Love you!"

"Love you too!" Daphne called in exasperation, but the fond smile on her face gave her away.


The Potter-Wolfe Residency

Devon

8 am

The Potter-Wolfe's had moved into their new home as soon as they returned from their honeymoon. Teddy and Nick had it all ready to go, but they kept it a secret – Almina had an inkling; she had put a lot of money into it, after all. But Nina was totally surprised, so she cried then blamed it on her hormones.

Nick had categorically not wanted a manor house, and Almina had politely asked that they not copy her parents and buy a castle. The result was a Devon longhouse with an 18th-century extension. It looked like a cottage, even though it had two stories.

And it had all the additional things they could dream of – a vast greenhouse for Teddy and Nick's benefit, an allotment for Nina's. Almina had jokingly called them a bunch of Hufflepuffs and asked what she got from this house. That was when Teddy had shown her a secret room, equipped with a telescope.

On this particular Saturday morning, everyone was gathered in the kitchen. Nina was trying to force her way through a cup of ginger tea while Teddy and Nick whispered amongst themselves and Almina ate her breakfast with her nose in the newspaper.

"What shift are you on today?"

Almina looked up at Nick, "Uh, Saturday night shift."

"Ugh, that's a 12 hour, isn't it?" Nina asked.

Almina nodded and shut the paper, "The joys of weekend work with our Auror force," she said sarcastically.

"At least you have a permanent base," Teddy said as he got up to put his coffee mug in the sink.

Nick nodded, "We're still working out of a store cupboard until a decision is made about Diagon Alley."

Teddy leant down and kissed Almina on the cheek. He whispered in her ear, "Be on your guard tonight, with Mabon looming closer and…everything."

Almina nodded; Teddy had told her and Nick about Lazarus and who he really was. But they didn't want to worry Nina, so they were keeping quiet about it.

"I will be," She promised.


Blacknot Castle

10 am

Theo's wish to stay in bed until 10 am had not been granted. Sadie and Hermione had gotten up and sat through breakfast with the kids while Draco tried to avoid Theo's questions. The other man kept trying to grab him alone, and Draco knew why, but he didn't want to worry them with the news of what Lotus Cauldwell knew.

Not this weekend.

However, Theo was slicker than Draco gave him credit for. When Draco slipped into a secret passageway to head from his study down to the drawing-room, Theo met him in the middle.

Draco jumped and then steadied himself on the wall, "Merlin, Theo!"

"Oh well, I know I'm pretty great. But I'm not Merlin, Draco," Theo returned in his usual jovial manner.

Draco shot him a long-suffering look, "Where's your cane?"

"Downstairs," Theo replied, "I find it best not to announce myself when I'm sneaking up on someone."

"Why were you sneaking up on me in the first place?" Draco asked him in disbelief.

Theo noticed that Draco glanced down to avoid meeting his gaze then, confirming his suspicions.

"You know why," Theo returned, "You know something, and you obviously don't want to talk about it in front of Hermione and Sadie, which meant cornering you alone, where there are no portraits to eavesdrop."

"Really thought about everything then, didn't you? Draco asked dryly. He looked up to meet the other man's eye.

Theo smirked and put an arm out to stop Draco from pushing past him, "Yes, I did. And come on, you wouldn't push past a cripple without his cane, would you?"

Draco looked at him, his exasperation tinged with amusement, "It's funny how you only refer to yourself as a cripple when being one suits you."

"It's not funny; it's called being opportunistic," Theo remarked calmly, "That's when you see a moment, and you seize it."

"I know what opportunistic means, Theo," Draco bit back.

Theo stepped up another stair, trapping Draco between the wall and his body, "I'm seizing the opportunity right now because you know fine well that the girls won't think twice about us being in a secret passageway. They'll just think we were making out; they won't question it."

"We haven't made out in secret passageways for years, and Hermione is more perceptive than you have ever given her credit for," Draco pointed out.

Theo gave Draco a knowing look, "You're not getting out of this one. You either shove me down the stairs, or you talk."

Draco smirked at him and moved forward slightly, just enough for his breath to ghost across Theo's lips.

"There is a third option."

"No, no, there is not," Theo remarked, "You're not seducing me into moving. You are going to talk."

Draco groaned and rested his head against the wall.

"I asked Blaise to sign the exploration order," Draco admitted, "Which he did, and Harry and Ben looked into Lotus's memory yesterday."

Theo looked at Draco in disbelief, "And you decided that wasn't a relevant thing to tell us?"

"No, I knew I had to tell you at some point," Draco said quietly, "But I just wanted one weekend of normality, Theo. Just one last weekend of being us without this hanging over our heads, and I knew if I told you, I wouldn't get that."

Theo took pity on him when he saw the tears shining in Draco's eyes. He sighed and bowed his head slightly, "Fine. But you sit us all down and tell us everything tomorrow night. Deal?"

Draco let out a breath and nodded, "Deal."

Theo nodded and reached out to grab Draco's shoulder, "But don't be so sure that we're going to stop being us after this weekend, Draco."

Draco looked up to meet his eyes.

"I've got more faith in us than you do, "Theo finished softly.


The Grounds of Hogwarts Castle

The four of them decided to go out for a ride that afternoon because it was still warm enough, even up north.

Draco and Hermione had always been less patient than Theo and Sadie, so they tended to ride a little faster and wait for the other two to catch up while their horses strolled along, and they talked.

On one of these stops, Draco opened up to Hermione a little. She was sitting on a rock by the black lake, which brought back many memories from their final year at school.

"We should have brought some toast for the giant squid."

Hermione laughed and looked out at the water, "Harry thought I was mad for that, you know? Ron just said, 'well at least you didn't give him a name; that would be weird'."

Draco smiled, "Ron may have had a point. Although I'm pretty sure that Harry thought you were mad for a lot of other reasons. I think when you started knitting hats for house-elves, he decided you were a lost cause."

Hermione chuckled and looked down at her hands.

"But I love you for it," Draco admitted, "Even if I couldn't say that back then."

Hermione looked up at him. The fondness in her eyes was mingled with sadness, "Yeah?"

"Yes," Draco promised. He sat down next to her on the rock and slipped his hand into hers, "When we went back to school after the war, I didn't like who I was. I was holding onto old grudges, and I had sent so many bridges up in smoke."

He shook his head, "I didn't have enough fingers to count the people I had let down or the hearts I had broken."

It was rare that he spoke so openly, so it caught Hermione's attention. She tightened her grip on his hand and looked up at him.

Draco smiled weakly and said, "I never thought I would become an Auror because it wasn't like anyone had to dig too deep to find some dirt on me and… I still looked at you and felt this pang, the same one I had ignored for years. If I hadn't listened to Theo, I don't think we would be standing here right now."

Hermione smiled a little tearfully, "It's funny, isn't it? The way life goes."

"Well, life has a way of rewriting the story you think you're living," Draco agreed with a small smile, "But the point is that you changed me, Hermione. Before you were even my girlfriend, loving you changed me. You taught me that who you've been isn't who you have to be, and by Merlin, getting from that boy to the man I am now? It was an uphill climb – for you as much as it was for me."

Hermione smiled and squeezed his hand, "It was worth it for the view at the top."

Draco smiled too, but his eyes were full of tears, "Yes, it was and regardless of how this ends, remember that. Because of you, I can finally stand the man in the mirror I see. I never thought I would become an Auror, and now here I am, Minister for Magic."

He shook his head and found Hermione's eyes again.

"We have the perfect family," Draco said softly, "And we have had the best life. If it's cut short, just remember that."

Hermione nodded tearfully and rested her head on his shoulder. Her voice was thick with emotion and came out as barely more than a whisper.

"I will," She promised.


Sadie and Theo talked a little further back while their horses cantered through the Scottish countryside. At first, it was small talk, but then they ended up having a heart to heart of their own.

"What do you think they're doing?"

"Oh, hard to say with those two," Theo said. He shot Sadie a smile, "Making out in the woods or having a heart to heart by the lake."

Sadie laughed and looked at the forest in the distance, "I hope they are talking because they need to."

Theo raised an eyebrow, "They talk all the time."

"Not always about the things that matter, though," Sadie pointed out wisely.

Theo frowned, "Like?"

"Like, did either of you two know that Hermione changed her will a few days ago?" Sadie asked pointedly.

"No," Theo replied slowly, "I assume she told you, but not Draco about that? Because if he knew, I would know."

"No, she didn't tell anyone," Sadie replied, "But I noticed that she had spent a long time in the library, so I spoke to the portraits and found out what she was up to. I pick up on things that you two don't, and she doesn't talk to Draco about them nearly as much as she should."

"Hm," Theo mused, "Why did she change it?"

"Because she wanted to make sure that Mina and Charlie had enough money to set up trust funds for Nina's baby and Victoire's baby," Sadie answered.

Theo smiled slightly and looked down at his horse's mane, "Looking out for her family even in the face of her own demise. That's the Princess down to a tee, isn't it?"

Sadie smiled too, "And to think you didn't like her when you first met her."

"I didn't not like her," Theo corrected, "I just didn't think she was right for Draco, and in hindsight, I think I was jealous."

Sadie chuckled, "I knew you were jealous, and you have to admit that your first impressions were wrong. Draco's a far better man thanks to Hermione."

Theo smiled over at his wife, "I'm not above admitting that I was wrong. He is a better man, just like I'm a better man for loving you."

Sadie looked over at him and raised an eyebrow, "That's awfully sentimental."

Theo shrugged slightly and looked away, "I mean it, looking back at who I was when we met…I don't recognise that person. I honestly can't imagine where I would be without you by my side."

Sadie smiled slightly and looked over at him, "All I did was show you how to appreciate your own worth, Theo."

"No, you did so much more than that," Theo said. He shook his head and glanced up to meet her eyes, "You loved me through so much, through things you shouldn't have had to. Do you remember when we almost threw it all away after that stupid list came out in eighth year?"

Sadie nodded and looked down at the rings on her finger, "I gave you the engagement ring back."

Theo looked over at her, "Then we agreed to give it another chance, and we stayed up all night talking, laughing and crying. Something changed inside me that night, Sadie."

Sadie swallowed a lump in her throat, and Theo smiled tearfully at her.

"When I look back on that night, I just think it's amazing how we got to where we are from where we've been, and through it all, we've always been best friends," Theo said. He cleared his throat and nodded as if to clear his own thoughts.

"So whatever happens now, if this madness takes one of us away…." Theo took a breath to compose himself, "I'm a better man for loving you."

Sadie let out a tearful laugh and nodded, "Thank you, but you have always been this man. From the moment I met you, I knew it. I never thought you would love me, and I could never have dreamed of this life we would build together. It's so far from conventional, but somehow, it's everything I always wanted, so," her breath caught, " – whatever happens, I'm better for loving you too."

Theo nodded because he didn't think he could speak right now. They rounded the corner and headed towards the lake where Draco and Hermione were sitting, and Theo glanced over at Sadie.

The sunlight glimmered against her hair, and he took a breath; the world was falling apart, but she was the calm in the middle of the storm, and he hoped nothing ever changed that.


Blacknot Castle

7 pm

Draco was leaning back in his favourite armchair with a whiskey in his hand and a smile on his face. There wasn't anything particularly unusual about this Saturday night, but he found that he appreciated all the little things that he usually didn't notice.

Ella lay on the chaise lounge with a book hovering above her head. Hermione had put a glass of wine on the table behind her half an hour ago, and she hadn't touched it yet.

"If you don't drink that, I will!" Theo threatened when he walked past her.

Ella rolled her eyes and flicked her finger to turn the page of her book, "It's red wine, Pops. The longer I leave it, the better it will taste."

Theo grinned and glanced over at Hermione, "You taught her too well."

"More like Aunt Daphne taught her too well," Hermione said.

Ella smirked, and Cas snorted. He tapped her book with his wand when he walked past, sending it flying down onto her face.

"Caspian!"

Hermione shot Sadie an amused look but hid it when Ella emerged, glaring furiously at her brother.

"Caspian," Sadie said calmly, "No underage magic, please."

"And could you not torment your sister?" Theo added.

"I want to go back to Egypt," Ella grumbled. She sat up and grabbed her wine, shooting a glare in her brother's direction for good measure.

Cas smirked and leant back, "I can't wait to go back to school."

"Of course you can't," Hermione said matter of factly, "You must be missing Thea something dreadful."

Theo grinned at Hermione, "What happened to not getting involved in their love lives?"

"Yeah, Mum," Caspian agreed, his cheeks flushed, "Just don't get involved, please."

"Her father is my best friend. I'm already involved," Hermione remarked, "Whether you like it or not. You had better not hurt her."

"I'm not going to," Cas muttered.

"If you ever even ask her out," Elladora remarked.

"Wouldn't it be kind of weird if you did date her?" Ada chipped in.

Cas frowned, "Why would it be weird?"

"Because you call her parents Aunt Daphne and Uncle Harry," Dora deadpanned.

"That's not weird considering that her parents are cousins anyway," Theo pointed out.

Hermione shot him an exasperated look, "Second cousins."

Theo snorted, "Like that makes a difference."

"You two can't talk," Draco pointed out. He smiled in amusement, "You are first cousins."

"We're not married though," Hermione pointed out.

Ella snorted into her wine, "Maybe not on bloody paper."

"Elladora!" Hermione remarked, and Sadie grinned in amusement.

"Anyway," Ada cut in, "She is called Thea. I mean, she's literally got the same name as Pops. Sex would be weird, right?"

"Adeline!" Sadie exclaimed.

Theo sniggered, "Well, I'm sure it would be now you've mentioned it, Ada."

Hermione snorted and muttered under her breath, so only Sadie could hear, "Not as weird as sex is for Harry and Lilly."

Sadie nearly choked on her wine, "Hermione!"

"What?" Hermione asked innocently, "We all know they do it, and she has the same name as his mother."

"What are you talking about?" Dora asked nosily.

"Nothing," Sadie and Hermione chorused.

Draco shook his head in amusement and looked across the room, catching Theo's eye. The dark-haired man smiled in response.

Thank you, he thought, For letting me have this day.

Theo bowed his head and thought back, You don't have to thank me. I'm happy too.

"Cas and Thea up a tree, S-H-A-G-G-I-N-G - " Ada began to sing, rather immaturely.

"Oh, shut up!" Cas cut in. "I'm not even thinking about sleeping with her, not after all the shit she's been through, alright?"

"Uh-huh?" Ada asked, unconvinced.

Cas glared at her, "Fine! I wasn't going to tell them about what happened at the end of last year, but you've just gone too far!"

Ada's eyes widened, "No, Cas, I didn't mean it - "

"Woah!" Theo cut in, "Adeline – quiet. Cas – what happened last year?"

Cas shot his sister a satisfied smirk and delighted in the horrified expression on her face.

"Cas, don't tell Pops," Ada begged.

"You better not have been snogging anyone," Theo said. He narrowed his eyes at his daughter, "In third year!"

Ada groaned and rolled her eyes, "Pops, we missed the cut off for the year by 24 days. I was 14 when I first kissed someone, that's not a big deal!"

Hermione gave Theo a pointed look, "She's right. Most of us had our first kiss at the Yule Ball when we were 14."

"You were 15," Theo pointed out.

Hermione sighed in exasperation, "Theo, I was a prude, of course I was 15."

Draco smiled slightly, "I was 13 when I had my first kiss."

"And she's your step-sister now," Theo cut in, "So that's not an example we want our children to follow, is it?"

Sadie shook her head at Theo, "Respectfully, love, shut up."

Ada smirked, thinking that she had won this debate.

"But Caspain," Sadie added, "I would be interested to know who Ada was kissing."

Cas grinned, and Ada shook her head, silently begging her brother not to say it.

"Oh, you know," Cas delighted in saying, "She had the nerve to kiss her girlfriend in her dad's greenhouse."

"Caspian!" Ada shrieked.

Draco raised an eyebrow, and Theo outright laughed, "Laurie Longbottom?"

"Oh, Lilly's going to love that," Hermione said through her laughter.

"Daphne's never going to let her hear the end of it," Sadie chuckled.

Ada looked between them all, "So….nobody is mad?"

"Why would we be mad?" Hermione asked in amusement, "It's a little funny that your sister clearly has a crush on Laurel's brother, but there's nothing to be mad about."

Dora scoffed, "I do not. He's an annoying….thing."

"Uh-huh," Draco said, shooting Hermione an amused look, "There's a fine line between love and hate, Dora, just remember that."

Hermione smiled at that too and glanced back at the twins.

Dora made a face, "She thought you would be mad because Laurel is a girl, and I told her that was stupid because, well, we have two dads and two mums. You can't really judge, can you?"

"No, and we wouldn't anyway," Draco promised, "I would never tell any of my children how to feel or who to love."

"None of us would," Theo agreed with a nod, "Bold of you to kiss her in Neville's greenhouse, though."

Dora smirked, "And you two aren't even Gryffindors."

Ada rolled her eyes and got to her feet, "I'm so done with this conversation."

"We'll be having a talk about safe sex soon!" Hermione called after Ada.

"I hate you all!" Ada yelled in response.

Dora cackled with laughter then followed her sister out of the room.

"You enjoyed that too much, Caspian," Ella said, giving her brother a pointed look, "It was mean."

"I'm a Slytherin, Elladora, not a nice little Ravenclaw like you. I am mean."

Ella snorted, "You still can't beat me at chess though, can you?"

With that, they disappeared into a corner to play chess. Theo sat down by the fire where the other three were congregated and poured himself a glass of whiskey.

"A Nott and a Longbottom? What next, huh?"

"As long as none of them marries a Weasley, I'll be happy," Draco joked.

Hermione kicked him gently and shot him an amused look.

Theo sighed and leaned back against the sofa. He had nestled himself in between Sadie and Hermione, who were both drinking wine.

He sipped his whiskey and sighed, "How did I get here?"

Hermione shot him a sidelong look, "Uh, with family inheritance?"

Theo chuckled and opened his eyes, "I don't mean the castle, Princess. I mean here. Sometimes I just don't know what I did to deserve all of this, the kids and you two."

He had directed that at the two women, so Draco laughed lightly and joked, "Thanks, Theo."

Theo shot him an amused look, then turned back to Sadie and Hermione, "I mean it, watching you with the kids just now….I have to admit, I might like cheap whiskey and bad jokes, Quidditch teams that can't win a single match and drunken smokes, but I've got good taste in women."

Draco laughed properly at that, "I didn't think that's where you were going with that."

"No, neither did I," Sadie laughed.

"It was smooth, though," Hermione chuckled.

Theo grinned, "Still got it!"

Draco shook his head in amusement, "You have a point anyway. We got pretty damn lucky."

"No, you didn't. Luck doesn't come into it - " Sadie began to say.

"Oh, come on, don't start with your 'it's written in the stars' thing again," Hermione cut in.

"It is!" Sadie objected, "You can't just disregard Astronomy because you hated Trelawney at school!"

"That is not the case!" Hermione remarked, "But you can't look at the bloody stars and decide that you were fated to be with someone. This is real life, not some fantasy book!"

Sadie rolled her eyes, "It's science, Hermione. Honestly, how many times do I have to explain the correlation between star charts and timelines - "

"God, just don't go into that again," Hermione muttered, "Become an Astronomy teacher if you're so obsessed with the sky."

Draco laughed and looked over at Theo while Sadie and Hermione continued to bicker, "I appreciated your speech or pick-up line. I'm not sure what it was."

Theo chuckled and extracted himself from the argument he was caught in the middle of. Instead, he sat on the edge of Draco's chair and sipped his whiskey.

"I don't know what it was, but it came from the heart," Theo admitted.

Draco nodded and looked up at Theo, "Speaking of drunken smokes, do you want one?"

"I'm normally more than two whiskeys in, but yeah," Theo admitted.

Draco pushed himself to his feet, and he and Theo stepped out of the patio doors. They emerged in a little courtyard which acted as a drive for the coach house. There were a couple of tables out here, but they didn't use them too often.

The two men crossed the courtyard and leaned against an old oak tree. Draco slipped a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket and handed one to Theo.

Theo lit them both with his wand and then looked up at the castle with its illuminated lights.

"Feeling sentimental, I guess?"

Draco nodded and cocked his head to look at Theo, "Remember all the times we'd smoke in your summer house?"

Theo smiled slightly and nodded, "Yeah, and you know what, if we're doing this whole 'live as if you were dying' thing, I'll admit it."

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Admit what?"

Theo looked away from Draco, "Remember that summer, the one between fifth and sixth year when you were hiding from your father so he couldn't take you to get the Dark Mark?"

Draco nodded.

Theo turned to look at him, "That was when I started to realise that friendship probably shouldn't have felt like that."

Draco laughed and looked away, "In hindsight, I think I get that."

They fell silent for another moment. Theo took a drag of his cigarette then blew out a ring of smoke, "Do you think we would ever have admitted it if it hadn't been for me fake dying and everything?"

Draco shook his head, "Nope. I think we would have carried on as we were, and I think we would have kept telling ourselves that it was enough."

"Just like our grandfathers did," Theo mused.

Draco nodded and blew out a ring of smoke.

"Maybe I do have something to thank Lucia for then," Theo admitted. He smiled at Draco, "Because that kiss in the rain…it was so fucking hallmark, I hate us for that."

Draco laughed loudly, "Yeah, it was pretty cliché. But I wouldn't change it."

"No, I wouldn't either," Theo promised, "Because I feel like I was standing at a fork in the road then, and I don't want to think about what the other direction had in store for me. If that hadn't all gone down the way it did, we wouldn't have Ada and Dora, and Ella and Cas wouldn't call me Pops and…I wouldn't have you and Hermione, not like I do now."

Draco nodded. He was silent for a moment, then he said.

"Whatever happens, we've had a pretty good life."

Theo reached over and grabbed his hand.

"Yeah, Draco. We really have."

- TBC -