The Eighth Year Universe
Love Wins
If You've Got a Chance, Take It
The chapter title comes from the song:
'Til You Can't - Cody Johnson.
There's a Blacknot scene that came about because the song 'Remember When' by Alan Jackson came on my Spotify shuffle as I was writing this chapter!
Blacknot Castle
When the Potter-Wolfes decided to tell their family about the adoption, they had already set a date to bring Piper home. Despite her family being as open, if not more so than Teddy's, Almina was far more nervous about telling them.
They had put it off until Wednesday when Hermione invited them over for supper. They made small talk throughout supper, and people asked Nina how she was getting on. She told them that the sickness was finally gone, and the second trimester seemed to be her best friend.
Once supper was over, they moved through to the drawing-room, and Almina took a breath, "I uh, I have something to tell you. Well, we have something to tell you."
"We have something we need to tell you as well," Theo admitted, "That was why your mum asked you over for dinner."
Almina looked from Theo to Hermione, "Okay…."
Hermione bit her lip and sat down next to Theo, "After baby Theo was born, your Pops couldn't stop wondering why certain people in the family had problems after childbirth, so he asked me for help, and we looked into it in further detail."
Almina cut in, "Mum, stop. I'm sorry but… I know about the blood malediction. I just… I didn't know how to tell you, Pops. I didn't want you to blame yourself for what happened to Mama and Mum."
Theo gave her a sympathetic look, "And I appreciate that Almina, but I had to know the truth."
"And your Pops knows that it is not his fault," Sadie said from the armchair opposite Hermione and Theo.
Draco nodded and walked around the sofa to place his hand on Theo's shoulder, "He knows that he can't control a curse placed on the bloodline centuries ago."
Almina looked over at them and said, "Why do I sense that there's more to this?"
"Because there is," Theo said quietly, "The blood malediction only presents itself in the heir, which means that you and Charlus will have it in your blood."
Almina frowned and shook her head, "No, because it would affect Charlie's children, and Victoire was fine when Phoenix was born."
Hermione nodded, "Because Phoenix was a boy."
"What?"
Nina's eyes widened, "No….what an awful curse."
Hermione bowed her head, "The curse was placed on the family to try and kill the line off. The curse kicks in when the heir's first child is a girl. When it was placed on the family, it would have killed the woman who had carried the child."
"Meaning that the heir would need to marry and try again to have his heir," Draco explained.
"But now, thanks to medical advancements," Sadie cut in, "It seems to cause complications that prevent another pregnancy, so, unfortunately, it still works."
"If the firstborn is a boy, then the family already have an heir, so the curse doesn't come into effect," Hermione finished.
"Which is why Victoire was fine," Sadie explained.
"But…" Almina frowned as she tried to process everything, "It affected you because I was born first, didn't it?"
Sadie nodded, "I expect so."
"And because of the unnatural way my pregnancy came about, the curse treated me like your Pops second wife," Hermione explained, "So when I had Ada, the curse came into effect."
Teddy put an arm around his wife, "So it could affect you if your first child was a girl, Almina."
Almina swallowed, then bowed her head, "Then I'm glad I decided not to take that risk."
All four of her parents looked over at her, but Almina held her head high and told them their news.
"We signed adoption papers. We will become the parents of a wonderful eight-month-old girl in four days," Almina said proudly, "Her name is Piper Lily Potter-Wolfe."
Almina held out a photograph of Piper; she clapped her hands and pulled on Teddy's hair to get him to change the colour.
Sadie smiled and immediately hugged her daughter, "Congratulations, sweetheart."
Hermione followed suit, and Theo got tearful, then hugged Almina too.
Draco was the least emotional of them all, generally. But he hugged Almina, then held out his hand for Teddy.
The other man took it, and as Draco shook his hand, he said, "I bet your dad's proud."
Teddy smiled broadly, "He is."
"He should be," Draco promised Teddy, "You're a good man, Teddy."
Teddy smiled and grabbed Almina's hand.
Theo patted Teddy on the shoulder, "Buckle in, Teddy. You are in for the best, most stressful, but wonderful years of your life."
Almina smiled, "You're being awfully sentimental, Pops."
"What do you expect?" Theo asked with a laugh, "Four bloody grandkids, within months of each other. It's good that beam of magic gave me my good looks and youth back. I dread to think how soon I'll go grey again."
The others laughed, then they spoke about Piper for a while before bidding each other farewell so that the Potter-Wolfes could head back home.
Later that evening, the Blacknots sat down with firewhiskeys and spent a little while reminiscing.
"I remember being that young," Sadie mused, "Back when we all thought love was simple."
Theo took her hand and nodded, "I remember that innocence….when we thought all life had to throw at us was the odd curveball."
Draco smiled slightly and stretched his leg out, resting it against Theo's, "Life did throw curveballs, maybe more than a few. But we lived and learned, didn't we?"
Hermione nodded thoughtfully, "We did, and it was hard at times. I remember some of the best nights of our lives in those houses in Grimmauld Place and some of the worst."
Theo nodded and looked over at her, "We hurt each other a lot there. I hurt you all a lot."
"You didn't mean to," Sadie said softly.
"Our life changed after you came back from what Lucia did to you," Hermione agreed, her eyes on Theo, "Those months afterwards…we broke each other's hearts, and we all fell apart, but we came back together again."
"And we were stronger for it," Sadie agreed.
"We were better for it," Draco corrected.
Theo looked over and caught Draco's eye, he nodded, and they all fell silent for a moment. After all, new life made them as sentimental as the loss of old life.
"I remember being their age, though," Theo said to break the silence. He smiled at the others, "I remember how much I loved the sound of little feet on the hardwood floors in Grimmauld Place."
"Yeah," Draco smiled, "I loved the sound too. Almost as much as I loved the sound of their feet on the old flagstones in the kitchen here. It was like…."
"Music," Sadie and Hermione echoed.
Draco nodded and looked at the castle walls, "This was our new start. I think it was where we truly forgave each other, and I know it was where we learned how to love each other again, navigating our way through it really being four of us."
Hermione smiled, "This was where we found the trust that we had lost in each other through sleepless nights and terrible plumbing."
"Oh yeah, Draco looking that good as a plumber made me know I was back in my right mind again," Theo joked sarcastically, "Oh wait, no, that was the therapy."
The others laughed, and Draco smiled slightly, "Hermione's point is that this place needed fixing up when we moved in, and although we didn't know it at the time, we fixed ourselves up while we were restoring the castle."
Sadie looked at the others, "Do you think there's a universe where we didn't get through that?"
"Not one where we were together," Draco replied with the utmost certainty.
"We found something rare," Hermione agreed, "And when you find something like that, you don't let it go. You hold onto it, no matter what happens."
Theo smiled and looked over at Draco, "At some point, we really ought to make the four of us official, you know?"
Hermione pointed out, "Daphne would do it."
Draco nodded and looked at her, "And Harry would be her witness."
"We just need to ask them," Sadie agreed.
Theo smiled, "Then let's ask them."
Draco smiled too. He nodded and grabbed Hermione's hand.
"We will."
Lupin House
Susan and Caroline were sitting on a bench outside Lupin House; they watched the kids playing in the playground at the Hermione Granger School next door. Lupin House was on a slight hill, giving them a view down into the grove where the school had been built.
"Do you think we can do all of this again?" Susan asked; she looked over at Caroline.
Caroline didn't look over at her straight away. She just watched the school children in the distance thoughtfully. They had just met Nova Hunt – the little girl Addison had told them about. Addison had been right; she was intelligent and bubbly, and vivacious. Susan couldn't understand why she hadn't been adopted yet either.
"I didn't think I could do it the first time," Caroline admitted.
Susan reached over and took her hand. It was more than Caroline had ever really said about Edith's childhood. It wasn't something that she had talked to Susan about, but Susan understood why just like Caroline understood why it was hard for her to talk about Percy.
The dark-haired woman sighed and looked down at her feet, "I wasn't ready when I found out I was pregnant with Edith. Eddie said we would manage, we got married and with him by my side, I knew I could do it, then he…. he was gone."
Caroline pulled her hand out of Susan's and got to her feet, "And I didn't think I could do it without him. I didn't know how to cope, but my Dad told me that I would always have him."
She breathed in sharply, "And I did until I didn't."
"Caroline," Susan said softly, "I'm not going anywhere."
"Eddie didn't think he was either," Caroline said tearfully, "And my father didn't think he was. They both promised me they would be there, and neither could keep that promise because the people I loved were brave and loyal, and they died!"
Susan grabbed Caroline's hand and pulled her close, "Hey, listen to me. I'm not Eddie, I'm not your Dad, and you are not Percy."
Caroline drew in a shaky breath but met Susan's eyes.
"The people I love died because they were brave too," Susan said, her eyes filling with tears, "Percy, Sorenson, my parents, and Aunt Amelia. But you are not them, and I am not Eddie, okay?"
Caroline took a steadying breath and managed a slight nod.
Susan brought her hands up to Caroline's cheeks and looked her in the eye, "I'm not an Auror, I'm a school teacher, and I promise you, I am not going anywhere. If we do this, adopt Nova, then we do it together, all of it."
Caroline blinked a few tears away, "I never… I'm sorry."
Susan kissed Caroline lightly, then lowered her hands, "It's okay. This isn't easy to talk about."
Caroline let out a breath, then nodded, "I was so lost before we became friends," she admitted.
Susan looked up at her with a warmth in her eyes that made the tightness in Caroline's chest ease.
"I thought I was going to do it alone for my whole life," Caroline said in a whisper, "And I thought that was enough, that all Edith and I needed was each other. Then you and I became friends, and you just slotted into our lives with your girls and….suddenly I wasn't doing it alone."
Susan smiled tearfully.
"So what I'm saying," Caroline said slowly, " – is you helped me raise a child before we were even together, Susan. I think we can do it again now that we are."
Susan smiled and wrapped her arms around Caroline, "Yeah," she said, kissing Caroline's cheek and drawing back, "Yeah, Caroline, we can."
Hogwarts Castle
The Third Floor Corridor
Sadie hated her patrol night. Maybe she wouldn't mind so much in the summer, but it wasn't the summer. It was the middle of November, which meant that it was cold, and the castle was draughty because, unlike her castle, it didn't have electricity and double glazing. God, Sadie owed Hermione so much for introducing them to the wonders of the modern world.
She had her cloak drawn close to her body, and she was trying not to huff too much. While she was stuck in the castle, patrolling the corridors, talking to the ghosts and occasionally finding students who were out after curfew, the others would be nice and warm in their lovely big bed, in their beautiful warm castle.
And that made Sadie miserable. She sighed and walked past the statue of the humpbacked witch. Then she paused to check the time.
10.34 pm – she had to patrol until midnight, then she had to sleep in her quarters in the castle in case of an emergency throughout the night. That was how Harry and Neville worked it now; two teachers were always on duty through the night for that purpose.
The heads of houses were always 'on-call' as it were, though. The same went for Harry and Neville as Head and Assistant Head, respectively. Thankfully, Narcissa was the well-established Head of Slytherin and had no plans to step down, so Sadie didn't have to take on that role.
She was about to set off and continue her patrol when a sound came from behind the statue of the humpback witch. She sighed and headed over in that direction, fully expecting to find one of her children smuggling something into the castle from Hogsmeade.
She tapped her wand against the statue and muttered, "Dissendium."
The witch's hump lifted, and some alarmed noises came from inside the passageway.
"Come on, there's no getting out of this one," Sadie said in exasperation, "I know where this passage lets out, so I will find you at the other end. Out, now."
There was some scrambling. Then the first person climbed out of the passageway with bright red cheeks.
"Thea?" Sadie asked in surprise.
Then the second person climbed out, and Sadie nearly dropped her wand, "Caspian?"
Cas scratched his neck nervously, "Uh, hey..."
Sadie tapped the hump of the witch for the passageway to swing shut, and then she crossed her arms over her chest.
Thea swallowed, "Please don't tell my Dad, Professor Blacknot."
Sadie raised an eyebrow at Thea.
"Or my Mum," Thea added.
Cas looked at his mother warily, "You're gonna tell the others, aren't you?"
"About you being in a secret passageway with Theodora Potter? Yes, Caspian, I will tell your Mum, who is best friends with her Dad, and yes, I am going to tell your Dad and your Pops."
Cas groaned, "How many points are you taking off Slytherin?"
Sadie shook her head, "I'm not taking any points from Slytherin."
Thea and Cas both let out a breath of relief, but Sadie wasn't done. She stepped away and said, "I am sending both of you straight back to the Slytherin common room, and I will tell your parents, Thea."
Thea groaned, her cheeks flushing red once more.
"And," Sadie added, "Just for the record, that secret passageway that you were just making out in, I assume you know about it from the Marauders Map, Thea?"
Thea frowned slightly but nodded.
Sadie smirked, "Hm, that makes sense. I don't suppose you knew it was the first place your parents had sex?"
Cas choked on thin air, and Thea gagged, "What?"
Sadie turned around, her smirk widening, "Go back to the common room now, or I will take points from Slytherin!" she said before she stalked down the corridor.
Hogwarts Castle
The Headmaster's Office
7.30 am
Daphne poured herself a cup of coffee and sat on Harry's desk.
"Daphne, as much as I love it, I don't want your arse on the desk that has served several esteemed Headmasters," Harry said dryly.
Daphne rolled her eyes and moved to a chair in front of the desk, "Sorry, Headmaster."
Sadie shook her head in amusement, "You two don't change, do you?"
Harry chuckled and sat down behind his desk, "No, we don't."
Daphne kicked her feet up onto the desk, and Harry pushed them off, giving her a pointed look.
"Sadie, do you mind telling us why you called this meeting?"
"Yes," Daphne agreed; she leaned forward, "And are you calling us here for personal or professional reasons? Because you are one of my oldest friends."
Sadie bowed her head, "Which is why I thought you ought to find out from me and not anyone else that your daughter was caught in a compromising position with my son last night."
Daphne's eyes widened, "You don't mean - "
Sadie held up a hand, "No, they were just making out. It wasn't the what that disturbed me, but more the where."
Harry raised an eyebrow at Sadie, "Oh, for the love of Merlin, where did you find them?"
Sadie smiled far too politely and leant against the heavy wooden door, "In the passageway beneath the humpback witch."
Harry shot Daphne an amused look, and she bit her lip, her eyes shining with amusement.
"Thea was terrified that I would tell her parents, and Cas just didn't want me to take any points from Slytherin," Sadie said. She smirked at Harry and Daphne, "So I didn't, but I did tell Thea about the family significance of that passageway."
Harry smirked, and Daphne laughed out loud.
"Sadie," Daphne said with a grin, "Every so often, I forget how evil you can be, and then you do something like that, and I remember."
Harry chuckled and said, "But I want to know how you knew that little tidbit of information, Sadie."
Sadie laughed with disbelief, "Because Daphne didn't stop talking about it for weeks."
Daphne scoffed, "I wouldn't say it was weeks. I mean, I may have mentioned it once or twice."
"Try a hundred times," Sadie said. She smirked at her old friend, "Just ask Tracey's portrait, Harry. She'll back me up."
Daphne rolled her eyes and muttered, "I'm gonna silence that damn portrait."
Harry grinned smugly, "Oh, Daphne, you spent weeks bragging about it?"
From the wall behind the desk, Snape scoffed.
"This conversation is not an appropriate one to have in this room. I do not want to hear about Potter's disgusting sex life."
Harry looked up at the portrait, "Oh, sorry, Severus. We can talk about your sex life instead if you want? I think I have 30 seconds in my schedule. That ought to be enough, right?"
Snape glared at Harry from his portrait, and Daphne said, "Come on, Snape, even Dumbledore had a better sex life than you. No offence, Dumbledore."
The portrait of Dumbledore bowed his head, "None taken, Mrs Potter. I do have very fond memories of my time with Gellert."
Harry made a face and said, "Okay, I think Snape may have a point. From now on, we don't discuss sex in this room!"
Godric's Hollow
The site of the new Ministry of Magic
As November marched on, construction on the new ministry continued, and they made significant strides forward.
Draco took Hermione and Sadie along for a site visit. They were all forced to wear hard hats because the building was still under construction. Draco grumbled about wearing yellow because it wasn't his colour.
Hermione told him to suck it up, and Sadie rolled her eyes and transfigured the hat to be white.
"You're too soft," Hermione muttered.
"No, I just want him to shut up and stop whining like a baby," Sadie whispered back.
Hermione chuckled, and they followed Draco into the central plaza, which was a circle. Several buildings were being constructed around this little paved plaza. The plaza itself was quite tasteful though, and at its centre was a stone fountain that Hermione could already see ministry workers sitting around on a warm day to have their lunch.
The statue atop the fountain was a phoenix with its wings spread wide.
"A phoenix," Hermione said softly, "For rebirth."
"Whose idea was that?" Sadie asked.
Draco shot them both an amused look, "The project managers. You'll be surprised, but he's doing a hell of a job."
Sadie raised an eyebrow, "Why would we be surprised?"
"Because he's the guy who failed Ancient Runes because an owl walked across his exam," Draco said, he gave Hermione an amused grin, and she raised both of her eyebrows.
"Ernie?"
Draco grinned and waved Ernie over. He smiled at them and tipped his hard hat, "Morning, Minister."
"Morning, Ernie," Draco replied politely, "Things look like they are progressing well here."
"Oh, very well," Ernie agreed with a nod, "Do you guys want the tour?"
"Yes," Hermione said eagerly.
Sadie chuckled but nodded, "That would be lovely, Ernie."
Ernie was handed a clipboard by one of the workers, and he guided them towards the first of the buildings, "This is the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The first floor will be for the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, and the second floor will be for the Auror office. The third floor is for the miscellaneous offices, and of course, the department head will have a corner office facing the morning sun."
Draco gave Ernie an amused look, "Tiberius's request, I assume?"
Ernie grinned, "Of course."
Hermione chuckled and pointed to the building next to it. They all looked very similar; most of them had three floors and were built to look like vast, square towers. They each had lookout posts on the turrets, which Hermione could also see as an excellent spot for lunch.
"Is this my department?"
"Yes, Mrs Blacknot," Ernie said with a nod, "It is. The spec for the building will be as you laid out in the plan you submitted – the first floor will be the Office for Inter-Magical Affairs, and the second floor will be the Office for Interracial Affairs. All miscellaneous offices will be on the third floor, along with your office and adjoining library."
Sadie shot Hermione an amused look, "You asked for a library? Don't you have a big enough one at the castle?"
Hermione smirked at Sadie, "Perks of the job, Sadie."
Ernie shrugged and said that it hadn't been a hassle. Then he moved them along to the next building, "This will be the Department for the Care and Protection of Magical Creatures. They're just building the paddock out the back so that magical creatures don't have to be detained indoors anymore. That's all being done to Mr Weasley's spec."
Sadie nodded and pointed to the next building, "And I'll hazard a guess that's the Department of Magical Sports and Games?"
Ernie turned around and looked at the tower with several broomsticks hanging from the external walls. He sighed and nodded, "Yes, it is."
He pointed to the other two towers, "And those are the Departments for Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, and Magical Transport."
"Which reminds me," Draco cut in, "How are you getting on with the plans to install a waiting area at Kings Cross?"
"We're almost there," Ernie replied, "The last I heard, all that needed to be done was magical warding, which I am not qualified enough to do, so I've been outsourcing."
"Great," Draco said, "Good job, Ernie."
Ernie smiled broadly, "Thank you, sir. Have you had a chance to look at your office yet?"
Draco followed his line of sight, then shook his head, "No, I haven't."
Hermione gave Draco a surprised look, "That is your office?"
Draco looked at his wife, "Yes?"
"You get a clocktower?" Hermione asked in disbelief, "We each get a three-story building for our entire departments, and you get a four-story clock tower?"
"Two storeys," Ernie corrected, "The third storey is where the clock mechanism is housed, and the fourth storey is just a balcony around the rim of the roof."
"See," Draco said calmly, "Two storeys."
"Draco, you have a clock tower with a silver leaf clockface," Sadie pointed out matter of factly.
"Well," Draco said, "I am the Minister for Magic."
"Ernie, give me that clipboard."
Ernie held the clipboard out warily. Hermione grabbed it then hit Draco over the head with it.
He rubbed the spot she'd hit and muttered, "Merlin, Harry was right when he warned me about how violent a spouse you would be."
Hermione smirked at him, then handed the clipboard back to its owner, "Thank you, Ernie."
"With all due respect, Mrs Blacknot, I wouldn't have given it to you if I had known your intended use for it," Ernie replied.
"Which is why she didn't tell you her intended use for it," Sadie remarked, "What's that building, Ernie?"
Ernie turned around and looked at the building Sadie was pointing to. It was in keeping with the medieval theme of towers and old clocktowers, but it was a unique building. It was wide and oval, with very thick stone walls.
"Oh, that's the Department for Magical Research," Ernie replied, "The walls are very thick and enforced with lead between the layers of stone to prevent - "
"Another magical catastrophe," Sadie finished with a nod.
"That is why I invited you here today," Draco admitted. He glanced back at Sadie, "I hoped you would inspect the building for me and tell me if you think I would be mad to appoint Angel Strang as the head of the department."
Sadie smiled and bowed her head, "I think that would be very wise, and of course, I will inspect the building."
"And as you don't need me to inspect the building, I'll be checking out my library," Hermione said, "Why don't you go and make sure that your clocktower is up to scratch, your majesty?"
She stalked off, and Ernie chased after her, shouting something about health and safety regulations.
Draco raised an eyebrow at Sadie, "Do you ever feel like Theo has negatively influenced her?"
Sadie hooked her arm through Draco's and chuckled.
"All the time."
Hogwarts Castle
Thea knew that her parents knew about her tryst with Cas when she got called into the Headmaster's office before 9 am, the morning after Sadie had dragged her and Cas out of the secret passageway.
Harry was sitting behind his desk when she stepped inside, and Daphne was leaning against it.
"Good morning, Thea," Daphne said calmly.
Thea couldn't go through the motions though; she just blurted it all out, "I'm sorry, okay? I promised myself I would take things slow and not fuck it up like I did with Zach Smith, but I couldn't because he's so sweet and kind, and I just…."
Thea sighed and sank into a seat opposite Harry's desk.
"I think I love him."
Daphne smiled slightly, "And I think he feels the same about you, so that is not why you are here."
Thea looked up in surprise, "It's not?"
"No, it's not," Harry replied calmly, "Frankly, of all the boys you could kiss, we're both quite happy that it's Caspian Blacknot."
Thea let out a breath, then she frowned, "Wait…then why am I here?"
Daphne held something out to Thea, "You're not stupid, Thea, and we spoke about this in France, anyway. You know that the prevention spell isn't that effective against pregnancy, so if you're in a serious relationship with someone, take the potion every day."
Thea looked at the bottle her mother had given her and nodded, "Okay."
Harry seemed surprised at her lack of resistance, but he supposed Lareina's pregnancy with Lydia, then Lydia's pregnancy with Nina – both of them in their seventh years had been cautionary tales enough.
"Is that….everything?" Thea asked. She glanced between them warily.
Daphne nodded, "Unless there's anything you want to say?"
Thea shook her head, got to her feet, then frowned and paused.
"Uh…what Professor Blacknot said, about you two," Thea began awkwardly, "And the secret passageway she found Cas and me in….she was just saying that to embarrass us, wasn't she?"
"Well, she was saying it to embarrass you," Harry admitted.
"But unfortunately, it's all true," Daphne finished with a smirk
"Ugh," Thea muttered, "I feel sick, and I'm leaving."
Harry and Daphne shared an amused look as Thea made a quick exit.
"Well," Harry mused, "That's one way to stop her making out with Cas in dodgy places."
"Oh, she's young and in love," Daphne said with a slight smile, "She'll find somewhere else stupid and won't let anything stop her. We didn't, after all."
Harry reached across the desk to kiss her, and it would have been a rather sweet, romantic moment if Snape's portrait hadn't started gagging in the background.
Potter Manor
When Draco dropped by Potter Manor, Harry didn't question his reason for being there. He just hugged his old friend, invited him in and then gave him a glass of scotch. Harry poured himself a glass of water and sat down opposite Draco in the drawing-room. It was empty, and they both sat by the fire – it was a cold evening now, with November bleeding into December.
They made small talk – about the Ministry and how things were getting on. Draco asked Harry about Hogwarts, and he told Draco about Thea's antics with Cas, which Sadie had yet to inform him of, so they laughed at their children's expense.
Then Daphne stepped into the room, and she raised an eyebrow when she saw Draco.
"Oh, we have a guest of honour, I see."
Draco rolled his eyes at Harry, and Harry whispered, "You know how dramatic she is; just go with it."
Draco chuckled, and Daphne strolled into the room, "What does the high and mighty Minister Black himself want with us commoners?"
"Daphne," Draco said calmly, "I have been your friend for years. Do you really have to be so dramatic?"
Harry chuckled and agreed, "It's not like Howard Abbott is sitting in our drawing-room drinking whiskey at 1 am."
"Although," Draco mused, "That has happened, hasn't it?"
"It has, actually," Harry admitted, "Bad example, but you get the gist."
Daphne sat down on the sofa and smiled in amusement, "Sorry for assuming you were here for business rather than pleasure, Draco, but you generally tend to be with your family after 9 pm."
Draco nodded, "I do, but as it happens, I do have a favour to ask you both. I was just catching up with Harry before I got around to that."
"I do kind of miss seeing you around the ministry," Harry admitted, "Force of habit, I suppose, with us working together for as long as we did."
"It is," Draco agreed.
"How is Ben treating my old department, anyway?" Harry asked, "He seemed pretty competent when I helped him through the Statute Saboteurs fiasco."
"He's a good Head Auror," Draco agreed, "But he's not you; you were exceptional."
Daphne chuckled and poured herself a glass of scotch, "Oh, if only 11-year-old Draco Malfoy could hear you saying that, Draco Blacknot."
Draco gave her an exasperated look, "How long have you wanted to call me that for?"
Daphne grinned, "Oh, from the minute you told us that you were changing your name."
Harry shook his head in amusement, but Draco said, "As it happens, that is why I'm here."
Daphne raised both eyebrows, "Do explain…."
Draco leant back and sighed, "We changed our surname because we are a family, and we wanted that reflected in our children's names and our names, but…."
He paused, sipped his scotch, then continued, "…for ourselves, we want to do a magical bonding ceremony. It's not like we haven't all shared magic before, and it would….cement what is already there."
"Make your unofficial four-way marriage official, you mean?" Daphne quipped.
Draco gave her a long-suffering look, "Put bluntly, yes."
"Sometimes you just have to put things bluntly, Draco," Daphne said airily, "Not all of us speak like politicians."
Draco sighed, "You're not making this easy for me."
"Did you honestly expect me to?" Daphne quipped.
"No," Draco replied dryly, "Nevertheless, we would like to keep what we are about to do private for obvious reasons."
"And quiet, I presume," Daphne added.
Draco nodded, "Our close friends and family knowing is one thing, but I would rather it didn't find its way into the press just yet."
Daphne nodded, "I understand that."
Draco looked up at her, "And, as much as it pains me to admit this, you two are probably the people I trust more than anyone else, outside of my own family. So as Hermione told me to, I swallowed my pride and came here to ask for your help. Theo told me to grovel, but I said that was a step too far."
Daphne grinned, "If Theo had asked, I would have made him grovel, but that's only because I still like messing with him."
Harry shook his head in amusement, "Daphne, you are a wicked woman. Draco, obviously, we'll help you. Daphne is the one who actually knows how to, but I can tell from how sarcastic she's being that she's going to say yes."
Daphne shot him a grin, "Stop taking the fun out of the situation, Harry," she teased.
Draco smiled slightly, "You two haven't changed much over the years."
"So we're told," Harry said. He smiled in Daphne's direction.
Daphne chuckled and turned her attention to Draco, "And of course we'll help, Draco. Just tell us the time and the place, and we'll be there."
Draco smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you."
Bones Manor
"If I tell you something, you need to promise to keep it to yourself."
Susan raised an eyebrow, "This sounds like the start of a good conversation."
Daphne topped their wine glasses up and sat down opposite her old friend.
"Draco came by the manor last night to ask Harry and me to do him a favour," Daphne said.
Susan held up her wine glass, "So he and Theo are finally making it official, then?"
"It is quite bizarre how well you know Theo," Daphne quipped with a smirk, then she sipped her wine.
Susan chuckled, "Well, we have worked together for years. The HGS has sort of become our school. I'm as invested in it as Theo is."
Daphne nodded thoughtfully, "Still, it's a long way from where you two started out."
Susan shrugged and pulled her legs up underneath her, "Yes, and no. I hated Theo after our little fling fizzled out, but in hindsight, I think I hated him because I was heartbroken. Don't get me wrong, the advice I gave both my girls and your girls is well and truly founded on my short-lived relationship with Theo."
"If you fall in love with a bad guy, don't be surprised when he's bad to you," Daphne said with a nod.
Susan sipped her wine and nodded, "Theo was a bad boy. At 16, he smoked and drank firewhiskey, but…underneath all of that, he was in pain. I understood that because when he and I had our little thing, I'd just lost Aunt Amelia."
Daphne nodded sympathetically.
"And there's something so alluring about a bad boy who is good to you," Susan said with a shrug, "And he was, to begin with. If he had just told me that his father had forced him to become a Death Eater instead of hurting me, then leaving me in the lurch…I don't know. Maybe it would have been different."
"Maybe," Daphne mused, "Or maybe he would always have hurt you."
"Maybe," Susan agreed, "You know, he told me something years later."
Daphne looked at her in surprise, "What did he tell you?"
Susan smiled slightly, "This will surprise you, but I put myself down for being a Hufflepuff once. Theo put a hand on my shoulder and said that there was nothing wrong with being in Hufflepuff. He told me that he had fallen for me all those years ago because I cared about him even though he was worthless."
Daphne rolled her eyes, "Honestly, he ought to write poetry if teaching ever fails him."
Susan laughed and looked over at Daphne, "Either way, he's happy now, and so am I. We put the past behind us a long time ago, but I sometimes think about the irony of us being such close friends now."
Daphne cocked her head at Susan, "Did you see it coming, him and Draco?"
Susan thought about that for a moment, "Sort of. Everything he went through in sixth year was because he lost his friendship with Draco. I didn't see that at the time, but it's pretty clear looking back."
"I had a front-row seat to it," Daphne reminded Susan, "It wasn't just Draco. It started with Draco's mission to kill Dumbledore, isolating him from everyone else. He lost me, and he nearly lost Theo too."
Susan nodded thoughtfully, and Daphne continued, "But Theo's destructive behaviour made Sadie take a step back. Those two have always stabilised him and Hermione….she just completes the dynamic. I don't know why I'm surprised that Draco asked us to oversee a magical bond between the four of them."
"The four of them?" Susan echoed.
Daphne looked over, "Oh, didn't I mention that? It's not just Draco and Theo; it's all four of them."
"Like Teddy did?" Susan asked.
Daphne nodded and lifted her wine glass, "It's doable, and easily so with four people who have a connection like they do. I'll conduct the ritual for them, and Harry will be there too, just in case anything goes wrong."
"Well," Susan said, "Kudos to them for having the guts to do it."
Daphne shrugged, "Whether they ever go public with it, I don't know. But I'm happy for them."
Susan smiled, "I think we all are, Daphne. Those four have been through a lot together, but they always come out the other side."
"Hey," Daphne said gently, "So do you. Life has kicked you down so many times, but you always come back fighting. Look at you, getting married again and talking about babies."
Susan's smile was a little brighter then, "We're doing more than talking about it. We've met Nova, and the adoption papers are signed. Caroline wants to let them sit for a day or two before taking them back to Lupin House. She's all about measured decisions."
"That's why she's good for you," Daphne teased, "You're as impulsive as a Gryffindor."
"Hey!" Susan objected, "I resent that!"
Daphne chuckled and filled up her wine glass, "Resent it quietly and talk wedding plans with me."
Susan laughed too but nodded and obliged her friend, launching into an explanation of all the wedding-related things that she and Caroline had spoken about lately.
Daphne listened dutiful, quite happily sipping wine and enjoying the normalcy. After all that they had been put through in their life, she had learned to appreciate the little moments.
- TBC -
