In the last month—in the final weeks really—Draco told her he wouldn't be going on overnight missions anymore and that he planned to take assignments closer to home until Scorpius was born. She flung her arms around him when he told her how planned to take advantage of some time off after he was born too, in order to spend time with them, and because there was not a single chance he would leave her to navigate the beginning alone.

She found him with a parenting book of his own, and Draco let her believe he didn't know she was there, watching from the doorway.

Draco had planned to take her away somewhere for one last weekend, but she was on bed rest. It was no matter, since they both stayed in bed. He moved her telly into the bedroom, and tried to make sense of what she called reality television, and they never made it through a single movie before she pulled him down to her.

They spoke of the fear that never fully went away, and agreed they could manage to be scared together in hushed whispers while her skin slid against his.

When she fell asleep, Hermione murmured sleepily that she loved him, and he laid back for a long while, listening to the even sound of her breathing.

Not one to wait, Granger went into labor a week early.

He panicked while grabbing the bag that had been ready to go for months now, and skipped over the spot where it sat right next to the Floo. All the while, Hermione stood back and watched him until the next contraction came. Then the bag was in her hand and the incantation hissed through gritted teeth. "I want this baby out of me right now."

Draco nodded, and helped her into the Floo.

She gripped his hand so tightly he thought it might break, and she screamed with each contraction. Granger had cursed the attending healer up and down each side after learning that due to her current potions, she could not be given the potion to ease the pain.

No one had bothered to tell them that.

"I am going to kill you." Granger snapped, glaring at him. "Aren't you going to say it's not your fault?"

It was not his fault, and she'd remember that too once this was over, but he was a smart man. So, Draco did not say that at all. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Believe me, the first person I talk to after this will be—"

"We're getting ready to push, Hermione. Are you ready?"

The yes was a scream.

It was not the only thing said.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, fingers loosening around his. "I don't really blame you for the potions. You couldn't have known."

"I know." Draco pressed a kiss to her temple. "I should tell you how brilliant you are. All the time, without fail, you exceed expectations."

She laughed, but the sound was caught in her throat. Somewhere stuck between joy and misery. "You are such a charmer. Are you ready to be parents?"

He flexed his fingers through hers. "I'm still terrified if that's what you're asking, but we'll figure this out together, won't we?"

Granger nodded, her eyes watering. "Of course we will."

"At the very least, Weasley is making all the mistakes we can learn from so far."

She buried her face in his shoulder, and laughed. "God, Pansy went on and on about how it didn't hurt at all. I haven't even had the time to think I should be scared of this part. I'm not though, somehow."

"You're not scared?"

Hermione tensed, and gritted her teeth. Her hand tightened once more, and they were nearly there. "It seems like a waste to be scared now when I'm about to push a baby out of me."

"Potter told me to look, you know."

She choked. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Ron fainted when he did it. Harry just wants to make you faint."

"Potter's a prick."

Staring at the ceiling, Hermione grinned and squeezed her eyes shut. "Some things never change."

At 3:47 in the morning, a cry broke in the delivery room, and Hermione still didn't relax. She allowed Draco to help her sit upright, and watched the healer look over their son until he was placed in her arms.

Scorpius' face was pink and his mouth wide open in an angry cry.

"Oh, my God." Hermione looked up at him. "Look at him. He's already blonde."

Draco didn't know why he was laughing, but his face was wet when he wiped it on his sleeve. "You are the best person I've ever known," he whispered against her temple. "So fucking brilliant, the both of you." They stayed like that for a long while, until Granger's exhaustion finally caught up to her, and the healer said it would be best for her to rest for a short while.

He sat in the chair until her breathing evened out, and held Scorpius. He'd stopped crying some time ago after Granger fed him, and now his eyes were barely open.

"I'm going to do everything I can," Draco whispered, watching tiny fingers curl around his one finger. "I promise to always protect you, and to love you. I'm not sure you'll love the person I've been when you grow up, but I'll become whoever it is you need me to be."

While Hermione slept, he stepped into the waiting room, and watched his mother shoot to her feet. Lucius was not far behind, and then everyone was on their feet. Potter looked worn, and Weasley's eyes were rimmed with red. "Don't keep us waiting. Who won on picking the name?" Potter asked.

"This is Scorpius Malfoy, my son." Narcissa waited eagerly at the edge, and Draco handed Scorpius to her first. "Granger's sleeping right now, but she'll be happy to know all of you were here."

Potter stepped forward, and held out a rolled up newspaper. "Well, I think she'll want to see that when she wakes up. You should look at it now though."

With everyone watching him, Draco let it unfurl in his hands and turned it over.

BRITISH MINISTRY REVERSES PROJECT APHRODITE

"I managed to receive an advance copy." Lucius announced. "It will take effect in the next few months, and the details will be made public this week. Hermione and I made preparations for when this finally came to pass. We're planning to help those affected with the legal process of dissolving forced marriages, monetary compensation, and whatever is needed. Whenever she's ready, of course."

Draco smirked. "I have no doubt she'll be in with Scorpius before the week is out."

It was worth all of the irritation that had come with putting together the nursery she'd picked, when Granger stepped into the room with Scorpius swaddled in her arms. With her lips parting in a visible reaction, she lifted their son and hid a wide smile behind him. "Draco…"

"You'll probably notice that there's a scuff on the wardrobe, but it's at the bottom and Weasley worried that magic may ruin it, but you can blame him for the scuff."

She laughed quietly, peeking down at Scorpius. "He sleeps like the dead."

"I wonder if he'll snore like his mother."

"You must be losing steam, Malfoy. I know you're more creative than that." Hermione crossed the room while he lingered in the doorway, content to give her space, laid Scorpius in his crib. She wrapped her fingers around the edge of the raised wood, squeezing until her fingers turned white.

Bridging the gap between them, Draco came to stand at her side and laid his palm at the small of her back. "We don't have to sleep in the other room," he murmured. "We'll stay right here."

She summoned a book and cracked it open.

Draco had known she wouldn't leave the room anyway, and Narcissa had told him exactly that as well. He slid to the floor with her, shrugging out of his jacket while quietly removing his shoes, and waited for her to show him what he'd picked. "The Beetle and the Bard?"

"You think it's a bad choice." Not a question, or even an accusation, but a statement. "I can—"

He laid a hand on her arm, shaking his head. "I don't think it's a bad choice. What do you think of taking turns with reading? Tomorrow, I'll do it and we'll change again."

"I'd like to always be together."

Knowing it might be harder when he returned to work, Draco promised to do everything in his power to always to be home in time, and she knew that with all of it's possible setbacks. Draco curled a finger under her chin and brushed his lips against hers. "We'll always be together."

Granger laid her head on his shoulder as she began a winding tale without looking at the pages at all. Of course she knew it by heart. He rubbed circles over her thigh, laughing when Scorpius made a small sound and smiling when she began to grow tired. Her voice grew tired with it.

She fell asleep while still reading, after starting a passage four times, each while pulling her finger under each line. With her solidly asleep on his shoulder, Draco summoned a pillow from their bedroom and gently laid her down while brushing hair out of her face.

Turning back to the crib, he slipped a hand through slots of wood, and curled a finger around Scorpius' hand. He stayed like that, content and stunned that somehow this had turned out to be his life.

Granger's snore startled him, and he waited with baited breath for Scorpius to wake up, cries bubbling to life. He continued to sleep, however, and he laughed just barely, and under his breath.

On a cold day twelve months later where the rain was only drizzling, but suspected to open up into a storm, the British Ministry's so called Marriage Incentive was up for hot debate once more. It had been officially overturned after Scorpius had been born, but this press conference was to address the significant changes in the lawsuits against the Ministry. Once again, Draco stood beside his partner as the press release was issued by Minister for Magic Shacklebolt, but unlike the first time, he stared at the ring that now circled his finger.

The Ministry had given the option to have any marriages dissolved, and had since moved to ending marriages under the act unless they were contacted otherwise. Granger and he hadn't talked about it.

Potter nudged him. "You and 'Mione will be alright. The two of you are so sickeningly in love, it makes me want to vomit."

"Thanks, Potter," Draco said dryly. "That's exactly what I needed to hear in order to make me feel better."

He clapped Draco on the back. "Anything for a best mate."

"Do you think Cho will stay married to you?"

"I think we'll let the Ministry do whatever it wants, and the next time I marry her, it'll be because we wanted to. Plus, I'm really tired of everyone else making decisions for me."

Draco knew that he was lucky for how things had fallen into place, as though the spaces had been pre-made for exactly this. Weasley was lucky too, but as he considered this, his eyes swept across the crowd that had formed.

The Ministry had made an error that they would pay for both in compensation and the backlash that would continue for years.

They had paired witches and wizards together, promising a perfect match while disregarding everything to be considered regarding human nature.

The point had been to increase wizarding birth rates, and it hadn't lived up to their expectations, but what of the children that had been born? As he wondered for the parents that would ultimately separate, it was impossible to feel lucky, and if one more person said it to him, he was sure he'd snap at them.

The wizards behind the decision would certainly pay dearly for the choices they had made, and Draco looked forward to seeing Granger at the head of it, dragging them over hot coals.

From the Floo, he heard her humming and found her setting out a dish for Crooks in the kitchen. "You're home earlier than I thought you'd be. I thought you'd be late."

"Shift change. I'll be late the next two days."

She nodded, still bent down to pet Crooks when he asked how her day had been. "It was rather long. I took Scorpius with me to the orphanage today, but the only way I was able to do absolutely any paperwork was to let Mippy fawn over Scorpius for a few hours."

Draco knew how Mippy adored their son, and would always appear as soon as Scorpius did. "Oh?"

"While I finished drafting my proposal for regulation of Wolfsbane for a final vote in the Wizengamot, Mippy bathed Scorpius, fed him lunch, and played with him. Some days, I]think his first word will be Mippy."

"He adores her." Draco stepped behind her while she reached into the cupboard, pulling her hair to the side and pressed his lips to her neck. "Congratulations on the final proposal. When will you present it?"

She shivered while his lips moved across her shoulder, tongue darting out to slide along her pulse. "On Friday. Your father is certain they're going to pass anything I put on the table so I'll stop spearheading the several lawsuits posed against them."

"Oh, but you're not going to do that, are you?" His teeth grazed her skin, and then he blew a breath over the same spot, watching her fingers grip the counter top.

"No, she tilted her head to the side, and pressed her arse into him. "But I'll let them think that if they like."

Curling his fingers along her jaw, he breathed out a laugh. "How very Slytherin of you."

She turned to face him, and reached up to cup his jaw. "Despite what it took to get here, I'm glad to have this life with you." Granger wiped dust away from his shoulder. "Though, we could have gotten here much sooner had you—"

Slamming his lips to hers, and gripping her by the waist to deposit her on top of the counter, he growled, "Will you ever let that go?"

Her laughter was muffled by him, and she snaked her arms around his shoulders and pulled him forward by digging her heels into his arse. "Probably not." Granger gnawed her bottom lip and his wandering hands stilled. "It's not—nothing's wrong, Draco, It's just that we received a letter from the Ministry today."

"Hermione—"

She pecked his lips. "Stop it. We're fine, but the Ministry will dissolve our marriage if we don't reply. It's been a year and we thought we didn't need to let them know since we've stayed together, but— Well, I know we're happy but I also know that this was never part of the plan. So, I worried that maybe you would like to think about it—" Granger wouldn't meet his eyes as she tugged at the two rings joined together on her finger.

He laid his hand over hers. "I'll marry you again tomorrow, if you want. Fuck, I'll force someone to marry us right now, if you want."

Shaking her head, Granger's laugh was sharp, and she realized her error the moment it happened. "Oh, no."

Scorpius woke with a loud, shrill cry and Draco snorted. "Let me put him to bed." He kissed her forehead, and pushed her wedding set back onto her finger. "I'll meet you in the bedroom."

"I'll be sure to be appropriately dressed." She winked and hopped off the counter.

He opened the door to the nursery and found Scorpius standing up, fingers gripping the side of his crib. It had become a habit, and Draco grinned when Scorpius smacked the wood. "Shh, it's alright." He scooped him up.

Swaying usually worked better when Granger did it, and Draco would swear their son did have a favorite. Slowly though, his crying began to quiet and he wiped Scorpius' cheeks. "Now, I'm just going to lay you down so I can—"

"Mum."

He froze, gaze sliding down to Scorpius' slightly pink face. "What did you say?"

"Mum."

Draco covered Scorpius' ears and yelled, "Granger!" He heard the padding of her footsteps immediately and she entered the room while fastening a robe around her waist. "I think Scorpius has something to say to you." He had not considered the fact that Scorpius might not even say it again.

"Draco, you cannot yell like that. I thought something—"

Scorpius mumbled, "Mum," and leaned toward her.

She shot forward, and bundled Scorpius into her arms, lifting him up until he giggled. Granger must have noticed him staring at her, and she must have seen what he knew was a dopey smile on his face too, but she continued to toss Scorpius up and catch him until he said it again.

He was a lucky bloke, and she was right—she always was, really.

Eventually, everything connects.

In case you missed it, I posted on tumblr two months ago that I'm not writing HP fanfic anymore. This still holds true in the fact that I'm not going to be actively posting, or writing, but if I finish something I will drop it all at once. I happened to finish all of this at once.

I hope it's enjoyable, and sorry if it's not and hope the world is treating you well! You can reach me in the comments, FFN messages, or on tumblr at mrsren.