A week after Draco appeared at Ron and Hermione's flat, he had settled into his own space at Grimmauld Place. Despite the overall lack of peace and quietness with all seven Potter children being in the house, Draco found the living conditions a step up from his previous hiding spaces. Even the awkwardness between Harry, Ginny, and Draco was more bearable than being frozen in the Forest of Dean.
Draco's sudden reemergence made the Order call another meeting to discuss the situation. It was just after ten at night when the long and unfortunate unproductive meeting finished. Mostly everyone had left with the exception of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Draco. Hermione and Ron had volunteered to stay behind to help clean up the dining room where the Order met.
"You don't have to do that, Hermione," said Ginny as she and Hermione were cleaning up the dining room table.
"I'm not helpless, Ginny," said Hermione. "I'm just pregnant - oh, what's this?" Hermione noticed a mechanical hippogriff on the ground and tried to pick it up, despite having issues reaching down to the ground. However, Ginny knew better than to interfere and merely stood back as Hermione slowly knelt to the ground.
"Where do you want me to put it?" asked Hermione reaching out her arm for Ginny's support to help her up.
"Just give it to Gornie or Chessa," said Ginny helping her up. "They can put it back in the twins' room. "
"Wait, Ron!" said Hermione, seeing her husband walk by as he nibbled on a biscuit. "Put this upstairs in the twins' room?"
"Um, sure?" said Ron, as Hermione waddled over to him and shoved the toy in his arms.
With the toy in hand, walked up to the first floor. However, before he made his way up to the first floor, he wanted to see the Black family tapestry. One of the things he and Hermione were struggling with was naming their baby. Both of them were convinced they were having a boy, but were stuck on names.
Ron opened the door to the room, which was an office for Harry to use when he was home. To his surprise, Ron saw Draco standing in the center of the room, looking at the portraits.
"Oh, Malfoy," said Ron, mumbling awkwardly.
"Weasley," said Draco, slightly amused by Ron's reaction. "What's that?"
"This? Um...it's belongs to the twins," said Ron.
"Ah, yes," said Draco. "The ones that are always climbing something at the platform."
"Yeah," laughed Ron. "They are a handful."
"They're just like..." said Draco catching himself before finishing the statement.
"Fred and George," said Ron. For a while, Ron and Draco stood in silence. It was strange for the former rivals to have a civil conversation. Ron realized that Draco wanted to make amends for all of the horrid things he had done. Perhaps Ron could give a little forgiveness to Draco. After all, he managed to raise a good kid like Scorpius, so Draco must not be that bad anymore.
"I've never seen this tree before," said Draco. "Mother told me about it, but I didn't expect it to be so expansive."
"Yeah," said Ron, rather awkwardly. "It's a nice tree."
Draco looked at Ron with raised eyebrows, but declined to say anything as he noticed Ron's cheeks blushing.
"That's my mother, right there," said Draco, pointing to his mother's portrait. "And her parents...my aunt Bellatrix...and I guess that the charred portrait is my aunt Andromeda, which means that me and Lupin's wife were cousins."
"Wicked," said Ron. "And that makes Teddy your second cousin."
"Who?" asked Draco.
"Teddy Lupin," said Ron. "That was Lupin and Tonks' son."
"Her name was Tonks?" asked Draco.
"Well, Nymphadora," said Ron. "But everyone called her Tonks."
"Right," said Draco. "Shame I didn't get to meet my cousin properly. I finally met Aunt Andromeda after Scorpius was born, although it take her a while to trust me. Mother refused to say her name in our home growing up. I'm going to guess that anyone who's face has been charred is not welcomed in the Black family?"
"You'd be correct," said Ron, walking towards one of the portraits. "See this one here? That's Cedrella Black, my grandmother. She was in love my grandfather Septimus Weasley, my dad's dad. Her family didn't approve of her marriage to a blood traitor so they disowned her. They never met my dad or my uncles."
"It was all so stupid," said Draco with a tinge of anger in his tone. "The whole blood purity thing. My parents never came around to Muggles in the end - they stopped believing in Voldemort. Astoria's the one who changed me. She taught me how to love and accept others. Thanks to her we have the most beautiful boy in the world, and she had him all while risking her own health."
"What's wrong with Astoria?" asked Ron never hearing about this before.
"Astoria has a blood curse," said Draco. "It's been in her family for generations. Ever since Scorpius's birth, she's getting weaker each year. She should have been dead by Scorpius's fourth year, but she was determined to see him pass his O.W.L.S. Now that she made it to that date, she wants to see him pass his N.E.W.T.S. That's the kind of person she is - she thinks about everyone else but herself. And it's not just me and Scorpius she thinks about, she thinks about people she's never met before. That's the kind of person I wanted to be, and that's the kind of person she made me."
Ron noticed that tears were forming in Draco's eyes. If Ron was separated from Hermione and the kids, he would be beside himself. Draco leaned his head back slightly to avoid tears from falling down his face. Suddenly, Draco felt a hand lightly placed on his shoulder. When he towards his head, Draco saw Ron giving him a small lopsided smile.
"Don't worry, mate, we'll find her," said Ron.