Chapter 2
James looked absolutely delighted by whatever they'd been doing when Hermione arrived at WWW and she had to stop herself from interrogating George about the products with which he had undoubtedly filled his nephew's (probably now magically expanded) pockets. Instead she just gathered up the boys, thanked George for giving her time to shop, sent her love to his family, and left. When they reached the entrance to the Leaky, Hermione let out a sigh of relief that they'd made it down the alley without anybody bothering them and smiled when she saw Malfoy and Scorpius waiting.
"Who's that?" James asked loudly as they approached the pair, tugging on her hand eagerly.
"Don't be rude James," she chided gently, "this is Mr. Malfoy and his son Scorpius, can you say hello?"
"Hello!" He said obediently, grinning brightly at the blond- James had never met a stranger, from the stories Hermione had heard he was very much like his namesake in that way.
"Malfoy, this is James, and this," she jiggled the baby in her arms slightly, "well, this is Albus," she said, wishing not for the first time that Harry had named the poor child something, anything else.
"Hello," he responded awkwardly; which was just bizarre for her to witness from such a self-assured man.
"Alright, let's go inside and ask Mrs. Longbottom if we can use her floo."
"Can I ask her?" Asked James.
"Of course you can!" Answered Hermione.
"Granger," Malfoy said in a low voice, looking around uncomfortably, "are you sure about this?"
She turned to look at him.
"Don't worry, Hannah is one of my best friends, she'll be... confused at first, but, she trusts me. Plus, you have a secret weapon."
"What's that?" He frowned.
She pointed to Scorpius. "She'll be completely unable to resist that kind of adorable."
"So, she's exactly like you," he countered, "I could tell you were putty in his hands the second you saw him."
She snorted softly but just smiled at him. She couldn't deny that he had a point.
"You know, people say he looks just like me," he continued, the arrogance that she was accustomed to coming from him, but hadn't seen much of today, was back in his voice; it was strangely relieving.
"Are you seriously asking me to tell you that I find you adorable?" She scoffed.
"No, on me it's handsome." He puffed out his chest.
"Ha!" She rolled her eyes and shook her head as they approached the bar.
"Hello Mrs. Longbottom!" James chirped, scrambling up onto a stool so that he could speak to her face to face.
"James! How are you?" She greeted him with a wide smile.
"I'm good."
"And how's your daddy?" She asked him, but her eyes drifted to Hermione in question.
Precocious James beat his godmother to the punch, unaware of the adults' underlying communication.
"He's good too, we're having an Aunt Hermione day so that he could sleep. He's probably bored by now," he surmised sagely.
Hannah visibly suppressed a laugh but she shot another questioning glance at Hermione.
"I just thought he could use some alone time, but he's as well as can be expected," she said lightly, disguising her meaning from little ears.
"Neville thought that maybe they could go out next weekend," Hannah suggested.
Hermione nodded. "That's a good idea. He would probably enjoy getting out after Albus' party. Have Neville owl Harry. Maybe you and I could do something that night as well?"
Hannah smiled. "That would be fun. I'll owl you this week."
James watched the conversation and when it seemed to be winding down he cut in.
"Mrs. Longbottom, can we use your floo?"
"Of course you can, come on back." She motioned them behind the bar and into her office.
Hermione watched her startle when she finally recognized that Malfoy was with them, and was, in fact, accompanying them, but she didn't say anything.
"Malfoy, I'll go through with Albus first and James will follow, he knows the address. I have to adjust my wards to let you through but it shouldn't take more than a minute. I'll let you know when it's done." She turned to her friend, "Hannah, you remember Draco Malfoy?"
She just nodded.
"And Malfoy, this is Hannah Longbottom, she was Hannah Abbott at school."
"Hufflepuff," he said, by way of confirming that he recognized her.
"And here I thought we were always overlooked," she responded jovially.
Hermione smiled, pleased to see that through her gentle teasing Hannah was once again demonstrating that she was probably the sweetest person in the world; she'd known she wouldn't let her down.
"I'm sorry, I was just so busy trying to make Granger here miserable that I simply didn't have the time to devote to torturing your lot," he deadpanned.
Hermione met Hannah's eyes, lips twitching uncontrollably. She snuck a peak at Malfoy who was studying his nails as if he was bored, but the cool attitude he was trying to project was completely ruined by the baby draped over his shoulder, sleeping peacefully, his hands fisting his father's robes. She burst out laughing and she heard Hannah giggling beside her. When she got a hold of herself she looked at Malfoy again. He met her gaze and seemed very pleased with himself indeed.
"Merlin Malfoy, I didn't know you had it in you," she said as the last of her giggles subsided.
James squirmed next to her.
"Okay, we should go before this one gets any more impatient," she gestured to the little boy and turned to the fireplace to grab a handful of floo powder. She threw it into the fire and called out her address. "Thanks Hannah," she said before stepping into the flames.
Two minutes later they were all-minus Hannah- standing in her living room.
"Can I watch the telly?" James asked, though he was already running over to grab the remote.
"You may," she responded, "I'll be right back Malfoy," she said as she used her wand to spread a blanket on the floor and arrange some toys on top of it and then deposited Albus on it as well.
She made her way to the guest bathroom and searched under the sink and through the container where she kept some supplies for the boys. Quickly finding the nearly full tube of cream she returned to the living room to find Malfoy standing exactly where she'd left him, staring at the telly.
"What is that?" He asked as she walked up next to him, though his eyes never left the screen.
"A telly, its full name is a television. It's a machine that brings entertainment programs, broadcasts of sports, news, lots of things, into your house, into each box like that one for you to watch. It's just like the wireless, but with pictures. James knows how to operate it, he's turned it to a children's program."
"You can choose what you watch?"
"Yes, there are lots of different choices at any given time. They print directories so that you know what comes on at what time. It tells you a little bit about each program. If wizards had these devices you could watch quidditch matches as they were being played from your own living room."
Malfoy flicked his eyes to her face, presumably to see if she was lying to him, but she just looked at him calmly. She did so enjoy watching purebloods' reactions to technology, they were consistently both amazed and incredulous. Even the least prejudiced pureblood, in her experience, still held the deep seeded belief that they were superior to muggles. Usually, five minutes with a telly or a laptop computer blew that right out of the water. It was very much like watching muggles be exposed to magic for the first time.
"Granger, that is remarkable," he admitted.
"It is, isn't it? Muggles are just used to it, I imagine they feel about television the way you feel about magic."
Or at least muggles who lived in the first world and had daily access to this kind of technology did, she thought, but she kept it to herself. That would be too much to explain.
"Aunt Hermione," James interrupted, peeking up over the top of the sofa to peer at them, "can we watch 'The Lion King?'"
It was James' favorite movie. If the kid was sorted anywhere other than Gryffindor everybody who knew him would be shocked. So his request was no surprise and Hermione just found herself wondering about Malfoy's reaction to a cartoon.
"Sure, I need to put your brother down for a nap first and then we'll put it on."
She turned to Malfoy, encouraged by his obvious curiosity.
"'The Lion King' is the title of a movie. It's like a television program but is pre-recorded and stored on a disc, you can play it anytime you want. If you'd like you can stay and watch it, if you don't have anywhere else to be. I think you would enjoy it. There's a portable cot in my guest room closet, we can bring it out and you can let Scorpius finish his nap in it. I'll put Albus in my room."
He gave her a measuring look.
"I'm serious Malfoy, I think you'd like the movie. You certainly don't have to," she hastened to add, worried that she'd read him wrong. "I have the cream here," she held up the tube, "I won't be insulted if you'd prefer to take it and go."
"Actually Granger," he interrupted, "I'd like to stay, if you're sure I'm not imposing."
"Not at all. As much as I love my time with the boys, it's nice to have another adult around," she said truthfully, because as implausible as it seemed she was enjoying Malfoy's company.
He gifted her with the first genuine smile she'd ever seen from him. He was a very handsome man, even with a scowl on his face, but that smile made him nearly breathtaking. She quickly looked away before he could read her thoughts on her face.
"I know exactly what you mean." His eyes drifted to his son who was still sleeping in his arms.
"Let me show you the guest room," she said.
Thirty minutes later Hermione and Malfoy were tucked into separate ends of the couch, James cuddled into her. She powered up the movie and settled in to observe the two wizards at her side. They did not disappoint.
She always loved watching James, who had seen this movie dozens of times, but remained thrilled every time. He happily sang along to the soundtrack and did little dances in her arms. But today she thought even that took a backseat to experiencing Malfoy watch his very first film. It was an absolute pleasure. The sheer amazement on his face made her joyous. His eyes were wide and for the first time he seemed to have completely dropped his guard; she started to think that they could be friends.
James began to wane by the time Simba was singing about how he just couldn't wait to be king. She let him fall asleep against her, stroked his hair as he napped and continued to watch Malfoy. When it was over he had more questions than he could articulate properly. Words just fell out of his mouth, sometimes in the wrong order. She tried not to let him see how amused she was and simply did her best to answer them, but some of the more technical elements of cartoon development, and film production in general, eluded her. In typical Hermione fashion she promised herself she'd read up on the subject. But she felt quite smug that she'd engaged his interest so completely.
She woke James before he could sleep too long as she didn't want to ruin what was supposed to be a relaxing day for Harry by sending him back a toddler who wouldn't go to bed that night. He was a little cranky until she set him up playing with one of the products that George had given him. It looked like a normal box of crayons, but was different in that whatever you drew with them disappeared within eight hours. He was quickly festooning the walls of her flat with his creations. Hermione found herself simultaneously shaking her head at George's ingenuity, and reminding herself to tell Harry that he needed to give James a repeat of the talk they'd just had about how he could only color walls with those particular crayons.
The babies woke up in turn and they released them into the living room to play on the blanket that was still covering the rug. There was no mention of Malfoy and Scorpius leaving, they just talked while the kids played, and when James got bored with his art they moved from the couch to the floor to more easily mind them. James drifted toward Malfoy- presumably because he was a man- when he started playing with his toy cars, which Hermione found ironic given how little she was sure Malfoy knew about cars. However, to his credit Malfoy didn't hesitate and was soon using his wand to create some sort of race as the little boy watched and cheered. Albus and Scorpius were happy to just spend their time crawling all over the adults. Hermione was pleased and relieved that Malfoy did not seem at all off-put by the fact that James and Albus were Potters, especially considering how much they looked like their father. She had to concede that perhaps she wasn't giving him enough credit, he'd been nothing but pleasant and gracious all day.
All in all it was a fun afternoon and she wasn't looking forward to when they all left and her apartment was quiet again. There had been a time when she had treasured her solitude, but in recent years she'd begun to long for a time when she would have somebody with whom she shared her bed. When her home was, hopefully, filled with the laughter of her own children.
"Are we going to have noodles?" James piped up suddenly, pulling her from her thoughts.
"I promised you we would, didn't I?" Hermione answered.
She turned to Malfoy who was looking at her curiously. She was fairly sure he'd caught her daydreaming. "'Noodles' to James means Pad Thai. Have you ever had it?" She asked hurriedly hoping to disguise her embarrassment.
"Yes, in Thailand. Are you telling me you can get it here in England?"
"You can. I know of an excellent Thai place."
He just stared at her while she made a mental note to ask him about his travels at a later date. She hoped she'd get the chance.
"Are you asking me to stay?" He asked eventually.
"Yes, I don't feel that we've quite finished our discussion," she explained with more confidence than she felt. She just knew she wasn't ready for him to leave. "I have baby food, if you're concerned about that. I wouldn't let Scorpius go hungry," she added with a smirk.
He just continued to stare at her intently like she was a puzzle he was trying to solve. She frowned. "What?" she asked.
"They're here a lot, aren't they?" He gestured to James and Albus.
She took a deep breath as she considered her response but quickly decided to just tell him the truth. He was going to find out anyway, she wouldn't be surprised if the Prophet had the story in the morning.
"Yes, over the past few months especially. I assume you've heard that Harry and Ginny are divorcing?"
He just nodded.
"There have been a lot of meetings. Harry has had the boys most of the time because he's always been their primary caregiver. He trusts me to watch them, and we're close enough that he doesn't feel like he's putting me out if he has to drop them off at the last minute. The divorce was finalised yesterday. That's why I gave Harry the day to himself, and that's what Hannah was referring to earlier when she asked about him."
He nodded again. "That sucks, I know from personal experience," he commiserated.
She was surprised he'd volunteered that information. She bit her lip and thought for a moment.
"Would you like to talk about it?" She offered hesitantly.
He looked around, obviously checking on the kids, but none of them were paying any attention.
"I assume you know that I'm going through a divorce as well? The Daily Prophet reported as much."
"Yes," she said, reluctant to admit it because she tried to avoid the gossip in the press, or gossip in general, but this had been pretty big news. Pureblood divorces were rare enough but a Malfoy divorce was unprecedented.
He just nodded, looking both unsurprised and unperturbed.
"Our marriage wasn't arranged," he began to explain, "as hard as it may be for you to believe it, my parents don't exactly believe in that."
"Oh?" She questioned, trying to sound mild.
He quirked an eyebrow in a way that made her think he didn't buy it- her opinion of the elder Malfoys could hardly come as a surprise to him.
"No, you see, while my parents have been betrothed since they were fourteen, it was their decision. They wanted to offer me the same choice. However, they are still very traditional. So, when the war was over and my education was complete yet I still didn't have any serious prospects, they decided it was time to step in and aid my efforts," he explained, not quite hiding his bitterness.
"What does that mean?" She wondered with a contemplative frown.
"They arranged for me to meet with appropriate witches," he shrugged. "Astoria was one of the first, and she was nice. It wasn't such a chore to spend time with her. Looking back, it was the fact that she was still at Hogwarts and literally unavailable to spend much time with me that contributed much of the appeal. But I wasn't thinking very far ahead, I was just trying to get past the awful things I'd seen and done." He chuckled, it was an angry, bitter sound. "I should have been honest with my parents and told them that I wasn't ready for a courtship, much less a wife, but I didn't realize it myself. And before I knew it we'd been courting for a year. Our families had expectations, Astoria had expectations. I knew I wasn't madly in love with her, or anything like that, but a lot of people have marriages of convenience. We got along, I thought we could have a comfortable life together."
He stared at the ground the entire time he spoke and fiddled with the threads of the blanket, it was obvious that this was extremely difficult for him to talk about and she felt like she should give him some reassurance.
"I stayed with someone for three years and hid myself in my job because I knew that our relationship wasn't working, but he was one of my best friends and I was afraid to just walk away. I probably would have married him eventually, if I hadn't caught him cheating," she blurted.
Though he had clearly been listening the whole time it wasn't until the last statement left her mouth that he whipped his head around to face her fully. He looked furious, his eyes intense and stormy. She never knew that grey could be such an expressive colour.
"You're talking about Weasley, aren't you?" He demanded.
She nodded dumbly, a little unnerved by his sudden anger.
"Weasley cheated on you?" He spat the word 'cheated' like it tasted dirty in his mouth; she knew the feeling.
Again, she nodded.
"What an idiot," he hissed, voice full of rage. "I already knew that he was an idiot, but I didn't know it was possible to be that stupid. I mean, you are so far out of his league; you're playing professional quidditch and he's tossing around a quaffle behind whatever hovel he lives in. But by some miracle he had you, and then he went and threw it away by cheating on you? I always just assumed you'd come to your senses and rid yourself of him."
She just shrugged. He didn't seem to notice as he was still in the middle of a spectacular tirade.
"Was it with that tart he married or some other brainless slag?" He asked, his tone acidic.
She hesitated for a moment, a latent reflex from years spent defending Ron from the man sitting next to her. But she quickly remembered that her ex had made his bed, and he could lie in it. And- as much as she hated to admit it- she was flattered by Malfoy's anger. Only Harry, George, and- of course- her parents, had been quite so offended on her behalf.
"It was with Lavender," she confirmed. "They were on and off again for years before they finally married."
Malfoy snorted. "Which I'm sure they only did because they had to. Who did they think they were fooling with that ridiculous, overblown affair splashed all over the papers and then just five months later a birth announcement? Did they really think the rest of Britain couldn't count? My mother was appalled. If you're foolish enough to get yourself into that situation you should at least be discreet."
Hermione wanted to laugh at how Ron's shotgun- to use the muggle term- wedding had offended Malfoy's sensibilities. By the time it had happened her heart was mended and she'd found it all quite humorous, watching from the sidelines as she had. Though poor Harry had gotten pulled right into the center of the huge mess.
"Well, Lavender always was quite flighty, perhaps she forgot to take her potion? Merlin knows Ron couldn't be counted on to use the charm. And neither of them are what you would call discreet. Anyway, the inconsequential fact that she was pregnant was never going to keep Lavender from getting her dream wedding," she said sarcastically, with a chuckle.
His eyes flew to hers again.
"Well I'm glad you can see the humor in it Granger." He let out what sounded like an actual sigh of relief. "Because that is," he leaned over to speak directly to her as not to be heard by any of the boys, "seriously fucked up."
She bit back a smile. "I know, but it's been a long time. I think that's the first time anybody has ever compared me to a professional quidditch player in any capacity, by the way. Thank you."
They both laughed and she shifted so that she she was facing him.
"Anyway, we were talking about you. You said you thought you could have a comfortable life together?" She prompted.
"Yes," he confirmed. "So, I proposed and she and our mothers planned a lavish wedding, and then we were married. I did my best to make her happy, she actually wanted to live in the Manor so I moved back there, even though I offered to buy her anything she wanted of our own. But I think she liked what she perceived to be the prestige of living in Malfoy Manor. She also had a generous allowance, enough to buy anything she could possibly have wanted. I never expected her to have a job, and she had freedom to socialize, even to travel on her own, within reason. She was my wife, after all, it wouldn't have done to have her gallivanting all over the world while I stayed here. Anyway, I think she was content, for awhile at least. I, on the other hand, was lonely almost from day one. It's not her fault. I just expected more substance than was ever there. I was a victim of my own stupid hope, because the fact is that we had little in common and no interest in learning or discussing the things the other enjoyed. There wasn't much passion between us to begin with and she preferred not to share a room, much less a bed. We worked dutifully to produce an heir," he said wryly, "but that was it. It was basically a sham. But we probably would have kept going on like that- I'm sure you know how uncommon divorce is amongst purebloods- but then she had her first miscarriage."
Hermione gasped.
"Oh, Draco, I'm so sorry!" The use of his first name was unintentional, but it seemed right in the moment.
She thought of Astoria Malfoy, all willowy limbs and modest curves, not exactly the type of body built for carrying babies. It was the curse of a lot of pureblood families. He waved her off.
"We always knew it was a possibility."
She didn't think that made it any less heartbreaking.
"Anyway," he said, clearly not wanting to dwell, "that seemed to bring us together for a time, a common disappointment and a common goal. But when she suffered another… I don't know, it was like she blamed me."
There was a long pause but Hermione didn't dare break the silence.
"When she finally got pregnant with Scorp we were so careful with her health and about getting our hopes up. But she got further and further along and everything looked good. When we found out it was a boy she informed me that she'd done her duty and given me an heir. He would be our first and last child. And that's when I realized that my marriage had never been anything more than a business arrangement. I'm aware that some people do that, it's certainly perfectly acceptable in our social circles, but I just couldn't anymore."
Hermione was practically holding her breath at this point.
"She was more accepting of the idea than I anticipated when I started talking about divorce. But I didn't overthink that. I convinced myself that she felt the same way that I did, that it was a good solution. There was no animosity between us that I knew of; I thought we could co-parent our son but be free to find our own happiness. I must have been wrong though, I'm still trying to figure out what happened next."
His shoulders were hunched and he looked completely defeated. She'd had a hard time understanding why he was being so open with her, but she could see now that he needed this. He had to let it out, it had been eating him alive. She took a chance and reached over to take his hand. It was large and warm and felt good in hers and she was rewarded with a grateful squeeze.
"Tell me," she encouraged gently.
"The day Scorpius was born was by far the best day of my life. I was so happy, and Astoria just wasn't. I mean, I realize that she did all of the work and must have been exhausted. But he was our baby. From the moment they put him on her chest, she was just totally detached."
"That happens sometimes, after a woman gives birth." Hermione felt like she had to interrupt. "It's to do with hormones, the muggles call it postpartum depression."
He just nodded, not meeting her eyes. "I know, the healer told me. They tried several different potions and had her spend some time alone with him. It didn't make any difference. I think she was just humoring us by even trying. We went home and she basically informed me that he was my son and she had done her part. I'm the one who named him, she never even tried to nurse him. When I went back to work I hired a nanny to take care of him. She didn't want any input, much less the responsibility of watching him herself."
He finally looked up.
"After a few weeks, once it became obvious that there was no point in us continuing to live together, she moved out and we began divorce proceedings. She never even tried to take him with her, which both relieved and horrified me. I didn't want her to take him away from me, but then again, what kind of mother refuses to see her child, much less fight for him? But I still hoped that she would come around. I thought that maybe she still had some lingering issues from the miscarriages and the pregnancy, or maybe just some latent anger with me that I hadn't seen before. We were never very in tune with each other, so it seemed possible. I was willing, even wanted, to share custody, but she never asked for it. Until about two months ago I thought our negotiations were winding down and that the divorce would soon be finalized. Then she suddenly made one final demand using Scorpius as a bargaining chip."
"What did she ask for?" She wondered aloud, aghast at the picture his words were painting.
"I'd given her pretty much everything she wanted. As far as I was concerned she'd given me a son, so she was welcome to whatever. My father was the only reason the talks even lasted as long as they did. He thought that she was being too demanding and we needed him to sign off on what she would get from the Malfoy estate in the settlement."
She nodded to acknowledge that she understood. Malfoy was in full control of House Black, but his father was still Head of House Malfoy so, strangely, at least to her muggleborn middle-classed brain, he would have been involved in his son's divorce. He continued, ignorant of her thoughts.
"But what she wanted was from me. She had never asked for custody of Scorpius and we had been going ahead the whole time with the understanding that I would get full custody. Then, all of a sudden, she's saying that in exchange for full custody she wants the Black villa in France, which has been in the family for generations. My lawyers have been searching for a suitable replacement, because I'd really rather it not fall out of family hands, but if I have to give it to her I will. Ideally, I'd want Scorpius to have his mother, but I can't trust him with somebody who would treat him so callously."
Hermione made an effort to school her features so that they wouldn't betray the disgust she felt. She tried to distract herself by glancing at the infant lying on his stomach in the middle of her living room having what looked like a clumsy, baby version of an arm wrestling competition with Albus. Her heart lurched. She didn't think she'd ever believe any baby was as beautiful and perfect as James or Albus. But he was gorgeous, his features cherubic, his smile open and happy; he came damn near close.
She thought of the way he'd allowed her to hold him, so trustingly in the apothecary; the way he'd grinned at his father after he got up from his nap. Malfoy had been right, she'd been putty in his little hands almost from the moment she'd set eyes on him. She'd already started to fall in love with him after only a few hours, and she hadn't carried him in her body for nine months.
She understood the complexities of hormonal imbalances, postpartum depression, and how mothers sometimes had difficulties bonding with their babies. She liked to think she was sensitive to the issue of mental illness. But what Malfoy was describing did not appear to be the actions of a troubled woman, but a cold and calculated move to get something she wanted by manipulating the feelings of a loving father.
As if sensing Hermione's eyes on him, Scorpius turned his head and looked at her, and then began immediately powering his limbs to scoot his way over to her. When he reached her he plopped himself onto her lap and giggled at his accomplishment. Her arms went around him automatically.
"Well hello," she chuckled, running her fingers through his pale hair. Each individual strand appeared nearly translucent so its overall thickness was deceptive. "Did you get tired of your game?"
He just giggled again, like he understood her question, and snuggled against her breasts. She supposed it was simply on instinct, given what Malfoy had just told her about how he was never breastfed.
"Why is it that babies get to do that with impunity?" Malfoy asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously as he allowed his gaze to drop to the place where his son currently had his face buried.
"Malfoy!" She admonished, but she kept her voice low as not to startle Scorpius.
He just laughed. She had to bite back a retort about him wanting to nuzzle her breasts because there was no way he was actually flirting with her, it was just friendly teasing and she didn't want to embarrass herself. And anyway, he was still married. Given her own experience with infidelity she'd sworn never to get involved with an attached man, no matter how technical that attachment.
"Can I ask you a question?" She wondered.
"I'd be shocked if you didn't have a whole list," he quipped.
Well, she supposed he had gone to school with her for six years, that was a fair assessment.
"Is there something special about this villa? The one in France that Astoria is apparently willing to trade her son for?" She closed her mouth with a snap when she realized what she'd just said, refusing to allow it to run away from her any further. But he seemed unperturbed by her blunt assessment.
"No, she's always been fond of it, but I actually prefer the house the Malfoy side of the family has in Aix-en-Provence. Probably because I grew up going there. She does love the property, but I think a bigger motivating factor is that it's been in the Black family for so long. It's the oldest property in the estate. The manor house in Britain was destroyed several centuries ago and was never rebuilt. The Greengrasses possess only moderate wealth and power; twenty years ago her marriage to me would have been a major coup. I think she's looking for that coup now in obtaining an ancestral home of one of the oldest and most prestigious families in Europe."
As arrogant as his comments about his family sounded, she knew them to be the simple truth.
"So, aside from you not wanting it to fall out of the family, you wouldn't have any objection to, say, her living there?" She asked. "Please tell me if I'm overstepping," she hastened to add.
"Not at all." He seemed amused. "And please tell me what solution the brightest witch of our age is apparently cooking up that a team of wretchedly expensive solicitors couldn't."
He was challenging her, but he wasn't mocking her. She smiled to herself.
"Okay, well, as I said, let her live there. Until she dies it can be hers, and then its returned to the Black family. You could even draw up a contract stating that it will go to Scorpius' descendants. They will be, after all, her descendants as well. You can include in that same contract any limitations you may want to place on changes she's allowed to make to the property. You can have the contents of your settlement sealed and she can rightly say she won it in the divorce but nobody will know the technicalities. That will give her her coup, but you won't have sacrificed anything as Head of House."
He just stared at her, blinking rapidly, and she started to worry that she'd overlooked something and had just made an outrageously stupid suggestion.
"That's brilliant."
"What?" She asked stupidly.
"That's brilliant!" He turned to face her, a grin splitting his face wide open. "That's absolutely brilliant. Simple, and just brilliant. Merlin, what is the point of wretchedly expensive solicitors?" Se asked rhetorically, sounding amused rather than upset.
"Well good," she answered with a smug little quirk to her lips.
"Merlin, I can't think of any reason she'd turn this down. This could be over soon," he marveled.
He reached over and snagged his son out of her lap and gave him a smacking kiss on the top of his head. Then he looked at her, hesitated for just a beat, and then leaned over to press another, much lighter kiss against her own cheek. "Thank you, Granger. I owe you so much for today."
She looked away to hide her blush.
"You don't owe me anything," she said seriously. "But we should order food, it's getting late," she deflected.
She hurried into the kitchen to give her cheeks time to return to normal color and to find a menu and a bottle of wine. She returned a few minutes later with two full glasses and the menu which she pushed into Malfoy's hands and ordered him to point out what he liked. When they'd finally made their selections- a variety because he hadn't eaten much of what the restaurant offered and she wanted him to be able to try some new things- she placed their order. He was nearly as enthralled by her telephone conversation as he had been by the telly and that gave her the most ridiculous sense of accomplishment.
Author's Note: Wow, y'all the response to this story has been tremendous so far and I can't thank you enough for it! I've been waiting to share this for awhile and it makes it all the sweeter that you guys seem to like it! This chapter is a bit of a monster, I can't promise they will all be this long but I wanted to get them through this discussion so that you had some idea what was going on with Draco and, to a lesser extent, Hermione. As a side note there's a Pinterest board for this story as there are for all my full length fics. Check it out if you'd like, I'm RiverWriter there too. I'd like to thank by awesome beta, Weestarmeggie. And thanks to you all for reading!