Chapter 17
Scorpius' first word was 'no,' screamed at Draco in a way that made it clear he fully understood what it meant. It had made Hermione laugh so hard she cried.
It was just over a week after the Malfoys had moved into their new house, the two of them and Hermione had been eating dinner. Draco was feeding Scorpius a jar of mashed peas, which he clearly hated, but Draco was adamant that he finish. Personally, Hermione thought he was being overly stubborn about it- Scorpius was usually a good eater, there was no need to force food on him that he obviously didn't like- but she also wasn't sure it was her place to say anything about it.
As a result there was far more of the mushy substance on Scorpius, and to a lesser extent Draco, than had actually made its way into the baby's mouth. Finally, when it was clear that they were both at the end of their ropes and Hermione was about to volunteer to take over before Draco's temper erupted, Scorpius just grabbed his father's wrist and shoved the spoon holding the offensive food away from his face with impressive force screeching, "no, no, no!" the whole time.
Everything went still. Hermione glanced between Draco and Scorpius, the little boy- who had been on the verge of a tantrum was now looking quite pleased with himself and Draco was just staring at him. Hermione felt like she could actually see his mind working, trying to decide how to react.
If he felt anything like her, he was absolutely giddy with happiness, but also felt a responsibility not to praise Scorpius lest he misunderstand.
But Hermione couldn't help herself, she started to giggle. She clapped a hand over her mouth but it didn't help. She just started to laugh harder, wrapping an arm around herself as she tried to hold it in. She looked up to see Draco and Scorpius with identical expressions of confusion on their faces. And that only increased her amusement.
And then Draco's eyes narrowed and he dropped the spoon that he was still holding a few feet in front of Scorpius' mouth. "You think this is funny, witch?" He growled, and then he reached for her and she bolted.
Pinning her down and tickling her was his new favorite form of entertainment and she wasn't going to allow herself to be so easily caught. She sprinted from the dining room into the kitchen and then made her way around the island hoping to confuse him before she ran towards another part of the house- the kitchen still seemed to leave him utterly disoriented- but, unfortunately for her, his legs were much longer than hers and he captured her with an arm around her waist as she attempted to run out of the kitchen towards the main living room.
He pulled her back against his chest, "exactly what was so hilarious about that?" He growled.
"His first word was 'no!'" She cackled, wiping the tears from her face.
"Yes, I heard it. So what?"
"It's just that it was so very Malfoy of him. He's just so sweet that sometimes I forget he's actually your child!"
He went still and for a moment she was afraid she'd taken her teasing too far. But then he attacked, digging his fingers into her sides in the way he knew would have her screaming with laughter. "Take it back," he demanded.
"I can't! It's true!" She howled as she tried to capture his hands and stop the torture, but he was so much stronger than her, she never stood a chance.
"Admit it, you can't resist Malfoy men. You're crazy about us," he insisted.
She snorted as a thought occurred to her and she looked over her shoulder at him and attempted to smirk through her laughter. "I don't think you'll see me allowing your father to kiss me anytime soon."
He went still again and then he groaned and buried his face in her shoulder. "That was about ten steps too far, Hermione, that was a picture I did not need in my head."
"You're the one who said it," she retorted.
"Okay, okay, truce," he relented. "And for the record, my father has only ever kissed my mother, and only on the cheek at that."
"Your existence suggests otherwise," she snickered at his childish refusal to acknowledge his parents as sexual beings.
"The fairies brought me to them. My mother told me so and there's not a single thing you could say to convince me otherwise," he insisted.
"Whatever you say," she patted his hands condescendingly.
"And we're officially done talking about this," he declared and then he began to kiss and nip at her neck and she melted against him.
"Draco," she sighed, annoyed at her weakness for him, at her complete inability to deny him. Not that she wanted to at the moment, but it was the principle of the matter.
He turned her in his arms, a beaming smile on his face when he came into view. "He said his first word."
"He did," she confirmed with her own smile.
"That's pretty great, right? I mean, I knew he'd been working up to it but-"
She cut him off with a kiss, unwilling to allow him to downplay this moment, and when she pulled away she smiled up at him again. "Be proud of him Draco, I know I am. He's wonderful, and so smart. Which means we should probably get back in there before he figures out how to worm his way out of his highchair. Or worse, magic his way out."
Draco laughed and clasped one of her hands in his. "He's to young for that still isn't he?"
"How old were you?"
He winced at that. "He's growing so fast."
She squeezed his hand in commiseration. "And that little fit of temper he just had is what usually accompanies a bought of accidental magic, so we should probably be on our guard."
He just nodded in agreement. When they re-entered the dining room Hermione gasped at the sight of Scorpius who had apparently taken the opportunity of the adults' absence to smear the mashed peas that had been left on his tray and hands through his hair. As a result he bore an uncanny resemblance to his father in those years that Draco had worn his hair slicked back. It was not a particularly attractive look. But Hermione no longer saw that hateful little boy in the man she was growing to love and just laughed.
Draco groaned and Hermione took pity on him.
She walked over, unfastened the baby from his chair and lifted him into her arms. "Alright my mini-Draco, lets go get you cleaned up and give your father some time to lament that you're just like him," she said as she carried him out of the room.
"I heard that!" Draco called after her.
"You were meant to!" She shouted back.
Later, Hermione would wonder over the fact that Scorpius' first word hadn't been 'Dada.' She was growing closer to him by the day, but his father was the center of his universe, and had been, right from the beginning. But then she realized that while Draco was the primary influence in Scorpius' life, that there weren't really any other people in his life prompting him to call his father by name.
His nanny, Mrs. Pearson, was a stern woman. From what Hermione could tell, she took good care of Scorpius, and Hermione knew that Draco wouldn't have abided it if she didn't, but she was very old-fashioned. Hermione had only ever heard her refer to Draco in Scorpius' presence as 'your father.' And she couldn't imagine that Draco's parents spoke of him any differently. And aside from those three, she was the only one who was a regular part of Scorpius' life, and therefore the only one to prompt Scorpius to call him 'Daddy.'"
So she'd begun to do so at every opportunity. She couldn't imagine anything that would make Draco happier than to hear him say it. And she was doing so on a night in early December while Draco was in his office taking care of some business whilst she was feeding Scorpius in the kitchen that she heard the floo sound.
Hermione jumped, she knew that there were less than two handfuls of people who could be coming through, given that she'd devised and secured the wards on this house before Draco and Scorpius had moved in two and a half weeks before. None of them should pose a danger. But not all of them would be pleased to find her there either.
She moved into a protective stance in front of Scorpius and just hoped that Draco wasn't too absorbed in his work that he'd failed to hear the floo alarm and that he'd be down to deal with whatever matter was as hand momentarily.
"Draco!" A hauntingly familiar, shrieking voice resounded throughout the house.
She was dismayed, but not really surprised when Pansy Parkinson strode into the room.
The other witch visibly startled and then stopped in her tracks. "Granger? What the fuck?!"
"Parkinson," she responded, glancing at Scorpius to determine if he was disturbed by the woman's apparent ire, or her language, but he simply pounded on his highchair tray in protest that his dinner had been interrupted.
"Sorry, love," she murmured automatically as she poured out the cereal he'd been waiting for, glancing at the other witch out of the corner of her eye. Draco had told her that she wasn't a threat, it was his absolute conviction that had convinced her to add the witch to the wards of his new house, in spite of her own doubts.
He'd been very open about his feelings for the woman who was apparently his best friend- despite appearances, their relationship had apparently been purely platonic since they were sixteen, and given her relationship with her own best friend, she couldn't doubt him. And she wasn't actually threatened by Pansy, she was just uneasy, the other witch had continually cut her down in their years at school, but she'd been mostly out of the country for years so- unlike with Draco- she hadn't actually had the opportunity to view her any differently than she had at Hogwarts. Though Hermione acknowledged the hypocrisy in being dubious that she'd changed, she couldn't help it. And that especially didn't mean that she was prepared to face the woman without any warning. In fact, she was quite certain she could speak to Astoria with more composure.
Luckily, that was when Draco came, quite literally, sliding into the room- his socked feet coasting him along the hardwood floor.
"Pansy, what are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" She scoffed. "Draco, are you kidding me! Your letters have become upbeat, the last one was downright cheerful! I was worried!" She opened her mouth to continue her rant when she suddenly stopped and just stared at Draco, looking him up and down. "What are you wearing, and where in Merlin's name are we?! And don't even get me started on this situation!" She gestured vaguely in Hermione's direction. "I supposed it's too much to hope that she's the new nanny!"
Draco's expression turned cold. He walked around his friend and took Hermione into his arms. "I understand that this is a shock, but you will be respectful of my girlfriend or you can leave." He left a kiss on Hermione's jawline and his voice was softer when he spoke again. "I'd rather you not though. It's been months. I've missed you and I'd like for you to get to know Hermione, and Scorpius, for that matter."
Pansy just stood there, obviously struggling to process the situation and Hermione took the opportunity to study the woman whom she didn't think she'd seen up close for at least five years. According to Draco she'd spent most of the time since the end of the war traveling, there were too many ghosts for her in England. But she was in many ways unchanged. She still wore her hair in the same bob-style cut she'd always favored. However, it made her look a lot more sophisticated than Hermione remembered. She was dressed in elegant jade robes with heeled boots that made Hermione feel frumpy in comparison, wearing her leggings and oversized jumper. Merlin, Draco almost looked frumpy too in his jeans and tee shirt; the muggle clothes obviously having thrown Pansy for a loop.
When the silence in the room began to feel uncomfortable, Hermione squirmed in Draco's arms. This was an awful lot for them to just expect Pansy to accept straight away and she felt badly for the other witch. "Maybe I should go and let the pair of you catch up," she offered hesitantly, it felt like the right thing to do, but she'd been planning to stay the night- hence her casual wear- and she selfishly didn't want to give that up.
That seemed to wake the other witch up. "No, that's okay Granger, it's obvious that Draco doesn't want you to go. He's right, I was just surprised," she made an effort to smile but it turned out looking more like a grimace.
Hermione smiled in return. "Harry threw a right little temper tantrum when he found out, you were downright calm in comparison. I certainly can't fault you," she offered graciously.
That brought Pansy up short again, her eyes drifted to Draco's face and she smirked. "Potter knows about this," she gestured between the two of them, "and you're still alive?"
They all shared a laugh which relieved some of the tension in the room.
"He's been fairly good about the whole thing," Draco admitted.
Harry, had in fact, made quite the concerted effort with Draco over the past month. They'd all had dinner several times, arranged playdates for the boys, and he'd even helped with the move and setting the wards for the new house.
Pansy just shook her head. "Can I assume the lack of weeping and wailing from the general direction of Wiltshire means that your parents remain ignorant of the situation?" She said with a bit of humor.
"I have not informed them yet, no," he answered stiffly.
"I can understand that, but is there a reason you kept it from me?"
No matter how badly she was trying to hide it, Hermione could tell that she was hurt.
He released Hermione and went to put an arm around his friend's shoulders. "I wasn't keeping it from you Pans," he squeezed her affectionately. "Hermione is really important to me and I didn't want to tell you about her in a letter."
"You could have asked me to come home. You know I would have, don't you?"
And for the first time Hermione saw the vulnerable witch Draco had described his friend to be and not the harsh girl she'd been acquainted with at Hogwarts.
He shook his head, "I didn't want you to just for me, not until you were ready. Don't worry, I wouldn't do anything crazy like get married without you." Hermione saw the other witch's eyes go wide at his casual mention of marriage, it wasn't the first time he'd said something like that but she also found herself surprised that he'd so easily admit something like that to his friend. "Let's have a seat, are you hungry Pans? I'm sure Effie would be ecstatic to scrounge you something up."
"Where are we anyway, I didn't recognize the address you sent me and-" she looked around, "is this a muggle kitchen?" She turned to Hermione. "Is this your house?" Then back to Draco, "did you and Scorpius move in with her?"
He chuckled, "this is my house, it's a bit of a story, come on, let's sit and I'll tell you."
"Hold on," she said as he led her to a seat at a stool at the island, "how long has this been going on between the two of you? Is she the reason you finally decided to leave the harpy?"
Hermione turned around and tried to make herself inconspicuous as she attempted to finish feeding Scorpius, but the baby had other ideas. Her attention had been off of him for a full five minutes and he was obviously set on reminding her that he was there by making as much noise as possible. A full conversation of baby talk at the top of his voice, and Hermione wouldn't just ignore him simply because he wasn't speaking English, so she answered him, telling him all about her day at work.
She could still hear Draco and Pansy conversing quietly in the background but what she was most cognizant of were the eyes she could feel watching her every move. She was used to it with Draco, he loved to watch her, especially with his son. But Pansy's obvious scrutiny was disconcerting. However, she didn't blame Pansy for being curious, and probably concerned, so she did her best to just ignore it.
"Up!" Scorpius called with finality. It was his second word, first spoken just days after the first and he seemed to like it even better than 'no.' He was used to being the center of attention and loved being held.
"Are you finished?" She asked him.
"Up, up, up," he repeated, blinking those big blue eyes of his at her as if to say, 'of course, are you an idiot?'
She laughed and went to the sink to dampen a cloth to clean him up- he had a habit of burying his hands and his face in her hair - a habit he'd no doubt picked up from his father. Once she was certain he wouldn't get her all sticky she pulled him into her arms, but feeding him had been a distraction and now she wasn't sure what to do. She turned hesitantly to face the other two people in the room, only just realizing that they'd gone silent.
As it turned out they were just staring at herself and Scorpius. Draco with a soft smile on his face. Pansy looked like she didn't understand what she was seeing.
"Oh!" Hermione realized with a start, "I'm sorry, I'm hogging him, would you like to hold him?" Personally, the first thing she did when she saw her godchildren was scoop them into her arms, and she rarely went more than a week without seeing any of them; Pansy hadn't seen Scorpius since he was a newborn.
Pansy's face morphed into something that resembled horror, she tried to mask it, but wasn't very successful. Hermione bit back a laugh, she was sure she'd had a similar look on her own face the first time Andromeda had handed her Teddy. "Let me guess, you don't have a lot of experience with babies? I get it, I just sometimes forget that not everybody has spent the past seven years juggling other people's children."
She looked at Draco to see if she was getting this right. She really didn't want to offend the other witch, but he just had an odd expression on his face that she couldn't make heads or tails of.
"He's very cute," Pansy offered hesitantly, "it's a shame he looks so much like Draco but I won't hold that against him," she shot her friend a sly smile. "I just wouldn't know what to do," she admitted.
Hermione waited for Draco to respond to that, but when he didn't seem to have any intention of doing so, she jumped in yet again. "It's okay, you can take it slowly." She assured her.
"I did bring him a few things from America," Pansy added, she looked at Draco, the question obvious in her voice..
Draco finally joined the conversation with a chuckle. "Bribery," he quipped, "you do know how to worm your way into a Malfoy's heart, don't you Pans?"
She rolled her eyes, but perked up at his teasing demeanor. "Shall I call Nelly to bring it all over?" She asked.
Draco and Hermione both looked at the baby and then shared a long look. It was almost his bedtime but he didn't appear to be particularly tired, and though new toys would probably rile him up, it was worth it to disturb his routine for one night to allow him to bond with his godmother.
"That sounds great," Draco answered.
As it turned out, in the world Pansy and Draco inhabited "a few things," could be more accurately described as the contents of an entire toy store. To give the other witch credit, she appeared to have done a good job keeping things age appropriate, Hermione was sure she must have had professional help with that but it was the thought that counted. T
Though, Hermione had to fight the urge to hide the toy broom. James and Albus both had them, Teddy had had one at this age, she just made it a point to never watch them riding them. But unless she started spending considerably less time with the Malfoys, she'd be unable to avoid it with Scorpius.
Scorpius was a little clingy with herself and Draco in the face of a new person, probably because he could sense the witch's unease. But they encouraged him and he quickly became eager to share all of his favorite things with her, scooting back and forth between her and the toy box they kept in the living room, and she relaxed when she realized how easy he was to please.
At one point Draco got up to use the bathroom and as soon as he was out of the room Pansy shot Hermione a look. "It seems, despite how you're attired at the moment, that you have actually learned how to dress yourself."
Hermione just raised an eyebrow in question. Looking back on it, Hermione wondered if she had been the only witch in Hogwarts who hadn't been on a husband hunt. It's not that she hadn't cared about her appearance, but she'd been there to get an education, so she'd dressed for comfort and practicality. And she just hadn't had time to spend hours every morning on her hair and makeup, not when there had been lives on the line and a war to win. But people thought she was the one who needed to sort out her priorities.
"You're pictured in the Prophet and Witch Weekly on a regular basis, Granger. I've kept up with things, despite not being here. That gown you wore to the Ministry's Yule Gala last year was especially inspired."
"Well, thank you," she said simply, uncertain what angle Pansy was playing and feeling a little guilty that she was so suspicious of a compliment.
"I was thinking we should go shopping, the holidays are fast approaching and I'm no longer familiar with which are the best establishments here, and since you clearly have a decent eye…"
Hermione almost wanted to laugh, this wasn't even approaching subtlety. But she could appreciate that the other witch would want to get her alone for a chat. However, she wasn't beyond laying down her own challenge. "I like to shop in Muggle stores, Parkinson, at least for special occasions. Obviously I wear robes to work, but otherwise that's what makes what I wear different."
"Really?'
Hermione just nodded.
She lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. "I'm up for that."
0000000000
To give Pansy the full muggle experience she borrowed her parents' car. Well, that and the fact that she didn't trust the witch with her wand in the muggle world and Pansy had flat out refused to let Hermione side-along her. She would die of embarrassment if she had to call out a team of obliviators because she hadn't taken the proper precautions. Not that she thought Pansy was an actual danger to any muggles- at least not intentional danger, she trusted Draco when he said that she too had seen the error in the pureblood only philosophy- but she was so used to relying on her magic, she might do it without thinking.
She could tell that Draco was seriously concerned about the outing. She soothed him the way that he had her when he met her parents, assuring him that his best friend was not going to drive her away and that if they were serious she would need to learn to get along with Pansy the way he was learning to tolerate Harry.
In a hilarious turn of events Harry ended up inviting Draco to play in a pick-up quidditch game with himself and a group of his trainee aurors the same day they were due to go shopping. She was fairly certain there had been some behind the scenes maneuvering between the two wizards because she knew that Draco had been sure to inform Pansy that he would be with Harry while she was with Hermione. Annoying, overprotective arses. She could handle Pansy Parkinson.
They made small talk during the drive to the the first boutique Hermione that had in mind. She knew the other witch would probably appreciate the glitz of a major department store and its designer brands, but that wasn't really her style, and she didn't want to overwhelm the woman with such a busy establishment anyway. Pansy was surprisingly comfortable with the car but when Hermione commented on it, Pansy responded that she'd ridden in them before and then Hermione remembered that the Ministry actually had an entire fleet of vehicles, albeit most of them had magical modifications. Draco was just incredibly sheltered.
She was fairly easy to talk to, there were a few awkward silences, usually when one of them inadvertently made some reference to their checkered past. But Pansy had plenty of interesting stories from her travels and, in turn, she was fairly fascinated to hear about Hermione's job. She didn't have any first hand experience with witches who worked.
"Granger," she said abruptly once they were inside the shop, quietly perusing the racks.
"I think this might be easier if we used each other's first names," Hermione offered, "if that's alright with you."
"Hermione then," she corrected brusquely. "He's not a project, or something to be fixed."
Hermione stopped rifling through the gowns in front of her and turned to look at Pansy. "Excuse me?"
"Draco," she clarified, "is not a project for you to take on. I know how you Gryffindors are, and you specifically. Always riding to somebody's rescue. And I know how he looks: former Death Eater, single father, distant parents, like he needs help. But I can tell he's really falling for you and I don't want to see him getting hurt again when you feel like you've patched him up and are ready to move onto the next thing."
For a brief moment she felt indignant, but then she realized that she could easily see herself having a similar conversation with a witch in the future about Harry. Pansy was just trying to protect somebody she loved, and she didn't really know Hermione, certainly had no reason to trust her. And suddenly she was only grateful that Draco had somebody like this in his life.
"Do you know how he looks to me?" She countered.
Pansy just narrowed her eyes in response.
"Like a strong, resilient man who loves his son deeply and whom is doing the best he can for him in a bad situation. You're not wrong about me, I do tend to latch onto...projects, but Draco isn't one of them, because he doesn't need fixing, he fixed himself. I just love being with him, being with them, and I have no intention of leaving. I'm falling for him too."
Pansy studied her for a long moment, then gave her a sharp nod and they returned to their shopping.
"Can I ask you something?" Hermione asked a while later.
"You can ask, that doesn't mean I'll choose to answer," Pansy responded cooly.
"I don't mean to pry, but you said something earlier about Draco being hurt again. What did you mean by that?"
Pansy frowned. "You know about Astoria, don't you? You must."
Worry automatically erupted within her that Draco had been willfully misleading her about the other witch, and then instantly guilty for doubting him. "Well yes. But I was under the impression that he wasn't in love with her. I know he's angry with her for just abandoning Scorpius, but that's different."
"Merlin, it's really that simple in your mind, isn't it?" She snorted.
Hermione shrugged, suddenly feeling like she'd misunderstood this situation in some kind of major way.
"Granger- Hermione," she corrected immediately. "I know you lot put a great deal of stock in the idea of love. But that's not how we were raised."
"Draco says that his parents love each other," she corrected automatically.
Pansy laughed and Hermione flinched at the angry, bitter sound. "That's fair, they do, as twisted as it sometimes is."
"Twisted?"
"Well it certainly didn't stop Lucius from throwing his wife to the wolves along with his son during the war, did it? Draco's the one who held them up, when he was sixteen. You remember that, don't you Granger?"
Hermione's heart started pounding as a series of memories flashed through her mind. The way that Pansy had practically followed Draco around the castle, petted his head, hung all over him Sixth Year. She'd cynically assumed that the girl was just infatuated, but she should have recognized the actions of a girl trying to comfort and support a boy who was not emotionally prepared to accept the help. And beyond that, his desolation, his terror in the face of his task, in the face of a war they'd all been far too young to be caught up in. At least the Burrow, and to a lesser extent Grimmauld Place had been havens for her and her friends; Draco hadn't had one at all.
"I do," she said hoarsely, and though she felt like she was getting new insight into her boyfriend, she didn't know what this had to with his relationship with Astoria.
"Can you imagine the state he must have been in after the war?"
"I can't imagine it was good," she said quietly. Again, she'd had a myriad support, who had he had? Even Pansy had quickly gone abroad.
"And then his parents started pressuring him to get married, and he still felt like he had to do what they wanted, and save his family. And despite what he may have seen at home, he still grew up surrounded by couples in politically arranged marriages, that was normal for him."
"You two grew up thinking you'd end up together," she interrupted. Draco had confessed as much to her but had explained that after the war Pansy, now an orphan, had just wanted to escape, and with no parents to pressure her into toeing the line, he hadn't had the heart to stop her.
"And then sweet little Astoria Greengrass enters the scene. Harmless, living in the shadow of the older sister her father dotes on. Draco thought she was serious, you know, that she was really interested in him. He's not stupid, he knew she wasn't in love with him, but he thought she had good intentions." Hermione knew, both from her memories and And by the time I learned about them and thought to warn him about her, they'd been courting for months, and he decided to stick by her. He was trying to do the right thing, Granger."
"Okay," Hermione said.
"He took her as his wife, he made her the Lady Black, the future Lady Malfoy, you must know how seriously he takes those responsibilities by now, don't you?"
She nodded.
"He treated her like a queen, he did everything she asked to provide for her and make her happy, and she treated him like he was her own personal Gringotts vault."
Hermione gulped. "I assume you know when he decided that their marriage was over?"
"When she was pregnant and told him that Scorpius would be their only child."
"And that she had done her duty?" Pansy added knowingly, and Hermione felt her heart sink. "Can you imagine how that made him feel? After the way he and his family had been rejected all those years after the war was over, and he'd done nothing but treat her with courtesy and respect and she basically just threw it back in his face?"
She paused to let that sink in.
"Granger. I could murder her with my bare hands and I wouldn't have a single regret."
Hermione held the other woman's hazel eyes and nodded. "I'd help you."
Pansy smiled a slow, cat-like grin and reached out to grasp her wrist. "I think we could actually be friends, Hermione Granger. Now, back to the really important things," she held out a gown in front of her, "this is rather fabulous, isn't it?"
Author's note: GUYS. I've discovered the key to world peace, the thing that brings us all together: babies in hooded towels. Let's get behind this! Seriously though, it was so wonderful to see so many of y'all find joy in such a little thing like I did, thank you a million times over for letting me know! And, of course, just your general love for this story is phenomenal!
To Weestarmeegie: your beta skills are always appreciated, but your enthusiasm, and your love mean more to me than anything. (Also, this fic was dead. DEAD before she read it. She revived it. If you like this, please send her some love because she deserves so much of it.)