A/N. I am loving the reviews, thank you so much to everyone who takes time to review! Especially you gems who comment each chapter! The Teddy/Scrpius pairing is very unpopular, I'm thinking of going through and rewriting him as Albus Severus, as suggested by a reviewer, you guys should let me know what you think, you want Teddy to stay or change him? Holla at me.
Draco was hardly a prodigy in the kitchen. His kids never stopped reminding him of the time he'd almost burned the kitchen down. Seriously you start a fire one time and no one ever shuts up about it. If he was allowed magic in their muggle home he could have fixed the entire kitchen in seconds. But no, instead he'd had to make a terrible mess with the fire extinguisher, (lucky Hermione has insisted on having one in the house), and singed off most of his eye brows in the process.
So now he was the designated dishwasher and only allowed the position of chopping and peeling vegetables. Wonderful. A real use of his time.
He was in a rather sour mood as he stood at the kitchen bench in Malfoy Manor, preparing the vegetables by hand, his wand safely back in his study, Hermione had banned him from using magic, what with the sensitive nature of the evening ahead. They'd been in a state of bliss since their Hogwarts adventure the previous week but with the looming threat of this dinner, the good vibes had dissipated.
His small children were running around the house, playing some game or rather, the noises all happy, if a bit loud, so he wasn't concerned.
His oldest son was intertwined with Teddy on the couch in the parlour, their attempt at watching a movie proving futile. Draco wasn't surprised they were all over each other, if he took how horny he was as a teenager and added another horny boy to that mix, well, he'd have lost his virginity a fuck load earlier he was sure.
But still, dinner needed made and he should probably put a few restrictions on them right? Just in a cool dad kinda way. Draco knew Hermione always went easy on Scorpius, possibly because she wanted him to love her and felt like she had something to prove to her only non-biological child. He understood, fuck, Rose was the cause of the most consternation and hopelessness he'd ever felt. But Hugo was a great kid, and had accepted Draco as readily as Scorpius had Hermione.
However, in light of Rose's behaviour, Draco wanted to make sure Scorpius was pulling his weight and doing well, so he felt the need to keep an eye on him, especially because Hermione gave him a pretty free rein.
Draco finished dicing the carrots on his chopping board and picked up the tray of table linen and cutlery from the bench.
"Oi, lads, tables not going to set itself." Draco announced, setting the tray on the end of the couch, trying to ignore his son devouring his boyfriends face.
"Aw, Dad, we're busy." Scorpius complained, coming up for air, dishevelled and gorgeous, a younger version of his father.
"Busy cleaning the whole house if you don't help me with dinner." Draco threatened, pushing the tray toward him and returning to the kitchen.
With a few more complaints and an expletive or two the two boys began arranging the table to their mother's perfectly written instructions.
"Where's mum?" Julius asked as he entered the kitchen, his eyes glued to the book he was reading.
"She's out doing some errands for tonight." Draco informed his distracted son as he started splitting peas. "You need anything buddy?"
"Yeah I need the sequel to this book, I'm almost finished and I know it's in her library, but it's locked." Julius glanced up from the pages before him briefly, his eyes burning with passion. "I cannot wait between books."
Draco chuckled, having seen the same look of pain on his wife's face countless times over the years. "Oh bud you have no idea. Don't worry you can go get it, the keys are in her jewellery box upstairs."
"Thanks dad!" Julius called back, already out the door and running upstairs.
Only moments later Thomas started wailing, his entirely convenient nap reaching an inconvenient end. Draco sighed and put down his work, heading up the stairs, a headache beginning to form behind his temples. He took a detour on his journey to the crying baby by stopping in Hugo's room and asking his son if he could find Jeffrey and Ariana and make sure all three of them were dressed formally for dinner.
"I'm on it!" The boy agreed, excitedly fetching his tie collection as Draco continued on to Thomas.
"Hello little cub." Draco greeted his youngest son, lifting him from his bed. He held him for a few minutes, just rocking him until he stopped squawking, then changed him. "Now my little man where is that cute little tuxedo onesie I convinced your mother we had to buy." He murmuered, child in one hand as opened the wardrobe. "Wonzee!" Thomas cheered, clapping his hands uncoordinatedly while his father searched.
"There, very dashing." Draco proclaimed as he set Thomas down, dressed and clean, and held his hand as they walked down the stairs together.
In the kitchen he discovered the table nicely set and all of his children besides Rose dressed formally and lined up at the bench with Hermione's bright yellow aprons on, preparing dinner.
"Things are looking good in here dad." Hugo informed him, holding the check list Hermione had provided them with. "All courses are go, though the whipped cream department needs fired."
Draco grinned broadly, ruffling Hugo's hair. "Good job sport, you really saved my ass. Though your right, what are we gonna do with those ruffians in the whipped cream department?" He asked, turning to give a mock glare at Julius who was whipping at a snail's pace, his book propped up in front of him, Jeffrey who was licking cream from his fingers, and Ariana who had set up her toy dinosaurs in the cream and was having what appeared to be the battle of the century.
"It's alright, I think I've mastered the prawn and bacon croquets and the pork roast smells to die for." Scorpius assured Draco eagerly.
"Fantastic guys, your all the best." Draco congratulated his team, super proud, flashing them a thumbs up as he heard his wife arrive. "Hi bab-oh my god, what happened?" Draco exclaimed upon seeing Hermione, who looked mad as hell, her expression as wild as her hair as she threw her packages and the flowers for the table down on the foyer floor.
The kids were flooding the foyer, all talking at once as Hermione turned to them, her eyes flashing as she struggled with her coat. "Dinner's cancelled. I'm going to bed, please just give me some space." She said firmly, her voice shaking as she controlled her anger in front of her children.
"But we cooked." Ariana wailed, voicing the disappointed looks on all of her children's faces.
Hermione immediately looked contrite. "I'm sorry baby. I'll make it up to you all tomorrow okay? I just need to rest."
"Okay guys, listen to your mother, let's go back to the kitchen." Draco said loudly. "C'mon, hustle." He directed them all back, shooting Hermione a concerned look. She just shrugged and looked suddenly looked very frail and tired. Once the kids were gone Draco went to her, helping her out of her coat. "What's happening?"
"Can you please deal put the kids to bed and take care of things for me? I'm sorry, I just can't even deal with anything right now."
"Of course, I'll take of them, but once you've had a moment you're going to tell me who has upset you and I'm going to make them regret it." Draco informed her as she left him to go upstairs.
It took two hours to feed them all, clean up, and get the ready for bed. It took another half hour to convince them all that their mother was okay, and that they could come and see her in the morning she just needed some privacy and yes she still loves them all.
Once all the lights in the hallway were off, Draco realized he hadn't seen Rose all night, nor had he fed her. "Fuck." He muttered, leaning against Thomas's door, the toddler only just asleep. Was there a way he could check on her without her making some big scene and upsetting Hermione on top of whatever had already happened? Draco rubbed his temples tiredly, the painful throbbing increasing as he contemplated dealing with Rose's bullshit.
"Fuck it. I don't have a choice." He muttered, pushing himself off the door and padding down the hall to her door.
"Rose?" He asked after knocking twice and receiving no answer.
"Go away."
"Rose, don't be rude, have you eaten?"
"Go away pig." She called back, her snotty voice far too pleased with itself.
"Rose don't fucking call me that!" Draco began, opening her door and striding in angrily only to stop dead in his tracks upon discovering his step-daughter entirely naked, stretched out on her bed, three fingers inside herself.
It took a second for either of them to react, both frozen in shock.
"Argh! Fuck!" Draco shouted, unfreezing, and covering his eyes with his arm as she leapt up, drawing a blanket around herself.
"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" She screamed, slamming the door behind him as he ducked out, completely embarrassed.
Various kids spilled into the hallway, lights going on, doors opening as everyone curious to know what was going on.
"Everyone back to bed this instant." Draco ordered sternly, striding through them back to his own bedroom, turning to make sure they'd all disappeared before he entered, shutting his door behind him with relief.
He felt super dirty, the image of Rose, naked, touching herself, burned into his memory and making him feel almost physically sick. He hurried into the bathroom, going straight to the sink and washed his flaming red face, splashing the cold water on his hot skin, scrubbing his eyes in particular, trying to gouge out the picture, his head pounding.
He turned around, drying his face, to find Hermione staring at him from the claw-foot bath, steam from the hot water filling the room around them.
"Granger, Hermione, babe I just walked in on Rose." He clenched the towel, flushing in embarrassment, no idea how to handle a situation like this, and no idea how Hermione would react. "She was naked. And you know, er, uh, touching herself." He cringed as he said it. Sex, one of his favourite things, felt dirty and disgusting the second it was associated with your children.
He lifted his eyes from the ground and was surprised to find Hermione looked relieved. "Oh Malfoy. That, that sucks, don't get me wrong, not a great moment in parenthood, but honestly I don't think it'll be a big deal. Don't lose sleep over it, I'll talk to her tomorrow, you won't have to even think of trying to deal with it." She chuckled. "Besides it's probably her who's scarred for life."
"Her?!" Draco exclaimed, relief flooding him as well. "I think I need counselling."
He went over to her and sat down beside the tub, propping an elbow on the ledge and resting his head on it. "I feel like a fucking predator."
Hermione sighed and splashed him a little. "You unlucky bastard."
His wife lay back, water covering all her body besides her head and the tip of her swollen belly, and closed her eyes.
Draco sat with her in silence for a moment before remembering how she came home, his own encounter having distracted him from his wife's needs.
"So what happened to you babe? Why'd you cancel dinner?" He ventured, trailing his fingers in her bath water.
Hermione groaned and blew a strand of hair off her face. "Well, you know how we have to have this dinner with the Minister every freakin year, and he has to inspect our children, inspect your dark mark, and just generally rub the fact that they allow you to live here and allow you to be married to me in our faces every year?" Hermione asked, eliciting a nod from her husband.
"Well the Minister contacted me and said that Ron had complained to him of Rose's behaviour at school, blaming you, and the Minister wanted to discuss having her and Hugo removed. As if it's any of his business." Hermione spat, visibly enraged as she relayed the story. "Ronald has no idea of what goes on here, he shouldn't be whining at the Ministry. I told the Minister where he could shove his broomstick and told him not to bother coming to dinner."
Draco bit his lip, angry at Ronald Weasely for continuing to sabotage their lives, mad at the Minister and mad at Rose for putting them through all of this. But over this all he could imagine was Hermione telling the Minister for Magic where to shove it and he cracked a smile.
"I bet you shocked the Minister." His voice embodied how impressed he was and Hermione relaxed at her husband's approval.
"He's probably still scraping his jaw off the floor."
"Yeah he is." Draco agreed.
Their problems never seemed as big when they could share them with each other and by the time they were ready for bed Draco's sour mood was almost completely gone, as was his headache.
Hermione was hungry after missing dinner so he sneaked downstairs and made up a snack plate and they lay in bed together, clad in fuzzy pyjama's, eating and sharing the occasional kiss. They went to sleep early, ready to rest away the wear and tear of the day, blissfully unaware of the disturbing scene at the end of their hallway.
While her family slept Rose was awake, hidden under her sheets, flashlight on as she scribbled feverishly in her journal. She was writing the same name, over and over again, one hand beneath her, her whole body shaking as she bit back a climatic scream and slammed her thin body into her bed.
She lay there gasping for several seconds before she got up and hid her journal under her bed.
She pulled her pyjamas on and climbed back into bed. She curled up and switched her flashlight off, her eyes wide open as she stared at the ceiling through the darkness, and a strange smile played around her lips.