Draco 15 August 2017

How does she always know what to say? She wants me. She's upset that she didn't get me a wedding present. She is perfect and she doesn't even know it. She is my present. Every morning that I can wake up to her sweet face, brilliant mind, amazing body; that is my present.

I've been lucky to talk to Ginny. She told me that all Rose wants for her birthday is her mum. She would love her mum and dad, but knowing the circumstances Ginny thinks it is good that he's probably a no-show.
The party is planned. I dread trying to figure out the perfect present for her though. It can't be too much, or too Malfoy-ish, because she doesn't know about her mum and my marriage. But it needs to be something special.

I had discussed this with Theo while Hermione was still… yeah. He had a thought, something to keep her safe. God love Theo. Always thinking about everyone's safety. But I also saw his eyes linger on my left ring finger more than once.

"Draco, I need to know honestly." He began, I think the third day we were here.

I roll my eyes, "What Nott?"

"You said this is level Scorpius. I know that ring, the one Astoria tried to convince you to have as your wedding bands. What are you not telling me?"

"Theo, you actually can be smart if you want to. The pieces are in front of you. Put them together." His dark brown eyes narrow and the shadows this long nose casts give him a fearsome look. If you were on his wrong side, he could be something of nightmares. But having him on your team, he is a force stronger than any hurricane. The two of us work out together regularly yet he does more - martial arts, kickboxing, weights, pretty much everything. He even does meditation to get rid of the nightmares that plague us both. But he is now ready for any fight - with or without a wand.

"When did you get married?"

"Ahhh, see. You had it in you." I kid. He wasn't the smartest of us all, which is good that he is the brawn of the organization. "Rio."

"And we're keeping it under wraps?"

"Well that's a stupid question. Yes we are."

"Just clarifying." His look is serious, yet almost murderous. If he does kill anyone, I swear that's the face he gives before saying Avada. "Will it be a permanent under wraps thing? Because if it is, that is going to be damn near impossible."

"No," I chuckle, "just until the kids know."

"We need to increase the ransom account then. We increased a wife, Blaise's kid, her kids. And I was going to suggest it anyways with Scorp going to school. Hogwarts may be safe, but we both know that there are holes in their security."

"We've taken advantages of those holes when we were there. And Scorp and Rosie are smarter than we were." Merlin's Beard, I am in so much trouble.

"So you agree then."

I nod. "I was thinking about it too. I just… my mind is elsewhere right now Theo."

"I understand. Is there anything else bothering you other than your - um - wife? That's going to be hard for me to get my head around you and Granger. Though it wasn't unexpected."

Wasn't un - whatever. I shake my head, Theo can get on my nerves at times. And he spent seven years on my nerves when we were at school. "Yeah. Rose's birthday is coming up in a few. There's no way that I can get something for her from Scorp and I. Heck we won't have met her before her birthday most likely."

"You know I was working on something, like the anklets, for Pansy. I can easily make adjustments to make it a rose."

I look at him out of the corner of my eye. "What are you up to now Theo?" Who knew this guy would be a tinkerer, but he came up with the original idea of the anklets and for us men 'medi-alert bracelets' as Muggles call them.

"It's simple actually. Have you heard of the Muggle FitBits?" I nod. They were all the rage a couple years ago. "Well this is the same principle. It monitors your heart rate, breathing, blood pressure. Just with some adjustments. It has a link similar to legilimency, so that it knows if the wearer is in danger or - well in Pansy's case - something more intimate in nature. It will alert someone that the person is in danger - I was thinking of connecting Pansy's to Blaise's wedding band or bracelet, so they can get help."

"Do it. I don't think Hermione will think twice of Rose having something like that, especially now."

"So if I make it a small rose, what color?"

"The family is expecting her to be a Gryffindor. So I would go with red and maybe gold trim?"

"I'll have the R&D team working on it today. What about the boy?"

"I don't know yet. From everything I've gathered he is a Weasel Prince." I think a minute. "Hey do you still have your old iPhone? I promised one to Scorp and one for Rosie. We need them to work at school."

"Piece of cake. I have mine. And I know it works at school. I got a call when I was talking to McGonagall about the security measures for Scorpius."

"It's a different world we live in Theo. When we were kids, it was the Dark Lord. Now we have to worry about nutters - both wizard and Muggles - after our kids to get to us."

"I'll probably need to talk to McGonagall again, about Rose now."

"Just make an amendment to the security plan." He gives me this confused look. "Yes I read it. Anything with my son's name on it, I read. Didn't you notice my comments?"

"I thought that was Trini, to be honest."

"Nope."

I'm still not ready to tell my bride about everything we're doing to keep the kids - now including her kids - safe. I don't want her to think I am overstepping my role as a stepdad. I've never thought of being a stepdad before, but now I have two more kids to look out for. And part of me worries because I have a stepdaughter. Please Merlin, don't have her get involved with someone like I was in school.

If I had been someone like I want Rose to have in school, maybe I would have married her mum.

But I was a jerk. An ass. No worse. I treated women like tissues. I treated my clothes better than women when I was a kid.

Thank goodness Scorp won't. If he does, then he'll hear from me. Then his mum. Then his step mum. And probably Rosie if she's like her aunt and mum.

Merlin, please don't have Rosie and Scorp get involved. Ever. No. Push it out of your mind… it won't happen because - ewww. Even though they aren't related closely (stupid pureblood families that inter-marry we are tied into the Weasleys), they will be step-siblings and that just sounds wrong.

So no. Scorpius and Rose will not get involved. Period.

Why do I think by saying that, now they will?

Because that is my bloody crap luck.

"What has you laughing dear," my bride looks at me with a gentle smile gracing her lips.

"Just thinking. Thinking that something won't happen because it'll be weird. But because I'm thinking it won't happen, means most likely it will because of my crappy luck."

"You don't have crappy luck."

"It does seem to be changing. I mean it only took 20 years, but I finally got the girl."

"Twenty years Draco? Why do I doubt that."

"Okay, almost twenty years. I really have been in love with you for, probably forever. It hit me like a ton of bricks in fourth year. From then on, it was hard to keep my eyes off you. Even after school, I followed your career." Damn, it hits me. "That sounded really stalkerish." I laugh trying to keep it light.

"You weren't the only one Malfoy." Her fingers are going down my chest. "I watched you and your company grow and expand. You're quite the businessman Mr Malfoy."

"Coming from you Mrs Malfoy, that is quite the compliment." Those fingers of hers are now tracing my nipples, something I usually do. But if this isn't a stimulant for me too… "Honey, please, no."

"Draco… please." She draws my name out, so seductively. It is damn near impossible to tell her no… especially for sex.


I look down at her peacefully sleeping, angelic even. Her eyes closed. Her hair slightly matted to her cheeks and shoulders. Her body glistening with minute beadlets of sweat. I pull up her hair, twisting it in a makeshift bun. Now I can admire my wife's natural physical beauty in its entirety. I can wake up to her for the rest of my life, and I intend to.

Astoria wasn't that way. She was someone I woke up to, most of the time. There were long nights at the office, business trips that I would volunteer for, falling asleep at my desk in at home. Looking back, it was me avoiding the bed and my wife under the guise of rebuilding the family empire. Even sex, well it was just sex. Not the connection, the intimacy. It was more of a task to be completed, a check in the box. It's not that she wasn't attractive, nice, and everything a husband should want; she wasn't what I wanted. She wasn't who I wanted.

Not this time. Not this wife. Not Hermione. Never with her. I've missed so much already. So many wake ups over the years. So many nights of her body close to mine, and those of mine inside hers. Even a week of her not waking up next to me, with that smile I see turning up the corners of her rose colored lips, was too much to handle.

It isn't sex. Even the first time, it wasn't. I know she felt different about it too. The way she held onto me afterwards, it was like she needed me as much as I needed her.

I wonder if her sex life with Weasel was as empty as mine was.

But it doesn't matter now. Now she is here. Now she is mine. Now she is going to get everything she deserves. Inside and outside the bedroom.

I hold her head in my hand. There is my world. Right here. I kiss her eyelids and nose before tucking her in and grabbing my boxers. Where the hell did they go to now? Screw it, just get a new pair.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Not long honey. Rest. Please." I gave her my best interpretation of 'puppy dog eyes'. "I'm going to get some lunch for the two of us."

"Don't leave me."

"I'll only be a minute, honey. I won't be far."

By the time I come back she is propped up surrounded by overstuffed pillows in every shade of cream and light blue imaginable. "Draco," her tone had changed, more serious now, less needy and less intimate, "where did you and Theo get the cloaks?"

Aw hell… "Potter knows. Might as well tell you too. It's my father's. Theo's is his father's. The auror, Tony, he had Greg Goyle's father's. We were allowed to keep them. For me, it reminds me to work my ass off to make up for the stupid shit my father did."

"Who else knew you had it?"

"Not many before the night we left. Most of us, well, we don't want it getting out."

"I just thought-"

"The Ministry had them all. Yeah, Harry was under the same impression. The few of us, we kept it quiet so the Ministry never looked for them. Honestly, part of me would like to be rid of it, but right now I'm glad we had them."

"I'm glad you did too. Made it easier to…"

"Get to you. Get into their circle and bust it open. Stop an evil moron from getting any real foothold in the wizarding and Muggle communities here. Get you out." I'm sitting next to her, caressing her arm where her scar is. "Now, eat. You have a party to attend." I sealed this 'order' with a kiss to the top of her head.

But honestly, I am nervous about her going home. No… terrified. I will have to face the Weasley family, people I haven't always seen eye to eye with, with their 'daughter-in-law' in toe. Only Harry and Ginny know the truth about the youngest Weasley son; and the truth about his former wife's current marital status.

Part of me dreads that onslaught from Ginevra Weasley-Potter including the questions that I know are going to explode out of her mouth the moment she sees me with her best friend. Part of me hopes and prays that the chaos that will envelope the party, with just the fact that Hermione is there for her daughter's birthday, will quell any possible attack.

Or I can be the coward again, and avoid the party in its entirety.

But this is now an extension of my family. My stepdaughter and stepson are Weasleys. I will have to deal with them for future birthdays, for holidays (dear Merlin, don't have Scorp and I get one of those hideous sweaters Molly Weasley would knit for Weasel and Harry), and most likely at least one reception.

I watch Hermione as she eats. At least she's eating a relatively balanced meal: lots of fruits, a large salad with some roasted chicken that was made earlier, and some of the cheese platter. "Draco, you need to eat also."

"I'll be fine darling. I'm more concerned about you."

"I never said thank you, love."

"You never need to honey."

"No, for the jewelry. Only Draco Malfoy can find a way to get me jewelry while I'm imprisoned."

"Funny Mrs. Malfoy. Did Trini tell you about it's secret."

"Something, but knowing you, there's more to it."

"May I see it?" She showed me her little ankle adorned with a golden chain and a square charm. "It looks good on you. Even if it is gold. I thought my little Gryffindor would prefer gold to Slytherin silver - even though it is the family crest's color."

"Thank you. Trini, I think was confused by the metal's color."

"It's yours, not hers. But once you undo the chain, it will transfigure to the best broom available. From there it will take you to the closet of the Malfoy safehouses. Plus there's a small message just for you."

"The best broom available?" She looked at me questioning.

"Yeah." I avoid her eyes as my fingers absentmindedly run through my hair. "Let's just say, I need to go shopping."

"Need to or want to, Draco?"

"I really, really want to. Let's just leave it at that." Okay, I sound like a four year old there.

"Your broom?" The look in her eye says I really don't need to answer that, but I probably should.

"Yeah. I wanted to make sure no one could catch up to you."

"I hate flying. I thought you knew that."

"Yes I knew. And Harry reminded me." I pull her close into me, able to look into her eyes again and see the gold highlights twinkle. "But it is the safest way to get far away, especially without a wand."

"Okay… next question: where are we? One of the safehouses?"

"Yeah it is the one for the continent of Australia. Even though, technically we aren't in Australia. We're on a private island off of Indonesia."

"How many safehouses are there?"

"Twelve. You would be surprised how big Asia is; we have a couple of them there. And Africa. Even India has it's own - that one is one of my favorites. We might go there just for a vacation."

"Tell me something. It was something I thought about in Rio." Her brows furrow and I watch the cogs in her brain turning. "Your company, how - um - well I know it's one of the biggest wizarding companies ever, but really how big is it?"

"We have holdings on all continents, including Antarctica. Mind you it is a penguin and ice shelf science station, so it isn't really that big of a deal. I wouldn't recommend going there on a vacation. Unless you want to freeze your ass off." I kid.

"So you have excuses to go anywhere in the world?"

"Anytime I want. Or anytime I'm needed. Now Chicago… what's happening there?"

"Can't really talk about it too much, just know it has to do with Ron and Harry and the America Incident," she sighed heavily. "Theo's coming with me? Can you really have your head of security travel with a Ministry official?"

I nod. She doesn't know that I owl'd Scorp and rescheduled our trip to Diagon Alley and actually have business - the acquisition of a certain hotel - in Chicago. "It all depends if he's done working with the Ministry on some safety protocols that we have at MII. Potter thinks having a few in place at the Ministry wouldn't be a bad plan. But he might hang out here for a couple of days. It's up to him, but he's going to be in Chicago."

"Harry. His name's Harry."

"Yes honey." I smile. She want so bad for us to be friends. Little does she know this time where we were forced to work together, we have become very close. I wouldn't have him in my inner circle - that's reserved for the important members of MII and family friends - but he is inching his way. And Ginny isn't bad. At all. Let's just say, they're on the Christmas party list even if it weren't for my wife. But she brought us all together. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

"Trini…she's fiercely loyal. Are all your employees like that?"

"I wish to think so, but she's" how the heck do I describe Trini, "she's one in a million. I remember interviewing her. She applied for a position beneath her and totally wrong. She would have been miserable. Think if you would have had a secretary position in some unimportant part of the Ministry. It wouldn't work, you'd be miserable, and then you'd leave." Do I actually tell her what I was thinking in the interview? She is my wife so here goes. "Now this is true, and the only people that will admit it are me, Blaise and Theo. But she left the interview and the three of us kicked out the rest of the interview panel. Theo looked at me, 'It's her. You found a replacement for her.' Blaise had commented 'he'll never replace her.'" I took a deep breath. "They were talking about you."

I watch her eyes grow and grow as I relate this story to her. "They thought… me?"

I chuckle, "Honey, they've known me since before Hogwarts. Blaise would ask me every year, on the anniversary of Trini's interview if she could be the one for me. It got to the point, I stopped coming in that day - sometimes all week - to avoid the question. She never could be. But she gave me some insight what it would be like if ever you walked through the doors."

That sounded a lot better in my head than when it came out.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It wasn't our time. It is now and that's what matters." I point to her plate. "Finish up. We're leaving by portkey in 30 minutes. You need to be there for Rosie's birthday." I grab my plates and leave to get a little more presentable. It will be early morning when we arrive, but I doubt Ginny Potter wants to see me wandering her house in silk boxers only.