Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my ideas. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter Three: Like Father, Like Son
Marley hardly slept that night. All she could think of was James.
She opened her eyes to look at her bedside table clock.
4:03, it read.
She groaned, reaching into her bedside drawer to pull out her mobile. She and James were the only kids around who had one, and even then, they scarcely used it. Hermione and Harry both had one to keep in touch, as it was quicker than owling.
She took a deep breath, getting ready to send one to James when she realized that she already had one from him, sent not ten minutes earlier.
you awake?
She smiled, pressing his number on the phone and holding it up to her ear. He picked up on the first ring.
"Hey M&M." he whispered.
She blushed in annoyance at the old nickname. M&M for Marley Marie Malfoy. He didn't use it as much anymore, but every once and a while it was still brought up.
"Hi." she whispered back.
"Can't sleep either?" he asked.
"No."
There was a comfortable quiet pause in the conversation, where the only sound was their breathing.
"Do you think you could..." she started off slowly.
James chuckled softly. "Give me one minute."
They hung up and Marley sat up in her bed, waiting. She stared across her spacious room at the fireplace, praying that her parents were sound asleep and wouldn't hear it.
A moment later and the familiar green flames erupted, revealing James in plaid pajama bottoms and a light blue t-shirt. She smiled at him immediately and moved over to one side of the bed to make room for him.
This was something they had been doing since they had learned how to Floo alone. They hadn't done it in a while, but it was still as comforting as it always was.
"Hey." he whispered, crossing the room and climbing into the empty side of her bed.
She turned on her side to look at him. He was already staring at her, a small smile on his lips.
"Think we can sleep now?" he whispered.
"Probably."
James reached under the blankets and grabbed her hand, causing her to take a deep breath. Suddenly, he pulled her to her, causing her head to rest upon his chest as he locked his arms around her waist comfortably.
Marley was very aware that they had never slept like this before.
"Is this okay?" he whispered.
"Yeah." she answered, her voice hardly audible.
"If it's not, just say."
"James, it's you. Of course it's okay."
His arms tightened around her protectively and she let herself close her eyes, feeling the most comfortable she ever had in her entire life.
. . .
Hermione awoke to a deep kiss on her lips. She didn't even have to open her eyes to know it was Draco. She responded instantly to him, letting her hands get lost up in his hair as he pulled her close.
"Morning to you, too." she replied breathlessly as he pulled away.
"Think we have enough time before the kids get up?" Draco whispered, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
Hermione glanced at the clock, knowing they'd be pressed for time. With all the kids home, one was bound to be up soon.
"Shower?" she whispered.
Draco was suddenly out of the bed and scooping her up in his arms. She let out a squeal of surprise and covered her mouth as if she could take back the noise.
"You are crazy, Draco Malfoy." she whispered.
Once they were safely inside their attached bathroom, Draco let her down, pressing her up against the door and pulling off her dressing gown slowly.
She loved that her husband could make her feel like a teenager, even at the age of thirty-nine.
Soon, they were in the shower, kissing passionately as Draco pressed her up against the wall.
"God, I love you." he whispered.
"I love you, too."
. . .
Meredith awoke with a scream and clasped her hand to her chest.
Another nightmare.
Just like every night.
She grabbed her wand off of her bedside table and summoned her favourite photo album - the one Teddy had put together for her last year when she had really needed a reason to smile.
The first page was the first family photo she knew of. It had been at her mother's birthday party - the day she had learned that Draco was her father. The night Ron had kidnapped her.
What she liked about the picture was that she was in Slytherin colours. According to her mother, the silver and green of Slytherin had been her favourite from the moment she was born.
Luckily enough, she had taken after her father and ended up in Slytherin House.
The next page had a photo from her fourth birthday party, as well as a photo of her parents at their wedding. Hermione's hand was resting upon her stomach - a small bump at the time. They hadn't known whether it was a boy or girl yet. It was always weird for her to think of her life before any of her siblings.
Next was a photo of Meredith between a baby Marley and a baby James. The next few photos consisted of Meredith, Teddy and Victoire all the way up to Meredith's first day of Hogwarts.
She closed the book there. She didn't want to see anyone from Hogwarts. Not after what had happened in her last year there. Not after him.
Him.
She closed her eyes, groaning loudly as she laid back on her bed. She didn't want to start her day off thinking of him and what had happened, but she had to anyways.
She always did.
She slowly got up and shrugged on her silver, silk robe before quietly leaving her room. She had no idea what time it was. She just knew she couldn't sleep anymore. Judging from the sun creeping in the windows, she knew it had to be morning.
When she finally reached her kitchen to make coffee, she stopped in surprise, holding a hand up to her chest in surprise for the second time that morning.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she gasped.
. . .
"Marley... hey, Marley." James whispered.
He looked at her, taking in her peaceful exterior. She was so astoundingly beautiful that James had to stop himself from kissing her right there and then.
"Come on, Marley. Wake up." he whispered.
She groaned slightly before opening her eyes. "Stay."
He smirked at her. She was always especially adorable when sleeping. "I can't, Marley. I gotta get home. Maybe I'll come by later though, okay?"
"Stay." she whispered again.
He sighed, maneuvering himself out from under her carefully so she wasn't too disturbed. He wanted to stay more than anything, but he knew that he had to get home before any of his family noticed he was gone.
"M&M, I've got to go." he whispered.
She finally sat up and looked at him, a pout on her lips that James found absolutely adorable.
"Come on, Marley. Don't do that." he sighed.
Her pout left until she just looked tired. James sighed, leaning forward and kissing her forehead. When he pulled away, Marley's face was flushed. He just laughed before heading over to her fireplace, ready to Floo home.
When he arrived back in his living room, he was staring into the angry eyes of his mother.
"Shit." he muttered.
Ginny had her arms crossed tight over her chest and her eyes narrowed. "James Sirius Potter! You do not leave the house in the middle of the night, for the love of Merlin!"
"Mum, I'm sorry, I -"
"I don't care if you're sorry! I just... if you're going to sneak out at least leave a note or something!" she continued.
"Relax, Mum. I was just at Marley's, okay?" he sighed.
"And did Aunt Hermione and Uncle Draco know you were there?" Ginny yelled.
"No, but -"
"Just what I thought. God, James. What are we going to do with you?"
Just then, James was never so glad for his father's appearance in the room. It almost amused him just how much he looked like his dad. He didn't look a thing like his mother, whereas Albus and Lily both had the same shape of their face as her.
"Ah, what's he done now?" Harry asked, walking over to join them.
"He's snuck out of the house! Do you do this at school? Because I swear I will write to McGonagall and -" Ginny continued.
"Oh, so you've snuck out?" Harry asked.
James just nodded at his father who didn't look angry in the slightest. "And I didn't leave a note, so Mum's yelling."
"He can't just do that, Harry!" Ginny screamed.
"Ginny, you're channelling your mother right now." Harry sighed.
That quieted her down instantly and James knew that his dad was in for it now. It was bad when his mother went on in a silent rage.
"You deal with your son since you two have so much in common." Ginny snapped, turning around and heading up the stairs.
When she was gone, Harry gestured for James to sit down on their couch.
"What does she mean we've got a lot in common?" James asked, trying to veer the conversation away from the inevitable subject of Marley.
"Well - er - your mother just means that I had a... I had a habit of sneaking out of bed at school." Harry sighed causing James's face to light up. "But, that doesn't mean that you've got the right to do it! And don't tell your mother I told you that. She'll hex me, and trust me, she's good at that."
"Right, well. If you used to sneak out of bed all the time and I snuck out of bed this one time, then there's really no need to discuss it, yeah?" James tried.
"Not so fast. Where did you go?" Harry said.
James sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. "Marley's."
"I see. Why?"
"She... she couldn't sleep and neither could I. And... well, we always sleep better around each other. I don't know why. I think we're just more relaxed."
Harry just smirked at him and James was instantly more confused by his dad's behaviour.
"Okay, so... you're not angry?" James asked.
"No, and your mother isn't either. She was just worried about you. Now, now there's nothing going on with you and Marley, is there?"
James groaned as he realized his father was asking if he had just come back from having sex with Marley.
"Dad... no." James groaned.
"Okay, good. But, you like her." Harry said.
"How did you -"
"Please, James. I'm your father. It's been obvious since the day you two were born."
James was silent, just staring down at his knee. He really didn't want to discuss his feelings for Marley with his father. Not now. He barely knew how to discuss them with himself.
"Next time, your mum is right. Leave a note." Harry said, getting up and ruffling his son's hair.
. . .
"Yes, okay. Well, I understand that but that still doesn't mean that you can have any, okay?" Draco sighed, trying to reason with his youngest son.
Scorpius just couldn't understand why he wasn't allowed to have cookies for breakfast. It was an ongoing battle and it had been for years.
Now, it was an even bigger problem since both Lyra and Scorpius's magic had become more present than ever and Scorpius almost always had a box of cookies zoom towards him.
"But Daddy..." Scorpius whined.
"Scorp, come on. Just accept the fact, yeah? Let us have one day without this argument." Marley groaned from her spot on the living room couch.
Draco hadn't even seen his second eldest daughter when he and the twins had entered the living room. She was curled up under a blanket, the book that James had given her yesterday on her lap, as well as a mug of coffee in her hands. It never failed to amaze him that his daughter was already old enough to drink coffee.
"Hi, love. Sleep well?" Draco asked, sitting himself down on the couch as the twins ran past them into the kitchen.
Marley gave a non-committal shrug before turning her attention back to her book. Draco sighed. He hated how hard it was for him to engage their daughter. She used to hang onto his every word. It pained him that his children were growing up so fast.
"Where's Mum?" Marley asked.
"Upstairs with Jer, I think. He was asking her a schoolwork question." Draco explained.
"Schoolwork? God, does that kid ever rest?" Marley groaned, finally shutting her book.
"Your mother used to be the exact same way, you know." Draco offered.
"Trust me, I know. Her name is all over all the bloody academic awards." Marley said, taking a sip of her coffee.
Draco was about to correct his daughter's language - but then thought against it. She was growing up, after all. And even if he told her not to swear, it wouldn't stop her.
"And Uncle Harry's on all the Quidditch trophies." Marley continued.
Draco tried not to let his fury at that one show. It still burned him to this day that he had never managed to defeat Gryffindor and Harry - despite how close friends they were now.
"Where's your name, Dad?" Marley joked.
Draco opened his mouth to answer and then shut it. He knew Marley was kidding around, it was what she did. Draco should be happy that he was at least getting a chance to talk to her.
"Daddy! Come here!" Lyra yelled from the other room.
"No! Stay there a minute." Meredith said, making her presence known.
Instantly, Draco was curious. Why would Meredith care if he went into the kitchen or not?
"Meredith's got a friend over!" Scorpius yelled.
"Scorp! For the love of God." Meredith groaned.
Draco felt Marley coming close behind him as they went to the kitchen. He caught sight of Meredith first, taking in her uncomfortable and closed off expression. Her thin arms were crossed tight over her chest as she stared at the ground.
It was then that he caught sight of Meredith's "friend". He had never seen the man before, but yet... he seemed somewhat familiar.
"Hi there. You are...?" Draco said, offering out his hand.
He appeared to be around Meredith's age, but he wasn't entirely sure. He could have been older. He moved his dark brown hair away from his eyes before accepting Draco's hand.
"Leo. Leo Greengrass." he said.
Draco's eyebrows raised. "Hang on. Greengrass?"
"Yeah. I think you knew my mum, Daphne?" Leo said.
"Yeah. I... I haven't seen her since school, actually. I know her sister - er - your Aunt - better." Draco explained.
"Right, well. I live with Aunt Astoria, actually. Have done since I was about four. Mum passed then." Leo explained.
Draco hardly knew how to process any of this information. He hadn't seen or heard of Astoria or Daphne Greengrass since before Hermione had reentered his life. He definitely hadn't seen Astoria since they had broken up all those years ago.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Leo." Draco said awkwardly.
"Great, now that we've all been introduced, how about... you leave? Yeah? Great." Meredith said, turning and pushing Leo in the direction of the living room.
Draco narrowed his eyes at his daughter's unexpected behaviour and opened his mouth to say something.
"Dad. Just leave it, okay?" Marley muttered, placing a hand on Draco's arm.
He watched Leo attempt and put a hand on Meredith's arm before they left the room, but she noticeably flinched away.
Draco couldn't help but wonder just who the hell Leo Greengrass was to his eldest daughter.
Author's Note: Please read and review! thank you for all those who have reviewed already! 33 love to everyone!