They marched down the gravelled drive to a mansion at least five times the size of the old two-up, two-down at Spinner's End he had sold as soon as he could. If it had been human it would have been a refined and unpretentious old witch who would just raise one gracefully arched eyebrow and calmly call for a house-elf if something as tacky as a white peacock dared to show up on her front lawn.
"Tell me again why we're on our way to Scorpius Malfoy's birthday party?"
Severus slowed down to give Hermione the chance to keep up in her high heels. "Because I want to be seen with the newly appointed Muggle liaison of St. Mungo's?"
"There's not much prestige involved if nobody else wants the job."
"Then it's because Draco gave me the loan to start my own business after the war."
Hermione expressed her opinion of his explanation with an unladylike snort. "We both know you didn't really need that loan because you, being you, changed the lion's share of your teacher salary into pounds and deposited it on a savings account."
"A teacher's salary doesn't amount to much."
"Two decades worth of it do."
"The Bank of Scotland has a much better interest rate than the goblins. Are you accusing me of philanthropy?"
She patted his arm, a gesture that would have smacked of condescension if done by anyone but her. "Sorry, won't happen again. But you never went to one of his social things before."
"It is never only a social thing with families like the Malfoys, it is imperative to weigh the pros and cons carefully before accepting an invitation."
"Severus-speak for 'it's complicated'."
That was an understatement; the first time they had met again face to face after the war, Draco had just returned to England for Lucius's trial. It had been an awkward and painful affair. There were tears and a stuttered apology involved on Draco's part and a mixture of delayed gratification and unease on his, and although Severus was glad to see Draco finally grown up, it also rattled him to see the younger Malfoy humbled and missing his usual arrogance. So much so that he accepted his offer of an interest-free loan. Hermione was right that he hadn't strictly needed it, but it meant that he could afford to buy his new house before he found a buyer for the one on Spinner's End and fit his lab with the newest equipment.
After the cathartic experience of their first meeting he and Draco stuck to infrequent dinners, sometimes Floo-called and the rest of the time they corresponded by owl. However, Draco had started sending invitations to their social events after his wedding to Astoria Greengrass.
Draco had been raised to be a self-serving political beast. The war had changed him into the Malfoy equivalent of a philanthropist: still a political beast, still thinking of his family first, but using his brains for a change, and as he had climbed up the social ladder again with marrying a Greengrass he wanted to improve Severus's standing in society the only way he knew how. It was to his everlasting vexation that Severus didn't want to suck up to the high and mighty to influence public opinion of him.
Hermione pointed at the gift-wrapped shrunken box in Severus's hand. "I don't know if a measly Muggle scooter will satisfy a Malfoy, I mean, Scorpius is three. He probably owns more expensive toys than all Weasley grandchildren put together and a fleet of toy brooms to boot."
"That may be, but I'm positive he does not own a three-wheeled aluminium kick-scooter yet. I have a hard time picturing Draco shopping at Harrods."
Hermione didn't reply. Severus stopped and looked down into her drawn face. "Draco is not the boy you remember," he tried to reassure her. He watched how her hands smoothed down her skirt, fluttered up to her hair, then dropped again and played with her bracelet. "But we can turn back now and Floo-call him that an emergency at St. Mungo's came up."
They stood there for a few seconds in which Hermione fiddled with her necklace and mussed up her hairdo before she finally straightened and continued walking. "I promised Molly gossip. Don't sneer," she slipped her hand into his, "I'm counting on you to help me unearth all their dirty little secrets."
They walked the last few yards to the door in amiable silence. Only then did Severus let go of her hand to ring the bell.
They were greeted by a beady-eyed house-elf wearing a spotless blue uniform. "Welcome to the Malfoy residence, sir and madam. I am Blodder. Should I take the present for young master Scorpius? Please follow me."
Hermione's eyes had widened during the elf's accurate little speech. Blodder accepted the parcel from Severus with his spindly fingers and led them through the grand entrance hall to a porch at the rear side of the house. Their steps echoed on the stone tiles.
Severus smirked. Hermione was radiating curiosity; he estimated Blodder had another minute at most before her restraint broke and he would have to face a barrage of questions. Maybe the dignified house-elf recognised the inquisitive gleam in Hermione's eyes, because at the door leading outside he bowed and after a squeaky "Enjoy your stay" directed at the ground he quickly Disapparated with a soft pop.
Hermione swivelled round to face Severus. "He was wearing clothes. And how he spoke... what does that mean?"
"There's a new fad among the pure-bloods who did not openly oppose the Dark Lord but did not agree with him, either. They don't want to get lumped together with his followers who got away and they use house-elf rights as their agenda."
"And Draco agrees?"
"From what I can gather he agrees with everything his wife proposes."
"That doesn't sound like the Draco Malfoy I knew."
"Which I have been telling you all along."
The former Greengrass elves had been horrified to have to accept a salary and only agreed to wear uniforms tailored out of towels, but Severus saw no reason to share that knowledge all at once.
What he hadn't told Hermione and was not going to, on the other hand, was that Draco had complained to Severus that his house-elves had a day off whenever he needed them; whatever for, he had not said, but having shared a common room with Lucius Severus guessed it involved a hair brush and a nail file.
Hermione bent forward and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Gossip has it that it's only a marriage of convenience?"
Severus raised an eyebrow. "You can tell Molly she's wrong. If Draco was only after money and influence, he could have married Miss Parkinson. No, he is head over heels in love with Astoria, and I'd say she feels the same about him."
Draco had found his perfect match in her: she was a smart lady of society, good-looking in the cool and detached way the Malfoy men were suckers for, but most importantly, she kept him on his toes. Draco's life would have taken a different turn without her, and not for the better.
Severus's gaze was fixed on the carving on the wall panels without actually seeing it. "You could say Astoria is for Draco what you are for me."
He was startled out of his reverie when Hermione pecked him on the lips out of the blue. "What was that for?"
Hermione just smiled. He glanced around and, assured that they had no audience, put his hands on her waist and kissed her back. "What did I say?"
"Nothing," she said and shook her head, still that serene smile on her delicious lips. A few strands of her rebellious hair escaped her pinned updo and framed her face, making her look like a fairy queen. "I already like Astoria," Hermione said and started grinning. She skipped down the stairs into the garden. Maybe the queen of pixies, then. Severus trailed behind, puzzled but confident in his victory.
The Malfoy garden party and the Weasley equivalent didn't differ much in idea, only in scale. Instead of two rickety tables there were half a dozen with a cold buffet served on silver plates, decorative ice sculptures under stasis charms in the shape of fish and flowers and more house-elves in uniforms that served drinks to the eighty or so adults Severus could see standing around. A throng of children milled around the lawn safe distance from the refreshments. A couple of wizards in bright yellow robes stood by the hedge and piled up large boxes sporting the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes logo while a bit further down the lawn two witches in red opened bulky crates and bent down, apparently checking the contents.
Severus spotted Astoria and Draco talking to a member of the Wizengamot whose name eluded him at the moment. Scorpius was perched on his mother's arm with his face buried in her shoulder, leaving only platinum blonde hair and expensive tailored robes visible. He might have been asleep for all the reaction their arrival got out of him. Severus felt the first tendril of doubt reach for his plan trying to choke it like Devil's Snare. Astoria, on the other hand, was a dark-haired graceful witch, charming and equally polite to Severus and Hermione when she noticed them and came over.
"We are grateful that you could make it, Severus. Don't mind Scorpius, he is a bit shy. I'll go inside with him for a bit. We will have opportunity to catch up later, I hope. Miss Granger," she said and the two women exchanged a friendly nod.
She then kissed Draco on the cheek, who had torn himself away from his other guests and joined them, and left them alone. Scorpius's feet bobbed up and down with every one of her steps. Not once had he looked up, and Severus started to feel a bit queasy. It didn't make him feel better that the second Astoria's back was turned both Draco and Hermione assumed the polite society version of the duelling stance with stiff backs, arms close to the body and fake smiles that showed more teeth than Hagrid's accursed three-headed dog Fluffy.
"Thank you for coming, Severus, Gran- Miss Granger," Draco said through his smile.
"I'm always happy to meet a friend of Severus'," Hermione answered in the same polite tone of voice.
At the mention of his first name Draco winced and darted a glance at him. Severus suppressed a sigh. Children. Draco wouldn't be happy to know that Potter had winced in a similar fashion the first time he had met Severus and Hermione as a couple. It had been quite amusing, back then, until Severus had realised that the reason was jealousy and not disgust as he had initially thought.
Severus watched Hermione and Draco smiling some more while each of them was looking at him to put them out of their misery.
"Yes, yes, we're happy to be here, Draco." He awkwardly put his arm around Draco's shoulder in what he hoped was a fatherly fashion; it wasn't like he had a well of positive memories of his father to draw on. He had to have done something right because Draco's face lit up like the Christmas tree in the great hall. Severus hastily crossed his arms before his chest. "Tell, how is your mother faring in France?"
"Oh, she's doing fine. She sends her love."
"She's not here?" Hermione asked and craned her neck like she waited for Narcissa to jump out of the hedge. Severus could not blame her after her war experiences with the Malfoys. He knew she had only accompanied him because she knew how much it meant to him, even if she didn't know why it did.
"Mother feels that her presence here would make some of the guests uncomfortable and she doesn't want to spoil Scorpius's big day," Draco said in matter-of-fact manner without a hint of resentment.
Severus nodded. Lucius had been the driving force behind following the Dark Lord, and Narcissa didn't begrudge Severus his role as spy since he had saved her son. For the majority of the magical population, on the other hand, Narcissa was a persona non grata for different reasons depending on which side they had been on during Voldemort's reign.
"You have organised a lovely party for him," Hermione said with more warmth in her voice. "I see you bought from Weasleys's Wizard Wheezes?"
Draco nodded. "They have the best fireworks. We also hired the Magical Menagerie for the day. They are new in the business, but Astoria's sister recommended them."
"Really? I read about them in an article in the Prophet. It sounds fascinating! George, um, George Weasley, told me they were looking into making a deal with them. About selling miniature figurines, of course, not the big puppets."
Severus only listened with half an ear while he scanned the crowd. The novelty of seeing him and Hermione together hadn't worn off, apparently, judging by the curious and in some cases downright hostile looks they got.
"Let's take a look, Severus, shall we? I want to know if they're as life-like as everybody says they are."
Hermione waved at Draco who waved back - Severus had no idea how that could have happened in the thirty seconds he hadn't paid attention - and dragged Severus through the throng of guests. Nobody met Severus's eye, but in their wake he could hear them whisper "much too young", "her teacher" and, of course, "Death Eater" and "murderer". Severus ground his teeth and pushed on; if Hermione heard them too, she didn't show it, and he didn't want to draw her attention to those cretins. He was forced to let go of her arm and fell behind when a stocky young wizard stood in his way and jostled him.
"Over here," Hermione called.
Severus looked up and saw a gigantic snake fly straight at him.
Severus slunk into the bedroom where Crookshanks snored loudly in the laundry basket and Hermione was already in bed and, as a heroic sacrifice to her sense of duty, read the revised edition of Charm Your Own Cheese that Molly had given her for Christmas. The prospect of Molly finally going one cookbook too far and finding herself looking down the business end of Hermione's wand, as amusing as it was, failed to cheer him up this time. A shower had not been enough to wash away the horrors of the day. He dove under the covers and closed his eyes.
"Draco Flooed. There will be no problem with the puppeteers from the Magical Menagerie."
The less said about it the better. It was testament of the trials of he had endured that he did not feel even the tiniest spark of lust when he snuggled up to Hermione. The day had gone downhill the minute they had entered the Malfoy garden. Only a few people invited, Draco had said. A small affair. Severus should have known that the Malfoy version of a few people meant at least a hundred, most of them parents with children under five. Thanks to the Malfoys the plan had gone tits up and he now needed a new one.
"Apparently the company wanted compensation at first because you blasted their snake to smithereens, but when Astoria pointed out that it was their employee who had lost control over it and that children could have been hurt if you hadn't acted, they were quick to apologise."
Scorpius had been a disappointment. Oh, it was possible that he actually was the well-mannered child Severus had pictured and hoped on, but as far as Malfoy egos and their need to be the constant centre of attention were concerned, the boy was seriously lacking. A Malfoy with performance anxiety? Lucius would not be amused.
That is not to say that Lucius had much to be amused about nowadays, even with the Dementors gone from Azkaban. Draco hadn't mentioned him, and Severus had seen no point in asking.
"I've been thinking," Hermione began, still frowning at the picture of a glowing Shropshire Blue, and Severus perked up at her tone. Maybe not all was lost yet.
"I didn't want to say anything earlier-"
"Yes?"
"-did you also have that feeling that, well, -" Severus scrambled on his elbows and Hermione finally looked at him with her warm brown eyes, "-is Draco going bald?"
Fuck fuckity fuck fuck.
Severus slumped back into his pillow. This year Draco would find no Bleaching Potion under the Christmas tree.