DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter or any characters related to Harry Potter. Any characters that you do not recognize are from my own head. And as for the plot well that is probably not mine either it has probably be done thousands of times before.

SUMMARY: Set ten years after Hogwart's, Draco has been raising his daughter on his own, and never known who her Mother was, what happens when Draco finally learns the truth. Will it be Happily Ever After for the family or will the truth be too hard for him to handle.

PLAYING HAPPY FAMILIES

Chapter Three

The day of his departure for Hogwart's arrived sooner than Draco would have liked. He spent the whole day celebrating Lily's birthday with her, then at five o'clock Narcissa came to pick her up and take her back to the manor, Draco walked upstairs and sat at his desk with his feet up, he opened the draw and pulled out the letter. Tonight was the night, the night he had been waiting for, for ten years. Draco unfolded the letter again; it had not changed there were no hidden clues as to her identity. An hour later Draco thought it was time that he left for Hogwart's, he was still curious to know why he had been summoned a day earlier, he slipped the letter into the breast pocket of his jacket. He picked up his over night bag and apparated to Hogsmeade. He walked slowly through the old town, reminiscing about his days as a teenager, coming on dates during permitted visits, he had fallen in love inside Madam Pudifoot's tea shop, buying tricks at Zonko's which had now changed owners and was a franchise of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. He finally reached the huge gates of Hogwart's, where a tall man was waiting,

"You must be Master Malfoy" he said, "I am Professor Puttyroot" he offered Draco his hand and Draco took it,

"Draco, you may call me Draco" he replied, "What do you teach?" he asked,

"Potions" he replied, "You must be Lily's father?" Draco nodded as the two men walked up to the castle. "Lily has told me you are an accomplished Potion maker"

"Yes, I own an Apothecary in Diagon Alley"

"Not, The Apothecary?" he asked, Draco nodded, Puttyroot looked highly impressed. They had reached the main doors by now, the doors opened and they entered,

"Draco?" a female voice asked behind him, Draco turned to see Hermione standing at the foot of the stairs that led to his old common room.

"Hermione!" he said, he rushed to her and enveloped her in a hug. "It's been to long"

"I'm glad you came, McGonagall wanted you here so she can brief you on what will happen at the reunion, and tell you what is expected of us"

"Oh, I thought you just wanted me here early" he joked, Hermione blushed. They walked towards the Great Hall together,

"So tell me, what have you been doing, your beautiful daughter said you owned The Apothecary, which I happen to know is the largest Apothecary chain in all of London"

"Well, yes I have managed to build my business form nothing into the most sort after store in London" Draco replied,

"Wow, I'm impressed Draco" Hermione complemented him; it was Draco's turn to blush. They entered the hall and met McGonagall at the staff table,

"Mr. Malfoy, I can't tell you how pleased I am to see you again" she said,

"Like wise Professor McGonagall"

"Oh Draco, please call me Minerva, we are all adults now"

"How is Lily, Draco?" Hermione asked,

"She is fantastic, she can't wait to come back here, and apparently Transfiguration is her favorite subject"

"Yes, she is very talented"

"If I recall, Draco, Transfiguration was not your strongest subject" McGonagall said, "She must have gotten the talent from her mother" Draco studied his plate

"We do not know who her mother is" Draco mumbled,

"Oh how terrible" McGonagall gasped, "Did she pass away?"

"No, Lily was left on my doorstep, with nothing but a note." Draco explained,

"What kind of a mother would do that to her child?" McGonagall said,

"Maybe, she knew that there was no way she could raise a baby on her own" Hermione said,

"Yes, but to not even tell Draco who she is"

"I don't mean any offence Draco, but maybe she knew that he would never accept her, his family would never accept her" Draco studied Hermione carefully, she was close to tears.

"If he loved her, he would have accepted her" McGonagall said, Hermione stood,

"Excuse me" she said, before dashing from the room, "Hermione has been very stressed recently" Draco nodded,

"So, Hermione said that you wanted to brief me on what we will be doing tomorrow" he commented,

"Yes, the Head Boy and Girl are expected to make a speech at the start of the reunion. They are also to share the first dance of the night" Draco nodded,

"I can handle that, now if you excuse me, I would like to retire for the night" Draco stood and made his way out of the Great Hall up to his Dormitory, when he realized he didn't know the password, he sat on the steps hoping that Hermione had not gone to bed yet.

Twenty minutes later, Hermione came up the stairs; she looked as though she had been crying.

"Reunion" she said, Draco got up and followed her into their old common room.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" he asked, she nodded and sat in front of the fireplace. He sat in an arm chair and studied her; "My daughter informs me that you do not like the child of your once best friends" Hermione looked up at him, he grinned, "Care to tell me why?" Hermione smiled,

"Do you remember when we started being friends, how Harry and Ron started threatening you and saying that you were using me?" she asked, Draco nodded,

"You were the only one who forgave me for what I did" he whispered,

"Well they both went on day and night about how you hadn't changed and I was to caught up with your charms to notice" she continued, "Well after a few years, even after we left Hogwart's and they found out that we had a relationship they never spoke to me again, I occasionally got a phone call from Ginny but in the end we never spoke again"

"I'm sorry if I was the cause" he whispered, Hermione shook her head,

"It's in the past" she said touching his arm, "You showed me Draco that you had changed, I believed you and you were true to your word, you never once let me believe anything but the truth"

"So why did you break up with me?" he asked, he had been wanting to know the answer for ten years, he had loved her unconditionally, he thought she had loved him;

"I was scared; I had never had a real relationship like I had with you" she started, "I thought you would be better off with out me"

"I wanted to marry you, start a family with you, not be a single father, I don't even know who Lily's mother is, deep inside although I know it can't be true, I wish it were you" he said taking her hand, Hermione didn't reply, Draco leaned forward and kissed her softly.

"Draco, we shouldn't be doing this" she whispered, Draco pulled away,

"Why not?" he asked, "I love you, Hermione I always have"

"I love you too, but what about Lily?"

"Lily needs a mother, and even if you are not her biological Mum, I know you will be a great influence on her" Hermione closed her eyes, tears glistened in the corners,

"I'm sorry, I cannot do this" she stood and went into her room. Draco leaned back into his arm chair and stared at the dancing flames. Finally he decided to go to bed.

The next morning, Draco awoke early and got up; he decided to go for a run around the lake. He dressed in his track pants and a singlet and went outside, he jogged for nearly two hours around the lake, finally stopping underneath the weeping willow, checking his watch he realized that in twelve hours, he would finally meet Lily's mother. Draco sat underneath the tree for hours just thinking about his years at Hogwart's, his return and how Hermione had been the only one to forgive him for his part in Dumbledore's death;

Draco entered the Great Hall, after the last year, he did not think he would ever return to this school, but he needed closure. He had received his letter with the list of books and informing him that he had been made Head Boy as he usually did. He knew that by returning he ran the risk of being killed by Potter but he needed to make peace with himself. The hall became deathly quiet as he made his way to the staff table, eyes followed him and he could hear people whispering behind his back, but he paid them no heed.

"Headmistress, may I have a word with you and the Head Girl?" he asked, McGonagall nodded

"Please wait for me in my office, we shall join you soon" she said, "The password is Tabby Cat" Draco left the hall and made his way to her office. Once inside he realized that it had changed enormously compared to Dumbledore's office. It did not have quite as much stuff, but here and there he could see that it was McGonagall's office.

"Mr. Malfoy" said a voice he recognized, Draco looked up into the eyes of his old Headmaster. "I am glad you saw the error in your ways and know that I do not think that you had any part in my death"

"I am sorry sir" Draco replied, "I came back to make peace with what happened, I just hope that the students here are more forgiving" Draco bowed his head,

"I have a feeling that someone will forgive you" Dumbledore replied. A few minutes later, McGonagall and Hermione entered the office.

"Mr. Malfoy, welcome back" McGonagall said,

"I asked to speak with you both, to tell you the truth about what happened that night" he started,

"I'm sorry, but I don't really think I need to be here" Hermione interrupted

"Yes, I need you to understand, if we are going to share a common room and Head Duties you need to hear this" Draco replied. Hermione sat back down "Last year, Voldemort gave me an assignment, I thought I could do it, but I was wrong, I was scared and I made a wrong decision" he started, "Dumbledore knew, he knew that I was not cut out to be a Death Eater, he offered me refuge a place to hide. At the time, I knew that it was probably the best thing I could do but I was to late, the other Death Eaters came" Draco paused, he knew he had to tell the truth or he would never receive their forgiveness, "Headmistress, I know that this is rather unorthodox, but may I have a glass of Veritaserum, for what I am about to tell you is the truth but I would rather take it so that you know that it is the entire truth" McGonagall nodded, she conjured a glass with the opaque liquid and Draco swallowed it,

"Go on, please Draco" she said, "Tell us why you are here"

"Voldemort has given me another assignment, I am to kill Harry Potter, but I cannot do it, I came here to let Voldemort think that I will do his bidding but I am really here to ask for your refuge, I cannot kill Harry Potter when he is the only one that will be able to stop the Dark Lord"

"Is there anything else we should know?" McGonagall asked,

"If you will let me, I swear allegiance to the Order, I will never return to Voldemort's side in return I would like you to grant me refuge and should the Death Eaters come, I ask that the Order defend me as much as you would defend anyone else in the Order or at the is school." McGonagall handed him the antidote for the serum,

"you did a brave thing tonight, Draco" she said, Draco could not smile, instead he let the tears fall down his cheeks, he had done it, looking up he saw Dumbledore smiling at him,

"I am very proud of you" he said, Draco stood,

"May I retire now?" McGonagall nodded and Hermione escorted him back to their rooms.

Draco looked around, there seemed to be a few people milling about the grounds, he stood and went inside, he went up to his common room and got ready for the reunion.

So there is Chapter Three, I hope you enjoyed it.

Baby - Tinkerbelle