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 been 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 Eight
The next morning Draco apparated to Diagon Alley, he entered his shop, it was jam packed with customers, Draco made his way through to the counter,
"Mr. Malfoy!" a girl exclaimed, "I wasn't expecting you" Draco studied the girl, she was young, probably just out of Hogwart's, she nervously packed the customers bag and smiled as he left,
"Where is the rest of the staff?" he asked, the girl paled,
"Out the back" she said, Draco frowned and went through the door to the warehouse, he saw the rest of his staff sitting on boxes laughing and talking,
"Hey Stefan, do you know when Malfoy is coming back?" a young girl asked, she had long black hair,
"No idea, but whilst his gone, this shop is mine and if I decide we all need a break then that is what we will do"
"Yeah but what about Annie, she's out there all alone and the shop is packed" another boy said,
"Who gives a flying fuck" Stefan replied, Draco's mouth dropped open,
"I think we should get back to it" the first girl said,
"Nah, stay here why work when Malfoy will pay us anyway" Stefan said, the other employees laughed,
"Good point" the girl said, she picked up a packet of cigarettes and lit one "I wonder what Malfoy would say if he walked in right now?"
"Let's hope the old bastard doesn't see us" Stefan said, he picked up a bottle of fire whiskey and took a gulp,
"Well the old bastard has seen you" Draco said, he stepped in front of the group, Stefan choked on his whiskey and the girl with long black hair dropped her cigarette into her lap, burning a hole in her robe,
"Mr. Malfoy, we were just taking a break" Stefan said, standing,
"And leaving Annie to take care of the shop?" he asked,
"We were about to go back," the girl with the black hair piped up, Draco smirked,
"Oh no my dear, I heard your conversation" Draco said, he pulled a box closer and sat down on it, "Now I am going to give you all a chance to explain yourselves, should I find your reasons satisfactory you may return to your jobs, if not well, let's hope you have good reasons" he said, Draco turned to Stefan first and snatched the fire whiskey bottle from him, "Stefan, you may go first" Draco said,
"I was….I was on lunch you see and then the others just came out and joined me" he said,
"And you think drinking on the job is acceptable behavior?" Draco queried,
"I just needed something to calm my nerves, you see I have a date tonight" Stefan said, Draco almost laughed,
"You there, what's your name?" he asked the girl with long black hair,
"Julia" she said,
"So what's your reason?" he asked,
"Stefan asked me to join him, said I had worked hard enough that I deserved a break" she said, Draco sighed, his staff were incompetent, one by one his staff gave him silly reasons why the were out the back instead of working,
"Right, I want all of you to go back to work, every one except you" he pointed to Stefan, the others stood and made their way back into the shop,
"Stefan, you seem to be the sole reason why they are all out here" Draco said, Stefan remained quiet, "Do you not like your job? Do I not pay you enough?" he asked, Stefan didn't answer, "I have no choice but to fire you"
"But sir, it was just this one time" he said,
"Yes but I heard you telling the others, what was it, you said?" Draco paused, "Ah yes, why work when Mr. Malfoy will pay you anyway"
"I'm sorry sir," Stefan said,
"So am I" Draco stood, "You have until Friday" Draco went back into the shop,
"Mr. Malfoy, I am sorry I didn't make the other guys work" Annie said,
"No matter, you may leave for the day you have worked hard enough" Draco said, Annie left,
"Good Afternoon sir, welcome to The Apothecary, is there anything in particular I can help you with?" Draco said, approaching a customer who seemed to be searching every shelf for something,
"Yes, I need dried lace wing flies, do you carry them?" the man asked,
"Certainly sir, they are over here," Draco led the man to a corner of the shop, "Twelve Sickles for a kilo"
"Well, I only need half a kilo" Draco took the jar down from the shelf and led the man to the counter, Draco measured out half a kilo on his scales and put them into another jar, the man handed over six sickles,
"What sort of potion are you brewing?" Draco asked, conversationally,
"Pregnancy" the man replied, Draco smiled,
"Well, if you want an accurate reading add in, one of these" Draco said, he handed the man a small bag of fluxweed,
"Was it picked during the full moon?" the man asked,
"Of course" Draco replied, the man smiled at him, and then his face dropped,
"Malfoy?" he asked, "Draco Malfoy?"
"Yes, that's me" Draco replied,
"Harry, Harry Potter" the man said, Draco studied the man, "It's been years, you work here?" he asked, Draco saw Harry smile,
"I own this store and every other Apothecary in Europe" Draco couldn't help but brag, especially to Potter,
"Wow, and you really think the fluxweed will make the potion more accurate?" Harry asked,
"Indeed" Draco replied, Harry smiled,
"Well, thanks" Harry turned to leave,
"Malfoy, what do you say to a drink?" Harry asked, Draco hesitated, "Come on, we were are men now, I think we can put our past behind us"
"Sure" Draco surveyed the store, "Julia" he called, the girl with the long black hair came over to the counter, "I am popping out for half an hour, you are in charge and let us hope that there is no repeat of earlier" Draco said, Julia nodded and Draco followed Harry out of the shop. The entered The Leaky Cauldron and sat at a table,
'Two butter beers" Harry said to Tom, "So you were good in potions then?" Harry asked,
"Yes, I studied potions for four years after Hogwart's alongside Slughorn and a few of the potions masters from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons" Draco said, Tom came back with there butter beers, "What about yourself?" he asked taking a sip of his drink,
"I work for the misuse of muggle artifacts department at the ministry" Harry replied,
"I thought you wanted to be an Auror?"
"Well I did, I became and Auror and then I married Ginny, she thought that it was to dangerous so I took over he father's old job" Harry explained, Draco tried not to smirk,
"What about Weasel king?" he asked,
"He plays keeper for the Chudley Cannons" Harry said, Draco looked around him, "How's Hermione?" Harry asked suddenly, Draco almost choked on his drink,
"She's good, she loves her job at Hogwart's and she's Deputy Headmistress" Draco replied,
"Good for her" Harry said, "I miss having her around you know, I can't even begin to count how many times she saved my skin"
"Talk to her" Draco said, "I'm sure she misses you guys too," Harry studied the table,
"No, I tried talking to her at the reunion but she wouldn't listen, she said she had to find you to tell you something really important" Harry said,
"She did have to tell me something really important, she's the mother of my child" Draco said, "Maybe just try again with her, why don't you come to my flat for dinner tonight I'll invite Hermione, bring Ron and Ginny and we can all have a good talk" Draco suggested,
"Why are you being so nice?" Harry questioned,
"I know how lonely I was with out any friends during the last year of school, I mean if I would have killed to have the loyalty you had from Hermione and Ron" Draco said, "So come to my place at eight for dinner" Draco said, with that he stood and left the pub. He made his way back to the store,
"Tell the others to go home" he said, to Julia, "I'll close up" Julia nodded and left with the others, after a few hours Draco flooed Hermione and told her he was cooking her dinner tonight and that she should be at his house at eight. After that he apparated home and prepared for the dinner later that night.
Hi guys, sorry it's taken me awhile to update but I was stuck on what to do with this chapter anyway I thought it was about time that I brought Harry & Ron into the story, whether or not they all become friends is up to you guys, review and let me know what should happen. Anyway the part with the workers all out the back bagging Draco actually happened at one of my jobs where I was stuck inside serving a fully packed shop while the others all hung out the back, and yes they did get caught anyway I thought I should have Draco a t work at least once in this story. Well chapter ten will have Draco proposing to Hermione but I will not update until I get reviews so click the button.
Lynda