Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

"Furthermore, I apologise for any skipping tracks

It's just the last girl that played me left a couple cracks."

"Stereo Hearts" by Gym Class Heroes

It turned out that with two emotionally supportive partners that every day was better than the day before. Eventually, Theo and Hermione returned to work, and Draco started to explore the things that gave him joy. He nearly went back to work in the Archives, but a long talk with his Mind Healer led Draco to realise that he was seeking the comfortable day to day life he was used to. Instead he signed up for muggle cooking classes and made meals for Hermione and Theo that were ready for them when they returned home after their long days at the Ministry.

Poker Night started to happen again, but at Hermione's cottage. They only allowed her to play half the hands after she was undefeated for four months. Draco enjoyed spending time with his old school mates again. He missed Blaise now and then.

After a year together, Theo and Hermione surprised Draco by proposing to him at the French restaurant where they had gone to lunch so many months before. Only Theo had gotten down on one knee and the whole restaurant tittered and cheered when Draco said yes. The chef and his husband had come out to congratulate them and bring a complimentary bottle of champagne. The three of them had gotten tipsy and gone home and made love until dawn.

Their wedding was small, held in one of the smaller Nott castles, this one on the coast in Cornwall, not far from Shell Cottage. Potter and the she-Potter along with their children attended. Pansy and Neville were there. Fleur and Bill Weasley came with their children. Little Dominique was the flower girl. Albus Potter, a more unfortunately named child Draco had never met, was the little ring bearer. Draco found the little Muggle traditions that Hermione had insisted on for the ceremony charming. Even Draco's Aunt Andromeda and his cousin, Teddy Lupin, attended. Marcus Flint showed up with Percy Weasley as his date of all people. Flint told Draco and Theo in low tones that this was the first wedding they had ever been invited to with two wizards marrying. Percy shook both their hands and said that he hoped the three of them would be at his and Marcus' wedding the following spring. And Draco had 1000% more Weasleys than he had ever expected at his nuptials. Pucey and Goyle had both attended without their wives. There were still far more witnesses than Draco had expected.

He wished his mother was there, but Hermione surprised both him and Theo by setting aside a seat for each of their mothers in the front row. Lady Nott's youthful face blinked back from an old wizarding photo. Narcissa Black's Hogwarts seventh year portrait smiled benignly and Draco had to blink back tears.

He didn't bother to hide the tears when Hermione walked down the aisle towards them. She was a vision in her white gown. When Draco held her hand and Theo's he had never felt as safe and secure, nor so sure of any decision in his life.

The ceremony had been conducted by Minister Shacklebolt himself. Theo, Hermione and Draco were bonded by body, blood and soul. Draco couldn't imagine a life without his triad. They were as much a part of him as his eyes or his fingers.

Draco fell easily into being the stay at home partner. When Hermione became pregnant with their first child, Draco was thrilled to first take care of Hermione, then of Rose. She was a tiny thing, the perfect mix of Theo and Hermione. She was his constant companion, speaking French before she spoke English, cuddling Crooks, building block towers and helping her Papa cook. Theo loved the way that Draco and Rose could always be found together when he returned home. He'd often watch whatever they were doing together for a bit before he revealed himself. After a while, he took to taking photos of Draco and Rose, making a scrapbook for Draco's birthday of all the little moments that he managed to capture. Something that made Draco cry as he kissed his husband.

Draco found that being their family's house husband fulfilled him in a way that nothing else in his life had thus far. He knew that Theo and Hermione were eating well because he prepared all their food with love. He knew Rose was happy because he did everything he could to be sure. Hermione accused him of spoiling their girl, but she did the same as did Theo. The only child to three parents could make for a lot of attention for a small person.

When Hermione found out that they were expecting their second child three years later, she decided to transfer from the Auror office to magical law. Her second pregnancy was harder on her, her magic constantly hay-wire. When the healer had revealed that they were expecting twins, no one was quite surprised. Lyra and Casseopeia were also the reason Hermione had to go on bedrest for six weeks, during which time she went slowly mad from boredom; or so she had claimed at least eighteen times a day.

Rose started muggle primary school (a private bilingual one that Draco picked out) and the difficulty she had transitioning to being away from him all day, led him to have a long talk with Theo and Hermione. The answer they came up with was to sign the twins up for preschool. Suddenly Draco's days were mostly free and he decided to find something else to do with himself as he knew every housekeeping charm in existence these days. It hardly took much thought to have the place pristine as Draco now had fully restored control of his magic. He took tea with his aunt as often as he could. He started to take long walks in Hyde park and took dozens of cooking and bakery classes to further perfect his skills in the kitchen he derived so much joy from.

Chasing his bliss, Draco wrote his first book titled, Muggle Cooking for the Magical Household: Adapting Muggle Recipes; closely followed by a second book, Relaxing by Cooking the Muggle Way: De-stressing Techniques for Busy Witches and Wizards. His third book was the one that he had the most difficulty with: Behind Manor Doors: Recognizing Intimate Partner Violence in Magical Marriages. The lessons from his mind healer were interspaced with anecdotes and stories from his first marriage. He'd won awards from several magical charities for the book which was on the Witch Weekly bestseller list for nearly a year. It was during the incredible success of his book along with the book tour that his agent had insisted he go on, that Hermione discovered she was pregnant again, this time with Scorpius. Theo took leave from work in order to handle the house in Draco's stead, but by the time the book tour was done both were ready to return to their regular roles.

In the aftermath of the success of his books, the Daily Prophet's coverage of anything Draco did went from ex-Death Eater to celebrated author and philanthropist. He marvelled at the change in how he was perceived. Sometimes it was surreal.

With Hermione's encouragement, Draco donated the vacant Malfoy Manor to be a shelter for abused witches and wizards. He hadn't been able to even visit the place in years, but hoped some would be able to heal in the place that tortured him the most.

The Malfoy house elves now made those who had been mistreated comfortable, while mind healers and physicians were on site to treat those who had been the target of intimate partner violence. Against his preference, the place had been renamed the Draco Black Malfoy Shelter.

Once the charity had transformed the home he once knew, Draco was finally able to face the place. All the family portraits had been donated to the National Magical Gallery for their art collection, except a handful that had been supportive of the changed use of the Manor. Draco's grandfather Abraxas was among them and was placed in a place of prominence in the men's wing of the Manor. It was a pleasure to show his children off to his grandfather and show him his books with his photo in the dust jacket. He hadn't realised how much he missed his grandfather.

Despite the strangeness every time Draco felt every time he passed the plaque with his name, Draco started teaching cooking lessons for the women in the shelter on Tuesdays, the men on Wednesdays and children's lessons on Thursday afternoons. For the children's lesson, sometimes he would bring Rose, but usually it was Scorpius strapped to Draco's chest that accompanied him to the children's cooking activities, where they'd often make things that didn't require heat at all.

He was a big hit with the children. Being a father to four gave Draco a large toolbox in dealing with the younger kids, but the older kids idolised him so much that his lack of experience with older children didn't seem to matter. He felt like a mother duck whenever he was at the shelter. Hermione would join him on Tuesday afternoons and read to the children so that their mothers could attend cooking classes. Theo would sometimes attend the men's classes, but his cooking never did get much better.

Despite the strong wards and protections on the Manor, abusers sometimes managed to lure one of the witches or wizards back with promises of changed behaviour. And in the third year of the shelter's operation, the unimaginable happened. One of the witches had left the shelter to go to Gringotts and withdraw funds to leave the country with her two children. The shelter staff could have facilitated this on her behalf, but she hadn't asked. Her estranged husband caught her coming from the bank. Her body and his were found in one of the alleys near Borgin and Burkes. Draco almost drowned in his feelings of guilt.

Her two children were left orphaned. A search of records by the Ministry determined that there were no living relatives.

Draco was horrified when he learned that the Wizarding world did not have orphanages, so if no one stepped forward, the children would be placed in a muggle orphanage. Hermione had told Draco of the unknown history of the man who became the Dark Lord, the man who had once been a boy neglected in a muggle orphanage. Draco wouldn't allow that to happen on his watch.

A family meeting was held and with Draco and Rose both giving passionate speeches, it was agreed that Arabella, age 6, and Sebastian, age 4, would become part of their family. Rose had grown very attached to Arabella, who was the same age. Their adoption was expedited because of who Hermione Granger was, and it was one of the only times her husbands didn't hear her complain about preferential treatment. Suddenly their family had six children and Hermione's cottage was suddenly very cramped, even with the vaguely illegal extension charms that Hermione had put into several of the rooms.

They decided to buy something new rather than use one of the Malfoy, Black or Nott properties that they already owned. Their new Manor was small compared to where Theo and Draco had grown up, but it was huge in contrast to the cottage that they had all shared for years. Now the older girls shared a suite because they wanted to, not because they had to. The balcony in the adult's bedroom looked out over the manicured gardens with its small maze and topiaries. Hermione laughed at how elegant everything was despite their meeting in the middle on the size of their new home. Only two wings would have scandalised Narcissa, Draco admitted, and that mollified their wife a great deal.

Theo, Draco and Hermione were ridiculously happy together resulting in the never ending jibes of Pansy, Bill Weasley and every other Slytherin that attended Poker night.

Draco continued his role as house husband, but the children were switched to a Wizarding primary school with an adjoining preschool in the Wizarding village nearby. Rose and Arabella's accidental magic made Muggle school a bit too challenging. The children adjusted and time flew by. Draco wrote another cooking book, followed by another book on healing from abuse and donated all the funds from the latter to the shelter, which drove up sales. It also gained the DBM Shelter, several other large donors and started a legislative push to make domestic violence a crime in Wizarding Britain. Theo and Hermione encouraged Draco's involvement in politics and charity. When the Eliza Bright Law was passed Draco was overjoyed. It was finally a crime to abuse your spouse and children in magical families.

Draco also began to fund the newly created Department of Magical Family Support that was now part of the DMLE. Hermione transferred from the Magical Law office to the new department, allowing her to design a system of magical fosterage that prevented children from being left in situations like Tom Riddle and Harry Potter had been. Magical adoption became a more widespread option and many Pureblood families dealing with infertility happily adopted magical orphans and abused Muggleborns chipping away at blood supremacy bit by bit.

...

When Draco returned from his latest book tour, he made a point to take each of the children out on individual outings so that everyone of them could get the attention that they missed with him being away for weeks.

Draco was in Diagon Alley with Sebastian, who was now six and passionately excited by everything. Draco had promised him ice cream and a new book from Flourish & Blotts. Sebastian was clutching his pop-up book on Sea Monsters and going through every monster he could think of from A-Z while swinging Draco's hand. Draco couldn't help but chuckle at the boy, where Scorpius was already very reserved and quiet, Bas was a talker.

"And Dad," Sebastian continued in his serious tone, "Did you know that Chimera can have a tail with a snake head at the end that can really bite? And that they are venomous?"

"No," Draco shook his head, "I didn't know that." As he pulled open the door to Fortescue's, he saw Blaise with his two daughters, each holding an ice cream cone as he ushered them to a table outside. Draco froze for a second, but he didn't see Daphne. His former brother-in-law, former friend was hard enough to run into, but Draco had made it nearly ten years without dealing with any member of the Greengrass family and he'd like to keep it that way.

Regardless, Bas was getting his ice cream. Draco wouldn't allow his fear to cripple him or keep him from giving his children what they needed. Astoria was long dead and her ghost wouldn't stop Draco. She had no hold over him any longer.

Happily licking his mint chip and flipping through his new book, Bas kept Draco abreast of all the new Sea Monster facts that he was reading while Draco made noises and ate his own chocolate ice cream.

A hand on his shoulder started Draco and he looked up into Blaise's nervous face.

"Hey," Blaise started, pulling his hand back. "I saw you. I wanted to say hello and I hope you are doing well." Draco saw that Blaise's daughters were still at their table outside eating their ice creams.

"I'm doing well," Draco said, not wanting to be rude in front of his son. "This is Sebastian, Theo, Hermione and I's eldest son." Bas looked up from his book and gave a smile and a wave before returning to muttering to himself over the giant squid at Hogwarts.

"Takes after Granger, doesn't he?" Blaise laughed, the light not reaching his eyes.

"A bit," Draco admitted. "Where's your wife?"

"Ex-wife," Blaise exhaled, "It's been six months now. I did some counselling after everything happened, and then we did some couples counselling and we just couldn't mend things between us. I couldn't stomach her touching me after I learned that she knew…about everything that had been happening. Her sister had told her, in detail. It still makes me ill. My mum passed away last year, but the house in Tuscany is too empty for me without her. So I'm still in England." Blaise shrugged.

Draco looked at Blaise and wondered if their bridge was truly burned or if they could find their way back. Blaise had a tiredness about his eyes and grey at his temple that Draco did not remember there, his eyes flickered to the two girls sitting outside girls who ought to have been his nieces.

No one deserved to be alone like Blaise seemed to be. Draco remembered what that was like, and he decided maybe it was time for a peace offering on his end. Maybe he could find forgiveness for his former best friend.

"It's Scorpius' third birthday in two weeks. Will you have the girls? Do you want to come to the party?" Draco asked. "I mean it's only going to be a garden party with cake and some games. Nothing too fancy. The Potters and some of the Weasleys will be there. My aunt and cousin. A few other people you know."

"Will Pansy be there to give me another black eye?" Blaise asked, his hand tapping his thigh like he always did when he was nervous.

"Do you deserve another?" Draco raised an eyebrow at his old friend.

"Probably," Blaise admitted with a soft smile on his lips. "But yes. I'd love to come and bring Maera and Hiperia. I really missed you, Draco." The Italian man looked away sheepishly. "Well, I better get back to the girls, I only get them every other week."

"Was that a friend of yours, Dad?" Bas asked after Blaise walked away.

"He used to be," Draco replied thoughtfully, "And I think maybe he could be again."

...

Scorpius' third birthday was intended to be a small affair, but he was the youngest of six. The Potters had their three children. Neville and Pansy had brought Ollie, Polly and little Orchid, who was an unholy terror not unlike her mother at age two. Teddy and Victoire were young adults now, sitting by themselves on a chaise lounge drinking and laughing quietly together. Aunt Andromeda was chatting with Fleur Weasley and Percy Weasley-Flint.

Marcus, Theo, Adrian and Hermione were playing croquet on the lawn with the older children, including Rose, Arabella and Sebastian, while Potter sat off to the side with Lily Luna on his lap critiquing the playing.

Draco had set up a corral for the babies with little balls and toys. He watched over Scorpius and the other babies. Ginny was playing with Lyra and Cassie on their small toy brooms where Hermione could not see. She'd brought all the children Hollywood Harpies gear, but the twins were the most excited. Maybe a Malfoy would be on the back of a Slytherin Quidditch jersey sometime in the next decade.

He had thought that his House would end with him, but Lyra, Cassie and Scorpius were the future of the Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy. It was reassuring to know that his family was continuing into the next generation, something that a decade ago he had given up on.

There were balloons and a pen filled with rabbits that some of the children were calmly petting gently while Dominique Weasley watched over them. She was earning a few galleons for helping.

All in all, it was a vibrant affair. There were paper castles and dragons everywhere. Coloured bubbles would occasionally float over the assembly.

The garden gate jingled as more people arrived, Draco turned his head to see Blaise along with his two daughters, both miniature images of Signora Zabini, coming through the gates. Theo had been the most hesitant to let Blaise back into their lives. Hermione understood Draco's desire to forgive his friend and encouraged him to attempt it, especially after she learned of the reason for Blaise's divorce.

"Blaise," Draco walked over, "I'm pleased you could make it."

Blaise smiled warmly at Draco's greeting. "Sorry we ran late. I'm still getting the hang of all the girl's hair charms, and my first few attempts didn't pass muster."

Draco remembered when Rose was little and he'd had to learn how to manage her curls that she'd inherited from Theo.

"I can give you tips," Draco admitted. "I do all the girl's hair. And everyone except Cassie and Arabella have Hermione's curls."

"I'd appreciate it," Blaise shook Draco's hand gratefully. "And you may remember Maera, although she's a big girl now, off to Hogwarts in September."

"Maera," Draco smiled, bowing formally to the girl in her pink party dress and oversized pink bow. "We've met but you were brand new so it was a long time ago."

"Papa has a picture of you holding me on the wall," the girl confessed, "so I know who you are."

Draco smiled back at her, reassuringly. "Albus is heading to Hogwarts in the Fall as well. He's over by the croquet game if you want to go meet people." She looked up at her father who nodded, and she was off.

"And this is Hiperia, she's ten." Blaise's other daughter was in purple pants and a sparkly shirt. "She's my Quidditch mad one."

"Ah Lyra and Cassie too, but they are only five." Draco remarked, "Do you know Ginny Potter from the Holywood Harpies?"

The girl nodded, her eyes wide.

"She's over giving my daughter's lessons on their brooms in the corner of the garden. Do you see them over there, by the apple trees?" Draco pointed and Hiperia was running like a shot.

"Didn't even ask if that was alright." Blaise sighed. "She's a wild one."

"Not unlike you when we were children," Draco pointed out, walking towards his place supervising the babies. He looked up and saw Adrian, Marcus and Pansy all scowling at Blaise. Theo was frowning. Draco worried that he hadn't prepped everyone well enough, when Neville surprised him by walking over and shaking Blaise's hand.

"Zabini," Neville smiled. "Good to see you. Heard about the divorce, difficult business."

"Longbottom," Blaise said with relief. "She made it very difficult, but it was for the best. Glad it's finally done with."

Neville nodded.

"How's Hogwarts?" Blaise asked. "Mae is heading there in September."

Neville launched into a long litany of everything that had changed at the school in the last twenty years. Draco only listened with half an ear as he watched the birthday boy roll balls back and forth to some of the other babies.

The garden gate rang again and Draco moved to greet the new arrival after asking Neville and Blaise to watch over the babies.

Luna was there with her twin boys, one holding each of her hands. Lorcan and Lysander were only five, but both were wide-eyed and quiet children.

"Luna! Welcome to Scorp's party." Draco greeted Luna warmly, it had been uncovered that she was his cousin a couple of years back and they both had been happy to have some family in the world. "Hello gentlemen. Welcome back to the cottage. There's treats and lemonade on the table and most of the kids are playing croquet or it looks like a lively game of leap frog has broken out as well."

"Go on," Luna urged, giving the two a little push, and taking a deep exhale as they ran off in pursuit of entertainment and probably also cupcakes.

"How's everything," Draco asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Luna asked, her smile dropping. Draco nodded and took her hand.

"My husband's been dead for a year and I'm lonely." Luna sighed. "It's all wrackspurts and nargles around me. And I just want to find someone to love me again. I hate sleeping alone. It's the worst part of being a widow. And the judgement when I admit I'm ready to find love again, like I have to pine for Rolf forever. He's dead. It doesn't matter to him whether I grieve alone or with someone to hold me."

Draco shuddered, unable to imagine sleeping without Theo and Hermione at night. "I can't even imagine," he replied honestly. "I'd never judge you for wanting to find love. I know people said things about how soon I married Theo and Hermione after all that had happened."

"Those people are fools. I don't suppose you know any men who are good with kids and know their way around a witch's body?" Luna sighed, looking over the guests. "Wait, is that Zabini? Isn't he single now?"

Draco nodded, mind whirling as he considered the possibility there.

"Reintroduce me?" She smiled, her hands fluttering like birds over her party dress that was covered in embroidered radishes. Draco tried not to ask.

He led her by the arm, interrupting Neville and Blaise's conversation about Draco's most recent cookbook that was specifically for Wizarding parents (fathers in particular) who didn't believe that they could cook.

"Can you cook, Zabini?" Luna asked, without bothering with the introduction that she'd asked Draco for. "I admit to being terrible in the kitchen."

"I've known several Italian dishes since I was small, but Draco's book convinced me that I could branch out to more than those six dishes." Blaise tilted his head and smiled at the petite blonde witch. "Lovegood? It's been years. How are you?"

She smiled. "It's been years since I've been a Lovegood. And as far as how I am, do you want the polite answer or the honest one?"

"I never knew you at school to be anything other than honest, don't change on me now," Blaise replied, the smallest hint of flirtation in his tone.

Luna took his arm and led him towards one of the benches near where her sons were playing with some of the other children. Draco and Neville watched as Luna pointed out her sons to Blaise and he in turn pointed out to his daughters in turn. Luna's countenance grew serious and Blaise was holding her hand.

"Well," Neville snorted. "That didn't take Luna long."

"Don't judge her," Draco ordered. "She's lonely."

Neville hit Draco in the shoulder. "So overprotective of your cousin. She's probably got enough magical creature venom in her purse to kill a centaur. She can take care of herself. And she's already got Blaise eating out of the palm of her hand. He's lonely too. Maybe Pans will forgive him if he moves on from Daphne."

"He divorced her," Draco pointed out.

"But has he moved on?" Neville asked with a shrug, leaving Draco to watch over the babies while he returned to his wife.

The party went on swimmingly and before long Draco was putting Scorpius into his high chair and settling a paper birthday crown on his little head. Theo came out of the house bearing the chocolate cake that Draco had made shaped like a sleeping dragon at the request of the little birthday boy.

A lively round of happy birthday was sung by the children and Scorpius smeared his face with chocolate to Draco's chagrin and Theo's laughter.

Theo leaned in and kissed Draco deeply. "I love you." Hermione spun Draco about and kissed him too, before leaning over and kissing Theo deeply.

The sound of "Ewwww!" echoed from their children and friends, but Draco would make no excuses for how much he loved his husband and wife.

They'd led him out of the darkness and into this life filled with love and possibility.

And I'll use you as a makeshift gauge

Of how much to give and how much to take

I'll use you as a warning sign

That if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind

And I found love where it wasn't supposed to be

Right in front of me

"I Found" by Amber Run