Author's Note: I own no person, no place, no thing – except the plot! If you recognize it, it probably belongs to Ms. Rowling or some other awesome super-human.
Chapter 26 Enhancements
Draco allowed Hermione her privacy for about two minutes before her dragged her up off the concrete and into his lap. Once he had her tucked into his arms, he settled back against the car and waited for her sobs to subside. Eventually they did, and Draco felt Hermione relax her head against his shoulder at the same time her arms snaked around his chest.
He sighed and kissed the top of her hair. "Stressful day, hmmm?"
Hermione gave a very unladylike snort.
"Rough day," Draco amended.
Hermione snorted again.
"But in the end, Girl, a good day, don't you think?"
Hermione shuddered, and sighed, then lifted her head to meet Draco's gaze. "What are we going to do, Draco? Everything's going to change now. Not just because of Ginny and Jamie, that part will be wonderful. I mean with the rest of them, you know? Our secret's out. What do we do now? We've got so many enemies, and we're so vulnerable. We're not safe-" Hermione was cut off by Draco's lips on hers. She sighed against his warm mouth and brought her hands up so that she could curl her fingers into the hair on the back of his neck.
Draco released her mouth and smirked down at her. "Not to worry my dearest. While you and the ladies spent the afternoon defiling the sanctity of our bed – Ginny can have it by the way, there is no way on God's Earth I will ever be able to sleep on that mattress again - the Weasley men and I came up with a fairly comprehensive list of wards we – or they, rather – are going to cast over our property this evening. As a matter of fact, here they come now." Draco and Hermione turned to the sound of the elevator descending to open and unload Arthur and four of his sons into the garage.
Draco nudged Hermione into standing, then they walked over to greet Arthur and the brothers. Hermione walked straight into Arthur's open arms and hugged him tightly as the brothers and Draco strolled over towards the garage door to start coordinating the Weasley's positions for the casting.
Well, until Bill Weasley saw Draco's Yamaha.
While Arthur enjoyed his reunion with his long missing surrogate daughter, Draco introduced the Weasley brothers to his motorbike.
"It's like some kind of cousin to Sirius's old flying motorbike, yeh?" Fred asked.
"That rusted out old rattle-trap in Dad's shed? It looks nothing like this gorgeous thing," Bill said as he ran a hand lovingly across the sleek black exterior. Draco raised an eyebrow in bemusement. Apparently he'd come upon a kindred spirit in Bill Weasley.
"You do understand this doesn't actually fly, right?" George asked his eldest brother.
Draco scoffed. "Doesn't need to, mate. Goes pretty fucking fast on the ground. Scares the shite out of me sometimes, but it beats the hell out of not being able to fly at all."
Bill nodded eagerly. "How fast does it go, do you reckon? Like, Nimbus fast?"
While the boys discussed the finer points of land versus air speed for pleasure and sport purposes, Arthur smiled down broadly at Hermione and chucked her on the chin.
"No more crying now, Hermione. There's absolutely nothing to forgive. You know very well that Molly and I are just thrilled to see you well and healthy and happy. And you should know, I never thought you and Ron made a proper match. Too close, and too different you two were. And while he's having a rough time now, I don't think having you around would have made it better-"
"That can't possibly be legal!" Percy's shocked and indignant voice carried across the room, along with Draco's bark of amused laughter.
Hermione and Arthur looked over at the boys, and Arthur took note of the way Hermione's eyes focused on the Malfoy heir.
"You know, it seems to me you've met your match out here, Hermione," Arthur said kindly.
Hermione looked up quickly at Arthur, and then blushed and bobbed her head quickly. "Oh, er, yes. Draco and I, we're just about perfect for each other, really. And while I wasn't expecting to meet him out here, it's been the best thing for me. I really am sorry I left the way I did Arthur. I didn't want to hurt anyone, especially Ron. I just had to go. My parents, they're not in the best shape, you know?" Hermione said.
"Yes, Draco told us everything, I expect. Really, Hermione, you don't need to explain anything. Now, what are those boys looking at? I say, is that a motorbike?"
Hermione laughed in relief and allowed herself to be bodily led to Draco's Yamaha, where he was happily instructing a fascinated Bill in the finer points of two-wheeled Muggle transportation.
/…../
As the Weasley men prepared themselves and the building for the casting of the wards, Hermione and Draco sat with Ginny for a few moments so that Molly and Fleur could pop back to the Burrow and gather supplies for the baby and Ginny, as well as enough food to tide over the Weasley clan for the evening.
While Draco and Ginny spent a few minutes hammering out the massively entangled logistics of a home purchase -
"Do you want it?"
"Mmhmm."
"Right then, we'll buy it on Monday."
– Hermione held her godson and marveled at his tiny perfection.
"Look at that hair! Oh my goodness there's so much of it!" Hermione crooned as she stroked a sleeping Jamie's tiny scalp. His hair stood on end, black as night, and painfully like his father's had been, but in this sweetest of moments, Hermione couldn't help but be anything but blissfully happy, and painfully in love with the tiny little boy in her arms. She tickled Jamie's round cheek and watched in wonder as his little cupid's bow mouth opened in a perfect O as he yawned and stuck out his little tongue. Hermione giggled and kissed Jamie's forehead.
"Well at least he doesn't have that wonky scar. Even with that mad hair, he'll still manage to be inconspicuous amongst us Muggles," Draco said cheerfully. Ginny made an obscene gesture in his general direction.
"You know, Draco, you're one to talk. Don't you have a great, fat X-mark like a treasure map on the side of your forehead?" Hermione said in a sing-song voice. Draco copied Ginny's obscene gesture in the general direction of his smitten girlfriend, but smiled at Ginny as she chuckled.
Draco checked the time on his mobile, then re-pocketed it. He stood and said, "I'm going to go back outside to see if I can help out. Any requests before I go?" Both girls shook their heads, and Draco left the room to head up to the roof to help set up the casting of the wards as well as for Fred and George's midnight celebration of the birth of Harry and Ginny's son.
Once Draco had left the room, Hermione stood and made her way to the bed. "How are you?" she asked quietly as she lowered herself into the space next to Ginny and tucked Jamie into his Mother's arms so that they could both adore him.
"Little woozy. Sore. Feel like I got run over by a herd of angry centaurs, really. Glad it's over. Glad he's okay. Wish I could join you all up top, but…" here Ginny yawned hugely, "I really am knackered. Not really any way you could convince me to get out of this bed right now, really…" she sighed.
Hermione leaned in and kissed Ginny on the forehead. "I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're okay. Thank you for finding me, Gin. I love you. Now, get some rest. I have to go help your brothers, but your Mum will be back in just a few minutes." Then she leaned down and kissed Jamie's sleeping sweetness once more, and tucked the two under an extra quilt before turning down the light and leaving the room.
/…../
Hermione and Draco stood outside their building as ten in the evening approached. Arthur, Percy, Fred and George each stood at a corner of their building, and Bill took position at the center of their roof. Each Weasley clutched a length of paper with a list of incantations they would be simultaneously casting, but first Hermione and Draco had the gruesome but necessary task of bleeding of each of the four corners of their building.
"Ugh, I'm so tired of blood," Hermione groaned as Draco dragged the knife across her fingertip.
"Quit whining and act grateful, Love. I for one will gladly offer a gallon if it means we won't have any surprise visitors, or have to move anytime soon. I like the Fortress," Draco said as he repeated the cut on his own fingertip. They patted Arthur on the shoulder as they moved on to the next corner where Percy stood, and repeated the cuts into fresh fingertips.
"YOU LOT READY?" Bill's amplified voice shouted down from the roof.
Hermione jumped half a meter in the air, and Draco steadied her with a laugh. "Jumpy much, Little Girl?"
"Cripes," Hermione groused, "I'd forgotten how bloody loud that charm was. Do you think we're attracting attention like this?"
Draco shrugged as they approached Fred. Hermione swabbed their bloody fingertips so they could squeeze out some fresh drops, then they walked towards their final corner where George stood.
"Granted, I hope no one is observing us now. It's been so long since I've really thought about it, but seeing the Weasley's in their cloaks and waving their wands around, well. They look like a bunch of nutters, don't they?" Draco asked.
"Oi!" George cried indignantly. "I heard that!"
"I did too, Malfoy, and I highly resent that statement! I look bloody fantastic," Fred declared.
"Yes you do, brother mine," George agreed. "And as I was always the more handsome of the two of us, I look even more amazing. So piss off, young Malfoy, or we'll leave a hippogriff in your garage."
Draco offered an obscene hand gesture to each twin, then squeezed some blood over Hermione's donation to seal their contribution to the spell.
George tapped his throat with his wand, so Draco and Hermione clapped their hands over their ears as he bellowed, "READY BELOW!"
"ALL RIGHT!" Bill called. "IT'S PROBABLY BEST TO DO THIS AS A CHANT OR A SONG, SO…"
"NOT A PROBLEM, BILL!" Fred cut in. "WEASLEY'S, TO THE TUNE OF THE HOGWARTS SCHOOL SONG ON THE COUNT OF THREE, TWO, ONE…"
Hermione and Draco groaned. A funeral dirge paced chant came from Fred and George, whom they were closest to. Hopefully that was how all Weasley's sang the Hogwarts School Song, but even so-
"We're going to be out here all bloody night waiting for them to finish this," Draco said, then tugged Hermione down to sit next to him on the sidewalk against the building facing their own.
"Sooo, how are you, really?" Draco asked quietly as he bandaged the tips of Hermione's cut fingers.
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know, really. A little shattered, I guess. I mean, I just saw an old friend of mine whom I didn't even know was pregnant give birth naturally on our bed. Ugh. I have to tell you Draco, as a woman, that was hard to watch. I am seriously reconsidering ever having children after that one. And now I'm watching a pack of wizards who used to be as close as family to me spouting off magic spells that you and I should be able to see, but can't. Seriously, spells this elaborate, and using our blood no less, should be covering the sky and practically wrapping us in light. But to us, there's nothing. It's completely surreal, you know?"
Draco nodded and kissed her bandaged fingertips, then unceremoniously shoved his own bloodied fingertips and two clean bandages into Hermione's face. Hermione rolled her eyes. As she cleaned and bandaged Draco's fingers, he looked at her drawn, tired face.
"I suppose it is rather surreal, but I can't imagine it's bad. After all, we'll be more secure now, even though more people do know where we are. And as much as I hate to admit it, I think you'll be happier with the Weasley's in your life. I love you, Hermione, and I'd be perfectly content to live with just you and the puppies forever, but I'm not foolish enough to think that you're the same kind of person that I am. We'll adapt, and we'll be fine, yeh?"
Hermione nodded as she finished with his fingers, then settled her head against Draco's shoulder as they waited out the lengthy incantations of the Weasley clan.
"And Little Girl, as far as the childbirth thing goes," Draco said. Hermione pulled her head up off of Draco's shoulder to look at him.
"What about it?" she asked.
"Please, for the sake of my sanity, never tell me any details about it. I'd actually like to have children one day, and after listening to that much screaming and profanity come out of such a small woman, I'm not altogether sure I'm comfortable with the idea of putting you through that."
Hermione smiled slowly and broadly as she took in Draco's words. In a teasing voice she said, "Been thinking about engaging in experimental breeding with me, Mr. Malfoy?"
Draco flushed. "No! Not… not right now, I mean. Later, maybe, if I decide you're worthy of bestowing my magnificent surname upon," he tried to say flippantly, but his wide black eyes gave him away.
Hermione's smile grew. "You mean to tell me you haven't decided yet?" she teased. For all of her light-hearted banter as she teased her boyfriend however, Hermione's heart raced. What if he asked her? They'd only been together a few months, but then again, Pureblooded wizards tended to marry early either after very short courtships or as a result of betrothal contracts. Draco's own parents couldn't have been much older than Hermione and Draco currently were when they wed via a betrothal contract. Molly and Arthur had married straight out of Hogwarts, as had Harry's parents. Perhaps Draco had thought seriously about it, after all.
"Er… um…" Draco stuttered, and swallowed convulsively. Their conversation had taken a very unexpected turn, and he had no idea what to do. The ring that he'd just picked up not three days before was upstairs buried inside one of his suit pockets. He'd been planning on waiting until they were in Italy, so he'd have the added bonus of having Hermione's mind too completely over-stimulated by her new surroundings to even consider rejecting him.
Somehow, the idea of proposing marriage to Hermione seemed so much easier in a setting like Rome or Venice in Spring. There'd be excellent wine and decadent meals and dancing under the moonlight and all that rubbish.
Instead he and Hermione were sitting in the freezing arse cold outside their building in the middle of the night, bleeding and watching a handful of ginger nutters waving what amounted to wooden twigs in the air and singing horribly off-key, really atrocious music.
But then again, it was Hermione sitting next to him in the freezing arse cold, with her bandaged fingers curled around his. She'd completely and without a second thought shared her home and life with him, and she honestly loved him like he was the last man on Earth. There were times when Draco swore he could feel her love for him pounding through his veins, and it was at moments like these that he knew without a sliver of a doubt that their union was not only inevitable, it was almost redundant. There was no way he'd ever be enticed to leave Hermione's side. The biggest indicator of that was how other women ceased to appeal to him. He honestly couldn't even really remember lusting after anyone the way he did for Hermione.
She was just… IT. He'd kissed her, and that was that. It had been the beginning and the end, a dividing moment in his life, and to Draco it felt as permanent and natural as breathing air.
So, yes, he had made his decision, and he was ready to ask her, technically.
Draco scowled as his throat clogged, and his face heated further. He looked down at the pavement between his feet, and waited for the tension and utter terror to dissipate before he could face Hermione again. Shite, maybe he wasn't ready.
Or maybe it was the fact that they had an audience.
Fred and George's lamentations had come to an end, and they were now grinning wickedly down at Draco and Hermione.
"Well Draco m'boy, what do you say? Is our 'Mione the one true girl for you?" George teased.
"If you want, Georgie and I could sing a loving duet in the background whilst you woo your fair maiden with silken promises and a ring of untold exquisiteness. You do have a big, fancy ring on hand, don't you?" Fred asked cheerfully.
Hermione jumped up in embarrassment and started pummeling the twins with her hat, and Draco took the fleeting opportunity to drop his face into his hands and try to collect his horribly muddled thoughts. He could hear her laughter as she chased the twins down the sidewalk towards their front doorway. For the moment, he was completely alone.
Draco blew out a frustrated breath.
"Bugger," he muttered. "That was fucking horrible."
"Oh, come on now, it wasn't that bad, was it?" Hermione's voice asked from right in front of him. Draco jerked his head up, and there she was, slightly breathless and definitely tired, but beautiful as ever. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the brickwork of the building behind him.
"Damn it, Girl," he groaned. "I can't do this tonight. It's too late, I'm too tired, and too much has happened already today. Please, can we just forget this conversation ever happened?"
Hermione's heart dropped into her stomach. She knew Draco was right, and she knew he was beyond nervous at the rapid and unusual twist their innocent conversation had taken. But even so, she couldn't help but be hurt. Fucking horrible, he'd said. That wasn't what she'd wanted to hear, and she had a feeling she'd never be able to forget that he'd said it, whether he meant for her to hear it or not.
Regardless, she tucked her hurt to the side, and Hermione plastered what she hoped was a calm and gentle smile on her face. She reached her hand out to help Draco up off the cold ground.
"I think you're right," she said. "We're tired, it's late, and today has been a very big day. So stop worrying, Draco. No more emotional relationship crap, all right?" She looked up into his ravaged face. He looked so damned miserable that Hermione ached to ease his discomfort. So she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged herself to him. As Draco snaked his arms around her back, she whispered, "It's fine, it's fine. We're fine. Don't worry about it, really."
Draco let out an exhausted sigh, and rested his head against the top of Hermione's.
"I need a drink," he said.
Hermione laughed. "That was rather anti-climactic, don't you think?"
Draco shook his head, scrubbing his stubble across the top of her scalp in the process. Hermione giggled and squirmed, but he tightened his arms around her and scrubbed his way down the side of her head until he reached her cheek, then he turned his face and planted a sloppy wet kiss on her lips.
"You know what we need?" Hermione said once Draco had pulled back and turned their bodies to walk towards their building entrance.
"A cataclysmically earth-shattering shag? I couldn't agree more," Draco quipped. "But there's an issue with the accommodations in our flat, so I'll have to just service you against the wall in the stairwell."
Hermione pulled her key ring out of her jacket pocket and unlocked the front door.
"Well," she said, "I was going to say a vacation. But your idea works rather well too." And with that, she dragged him inside and pushed the door shut.
Ten fast and frantic minutes later, a very thoroughly mussed Hermione smiled at her stunned and over-stimulated boyfriend.
"Feel better?" she asked coyly. Draco nodded dumbly.
"Ready to go join the others and celebrate?" Hermione queried further as she pulled her clothing back together and tried to finger comb her way through her wayward hair. Draco nodded again, and picked himself up from where he'd sagged to the floor in post-crazy-amazing-orgasm euphoria. As his brain started to churn back into action again, he picked up their previous conversation thread.
"Hermione?"
"Hmm?"
"You mentioned wanting a vacation. Why don't we start planning our Italy trip? We'll help get Ginny and Jamie settled and go once the weather starts to turn. Maybe two months from now?" Draco said as he plucked Hermione's key ring from the floor to unlock the second door.
"Oooh, good idea! In all the excitement of the day I hadn't even thought of Italy, but you're absolutely right!" Hermione clapped her hands and jumped up and down as Draco opened the door to the stairs.
Draco breathed a sigh of relief. That gave him two months to prepare a fucking speech, or whatever it was he had to do, to get his mouth and brain to agree to communicate those all important words. For fucks sake, there was no way in hell he could go through the train-wreck of a proposal he'd narrowly avoided outside a second time.
Ring? Check.
Italy? Working on it, but, essentially, check.
Bollocks? Damn it.
/…../
Fred and George had encouraged Hermione and Draco to round up a few bottles of champagne from their extensive wine collection, and everyone met on the rooftop to celebrate the birth of Harry and Ginny's son. While Ginny and Jamie slumbered in Hermione and Draco's room, Molly and Arthur Transfigured some bits of roofing detritus into comfortable chairs and tables as Fred and George Apparated back to their shop on Diagon Alley to gather some supplies.
"What sort of supplies?" Molly asked sharply.
"Nothing outrageous Mum, just some fireworks," George said innocently.
Fred nodded solemnly and added, "We can't get into anything too wild, being in the middle of a Muggle town and all. That would be irresponsible of us."
"Not to mention illegal," Percy commented as he extracted his wand from his robes. "And now, if you all don't mind, I'll be popping over to get Penelope and the Minister and be back in a few moments." With a sweeping crack, Percy disappeared, leaving Hermione and Draco frowning in his wake.
"He's bringing more people here?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, well, yes dear. You remember Penelope Clearwater, don't you? She's his fiancé now, so naturally she knew of Ginny's situation. And of course Kingsley will want to be here to celebrate with us. He was with us last time you know, goodness, how long ago was that, Arthur?"
"Eighteen years ago, plus a few months I suppose," Arthur said as he helped Bill and Fleur string fairy lights along the edges of the open area of the roof top.
Draco's hand squeezed Hermione's in nervous agitation. "I promise, Love, the only people that can Apparate in independently through the wards now are the Weasley's and Mafalda. No matter what madness these lot bring through tonight, no one can find their way back without us entirely re-casting the wards to include them specifically."
Hermione nodded apprehensively, then squawked as Bill popped the top of the first champagne bottle. Draco chuckled and pulled his nervous girlfriend into his arms.
Several glasses and toasts later, Draco and Hermione were pleasantly bubbly and cuddled up together on a chaise lounge as midnight approached and the cracks of Apparition indicated incoming Weasley's and their guests.
George and Fred, as well as George's girlfriend Angelina Johnson, appeared with bags of what looked like fairly harmless Muggle fireworks in their arms.
Percy returned almost immediately after them with his fiance' Penelope, as well as with the imposing but familiar figure of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"Kingsley!" Hermione cried, and extracted herself from Draco's sleepy embrace to duck into the Minister of Magic's welcoming hug.
"Hello, dearest Hermione. Look at how well you are!" Kingsley said in his deep, booming voice as he pulled back from their hug to inspect Hermione's flushed countenance.
"It's good to see you Kingsley, and you look good as well! How are things?" Hermione asked happily, the champagne having done its part to loosen her tongue and lighten her mood.
"I am well, I am well, my girl. Mafalda has been keeping me abreast as to you and Mr. Malfoy, and she says that you two have been very good for each other out here. That warms my heart to hear, Hermione. How are your parents?" Kingsley asked.
"Oh, well, they're much the same as when I last saw you. They don't remember much of anything on either side of the mess I've made of their memories, so we're just trying to build from the point that I brought them back. It's better though, with Draco around. They rather like him, I think," Hermione said as she tugged the Minister over to where her boyfriend was still reclined. He had his eyes closed, and looked to be imminently close to sleep.
"Draco, wake up! The Minister's here," Hermione called.
Draco's eyes snapped open. Seeing who was standing in front of him, he hurriedly stood and accepted the offered handshake from the Minister.
"It's good to see you Minister," Draco said formally. "Welcome to our home, or well, the roof of our home, as it were."
Kingsley smiled at the young Muggle man before him. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy. And now, I wonder, if I could bother you to speak with me in private? I am so sorry dear Hermione, I will not keep him but for a moment." And with that, Kingsley pulled Draco gently by the arm to a far corner of the roof, away from the laughter and noise of the others.
Hermione cocked her head to the side as she watched Draco's face turn ashen, then shocked, then she saw a flash of rage cross his face as he turned away from the light. Whatever it was the Minister was telling him, it certainly wasn't good news.
"Is this something you are interested in pursuing, Mr. Malfoy?" Kingsley asked carefully.
"Fuck no!" Draco snapped. "I'm a free man, and I'll be damned if I'm going to allow my life to be dictated by some cocked up bullshit my father put together before I was old enough to read! Tell them whatever you want, that I died, or that I'm gay, or that I'm happily living with a tribe of Eskimos in the Arctic. I don't care, anything! Just keep them the fuck away from me. I haven't even told Hermione about this yet, and I honestly didn't want to! I don't want her to feel pressured… Damn it!" Draco cried and leaned against the roof's edge to look over the side.
"I'm going to ask Hermione, Minister. I swear, it has nothing to do with the Greengrass contract. Just give me a year at least, to get things irrevocably settled with Hermione, please," Draco whispered harshly into the night.
The Minister nodded. "I think I can manage that Draco. You seem very sincere about Ms. Granger. And from Arabella and Mafalda's reports, which I have read of course, you are doing very good here. I do not want to disrupt that. Your rehabilitation is going remarkably well. I will put the Greengrass family off for the next year, at least until your twenty-first birthday. That is exactly eighteen months from now. Do you think you can irrevocably settle things with Hermione by then?" Kingsley asked with a bit of humor in his voice.
Draco turned his head and looked sharply at the Minister. "Honestly, Shackebolt, I almost asked her tonight. I just… well, I just need time. But yes, by my twenty-first birthday should be plenty of time. Thank you."
As the two shook hands, the first of Fred and George's Muggle fireworks burst up from the rooftop and into the night. There was so much to plan, so much to do. Draco and Hermione, Ginny and Jamie, Kingsley and Mafalda, even Fred and George, all had hopes and dreams and worries and enormous obstacles that needed to be tended to in very short order. But for the rest of the evening, no one worried about the future. A time of celebration had begun in earnest. Not since the night that a tiny Harry Potter had lived to vanquish the Dark Lord Voldemort had such a celebration taken place. There was music, and light, and laughter, and even some dancing as the rooftop attendants rejoiced in the birth of Harry Potter's only son.
Red and gold, green and silver, even a lurid purple and orange combination, all burst up and into the night, showering Hermione, Draco and their assortment of guests with sparkling color.
To Be Continued.