Hermione's flat
Draco and Hermione had asked her parents to show up at her place so that they could take them through the Floo network to the Burrow. They both had dressed up as well for the celebration, knowing full well what Molly would expect without having to mention it. Hermione thought it was a nice touch to put the dress on again which she had worn on their wedding day in that lovely little church.
"They are late." Hermione was pacing up and down the living room, slightly nervous about the fact that she would bring her parents to a wizarding place.
"I'm sure they will be here in a couple of minutes. They've been here before, princess..." Draco was leaning against the kitchen door frame, watching her pace. He was probably just as nervous as she was, but he understood that her parents were rather curious about the wizarding world, probably as curious as Arthur was about the Muggle world, which in turn reminded him to make sure that Arthur wouldn't ask too many questions, maybe even ask Molly to rearrange the seating, if need be.
Finally, the doorbell rang.
Hermione basically ran to the door, and hastily opened it. "Mum! Dad! You're here!"
"We promised to come, so here we are, my dear." Jean laughed at her daughter's excitement.
"And you brought a cake?"
"Yes. I told Molly I'd like to bring one, and she didn't mind..."
"It's... well, it's big."
"Mind, if we come in? It's a bit heavy too, you know?"
"Hello, sweetheart! You look great!" William smiled, and helped his wife carry the cake into the flat.
"So, how do we get there?" Jean asked after having placed the cake on the sofa table for a moment, sounding somewhere between curious and puzzled.
"Well, we have two possibilities. Either we Apparate there, or we use the Floo network," Hermione explained, excited that her parents were finally here, and that she could actually show them a few pieces of her world.
"We discussed it a bit, and thought that the Floo network would be less irritating," Draco explained, "since Apparating can leave inexperienced users feeling a bit nauseous."
"Let me find a bag to transport the cake in..." Hermione went back to the bedroom where she already stored several magically enhanced bags. Though she still might need to shrink the cake a bit to make it fit. Her mother should have given her some warning...
"So, how does it work, that network thing?" William asked when Hermione came back with one of the bigger magically enhanced bags..
"Well, I will take Mum, and you will go with Draco," Hermione replied, shrinking the cake. "Can you help me for a moment, my dear? I need someone to keep the bag open..."
Draco came over, and held the bag open so that Hermione could stuff the cake inside as carefully as possible. "Let me take it..."
"No, I think Mum and Molly want to have a look at it straight away." She smiled, then closed the bag. "I'm surprised that Molly let her bring a cake, though."
"So, what do we have to do while using that network?" Jean asked, repeating her husband's previous question, and still amazed at how that big cake they had to carry both could fit in such a small bag.
"All you have to do is hold our arm or hand really tight and not let go before we arrive..." Hermione shouldered the bag, then went over to the fireplace.
"Jean, if you would be so kind as to step into the fireplace with Hermione?" Draco asked. "She will do the rest."
Jean nodded, then watched her daughter take some powder into her hand, and followed her into the fireplace which was surprisingly tall.
"Take my hand. And don't let go until I say so. And best keep your eyes closed. Ready?"
Jean nodded again, and clung to her daughter's arm.
"The Burrow," Hermione said clearly, then threw the powder to her feet, with green flames showing up, seconds later they were gone.
"This is crazy," William commented what he just witnessed. "And this is how you travel around?"
"Between houses, yes." Draco now came up to the fireplace. "It's one of the fastest ways to travel, as long as the entrance is open." He took up some of the powder as well. "We shouldn't let our wives wait too long," he said, stepping into the fireplace and offering his father-in-law his arm.
William stepped in a bit insecurely, not quite knowing what to expect, and clung as tightly as he could to Draco's arm. "Ready."
Draco nodded. "The Burrow."
The Burrow
Moments later, the two men arrived in the chaos that was the Weasley household. Hermione was waiting for them, having sent her mother outside to sit with Harry. "Dad! You made it!"
"It's definitely one of my weirdest experiences, I must say," William said when he stepped out the fireplace, taking in the kitchen they landed in.
"Mum's outside already."
"Mr. Granger, welcome to the Burrow. I hope it's not too overwhelming for you," Molly greeted him rather cordially, she had been checking Jean's cake when they arrived. "Your wife is outside already if you want to join her. Just be warned, my husband is deeply interested in everything relating to your mu- non-magical world, he might ask a few questions, though I warned him not to bugger you too much..."
Hermione joined Draco in front of the fireplace while watching Molly lead her father outside. "He seems to have taken it rather well. Mum was a bit more freaked out, but I placed Harry next to her, he promised to keep an eye on Arthur..."
"You have some dust in your hair," Draco said, gently brushing through her hair that felt so soft that Sunday morning.
"Thanks." Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, to enjoy the simple gesture. He didn't have to do that, but she let him, as she loved the gentleness with which he did it. "Ready to face the Weasleys as a married couple?"
He nodded. "I very much look forward to holding your hand over the table, and being able to kiss you everywhere in front of them."
"Almost everywhere," she replied, then took his hand. "For some places I still prefer privacy, my dear love."
The lunch was wonderful. Molly had outdone herself, not only with the roast and sides, which were enough for seconds and thirds for everyone at the table, but also with the decorations in the garden. It looked like a small wedding reception, complete with ribbons, balloons, and lots of flowers, in surprisingly matching green and red colours. Additionally, everyone in the family had put on their best dress or suit in honour of the celebration. Draco and Hermione were placed at the top of the table as guests of honour, her parents to their right, and the Weasley parents to the left. This way, Molly as well as Jean could make sure that Hermione wouldn't drink alcohol, despite the many toasts to the couple.
After the main course was over, Jean and Molly disappeared into the kitchen again, to prepare the cake Jean had insisted on bringing along, and Ginny used the opportunity to take the seat next to Hermione.
"You look absolutely fantastic today!" Ginny said, gazing at Hermione's cream coloured dress.
"Well, I thought it was fitting for celebrating my marriage. It's actually the dress I wore at the wedding ceremony."
"Gorgeous! To a happy marriage between you two. I'm sure you can make it!"
"To a happy marriage!" Hermione and Draco repeated.
"You know, Mum hasn't stopped smiling ever since we came back from that evening you told us everything."
"She basically adopted Hermione as a daughter, so she's happy for her," Draco suggested, after putting his glass back down on the table.
"Might as well be, but then I saw her sorting through our old baby stuff. You know we have A LOT of it. It's just weird because neither I, nor you, nor Fleur and Angelina are pregnant, as far as I know..."
Hermione looked at Draco for a moment, then both blushed quite a bit. "Ginny, I guess she is sorting them out for me. I'm pregnant. I told Molly because she knows quite a bit about it-"
"Oh my goodness! Congratulations! I never thought you would be the first..." Ginny got up to hug them both.
"Was an accident, but we're now both looking forward to it," Hermione replied, hugging her friend back. "So, you're going to be an aunt soon."
"You know I'm going to spoil that child rotten and teach it how to properly fly a broom."
"Not a broom, please! I still hate those!" Hermione groaned.
Draco decided to stand for a moment, as the two women were now deep in conversation about whether their child should learn how to fly on a broom or not. At the moment, he was inclined to side with Hermione, though. He walked over to William, who was simply looking around a bit, trying to take in the whole place. "I looked about the same when I came here the first time. The whole building is held up by magic."
"It looks so lived-in, now I know where Hermione has it from, because her- your place looks rather similar."
"I like it too, it's so completely different to what I was raised in. It's comfortable, though sometimes a bit too noisy for my taste."
"I can imagine." William nodded. "You're still surprisingly calm about the pregnancy."
"To be honest, I'm just as frightened as Hermione. I mean, what if something goes wrong with the pregnancy? What if I'm not good enough? It seriously freaks me out because it's such a huge thing."
"It is." William nodded.
"But at the moment, Hermione needs someone who can calm her down again when she freaks out herself about the fact that she is going to be a mother. "
"You know, I'm also a bit freaked out about becoming a grandfather. You make me feel a bit old," William admitted with a short laugh.
Draco joined the laughter. "Sorry about that."
"Cake's ready," Molly shouted from the kitchen. "Everybody back to their seats!"
Draco and William returned to the table.
"What did you two talk about?" Hermione asked, placing a small kiss on Draco's cheek.
"A bit about the house, and how freaked out we both are."
"You finally freaked out for a moment?"
"I never said that," Draco replied with a smirk, then returned the kiss on her cheek.
The two women returned from the kitchen, with Molly levitating it before them, decorated with roses in red and green, and "Happy Marriage!" written in big letters on it.
"If the newly-weds would do the honour of cutting the cake?" Molly asked, when they placed the cake on the table.
Holding hands, Hermione and Draco got up and walked the few steps to the middle of the table. "Your wand," he whispered.
She nodded, then fumbled her wand from underneath her dress, and held it vertically about the cake, waiting for Draco to take her hand. "You know we should do this as a couple, I'm pretty sure that's Molly's way of being part of the wedding."
"Sorry, just a bit nervous." He laid his hand on hers.
Hermione spoke the words for the cutting spell and led the wand through the cake, so that a decent looking piece came out. "Yours forever," she whispered.
"Always." He kissed her on the cheek again.
"Now, who wants cake? Prepared by the lovely Jean here!"
Everybody raised their hands, while Molly put the first piece of cake on a plate, then levitated it up to Hermione's and Draco's place.
"So, you never told us, what's your name now, Hermione?" Ron asked when everyone had their piece of cake in front of them.
"You wouldn't believe how long we discussed that single point," Draco replied.
"It all comes down to reputation, my love," Hermione commented, amused at the memory of the discussion. "My name is simply still better loved than yours, even after all those years. So professionally I keep Granger, but for all things private it is Granger-Malfoy. Any children we'll have eventually will get Malfoy, as he insisted on keeping the line alive, though no longer pure."
"That was the only thing I insisted upon, the rest was all your decision, love."
"And there goes the banter," George commented, then put a forkful of cake in his mouth.
"But why no wedding ceremony that befits your status?" Ron asked, between two forks of cake.
"Seriously, can you imagine the press? They would have a field day with it," Hermione replied.
"Yeah. Young Malfoy has snagged War Heroine or something like that, followed by some sad home story. Nah, even I can live very much without that attention, thank you."
"Your mother still not talking to you?" Molly asked, slightly concerned.
Draco shook his head. "No. But I don't need her blessing for the marriage, that's the advantage as head of family. Though I will have to talk to her eventually, especially about still representing the Malfoy family." He sighed. "That's one thing we might no longer avoid, my dear, going to events and stuff."
"I don't mind it that much," Hermione replied with a supporting smile, then took a fork of cake in her mouth. "Mum, my favourite cake! Thank you!"
"Well, Molly modified it a bit with magic, was interesting to watch..."
After the dessert, when everyone had changed their seats to discuss various subjects, and Arthur trying to converse a bit with William, Harry came up to Draco.
"So, Ginny just told me that you're expecting," he said when sitting down on Molly's previous seat, who was back in the kitchen with Jean for the cake recipe.
"Yes, accident really. And a huge shock."
"I can imagine."
"You and Ginny not planning any children yet? So we can do play dates?" Draco chuckled at the thought.
"Well, we were thinking about it lately," Harry replied, chuckling as well at the thought. "How is she holding up?"
"Well, surprisingly well, but still has moments when she freaks out about the fact of becoming a mother."
"I'd be freaked out beyond my wits, really."
Draco nodded. "Though, since you're here already, I have a request. Would it be a problem for you if I ask for a change of department for Hermione to share the office with me until she's on maternity leave at least? I would prefer to be able to keep an eye on her."
"Not at all. She is in the wrong department anyway..."
"Definitely." Draco sighed. "Listen, there's something else... I plan to take her on a honeymoon as well, don't tell anyone yet. I just want to spoil her rotten for once as long as I still can."
"Where to you plan to take her?"
"There's that small exclusive wizarding spot in the Caribbean."
"Nice. So, you want me to take care of the office change while you're away."
"I would owe you one," Draco replied with a smirk.
"That would make it two now, then. Since you already owe one to Ginny."
"She told you about that?"
"Yeah, afterwards." Harry grinned. "I'll see what I can do, the names Granger and Potter should be good for something."
"Thanks, mate."