Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Am just doing this for fun. No money's being made.
A/N: I love the fact that my reviewers make intelligent comments and ask good questions. I'm also very glad that you all understood about taking the story in a slightly deeper direction. Re: comments - SerpentofDarkness (my favorite part last chapter was the Mudblood exchange, too. Do you actually own a vintage car?); viola1701e (EXCELLENT point! I chalk it up to extreme arrogance that the Purebloods skipped the "Know Thy Enemy" rule. You called it about the car; that can be a chapter or two in itself); chupeechan (Thank you!); Grovek26 (Thank you, too!); Peytonkmc (glad you got it. And you're right about change; it doesn't happen in a vacuum); Dadn14 (Thanks! Yeah, Lucius is OOC, but he's too damn much fun this way for me to feel badly about it, LOL); wintersong1954 (again, someone who really gets it. I know that LM is a dark character, but like any human, there's got to be so much more to him, you know? If you haven't watched a video of Hiroshima, check it out. I'm still feeling haunted); BigTimeGleekBTR (Hi, hon! Here's another); Kermit304 (The syrup experiment just popped in. My mind is a scary place. And I'm seriously considering turning Richard loose with the rest of the menfolk. Or maybe a males vs. females chapter. Your 'crystal ball' *snort*- I'm going to start calling you Trelawney. Glad you're enjoying the story. I think you'll like this chapter); fediva (thank you! Here); SlytherinGurrl (Thanks - my favorite stories have balance. There may even eventually be angst in here. Dunno); tabbialice (Gracias!); FyCHnx (glad you're pleased. Didn't want to let you down); luvslinkpk88 (Good! How about now?).
And a big grazie to the followers/favoriters, too. I do this to amuse myself up to some point, but a lot of it's in order to make someone else smile.
15 minutes later, the Bentley whipped back into the Grangers' drive in a cloud of dust, giving another real-life example of how time is relative. While the ride took seconds to Lucy and the Fiend, to Narcissa and Richard it was as though they had endured anxiety for hours. Lucius fairly bounced out of the vehicle, only realizing after a moment that his mate was not with him. When he went back to the Bentley to retrieve the poor woman, she was huddled against one side of the backseat, looking like the Dark Lord had appeared on the hood. Richard couldn't help rushing out to the garage to check on his car. Hermione shook her head in amused disgust, and gently reminded him that as a good host, he might want to ask after his guests' well-being. Lucius bombarded Hermione with questions about automobile types and the requirements to own one, and how fast were they going, and just how quickly could an automobile travel? This made his wife blanch further, though she held her tongue. Trick or treating had been all right, but this?
Once he had confirmed that his four-wheeled baby was unhurt, Richard was more than happy to start discussing cars with Lucius. Hermione dropped back to let the men enter first, and gently took Narcissa's elbow.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry; I didn't mean to frighten you."
Her mother-in-law favored her with a brave smile. "I'm still intact. Is driving always like that? So...energetic?"
Hermione chuckled. "That was diplomatically put. No, it's not always like that. I just thought Lucius might enjoy the speed, and if I'm being honest, I dearly love to open up the engine on the Bentley. Most cars don't have such power."
"What if he wants one of his own?" Cissa could feel her brow furrowing. This simply wouldn't do. Malfoys did not get wrinkles.
"Well, there's a whole process to getting one's driver's license. There are classes and both written and road tests."
Cissa stopped the younger woman with a hand on her shoulder. "Dear, this is Lucius Malfoy. I wouldn't put it past him to Confund anyone in his way."
Her daughter-in-law looked chastened. "I hadn't thought of that. He just seemed so sad after his talk with my dad; I wanted to cheer him up. I promise that if he starts to get ideas, I'll do everything in my power to make sure he goes the responsible route."
A soft, refined snort answered her statement. "The 'responsible route?' Hermione, have you met my husband? This is the same individual who recently started a food fight in your home."
The two women entered the kitchen and tabled the conversation as they set to helping Jean move all of the food into the dining room. Draco happily assisted them, grinning and playfully nudging his wife. He loved to see her pleased, and his father had displayed an ear-to-ear grin since they had returned. The younger Malfoy raised a concerned brow at his mother. She sent him a non-committal smile and busied herself with ensuring that Scorpius was ready for dinner. As it happened, he was not, and Grandmother Malfoy ordered him to wash his hands again. This time with soap.
Eventually both sides of the family were settled around the table. No one had to be asked twice to tuck into the feast Jean had created. It didn't take long before Richard and Lucius resumed their discussion of the benefits of Muggle science vs. magic. Both parties kept the effect of their prior conversation in mind, and stuck to safer topics.
"Well, what about Spattergroit? Have Muggles found a cure for that yet?" Lucius nodded to Draco across the table. "Son, please pass the potatoes."
Draco complied, handing them over the Muggle way rather than levitating the dish. Unlike Malfoy Manor, this room was small enough that magical transport really wasn't necessary.
Richard shrugged. "Lucius, we don't have Spattergroit. We have diseases like polio, the measles, the mumps, chicken pox, and all of these things have vaccines to either prevent them, or lessen an attack exponentially, as long as one is in a developed enough country to receive immunizations. However, we still haven't had much luck with curing viruses. Not even influenza or the common cold."
The elder Malfoy commiserated: "We haven't had much luck with colds, ourselves. The flu is almost as bad. Usually we can use a potion, an ointment or a spell to run diagnostic checks or cure ailments. It makes things so much easier." He glanced at his grandson, then at Hermione as a question occurred to him. "How did you discover you were pregnant with Scorpius, did you use Muggle methods or Wizarding?"
Hermione blushed. "Well, I decided to do the initial testing the Muggle way, but we went to a Mediwitch for confirmation. That was certainly more hygenic and less painful. She simply performed a charm on me. The patient glows silver if not pregnant, blue if she is carrying a boy, and pink for a girl." Lucius nodded in recognition.
Jean concurred. "That's definitely a step up from our methods."
"Excuse me," Narcissa queried, "But just how do Muggles diagnose when a lady is expecting?"
The Fiend's cheeks were brick red as she responded. "Um, the woman urinates on a stick. If it registers a plus sign, she's pregnant. The doctor's office usually will run a blood test to check for levels of a particular hormone, and then there are tests called ultrasounds during the pregnancy where an imaging tool is pressed into a woman's abdomen and moved around to get pictures of the fetus."
Narcissa's lovely face was crossed between confusion and horror. "A stick? Does the Muggle simply pick one out of the nearest forest?"
"Oh! No, nothing like that. It's a special type of testing stick. It's not actually wooden." Jean did her best to hide the giggle threatening to escape at any moment.
Lucius turned to Richard at the head of the table. "That's barbaric. In the Wizarding world, all you have to do is this," He casually waved his wand at Hermione. "Egritudo Graviditate! See? She's turned-"
Draco and Narcissa gasped, and Lucius turned to look at his daughter-in-law. Malfoy-Granger glowed a brilliant shade of rose.
"Draco? Darling, what's wrong? Narcissa?" Large brown eyes flitted between her family members.
The younger Malfoy did his best to rein in the apprehension currently gnawing at him. "Love, I don't know how to say this, but-"
"You're PINK! Mummy, you look so pretty!"
Hermione swayed as she got to her feet. "T-thank you, dear. Please excuse me," and she rushed from the room.
A/N II - enough of you asked that I started looking into what could be done conceptually with this, and there's a lot of material.