AN: I don't own Harry Potter.

Thank you all so, so much for the lovely reviews, for following, and for adding this to your favorites.

Okay. I couldn't decide who should win, so I went a different way. Hopefully, you'll all enjoy this, though.

Big thanks to roni2010 and Angels-heart1 for the inspiration.

Alright. Enough of me. Go! Read and enjoy!

"WE WON!"

"WHAT?"

"NO YOU DIDN'T!"

"YES WE DID!"

"NO YOU DIDN'T!"

"STOP DOING THAT!"

Hermione and Harry watched in amusement as the two argued back and forth speaking in perfect sync with the other.

"Listen up, ferret..." Ron shouted, his face and ears turning red.

"Oh, shut up, Weaselbee." Draco sneered.

As the insults started flying between Ron and Draco, who were standing toe to toe by now, Hermione tilted her head, wondering how far she should let this go before she interrupted. She hadn't seen a good Ron and Draco fight in ages, especially since the two seemed to be getting on so well nowadays. The stopping point came, however, when she saw Ron discreetly draw his wand from his pocket. Letting out a loud whistle, she smirked as the two turned toward her with wide eyes as Harry rubbed his ear.

"Now that I have your attention...sorry, by the way, Harry...would you both calm down and explain? Preferably one at a time." she said.

"Word just came in that Dad's the new Minister." Ron said, throwing a glare at Draco.

"That's funny, because word is that my father is the new Minister." Draco drawled.

"Yeah, well, Kingsley told us himself." Ron said in such a childish way, Hermione was waiting for him to stick his tongue out at Draco.

"Impossible. Kingsley told...us...this after...noon." Draco said, narrowing his eyes. "No. It can't be." he murmured.

Hermione's smirk returned as she comprehended what had happened. "Well, congratulations guys. If I'm guessing correctly, which I usually do, Arthur and Lucius are Minister." she said.

"Rubbish." Ron scoffed, throwing himself into one of the chairs. "Kingsley said Dad's the new Minister." he said.

"Oh, and you believe that Kingsley told you the truth, do you?" Draco asked, sitting in the other chair more gracefully than Ron had.

"Why would Kingsley lie?" Harry asked confused.

"Maybe he didn't." Hermione shrugged.

"What's that mean?" Ron asked.

"When did Kingsley tell your family, Ron?" she asked.

"Uh...around half one, I think." he answered. "And it wasn't Kingsley himself. It was an official letter from Kingsley, more like." he added, shrugging.

"And Draco?"

"We got an owl just after two." he grumbled.

"Well, there you go." Hermione sighed, shaking her head. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked, receiving blank stares from all three boys. Rolling her eyes, she said, "Like I said, Arthur and Lucius are both the new Minister, geniuses." she said, looking between Ron and Draco.

"So, what you're saying is that the Wizengamot chose two Ministers?" Ron asked.

"Obviously." Hermione said, imitating her husband, getting a snicker from Harry.

"But, how can they do that?" Harry asked. "I thought there could only be the one Minister?"

"In this instance, they couldn't choose." a voice sounded from behind them.

"How's that, Lucius?" Hermione asked, turning to look over her shoulder at her stepfather.

"The Wizengamot kept coming up fifty-fifty. Half were in my favor, half were in Arthur's." he said, with a shrug as he leant on his cane. "So, they decided to elect both of us as joint Ministers." he smiled.

"Are you serious?" Ron asked, flushing as Lucius said nothing, just gave him a raised eyebrow. "Right." he nodded. If there was one thing Ron knew for certain about Lucius Malfoy, it was that he didn't joke about business or politics. "Uh...can I use your floo, Mione? I better get back to the Burrow." he said, standing.

"Sure. Tell them I'll be over later." she said, nodding.

"Yeah. See ya." he said, throwing down some floo powder and shouting 'The Burrow' before disappearing.

Lucius walked around the sofa and took Ron's seat, leaning back and crossing his legs. "And where is my grandson?" he asked. "I should think he'd want to congratulate his grandfather."

Hermione laughed a bit, shaking her head. "He's napping. But I'm sure he'd want me to pass on his congratulations." she smiled.

"Yeah, yeah." Draco said, sitting forward. "Now that the scary one's gone, how close was it really?" he asked Lucius.

"What I said, Draco. Fifty-fifty." he said. "After the last three days of deliberating, and the Wizengamot getting no closer to a decision, they decided to create the new joint Minister position. Which, for the record, I think is more than fair." he said.

"How is this fair?" Draco asked. "You're sharing the Ministership with Weasley." he groaned.

"Okay, first of all, there's no such word as 'Ministership', Draco. " Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "And, second of all, that's your wife's family you keep insulting. And yours, as well. Not to mention your future child's. Knock it off." she said sternly.

"Thank you, Hermione." Lucius said.

"You know," Harry started, "you're right, Lucius. It is fair to have two Ministers."

"Oh?" Lucius asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew why he thought it was fair, but wanted to know what The Boy Who Lived thought.

"Well...yeah. I mean, you're great with business stuff. You know, financial stuff, and making contacts, and no offense, but you're a Slytherin. You know how to be subtle and sneaky when it calls for it, so there's that. Then, you have Arthur, who...again, no offense...is better with people and being friendly."

"Yes, well...that's along the lines of my thinking." Lucius said. "Arthur would also be better in dealing with the muggle Prime Minister." he shrugged.

"Either way you look at it, you're both going to be great." Hermione smiled, getting up to give her stepfather a hug. "Congratulations, Minister Malfoy." she said as she pulled away.

"Thank you, dear." he smiled. "Your mother has invited you and Nicholas for dinner tonight, and then I believe she was going to talk to Molly about a joint celebratory dinner later."

"Hey!" Draco said indignantly. "How come she's invited and Ginny and I aren't?" he asked.

"Because Ginny is at the Burrow with her father celebrating, where you should be." Lucius said.

"But..." Draco floundered, looking from his father to Hermione to Harry.

"It's respectful, Draco." Lucius said. "Now go."

"Alright." Draco said, slumping his shoulders. "Congratulations, Father." he said with a smirk. "Mione, Potter." he nodded before stepping into the floo.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm going to get Nicholas ready. Hopefully, he stays asleep until we're at your place." Hermione said, standing. "I'll be back in a few minutes." she added, heading upstairs.

Once she was out of sight, Lucius turned to Harry. Clearing his throat, he said, "If you'd like, you're welcome for dinner, as well. I believe Mitzy is making something special tonight."

Harry smiled at the blonde. "Thank you, Lucius. That sounds lovely." he nodded. "I do enjoy Mitzy's cooking."

Lucius just nodded back at him, and the two waited in silence for Hermione to come back down. After ten minutes, they both turned when they heard Hermione softly talking to her son.

"Look, Nicholas, there's Poppy." she smiled, turning the carrier around so Nicholas could see Lucius. Nicholas cooed a little as his eyes landed on Lucius, making the older man chuckle.

Lucius took the carrier off Hermione's hands, carrying it over to the sofa. Setting it down, he leaned over and talked quietly to Nicholas, not wanting Hermione or Harry to hear.

"And how's Poppy's boy today, hmmm? You're not causing trouble for your mummy, are you?" he asked, getting out his handkerchief and wiping a bit of drool off Nicholas' chin. "Who's Poppy's boy? That's right. You are." he said.

Nicholas cooed and waved his arms around as he listened to his grandfather talk.

"Oh, be careful of his tummy." Hermione said, seeing Lucius tuck Nicholas' blanket in around him. "The rest of his umbilical cord is finally getting ready to fall off, and I don't want it just ripped off him." she said.

"Ah." Lucius nodded. "Good point." he said, tucking the blanket a bit gentler.

Hermione took a deep breath as she grabbed the baby bag off the chair where she had placed it. "Okay. We have wipes, nappies, clothes, bottles, binkies, he has his blanket, and his stuffed owl toy, and a few other things. I think we're ready." she said.

"You ready to go see Nana?" Lucius asked, smiling as he leaned closer to Nicholas. He was surprised, however, when one of Nicholas' arms came up and bopped him on the nose.

Hermione and Harry burst out laughing. "Oh my god!" Hermione laughed. "That was the funniest thing I've ever seen!" she laughed.

Lucius just gave her a scowl as he rubbed his nose.

Review please.

Til next time!

XOXO - Onyx Obsidian