December 2024

Draco was at his desk with his head buried in the Daily Prophet as he most often was during the day. After this he would move onto the muggle newspaper that he had taken up reading lately. He'd go for a walk around the Manor. Maybe step out for a stroll around London. Maybe take an afternoon nap. It was contemplating all of these "maybes" that Draco came to the conclusion that his early forties were horrendously boring. It was only when he heard the distant sound of Floo Flames activating that Draco threw out all of the options for the best one. A day with his son.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow." Draco smiled.

"Yeah I know." Scorpius said as he stood in the doorway of his father's study. "I asked mum if I could come early and she let me."

"That's shockingly nice of her." Draco chuckled. "Good then! I had the week planned out for us, but nothing for today. What do you want to do?"

"I'm up for anything, really, but I was first hoping that I could talk to you about something?"

"Sure, of course. What's on your mind?"

"Well, it's about this girl in my year."

At that Draco cocked a brow at his son and grinned from ear to ear. "Oh really? Well, don't just stand by the door, come in! Let's talk about her."

Scorpius did as his father instructed and shut the door after him. He sat down in the armchair in front of his father's desk and nervously twirled his thumbs. "She's amazing, dad. Really, she is. I'm just afraid that-"

"She doesn't like you back, right?" Draco interrupted. He waved a hand at his son and leaned back into his chair. "Son, you've got nothing to worry about. You're a Malfoy, for Merlin's sake. A Malfoy man. She'll like you."

"Oh, she already does." Scorpius answered him. "I know she does; she's already told me. The problem isn't with her or me. It's with our families…"

Draco paused. He could see where the conversation was going without having to hear the rest of what his son was saying. In fact he couldn't hear anything Scorpius was saying. Every noise around him dulled in an instant. Everything slowed too. So much so that the name Sophie Weasley came out of his son's mouth with a slow, movie-like motion.

"I already know what mum would say." Scorpius continued. "But I wanted to get your advice."

Draco snapped back to reality. He stared at his son and he knew how much he had to care for Sophie. It wasn't just the look in his eyes. It was the mere fact that he had worked up the nerve to come to talk to him about it. Scorpius knew that his mother would scold him for wanting to date Sophie. Everyone in the family would. Everyone except for Draco.

"Date her."

Scorpius held his father's serious gaze. Draco cleared his throat, nodded, and set his cupped hands on his desk. "There's no question about it, son. The two of you like each other? Go for it."

"But what about-?"

"No buts." Draco told him. "Screw the family. And if she's willing to go against hers, then so be it."

Scorpius frowned and slowly shook his head. "Family is all she has. Friends too. If we go through with this-"

"She'll still have you and you'll have her. Trust me," Draco sighed as his thoughts wandered over to Hermione. "The two of you will be all that you care about. Give it a shot, Scorpius. The relationship may turn out badly, yes. But it could also turn out well. You won't know unless you try. And you'll never forgive yourself if you don't."

May 2027

If anyone visited Malfoy Manor, it wouldn't be so late in the night. And so, Draco hurried himself in order to address the knocking that resonated throughout his home. When he opened the door, the word "surprise" was an utter understatement. He sized his ex-wife up and down before eventually settling on her impatient face.

"Well, well," Draco said as he leaned against his doorframe. "To what do I owe this displeasure?"

Astoria huffed. "Come now, there's no need to be rude, Draco. I came here with civil intentions."

Draco scoffed. "Oh really? What intentions are those?"

"I came to talk about Scorpius."

At that Draco's demeanor changed. He swallowed deeply as he nodded and let Astoria inside. They both walked through the Manor and to Draco's study. It was only because Astoria had come to talk about their son that he didn't moan and groan that she had sat in his favorite armchair.

"Is he alright?" Draco asked as he sat on the side of his desk. Astoria quickly shook her head.

"No, he's not. He's about to do something absolutely crazy. He wants to…propose to that Weasley girl. Can you believe it? Propose!" Astoria paused, waiting for Draco to react, but he continued to sit there in silence. "Well? Aren't you going to say something?"

Draco shrugged. "I'm still waiting to hear about the crazy thing Scorpius is about to do."

Astoria's face morphed into horror. "You can't honestly be supporting this!"

"Oh yes I can. I bought him the ring to propose with." Draco smiled with glee. "And if Sophie accepts, once they get married Scorpius will have access to the trust fund I set up for him years ago and they'll always have what they need."

"Oh, you!" Astoria shouted with fury as she rose from her seat. "I don't know why I thought you'd be on my side with this! You've always encouraged him away from the family!"

"On the contrary, I've always encouraged him to do what's best for him. And if he feels that this is what's best, then I'll support him all the way."

"Sure, getting married to a mudblood is what's best for him." Astoria rolled her eyes. Draco steadied himself at hearing such foul language and took deep, steady breaths.

"Sophie isn't a muggleborn."

"Her mother is, so she'd might as well be."

Draco tutted. After that he smirked. And after that he outright laughed. "I see… This isn't about the fact that Scorpius wants to get married to someone of muggle heritage. It's the fact that that he wants to get married to the daughter of the woman that I love."

Astoria snapped her eyes to him quickly. "Oh, so you're admitting it now, are you?"

Draco sucked his teeth and casually crossed his arms. "Why not? We're divorced. I've got nothing to lose."

"Right… And you lost everything just to go in and out of every trollop that isn't the love of your life while she's happily married to her husband." Astoria pursed her lips and stared at him derisively. "You ruined everything for someone who doesn't even love you back."

"So you think." Draco replied. "But she loves me. Always has back to when we were at Hogwarts together. The only reason nothing ever came of it was because of the same crap that our families are trying to shove at Scorpius. Look how well that turned out for me. For us. You wasted your youth on me. Now you're bitter and angry all the time. I'm free to date whoever I want, but even after all this I still can't have who I've always wanted. I don't want our future for Scorpius and neither do you."

Astoria was quiet. She slowly sat down on Draco's favorite chair and sank back into it. She was doing all that she could not to look at him and was fiddling with the hem of her sleeves. "…My father told me not to go out with you." She said softly. "He was right."

"And a few years down the line he was telling you to stay married." Draco countered. "He was wrong. You made your own choices both times. It's time for Scorpius to make his."

July 2027

Every time Ron wasn't looking Hermione brought her nails to her mouth and bit them down to the core. Sophie had gathered her parents together in order to tell them some "exciting news." Hermione knew what the news entailed and it was because of that that her nails were a terrible mess. Ron on the other hand was in ignorant bliss and smiling broadly as Sophie took center stage.

"Come on, Sophie." Ron said eagerly. "Stop leaving your mother and me in suspense."

"Well," Sophie said slowly as she eyed her mother for encouragement. "I didn't tell you guys this, but…I was dating someone while at Hogwarts. And…that same someone asked me to marry him. I know that I'm young, but I said yes."

Sophie had had her hands behind her back, but now she showed her hands proudly. On her left hand was a large solitaire diamond ring that shined brightly in the light. Hermione feigned her surprise although her happiness was real. Ron on the other hand was sitting in shock as he stared at the face of his little girl and the ring that she was proudly displaying.

"…Engaged…" Ron repeated. "How come you never said that you were dating somebody?"

"Honestly? I was afraid you'd scare him off." Sophie nervously laughed. "You can be a bit scary, dad."

Ron laughed. "Yeah? Yeah, I guess so. Wow…engaged? Engaged? Sophie, are you sure? You're only eighteen-"

"I'm sure." Sophie replied quickly. "I love him. So yes, I'm sure."

"You love him…" Ron said again. "I can't believe it."

"Neither can I." Sophie admitted. "I thought that you'd be freaking out by now."

"Oh, I am. Trust me." Ron confessed. "It's just on the inside. Engaged… Hermione, aren't you going to say something? You're daughter just said she's getting married!"

"I'm…speechless." Hermione murmured as she locked eyes with her daughter. It was soon after that that both of their blood pressures rose to dangerous heights.

"Who's the lucky guy?" Ron asked. "I know we don't know him but a name would be nice."

Sophie held her hands tightly. She took a deep breath and sighed as she spat out the name that she knew would cause the vein in her father's neck to throb. And yet, even though she had done it, that didn't happen. Sophie looked towards her mother who was staring at her husband utterly bemused.

"Ron?" Hermione called. "Ron?"

"Dad?" Sophie said. "Dad, please talk to me."

Ron had been staring blankly ahead of him. It was only when Sophie addressed him that he looked at her. "…Surely, you're joking."

Sophie shook her head. "No, dad, I'm not. I've been dating Scorpius since I was fifteen. He asked me to marry him last month and I've just been trying to find the right time to tell you."

Ron didn't say anything. He suddenly rose up from his seat and walked pass Sophie without a word. She was absolutely devastated as her father walked away and Hermione could see it. "I'll talk to him. We'll work it out. I promise." She said to her and then quickly ran after Ron.

"Over my dead body Sophie's getting married to Scorpius bloody Malfoy!" Ron shouted at the top of his lungs once Hermione caught up to him.

"But she loves him!" Hermione cried. That stopped Ron in his tracks and he blinked rapidly.

"Loves him? Loves him?! How the hell could she love him? It's Malfoy's son! After everything we've told her about that family! After everything we've warned her about!"

"You mean after what you, Harry, and countless others have warned her about." Hermione retaliated. "I on the other hand have tried to teach her to be tolerant of everyone. You can't go blaming people for their family history, Ron. Scorpius' last name shouldn't define who he is! And I hate to tell you this, but despite how you feel on the matter, Sophie's eighteen. She's an adult and she can do what she wants whether she has our permission or not. You should be happy that she told you instead of running off and eloping like she wanted to!"

Ron stared at her in surprise. "…You already knew about this?" He accused more than really asked. Hermione bit the inside of her jaw nervously. Ron had already been red in the face, but now he was getting even more so. "For how long? When she came home? When they got engaged? When they first started dating?"

Hermione was silent. It was enough to infuriate Ron even further and he punched the wall. "Hermione, how could you let this happen?!"

"Let this happen?" She repeated. "Sophie isn't some makeshift toy! She has her own needs! Her own desires-!"

"Oh, don't give me that. You're her mother!"

"And as her mother I refused to be the one to control her!" Hermione shouted. "Who was I to tell her who she could or couldn't date when she wanted it so badly? Don't you think that her life was hard enough? To go against everything just about everyone in her life has been telling her in order to trust her heart? To have her friends abandon her? To come home with news that she knew would upset you? Ron, how could you not be proud of her? I am. She's been strong. She is strong. Stronger than I ever was."

Little did she know, Hermione's cheeks were wet with tears. She hadn't noticed until she had stopped talking and realized with a silent horror that her words weren't just meant about Sophie. Her face betrayed her inner emotions when she realized that Ron hadn't overlooked it. Hermione swallowed deeply, wiped her eyes, and then sighed.

"I just want her to be happy, Ron."

Ron swallowed just the same and spoke softly. "…She can be happy with someone else."

Hermione nodded. "It's possible, yes. But there'll be a nagging thought in the back of her mind always wondering about what could've been." She sighed once more and then averted her eyes as guilt suddenly welled up inside of her. "Sophie and Scorpius will be married. I'll see to it."

Author's note: This chapter is so aptly named "Choices" because, well, some tough decisions had to be made. Scoripus had to make the decision to date Sophie. Astoria had to make the choice to let her son make his own choices. And Sophie had to make the choice to come clean with her father and follow her heart.

Also with this chapter it's the first time that you actually get to see into Hermione and Ron's home life. Up until now they've never had any problems, but they certainly do now.

And one more thing! Just so you're not blind-sighted, this story will be ending on chapter 11 (sorry!). On a happy note I'll start posting a new 10-chapter story called "Changing Fate" in the next two weeks or so most likely on Mondays. It's a time-travel fic with our favorite Dramione pair. I never write time-travel anything, so this is new territory for me :)

-WP