Granger's Café

Pairing: Draco/Harry.

Disclaimer: Hermione decides that the drama in the wizarding world is growing too much. She decides to open up a café in the muggle world, so as to enjoy simplicity during the day. Little does she know that one of the applicants for a job there, will cause a whole new circle of drama for her. And how exactly will her little café benefit Harry and Draco's lives, and how will it banish the drama from both worlds they live in? You know what they say, about Granger's café; her food is like magic, that's what they say, because it keeps all your problems and troubles at bay.

A bit of a filler chapter because my notes were really sparse.

~000~

Chapter Thirty-Two:

Unexpected

Draco was having a great day. The sun could be glimpsed surfing behind the bleary white clouds, the wind had a refrshing chill behind it and his cheeks had a healthy rosy glow to them. He was walking back to the cafe after dropping Lily off at school. He and Harry took turns doing the morning run now, despite how premature it would seem to the outside world. But Lily loved Draco and Draco adored the little redhead, so there were no problems that anyone could find.

As he entered the cafe that already had a few early-morning dwellers curled up in the booths with steaming cups of coffee, tea, and even a hot-chocolate with whipped cream on top, greated him. He inhaled the scent and smiled wider as he ducked under to the other side of the counter, and walked down the corridor to hang his coat, hat and scarf up. As he entered the kitchen he saw Harry taking out a small tray of gingerbread men from the oven. "Morning lover" he beamed, flinging his arms around Harry's neck and leaning against his muscled back.

"Hey" Harry grinned as he put teh tray down to cool and turned in Draco's arms, "has someone been stealing Hermione's happy pills?" he asked teasingly, cocking a dark eyebrow.

Draco rolled his eyes and rested his head against Harry's chest, "no, it just feels like it's going to be a good day today. Lily said so"

"Oh well if Lily said so" both men grinned as they teased one another.

Draco finally leaned out of the embrace and grabbed an apron from the sideboard and tied it around his lithe waist. "Now -to ice the gingerbread men!" he exclaimed, adopting a dramatic posture, causing Harry to chuckle. Both men fell into a comfortable silence as they started up their work for the morning. Draco was enjoying himself, decorating the little gingerbred-people. He had fun mixing the icing and sometimes -if he was feeling a little naughty -would dab a blob of icing on Harry's nose.

The morning passed more or less without any trouble, and around 11 o'clock the cafe only had a few elderly people and some stay-at-home mums catching up in the warmth. There had been a letter that came through to the back door from Mona, saying that she would be returning to work within the next month and will let them all know on further updates. Harry was quick to forward the letter to Hermione via floo. Hermione had responded saying that she would need to re-write the rota's but was grateful that she now had something to do.

At about 12 o'clock the bell above the door tinkled, signalling a customers arrival.

Draco was just coming out from the kitchen with a plate of cupcakes and to attend to the customer when he saw who it was. "Astoria?" he choked out, his eyes growing comically wide as he rebalanced the plate in his hands.

She smiled awkwardly at him as she came up to the counter, "hello Draco. You look good" she comment, her eyes looking anywhere but at her estranged husband.

Draco swallowed thickly, his palms growing clammy as he placed the plate on the counter and wrung his apron with nervous hands. He knew he would start shaking soon but he couldn't help it. He coughed weakly and bit the inside of his cheek. "How .. Why ... why are you here? How do you even know where 'here' is?" he felt the colour drain from his face. If Astoria knew where he was -then what of Lucius? Would the madman he had once called Father be after him?

"Now Draco" she reprimanded as though talking to a child, "surely you should offer me a cup of tea first?"

"I'll offer you nothing" he growled, his gaze sharp and hard, "you'll have to buy it"

Astoria rolled her lovely dark eyes, "fine I'll buy it but then can we be civilised humans?" she asked, not the least bit insulted, "after those letters I sent you I am surprised how rude you're being" she stated as she reached into her purse for some muggle coins.

"It's the shock" he stated blandly, willing himself to stop being an arsehole, "the last time I physically saw you was not exactly one of your finest moments"

At this she bowed her head, "I will forever be ashamed. Your father is persuasive on many sickening levels. What I did to you was inexcusable, despite the fact that I was under the imperious" Astoria waved her hand at Draco's alarmed expression as the puzzle pieces fell into place. "I'll talk more of that later. I didn't come here today for your forgiveness, in fact I came to speak to both you and Harry. A little birdie told me you two had quite the holiday with the Weasley's"

"I need to shoot that bloody bird" Draco gave a wry grin, "very well, order anything you like, it's on me. Go and have a seat and I'll come over to you as soon as my shift has ended"

"Is that any time soon?" she queried over the counter.

Draco pulled a face, thinking about his schedule, "Harry gets off before I do"

"I have no interest in your personal lives" she gave a humorous wink before walking off to a booth with a menu in hand.

Draco watched her go and then mentally slapped himself. What on earth was going on? The last time he had seen Astoria it had been when his father was controlling her to rape his own son. And now here they were, like when they had been courting, barely even friends and accepting one another's strange humor. Once he served another elderly gentleman he went back in the kitchen to talk to Harry. He found his lover cutting up about a dozen sandwiches at one time. He grinned. Harry always took on more than he could handle, but he kept the customers happy at least. "Hey Harry"

The brunette looked up and upon seeing Draco his face broken out into a grin as he leaned over and brushed a chaste kiss to his boyfriends cheek, "hey, what have you been up to to get you looking so shaken?"

"Er ... that's what I came to talk to you about" at the jittery voice of the blonde, Harry placed the knife down and looked up a questioning expression on his face. "Astoria's here" Draco stated as awkwardly as he felt. Those two words summed it all up.

Harry sighed with wide eyes, running a hand through his already messy-looking hair and but his bottom lip. "Is there anything in particular that she wants?" he asked eventually, not trusting himself with making any comment on their situation. It was awkward and would grow more tense throughout the course of the afternoon.

Draco shook his blonde hair, his bangs flickering into his eyes from where he had grown it a little. "Not at the moment. But I told her that anything she wants is on me, and that um ... she sort of wants to talk to us both"

If Harry was surprised by this, he didn't show it. "Alright then, let me just get these sandwiches out and then I'll go and talk to her -did she want to talk to each of us alone or ...?"

Draco frowned and then shrugged a shoulder as he went to boil the kettle, "no, she doesn't mind. She would like to speak to both of us but she said whoever finished their shift first"

"That would be me then" he offered Draco a reassuring smile before unfastening his apron, and taking the plate of sandwiches in his hand. "I'll be fine, love" he stated through an even wider smile as Draco watched him leave the kitchen, a forlorn expression upon his face. He had no idea how this afternoon would go. He didn't even know how he felt about Astoria being physically in his life, like she was right at that moment. He had loved her once, he was sure that he had done, on some level. But after nearly two decades with one another, it was safe to say that they had grown bitter towards one another, and his father had feasted on that bitterness. Then again, he reconsidered his bitter mind, she is willing to give Harry and I her baby -perhaps she's grown up a little. Draco kept himself busy with tidying up the kitchen, being careful to sweep the bread crumbs into his hand before dropping them into the dustbin.

Astoria looked almost as radiant as she had done when he had seen her at platform nine and three quarters. Her hair had gone from dyed-blonde and brunette, much like Narcissa's old hairstyle, back to its natural rich chocolate colour. Her face was glowing but at the same time she had small tired circles beneath her dark brown eyes. She was dressed in a light grey roll neck sweater, with black dress pants, a black winter coat draped on the empty seat of the booth beside her as she scanned the menu on both sides for something to order. From under the tabletop he could see that her stomach had started to round slightly. He smiled a little as he approached the table. He remembered the times when Ginny had been pregnant -she's been fearful and would barely let him near her the whole time. How they managed to have three children was beyond him.

Astoria seemed to feel someone's gaze upon her, so she looked up and a smile fluttered across her pink mouth, "good afternoon Potter, you're looking well"

Harry inclined his head with a smile, "so are you. And please, call me Harry"

She nodded her head and gestured a hand to the seat adjacent to her, "please sit, I know your shift has ended"

Harry sat down in the comfortable chair, and placed his hands on the tabletop. "So what's brought you all this way up London?" he asked as casually as he could muster.

Astoria shrugged, "Narcissa mainly. She's been bragging about how Granger's little shop has the best food ever and ... now I can see why" she stated slyly, her eyes raking over Harry's toned body. Harry shifted under the weight of her gaze, which effectively made her laugh, "oh chill out, Potter, I know you love my husband, there's nothing wrong with it. I don't blame him for falling for you though"

"And what about my falling for him?"

"Draco has his charms, there is no denying that, he's agile and short-tempered, then again so are you, in short -I think you're perfect for one another"

Harry felt his lips unintentionally smile at this, "I do love him Astoria"

"And you have my full blessing in continuing a relationship with him. Harry" she set the menu down to one side, "I want you and Draco to raise my baby. Take a blood-adoption potion I don't care, just please -please -don't change your mind about this. Any of it"

Harry frowned down into her dark brown eyes, "I don't plan to"

Astoria watched him for a moment of two before dropping her gaze, "Ginny stopped by the manor the other evening" Harry felt his muscles tense at his wife's name, "she told us how you refused to take care of the child"

"It's a different situation"

"How so?"

"Ginny wants that baby -who Lucius sired -to gain control over my fortune. You, on the other hand, are giving the child fully to Draco and me. You're asking for nothing in return other than a good life for the baby"

Astoria felt a little better about this. "I hope so. She told me what you had said to her -though how much of it is true is another matter -and I have to say, I am so glad you rejected her"

"You are? Why?"

"Because then you and Draco wouldn't have the opportunity I'm giving you" she gave a small smile up at him. They were both gradually relaxing around one another. "So, have you two discussed anything else about it?"

"Not really" he admitted, running a hand through his hair, "but if anything, Draco stares at the sonogram photo on the fridge more often than I do. It always leaves him smiling"

"I'm glad" Astoria admitted with a soft smile on her pink mouth. "Po-Harry, there is another reason I came here today, and I wanted to talk to you privately, despite what I may have told Draco earlier"

Harry frowned. He knew when to expect bad news. He got a heavy, hot, unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. Right now that feeling was burnig him from the inside out and he was making him feel extremely nauseated. "What's on your mind, Astoria?" he asked in what he hoped was a concerned manner.

"The private medi-witch Lucius got to see me" she spat the name as a shadow crossed her features, "said that I had an unusual growth in my lung. She said it was very small but it was definitely growing"

A cold weight dropped into Harry's stomach. "What are you -did they say what it was?"

She shook her head, "they couldn't tell what it was. Narcissa is offering to take me to a muggle hospital this evening" she scoffed whilst running a hand through her hair, "like that'll do any good" Harry was about to protest but Astoria waved his opinions away with a delicate hand, "I don't care what you have to say, Harry. I'm going anyway, Narcissa insisted therefore it's mandatory"

At the automatic tone of her voice Harry could not help but chuckle, feeling himself relax a little more. "So, speaking of Narcissa, where are you living at the moment?"

"Well Lucius thinks I have gone abroad to these amazing European doctor's" she rolled her eyes with a small smile, "but I am staying with Narcissa, Remus and Sirius. Bloody loud those two are sometimes it's a wonder Narcissa sleeps at all" Harry flushed, knowing full well how loud his respective godfather and his 'lover' as Sirius referred to Remus purely for the case of embarrassing both said werewolf, and their godson.

"Are you going to tell Draco?" Harry asked in a sombre tone.

Astoria shook her head, "not now. Not yet, at least. He's happy now he has you. Just let him be happy for a little while longer and then we can break the news to him"

Harry sighed, feeling defeated. "I don't like keeping secrets from him, Astoria. It'll break his heart. He needs to be able to trust me"

Astoria nodded with a small sigh, "I know. Trust me -I do know. But unless he asks me about my general health, then you are not technically keeping a secret from him" Harry looked at her as though she were mad. She merely laughed in response, "I'm a Slytherin, I can twist the rules too"

Harry was about to open his mouth when a plate of cupcakes, cookies and sandwiches appearred out of nowhere. His features softened as Draco smiled at the both of them. Astoria's rigid features softened slightly as how happy the blonde looked now. "I hope you don't mind I brought out a bit of everything" Draco stated with a small smile as he went back and forth between the table and the counter, carrying a teapot filled with hot chocolate, and a small bowl of mini-marshmallows.

Astoria smiled faintly, "Scorpius' favourites" Draco shrugged and sat down in between his estranged wife and his boyfriend. "So, have you two thought of any names yet?"

Draco shrugged awkwardly, "Only a few" this surprised Harry and it must have shown on his face because Astoria laughed sweetly, "I just don't them to be after flowers or constellations"

"So that leaves any other normal name" Harry teased as he licked the icing off the top of a cupcake. Draco eeyd the cupcake with jealousy. "However will a Malfoy survive with a NORMAL name?"

Astoria snorted into her hot chocolate as Draco frowned, "says you, Pot-head" he poked his tongue out and snatched up his own cupcake.

Astoria looked back and forth between the two, "you two are so immature, I cannot believe I am leaving my baby to you" she stated teasingly with a sigh of exasperation.

Harry rolled his eyes and then threaded his fingers through Draco's hair at the nape of his neck, "you know there is no better couple to look after your baby"

"Ours" Draco breathed, moreso to himself.

"What was that?" Harry asked, leaning closer.

Draco inwardly growled as he looked up at Harry with wide silvery eyes, "this baby is ours. Not hers, not mine, not yours. Ours"

Astoria smiled softly and raised her small glass, "to our baby"

Harry mirrored her movements, as did Draco. "To our baby" they confirmed, small smiles edging onto their mouths as their glasses clinked together.