Narcissa Malfoy paced the floor in front of the fireplace, wishing it was time to leave. She and Lucius were off to see Draco after not seeing him for over a month. The last time the Malfoy's had seen their son was just before Lucius had sent him off to the Isle of Wight.
Draco's weekend trip had turned into a ten day stay and when he had returned home he had sent a message to Lucius saying he was taking a few weeks off work. Narcissa had tried flooing Draco to find out what was happening but the connection wasn't working. She'd even tried apparating into his house but the wards wouldn't allow her entry. Eventually she had sent her son an angry letter demanding to know what was going on. Draco had responded to her letter with one of his own saying he had major news to share but would be in contact when the time was right. The previous day Narcissa had received an owl from Draco asking if she and Lucius would pay him a visit and he would finally tell them what was happening.
Narcissa was only hoping that whatever news Draco had that it was good and it would restore some sort of life into her son. For the last two years Draco had merely been going through the motions of living and Narcissa had begun to get seriously worried about him. Narcissa had known exactly what was bothering her son but she also had no idea how to fix the problem.
When Draco had broken off his engagement to Pansy he had confided in Narcissa that he had been seeing another witch and was actually in love with her. At the time Narcissa didn't know who Draco had been involved with but with the events that followed she soon worked it out. Initially Draco had been excited with the thought of been able to be with the witch he loved publically but those dreams had soon been shattered when he discovered she'd disappeared. While Draco was moping and searching for the missing witch the papers started reporting on the mysterious vanishing act Hermione Granger had pulled, even her friends wouldn't or couldn't say where she was. It hardly took a genius to connect the two disappearances and Narcissa was easily able to work out the witch Draco was involved with was Hermione.
Narcissa had never actually broached the subject with Draco as in all honesty she was unsure of what she thought. Obviously the most important thing for Narcissa was Draco's happiness but she couldn't just ignore everything she had been brought up to believe in regard to muggleborns. While Narcissa wasn't overly happy with Draco's involvement with a muggleborn the more she watched him suffer the more she came to realise that if Hermione Granger was who made her son happy then she would learn to live with her blood status. Unfortunately for Draco it was now two years since she had disappeared and it wasn't looking like she would return any time soon.
Keeping her fingers crossed that whatever Draco had to say was good news, Narcissa checked the time once more. Smiling as she realised it was time to go Narcissa called for her husband, who had been doing some work in his study. The second Lucius Malfoy walked into the room Narcissa grabbed the floo powder and stepped into the flames, calling out the address of her only son.
Narcissa arrived in Draco's front room to find it empty, much to her disappointment. The room wasn't empty for long however as her husband stepped out of the flames behind her at the exact same time as Draco entered the room.
"Draco." Narcissa greeted her son with a large smile and hug. "You're looking well." She pulled back to look at her son, for the first time in two years he looked really happy and content.
"Thank you mother, you're looking very well yourself." Draco smiled at his mother before turning to Lucius. "Hello, father."
"Draco, it's nice to see you." Lucius nodded. He wasn't a demonstrative man and wouldn't dream of hugging Draco in the way his wife had just done. "Do you have any plans to return to work?"
Draco chuckled at his father's directness, it was just like Lucius to get straight down to business with the minimum of pleasantries. "I was hoping to return next week, providing today goes smoothly."
"And why wouldn't today go smoothly, we're only having afternoon tea." Lucius raised an enquiring eyebrow at his son. "And why would today's events affect you coming back to work?"
"I have some news for the pair of you." Draco said, ushering his parents into seats. "I have no idea what you're going to think but if things go badly then I won't be returning to work."
"Now you're making us nervous, Draco." Narcissa said. "What do you have to tell us."
"Before I tell you, I want you both to know that I'm really happy." Draco said, hoping his happiness would soften the blow of being involved with a muggleborn.
"We're thrilled for you." Lucius drawled, sounding slightly impatient. "Now will you just tell us what's going on."
"I'm involved with someone." Draco said, even after hours of worrying he still hadn't decided on the best way to tell his parents about Hermione and Scorpius. "It's very serious, she's just finished moving in with me and I'm planning on proposing quite soon."
"Do we get to meet this witch?" Lucius asked, wondering why Draco was being so secretive about the identity of his girlfriend.
"Yes, but there's something else you need to know as well." Draco said. "While we've only been back together a few weeks we were together a couple of years ago."
Narcissa's sharp inhale of breath caused both Draco and Lucius to look at her curiously. "This is the same witch that was the reason you ended your engagement isn't it?" She asked Draco, wondering how Lucius was going to take the news.
Draco nodded at the same time Lucius demanded to know what was happening, as at the time he hadn't known about the other woman in Draco's life. Draco explained the basics of what had happened two years ago, although he left out the identity of the witch and the existence of his son for the time being.
"It must be serious then, if your feelings are still there after two years." Lucius said after Draco had explained the real reason behind his failed engagement to Pansy.
"It is." Draco said. "Do you want to meet her?"
"Of course." Narcissa said, wondering if she should try and warn her husband.
Narcissa didn't get a chance to warn Lucius as Draco went to the doorway and almost immediately returned with a brunette witch following him. While Narcissa had only met Hermione a handful of times she still easily recognised the witch and judging by the way Lucius had tensed up he had also recognised the woman Draco was now putting his arm around.
"Mother, father, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Hermione Granger." Draco said, making sure to keep a tight grip of Hermione's waist. He knew Hermione was nervous about the meeting and he wanted her to know he wasn't leaving her side throughout the ordeal.
Lucius glared at the couple but made no attempt to either get up or say anything. Narcissa on the other hand stood up and politely offered her hand to Hermione.
"It's nice to meet you, Miss Granger."
"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs Malfoy." Hermione replied, shaking the older witch's hand.
"Are you going to say anything, father?" Draco asked as Lucius continued to sit in silence.
"Well I'm hardly going to say welcome to the family am I." Lucius snapped as he stood up. "I'm disappointed Draco, I thought I'd raised you to know better. Getting involved with a mudblood, it's a disgrace."
At Lucius's words both Hermione and Draco produced their wands. Fearing a full on duel Narcissa grabbed onto Lucius as she spotted him reaching for his own wand. Neither Draco or Hermione turned their wands on Lucius, instead they both muttered charms to silence the room. Hermione then replaced her wand but Draco kept his held loosely in his hand as he turned back to his father.
"Never call Hermione that again." Draco said, his voice sounding low and dangerous.
"Why did you both silence the room?" Narcissa asked, cutting over Lucius as he began to reply to Draco. She could tell from both her husband and sons stances that if left to their own devices they could very easily destroy their relationship and she was determined that wasn't going to happen.
Hermione looked at Draco who nodded briefly before she answered Narcissa's question. "We didn't want the noise to carry."
"Carry to where?" Narcissa asked.
"The nursery." Hermione replied.
"Nursery?" Narcissa questioned.
"This is ridiculous." Lucius exploded before Narcissa could stop him. "First you get tangled up with a mudblood and now you're raising her spawn."
Before anyone could react Draco had pinned Lucius against the wall and was holding his wand as his father's throat. "I told you to never call Hermione that, if you do it one more time then we're finished. And for your information I'm not raising Hermione's 'spawn', we are raising our son."
"Son!" Narcissa collapsed back onto the chair at Draco's words. "How is this possible?"
"I was pregnant when I left and didn't find out until after I was settled." Hermione said, settling onto the sofa. "I thought Draco had married Pansy and I didn't want to destroy their marriage so I stayed away."
"We have a grandson." Narcissa still sounded slightly shocked by the surprising turn of events. "Can we meet him?"
Hermione turned to get Draco's opinion, he was still standing in front of his father with his wand pointed at the older wizard but it was no longer directly against his throat. Lucius meanwhile had paled significantly and he looked at a loss for words for once.
"That really all depends." Draco said, looking directly at his father. "If you meet Scorpius you have to behave civilly, that means no more name calling or malicious sniping. I don't want my son hearing you calling his mother names."
"We can behave, can't we Lucius." Narcissa glared at her husband, daring him to argue with her.
As all eyes turned to Lucius he stepped away from the wall and straightened his robes. "I can behave myself. I would very much like to meet my grandson."
Hermione and Draco both looked surprised by Lucius's sudden acceptance of Scorpius, both of them were actually expecting him to be disgusted with the fact his grandson was a half blood. While Hermione went to fetch Scorpius, Narcissa asked about his name, thrilled that they had carried on with her family's tradition of naming children after constellations and stars.
When Hermione returned carrying Scorpius both Narcissa and Lucius stared at their grandson. Hermione sat down with Scorpius on her knee as the little boy looked over at the two strangers.
"He looks just like Draco did when he was a baby." Narcissa exclaimed. "How old is he?"
"He's just turned nineteen months." Hermione replied.
"Can I hold him?" Narcissa asked hopefully.
Hermione nodded as she stood up and handed Scorpius to his grandmother. Scorpius immediately snuggled into Narcissa as he continued to stare at Lucius. Hermione went back to join Draco on the sofa as they watched Narcissa making a fuss over Scorpius. Lucius looked less sure of the little boy but eventually he leant over and gently stroked his head.
When Scorpius grabbed onto Lucius's long hair and yanked it, both Hermione and Draco shot up ready to take their son. Lucius however surprised the couple by merely laughing and leaning further over so Scorpius could grab more of his hair.
"You used to do the same thing when you were a baby." Narcissa told her shocked looking son. She knew that memories of Lucius being a loving father were few and far between for Draco but it didn't mean they hadn't happened.
"Would you like some tea?" Hermione asked as Draco's parents continued to fuss over Scorpius.
"That would be lovely thank you." Narcissa replied, nudging her husband.
Lucius looked up from where he was conversing with a babbling Scorpius. Hermione saw him take a deep breath before he spoke but when he did it was surprisingly polite. "Tea would be much appreciated, thank you."
Hermione tried not to look too shocked as she headed into the kitchen to make the tea. Draco followed her and while they made the tea they discussed how much easier the afternoon was going than they had expected. As they headed back into the front room Hermione hoped that things ran as smoothly with Harry, Ron and Ron's family when she saw them and told them about her new life.