Two weeks later Cissy arranged a huge family dinner at Malfoy Manor. Both the Smith and Rosier families, Draco's closest relatives on the Malfoy and Black side, respectively were invited so that Harry could meet them. The Blacks were also attending; Draco's Aunt Dromeda, Cousin Teddy, Grandmother Druella, and Grandfather Cygnus. Harry knew the Blacks, which meant that besides Draco, Eiona, and Cissy, he knew four of the guests. He felt like a fish out of water in the middle of the sea of purebloods.

It was to be one of those ridiculously formal dinners which Harry hated. He'd been forced to attend one shortly after the war to honor him and the other war heroes. It had been awkward and blatantly obvious then that he didn't know proper pureblood table manners and so he'd refused the next several invitations to fancy dinners he'd received. After Eiona was born though, Draco had wanted to go to the fancy dinners and had insisted Harry take him. Draco had tutored Harry on proper table etiquette so that his table manners were now passible. That didn't mean Harry wasn't nervous about the prospect of another formal dinner, especially one without Draco on his arm, because he was.

Harry was determined to be on his best behavior for the day, seeing this as his one last chance to prove himself to the father of his beloved daughter. He dressed in his nicest dress robes, the ones he knew Draco liked best, and had a fresh haircut. He even let his new house elf, Hissy, shine his shoes. He'd just purchased her in hopes of pleasing Draco,

Hissy had been chosen because she was Dobson's age, the two elves had taken an interest in one another, and she was from a lenient family with only one elf. There was a whole confusing choosing process which had gone on in order to determine that she was the best elf for the job. Harry had never purchased a house elf before and was as such unfamiliar with the process, which had given him an excuse to call on Draco to help him.

Elves are bought and sold when they are young and first come into their teenaged years, so that they can be molded to suit their new owner. As such, the transaction occurs before they mate. It is always best to choose a new elf to match any unmated young elves in the family, so that they can eventually marry and produce more elves. It was only cruel or cheap owners who refused to pair up their elves, because married elves were happier. Thus with Dobson as the only unmated young elf in the Malfoy family, the new elf had been chosen based on his preferences. Harry of course used it all as an excuse to spend more time with Draco, who he sorely missed.

Draco kept saying there was more to choosing an elf than just finding a mate for Dobson, such as could the elf in question perform the duties required of it and did the elf's former training mesh with the environment of the new house. Taking an elf from a lenient family and selling it into a strict family or the other way around was a recipe for disaster. Taking an elf trained to farm and making it serve the duties of a butler or cooking elf was also not a good idea. Even whether the elf was from a large household with multiple elves so that duties were split up, or few elves so that one elf had to perform many duties, was a factor.

It was all too much for Harry and he ultimately begged Draco to choose his new elf for him. He was getting the elf for Draco and Eiona anyway, still hopeful that Draco would come back, so it was important it was an elf Draco would want. Draco had picked Hissy and so far Harry had been happy with her; Dobson too, if the number of elf dates the pair of them went on was anything to go by.

Harry kept Eiona in his arms as the party guests arrived. He stood next to Draco and Cissy in the entrance hall and greeted Draco's extended family, names going in one ear and out the other, simply because there were so many new people. He'd seen them all at his wedding last year, but he hadn't been paying attention to the guests then; his eyes had been only for Draco that night.

The first two guests to arrive were Cissy's parents. Druella Black with her husband Cygnus by her side, greeted Draco, Cissy, and Eiona warmly, before greeting Harry with a slap across the face. She hit hard for such a little old lady.

"Ow!" Harry cried, holding his reddened flesh in his left hand, instinctively reaching for his wand with his right. Only her age and the fact that she was Draco's grandmother kept his fingers from pulling it out and hexing her.

"I warned you not to hurt my Draco. If I was a decade younger that would have been an Avada Kedavra. I considered a number of other forms of first degree murder, but ultimately there was too large of a risk that you'd survive," Mrs. Black said in her graveled yet tinkling voice with a shrug to her frail shoulders. "Not that I mind getting caught, mind you. It's the chance that you'd live long enough to cause additional problems for my family that I'm concerned about. Hurt my grandson again and I will personally attempt your savage murder, despite the odds against my success."

At first Harry didn't know whether it was a joke or if the old woman was serious, until she said the last sentence, proving that she was indeed serious. He didn't know quite what to say, the only obvious response being out of the question, given that he was doing this to impress Draco. He settled for biting his tongue and holding back every thought that occurred to him.

Thankfully Cygnus broke the tension by saying, "Come along dear," and leading his wife inside.

All of their eyes followed the two elderly people as they walked further into the house. Draco snickered and Cissy smirked. Harry opened his mouth to say something, but before he could devise an appropriate comment that wouldn't get him in trouble, more guests arrived. Thus they turned back to their greetings.

Dobson, Dotty, and Vile Thing showed the guests through to a large sitting room used for formal occasions. Once the last guests were through the door, Harry and the Malfoy family followed. The whole thing was in the east wing of the house on the ground floor; an area Harry had never seen used before. There were posh sofas and ornate armchairs lining the purple walls, but mostly the guests stood in clusters and chatted as they waited to go through to the fancy dining room for dinner.

Standing by Draco's side, Harry was holding their daughter and trying to stop her from grabbing an expensive looking potted plant. It was just out of her reach, but the branches moved in an intricate dance, threatening to gyrate to within the toddler's grasp at any moment. A string of intricate ivory colored blooms with a delicate look to them came especially close to the outstretched fingers and he pulled her back just in time to ovoid destruction. There were many such potted plants in this room, giving it a pleasant floral smell and an exotic feel.

Harry was trying to pay attention to the adults as well, but he was having trouble keeping track of it all. Draco was talking to his male cousins who were of a similar age. The wizards had split themselves into two groups and this was the younger group. The topic of conversation was the upcoming election, which was a subject Harry already knew was a prickly one between him and Draco. He was still leaning towards reelecting Kingsley out of loyalty to the man, but Draco had good arguments in favor of Fawley. He was pants at politics, so he kept his mouth shut and tried to fit in and remember who all these people were.

Zacharias Smith was the easy one out of the group, since he'd been in Harry's year. The other blond one was Zacharias' cousin. The good looking dark haired one was Adrian Pucey. Harry had thought Adrian looked familiar and was certain the wizard was a Slytherin. He mentioned this to Draco, who had informed him that the second cousin had indeed played Chaser for the Slytherin Quidditch team. The weird one in the group with the pimple face, dark hair, and standoffish personality was a Rosier. Harry couldn't remember the Rosier boy's name, but he remembered Draco saying that Rosier was two years behind them in school and that Rosier's Death Eater father had died before he was born.

Fyren Smith, Draco's healer and Zacharias' father, was amongst the crowd. He was chatting with Cygnus Black and two other old men Harry didn't know. Together, the four of them made up the entire older wizard population. There was a definite gap in wizard ages in the room, with Fyren Smith being the only middle aged wizard present. One of Draco's cousins was a few years older than him and then there were no wizards at all until Fyren. Then there was another large gap in ages between Fyren and the three old men. Harry knew that the gap was due to men who had died in the first and second Wizarding Wars and those who were now convicted Death Eaters in Azkaban. It was sad really, that so many men were gone.

In addition to the wizards, there was a much higher population of witches. For every wizard, there were two or three witches. The middle aged witches were talking in a group; Cissy Malfoy, Mrs. Pucey, Mrs. Rosier, two Mrs. Smiths, an unmarried Ms. Smith, and a witch whose last name Harry didn't know, other than that she was related on the Rosier side and her husband was dead. The older women were in another group; Druella Black, the elder Mrs. Smith, and two old lady Rosiers, one of which had lost her entire family in the first war, her three sons never having a chance to produce heirs before they took the mark.

There were two younger witch groups, one composed of half a dozen witches still in Hogwarts or newly graduated and around Harry's age. Then there was the slightly older young group who should've been getting married and planning weddings, only all of their boyfriends and husbands were either dead or in Azkaban. There were about half a dozen witches in the latter group, two of which with children on their hips and rings on their left fingers, signifying that they at least had been married. They were most likely widows.

Finally there was a group of about four children younger than Hogwarts age running around the room playing some game Harry didn't recognize. Harry had considered letting Eiona down to play with them, but Draco had told him that all children under the age of five were to stick by their parents during these events. That was probably for the best, because Harry didn't particularly want Eiona playing with the two fatherless Death Eater spawn on the widows' hips, who were also too young to be let down.

"What do you think, Potter?" Zacharias Smith asked, looking at Harry.

Harry had by this point lost all track of the conversation. "Er, I was just thinking that I should go say hello to your dad. You know, thank him for finding out what was wrong with Draco?" Harry wasn't at all sure of this excuse, but Draco was eyeing him pointedly and he knew he had to show himself to be making an effort. "Er, excuse me."

And so Harry walked with Eiona over to the other group of wizards and made polite chatter with them. He then remembered that one of them was Mr. Rosier, Druella's brother. The other looked like the Smiths, so he assumed he was the other Healer Smith.

As soon as there was a break in the chatter, Harry asked of the younger healer, "Er, Healer Smith, could I speak with you a minute?"

"Certainly Harry, let's just go over to the corner, or is this a private matter? We could go through to the other sitting room," Smith replied.

"Well I just wanted to thank you for finding out what's wrong with Draco."

"In that case, we better go through. Follow me."

Smith led Harry down a few hallways to another sitting room that Harry hadn't seen used before. Malfoy Manor was too large to keep track of, filled with a myriad of little used rooms. There were lots of delicate and or breakable looking objects in the room, so Harry kept Eiona in his lap, restraining her from exploring as she normally would. The toddler fussed, so while they spoke, Harry used his wand to keep up a constant display of fun lights for her to watch.

"I'm glad you brought this up Harry, because there is something I would like to discuss with you regarding young Draco's health," Smith said, taking the seat next to Harry.

"Yes? He's going to be alright, isn't he?"

"Now he is, but I do not think you fully appreciate the danger you have put him in."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. He described to me an incidence when he started vomiting uncontrollably and you left him there. Tell me, were you planning on going back for him or were you just going to leave him be all night?"

"Well he was fine, wasn't he? It was just a tiny bit of vomit. He came to my room when he'd cleaned himself up."

"No, he came to your room after your elf brought him anti-nausea tea and gingersnaps. He did not stop vomiting on his own. If it hadn't been for what he describes as an utterly useless elf, he would have continued to vomit until he passed out from dehydration and low blood sugar."

"Sorry, I didn't know." Harry was starting to feel like he was saying that phrase a lot when it came to Draco. He was getting the inkling that he needed to change that. Draco was his husband and if he wanted Draco back, it was time he knew.

"Well now you do. The next time you leave him by himself to vomit, I will report you for spousal abuse. As an Auror, you must be aware that it is at least negligence to leave your spouse in need of medical treatment while you turn your back. And from his account, you left him in need of medical attention on multiple occasions."

"Multiple? No, he only ever threw up the once."

"I am referring to the three times he woke up alone unable to remember the night before."

"Look, I promise I'll do a better job of taking care of him, if he ever lets me. I didn't understand that he was actually sick. I assumed he was making himself sick or overreacting. Now that I know, I'll be more careful."

"See that you are. Now we must return. Dinner will be served shortly," Smith concluded, standing up and heading back to the sitting room where the others were chatting.

Harry followed with Eiona, taking the opportunity to pass her off to Cissy when he passed her and the group of middle aged witches. Vile Thing soon announced dinner and they took their assigned places at the very large table. It was similar to the table in the smaller dining room, only much longer with a silver serpent inlaid into the walnut. As ornate and upscale as the other dining room was, this one was even more so, with a moving crystal bust of Armand Malfoy in the corner. Instead of one central crystal chandelier, there were three lined up length wise above the table. The large silver framed paintings on the walls looked like they could have been Van Goghs, except for the fact that the painted objects moved.

Draco and Eiona were at one end of the table with the other mothers with young children, while Harry was on the other end, sandwiched between Old Mr. Rosier and the young pimple-faced Rosier.

Harry's seating arrangement had been chosen to put him in between the two people in the room he had the least in common with, he was certain. He couldn't possibly like anyone less than he liked these two. Mr. Rosier was a plump glutinous oaf who had only been saved from a life as a Death Eater by his advanced age and prodigious gut. His sons and son-in-laws were all dead Death Eaters and his only remaining grandson, Pimple-Faced Rosier, only escaped Azkaban because he was too young to join the Death Eaters. Pimple-Faced Rosier never said a word, while the old man said far too many.

Old Mr. Rosier blathered on with his pureblood nonsense and Harry did his best to hold his tongue, biting his lip to hold back what he really thought. Rosier said how Kinsley Shacklebolt was destroying the world. Then it was what a shame that his Death Eater grandson was in Azkaban instead of running the Ministry. Followed by the horror of a society in which muggleborns had equal status and rights as purebloods. And then Rosier went off on how awful Fawley was for wanting peace between purebloods and muggleborns and Fawley's policy of putting Death Eaters on house arrest when they really should be exulted, venerated, and let go, free and clear.

Harry actually tasted blood as he bit down too hard on his lip. He licked the blood away and finally couldn't help but to say something to this horrid old man. "It is your way of thinking sir, which has driven our nation into not one but two wizarding wars. Do you not think even a little bit that it is time for peace? Are you so eager to send your one remaining grandson off to fight and die?" Harry asked, trying his best to say only things Draco couldn't find fault with. At least half of it Draco himself had said to Harry when exulting Fawley for Minister over Shacklebolt.

"Well yes, we will have to have peace for a time. We need to get our numbers back. It will take at least a generation," Rosier replied.

"Excuse me," Harry said putting down his napkin and abandoning his half eaten meal. His cheeks were flushed with embarrassment as he made his way down the very long table full of purebloods to where Draco and Eiona were seated. "Draco, I'm sorry, but I cannot stand that man another moment. May I please sit with you?"

"Certainly," Draco replied, summoning Dotty forward from where the young elf was standing against the wall of the room. "Dotty, please move Auror Potter's place setting over here as we discussed earlier."

There just happened to be a spare bit of space on the other side of Eiona and Harry realized then that Draco had never expected him to survive the entire meal next to the Rosiers.

Harry's chair and place settings, including his half eaten plate of some fancy dish he couldn't pronounce were transported with the snap of Dotty's fingers to fill the empty space. It was done almost perfectly, except the knife had moved an inch from where he'd left it. Dotty rushed in to fix it, before allowing Harry to sit down.

While Harry stood there waiting, he couldn't help but notice the way Draco's stomach was pouched out in the sitting position. Draco was fatter than the last time they'd talked, clearly having gained even more weight. Draco's robes were baggy to disguise it, but Harry could still tell. He wondered if Draco would keep gaining, or if his husband would eventually plateau out at a new heavier weight. Draco was very skinny before, so Harry figured it wouldn't hurt the wizard to put on ten or twenty pounds. Extra weight might even help regulate Draco's blood sugar and for all he knew, Healer Smith had ordered the weight gain. Thus he resolved to keep quiet on the matter unless Draco seriously started packing on the pounds.

"You knew I wouldn't be able to stand him, didn't you?" Harry asked sitting down.

"I can't stand the man. Not even his granddaughter Fonda here can stand him. Can you Fonda?" Draco asked turning to the witch on his other side. She was one of the two witches with young children, her three year old positioned on her other side from Draco. Dromeda with Teddy were after her and the other young mother with child after them.

"Certainly not," Fonda agreed. "Although, it has provided us all good entertainment watching and speculating on when you would crack." She said it with a smirk, before letting out a bit of laughter.

Everyone close enough to hear her laughed too, attesting to the truth of her statement that they had all been watching Harry.

"Draco, I honestly tried. Why couldn't you put me next to someone I had a shot with?" Harry asked hurt.

"Because I wanted to see what you would make of my most unpleasant relatives. You should be flattered that I didn't assume you would make a fool of yourself next to anyone other than Mother and Aunt Dromeda."

"Er, thanks. So how badly did I flunk your little test?" Harry asked apprehensively. He'd wanted so much to do well that he was feeling very disappointed with himself.

"On the contrary, you passed."

"I did?"

"Yes, you did not say anything the rest of us have not already said to Dear Great Uncle Reve."

Reve, so that was old Rosier's first name. Harry tried to stow that fact away, in case there was a quiz later.

"Oh thank Merlin. Draco, you don't know how hard I tried to not punch him in the nose. I wanted you to see that I could behave around your family."

"And you did. Now finish eating that, because we are waiting on you for the next course," Draco replied.

Harry did as instructed. For the rest of the meal he made small talk with Draco and Fonda regarding their children. Fonda's son was a year older than Eiona and not too far off from Teddy in age. She and Dromeda had agreed to a playdate with their boys and she was trying to convince Draco to join them with Eiona.

"I can't make any guarantees that I will be feeling up to it. I haven't been feeling too well lately, but I could certainly send Eiona with my mother," Draco replied, just as dessert was served.

There was a bit more benign chatter during the meal. Harry had assumed Fonda's husband was a Death Eater and that she'd spout some racist nonsense, but she never did. When she did speak of her late husband, she simply referred to him as "foolish."

After dessert, they migrated back out to the sitting room. There were more conversations going on, but mostly the guests were starting to leave. Harry was called over to Draco and Cissy's sides by the fireplace, Cissy with Eiona this time, to say farewell to their departing guests. The ones who chose not to use the fireplace simply apparated away from the spot after saying their farewells.

A few strugglers stayed to chat with Cissy and Dromeda, so Draco led Harry and Eiona upstairs to Draco's side of the house. Draco lay down on a chase, closing his eyes, even though it was only half past six. Harry let Eiona run free, watching the toddler as she took off gleefully at top speed. Unlike the other rooms, this one was charmed to be toddler proof.

"Harry, I wanted to thank you for tonight. It meant a lot to me to finally have a meal with the entire family together," Draco said, eyes once more open, but his face showing obvious signs of being tired.

"I didn't know you wanted it. We can go to all the fancy dinner parties at your mum's that you want; holidays, even"

"Harry, you do know that I am not going back to Grimmauld Place with you, don't you?"

"Well not tonight of course. You'll need time to pack." Harry's hopes were back up, after the second half of the evening had gone so smoothly.

"Not ever."

"Huh? No, but Draco! Er, I did what you asked, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. But it's too little too late. Don't you see?"

"No, Draco, I don't see."

"My heart is already shattered. I loved you, I trusted you, and you failed miserably. One night of good behavior cannot erase all that. It's not enough to glue the shattered fragments back together. I can't be with you anymore," Draco said.

It occurred to Harry then that this divorce really was happening. Despite acting civilly for one night, it was not enough to persuade Draco to change his mind. And so the divorce would go forward, even though it felt like a stab in the gut and a stomping on the chest.

Author's Note: Finally Druella got to say her peace. I'm thinking for the next chapter I might jump ahead to when Draco tells Harry about the baby. What do you think? Is there anything else that should happen first?

Please review! Your feedback is much appreciated!