Severus was feeling slightly nervous as he set the table in the dining room. Despite it being the middle of the school term, he and Rosmerta were expecting all the family for dinner. Normally, he wouldn't dream about letting Harry and Hermione leave school just to have dinner with the family, but it was a special occasion. He and Rosmerta had an announcement to make, and they wanted the entire family to be present.
Severus had also asked the Malfoys to attend dinner, and he was hoping that it wasn't a bad move. Over the last week, he watched as his son, sister and godson had barely spoken to each other. Something had happened between the trio, and he didn't have a clue what. He'd spoken to Lucius and Narcissa about the rift, but they also claimed to be clueless, although Severus suspected they did know something more than they were telling him. All he could do was hope that whatever was going on between the three teenagers didn't ruin what was a big evening for he and his wife.
"Maybe we should have waited," Severus said to his wife as he headed into the kitchen to check on Rosmerta. "Christmas break is only five weeks away."
"I thought you wanted to tell people," Rosmerta argued.
"I do, but given the way things are with the kids, I can just see this dinner descending into chaos," Severus confessed with a sigh.
"And you still don't know what the problem is?" Rosmerta checked.
"Not a clue," Severus said with a rueful shake of his head. "I've tried asking Harry, and he says everything is fine. Draco says the same and Hermione just says it's none of my business. But it's just so strange, the three of them have been friends forever. I don't know what could have happened to have come between them. And it's not like it's two of them have fallen out with the other one, they're all distant from each other. I actually saw Draco walk away from Hermione the other day."
"I'm sure they'll work it out," Rosmerta said reassuringly. "As you say, they've been friends for too long to let something come between them."
"Let's hope you're right," Severus muttered as he heard the floo sound from the front room.
Leaving the dinner for a moment, Rosmerta accompanied her husband as they went to greet their guests. Voldemort and Beth were the first to arrive, and they were followed moments later by Harry, Hermione and Draco, who were accompanied by Lucius and Narcissa. Severus had connected the floo to Lucius's office for the evening, so there was really no need for any of the other staff to even realise Harry, Hermione and Draco had left the school grounds.
"Thank you for the invite, Rosmerta," Narcissa said as she greeted their hostess.
"Although, am I right in guessing there's a reason for this dinner?" Voldemort questioned.
"All in good time, father," Severus said. "Now, who would like a drink?"
As Rosmerta headed back into the kitchen to check on dinner, Severus handed around the drinks. As he did so, he noticed the atmosphere between the three teenagers was still tense. All three of them were sitting stiffly, not talking to one another. Although he did note that Draco was making sure not to catch Hermione's eye, while she was throwing her boyfriend longing looks out of the corner of her eye. As for Harry, he just kept watching the pair of them guiltily, and Severus even thought he'd saw his son try to catch Hermione's attention, only to have her blatantly turn away from him.
"How's school going?" Beth asked, also noticing the distance between the normally close trio.
"Great," Harry said with a smile that looked forced.
"Hermione?" Beth pressed when her daughter didn't answer. It was very unusual for Hermione not to be the one enthusing about school. "How are you finding it being Head Girl?"
"It's okay," Hermione answered with a shrug.
"And you two are managing to live together without incident?" Voldemort asked, directing his question to Draco.
"We're fine," Draco answered shortly.
"Hmm," Voldemort hummed, sharing a meaningful look with his wife. Something was going on between the trio, and he was determined to find out what by the end of the evening.
"Dinner's ready if you want to move to the dining room," Rosmerta said, poking her head back into the room before Voldemort had a chance to question the three teenagers further.
A few minutes later everyone was settled in the dining room, and Rosmerta served dinner. She'd made a beef casserole with dumplings, and when she dished it out she made sure everyone had nice big portions.
"This is delicious," Beth said as she took a bite of her casserole. "Did you make this yourself, Rosmerta?"
"I did," Rosmerta replied with a smile. "I like to cook, and with spending less time at the pub, I've had more time to expand my repertoire."
Since returning from honeymoon, Rosmerta had kept her manager at The Three Broomsticks. She was still at the pub fairly regularly and oversaw things, but she'd taken a step back from the day to day running of the pub. It meant she had more time for Severus, and the pair often spent their evenings together, rather than him being at Hogwarts while she was down in Hogsmeade.
"I do hope the beef isn't too overcooked for you, Draco," Rosmerta said to the blond who was picking at his meal.
"It's lovely," Draco said, giving Rosmerta a weak smile.
"It really is a delicious casserole," Lucius said.
"Very nice," Narcissa added with a nod. "I often wish I could cook, but I never had the chance to learn."
"I can give you some pointers if you like," Rosmerta offered. She doubted Narcissa had even set foot in a kitchen with the intention of making something to eat given her privileged background.
"I'd like that," Narcissa said with a smile.
"Maybe it's something the three of us can do together," Beth offered. "I've never been a big one for cooking, but I have to admit this pregnancy has got me feeling more domesticated. I've spent the last month, redecorating our bedroom and now I'm going to start on the nursery."
"Do you know if you're having a boy or girl yet?" Lucius asked.
"We haven't found out," Voldemort replied. "Like with Hermione, we're going for a surprise."
"We knew we were having a boy when we had Draco," Narcissa said. "Abraxas insisted that we find out just so he could be sure we were having a boy. I think he would have had a fit if I'd been expecting a girl."
"Luckily, we're not bothered about the sex of the baby," Voldemort said with a chuckle. "We've already got one of each, so there's no pressure either way."
"Speaking of babies, Rosmerta and I have an announcement to make," Severus said, after sharing a look with his wife that told him it was time to speak.
"Please say this is what we think," Beth gasped excitedly.
"If you think that we're expecting a baby, then yes, it's what you think," Rosmerta announced with a smile. "I'm pregnant."
"We think it happened on honeymoon," Severus added.
The announcement was met by jubilation from all the adults at the table. Even though they'd all expected the announcement, it was still great news. The three teenagers were all slightly quieter, but when they offered their congratulations it was clear that all three of them were thrilled for Severus and Rosmerta.
"So now we've dealt with the good news, how about you three tell us what's wrong," Voldemort said.
"Nothing's wrong," Hermione said quietly.
"Don't lie to me, Hermione," Voldemort said sternly. "Something is going on, and we want to know what."
"Yes, we do," Severus agreed. "And the three of you are not leaving until you've told us the full story."
"It's private," Hermione pouted, putting down her knife and fork as she finished her dinner.
"There's no such thing as private when it comes to family," Voldemort said. "After dessert the three of you will tell us what's going on."
Voldemort's threat hung heavy in the air as Rosmerta served forest fruit crumble for dessert. Even so, it didn't stop people enjoying their dessert and both Severus and Lucius had seconds. However, once dessert was over and Rosmerta cleared the table, everyone returned to the front room and attention was firmly on the three teenagers.
"Well, who wants to start?" Voldemort asked when no-one was forthcoming.
"I guess I'll go," Harry said, glancing at Hermione and Draco and deciding that neither of them were going to speak first.
"Of course you will," Hermione muttered. "It's all your fault anyway, sticking your nose into other people's business."
"I'm sorry for caring," Harry snapped at his aunt.
"Stop it the pair of you," Draco snarled as he suddenly got to his feet. "This is my fault, so I should be the one to explain."
"This isn't your fault, Draco. You've done nothing wrong," Hermione protested. She'd been saying the same thing for the last week, but her boyfriend was stubborn and he was convinced that it wasn't safe for her to be around him until he could control himself.
"I have," Draco said, addressing Voldemort. "After the last two full moons, I've gone back to Hogwarts early on the morning and taken Hermione to bed."
"Draco, I don't think we want to hear this," Beth interrupted. She could remember what Greyback had said about his increased libido, and she didn't want to hear tales about what her daughter and her boyfriend had been up to.
"You need to know," Draco insisted. "I haven't just taken Hermione to bed, I've bitten her. I never meant it, but I just couldn't help myself."
A heavy silence fell in the room as Voldemort and Beth turned to their daughter with questions blazing in their eyes. Slowly Hermione nodded her head and pulling her shirt away from her neck she revealed the red bite mark on her shoulder.
"You've bitten her," Severus stated in a low, angry voice.
"Don't blame Draco," Hermione warned, jumping to the defence of her boyfriend. "He can't help himself. We've looked into the biting thing, and it's called the mating principle."
Hermione quickly briefed her parents and brother on the book Narcissa had given them and the information they'd found out from it. As she spoke, she could see the anger leaving the faces of her family, although there was still a wariness about them.
"So what has this got to do with the tension between the three of you?" Beth asked.
"Harry saw the bite mark, got on his high horse and yelled at Draco, causing Draco to dump me," Hermione explained.
"I did not dump you," Draco said softly, looking hurt at Hermione's words. "I just said we couldn't be together until I can be sure I won't bite you again."
"But you'll never be able to stop the biting," Hermione argued gently as she took hold of her boyfriend's hands. "It's a mate thing, it'll keep happening."
"Then we can never be together in the way you want us to be," Draco said quietly as he removed one of his hands from Hermione's grip and ran his thumb down her cheek. "I won't be with you, if I'm going to hurt you."
"But you're not hurting me," Hermione argued. "Or at least you're not hurting me with the biting. This, right now, is hurting me. You pulling away from me is hurting me."
"It might hurt now, but it's better in the long run," Draco said sadly as he removed his other hand from Hermione's and took a step away from his girlfriend. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ever turned you. Let me go, Hermione, it's the best way."
"Never," Hermione whispered fiercely as she fought back the tears that threatened to fall.
"I should get back to school," Draco said. "Severus, Rosmerta, congratulations on the baby. You're both going to be great parents."
"Draco, don't," Hermione pleaded as her boyfriend grabbed some floo powder.
"I'm sorry," Draco whispered, before stepping into the fire and disappearing in a whirl of emerald flames.
"This is all your fault, Harry," Hermione seethed, turning to her nephew. "If you hadn't interfered, this wouldn't be happening."
"I never wanted Draco to end things, I just wanted him to stop the biting," Harry argued.
"He can't," Hermione cried. "It's part of him being a wolf. You're supposed to be his friend, and be there for him, so how do you think this makes him feel? You're turning against him because of his wolf nature. Well, I won't do that. I don't care what anyone says, I love Draco and we are going to be together. I don't care if he bites me, and I don't even care if he turns me into a werewolf, all I want is for us to be together."
"Calm down, Hermione," Voldemort soothed. He'd listened to everything that had been said, and while he wasn't thrilled at the idea of Draco biting Hermione, it did appear that it wasn't something he had any control over, and as such he didn't want to judge and drive the blond boy away.
"I'm sorry Daddy, but I'm not letting this one go," Hermione said. "I love Draco, and we will be together."
"I'm sure you will be," Voldemort agreed with a nod. "But I daresay rushing after him and pushing him won't help you any."
"It won't," Lucius agreed. "You know how stubborn he is, Hermione. We need to give him time."
"But if we give him time, he'll pull further away from me," Hermione protested. "He freaked out the first time he bit me, but I persevered with him and we got through it. He was just starting to feel comfortable with his wolf side, and everything that came with it, and now thanks to Harry, he's back at square one."
"You can't blame Harry for this," Severus said gently. "He was just looking out for you. In his position, I would have reacted the same way."
"Plus you never told me about this mating thing," Harry argued. "I still don't think he should be biting you, but you could have told me why he was doing it."
"But it's none of your business, its no-one's business but ours," Hermione argued. "I'm the one he's biting, therefore, I'm the only one who gets to say if he needs to stop or not."
"You can't expect us to be happy about this, Hermione," Beth said carefully, not wanting to fuel her daughter's anger any further. "You're our daughter."
"And you've known Draco his entire life," Hermione protested passionately. "You know there's nothing he wouldn't do for me. He's a werewolf because he saved my life. You all need to trust him, and you need to make sure he knows you trust him. So what if he bites me once a month, it doesn't change the fact that he loves me and he'd do anything for me. I might be your daughter, but Draco is as good as family, and aren't we supposed to trust family? You lot need to prove you trust Draco, before it's too late and he does something we all regret."
Leaving her stunned family in Severus's front room, Hermione congratulated her brother and his wife again before she headed back to Hogwarts. Harry watched his aunt go, the guilt overwhelming him. Hermione was right, and he knew he'd messed up by implying to Draco that he didn't trust him. His best friend in the entire world was going through something no-one could understand, and instead of being there for him, he'd jumped on him and yelled at him for something that was beyond his control.
"How do I fix this?" Harry whispered.
"By doing as Hermione said, and showing Draco you trust him," Voldemort answered. "Something we're all going to have to do. As much as it might make us uncomfortable, we're going to have to leave the biting issue to Draco and Hermione to sort by themselves."
"What if she ends up being turned?" Beth asked worriedly.
"She won't," Lucius said with confidence. "We've read the book, and done some additional research. Hermione is completely right about her being safe with Draco. He would never hurt her, and this biting thing is an expression of love. We now just need to get Draco to see that, because if I know my son right now he's beating himself up over this, thinking he's hurting Hermione."
"Leave it to me," Harry said. "I caused this mess, and I need to fix it. I need to do whatever it takes to get them back together."