Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.
AN: And here's chapter 5. Chapter 6 will be up tomorrow morning. If you like how I write Blaise and Luna check out Meet You In The Dark on my profile. Let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments.
Draco dragged Declan through the streets of Diagon Alley, praying to Merlin that they would make it on time and that Granger wouldn't hand him his ass to him on a platter when they go there.
"Mr. Draco, slow down," Declan whined as he tugged on Draco's hand.
Draco glanced down to see the little guy huffing and puffing; his little legs weary from the quick jaunt. How quickly he forgot that he was dealing with a child.
"Oh, sorry Dec. How about you ride on my back so we get to restaurant quicker. You be on the lookout for your mother," Draco said, bending down so that Declan could hop on his back.
Once the pair was situated, they were off back down the street to The Palace Café. They arrived at 12:59 exactly and found Hermione sitting at a table outside. It was an unseasonably warm day and she was obviously taking advantage of it. Draco slowly made his way over to her table.
"Mummy!" Declan called out from Draco's back.
Grimacing, Draco picked up the pace. He had wanted to sit down before she saw them but thanks to Declan, she was now fuming.
"Declan, why are you with Malfoy?" Hermione ground out through clenched teeth. Her napkin was currently being clutched to death and Draco could feel the anger rolling off her.
Declan ignored her question and whispered in Draco's ear, "Why do people always call you Malfoy?"
Chuckling lightly, Draco responded, "Because it's my last name and I have a weird first name."
That sent Declan in a laughter fit and Draco had to hold on extra tight to make sure the boy didn't fall off his back. It would be unfortunate for Declan to get hurt with an angry mom standing there watching. Draco was immediately reminded of an angry bear protecting her cub from the looks Hermione was sending him.
Draco set Declan down in the chair next to Hermione and went to sit on the other side of the small table. Draco was hoping for some small talk before she ripped into him for having her son. His hope was not to be.
"Malfoy, what are you doing with Declan?"
"Geeze Granger, you need to relax. Let's get some food and drinks and then I'll tell you how I came to be the guardian of your son today," Draco drawled out in a lazy yet condescending tone.
"What makes you think I want anything to do with you?" Hermione spat back.
Rolling his eyes, Draco said, "Last time I checked, having lunch is very easy.
Lowering his voice he whispered, "Plus Dec had a little accidental magic bout in the Auror Department today that I need to talk to you about."
"Yeah, fine but answer my question: How did you get my son?"
"Here is your answer Granger. Feed me and then I'll tell you."
Hermione just scoffed but quickly summoned the waiter so they could order. Draco, trying to buy himself some time took forever to order asking the waiter all kinds of questions about the dishes. All the while, Hermione was sitting there fuming. He could see she was about ready to hex him into next year so he finally ordered.
"Okay Malfoy, we've ordered now tell me what happened to Blaise watching Declan?" Hermione spat out in a low voice, trying to not alert the other restaurant goers that a war hero was about to kick an ex-death eater to Timbuktu.
"Okay, well as soon as you left his morning…Oh look there's Potter," Draco said, waving Harry and Ginny over to the table.
Hermione saw who was with Harry and let out a soft groan. Draco looked at her curiously, having heard the groan. Maybe things weren't as good as Luna had said between Granger and She-Potter.
Harry walked over to the table with Ginny at his elbow. "Hey 'Mione, Declan, Malfoy," He greeted happily.
Hermione stared incredulously at him while Draco gave him a sharp nod in acknowledgement.
Sputtering her words, Hermione said, "Why isn't this a surprise to you Harry?"
Shifting nervously from one foot to the other, Harry looked at the floor and replied, "I saw Malfoy here come into the office with Declan today and he explained what he was doing and why Declan wasn't with Blaise."
Ignoring Draco's snort at the explanation, Harry continued, "Do you mind if we sit down?"
"Go ahead, Potter. Does your wife speak by the way?" Draco sneered out.
Ginny shot him a glare before responding, "You haven't changed much Malfoy. Still the insolent little snot you were from school."
Draco looked her head to toe twice saying, "Money suits you, Weaslette. You actually have clothes that aren't four sizes too big."
Hermione let out a soft chuckle at Draco's words, surprising everyone at the table.
"What?" She smirked, "You have to admit that it was funny. And Ginny you look fabulous today by the way. Where did you get your jacket?"
"No where a single mother would be able to afford," Ginny replied in a sarcastically sweet tone.
"Well," Harry said, trying to cover for his wife's rude comment, "Have you ordered yet?"
"Yes, Harry. We ordered about ten minutes ago but you go ahead and order the next time the waiter comes around," Hermione commented.
Declan, who had been sitting quietly coloring on the children's menu suddenly spoke up, "Momma, I gosta go potty."
"Me and Ginny will take him and Malfoy needs to tell you something," Harry stated, giving Draco a pointed look. Obviously, Potter wanted him to tell her about what happened in the Auror Department.
"Oh okay," Hermione said, confused as to what Harry thought Draco needed to tell her.
Harry, Ginny, and Declan all got up from the table but Declan kept looking over his shoulder shooting pained glances at Draco, knowing that he was about to tell Hermione what happened at the office.
Draco sat up a little straighter in his chair, saying, "Granger has Declan showed signs of magic?"
"Yes but I don't see how it's any of your business."
"It became my business this morning when Declan turned the Auror Office into a battle zone."
Hermione blanched, "I don't understand. Can you start from the beginning?"
Sighing, Draco said, "So this morning after you left, Luna told Blaise that she had rescheduled her appointment for the baby today and that she wanted him to be there. So he asked me to watch Declan for the morning. I was tricked into agreeing and ended up taking Dec to the office with me."
Hermione ignored the nickname Draco had given her son, "But what happened?"
"Well, Potter accused me of being a 'child-stealer' in front of the entire department. So I left Declan in the care of a secretary so I could talk to Potter without scaring Dec. We were only in my office for five minutes when the secretary came flying in and told me I needed to keep Declan in my office for the rest of the day. Potter and I walked right into a battle zone. Your son had turned all the walls a hideous shade of purple and had summoned all the paperclips to fly at people like little darts," Draco answered her question.
He saw her face rapidly draining of color and continued, "Thankfully no one was hurt but when Dec saw me and Potter, he waved at us, unintentionally sending 50 flying paperclips in our direction. Poor boy nearly speared the boy who lived to death. Now that would have been a funny way for the Boy Hero to die. Killed by his best friend's illegitimate child with a paperclip."
"Malfoy," Granger ground out, stopping his little tangent.
"Oh right, anyway, I got to Declan while Harry stopped all the paperclips from harpooning various Aurors. The poor little guy was upset that he had almost hurt two people he liked. I took him into my office and had him help me with work the rest of the day," Draco finished.
Hermione was sitting there with a slight smile on her face. He narrowed his eyes at her but the smile only widened.
"What?" He barked out.
"For claiming to have no knowledge of children, you sure are good with them. Declan isn't the easiest child to calm down or pacify and you managed to do that without really thinking about it. As much as it pains me to admit it, you handled the situation well," Hermione stated.
Draco felt his cheeks color slightly at her praise and desperately willed Harry and Declan to come back. His wish was left unanswered when he heard Hermione laugh, "Are you blushing?"
Lifting his head into the air and trying to look aloof, Draco responded, "Malfoy's do not blush, Granger. We've been over this before."
"Oh right," Hermione replied with a roll of her eyes.
Draco wasn't through with finding out about Declan's magic and asked, "Granger, has Declan ever used his magic to hurt people?"
"No, of course not," came the immediate reply.
Then there was a pause. Draco knew she was thinking about how many times Declan had used magic in the past four years. Finally, she responded, "He hasn't ever intentionally used his magic to hurt people. There have been some unfortunate incidents where someone was inadvertently involved but nothing too bad. Why?"
Draco sat back in the chair, bringing a hand up over his forehead and said, "Because today he made a gun shape with his hand and was 'firing' paperclips at people."
"Oh Merlin," Hermione whispered, slumping back into her chair, "what am I going to do?"
"Have you talked to Declan about misusing magic before?" Draco asked quietly.
"Yes, all the time."
"Okay. I think he needs to hear that from someone else."
"Oh someone like you?" Hermione shot back angrily.
Then Draco did the unexpected. He reached across the table and grabbed her hand. Gently holding her hand, he said, "Hermione, I have come to like your son a lot. He is a great little boy but his father was a Slytherin and it's in his genes to do bad things. I was thinking that he could meet with me and Blaise, possibly Potter if that would make you feel better, every Saturday for wizard lessons. We could give him knowledge about his history and insight from a male's point of view."
"Malfoy, I don-" Hermione started to say but was interrupted by Draco.
"You don't have to give me an answer now. Just promise me you'll think about it. All I want is for your son to be exactly like you and not like his father."
Harry and Declan returned to the table before Hermione could respond. Soon their food was served and everyone ate quietly.
"Potter, where did your shrew go?" Draco asked conversationally when everyone had finished eating their food.
Hermione choked and Declan started laughing while Harry glared at him, "My wife had a headache and decided to go home."
"Likely story," Draco muttered underneath his breath.
Hermione stood up, saying, "Well boy's, its been lovely having lunch with you but I really need to get back to work. Say goodbye, Declan."
Declan leaned over to Draco and whispered, "Did you tell her?"
Draco leaned in and whispered, "I had to buddy."
"No you didn't!" Declan cried out, drawing the attention of his mother.
"Declan Granger, what on earth are you yelling about?" She asked, placing her hand on her son's back as it looked like he was about to jump on Draco.
"He told you! I told him he didn't have to tell you what happened! But he told you anyway. He's a tattle tale meanie head!" Declan yelled, tears of frustration now rolling down his cheeks.
Hermione quickly pulled him into her arms, "Declan, I'm not angry at you. I understand things happen. Now apologize to Mr. Draco."
"No!"
"Hermione, I think you need to get him out of here," Harry stated, "Before he goes into a full blown meltdown."
Hermione nodded, "I'm sorry, Draco. I'll bring him by the office sometime this week for him to apologize and to give you my answer."
"That's fine. Have a good afternoon, Granger," Draco said, waving his hand slightly at pair as they left the restaurant.
As soon as they were gone from sight, Harry turned to Draco and asked, "How did she take it?"
"I can't believe he's angry at me. I've never been called a tattle tale meanie head before," Draco mused, completely ignoring Harry's question.
Snapping his fingers in front of Draco's face, Harry said, "Answer the question, Malfoy."
Draco sighed, "I think she was shocked for the most part. I asked her if Blaise and I could give Dec wizard lessons. You are invited to come too."
Harry looked at Draco incredulously, "You do realize that this isn't your son, right Malfoy?"
Draco stared at Harry. He knew that Declan wasn't his son but he felt such a strong connection to the boy. It was like he was destined to be part of Declan's life. Plus he had to somehow get Hermione to fall in love with him in the next three months.
"Yes, Potter. I know that Declan isn't my son!" Draco spat back at Harry.
"Okay, just making sure."
"Oh and Potter do you mind telling me why your wife was such a bitch to Hermione today? Luna told me they got along," Draco said, expertly diverting the attention onto some other topic.
"Look Malfoy, I have a meeting in twenty minutes so if you want to hear the story you are going to have to walk back to the ministry with me," Harry said, standing up.
Draco stood too. Placing enough money to cover everyone's meal and the tip, he followed Harry out of the restaurant. The two were casually strolling through Diagon Alley when Harry started the story.
"So you know that Hermione and Ron broke up over five years ago?" Harry asked, trying to see how many details Draco knew.
"Yeah and then she got drunk and slept with Adrian Pucey."
"Yeah well, Ron told his family that Hermione cheated on him. I knew the truth and called him out on it but he denied that he had in fact been the one who was cheating. So when Hermione showed up pregnant some months later, the Weasely's all chose to back Ron and blamed her for 'breaking his heart'. It's rather sickening and I rarely see them unless I have too."
"Wow," was all Draco could say.
The duo arrived at the Ministry of Magic and Draco was once again bombarded with stares but time due to the Boy Who Lived and an ex-death eater walking with each other.
"I have the afternoon off. See you tomorrow, Potter," Draco called out as he walked to the floo. Harry sent him a wave and headed off for the stairs.
PS I'm looking for someone with a google drive account to look over the next few chapters for me to make sure the new content makes sense. Leave a comment or send a pm if you are interested and have time today to look it over. Thanks!