Dinner was delicious. Granger, he found out, was quite skilled in the kitchen. She made a dinner of roasted chicken and vegetables along with homemade mashed potatoes. He was tempted to ask if she secretly harbored a house-elf, but thought better of it—Merlin knew he didn't want her going on a rant about house-elf rights. He had heard plenty of that while at Hogwarts.
Lyra, as usual, talked endlessly throughout the meal. They got back on the topic of Halloween and were currently discussing favorite sweets when Lyra asked, "Do you want to go trick or treating with us?"
Granger looked at her apologetically. "Sorry sweetie, I have to work at the bookstore that night. But, if you and your dad stop by, I'll be handing out candy to anyone who comes in."
Lyra gasped happily. "We always go trick or treating on Main Street! Daddy says it's to support all the businesses there."
"She just likes going because everyone knows her and gives her extra candy," he said, looking knowingly at his daughter.
His daughter shrugged sheepishly but didn't deny it.
"Well that settles it," Granger said with a nod. "You two will have to stop by the store so I can see your costumes."
"Costume," Draco corrected. "I don't dress up."
"Well, that's no fun. Right, Lyra?"
Lyra nodded vigorously in agreement. "Yeah, Daddy. No fun at all."
Draco shook his head and continued eating while the other two carried on with their conversation.
After dinner, Lyra asked if she could go outside and explore a bit.
"Alright," Draco said. "But don't go so far that we can't see you from the house."
Lyra opened the back door and raced off towards the trees while he and Granger gathered the dishes and placed them in the sink.
"We can sit outside and watch her," she suggested. She took her wand out from the front pouch of her sweater and set the dishes to wash themselves before grabbing two wine glasses and a bottle of Merlot. "Care for a glass?" she asked.
"Sure."
He followed her out and sat in one of the deck chairs, facing the backyard that stretched up onto a hill with trees.
"Not a bad place," he commented as she sat. "With the trees and extra space between neighbors, you have a lot of privacy."
"Thanks," she said, taking a sip of her wine. "It was definitely a perk in picking this place. I didn't want to risk anyone seeing me use magic on accident."
Draco nodded. "I can understand that. I have to be extra careful if I ever use magic at the house, or at least make sure the curtains are closed."
The two watched as Lyra ran around, inspecting rocks and sticks and looking up at the trees.
Draco glanced at Granger, who was looking at him curiously.
He turned back towards Lyra as he took a drink. "I figure you're trying to figure out how to ask me about Lyra's mother, without seeming rude or nosey," he said. He looked at Granger and raised a brow in question and she gave him a sheepish look.
"Guilty," she said, then shifted in her seat to face him better, tucking her legs under her. "I'm just curious. You said before you have an idea about why you don't know who she is, but I wasn't sure if it was something you wanted to discuss with me."
"You're probably the only person around here that I can discuss it with," he admitted. "Usually, if anyone asks where her mother is, I say she left after Lyra was born, which then deters any more questioning."
Granger nodded "Yes, I can see why you'd say that to Muggles, but it's more complicated than that, isn't it? You actually don't know her identity." She looked at him pensively. "I'm assuming it's not because you slept around with a bunch of witches during sixth year and impregnated one of them but are unsure which one."
Draco chuckled darkly as he looked away from her and stared into his glass of wine. "No. I didn't have time for anything like that. Too busy doing the Dark Lord's bidding," he said bitterly.
Granger drummed her fingers on the table as she frowned in thought. "My best guess—and I'm assuming yours as well—is that your memories were modified. But….why?"
"Why indeed," Draco repeated. "Probably because I was a Death Eater and she wanted to make sure she and the baby would be safe."
"Maybe it was to keep you both safe?" Granger suggested. "Maybe she was someone that, when either Voldemort, or your parents found out about, would make things hard for you."
"I've thought of that," Draco admitted with a nod. "But then what about after? After the war was all done with, why not come forward about Lyra? Surely the person I was with isn't ashamed of her," he said, gesturing towards his daughter.
Granger shook her head. "No. No, how could she be?"
"Now, ashamed of me, I can understand, but not—"
"Stop it," Granger hissed, annoyed. "You were put into an impossible situation. Whoever you were with had to have known that, Draco."
Draco shook his head and sighed. "Then I can only assume that whoever she was…. she died during the battle. Why else would she completely abandon her child?"
"Or," Granger said thoughtfully. "She also had her memories altered. Perhaps after giving birth, to keep Lyra safe."
Draco pondered that for a moment. "I suppose that's another possibility, yes. And since Daphne knew the mother, she was probably tasked to reverse the memory charm, but—"
"—But died before she could," Hermione finished.
Draco rubbed his temples and sighed. "Either way, there's no way to determine who her mother was, or is, unless I have blood tests done on every witch who attended Hogwarts that year, or their family to find a biological connection." He glanced at Lyra again, who was running back over to them. "I don't want to put her through that."
Granger nodded then turned to Lyra who was calling out her name.
"I couldn't find him," Lyra said when she was back on the porch.
Granger looked at Lyra curiously. "Find who?"
"Your owl," Lyra stated.
"Oh is that what you were doing?" Granger said, chuckling. "I guess I should have told you that I sent him off to London a couple days ago. He won't be back for a few more days. It's a long flight and he'll need to rest before returning."
Lyra slumped into a vacant chair dejectedly. "Oh."
"Why don't we have dessert now?" Draco suggested and was happy to see his daughter's smile return.
"Okay! I'll go get the stuff from the car," she stated before running around the house to where their car was parked.
"That's right," Granger said as she stood up. "You brought something to go with the cookies."
Draco nodded and opened the sliding door just as Lyra came back in through the front, carrying a grocery bag.
"Let's see what we have here." Granger looked inside. "Some ice cream, which I assume is under a stasis charm since it's still frozen, and chocolate sprinkles."
Draco took the bag. "You're to go sit and wait at the table while Lyra and I fix up the dessert, then we'll bring it out to you."
"Alright, but don't make a mess of my kitchen," she said, mock-glaring at him.
Draco rummaged through the kitchen to find some plates and spoons while Lyra set four cookies on each plate. He scoop out some ice cream, placing them on two of the cookies. When there was enough piled on, they placed the second cookie on top. Draco poured sprinkles on another plate and rolled the ice cream part in them, completing the dessert.
"Oh!" Granger said happily when Lyra handed her her plate. "An ice cream sandwich! How creative!"
"Me and Daddy make them aaaaaall the time," Lyra said, biting into her sandwich which made the ice cream ooze out the sides.
Granger chuckled softly, handing her a napkin. "My dad used to crumble cookies on top of his ice cream and would sometimes add chocolate syrup too."
"Daddy does that too! With whipped cream and a cherry on top!"
"Sounds like you and your dad really like ice cream," Granger said, glancing at Draco and smiling at him.
"Daddy says we have sweet teeth."
"A sweet tooth," he corrected.
"Yeah, that," she said, eating the last of her dessert. "Can we watch the movie now?"
Granger nodded. "Only if you go wash your hands and face first." She pointed to the bathroom.
Draco gathered the plates and placed them in the kitchen. When he returned to the living room, he found Granger putting the DVD into the player. "Are you sure it's okay if we stay to watch the movie? I don't want to intrude on all your free time and we can easily go home and watch it there."
Granger waved him off. "It's fine. I wasn't lying when I said it was one of my favorites." She sat down on the end of the couch.
"Just beware," Draco said, sitting on the other end. "She knows all the words so she'll probably recite them line for line."
"I used to do that as well." Granger gave a soft, wistful smile. "It drove my parents crazy."
Draco noted that that was twice now that she referred to her parents in the past tense. He was about to ask after them, but Lyra entered the room and claimed a seat between the two.
"Can we have popcorn?" she asked after Granger pressed PLAY.
"Lyra, we just had dessert," Draco reminded her.
"I know but you can't watch a movie without popcorn." Lyra sounded as if she found his reasoning completely lacking.
Draco glanced over Granger to find she was stifling a laugh. "She must be hanging around you too much, seeing as how she is starting to sound like you now."
The laughter bubbled out of the witch, and Draco couldn't help but smile.
By the time the movie ended, Draco glanced around the room and winced. There was a large bowl of half-eaten popcorn, empty cups, and copious amounts of paper with drawings all over them scattered on Granger's coffee table.
The culprit? Currently fast asleep, with her head on Granger's lap.
"Sorry for the mess—" he started, but Granger, again, waved him off.
"It's fine. Nothing a quick flick of the wand can't fix."
Draco watched as Granger ran her fingers absently through Lyra's curls. "She really has taken a liking to you."
The witch glanced down at the child and smiled. "I'd say the feeling's mutual."
They both sat in silence as Lyra slept peacefully.
"I've been meaning to ask," he said quietly. "About your parents. You've mentioned them a few times but I couldn't help but notice it was in the past tense. Are they…"
Granger sighed and rested her head on the back of the couch and looked at the ceiling. "They're alive. I just…. I haven't seen them in several years."
Draco frowned. "I'm sorry to hear. If you don't mind me asking, why is that? Did you have a falling out?"
Granger shook her head. "No, nothing like that." She turned to look at him with sad eyes. "They don't remember me. I used a memory charm on them before sixth year, to keep them safe in case…." she pressed her lips together and closed her eyes before continuing. "In case Voldemort might think to use them to get to me during the war."
She'd lost her parents because of the war. The one where he'd been on the opposite side. Draco swallowed, biting back the wave of emotion that threatened to overcome him.. "I'm sorry—"
"Don't," she said firmly but in a low voice as to not wake Lyra. "Stop apologizing for things that were beyond your control. I did what I needed to do to protect my family. I don't regret it."
Draco looked at her, stunned, for a moment before nodding. "Alright. Can I ask you something though?"
At her nod, he continued. "Why haven't you reversed the memory charm?"
Granger's body folded in on itself, and he felt bad for pushing. "I tried. Right after everything was over, I went to Australia and I tried to reverse it. But, I couldn't. I feel like there's something I'm missing but I don't know what it is. I tried for years to figure it out, but just… couldn't." She looked at him again. "The Ministry checks in on them from time to time, and gives me reports. I was doing it myself, but it was just too hard after a while."
Draco nodded though didn't know what else to say.
"What about your parents?" she asked quietly.
The question caught him by surprise—after all, his father tried to kill her and her mother tried to turn her over to the Dark Lord. Perhaps she was being polite, since she told him of her parents.
"My mother lives in France. She visits a few times a year and spoils Lyra rotten," he said with a smile.
Granger smiled back. "That's what grandmothers are for."
"True," he agreed. "Mine would sneak me chocolates."
Granger chuckled softly.
"As far as my father goes, he passed away in Azkaban."
"Oh…I wasn't aware. May I ask what happened?"
Draco hesitated—he never really talked about his father but decided he trusted Granger to know this information. "My mother paid to keep that information private. As far as the Wizarding world is concerned, he's still rotting away in Azkaban. I'd appreciate it if it stayed that way."
Granger nodded. "Of course."
"He couldn't handle the prison life, or the guilt for that matter, and ended up…." he glanced at Lyra to make sure she was asleep then went back to Granger. "Taking his life."
"That must have been hard," she said quietly. "For you and your mother."
He gave an acknowledging nod. Lyra shifted in her sleep and Draco glanced at the clock. "We should get going." He looked at Granger. "Thank you, by the way."
She gave him a curious look. "For what?"
"For dinner. For entertaining my daughter and enduring her endless questioning. For the conversation. It's been nice being able to talk without being guarded about who or what I really am."
"It's been my pleasure. I adore Lyra and, believe it or not, I enjoy your company too." She gave him a smirk. "It's nice having a familiar face here, even if it is yours," she teased.
Draco's lips twitched upwards and he shook his head. "Cheeky." He pulled out his wand from his pocket and with a flick, everything of Lyra's flew back into her bag.
Granger bent over and kissed Lyra's forehead. The action made his insides twist, though he was unsure as to why.
Lyra stirred and her eyes fluttered open. "Is the movie over?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes.
Draco picked her up. "Yes, Princess. We're going home now."
"Aww, I missed the best part."
"Don't worry, I'm sure your dad won't mind watching it again with you tomorrow," Granger said.
Draco groaned. "Thanks for that."
The witch had the audacity to smile sweetly at him. "Any time."