Author's Notes:
Here's Chapter 117 for you!
This is the third of the short eight Christmas themed chapters coming this summer. Although, it turned out to be the same length as my usual chapters.
Love DW
PS Enjoy x
Sophie sits on the couch, staring intently at the fireplace, willing flames to erupt with the arrival of Hermione. She hasn't seen her mother since her birthday, but in her letters, Gwen had promised to bring American sweets back for her. She'd also asked for some American wizarding books for Christmas after Draco had explained the difference in wizarding school around the world.
"Sophie, please stop staring like that, you could set the house on fire with a glare like that." Her dad looks at her over the top of his newspaper, not entirely joking and jumping out of his chair when the fireplace lights up, five minutes after eleven o'clock, when Hermione said she would arrive.
"You're always late," she states with a huff, arms crossed. "Where's Hermione?" She asks, arms dropping to her side disappointedly when Draco steps into the living room.
"She's at The Leaky Cauldron with Scorpius. He's not very happy today, being a bit fussy and not wanting to leave his mum." Draco explains, looking at David, still staring in shocked surprise at the fire. "Are you alright?" He asks.
"Yep, I'm fine," he folds the paper up, stuffing it under his arm as he kisses his daughter on her head. "Have fun, don't eat too many of those sweets." He tells her. "And not too late, she has school tomorrow." He adds for Draco.
"Dad!" Sophie complains. "It's the last week before Christmas; it's not like we do any work. It's just arts and crafts, and watching videos." She looks up at him; her brown eyes are wide and hopeful.
"Seven o'clock, at the latest," David tells them, heading out the living room door.
Draco nods in agreement, already regretting his decision to join Hermione on her day out, being used to enjoying at least two naps a day. It wasn't fair, though, to expect Hermione to spend all day out, with a fussy Scorpius, without his company. "Are you ready to go?" He asks, holding his hand out.
"Yeah," she jumps up, grabbing his hand. "Bye, dad." She quickly remembers to call, before Draco throws down the Floo powder and calls for The Leaky Cauldron.
"Your mother isn't arriving until half-past, would you like a drink while we wait?" He asks Sophie, leading her towards the bar.
"Yes, please, can I have pumpkin juice?" She asks.
"Of course," Draco helps her up onto the high barstool.
She leans across the bar, waving at Tom, the landlord. The man happily walks over, grinning his toothless grin as he throws a drying rag over his shoulder.
"Hi, Tom," Sophie smiles.
"Hello, Miss Sophie, what can I get for you today?" he asks.
"I would like a pumpkin juice please."
"A fine choice," he collects a glass, filling it with the juice.
"I wish we had this at home," she sighs, after taking a gulp.
"They don't have pumpkin juice in the Muggle world?" Tom frowns, leaning on the bar.
"No," Sophie shakes her head. "We have apple, orange, blackcurrant, pineapple, and even tomato," she pulls a disgusted face. "But no pumpkin juice, and it's my absolute favourite juice. I like the spice flavour." She explains, taking another sip.
"I'll let you in on a little secret," Tom pretends to look up and down the bar. "The spice is cinnamon, nutmeg and clove." He informs her.
"Maybe I can make my own at home," Sophie thinks. "Is there a recipe?" She asks.
Tom thinks to himself for a moment. "You know what, Miss Sophie, because you are one of the politest children to visit me in a long time, I'm going to gift you the recipe, for Christmas." He leaves them, heading into the back room.
"I can't wait to make my own," Sophie claps her hands gleefully. "I don't know where I'm going to get pumpkins from though," she admits.
Tom returns a few minutes later with a folded piece of parchment, which he slides across the bar to Sophie. "Protect this secret at all costs." He says in all seriousness.
"I will, I promise," Sophie nods, carefully opening the parchment.
Draco tries to catch a glimpse, out of curiosity but finds there is nothing written down. Frowning, he looks up at Tom, wondering why he was teasing the child, until Sophie pockets the parchment and thanks, Tom. Confused, he helps Sophie down off the barstool.
"I charmed it, obviously," Tom smirks at Draco. "I can't go around giving our recipes to everyone; I'd go out of business."
Understanding, Draco smiles, thanking the man himself, then leads Sophie over to his and Hermione's usual booth. Sophie climbs in opposite her cousin, and Draco joins Hermione at her side, peering into the blanket in her arms to find her son asleep, his eyes scrunched.
"Should we make an appointment with our healer?" Draco asks, concerned.
"I'm sure he's just teething; he's been sucking and chewing on his fists recently," Hermione explains. "We can pick up a pain relief gel from the apothecary this afternoon." She assures him.
"Hermione," Sophie calls her cousins attention. "Tom gave me his recipe for pumpkin juice," she says excitedly.
"Really? That was very nice of him."
"I want to make some at home, but where can I buy pumpkins? It's already been Halloween."
"I'm sure we buy some from the grocery shop in Diagon Alley." Hermione reminds her. "Wizards don't need to stick to seasonal planting and growing; we can create any climate we want inside a greenhouse." She explains.
"That's cool, could I have a greenhouse at home?" She asks.
Hermione shakes her head. "I'm sorry Sophie, but if it involves magic, you can't do it until you're of age, and it involves a lot of upkeep and Draco and I aren't well versed in herbology." She explains.
"Is herbology something you're interested in?" Draco asks.
"I'm interested in all magic subjects," she tells them.
"I suppose we could ask our friend, Neville, the herbology professor if he has any book recommendations," Hermione suggests.
Sophie's eyes widen in excitement. "Really! Thank you, Hermione." She grins.
"Sophie!"
The young girl looks up to find her mother stood six feet away, smiling with her arms open, waiting for a hug. Sophie climbs out of the booth to hug her mother.
"You've grown so much since your birthday," Gwen comments, patting the top of her head.
"I know, I'm now the second tallest in my class." She admits proudly. "I grew a lot over the summer."
"Both your dad and I are quite tall, so I think you've still got some growing in you," Gwen smiles, looking up at Hermione and Draco for the first time since her arrival.
Her smile falters at the presence of Draco, but she quickly moves on to the bundle in Hermione's arms.
"Oh, is this the little boy?" She gushes, sliding into the booth and leaning over the table for a closer look. "Isn't he adorable?"
"Thank you, Gwen."
"I read that Daily Prophet article last week. It was the first time I'd seen a picture of him since I don't get the paper in America. All the Golden Trio's kids looked so cute." Gwen comments. "Although the article itself was weird, didn't you think?" She asks.
Draco huffs, "You've met Magnus, you know what he's like."
"Yes, but it was still weird. The way he went on about that assistant that was killed." She frowns. "Did Harry Potter really interrogate him in the interview?" She grins.
"It wasn't an interrogation; he just asked him some questions." Hermione defends her friend.
"Usually the interviewee doesn't ask the questions," Gwen mentions.
Sophie stares around the table. "Somebody died?" She asks.
"Oh, don't worry, Soph, it was nobody we know," Gwen tries to calm her daughter down.
"She was quite a nice person," Draco snaps back.
"Sorry, I didn't realise you knew her." Gwen apologises.
"Whether I knew her or not shouldn't matter, an innocent woman was murdered," Draco glares.
"She was killed?" Sophie gasps.
"Yes, she was, by some very bad men, but my friend, you know Harry, it's his job to find the person responsible so they can't hurt anyone else." Hermione calmly explains. "While you are with Draco and me, you are safe." She adds.
"And with me," Gwen adds.
"Now, if you finish your juice, we can head out for some shopping." Hermione states.
Draco slides out of the booth, allowing Hermione to follow. Since Scorpius didn't want to be separated from Hermione, she had placed him inside of the body wrap that morning before leaving, instead of bringing his pram. Draco helps her tighten the wrap around her body as she repositions Scorpius against her chest, where he snuggles into her warmth. He then assists her with her winter cloak, long enough to keep both Hermione and Scorpius warm during their winter shopping trip.
Once Sophie is ready, she and Gwen lead the way out of The Leaky Cauldron towards Diagon Alley. Hermione and Draco follow a few meters behind, hand in hand, keeping an eye on them while also glancing in the windows of a few shops as they pass.
Draco drops her hand to stare wide-eyed and hopeful through the glass window of Quality Quidditch Supplies where the new broom was displayed, freshly trimmed and polished.
"Hermione!" He exclaims excitedly.
"I am not buying you a broom for Christmas; if you want it, you can treat yourself." She tells him.
"Maybe I will," he turns back to the window, where children surround him.
"Professor Malfoy, are you going to buy one?" A seventh-year student asks from beside him.
"O'Connor, why are you out of school?" Draco questions the student, his professor act returning despite three months of disuse.
"It's Hogsmeade weekend, the last one before Christmas," O'Connor explains.
Draco looks around dramatically, "Oh, I could have sworn this was Diagon Alley."
"Come on, professor, I passed my disapparation exam, as long as I'm back at Hogwarts on time, it doesn't matter where I go." He tries to explain. "I'm Christmas shopping." He adds, showing the multiple bags in his hands.
"Well, I can't give you detention since I am on paternity leave, but don't let me see you again, or I'll send an owl to Headmistress McGonagall." He warns him.
"Yes, professor," O'Connor sighs, turning on the spot and disaparating away.
"Was that one of your students?" Sophie asks, running up to them.
"Yes, a seventh year who knows he's not supposed to be in Diagon Alley during Hogsmeade weekend." Draco shakes his head. "I hope you won't be a rule-breaker when you come to Hogwarts."
Sophie grins sweetly at him, "Of course not."
"Just because you are family, don't think I won't give you detention," he jokes, making her laugh.
"I'm never in trouble at school," she states. "Ask my dad."
"Your dad tells us that you can be cheeky to your teachers," Hermione points out.
Sophie rolls her eyes. "Can we go to Flourish and Blotts?" She asks.
"Why don't we leave that until later?" Gwen suggests. "That way you won't be carrying around all the books that you're going to buy."
"Okay," Sophie nods, understanding her mother's reasoning. "Can we go to the Weasley shop then?"
"Come on then."
The group walks into Weasley Wizard Wheezes to find a large crowd gathered at the back of the shop. Sophie instantly runs through the crowd to investigate, with Gwen chasing after her.
Hermione spots Ron at the till playing with something cricket ball-sized while all their customers are in the crowd.
"Ron," she calls him as they approach. "What's going on?" Hermione asks.
Ron climbs out from under the till to join them on the shop floor.
"George has invented something new, for Christmas," he throws the ball at Draco.
He catches the ball to find it's a bauble. He spins it around in his hand, curiously trying to figure out its trick. "What does it do?" He asks.
"Not a clue, he gave me that and told me to figure it out. He's at the back showing it off to the crowd. All he told me was that some popular Muggle toy inspired him." He sighs.
Draco starts twisting the bauble, and the painted lattice pattern shifts, creating a new pattern.
"Yeah, it twists in different directions, but I can't figure it out." Ron shrugs, turning to Hermione. "Did you read the article?" He asks.
"Of course," she sighs. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, except accusing Harry of interrogating him and calling Draco, the 'former' Death Eater." She rolls her eyes.
"He didn't even mention Pansy after I purposely talked about her, she was not happy." He sighs. "Do you think he did it on purpose?"
"Most definitely," she matter-of-factly states. "I think he hates you the most."
"Gee, thanks." He frowns. "Do you think-," he pauses, arguing with himself internally. "Could you talk to Pansy?" He asks.
Hermione laughs, "You want me to tell her how much you talked about her. All the lovey things you said about how proud you are of her." She teases.
"Actually, yes, really embarrass me, she'll love it." Ron agrees.
"Fine," Hermione smiles, seeing how much Ron truly cares for Pansy, going to the trouble of embarrassing himself to ensure she isn't upset by her lack of appearance in the article. Even her parents were mentioned over herself, since Magnus stated in one short sentence that Ron would spend Christmas Eve with his in-laws, the Parkinsons, before enjoying the day with his family. "When I see her next, I'll let her know."
"Thanks, Hermione, you're the best." He grins.
"Here," Draco interrupts them to hand the bauble back to Ron, now in two half-spheres.
"What?" Ron frowns, trying to place them back together. "How?" He looks expectantly at Draco.
"Why would you think I would tell you?" Draco smirks. "This was inside though," he offers the small chew sweet.
"It's fine; you can have it." Ron declines politely, his own smirk evident.
"How naïve do you think I am? I know not to eat anything that comes from this shop." He places the sweet on the till counter.
"Whatever, I got to get back. George's demonstration is almost finished." He climbs back under the till now trying to figure out how to put the bauble back together.
Hermione and Draco wander around the shop on the first floor, stopping at the balcony to watch Sophie talking to a girl around her age at the quill section of the shop. Sophie doesn't always find it easy making friends with children her own age, so Hermione watches intently as the two girls giggle as they try out one of the swear quills; no matter what you write with it, a swear word always appears on the parchment.
Sophie must spot them on the balcony, because she throws the quill back on the tester desk and then waves up at them, blushing. The girl follows her wave up to them and stares, mouth wide. Hermione and Draco chuckle as the girl audible asks Sophie, "Is that Hermione Granger?"
Sophie nods at the girl, telling her something.
"That's so cool," the girl gushes, looking back up at them.
Hermione gives the girl a wave, and she squeals with a blush.
"You've got yourself a little fan," Draco whispers.
"It's cute, it reminds me of Ginny in her first year around Harry," Hermione explains. "She was always staring and then squealing and running away when he noticed."
Draco laughs, "Valentine's Day," and he doesn't have to explain any further because Hermione is already laughing.
"You should go say hello," Draco suggests.
They walk down to the ground floor and over to Sophie and her new friend.
"Hello, who is your friend, Sophie?" Hermione asks.
Sophie looks at the girl, having not thought to ask.
"My name is Elizabeth," she tells Sophie. "My Dad calls me Beth, but my brother calls me Lizzie, you can call me either, I don't mind." She explains.
"I like Elizabeth; it's like the Queen." Sophie states.
"The Queen of where?" Elizabeth asks.
"You don't know about the Queen of the United Kingdom. You live here." Sophie is shocked.
Elizabeth shrugs, "Is this a Muggle thing? Because I don't know anything about Muggles, my dad's a pureblood." She explains.
"If you want, we could be friends, and I could send you owls and tell you about the Muggle world. I live there with my dad; he's a muggle." Sophie explains, hoping the other girl agrees so she can have a friend in the wizarding world.
"Yeah, and then I could tell you about our world, in case you don't know some things." Elizabeth agrees excitedly. "I've never had a friend from the muggle world."
"Lizzie, what have I told you about running off. I've been looking all over for-. Oh, hi, hello, professors." Richard Montgomery, a Ravenclaw who had graduated that summer, greets them. "This is my little sister, Lizzie, Elizabeth Montgomery; she'll be starting Hogwarts in a few years." He introduces them.
"In three years," Elizabeth announces.
"Me too," Sophie smiles at her new friend. "What house do you want to be in? I want to be a Ravenclaw." She explains.
"My brother was a Ravenclaw," Elizabeth gasps.
"Well, we'll look forward to having you at Hogwarts in three years." Draco smiles at the girl.
"Richie, this is my new friend. She lives in the Muggle world, and she's going to send me owls about their Queen and other Muggle stuff," Elizabeth explains to her brother.
"My name is Sophie Adair." Sophie holds her hand out to Elizabeth, who giggles while shaking it. "Sometimes I look after Hermione and Draco's owl, Athena. She's blind, but she's always delivered every letter I've sent." She explains.
"How many letters have you been sending?" Hermione asks, unaware that Athena was being trained by Sophie to deliver letters.
Sophie's eyes widen, "Not many."
"To whom are you sending these letters?" Draco asks.
"Just some of my friends," she shrugs.
"So Pansy, Blaise and Percy?" Hermione asks.
"Richie, can we get some more parchment before we go home?" Elizabeth asks her brother.
"Sure, yeah, we can go now," he smiles at his ex-professors. "See you, bye."
"Bye, Sophie," Elizabeth waves as her brother drags her away.
"She seems nice," Draco comments.
"Who was that?" Gwen asks, joining them with two bags of Weasley Wizard Wheezes products.
"That's my new friend, Elizabeth," Sophie tells her.
"Oh, that's nice. Where would you like to go next?" Gwen asks.
"I think the Menagerie," she says. "I want to see the cruppies."
Sophie adores all the animals in Magical Menagerie. When given the option, she would spend hours staring through the glass and the cages of the many animals she had never seen before entering the Wizarding World.
Hermione and Draco take the opportunity to visit the apothecary, with instructions for Sophie and Gwen to meet them at Flourish and Blotts' in twenty minutes. As soon as they enter the shop, Scorpius awakes with a cry, announcing their arrival to the elder owner, who joins them from the back of the shop.
"Oh dear, hello, little one," she joins them on the shop floor. "May I?" She asks, holding her arms out.
Hermione glances at Draco, holding her son tighter to her chest.
"It's okay," the woman nods, her voice calming and reassuring.
Hermione carefully places Scorpius into her arms. The woman rocks him as she sways, staring at his face as his cries quieten into a whimper.
"He is three months old, yes, and- seven days?" She looks questioningly at the parents.
"Eight days," Draco corrects.
"Ah, ninety-nine days old," the woman smiles.
Hermione gasps, "Draco, it's his last day in double-digit days," she cries, grabbing his hands. "He's growing up too fast."
"Hermione, he's still our baby, and he's not even a third of a year old yet, and that's how much time we have off work. We have plenty of time." He assures her, caressing her hands.
"He's teething," the woman interjects.
"Draco, that's too soon," she reminds him, having read that the average baby begins teething at four to six months.
Draco stares at the older woman dejectedly. "Thank you, that just what we needed, do you have any pain relief gel for his gums?" He asks.
"Yes," she smiles, handing Scorpius back to Hermione, who cuddles her baby tightly, calming them both down.
The older woman levitates a jar of gel down from one of her shelves. "Give it a try," she levitates a pot of gel over to Hermione.
She takes a small amount on her finger, rubbing the gel on the gums of her son. As it takes effect, Scorpius' cries cease.
"Does that feel better, baby?" Hermione coos, gently placing him back into the wrap. "Thank you, so much," She sighs in relief.
Draco hands over a few galleons as payment.
"It's my job," the woman smiles, collecting their change from the till. "Have a lovely day!" She wishes them before disappearing into the back of the shop.
"I'm exhausted," Hermione sighs, leaning her head on Draco's shoulder.
"Come on, Flourish and Blotts is our last stop before dinner," Draco strokes the back of her head calmingly.
Hermione nods, following him back down Diagon Alley to the bookshop. Gwen is sat on one of the tables, swinging her legs while she watches her daughter pull books off of shelves, inspect their blurb and first page and either place them back on the shelf or beside her mother.
"How many books are you buying, Sophie?" Hermione asks, counting the books on the table.
"Eight." Gwen sighs.
"That's just my maybe pile," Sophie defends herself. "I haven't been here in ages, and I've got lots of pocket money." She adds.
"Have you thought about saving some of your money?" Draco suggests.
"For what?"
"Christmas, have you bought your father a present yet?" He asks.
Sophie places the book in her hand back on the shelf. "No," she admits, downheartedly.
"Don't you think he deserves something special?" Hermione adds.
"Yes," she nods, scanning the books she had collected. "I'll buy two books and use the rest to buy Dad something." She announces, having worked out a budget in her head. "I'll get these two." She removes two storybooks from the pile and places the other six back in their places on various shelves.
"Good decision," Hermione smiles at her cousin. "We should leave now before you change your mind." She jokes.
Sophie takes her books to the counter, where Dennis Creevey is working, ringing up a queue of customers.
"Hi Dennis," Hermione greets her friend when they reach the till.
"Hermione, it's good to see you, how is Scorpius?" He asks, checking the prices of the books Sophie is buying.
"He's teething, already." She tells him.
"Oh, I'm sorry. He's adorable though, isn't he?" Dennis smiles, accepting Sophie's coins and handing the books back to her.
"Thanks, Dennis," Hermione smiles at her friend. "How are you?"
Dennis shrugs, "I've got a job that gets me out the house, so dad's happy. I'm just trying to figure out what I actually wanna do." He explains.
"You've got plenty of time, don't worry about it," she assures him.
"I don't know about you," Gwen starts as they leave the bookshop. "But I'm starving, shall we do dinner?" She asks.
"Yeah," Sophie cheers. "I'm hungry too. Are we going to The Leaky Cauldron?" She asks.
"We could?" Hermione agrees, looking at Draco and Gwen for confirmation.
Draco nods, not particularly bothered about where they eat dinner as long as they get there soon because he's been walking around too long. Being on paternity leave for over three months has left him feeling tired after the smallest amount of exercise.
"It's decided then, The Leaky Cauldron," Gwen announces, and the group sets off.
Hermione leads Gwen and Sophie over to their usual booth while Draco gets their first drinks in. Hannah smiles as he approaches.
"I thought you worked at The Three Broomsticks," Draco comments.
"Tom is my great uncle," she nods down the bar at the man. "I'm the only family he has left, so I wanted to help him out, but The Leaky Cauldron caters to a lot more people that The Three Broomsticks, so I took the opportunity to gain some experience under Madam Rosmerta." She explains.
"So, you're going to inherit this place one day?" He asks.
"Yes, whenever Tom retires. You know he's been working here since 1936, as soon as he graduated from Hogwarts. His father was the landlord then." She says.
"Sixty-four years, I'm impressed. You'll have to throw a party when he finally retires." He suggests.
Hannah smiles, "What can I get you, Draco?"
"I'll have two pumpkin juices, and two butterbeers, thank you." Draco takes his coin pouch out of his pocket as Hannah starts on the drinks. "How is Neville?" He asks, for conversation.
"He misses you and Hermione, I know you are friends with Pansy, but she can be a lot," Hannah states as politely as she can. "He's such a softie, and sometimes Pansy's teasing hits too close to home."
"She does it out of love," Draco explains. "She does like Neville, the four of us grew closer as a group during our apprenticeship year."
"You're not fond of Jonathan, then?" She laughs.
Draco rolls his eyes, "He's full of himself, but he's alright. It took a while to warm up to him, but we did enjoy lunch as a group."
"He's quite nice, Neville and I had him over for dinner during half-term his girlfriend is lovely." She places the last butterbeer on the bar.
"I've never met her, and he doesn't talk about her much," Draco says.
"Have you ever asked?" Hannah looks at him.
Draco pauses, "No, I haven't."
Hannah shrugs as if to say 'well there you go', as she accepts his coins and hands back his change. He levitates the four glasses back to their booth.
"Hannah's working here now," he comments, sliding into space beside Hermione.
"I'll have to say hello before we leave," Hermione glances over Gwen's shoulder towards the bar.
The table scans their menu, deciding on burgers for dinner, and Gwen goes to place their order. The table enjoys polite conversation about their plans for the New Year while they wait for their burgers to arrive, which they then eat in comfortable silence. Scorpius wakes up halfway through the meal for a feed. Hermione feeds him a bottle with one hand while feeding herself bites of her burger with her other. Once everyone has finished, Sophie turns to her mother, expectantly.
"Can I have my sweeties now?" She asks.
"Aren't you full?" Gwen laughs, passing Sophie a gift bag.
"I have some room left, thank you," Sophie opens the bag, pulling our American chocolate bars and boxes of sweets. "Have you tried all of these?" She asks.
"Yes, I'm not too keen on the chocolate, it's not as sweet as British chocolate, but the sweets are good," she says. "When you visit me for Christmas, your grandmother has collected some Welsh sweets for you as well," Gwen adds.
"Really, is she excited to meet me?" Sophie asks, her nerves evident in her voice.
"Of course, she is, you're her only grandchild," Gwen smiles. "I know you're probably too old for this, but she has a book of Welsh children stories and myths she wants to give you as well. It's been in our family for generations." She explains.
Sophie's eyes widen happily, knowing her grandmother was looking forward to meeting her. "What's your favourite story?" She asks her mother.
"Definitely the legend of Gelert." Gwen states without consideration.
"Who's Gelert?" Sophie asks, turning to sit on her knees, facing her mother.
"Gelert was the dog of Prince Llewelyn, who lived during the thirteenth century. He had a massive palace that stood in a valley between two rivers, the River Glaslyn and the River Colwyn, in the Snowdonia region of North Wales." Gwen sets the scene. "Prince Llewelyn and Gelert enjoyed hunting together in the surrounding forests and mountain. However, one day, Gelert was nowhere to be found, so Prince Llewelyn left for his hunt alone."
Sophie listens intently, along with Hermione and Draco, both of whom had been drawn in by Gwen's storytelling ability.
"Where was Gelert?" Sophie asks.
"Well, upon Prince Llewelyn's return to his palace, Gelert joyfully sprang out onto the ground, jumping around at his horse's feet, excited for his master's return. Prince Llewelyn's blood ran cold as he jumped from his horse and saw that his faithful dog, Gelert, was stained and smeared with blood."
Sophie gasps, "Is he hurt?"
"Prince Llewelyn, in alarm, ran as fast as he could to his son's cot, only to find it empty, and the infant's bedclothes and bedsheets ripped and scattered across the floor, covered in blood.
"No," Sophie shakes her head.
"Prince Llewelyn was frantic, full of panic and worry, he drew his sword from his belt and turned on Gelert, his most loyal and faithful dog, and plunged his sword into his side, thinking he had killed his son." Gwen glances around the table at her audience, lost in her story.
"I don't think this story is appropriate," Draco says, looking at Sophie, almost in tears.
"She's eight years old," Gwen states, continuing the myth. "The dying yelp from Gelert was answered by the cry of a child. Prince Llewelyn searched nearby and found his son, completely unharmed, but lying beside him was the body of a mighty wolf, covered in fatal bite marks and its own blood. Gelert had slain the mighty wolf, protecting his master's son. Prince Llewelyn was so distraught by what he had done, he buried Gelert atop a hill, renaming the village Beddgelert after his faithful hound." Gwen finishes the myth of Beddgelert.
"That was awful, the poor dog died for nothing," Sophie cries.
"They say Prince Llewelyn never smiled again after that day," Gwen adds.
"What does Bedd mean?" Hermione asks.
"Bedd is grave, so the grave of Gelert is Beddgelert," Gwen explains.
Hermione feels nauseated as realisation dawns on her. "Beddgelert, the grave of the hound?" She asks, her stomach twisting into knots as her throat tightens.
"I guess, what does that mean?" Gwen asks, confused.
Hermione feels Draco's hand on her forearm, but she can't hear if he speaks to her. Her heartbeat in her ears feels like an ocean crashing against rocks. She feels her husband slide out of the booth beside her but doesn't spare a thought for where he's going. The grave of the hound, the pace where the Death Eaters had been meeting in September was Beddgelert, a Welsh village. It didn't make any sense. Why would they meet there? Was it just somewhere secluded, or did it hold a more significant meaning for the new Dark Lord? She needed to tell Harry.
All at once, Hermione's senses come back to her. Gwen and Sophie are missing from in front of her; in a panic, she casts her eyes around. Draco is on his phone, typing furiously.
"Draco?"
"I'm trying to call Harry, but he's not answering. He must be in the Ministry." He claims, holding his phone to his ear, only to reach his voicemail for the fifth time.
"Where's Sophie?" She slides out of the booth, arms wrapped around her sleeping son.
"I told Gwen to take her home; it's almost seven o'clock." He answers.
"Draco?" She stands beside him, taking his spare hand in hers.
"I know," he kisses the back of her hand, distractedly. "He's not answering; we have to go to him." He pulls her hand towards the fireplace. "Tom, can we?" Draco points at the fireplace.
"Sure, go ahead," Tom nods.
Draco pushes Hermione to go first, and she does, her panicked nerves being replaced by silent anger. Draco follows after her, chasing to catch up to his wife, who was making her way to the lifts.
"They won't be any evidence they were there. It's been over three months, as soon as the Daily Prophet printed the prophecy, Beddgelert would be abandoned. The Death Eaters wouldn't risk it." Hermione says, fidgeting impatiently as the lift rises to the second floor.
It isn't a long wait, but as soon as the lift doors open, Hermione is out and racing as quickly as her sleeping son strapped to her chest would allow her to the main Auror offices where she would find Harry's desk.
Of course, when they burst into the office, Harry wasn't there.
"Where's Harry?" Hermione asks the nearest Auror.
He looks at Harry's desk and shrugs.
"Excuse me," Hermione calls out into the office, drawing the attention of the eight people working. "Can anyone tell me where Harry is?"
The Auror's exchange looks, wondering what is going on and whether they should tell her.
"He's with Vale," a woman eventually tells them, gesturing to the door at the back of the room.
"Thanks," Draco tells her, following after his wife.
Hermione knocks on Auror Vale's door before he catches up to her. The door swings open revealing Alphard Vale sat at his desk, wand pointed at the door, having just charmed it open, and Harry sat on the other side of the desk, looking at them with confusion.
"Can I help you both?" Vale questions, looking at them expectantly.
"We know where the Death Eaters were meeting. We figured out the grave of the hound," Hermione abruptly announces.
Vale's eyes widen as Harry jumps out of his seat.
"How did you- no, where is it?" He asks. "We need to check it out now." He turns to Vale, still sat at his desk, looking sceptically at them.
"A Welsh village called Beddgelert," Hermione answers.
Vale swiftly stands up. "I doubt we'll find any evidence of recent activity, but if you're sure this is the place, I'll send a team of Aurors there immediately."
"We're confident," Draco states, not liking the man at all, after three Death Eaters had escaped while under his departments watch.
"I want on the team," Harry states.
Vale rolls his eyes, "Yeah, go get ready, Potter."
Harry runs out of the room without a second thought.
"How did you figure that out?" Vales asks. "I've had my best Aurors trying to decipher it for months." He adds.
"Gwenog Jones, she was telling us an old Welsh myth. It was purely coincidental." Draco explains."
"How lucky? I have to ask you to leave while we investigate, but I'll have Potter fill you in with our findings." He walks them out of his office, offering a hand to Draco.
"Thank you," Hermione shakes his hand after Draco.
Vale nods once, turning his attention to the office. "B-team, get ready, we're got a possible DE meeting place. We leave in five minutes." He announces, then returns to his office.
Harry runs up to them as they leave, dressed in his official Auror robes.
"Can you call round mine and let Gin know? I'll try to visit you tomorrow morning before work, and let you know what's going on." Harry tells them.
"I'll tell Ginny, thank you, Harry." Hermione awkwardly hugs her friend, her baby between them.
"Now go, be safe," he says.
"You too, Harry," Hermione warns him.
"Always," he smiles, turning back to inform his co-workers, currently pulling on their robes.
Draco and Hermione leave the Auror department for the lifts.
"I can't believe no one knew about the Beddgelert myth. How many Welsh wizards are there?" Hermione frowns, leaning against Draco's side as they wait. "All that research we did."
"We know now, and the Aurors are investigating. All we can do is go home, put Scorpius to bed and try to get some sleep ourselves. Harry said he would visit us in the morning." His attempts to calm and reassure her don't work.
"I won't be able to sleep tonight, Draco, this was the last piece of the puzzle. It's got to mean something."
They enter the lift in silence, except for Scorpius gurgling away as he sucks his thumb.
"We shouldn't let him suck his thumb," Hermione states.
"He'll grow out of it," Draco says, watching Scorpius.
"It can affect the way his teeth grow," she explains.
"He hasn't got any teeth yet, and we'll break the habit before they come in." He tells her.
They walk across the floo floor of the Ministry.
"Straight to Ginny's?" Hermione asks, and Draco nods in agreement.
Hermione floos first, stepping out into Harry and Ginny's empty front room. As Draco joins her, she hears Ginny walking downstairs, most likely expecting Harry. The woman pauses in the doorway in her dressing gown, staring at them.
"Is Harry okay?" She asks, voice calm and steady.
"Yes, he's fine. Why?" Hermione answers.
"Godric, you scared me," Ginny joins them in the front room, sitting on her couch. "If the Ministry were going to send anyone to tell me Harry had been injured, it would probably be you." She explains.
"Sound logic," Draco comments, taking Scorpius from Hermione so that she can sit beside her friend on the couch.
"We found out where the grave of the hound is, and Harry and some Aurors have gone to investigate. We aren't expecting them to find anything important, just hopefully some evidence that the Death Eaters were meeting there at one point." Hermione explains.
Ginny eyes widen excitedly, "That's amazing," she grins.
"Harry probably won't be home until very late," Hermione adds. "He asked us to let you know, so you don't worry."
"Well, that's a first," she rolls her eyes. "And I'm still going to worry. I don't get much sleep when he's not here." She admits.
"Would you like us to stay with you?" Draco suggests, sitting in one of their armchairs, feeding Scorpius a bottle.
"There's nowhere for you to sleep," she shrugs.
"I don't think we'll be doing much sleeping until Harry returns with some information anyway," Hermione tells her. "I can transfigure Scorpius a cot, and we'll be fine."
"I would actually like that, thank you. It's scary being home alone with just the boys. I know nothing can penetrate the estate's wards, but then, Hogwarts was supposed to be impenetrable as well." Ginny explains.
Draco freezes, he looks at Hermione, then at Ginny. "That was my doing," he admits. "I'm very sorry that it's had a lasting impact on you." He apologises sincerely.
Ginny stares at him. "Oh, my fifth year, yeah, I knew that was you, Harry mentioned it a while ago. Sirius also managed to break in as well though." She says.
"That one was my doing," Hermione admits.
"You let Sirius Black into Hogwarts?" Draco asks. "How is this the first time I'm hearing about this?"
"Well, it was my cat, Crookshanks." She explains.
"Oh," he rolls his eyes, less impressed.
"Anyway, I have to be up at five tomorrow morning for training, so I'm off to bed. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, the bathroom is the same place as yours, and try not to wake the boys." Ginny hugs Hermione before standing. "Night," she adds, heading back upstairs.
Hermione takes her wand out and transfigures their friends' footstool into a comfortable cot for Scorpius. When he finishes his bottle, Draco removes his son's coat, shirt and trousers, dressing him in a sleepsuit that they keep in his baby bag just in case. Hermione reapplies some of the pain relief gel to his gums, and despite sleeping for the majority of the day, Scorpius is fast asleep in his make shrift cot.
"Do you want a cup of tea?" Hermione asks, not sure what else she can do right now.
Draco nods, watching Scorpius' chest rise and fall with each breath as he sleeps. Although his son has only been in his life for ninety-nine days, Draco can't imagine his life without him. He assumed the Death Eaters wanted to take Scorpius away from him, to break the prophecy's final two lines, keeping the two worlds, whether wizards and muggles, or purebloods and Muggleborns apart, but he would do everything in his power as a father to protect his son.
"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he whispers to the sleeping Scorpius. "And I will stop anyone who tries." He adds, taking a deep breath to calm the anger building up inside that was telling him, without a shadow of a doubt, that Draco would kill for his son.
Maybe Magnus Maddox was right, Draco is going down a tainted path right now, thinking about murdering for his son. Next time, we join the Auror's in Beddgelert as they investigate the area. Also, as promised, Hermione and Draco take Scorpius to school and show him off to their colleagues.
You should follow me on Instagram (delilah . wise) to find out when the next chapter will be uploaded.
If you don't follow me, you won't know that I went on holiday to Beddgelert in August 2019. It was here I learnt the myth of Gelert the faithful hound and where I decided to make the village the meeting place of the Death Eaters. After I've uploaded the next chapter, with the investigation, I'm going to post pictures I took last year of the secluded clearing surrounded by trees that I found and decided was the perfect place for the meeting of the clocks.
Thank you so much for reading.
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