Author's Notes:
Here's Chapter 122 for you!
This is the eighth and final chapter of the short eight Christmas themed chapters that I promised this summer(?)
I've spent a few days re-planning the rest of this fanfiction, and I am so excited to write the rest of this story. Some good chapters are coming up soon, with the introduction of the next major plot arch.
Love DW
PS Enjoy x
Hermione hands Scorpius over to Molly, along with a bag full of baby care essentials. "Everything you should need is in here, Molly, and his bottles in the fridge. We feed him every two to three hours." She explains.
"Hermione, dear, I've raised seven children, and have seven grandchildren, this one included. I know how to take care of a baby. Now don't worry about us, go out and enjoy your date; spend a little time away from being a mummy and daddy, and be husband and wife for a few hours." Molly tells her.
She sighs, "I'm sorry, Molly, this is going to be the longest we're away from him. He should only wake twice at most during the night." She adds
"Hermione, they're going to be fine," Draco assures her, taking her hand soothingly.
"I know, I know, let's go before I change my mind," she threads her fingers between Draco's. "Thank you, Molly. Mummy is going to miss you so much, Scorpius." She kisses the top of her son's head. "I'll see you in the morning.
Draco has to drag her away as she keeps finding excuses to stay, checking the baby bag, or the bottles of milk in the fridge, or making sure Scorpius had his hat with him in case Molly took him outside.
"We both trust Molly more than almost anyone else to look after our son, if he doesn't have his hat, Molly won't take him out, or she'll knit him one." Draco chuckles, pulling her down the garden path, away from the Burrow.
"Well, it's too late to cancel now," Hermione says to herself.
"I don't know why you agreed to this triple date idea," he huffs, annoyed. "I can't believe Pansy agreed." He adds.
"It was because Pansy and Ron had already agreed that I agreed," Hermione explains. "He's your best friend, Draco. We don't get together very often, and it sounds like he's planning something special. I didn't want to turn him down just because you don't like Cara. She's polite enough that we can be civil with her." She warns him
"Something special," he frowns, seemingly remembering something.
"What is it?" She asks.
"I just remembered something from Halloween," He frowns as they apparate to Diagon Alley, where they exit into muggle London through The Leaky Cauldron.
"That argument you two had?" She asks, remembering the night well.
Draco hums in agreement as they walk to the taxi rank where they instruct the driver to take them to the restaurant address Blaise had sent them the previous day. Hermione doesn't push him to clarify, since she knows he promised not to tell her, and Draco doesn't break his promises. It's a value she appreciates in her husband.
"I didn't think they were going to last this long, to be honest." He admits. "He told me that night that they've been together since August."
"I didn't think he was very good at keeping secrets," Hermione comments.
"He isn't, usually, which is why I was surprised, which didn't help." Draco states. "He knows I don't particularly like her, so he asked us to act nice and polite."
"I am nice and polite," Hermione smiles at him, making him laugh. "I'm not sure how well Pansy can act though."
"It's sure to be an eventful date." Draco sighs knowingly.
When their taxi pulls up outside the restaurant Blaise had booked for them, not only were Pansy and Ron stood waiting for them, but so were Gregory and Megan Goyle. Hermione pays for the taxi while Draco climbs out of the backseat, smiling as he greets another friend he hasn't see for months.
"Gregory! I didn't know you were back in the country," Draco shakes his friend's hand, patting his shoulder.
"We came back for Christmas with Megan's family. Blaise saw us in Diagon Alley yesterday and invited us." Gregory explains.
"I hope you don't mind," Megan smiles at Hermione.
"Not at all, the more, the merrier." She assures the other woman, turning to greet Pansy and Ron.
Somehow, Pansy had managed to force her husband into a salmon coloured shirt and dark blue suit trousers. He doesn't look impressed with the situation or his outfit. Pansy is scowling at them, pulling her pink shawl cardigan around her in an attempt to keep herself warm in the winter cold, even with the heating charm they can see around her.
"I hate the both of you right now," Pansy points at them both.
"What did we do?" Draco asks defensively.
Gregory smirks having missed his friends' antics.
"We wouldn't be here if you hadn't already agreed to this get-together?" Hermione answers.
Pansy groans, "That bastard, he tricked the both of us." She announces. "He knew neither of us would want to come unless the other had already agreed."
"Blaise told you we had already agreed?" Draco asks.
"Yeah, keep up Draco." Pansy snaps. "Is it too late to cancel?" She asks.
"Are we missing something?" Megan asks, her eyes scanning the group.
"We're not particularly fond of Blaise's new girlfriend," Hermione explains.
"'Particularly fond'," Pansy mocks. "I do not like her." She admits, not for the first time.
"Shh," Gregory hisses loudly, nodding down the end of the street where Blaise and Cara were walking towards them.
"Great," Pansy sighs, taking her cardigan off, revealing a tight, spaghetti-strapped black velvet dress. She stuffs her cardigan into her enlarged, small handbag.
"Wow, Pansy, you look great," Megan compliments the other woman.
"I thought this was a casual event?" Draco mutters to her.
"No offence, you two, but Scorpius' ceremony wasn't exactly the occasion for me to look hot." She explains.
"Are you trying to intimidate her?" Hermione asks, amused.
"Spot on," Pansy winks at them. "Babe, hand on waist," she informs Ron, who rolls his eyes but does as told.
"Remember, Blaise is our friend, so let's be nice," Hermione whispers as the couple gets closer.
"I don't know why you're looking at me," Pansy smirks.
"You know exactly why," she smiles at Blaise and Cara. "Hi, it's nice to see you both again." She hugs Blaise and shakes Cara's offered hand. "You look lovely."
"Thank you, Hermione." Cara smiles softly.
"I love your dress," Pansy looks Cara up and down, smiling in amusement at her calf-length flowery dress.
"Yours is beautiful, Pansy," Cara's expression clouds as she stares at her dress.
"Hi, I'm Megan, I'm married to Blaise's friend, Gregory," Megan introduces herself, full of smiles.
"Oh, Blaise told me about you two, you've been living in America for a while?" She asks.
"Yes, since June last year," Megan nods.
"Shall we go inside?" Draco suggests.
"It's getting cold," Ron agrees since Pansy seemingly hadn't deemed it necessary for him to be beneath her charm, or for him to wear a jacket.
"Of course," Blaise leads the way, with Cara on his arm, up to a man at the bar. "Hi, I've booked a table for eight. Zabini."
The barman looks at him, "Zabini, yes, your table it that one near the window," he points at the table.
"Oh, thanks."
The eight of them walk over. Gregory and Blaise sit at each end of the table, with Draco, Hermione, and Cara on one side, and Megan, Ron and Pansy on the other. As soon as they sit, the waiter arrives ready to take their drinks order.
"I'll have whatever beer you have on tap," Blaise orders.
"I'll have the same," Ron nods, not having much knowledge of muggle drinks.
"I'll have a glass of your house Merlot," Pansy closes the drinks menu, handing it to the barman, who takes it from her only to place it back on the menu stand in the centre of the table. "Why don't you join me, Cara?"
"I'm not one for red wine unless I'm at church," she jokes.
Hermione chuckles politely, but the other six, having never stepped foot inside a church before don't react.
"I will have a Moscato, though."
Hermione scans the menu, only finding alcohols. "I'll just have a lemonade, please."
The barman nods, but Pansy scoffs.
"Come on, Hermione, it's date night," she reminds her. "You might need it," she lowers her voice, leaning across the table slightly.
Hermione doesn't like to drink alcohol when she's feeding Scorpius. Still, he does have enough bottled milk to tide him over until tomorrow afternoon, so one glass wouldn't hurt.
"Go on then; I'll have a glass of the Merlot too."
"That's my girl." Pansy grins at her.
"Go on then, I'm in for a glass of wine," Megan laughs.
Draco quickly orders a bottle of cider, while Gregory orders a pint of Guinness, a drink he had first tried in a bar in Louisianna, and the barman leaves.
"So, Cara, tell us a bit about yourself?" Pansy asks, resting her chin on her folded hands, leaning on the table.
"There's not much to tell really," she shyly admits. "I own and run a café, which is where I met Blaise, and also where I met Draco and Hermione."
"Blaise, why haven't I been invited to this café?" She asks.
"It's not the sort of thing you would enjoy, Pans," Blasie tells her.
"You should definitely visit, with your husband," Cara looks at Ron. "If you ever want a full English breakfast and a cup of tea."
Ron nods in interest.
"You two should visit two," she turns to Megan and Gregory. "For a proper breakfast before you go back to America."
"That sounds nice, we do manage though. Gregory is quite the chef and makes all our favourite British foods for our friends back in America." Megan tells them.
"Next time you're back, you should host a diner party," Blaise suggests.
"Actually," Megan turns to Gregory, who nods. "I'm being transferring back to the UK for work; we're moving back in February." She explains.
"That's great news," Hermione says. "Will you be moving back into the Estate?"
"No, we've been looking for houses while we're here. We're found a nice place in Kent we're thinking about going for." Megan says.
"Well, I'm glad to have another friend close by for when these two are busy," Pansy announces, glaring teasingly at Draco and Blaise.
Before the conversations can go any further, the barman returns with their drinks. Hermione and Ron exchange a look as he hands the beverages out.
"How did the two of you get together?" Megan asks.
"Blaise started coming into the café most mornings. He told me he had moved in with his friend, Benjamin." Cara starts, grinning.
"As soon as Benji leaves for university in the morning, it doesn't take long before I'm bored out of my mind. There's never anything good on the television that early, except children shows, but I don't want Pandora to spend too much time watching them. One morning we were out for a walk. I found myself walking towards Cara's café, so we popped in for breakfast. We just ended up repeating the same walk every morning that Benji is out." Blaise explains.
"We got to talking since I'm not usually busy until ten o'clock, and we realised we have a lot in common," Cara continues.
"Really?" Ron asks, voicing the confused expressions of the rest of their table.
"Yes, we both love reading-" she begins.
"Do you?" Draco laughs.
"I'll have you know I've gotten into it recently," Blaise defends himself.
Draco smirks, not pushing it any further.
"We also love going for walks, most nights, Blaise and Pandora meet me after I've closed the café and he walks me home through the park. My parents love both him and Pandora." She squeezes his hand.
"You've met her parents?" Draco frowns.
"Well, I walk her home most night," Blaise shrugs.
"You still live with your parents?" Pansy asks, smirking. "Aren't you thirty, or something?"
Cara's head snaps to Blaise, "I'm twenty-seven."
"I didn't tell her how old you were," Blaise quickly states.
"Why? Are you ashamed she's seven years older than you?" Pansy asks, stirring the situation.
"No."
"You're twenty?" Cara asks, eyes-wide.
"Yeah," Blaise shrugs.
"I thought you were at least twenty-five," she states.
"You never asked," Blaise says.
"You look older, and have a child, and were married." She explains.
"We've been through a lot," Blaise shrugs.
"Stress does that to a person," Pansy agrees.
No matter which side of the war, their dining companions were on, every person was affected in some way by its events. It had taken Hermione a while to recognise that each person's stresses from the war were valid.
Cara looks around the table. "Blaise told me you all went to the same school in Scotland, we're you all friends?" She asks, thankfully not pushing for more information.
Ron scoffs, "Not likely. Hermione and I were friends, and these four were friends, but our two groups were the worst enemies." He explains.
Blaise laughs, "Ronald, I never did anything to you other than ignoring what these three were doing, which I apologised for."
"And which we accepted," Hermione reminds Ron. "It's all in the past, and now I can't imagine not being friends with Blaise and Pansy, they're some of my best friends." She admits. "I don't know Gregory well enough, since you moved to America straight after graduation, but you've seemed to have won Megan over, so I'm sure you're a nice person," Hermione adds, realising she was ignoring him.
"We might be seeing each other more when we move back here," Gregory suggests.
"Now I know you're all twenty, the past must only have been two years ago." Cara mentions. "I wish you had told me you were so young, I thought you were the same age as Benjamin since you are friends and live together." She explains.
"We met Benji on a stag night out last August," Blaise chuckles, remembering the night well.
"Why isn't he here? Has he not got a boyfriend to bring?" Pansy asks. "He could have come on his own. I've met him a few times, and he's fun."
Cara face stiffens, "He's babysitting Pandora." She claims.
"If your parents love Pandora, couldn't they have looked after her?" Pansy asks, pushing Cara further.
"Benjamin doesn't have a significant other." She states.
The barman returns. "Have you looked at the menu yet?" He asks.
"Could we have one more minute?" Blaise asks as the table picks up their menus for the first time, and by the time the barman returns, the eight of them have decided upon both their starter and main meal.
"So, Cara, do you have any siblings?" Hermione asks, trying to get the conversation rolling again and away from the past.
"Yes, I have a younger sister," Cara smiles. "Mary, she just got married in the Summer."
"My sister had a summer wedding," Ron states.
"Summer weddings are so beautiful. Mary had her reception in the Church's orchard. There were these fairy lights strung across the trees and a wooden gazebo where they had their first dance with the band playing behind them. Their song was 'My Girl', by The Temptations. It was so perfect for them." She gushes.
"My sister had hers in my parents' garden. We have a large family, so it made more sense to be outside." Ron explains.
"I love big families. My parents only had Mary and me, but they each have three siblings, so I have a lot of cousins, and they have a lot of children of their own now." Cara laughs.
"It's only Ron here who has siblings," Blaise states. "Well, Hermione's parents adopted your cousins, didn't they?" He asks her.
"Yes, I have four now," Hermione nods.
"Still doesn't beat this one with six," Pansy brags.
"You have six siblings!" Cara seems impressed.
Ron shrugs, having grown used to having such a big family and the surprise of others when they find out.
"I suppose you want a big family yourself, one day, Cara?" Pansy asks, trying to get a rise out of Blaise, who frequently discusses how much he loves being an only child.
"Yes, we actually talked about this few weeks ago, didn't we Blaisie." Cara places her hand over Blaise's.
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind another couple of kids in the future, to keep Pandora company. Being an only child can be quite lonely." He states.
Pansy huffs, "Since when?"
"I realised, that we weren't ever really only children, we had each other growing up, since our parents were close, but when my mother took me to France or Italy for summer, I was incredibly lonely. I don't want that for my daughter." Blaise admits.
"Well, I loved being an only child. I got all the attention from my parents, and I could get away with anything." Pansy smiles innocently. "We aren't planning on having anymore, are we, Ron?"
"Nah," he shakes his head. "Don't tell mum," he looks pointedly at Hermione. "I love all my siblings, but growing up in that house was a constant fight for everything, even though Mum made sure we all got the same. I'm glad we've got Philip and Phoebe, and they've got each other." Ron explains.
"That's fair enough, don't let Molly bully you into having anymore." Draco jokes and Ron snorts a laugh.
"What about you two?" Cara asks. "Are you planning on giving Scorpius any siblings?"
"We've agreed we would quite like to have three, but we're waiting before trying again. We want to settle into our careers a little more." Hermione explains.
"We're similar," Megan agrees. "We'd like a sibling for Augusta, but my work is important right now, even with Gregory being a stay-at-home dad, but we don't want to wait too long. Maybe in two years." She explains.
Cara frowns coming to a sudden realisation. "What happened in Scotland for there to be so many teenage pregnancies and marriages?" She questions.
Hermione hums in interest. "You're right, it is strange, but we became friends through our shared experiences of teenage pregnancy and marriage." She lies.
When their starters arrive, they revert back to simple small talk, while the couples try each other's dishes.
"Hermione, your prawn toast looks great, can I have a bite?" Pansy asks, leaning over the table to take a bite from Hermione proffered fork, much to Cara distaste, who wouldn't even share with Blaise. "Mmm, thanks, s'good." She mumbles over her mouthful.
While they wait for their main meal to arrive after they've finished, Draco asks Cara how she started her own business, which she was more than happy to talk about for ten minutes.
"Ron works with his brother who started his own business, it was quite difficult at the beginning, wasn't it?" Pansy states, urging Ron to talk about his work.
"I didn't have anything to do with it at the beginning, I was still at school, and Fred was here." He swallows hard at the mention of his brother. "But Harry gave them his winnings from that tournament, so they had a helping hand."
"Are they your brother's?" Cara asks.
"Fred is my brother; Harry's my best mate, but he's pretty much a brother." He looks at Hermione.
"Technically he is your brother now he's married to your sister," Blaise points out.
"That just made it official. I'm pretty sure Mum loves him more than the rest of us," he jokes awkwardly in return.
"You know that's not true, Ron," Hermione says, knowing he sometimes needs reassuring. "Molly is just very accepting."
"You've got that right, it was very overwhelming at first, but she's very persistent. I love her more than my own mother." Pansy mentions, finishing her second glass of wine.
"That's quite rude to your mother, Pansy," Cara says in shock.
"Oh, you don't understand, my mother was very absent while I was growing up. I've had more conversations with Molly than her. She does love my kids though or showing them off to her friends. She's looking after them tonight, with Lito, of course." Pansy explains.
"That your Nanny, right, Pansy?" Hermione quickly asks before Pansy has to attempt to explain who her house-elf is to a muggle.
"Yes," Pansy stares at Hermione, who nods at her.
"You had a nanny; I keep forgetting how upper class you all are? I must remember you all went to a private school in Scotland." Cara says.
"I'm not upper class," Ron scoffs in full offence.
"Neither am I," Megan adds.
"Oh, sorry for assuming," she quickly apologises, throwing the table into an awkward silence until Draco clears his throat.
"Hermione and I have a little announcement we wanted to tell you," he smiles at his wife, who claps her hands once, sitting taller.
"In the New Year, we're moving into our own place," Hermione announces excitedly.
"You're leaving us," Pansy gasps, mock arrogance. "Where is this new place of yours?"
"Wiltshire. It's on the outskirts of a village. Draco surprised me with the key for Christmas. I've seen the house in a brochure, and it's far too big for us, but it's beautiful and gives us an excuse to host dinner parties and have friends and family stay over." Hermione explains. "We're going for a final viewing next week, then if I like it, I'll sign the contract, and we'll be able to move in a week later."
"So, it's soon," Pansy smile falters slightly.
"You can come to visit whenever you want, Pans," Draco assures his friend.
"We'll have to get our own place," she tells Ron.
"We've got our own place," he points out.
"On the estate, Ron, I have certain expectations and living so close to two hundred others, the majority of whom still glare at me as I walk past, is not it."
"Okay, we can start looking." He agrees, giving his wife a shy smile.
Pansy rolls her eyes at him, but the small smile on her lips and her hand on his thigh portrays her true affection for her husband.
"Are you planning on getting your own place soon, Blaise?" Cara asks. "It's a little strange for a single father to be flat sharing with another man." She chuckles.
"I couldn't ask to live with either of these, they have their own families. Benji's a good friend; he offered me help after my divorce and was there for both me and Pandora. He's really good with her. She loves him." He smiles. "I hated living on my own my own anyway." He adds.
"It's hard living on your own after being in a boarding school with friends for seven years," Hermione agrees. "If we hadn't gotten married, I would have moved back home with my parents after graduation, at least until I knew what I wanted to do with my life." She squeezes Draco's hand where they rest between them on the table.
"You got married straight after graduation?" Cara asks. "You must have been childhood sweethearts." She swoons. "Didn't you say you were enemies, though?" She asks in confusion.
"There's a large change in maturity between the ages of eleven when we first met, and eighteen when we graduated," Draco explains vaguely.
Their dinner arrives, and the jovial, polite conversations continue.
"How is your Spaghetti Bolognese?" Blaise teasingly winks knowingly at Draco.
"What's this about?" Cara asks, looking between the two.
"Draco orders Spaghetti Bolognese at nearly every restaurant we go to, but he's never found one as good as the one his… Nanny made?" Blaise looks at Hermione for confirmation, to which she nods.
"This one is nice, but it's nothing like Mitty's." He smiles. "I'd rate it an eight though."
"Wow," Blaise's eyes comically grow. "That good, give me a taste." He leans his own bowl over the table for a forkful of his best friend's dinner.
Draco scoops a small amount onto Blaise's bowls, laughing as he slurps the spaghetti up like he did when they were children. "It's good, but you're right." He kisses his fingers in a chef kiss, sending the table into laughter and embarrassment as other diners in the restaurant look over, intrigued or annoyed.
"I've tried using the exact recipe, but I can't manage to make it the same way," Draco complains.
"The missing ingredient is love and devotion," Pansy says.
"Mitty does love you, although, she privately told me she thinks Scorpius is cuter than you were as a baby." Hermione teases.
Blaise slaps the table as he howls in laughter at Draco insulted expression. "I love Mitty." Blaise wipes a tear away.
"I'll be having words with her," Draco jokes. Hermione knows he isn't serious, since they both know the house-elf would internally struggle not to hurt herself if she found out her master Draco was insulted by her own words.
After dinner, Pansy asks, "Are we doing dessert?"
"Where do you put all this food, Pansy?" Cara chuckles. "Your dress is skin tight, and you still look great."
Pansy flutters her eyelashes with a smirk as she rests her chin on her fist and mutters, "Magic."
Cara laughs politely, but declines the offer for dessert, claiming she couldn't eat another bite. Pansy and Ron, as well as Hermione and Draco, order a dessert to share, while Blaise orders a glass of champagne for each of them.
"What's the special occasion?" Cara asks when her boyfriend orders the drink.
"We don't need to be celebrating to drink champagne," Pansy tells her.
"Usually you're right, Pansy, but tonight, we are celebrating. It's Cara and mine's four-month anniversary." Blaise takes his girlfriend's hand in his, softly caressing the back of her hand.
"Ah, yes, one of the big ones," Pansy rolls her eyes.
"I think it's sweet," Megan tries to keep the mood friendly.
Blaise ignores Pansy, staring into Cara's eyes. "I know it's only been four months, but I've known you for over a year, and I truly valued and treasured your friendship after my divorce with Luna. I never expected to fall in love with you, but I did in two short months, so I took a leap of faith, and asked you out on the 28th of August. I was so surprised that you agreed, and we went out that night. I haven't looked back since." He tells her.
"I haven't either," Cara frees a hand to caress Blaise's face. "I love you so much, Blaisie."
"Blaisie," Gregory mouths silently to Draco, who just shakes his head.
"I also never expected to be accepted so quickly by your parents. The most important thing in my life is my daughter, and they took her into their arms straight away. Your whole family are all kind and caring people, we both feel so loved being in their presence." Blaise continues.
He is interrupted by the waiter placing a glass of champagne in front of each person. Hermione takes her glass in her hand, awkwardly glancing at Draco, wondering why Blaise invited them all on his anniversary dinner. Still, her husband is staring wide-eyed at the glass in front of Cara.
"I know it's only been four months," Blaise repeats. "But I love you, and Pandora loves you, and for me, that's all I can ask from a person." He picks up Cara's glass of champagne, the light glinting off something at the bottom of the glass. Cara takes the glass, staring down in shocked surprise. "Cara Elizabeth White, will you marry me?" He asks, sliding off his chair onto one knee, still gripping Cara's free hand.
"Blaisie, of course, I will," she squeals, jumping up, and pulling her fiancé up with her into a tight hug and a deep kiss.
Megan starts clapping, excited for the new couple, while the rest of the table stares on in shock. Hermione feels Draco's hand tighten on hers. She rubs her thumb soothingly over the back of his hand to calm him down, as the disapproval is evident on his face. He schools his features into a tight-lipped smile. The rest of the table joins Megan, and the rest of the restaurant, in applauding to celebrate the engagement of their friends. The couple sits back down, and Cara downs her glass of champagne to reach the rather large but elegant round diamond ring.
Blaise slides it onto her finger, and they kiss again.
"I'm so excited, I can't believe it." Cara gushes. "I can't wait to show my parents when we get home. We're getting married." She squeals.
"Everyone here at the restaurant wants to congratulations you both," the waiter arrives at their table with the desserts. "This is on the house," he places a plate of chocolate brownies and ice cream with 'congrats' written in chocolate sauce in front of them.
"Thank you so much." Cara beams.
The waiter serves the rest of their table with their dessert, which they enjoy with their other half.
"Is this what you two argued about at Halloween?" Hermione whispers, taking a bite from the strawberry cheesecake they ordered together.
"Yes, I can't believe he actually went through with it. I told him it's too soon after Luna, and it was too soon into their relationship." Draco sighs, taking the offered bite from the fork Hermione is holding out to him.
"It is early in their relationship, but right now, they're both happy, and we should celebrate that with them," Hermione tells him.
Draco nods, understanding he could damage his friendship with Blaise over this if he's not careful. He can sit idly by and watch his friend either fall more in love with Cara, or out of love, but either way, he'll try his best to be there for him and not judge him.
At the end of the night, the six guests agree to pay for the whole meal as a 'congratulations' to the newly engaged couple. Outside, Blaise and Cara, quickly thank them for the meal before calling a taxi to take them to Cara's parent's house to spread the joyful news.
"What in Salazar's name just happened?" Pansy asks, pulling her thin cardigan back on and discreetly casting a heating charm over her and her shivering husband. "Did you know about this?" She points accusatively at Draco.
"He mentioned it at Halloween, and I strongly advised him against it. We got into an argument over it. He didn't talk to me properly for weeks." Draco defends himself.
"It was some introduction to his girlfriend," Gregory states.
"I'll admit, she's a little strange with some of the things she said. I don't know enough to know if that a muggle thing or a Cara thing." Megan says.
"It's not a muggle thing," Hermione tells her.
"This is going to end in tears," Pansy sighs, letter her facade fall to reveal that she actually cares about her friend. "It's been four months."
"At least they're in love, which is more than we could have asked for," Ron points out.
Pansy glares at him, but they all know he's right. She sighs, taking his hand, "We need to pick the twins up, but you can guarantee we will be having many more discussions about this in the future," she warns them both before Ron disapparates them away to the Parkinson's residence.
"I never saw those two actually getting along," Megan admits.
"I suppose it's a bit of a shock coming back and catching up on the things you've missed," Hermione says. "Are you looking forward to moving back?"
"I am, I've missed my family and friends, but it's more about the job." She says. "MACUSA isn't very pleased with how Minister Shacklebolt is running the Ministry. They're trying to distance themselves from the Ministry and want me to liaise with them from here to have someone on the inside who can feedback information quicker than through the normal routes." Megan explains.
"I hadn't thought about what international governments thought about the goings-on here," Hermione frowns.
"My boss and the whole team were disgusted when I described the Partner Ceremony to them. It sounds like a dystopian novel to them." Megan sighs.
Hermione realises that Megan probably doesn't know how each couple was paired together, or everything going on behind the scenes between them and Kingsley.
"We'll have to get together when you move back here. We've got a lot of information you might find interesting." Hermione suggests.
"I'll look forward to it," Megan nods. "I'll send you an owl once we're settled."
They bid each other goodbye, and Gregory disapparates his wife home. Hermione calls a taxi to take them back to The Leaky Cauldron. They're both quiet during the ride, taking in the events of the night. At the pub, they partake in polite conversation with Tom before using his fireplace to Floo back to their house on the estate.
It's later, cuddled up in bed that Hermione starts laughing. "You're were right about this being an eventful date." She says.
Draco rolls his eyes, hiding his face in her neck, that he eventually begins to kiss and bite, leaving a small bruise near her clavicle.
"What do you think you're doing?" Hermione asks breathlessly.
"Taking advantage of our Scorpius free night?" He asks for her consent.
She chuckles, throwing her head back and pulling him back down for him to continue his appreciation of her neck until she can't take it any longer and pulls him up for a kiss. Hermione had anticipated this night to go exactly this way. So she had bought a morning after potion in preparation for an exciting night.
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