The whole reason for the Malfoys being at Woodside Manor, aside from Lucius's business lunch, was to celebrate Lucius and Narcissa's wedding anniversary. Their actual anniversary was on the Sunday, but Lucius had already made it clear that he and Narcissa would be spending the day on their own, indulging in private celebrations. Therefore the couple were celebrating the evening before with their son and daughter-in-law in the form of a private dinner served in Lucius and Narcissa's deluxe suite.
"This looks amazing," Hermione remarked as she and Draco were shown out onto the balcony in Lucius and Narcissa's suite, to be greeted with a table set for four and the entire balcony lit up with enchanted fireflies and decorated with silver bows.
"I will admit, the hotel have outdone themselves," Lucius said.
"Let's just hope the food lives up to the décor," Draco joked.
"I don't see why it wouldn't," Narcissa said. "Our meal yesterday evening was top class."
"Everything about this place is top class," Hermione said. "No wonder it's so expensive."
"Not to mention so damn hard to get a booking," Lucius said. "You wouldn't believe the strings I had to pull to organise this weekend."
"Oh please," Draco scoffed. "The second you mentioned who you were, the hotel were falling over themselves to have us stay. It pays to be a Malfoy in our world."
"Luckily that is still the case, it could have easily been a different story," Lucius remarked, his eyes clouding over for a second as he recalled the second war that had briefly threatened to engulf their world, a war which he was sure would have dragged his family back into the darkness he'd so recklessly jumped into when he was a young wizard fresh from Hogwarts. Luckily, Voldemort's attempted return resulted in his death, leaving the world, and more importantly in Lucius's eyes, the Malfoys, free from his terror.
"Let's not dwell on what could have been," Narcissa said, reading where her husband's mind had gone. "I want this evening to be a celebration."
"And so it will be," Lucius said brightly, snapping his thoughts back to the present. "And let's start with some champagne."
Turning to an ice bucket which was sitting on a small table, Lucius produced a bottle of champagne, which he proceeded to open with a loud pop of the cork. Pouring everyone a glass, he handed the golden liquid around and proposed a toast to his wife.
"To both of you," Draco said, after they had toasted Narcissa. "To the joyful years you've sent together, and the years you will spend together in the future. Let's hope Hermione and I are as happy as you two."
"I am sure you will be," Narcissa said with a smile as she watched her son and his wife exchange a smitten look.
A few more toasts were raised before the foursome settled down to eat. Magic would deliver each course to them when Lucius signified they were ready for it, and as he sent word for the starters, he topped up the glasses.
"You've got no room for a top-up, Hermione," he remarked with a slight frown as he reached her glass and found there was no room for extra bubbles.
"I don't need a top-up, I'm fine as I am," she assured him as the starters arrived.
Over the course of the delicious three course meal, which was every bit as exquisite as the meal the previous evening, the two couples chatted merrily. The family business was briefly mentioned as aside from Narcissa they all worked for the company, but a lot of the conversation revolved around Draco and Hermione's imminent move back to Wizarding Britain. After years of living in France the couple had decided to move back home. The European side of the business, which had been the reason for Draco's move in the first place, was well established and could now be managed from Britain. That, combined with the fact Hermione's mother had also recently moved back to Britain with her new husband had been the reasons the young couple have given Draco's parents for their decision to relocate. But there was one more reason, a reason they planned to share with Lucius and Narcissa that very evening.
"I think now would be a good time to give you your anniversary card," Draco said as they finished up dessert.
Removing the card from her bag, Hermione passed it over to her mother-in-law. With a smile, Narcissa opened up the card, which featured a bouquet of roses on the front. Opening the card, she automatically began to read the message out loud for her husband to hear.
"Dear Nana and Grandpa," she began, quickly pausing as it occurred to her what she had just read.
"Oh dear," Lucius laughed, not noticing that Narcissa had kept on reading the card silently and was now pressing her hand to her mouth in astonishment. "I think you've bought the wrong card."
"Have we?" Draco questioned with an amused smirk. "Why don't you finish reading it out, mother."
"I…I…," Narcissa stumbled, unable to find the words. "Is it true?" she asked Hermione.
"Of course it's true," Hermione laughed.
"Is what true?" Lucius tutted, not having a clue what was going on.
"Why don't you read it for yourself," Draco suggested, plucking the card from his mother's shaking hands and passing it to his father.
"Dear Nana and Grandpa," Lucius read, starting from the beginning since his wife had been distracted by the obvious mistake in the card. "I hope you enjoy your last anniversary without me. Next year, I will be with you to celebrate alongside you. Love from your future grandchild."
Reaching the end of the message, Lucius's mouth dropped open as he finally saw an attached baby scan with the words baby Malfoy printed along the bottom. Hardly able to believe what he was reading he looked up to see the beaming smiles on Draco and Hermione's faces, while his wife was still sitting shaking her head in disbelief.
"You're pregnant," he whispered, staring at Hermione in awe.
"I am," Hermione replied. "You're going to be a grandpa, Lucius."
"And you're going to be a nana," Draco said to his shocked mother. "Please tell us you're happy about it."
"I couldn't be happier," Narcissa said, embracing her son.
"This really is the best present we could ever wish for," Lucius said as he gave Hermione a hug and moved her still full champagne glass out of the way. "And now I know why you haven't drank this," he chuckled. "And I'm guessing this is the real reason you're wanting to be moving back home."
"It's one of the main reasons," Hermione admitted. "With my Mum coming home and you two already here, it made sense to come back to be around family. We want our child to grow up surrounded by love."
"And it will," Narcissa vowed. "Our first grandchild, I can't wait."
"You'll have to contain yourself for a few more months," Draco laughed. "Although, we were thinking you might want to do up a nursery at the manor. I know we won't be living there, but we are hoping the doting grandparents will want to babysit occasionally."
"You can count on that," Narcissa said brightly. "All your baby stuff should still be in the attic. I can't wait to get up there and get sorting through it. Oh, I half wish I were back home now."
"No you don't," Lucius said with his wife, fixing her with a soulful stare. "We haven't celebrated our anniversary yet, and tomorrow is going to be a day you will never forget."
"What have you got planned?" Hermione asked.
"I'm planning on getting up late and having breakfast here in our room. I was then thinking a romantic stroll before lunch, and in the afternoon I've arranged for a very handsome, very talented wizard to give Narcissa a personal massage," Lucius answered.
"You're going to let another wizard give mother a massage, on your anniversary?" Draco queried with a frown.
"Of course not," Lucius scoffed. "I will be doing it. I've sorted everything with the hotel. They're going to provide oils and everything. It will be highly professional."
"I very much doubt it will end up professional," Hermione laughed, witnessing the heated looks between her parents-in-law.
"It will end up exactly as it is meant to, with us in bed celebrating our anniversary in a very traditional way," Lucius confirmed.
"This is why I never ask them what their plans are," Draco said to Hermione as he gave an amused shake of his head.
"And what about your plans?" Narcissa asked. "How are you two spending tomorrow?"
"We've booked to go out on the boating lake," Draco said. "There's a picnic included in the package, so as long as the weather holds up, it should be a good day."
"And then I guess I will need to try and find Harry and Ron, so we can have that drink and catch up," Hermione added.
"Potter and Weasley?" Lucius questioned. "Where do they fit into things?"
Quickly Hermione explained about running into her old friends, and the plans they'd made to meet up and have a drink. Given the fact they knew her so well, both Lucius and Narcissa picked up on her nerves and questioned her about it, so she explained about feeling guilty over their faded friendship.
"I have told her that she's not to shoulder all the blame herself," Draco said. "Weasley was the one who told her their friendship was over if she went to France, and Potter also stopped writing to her."
"I know all that, but I still feel as though I pushed them away first," Hermione said with a sigh. "I was so distant that last year at Hogwarts."
"The final year of Hogwarts is a tough one," Narcissa said consoling. "Especially if you add your additional head duties to the mix. I'm not surprised you had little time for your friends. I remember being swamped in my final year, and I wasn't the Head Girl."
"Exams and head duties didn't exactly help, but I think the real problem lay with what was going on with my parents," Hermione admitted. "I was still struggling with the guilt when I went back to school."
"Why were you feeling guilty?" Lucius asked with a frown. "It was your father who was caught playing away and fathering a child with a woman half his age."
"I felt guilty because I hadn't seen it coming," Hermione answered. "When I got home the summer after sixth year, it knocked the wind out of me to find my parents in such a mess. I'd always thought they were blissfully happy. The ironic thing is, now I'm in a good relationship and I've been exposed to you two, I can see my parents were never as in love as I'd always thought they were. But back then, it hit me hard that they'd gotten into such a mess and I hadn't seen it. I'd been too caught up in my own life, and hadn't given them a second thought. I even wondered if me going off to Hogwarts had caused the problems in the first place. Maybe if I'd been around, Dad wouldn't have cheated and their marriage wouldn't have fallen to pieces."
"You cannot put any of this on yourself, Hermione," Narcissa scolded. "Your parents made their own choices in life, and given what transpired between them, I very much doubt your presence would have made much difference."
"I know that now," Hermione admitted, giving Narcissa a reassuring smile as she didn't want the older witch to worry that she was torturing herself with guilt. "But back then, I blamed myself, and I was so worried about everything that was going on, that I didn't confide in Harry and Ron. They knew something was going on, but I didn't tell them as I didn't want to admit to them that me being a witch had wrecked my parents marriage. And then the split happened and Mum decided to move to France, and I saw a chance to make it up to her. I saw a chance to support her in a way I'd never been able to do so before. Of course, it was only meant to be temporary, but as you know, I ended up staying on and getting a job over there. And my plans to return home and explain everything to Harry and Ron felt apart."
"I'm not really sure you owe them any sort of explanation," Lucius remarked. "It was your private business, and you shouldn't have to tell anyone anything you're not comfortable with. As your friends, they should respect that."
"To be fair, they were pretty good in seventh year," Hermione said. "They never once pushed me about what my family crisis was."
"So they shouldn't do so now," Lucius said. "Whatever you do, Hermione, do it because it's what you want. Don't let them push you into doing anything, or revealing anything, you're not comfortable with. People lose touch all the time, it's just part of life."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to stress over it," Hermione assured Lucius. "Whatever happens, happens. If we're meant to be friends again then great, I would love to have them back in my life. But if not, well I've lived without them for the last few years, and I'm sure I can carry on living without them. Let's just wait and see what tomorrow brings."
After their discoveries at lunch, Harry and Ron were eager to talk things over with their wives. However, Ginny and Lavender had a whole afternoon of spa treatments booked, so they had to wait until late afternoon before they re-joined their spouses and shared the news of how their day had gone, particularly their lunchtime.
Ginny and Lavender were just as shocked as the boys by the revelation that Hermione was Lucius's daughter, and they both said that if Harry and Ron hadn't heard the truth with their own ears and seen the evidence with their own eyes, then they never would have believed it. The girls agreed that discovering Lucius was her father was clearly the family crisis Hermione had been experiencing in seventh year, and they also agreed that she owed Harry and Ron an explanation for lying to them all those years ago.
With so much to discuss, Harry had been hoping to spot Hermione again that day to arrange a meeting, but after her lunch with Lucius she seemed to have vanished. Harry and Ron hadn't seen her around all afternoon, nor did they bump into her over the course of the evening when they had drinks in two different bars and dinner in yet another of the onsite restaurants.
"You can always try and find her tomorrow," Ginny suggested to Harry as they shared one last drink with Ron and Lavender, before they planned to head up to bed. "She said she was staying all weekend, so she should still be here tomorrow."
"Unless she lied and it was just an excuse to put us off talking to her there and then," Ron suggested.
"No, I don't think it was," Harry said with a shake of his head. "She did seem genuinely glad to see us."
"She did," Ron conceded. "Although, I'm not really sure I can say it's mutual now I know whose daughter she is. I have to admit, the thought of Lucius Malfoy being her father gives me the creeps."
"Not to mention Draco being her brother," Lavender added.
"That is creepy as well," Ron agreed.
"I might ask at the front desk tomorrow morning," Harry mused, returning to the subject of arranging a meeting with Hermione.
"Well while you're there, book the four of us into the boating lake," Ginny said.
"The boating lake?" Ron questioned. He and Harry had passed the site earlier that day on their exploration of the grounds, and while it looked like a beautiful place, he couldn't say he was keen to spend his day rowing a boat.
"Yes, it sounds lovely," Lavender said. "You book a boat, but you also get a picnic provided. You're allotted a picnic table, and you can stay there as long as you want."
"It did look rather picturesque down there," Harry said to Ron.
"Yeah, but do we have to go boating?" Ron grouched. "I don't want to row a boat."
"I'm sure there's enchantments involved," Ginny chuckled. "Chances are, you just sit back and enjoy the ride."
"That better be the case, or we'll be skipping the boat trip and jumping straight to the picnic," Ron warned his wife.
"We will go out on the boat," Lavender countered.
With plans made for the next day, the two couples finished their drinks and headed off. Although since they had to pass through reception to get up to their rooms, they decided to book the boat lake there and then. Harry decided they would have time to find Hermione after their day on the lake, little realising that their path would cross with Hermione sooner than imagined as they wouldn't be the only ones out on the lake the following day.
