Hulllllo!
Here is another chapter for you. I also have a question, I'm debating just getting rid of my chapter count because I'm finding that I have much more to write than I thought I did. I could do EXTREMELY long (and probably take way longer to update) chapters for each year of the war, or I could just write in smaller chunks and hopefully update more frequently. Do you have any thoughts about that? Do let me know, and ENJOY!
Friday, November 1, 1940
As the weeks flew by Pierce settled in with them surprisingly well. Every so often Hermione would notice him shying away when they did or said something. He seemed to be hyper aware of disappointing them, especially Draco. Draco continued to run diagnostics on him, but they still couldn't figure out what had happened to him. Hermione found that no matter if they were in an "on" or an "off" week at work their days were filled with activity.
"Granger," Draco said, bursting into the living room one afternoon. Pierce jumped and shrank back into the couch at Draco's loud voice. "Sorry, Bud," he said softly, looking a bit embarrassed by his outburst, "I think I figured out what was wrong with Pierce." Both Hermione and Pierce perked up at that.
He pulled out a book and began to read aloud:
When a magical child was forced to repress their talent through physical or psychological abuse, they developed a parasitical magical force inside of them called an Obscurus, resulting from their strong emotions of distress.
An Obscurial might lose control when they reach their emotional and mental breaking point, releasing their Obscurus as an invisible (or nearly invisible) destructive wind. In extreme cases, they might physically transform into an Obscurus.
When an Obscurial released the Obscurus within, their eyes became pure white and their physical form vibrated and became distorted. While the Obscurus was invisible, the Obscurial could physically interact with the world without making physical contact, though the ability was uncontrolled and triggered by the host's distress, anger, or other intense emotions. This notably damaged structures and objects near the host. Children possessed by an Obscurus almost always died before their tenth birthdays
( wiki/Obscurial)
Hermione just blinked at him, Pierce looked between them worried. "How do we fix it?" she asked, looking between Draco and Pierce.
"From what I could find," Draco said, sitting down with Pierce between them, "an Obscurial could possibly be healed by replacing their feelings of alienation with a sense of belonging."
Hermione wrapped her arm around Pierce. "I don't want to inconvenience you," Pierce whispered. Hermione couldn't even get words out and felt tears pooling in her eyes.
Finally, Draco broke the tension by clearing his throat. "Pierce, there is nothing you can do that would make us want you any less." Pierce looked at him like he didn't believe him at all. "Mia and I were talking about it and we'd like to do a Blood Adoption if you're not opposed. It would make you legally and biologically related to both of us."
This finally snapped Hermione out of her deep thinking trance. "You'd never be an inconvenience. We want you to be here."
"St. Andrew's was the first place I felt wanted," he said quietly.
"The first?" Draco asked.
"You and Mu-Mia make me feel safe too…" he trailed off and looked sheepish.
Draco sat next to him, "When I was a kid, my father was very strict," he started, looking at Pierce. "If I didn't behave exactly how he wanted me to, I would be beaten. My Mum tried to keep me safe, but there was only so much I could do. Until I got to Hogwarts, I spent most of my time playing alone or with the elves. When I got to Hogwarts I was told that I had to make strategic friends, and every letter home I was expected to report on what they were doing and saying."
"Then how did you and Mia get together?"
Hermione laughed, "He was absolutely awful to me for most of our lives. It was only very recently that he became semi-approachable."
He sent her a smirk then turned serious, "I was awful, I was taught to believe that because Granger was raised with Muggles she wasn't as good as me. It's all rubbish really."
"And of course, in the Muggle world, our skin colour," she continued gesturing between her and Pierce, "is a bigger deal than Blood Status."
"When we were in our Sixth Year an evil man came back and tried to kill Granger and everyone like her. My Father was really deep into his group by then and I was forced to join. It's the biggest regret of my life…"
"It wasn't your fault, it's never a child's fault!" Hermione said firmly. "Just like we'd never blame Pierce for what he had to do to survive in the past, we can't blame you."
Draco looked thoughtful for a few minutes. She could see Piece calculating his odds as well. After allowing them a few moments of thought, she continued. "As long as we're all in agreement, I think I'd like to get married on November 11th. Then we can do the Blood Adoption on the 12th and the three of us can go on our own little Honeymoon to the Inn. What do you think?"
"You truly want to marry me, Granger?" Draco whispered. Pierce just looked between them.
"Aren't you married already?" he asked, but nodded thoughtfully when they shook their heads no, after a few seconds he asked "You really want to adopt me?"
"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," Hermione said to both of them, smiling softly. "Now we must go to bed, as all three of us have long days tomorrow."
Hermione let Draco get Pierce ready for bed, but stood in the doorway to listen to them. "I heard you almost slip earlier, Bud," Draco said kindly. "I know that Mia wouldn't mind if you called her Mum especially with the adoption and all. My real name is Draco Malfoy and it's a tradition in my Mum's family to name their children after the stars. If you're not opposed I'd like to change your name to Perseus, then you would be just like the rest of us, what do you think?"
"Can I pick my middle name?" she heard Pierce ask with a sniffle.
"Of course, and if you don't want to change your name at all we don't have to," said Draco as he settled on the foot of the bed.
"I want to! I'd love to match you and Mi-Mum." After a few moments of silence, he continued, "I'd like my middle name to be Andrew."
"That makes sense to me," Draco said softly, "it's the first place you felt wanted. Do you have any other questions?"
"You and mum are…different. Other adults don't pay attention to me or they treat me badly, why didn't you?"
Hermione could tell that Draco was thinking about how to answer, and was just about to go into the room to answer when Draco started. "Granger and I aren't from here. Being a wizard has all sorts of different, unexpected things. You know that clock on our mantle?" Hermione knew that Pierce was nodding, "Well it brought us back in time, I'm starting to think it brought us back to find you. And maybe so that I could finally get up the courage to act on my little crush."
"T-Time travel is real?" asked Pierce, surprised.
"As real as you or I." After a few moments, she could hear him rustling around to find a book.
"There was once a shoemaker, who worked very hard and was very honest' but still he could not earn enough to live upon…" Draco read from the book of Muggle Fairy Tales that Hermione had bought. She sat back against the wall and listened to his voice read the story to Pierce, thinking about how wonderful of a father he already was.
"...The good couple saw them no more; but everything went well with them from that time forward, as long as they lived."
She heard Pierce yawning and she smiled at the small noise.
"Alright, Bud we need to get you to bed or your Mum will never forgive me when we're both crabby in the morning."
"Can I…" Pierce trailed off.
"Can you what, Bud, you can ask me anything," Draco said as she heard him stand.
"Can I call you Dad?" he squeaked out.
She heard Draco clear his throat a few times, "If you want you, but don't feel like you have to."
"I do want to, Dad. I… You and Mum are my favourite people I've ever met," he said in a guileless voice that only children could muster.
A few moments later, Draco came into the hall, shutting the door softly. They padded their way to their bedroom and sat on the bed. "You heard it all then?" he asked with a ghost of a smirk.
"Of course I did, Draco!" Hermione said, feeling the tears fall down her face. "H-he called you Dad!"
Draco made a sort of comforting noise and wrapped his arm around her. "I'd like to rewind to the conversation before about wanting to marry me, Ms. Granger."
"Draco!" she huffed, "If I've learned anything in my career it's to trust your Magic. With you it feels right. I've never felt quite so comfortable with someone else. You just get me and we're…" she felt more tears falling. "I'm in love with you and I'm pregnant with your child and we're about to adopt another one, of course I want to marry you, you fool!"
He chuckled and pulled her into his lap, "You are pregnant with my child, aren't you, Miss Granger."
Monday, November 11, 1940
Hermione woke up on November 11th giddy. She'd spent a lot of time when she was younger imagining what her wedding might look like. Her parents hadn't had a big wedding and she didn't have much family and when her grandparents passed and her parents' memories couldn't be retrieved, she'd accepted that her only guests would be the Weasley adjacent "family."
With a sigh, she pulled out the dress she'd purchased with Pierce the week before. Her dream wedding, which she at one point thought would be to Ronald Weasley (although she was quickly disillusioned from that idea after their short stint of dating), wouldn't include any Weasleys. She could hear Pierce and Draco chattering away in the living room and then greeting Unspeakable Ellesmere.
She ran her fingers along the skirt of her dress and sighed again. She was excited to marry Draco, but not having Fleur or Bill or the Delacours or Harry there felt very wrong. She heard a knock at the front door and opened it to a man with messy dark hair. "Hello Miss," he said with a kind smile that was exactly the same as Harry's, "my name is Fleamont Potter. Unspeakable Ellesmere invited us along and asked that we attend your wedding." Hermione spotted a woman over his shoulder. "That is my wife Euphemia, and we've brought along Septimus Weasley and his wife Cedrella at Christopher's request as well."
"I-Thank you for coming," she said quietly. Euphemia and Cedrella bustled their way into her room and shut the door so that the men couldn't come in. "Well come along dear," Euphemia said good naturedly, "Fleamont and I haven't been blessed with our own children, but we're happy to help. I remember my wedding day was one of the happiest of my life."
"Me as well," Cedrella said with a chuckle, "Unspeakable Ellesmere said that you'll be doing an adoption ceremony for the young lad out there as well?"
"Hold out hope for your own children," Hermione said to Euphemia cryptically because she knew that they had James extremely late in life. "Yes, we'll adopt him tomorrow, we didn't want his day to be overshadowed by ours."
"Christopher made us swear a vow on our Magic to keep your little Travelling situation a secret," Cedrella said, with a grin.
"No one should have to get ready alone on their wedding day. It's quite bold of you to choose to marry before you're home," Euphemia noted.
"Well," Hermione flushed, "we want to make sure we don't run into any snafus down the line with…" she gestured to her stomach.
The two other women gasped and began chattering to her about children. "We'll have to find you a bigger space," Cedrella cooed, "this simply won't do for four of you, it's barely able to hold three of you!"
"I'm happy to donate some old furniture we have lying about the Manor," Euphemia said with a grin. "Before we get you all dressed, Cedrella and I have some things for you."
"Here is something old," said Cedrella, handing her a beautiful necklace. "It's an old Black Family heirloom. I don't think they know I still have it. It's supposed to pass on to my daughter, but we were only able to have sons."
"Your new is your dress of course," Euphemia said looking toward the garment in question. "I have here something borrowed, it's the veil I wore at my own wedding."
Cedrella opened the door and called out to Pierce who came scampering in. He was half dressed in his little suit, which was untucked and unbuttoned at the collar. "You can give her the something blue now, dear," she said, smiling down at him.
"Mum," he said nervously, "Dad took me to the store to find something for you to wear. We looked for ages, but we finally found it."
He handed her a messily wrapped box. She opened it and saw a bracelet that had the constellation Perseus, with each star represented by a sapphire, which also happened to be Pierce and Hermione's birthstone.
"Oh this is so beautiful, love!" She cooed, hugging him tightly.
"Dad and I are going to get a charm for the baby when he arrives too."
Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled at him again, "That's lovely, I'm quite excited about seeing it."
"Now let's get you into this dress, and fix up your makeup," Euphemia said, leading Pierce out of the room.
Before she knew it, Hermione was dressed in her white dress. Moments later she heard a familiar, small knock on the door and Cedrella cracked it open, before stepping back and letting a very dapper looking Pierce into the room.
"Mum!" he said excitedly, "It looks even more beautiful on you than it did on the mannequin!"
She held out her arms and he ran to her, wrapping his gangly arms around her waist. "Will you walk me down the aisle, darling?" she asked softly into his hair.
"Of course!" he grinned up at her arms still around her waist. The ladies stepped out of the room and walked to the grassy area behind their cabin. "Dad is going to be shocked," Pierce chattered as he held out his arm for her to take.
They arrived at the back door of the cabin and Hermione spotted Draco wringing his hands underneath the orange and red tree. The Weasleys and Potters were sitting in front of him, talking softly to each other. Pierce pushed the door open and Draco's eyes shot up to take her in. She could see the tears sparkling in his eyes already and could swear she saw him pinch himself.
Pierce was beaming and he led her down to Draco. When they reached him, Draco reached his hand out for her and then bent down to give Pierce a huge hug, which was returned with great fervour.
"You look beautiful," Draco said, smiling down at her.
Unspeakable Ellesmere cleared his throat, "We are gathered here today…"
Most of the ceremony was a blur and Hermione couldn't remember any of it. They hadn't picked any specific vows, but the simplicity of the ceremony spoke to Hermione. Standing outside under the changing leaves looking up at Draco she felt a sort of rightness settle in her chest. When he leaned down to kiss her, it felt a bit like a hole she'd had in her chest filled in.
"May I now present Dr. Draco and Hermione Malfoy," Unspeakable Ellesmere announced, "although their marriage licence will say Dr. Drake and Miriam Malcolm until they return home," he added with a chuckle.
The two couples and Pierce clapped their hands excitedly. Hermione flushed when she realised she didn't have enough food for their guests, but Euphemia tutted and called for her elf, Lolly. Before Hermione could protest the use of House Elves, a full table with a setting of food was in front of them on the grass.
Pierce approached the elf cautiously and after looking back at Hermione and Draco, reached out his hand to the elf. "Hullo my name is Pierce, what is your name, Miss?"
"Oh the little Mister be calling Lolly Miss!" the elf wept. "It is being my pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Pierce, my name is being Lolly. I be serving the Potters for almost 300 years!"
Hermione gasped, and was about to say something when she felt Draco wrap his arm around her waist and murmur in her ear, "Now is not the time to offend our guests, please don't say anything now."
Begrudgingly she agreed, and turned to her guests. "Thank you for this," she said gesturing to the table, "you've been too kind to us."
"Well," Cedrella said with a smirk, "I know a bit about being a Blood Traitor to the Black family." She winked at Draco. "There are more of us than you could guess."
Draco just blinked at her, "I don't-"
"Relax boy," Septimus laughed and squeezed his shoulder, "I'm hoping that the silly Weasley-Malfoy feud has ended when you come from and if it hasn't think of this as the first step to that, you're a good lad and I'm proud to have attended your wedding."
Euphemia and Fleamont were standing a bit further back, "Plus, my cousin, Charlus married another Black so really we're just all in the family!" Fleamont announced.
After a few more minutes of casual discussion, Unspeakable Ellesmere excused himself saying, "Unspeakable business I'm afraid."
The group settled at the table, talking about the War and what they'd noticed. Hermione was worried when she heard from Septimus about some of the darker curses that St. Mungo's had been handling. She was already feeling swamped with the patients they had, she couldn't imagine worse.
That evening after they'd tucked Pierce into bed, Draco carried her over the threshold of their room, silencing the door as he went. Hermione gasped as she looked around the room that had been covered in flower petals and candles.
He set her down on the edge of the bed and kneeled in front of her. "I know it's been fast," he said, looking into her eyes and gripping her hand, "and we're in wildly unprecedented times, but I've wanted you for so long, that I can't imagine a life without you. You're smarter and more beautiful than anyone else I've ever met, you're fierce and brave and never back down. I'm so lucky to call you my wife."
"Draco," she sighed, smiling at him, "you couldn't have gotten me to admit this even a few months ago, but you're everything I never knew I wanted. You're sweet and kind, you're always trying to be better, and your intelligence is…" she trailed off, flushing.
"Ah," he smirked, "so you're with me for my brain?"
"Well, the abs and cheekbones don't hurt," she pretended to be thoughtful.
He scoffed and tilted his chin up to kiss her sweetly.
She smiled into the gentle kiss and after a moment deepened it. He gently led her towards the bed and spun her around. He unzipped the back of her dress and let it slide down her sides, sucking in a breath when he saw the lingerie she'd created from some lace and a spellbook on fashion she'd found.
When she turned back to face him, he was already half undressed, but hadn't pulled his eyes away from her for a moment. "Gods," he groaned as he watched her settle onto the edge of the bed, "am I dreaming? Could you have really agreed to be mine?"
"I'm just as surprised as you are," she murmured, reaching up to help him unbutton his shirt.
Moments later he was standing in just his pants. He pulled her up and leaned down to kiss her. He manoeuvred them so that she was standing between his legs and he was sitting on the bed. She placed her arms over his shoulders and rested her forehead against his.
He leaned in and kissed her, pulling her into his lap. He brushed her hair over her shoulder and ran his hands down her spine. With a frankly knicker drenching amount of strength, he moved them so she was laying on her back in the middle of the bed.
He pulled away from her and looked down at her smirking at her. "Did you like that, Lady Malfoy?"
"I did indeed, Lord Malfoy," she said with her own smirk back. This time when he leaned down to kiss her, the kisses were much more heated. When he began trailing kisses down her neck toward the lace of her bustier she let out a quiet moan. He licked at her nipples through the lace cups and practically growled when they hardened.
With a wave of wandless magic, she was laid bare on the bed, blinking down at him as he continued to trail kisses downwards. "Draco," she groaned when he kissed her along her inner thighs towards her knee, "please don't tease me today, I need you."
He rested his head against her hip and groaned, "If you continue to say things like that, Princess I won't last more than a minute."
"I have faith in you," she cooed.
"Fucking hell, Hermione," he said, coming to hover over her again. "You're honestly going to be the death of me."
She ran her fingers down his cheek and grinned at him, "Hopefully many times over."
He reached down and lined himself up with her folds, running his cock along her, "So wet for me, Princess," he groaned.
She could only moan in response and as she looked into his eyes, he sheathed himself in her fully. "Fuck, Draco!"
He began to move slowly, dragging himself in and out of her at a practically glacial pace. "You're doing so well for me," he said, hitching her leg up around his hip. He circled his hips when he was at his deepest, causing her to keen loudly. "Yes, I love hearing the noises you make."
"Draco, please," she said. "Please move faster."
He obliged and began rocking harder and faster into her. "Gods, Princess," he groaned loudly, bending to suck at her pulse point. "I can feel you fluttering against me. Do you want to come?"
"Please, yes, I want to come, can I?"
"Come for me, Princess," he said, thrusting through her explosive orgasm. When she came down from her powerful orgasm, she found him thrusting shallowly inside of her, eyes blown wider than she'd ever seen them.
"What?" she asked quietly.
"I think you just squirted," he murmured.
"Oh I'm so so-" she started.
"That's so fucking hot," he groaned. "I want to fill you up from behind."
She just nodded, still not quite sure how to feel about squirting. He helped her manoeuvre into the right position and pushed himself inside of her. This angle he felt impossibly deep. She could barely hold back her groans.
"I'm so close already," she moaned.
"Gods I love you so much," he said, pulling her up so that she was pressed against his chest. She turned her head to pull him in for a sloppy kiss, keening at the angle he was getting.
In short order, he was emptying himself inside of her and collapsing to the bed. "I had all these plans of romancing you for hours," he murmured after a few minutes of drowsy silence, "but I find that I can barely keep my eyes open."
"It was such a long day," she said, smiling against his neck. "Plus Pierce will be up so early tomorrow, I won't even be slightly offended if we sleep."
"As long as I get to sleep next to you," he said, kissing the crown of her head, "I'm a happy man."
Tuesday, November 12, 1940
That morning before the sun had risen above the horizon, Hermione awoke to Pierce knocking at the door. A little bit of her wanted to ignore him, but remembering the shy, quiet boy that they'd met not that long ago, she rolled over and elbowed Draco. "Put on a nightgown and let him in," he grumbled.
She grabbed his wand and waved it, causing a nightgown to appear over her body and pants to appear on Draco's. She vanished the rose petals and then she waved the wand at the door, and peered up at a curious looking Pierce. "Well come on then," she called, patting the bed between her and Draco.
He walked over slowly and stood on Draco's side, looking at her tapping hand curiously. "Come on, mate," Draco said, hoarsely. "We've got hours yet and I'm not done sleeping and your Mum and the baby need more rest."
Pierce looked a bit dejected and turned away, shrieking when Draco scooped him up and depositing him on the bed. He looked between them, eyes darting speedily. Draco blinked one eye open and smirked at Pierce. "Go back to sleep, we'll make sure you're up in time."
Pierce closed his eyes obligingly, but Hermione could feel his boundless energy radiating from his body. "Darling," she said, stroking his nose like her Mum had always done to get her to sleep, "we have a really big day ahead of us and we'll have to get on the train right away after the ceremony. "
"But Mum," he whispered, "I'm going to be a Malcolm-foy! Just like you!"
"It is rather exciting," Hermione said with a laugh. Draco groaned next to them. "Alright," she continued, in a whisper, "I'll read you a story, but you have to be really quiet so your Dad can sleep."
Pierce nodded with a grin and rolled over to face her, Draco threw his arm around both of them and rubbed his hand on her stomach. "Love you three," he muttered, causing Pierce to giggle.
Hermione was pleased with how far he'd come. She wasn't an expert on Child Development by any means, but she knew that the more he felt like he was part of them the better he'd feel. Both her and Draco had had rough childhoods, and she knew that they'd do just about anything to make things better for their kids. She conjured his book of Fairy Tales and began to read.
A few hours later, when it was an appropriate time to wake up, the three of them got up. Within moments, Pierce was bouncing on the bed, excitedly talking about "becoming a Malcolm-foy."
Hermione chuckled and dragged herself to the bathroom. She could tell that the baby was sitting right on her bladder and grumbled, knowing that the train ride would be tortuous. She mentally went through her World War II Timeline, the Bombing of Coventry would be on the 14th, but that was pretty far north. On the Grindewald front, he'd stage a small attack on the same day but the bombing would cover the evidence for the Muggles. She didn't think they'd be called back, but she knew that there was always a possibility.
When she'd finished her morning routine, she stepped out of the bathroom to Draco and Pierce making breakfast in the kitchen. Both of her boys were dressed in just their pyjama pants and slippers and chattering about breakfast and the plans for the rest of the week. Pierce was very excited to meet Hermione's grandparents, they'd had to explain how time travel worked, and had eventually just given up and agreed to the idea that they were nice people that Hermione knew. They encouraged him to call them Mr. and Mrs. Beckley unless they told him something different.
She sat down at the table and smiled at Pierce as he carefully brought her plate over to her. When he set it down, Draco placed her tea and a cup of juice on the table. Pierce sat next to her and clapped when Draco levitated his plate over. The three of them ate, chatting about the adventure they were going to be on. Hermione knew that they were going to alter her grandparents to memories.
They'd decided to go with: Pierce was an unexpected surprise and one of the main reasons they'd moved to Canada to get married. He'd just turned seven so that would have made Hermione seventeen and they'd decided to give Draco an extra year making him eighteen when Pierce was born.
After they'd cleaned up the breakfast dishes, Hermione took Pierce to get dressed while Draco showered."Mum," Pierce asked softly as she helped him buckle his suspenders, "are you sure you want to adopt me?"
"I can't imagine anything I'd like more," Hermione said, smiling at him. "After today you'll be ours in every sense of the word."
"But what if I'm bad?" he whispered.
"I can't imagine anything you could do that would make me not want you," she said, pulling him into a hug. "No one is perfect, all three of us will make mistakes but as long as we continue to talk about things we'll make do."
She heard a knock at the door and heard Draco open it, welcoming Unspeakable Ellesmere into their home. "Come along, darling," she said, straightening his collar a final time. "It's time for you to officially become a Malcolm-foy."
Pierce shyly greeted the Unspeakable, and quietly followed the adults into the living room. "Alright Pierce, my boy," he said as he held out a hazy looking substance and a pile of documents. "In a magical adoption, the parents will add their blood to this potion and the adoptee will drink the entirety of the potion. Afterwards we will process the legal documents to get everything filed with the Ministry and Gringotts." He looked between the three of them. "Are all of you coming into this with a fully sound mind?" They all nodded. Hermione and Draco cut their palms and let their blood spill into the potion. Once it had settled, the potion and it turned to a bright silver with flecks of gold.
Heremione and Draco knelt down and wrapped their arms around Pierce as he drank the potion. Once he'd finished, the vial fell to the floor and Pierce fainted. Draco lifted him up and set him on the couch, with his head in Hermione's lap. Draco knelt by his shoulder and held his little hand.
Slowly, the dark brown of Pierce's hair faded until it was only a few shades darker than Draco's. His nose adjusted to look almost exactly like Hermione's. Then his eyes slowly began to tilt until they were almost the same angle as hers. The curls in his hair loosened slightly to an almost perfect match of her own.
Moments later, he blinked his newly silver-grey eyes open, looking between the two of them. Hermione beamed at him, suddenly being able to feel him. She could feel his magical signature in a way that she could only really feel her own. "Mum?" he asked.
"Yes, darling," she said softly, helping him to sit.
"Dad?" he asked, turning to look at Draco.
"That's my name, bud."
Unspeakable Ellesmere, who had been all but forgotten, handed the paperwork to Draco who quickly signed it and passed it to Hermione. Once her signature was finalised, the paper flashed white. "It's all settled then," Unspeakable Ellesmere said, kindly. "Perseus Andrew Malfoy is now legally, magically, and biologically your son."
Pierce grinned at them, and Hermione noticed that he had almost the same smile as his father. Draco conjured a large hand mirror and held it out for Pierce. He held it up to his face and let out a tiny gasp. "It's really true," he whispered. "I'm a Malcolm-foy!"
Hermione chuckled, "Yes just like your father and I. You have my eyes, nose and curls and you have your father's hair and eye colour and his smile."
"Give us a grin then," Draco said, smiling at the boy. Pierce obliged, grinning cheekily at his father. "There's my boy!" Draco scooped Pierce up and spun him around both of them giggling away.
As they made their way to the train station, each holding one of Pierce's hands and swinging him as they walked, Hermione felt light. Coming to the past was working out for them much neater than they expected it to. Hermione could feel that finding Pierce and getting married were only the start of what was to come.
Pierce spent the whole train ride chattering away about everything they passed. He asked question after question which Draco patiently answered. He commented on the leaves that covered the ground and how he could see the sun peeking out through the grey clouds. He watched the trees speed past and the fields that waited for the spring planting.
Finally when they reached Forest Row, he'd begun to fall asleep. Draco scooped him up and carried him in his left arm, Pierce resting his cheek on Draco's shoulder, one of their bags in his right hand. Hermione followed with the second suitcase, checking to make sure they'd retrieved everything from their seats.
All three of them took a deep breath at the country air that was peppered with smoke from the chimneys. As they made their way to the Inn, they smiled at a few of the townspeople that they passed. When they were standing in front of the Inn, Hermione entered first.
Christine practically launched herself at Hermione, who gasped. David followed quickly behind, hugging Hermione as well. She saw Draco drop their bag and pull out his wand. He quickly Confunded them and cast a Memory Modification. When Christine pulled herself away from Hermione she blinked a couple of times.
"This must be Pierce!" she said, crouching to shake his hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Beckley!" he said sweetly.
"Oh please call me Chrissie!" Christine said sweetly, pulling him into a hug.
"Ms. Chrissie!" he beamed at her.
"You look just like your parents" she cooed as they pulled away:
Pierce beamed at her and Hermione could tell that he was inordinately pleased with her comment. David stooped and shook his hand, grinning at him.
The rest of their week was spent exploring the fall countryside and attempting to ignore the increasingly dire signs from the War. Hermione could tell that this would be the last weekend that was even remotely "normal," for quite a long time.