This is the last chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who has followed/favourited/reviewed this story, and thank you for all of your kind words. I'd also like to shoutout my beta - Nina - she has gone above and beyond helping me finish this story in a decent amount of time - You're the best and thank you, thank you, thank you!
Enjoy!
Chapter 18Hermione was never charged in the death of Gawain Robards. There were six other Aurors present when she deflected his spell in self defence, when Draco was bleeding out on the concrete floor, and Robards died.
The Aurors had done an inspection of the Apothecary to try and understand what had happened, and found Simon Sallow shoved into a small store closet, tied up tightly and silenced.
He told the Aurors during an interview that he was in the shop getting prepared to open it when he was suddenly stunned from behind. He said he didn't think he was unconscious for long because when he awoke he was already tied up, but his double was standing in front of him.
Robards had used a vial of Polyjuice Potion that they had on the shelves and took some of Simon's hair. After Simon had regained consciousness, he was shut and locked in the little supply closet, left to possibly (probably) die. Robards had made free with the potions stock, dosing Simon with a leeching potion that had led him to a three-day stint in St. Mungo's, two floors down from Hermione and Draco.
Locked up, he'd heard the fight that occurred between Draco and Robards in the front of the shop, but he couldn't make any noise to indicate that he was there.
Simon insisted that he still wanted the job and Hermione gladly accepted his offer, but closed the shop for a few weeks so they could both have a mental health reset. During that time Draco, Hermione, and Scorpius went on a small vacation so that they could rest and start to work through their trauma.
Now that Robards was dead, Hermione was free of her Oath and finally able to share everything that Robards had put her through years previously, and was attending therapy weekly.
—-
The seasons passed and Scorpius grew quickly, too quickly, and a year later they were spending Christmas with the Weasley family. Draco's friends had all been invited to the Burrow as well, everyone bringing their own spacious, heated tents that were pitched around the large yard.
Everyone important in Hermione's life was present.
Scorpius was toddling around, trying to chase Hugo through the cramped kitchen and squealing with delight, and James was sitting at the table with a very pregnant Ginny, who was icing cookies as her son continuously scooped up buttercream on his finger and popped it into his mouth.
The living room was packed with Weasley grandchildren, Fleur watching over them as they played innocently.
"I can't believe Ron is dating Pansy," Ginny was saying as Hermione nursed a cup of tea.
"I saw it coming from a mile away," Hermione admitted. She had watched from the sidelines as Ron and Draco became surprisingly close, her best friend bringing Hugo over to their place fairly regularly to play in the pool. Ron had started attending cooking lessons with Draco and an ecstatic Gus, and while he'd blundered through the first month, he was slowly starting to get the hang of it.
Pansy began visiting their home more and more often, and it was obvious that she was there to see Ron, even though she tried to act like that wasn't the case.
She had finally started her own interior design business, backed heavily by her best friends, and things were starting to take off.
Hermione was sure that, as unfair as it was, her dating Ronald Weasley was an opening in the eyes of the public, but as things were slowly getting better in their world, she was disinclined to begin campaigning against the discrimination.
People did seem less judgemental, anyway.
Draco was outside with all the men, sharing cigars in the cool air and looking off the porch toward the orchard. He could hear Scorpius giggling from inside the house and couldn't help the smile that grew on his face. He was such a lucky sod; he had no idea how he had managed to turn his life around so fully in just three years, but he was ecstatic about where it was headed.
"When are you breaking ground?" Harry asked, taking a long drag.
"Spring. I can't believe the manor is gone, it's surreal, but I couldn't just renovate it and expect children to thrive there; it's full of bad memories for me and remnants of dark magic that I just couldn't deal with."
Charlie, Ron's second oldest brother, was nodding along and listening.
"I couldn't even break all the curses on it," Bill added. "And that's saying something."
Ron scoffed but agreed. "I think it's really great, what you're doing."
"I just want to do something good, you know? I want Scorpius to have a good life and fair opportunities, and I was always afraid that he wouldn't, because of my past - well, honestly, because of my father - and it isn't fair. He's going to have a legacy that he can be proud of."
"You're a good man, Draco," Harry said, looking out into the fields again. "I never would have guessed it, growing up, but here we are."
Draco looked around for a moment, surrounded by redheads and standing on the rickety porch of the Burrow. Theo and Blaise were comfortably chatting with Charlie about dragons and what it was he did at the reserve in Romania, laughing as Charlie made jokes.
He could remember making fun of this house when he was a child, mocking Ron for being poor. He had never considered that Ron was much richer than he was in the things that mattered; a loving home and parents, siblings who would give anything for each other.
He truly did feel blessed that he was able to be a part of it, and Scorpius would have plenty of loving family around him, always.
He had splurged on Molly and Arthur's Christmas presents that year, so thankful that they had accepted both him and his son into their lives without a second thought; they deserved everything and more.
"Your mum wants to work at the school when it's finished," Draco told the redheads. "She approached me last week about it and of course I couldn't say no. She's amazing with children and isn't intimidating at all, so I think she'd do best with the youngest ones brought in. Hermione thinks the muggleborn kids will have to be brought in fairly young and stay for the five days, only going home on the weekends. I know that I wouldn't want Scorpius gone that long, so we've discussed having their parents brought over with them too, but then the whole subject of money comes up - I'm sure they'll need to continue working."
"Why don't you just set up a meeting spot for every evening and have them brought in for the night after their work ends?"
"That was one idea, yes. I don't know exactly how it's going to play out yet, but we can't have the divide anymore. The parents need to feel comfortable with their children being magical as well."
"You'll figure it out," Ron offered kindly.
"Is Neville still interested in teaching there? I know he wanted to manage some greenhouses and teach the children all about the magical plants and flora."
"Oh yes, he's over at our place at least once a week with ideas. It's crazy how invested everyone is in it, but it's going to be great."
"It would have been amazing if there was something like that available when I was a child," Harry said quietly.
Everyone stayed silent for a moment. Harry had shared a lot of what he'd gone through as a kid when he lived with his muggle relatives, and it again left Draco - as well as Blaise and Theo - feeling like complete fools. They hadn't had any idea that he'd been abused so thoroughly before he had been reintroduced to the magical world.
Theo clapped Harry on the back and held onto his shoulder for a few moments.
"Think about the fact that magical children will have somewhere to go once the school is finished. I'll be using my law degree to ensure that if any magical child is being abused they will immediately be brought into our world and escape it."
Harry nodded, agreeing that it would be great if other children were protected as he had not been. The school was an excellent idea all around and Hermione was already talking about integrating her time to brew for the premises; healing potions, nutrient potions, anything that children up to eleven years old may need. Simon Sallow was going to dedicate two days a week to teaching all the children basics about potion ingredients and how they work in potions; but only the older children.
"It's surreal to think that in three months we will begin building. It's like a dream."
—-
Draco came into the kitchen and dropped heavily into a vacant chair beside Hermione, watching her with concern as she slowly drank her tea. She seemed a lot more tired than usual with small bags under her eyes; she had been a little stressed out lately and he was slightly worried about her.
"Alright?" he asked her, reaching out and rubbing a knuckle across the back of her hand.
She smiled and assured him that yes, everything was great.
It was Christmas Eve and Molly had piles of cookies, tarts, and cakes prepared, which were sitting on large platters in any available space in the kitchen, and Ginny was finally finishing icing the sugar cookies. It could have been done in a fraction of the time if she used her magic, but she said it was one of her favourite things to do at Christmas since she was a child, so Hermione sat with her and watched.
Theo and Blaise were still outside sharing cigars with Harry, Ron, Charlie, and Bill. George had ventured into the living room and began occupying the older children with stories that he was making up as he went, and Pansy was sitting with Molly and Arthur on the veranda, all of them laughing.
The sound was glorious.
But Hermione scrunched her nose and looked at Draco, who had obviously been outside with the other men before entering the kitchen.
"You smell horrible," she said, waving the air in front of her face.
"I don't smell anything," Ginny offered, moving the tray of cookies to the counter before she began to pour herself a cup of tea, rubbing her large belly.
"I may have had a couple puffs of a cigar," Draco admitted.
"Well you need to go change, and maybe brush your teeth, because I can't stand that smell," Hermione grouched, bringing her tea closer to her face so she could hopefully mask the scent.
"I've smoked plenty of cigars and you've never complained before," Draco started, but Hermione glared at him and he shut up, sitting back in his seat while he studied her.
But it was Ginny who caught their attention, dropping a cookie onto the floor and staring at Hermione in shock.
Hermione's face reddened as she tried to hide behind her teacup, but there was nothing for it.
"Oh Merlin!" Ginny squealed, and then tried her best to bend over to pick up the cookie pieces. Draco finally took pity on her and got it sorted with a spell, looking at Ginny in confusion.
"Are you?" Ginny asked, ignoring Draco completely and staring at Hermione, who was getting redder by the second.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione said archly, avoiding Ginny's eyes as more of their friends entered the kitchen and found chairs, some grabbing piles of cookies or tarts before they sat down.
"Why do you look so embarrassed?" Ron, who was never tactful, asked Hermione.
"I'm not embarrassed," she snapped, and then bit her lip. Maybe her moods were a little out of control, and Draco was looking at her again.
"Why are you so red then?" Ron continued, eating a cookie in three bites and completely missing the fact that his sister was glaring at him fiercely.
"Yeah, Hermione - are you alright?" Harry asked as Hermione suddenly paled.
The absolute stench of the men who had all sat around the table with her had her stomach roiling uncontrollably.
"I'll be right back -" she barely managed to mutter, lurching to her feet. She bypassed Ginny and knew there was no way she was going to make it up three flights of stairs to the bathroom, and she didn't want Scorpius to see what she was about to do, so she burst through the door outside and leaned over the railing, emptying her stomach.
Cool hands pulled her sticky hair from her neck as she heaved, and she knew that it was Draco. His large hand rubbed down her back slowly as she breathed in the cool air, relieved that she felt so much better.
"Are you alright?" Molly asked, and Hermione was mortified to realise that she had just burst into her conversation with Pansy and Arthur to barf off the side of the deck.
Great, now she wanted to cry.
"I'm okay," she offered, wanting to wipe her eyes but she didn't want anyone to notice she was about to burst into tears.
"What happened? Did you eat something off?" Molly asked, looking more and more concerned as Draco continued to rub her back and two tears finally broke free and dripped down her face.
"No, no, everything's fine. I just couldn't handle the smell of that horrible cigar smoke," she offered.
Molly looked surprised for a moment, and then her face lit up as she met Draco's eyes over Hermione's shoulder. He wished he knew why they all seemed so amused.
But it was dear, lovely Pansy who outed her to her fiance and the entire Weasley family.
"Oh Salazar, Hermione! You're pregnant!?" Her voice was so shrill that everyone in the house stopped talking, Hermione could see them looking through the windows, eavesdropping now, no doubt.
"No," Draco said from behind her, shooting Pansy a look that clearly said she was crazy, but Hermione turned and met his eyes, and his head was cocked to the side as he seemed to be remembering all of the odd things over the last few months. "Are you?"
Hermione sighed, "I was going to tell you tomorrow, as part of your Christmas present," she admitted to Draco, who looked stunned.
His mouth opened and closed for a second, no sound coming out, and then he hauled Hermione into his arms. Her legs automatically went around his waist, and the absolute reverence in his eyes as he looked at her took her breath away.
"How far?!" he asked, breathless.
"Almost 16 weeks."
"Merlin," he said, and then he spun them around. She could remember him telling her years ago that he had always wanted a large family, and he was absolutely ecstatic about the news.
"Stop spinning me!" Hermione cried, and Draco laughed aloud. "You're going to make me puke all over you! And you still stink!"
He laughed again but he set her on her feet before he turned around and marched across the snowy lawn to their tent, where he quickly changed his clothes and cast a charm to freshen his breath.
When he emerged, Hermione was in the arms of a teary Molly, and he knew that this was just the beginning of their next great adventure.
