Four years later.
Entering the house that he'd grown up in, Daniel immediately felt like he was home. It was a feeling he always got when he returned to his childhood home as the place was filled with so many happy memories of growing up alongside his two siblings. It wasn't the only place Daniel had lived as a child, but he had no memory of the penthouse he'd lived in before moving to the house after his parents had married.
Although it suddenly occurred to Daniel that the house was unusually quiet. He'd deliberately chosen to visit on a Saturday morning, as he knew that was when his mother tended to do the weekly shopping, and it was his father he wanted to speak to. However, he had expected his brother and sister to be around as it was the beginning of the summer holidays. Not that it would matter what time of year it was for Scorpius as his brother had just left Hogwarts, but his sister still had a few years of school left.
Hoping that his father wasn't also out, Daniel headed for his study. While his mother usually shopped on a Saturday morning, his father tended to use the time to do some extra work. Although Daniel knew the routine had started as a ruse on his father's part as he simply hadn't wanted to accompany his wife while she was shopping. When Daniel and his siblings had been younger, he'd used them as an excuse not to help with the shopping, but once they got old enough not to need parental supervision, he'd began to bring work home.
Knocking on his father's study, Daniel was pleased to hear his father's voice calling from him to enter. Entering the study, he found his father, Draco, sitting at his desk. Upon seeing Daniel, Draco happily put down his quill and put aside the paperwork he'd been working on.
"What brings you here?" Draco asked, gesturing for his son to sit down.
"Can't I come and visit my family?" Daniel countered.
"You know you're always welcome," Draco replied. "But you don't normally visit at a time when you know your mother won't be here. Which leads me to suspect you want something."
"Has anyone ever told you that you've got a suspicious mind?" Daniel retorted with a warm laugh.
"It has been commented upon," Draco chuckled. "But I'm right, aren't I? I know my children, and I know when they want something."
"You're right, I have come for a reason," Daniel admitted. "I wanted to talk to you in private. We aren't likely to be disturbed, are we?"
"Lyra is shopping with your mother and Scorpius is out practising his quidditch," Draco replied.
Like Daniel himself, Scorpius had done pretty well at school and was expected to have passed his exams with high grades, however his real passion was quidditch and he was aiming for a professional career. Daniel had also had a chance to try for a professional quidditch player, but while he'd always enjoyed the game, for him it was a hobby and not something he'd wanted to do for the rest of his life. His real passion was for Potions, and upon leaving Hogwarts he'd gone to work for Severus at the potions company he ran for Malfoy Holdings.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked, concern clouding his face as he looked at his son.
"Nothing is wrong," Daniel assured him. "I just want your advice, really. It's about Vic."
Victoire Weasley was one of Daniel's oldest friends, and in their final year at Hogwarts they had started dating. Since then their relationship had gone from strength to strength and they lived together in the penthouse Daniel had received as a graduation present from Lucius and Narcissa.
"I want to ask her to marry me," Daniel confided.
"Daniel, that's great," Draco declared with a smile. "Isn't it?" he asked with a frown when he realised his son didn't seem too excited about the prospect.
"It is," Daniel admitted, not sounding too sure about it. "Asking Vic to marry me is what I want to do. I just can't help but worry about outside elements."
"By outside elements, you mean her family," Draco predicted, suddenly understanding what his son was worrying about.
Given what had happened both when Hermione had been expecting Daniel, and after he'd been born, relations were understandably tense with certain members of Victoire's family. In fact, Daniel had never met her grandparents, Molly and Arthur, her Aunt Ginny, or her Uncle Ron. In fact there was still a restraining order in place regarding Ron, and Daniel would have to agree to lift it before he and Ron could even be in the same room together.
"At the minute, things are just fine. But I'm worried that getting married will change things," Daniel admitted. "What if Vic expects things to be different?"
"I don't see why anything should have to change," Draco said. "You're marrying Victoire, not her family. There's no law that says you have to spend time with them. But let's not forget, you know her parents and siblings and get along with them. Surely, that's the most important thing."
"I guess so," Daniel said with a nod. "But I am going to have to deal with her family at the wedding. Or at least her grandparents."
"Just because they're at the wedding, it doesn't mean you need to have anything to do with them," Draco pointed out. "But if you're uncomfortable with them being there, speak with Victoire. Maybe you could just have a small wedding."
"I wouldn't want to stop her family from being there on her big day," Daniel said with a shake of his head. "I can deal with her grandparents for one day. But what if she wants it to be more? What if after we're married, she wants us to go and visit them on a regular basis? After everything that happened, I don't think I can do that."
"And my bet is that Victoire will understand that," Draco said. "She knows what happened in the past. I seriously doubt she will want you to do anything that would make you uncomfortable. But my guess is that you knew all this already. It's not Victoire's grandparents worrying you, is it?"
"Not really," Daniel confessed, smiling slightly at how well his father could read him. "I'd need to agree to lift the restraining order if her uncle is to attend the wedding."
"And you don't want to do that?" Draco guessed.
"Not after everything he put mum through," Daniel replied with a rough shake of his head. He'd never actually told his parents about the letter he'd received from Ron on his seventeenth birthday as he knew it would have just upset Hermione, and quite honestly she'd been upset by Ron more than enough for Daniel's liking. "He was supposed to be her friend, yet he made her life hell. And he betrayed the memory of my father. He used his memory to try and get his own way, not at all bothered about what my father would have really wanted. And let's not forget that if you hadn't been there, he would have stolen me from the hospital. I can't forgive that, I just can't."
"Then tell Victoire that," Draco urged. "Make sure you tell her all of this, and make sure she knows how you feel about her uncle. I'm sure if you talk, you can come to a decision that will keep you both happy. And if you've already talked about it before you tell anyone about your engagement, then no-one has any room to complain. Just remember that this is about you and Victoire, not anyone else. You do what makes you happy, Daniel."
"I will," Daniel announced with certainty. "I just have to hope she says yes. What if she thinks we're too young?"
"Your mother and I were only your age when we got married, and we were even younger when we got together," Draco pointed out. "If you feel ready for this Daniel, then you're ready."
"I've just got to hope she says yes now," Daniel said with a chuckle.
"I'm sure she will. She's not stupid and she knows she's got a good man in you," Draco said. "Do you know how you're going to propose? Do you even have a ring?"
"I hadn't thought that far ahead," Daniel admitted. "And I guess I'll have to go shopping for a ring."
"How would you feel about choosing a ring from the family vault?" Draco asked. "I know you're not going to be giving Victoire the name Malfoy, but she is going to become part of the family. You may not be my son by blood, but you're my son in every other way."
"I would love a ring from the family vault," Daniel said, smiling at his father. Even though Draco wasn't his biological father, he'd always been there for him, and had never treated him any differently to Scorpius and Lyra, and Daniel loved him.
"Do you fancy heading there now?" Draco asked, getting to his feet.
"What about your work? Isn't it important?" Daniel asked in a teasing tone, knowing full well that his father would happily abandoned his work on a Saturday morning as long as it wasn't to accompany his wife shopping.
"We both know the answer to that," Draco replied with a laugh. "Just don't tell your mother."
"As if Mum doesn't already know," Daniel snorted. "She only lets you get away with claiming to work as she doesn't want you shopping with her."
"And why wouldn't she want my assistance?" Draco asked with a fake pout. "I bet I could cut down the amount of time it takes her."
"Yeah, because you'd buy the first thing that caught your eye," Daniel pointed out. "You wouldn't think about what the family needed for a whole weeks' worth of meals."
"True," Draco conceded with a shrug. "I don't think food shopping is my natural calling. I'll leave that to your mother and apply my talents elsewhere. Like helping you find the perfect ring to propose with."
Before they left, Draco left a note on his desk in case Scorpius came in from his quidditch practice. Father and son then headed off to Diagon Alley, where they entered Gringotts and were escorted down to the Malfoy family vault by one of the goblins. Once the vault was open, the goblin then retreated into the background, leaving the two men to find what they wanted.
As always when he entered the family vault, Daniel was amazed by how neat and organised it was. When he'd been little he'd simply assumed that all the vaults at Gringotts were so well maintained and organised, but when he'd first visited the vault he'd inherited from his father, he discovered that simply wasn't the case. The Potter vault wasn't the least bit organised, and everything was simply thrown it together. When he'd mentioned it to Lucius, his grandfather had admitted that it had been his father, Abraxas, that had ensured the vault was so neat and organised, and since both Lucius and Draco had inherited his liking of keeping things neat and tidy, they had kept up the tradition and made sure the family vault was always well sorted.
With such organisation, Draco knew exactly where to find the family jewellery that was precious enough to be kept in Gringotts. He was then easily able to locate the large box of rings the family owned and together he and Daniel checked them out to try and find a ring that would suit Daniel's soon to be bride.
"This ring was your great grandmothers," Draco said, plucking a stunning rose gold ring from the box. The main stone in the ring was an emerald, and it was surrounded by small diamonds. "Father wanted it to give to mother when he proposed, but my grandfather wasn't ready to part with it. In fact, he kept it with him until the day he died."
"Why didn't you use it when you asked Mum to marry you?" Daniel asked. The ring was beautiful, and he was sure his mother would have loved it.
"I almost did, but then I found the ring I did use," Draco said. "The moment I found a ring with rubies, I knew it was perfect for your mother since she's such a fierce lioness. Given the family's connection to Slytherin, rubies are very rare among Malfoy family jewellery, so I just knew your mother was the ideal person to own the ring."
"Mum's ring is pretty perfect for her," Daniel conceded, sill gazing at the beautiful emerald ring he was now holding. "And I think this ring is perfect for Victoire. But do you think your grandfather would approve?"
"I don't know what the old misery would approve of," Draco replied with a snort. "Given his views on blood supremacy, I seriously doubt he would have approved of me marrying your mother. But the ring isn't about him, or what he believed in, it's about when it represents. And this ring represents love, as the one thing I do know is that my grandfather loved my grandmother more than anything else in the world. In fact, father used to say that the reason his father was so grumpy was because he'd lost the love of his life so young and never got over the heartbreak. So use this ring, which represented a great love, and give it to the witch you love."
After double checking the rings, just to be sure he'd picked the right one, Daniel found a ring box and slipped the ring into his pocket. He then asked his father if they could call into his vault, as there was something he wanted from there.
"Your grandfather would have a fit if he could see this place," Draco remarked from the doorway of the Potter vault as Daniel scoured the place for what he wanted.
"I really should sort it out," Daniel conceded. "But who can be bothered with spending hours down here trying to sort it out. Besides, I can find what I want when I want. Ah ha, and here is what I want."
"Is that a key?" Draco asked, eyeing up the metal object in his son's hand.
"It is," Daniel confirmed with a nod of his head. "Are you up for another trip?"
As they exited Gringotts, Daniel explained that if he and Victoire did get married, then eventually they would want to start a family and he didn't want to raise a family in the penthouse they currently lived in. Not that he didn't appreciate the penthouse, as he loved it, but he was thinking of the future. Although Draco was quick to assure his son that he understood where he was coming from, as would Lucius.
"So what does the key you picked up the vault have to do with this?" Draco asked. Given the young age at which Harry had died, he doubted he would have owned any houses that the key could have been for.
"It's the key to Twelve Grimmauld Place," Daniel answered. "It's the house my father inherited from his godfather."
"Of course," Draco said with a snap of his fingers as old memories swept back into his head. "I can remember the fuss when Sirius died. Aunt Bella tried to claim the house should have been hers, and she vowed to fight for it. But obviously when she died, what Sirius had wanted was obviously recognised by the Ministry."
"Mum took me there once," Daniel explained. "The place wasn't in great shape, but I was hoping I could get it done up so I thought we could go and check it out."
"I'm up for that," Draco said. "Could you apparate us there, or do we need to find somewhere nearby and walk from there?"
"If you trust me, I think I can get us there in one piece," Daniel said, sounding much more confident than he felt. However, his confidence grew when Draco assured him that he trusted him fully and had every faith he could get them where they wanted to be.
Luckily Draco's faith was well rewarded and Daniel was able to apparate them to Grimmauld Place without incident. The magic of the house was still in place, hiding it from the muggles that surrounded them, but as the owner of the house, Daniel was able to drop the charm so that he and Draco could enter the property.
Given the house had been empty for over twenty years, it was understandably in a pretty bad state. It would certainly need a lot of love and attention to return it to a habitable state. However, one of the main issues was the portrait of Sirius's mother, Walburga Black, which still hung on the wall behind the front door. Time had diminished the magic in the painting somewhat and the old woman wasn't as loud as she once was, but she was still loud enough to make herself heard whenever someone was in the hallway.
"Will you shut up," Draco snapped at the picture of the witch who was technically family, but whom he had never met. Or at least he couldn't remember meeting her, but they may well have met when he was just a baby.
"You should have better manners," the picture of Walburga snapped back. "You're a Black, I can sense my blood running in your veins. Who exactly are you boy?"
"Draco Malfoy," Draco answered, smirking slightly at being called a boy at his age. "I'm Narcissa's son."
"I know who you are," Walburga retorted sharply. "I can see your father in you. And who is the young boy with you? He's not of our blood."
"Daniel owns the house," Draco said. "He's my son, or at least my stepson. His biological father was Harry Potter, your son's godson."
"I remember the Potter boy," Walburga spat. "I didn't like him, and I don't like his brat of a son. I want them out of my house."
"It's not your house, it's Daniel's house," Draco snapped, losing patience with the portrait and stalking away from it, despite the fact Walburga continued to shout after him. "We are going to have to do something about that portrait," he announced as he entered the kitchen where Daniel was.
"I wouldn't bother," Daniel said with a sigh. "I can't see Vic and I moving in here, the place is in too much of a state."
Draco wanted to tell Daniel not to give up hope, and not to dismiss the idea of making Grimmauld Place his home, but he kept quiet for the moment. Once Daniel and Victoire had announced their engagement, he would have a quiet word with his wife, and maybe between the two of them they could get Grimmauld Place habitable before their son got married.