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"Very funny, Draco," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. She ate a spoonful of oatmeal and sipped her coffee while Draco watched her. |
"About?" Draco prompted. |
"Honoria Blake and her son." |
"Oh," Draco said, setting his coffee cup down. "We're looking for her and her son but we haven't had any luck yet." |
"I figured you would be looking for her. It's not just her though. There have to be other women out there. There aren't any domestic violence shelters out there for witches. There's no way for these women to get out of abusive relationships." |
Since meeting Honoria that was something that bothered him. Women couldn't escape their husbands. All the power in the relationship was with the man. A husband could pretty much do anything he wanted without repercussion. It bothered him how backward their world was compared to the muggle world. |
"Do you think there may be a lot of women out there in abusive situations?" Draco asked. |
"I'm not sure. It really would be hard to tell. What was your parents" marriage like?" she asked. |
"Well, it was an arranged marriage. They got along fairly well. I think they might have loved one another in their own way. My father would never have raised his wand or hand to my mother. Plus, I'm pretty sure he was a little scared of her." |
Hermione chuckled a little at that. "What about your friends" parents? I don't have much to go on as far as wizarding couples." |
Draco sighed heavily. Pureblood marriages were always an interesting dynamic. Most of the balance of power depended on the witch, her personality and how she was raised. Some were sweet and submissive leaving open the possibility to be abused, he supposed. Some were forces to be reckoned with, like his mother. |
"I'm not really sure about what their marriages were like. Theo lost his mom when he was eight and his dad never remarried. I never saw any of them argue but that's not something that you would see as a guest or a child. What was your parents" marriage like?" |
"They were very happy. They met in dental school. My dad always said it was love at first sight. They got married right after they graduated. I only ever saw them argue a few times and it was never about anything serious," Hermione responded wistfully. |
Hermione stared off at the wall, not really seeing anything. Draco knew that she was envisioning her parents and her childhood. He reached out and placed his hand on hers. "I miss them," she said. |
"I know. I'm sorry." |
"They would've liked you. My dad was old fashioned. He said never to date a man who couldn't be bothered to get up and pull a chair out for his woman." |
Draco could hear his own father saying much the same to him. He remembered the lessons his father gave him about how to treat witches like it was yesterday. "Son, you always get up and pull a chair out for a lady. If a man can't be bothered to do that simple thing, what else can he not be bothered to do?" Draco wanted to ask if Weasley had ever bothered to pull out her chair for her but he didn't want to ruin the moment and he probably already knew the answer. |
"Mummy, Daddy, do I have to go to grandma's?" Rose interrupted them. Tansy had helped her get ready to go while they were talking. She was wearing a green sweater and jeans. Her curly red hair was tied back with green ribbons. |
Ugh, it was almost time to send her over there to spend time with her father. |
Hermione ran a hand over her daughter's head and said, "Yes, sweetie, you have to go. It will be all right though. Grandma and Grandpa will be there. Maybe Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, and Albus will come over." |
"Are you staying with me?" Rose asked. |
"No, sweetie. We talked about this. You're going over there to spend time with your daddy." |
"But he's my daddy," Rose said gesturing at Draco. |
Hermione looked up at him for help. Draco scooted back in his chair. "Princess, come here." Rose walked the few steps and stood before him. He picked her up and set her in his lap facing Hermione. "I'm your daddy and I always will be but he's your daddy too. You and your sister are very special because you get to have two daddies. You're going over to the Burrow today so that you can spend time with him because he misses you." |
He didn't want to send her over there. He knew Molly wasn't going to let anything happen to Rose but just the thought of her being around Weasley made him nervous. He wanted to spend the day taking her flying and reading stories to her with Hermione. He hated sharing. He was trying very hard to not be selfish. He knew how easy it would be to turn Rose away from her father, but he knew he couldn't do that. He didn't want to take that choice away from her. |
"Do you understand, Rose? Are you ready to go now?" Hermione asked. She shot him a grateful look. |
Rose nodded her head. Draco dropped a kiss on the top of her head before he set her back down on the floor. |
"Go get your jacket, Rose, and we'll head over," Hermione said. |
Rose scampered out of the room. Draco looked at Hermione. "I hate this," he said to her. |
Hermione reached over and took his hand. "I know. I hate it too. I'm glad I have you with me through this though." |
The trip to the Burrow was uneventful. Weasley wasn't there yet. Harry and Ginny were there "visiting" along with Albus. Harry quietly said that he'd keep an eye on her while Molly distracted Rose. They disapparated from the Burrow after saying goodbye to Rose. Draco stood holding onto Hermione in the foyer of Spinner's End when they arrived. |
"I need you to distract me," Hermione said, pushing away from him, "I was trying to tell you about an idea I had before I got distracted talking about marriages." |
"What idea do you have spinning around in that head of yours?" |
"I want to start a domestic violence shelter. I want to help women and children that need to get out of abusive situations. We need a house with a Fidelis charm on it. I would suggest the house Harry inherited from Sirius but it was pretty rundown when the Order used it and I don't think Harry has done anything with it since. Plus, I would rather not use that house since Kingsley knows about it." |
"I have houses. You can take your pick. You can have as many as you want. I don't know how to do a Fidelis charm. Can you do one?" Draco said eagerly. |
"Yes. I know how to do a Fidelis charm. Are you sure you want to give me a house or houses?" Hermione asked. |
Draco drew Hermione's left arm up and placed her hand with the cuff over his heart. "I'd give you anything that is mine to give. You want houses; I'll give you houses, especially for something like this. Let's make Granger House together." |
"Granger House?" Hermione asked with a grin. |
"I told you that we'd change the world together," he responded. |
"Then we'd better get started," she said as she drew him down to her. |
"Everything went fine today," Harry said when they went to pick Rose up from the Burrow. |
Molly was helping Rose get ready to go while Harry filled Hermione and Draco in Weasley's visit. Rose was running around the room with one shoe on but untied and Molly was chasing her around carrying the other shoe. Draco watched her and was relieved that the visit went well. He and Hermione had worried that they would come over to find Rose sullen and moody. |
"He didn't try anything?" Hermione asked. |
"As if he would try," Ginny scoffed, "He can't take on all of us and he knows he's on thin ice with mum." |
"Were Lavender's kids here?" Draco asked. |
"Yeah, so was Lavender. It started off a little rough but one look from Lavender and those kids straightened up pretty quick. Lavender seems to be taking lessons from Molly. Rose is still a little wary around Ron but she hugged him when they left. She even hugged Lavender. We were all pretty shocked," Harry said. |
"I think that's the good thing about kids that age. They forgive easily and they can be pretty adaptable," Hermione said. |
Harry handed Hermione an envelope. "Lavender gave me this before they left. She left it unsealed so I looked inside. It's just a card with her address on it." |
Harry probably would have broken the seal to look inside anyway. Draco knew he would have before he handed Hermione anything from Lavender Brown. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission in some cases. |
"Mummy, Daddy, is it time to go?" Rose asked bounding up to them. Molly had wrangled her into her remaining shoe and put her jacket on her. |
They said goodbye to everyone and took the Floo back home. Draco was glad the day was over and the visit had gone well. Now that Rose was home safe with them, he could breathe easier. |
Draco stood beside Hermione as she was working on her side of their desk. He leaned his hips against the desk and crossed his ankles. He reached over and took one of her curls in between his thumb and forefinger pulling it straight and then letting it curl back up. |
"Did you need something or did you just come over here to play with my hair?" Hermione asked. |
"Both?" Draco said, "I've been thinking." |
"That's dangerous," Hermione teased, "What have you been thinking about?" |
"The girls. I'm nervous about them going over to that house alone. I know they can call Tansy if they want to leave, but what if he tries something? What if they're hurt and they can't call her?" |
"They won't be going alone. I'm not sending them over there without protection." |
Draco was relieved that she was ahead of him on this. He was also confused. It's not like they could go over there and hang out. Harry and Ginny couldn't be expected to spend their days over there when the girls were visiting. |
"Who's protecting them then?" Draco asked. |
"Two of the Manor house elves. They'll go over with them, remain invisible, and bring them home at any sign of trouble. The girls will still be able to call Tansy if they want to come home early. I'm not planning on telling them that the elves are there. It's just as a precaution." |
Draco grinned at her, "So you're ordering my house elves around now." |
Hermione glared up at him, "I did not order them to go. I asked for volunteers." |
"How many volunteered?" Draco asked. |
"All of them," Hermione responded drily, "Your mother had to pick." |
"Who did she pick?" Draco asked. He had a feeling he knew the answer already. There are only two she would send to look after the girls. |
"Topsy and Turvy. She said they were particularly good at keeping children out of mischief." |
Bingo! Draco laughed, "That they are. They foiled many of my grand ideas growing up." |
"Like what?" she asked. |
"Using the banister as a slide, jumping off of things to see if I could fly, trying to fly my broom around the house. The list is pretty much endless." |
"Sounds like you were a difficult child." |
"You've known me since I was eleven. Of course I was difficult." |
Hermione just rolled her eyes at that statement. At least he felt better about the girls going over to Weasley's house during the winter break. Those two elves wouldn't let anything happen to the children. He'd disagreed with Hermione about giving the git a chance. He still disagreed with her. He was glad she was taking precautions even if she wanted to give Weasley a chance. |
"The bill is coming along nicely. We're almost done." |
"That's good," Draco said, "When do you think you'll be ready to bring it to the council for a vote?" |
Hermione and Theo looked at one another before Theo answered, "After the New Year." |
Draco knew that answer from Theo meant the bill was mostly done. The group had started gathering at Spinner's End. Draco started working from home most days after Hermione left the Ministry. |
Hermione and Theo worked tirelessly on creating the entire framework needed for the introduction of divorce into the wizarding community. Draco read through the sections of the divorce bill. The amount of work Hermione and Theo put into the creation of the bill since she'd left her job boggled his mind. |
The entire framework needed to cover all aspects of severing a magical matrimony was truly astounding. They'd thought of everything. Hermione's research abilities paired with Theo's keen legal mind proved an unstoppable force. The debates and arguments that had raged on between the two of them in the study often gave him headaches and sent him fleeing from the room. |
It was coming together. Soon Hermione would have her divorce. She would be free from Weasley. Draco had no doubt about how the vote was going to go. It had been his job to smooth the way for the bill. He'd been counting votes since they'd started along this path. There were too many that loved Hermione and backed her. |
The children would be home from school soon. They'd set up Minerva's room for her and moved over everything from Hermione's cottage now that it was established that they would be staying at Spinner's End. The children's loft had been turned into a media room with Hermione's sectional and coffee table taking up the center of the loft and a large television and entertainment system on the wall. Shelves of movies took up the corners of the room. |
Draco was curious about the television. Hermione had explained it to him but they hadn't sat down and watched any movies yet. He didn't know how to work the thing. Hermione wasn't that interested in it, citing television as an additive form of entertainment. |
Minerva's choice to go into Slytherin was going to necessitate a talk that he would have to have with Hermione about Slytherin house. He'd been putting it off but he knew it couldn't be avoided anymore. He'd been waiting for the appropriate time to bring it up or some opening but Hermione had been a little preoccupied with working with Theo. |
She finally gave him his opening when she asked, "What was it like to be in Slytherin?" |
Yes! Finally! "Why do you want to know?" he prevaricated. |
"Partly because I'm curious and partly because I wasn't really prepared for Minerva to go into Slytherin. I would've bet money on Ravenclaw of Gryffindor." |
"How did you imagine Slytherin house to be?" he asked, curious about how she'd viewed his house. |
Hermione seriously considered her answer for a moment before replying, "Well, your house was never painted in a very good light and that was something we learned on the first night. They taught the prejudice before we really had a chance to form our own opinions. Then, of course, some of you didn't do a very good job of helping us change our minds. Growing up, I would've guessed that Slytherin house would have reinforced the prejudice your parents taught you. I never really believed the whole rot about the Dark Arts stuff. I guess I thought being in Slytherin house meant that you knew or learned how to be sneaky, conniving prats. I've met so many Slytherins and it's made me question those childish views, especially after the war. So now I'm curious about what it's really like being in Slytherin?" |
Draco laughed a little at her assessment of his house. He knew that he personally colored some of those childish prejudices for her and her friends. "Well, we were mostly a bunch of spoiled, little rich kids raised to believe that we were better than everyone else and we treated people outside our house like they were beneath us. The prejudice wasn't reinforced at Hogwarts but it was difficult to get away from. There are some good traditions in Slytherin house though that are very old and are still observed." |
He knew saying it like that would peak Hermione's thirst for knowledge. There were things about Slytherin house that couldn't be found in Hogwarts: A History. Traditions that weren't found anywhere outside of Slytherin and weren't shared with people from other houses. |
"What do you mean?" she asked. |
"Slytherins tend to protect their own. We're fiercely loyal to one another. They also tend to have the most arranged marriages of any other house. Dealing with large amounts of property and money traditionally meant that marriages were brokered for power or accumulating more wealth. That part has died out. There are customs in Slytherin house that are designed to help witches and wizards get to know one another better so that they can acclimate to their marriages easier. The traditions are still practiced but have been modified since the war." |
"Like?" she prodded. |
"Well, you know that chivalric barbarian thing you love so much," Draco said. Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "We're taught from an early age to protect and respect Slytherin witches. That's been expanded to all women, not just Slytherin witches. They carry our children but they're also pretty creative when you piss one of them off. At mealtimes, the wizard usually serves the witch. It's considered insulting to the wizard's pride if the witch beside you has to reach for anything. It teaches communication between the two as well as teaching the wizards to pick up on visual cues, anticipate needs, and learn likes and dislikes. Information is power and the witch beside you might be your wife one day so you want to make sure she's not going to make your life a living hell. Other than the food thing, it's basically about being a gentleman. Carry heavy stuff. Pull out chairs." |
"Okay, so this is still going on at Hogwarts. I'm surprised Minerva hasn't said anything about it. I'm surprised you haven't mentioned it earlier. So a man can just control what a woman eats or how much?" Hermione said. She was getting little worked up. He should have told her sooner. |
"First off, it's not about control. Think of it this way. I order our meals and drinks when we go out. We always talk about what we're going to have and I always order for us. I don't order you salad when you want steak. I don't do it because I think you're incapable of ordering for yourself. I know you're perfectly capable. It's about paying attention to the witch beside you and learning everything you can about her. I know that you eat your oatmeal with a scoop of brown sugar, a splash of milk, and a sprinkle of raisins. I know that you like coffee in the morning with your breakfast and you like it with two spoonfuls of sugar and creamer and that you feel guilty about the sugar because your parents are dentists. You like salads or sandwiches for lunch. You hate raw tomatoes. You eat chocolate when you're on your period. You don't like the smell of roasted cauliflower." |
"How is it you know all that about me after only three months? Ron didn't know all that after twenty years of knowing me," she said in disbelief, "Is that why there's always chocolate lying around?" |
"That's only part of what I know about you. Imagine spending seven years with someone doing that for you. How much are they going to know about you? How much are you going to know about them?" He wasn't going to comment on Weasley's lack of care for Hermione. |
"Why hasn't Minerva said anything about it before now?" |
"Honestly, I'm surprised she hasn't but she must be accustomed to it by now. With everything that's happened and is happening, Slytherin is really the best place for her to be. Brother or not, the other Slytherins won't tolerate her being bullied. It's probably why they knew about us before we went to the school to tell them that we're together. The older Slytherins would have made sure that they saw the pictures." |
"You're sure that's what happens. It's not some pureblood submissive wife training program?" |
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