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"We'd like to talk to both of you now that Rose is in bed," Hermione said to Scorpius and Minerva, as they closed the door to Rose's bedroom. |
They had been watching movies in their pajamas in the loft when Draco and Hermione put Rose to bed for the night. Minerva scrambled off the sectional to turn the movie off. Draco and Hermione took seats on one side of the sectional facing the kids. Scorpius looked curious and a little wary. Minerva just looked curious at Draco and her mother. |
"We stumbled on a bit of family magic a few months ago," Draco started. He then looked directly at Scorpius, who sat up straighter, "Scorpius, this will directly affect you when you get older. We wanted you both to know now since we think you're old enough." |
Draco looked to Hermione and she drew the cuff down her arm and showed it to them. Scorpius and Minerva both looked at the bracelet with confusion. |
"When Hermione and I decided to be together, this cuff appeared the next day. Your grandmother, Scorp, took us over to the Manor, showed us some paintings of our ancestors with similar cuffs, and they explained what was going on," Draco continued. |
"The story starts with Armand Malfoy," Hermione started the tale. She and Draco had agreed earlier that since she knew more about the history she would be responsible for the backstory, "Armand was friends with William the Conqueror from the time they were teenagers. Armand saved the young Duke of Normandy from an assassination attempt. The two became fast friends after that. Armand quickly became one of William's advisors and generals, helping him secure his hold on his country by leading his armies of magical and non-magical warriors. There was no Secrecy Act then, as I'm sure you both know. Magical and non-magical folk often lived and worked together. Six years after William brought his country under control, Edward the Confessor, King of England, died without any heirs. Two claimants to the throne of England emerged, William the Bastard, as he was known then, and Harold Godwinson. Armand and his warriors sailed with William to England to claim the throne. The Norman invasion began in September of 1066 and William was crowned the King of England on Christmas of that same year. He credited his sweeping victory in large part to his trusted general, Armand Malfoy. As a reward for serving him so faithfully in Normandy and England, William gave Armand the large tracts of land that Malfoy Manor now sits on. Many of the families that reside in Wiltshire to this day are descendants of those warriors that followed their general. When William left England to return to Normandy, he appointed a Wizengamot that would rule in his stead with Armand as one of the members of that council." |
The two children sat rapt listening to Hermione's story, well history lesson. Both children had a thirst for knowledge, so he was sure they didn't find the story boring. He watched the children as Hermione leaned back into him. |
"Armand had been around power for the majority of his life. He witnessed the clingers-on that tried to improve their own status or gain more for their families by sucking up to those in power. He became frustrated by the grasping, maliciousness of people who all pretended to be his friends in an attempt to get something from him. He was constantly sought out by hopeful fathers and scheming mothers trying to gain something by getting their daughters married to him." |
Scorpius leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. His son had always been curious about his ancestors. Draco regretted now not encouraging that curiosity. In his defense, he didn't really think there were that many ancestors worth learning about, and he had been afraid that they were all prejudiced and would teach his son that prejudice. |
"Tired from years of fighting and now ruling a country, Armand wanted someone who just wanted him for himself, a mate that he could lean on and confide in. Armand wanted something we all seek out, true love. Because of that, Armand created a piece of identifying magic. A cuff like this was formed from that magic. The cuff was meant to appear on the arm of his soul mate after they shared their first kiss." |
Minerva sighed and rested her chin in her hand. Scorpius rolled his eyes at Minerva's dreamy sigh. He caught the faint upturning of Hermione's mouth in an amused smile. Draco snorted quietly at the children's different reactions. |
"Armand met Lillian for the first time at a Yule ball. She came to London seeking a husband. Armand was drawn to this witch that didn't simper at him or fawn over him. He danced with her and talked with her throughout the ball. At the end of the night, he kissed her as he walked her to her carriage. Armand became alarmed when he didn't see her at court for a week. He searched frantically for her until a week after the ball, she appeared at court again, looking angry and panicked. She attacked him, convinced that he'd put the cuff on her to ruin her chances at a good marriage. It wasn't really logical of her but she was distressed. He told her what the cuff was and why it was there. After she finished threatening to hex him, she allowed him to start betrothal negotiations with her father. And as the saying goes, they lived happily ever after." |
Minerva sighed again, louder this time. Eleven-year-old girls seemed to love fairy tales and Hermione's daughter was no different. Of course, he remembered quite a few sighs from Hermione while she was piecing the story together. Scorpius looked more interested on an intellectual level. This was his ancestor and the cuff now impacted his life personally. |
"If Armand did it for himself, then why does Hermione have a cuff?" Scorpius asked, sitting back on the couch and addressing his father. |
"He extended the magic to apply to all Malfoy males," Draco said, "It means that Hermione and I are soul mates. Scorpius, as a Malfoy, you also have the potential to know your soul mate. The cuff won't appear on your soul mate's wrist until you are seventeen and you've kissed her but there are signs before then that you should be aware of." |
He wasn't going to tell his son that one of the more interesting benefits of the cuff was that touching it enhanced the desire between the two mates. He could figure out that on his own when the time came. Plus, awkward. |
"Like what?" Scorpius asked, looking wary like he was already figuring out the answer and already knew who Draco might be talking about. |
"You will be drawn to her and she to you," Hermione said, "and now that you know what's going on, you will be able to understand why you are drawn to her." |
"You're talking about Florence then," Scorpius said in disbelief, looking from Hermione to Draco, "You think she's my soul mate?" |
Scorpius sat back on the couch, staring at the ceiling looking stunned. Draco worried a little about the thoughts going through his son's head. It was a lot to take in as a child. Not only had he just found out that Hermione was Draco's soul mate and not his mother, he also found out possibly who his own soul mate was. Heavy stuff for an eleven-year-old. |
"Were you two drawn to each other when you were in school?" Minerva asked curiously, giving Scorpius a chance to process what was going on. |
"Yes. Neither of us knew what was going on and I couldn't really accept it then, but I've been drawn to your mum since the first time I saw her on the train to Hogwarts," Draco said, looking at Minerva but watching Scorpius out of the corner of his eye. |
Minerva nodded and looked at her mother, "Does this mean you aren't married to Dad anymore?" |
"I'm still married to your father. I can still feel the matrimonial bond that ties us together. From what I can tell, the cuff does not bind Draco and I together any more than we already are or sever any bonds that are already in place. It just acts as an identifier for Draco," Hermione answered. |
"This means that if Florence is my soul mate, she doesn't have to marry me? I don't want to take that choice away from her," Scorpius asked quickly, sitting up and looking worried at Draco with an anxious expression. |
Hermione got up from her spot beside Draco and sat beside Scorpius. She ran her hand through his slicked back blonde hair. "She still has a choice," she said quietly, "You have a choice," she said, tapping him on the chest, "This does not affect your free will at all. You're both too young to worry about this. Be friends and enjoy being friends. Things will happen as they're supposed to." |
Scorpius nodded and relaxed against Hermione, letting her rub his back soothingly. |
"What do you think about this, Minerva?" Draco asked. |
Minerva looked at her mother and Scorpius and then at Draco. "I'm curious about this. So mum's bracelet appeared after you kissed her. And you think Florence is Scorpius" soul mate. I've seen them together so I can see why you might think so. Is this a common occurrence among the Malfoys?" |
"Umm...no. This bracelet has only appeared five times since its creation. It's extremely rare. The history of it was lost for hundreds of years until it appeared on your mum's arm," Draco said. |
Minerva nodded thoughtfully as she took that in, "Sort of like finding a needle in a haystack. How long has this thing been around again?" Minerva asked. |
"About a thousand years, give or take," Draco answered. |
"And the bracelet has only appeared five times. Do other families do this sort of magic? Is this a common occurrence among pureblood families?" she asked. |
"No," Hermione said to her daughter over Scorpius" head, "I've done a lot of research on this and as far as I can tell, the Malfoy line is the only line that employed this type of magic and it was done so long ago that the spells used to create it are almost extinct now. Many people don't even believe in the existence of soul mates, even in the wizarding world." |
"Do you think the hundreds of Malfoys before you were doomed to a sad and lonely existence because the cuff didn't appear for them?" Minerva asked, looking at Draco. |
Scorpius sat up straight, leaving his spot on Hermione's shoulder to listen to his answer. Maybe this is what was distressed him the most along with possibly taking Florence's choice away from a future marriage. Leave it to Hermione's daughter to push through to the heart of a problem. |
"Your mum asked a very similar question when we found out about the cuff," Draco said, looking at both Scorpius and Minerva, "We were assured by a very cantankerous portrait that our happiness was not tied to finding a soul mate or being with that soul mate. I find that I agree with him," Draco failed to mention that he detested that particular ancestor, "I don't think a person's happiness can be determined by whether or not they find their soul mate. To me, that seems to put a lot of pressure on another person or on something that might not happen. I don't think you can live your life thinking "I'll be happy if only this would happen" or "I'll be happy if this person loves me." I think the people that think that way aren't happy and are trying to assign responsibility for their own happiness or lack thereof on a person or event." |
This sort of deeply philosophical discussion wasn't the type of conversation he expected to get into with an eleven-year-old. Any uneasiness that Scorpius had left melted from him at Draco's answer. Draco hated that this caused stress for his son. |
"Why tell us now dad? If this won't really affect me until I'm older and I'm too young to really worry about it, why say anything?" Scorpius asked. |
Draco cast a soft smile at Hermione sitting beside his son and thought back to the fantasy he'd spun for them, "I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did. This is something I think you should grow up knowing. This is something I wish I'd known about when I was your age. I agree with Hermione that you're too young to be worrying about some sort of romance with Florence. Just be friends. All that other stuff will follow if it's meant to." |
"We also wanted to tell you both now rather than waiting because we thought it would be better coming from us," Hermione said, "So much about everything that's happened in the last few months, we haven't really been able to tell you about firsthand." |
Hermione patted the seat on the other side of her and Minerva moved over to sit beside her mother. She wrapped her free arm around her daughter. Draco watched as both children snuggled into Hermione. |
"We know that the past couple of months can't have been that easy for either of you," Hermione said, dropping a kiss on both their heads, "I'm sorry that you had to find out so much about your parents" lives through the paper," she turned her head to Minerva, "I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you what happened with your father. This was not the way I wanted you to spend your first few months at school." |
Draco understood the guilt she felt. He felt some of the guilt himself. Letters from home could only go so far and Parents" Days only lasted so long. Every time he saw his picture in the paper with Rose, he felt overjoyed and sad at the same time. He loved Rose and those moments the mysterious journalist caught of them. The pictures also made him miss Scorpius and wish the both Scorpius and Minerva could be there and be a part of the moment. Boarding school was tough. |
"Scorpius," Draco called softly to his son, "come sit with me." |
Hermione looked up at him. She must have seen his need to hold his own child. She unwrapped her arm around Scorpius. Scorpius walked over to Draco looking uncertain. Draco patted the seat next to him and Scorpius sat down next to him looking awkward. Draco ruffled his hair and wrapped an arm around him. Scorpius relaxed against his side. His boy was almost too big to want to cuddle with his father. |
"I'm sorry you had to find out about my relationship with Hermione through the papers," Draco started uncomfortably, "I didn't want you to find out that way." |
"It's okay," Scorpius murmured against his side, "Don't tell Minerva but I was jealous at first. I would see the pictures in the papers of you and Rose doing things that we used to do and I was jealous. It felt like you were replacing me." |
Draco took a deep breath and squeezed him closer to his side. Draco ran his hand down Scorpius" head and back. He remembered the healer placing Scorpius in his hands right after he was born, still bloody and squalling as they rushed off to try to save Astoria. He remembered that rush of love and wonder; and the fear that always overcame new parents. |
"No one could ever replace you, Scorpius. You're my son and I love you. That doesn't change because our family got bigger," Draco said, wanting desperately to reassure my son. |
"Dad, I know. I know, okay," Scorpius said. He pushed away from Draco so that he could look him in the eyes. |
Draco saw the earnest expression in his son's gray eyes. "You're not jealous anymore?" he asked. |
Scorpius shook his head, "No. It was just at first. I missed you. I missed being at home." |
Draco pulled Scorpius back to his side, "I missed you too. You have to know that I missed you," Draco said, stroking Scorpius" back. |
He looked across the sectional at Hermione and Minerva. Minerva had her head in her mother's lap. Hermione was looking down at Minerva, humming softly to her daughter and stroking her hair. Minerva's eyes were closed and he wondered if she was asleep. |
"Are you okay with everything, Scorpius? With the cuff? With my relationship with Hermione?" Draco asked quietly. |
He could feel Scorpius starting to sag against him. Both the children were exhausted. It was a long day for all of them. |
Scorpius took a deep breath and answered his father sleepily, "Yes. I really like Hermione. She gives good hugs." |
Draco chuckled at his son's answer, "That she does, son. Let's get you to bed." |
Scorpius got up off the couch and hugged Hermione goodnight over Minerva, who was asleep on her lap. Draco followed his sleepy son into his room and pulled the green coverlet back for him to climb in. Once the covers were tucked around Scorpius, Draco pressed a kiss to his son's forehead. |
"Goodnight, son," Draco said, straightening up and making his way out of the room. |
"Night, dad," came the sleepy reply. Draco turned as he heard the covers rustle and found Scorpius sitting up in bed, "I still want to get Florence something special for Christmas." |
"Of course. We'll go tomorrow, just you and me, and pick something out for her," Draco answered with a smile. |
"'kay, dad," Scorpius said, yawning hugely and flopping back down on his bed. |
Draco closed the door quietly behind him. Hermione looked over her shoulder at him. He walked over and kissed her over the back of the couch. She couldn't really move since Minerva was effectively trapping her in place. |
"Let's put Minerva to bed too," Draco said. |
He went around the sectional and scooped her up. Hermione groaned as she got up, rubbing the feeling back into her legs. She opened the door for him and pulled the covers back so that Draco could lay her down, kissing her brow before moving back so that Hermione could draw the covers over her and kiss her goodnight too. |
Draco looked around at the room they had created for Minerva. Black water rippled around him with a large crescent moon rising along one wall and reflected in the water. Stars and constellations glittered on the top of the walls and across the ceiling. They'd changed the color of the carpeting to a sandy brown to mimic the beach. |
Her furniture in her room looked like it belonged in a beach house. Her bed was a sturdy teak four-poster bed with white gauzy curtains and a white and mint embroidered coverlet. Lanterns with candles, sand, and seashells topped the matching nightstands. |
He tiptoed out of the room with Hermione and closed the door quietly behind them. They made their way across the landing and into their bedroom. |
"What were you and Minerva whispering about?" Draco asked curiously as he sat down on his side of the bed and undressed. |
Hermione was seated on the settee at foot of the bed, pulling her sweater over her head. She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled warmly, "She said she didn't mind seeing the photos in the paper. She felt like she got to watch me heal and see our relationship unfold. She likes you because you took care of me and her sister." |
Draco thought how different Scorpius and Minerva's reactions were to seeing the photos in the paper. Minerva was charmed and reassured. Scorpius had been initially threatened. He must have hidden his reactions well from Minerva if he didn't want her to know before he came to accept Hermione. |
"Scorpius says you give good hugs," Draco said crawling to the end of the bed and unhooking the front clasp of her green lace bra and drawing it off of her. |
She stood up and drew off her jeans leaving her clad in only her green lacy knickers. She over at him with a soft, seductive smile and hooked her thumbs under the waistband of her knickers and drew them down her thighs to fall down on the floor. She stepped out of them and walked over to him and kneeled on the settee. |
"Aren't you tired?" Draco asked. |
He was exhausted but other parts were quickly becoming interested. Naked love of his life prowling toward him. No problem in the interested department. She shoved his shoulder and he fell back in a sprawl on the bed. |
"Utterly spent," she answered him as she straddled him. |
She looked down at him with heavy-lidded eyes. Her soft curls falling down her back. He drew her down to lay on his chest. Her hair cascaded around them. He brought his hands up to fist them in her hair as he kissed Hermione slowly and languorously. |
"We don't have to if you're too tired," Draco said, looking up at her, moving his hands down her back to rest on her hips. |
Hermione reared up over him with her hands resting on his chest. She bit the corner of her lip before saying, "I know. I just need you." |
Draco surged up to cup her cheek, "You have me," he said against her lips. |
He tilted them so that they lay on the bed facing one another. She brought her leg up and draped it over his hip. The continued their lazy snog as he rocked his hips, sliding his arousal across her folds. The evidence of her rising excitement was soon coating his cock. He tilted her hip back and sunk slowly up into her. She hummed in appreciation against his lips. |
He kept a languid rocking pace as they continued to kiss. She cupped his cheek with her free hand and broke the kiss. He stared into those chocolate brown eyes he adored so much. |
"I want to look at you while we make love," she whispered, holding his gaze. |
The intensity of gazing into her eyes was going to send him over the edge. It was more intimate than anything he'd ever experienced before. He knew she didn't have any skill with Legilimency but it felt like they were both stripping each other bare all the way down to that shot of gold that seemed to connect them together. |
He could see so much shining out of her eyes. Every feeling she'd ever felt for him. He could feel everything he'd ever felt for her pouring out of himself. |
"You are my everything," he said softly, "You are my past, present, and future. In this life and the next." |
She clenched down hard around him. His words sending her over the precipice. She threw her head back and called his name. He buried his face in her exposed neck, rocking into her faster his hand gripping her hip hard enough to leave finger marks. |
She drew his face up to look at her again as the waves of her orgasm continued to crash around them, "You are mine, Draco Malfoy. In every life and every incarnation, you are mine and I am yours." |
He lost it then. He groaned her name against her mouth. He came in harsh spurts, filling her womb with his seed. White starbursts dazzled him behind his closed eyes. |
They lay there panting, their arms entwined around each other still connected intimately. She shivered and he reached back for his wand and summoned the covers to settle over them. |
"Mine," he growled low in her ear. |
"Caveman," she giggled, snuggling into him. |
She relaxed into his embrace and drifted off quickly. His exhaustion finally catching up to him, he let her deep even breathing lull him to sleep. |
The Reluctant Reunion |
Draco was startled awake by Hermione sitting bolt upright in bed. The silk, silver sheets pooled around her waist, affording Draco a very nice, if groggy view, of the glorious expanse of her back. |
"What is it?" he asked sleepily. |
"It's gone," she said, looking over her shoulder at him with a bewildered expression. |
Draco sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The cuff was still there as was the scar on her arm. Her clothes were gone but she couldn't be talking about that since she was the one that took them off last night. Needless to say, he had no idea what she was talking about. |
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