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He rubbed a hand soothingly up her back, "What's gone?" |
"The bond with Ron. It's gone. I thought I felt something last night. Now the bond is gone," she said, looking at him confused. |
Draco remembered when he felt his matrimonial bond with Astoria sever. It had felt like a rubber band snapping back on him. He hadn't needed the healer to come and tell him that his wife was gone and his newborn son was motherless. He'd felt it the moment she'd left. |
"Do you think something's happened to Weasley?" he asked, drawing her into his arms and cradling her against his chest. |
She traced the Sectumsempra scar that started near his right collarbone and ended just under his left armpit. He always got little tickles of sensation when she touched the silvery scar tissue. |
"I don't think so," she said, her soft exhalations across his nipple causing him to shiver. |
"I've never heard of a matrimonial bond breaking for any other reason than death," Draco said, thinking back again to Astoria. |
"I don't think he's dead or even gravely injured. I didn't really process it last night while it was happening but it felt like it unraveled rather than snapped, now that I think about it," Hermione said. |
Draco lay back against the pillows and brought her with him. He lay there thinking as his hands skimmed up her back. The bond that connected her to Weasley was gone. A bond that was usually only severed with the death of the partner. She didn't think he was dead and he felt that he should trust her judgment on that one. |
"When do you think it happened?" he finally asked. |
She rested her chin on her hand on his chest and breathed deeply, "While we were making love last night." |
"We've made love every day since the ball. Multiple times a day," he said, smiling and waggling his eyebrows, earning him a laugh and a playful smack, "Why would it suddenly break last night?" |
"I'm not sure. It's gone this morning though." |
He rolled them so that he was on top of her. He looked down into that face he'd dreamed about for years. He saw the girl she'd been when he first met her and the woman she was now and everything in between. Her chestnut curls fanned out around her head. He wondered how he ever became lucky enough to deserve the love that he saw shining out of her eyes. |
"I think we should make love again just to make sure it's gone," he said with a grin. |
"Insatiable rogue," she said, drawing him down to give him a scorching kiss, "It'll have to be quick. We need to spend time with the girls before we take them to Ron's." |
"I can do quick," he said. |
It had been quick, Draco mused as he dressed for the day. They'd gazed into each other's eyes as he'd made love to her. He found the gold thread easier than he had last night. She'd come apart in his arms still gazing at him. He'd had to rest his forehead against hers when he came to keep from severing the connection. |
"You're not married to him anymore, are you?" Draco asked as Hermione came into the closet to get dressed. |
"Magically, no," she answered, looking over her shoulder at him as she pulled her undergarments from a drawer. |
"What does that mean?" he asked from the bench, tying his boots on. |
"Legally, I'm still married to him. As far as the Ministry is concerned, we're still married," she said, handing him her undergarments and going to pick out her outfit for the day. |
"Okay, I don't understand. It's literally called the "Ministry of Magic." How can they still recognize a marriage that isn't bound by magic?" Draco asked, looking down at the knickers clutched in his hand, black with gold lace today. |
She came over to him with a pair of dark jeans, a light gray sweater, and a black camisole draped over her arm. He took the clothes from her and handed her knickers to her. She sat on his knee and started dressing. |
"I guess there's a choice when you get married if you want to do the binding or not. It seemed romantic when we got married but now, I wonder what the point was. It didn't stop him from cheating," she said. |
Draco rubbed her back soothingly. He knew Hermione hated it when she didn't understand something and for all her talk, he knew she didn't understand why the bond broke. |
"Let's get down to breakfast. We can worry more about this later," he said, taking her hand and leading her from the room. |
The children were arguing when they walked into the dining room. Well, Scorpius and Minerva were arguing. Rose was shouting at them to stop arguing, which caused them to argue louder to be heard over Rose. |
"What in the world is going on in here?" Hermione asked, looking at the three children. |
"I just want to fix my own breakfast," Minerva cried at her mother and stomping her foot in frustration. |
"I told you I would get it for you," Scorpius said to her, just as obstinate. |
They looked like they were going to start arguing again. Rose put her hands over her ears and looked ready to burst into tears. |
"Scorpius, take your...take Rose over and fix a plate for her please," Draco said to his son. |
The two walked over to the buffet and Scorpius started dishing oatmeal into a bowl for Rose. Hermione looked at Minerva, who looked to about ready to burst into tears herself. |
"What's really going on?" Hermione asked, "You've haven't seemed to have a problem with Scorpius or Draco serving your meals to you since you got here." |
Minerva looked at the ground, her curly red hair covering her face, and then Draco heard a distinct sniffle come from her. He looked at Hermione and gestured with his chin towards the door. She nodded at him, looking worried, and wrapped an arm around Minerva and guided her out of the room. |
"We'll be right back. Eat your breakfast," Draco said to Scorpius and Rose, who were seated together at the table and looking glum. |
He closed the door behind him and found Hermione and Minerva sitting on the bottom steps of the stairs. He crouched down in front of them. |
"You want to tell me what this is about?" Hermione asked her daughter, who was looking down at her hands. |
Minerva looked at her mother with tears in her eyes and pleaded, "Don't make me go over there. Please, mum." |
Hermione reached over and petted her daughter soothingly, "I want you to try. Remember when we talked about this, I told you that you didn't have to stay if you didn't want to, but I wanted you to try." |
"Please, mum," Minerva begged, starting to break down again, "I have a bad feeling. I don't want to go." |
Draco settled on his knees in front of them and took Minerva's hand, "Hey," he said to get her attention. She looked up at him. "Remember what we talked about yesterday," he said and she nodded at him, "You and your sister will be safe. Just give your dad a chance." |
She nodded again and wiped her eyes. Draco realized then that it probably wasn't going to get any easier for him to send his girls over to Weasley's. It took all he had to convincingly reassure Minerva. |
"Are you ready to go get some breakfast?" Hermione asked Minerva, hugging her daughter close. |
"Yeah. I'm starving," Minerva said. |
Draco stood and held a hand out to Minerva, pulling her up and giving her a quick hug before sending her back into the dining room. He held his hand out again, pulled Hermione up, and wrapped his arms around her. He nuzzled her neck, seeking her comforting lavender and jasmine scent. |
They watched from the open doorway as Minerva walked over to Scorpius. She said something to him. Then Scorpius stood up and hugged her. He pulled her chair out for her and had her sit down while he walked over to the buffet. |
"I'll be in in a second," Draco said, guiding Hermione to the door. |
Hermione looked at him curiously but walked into the dining room after Minerva. Draco turned and walked into his study. He shut the door quietly behind him. |
"Topsy. Turvy," he called to the empty room. |
Twin house elves popped into the study in matching sturdy black pillowcases with the Malfoy seal embroidered on them. They both bowed to him. Their matching toffee colored eyes looked up at him expectantly. Turvy addressed him, "Master Draco has called us?" |
The only way Draco knew it was Turvy was the left ear that was downturned slightly at the tip. Draco had accidentally hit it with his broomstick when he was four and the ear had curled down permanently. |
"Yes. Thank you for coming so quickly," Draco addressed the elves, "You'll be going over to the Weasley-Brown house today with Minerva and Rose. I know that Hermione and my mother have already given you your instructions and I know that you will do a good job watching over them," he paused and looked at each elf seriously, "They're my girls. I want you to stick to them like glue and if you think for one second that they're in any danger, no matter how small, I want you to get them out of there. I don't care who you have to stun to do it." |
The elves nodded solemnly at Draco. "We will protect the Misses Minerva and Rose with our lives if necessary," Topsy intoned seriously. |
Tears stung Draco's eyes at the thought of losing either of the two house elves if something went wrong. He knew that if necessary one would sacrifice themselves so that the other could get the girls to safety. He placed a hand on each of their tiny shoulders, "Thank you," he said hoarsely, "I'm sure it won't come to that, but thank you for watching over them." |
Draco cleared his throat and dismissed them, "Tansy is in the kitchen if you'd like to go visit with her until it's time to leave." |
The beloved elves bowed and left the room with a pop. Draco cleared his throat again, trying to get rid of the frog that seemed to have lodged itself there. He left the room and made his way back to the dining room. It was odd to find them all sitting in a row. Scorpius had chosen to sit by Rose while he and Hermione were out in the foyer talking to Minerva. When Minerva came back in the room, she chose to sit on the other side of Scorpius rather than take her usual place at the table. |
Draco went down the line dropping a kiss on everyone's forehead in good morning before he went to the buffet to fill himself a bowl of oatmeal. He sat down and found a steaming cup of coffee sitting in front of him. He took a sip and sighed appreciatively. |
Hermione smirked over at him, barely glancing up from the paper, "You're not the only one that pays attention." |
"Thank you for the coffee, lioness," he said smiling at her. |
She slid the paper over to him and he looked down at the pictures she was pointing out. Of course, they were covering the gossip pages again. The photographer had caught his flying lesson with Minerva yesterday; prominent among them was the picture of Minerva launching herself off her broom at him. Photos of Hermione, his mother, Rose, and Scorpius shopping in Diagon Alley were also present. George Weasley had his arm around Scorpius in one, no doubt whispering mischief in his ear. |
"That's new," Draco said, studying the pictures. |
He felt Hermione shift over in her seat to look at the paper again, "What's new?" |
"We were gone at the same time yesterday," he pointed out. |
"That is new," Hermione agreed. |
He could see Scorpius and Minerva craning their heads from down the table, even Rose was starting to look interested, no doubt wanting to be like the other children. He took the section out and gave it to Hermione. The paper was passed between the children. |
Nine o'clock came all too quickly for Draco's liking. Scorpius was left with Tansy while Draco and Hermione took Minerva and Rose to visit with their father. They all stepped out of the Floo into a comfortable looking living room. Draco remembered the floral patterned couch from the last time they'd come here to retrieve Rose from Weasley's clutches. |
Weasley sat on one of the overstuffed, lavender armchairs. Looking around the room, Draco noticed that Lavender Brown seemed to have decorated her room in lavender, purples, and cream. A bit of an obsession with her name, Draco supposed, not that he was much better since Rose was currently clutching her dragon, Norbert, in her hand, not to mention the businesses that were named after him in Cokeworth. |
Weasley stood up and came over to them looking apprehensive, "Hi. I wasn't sure you'd come." |
"We're here, as agreed," Hermione said tensely. She looked down at the girls and then back at Weasley, "You remember what we agreed upon?" |
Weasley's jaw clenched and his nostrils flared, "I remember. Now it's my time with our daughters. So if you would please," he ground out gesturing back at the fireplace. |
Draco wanted to snarl at Weasley. His attitude wasn't making it any easier for them to leave the girls there. Draco saw Weasley's lip curl when Hermione turned her back to hug the girls. It was gone in a flash and Weasley's face settled back into an expression of bland neutrality. The girls were thoroughly hugged and kissed. Draco squeezed Minerva's shoulder in reassurance before he left with Hermione. Just as he was stepping into the fireplace he felt an invisible hand touch each of his knees. |
They stepped out of the fireplace and into the study at Spinner's End. Scorpius was lounging on the sofa with a book propped open. He looked up at them as they stepped out and closed the book. |
"So they went over to see their dad?" Scorpius asked with a worried frown, looking between Draco and Hermione. |
"Yes," Hermione said with a sigh, sitting beside Scorpius on the couch and smoothing his hair down. |
"Minerva was really worried about going over there," Scorpius said, leaning into Hermione and letting her wrap her arms around him. |
Draco sat beside Hermione so that she could lean against him. He didn't like it, not one bit. He wondered if he could get away with calling Harry and sending him over there or make the elves just bring them home. |
"I'm sorry she snapped at you," Hermione said to Scorpius. |
Scorpius shrugged, "I knew she didn't mean it. She was like that sometimes at school. Something would bother her or she would be having a bad day and she would just snap. Drake handles it the best. They would go off for a walk or Drake would pick a fight and she seemed to be better once she let off a little steam." |
"So you picked a fight with her?" Draco asked his son. |
Scorpius looked at him over Hermione's shoulder, "Yeah. I was hoping it would work, but it seemed like it just upset Rose more than anything, and then we started arguing about that." |
"Was she like that often?" Hermione asked. |
"No. Just every once in a while. One was after we were shown the paper the day after school started. Drake walked around with her for hours. Then she had a huge fight with Drake after our first flying lesson with Madame Hooch. After that, it was just pretty random. Since the last Parents" Day, she's been pretty mellow," Scorpius said, fiddling with the pages of his book. |
"Does she just hang out with Drake then?" Hermione fished. |
Scorpius shook his head, "No, we all hang out together. There are even kids from other houses that we're friendly with." |
"Dad," Scorpius said, looking at him again, "remember you said we'd go pick out a gift for Florence today. Can we go do that?" |
"Sure," Draco said, looking at his son, "Go get your jacket and shoes on." |
Hermione kissed his forehead and released him. Scorpius stood up, looking a little pink, and set his book on the table. "Do you want to come with us, Hermione?" he asked. |
"Thank you, sweetheart, but I think this should be a father-son outing this time," she said. |
Scorpius left the room to finish getting ready. Hermione drew her legs up onto the couch and snuggled into him. She shivered a little as he played with her hair. |
"What are you going to do while we're gone?" Draco asked idly. |
"Poke around the library at the Manor probably," she answered, drawing patterns on his chest with her finger. |
Books. That would be a good distraction from her worrying about the girls. His mother would be there as well and could keep her company if Hermione needed it. Scorpius came bounding back into the room looking excited. Hermione sat up and they both smiled at Scorpius" enthusiasm. |
"Come on, dad. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go," Scorpius said, pulling on Draco's arm to get him to stand up and get moving. |
"Alright," Draco said laughing and standing up. |
He bent down and kissed Hermione, biting her lip, and then rubbing his tongue against hers. He wanted to have her taste on him before he left. |
"Eww, gross. You can do that when we get back. Let's go!" Scorpius said, getting impatient and pulling on his arm so hard, Draco thought he might be trying to wrench it loose. |
"We're going over to the city center here in Cokeworth. We'll meet you at the Manor when we're done," Draco told Hermione, giving her one more peck on the lips before turning to Scorpius and letting himself be tugged away, "Alright, Mr. Impatient, let's go." |
He grasped Scorpius" shoulder and apparated them to the center of town just outside a jewelry store. He had a fondness for the owner, Tobias, who had named his store "The Dragon's Treasure" after Draco as a joke. He ushered Scorpius inside the store. |
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