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Hermione smacked his chest. "You can do it. I have faith in you." |
Hermione poked and prodded him until Draco relented and stood up straight. Draco pointed his wand at the bookcase. |
"Now, think of a happy memory. Let it fill you up. Then say the incantation: Expecto Patronum," Hermione instructed. |
Draco closed his eyes and thought of a happy memory. Scorpius immediately came to mind. The first time he'd ever been truly happy was after Scorpius was born. Draco held the tiny boy in one hand and ran his other across his son's perfect nose. Scorpius grasped his finger and held on so tight. |
Draco opened his eyes and said, "Expecto Patronum." |
Wisps of white smoke shot out of his wand before evaporating. Hermione clapped her hands. He tried several more times, only producing the thin wisps of white smoke. |
"That's really good," she cheered. "Try again. Pick a more powerful memory. Really focus on it." |
Draco closed his eyes again. He'd never been happier than when Hermione, Minerva, and Rose came into his and Scorpius" lives. It was like a missing piece clicked into place. Hermione's unwavering love. Becoming a father to Minerva and Rose. Giving Scorpius the mother he always wanted. The two new impending additions to their family, unexpected but welcome nonetheless. He allowed the happiness to fill him up. |
"Expecto Patronum," he said with his eyes still closed. |
"Oh, yes. That's it," Hermione said, clapping her hands again. |
Draco opened his eyes in time to see stronger, wisps of white smoke emitting from his wand. Hermione tugged happily on his free arm. |
"That's wonderful!" she exclaimed. "I think you might be able to produce a corporeal Patronus. Try again," she urged, pushing on his arm. |
"One thing," Draco said, looking at her seriously, "If it's a ferret, you can't tell Potter." |
Hermione laughed. "Try again," she said between snorts of laughter. |
Draco sighed. He knew he would never live it down if his Patronus ended up being a ferret. He tried and failed several more times. It was starting to get exhausting and emotionally draining. |
Draco dropped his arm wearily. "Hermione, can we stop for today?" |
"Just one more time. Please, please, please," Hermione begged. "You've almost got it." |
Draco nodded and closed his eyes. He allowed the memory of the time he and Hermione stared into each other's eyes as they made love. Him claiming her as his mate. Her reciprocation. The thread of gold that bound them together after they claimed each other. |
"Expecto Patronum!" Draco shouted. |
Hermione shrieked. Draco opened his eyes and looked at her. His Patronus circled her. It took Draco a moment to realize that it was a dragon. |
"He's beautiful," Hermione said in awe. "An Antipodean Opaleye, just like your wand core. I wonder..." Hermione said, then pointed her wand and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" |
Hermione's otter Patronus did not shoot out of her wand like Draco expected. Instead, another Antipodean Opaleye dragon shot out of her wand. It was obvious that it was the mate to Draco's Patronus by the way the two silvery dragons swirled and frolicked around each other before disappearing. |
"It changed," Draco said when the wisps finally died away. |
"That's what I thought would happen," Hermione said, pacing the room in thought. |
"You thought dragons would appear as our Patronuses?" Draco asked, watching her pace around the room. |
Hermione stopped pacing to look at him. Her mouth was lifted up in a mischievous smirk. "No, I honestly expected them to be ferrets. Have you ever tried to find out what your animagus form is?" she teased. |
"Malfoys do not transfigure themselves into animals," Draco responded stiffly. Mostly because he was afraid it would be a ferret. |
Hermione laughed and then continued to pace the room. She picked at her nails and gnawed on her lip, deep in thought. |
"Care to share with the rest of the class?" Draco asked. |
Hermione stopped her pacing and looked over at him. "I was thinking about soulmates. Love can change a Patronus. I've seen that before," Hermione said and started pacing in circles around him as she explained. "I wish we knew what your Patronus was before we got together, whether it's always been a dragon, or if it changed as well. Since our wands are mates, it makes me wonder if that affected the Patronus incantation." |
"But we've both had our wands for years now," Draco interjected, "and we know that your Patronus was an otter before today." |
Hermione thankfully stopped pacing. Draco was getting dizzy trying to keep up with her. "That's true. Maybe there's a certain amount of acknowledgment needed." |
"But the cuff appeared on your arm without either of us knowing what was going on," Draco pointed out. |
Hermione looked at him in exasperation. "Will you stop poking holes in my theories?" she said huffily as she stamped her foot. |
Draco laughed. He wrapped his arms around Hermione's resisting front. "Don't be mad," Draco breathed into her ear, "It doesn't always have to make sense right away." |
Hermione relaxed into his embrace. Her hands rested on his clasped around her middle. "I don't like unanswered questions," she responded. |
Draco didn't remind her that there were a few unanswered questions about her relationship with Weasley. He didn't want her dwelling on that emotional trauma. Not in her condition. Not when he agreed with Harry that there was more harm in knowing than not knowing. |
"Sometimes," Draco said, nuzzling her neck, "magic defies logic." |
Hermione nodded her head. "What's your theory?" she asked in curiosity. |
Draco sighed, knowing Hermione wouldn't be able to let it go without some answer. "I think it's largely been chance and circumstance. We both got our wands when we were children before we even knew each other. Before we really knew ourselves. Circumstances of birth and upbringing pushed us apart. Our choices and those of others kept us apart. Chance brought us together again, gave us another chance to find our way to each other. We knew each other when we each picked out our second wands. Old enough to know ourselves better. How many people need to get a second wand in their lifetimes? Wands last for generations and are often passed down. My father's wand was rumored to be a thousand years old. The wand of Armand Malfoy." |
"Maybe it's fate," Hermione said in thought. |
Hermione moved out of his embrace and went to sit on the sofa in front of the fire. Draco followed her. He sat on the other end of the sofa and faced her with his knee pulled up on the sofa and his back resting against the armrest. |
"How so?" Draco asked. |
"The Malfoy wand was destroyed. A wand that was believed to have been owned by the wizard that created the cuffs that appear on Malfoy soulmates." Hermione took a deep breath and looked up at him. "Your wand," she continued, pointing at him, "is a replica of sorts of that wand. Maybe it's fate that we have these mated wands." |
"Maybe so," Draco answered. |
Draco looked at the clock on the mantel. They had to leave for Parkinson Lodge soon. Then there was the dinner party Daphne was throwing that evening. |
"We've got to leave for tea with the Parkinson's soon," Draco said. |
Hermione rose off the sofa. "I should go freshen up then." At the door, she turned to look back at him. "You remembered to ask your mother to pick up Rose?" she asked. |
Draco smiled at how domestic their lives seemed at times. "Yes, I remembered," he answered. "She said she'd meet us at the Nott's for dinner." |
Hermione looked confused for a moment, then her face cleared. "Oh, that's right. We're supposed to be groveling tonight." |
Draco laughed as Hermione walked out the door and up to their room to freshen up. Grovelling to Daphne about how horrible they were wasn't the only thing they had to do tonight. |
Draco went over to his side of the desk and opened the bottom drawer. He tapped his wand on the false bottom of the drawer, and the panel popped up to reveal a scroll tied with green ribbon. The scroll was heavy with all the blank seals already affixed to it. |
Draco called Tansy, and the elf appeared by his side in an instant. He handed the elf the scroll. |
"Take this to Theo, please, Tansy. Tell him to keep it safe for me but not to open it or he'll ruin the enchantments on it," Draco instructed Tansy. |
"Yes, Master Draco," Tansy said cheerily and was gone with a snap of her fingers. |
The receiving room of Parkinson Lodge was like many in large, ancestral, pureblood manors. All were meant to impress the importance of the family that owned the manor. |
Parkinson Lodge was no different in this instance. Draco and Hermione stepped out of the Parkinson fireplace onto the black and white checkered, marble floor. Paintings of important Parkinson ancestors adorned the walls in their gilt frames. A rather imposing portrait of Perseus Parkinson who was the Minister of Magic from 1726 to 1733 held the place of honor directly across from the fireplace. |
Draco rather hoped that Perseus kept his anti-Muggle sentiments to himself. It simply wasn't done to incinerate a painting while a guest in someone's home. |
Posie Parkinson saved her husband's ancestral painting by gliding into the room. And by gliding, Draco meant clomping in on her stilettos like a Clydesdale. Despite her daughter's fashion success, Posie had never managed to look good walking in heels. Draco imagined it grated on Pansy's nerves that her mother persisted in wearing the shoes. The peach dress she wore though was flattering on her voluptuous figure. |
Posie held out a manicured hand to Draco and Hermione. "It's so wonderful to see you both," the witch gushed in a raspy voice. |
Draco grasped the manicured hand and kissed the air over her bejeweled fingers, causing the woman to simper. "Very lovely to see you again, Mrs. Parkinson." Draco released Posie's hand and turned her attention to Hermione. "Allow me to introduce you to Hermione Granger." |
"Silly boy," Posie chided him with a wave of her hand, "we met at the ball." Posie leaned forward and kissed the air beside each of Hermione's cheeks. "Lovely to see you again, darling. You are simply glowing. You must tell me what skin charms you use." |
Posie hooked an arm through Hermione's and steered her out of the room, the pair of them looking slightly inebriated as they crookedly made their way out of the receiving room to the solarium where the Parkinson's traditionally took tea. |
Jonathan Parkinson stood with his back to them by one of the large windows. Judging by the smell of tobacco and flowers in the air, Draco guessed that Jon was trying to have a discreet smoke while his wife was away. Draco saw a cloud of smoke drift past the window before Jon turned with a smile. |
Jonathan Parkinson was a rotund man with a definite receding hairline. He wore a black pinstripe vest over a white long-sleeve shirt. A bit of ash had landed on the front of his vest. He came forward to shake Draco's hand in greeting. |
"Good to see you, my boy, good to see you," Jon greeted exuberantly while he pumped Draco's hand. |
"It's good to see you again, Mr. Parkinson," Draco responded with a smile, "Thank you for inviting us to tea." More quietly, he said, "Dust your vest off." |
Jon looked down and noticed the bit of ash clinging to his vest. He brushed the ash away and winked conspiratorily at Draco. Jon then turned his attention to his wife and Hermione admiring Posie's roses growing in an ornate planter by one of the windows. |
"I see you've brought the great Hermione Granger with you," Jon boomed to gain the ladies attention. |
Jon crossed the room and lifted Hermione's outstretched hand to kiss the air over it. |
"Lovely to see you again, Mr. Parkinson," Hermione said, smiling at the man. |
Posie led them over to the spindly, Victorian sofas facing each other in the middle of the room. The uncomfortable-looking sofas were upholstered in white and gold damask and looked like they would fall apart if anyone dared to place their posterior on one of them. |
Draco tried to look casual as he perched on one of the sofas, ready to catch Hermione should he hear any threatening cracking noises. The sofa across from them seemed to bear the weight of the portly Parkinsons with ease, leading Draco to believe that the fragile-looking furniture was magically reinforced. |
A house elf wearing a pastel pink, girl's party dress walked into the solarium pushing a tea cart. The elf placed a platter of macaroons, biscotti, and chocolate biscuits on the table between the two sofas. |
"Tulip," Posie addressed the elf, "Would you please be a dear and pour for us?" |
"Of course, mistress," Tulip said in a high, chirpy voice. |
The four of them talked of inconsequential things as Tulip prepared and handed them their tea. The weather. A dragon sighting off the coast of Wales. The Puddlemere Keeper than ran off with a tavern barmaid. |
Tulip handed Hermione a cup whose contents were very different than everyone else's and very similar to the tea Hermione now drank at home. When Hermione looked questioningly at the elf, Tulip explained brightly, "Tansy tells me this afternoon that mistress needs special tea so as not to hurt the babies. Tulip made mistress" favorite tea for her." |
"Oh," Hermione said, turning a bit pink, "Thank you very much, Tulip." |
Tulip bobbed a curtsey, oblivious to the uncomfortable air that hung over the room, and left them to their tea. |
Draco looked over at the Parkinson's expecting to see censure in their expressions. Posie looked pleased, not necessarily pleased that Hermione was pregnant, but more like pleased that she had gossip that the other witches in her social group didn't have and she couldn't wait to tell them. Jon, on the other hand, looked relieved, which Draco thought to be odd. |
"Well, my boy, that explains why you're pushing this divorce bill through. Can't have the Malfoy progeny born on the wrong side of the blanket," Jon guffawed, good-naturedly. |
Posie smacked her husband's arm with the back of her hand. "Jonathan," she said in mock exasperation. |
Draco then realized in an instant why Jon looked so relieved to find out about Hermione's pregnancy. While Jonathan Parkinson might want a divorce for his daughter, he didn't necessarily want the entire Wizarding community to know that it was because Pansy's husband was gay. Jonathan Parkinson didn't want any negative attention that revelation might cause tainting his daughter. |
Draco took Hermione's free hand. The blush was fading from her cheeks. He squeezed her hand, hoping she'd understand and play along. |
"Yes," Draco said, "We're quite eager to see this divorce bill get passed through as quickly as possible." |
Posie leaned forward eagerly, "Did I hear Tulip correctly when she said babies, as in more than one?" |
Hermione placed a hand on her abdomen. "Draco and I are expecting twins," Hermione said happily as if she were imparting this information to a cherished aunt. |
"Such a blessing," Jon beamed. |
"And when are you due?" Posie asked. |
"The Healers say around early September," Hermione said, fudging the timing a little. Hermione then leaned forward and said conspiratorially, "They'll be born right around the same time as our friends" baby. Harry and Ginny are expecting their third around June." |
Posie Parkinson practically glowed at this juicy bit of gossip. She had gossip on the newest Potter addition before even the Prophet had started to speculate. |
"Of course, we're keeping this news to our close friends and family for the time being, since carrying twins is considered a complicated pregnancy," Hermione said, not adding the implied and you thus giving the impression that the Parkinsons were of course included in their close circle of friends. |
"That's quite wise," Posie said sympathetically as if she thought Hermione was fragile. Though maybe the look was from a sense of shared loss. |
Hermione steered the conversation with Posie to all things baby related. Draco's mind boggled listening to the two women natter on about morning sickness, food cravings, or how Pansy apparently had the hiccups all the time in utero. |
Jon interrupted the two ladies, "I think I'll take Draco for a turn around the kennels." |
Draco followed Jon out of the Parkinson's solarium and across the snow-covered lawn to the large converted stable tucked back in the corner of the lawn. A fenced-off area surrounded the kennel, though all the doors leading outside were closed because of the cold. |
Jon opened the door of the kennel and he and Draco stepped inside out of the cold. The sound of yapping crups greeted them. The horse stalls were now converted into spacious areas for litters of crup puppies. The puppies crowded around the doors to their stalls, yapping madly for attention. |
The puppies eventually grew bored with the two wizards and went back to their own games, some with their small forked tails wagging. |
"So you'll marry the girl as soon as this divorce bill passes?" Jon asked with a paternal air. |
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