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Harry slid the parchment over so that it was in front of him. "I would like the honors of going first," he said with a smile and placed his wand over a blank seal below Hermione's name. Harry's name appeared along with his seal, a phoenix rising from the ashes. The motto that appeared around the seal read: Ego renascitur. (I am reborn) Harry kissed Hermione's temple, and he and Ginny moved aside to stand beside Theo on the other side of the table. |
Neville silently took Harry's place as a witness and placed his wand over a blank seal with little ceremony. A rearing, golden lion appeared in the middle of a green field. The motto read: Ego sum dignus. (I am worthy) Neville gave Hermione a quick hug and moved to stand beside Harry. |
Hannah quietly took Neville's place and placed her wand over the last blank seal. A white, orange, and black koi fish appeared in blue waters. Around the seal read the words: Difficultates et incommoda. (I surmount all difficulties) |
Daphne gestured for the scroll to be passed to her. "I'll represent our family since Theo is unable to act as a witness." A dolphin swimming in a blue-green sea appeared on the seal below Draco's name. Her motto read: Ego acres tulit intrepidus. (I am undaunted) |
Blaise took the scroll from Daphne and silently placed his wand over the seal next to hers. A fox romping in a meadow appeared in the empty seal with the motto around the outside: Sono degno di amore. (I am worthy of love.) He smiled at Draco and Hermione. "I hope this will begin to make up for my earlier idiocy." |
Draco grunted as a response. It was unclear whether the grunt was affirmative. Draco wasn't exactly ready to forgive. Blaise seemed to let the matter lie. |
Greg took the scroll from Blaise. He placed his wand over the last seal. A large, black bear with a mountain range behind him filled in the seal. His motto: Intra certamen ego inveni veras vires. (Within the struggle, I found my true strength) |
Theo summoned the scroll from the end of the table. He rolled it up and secured it with a blue ribbon. Theo then placed the scroll in Hermione's hands. |
"Congratulations, Hermione. You are now a member of the Wizengamot at long last," Theo congratulated. |
Draco wrapped an arm around Hermione, and she beamed up at him as she wrapped her arm around his waist. |
"Thank you for this," Hermione said quietly. |
Draco kissed her softly. "You deserve it." |
Hermione whistled loudly calling all attention to her, "I just want to tell you all thank you for being a part of this. It means so much to Draco and I that you are a part of our lives." |
Hermione released her hold on Draco's waist and moved off in one direction to say goodbye to their friends. Draco moved off in another. He hugged Greg and kissed Helena on the cheek. Tracey was over talking to Hermione. |
Draco wrapped an arm around Blaise's neck in a tight hold. "The next time you call a child of mine "a little shit," mate, you won't need to fear Hermione, because they'll never find your body." |
Blaise's dark skin took on a satisfying grayish cast. Draco dropped his hold on Blaise and faced him. |
Blaise rubbed his neck and looked uncomfortable. "I'm really sorry about that, Draco. I know I overreacted, but she's my little girl. I don't want her growing up knowing that she has no choice in who she marries," Blaise said in a tone that pleaded for Draco to understand. Blaise gestured over to the sofa where Rose and Albus were sleeping. "How would you feel if someone told you that their son was destined to marry your daughter?" |
Draco kept his gaze on Rose's angelic face. "I hear Azkaban isn't that bad anymore," Draco said lightly. "Aside from the company," he added derisively. He turned and faced Blaise seriously, "I understand wanting to protect your daughter, but I'm not going to tolerate my son being disrespected. He didn't ask for this either." As a parting remark, Draco said, "Just so you know, when we told Scorpius about the cuff, his first concern was your daughter and not taking away her choice. His first reaction was to put your daughter's happiness over his own." |
Draco left Blaise standing in the middle of the room looking flabbergasted and slightly defensive. |
Draco walked over to where Rose and Albus were sleeping soundly on the sofa. Harry stood in front of them gazing down at the two angelic-looking children. |
"They always look the sweetest when they're asleep," Harry said in greeting when Draco drew up level with him. |
"I think it's nature's way of reminding you not to strangle them when they're acting like a bunch of demons," Draco responded. |
Harry huffed a quiet laugh. |
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Draco looked around the room to make sure they weren't going to be overheard. Hermione was talking with his mother and Helena now. Draco grabbed Harry's arm, and Harry looked over curiously at him. |
"What was the look for at dinner?" Draco whispered. |
Harry looked down at the children before he returned his gaze to Draco. "Nothing," he answered. |
"Don't lie to me," Draco whispered harshly. "I saw you when Hermione's pregnancy with Rose was mentioned. What was wrong with Hermione's pregnancy?" |
Draco's gut clenched at the thought of unknown complications. Hermione never mentioned anything, but Draco was sure she wouldn't want him to worry more than he already was. |
"It was nothing, Draco," Harry said quietly. There was a firmness in his voice that Draco had never heard before. "There was nothing wrong with her pregnancy." |
"You're not going to fob me off with that non-answer. What the hell was with that look?" |
Harry shrugged off Draco's hand and resumed looking down at the children. "I'll never tell," he said quietly. |
A chill settled over Draco at those quietly whispered words. That day at the Ministry came flooding back to him. Harry's bruised knuckles. Weasley's battered face. A hatred that Draco had never seen in Harry before. Draco hadn't wanted to think about what Harry knew. He'd been actively trying to put it from his mind. |
Now this. Those words. Draco's mind started racing. Hermione's pregnancy with Rose. She hadn't wanted more children after Minerva. Hermione's obliviation after Minerva's fall off the broom. A thought so horrible, Draco's mind refused to even think the words. |
"No," he choked out. "No, no, no." |
"Control your face," Harry said harshly, looking over his shoulder. "She can't know. She doesn't need to know." |
"How can you expect me to," Draco started. |
Harry interrupted. "Look at her," he said as he gestured at the sleeping Rose. Harry turned and nodded his head over in Hermione's direction, "And her." |
Hermione was smiling and laughing. She was surrounded by their friends. |
Harry continued, "They're happy. They're better off now." |
Harry bent down over the sofa. Draco watched as Harry brushed a red curl off Rose's face and kissed her cheek. He scooped up Albus. He straightened and patted his son's back soothingly. |
"How am I supposed to know this and not say anything to her?" Draco protested vehemently. "I love her. I don't know if I can keep this from her." |
"Do you think that I don't love her? She's been my best friend since we were children, like a sister to me. You'll do it for the same reason I do," Harry said quietly. "The one thing he did right was leave her with no memory of what he did to her. The best thing we can do is not tell her about what she doesn't remember." |
Draco nodded and sat heavily on the sofa beside Rose. She murmured a sleepy protest. Needing some comfort, Draco picked Rose up and held her limp form in his lap. She curled into his side and held onto his shirt. They'd sat like this so many times. His sweet Rose. |
"Does knowing what you know change how you feel about Rose?" Harry asked, looking down at the two of them. |
"No," Draco answered truthfully. "He deserves to die, Harry." |
Harry looked coldly at him. "Death would be too quick for him." |
Ginny called over to Harry. Harry looked at his wife then turned back to Draco. "Have a good night, Draco. Try not to think about it too much." |
Harry left Draco sitting on the sofa cuddling Rose. Draco watched as Harry walked over to Hermione and Ginny. Harry hugged Hermione and wrapped an arm around Ginny's shoulders. |
Draco should have asked Harry how he did it. How he acted so normal around Hermione without giving anything away. |
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Hermione walked over and sat down beside him. Draco wrapped his free arm around her shoulders. She smiled up at him, her gaze so full of love. Draco didn't think he could turn that gaze into one of pain and horror. He couldn't tell her. He wouldn't tell her if he didn't have to. |
"I love you," Draco said simply. Those three little words weren't enough to convey how he felt about her. That he would do anything for her, even suffer with this knowledge alone to protect her. |
Hermione leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you, too." |
Theo cleared his throat, and they turned their attention to Daphne and Theo sitting in the chair beside them. Theo had drawn Daphne down to sit on his lap. Draco saw Theo's thumb graze over the skin of Daphne's waist under Daphne's shirt. |
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Theo asked. |
"I think as ready as we'll ever be," Hermione said. Hermione took a shaky breath. She placed a hand on his thigh. "We wanted to tell you something. Without the others around." |
Daphne cast them a concerned look. "Is everything okay?" |
"It's about Scorpius," Hermione said. "When we took Minerva back to school, Scorpius pulled me aside and asked me to be his mother. And I said that I would." |
Daphne looked shocked. "Are you going to adopt him like Draco adopted Minerva? Erase his mother from his blood?" she asked tearfully. |
Theo rubbed Daphne's back soothingly. |
Hermione leaned forward and looked directly at Daphne. She spoke kindly but firmly to Daphne. "I'm not going to adopt him like Draco adopted Minerva. There is no need and I'm not going to disrespect Astoria's memory by doing that." |
Hermione sat back and took Draco's hand in her own. Daphne nodded at Hermione. |
"This isn't about Astoria," Draco said sympathetically to Daphne. "Scorpius wants a mother. He needs more than just the stories we can tell him about his mother." |
Daphne sniffed. "I don't want my sister to be forgotten." |
"She won't be, Daphne," Draco said, "but I'm not going to deny Scorpius this. It's what's best for him, and I think Astoria would agree." |
"Thank you for telling us without the others around," Theo said quietly. |
Daphne nodded and slid off her husband's lap. She came over to their sofa and sat beside Hermione. "I'm sure Astoria would approve of you taking care of Scorpius since she couldn't be here to do it herself," Daphne said to Hermione. |
Hermione hugged Daphne. Draco heard Hermione murmur to Daphne, "Thank you for understanding." |
Draco stood and settled Rose higher up in his arms. Rose buried her face into his neck and used the hair at the nape of his neck to hold on to. Draco heard her whisper a sleepy "soft" against his neck. |
Draco gave Daphne an awkward one-armed hug and clapped Theo on the back. Draco, holding Rose, and Hermione took the Floo back to Spinner's End. They all went straight to bed upon arriving home. Tomorrow had the possibility of being a long day, and they needed their rest to be fully prepared. |
Draco had been up half the night. Dwelling on what he knew while he held Hermione in his arms. As the clock struck midnight, Draco started the process of pushing the disturbing revelations of the night before into a box. He packed the box away in the recesses of his mind. It was how he'd survived the war. The process took much more time than it used to. He was out of practice after all these years. |
Draco awoke not quite as refreshed as he hoped he would be. He brimmed with excitement as he greeted the day. The day had finally arrived. Four and a half months since that day on the platform. Such a short amount of time, yet so much had happened within the span of those four months. |
Draco already looked forward to the end of the day when they could walk from the council chamber, and Hermione would have the ability to set herself free from Ronald Weasley. |
While Draco was full of self-assurance that the day would go as planned, Hermione was a mass of nerves. She'd spent the early morning with her head hanging over the toilet, trying to wretch up the non-existent contents of her stomach. Whether her dry-heaving was the result of nerves or the early arrival of morning sickness, Draco wasn't exactly sure. He tried to be a supportive partner and hold her hair but was resoundingly shouted at for being in the bathroom while she was trying to "turn her stomach inside out." |
Hermione came down to breakfast looking decidedly green. When he rose to fix her a plate of food, she glared at him. Draco took that as a hint that she wouldn't thank him for waiting on her hand and foot at the moment. |
An under-filled plate of food was set down in front of her seat with a snap. Draco rose and pulled out her chair for her. She sullenly allowed him that small courtesy. |
Draco kissed the top of her head after he pushed her chair in and murmured, "Everything will go fine today, love. You'll see." |
Draco sat down and saw Hermione gnawing on her lip rather than eating the meager amount of eggs that she'd placed on her plate. |
"Everyone is going to vote against me," Hermione fretted. "I just know it. This is going to be a catastrophe, and I'm going to be the laughing stock of Wizarding Britain. We're going to have to move to France. No, that won't be far enough. We'll have to move to America. That's a big place. They won't know who we are there." |
Well, at least she was planning on taking him with her on her panicked and disgraced flight from the country. Draco was secretly amused that she thought they would lose today. He knew it was just nerves. He remembered being unable to eat before his first council meeting. |
"We're not going to have to emigrate to America, lioness," Draco said reassuringly. |
"How do you know?" Hermione retorted. |
Draco started rattling off the names of the people they knew were going to vote with them. "Harry, Greg, Theo, Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, Neville, Hannah, Mr. Parkinson, you, and me," Draco said, pointing at Hermione and then himself for the last two. "That is more than enough to win, and none of those people will change their votes." |
Hermione sighed. "I'm being silly," she said looking a bit embarrassed. |
"It's normal to be nervous," Draco reassured her. |
Tansy appeared at the doorway connecting the dining room to the kitchen. She handed each of them an envelope bearing the seal of the Ministry of Magic in red wax on the back. Draped over one arm were Hermione's Wizengamot robes with her family Coat of Arms embroidered on one side and the large "W" on the other. |
Draco took the envelope addressed to him, broke the seal, and pulled out the folded parchment. He unfolded it to read the familiar lines that he'd received many times during his time serving on the Wizengamot. |
Draco Lucius Malfoy |
Representative of the Most Noble House of Malfoy |
Mr. Malfoy, you are hereby summoned to represent your family on the Wizengamot council. This closed council session will be to rule on Bill Number 523,583; otherwise known as The Granger Bill. |
The council meeting starts at ten o'clock in the morning, today, the seventeenth day of January. Council will be held in the private council chambers. The doors will lock precisely at ten o'clock sharp and will not reopen until a two-thirds majority is reached. House elves are permitted to bring food and drinks while council is in session. |
Kingsley Shacklebolt |
Minister of Magic |
Representative of the Most Noble House of Shacklebolt |
"Most Noble House of Granger," Hermione said with some amusement. "Sounds a bit pretentious." |
"Just a bit," Draco smirked. "It's tradition." |
"I'm surprised I didn't receive a howler from Kingsley instead of a summons," Hermione said with some curiosity. |
"He likely doesn't know that you're a council member yet," Draco said. "The summons are all written magically." |
"Here are your robes, Mistress Hermione," Tansy interrupted, holding up the Wizengamot robes for Hermione to inspect. |
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