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Dataset card Data Studio Files
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Draco leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs. He looked seriously at Minerva. Draco’s mouth felt suddenly dry as nervousness overcame him. 
"It is customary for the man to ask his intended bride's father or brother, if the father is deceased, for permission to ask for their intended’s hand," Draco answered. It took all his fortitude not to stammer the rest out. "Since that's not really an option, I thought I would ask you, Minerva."
"Me?" Minerva asked incredulously. 
Draco smiled at the astonished look on her face. "Yes, you." Draco took both her hands in his. He felt a faint tremor and didn't know if it was her shaking or him. "Will you give me your blessing to ask your mother to be my wife?"
Minerva withdrew her hands from his grasp. Her lip trembled and a single tear slid down her cheek. She nodded her head twice slowly looking down at her trembling hands clasped in her lap before she looked up and meet his gaze.
"I give you," she started hoarsely and then cleared her throat and started again with more assurance, "I give you my blessing on behalf of myself and my sister."
Draco cleared his own throat. He was struggling not to become overwhelmed with emotion. He could only imagine how interesting everyone would find that.
"Hey," Scorpius interjected, "What about me? Are you going to ask me for my blessing?" 
Draco broke out into loud laughter. He reached over and ruffled his son’s hair. "I think we know your feelings on the matter," Draco joked. When Scorpius looked like he was going to interject more, Draco held up his hand, "You got to pick out the ring, so don’t act like you’re being left out."
"He got to pick out the ring!" Minerva complained. 
Scorpius and Minerva started squabbling good-naturedly about their roles so far in their parents’ upcoming nuptials, as well as future roles to come. Draco tuned them out and stared unseeing at the aquarium wall. 
He wanted to ask her to marry him soon. He didn’t want to wait until Valentine’s Day which was almost a month away, besides that was too trite. He wanted them to at least be engaged when word broke of her pregnancy. He didn’t want people to be counting back on their fingers and thinking his children might be the Weasel’s, though many probably would try anyway. 
Hermione returned from her meeting with Neville. Draco raised his wand and quickly canceled the Muffliato charm. That would surely raise questions from Hermione on why he felt the need to cast the spell. Minerva and Scorpius flawlessly changed their argument to a Potions argument. 
Hermione sat down on the leather sofa beside Draco. "What did I miss?" she asked, looking at the three of them in turn. 
"No-thing," Scorpius and Minerva sing-songed in unison.
"Smooth," Draco teased. He turned to face Hermione. She looked suspiciously at him. Draco hoped to distract her by asking, "What did Neville want?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes at Draco but answered the question anyway. "He wanted to let me know that we’ll need a new Care of Magical Creatures professor soon."
"Please tell me you’re not going to appoint Hagrid," Draco groaned.
"No," Hermione laughed. "I love Hagrid dearly, but he is not cut out to be a teacher. Besides, I’m not officially the head of Magical Education anymore, so I don’t have a say over who gets appointed."
"Thank God," Draco sighed dramatically. "Not thank God that you’re not the head of Magical Education anymore," Draco amended hastily as he caught sight of Hermione’s arched eyebrow. He added, "You’re on the Wizengamot now, you could assign yourself to Magical Education if you wanted."
Hermione sat there mulling over his words. 
"Mum," Scorpius interjected, pulling Hermione out of her thoughts. 
"Yes, dear," Hermione responded, casting a curious glance at Scorpius and Minerva.
"We’re glad to see you and all," Scorpius started uncomfortably.
"But we have a test tomorrow in Herbology," Minerva finished. 
Draco frowned a little to himself to find that he was being dismissed by his children in favor of studying. He looked over to the table the kids had vacated and found James, Drake, Florence, and "Mione still over there with their heads down, studying. 
"Of course, you should go back to studying," Hermione said. She stood and they all followed her example by standing as well. Hermione looked around the room one last time. "It is so odd being in here," she mused.
Hestia came out such with impeccable timing that Draco wondered if she used charms to monitor the goings-on in the common room. Considering the shenanigans he got up to in this room, he felt a little relieved by the idea.
"Oh, I’m glad I caught you before you left," Hestia said in a rush as she walked over to where they were standing. "I thought I would save you the trek back up the stairs and offer the use of my Floo."
"That’s so thoughtful of you," Hermione gushed. 
Hestia guided them over to her quarters and gestured for Minerva and Scorpius to follow along. When they passed through into Hestia’s office, Draco saw that there were indeed monitoring charms set up in the common room. Framed paintings stood in two rows of three paintings on either side of the door. In each painting, a portion of the common room was shown. 
"Monitoring charms," Hermione commented.
Hestia puffed up in pride as she turned to survey the paintings. "Yes, I got the idea from watching a Muggle TV show called Las Vegas the summer before I became the Slytherin Head of House."
"No wonder your Slytherins are so well behaved," Hermione said.
"Well, they still get into mischief from time to time, but that’s to be expected," Hestia said, smiling indulgently at the screens and at Scorpius and Minerva, who were watching the paintings with wrapt attention. Hestia turned to Hermione and Draco and said, "I’ll give you a few moments to say goodbye, but please knock on my door after. I would like to have a few words with you both."
Draco nodded his assent and watched as Hestia retreated through another door in the room. The Head’s office was much more cheery than when his godfather resided here. A warm light glowed from overhead. Blankets and throw pillows adorned the leather seating area. Bottles of potions and various ingredients lined a wall beside the desk. On the other wall was a set of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves completely stuffed with books.
Draco turned back to find Hermione with an arm around each child, murmuring goodbyes and endearments, and probably a few admonishments in as well. 
"Come on. Let’s let them get back to their friends," Draco said.
He hugged Scorpius, resisting the urge to ruffle his hair again. Minerva came to him next and gave him a fierce hug. He saw Scorpius sneak one more hug from Hermione before leaving the room. Minerva released him and said a quick "Love you," to both of them before following Scorpius from the room.
Draco went over and rapped once on the door of Hestia’s private quarters. He walked back over to where Hermione was standing near the fireplace to give the professor some privacy as she came out of her personal space.
He and Hermione looked expectantly at Hestia as she crossed over to where they were standing after she closed the door to her room. 
"It’s nothing bad," Hestia started. "I just thought I might offer you the use of my Floo if you needed to visit the children in the future."
"That is a very kind offer and we appreciate it," Hermione said. "We are hoping that all the drama is finally at an end and the children can enjoy a more normal school year."
"Nonetheless, the offer is always there if you need it," Hestia reaffirmed.
"Would you tell the headmistress that we’ve left?" Hermione asked. "I don’t want to keep her waiting for us."
"Absolutely," Hestia nodded.
Draco guided Hermione over to the fireplace. "We’ll get out of your hair now. We really appreciate everything you’re doing for the children."
Hestia waved the comment away in an "It’s nothing" gesture. 
They left Hogwarts and went back home to rest before what Draco had no doubt would be another busy day.
Draco groaned as he opened the paper and looked at the front page. It was as predicted. Speculation abounded at how much Hermione knew of her husband’s affair. The only mention of Granger House appeared as a connection to Hermione and Lavender’s supposed collusion.
"What is it?" Hermione asked as she walked into the dining room.
Draco looked up at the worried frown on Hermione’s face. "Just what we thought it would be," he said dismissively.
Hermione fixed herself a plate of food from the buffet and came to sit down. Draco pulled her chair out as always and dropped a kiss on her upturned lips. He lingered over her mouth. He delved in to find the taste of peppermint still lingering on her tongue. She moaned against his mouth. 
It was occasionally beneficial to not have to worry about propriety at the breakfast table. Draco and Hermione wouldn’t be able to do this if Rose were here, though he missed her bright chatter this morning. 
Draco’s hand drifted down, and he squeezed her breast softly. Hermione moaned again and arched into his touch. He was tempted to haul her up onto the breakfast table and make a meal of her.
"For the love of God, don’t you two have a bedroom for that," Theo complained as he walked into the dining room. He went over to the buffet and started heaping his plate with bacon, eggs, and toast.
"By all means, help yourself, Theo," Draco drawled sarcastically. He dropped a quick, disappointed kiss on Hermione’s lips before retaking his seat.
Daphne walked into the dining room looking a little green about the gills. "God, I hate Floo travel," she complained.
Theo helped Daphne seat herself across from Hermione. He gave his wife a worried glance before sitting down beside her. Daphne reached over and plucked a piece of dry toast from Theo’s plate.
The room’s four occupants fell into silence. The sounds of silverware lightly scraping on china seemed unnervingly loud. 
The two witches in the room seemed to be in their own battle of wills. Hermione looked over at Daphne, but when Daphne looked up from the small plate in front of her, Hermione would look down again. Daphne would then repeat the process. 
Theo sighed loudly when he finally looked up from hungrily wolfing down his breakfast and saw the strange avoidance game the two were playing. He opened his mouth to make what Draco thought would be some snarky comment for the two to kiss and make up. Draco shook his head to silence Theo. The two witches were both stubborn, but fully capable of fixing their friendship themselves and probably wouldn't welcome Draco or Theo’s intervention.
Finally, Hermione set down her fork with a sharp clink on the plate and looked over at Daphne. "I know you don't understand why I forgave Lavender, but it's my decision," Hermione snapped defensively.
Not the best start to a reconciliation, Draco thought.
Daphne looked across the table at Hermione with a stubborn set to her jaw. "No. I don't understand how you could forgive her. She slept with your husband." Daphne practically screeched "husband" at Hermione. Daphne took a deep breath trying to calm herself. "I keep trying to put myself in your shoes, but I can’t do it. I can’t understand forgiving her. If some bitch put her hands on my husband," Daphne said clenching her fists in anger at the thought, the dry toast in her hand was ground into crumbs on the table. 
Theo reached over hand put a calming hand on one of her clenched fists. He gently pried her fingers apart and removed the remains of the toast from her hand. "Hey. Look at me," Theo coaxed. When Daphne complied with his request, Theo reached up and ran a finger down her cheek. "You know that I would never disrespect you like that, even if I didn’t love you more than life itself."
Daphne nodded and set her free hand on his. "I know. I’m just trying to put myself in her shoes," Daphne said nodding her chin over at Hermione.
"I think the reason you can’t understand, Daphne, is because you know that Theo would never put you in a similar situation," Hermione said kindly. She reached over for Draco’s hand, and he placed it in her upturned palm. "Just as I know that Draco would never put me in that situation either."
"Damn straight," Draco said, rubbing his thumb across her hand.
"Then why?" Daphne asked plaintively. "Help me understand why."
Hermione clenched Draco’s hand. "Lavender came by the day before Ron’s trial."
"How dare she!" Daphne cut in indignantly.
Hermione held up her free hand and made a shushing motion at Daphne. "I had a similar reaction when Draco told me that she was in our living room. I thought she was going to beg for leniency for Ron."
Daphne snorted in disgust.
"But, I was surprised to learn that she only came over to apologize to me. She told me her story."
Daphne looked like she wanted to interrupt and ask what the story was, but Hermione forestalled her again.
"That’s her story to tell if she wishes it. I didn’t agree with the path she took, but I empathized with her. There’s not much I wouldn’t do for my kids, so I understood why she felt being with Ron was the only option she had," Hermione said.
Daphne looked like she still wasn’t convinced. "Okay. Understand her reasoning. I can get that, but why forgive her. She was the reason Weasley was obliviating you."
"At first, yes hiding her was the reason," Hermione answered.
Daphne looked vindicated.
Draco felt his breakfast settle like a lead weight in his stomach at Hermione’s words. He wanted to pull Hermione into his lap to convince himself that she was there and safe. To make himself feel better about not rescuing her sooner. He hated that he hadn’t been a part of her life sooner. Hadn’t known that something was wrong.
"Ron was responsible for his actions though, not Lavender," Hermione continued. She held up her hand again. "And before you say it, I don’t think she had any knowledge of what Ron was doing to me."
Daphne nodded solemnly. "You said "at first,’" she said quietly.
"Yes," Hermione acknowledged. "I have a feeling that Ron liked having that power over me and used it to take advantage of me. Even though I don't know what he did to me, I have accepted that he raped me, even if I gave consent at the time. I wouldn't have stayed with him or consented to have sex with him if he hadn't obliviated me into forgetting about his affair."
Daphne wrenched her hands from Theo’s grasp and covered her mouth with them. She stared at Hermione in wide-eyed horror. Tears welled up in her eyes. Theo set a consoling hand across Daphne’s shoulders.
Hermione leaned across the table with her hands outstretched. Daphne met her halfway and grasped Hermione’s outstretched hands firmly. 
"I forgave her because I needed to heal. I needed to be able to put this behind me and move on with my life. I gave her a job so that she could move on with hers too. So that she wouldn’t be dependent on a man to provide for her," Hermione said quietly.
"I’m so sorry, Hermione," Daphne choked out. 
Hermione ducked her head, and Draco couldn’t stand not touching her anymore. He got up from his seat and moved Hermione’s chair back causing her to lose her grasp on Daphne. Draco picked Hermione up out of her chair and sat her back down in his lap with her legs dangling over the side of the chair. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and tucked her head under his chin. Draco squeezed her to him as if he were trying to absorb her pain into himself. 
Hermione moved back and looked up at him. Draco wondered what his face looked like because concern was the foremost emotion etched on Hermione’s face. Her hand moved from behind his neck and came to rest on his cheek. Draco leaned into her tender touch and stared into her eyes. 
"I’m okay, Draco," Hermione soothed him. 
It made Draco feel like shit that she was soothing him over her pain. Her experiences. That wasn’t how it was supposed to work. 
"I should have done something sooner," Draco told her, his tone full of remorse.
Hermione leaned forward and kissed him on his nose. Draco couldn’t help the unwilling smile that was forced onto his face at the childishly cute gesture.
"You didn’t know. I didn’t know. No one knew what Ron was doing to me. There was nothing that any of us could have done differently. It’s over now. It’s time to move on with our lives," Hermione told him with determination. 
Draco nodded in agreement. "I think you’re right."
"Hermione," Daphne said, calling their attention back to her, "I have to ask. Do you want to find out what memories he took from you?" 
Hermione shook her head. "I think it’s for the best to just let this sleeping dog lie. For my mental health and my current condition, I’m going to let it go and console myself with the knowledge that Ron is paying for his crimes." 
"I thought we could work out a rough plan before our meeting with the Minister this morning," Theo said, not unkindly, but wanting, Draco was sure, to draw the conversation to less distressing topics.
Hermione shifted off of Draco’s lap and moved into the chair next to him. "So our goal should be to get leadership or oversight roles in as many departments as we can without making it look like we’re trying to take over the Ministry," Hermione addressed them.