The calm atmosphere in the kitchen of his house was something Harry couldn't share with too many people in the moment. Neither his best friends nor his fiancée had the same life they had a year ago. Then they had seen each other all the time. They had shared their meals, their spare time, everything. It had been hard to get away at times, but now... He was starting to wonder, if he should ask Mrs. Weasley, if it was okay that he moved into the Burrow. Just as long as Ginny was still at Hogwarts, and played for the Holyhead Harpies. He sighed.
"Harry? Is everything okay?"
He looked up and found Hermione still sitting opposite him. Lost in his thoughts he had forgotten that she was actually there, that for once he wasn't on his own.
"Can I ask you something?"
She knew that something serious was bugging him. He never sought her consent for awkward questions, if it wasn't really serious.
"Of course you can. You always can. You know that, don't you?"
He nodded, then took a deep breath.
"What is it like to life with him? What is it like to wake up in the morning and the first thing you see is the face of somebody most people wouldn't wonder, if you hexed him on sight? What is he like when he's with you?"
She just looked at her friend for a long moment before answering. Still wondering where he was going with these questions.
"Draco is trying his best to be there for me. He would give his life for his son..."
"...and for you."
"And for me, yes. He's changed. It would be a lie, if I'd say it was plain sailing all from the start, but somehow we both were given the time to get used to one another. We talked a lot at the beginning, asked each other questions. We shared our hopes and dreams. Becoming a father had him freaking out sometimes, but he tried his best to not let me know just how frazzled he actually was. I feel safe when I'm with him. Draco has always been a bit extreme. He still is, but in a more controlled way now. He can be very gentle..."
The smile playing with her lips made Harry want to look away. He still had issues with the implications of what she was obviously thinking about. Imagining his friend being intimate with... No, better not go there.
"Sometimes he still thinks he can commandeer everybody around, including me. Though the last time he tried that..." she giggled, "Let's just say, he didn't get very far."
"Didn't get very far... Right. I'm sure, I don't want to know any details. Thank you."
Hermione blushed suddenly. She had just realised what else had been happening at her Wedding Ball. Blaise had suddenly taken an interest in Ginny. Though at least she didn't need to worry about that one any longer. Harry had told her about the Valentine's Day surprise he had had for her. Spending the night on a broom and then having a picnic on some remote mountain top in the middle of the night could really only appeal to these two broom fanatics.
"When did you know that you loved him though?"
They looked at each other. She knew that Harry hadn't been the fastest car in the shed when it came to realise that a certain redhead had been in love with him for as long as she knew him. But at least they had managed the get together in the end. When did she know she loved Draco?
"I think that was when he looked at me."
"When he looked at you?"
"He was holding me... in our first night... afterwards..."
Whatever had happened between them in the past, Harry knew that whatever had happened in that night had changed everything. It had rendered all the name calling, all the pranks and all her hidden tears void. Somehow their encounter had changed both of them.
Had he had a moment like this in his relationship with Ginny? If at all it had been that afternoon he'd kissed her for the first time in the Griffindor common room, in front of their entire house. His life had never been the same again afterwards.
"I think, I know what you mean. When I kissed Ginny for the first time it was as if the scrambled pieces of a puzzle suddenly fell into place. It was exhilarating and frightening at the same time. I knew she was the one for me. I wouldn't have to wonder ever again, if I would have enough courage to ask a girl out. She would be there for me. Whatever happened, she would be waiting for me. It was a strange feeling."
"When Draco was getting close to me at Hogwarts, at the Graduation Party when he found me, he was so different. If I had closed my eyes I wouldn't have recognised him from his words or actions. The tenderness, the gentle consideration of what I wanted and what I was comfortable with was what I had hoped for when I was with Ron. Somehow I felt special from the moment Draco said "Hi." that night. It could have been all one last big prank though. That was why I left him before he woke up. That was why I was so freaked out when I discovered I was pregnant. At that moment my life seemed over for me. If it had been Ron it would still have been a shock, but him? Draco Malfoy fathering a child with a Muggle born? Impossible."
"But he ended up in St. Mungo's because he thought you had taken him for a ride."
Hermione nodded. She still couldn't understand why he had done what he did. Just because he had thought she hadn't been sincere?
"He must have already loved you when you two..."
"Yes. He had told me that he loved me before we left Hogwarts. It would be a bit of an understatement to say I was surprised, shocked more like."
"Where did you go?"
"Malfoy Manor."
"What! He took you to the Manor?" Harry was genuinely shocked.
"I didn't know that it was the Manor. I thought it was some upmarket countryside hotel. All I could see from the windows was the park surrounding the house. I never left the room we had been in together. Not before he didn't know that he was the father to my child and I had spend a bit of time with him."
She stroked the white blond hair of her son.
It had only been last June that all this had happened, but it seemed a lifetime away. Just like the war, Dumbledore's funeral or the death of Voldemort seemed somehow surreal now. The memories were still as vivid as ever, but they had lost their painful edge.
"What is it like to know you'll spend the rest of your life with Ginny?"
Harry wasn't sure how to answer this. He had recently been put on a roller coaster of emotions where his fiancée was concerned. The fact that there had been other boys in her life before she had become his girlfriend he could live with. He knew the guys and he was still friends with Dean regardless. Blaise Zabini had been different though. That hadn't been a teenage crush. It had been love and Harry knew the difference by now. He loved Ginny, but Ron had only ever been a crush of Hermione. Zabini loved Ginny just as much as Harry loved her. Luckily for Harry she had chosen him and not the dark skinned snake.
For a moment he frowned. Was that what had happened to Snape? Had he finally been defeated by another guy? His father James, a Griffindor. Or had Lily Evans never known about Severus being in love with her? Had she regarded him as just a friend? Too many questions for which there was nobody really left to answer them. Lupin, Sirius, Peter Pettigrew, Snape, Dumbledore and his parents were all dead. He sighed. This war had not only killed people it had also interrupted the stream of history that needed to be passed down. How much knowledge and experience had been lost due to the mindless slaughter of innocent witches and wizards!
Both friends were lost in their own thoughts for a long while. Revisiting happier times, recalling scary moments lived through and finding solace in the knowledge that their children one day would be following in their footsteps discovering Hogwarts and its many secrets, while being able to enjoy life without the permanent danger of a demented, evil wizard waging war on the entire wizarding population.
The baby started fuzzing. Harry looked up and the deep grey of the infant's eyes was as unsettling as it had been the last time he saw it. It was like looking at a younger version of the ferret. Well, that was more or less what this still nameless new life was. Draco Malfoy could have tried to deny the parentage of this child until he was blue in the face. Nobody would ever believe him not to be of Malfoy decent.
The baby was getting restless and Harry was wondering what was wrong. As if reading his mind Hermione smiled at him and said, "He's hungry."
"Oh."
A moment later a frown situated between puzzlement and apprehension spread over his face.
"I don't have anything to eat for him. What does he eat?" he asked.
The smile his friend gave him was a bit unsettling. It reminded him of school, where she had always been looking at him like this when she knew something he didn't. Or if he knew, he normally didn't realise it until she coaxed it out off him.
"Don't worry, but if you don't mind I'll go upstairs into the drawing room to feed him."
The look in her eyes told him not to ask any question. So he just nodded. As he followed her with his gaze as she left the kitchen a bit of information was pushing itself to the foreground of his thoughts. Hermione was the mother of the infant. She was a girl. She could feed him without any outside help... Harry blushed.
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Henri Shaw had tried to send Draco home to his witch, but he had refused. He wanted to find out what ever else his father had tried to put into his will in order for him not to inherit. So he was now sitting in an office with a weather beaten middle aged auror going by the name of William Allerby. There were papers laid out all over the large desk, neatly arranged in different piles. The older man was going through all the parchments on the left and move d them to a specific position on the right. It looked a bit chaotic, but Draco had realised early on that there was a system as to where each sheet was positioned on the right hand side half of the table.
After about two hours all papers had been gone through and a face betraying its owner to be lost deep in his thoughts was glancing at the younger wizard opposite him.
"This is rather unusual." he finally said.
"What have you found? Anything we don't know about yet?"
Allerby pursed his lips, "I better see the Minister right away."
"I'll come with you."
The look Draco was given would have probably prevented most people from pursuing this ambition any further. It didn't work on the intended person though.
A curtly nod was the only response.
Kingsley Shaklebolt had been wondering, if he should wait until he heard the good news of Lucius Malfoy's more than timely demise before he had another glass of alcohol free Firewhiskey or not. A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in."
"I'm sorry to trouble you personally, Minister, but as things are..."
'Oh-oh... more bad news. Just as things were supposed to look up.' the minister thought.
"Come in, Allerby, might as well get it over with."
To his surprise the auror didn't enter alone. Young Mr. Malfoy was with him.
"It is about the Malfoy estate."
Kingsley's brows creased. Wasn't that supposed to be all done and dusted?
"Wasn't Lucius Malfoy supposed to be..." a glance was aimed at a stone faced Draco, "Why have you been involved with the Malfoy estate?"
A rather nasty suspicion made its way into the foreground of Kingsley's mind.
"Don't tell me something has gone wrong."
"There seems to have been something happening as back-up was summoned. I suspect, the prisoner tried indeed to flee. He didn't get very far though. The last time I saw him Mulligan was knelling on top of him and he was unconscious. There were no serious injuries and Mr. Malfoy here and his family were unharmed."
"That's at least something. So, why has your boss asked you to look into the estate? Isn't Snuggens doing that?"
"Well, it turned out in time that Mr. Snuggens has been... compromised shall we say. Shaw had me go over the papers again because of it."
"Why do I think he was right to have you do that?"
"Because I found some rather unexpected, not to say unusual, stipulations in that will."
The Minister sighed. He would make the day they finally got rid of Lucius Malfoy a public holiday.
"Go on, what have you found?"
"I made a list of all the stipulations."
1. Draco must not have the Dark Mark
2. Draco's offspring must be shown to Lucius
3. it has be a son, a daughter would not secure the inheritance
4. Draco's wife and mother to his child has to be a Muggle born
5. Narcissa must be present while Lucius is being despatched
6. there has to be a wizard present that genuinely loves her
There is one more thing I found... Well, two actually."
The Minister looked at the auror. The deep frown on his face spoke volumes.
"What else did you find?"
"Something I wouldn't have expected really as it is in regards to the sister-in-law of Lucius Malfoy."
"Which one? Andromeda or Bellatrix?"
"For some strange reason it's Bellatrix."
Kingsley wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to say to that. That evil witch had been killed at Hogwarts, by Molly Weasley. He could only hope that she hadn't to be anywhere or do anything that required her to be alive.
"Shall I continue?" Allerby asked.
"Yeah, get it over with."
"Bellatrix Lestrange has to be dead in order for the rightful Malfoy heir to be able to inherit the estate."
"Excuse me?"
"She has to be dead. It isn't specified how she's supposed to have died, but..."
"Right. That must be the first requirement in that wretched will I'm actually glad about. I wouldn't want that evil creature walking the earth any moment longer than I could help it."
Kingsley took a deep breath.
"You said there were two more things. What is the other one?"
Now it was the auror's turn to take a deep breath. It was obvious that he was bracing himself for what he was to say next.
"There must not be more than one male Malfoy left in young Mr. Malfoy's generation here. Only a sole survivor will be able to lay claim on everything."
Suddenly Lucius siring a child with Rita Skeeter made a lot more sense in a rather unsettling way. She had no recollection of the event and wouldn't have known that her child, which would have probably been a son as well, was preventing any other male Malfoy heir to inherit. So, it seemed that the son from France had only ever been another pawn in the game. He had been the plan C, if plan B should flop. Which it had in a big way.
Shaking his head the head of the British wizarding community looked at the young wizard sitting slumped in his chair before the large desk. How had this youngster managed to survive in a house where something like Lucius Malfoy had been the head of the family? No wonder he had been showing such a despicable character. Kingsley was convinced that there was more to Draco than met the eye and Hermione of all people seemingly had managed to see it when all others failed. She really was an exceptional witch.
It was in this moment that Kingsley realised why there hadn't been any comment from the third wizard in the room by now. Draco was fast asleep. He waved his wand and levitated the sleeping youngster onto the couch in the corner then he motioned for the auror to follow him out off the room. The lad deserved all the rest he could get.
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As James Mulligan reached his flat in order to inform Narcissa about the latest developments he was greeted with a loving embrace and a passionate kiss. It wasn't that often that the witch of his choice was expressing her feelings for him quite as explicit as this. But who was he to complain? He just wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back.
In the back of his mind though was the knowledge of what they would have to witness as soon as Allerby had made sure there was nothing else standing in the way of young Malfoy inheriting.
"What are you thinking, Jay?" a soft voice whispered into his ear.
"I was thinking of us having to watch Lucius being... you know." he looked at the face of the woman he had hoped for for the most part of his life, "I would have preferred not to have to do that."
"After all he has done he doesn't deserve anything better. A fast death would be too... fast."
James kissed her.
"Don't allow him to make you as vengeful as he is. Don't allow him to drag you down into the gutter. You're better than that, Cissy."
She sighed. It was hard to stay impartial when your own husband had done what Lucius Malfoy had done. It was way easier to just let emotions overrule any logical approach, but she knew she couldn't allow herself to let that happen. She had to be seen as as a person who kept her integrity intact, just as she had always tried to. Regardless of what had happened to her and her son. Draco, her son. A smile appeared on her face. Her boy who was now a married man with a boy of his own. Turning to the wizard holding her she whispered, "Jay?"
"Yes, Cissy?"
"When all this is over I want us to go away for a while."
"An extended holiday?"
"An extended honeymoon."
The grin on his face reached from ear to ear.
"I second that."
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Allerby had been following Kingsley Shaklebolt down the corridors on their way to see Henri Shaw. They hadn't quite reached the Auror Office as the auror caught the Minister's arm to stop him.
"Kingsley."
The addressee turned round. Surprise all over his face.
"I need to tell you something." there was an imploring look on his face, "Something about the death of Lucius Malfoy."
A silencing charm surrounded them a moment later.
"What about his death?"
"He can't die having the Kiss performed."
Silence.
"What do you mean?"
"It clearly states that, if we have the Kiss performed, the lad is not getting a Knut. That bastard knew that sooner or later he would either be punished by Voldemort, in which case he didn't need to worry about his estate any longer, or us. He knew what the punishment would be should we win the war and put him on trial. It's a no brainer really, but to use it in this fashion..."
"But that will also states, that Narcissa has to witness him being punished. Which in his case means death."
"Yes, but it doesn't state her to have to watch him being killed by the Dementors. It just says she has to be present when he dies. Nothing more, nothing less."
"So, if he would have been punished by Voldemort for any failings and this would have resulted in his death she would have had to witness it."
"Yes."
"Which means in theory we could just... use poison?"
"As long as she and James are there it'll be fine."
Kingsley thought about it for a moment. Did dear Lucius actually know that he had been providing his executioners with an easy option so to speak? They could have him drink a lethal dose of the Draught of Living Death and nobody would have to endure the Dementors having some fun with him.
This was the first good news in this sorry saga. If you could call it that.