Draco left his office for his lunch break. Standing out in the hallway with her back turned toward him was Mrs. Weasley. He mentally chided himself for using her married name. She had told him time and time again to call her by her first name, something that he admittedly take time to get used to.
"If you're looking for the Potters, they've already left for their break." He hated that his voice sounded so curt and slightly rude, she was supposed to be a friend, wasn't she? Was speaking to her in a friendly tone going to be just as hard as calling her by her name?
Hermione spun around, her brown curls whipped around in the air, nearly hitting her in the face. A soft smile painted itself across her lips when she saw him. "Everything's so confusing since they changed offices and no, I was looking for you, actually. I enjoyed our time together last time and was hoping that we could do it again." The soft smile disappeared when she shook her head. "Nevermind, you're probably busy." She turned to leave but Draco stopped her by touching her hand. Astoria had informed him that girls liked to be stopped with a touch and not just a comment sometimes, though, that could have just been Astoria's personal view.
Hermione turned to stare at him with astonished brown eyes. He quickly removed his hand. "Sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck. It was unfortunate that besides Astoria, Scorpius, and the occasional Potter– now that their sons were friends– that he never really conversed with people, his parents not included. "I was just taking my lunch break," He tried instead. "I wouldn't mind the company. We are...friends...after all." He wanted to curse at himself or facepalm himself for sounding so hesitant and unsure even though he was completely unsure of himself and his standing with this woman.
Her brown eyes lit up and a smile appeared. "We are friends, aren't we." She put her arm out for him to take. "Where to, today?"
He smiled at her question. "I was thinking about a trip down memory lane." He spoke before he realized the implications of his words. Memory lane for the two of them wasn't a very pleasant one. Hermione's smiled flickered for a second but still remained on her face. He quickly apparated them away before he could ruin their steadily growing friendship. With a pop, they landed on a snow covered ground.
"Hogsmead?" Hermione took in her surroundings in disbelief. "I haven't been here in ages. I remember that Harry used to make us tag along just to spy on you."
"What?" Draco remembered the three of them being at the Three Broomsticks a few times while he was there but he had never realized that they were following him. "Potter must have had it pretty hard for me, huh?" He said instead, not wanting her to know how astonished he was at her revelation.
She looked at him with a sparkle in her brown eyes. "You really had know idea?" Her amusement was clear. How the hell did she know that! She shook her head at his silence. "That is the one thing from Hogwarts that you still do. When you're shocked or baffled by something or someone, you make a snide remark or a joke. I much prefer the joking than the snide remarks." She admitted with a laugh. He laughed right along with her, glad that someone saw right through him, even if he was a little annoyed to be caught so easily.
Bushy brown hair caught his attention. He quickly grabbed Hermione and pulled her to a nearby alleyway. She tried to pull his hand away but he silenced her with a finger to his lips. "Rose is all by herself?" His voice came out as a question. Hermione stopped struggling and peered out from behind his shoulder. She watched as her daughter stopped at the entrance to the Three Broomsticks and looked around before she entered. Draco let go of her and leaned away. "She's acting like she's walking into a secret meeting." He mused out loud.
Hermione snorted. "Who would she meet....Scorpius?" At her confusion, Draco turned back to the scene, easily spotting the white hair of his son. Scorpius stopped in front of the entrance to the Three Broomsticks before casting cautious glances over his shoulder. Once he was satisfied, he disappeared into the tavern. "What was all that about?" She asked in a contemplative manner, her brain probably coming up with a million possible questions and the answers to those questions.
Draco arched an eyebrow at her and smiled mischievously. "There's only one way to find out." He grabbed her hand before pulling her along with him.
It was rather quiet inside the usually busy tavern. Rose and Scorpius were nowhere to be seen. "We need to get out of here before they see us." Hermione whispered.
Draco shot her a bemused look. He figured if anyone would spy on their children then it would be Hermione. He was starting to think that Potter was the fun one. "Aren't you the least bit curious?"
"Insanely. But when they catch us, they'll lose all their trust in us." It didn't go unnoticed to Draco that she used the word when instead of if. She also had a point. Even though he loved his dad, he had hated it when his father interfered. It made him not trust him as much. He also really didn't want that to happen with Scorpius. He would be devastated if his son stopped trusting him or worse, grew to hate him. He knew he was dramatizing the situation and Astoria would have probably laughed at him if she were still alive, but he couldn't risk it. Taking Hermione's arm, he apparated the two of them to Diagon Alley.
. . . .
Hermione apparated outside of Draco's home. She was hoping he was back by now so that they could figure out what their children were up to. She had been against spying on them, though she now regretted that decision. The curiosity was eating at her. If only she had listened to Draco, then she wouldn't be like this.
She walked up to the front door and knocked. To her surprise, Draco answered almost immediately. He smiled a bright smile that wasn't forced, one that she noticed was becoming more and more frequent since Draco became an adult. It was even more noticeable when he was around Scorpius.
"I knew you would come." He ushered her inside before she could say anything. "I had a feeling your curiosity was eating at you." She was surprisingly not annoyed with how easy he was able to read her. "When I arrived back at work, it was killing me, not knowing, so I sent Scorpius a letter." Hermione gaped at him. How could he send a letter to his son telling him that his father tried to spy on him? Draco continued on, oblivious to Hermione's inner scolding and warring emotions. "I didn't tell him that we saw him acting suspicious. No, instead, I sent him the present that we picked out for Rose and asked him why he couldn't buy her one himself."
Hermione shook her head. She should have expected something like this since he was a Slytherin. He and other Slytherins always had a way around at finding out the truth, though admittedly, Harry and she were the same.
What she didn't expect was for Draco to talk as much as he did. She noticed how he had been talking to her more and more, though this time was probably due to the excitement he felt at unraveling a secret. She finally noticed that he had stopped talking. "Well, what did he say?" She asked excitedly, her curiosity winning.
Draco chuckled and gave his head a light shake, ruffling his blonde hair with the small movement. Hermione had been secretly pleased that Draco no longer slicked his hair back, probably Astoria's doing since Hermione remembered walking in on her and other girls talking about Draco's hair, along with Harry's unruly hair when she made a trip to the loo after lunch one day. They had talked about others too, but Hermione only remembered those two since the conversation had been quite amusing.
"I was waiting for you to unscramble your thoughts before I continued." He smirked. Oh, how she used to hate that smirk, but now she found it endearing. He had grown on her ever since they had decided to be actual friends. "Well, apparently, he was afraid to ask her what she wanted because then she would know what he got her." He paused for dramatic effect, and it totally worked as Hermione was hanging onto his every word. "See, his girlfriend is smart like that."
That made a lot of sense. It was nice that Scorpius had realized that about her daughter. Wait! Did he just say girlfriend! Her head jerked up to look at Draco, her hair flying with the sudden movement. "Girlfriend? Are you sure?" Hermione broke into a smile at his nod. "When?"
"Apparently a few months ago. They've been writing letters to each other during summer break," a frown tugged on the corners of his lips. "Though, I didn't know any of this." He exhaled a long sigh, suddenly deflated. "I must be a terrible father to not realize what my son had been up to. I didn't even see him send any letters."
Hermione couldn't help it. She burst into laughter. Draco shot her a confused and hurt filled look. Hermione shook her head to dismiss his worry. "You have been working really hard here lately, and if you're a terrible parent, then so am I. I knew Rose had a crush on Scorpius, but I had no clue that she liked him to that extent or that she had even started dating him." She slapped him in the arm when she came to a startling realization. "Oh, my god! It's her first boyfriend!" Hermione couldn't contain her excitement, Rose had started dating before Hermione had even tried it. She was so proud of her daughter. It looked like some of that Weasley blood was starting to shine through.
Draco's eyes widened in realization. "His first relationship. He's doing better than what I did in school. I remember snogging a few times, but I was never in a serious relationship," he muttered with a shake of his head.
"Right." Hermione chuckled. It was weird how much her and Draco seemed to be thinking along the same lines here lately, especially when it came to their children.
Hermione suddenly grew somber as a thought struck her. "Did he say why they didn't tell us?"
Draco's smile faded. "They haven't told anyone. Scorpius is too afraid to tell Albus, and he didn't know how to tell me since we so rarely see each other anymore. As for Rose, she... was afraid to tell you, especially since you just lost...." Draco's voice died out, unable to say her husband's name.
"Ron." She whispered. She was expecting it to hurt to say his name out loud, and it did, just not as much as she thought it would. She looked up and caught gray eyes staring at her. It was all because of him. All because of the friendship that had grown between the two of them. Draco had been helping her cope with Ron's death without either one knowing.
Having Draco around, and the things going on between her daughter and Scorpius had really helped to distract her from overthinking, and she had slowly began to heal without even realizing it.
______