Chapter Text
Cassie’s first birthday was fast approaching. She was taking a few tentative steps here and there, much to her parents’ delight. The best part was that Draco was home when it happened for the first time. He would have been crushed if he had missed it.
It had been a busy weekend for the three of them. On Saturday, they had gone to Diagon Alley for their usual weekend trip. On the way back home, they had pushed Cassie in the baby swing at the Muggle park, listening to her giggles and squeaks. On Sunday afternoon, they had taken Cassie to Grimmauld Place to play with baby James, before attending Sunday dinner at the Burrow with the Potters and the extended Weasley clan. By the time they got back to their flat, Cassie was exhausted and she was soon fast asleep in her crib.
Hermione and Draco were working on their plans for her first birthday, which was less than two weeks away. They had figured out their guest list — the flat could only hold so many people, so it would mostly be the same crowd who had been at the Burrow for Christmas, with the addition of Theo.
“Is Theo going to feel awkward with this group? He’s of course welcome, but if he’s going to feel out of place we can always have a birthday dinner for Cassie with just him.”
“He’ll probably just stick close to Andromeda. Theo will be fine. He’s incapable of feeling embarrassment.” Plus if he wasn’t here for Cassie’s real party, he’d be unbearable about it.
“Oh.” She paused. “That must be extraordinarily freeing,” she said, her tone tinged with a hint of envy. Hermione looked at the calendar in front of her, as she went through a checklist of items to procure and dates by which various party preparations needed to be accomplished. She froze for a moment, tracing the current date with her finger. She started to speak and then stopped, looking haunted by whatever was troubling her. Draco sat up straighter. She very much had his attention.
Hermione cleared her throat and tried again. “Where do you think you’d be, Draco? If I hadn’t been pregnant, when you saw me at the ball? You’d probably be married to Astoria by now, I’d imagine.”
Draco stilled. Hermione wasn’t looking at him, but he could see her hands shake slightly. His mind moved frantically, trying to think. What on earth had brought this on? And then he looked at the calendar and realized it was May 4, 2003. His never-held wedding to Astoria had been scheduled for this day, the year before. Hermione drew in a shaky breath and kept her gaze fixed on the calendar in front of her.
“Hermione, I know you asked me not to talk about my feelings for you, but can I please answer that?”
She nodded, her eyes wounded, her expression holding such deep pain as she still wasn’t able to meet his eyes.
“I always loved you. Always. The reason I didn’t do anything about that is that I am a fucking coward. Not anything to do with you.”
Hermione exhaled another shaky breath. She was trembling, for Merlin’s sake.
“I thought about you every day after I ruined everything. And if I had been so unfortunate to have married Astoria, I know I still would have thought about you every day, for the rest of my life. The entire week before the bloody ball, I was a nervous wreck, because I knew I was going to see you. I couldn’t eat. Couldn’t sleep. I don’t know what I would have done if you had not been pregnant when I saw you. But I strongly doubt that I would have been able to resist talking to you. And who knows what would have happened then? I’d like to think I would have done something.”
Hermione remained rooted to the spot. Her brown eyes were wide and she chewed her lower lip more intensely than he had seen in a while. She still did not speak.
Draco took a deep breath and continued. “Knowing about Cassie? That made me find the courage I lacked. I’m so sorry I didn’t do it before – you have no idea how sorry I am. Easily my single greatest regret and I had a fairly exhaustive list to choose from.”
Draco saw the ghost of a smile float across Granger’s face, vanishing quickly. Tears started to fall down her cheeks.
“My lack of bravery has nothing to do with you. You and Cassie are the best thing that ever happened to me. Being able to do anything with you isn’t an obligation. It’s an honour and a privilege.”
Hermione nodded, wiping away silent tears. When she spoke, her voice was thick with emotion. “Okay. Thank you for telling me that. I, um, need to go check on Cassie.” She hurried into the other room, where Cassie lay soundly asleep, needing no assistance of any kind.
It was obvious that Draco’s words had overwhelmed Granger, to the point she felt she needed to flee. Even though it was hard for him to restrain the urge to go after her, Draco let her be, swallowing his own frustration that this hadn’t prompted further conversation.
I don’t know how you could have hurt her more.
Potter’s words from the night of the bloody New Year’s Eve Ball still echoed in Draco’s mind from time to time. And Granger, she didn’t owe him her heart. Hell, she didn’t have to ask him to live with her, but she did. So maybe she forgot to ask him to move back out. But maybe — just maybe — she wanted him here. Maybe she wanted him here just as much as he wanted to be here.
If Hermione still needed space, the only thing for him to do was to give it to her. Draco would continue to nurture his own growing hope because he had to believe that if she didn’t still love him on some level, she wouldn’t be so affected by the idea of him being married to another witch.
Granger and Draco settled back into their routine after that, not discussing it further. But Draco noticed a lot more furtive glances being cast in his direction, whenever Hermione thought he wasn’t watching. Which was ridiculous, because he was always watching. The entire week before Cassie’s first birthday, whenever Hermione wasn’t looking adoringly at Cassie, she seemed to be looking at Draco, while lost in thought.
Even with Granger’s distracted nature in the week leading up to it, Cassie’s first birthday party had been a resounding success. Draco had selected her dress — a periwinkle number with a truly ridiculous amount of ruffles. Granger had tied up her golden curls into two pigtails, although their daughter had barely enough hair to support the matching bows. Their flat just managed to contain all of the people who wanted to wish her well and Cassie was now the proud owner of more toys than they could realistically store in the space available to them. Between Granger’s books and Cassie’s toys, maybe Draco could offer his own flat for them to live in instead? The situation was getting out of hand enough that Granger might go for it. He’d spend some time laying the groundwork and then ask her in another month or so.
Cassie had her first taste of cake ever when she had a slice of the gorgeous cake made for her by Molly Weasley. Draco allowed her to have a second piece, which she promptly threw up. After being assured that Cassie wasn’t actually sick, Hermione merely rolled her eyes at Draco, leaving him to magic away the mess. To be fair, Granger had told Draco not to give her more than one slice. But in his own defence, it was Cassiopeia’s first birthday and she said “da da” while pointing at the cake. What was he supposed to do in those circumstances? Tell her no?
He wasn’t made of stone.
Draco hoped that it was just too much excitement and that his daughter hadn’t inherited her mother’s lack of sweet tooth. It would be a tragedy if he lived with two people who couldn’t properly appreciate the importance of dessert.
The last guests — the Potters — had just left through the floo, leaving Hermione and Draco cleaning up the debris from the party and arguing about Potter’s lecherous son, who had spent the entire afternoon making eyes at Draco’s precious baby girl, who was now sleeping in her crib. She was exhausted from all of the excitement of her big day and had gone to bed for the night.
“James Potter is seven months old, Draco. You cannot be serious. He isn’t looking at Cassie in any sort of 'way.' Stop that.” Granger said to him, with a mix of amusement and exasperation in her tone.
“I know what I saw. He wouldn’t stop staring at her!” Draco had his eye on that Potter boy. He was sneaky, just like his father. And just like his father, Draco was apparently the only one who saw it.
“He’s only even been capable of paying attention to his surroundings for a couple of months! He’s a baby watching an older baby who can move around more, that’s all.” Hermione had said this more than once, but Draco remained unconvinced.
“I don’t like it.”
“You are being ridiculous and you will at least have the decency to keep your delusions to yourself.” Her words were stern, but her expression was warm and fond.
Draco huffed, but didn’t argue any further. He looked around their crowded flat and sighed. He started picking up all of the toys that Cassie had dragged out. Once she caught James looking at her, she had made a point of taking out every single one of her toys over to the smaller boy to look at. On one occasion, she even allowed James to touch one of her stuffed toys, a courtesy she had pointedly not extended to her cousin Teddy. Probably because Teddy was older and could definitely run off with her toys, faster than she could catch him with her unsteady steps. It had been the dragon, actually, that James had appeared to be the most interested in. Draco smirked. He would make it a point to give James his own green stuffed dragon, for his birthday later this year. That ought to fix Potter and his incorrigible child.
Hermione hadn’t moved from her spot for a moment or two, seeming lost in thought as she looked at the framed photos of Cassie on the wall. Draco mentally shrugged and continued sorting through the party detritus and toys, grateful that Cassie was fast asleep in her crib. It would give him some time to get things sorted before she was awake and moving everything around the flat.
“Draco, do you think we should ever have another one?” came Granger’s quiet, small voice from across the room.
Draco froze in the act of picking up Cassie’s toys. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? He felt his stomach drop. Another one?
“Another party? Even I think more than one birthday party is a bit excessive. And I was raised in a Manor house that had wandering peacocks.” Draco said, with a forced cheerfulness he definitely did not feel. His heartbeat started to increase rapidly.
“No, I mean another baby,” Granger spoke very quietly. There was a pause, and then in an even softer voice, he heard her whisper. “Someday.”
Draco dropped his nonchalant act, but still could not meet Granger’s eyes. “Hermione, please, I am begging you. Please do not tease me with that. I cannot bear it.”
“I’m not teasing.” Her voice was small and unsure, but there was no trace of sarcasm.
Draco looked at her, his face going slack, his eyes wide.
“Assuming you still want that kind of relationship with me, I guess? I probably shouldn’t assume, actually. I have kept you waiting an awfully long time.” Hermione was shaking, her own eyes wide too and her voice trailing off as she caught Draco’s lack of expression. Their eyes met, but Draco stayed frozen.
“You know what? Forget I said anything. It’s fine. Don’t mind me.” Her expression crumbled, and she started to rush towards her room, literally fucking fleeing from his impersonation of a bloody statue.
At last, after far too long, Draco regained the ability to speak and he called out after Hermione. “I’d wait centuries for you, Granger. Eons, even.”
Hermione froze in the act of trying to enter her room — presumably to fall apart with some privacy — her hand on her door handle, her back to him, her shoulders already shaking with what appeared to be repressed sobs.
“I love you, Hermione. I have loved you every minute since you gave me that scarf. I love you now and I will never stop loving you. I also love Cassie, but that’s not why I love you. I know — in excruciatingly painful detail — that I fucked up and you couldn’t trust me to love you. But I do. And if you’re ready for me to start saying that out loud, instead of merely screaming it within the confines of my head, I will be the happiest wizard alive.”
Hermione turned while he was speaking, watching him with her eyes wide and her breath becoming more rapid, her chest heaving. When he finished speaking, she burst into tears and buried her face in her hands. Draco rushed to her and pulled her into the first proper hug he’d given her in so long. He patted her back and held her while she cried, instinctively making the same shushing, soothing noises he made when Cassie was out of sorts and he was trying to comfort their daughter. “I know, love. I know. Let it all out.”
“I know we live together, but I have missed you so much.” Her voice cracked, as she sobbed into his chest. Draco held her tighter, tears falling down his own cheeks as well.
“I know what you mean.” Draco rested his chin on her head, greedily inhaling her scent, now that he felt allowed to do so. Hermione sobbed for a few moments more, while he continued to hold her close, hoping she could feel his love for her radiating off his skin.
After a long moment, she pulled back and looked at him. He put his hand underneath her chin, holding her beautiful face. “Hermione, I love you. Please say you’ll be mine.”
Hermione sniffled and wiped away the traces of her tears. “Oh, I’ve been yours for a while, I think. I’ve never not been yours, Draco. Not since the very first time. I was just so hurt —” She broke off in a sob again and Draco brought her back into his embrace.
“Merlin, Granger, I am so sorry I wasn’t brave enough, soon enough. You are and always will be the best thing that ever happened to me, although Cassie is a very close second.”
“Is it weird that I’m mildly offended on her behalf?” She said, sniffling into his shirt, her voice slightly muffled.
“I wrestled with it; I’m not going to lie. Eventually, I couldn’t ignore the simple fact that you are you and you gave me Cassie, so it gives you an unbeatable edge. It’s only going to get worse if we have more kids and it is already insurmountable.”
Hermione leaned back away from him, before reaching forward with both hands and grabbing his face, pulling him into her kiss. Draco was shocked with his eyes open for a moment, before reacting by throwing his arms around her, deepening their kiss as he folded her more tightly into his arms.
After a moment, they broke apart to catch their breath. “Fuck, Granger. I’ve missed this so much.” Draco breathed, his forehead touching hers.
“I know, I'm sorry. I’m sorry I took so long —” she gasped before kissing him again, her hands gripped tightly onto his shirt, pulling him closer.
Draco pulled back just a bit, slightly shaking his head. “No. No, Granger. Don’t apologize for that. I’m sorry I hurt you so badly that it took this long. And I meant it. I’d wait forever for you.” His eyes met hers, seeking to make sure that she was understanding everything he needed to convey to her. “I also like living with you and Cassie. It’s not like I’ve been living under constant torment. I am a very lucky wizard, Hermione. I’ve got to live with the best two people I have ever met.”
“Draco, I love you.” She put her hands on his arms, her eyes wide and searching as she looked up at him through her lashes. Draco stood still for a moment, almost unable to believe that this moment had finally arrived, after waiting for it for so long.
And then he moved rapidly, reaching forward to pick her up, swinging her into his arms and carrying her bridal style. She squealed, but quickly put her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck, trying to pull herself closer to him as he carried her into her bedroom. Granger wandlessly flicked the door open, allowing them inside. Draco closed the door behind them with his leg, bringing her to the bed.
Draco laid her down on her bed, smoothing her curls away from her face, marvelling that he was once again allowed to touch her so intimately. “Hermione, I —”
“Please, Draco, please. I just need you, now. Please.”
He smothered her mouth with his own as he moved so his body was covering hers, surrounding her smaller body with his own much larger one. Draco wanted to absolutely devour her — they had spent so much time in each other’s presence with only small snatches of physical contact. But now? Now that he could touch her again? Feel her body writhe underneath him again?
Draco didn’t think he could ever get enough.
To his eternal gratitude, Hermione was just as eager, clutching at him as though he was her only anchor in a storm. She gasped as soon they broke their kiss, groaning and opening her thighs to him, wrapping her legs around his hips, pulling him even closer to her trembling self.
Draco let out a hiss as his almost painfully hard erection ground against her and she fucking writhed beneath him. “Merlin, Granger — I missed this, I’ve missed you so much, love.”
Hermione whimpered. “I love you. I love you.” She was practically sobbing with need, as she pressed her own hips into his. “We need to silence the room. I don’t want to wake Cassie and I can’t be quiet.”
Draco growled at her words, sat up to grab his wand, and silenced the room. Hermione got her wand out as well, sitting up on her elbows, looking at him a bit sheepishly.
“I know I just suggested having another one. But, maybe we don’t have to do that right away? I mean, Cassie just started sleeping through the night consistently.” She was biting her lip again, as she looked at him. There was no need for her to be worried. Draco agreed with her — it would be nice to have some time properly together before they considered adding to their family.
Their family.
Draco's heart swelled with love and he reached for her, grabbing her head through her curls and pulling her into a firm kiss, smiling at her words and his own swooping feeling of joy. “I agree. I think there is no need to rush, love. We have time for all of this now.”
They both cast the contraceptive spell, just to be sure.
Draco pulled Hermione closer to him, his hands wandering everywhere over her still lithe form, as he tried to relearn her body by touching her. Hermione responded in kind, her arms moving up and down his back, before pulling his shirt out of his trousers and pulling it off over his head. He helped her out of her shirt as well and then they were back to kissing, the feel of their shared body heat causing them both to tremble with desire.
Soon, they had divested themselves of all their clothes. He kissed down the side of her neck, pausing for a moment as he stroked her thigh — looking at her in disbelief because he was amazed that he was allowed to touch her again, to want her again. She mistook him pausing to savour the moment for hesitation, and she shrank a bit as he watched.
“I know I’m not quite the same as I was before Cassie —” she started, visibly deflating a bit under his gaze.
Draco was disconcerted to see her withdraw from him and he quickly interrupted her incorrect train of thought. “I’ll have none of that, Granger. You are just as stunning as you were the first time I got to see you naked.” He raised his eyebrows at her suggestively, smirking.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him and scoffed, pulling back slightly. Draco grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to look at him as his grey eyes bore into hers, moving his hands down the length of her body while letting the hunger he felt for her show on his face. “You’re still the most shaggable witch I have ever seen and this body gave me my daughter. I love you, Granger. I love every part of you and I always will.”
She surged up and kissed him, insecurities banished. In fact, all thoughts were soon chased away by their rising need — there was nothing left for them to do but feel. Draco moved down her body, sliding his hands between her thighs, prying them open, and finally, finally tasting her. He had missed this — the incomparable taste of her — almost more than anything else. Granger clutched at her breasts as he feasted on her, crying out in a familiar fashion, as he brought her to orgasm first on his tongue and then again on his tongue and fingers, stroking at the soft muscles until he found the spot that always put her over the edge. Afterwards, she lay back, panting and breathless for a moment, before she made a move to reciprocate. Draco stopped her, catching her by the wrists.
“Next time.” He couldn’t wait. He needed to be inside of her. He smirked at the pout that sent his way at his refusal. Granger did always love to taste him as well.
They both cried out as he entered her — Hermione’s legs wrapping around his hips, dragging him in as close as possible, raking her hands down his back. He put his forearms on either side of her head, his hands smoothing her hair away from her face, looking at her as he thrust into her, slowly and deeply. Fuck, it was like being home — being back inside of the woman he loved, his hands in her riotous curls.
Their eye contact never ceased, as she clenched around him, her face flushed with pleasure. “I love you, I love you, I love you,” she chanted over and over again. Draco picked up his pace, the sound of his hips snapping into hers reverberating around the room. He couldn’t hold back after so long without being with her, without the two of them being together like they were always meant to be.
“You are so good, Hermione. So good. Such a good girl, taking my cock.” He murmured in her ear, licking and sucking on her neck.
Hermione whimpered beneath him, tears starting to fall from her eyes as she moaned incoherently. He could make out “yes” and “Draco” and “Oh God”, which meant she was close. He began to feel her walls flutter around him.
“Merlin, Granger, I am close,” he groaned. He was going to need a few more times before he regained his former stamina.
“Draco,” his name was a whisper from her, as she trembled violently. “Come inside me, please,” she begged.
Draco held off for just a moment longer, feeling her crest and clench around him just before his own orgasm roared through him. After they both stopped twitching from the aftershocks, he kissed her deeply while stroking her hair. They looked at each other intensely, not wanting to move. “I love you, Hermione.”
“Oh God, I love you so much, Draco.” They kissed deeply and languidly. He rolled off of her onto the side of the bed, before scooping her up in his arms, feeling her curls splayed across his chest.
“Twenty-minute power nap and then we’re doing that again,” she told him sternly, in a voice that brooked no argument, even if she was still a bit breathless.
Draco laughed and kissed her forehead. “Alright, Granger. You’re the boss.”
After the third time they made love that evening, as Hermione lay strewn across his chest, both still panting from the exertion, Draco ran his hands over her shoulders before kissing her on the forehead. Just like in their old days, her neck bore his mark from when he had sucked a bruise into her skin, just above the junction with her shoulder. He pressed a small kiss over the purpling bruise, as Hermione shivered against him. Draco wrapped her arms around her and she snuggled in as close as possible.
“You’re staying with me, yes? This is our bed now.” Hermione said. It sounded like a question, but she told him — rather than actually asking — while she idly traced along his scars.
Draco swallowed roughly, before speaking. “Yes, Granger. I’m never leaving.” Fuck, he was so happy.
“And I can wake up with you, every day?” she asked, voice now sounding a bit uncertain.
Draco felt tears form behind his eyes at the sound of her hesitant request. “Every day, Hermione. Always.” Draco took a deep breath and just went for it. “Marry me, Granger. I don’t have a ring — but I will get one. I don’t have much to offer you beyond myself —”
“Which was always sufficient.” Hermione interrupted him firmly. “So we are clear. The only thing I ever wanted from you, was you. Although, I will admit that you do make a very nice baby.”
Draco’s heart swelled with love. “We do. And stop interrupting me while I’m proposing to you, witch — even if it’s to be endearing. I love you, Hermione. With everything that I am and everything that I will ever be. Please marry me.”
“Yes.” Hermione smiled broadly through her tears, nodding emphatically. “Yes, Draco.” They held each other, alternating between crying and laughing, talking about their daughter and their future, until they fell asleep in each other's arms, their legs tangled together as they slept.
The next morning, Draco woke up with his fiancée in his arms and the sounds of their daughter crying elsewhere in the flat. Hermione didn’t stir, so Draco carefully left their — their! — bed, and collected Cassie, casting a silencing charm so that Granger would remain undisturbed.
A woman needed her sleep after being so thoroughly shagged, after all.
Draco made pancakes and sausages for them both, while Cassie played in her high chair. Hermione came out, kissed Cassie’s curls, and then nearly flattened Draco with an extremely thorough kiss, with her hands grasping onto his apron to pull him tightly against her body. He fought to keep himself from getting too excited, as Cassie cooed happily, watching her parents with avid attention.
“Merlin, Granger. There are children present.” He told her with mock severity, a faint blush across his cheeks.
“I know,” she said, with a wide grin, as she squeezed his arse. Cheeky witch.
They had breakfast together, it took longer for Draco and Hermione to finish eating than normal because they kept holding hands throughout. “So I was thinking,” Hermione started and Draco rolled his eyes at her affectionately. Of course, she was thinking. Granger was always thinking. “I don’t want a big wedding if that’s okay. And I don’t want to wait too long. I want to hyphenate my last name to Granger-Malfoy. And if you’d like, we can change Cassie’s to that as well. Same for any future children.” She was biting her lip as she looked at him, apprehensive about his response.
“Can I change my name to that too?”
Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open before she shook her head slightly and spoke. “You would do that?”
“Yes.” The name Malfoy on its own wasn’t particularly meaningful to him anymore. Tying it to Granger? Tying all future Malfoys to the name Granger? Well... that had some appeal.
Also, it would be an elegant ‘fuck you’ to his father.
“I mean, if you want to then I have no objections. I don’t think you should be ashamed of your name, to be clear — because it’s your name too and you are a good man, and a great father. You don’t have to change for me. I’m just quite attached to my own name and I want to keep it.”
“Thank you, Granger. But this is what I would like to do. We could start our own House, you know. Although it’s probably going to take a few generations before we work our way up to ‘Manor’ level of wealth.”
“House of Granger-Malfoy? I love it.” Her grin was wide, and she just glowed when she looked at him.
“With a new motto.” She looked at him, intrigued and Draco continued. “I was thinking something like ‘Love Above All Else.’”
Hermione grabbed the last bite of pancakes from her plate and chewed, her expression thoughtful. “Well it’s a bit trite, but it’s a motto. I mean, there’s only so much you can do with the form.” Granger gave him a huge smile as she pulled him in for a kiss, smirking over his light frown, which he mostly made in jest. “I love it, Draco. I’m happy to approve it as one half of the founders of the House of Granger-Malfoy.” She said the last bit with mocking pompousness. But Draco wasn’t paying attention to her levity at the moment.
Founder. Draco liked the sound of that. Because it meant that together, Hermione and Draco would start something new and different. It was a fitting way to let go of the past and for the two of them to set their own course for the future. Yes, the future Mr. Draco Granger-Malfoy very much liked the idea of being a founder of his own House.
They got married on the third weekend of July, at the Burrow of all places. Ginny Potter was Hermione’s Matron of Honour and Fleur Weasley was her other bridesmaid. Theo was Draco’s best man, with Harry Potter standing as his other groomsman. As he got married to Hermione Granger in Ron Weasley’s back garden, with Potter standing at his side, well ‘short-circuited’ didn’t even begin to cover how surreal the day felt — especially when he thought back to how he had envisioned his future before the war. But when he realized he was marrying the love of his life, surrounded by the people who loved them — and also Ron — it made a lot of sense.
Teddy was their ring-bearer — a Muggle tradition that Hermione wanted to incorporate into their bonding ceremony — with Cassiopeia walking slowly up the aisle holding Teddy’s hand, looking very beautiful in her own white dress with the periwinkle sash, the bouquet of flowers she clutched tightly in her other hand dragging on the ground as walked towards them slowly and carefully. Teddy wore a suit that was a twin to Draco’s and the two of them were so adorable that Draco almost wanted to reconsider their plan to wait until Cassie was four before starting to try to give her a sibling.
Almost, but not quite.
Granger just about stopped his heart when she walked down the aisle, accompanied by Mr. Weasley, she was so fucking beautiful. They had two chairs up at the front sitting empty, decorated with items from Hermione’s girlhood — a homage to her parents who lived but didn’t remember her. Draco wanted no such signifiers for his own parents. Instead, he asked Andromeda to stand for his family, when the time came. So Andromeda, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, gave the couple their blessing when asked, with Molly taking Cassie off to the side and Andromeda collecting Teddy, so that Draco and Hermione could complete their magical bonding.
Professor McGonagall had agreed to perform the actual bonding ritual. The older witch had been positively delighted when they approached her to ask, insisting that Draco call her Minerva. Which, no. He tried, but simply could not. Not for at least another decade. She surprised him by giving him a warm hug before the ceremony, telling him that she was proud of him for standing up for himself and his girls. Draco just nodded and looked at his shoes, while Hermione squeezed his hand tightly.
During the ceremony, the Headmistress of Hogwarts talked about her admiration for Hermione, her respect for Draco’s courage, and of their love. Love which had started unexpectedly, had faced a great deal of adversity, and yet had persevered, eventually coming out stronger for it. Hermione wiped away tears as their old professor spoke, using a handkerchief that had belonged to her mother. Draco just let his tears fall, looking at his beautiful bride and holding her hands tightly, as he felt the magic surrounding them, sealing their bond. He bent her backwards when he kissed her, drawing whoops of joy from George and Ginny, amidst the general applause.
The party afterwards was wonderful. Every time Draco turned around, Cassie was being swung around the dance floor by someone with red hair. Ginny and Theo were making friends, which was nice to see. He danced with Andromeda, who squeezed him tightly with her own hug, whispering that she was so proud of him as she did so. He hugged her back, tears in both their eyes. Perhaps the Blacks could learn to be huggers after all.
With his daughter curled up on one shoulder, and his other arm around his beautiful wife, the three Granger-Malfoys watched with wonder at the magnificent fireworks display provided by George at the end of the evening. The three of them stayed in that spot, after the last of the sparkles and explosions of colour had died down, just watching the stars. After the noises stopped, Cassiopeia snuggled into Draco’s chest, falling asleep as he held her. Hermione leaned in on Draco’s other side, resting her head on his other shoulder, watching the stars while holding his hand tightly. But Draco wasn’t watching the stars.
Granger was always going to the brightest star in his sky. He was watching her.