Chapter Text
As the two Slytherins slid onto the bench across from them, Hermione squeezed Harry’s hand. She could tell from his rigid stance that he was nervous, but so was she. Under the circumstances, she knew it was up to her to make this work. Before she could figure out what to say, she was surprised to find Draco speaking.
“Hello Lord Potter,” he said with a fine eyebrow quirked up to say he realized how ironic it was for him to be addressing Harry.
“I’m no Lord,” Harry sputtered before Draco could continue.
Draco and Theo exchanged a look. “Perhaps we should start over with introductions then,” Theo suggested. “I’m Theo, preferably just Theo as I would rather never acknowledge where I come from.” He held out a hand to Harry, who stared at it for a moment before accepting it.
“This feels silly, but I’m Harry Potter,” he said with a nervous laugh.
Then it was Draco’s turn, but surprising Hermione once more, he did more than just stick his hand out. He stood from the table and dropped to his knees beside Harry’s spot. “I’ve always been Malfoy to you, but I hope I can earn enough respect that you will someday feel comfortable calling me Draco. I apologize, deeply, for all the grief I put you through in the past.”
He looked up at Harry beseechingly. “Merlin, get up!” Harry said, “People are starting to look.”
The blonde wizard grinned. “Is that a problem?”
“It would mean we’ll all end up in Rita Skeeter’s next article,” Hermione managed to cut in before Harry could say… whatever thoroughly Gryffindor thing he would say to that. She could only imagine. “And that is definitely not something I want right now.”
All three of them nodded at her seriously and Draco slipped back into his spot next to Theo. “Now that we have that out of the way,” Theo started briskly, “I take it you reacted well to the news,” he said to Harry. “Just as we predicted,” he noted to Hermione with a smirk.
“I’ve always wanted a family,” Harry stated, sounding somewhere between defensive and wistful. It made Hermione’s heart ache. “Though I never imagined it including anyone like the two of you.”
Her heart stalled at that. Had she pushed too soon? “Harry, you shouldn’t—”
“It’s okay, Hermione. This is a great plan in theory,” Theo said, “but we understand if you’re not comfortable with it, Harry. Don’t we, Draco?” He nudged his counterpart, who had paled the moment Harry expressed his discontent.
“Of course,” Draco answered, his voice dull and flat.
“No, it’s fine,” Harry said, but Theo was shaking his head.
“This is your child, your heir. You don’t have to share him with anyone,” Theo offered.
“Him?” Harry questioned. “I’m having a son?”
He looked at her for his answer, and when Hermione nodded, Harry beamed at her. Then his face fell, brows knitting together as he looked over at the other two men. “They knew before me,” he stated. It sounded like an accusation.
Nervously, she answered, “It slipped out. Like Theo just did, by saying ‘him’.” When Harry still looked angry, she rushed on, “And I wasn’t going to keep it from you. I just hadn’t gotten to that bit yet. It seems more important to all of you than it does to me. All I want is a healthy baby.”
“Is there a reason he wouldn’t be?” Harry asked, worry overriding his rising anger.
“Only that I wasn’t supposed to be able to get pregnant and the curses that caused that could affect him. I’m going to schedule my first check-up with a midwife as soon as I can so we can be sure he gets all the care he needs,” Hermione assured him.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Theo was watching them closely while Draco just stared at the table looking ill. She should have listened to them. It was definitely too early to have brought them into the equation.
“And I can come with you?” Harry prompted.
“If you’re free,” she ventured carefully. “You have training—”
“I’ll drop out if I need to,” he declared. “Nothing is as important as my son.”
“But you’ve wanted to be an Auror all this time,” Hermione started.
“I had thought that, yes,” Harry agreed. “But now that I’m in it, I’m not so sure.”
“Why?” she asked.
He shifted on the bench, their thighs brushing and sending a shiver through Hermione. “That’s something I would rather discuss in private.”
Hermione gave a start, looking guiltily at the two Slytherins she had all but forgotten. “Of course, Harry. We could—”
Loudly, he suggested, “Let’s get back to getting to know one another. What do you two do for fun?” Harry took a swig of his butterbeer.
“Each other,” Theo answered easily. Harry coughed his butterbeer all over the table while Hermione thumped him on the back and Draco thumped Theo on the head.
“What my uncouth boyfriend meant to say,” Draco began, politely ignoring the way Harry still seemed half choking, “is that he is as big a swot as Hermione is and spends the majority of his time reading.”
Though his throat sounded rough, Harry managed to get out, “And you?” Hermione wanted to scold him for talking while still choking, but she didn’t want to get in the way of their conversation happening.
Draco turned red. “I like to create new potions. My godfather used to tutor me and thought I would do well. I don’t know that I’ll ever go anywhere with it, but I had thought, before the war, about seeking a Mastery.”
“Why wouldn’t you now?” Harry asked, finally seeming able to breathe again.
Gaping at him, Draco shook his head. “Because I’m a Malfoy. No one would take me.”
“Are you sure?” Harry asked. Even if no one here would, surely there’s someone abroad—”
“Trying to get rid of us already?” Draco asked, sounding bitter. Hermione bit her lower lip, worrying what would happen next. There for a moment it had been going well.
Shaking his head, Harry said, “I was merely making a suggestion if you want to follow your dreams.”
“Nothing is bigger than the dream of having a family,” Theo said seriously, his easy attitude gone. Draco nodded with him. “If this works out, know that we don’t enter into it lightly.”
“I won’t pretend to understand,” Harry told them, “but I’m glad your intent is serious.” He paused for a moment, as though gathering his legendary courage. “I will need your help as long as Hermione is with the two of you in Hogwarts. I want to be there for her, but I can’t be.”
“And we will care for her whether you accept us as your child’s extended family or not,” Draco stated. Hastily, he added, “Not that we don’t want to be considered. We do. But I want you to know that Hermione is important to us no matter what.”
She felt herself blushing as she listened to them. Hermione would never have expected them to take care of her, but it meant the world that they were planning to be there for her either way. For that matter, she hadn’t expected Harry to react in such a caringly territorial manner either. She could tell he was holding himself back a lot. She sipped her tea and wondered what she had done to deserve the three of them.
“With that,” Theo said with a flourish, pushing at Draco to get up, “I think we should take our leave.”
“We hardly know one another,” Harry protested.
“There will be plenty of time to change that if you wish,” Draco told him. “Right now you need to talk to your girlfriend.”
“I’m not his—” Hermione started, but cut off at the look Harry was giving her. “Am I?” she asked.
“As Draco said,” Theo interrupted, “the two of you have a lot to talk about. We’ll be around if you want to find us later — either or both of you.”
Watching them walk out, Hermione sighed. That hadn’t gone as well as she had hoped, but she was relieved it hadn’t devolved into a brawl or even name-calling. It wasn’t a terrible start.
Harry cleared his throat and she snapped her attention back to him. “I don’t know quite where to start,” he said.
“There is a lot, isn’t there?” Hermione murmured, finding herself blushing at the enormity of what they had done together, what they had created, and all of the unknowns going forward.
“I think the first thing,” Harry said, clearing his throat again, “is this girlfriend business. I want you to be mine.”
“That’s not the best way to ask,” Hermione frowned. “And I want to, but…” How could she put this into words for him? “I don’t want us to be together just because we’re pregnant. You can be in his life without that.”
“No,” he said, grabbing her hands in his. They were still on the bench together, though not as close as they had been. Hermione hated the loss of his warmth at her side. It had felt good, being pressed so close to him again. It made her think of— well, things she shouldn’t be thinking about right now.
“No,” Harry was continuing, “I don’t want you to think of it like that. I wanted you to be my girlfriend already. I just… well, no one knows that Gin and I aren’t together. So I needed to wait.”
“They still don’t know that,” she pointed out.
Shaking his head with a small laugh, he said, “No, but it doesn’t matter now. Not unless we lie about how far along you are. Ginny is just going to have to admit that Christmas was a farce. She has her girlfriend now to introduce them to. I don’t think she’ll be opposed.”
“Are you sure?” Hermione asked. “That’s going to come as a huge shock to Molly.”
“Not as huge as you and I expecting,” Harry answered with a grin. She wasn’t sure she followed his logic on why that was a good thing, but Hermione hoped he was right. It would be lovely if the whole thing just blew over and they could continue being friends with at least some of the Weasleys.
“I hope they can be happy for us,” Hermione voiced.
Harry nodded, but said, “What’s most important is that you are happy.”
“Your happiness is important, too,” Hermione argued, pulling one hand out of his and brushing at a stray lock of his hair.
“Then you’ll say yes to being my girlfriend,” he coaxed with a winning smile.
Hermione blushed, having allowed herself to be caught. She wasn’t sure why she was so hesitant to answer him. Maybe just a fear that this was too good to be true. But when she said a quiet, “Okay,” and his lips brushed hers, she knew it was the right thing for them.
She didn’t mean to deepen the kiss, but she did anyway. Hermione couldn’t keep her hands off Harry, and it seemed he felt the same way.
Honestly, they likely would have stayed there all afternoon snogging if Madam Rosmerta hadn’t noisily cleared her throat at them and asked, “Did you need more tea or butterbeer?” Hermione knew Rosmerta was no stranger to running off frisky students, but she was embarrassed to have been caught anyway.
Scooting slightly away from Harry, she waited for Rosmerta to refill her tea and move on before she asked, “So what is this about quitting Auror training?”
“I’ve been thinking about it for a few weeks now. They just want me as a figurehead anyway, a celebrity they can bring out to assure the public that everything is under control. I’m too recognizable to be a useful field agent and I hate it. I feel like I could do something else, something better. I don’t know what it is yet, but there must be something,” he paused, shaking his head, “And… I know this is selfish, but I feel like I’ve fought enough.”
“Oh Harry! You have,” Hermione agreed immediately. Harry had given and given of himself. No one should ever ask him to sacrifice anything again. A voice in the back of her head admonished her for making him sacrifice his right to be this baby’s solitary father figure. “You don’t owe anyone anything. And if you’re not in Auror training, maybe… maybe we don’t need my plan.”
It hurt to say it. She knew how much it meant to her friends and she realized she had already become attached to the idea of expanding their family. But she would also be happy with building a family with Harry. He would be happy to let her explore her career options and find the right thing, even if it were just the two of them. Hermione tried to convince herself it would be okay.
Harry was staring at her with worried eyes. He ran a hand through his hair. “No,” he disagreed. “I think, even though it’s not what I would have wanted at first, I think the plan might be our best option. I’ll get used to them.”
“You shouldn’t have to. I shouldn’t have doubted you would—”
He shook his head. “You were scared. And I understand why. This is scary. It’s… well, I’m thrilled, but it’s scary to think we’ll be parents so young.”
“I know,” Hermione said, biting her lip. She had wanted to appear confident and brave in the face of this. She hadn’t intended to be on the brink of frightened tears.
Suddenly, his arms were around her, tugging her close again, scooting her into his body on the bench. “We’re going to be okay, Hermione. I know you feel better with a plan. And your plans have always worked out brilliantly in the past. This one will, too.”