He was waiting in the Room of Requirement when Hermione got there. His robes were fitted loosely and unlike the year before - something was seriously wrong with the boy in front of her. And the room itself wasn't like how it appeared for Dumbledore's Army meetings. It was a furnished apartment with a fireplace in the far corner and a four-poster bed near the windows over looking the Black Lake, even though that was impossible.
"What are you doing in here?" Hermione demanded, and Draco turned to her. If his ill-fitting robes were concerning, the unkept hair and the vacant look in his eyes were excessively so.
Draco dragged his eyes around the room lazily. His eyes narrowed on the coffee table between a pair of plush couches and then there was a pot of tea waiting there, too. "I didn't know this place really existed."
"You've heard of it before?"
Draco scoffed. "Every person in my family has gone to Hogwarts since before... before anything. Before anyone remembers. I knew the stories, but I didn't know where it was."
Hermione took in the room again. Her eyes found Draco's again and she nodded a bit. "What did you ask for?"
"An escape."
~~~
The books they poured over were spread across the table in their room, their escape. The fire would crackle every now and then, and Draco would twitch in his sleep when it did. Hermione always watched him then, making sure it was an involuntary, unconscious reaction to the noise and not the start of a nightmare.
When she was sure he was asleep deeply, she let her head rest against her own shoulder and tangled her fingers with Draco's, and they slept.
Tomorrow, they'd study for the charms OWL.
~~~
Meet me by the Black Lake after dark.
The parchment was warm at the edge from where her fingers had clutched it, and Draco just barely got to read it before the parchment ate itself in flames. It was a metaphor for their relationship.
~~~
The summer is hard and long - Hermione told Draco that his father was at the Ministry, and Draco vowed to never let anything like that happen again. Not to his flower, not to Hermione. It all came to a head when she flooed right into his bedroom one night after a particularly bad dream of long, white hair and cackling laughter, and Draco has held her until morning sunlight broke through the curtains.
"We need to talk to my mother," Draco told her quietly. She only nodded and allowed him to get out of bed to fetch his mother.
Narcissa doesn't beat around the issue at hand. She asked them both too many questions, but never invaded the privacy of their relationship, and at the end of it, she can't say anything to her son but "I'm not disappointed."
Hermione didn't know what to think about that, but Draco slumped in relief and Hermione held his hand even tighter.
"We need to inform your father," Narcissa said leaving no room for argument. "You don't want to. I understand that. But we cannot keep this secret between us and only us. He needs to know, otherwise we will have a repeat event like the one in the Ministry last spring. Trust me."
She excused herself then and left Draco and Hermione to wait, wait, wait.
When she returned, Lucius was behind her. He didn't look happy, but the wild, manic rage Hermione had seen in his eyes back in the Department of Mysteries was missing. She clutched at Draco's hands.
Lucius looked between them. "Draco. You need to be honest with me and with Ms. Granger here. Do you see this as a serious relationship?"
Hermione didn't understand in that moment what Lucius was actually asking, but Draco did. He nodded, his eyes set and cold. "I do, and I am prepared to face the consequences of this relationship."
Lucius nodded himself. "Do not mistake my lack of anger as acceptance. I am not opposed to having my mind changed, but that will take time. And getting to know Ms. Granger will help with that, I am sure. But this is not ideal, Draco. It will mean rescinding a very serious betrothal contract, and we won't be able to tell them why. Not now. We will also need you to spend more time with Severus. Your Occlumency must be enough to rival The Dark Lord's, yes?"
"Of course, Father."
"Well, then." Lucius stepped forward and extended a hand to Hermione. "Ms. Granger, I believe it is impossible to start over, as they say. But I would like to start a new chapter. You may call me Lucius, I am Draco's father."
Hermione took his hand in a firm shake. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lucius. I am Hermione Granger, sir. I care deeply for your son."
"Good. Something we share."
~~~
"Freddie? Georgie?"
The twins looked up to their little brother's best friend and gave her matching grins. "How can we help you, Hermmy?"
"I need your help with a complex piece of charmed furniture," she said nervously. "And you can't ask me why. Or ask me about it ever again."
Fred shot his brother a look full of raised eyebrows and wide eyes. The grins were gone. "Hermione, are you safe?"
"I am."
"Are you doing this - whatever it is - under duress?"
"No."
"Is someone else going to get hurt if we don't help you?"
Hermione froze, but only for a second. "Yes."
George finally spoke up. "Will someone get hurt if we do help you?"
"Yes."
Fred and George looked to one another again before looking back at Hermione. She wasn't quite as bright as she had been in the years before - her hair was less wild, more subdue. Her eyes were downcast, and red-rimmed. There were shadows in her cheeks and under her eyes. She was clutching at a necklace around her neck, something she'd started doing lately. The twins hardly ever saw her in the common rooms anymore, only when she was with the boys before meals. Afterwards, she would disappear until morning classes.
Whatever kind of trouble she was in, it was bad. And given she was coming to them instead of Ron and Harry, it was something she couldn't trust the two short-fused toddlers with.
"Lead the way," Freddie said, and Hermione let out a breath.
~~~
Their room was colder this year, but it was still theirs. Draco had asked the room for a bigger bed, and Hermione had asked for a red comforter just to bug him. They also had a seemingly endless supply of chocolate in the cupboards above the small kitchenette - another one of Hermione's more recent asks - and lots of peppermint tea.
Draco was always cold.
Hermione would press his hands between hers and breath hot air into their palms to warm him up.
~~~
Freddie and Georgie weren't sure what to expect when Hermione told them they needed to make a detour on the way to the cabinet, but she just led them right to the Room of Requirement.
"Isn't this where the cabinet is anyways?" George asked dryly. Hermione waved him off, paced three times, and shuffled them through the small wooden door that melted from the castle walls.
"Yes and no," she said. "This is actually my room most of the-" She cut herself off at the sound of the shower going in the tiny en suite attached to the bedroom. That had been Draco's most recent ask, since the Room offered better hot water than the bathrooms in the dormitories. Both Fred and George were standing behind her, eyebrows raised in amusement.
"Go on," George said.
"What were you saying about this being your room?" Fred asked.
Hermione shook her head. "It's my boyfriend," she said finally. It wasn't like she could pretend that whoever was in there was anyone else, especially not when Hermione could see Draco's shoes by the fireplace and his very obviously masculine boxer shorts on the top of the hamper in the corner for the elves to take away. Stupid git wasn't even supposed to be in their room right now, he was supposed to be with Blaise and Theo in the library after his Quidditch practice.
"A boyfriend?" Fred said with a wiggle of his eye brows. "How-"
"-scandalous." George finished.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, well, he and I have been dating for almost a year now. We tend to stay in here most nights, though I will say, I was under the impression he'd be in the library tonight. I had no intention of you two meeting him now. But what's done is done. I only came in for a volume, I believe Luc- his father sent us a copy of..." Hermione ran a finger over the books in the large and overfilled shelf near their bed. Fred and George took it upon themselves to make themselves at home and comfortable, plopping down on the couch near the fireplace.
"Ah, here we are," Hermione murmured. "And I want to-"
The shower turned off in the other room, and Hermione spared the bedroom door a glance. There was the muffled sound of the dresser being pulled open, and Hermione could almost picture Draco dressing in his school uniform again to go meet Blaise and Theo. Hopefully he'd take a few minutes to dry his hair and Hermione could get the twins out of their little escape before-
The door opened, and Draco stepped out of the bedroom. He was wearing a pair of slacks and his Slytherin sweater. The tips of his hair were still wet and dripping onto his shoulders. He might have noticed the two redheads staring at him with mouths hanging open, but he only had eyes for his flower. He crossed the room easily and draped his arms around her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her hair.
"You're home," he said.
"Just for a moment," Hermione murmured. "I needed a few of the volumes Lucius sent us, then I am off to try a couple things with the Cabinet. I didn't know you'd be here or I would have waited a while to get the books."
Draco hummed. "I wanted a shower after practice. Why would you have waited until I was gone, love? You could have joined me in the shower. In fact, if you want, I could give the boys a slip, we could have a bath, I can pour you a nice glass of Mother's wine, and we can-"
Hermione's giggle cut him off. "You foolish man, we have company. I brought the twins, thinking I could get in and get out, but then you came out here all drippy from your shower."
Draco's head snapped over to the couch, where there were two identical faces of both simultaneous shock and amusement. In a moment, Draco had stepped away from his witch, straightened his sweater, waved his wand over his hair to dry it completely, and had slid his serious, expressionless mask back into place.
"Well, then. I will leave our pet project in your very capable hands, even if I do doubt your choice in help." Draco sneered at them just a little. "I will see you tonight, around 9 I suspect. Be safe, Mya."
And then he was gone.
~~~
She felt it when it happened. Draco knew she would, it was the unfortunate side effect of the Malfoy ring she wore around her neck. Malfoy jewelry acted as a binding between the giver and the recipient. It was an age-old tradition to ensure a betrothed couple were intrinsically tied to one another. Their bond hummed with emotions and feelings - Hermione stubbing her toe in the morning, Draco's rising tide of panic, Hermione's stress and worry. And Draco's wounds.
Hermione splashed through the bathroom long after Severus had healed Draco and carried him up to the infirmary. Her shoes and socks were soaked, and her hair was frizzy and unkept as she tugged her frantic fingers through the curls, and she was crying.
But Draco wasn't there. She had tried to ask Blaise about it, but seeing as the boy had no idea the two were betrothed formally, he merely sneered at Hermione's question and unkept appearance, and she was left standing in the dungeons feeling as though she may be sick.
By the time she thought to go to Severus and ask him about Draco, the poor boy was starting to come around and wake up, only to be overwhelmed with Hermione's panic.
Severus kindly distracted Madame Pomphrey long enough for Hermione to slip into the infirmary and she was at Draco's side in an instant, her hand clasped tight around his.
He was colder than usual.
"Who did this?"
Draco looked at her and hesitated.
"Who did this, Draco?"
"It was Potter."
~~~
Ron and Harry weren't sure why Hermione was distancing herself from them, but she was. Instead of Hogsmeade trips to Honeydukes together, she would often end up walking down to the village with the twins and disappearing to the shops around the village with them. She sat next to the twins at meals. She studied in the library alone, or occasionally with Luna.
Never with the boys.
Harry had a sinking feeling it had to do with his spat with Draco months ago - Hermione hated violence even if it was a necessary evil in war. Even if the person deserved it.
Ron thought it was because Hermione had a crush on him, and she didn't want him to put the pieces together.
They both agreed she needed time.
~~~
Hermione paced their room quietly. She was not sad about Dumbledore's death, she wasn't empathetic to Harry's grief. The only man she cared about surviving this war was Draco, and because of her own foolish choices, she might have jeopardized that. Her mind whirled with what needed to happen next - she needed to contact Narcissa immediately before the family tree tapestry registered the bond.
She needed to alert Lucius.
She needed to- she needed to-
She need to tell Draco.
"My flower?"
Hermione startled. "Oh, darling. I didn't hear you."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Don't lie to me," Draco said. "I can tell, the hair at the back of your neck is all frizzy, you've been pulling on it."
Hermione looked at him. This wasn't going to be a good conversation, and it wouldn't be easy. It would be painful, and Hermione didn't know what the hell she would do if Draco didn't want to keep it. She had never expected to have children this young, never ever, but now that it was in front of her, she wanted it more than she realized. She wanted this life. Unplanned did not mean unwanted.
"And I can feel your panic in the bond," Draco added.
Hermione gave him a small smile. "Draco, I'm... well, I'm pregnant."
~~~
The Malfoy family tree was much like the Black tapestry, only it was hung in the Malfoy library. As soon as Draco and Hermione contacted Narcissa and Lucius, it was moved to their private bedroom, where no one but the elves were allowed. It was going to be nearly impossible to hide Hermione's condition, and even then, there was the question of the child once he was born. He, because every first born Malfoy for over 300 years had been a boy, and Draco was feeling very confident that it was a boy.
Narcissa and Lucius hired Healers to come and do Hermione's checks, and always modified their memories when they left. She was about 5 months along when she and Draco left Hogwarts, and was due in October. Or at least, that's what they believed at her first appointment. By the time the second Healer was called to check in again, it was clear she was not having a singular child. Hermione was carrying twins - a healthy boy, and the first Malfoy girl in centuries.
And she would be due much earlier than October.
Hermione only returned to her home once that summer. She knew that she and Draco were already risking everything, including their children, by staying in England, and she couldn't stand any other heartbreak.
The Grangers left for Australia in less than a fortnight after Hermione's visit, thoroughly unaware they had a daughter at all.
~~~
Harry and Ron pushed for Hermione to come to the Burrow, but she simply told them she would meet them at the end of summer. She needed to be with her family, she said. She never specified which family.
~~~
Scorpius Apollo Malfoy, and Lyra Artemis Malfoy were born on August 29th, a whole 6 weeks early. They were strong, though, and they were loud. And they were beautiful. They both had his father's white-blond hair, but only Lyra had her mother's curls.
Keeping Hermione's residence at the Manor a secret was hard enough in the months leading up to the twins' birth, but there was no way they were going to hide these kids. Not with Bellatrix already sniffing through the house as if she could sense Hermione behind Draco's door, not with Draco being sent away on missions every other week.
It was time for the youngest Malfoys to be hidden away.
They waited only a few weeks for the babies to bond to both Hermione and Draco, and for the little family to have a semblance of peace with one another, and then they made the arrangements.
Draco and Hermione both pressed sad, desperate kisses to their babies' heads. Fred and George Weasley were patiently waiting. They'd been wonderful secret keepers before, and they were wonderful secret keepers now. They were taking Scorpius and Lyra to Fleur's family in France, where their striking hair wouldn't be out of place, and where they would be safe from the war. Fleur's family understood that no one, not even Bill, could know about the twins' real parentage until the war was over. They would keep them both safe, and only send the Weasley twins updates when it was absolutely necessary.
The twins each took a baby, and then they were all gone.
Hermione collapsed into Draco's arms, but only for a moment. Draco was due to leave for another mission for The Dark Lord that afternoon, and Hermione needed to meet Ron and Harry at the Burrow for Bill's wedding. The two shared one last kiss, and then Draco disapperated from the room with a crack, and Hermione packed her things.
~~~
Being on the run was hard. Hermione had healed well over the few weeks she'd had with the babies before she left, but she was tired and sore and she missed her family something fierce. She missed Narcissa's gentle fingers in her hair, and the way Lucius would read to her when she was simply too exhausted to hold a book up herself. She missed Draco's ever-freezing toes pressed against her calves as they slept. She missed Scorpius's hair tickling her chin, and the way Lyra would blink at her in the mornings.
Ron and Harry didn't know why she was so distraught. They tried to be as understanding as possible, they tried to make her as comfortable as their lifestyle would allow, but nothing seemed to help.
Neither one of them knew about the ring she wore around her neck.
~~~
Watching his aunt torture the love of his life, the mother of his children, the woman Draco had sworn to protect, was the hardest thing Draco ever did. Every scream ripped from Hermione's mouth only reminded Draco of the daughter this brilliant, beautiful witch had bore him. Every tear reminded him of his son, hidden away because the world didn't see Hermione as the gift she was. Every thrashed leg and arm reminded Draco of their calm nights spent in their room at Hogwarts, before the world got hard and mean.
Hermione was somehow, in the midst of her pain, sending love and understanding and calm down the bond. It was almost enough to dull the physical pain Draco was feeling for her. Almost.
Draco's mother and father held him that night, whispering that Hermione was strong and she knew that they would have done anything to save her had it not put her and Draco in further danger. He wanted nothing more than to hold Hermione through the healing and the pain, but it was impossible. It was impossible.
He couldn't even hold his children.
~~~
The battle of Hogwarts was bloody and chaotic. There was screaming from all around, curses and hexes and spells. Draco tried to find her in the crowd, but she wasn't there. She wasn't there.
He raced through the halls of the castle, scrambling to find her. It was on the third floor landing when it happened. An Order member stopped - someone Draco didn't recognize - and shot a curse at the blonde standing above him. Draco barely dodged it, but it still burned hot and bright against his arm. He threw up a protective shield, but the Order member was still firing off curses. And then-
A flash of green.
Hands pushing him down.
Red hair flashing through the air.
Fred Weasley was dead before he crumpled beside Draco, and Draco screamed. He could have sworn in that minute, the voice of his dear friend was there in his mind. You have kids, mate. And a woman to marry.
Draco turned, his eyes wide, and there was George, running down the enchanted stairs to get to his brother. Draco protected Fred until George could be there.
~~~
The dust settled over the courtyard, and Draco spun on his heels. Harry Potter was panting over the last remnants of the Dark Lord, and Ron was standing with his sister, both with tear tracks down their faces. Where was she?
Narcissa caught Draco's hand and she spun the boy. Lucius was already running.
Hermione was at the steps of the castle, staring at the place where Voldemort had once laid. She was bloody, bruised, and dirty. Her shirt was torn down the side, and her pants - jeans? - were ripped at both knees. She looked a right mess. She looked every bit the flower she was.
Draco and his mother ran to catch up with Lucius as he launched himself at the girl. He wrapped her in a hug, and Hermione returned it fiercely, until-
A protego shot the family apart. Hermione turned, a protest on her lips, only to see it was Ron. George was barely holding his brother back, trying to whisper reassurances, but Ron was fighting him tooth and nail. Ginny, too, had raised her wand at the Malfoys and was clawing her way to get between them and Hermione. "You lot get away from her," Ginny yelled, her voice cracking. "You stay away! The war is done, you lost!"
Draco was staring at Hermione helplessly, his eyes full of pain and confusion.
Hermione's were the same.
"Stop," she said weakly, but Ginny just pushed Hermione behind her.
George finally seemed to get control of his brother, now being held by Charlie and Bill, and was speaking in low tones to Fleur. She turned and disappeared from view, and George stepped forward. With a wave of his own wand, he lowered the shield between his family and the Malfoys. The courtyard was deathly silent.
"Ginny, let Draco see Hermione." George stared at his sister, but she didn't move. She only shook her head.
"No, no," Ginny said. "They hate her. They hate her, they were going to attack her-"
"They were going to hug her," George said. He spared a glance at Hermione, but the poor girl was curled into herself, crying and hiccupping with great, heaving breaths. Draco wasn't doing much better, being held up by his mother and father as tears streamed down his face. "Ginny, let them see her. Can't you see they are hurting?"
"They just lost!" Ginny yelled, and her tone seemed to stir something in Ron, who was fighting his brothers again. "He killed Freddie, George. Lee said he was there!"
Draco let out a strangled gasp at that, and George swallowed up his tears. "He didn't kill Freddie," George corrected. "He was there, but he didn't kill Freddie. He protected Fred's body until I could get there."
Ginny opened her mouth to refute it, but there was a crack, and Fleur was back. In her arms, two small, terrified bundles each let out a strangled cry, and that snapped both Hermione and Draco out of their grief. They stumbled to Fleur and grabbed at their babies, leaving a limp-armed Ginny in their wake. Narcissa and Lucius weren't far behind them, rushing to greet their grandchildren after 9 long months. Lyra quieted as soon as she caught sight of her mother and father, instead letting out a soft coo and babbling little sounds. Scorpius, ever the difficult child, continued to howl.
"Oh, my dears," Hermione soothed. Draco was crying again, but softer, happier. "We missed you so much. We missed you."
"You're safe," Draco added, kissing Hermione's head as they cradled their babies close. "They have teeth," he whispered to his flower.
"What is-" Ron was slack in Bill and Charlie's hold.
"What is happening?" Ginny echoed. Harry was there, too, staring at the family in confusion, before turning his head to George.
"You knew," he said. "You and Fred knew, didn't you?"
George nodded. "Since sixth year. They've been together since 5th, and to be honest, it was quite the shock for us. You get used to it."
Hermione let out a startled laugh. "Oh, Georgie. Do you remember when we stopped at the Room to get books?"
Draco scowled as George let out a huff of laughter. "Laugh it up, I didn't even know you were there, Weasley."
~~~
The Weasleys needed time. Harry and Ron needed time. Hermione didn't mind - she and Draco were perfectly happy to stay in the Manor, spending hours just holding their children, holding each other, reminding themselves the war was over. Narcissa and Lucius were more than happy to have their family whole again, and with two new additions that they could finally get to know.
George came to visit many times. He was particularly fond of joining Narcissa and Lucius when they were in the middle of renovations. Blasting the drawing room apart with bombarda really worked wonders to relieve some of his post-war stress.
~~~
The doorbell hardly ever rang. George usually flooed right into Draco and Hermione's wing when he visited. Blaise and Theo had come around, too, and they always came in through the main fireplace in the foyer.
Really, the only reason for the main doorbell to be going was because of a Ministry official, untethered to the wards, or because of a visitor that did not frequent the floo system. Narcissa's sister Andromeda got terrible floo sickness, and only came by door now.
So when the doorbell sounded in the middle of the Malfoy's planning Hermione and Draco's wedding, Hermione hopped up to get the door. "It's probably yet another Ministry worker here to do a wand check," she said. Since the end of the war, the Ministry had been doing random wand checks on the Malfoys as a part of their probation. Yes, they had turned the tide of the war at the end. Yes, Draco and Lucius had both helped find and capture the last of the remaining Death Eaters. Yes, they were all vouched for by Hermione Granger. No, that did not mean they were trusted.
Hermione yanked open the door only to come face to face with-
"Harry. Ron."
"'lo, 'Mione," Ron said. He didn't look quite as happy as Harry did to see her, but he was trying.
"What brings you here?"
Harry and Ron shared a look. "We were thinking we could catch up?" Harry said tentatively. "I feel like maybe there's a lot to be discussed."
Hermione paused for a moment. Her eyes trailed down the boys in front of her, and then flicked to the emerald and diamond ring she wore on her hand. "Yes, please. Come in. You still need to meet the twins."