Becoming

The next day flew by for Draco.

After an early morning breakfast with Scorp, he had dropped him off at Theo and Padma’s before school. Theo had teased him mercilessly about Granger, of course, and Padma had mentioned they’d give a quote to Parvati if she needed one.

After leaving their house, he ended up in Diagon Alley, where he was one of the first patrons to queue for the owl post office. It hadn’t taken long to open boxes for both his personal mail and for Malfoy Corp., and he left with tiny golden keys jingling in his pockets.

He would be passing the Malfoy Corp. key off to the front office before that afternoon’s monthly board meeting, along with strict instructions that a memo be sent out to all employees regarding the change in incoming mail. Outgoing mail would remain with their in-house owlery, but all other communications would be picked up from the owl post office each day. His infrequent presence at the headquarters of Malfoy Corp. was enough to cause a stir among the administrative assistants nowadays, and today was no different. He spent several hours catching up with his employees before retreating to his office to review the next round of contracts awaiting authorization.

After Astoria’s death, Draco had taken a year-long sabbatical from running the company directly. At the end of it, he declined to return to his original duties, and had instead hired a series of administrators to take over his roles, and appointed a new CEO. He had retained his seat on the board of directors as the sole owner of the company, but that meant he was only in the office a few times each month, preferring to work from home.

It had taken Draco more than five years to clean up the business once he took over after his parents’ passing, and now Malfoy Corp. was primarily an import and export venture. They orchestrated shipping of apothecarial products in magical communities across the European continent, and had also obtained a few contracts in the Muggle communities with shipping medical supplies. In addition to shipping, they ran a chain of apothecaries in France that were quite profitable, and held a large number of patents for salves and potions that were in demand at the magical hospitals in Europe. Although the apothecaries were a relatively small part of their business, Draco was loathe to sell them off. They were his only connection to the Potioneering field anymore, since their development branch was rather self-contained, and he liked to keep up on new developments.

Cleaning out the corruption and closing down seedy lines of business had been a long road, but it was worth it to Draco to rebuild the company in an image Scorpius would be proud of one day. Draco was, perhaps, most proud of the philanthropic fund he had initiated when he took control of the corporation. Oversight of that division was one of the only things he had maintained tight control of during his sabbatical. Malfoy Corp. now invested forty percent of their profits directly in charities and non-profit organisations across Europe. They funded Padma’s school, as well as the Hogwarts scholarship fund, and also paid for the operating costs of a unit at St. Mungo’s for long-term curse damage. Draco himself had authorised research grants for a number of conservation organisations in the past year, and their fourth quarter goals this year included setting up an endowment for the Scottish dragon reserve that would be opening in the new year.

The board meeting was expected to be a dull one, and Draco was not mistaken. The quarterly meetings were the most important – these monthly gatherings were more for reviewing benchmarks and sitting through presentations by their acquisitions and sales teams. They were still several months from the end of the fiscal year, and things were generally at a lull this time of year. It was a good opportunity to lay eyes on his board, if nothing else.

It was nearly six when Draco was finally able to leave the office and get back to the Notts’. Theo and Padma always watched Scorp and fed him dinner on his meeting days, as he could never make it in time to pick Scorp up from school at four.

Scorp was still happy to see him when he strolled in through the Notts’ Floo at six. They were just sitting down to dinner, and they had set him a place at the table. The mahkani was delicious, as always – it was one of the few recipes Padma ever had the patience to learn from her mother. She didn’t enjoy cooking, on the whole, but her forays into the foods she ate growing up were always phenomenal. Even Scorpius liked them, because they were usually filled with soft cheese, and he loved the chewy naan that they ate alongside.

Therefore, it was with full bellies that Draco and Scorpius went home that evening. When they got home, it was time for Scorp’s bath, and while he was getting much more independent with washing his hair, Draco sat in the bathroom with him to make sure he actually cleaned himself (sometimes he preferred to play instead, and it could be a struggle to get him to wrap up) and stayed safely above the surface of the water.

Draco took the opportunity of the comfort of routine to broach the topic of the baby again.

"So how do you feel about Hermione and I having a baby together?" Draco asked, keeping his tone light.

"I'm happy I get a little sister," shrugged Scorp. "I want to be a brother." He scrubbed the shampoo into his hair and then blew the suds from his palms.

"You're going to be the best brother Sage could ask for."

"I know. I'm going to be a great brother."

Draco smiled at the confident attitude, Scorpius reminding him so much of himself when he was young.

"Do you like Hermione?"

"She's really nice, but she hasn't told me her dragon story yet."

"I'm sure she will soon," Draco promised. He urged Scorpius to tip his head back so they could rinse the suds out of his hair. "You can ask her again, and I bet she'd love to tell you."

"Is Mia part of our family?"

Draco paused as he rinsed Scorp's hair. It was an excellent question, and he was momentarily stumped. "I think she is, because she's going to be Sage's mum. And I really like her, so I would like her to be part of our chosen family if you think so too. Just like Uncle Theo and Auntie Padma."

"Do I need to call her mum after Sage comes?" Draco didn't miss the smallness of his voice or the way he stared at the sudsy water.

"You don't have to call her anything you don't want to, Scorp," Draco said, catching his son's eye and wiping some stray soap from his forehead. "She's not trying to replace your mum, you know. Your mum will always be with us because we remember her. Your mum loved you very much, and nothing can ever take that away."

Scorp was quiet as he soaped up his tiny body.

"You know, Scorp, Uncle Theo's mum died when he was little, too."

"Really?"

"Yep. And his dad got married again a long time after that, when Theo was at Hogwarts with me. And he had a half-sister, too, just like you will, because his dad and his new wife had a baby. But she never made Theo call her mum, because she knew Theo's mum could never be replaced in his heart."

"What did he call her?"

"He called her by her name. And you can keep calling Mia by her name, or even make up a special one for her if you want. It's up to you. And you don't have to decide now. Maybe when you're eight you won't want to call her Mia anymore and you'll call her Hermione, or Granger, or even the Dragon Lady --"

Scorpius' giggles interrupted Draco's monologue.

"-- and that's totally up to you. And maybe you'll love her the way you love Auntie Daphne or Auntie Padma someday, but maybe you won't. Or maybe someday you'll love her like you love Mum. And that's all okay, because you're the only one that knows what feels right to you."

"I think I'll keep calling her Mia. It's so much easier to say than Herbiney."

Draco chuckled. "It is."

Scorpius rinsed himself off, and Draco let him play with the soap bubbles for a few minutes before broaching the topic of tomorrow.

"Hermione is going to go visit one of her friends tomorrow to take some photographs for her friend's magazine, and she's invited you and me to come take some pictures with her."

"Why's she getting her picture taken?" Scorp's face was screwed up in confusion.

"Hermione does a lot of really important things for her job, and --"

"Like what?"

"She's a solicitor, which means she helps people who have had bad things happen to them, and she helps keep bad things from happening to other people. And right now, she's working really hard to make sure that people who have a special kind of sickness aren't treated badly by other people just because they're different. She also helps creatures, like dragons and nifflers, by making sure people can't hurt them. So her friend is writing a story about her for her magazine, and she's going to talk about the work she's doing there."

"And she wants to take pictures with me?"

"With both of us, because she likes you a lot and we're becoming our own family. You know the picture in your room of you and me and Mum?"

"Uh-huh."

"It helps you remember that time with her, right? This is kind of the same thing, because Sage is making all of us a new kind of family. And we both want pictures with you to help us remember this special time."

"That's pretty cool."

"And since Hermione and I both have important jobs, we end up in the newspaper a lot. Remember how Uncle Theo showed you the picture they printed of me last month when we gave money to the dragons? So we're going to send them a picture of all of us together and tell them about Sage, because we want to share how happy we are. But we don't want you to go if you don't want to."

"I have school tomorrow."

"Yes, but Auntie Padma said it's alright if you miss a day. And we're going somewhere with some really cool animals, and you might get to meet some if you want."

"What kind of animals?"

"Hermione's friend is named Luna, and she has a son who's in your class. Do you talk to Sebastian sometimes?"

Scorpius nodded his head enthusiastically as he prepared to get out of the tub.

"Sebastian says he has lots of pets. They have a dragon." Scorpius whispered the last part reverently.

Draco kept his chuckle to himself. "Well, if we go to take photos with Hermione tomorrow, we can probably meet some of those animals. Hermione says they have kittens, too, so you can even meet a cat."

"That sounds fun!"

"Perfect. We'll have a big breakfast here, and we'll do some of your schoolwork in the morning before we go over to her friend's house, alright?"

Scorpius nodded as he dried his sopping blond hair.

"Can I bring my stuffed dragon to meet the real dragon?"

"I think we can definitely bring Noodle with us, but I'm not sure if we'll be able to meet a dragon."

Scorpius had been in bed for about ten minutes when Hermione came through the Floo. She clearly hadn't changed from work, as she was wearing tightly-fitted black trousers under a flowy violet blouse, and the smart blazer she wore was left unbuttoned to accommodate her pregnant belly. Her hair was tucked into a tight bun at the crown of her head. The only hint she had been home at all was that she was wearing a pair of ratty house slippers.

Hermione grinned when she saw him.

"You're wet."

Draco looked down at his shirt and chuckled. With a wave of his hand, he dried himself off with a burst of wandless magic. "Bath time."

Hermione held out a bag to him. "It's supposed to be chilly tomorrow, so I tried to coordinate with your coats in case warming charms aren't enough. There's a chance for it to snow up at Luna's place, so I'd recommend some boots or wellies."

"Am I allowed to look or is it supposed to be a surprise?"

Hermione shrugged at him. "It's a jumper for Scorpius and a cardigan and tie for you. Just a white collared shirt under it will do."

"Green, Granger?" Draco smirked, peeking into the bag.

Hermione rolled her eyes playfully. "My dress is green. Thought it would be nice if we all wore something in the same palette. It is just before Yule, as well, so it's fitting."

"Can't wait to see the dress." Draco winked at her.

"Well, you can see it at ten tomorrow. Did Scorpius decide if he'd like to join us?" Hermione's voice betrayed some nerves.

"He will. He goes to school with Sebastian Scamander, and apparently he talks about all their pets. Scorp thinks he might get to meet a dragon."

"Penelope is a wyvern, and I'm sure she'd be delighted to meet Scorpius. She's quite cuddly."

Draco's eyebrows shot up. "They actually have a wyvern?"

"She's a bit runty, and positively gentle," Hermione said dismissively. "She's like a lap dog, really. Luna and Rolf run a certified rehabilitation program out of their home. They've got all manner of creatures there, from bowtruckles to unicorns. They even had an injured Demiguise last time I was there."

Draco was floored by this information. "Ah. Well, Scorp wants to bring his stuffed Welsh Green with him in case he meets the wyvern."

"Oh, Luna will love that," Hermione laughed. "But I've got to head out. I've some contracts to review yet tonight."

Hermione surged forward and tipped her face up to Draco's to press a lingering kiss to his lips.

"Goodnight, Draco."

"Night, Granger."

Scorpius was much more excited in the morning, waking up earlier than anticipated. Once he had finished his waffles and brushed his teeth, Draco set him down with his practice workbooks while he did a little bit of work.

He had laundered their new jumpers the previous evening. Draco dug through Scorpius's closet first, when it was time to get dressed, pulling out his small grey trousers and a shirt to wear under the jumper. Scorpius' new jumper was a soft, cool green that made Draco smile. It would go well with his black winter wellies and his little grey coat.

Draco dressed in his own outfit once he had trimmed his facial hair and completed his normal grooming. The cardigan was a thick, textured knit that he wore over a white buttoned shirt, and the black silk tie Hermione had selected for him stood out sharply against it. The forest green colour of the wool looked quite sharp with the muted grey of his trousers, and Draco felt quite confident as he styled his hair. He wore it less severe than he had done in his youth, and although Scorpius' hair was still a bright, unearthly blond, Draco's own had darkened a couple of shades as he matured -- the Black family genes had decided to make their appearance after puberty.

All in all, Draco felt quite good for his first intentional photo shoot in half a decade.

He helped Scorpius get ready -- the jumper had given him some difficulty with its thick neck -- and they tucked Noodle the floppy, stuffed dragon safely into a bag to take with them.

They would be arriving at the Scamander home through the Floo, and Hermione had left Luna's address in the bag. Scorpius was more excited than nervous, but Draco felt heavy with nerves as they stepped through the fireplace.

The other side of the Floo was an overwhelming force of colours and activity. The furnishings themselves, which were bright and eclectic on their own, were positively draped in animals. The sofa in front of them was closely guarded by a large Kneazle nursing a number of wiggling kittens. It eyed Draco curiously before its attention was drawn to Scorpius, who let out an excited gasp at the sight of the felines.

Perched on tables and shelves were any number of terrariums housing slugs, large beetles, and salamanders. From a stand beside the hearth, a Jobberknoll nursed an injured wing. Something moved in the corner of his eye, but Draco couldn't bring himself to drag his gaze around to see what was lurking.

Shaking himself back to attention, Draco gave Scorpius' hand a quick squeeze. "Make sure you check with an adult before you pet any of the creatures, Scorp. A lot of them are here because they were sick or injured, so we don't want to scare them."

"All the creatures in here are very docile." A strong Irish lilt carried through from the doorway, and Draco turned to see a tall, sandy haired man leaning in the doorway. He wore crooked spectacles and sported a bandage on one of his arms. He pushed himself off the door frame and extended his hand to Draco.

"You must be Mr. Malfoy," he said, shaking Draco's hand firmly.

Draco nodded. "Draco, please. It's an honour to meet you, Mr. Scamander. Your expose piece on Occamy breeding rings in Germany was quite compelling."

"Call me Rolf," he said with an easy grin. "And who might you be?" Rolf cast his eyes down at Scorpius, who was staring at the Kneazle kittens.

"This is my son, Scorpius."

"Hi," Scorp said in a small voice, dragging his attention back to Rolf. He stuck out his tiny hand, and Rolf shook it enthusiastically.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Scorpius. Hermione and my dear Luna are outside already. They've been doing their interview and taking photos while on the grounds. Please, follow me."

Rolf led them through a busy kitchen and through the back garden. Everywhere Draco looked, there were creatures in magical enclosures. Some were simply barriers to protect from predators, while others seemed to create individual biomes for whatever creatures lived within.

When they reached the edge of a particularly large magical enclosure, Rolf urged them to step through the opalescent barrier. Inside, the temperature was much more temperate, though a chill still lingered in the air. Rolf led them around a craggy outcropping of rock, and Draco was stopped in his tracks by an unexpected sight.

In the middle of a grassy clearing, Hermione was sitting with her legs tucked underneath her. She looked radiant, and Draco's stomach heated at the sight of her. Her hair was tumbling down over her shoulders in riotous curls, and she wore a wreath of holly on her head. The long, olive green dress she wore was off her shoulders, but the full-length sleeves and tie just above her swollen belly set off her figure in the most lovely way. She had obviously glamoured her tattoos away again, as he saw no hint of ink where he expected to along her shoulders. She was talking animatedly, her eyes flashing with passion as she spoke with Luna.

And draped across her lap, its head tilted into Hermione's palm, was a bloody dragon.

It wasn't as if Draco thought Hermione had been lying last night, but he hadn't been prepared to see a reportedly ferocious beast wrapped around her little finger. Nearly two metres long, with shiny, blackish-blue scales, it was an impressive thing despite its stunted size. Draco knew wyverns could get to four or five metres in length when fully grown, but seeing something nearly the same height as himself stretched across Hermione's lap like an overly-large cat, lazily unfurling its leathery wings, was startling, if not terrifying.

They were just barely in earshot, and Draco vaguely registered Hermione's voice as he took in the scene.

"... perfectly manageable with reliable access to Wolfsbane, and there are a number of nonprofits on the continent that would serve as…"

Scorpius gasped in excitement, tugging on Draco's hand. At the sound, Hermione looked up to see them, scarcely pausing in her response but to shoot them a cheeky wink. Scorpius rocked on the balls of his feet as they watched.

"... Britain has a lot to learn from our peers abroad."

Having finished her statement, Hermione flashed them a grin and beckoned them forward.

"Scorp, if you ask your dad, you can come meet Penelope."

At the sound of her name, Penelope huffed a small puff of smoke from her nostrils, making an odd clicking and chuffing sound that did not dissuade Draco from his original impression of an oversized cat. Penelope turned her head toward them, blinking open a pair of startlingly blue eyes that looked very much like Scorpius' own.

Draco could feel Scorp practically vibrating with anticipation beside him. "Dad," he whispered urgently. "Can I? Please?"

"Penelope is perfectly tame, Draco," came Rolf's reassuring voice from behind him. "She's been part of our family for nearly a decade, and loves children. She's quite the protector."

Rolf's words eased Draco's mind somewhat, and Draco released Scorp's hand to urge him forward.

Scorp stepped forward tentatively, and once he was within reach of Hermione she held her hand out to him reassuringly. He sank down on his knees next to Hermione, holding her hand, and Draco's heart seized with momentary panic as Penelope turned to regard Scorpius. Rolf's large, calming hand appeared on Draco's tense shoulder.

"Hermione's one of Penelope's favourite people," he said in a low voice. "He's safe with her. Penny hasn't left her side since she got here. She was the same way when Luna was pregnant with Seb -- more accurate than a charm, our girl. She could sense Hermione was pregnant the moment she stepped outside, and was raising a right ruckus till they came to see her." Rolf chuckled. "They've been here nearly an hour."

As Rolf spoke, Scorpius reached out a hand for Penelope to smell. Penelope gave it a single sniff, and tipped her head forward to press Scorp's small hand flat against the space between her eyes. Her eyes fell closed and she chuffed again. Scorp's face lit up in awe as he stroked the small dragon's face with reverence.

Draco vaguely registered Luna standing up from a nearby boulder with her camera. She flashed a wide smile at him as she edged around the scene in front of them. The device was mercifully silent as she took a number of photos of Hermione and Scorpius. Scorp leaned in to whisper something to Hermione, and she nodded, grinning at him.

"Draco?"

Draco snapped his attention up to meet Hermione's warm gaze. "Hmm?"

"Will you bring us Noodle? Scorpius would like to introduce them."

Draco fumbled in the bag he had brought and pulled the well-worn stuffy from its depths. The cartoonish Welsh Green was one of Scorpius' favourite toys, and he still slept with it most nights. Draco could hear a good-natured chuckle from his side as Rolf registered the toy.

Penelope turned toward Draco as he approached slowly and unfurled her wings in a stretch. Her icy blue gaze bored into his own, and Draco watched her cautiously as she took a series of curious sniffs in his direction. She seemed to make a connection with the final sniff, for she turned to Hermione and nuzzled her scaly snout against Hermione's swollen belly.

"That's right, my sweet." Hermione murmured to the dragon. Penelope chuffed against Hermione's stomach and then turned back to Draco. Her head tilted curiously as she eyed Noodle, and Draco felt himself ease slightly at her playful expression.

When he reached them, Draco knelt on one knee to pass the stuffy over to Scorpius. Penelope tilted her head again as she followed Noodle’s handover. Scorpius held out the dragon for Penelope to sniff.

“This is Noodle. He’s my favourite toy,” Scorp told her seriously. Penelope snuffled her face into the soft fabric and then sneezed suddenly. Instead of sparks, however, a glittery powder shot out of the wyvern's nostrils. Noodle’s fabric body started to glitter with a pattern of scales and its stuffed wings flapped on their own as if it had come to life momentarily.

Scorpius’ peal of laughter filled the small clearing with joy. Hermione laughed along with him, and gathered the wyvern into her arms in an embrace. Penelope issued another clicking and chuffing utterance, and nudged her way out of Hermione’s arms to wind around her body like a large snake.

Scorpius giggled again as he watched Penelope wiggle around in the grass between the three of them before it rose up on its two legs to come eye to eye with Draco. Draco mimicked Scorpius’ actions from earlier and held out his hand for her to sniff. There was a moment of appraisal before she pressed her head into Draco’s palm, as well, and he felt an incredible warmth spread through his body, originating at the point of contact.

Penelope settled down into the space between their legs, and curled up on herself like a large cat. She seemed intent on a nap as she clicked to herself. Hermione stroked her hand down her back one last time before she stood awkwardly, brushing the wrinkles out from her dress and offering her hand to Scorp for a friendly squeeze.

"Thank you for coming today, Scorpius. Do you want to meet some other animals while I keep talking to my friend?"

Scorpius nodded enthusiastically, and trailed after Rolf as he led the Malfoy boys off to meet some of their long-time residents.