Fifteen
September 17th 2017:
“Are you ready for this?” Harry asked Hermione as they walked towards the large conference room that would be holding the press that they invited. Hermione and Draco decided to invite press from the surrounding countries as well. Harry suggested that the more they invite, the farther the news will reach.
“As ready as I ever will be.” Hermione paused and looked at her best friend. “I never thought this far ahead. I never thought about announcing to the world who my daughter’s father is.”
“The world can shove it.” Hermione turned to see Draco dressed in his formal Auror robes. “Take a picture, Granger. It’ll last longer.” Hermione rolled her eyes. She’s the one that taught him that phrase.
“You look nice.”
“Thank you.” Draco paused, looking Hermione up and down. She was also wearing her formal robes. “You look beautiful.”
“Yes, yes. You are both attractive people, can we move on now?”
“Potter, did you just call me attractive?” Harry rolled his eyes. “I don’t know how your wife would feel about that.”
“Git.” Harry mumbled.
“Minister, they’re ready for you.” Katie Bell announced and Hermione nodded.
Harry entered first, opening the door for Hermione to walk through. Draco followed close behind her.
They had decided that he would be standing with her as she told the world her secret.
“Hello everyone, thank you for joining us on such short notice.” Hermione used her wand to amplify her voice. “There are two things I need to tell you all today. The first is,” Hermione paused and looked at Draco. He nodded to her before she looked back at the crowd. “Lucius Malfoy has escaped from Azkaban.” The crowd fell into an uproar of commotion. “Please be silent.” Hermione called their attention back to her. “We discovered this yesterday. Lucius Malfoy is a person of interest in a missing persons case. We originally thought he was communicating with his accomplices from within the walls of Azkaban. However when Auror Malfoy and myself went to speak with Lucius Malfoy, we discovered that for the past five years Greggory Goyle has been disguised as Lucius Malfoy. We have not yet uncovered how or why, but we are announcing that Lucius Malfoy is on the loose and is the number one wanted person in Britain.”
“Who is the missing persons case?” A random reporter shouted.
“My daughter.” Hermione announced and the room went silent. “My daughter, Lyra Rose Granger, was taken on September 1st while on her way to Hogwarts.”
“Why was Lucius Malfoy a person of interest in her case?” Another reporter asked.
“We believed that Lucius Malfoy is involved in this case because,” Hermione paused. Taking a deep breath, she told the world her greatest secret. “My daughter is his granddaughter. Draco Malfoy is the father of my daughter.” The press lost it. They went wild, shouting questions and taking pictures.
“Why did you say a muggle was the father?”
“Was this during Malfoy’s marriage to Astoria?”
“Is this the reason the Malfoy/Greengrass marriage ended?”
“Silent!” Draco yelled. “Yes. Minister Granger and I have a child together. If you all shut it, she will explain.”
“Thank you.” Hermione told Draco and he gave her a small smile. “Draco Malfoy and I were involved during our last year at Hogwarts. We had ended the relationship before I knew I was pregnant. Draco didn't know I was pregnant. He found out about our daughter on September 2nd of this year, when I requested his help with the case.”
“Why did you keep it a secret?”
“Were you ashamed of his past?”
“Or his part in the war?”
“What does Harry Potter think about this?”
“My actions were that of a heartbroken, confused, and scared young woman. I did not know how to handle the situation and I took the easy way out. When I decided to keep my daughter’s parentage a secret, it wasn’t because of her father’s past, it was because I did not want to face the music. I wanted to protect myself so I lied to everyone involved.”
“Can I say something?” Draco asked Hermione quietly.
“Of course.” Hermione moved to the side.
“The decision that Minister Granger made was my fault. I lied to her about my impending marriage. I had known that I would be forced into an arranged marriage, yet I never told her the truth. I told her our relationship was over, and a month later I was married. I do not blame her for the decision made. I will not stand for slander against her because of this. Especially since this does not concern any one of you. The reason we are announcing this is because my psychotic father has escaped Azkaban, and now has my daughter. I do not care about your opinions about me, Granger, or our situation. I care about finding my daughter. So, father, if you see this, just know that I am coming for you. I will find you and I will destroy you.”
Hermione put her hand on his arm.
“We both are coming for you, Lucius Malfoy.”
In an undisclosed location, Lucius Malfoy is reading the news.
“The mudblood knows. And so does your son.”
“Let them try to find us.” Lucius was too calm.
“Should we send them another threat?”
“I told you. We are not contacting them again. The next time they see Lyra, it will be the moment she kills them.”
Hermione and Draco left the conference room after what felt like years.
“That was hell.” Hermione mumbled as they reached her office.
“To be perfectly honest, they reacted better than I thought they were going to.” Hermione laughed.
“No one got physically injured so I'll take it as a win.” Hermione walked to her desk and from the bottom drawer, pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey. She looked up to see a very shocked Draco Malfoy. “I know. Minister Granger breaks the rules and has alcohol in her office? What a scandal.”
“That’s not what I was going to say. I’m rather impressed that you are abusing your power as Minister to keep firewhiskey in your office. Past Minister’s have abused their power for worse things.” Hermione just rolled her eyes and held out a glass for Draco to take. “It was nice to watch you in your element. The people listen to you.”
“Only because I was openly admitting to keeping secrets. The press will have a field day coming up with various scandals and rumors about me.”
“But the people who matter will know it’s not true.” Hermione smiled at him.
“I’m scared Draco.” Hermione admitted. “I could care less about all the rumors they’re going to spread. I’m scared that my daughter will never come back to me. She is so bright. She truly is smarter than me and she has huge plans for her life. And now because of my secrets and my choices, all of those things are in jeopardy.”
“According to everything that everyone has told me about her, she won’t blame you for this. She knows who her mother is. She knows you don’t go with the flow, that you make waves wherever you go. You’ve made history. You are the youngest, female, muggleborn minister to ever be elected. She is not going to blame you.” Draco took a deep breath before looking into Hermione’s eyes. “And, I’m scared too. I’m scared that she only knows what’s written about me. And that her interactions with my father are only going to make it harder for her to trust me.”
“You have nothing to worry about. She’ll be happy to meet you and to get to know you.”
“Draco Lucius Malfoy!” Hermione and Draco looked at each other and then the door.
“Was that your-”
“My mother? Yes. It was.”