Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Let There Be No More Curse	By : lexiatel Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 61015 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 10
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to Jk Rowling, I do not make any profit in writing this story what so ever, I am just having some fun.

Chapter List
- 38
- 39
- 40
Hermione wanted to do something special for Draco's birthday, but with what she had planned, it was hard when Draco was around all the time. He didn't want to leave her alone with both of their children, knowing how each of them took up a great deal of time and energy, and when he offered to take Scorpius with him, stating that his mother would surely love watching him while he worked, Hermione refused.
She couldn't do what she wanted without both Scorpius and Talli.
"Really, Draco, I'll be fine for a few hours!" she insisted. "I'll send for you if I need help!"
Draco looked at her warily, finally deciding to go to Malfoy Manor to brew up some potions that he had been neglecting to do in the past few weeks.
"I'm leaving Toogy here with you though," he announced before leaving; his tone firm.
Hermione rolled her eyes but agreed— whatever had to be done to get him out of the house.
Well after she was sure that he was gone, Hermione got down on all fours to make a Floo-call.
"Oh, you are so brilliant," Mrs. Malfoy gasped when she saw what Hermione had done for Draco's birthday gift. "He's going to love this!"
Hermione smiled. "I hope so; it was so hard finding all that I needed! And rushing everything to get Talli involved! We didn't expect her to come so early."
"Don't you worry, my dear, you did great!" The woman pulled her into a friendly hug. "Please tell me you got copies?"
Hermione laughed. "I'll have some made!"
"Good girl!" And Mrs. Malfoy kissed her on her cheek, making the bright witch blush. "Now, are my grandbabies up yet? I got some more cheeks to kiss!" she said, puckering up her lips with an indication.
Draco's birthday came soon after. Very early that day, Hermione woke up with a start. Her pulse was racing, and she had no idea why for; she didn't remember having a nightmare.
She carefully got out of bed to keep from waking up Draco, thinking a cup of tea would calm her nerves.
Before leaving the room, Hermione peeked down into Talli's bassinet to check on her. She smiled at the sleeping baby whose breathing was calm and rhythmical. Then she went to Scorpius's room, which was just across from her and Draco's. She crept quietly to his crib, stopping next to it.
It was empty…!
"Draco!" Hermione hollered in sudden panic. She called for him again, rushing to their room for her wand to cast a locator spell.
"What's wrong?!" Draco asked in complete alarm, his own wand now equipped.
"Scorpius is not in his crib!" she hastily announced, casting the spell.
"Mina!" her little boy called cheerfully.
"The bathroom!" Draco said when a light shot out of her wand and flew to the bathroom that was connected to their bedroom.
Together, they hurried to see their son standing on his own two feet without any assistance. A Muggle rubber ducky was in his hand, and he was waving it over his head, excitedly, wobbling from the movement.
"What are you doing up so early?" Draco teased him.
"I wok!" Scorpius told him proudly.
Hermione bent down, holding her arms out."Come to Mumma, Scorpius, sweety!"
Scorpius giggled and dropped his toy, awkwardly stepping toward Hermione with a huge grin on his face.
Draco quickly summoned up his ClickCap to record Scorpius first steps.
Hermione cooed happily when he stumbled all the way to her, and she swung him up into her arms, kissing him over and over. "You did it!" she squealed.
"We'll have to celebrate this achievement!" Draco said, rubbing the baby's back. He had been a little worried about Scorpius, knowing that most babies walked well before he had, but he was relieved to finally see him do it.
"And on my birthday too! How exciting!" The man was beaming with pride.
"I've got a surprise for you…!" Hermione sang out later on that morning when Draco entered the kitchen with a sleepy-faced Talli. She not-so-patiently waited for her fiancé to take his seat at the table with the newborn laying in the crook of one of his arms.
Draco smirked, delighted to see her excitement. He grabbed the glass of pumpkin juice that Toogy freshly made for him every morning and said good morning to Scorpius who was in his high chair eating a breakfast of his favourite cereal.
"So, what is it?" he finally asked her, wondering what she could have gotten him for his birthday.
Hermione bounced out of the kitchen, humming a cheerful tune.
Draco leaned toward Scorpius, whispering, "What did she get me?"
His son smiled, showing his four, shiny, sharp teeth. "Took it!"
"Took what?"
Scorpius answered with a motion of his hands. "Fwy!"
Draco shook his head in amusement. He'd have to wait for Hermione to show him.
She came back in moments later, breathing hard from her quick movement. A small book was in her hand— pocket-sized.
He curiously outstretched his arm to receive her gift, thanking her at the same time she puffed out, "Happy birthday!"
"I do hope you like it." Hermione fidgeted behind him anxiously. "I thought it was—"
"Merlin…!" Draco cut her off when he opened the book, discovering what was inside. "How did you get Scorpius on a broom?!"
Hermione laughed, her nervousness gone immediately when she saw that he loved her gift. "It's Muggle technology! Goyle's wife helped me with it! She does computer graphic designing as a hobby, and all I had to do was get some pictures of the babies; she did everything else! Aren't they just extraordinarily cute?!"
There was a series of pictures of both Talli and Scorpius involved with Quidditch, flying, and brooms. They were even dressed in uniforms as if they were part of an actual team. One of Draco's favourites was a 'Photoshopped' picture of Scorpius reaching out to catch a Snitch. He hoped that one day this image would be real.
"You must have taken this picture months ago— his hair's so short here!" Draco commented.
"I've been working on it since March, yes," she told him proudly.
"No wonder you kept insisting that I leave the home, you wanted to get some snaps of Talli!"
Hermione laughed. "Didn't think I'd get that accomplished, to be honest."
Draco's favourite picture of Talli was her holding up a Beater bat, which was bigger than her entire body.
"It wasn't a real bat," Hermione explained to him when he had asked how she managed that. "It's just an illusion. That picture is actually of her in the middle of a stretch. Janine just applied the handle of the bat into her hand in the picture so it would look like she was holding it out, getting ready to swing."
"Good," Draco said, kissing their daughter, "because she's much too little to even think about Quidditch!
"Thank you, love," he purred, tilting his head for her to lean down and kiss him. "They are the best gifts I've ever gotten!"
*/*
"I yootah!" Scorpius babbled from where he sat in his baby carriage as Mina pushed him through the streets of Diagon Alley. He always loved going out into populated areas, looking at all the different people, studying them. And of course, not everyone in the street was human! There were goblins, house-elves, and grumpy, old hags! There were all types of animals too, and Scorpius liked it when an occasional one would get close enough where he could lean over and touch it.
"Furs!" he said to a pink ball of fur. It was a pygmy puff that had gotten away from its owner. It jumped into Scorpius lap, making him laugh in delight. "You furs!" he squealed, hugging it to his chest, giving it a wet kiss as it purred against him.
"Aww, look at the cute, little Malfoy heir!" an older woman said above him, bending down to brush her hand along Scorpius's long hair.
"Hello, Mrs. Treesole," Mina responded politely.
"And where is your tiny, sweet daughter?" the woman sounded disappointed that Talli wasn't there.
"She's at home with Draco. She's been sleeping a lot."
"But Talitha is okay?" Mrs. Treesole asked in deep concern.
"She's doing great."
As Mina filled in the old woman with details about how his sister was fairing, Scorpius caught sight of an interesting looking child with two heads that were talking.
"Two heads are better than one! Mum always says that!"
"Yeah! Two heads, Dad! Two heads!"
"Your mother's going to kill me!" a man near them was frantically saying. "I don't know this magic junk for anything! I told her this was a bad idea! I told her! I am so dead— stop picking your nose, that's just too bloody disgusting!"
"I have a boogie up it, Dad!" one head said.
"Yeah, you don't want me walking around with it, do you?"
"Mum wouldn't!"
"Exactly! See how better I am with two heads, Dad?"
Scorpius didn't get to hear a response from the man as they walked out of his earshot.
Something blue caught his eye, and his mouth opened in surprise. He remembered seeing that man before!
"Soptah!" he called out, pointing. The man with long, blue hair didn't even notice him, but he was so close to Scorpius that the toddler could hear him muttering words under his breath, though Scorpius couldn't make any of them out.
In frustration, the man with trailing blue hair bunched up a wad of his hair to get it up off the ground, and draped it over an arm. He scratched aggressively at his scalp.
"Mina! I hep! I hep!" Scorpius said, trying to call attention to his mother who was in a new conversation with a different person.
"We haven't really discussed it," Mina said to the man asking when she and Derbla were getting married.
Mina hadn't heard Scorpius. He kicked his legs in frustration, groaning. His face wrinkled up.
Nothing was going to stop him from talking to the man this time! Scorpius decided.
He pressed the button to the safety belt that was strapped around his waist. He grunted, realizing it was too hard for his small fingers to push in deep enough to unfasten the mechanism inside it.
"I hep! I hep!" he said over and over, looking at the man with blue hair every so few seconds, not wanting to lose sight of him.
He was getting away!
Scorpius pressed with all his might, finally clicking the device apart. He scrambled out of the baby carriage and crawled as fast as he could toward the man (though he could walk now, crawling was still much quicker for him).
"Soptah!" he shouted. "I hep!"
"Scorpius!" he heard Mina call out. "Stop right now!"
Mina's voice was getting closer! Scorpius had to get to the itchy-scalped man first though!
Mina was shouting, getting everyone's attention; people started crowding around to stop him, but because he was so little, he was quick and was able to dart from their grasping hands!
Scorpius knew Mina was upset with him, but this was important!
The man he was after had stopped at a shop window to look through it, but during the commotion, he had turned toward the baby, watching him approach. Scorpius reached out, panting for breath the whole time, and touched the man's ankle.
He was lifted up off of the ground. "Hello there, fella," the sick man smiled warmly at him, as he held Scorpius out at arm's length, looking him over. "Ah, I think I know you…"
"Hep!" the baby replied. He really could help this man, but something didn't feel right, and as Mina snatched Scorpius from the man, hugging him close to her beating heart, Scorpius realized what was wrong.
He was missing the necklace.
*/*
"Why is he crying?" Draco asked when he stepped into the Flooing room. His son's annoyed wails woke Talli up, who Draco had carried down with him to check what was wrong.
"I don't know!" Hermione told him helplessly, setting Scorpius onto the floor. She motioned for Draco to hand her their daughter, and began explaining what had happened, to the best of her knowledge.
"I was talking to some people who know you— the nosiness is getting terrible, hon, I doubt we'll be able to keep our engagement a secret for much longer— and he escaped his carriage! He crawled up to some stranger—" She shuddered in mild fear. "—the man was very nice, but I don't know what's gotten into Scorpius!"
Draco had picked up his son when Scorpius crawled to him and stood up to his feet. The baby was in tears, his eyes rolling with them.
"What is it, chomper?" he asked the boy, hugging him close, smoothing back his overgrown hair.
"I hep!" Scorpius replied.
"Help with what?"
"Ick!"
"Ick...? What's ick?"Draco took Scorpius over to a sofa in the room while Hermione exited with Talli to settle her cries. "Calm down. You're fine," Draco told the boy, gently rocking him to soothe him. "That's it," he said when his whimpers softened, "there's no reason to cry, son."
"Lass!" his son screeched, voicing his frustration.
"Lass?" Draco didn't quite understand. He watched Scorpius sigh in exhaustion before the baby smashed into his chest, seeking comfort.
Draco patted him on the back. "You need a good rest, don't you? Is Diagon Alley too much for you?"
"Boo fur— hair…" Scorpius murmured sleepily, dozing off as Draco gently stroked his back.
Draco kissed his son's head and leaned back into the sofa, closing his eyes, wondering what could have possibly upset Scorpius so much. Scorpius didn't tend to fuss over nothing.
In Scorpius's language, what did lass mean? It was harder to understand him lately, as the baby was learning a real language, mixing up his own with actual words. Often, he was pretty close to the real word anymore, and it normally wasn't hard to figure it out.
For now though, there was nothing Draco could do. He'd have to wait for Scorpius to wake up so he could talk to him when he wasn't so upset.
Later, after everyone had dinner, Draco sat down with Scorpius, assisting him with his building blocks.
"Do you remember what happened today, Scorpius? When you came home upset?"
Scorpius, getting ready to clumsily stack a red block on a blue one, set the block down and nodded to his father. "I hep. No lass!" He wildly shook his head. "No lass…"
"And what do you mean by lass?"
The boy touched his hand to his chest. "Lass!"
Draco took a moment to think. The first thing that came to his mind was heart, but everyone knew Scorpius had a big heart, so that wouldn't make sense.
"Ting!"
"Thing?"
Scorpius nodded, looking dead serious. Whatever this was was important to him.
"As in an object? Lass is an item?"
"Yes!" Scorpius smiled, looking relieved that Draco could understand him. "Lass for hep!"
"Is it a pin or a badge?"
"No!" Scorpius smacked his chest. He scrunched up his face in deep concentration. "Macklass!" His face was red from his effort. Then he fell to the ground in complete irritation and started whimpering.
"It's alright, chomper." Draco pulled the baby into his lap.
"Hard!" Scorpius wailed.
"I know, but you're doing great." He kissed the boy's head. "You're doing much better than any baby I know."
"Macklass, Derbla?" Scorpius said pressingly, hoping to get him to understand what he was saying.
"Hmm…" Draco gave the word a thought, then his eyes widened, faintly remembering something his son had said a couple weeks before. "Necklace!"
"Yes!"
"So you want a necklace— I think you're too young," he said, shaking his head.
"No!" Scorpius screeched.
"You can easily tighten it around your throat! No, not yet…"
Scorpius whined. "No, Derbla! Hep!"
"A necklace isn't going to stop you from helping anyone."
"Yes! I...meab!"
"Meab? Mean?"
"Meav!"
Draco was confused, growing annoyed himself because he couldn't understand his son.
"Mead!"
"Need?"
Scorpius nodded.
"You don't need a necklace to help anyone. And you can't help anyone right now. You can when you're older though."
Scorpius screamed a protest before burying his face into Draco's chest. The baby started crying all over again.
"Quiet down… you'll wake up Talli."
But Scorpius didn't calm down. Draco wasn't sure what to do about it either… His son was too young for a necklace.
Were they spoiling Scorpius too much? He didn't think so…
"All babies have tantrums," Hermione told him when he mentioned Scorpius's reaction to not getting a necklace. "And don't feel bad, I wouldn't want him having a necklace either."
"I don't understand his fascination with it. He must have really liked the one Longbottom got his mother."
Hermione shrugged eyeing her sleeping son. "He'll forget about it soon enough."
But he didn't forget it. As the days neared his own birthday, Scorpius was persistent on getting that necklace.
"Lass!" the baby suggested when Draco and Hermione were mildly arguing about what to get for his birthday. He clapped his hands, amused with himself.
"No," his father told him firmly. "No necklace."
Scorpius pouted, looking about ready to cry, but Hermione distracted him by giving him a bounce and kissing his cheek.
"How about a bottle of warm milk?" she asked, carrying him off to the kitchen.
"Moo!"
He quickly forgot about the necklace. At least for the time being.
The morning of Scorpius's birthday was a busy and chaotic one. It started off with Draco waking up in an abnormal excitement as he shook Hermione awake.
"Come on, Mione," he urged her anxiously. "Scorpius is a year old today! We got lots to do."
Hermione, though she was tired from their late night finalization of what was planned for the boy's first birthday, bolted up out of bed and darted off into the bathroom in a frenzy, barking out orders and reminders to Draco.
As Hermione cared for Talli, Draco chased Scorpius throughout the home, trying to get the mischievous, little tot dressed. He had taken off after his bath, and his father hadn't even had a chance to dress him. Lately, the boy found it a joyful game to have his parents chase him around.
"Got you!" Draco cheered, hauling him up into his arms, tickling the giggling boy. "Just because you're now one full year old, doesn't mean you got me outsmarted, chomper!"
"I win!"
"No, you don't! We've got to get you dressed for your party!"
"Parsy!"
After getting Scorpius all ready in the fancy suit that Draco had bought him, and having tied the baby's sleek hair into a loose tail at the back of his head, Draco nodded with satisfaction.
"Your grandparents are going to love you today— they better enjoy that hair while it lasts, because—" here, Draco lowered his voice, as if he was telling a secret, "—I'm going to schedule an appointment to get it hacked off!"
Scorpius's mouth shaped into an 'O', knowing how his grandfather especially liked his hair at its current length.
Draco chuckled. "It's much too hot for long hair, son!"
"Tack!" Scorpius said as Draco plucked him off the bathroom counter and set him back on the ground.
"Stay clean, you know how fussy your mother will get if you dirty your clothing before the party even starts," Draco advised.
"Seen!"
Draco led Scorpius out patiently by the hand to meet up with Hermione, who should have been finished with the Healer for Talli by then. He found her in the kitchen, nibbling on her bottom lip.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know!" she said exasperatedly. "The Healer was acting a little strange with Talli today, but when I asked him about it, all he would say was that he needed to speak with another Healer and that I shouldn't worry; that it's nothing!"
Draco eyed his daughter over who was watching Scorpius as he spat his tongue out at her, making her squeal out happily. A moment later, she opened her mouth, trying to copy him, humming out softly as she did it.
He didn't see anything wrong with his daughter. She was growing at a steady rate for her condition, her hearing and eyesight were great, her lungs were definitely fine, she had no problems with motor skills (she was obviously a little slower than the average baby, but she wasn't the typical baby either).
"You know what, Mione," Draco spoke softly, setting a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. "There's no reason to worry, Talli is doing great!"
"You weren't there! I saw his look of concern: something is wrong!"
Draco pulled his fiancée into a hug. "Let's not worry until we hear about it for sure, alright? And… we have a birthday to celebrate, so why don't we start by opening gifts?"
He felt her nod against him and take a deep breath. "Scorpy, baby?" she asked, breaking away from Draco, forcing a smile. "Do you want to see what we got you for your birthday?"
"Gives!" Scorpius cheered, flapping his arms around excitedly.
Talli joined in on it, squeaking out. Scorpius's eyes widened, and he covered his ears from her high pitched noise.
"Tarp!" the toddler said with a smile.
His sister gurgled at him, causing drool to drip from her mouth.
Draco filled the table with gifts that he and Hermione had gotten for Scorpius. Most of the wrapping was blue coloured, and Scorpius's eyes danced from one wrapped gift to the other.
Hermione sat him in her lap so she could assist him with the unwrapping if he needed it. He did quite well on his own, shrieking out in glee as he ripped the paper, amused by Talli's looks of interest and her occasional happy outburst.
Scorpius didn't get a broom for his birthday. Hermione and Draco had argued over it for weeks before Hermione had won the argument. So Draco got his son something different, telling Hermione that because he was breaking a family tradition (and even a common one that most wizards had to begin with), that he was going to get something just as good, and she was forbidden to object it.
"As long as it's safe," she finally agreed with a sigh when Draco wouldn't tell her what it is.
"You'll have to learn to trust me," he had told her.
"Do you like those books, chomper?" Draco asked as Scorpius babbled to Hermione in a mixture of baby talk and English.
"Yes!" he answered with a healthy slap to a cover of one.
"We have one more gift for you," Draco announced with shining eyes. His smile widened when Hermione shifted in her seat, curious to know of this secret gift.
"Toogy, would you go get the last gift we have for Scorpius?"
Toogy, who had been eagerly picking up Scorpius's littered gift wrapping gasped in delight and vanished without a sound only to return moments later with a cage that was four times her size. It had a covering over it, so no one could see what it was, but it was obviously a bird of some sort.
Draco took the cage from Toogy, thanking her for her help, and he set it on the table in front of Scorpius.
"Help him reveal what's inside," Draco said to Hermione.
"Isn't he too young—"
Draco stopped her with a raise of his hand. "You promised, and you said you would trust me."
Hermione rolled her eyes but gave a nod and directed her attention to Scorpius who was trying to pull the royal blue covering off of the cage.
"Mumma will help you sweety," she offered, grabbing a fistful and gently removing the covering.
A small, mostly-green bird sat on a perch, tilting its head in curiosity.
"It's a lorikeet," Hermione announced, a small smile appeared on her face. "And… she's beautiful…"
"I asked around on what a good companion was for a child," Draco started to explain while he slowly opened the door to the cage, sticking his hand in there. "Birds are quite useful, but I thought an owl was too… standard, and owls require a lot more care than this bird does— at least that's what several companion store owners said. Many of them suggested a parrot, and after a little research, I decided that this one would be perfect!"
"My?" Scorpius asked, reaching up to touch the chattering bird.
"Yes, but you have to be very, very careful," Draco stressed out. "She is very fragile, and you can only play with her when Mumma or I am around, understand?"
"Yes!" Scorpius laughed when the bird whistled. "Weetoo!"
"She's already been tamed and trained. I got to talk to the breeder and the trainer before the purchase; both were very nice women, and they each said I could come by anytime for questions or assistance."
The lorikeet had crawled up Scorpius arm during this time and was already nuzzling in the roots of the child's hair, preening it. Scorpius giggled from the tickling.
Hermione sighed. "You'll be cleaning out her cage, Draco," she said firmly.
He grinned smugly at her acceptance, knowing that the bird and boy were now inseparable. It was like that with companions and Magical people; you usually knew within moments of them meeting if they were meant to be or not.
And Hermione could not deny that Scorpius and his new lorikeet were now the best of friends.
"I didn't expect him to get so many gifts," Hermione whispered to Draco, merely glancing at the gifts piled high up in the corner of the lowest floor of their home where they were hosting the party at.
Lots of people were there, as they both had invited all their friends.
"Most of them are from your side, since you know a hell of a lot more people than I do— or rather, you're friends with more."
"I'm surprised you invited as many as you did," she admitted.
"Mostly done for Scorpius's sake; he's making all sorts of new friends— future housemates."
Hermione scoffed. "You are going to be incredibly disappointed if he's sorted into Gryffindor."
"Malfoys are never sorted anywhere besides Slytherin," he said for the thousandth time.
And as always, when he said that, she hummed in doubt, mostly just to tease him. He cared about it more than she ever would. Hermione would be proud of Scorpius no matter which house he ended up being a part of.
They played lots of party games, such as Pin-the-Beak-On-the-Hippogriff, Musical Brooms, and Explosive Hot Potato.
Scorpius (with the help of Teddy and Cara) had fun showing all his new friends his Muggle car toys, quite a few of them didn't even know what a car was. They scuttled around the large room, under foot, making attempts at engine noises.
"Look," Draco nudged Hermione gently when they met up again after talking with their friends and helping split up fights between children, as they outnumber the adults at least two to one.
He had tossed his head toward his mother who was hugging Andromeda.
Hermione smiled. "They made up," she whispered.
"I was hoping they would," Draco said, turning around so the older women wouldn't see that he had been keeping an eye on them. "Partially why I invited my aunt, she deserved to have an invitation too. It would be improper to invite Teddy and not her."
"So many years have passed since everything…" Hermione thought out loud. "There's no reason for them to feud anymore."
"Perhaps they realized this also."
Draco wrapped his arm around her waist and gave her a simple kiss on her shoulder. "Shall we tell them now?"
She whirled around, nodding with a massive grin on her face. She took her wand and cast a spell, creating a ringing sound.
"Draco and I have an announcement to make," she told their guests.
"Yes, we know you're getting married," George shouted out. "Just tell us when the date is already!"
Laughter followed, and then there was a unanimous agreement following the question.
"This December," Draco answered after a clear of his throat. "On the sixtenth."
There were cheers and clapping, people took turns hugging Hermione and shaking Draco's hand.
When it was Harry's turn, he eyed the Slytherin a moment before nodding with a smile. "You're a good man, Malfoy."
"Thanks, you too, Potter."
Ginny didn't even bother suppressing her feelings about it, attacking Hermione, hugging her tightly, and then catching Draco's hand and shaking it aggressively. "We've been waiting for this! Oh, it's so exciting!"
"Who's 'we'?" Draco asked warily.
"Everyone, really!" she answered, laughing. "For a bonded couple, you two sure take a while to do anything— well except for the good stuff—"
Harry tugged Ginny away before she could say anything more, allowing the rest of the guests to give their personal congratulations. Hermione would have to thank him later.
"Miss Granger," Mr. Malfoy greeted. His eyes were lit up, and if she didn't know any better, she swore they were a bit on the wet side.
"Mr. Malfoy," she returned slowly, not exactly sure what to expect of him.
He finally smiled faintly and took her hand, squeezing it with his soft larger one. "Welcome to the family." He leaned in ever so slightly, whispering, "Please don't call me by my formal name anymore; you're family now."
Hermione was momentarily stunned, but she gave a nod after a few seconds. "Um, thank you, Lucius. That rule applies to you too, since 'Mrs. Granger-Malfoy' would be quite the mouthful."
"Indeed," he agreed, saying no more and turning to his son, placing a hand on Draco's shoulder.
Hermione didn't get to hear what Lucius said to him as Mrs. Malfoy— Narcissa— came up, blotting her eyes.
"Oh, I'm just so happy that you finally set a date!" she said sniffing and hugging Hermione.
Hermione was becoming to feel very comfortable with the woman's embrace. It reminded her of her own mother's hugs.
"Please tell me you like calla lilies?"
"I do… why?" Hermione asked with a little suspicion, pulling from the woman to eye her over.
"Because they are just beautiful, aren't they?" she responded innocently, moving on to Draco, leaving Hermione there a bit confused.
She forgot about it as Ron approached, his son Edgar in his arms. The toddler was playing with a paper party favour, blowing into it and smacking Ron in the chin with the end of it. Ron wasn't paying any attention to it, giving Hermione a look over.
"So he finally decided you're worth keeping?"
Hermione nodded.
"Well, I give him credit," Ron said slowly, a smirk spreading across his lips. "He's put up with your nagging for a year now, I'd say he well deserves it— better man than I am!"
Hermione playfully smacked him and then hugged the man she once thought would be her husband of many years.
"I'm glad to see you found someone to make you happy, Mione," he whispered to her.
"Thanks, Ronald."
He scoffed. "Do you realize you're the only one that gets away with calling me that?"
"Not until now. Thanks for making me feel special."
He nodded, seeing Neville and Luna come up for their turn. "Don't let him forget that you are," he said seriously.
Hermione smiled at his protectiveness over her. "I doubt he'll ever forget."
"You'll be the first of our group to marry a Slytherin," Neville said when Ron allowed him his turn. "You always have to be the one to set a trend."
Hermione laughed. "Really, if that was true, you'd all be bookworms!"
"Point taken." Then he hugged her, congratulating her. "To be honest, I never thought of you as the marrying type, especially to someone so…" he paused, eyes shifting toward Draco. "Well, I understand he's changed some, but I hear he's still a bit of a… drama queen, yes?"
"Oh, yes," she said with a giggle. "But he's quite entertaining!"
"I don't doubt that you're in love with him, I do hope you have a happy life, Hermione."
"Thank you, Nev. My life is already a happy one though."
"Okay," Luna said with some seriousness to her tone, gently squeezing in between them. She had been waiting for them to finish patiently but couldn't no longer. "Now, you want to make sure you buy a gallon of Muck Squirt for every four people you plan to have at your wedding, you'll spray it on all the walk areas— don't forget under the tables and chairs!— that stuff works well to keep away the Daft Beetles, they love wedding cakes, especially the wedding toppers."
"Thank you, Luna," Hermione responded politely, making a note of it in her head. Luna usually wasn't far off from the truth on these 'myths' she spoke about.
"Congratulations," the blonde sang out in her soft voice. "You got a good man there."
"Yes, I do, even if he's such a child sometimes."
"Everyone can act like a child from time to time," Luna pointed out. "It's what keeps us young."
Draco tapped Hermione's shoulder then, gesturing to Scorpius who was in his arms. "Scorpius wants something."
"And what does Scorpy want?" Hermione cooed at the birthday boy.
"Kay!" He pointed across the room where there was an abundance of cake, ice cream, and many other birthday foods.
"Cake time!" George shouted out, having overheard what was going on. He won cheers from the kids in the room (and some adults).
"Speaking of grown people who act like children," Hermione said loud enough for him to hear.
"At your service, my dear," he said, giving her a mock bow.
The kids, old and new, started chanting for cake. And soon, the whole room was doing it.
Hermione and Draco made their way to the table, sitting Scorpius in the middle of it, so everyone could see him.
Scorpius's eyes were wide as he looked this way and that at all the sweets near him. His tongue stuck out, earning roaring laughter from his guests.
"Say hi to everyone," Draco said, reminding him that he had an audience.
"Hi!" Scorpius said with a quick wave. His attention was back on the sweets before he even put his hand back down.
"Say, 'Thanks for coming!'" Hermione directed.
"Tans for combing!"
More laughter. He was a riot. And since Scorpius was such a ham, he leaned back into the chair, laughing himself.
"Silly boy!" Hermione leaned down kissing his head.
"Kay! Yes!" Scorpius reached out to grab at one of the cakes, but Draco, with his quick reflexes, stopped him just in time.
"Not yet, chomper. We still have to sing—"
"Sing?!" Scorpius burst out in excitement. He liked singing.
"We sing to you, and you listen."
Scorpius struggled to his feet, and his father held him in place when he realized the boy wanted to stand in the chair to see the people better.
"Sing!" Scorpius told the crowd. "You sing!" His smile grew wide from the attention he was getting.
"Merlin, he's such a cutie!"
"He loves all the attention, look at him, standing there with that grin on his face!"
"Nah, he just knows we have to sing before he gets cake!"
There were a few 'aww's and laughter with that.
"Okay, so he's cute, but can't we just eat cake now, Dad?!" James asked Harry pleadingly.
Now it was his turn to get the attention, but James just wanted the cake, so he started singing the Happy Birthday song, hoping to get the show on the road.
And it did work, everyone started singing and Hermione hastily set up Scorpius's personal cake with one, sole candle.
"Now," Draco began to explain to Scorpius what he was supposed to do next, earning an exasperated sigh from the baby who learned he still couldn't eat the cake right yet. "You make a wish— you don't tell anyone!— and then blow out the candle, if you do it in one breath, your wish will come true!"
Scorpius's jaw dropped in surprise over the news. "Woe!" He didn't even stop to think, taking a deep, dramatic breath and blew as hard as he could. The flame flickered, struggling to stay straight and tall, but Scorpius did manage to get it to go out. The now candle stood lifelessly, a little trail of smoke whiffed by, smelling of sweet, melted, burnt wax.
And finally, finally, the cake was served!
Scorpius dug in, hands and all, grabbing a handful and stuffing it into his mouth. He was so absorbed in his cake eating that he didn't notice the abundance of activity around him.
The frosting had been blue with red and green writing that spelled out, "Happy 1st Birthday, Scorpius!", and the cake itself was yellow. He liked the frosting the best, but some of the blue had now turned to a brown colour, as the frosting colours had gotten all mixed together.
"What's that you got there?" his grandfather asked, noticing that he was licking something besides his hand.
"Macklass!" the boy replied, pleased with himself. The chain was connected to a solid, round, flat piece that was coated in cake, frosting, and dripping ice cream. He popped it into his mouth, sucking on it.
"I thought we agreed not to get him a necklace," Draco inquired, raising his eyebrows at Hermione.
"I didn't put it in there."
"You baked the cake," Draco accused.
"Don't even start with me, Draco," she warned him. " I didn't bake a necklace in his cake— why would I? It's a choking hazard!"
"Then how did it get in there?!"
"Wiss!" his son answered. "My!" Scorpius protested when Draco went to take the necklace from him.
"No necklace," his father said sternly. "Now hand it over."
"No! My! My wiss! My macklass!"
Scorpius's hand started glowing green, making Hermione gasp, but after a look, they all realized that it wasn't his hand that was glowing. It was the necklace.
"How did—" Draco was in shock.
"It's the amulet!" Hermione said.
"I thought the amulet disappeared when you put it on Scorpius?" Draco looked at his mother who gave a clueless shrug.
"My macklass!" Scorpius said, hugging the sticky object to his chest. His eyes were narrowed in determination. He wasn't going to let anyone take it from him.
"It is his," Lucius pointed out. "I don't think you can take it from him, and I wouldn't suggest trying it either. Obviously, it's made an appearance for a reason."
Draco didn't know what to do, he surely didn't want to find the chain to the amulet wrapped around his son's neck, choking him!
"We'll keep a close eye on him, and not let him sleep with it. Maybe we can use a spell to keep it loose around his neck while he's wearing it," Hermione suggested, already trying to come up with a solution to the problem.
Draco didn't get a chance to respond though. Preetea came flying in, depositing a letter right into his lap. The tiny owl then flew off quickly to avoid the crowd of people, not a huge fan of children.
"Hermione…" Draco said with a thoughtful frown after reading the letter. "We need to talk." He hastily folded up the letter, slipping it into his shirt, avoiding from looking at anyone. He swallowed hard, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable around so many people.
So many witnesses...
He got up and left the room, his breathing picked up with each step he took, and by the time he climbed the last step to the staircase to the next floor, he felt like his lungs were shriveling up.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, touching his arm.
He couldn't answer her, his throat too tight from what he had just learned. Instead, he led her up to the nursery where Talli was sleeping— Toogy had offered to look after her during the party.
"Draco… Tell me what has you so upset!"
Draco looked down at his daughter in great disbelief. He felt terrible. He was ashamed of himself, but most importantly, he felt as if he had failed her. He had failed his name. Everything he had worked for— everything his family before him had worked for— was going to be ruined.
Needing to hold her, to comfort her (even though she didn't know just how abnormal she really was yet), he picked up the sleeping baby and held her close to him while she grunted in her sleep. He tucked his face into her tiny body, sniffing as real tears pressed out of his eyes. Then his stomach felt sick, and he shoved the baby into her mother's arms and doubled over to puke.
Nothing came out, but he lost what little control he had managed to keep up to this moment.
Hermione closed the door for privacy in case anyone should come up looking for them and locked them inside. She demanded to know what had upset him so. Draco, face in his hands, his body jerking with each sob, was muttering incoherent words until Hermione was finally able to make one out.
Squib.
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Let There Be No More Curse