Visited Upon the Son

Disclaimer: I live in Texas, not Scotland, so I am obviously not JK Rowling. I’m

just playing with the wonderful characters that she created. I promise that I will put them

back the way I found them when I’m done!

AN: Here’s the next chappie!! Thanks to all who reviewed. As always, please R&R.

My muse loves the attention.

Visited Upon the Son

© SparkyCSI

Chapter 20. Moving Forward

When Hermione returned to her quarters that night, she was still amazed at how romantic

Draco had been. When she had seen him in the Room of Requirement, she had thought the

worst. Instead, he had surprised her by proposing. As per an unspoken agreement, after she

had untangled herself from his arms, they had not spoken of anything of consequence; instead

they had talked of trivial things, favourite colours and whatnot.

She looked down at her ring, impressed by its simple elegance, before coming to a decision.

This was not something that you wrote your best friend about; she needed to talk to Ginny

face to face. So, she decided to go to Minerva and see if she could Floo to the Burrow the

following day.

When she got to the Headmistress’ office, she walked in with a smile on her face. “Hi

Minerva,” she greeted the older woman.

Minerva looked up from her desk, startled to see the happy expression on Hermione’s face.

“Good evening, Mia,” she responded. “I take it you are feeling better?”

Hermione nodded. “Yeah.”

Minerva looked her over and gasped when she saw the ring. “You finally talked to Draco,”

she said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah,” Hermione said with a grin. “I was so bloody convinced that he had found a way to

break it off, when really he was just overwhelmed. That’s actually what brings me here. I

want to go to the Burrow and tell Ginny and Molly in person. Can I use your Floo?”

“Tonight?” Minerva asked, glancing at the clock.

Hermione shook her head. “No, tomorrow.”

Minerva nodded her agreement. “As long as you are back for rounds,” she said.

“I will be,” Hermione assured her.

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The following morning, at breakfast, she told Draco of her plans. “Do you want me to come?”

he asked.

Hermione just shook her head. “Only if you want. I’m sure that we’ll be talking about

girly things, so I understand if you don’t want to come.”

Draco thought for a moment before making his decision. “I want to come with you,” he said

with a smile.

Hermione grinned back at him. “All right. I plan on leaving after breakfast and Minerva

wants us back to do rounds tonight. Meet me at her office after you get ready.”

Draco nodded his agreement.

Thirty minutes later, they were both stepping out of the fireplace, wiping ash off of

themselves. “Aunt Mia!” two voices yelled. Hermione looked down at the two children who

had attached themselves to her legs. “Did you come to play?” Lily asked.

Hermione smiled. “No, I came to talk to your Mum and Grandma.” She cast a sly look at

Draco before kneeling down and whispering, “If you ask nicely, maybe Draco will play with

you.”

Lily nodded, her pig tails bouncing and turned to Draco. “Will you play with me?” she

asked, her eyes pleading.

Draco looked at the little girl, feeling his resolve crumbling at her puppy dog eyes.

Finally, he crouched down next to her. “Of course, but can I say hello to your family

first?”

Lily nodded again while Draco stood back up. “That was blackmail,” he muttered to Hermione,

who just giggled.

Lily ran out of the room yelling, “Mum! Aunt Mia’s here and Draco said he would play with

me!”

Jamie looked at the two adults before saying, “Will you play with me, too?”

Draco smiled, feeling more comfortable with the boy. “Of course! We’ll all do something

together,” he assured the child.

Jamie smiled a gap toothed grin before running after his sister. Hermione softly put her

hand on his arm, while giving him an appreciative smile. “You handled that well.”

Draco just nodded as he followed her out of the room. They found both Ginny and Molly in

the kitchen looking to be in a heated argument. Ginny broke off whatever she was going to

say when she saw Hermione. “Mia!” she squealed, running to give her a hug.

Hermione returned the hug. “Sorry to just drop in on you,” she said pleasantly, trying to

diffuse the tension in the room.

“That’s okay, dear,” Molly responded with a forced smiled and a clear look of ‘This isn’t

finished’ towards her daughter. “What brings you by?”

Hermione glanced at both women before sticking out her hand to show them the ring. Ginny

gasped. “Oh Merlin, that’s gorgeous!” she exclaimed before turning to Draco who was

standing in the background looking sheepish.

He smiled at Ginny before muttering, “Thanks for the advice. It obviously worked.”

Ginny grinned as Hermione looked on in bafflement. “What are you talking about?” she asked

in a low tone.

“Er…” Draco began, not wanting to upset her.

Ginny jumped to his rescue. “He Owled me Tuesday saying that you wouldn’t talk to him, so I

suggested that he get you to the Room of Requirement, so that you would listen,” she said

calmly.

“Oh,” Hermione said, the light going on in her head. “That’s why you didn’t send me a

Howler for ignoring your Owls.”

“Yeah,” Ginny admitted.

“So, we can start planning your wedding now,” Molly said excitedly. She looked from

Hermione to Draco before asking, “What kind of ceremony do you want?”

Draco held up his hands. “It’s up to Mia.”

Hermione nodded. “All right. Nothing too fancy or big. I really just want my family and

friends there.”

As Hermione got a dreamy look on her face, Draco decided to make a hasty exit to go play

with Jamie and Lily.

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After Draco escaped from the kitchen, he went to find the twins. He found them in the

living room, playing with some toys. Lilly looked as he walked in and cried, “Draco! Can

we play tea party?”

Draco looked confused for a moment and then answered her, “We can if your brother wants to,

otherwise we need to play something together.”

Jamie smiled at him. “No tea party,” he stated firmly. “Let’s play Order and the Death

Eaters!”

Draco’s heart jumped before he shook his head. “I don’t think that’s appropriate,” he

started, but stopped when Jamie’s face fell. “All right, but only if your sister agrees.”

Lily looked pensive before nodding her agreement. “Okay. But you’re the Death Eater!”

Draco nodded, reflexively cringing at her innocent words. “So what are the rules,” he

asked.

“You hide, we find you!” Jamie yelled enthusiastically.

“Okay. So cover your eyes,” Draco said as he turned to walk out of the room.

“No magic!” the twins cried in unison as they covered their eyes.

Draco smiled as he began to look for a place to hide, where it wouldn’t be difficult for the

twins to find him.

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Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Molly, Ginny and Hermione were sitting at the table, with a quill

and parchment in front of them.

“So, when you do want to get married?” Molly asked.

Hermione thought for a moment. “Well, the Ministry gave us until September the first to get

married, since we both teach. What about August the twenty-third?”

Ginny looked at Hermione aghast. “What about a honeymoon?”

Hermione shrugged. “Ginny,” she began, “I don’t know about that.”

Ginny understood her reservations and though carefully before speaking softly, “Mia. I know

that you are worried about flashbacks, but even if you don’t become sexually involved with

him at that time, it’s still a nice chance for a holiday.” Hermione looked thoughtful

before nodding her agreement. Ginny smiled and continued, “Okay, so we’ll have the ceremony

the first Saturday in August. I believe that is the second.”

“With that settled, what kind of ceremony do you want, dear?” Molly asked. “Wizard or

Muggle, or even a combination of both.”

Hermione pursed her lips. “If my parents were still alive, I’d say a combination, but I’m

not really close to my remaining family, so I guess a purely Wizard ceremony would be best.

What exactly does that entail?” she asked hesitantly.

Ginny nodded her head. “Well, there are different types of bonding ceremonies, from the

simple to the more formal, but I actually think that you should talk to Draco about it.

It’s important that you be on the same page as him when it comes to same actual ceremony.”

At Hermione’s nod, she continued, “Where would you like to have the ceremony?”

“Either here or at Hogwarts,” Hermione replied instantaneously.

Molly nodded. “Depending on the type of ceremony, either place will be perfect.

“Are there restrictions on colours? What do wizard wedding robes look like?” Hermione

asked, thinking back to the wedding dress that she had always pictured herself

wearing.

“Most of the formal bonding ceremonies just require the wedding party to be dressed in earth

tones,” Molly assured her. “The wedding robes just vary depending on the witch or wizard’s

personal style.” Molly thought for moment before rising. “I think that I still have some

books on wizard weddings from when Arthur and I got married, so let me see if I can find

them,” she said as she left the room.

Hermione nodded as she turned to Ginny. “What were you two quarrelling about?” she asked

bluntly.

Ginny blushed whilst biting her lip. “Er…I just found out that I’m pregnant.”

Hermione’s eyes opened wide. “What! How far along are you?”

Ginny bit her lip again. “About a month. Needless to say, Mum’s not exactly thrilled about

it.” She turned and looked out the window. “She said that she understood why I slept with

Harry, life and death situation, but she’s disappointed that I’ve slept with Lee so soon,”

she said softly, clearly upset about Molly’s reaction.

Hermione sighed softly. “Ginny? Are you happy about being pregnant?”

Ginny looked at her friend. “Unbelievably. You know, I wasn’t sure when I found out that I

had to marry Lee. I mean, he was one of the twin’s friends. But, he…he’s great. He’s

wonderful with the twins; he doesn’t treat my like Fred and George’s little sister. He

treats me like a woman.” Ginny got a dreamy look in her eyes. “There’s this indescribable

connection that I have with him, so I’m happy that we took the relationship to the next

level.”

Hermione watched as a flush crept up the younger girl’s cheeks. “You’re happy.”

Ginny nodded. “Yeah. I mean, with Harry—it was our first time and we only had sex once,

right before the final battle.” She looked at Hermione shyly. “I know, I’ve never talked

with you about this, you never seemed receptive to it, but with Lee, the sex is amazing. He

has taken me to highs that I never expected to feel.”

Hermione blushed at the openness of the conversation. She was intrigued, but felt a little

left out because she had nothing to compare the experience to. “I...I’m happy for you.

Have you told Lee yet?”

Ginny shook her head. “No, I just confirmed it yesterday and he is away on a business trip

and won’t be back until Wednesday.” She say Hermione’s look of confusion. “He’s a

commentator for Quidditch games. He’s following the Cannons to their game against

Hungary.”

Hermione smiled. “He’s a good commentator. I’m glad he has a job that he likes.” She

reached across the table and patted Ginny’s hand. “Just explain your feelings to Molly and

I think she’ll understand.”

Ginny nodded as Molly walked back into the room, carrying a couple of books. “Here you go,

Mia. I have some books on handfasting and some more formal ceremonies. Why don’t you read

these and then discuss your options with Draco?” Molly’s eyes twinkled. “Who, by the way,

is currently playing Order and the Death Eater with the twins.”

Ginny hastily explained, “It’s basically hide and seek. The children just overheard their

uncles talking about the War and they refuse to call it by any other name.”

Molly shook her head. “They’ve ‘captured’ him a couple of times already; they seem to be

having fun. Why don’t we get back to planning?”

The two women nodded and together began to fill the parchment with notes.

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A few hours passed before Hermione sought out Draco to see if he was ready to leave. She

hunted the house over for him until finding him in the twins’ bedroom, reading them a story;

both children snuggled, sleeping, into his sides. Hermione smiled at the vision that was

evoked in her head of him doing the same thing with their children and that made her stop

cold, a blank expression on her face.

Draco looked up at her before carefully extracting himself from their grips. “You okay,

Mia?”

Hermione shook her head to clear the shock out of her head. “I’m fine. Are you ready to

go?”

“Yeah, these two really wore me out,” he said with a smile.

Hermione giggled again as they walked down the stairs to the Floo to return to

Hogwarts.

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AN: Okay guys! I’m so sorry for the wait! Real life sucks. But anywho…Thanks to

all who read and reviewed (even those who didn’t review!)

bLondpierogi – Thank you so much! I’m glad that it’s getting better!

Avanell – Thanks! :p It was a fun chapter to write!

Kazfeist – Thanks!

LadyBlueEyes – You’re welcome! Hopefully I can keep my muse moving in the right direction,

because she’s in a bad mood right now! Thanks!