A/N: So, I realized I made a mistake. Draco's son's name, according to JK, is Scorpius not Scorpio. So, I will use Scorpius from now on. Once this story is finished, I will pull down chapters that mention him and fix his name.
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Chapter 21-Wheels in Motion
It was close to five in the morning and Harry was the only one awake, strengthening the wards around his house and blocking everyone, sans himself and Hermione, from entering his house via floo. He had thought of the excuse for these actions before making his way downstairs; Ben and Janie were getting dangerously close to figuring out exactly how to use the floo powder and with them both being climbers, they were able to reach the small jar that sat on the mantle. That excuse would definitely work with Molly after the incident Fred and George had when they were two and ended up in someone's fireplace thirty miles away. A noise behind him caused him to spin around, wand pointed straight at Draco's chest.
"Jumpy?"
"No one else in this house gets up at five in the morning and given the circumstances…," Harry trailed off, pocketing his wand and wondering what the hell he was going to do with the Malfoy family living under his roof. Malfoy was standing there, relaxed, in sweatpants and a t-shirt glancing around the dimly lit living room as if seeing it for the first time.
"Not too bad, Potter," Malfoy drawled and Harry glared at him.
"Sorry it's not Chateau de Malfoy, but it'll have to do for you now."
"It was a compliment."
"Sure." Harry turned and walked towards the kitchen, feeling the coffee calling out to him and at this early hour, dealing with a Malfoy, he thought that he may need a shot of fire whiskey along with it.
Luckily, Draco wasn't very conversational this early in the morning. They sat at the kitchen table, reading the Daily Prophet and sipping coffee for an hour until Priscilla came down with a wide awake Scorpius. She paused near Draco, resting her hand on his shoulder, but addressed Harry across the table.
"Good morning. Do you mind if I feed him down here?"
"Of course not. Feel free to use anything in the kitchen. Kids cups and silverware are right here," Harry answered, standing up and opening up a cupboard. Priscilla waved for him to sit down, attempting to balance Scorpius on her hip as she prepared something for him to eat.
"So, what do you have planned, Potter?" Draco asked idly, accepting his son from Priscilla and getting him buckled into the booster seat.
After realizing it was strange to see Draco as a father, Harry forced himself past that and thought for a moment. Much of what was going on was out of his hands and he told Draco that.
"I think it would look suspicious for me to suddenly be more or less accessible than before, so Hermione and I will go about our daily business. We have an interview with Dean Thomas to talk about our engagement but that was to be expected.''
"Sure. Everyone wants to know why the Boy Who Lived is getting married again. That is big news." Draco's voice took on a sarcastic edge.
"He's right, Draco. It is big news," Priscilla chimed in and Harry inwardly cringed as she challenged Draco openly. "If it was covered up and got out to the media, then those shadow people would wonder why it was covered up."
Draco stayed quiet but busied himself with putting a top on a cup for his son's juice.
It was then that Harry realized that Draco had found someone who grounded him but at the same time was opposite of him. Priscilla had been nothing but grateful, quiet and overall a seemingly kind person. Before he could compare the couple even more, he heard Hermione's familiar steps coming down the stairs and as their eyes met he could see her assessing the situation in front of her as quick as her mind could kick into gear.
"What's the next step? Potter seems to think laying low is the answer," Draco asked Hermione who poured herself a cup of coffee.
"That is part of it. Also, we have aurors stationed in places we know they frequent, including a few at Hogwarts. I really think if their plan is what you said, once they read about our engagement, they will bump things up a notch."
"They'll feel they are closer to their goal," Priscilla said knowledgeable, shushing her son as he screeched when Draco attempted to take a bite of his toast.
"Exactly," Hermione murmured, looking a bit bothered by that fact. All other talk was quelled as Janie came down rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Walking directly to Harry she climbed up and curled into his lap, resting her dark head against his chest. Absently, Harry ran a hand down her hair, flipping through the last of the paper. He suddenly had the sensation that he was being watched and when he glanced up his eyes locked with Draco's. For a moment, Harry felt what Draco was feeling. They both had families now; and both would do anything to protect them.
At this point, dealing with the shadow group was a waiting game.
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The next two days were uneventful. Dean was delayed in returning from a story (he was following a few towns away) and it wasn't until Saturday morning that he was able to sit down with his two friends and get details about their engagement.
Having talked a bit about the future, Harry and Hermione decided to tell Dean they hadn't set a date yet (true) for the wedding; that the engagement was a mutual decision between the two of them (false, but told to Dean mainly so Ron and Ginny wouldn't get suspicious) and that them getting engaged didn't have to do with the fact that the Shadow people were making themselves known (true).
On that Friday, someone managed to break into some small dark arts stores. Alarm charms went off before anything was taken and Hermione spent Saturday evening and Harry spent his Sunday visiting each one to try and see what they had in common. What were these people after? Neither one could find anything that was common except for the fact they were both dark arts related stores. Everyone went to bed that Sunday night feeling uneasy; checking the wards around Grimmauld multiple times helped set everyone's mind at ease…just a bit.
Monday morning Harry found himself reading the article on their engagement as he waited at a healer's office to talk about his glasses. Hermione had tentatively brought up the subject of him doing away with them, in secret. He could easily have his eyesight turned back to 20/20 so he wouldn't have to worry about fighting with them on and risk being injured.
Harry was somewhat torn over this decision. His glasses had been with him since he was nine and had become a permanent fixture in his life. On the plus side, he could see how it would benefit him job wise and it was Draco who casually brought up the subject that if they were in a confrontation with the Shadows, Harry could use his glasses a decoy and still sneak himself away from whatever negative situation he was in. Maybe.
Talking the night before with Hermione about his eye appointment, she admitted to him that she had been surprised that this Slytherin was thinking along the same wavelength at them. Being a Malfoy and not liking to sit and wait, they had chalked it up to the research he was doing. Anyone could tell that Draco was upset at being able to do nothing and was constantly reading, researching and talking about ideas on how to catch the Shadow people. More often than not, over the past three nights Harry and Hermione could hear him and Priscilla quietly talking in the living room as they would head up to bed.
So, it was two hours later when Harry stared at Big Ben across the street, his non-prescription glasses lifted off his face, with a clarity he never remembered before his glasses. Hermione had thanked him quite nicely for going through with the procedure and as they pulled apart breathless behind their closed office door, he realized it was definitely worth it.
Their private moment was interrupted when a memo skidded under the door, announcing that Charles was waiting to see Hermione. For the past few chaotic days Harry had forgotten about him and realized that he probably just found out about the engagement. Drs. Granger were insisting on having a family dinner the following Saturday to celebrate, and since Charles was now family they were sure he was included.
"You know, he hasn't met them yet," Harry mentioned as they walked down to the waiting room.
"True. But, do you think it's wise? What if they go and mention him to someone?" Hermione spoke almost in code, not wanting anyone to overhear what Ginny and Ron were charmed to do; to tell the dark arts painter what was going on in the Auror office.
"He probably doesn't need to see them yet. Although, eventually, he is going to realize that being a Granger isn't an easy thing." Harry gave a slight smile as she playfully smacked him in the arm and then paused outside the room where Charles was waiting.
"What if he asks to see my office? We'll have to walk by the portraits; he knows that they are there."
Harry put his hand on the doorknob before he addressed Hermione. "I don't think the Shadows are going to do anything to him. Ultimately, it's me and my daughter they want. No one has to know you and Charles are related, Hermione. He has a different last name and Ron knows you worked with many people at St. Mungo's. The less information we give the better."
Hermione nodded, fixed a smile on her face and walked past Harry to greet her cousin. They made small talk in the waiting room, Charles asking after Janie, enthusiastic about her recovery, but warned Harry that she may become a bit stressed and revert back to having episodes once Hermione became a permanent fixture in her life. Talking with Charles was a pleasant diversion from their stressful lives; they had found out the Ministry had hired him to perform physicals on incoming workers and he was familiarizing himself with the magical underground facility.
He never asked to see their office, having to leave and tend to his first appointment of that afternoon. An hour later Harry and Hermione found themselves back in their office pouring over reports which were coming in fast and furious about sightings of possible Shadows.
It looked, based on their movements, that they were making slow progress towards Hogwarts. It was the beginning of June and Harry was determined to try and hold them off for the next month, not wanting them to get near students at the school.
He remembered last time what happened when a war broke out at Hogwarts and he wasn't prepared to lose any more friends or loved ones.
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