A Second Chance

Bad Parents

Hermione apparated outside of Draco's home. She was hoping he was back by now so that they could figure out what their children were up to. She had been against spying on them though she now regretted that decision. The curiosity was eating at her. If only she had listened to Draco then she wouldn't be like this.

She walked up to the front door and knocked. To her surprise, Draco answered almost immediately. He smiled a bright smile that wasn't forced, one that she noticed was becoming more and more frequent since Draco became an adult, it was even more noticeable when he was around Scorpius.

"I knew you would come." He ushered her inside before she could say anything. "I had a feeling your curiosity was eating at you." She was surprisingly not annoyed with how easy he was able to read her. "When I arrived back at work, it was killing me not knowing so I sent Scorpius a letter." Hermione gaped at him. How could he send a letter to his son telling him that his father tried to spy on him? Draco continued on, oblivious to Hermione's inner scolding and warring emotions. "I didn't tell him that we saw him acting suspicious. No, instead, I sent him the present that we picked out for Rose and asked him why he couldn't buy her one himself."

Hermione shook her head. She should have expected something like this since he was a Slytherin. He and other Slytherins always had a way around at finding out the truth, though admittedly, Harry and she were the same.

What she didn't expect was for Draco to talk as much as he did. She noticed how he had been talking to her more and more, though this time was probably due to the excitement he felt at unraveling a secret. She finally noticed that he had stopped talking. "Well, what did he say?" She asked excitedly, her curiosity winning.

Draco chuckled and gave his head a light shake, ruffling his blonde hair with the small movement. Hermione had been secretly pleased that Draco no longer slicked his hair back, probably Astoria's doing since Hermione remembered walking in on her and other girls talking about Draco's hair, along with Harry's unruly hair when she made a trip to the loo after lunch one day. They had talked about others too but Hermione only remembered those two since the conversation had been quite amusing.

"I was waiting for you to unscramble your thoughts before I continued." He smirked. Oh, how she used to hate that smirk but now she found it endearing. He had grown on her ever since they had decided to be actual friends. "Well, apparently, he was afraid to ask her what she wanted because then she would know what he got her." He paused for dramatic effect and it totally worked as Hermione was hanging onto his every word. "See, his girlfriend is smart like that."

That made a lot of sense. It was nice that Scorpius had realized that about her daughter. Wait! Did he just say girlfriend! Her head jerked up to look at Draco, her hair flying with the sudden movement. "Girlfriend? Are you sure?" Hermione broke into a smile at his nod. "When?"

"Apparently a few months ago. They've been writing letters to each other during summer break," A frown tugged on the corners of his lips. "Though, I didn't know any of this." He exhaled a long sigh, suddenly deflated. "I must be a terrible father to not realize what my son had been up to. I didn't even see him send any letters."

Hermione couldn't help it, she burst into laughter. Draco shot her a confused and hurt filled look. Hermione shook her head to dismiss his worry. "You have been working really hard here lately and if you're a terrible parent then so am I. I knew Rose had a crush on Scorpius but I had no clue that she liked him to that extent or that she had even started dating him." She slapped him in the arm when she came to a startling realization. "Oh, my god! It's her first boyfriend!" Hermione couldn't contain her excitement, Rose had started dating before Hermione had even tried it. She was so proud of her daughter. It looked like some of that Weasley blood was starting to shine through.

Draco's eyes widened in realization. "His first relationship. He's doing better than what I did in school. I remember snogging a few times but I was never in a serious relationship," he muttered with a shake of his head.

"Right." Hermione chuckled. It was weird how much her and Draco seemed to be thinking along the same lines here lately, especially when it came to their children.

Hermione suddenly grew somber as a thought struck her. "Did he say why they didn't tell us?"

Draco's smile faded. "They haven't told anyone. Scorpius is too afraid to tell Albus and he didn't know how to tell me since we so rarely see each other anymore. As for Rose, she...was afraid to tell you especially since you just lost...." Draco's voice died out, unable to say her husband's name.

"Ron." She whispered. She was expecting it to hurt to say his name out loud and it did, just not as much as she thought it would. She looked up and caught gray eyes staring at her. It was all because of him. All because of the friendship that had grown between the two of them. Draco had been helping her cope with Ron's death without either one knowing.

Having Draco around, and the things going on between her daughter and Scorpius had really helped to distract her from over thinking and she had slowly began to heal without even realizing it.