And Then The Reunion

Chapter 1

Hermione was more excited than she was trying to let on.  It had been a long time since she'd seen all her friends or even been to England and she was counting down the minutes until they would walk into the Floo.  When she'd taken a job in Southern France as a consultant for the French department of Magical Creatures and Research in order to avoid the press of wizarding England, she hadn't anticipated staying.  She'd thought it would be a short term project, but she'd made friends there and discovered several of the Slytherins from Hogwarts had moved to Southern France and Italy after the War.  Of course, she'd been wary when running into Daphne Greengrass at the French Ministry, but she was friendly enough that she quickly became a close friend.  It was only a matter of months before she had joined the Slytherin friend group.

Seeing Draco working in the French Ministry of Magic as a runes translator and expert on dark magic had been a surprise, but not an entirely unwelcome one.  A month after finding out he worked in the same building with her, he was brought on as a consultant when one of her magical creature research projects seemed connected to his own on the recent surge in dark magic.  Daphne had screamed at them both on day two to just shut up and get along and after that, they'd been able to work together fairly well.

"Hermione?"  Draco called, walking into Scorpius's bedroom with a traveling bag in hand.

Clearly, the project they'd worked together on had gone well because now, nine years later, they'd been married for six years and had just had a baby six months ago.  The world was strange, sure, but Hermione was rather glad she'd decided on leaving England to escape the wizarding world she knew only to run into wizards she knew.  Without the constant chatter from her friends about being wary of Slytherins even after the War, she'd forgotten about their time together in school and formed a new connection of friends in the South of France.

"He's sleeping,"  Hermione whispered, looking up from where she'd been watching Scorpius in his crib.  Draco was smiling warmly at her and it made Hermione's stomach flutter.

"It'd be better if he saved his nap for the actual reunion,"  he said.  Hermione bit her lip as she looked back down at her sleeping son.  Waking Scorpius was not something she wanted to do when he looked so adorable, but Draco was right.  If he could be woken up for a few hours, he would be asleep for most of the dinner reunion that evening.  How they would take care of him during the next full day of the reunion was a problem for later.

"Okay,"  she sighed, more to prepare herself than to agree with Draco.  Reaching down into the crib, she gently ran her fingers over his face and pulled the thin blanket he was wrapped in off of him.

As expected, Scorpius squirmed and whined for a few seconds before opening his eyes.  His whines turned into soft cries that grew in volume even as Hermione picked him up.  He cried for several minutes before Hermione handed him to Draco to calm.  She hurried to finish packing Scorpius's crib, shrinking it so it would fit easier into a small traveling bag.  By the time, she was zipping the case up, Scorpius was hiccupping softly and staring around the room with wide eyes.

"Hi, baby,"  she cooed, summoning the baby sling from nearby.  She quickly slipped it over her head then Draco helped her settle Scorpius into the sling so he could face the world.  He pressed a small kiss to Scorpius's large forehead then to Hermione's lips.

"If that's everything, I believe Blaise and Daphne are waiting,"  he told her, stealing Scorpius's travel bag from her.  While the rest of the world would think they'd packed lightly, Hermione knew better.  Each of the traveling cases had been magically charmed to fit anything and everything they wanted.  The small satchel Draco was carrying held both his things and hers while Scorpius had a crib as well as everything else they could possibly need.  For once, Hermione was the one who insisted on using the magical option as opposed to the muggle one.

Just like Draco had said, Blaise and Daphne were waiting for them downstairs.  Their two kids had gone straight for the puzzle they'd left out on the kitchen table the last time they visited two days ago, but neither Draco nor Hermione cared.  When Blaise called for them, they came running back into the drawing room and gave both Hermione and Draco big hugs, being careful around Scorpius of course.

"Scor-Scor!"  Delia said excitedly, ever so carefully patting his head.  Hermione smiled at the three-year-old before standing back up with Draco's assistance.  Delia returned to her parents, grabbing hold of Blaise's hand and bouncing excitedly.

"I figured we'd come by early if we're planning on taking the muggle train,"  Blaise said.  Hermione smiled.  Since having Scorpius, she'd refused to apparate anywhere.  Even using the Floo was something she didn't want to do, but it was the only way to get to Hogwarts as the train wouldn't be running from King's Cross in the summer.

"Dad wants to like it,"  Theodore said proudly.  He had grown up using the muggle system since he'd been born after Hermione had started teaching her wizard friends the muggle way of travel.  Daphne had adored the metro and train system, but Blaise was still wary.  Theodore, six years old and determined to know everything, considered himself the expert to show Delia around.

"Then we'd better go, yeah?"  Draco said, sending a playful smirk at Blaise,  "We wouldn't want him to chicken out."

Theodore burst into a fit of giggles as Blaise rolled his eyes.  Draco just smirked and grabbed Hermione's hand to lead her out of the house.  It wasn't a long walk to the nearest metro, but between the metro and the wizarding world where they could use a Floo open to Hogwarts, they would need a bit more time.  The kids didn't walk fast and even if it had been six months since she'd given birth, Hermione still wasn't fully back on her feet.  That didn't stop them from getting ice cream before entering the wizarding world and walking to the bank that had offered them their Floo for the reunion.

"We'll see you tomorrow then?"  Daphne asked, lifting Delia into her arms.  Hermione smiled and nodded.  The Zabinis were actually stopping by Daphne's parents' home before arriving at Hogwarts, so they would miss tonight's dinner in the Great Hall.

Draco and Hermione bid the Zabinis a goodbye as they stepped through the Floo two at a time.  When they were alone, Draco turned to help Hermione adjust Scorpius in the sling.  He was already nodding off again, so Draco lifted him from the sling, turned him to face Hermione, then let her adjust the sling accordingly.  He still wasn't too sure about the muggle contraption, but Hermione loved having Scorpius so close and Draco had caught himself wondering if he could try it at some point.  Now wasn't the time, though.

"I'll see you after dinner?"  Draco asked.  Hermione nodded, stretching up to press a kiss to his lips.  He smiled, kissing her back then peppering her face with kisses before pulling away.  Hermione watched as he grabbed a handful of Floo powder and called loudly for Hogwarts.  He disappeared into the fireplace and Hermione took a couple of minutes to calm herself.  While excited to see her friends, she was extremely nervous.  Tonight would be fine, though, she was certain.  She'd get questions about Scorpius, but she was prepared to answer them with vague, indirect responses.  Tomorrow would be the real deal when they had an entire day to visit with people and ask even more questions.  However, Scorpius was fast asleep for tonight and she could do this.  It would be fine.