Harry Potter and the Destiny of Prophecies - 1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter had always hated summer, until this year. The final summer before he turned legally of age in the wizarding world was perhaps the best summer he'd ever had. Of course that was probably due in part to where he currently was.

The white sands of the secluded French beach were magnificent, but not as magnificent as the sight rising out of the Atlantic waters. Slick, wet, blond hair, a handsome face with smiling grey eyes that seemed to take in everything around them, a lean, hard body, its usual paleness tinged with pink from the sun, and covered only by the slimmest of green Speedos available - this was the sight his eyes were feasting on, and it had him stretching the fabric of his own red Speedos. He couldn't resist the urge to climb to his feet and lock his lips onto those of his blond god.

"Mmpph…I should wear these more often." Draco Malfoy said as Harry wrapped himself around the blond man.

"If you did that, we'd never get anything done." Harry told him, pulling back a little and smiling at his fiancé.

"So you are enjoying this trip after all?" Draco smirked as he led Harry back to their towels.

"Naturally, Malfoy." Harry said, flicking his head so that his hair got out of his eyes. He hadn't worn glasses since the Battle of Hearly Manor, somehow his vision had corrected itself that night and he'd been glad of their absence ever since. He smiled as Draco set his wet (and lovely) tush on the towel and stretched out with a sigh as the sun's warmth began to soak into him. Harry sat down on the towel next to him, not really caring if any of the people around them saw the bulge in his Speedos.

"Isn't this much better than sweating in some damn meeting chamber at the Ministry or dealing with your red-headed friend's latest exploits in the world of Quidditch or Granger's endless lectures about all the books you have in the library at the manor?"

"Draco, you were right." Harry gave in with a sigh. "I needed to relax or I'd have been hexing everyone within sight."

"That's the advantage of being who we are, Harry." Draco said from his position, smirking at the sky. "We're Potter and Malfoy, two of the most powerful, rich, and gorgeous men in the wizarding world. Thousands of children dream about being like us, wizards and witches three times our age quiver in anticipation of our next words, and every member of the media dream of getting an exclusive interview with us. When we say we're tired and are going to take a break, no one dares to deny us what we want."

"You know." Harry said after a moment, "There's some part of me that says I should be arguing with what you said but for the life of me I just can't understand why."

"See." Draco said with a chuckle. "I still say we demand to have that dratted hat re-sort you for your last year."

"Now, now, love." Harry smirked back. "However else are we going to keep the Gryffindors out of our hair if I don't know what they are up to?"

"My dear spy." Draco said, and Harry lost all control, finally letting out the laughter he'd been holding inside.

"Oh dear." Harry said after a few minutes, wiping the tears of laughter out of his eyes. "If Ron or Hermione had heard that they'd have been throwing me into St. Mungo's claiming I'd been possessed."

"I've always said that both your friends have sticks up their asses all the time." Draco said seriously, only setting Harry off on another round of laughter. A shadow fell over them and they both looked up to see an older wizard and witch, both wearing old fashioned one-piece bathing suits looking down at them. They had surprised looks on their faces.

"Pardon me." The wizard said in a thick French accent as they looked up at them. Draco had risen onto his elbows while Harry was sitting up. "I couldn't help but recognize you, young Mister Malfoy and thought I would welcome you back to France. It has been quite some time since we last met."

"Yes, it has." Draco said, standing up and holding out his hand in greeting. The old wizard took it and politely shook it. "Mr. Gallenfry I believe?"

"Precisely!" The old wizard seemed delighted. Harry stood as well and shook the man's hand. "You must be Mr. Potter! We've heard of your engagement. Our congratulations! I'm Pierre Gallenfry and this is my wife Margot Gallenfry."

"Pleased to meet you, sir, ma'am." Harry said, politely taking the woman's hand and kissing it. Draco did the same, greeting her as well.

"It's been several years since you last visited with your parents. How are they doing?" Margot Gallenfry asked politely.

"They are well, but have chosen to stay in England for the summer." Draco said smoothly. He'd explained to Harry that sometimes the polite fiction of having chosen to stay in England was a better explanation than that the Ministry would not allow them to leave quite yet.

"Ah, yes, of course." Pierre said, politely accepting the fiction. "How long will you be staying in our wonderful part of the world?"

"Sadly we must leave tomorrow." Draco said. "Harry here has family visiting and we must really be there to greet them. We just needed a few days away from all of the hustle and bustle."

"Understandable." Pierre said. "Both of you have assumed quite impressive duties for being so young. Your parents must be proud."

"They are." Draco said firmly. "I do seem to recall you had a daughter. How is she doing?"

"Deidre?" Margot said softly, a frown appearing on her face. "Naturally you wouldn't have heard. She's decided to wait until she reached twenty before showing her rebellious nature. She's gone and shacked up with some muggle like a common-born witch. I expect she'll wake up soon enough and return to her family. We'll let the muggle keep the child she's carrying of course and arrange a decent wedding for her. It's quite embarrassing really."

"Deidre?" Harry asked, stifling a groan. Sometimes things were just destined to rebound on him. "You wouldn't happen to know the name of the boy she's seeing would you?"

"Doosely or something like that." Margot said in an offhanded manner. "They live in this god-awful place in Surrey. I really can't understand young people these days, no offense meant."

"None taken." Harry said, looking over to Draco. Draco's smile and slight nod told him to go ahead.

"Actually, it's quite a coincidence to meet you here." Harry said. "My Aunt, she's my mother's sister, is preparing to visit our home tomorrow with her son and his future wife. It's quite the family scandal you see. My mother's side has squib blood in them. My mother was the first witch in the family in generations from what I understand and my Aunt was quite horrified at the idea of having wizards and witches in the family. Silly muggle superstitions really. Well when Aunt Petunia's son, Dudley, managed to get a young witch pregnant and bring her home it caused quite a row. My poor Aunt is finally having to come to terms that her family is part of the magical world, so she's bringing Dudley and his girlfriend Deidre to visit."

"Did you say Deidre?" Pierre whispered in surprise while his wife covered her open mouth with an elegant hand. He looked closely at them and realized they had the same elegant, aristocratic lines to their faces that Draco had, but with dark black hair. Quite a handsome couple, really.

"Yes, I did." Harry said with a soft smile. "Dudley's last name is Dursley, by the way, not Doosely."

"Oh my." Margot said, her hand moving to grasp her chin and a smile forming. "Pierre dear, doesn't this change everything? I mean this Doodely boy, he's got squib blood, and he's the cousin of Harry Potter no less!"

"Well, he still isn't as acceptable a match as a pureblood wizard." Pierre said with a slight frown. "Still, family connections to the Potter family really can't be all that bad of a thing, especially since her older brother has married a pureblood. Why, we might just consider it as getting some fresh blood in the family!"

"Of course!" Margot said with a pleased grin and slight giggle. She looked back at the two boys and smiled even more. "You two absolutely must join us for dinner tonight. We're staying at the Mar-San-Leandre. Dinner at seven o'clock?"

"We're honored." Draco said, inclining his head slightly with a low bow. The older couple moved off, chatting happily about their daughter and Harry just shook his head.

"I'll never understand you purebloods." Harry moaned, and this time it was Draco who fell over from laughing too hard.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As Harry and Draco climbed out of the magical limo that had brought them home, and the driver followed them up the entrance with their bags, Harry realized he was very glad to be home. The Gallenfry family was quite…aristocratic…and dinner had been nearly an interminable affair with Harry spending as much time trying to answer Margot's questions about the Dursely family without making them out to be total ogres. It was quite difficult, really, but thanks to the past year with Draco it was now possible for him to lie without giving himself away.

"Harry! Draco!" Hermione screeched as they entered, rushing over to give both of them hugs. She was starting to show a little, and she had taken to hiding her growing stomach with larger witch's robes. Ron followed her, shaking both of their hands with a warm smile. His animosity towards Draco had all but disappeared over the first few weeks of summer, something Harry was infinitely glad about.

"Kreacher, get their bags and take them to their rooms." Ron ordered as the old house elf walked into the room. The ancient creature scurried to obey. For some reason he'd taken to Ron's ordering him around and seemed very happy with the red-headed wizard's abrupt orders.

"So how was France?" Hermione asked as they moved into the sitting room. Both Harry and Draco were wearing muggle clothing, cargo shorts and t-shirts, that showed off their sun-tinged skin quite well. "You both look so much more relaxed."

"It was great." Harry said with a smile, sitting down on the couch with Draco sitting next to him. Ron and Hermione sat in separate armchairs. It was so hard to guess their relationship. Sometimes they acted like they were dating again and other times they were just good friends.

"Very relaxing." Draco added with his own smirk.

"Well, poor Jeremy is going crazy." Hermione said.

"As is Pansy." Ron said with a snort. "Your little jaunt off to the French countryside has upset their preciously balanced schedules and they've been working like devils to fix things."

"Where are they?" Harry asked warily, leaning forward and looking around as if he expected them to appear with loads of paperwork.

"At the Ministry and Gringott's." Hermione answered. "Pansy is meeting with Mr. Weasley to finalize the account transfers that will be taking place later this week. Now that you're turning seventeen, Harry, everything has to be finally transferred to your name. She said she's going to have to get you secluded for two hours straight to do nothing but sign papers. Jeremy is meeting with Minister Milieu to schedule some meetings the Ministry wants you both at. Fudge was spotted last week in Scotland and that's set off an uproar. They want you two to meet with some aurors about that and then there's the International Wizards Conference. They want to initiate both of you into that organization. Then there's the Hogwarts Board of Governors meeting the day after Harry's birthday. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley want you guys to attend since they'll be doing the final interviews of the top three candidates."

"Enough." Harry said firmly. "Why don't we wait for the two of them to get us all depressed with this stuff. How did you two enjoy the last few days?"

"Oh, we didn't do much." Ron said. "I've been busy with the Cannon's practices. We've got some new strategies that I thought up. The Coach thinks they might work and we've been working hard on them."

"I've been reading in the library." Hermione said quickly, but a frown appeared on her face. "Harry, I have to ask you. Do you think the blacks left any Dark Arts stuff in there? I get so uncomfortable every time I go in there. I actually feel like I don't belong and there's something in there that doesn't want me to stay. I just go in, get the book I need and then go somewhere else to read it. I've never felt that way in a library before."

"I'm not sure, Hermione." Harry said quickly. He knew what it was, but he'd never guessed the marker stone for a blood oath would have this affect. "Maybe Draco and I will have time this summer to look into it and see what we can find."

"I'll ask my father." Draco said. "He probably will be able to figure out what could cause such an effect."

"Oh, good." Hermione said firmly. "Then I won't worry about it anymore. So, Harry, you ready for your Aunt's visit?"

As if her words had summoned them, Kreacher suddenly appeared in the room announcing that the expected guests had arrived outside. Harry sighed gently before standing up. He'd really wanted to change before his relatives had arrived, but they were early. Draco gave a disgusted look at his own clothes before disappearing upstairs. Harry wished he could join him. Instead he followed Kreacher to the entryway, where he could see his Aunt, Cousin, and future cousin-in-law standing nervously just inside of the doorway. Aunt Petunia gave a frightful glance at the diminutive house elf, Dudley shied away from it, and Deidre just smiled at the creature.

Deidre looked much like her mother, with thin, aristocratic features, long jet-black hair, and piercing blue eyes. Harry smiled at the guests as he moved forward to greet them with Ron and Hermione close behind them. Dudley seemed to recognize Ron and shrank back against Deidre even more.

He'd lost enough weight and no longer looked like a whale, but he was still big. His hair was a little longer now as well. Aunt Petunia looked just the same, but she was standing there, looking at what she could see of the house with an appraising glance.

"Aunt Petunia!" Harry said with as much cheer as he could. "It's good to see you!"

"Harry dear." Petunia said with a genuine smile. She let Harry take her into a gentle hug before he turned to face his cousin.

"Dudley, you're looking good!" Harry said. He'd vowed he'd be polite and friendly until Dudley stepped wrong.

"Harry." Dudley said, shaking his hand limply. He looked terrified.

"And you must be Deidre." Harry said, turning to the young witch who, like Hermione was showing her pregnant state. She was a few months further along.

"You're….you're Harry Potter." Deidre said excitedly. For a moment Harry thought he was going to faint.

"Yes, and you're Deidre Gallenfry." Harry said with a smile. "Welcome to the family. Would you care to join us in the sitting room? I will have some tea brought. Kreacher, get their bags upstairs to their room and have Leemie bring some tea and crumpets to the sitting room."

"Yes, sir, Master Potter, sir." Kreacher said, snapping his fingers for the bags and then disappearing with a pop.

"What…what is that thing?" Dudley stuttered.

"One of our house elves." Harry said with a smile. "Oh, how rude of me. I forgot to introduce my friends. Everyone, these two people are my best friends Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. I believe you've met Ron before, Aunt Petunia, but Hermione here is probably the smartest witch in school. Her parents are muggle dentists."

"Oh, a pleasure to meet you." Aunt Petunia said, grinning genuinely at Hermione. Dudley just nodded his head to Ron, who was looking at him closely, as if waiting for him to make a mistake.

Harry took control of the situation once more and led them into the sitting room. Aunt Petunia seemed quite astounded at the luxurious appointments of the manor, and Harry was very glad she hadn't seen it when he arrived here for the first time. She'd have died from disgust at all the filth that had filled the place. Another house elf appeared with tea and got busy serving their guests as Hermione answered Aunt Petunia's questions about her parents. Dudley was staring in awe at a moving portrait of Mundugus Black, a great-uncle of Sirius'. Deidre was staring at him with wide eyes. When there was movement at the entryway to the sitting room, her eyes got even wider when she recognized Draco Malfoy, now wearing an elegant lounging robe of emerald green and black velvet.

"Draco Malfoy?" Deidre whispered in a horrified voice.

"Deidre Gallenfry!" Draco said charmingly and crossing the room to embrace her. "It is a pleasure to see you again. I take it you are the witch who has managed to capture the heart of Harry's cousin?"

"Ye…Yes." Deidre stammered as Draco crossed the room to sit next to Harry.

"Well, congratulations and welcome to the family I guess I should say." Draco replied with a smile.

"Oh, yes, you two are getting married aren't you?" Deidre said, still shocked.

"What?" Dudley said in surprise, nearly spilling his tea. "Two blokes can't get married!"

"Dudley!" Aunt Petunia said far more sharply than Harry had ever remembered her speaking to her Dudley-kins. "What did I tell you about manners?"

"Sorry, mum." Dudley mumbled into his tea. "But, I mean, can you get married?"

"In the wizarding world, yes we can." Harry explained patiently.

"Oh, um, congratulations I suppose." Dudley mumbled, still looking down at his tea.

"Thanks, Dudley." Harry said with a smile. It helped that Dudley had a miserable expression on his face. "Congratulations to you also. Deidre is a nice young lady."

"Thanks." Dudley mumbled as he took a sip of tea. He was looking sideways at the crumpets the house elf had brought. His fingers twitched twice, then he sighed. "Might it be possible to get an orange?"

"Of course.' Harry said with a smile, snapping his fingers. A house elf appeared and he told it to bring an orange for Master Dursley. Dudley took the orange a few moments later and thanked the house elf politely before beginning to peal it.

That was when Jeremy and Pansy appeared. Dudley nearly dropped the orange as Pansy walked in with four feet of stacked parchments floating behind her and Jeremy walked in with about twenty scrolls floating behind him. Both of them had celebrated their seventeenth birthday in the last week or two and were now able to use magic outside of school.

"Harry! Draco!" Pansy exclaimed with a smile, ignoring all the other people in the room. "It's about time you two got back from France! Harry, you absolutely must get all these accounts signed before your birthday! There's nearly three hundred million galleons that have to accounted for and transferred to your control!"

"Not to mention your proxy papers for the Hogwarts Board of Governors chair." Jeremy added. "There's also the Ministry committees that you're sitting on that require your signature and then the establishment of your office in Diagon Alley and the property transfers that must be completed as well as the induction paperwork for the International Wizard's Conference."

"Pansy! Jeremy!" Draco barked impatiently. "We have guests, all that will have to wait until morning."

"Oh, sorry." Pansy said with a blush, then she noticed Deidre sitting there with wide eyes. Truth be told, all three guests had wide eyes while Ron and Hermione were sniggering into their tea cups. "Deidre? What a surprise! Are you the young witch that has captured the heart of Harry's cousin?"

"Pansy?" Deidre asked with wide eyes before jumping up to hug the blond Slytherin girl. "Oh Merlin! It's so good to see you again!"

"Hermione, come on!" Pansy said as she hooked an arm around Deidre. "Let's go have some girl talk. It looks like we get to have two baby showers instead of just one!"

The three girls left the room, leaving Harry staring at them. Aunt Petunia looked like she wanted to follow them, but instead asked Harry about the paperwork that was still floating in the middle of the room.

"Oh, just my inheritances now that I'm coming of age." Harry said with a negligent waive of his hand. He summoned Kreacher and told the house elf to take everything into the downstairs office. Jeremy sat in the chair vacated by Hermione. Dudley asked about their trip to France, a look of jealousy evident in his eyes, and Harry took great delight in talking about the luxurious hotel they'd stayed at for a few days.

Yep, revenge was sweet, especially when it didn't involve dark magic or anything else like that. Seeing Dudley's face light up in jealousy at the things Harry now enjoyed, that he Dudley had no real chance of enjoying on his own was all the revenge Harry ever needed for overcoming the torment his cousin had inflicted on him. He even vowed to make sure to share some of the wealth with Dudley and his unborn child. Knowing that it came from Harry, the boy he had tormented for so many years, would drive Dudley nuts. Harry wasn't surprised when Draco leaned over and whispered into his ear.

"Revenge, Malfoy style."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Happy 17th Birthday
Harry Potter

Even though Harry couldn't see the banner with his back to it, he knew it was there as he stood greeting the guests. Lucius and Narcissa had pulled out all the stops for this event, the birthday signaling his arrival into the world as an adult. The entrance to Malfoy Manor was brightly lit. Everyone was wearing splendid dress robes, and Harry's hand hurt.

Shaking hands with three hundred-some people can do that.

Lucius stood at the head of the greeting line, smiling and resplendent in silver dress robes with black trim. The Malfoy crest was emblazoned over his left breast and gleamed in the bright candlelight from chandeliers overhead. Next to him, Narcissa stood tall and graceful in her elegant silver and gold dress robes, the very essence of feminine beauty. Harry stood next to her, in his own dress robes. This time a deep crimson with gold piping, the Potter crest above his left breast. Draco stood beside him in robes similar to his father's but with green trim instead of black. The final guests had arrived and were passing through the doorway after handing Harry small presents wrapped with shining gold paper. It joined the other three-hundred-odd gifts on the table behind him.

For the first time in his life he actually groaned at the thought of opening presents.

Never mind. Pansy and Jeremy could do it, except for those that had come from people he actually knew and considered friends. As the last guests entered the grand ballroom, Lucius motioned for Harry and Draco to lead the way. He was smiling at the sigh of exasperation that escaped Harry's lips.

The man was taking great delight at Harry's reaction to all the grandeur and ceremony.

The wizarding band Weird Sisters had struck a pompous march as Harry entered the room with Draco's arm in his right arm. Behind them Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy positively gleamed as every eye in the ballroom turned towards them. Harry tried not to blush, and succeeded for the most part as people began to applaud.

All he wanted was a nice, quiet birthday party with the Weasleys. But nooo. Molly had been so busy planning this event with her new pal Narcissa that there was no hope of him escaping. At least the band moved on to one of their hit songs as soon as the doors closed behind him. Harry moved to the head table as his guests began to move to their assigned seats at the other tables.

Lucius had insisted that for the night, Harry would take the head chair at the table, a seat normally occupied by Lucius himself. The Aurors stationed inside the room, just like those outside, were all hidden so well that Harry could barely spot them. The Ministry had not liked the idea of this party, but no one had dared object after Lucius had offered to pay all the overtime salaries for the Aurors who were guarding the festivities.

With Draco at his side Harry took his seat, followed shortly by everyone else at the hall. With a clap of his hands, reminiscent of Dumbledore at every year's Welcoming Feast, food appeared on every plate. As Harry dug nervously into his food, he stole glances at those sitting at the great table with him.

Besides the Malfoy's, the entire Weasley family (except the still imprisoned Percy) was there. Molly was sitting next to Narcissa and both were beaming with pride at the gloriously decorated ballroom. Hermione sat with her muggle parents, who did nothing but stare in awe at the room, and look nervously at the food that had appeared on their plates. Aunt Petunia was sitting with Dudley and Deidre near the end of the table. Deidre was looking very comfortable, but the other two obviously felt out of place. Professors Snape, McGonagall, Sprout, Trelawney, and Lupin were also seated at the main table. To Harry's horror, he'd learned that Lupin and Snape had begun dating and they were now sitting close together, heads often leaning in towards each other as they whispered something.

Lupin was even wearing new clothes, but Snape's hair was still greasy.

Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Millicent, and several other Slytherins were at a table, as were Seamus, Padma, Lavender, and several other Gryffindors. The rest of the hall was filled with Ministry officials, the head goblins from Gringott's (at their own table), and just about every pureblood family not in hiding. There were even guests from overseas and from France as well. Hagrid was sitting next to Olympia, and Harry had learned last week that his old friend was planning on moving to France where she ran her school rather than be separated from her for anther year.

Altogether, this party would be a perfect opportunity for Voldemort to strike. But Harry wasn't worried about that. He'd used his skills, and the link with Voldemort, to check on the Dark Lord last night. Voldemort was still trying to get the fragment from the Sword of Gryffindor out of his chest. So far three healers had tried and failed. Currently he was in Russia trying some strange cure there.

Harry almost chuckled at the thought of how much had changed. No longer was Voldemort using the link to deceive Harry. Instead he was doing everything he could, and often failing, to keep Harry out. Every time Harry got through his defenses, a team of Aurors would follow Harry to the spot, only to find him gone.

It was quite entertaining actually.

"So, Harry," Lucius said, and the room quieted a bit at his voice. "I hear that you got your N.E.W.T. results the other day."

"Yes," Harry said, quite aware that most of the people were listening intently. "It was only a partial examination so that I can concentrate on other areas. Still, both Draco and I managed to get an 'O' on every one we were allowed to take."

"Which were they again?" Lucius asked, quite well aware of the subjects.

"Potions, Defense against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Transfigurations." Harry said with a slight smile. "I'll still have to take History of Magic, Care for Magical Creatures, and a few others at the end of the next school year."

"Still, quite impressive." Lucius said, leaning back in his seat with a pleased grin. "I must say I'm proud of both of you."

"Thank you, sir." Harry said with his own smile.

"Harry, dear." Narcissa said, leaning forward a bit. "Have you two finally decided on a date for the wedding?"

"January 1st, mother." Draco said with a smile of his own.

"Oh, excellent!" Narcissa said, immediately turning back to Molly. They were soon talking animatedly about exactly where the best place for the wedding would be. Ron, who was sitting closer to Draco, began a lively conversation about Quidditch that lasted for the rest of the meal. Even Lucius joined the conversation offering his own opinions about various things.

After dinner, a huge cake was wheeled in by human caterers. It was nearly seven feet long and four feet thick. The silver dragon Harry had made for Draco rested on one end, roaring and belching fire as it entered the hall. The golden lion Draco had gifted to Harry sat on the other end, letting out its own roar in counterpoint to the dragon. They soon joined their masters as Harry and Draco approached the cake. In the wizard tradition, Harry used his wand to blow out the seventeen golden torches that were burning merrily. The cake itself was decorated as a Quidditch pitch, with a simulacrum of Harry grabbing a golden snitch in the exact middle. The applause was deafening as the torches went out and the caterers moved to cut the cake for the guests.

After the cake was done, and people had stood and begun to mingle, the tables disappeared at a clap from Lucius Malfoy. They were replaced by chairs and refreshment tables along the walls of the great ballroom, and people sighed in appreciation of the magic. Aunt Petunia held on to Dudley to keep from fainting. Then the Weird Sisters began a lively tune and it was time for Harry and Draco to dance.

The stares of the assembled people no longer bothered Harry like they once had. All he had eyes for was the platinum-blond haired young man with whom he crossed the floor in an elegant, stately dance. At that moment, he decided that the party was okay after all.

Any party would be, really, as long as Draco was there with him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I must say that it feels wonderful to be out of Malfoy Manor." Lucius Malfoy said in an easy drawl as he relaxed in an armchair. Narcissa sat with him, sipping tea and beaming brightly at Harry and Draco, who were reclining on 'their' couch in the sitting room of Black Manor.

"Wotcher, Harry," Tonks warned from her own seat. "He's going to be making you sweet talk Minister Milieu into letting him move in here next!"

"I doubt that, 'Dora." Narcissa said with a chuckle. "He'd be arguing with Harry and Draco within a day and this place is not quite big enough to keep them far enough apart when they have their tempers riled up."

"Narcissa!" Lucius said in mock horror at her revealing family secrets while everyone else chuckled.

"Lucius, dear, Tonks is family." Narcissa reminded him and he just nodded.

"So, Harry, when is our shopping trip set?" Lucius asked with a gleam in his eyes.

"In about two hours." Harry reminded him for the fourth time. "The Grangers should be arriving soon. Hermione's in the garden and she'll be inside to change soon."

"She still hasn't told them, has she?" Narcissa asked with a worried frown.

"No." Draco said with a frown of his own. "I think she's trying to get through the summer without them seeing her stomach. She's fooled herself into believing they'll be much more accepting if they see a baby instead of a big stomach."

"How's she gonna keep them fooled for the next week?" Tonks asked. "She wears muggle clothes and it's obvious."

"I think she's going to tell them she can't go home." Harry told them sadly. "I even agreed to say we needed her here, although she hasn't even really told them about Voldemort and everything. She's been telling them it's a special school project. Her school letter came here so they wouldn't see it signed by the new Deputy Headmaster."

"Maybe we should talk to her, dear." Narcissa said to her husband. "Give her an idea of how parents might react. I mean, I can understand that her situation is similar to if Draco had gotten some muggle girl pregnant. We'd have been angry, but we wouldn't have disowned him or anything else that drastic."

"Unless he insisted on marrying her." Lucius said with a nod, and Harry stifled a groan. Draco was just looking at him with mirth in his eyes. He knew these type of conversations made Harry uncomfortable.

Kreacher showed up at that moment to announce the Grangers had arrived. They had been here before, once, over the summer so Harry told the house elf to show them to the sitting room. That was when a noise drew his attention to the other door, that led to the kitchen. Hermione came through that entrance, the knees of her jeans dirty from kneeling in the garden, and her gloves in one hand. Her t-shirt hid little of her pregnant state and had some dirt on it from the garden.

"Harry, how soon until my parents…" She started to ask, but her eyes went wide as her parents appeared in the other doorway. They smiled at her, while she stared at them in horror, one hand going to her protruding stomach. A sense of dread filled Harry as he saw surprise appear on Mrs. Granger's face, and a look of shock appear on Mr. Granger's face. Hermione gave a squeak and disappeared.

"Draco, would you please show the Grangers into the living room?" Harry said as he stood to follow her. "I'll bring Hermione down in a bit. If you will all excuse me?"

Harry didn't wait for their nods before racing after Hermione. Sure enough she'd locked herself in her bedroom. Harry called out to her several times but she was ignoring him. The basic unlocking spell didn't work as Harry pulled out his wand, so he went through the more complex spells. On the third try it worked.

"Leave me alone, Harry!" Hermione bawled from where she lay on her bed, head buried in a pillow.

"No, Hermione." Harry said softly, moving to sit next to her and put a hand comfortingly on her back. "We can get through this."

"You don't understand!" Hermione wailed. "They'll never understand about this! They'll try to make me stay home!"

"Hermione, you'll be seventeen in six weeks." Harry reminded her. "You'll be a legal adult then."

"Not in the muggle world!" Hermione retorted. "They'll be able to make me stay at home if they take me out of Hogwarts and Hogwarts can't keep me there if I never show up!"

"We'll just have to convince them otherwise." Harry told her. "Besides, once you turn seventeen you'll be able to do magic. You can whisk yourself away from there and enroll yourself back into Hogwarts."

"But…" Hermione began, but Harry didn't let her.

"You already know enough that missing a few weeks will just mean that you have to study a little harder. You will do fine if that happens. But I don't think it will come to that. Your parents love you, we all know it. We will go down there and talk with them, and we'll share the whole truth with them. They'll see how important you are to the work we are doing, and they'll let you go to Hogwarts. Lucius and Narcissa have already offered to help. They'll stand there and tell them you are needed so they hear it from adults."

"Harry?" She asked softly, raising her tear stained face to look at him. "Have I ever told you that you are way to optimistic?"

"Get cleaned up and dressed in your robes, Hermione." Harry told her with a smile. "You're a witch and you belong at Hogwarts. Let your parents see that first and foremost."

"You win." Hermione said with a wan smile. "Now get out you bloody poof."

"You've been hanging around Ron too long." Harry shot back as he left the room. He took a moment to compose himself before heading downstairs. He entered a very frigid living room. Draco sat on a couch next to his parents, who were being glared at by a very irate Mr. and Mrs. Granger who were seated on another couch near them. Their glares switched to him as he moved to sit down on the unoccupied couch. Hermione would want to sit next to him.

"Harry, what is going on here?" Mr. Granger said angrily.

"Hermione will be down in a bit." Harry told them. "She's been out in the garden working most of the morning. It relaxes her. She's getting cleaned up and she'll be down in a moment."

"She's pregnant." Mr. Granger stated.

"That's for her to tell you about." Harry responded firmly.

"Weasley?" Mrs. Granger asked suspiciously.

"That's for her to explain." Harry told them. "Before you ask, he's at work today and won't be back until tomorrow."

"What CAN you tell us?" Mr. Granger asked.

"Has Hermione ever told you how she saved my life during our first year at Hogwarts?" Harry asked them. The surprised look on their faces showed that she never had, so he began to tell the story of the Philosopher's Stone. It turned out that Lucius and Narcissa hadn't heard the entire story either. It also required the story of Harry's connection to Voldemort and a brief explanation of the history of the dark wizard. The Grangers faces were pretty stony by the time Harry finished, their feelings well hidden.

"So this Voldemort would want to harm Hermione?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"Yes." Lucius told them. "But he'd have to get through a lot of defenses to get to her."

"Well, there was that time she got petrified." Draco admitted, earning a very dirty look from Harry. That necessitated the telling about the Chamber of Secrets. Their reaction to that story made Harry immediately launch into the tale of their third year. Unfortunately, it seemed both remembered the muggle news story about Sirius Black and were quite upset to learn that they were sitting in his home. Harry tried to distract them by telling them about the Tri-Wizard tournament and how much Hermione's help had meant to him, but then that led to the tale of Voldemort's return at the Riddle graveyard and Cedric Diggory's death. They reacted very poorly to that, especially when Lucius told them the story from his perspective at the side of Voldemort. They almost left then, but Tonks had stumbled (literally) into the room from where she'd been listening and started to tell about Harry's fifth year.

That was when Hermione showed up.

"We're leaving, now." Mr. Granger said, standing up.

"Sit down, dad." Hermione answered, moving to sit next to Harry. Tonks sat on the other side of her on the couch and the Granger's glared before sitting back down.

"So, what happened this last year of school?" Mrs. Granger asked in a small voice.

"I fell in love, twice." Hermione said softly, and then launched into the tale of their sixth year from her perspective. Harry, Draco, and Lucius all filled in the blanks whenever she faltered. They reacted with very different expressions at different parts of the story, and Mrs. Granger broke into tears when Draco spoke softly of how Neville Longbottom saved his life. They had progressed to the train ride home when they were interrupted.

"The news said there was a terrorist attack at Kings Cross. Was that this Voldemort person again?"

"Yes." Hermione said. "Dumbledore died."

"Your Headmaster is dead?" Mr. Granger shouted. "That's enough, we're leaving now and you're going nowhere near that school ever again!"

"No, dad." Hermione said firmly, staring at her parents. "I'm sorry, but you don't really understand. There is a war on and I'm needed where I am! I am not going to run and hide. I've faced things that you can't even imagine and I've made valuable contributions to those who are fighting against evil! I'm carrying Neville's child and this child belongs in the world of wizards and witches, not in the muggle world!"

"She will actually be in more danger at your home than anywhere else." Lucius Malfoy added softly.

"Why is that?" Mr. Granger said sharply.

"Because of who she is." Lucius replied. "She's muggle-born, but has more power and more intelligence than most pureblood wizards and witches alive today. Along with the Weasleys, the name of Granger is prominent as a target of her opponents. Your muggle home, devoid of wards and protections, is the easiest place in the world for them to attack her once they find out she is not back at Hogwarts or under the direct protection of Harry Potter. They know she carries the child of Neville Longbottom and there are many who would rather see that line end than be sullied by muggle blood. Add in that the Longbottoms have long been thorns in the side of the Dark Lord and you add more of a reason for her to be a target. Unless you take your entire family into hiding, there is no safer place than Hogwarts."

"And even if you take her into hiding, there are ways to find her." Harry told them. "My parents were protected in hiding by the most powerful wizard of their time and they were still found and killed."

"What about the child?" Mrs. Granger asked. "How can she attend school with a child?"

"Once her child is born, a governess has been hired." Harry answered for Hermione. "The child and governess shall stay in a flat I own in Hogsmeade. That is a village very near Hogwarts. Hermione will be able to visit every weekend and finish her last year of school."

"I don't like this." Mr. Granger said firmly. "But I can't see a way to stop you folks from taking my daughter away."

"They are not taking me away." Hermione said firmly. "I love you both but I knew you wouldn't react well to this."

"Why have you kept all this from us?" Mrs. Granger asked with tears in her eyes.

"Because you would pull me out of school!" Hermione said. "You never really liked hearing about magic because you knew you couldn't participate in it. I know you tried to be friendly with the Weasleys, but you always were moody every time you had contact with them! You wouldn't understand that not going to Hogwarts and being the best witch I can be would be giving into Voldemort's prejudices."

"I can understand that." Mr. Granger said softly. "That's probably the part I understand the best. Fine, you want to go, you go, but we will be a part of our grandchild's life."

"Oh, daddy." Hermione sighed, rushing over to hug her father. Harry led everyone else out of the room while the three of them hugged. They sat in the sitting room, talking softly for an hour until the three Grangers reappeared.

"Who is ready for shopping?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"Like you even need to ask, Granger?" Draco said with a smirk, earning him a dirty look from the girl.

The car was summoned and the group made their way outside. The two Aurors stationed outside the manor jumped into the front seat as the rest of them piled into the back. The trip to Diagon Alley was made mostly in silence, with people staring at each other rather uncomfortably. The trip through the Leaky Cauldron though, was quick, even with old Tom speechless at the sight of Lucius Malfoy and his wife walking through the tavern. As they moved through the streets of the wizard district, they were surrounded by murmurs and a wide space. Still it was a fun afternoon.

Hermione left with her parents to spend the last week at their home. She left willingly after both had given their word they would not stop her from returning, and Harry had promised to send Hedwig the night before just in case they changed their mind. Lucius and Narcissa were required to return to Malfoy Manor the next morning, and for the first time all summer Harry and Draco were alone in Black Manor. Pansy and Jeremy (who had started a most unexpected romance the week before) had taken off for a two-day vacation at the Leaky Cauldron. They used the time wisely, startling poor Kreacher when the house elf caught them making love on the staircase.

They had both had to stop laughing before they could continue what had been interrupted.

The rest of the week was taken up with the constant presence of Remus Lupin and Severus Snape. At least the pair only took up one bedroom now. They were helping Draco and Harry prepare lesson plans for the classes they'd be charged with. Although Draco was officially only 'assisting' Severus with potions classes for first year students, Severus had planned only to be present on the first day, leaving everything else to Draco.

Draco was extremely nervous.

For their last night of summer Black Manor was an extremely packed house. Every incoming Slytherin seventh year had shown up, as had every Gryffindor seventh year. Hermione's parents had dropped her off with grudging nods for Harry. Ron had shown up, and Ginny was the sole sixth year in the house. The impromptu party that night was loud, boisterous and lasted so long that as Harry and Draco finally crawled into it bed, the sky was lightening with pre-dawn and Harry was very, very glad that the train would not leave Kings Cross until eleven.