The Cell

Epilogue 2: Seven years later

"Draco, we are not naming him that," Hermione said firmly, walking out of the kitchen to place a large salad bowl on the table.

"It's traditional in my family that all Malfoy children be named after constellations," he argued, setting down the bottle of wine he had retrieved from the cellar. Hermione gave it a brief look of longing before bustling back through the doorway.

"It's also traditional in your family to torture muggle-borns, and aren't I glad that you don't subscribe to that particular custom."

He followed her and leaned against the entryway, pursing his lips before exclaiming.

"It's a good name!"

"We are not naming our child Scorpius. If you want to do that, go find some other witch to raise your blond-haired spawn."

He chuckled and hung his head in defeat, coming up behind her at the counter and wrapping his arms around her waist. She wasn't showing yet, but they had only figured out she was pregnant day-before-last when she had been violently ill at the breakfast table after he had the audacity to offer her a rasher of bacon. Once they got past the initial joy, they had quickly descended into heated debates, as they often did, about everything from baby names to which house their child might be sorted into.

"You know," she said, leaning back into him, "there's just as good a chance this baby is a girl, then what are you going to do?"

"Nonsense, Malfoys have an all-male line."

"I'll remind you again that we've broken a fair number of other Malfoy conventions."

That was an understatement. Their marriage four years prior had caused quite a stir in the pureblood community, though Draco couldn't give two knuts about what they thought anymore and Narcissa was just thrilled to be planning a wedding. Before that, both Draco and Theo had shocked wizarding Britain by having their family homes demolished.

After the war, Hermione and Draco had taken six months to revise before sitting their NEWTs, opting to do so independently rather than returning to Hogwarts. After that they had tried, with the assistance of Bill Weasley, to remove the various dark magics that had settled within the manor, but it was simply too ingrained. Even when all the artefacts had been removed and parts of the house remodeled, they had agreed that it wasn't somewhere they ever wanted to live. Though he didn't need it as the Head of House, Draco had consulted with Narcissa and ultimately received her blessing to have the building torn down.

Blaise's mother had elected to stay in Italy, having found lucky husband number seven, so they continued living in the London townhouse apartment with him, Theo, and, eventually, Luna, before building their current home on a different part of the massive Malfoy estate in Wiltshire.

That had inspired a whole branch of arguments of its own, Draco insisting on grandeur and Hermione wanting somewhere cosy and homey. They eventually compromised and built a large cottage that was cosy and homey.

Theo had done the same, though his home had taken a bit of a left turn when Luna insisted it be painted purple to 'ward off the nargles.' If the poor bloke weren't so besotted, he might be upset that his house looked like an enormous aubergine.

Once they were all moved out and married off, Blaise redecorated the townhouse into something of a bachelor pad, though from what Hermione heard he had a tendency to make himself available whenever the Montrose Magpies, Oliver Wood's quidditch team, came through town.

Narcissa had joined Severus in France at one of the historic Malfoy homes across the Channel and though they swore their relationship was strictly platonic, a statement Draco was all too happy to accept at face value, Hermione had seen them together and didn't quite buy it.