A/N: Draco receives some startling news. Draco/Astoria with some Draco/Padma.
Submission for:
Iron Throne Competition: Round 1 - (pairing) Draco/Astoria, (character) Padma, (word) hollow, (genre) Angst, (dialogue) "I promise, it's important."
Chapter 1 - Lust: Facing the Consequences
Draco sat in his study, a short tumbler of amber liquid sloshing around in his hand as he tried to ignore the parchment opened on his desk. When he was younger, he would often find his own father sitting in a similar fashion, drinking away the hollow feeling of fear and dread which seemed the ride the night air coming through the open window. But tonight, though the window was not opened, the fear had still settled within the blonde man at his desk.
He took a swig as he thought of his wife currently sleeping in their bed just down the hall, her long brown hair splayed across her pillow, her lovely brown eyes hidden away by heavy lids and long lashes, the soft rise and fall of her chest as she dreamed of open fields and light clouds floating across the sky. She was an angel, innocent in all of this, and he was the devil who had come to ruin her.
They had been married for two years, dating for twice as long, and she was still as beautiful as the day he first approached her among the dusty old shelves of Flourish and Blotts. But despite that, he had still done what he had done. He had still discarded her trust and looked outside their marriage to sate some lustful desire that now he realized was completely idiotic.
The affair had started about three months ago, his lustful feelings creeping on him at least two months prior. She was the new girl in the office and nothing much to look at, dark hair, dark eyes but delectable long dark legs.
She was familiar, a face he had seen in the crowd a few times during his school days, but it took him a couple moments to bring forth a name. "Patil," the word escaped his mouth before he could stop it, prompting her to turn from where she was standing with another one of his coworkers.
Her eyes widened before she gave him an odd look, her mouth neither a smile nor a frown as she took in his appearance. After the Battle, he had tried to turn his life around. He began to eat better, take in some sun and just enjoy the freedom that had been granted to him, making him appear healthier, happier.
Her first words to him were innocent enough, they had no intentions of taking their relationship any further at the time, and they held no malice or excitement. "Malfoy, I didn't know you worked at Gringotts."
As simple as that, they began a civil relationship. Sometimes they would both be in the lunchroom at the same time, other times they happened to take adjacent desks when they worked on the business desks interacting with patrons. They would exchange witty banter and playful jabs, their edges dull yet just sharp enough to get a rise out of the other. The banter turned into purposely seeking the other out for help, taking their breaks together and even going out for a bite after the end of the work day before he returned home.
Then one evening after one too many drinks, it had been him who had made the first bid. They had been flirting, he just as guilty as she, but he was the one who had asked her about the possibility of going a step further. In her inebriated and uninhibited state, she had taken him to her home and a few moments later, he was kneeling in a bed different from his marital bed, another woman's names escaping his lips in a wave of pleasure, their bodies bare having thrown the bedsheets to the floor when the room had become unbearably hot.
He had told Astoria he had simply stayed over at his parents that night, and she believed him (she had no reason not to).
He had felt terrible in the days following, lying to her and keeping her in the dark like this but not terrible enough to stop from doing it a second, a third and a fourth time. Even when images of his loving wife would flash through his mind when he was with his mistress, he still didn't stop.
"I know what you are doing, Draco," his father had said one day when he was actually staying at his parents.
Draco had frozen, the hairs standing up on the back of his neck before he said evenly, "I am not doing anything, Father."
His father was next to him in two steps. "There is the subtle scent of a perfume lingering on your skin, cheaper than anything I hope you let your wife wear."
Draco looked down at his feet, unable to come up with a reasonable excuse that could fool his father, but he had known from experience; Lucius Malfoy was no fool.
"She doesn't have to know," Draco said in a vain attempt to defend his actions. "It's better if she doesn't."
"It is natural to indulge in the illusions of hope," his father said. "Whether or not she knows, you are still dishonouring her. End whatever you have and return to your wife. She is a good girl and she does not deserve to be treated this way."
He had taken his father's words to heart that night and he had ended it the next day. There had been tears, of course there would be tears, but Draco kept a straight face and explained the situation entirely to Padma.
This shouldn't have started in the first place and this couldn't continue.
He cut all correspondence with her, ensuring that he was never near her if he could control it. There was no more witty banter or laughs in the lunchroom, only long sad looks thrown across the room as he quickly exited.
He had never told Astoria, too much of a coward to own up to his mistakes, trying to justify that ending it was good enough. If he simply pretended like it never happened, then it could all be brushed under the rug with no repercussions and he and his wife could live happily ever after.
However, now that was completely out of the question. He had royally screwed up and something of this magnitude could not be hidden away forever. Once his father found out, he would never offer forgiveness or understanding, and Draco knew he didn't deserve it anyway.
His eyes looked to the envelope on the table and he took another swig of his whiskey, trying to drink enough to blur the words that covered the unfolded parchment.
"I know you said we shouldn't speak anymore, nor to send you any letters, but I promise, it's important. Draco, I'm pregnant."