Nisi Per Caritatem

by DracoTitillo

Magic can be a fickle beast, especially ancient spells. Sometimes they do more harm than good, sometimes not, and sometimes that's a risk worth taking, but who should choose? As soon as the war died down the world was supposed to go back to normal. That was all Hermione wanted. It was all Draco wanted. Sometimes, normal is a lot to ask when the fickle beast is lying in wait.

1. Prologue

~~ Prologue ~~

The clacking of heels was the only sound on the marble floor, except it wasn't a calm clacking, but instead more of a terrified clamor. She could hear it echoing down the hall and only hoped they wouldn't hear or find her for at least a few minutes more. She hadn't even found the right room yet. As she turned down another corridor, she could hear the elves cooing over the baby. Quietly the door creaked open as she snuck in and ordered the two elves cleaning up the bloody baby to leave. Less than three hours old and Draco was perfect, not much in the way of hair, but with the genetics of his mother and father, that would be fixed rather quickly, and perfect stormy grey eyes. Narcissa looked down with joy and sadness. He would be her only son the healer informed her. Her body would not be able to carry another child to term. She was lucky she even got Draco this far. Narcissa checked him over, ten fingers, ten toes and still a bit of blood left from birth. "Perfect," she breathed as she pulled out her wand. She knew she didn't have much time until Lucius came looking for them. He would only wait so long before he wanted to introduce his heir to the wizarding world. They had already to begun to gather as soon as she went into labor last night. With the symbols carved on the floor, she laid Draco on the floor swaddled in his grey blanket knit with strands of silver. No one blinked an eye when that had been her requested baby gift, of course the top pure blood witch would want only the best for her son, no one thought of any other reason than vanity, least of all a spell. Before he could start to cry, Narcissa began the wand-work and chanted "Nisi per caritatem operatur faciemus, tactus enim non nisi per incipere." She vanished the symbols on the floor and cradled Draco to her chest as she sat down for the first time since giving birth. Finally, she turned her wand toward herself, whispered "Obliviate," and the world went dark.