He couldn't speak, it was as if his whole body had frozen up. His arms stilled in their cradling position they were in, the green-blanketed bundle held in them.
Everything went slowly. The nurse closed the empty eyes, before she pulled a white cloth up over the woman's pale, unmoving face. Two men ran into the room from outside, wailing when they saw the sight before them. They fell to their knees, clinging onto a single hand that dangled from under the cloth. The nurse cautiously walked up to him. "I'm sorry Mr Malfoy, your wife has passed through the birth.
Then reality caught up with him.
His beautiful wife couldn't be dead. They'd only been married for six months, awaiting the arrival of their baby. They'd spent an age thinking of names that they both liked, pondering what their child would look like. Now she would never know.
He'd never see that bright smile light up her face again, never see her golden brown curls bounce as she walked.
The two had barely had a chance to really be happy, after all of the troubles at the start of their relationship. He'd put blood prejudices behind him, he couldn't hate mudbloods as he'd been taught and love her at the same time. The stronger won out. After his father was sent to Azkaban Draco proposed to Hermione at their graduation from their 7th and final year at Hogwarts. They just didn't realise it was going to be cut so short.
5 Years Later
But he did see that smile again, those brown eyes and that frizzy hair that he'd grown to love so much. But it wasn't brown as hers had been. It was a platinum blonde that matched his own. Amelia looked the image of her mother, who he'd began to see shine through in the personality of their beautiful daughter.
Draco made a promise to himself that he would never let his daughter go without knowing how great a woman her mother was, and how Hermione loved Amelia with all her heart.
He was distracted from his thoughts by a small figure coming down the stairs into the library. He smiled at them and patted his lap for them to sit.
"Daddy, where's mummy again?" Amelia asked, as she did now and then.
"Well Ami, mummy was a fighter, she was strong and brave, thats why she was put in Gryffindor in the first place. You remember me telling you about the Hogwarts houses don't you?"
Amelia nodded.
"Well, mummy was so strong, but she had to leave. She didn't want to leave us, I promise. You know, she was so excited when you were in her tummy Ami, she loved you so much." Draco wiped away a tear that was threatening to fall, and his daughter wrapped him in a warm embrace.
"Mummy's in paradise now, isn't she daddy?" the five year old smiled, her grin the picture of Hermione's.
Draco grinned back at the girl and nodded. "Yes Ami, she's in paradise, and one day we'll be with her again, but until then she's watching over us. She's probably off having some butter beer with Weasel's brother right now." He chuckled, picking his daughter up and taking her back to bed.
A/N : Thanks for reading guys, I know this is short and rather OOC, but I'm working on a more long term fic which should be posted soon and hopefully that will be better. Please review it would mean a lot to get feedback, thanks :) Louise