My sister is still really sick, and she asked me to upload this chapter for you guys. She told me the name of the chapter, and the name of the story to upload it to. I didn't read over it to make sure that it doesn't have any mistakes in it, but she promised to check it once she feels better. She also said something about thanking you guys for favoriting, alerting, and reviewing this story. And she asked for more reviews! She said, please. And thank you guys. And she loves you guys.
An Empty Room
"Draco no!"
Clutching her knees to her chest, the tears streamed from her face. Tears she didn't even know she could cry anymore. Just as quickly as it left her, she heard the haunting word once more, and began to scream out in pain. She hadn't meant to scream, but she was only eight years old. Of course she would scream, but screaming only made it worse. Feeling the stickiness of her own blood as she writhed around it on the floor, she felt the fire take over her blood as her bones began to stretch inside of her. The more she screamed, the longer he would punish her. She couldn't even remember what she did to deserve it this time… oh right… now she remembered. She drew him a picture.
"It's different."
Stepping into the room behind his daughter, Draco nodded his head. "After your mother took you, I had the house-elves clean it out. I knew that she would never allow you back in here, and I doubt that the belongings of an eight year old would really come in handy for you now. Tomorrow after your appointment, I'll take you into Diagon Alley, and buy you what you need. Do you have your own owl?"
"The only people I talked to from the wizarding world were Uncle Blaise, Aunt Pansy, and Ricky," she said bitterly while shaking her head, "And they would always just floo over."
Blaise and Pansy kept in touch with his daughter over the years? It made sense to him now, on why she knew where to go and why to go to Blaise. "We'll buy you your own owl then. You said you have a muggle friend who knows you're a witch?"
"You don't have to buy me anything," Sarai spat out at him. "Don't waste your money on me. I have a cell phone to contact her with."
"You are my daughter, Sarai."
"So you keep saying."
Ignoring her comment, Draco pinched the bridge of his nose. "You are my daughter, and I will spend as much money on you as I want."
"Why?" she asked him. "You never did before. I was never your daughter before; just that filthy half-breed spawn of yours that my mum used to trap you with. You never liked your money being used on me before, so don't spend it on me now."
"I'll use it however I damn well please," noticing the way Sarai flinched away from him, Draco took in a deep breath. It would take a while getting used to having her around him. When she was just a child he would shout at her, torture her with his wand, and remind her of how much he loathed her entire existence. But she was here now, and in the end of it all, she was still his daughter. "I haven't been much of a father to you, Sarai, and I know that, but you're still just a child, and I won't have any child of mine being forced to live out on their own."
"I won't be on my own. I'll be staying with my friend."
"Or with their friends," Draco sighed. Walking towards the bedroom door, he turned back to look at her. "I'll send up one of the house-elves to make sure you're settled in nicely."
Sighing to herself, Sarai walked over to the large bed and placed her bag down onto it, along with her wand. It was a huge as she remembered it to be, and just as empty. Of course when she was a child, she had her toy box filled with toys that the Zabinis and her mum would buy for her. She had the childish, girly things all around her room, and the pink covered princess bed, but to her this room had always just been empty. Her father never entered it. He never tiptoed in when he thought she was sleeping so he could kiss her forehead goodnight, or whisper how much he actually loved her. He would never come running in when she would wake up screaming from a nightmare, and he would never tuck her in with a bedtime story. This empty room had always been a large and beautiful prison to her; one that she never dreamt she would be living in again. It seemed like the room grew up with her, discarding all its childhood memories, and becoming nothing more than an empty shell of hidden pain, and admiring beauty.
Once you walked through the door, there were two sections of the room and then there was the straight across. The straight across led to more double doors, but these doors were all glass, and it led to a balcony; a balcony with a view of the forest behind the Malfoy estate, and the large yard. Walking over to it, she also saw that it showed a waterfall that fell into the swimming pool and Jacuzzi, and a huge yard. There were velvet silver colored drapes over the doors, but they were pushed open to the sides right now. The left section of the room had two white leather couches: one was facing the bed and the other was facing the balcony. There was a glass table in front of it, and there was a huge black stand up lamp, along with a tiny squared table and a comfortable looking beige colored couch chair. The floor of the room was all distressed stained oak so there was a huge, emerald colored Chinese looking carpet laid out on the middle of the floor. In the corner, she had a desk along with rolling chair. There were also two bookshelves; completely emptied. When she was younger, they were filled with muggle fairytales that her mum would often read to her.
The second section had three steps leading up to it, with emerald and silver plated bars leading up to it. It looked like an actual staircase. There was a matching Chinese looking carpet in this section of the room. The middle section of the ceiling was a normal roof, but there was a glass ceiling on each side of it, allowing the sun in. Right under the normal part of the ceiling, was a bed that looked as if it could have been bigger than king sized. It had black poles at each corner of it, with silver laced sheets tied up around it. She could tell that if she untied it, it would wrap around the bed, blocking her as she slept, the way the princesses would sleep in the movies – and the way she slept when she was younger. The bed sheets were white, with ten white pillows neatly on the bed, and a giant white feathered comforter. There was a giant black French couch at the foot of the bed, like how the rich people do it in the movies, and an oak wood nightstand on each side of the bed. There was a lamp on each one. Pressed up between the nightstand on the right side of the bed was a chest. The chest was right below a square framed mirror hanging up on the wall. There was a chair against each wall. The wall on the right side had double doors that led to a walk in closet; the size of her old room in her muggle home.
There were two dressers in the closet, with a couch. There were shelves and poles, a body length mirror and a wall that looked like a giant cubby hole, looking as if it were made just for shoes or something similar to that, but it was the other door on the left side of the bed that had her head spinning.
The bathroom was made completely out of black and white marble. The left wall was made up of all mirrors, with a black and white marble counter that took up the entire wall. There were his and her sinks, along with an opening in it with a stool. She realized that it was so she could sit down and do her make-up or brush her hair or something like that. There were actual lamps in the bathroom along with a couch. There was a white Chinese rug laid out on the floor. Paintings were hanging up on the wall, with lavender colored decorative towels hanging up on the seven towel racks. The ceiling was a sun roof, so it crept her out a little. If somebody was on the roof they would be able to see her. The toilet was in its own little corner, but she saw that she had a Jacuzzi sized tub, with a glass door shower. Walking over to the shower, she opened the door and saw that it had a bench for her to sit down and shave her legs, and it had two shower heads.
Nothing changed; other than the fact that Draco had the house-elves throwing out all of her old clothing, toys, wall papers, drawings, and beddings; everything was still the same. Although he treated her like nothing, he did make sure that she had a lavish bedroom to live in with a posh bathroom to keep her clean, and an enormous bed for her to sleep in. It was that one thought that always kept a small piece of hope alive in her heart that maybe one day… just maybe, her father would come looking for her, hoping to fix what he broke. She may have only been a child when he broke her, but she was still broken.
"Master has told Twinkle that Mistress returned," the squeaking voice followed the large cracking sound. Bending down so that the hotdog shaped nose touched the floor, the walnut colored house-elf bowed for Sarai. "Twinkle has missed Mistress Sarai."
Smiling, Sarai took in the large violet colored eyes that were now shining for her, and the lilac colored silk pillowcase that she forced the elf to wear when she was still only six years old. It seemed like her father never bothered to change it. "I've missed you as well, Twinkle."
Although she tried to hide it, the house-elf couldn't conceal the excitement that coursed through her body at hearing her mistress's words. "Master also told Twinkle that Mistress is expecting a little Master or Mistress. Twinkle was ordered to keep a very close eye on Mistress, and to make sure she rests."
That caught her off guard. Her father was concerned for her well-being? He ordered Twinkle to make sure she got her rest? What the hell was he playing at? "I will, Twinkle," Sarai assured the tiny elf. "I'm going to take a bath first though. I'm feeling sticky."
Walking into the bedroom, Draco shook his head at his sight. She's never slept on her side before. He remembered from when she was just a baby, whenever he would sneak a peek at her sleeping form, she would always have to sleep on her stomach. There were moments when Laura would curse softly, but loud enough for him to hear because every time Sarai would wake up screeching, it meant that she had rolled over to her side in her sleep. He stayed up all night contemplating what it meant to have a seventeen year old daughter who was pregnant, and he just kept coming up blank. He still couldn't understand why Laura would kick her out. Laura was the one who was always defending the girl whenever she did something wrong.
"Twinkle," he called, standing over his daughter's bed.
"Master calls Twinkle?" the over eagerly excited house-elf appeared.
He nodded his head, "Wake my daughter up, and get her ready. We have to be at St. Mungos in one hour for her medi-witch appointment. I'll be waiting for her, downstairs."
Twinkle waited until Draco was out of view before gently moving over to the bed. After two minutes of gently waking her mistress, she started to fix the bed while Sarai walked over to the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror above the sink, Sarai couldn't believe she slept for that long. After taking a bath, she laid down expecting only to take a nap. That was at three in the afternoon the day before. It was now nine o'clock in the next morning. Brushing her teeth, she felt the aches in her stomach. She was starving; it's been so long since she fell asleep, which meant it's been even longer since she ate anything. Deciding to take a quick shower, she tried to convince herself that her father had changed, that there was no way he would use an unforgivable on her while she was pregnant. Just in case though, she would be sure to keep her wand close to her at all times. She didn't want to be caught off guard… like she was so many times as a child.
"You slept all day yesterday," Draco announced as his daughter entered the kitchen. Turning around, he released a growl. Sarai was wearing a light blue colored dress with no straps, which was short enough to show the tattoo on her thigh. He also noticed that her hair fell to her thighs when she wore it down. She wasn't eight anymore, or even thirteen. She was seventeen, and pregnant. What the hell was Laura thinking when she allowed their daughter out of the house? "You must be hungry," Sarai nodded her head. "We have to be at St. Mungos in five minutes. We'll get something to eat in Diagon Alley after your appointment. But for now, I made you a piece of toast."
Making a show of placing her wand right into the black leathered purse, that she transfigured her backpack into, Sarai looked up at him. "You… you made me toast?"
"You have to eat something," he hissed out, knowing where she would go with this. "And yes, I made you toast," watching as she began to sniff at it, Draco rolled his eyes, "It isn't poisoned, Sarai."
Taking a tiny bite from the corner, Sarai nodded her head at him. "Thanks."
A part of him wanted to just leave her on her own and send her on her way to stay with her muggle friend, but he knew she wouldn't be able to make it. From what he gathered, she had no job, no support, and most likely no idea what she was doing. And it wasn't as if she could just walk into Gringotts, and take out some money. He took her name off of his inheritance when she was only two minutes old. He knew that it was childish of him to do such a thing, but not only was she a half-blood, but she also had the nerve to be born without a male anatomy. Now that he looked back on it, he wished he hadn't made such a brash move, but it was too late to change the past now. The most he could do was allow his daughter into his home – years later – and take care of her now. A part of him wanted to just give her enough money and send her on her way out, but he wasn't getting any younger. He's had the company of female companions once Laura left him, but he wasn't in a relationship, and he had no other children. Sarai was his only daughter, his only child, his only blood that remained. Whether his pride accepted it or not, in the end she was the last remaining Malfoy, aside from himself. And that child that she carried would carry on that bloodline. As much as parts of him wanted to just be rid of her, a larger part of him was hoping that he could make things right.
"Sarai Malfoy," a rounded nurse called out, entering the waiting room area. "Your medi-witch is ready to see you now."
Standing up, Sarai quickly grabbed onto her stomach. Draco noticed her hesitation about walking into the room. "What's wrong?"
Biting on her lower lip, Sarai sighed. She knew she was being childish. "I don't want to go in there."
"Why not?"
"What if they hurt my baby? Or what if they tell me that something's wrong with it?"
"What makes you think something's wrong with it?" he asked.
"I've been in a lot of pain lately. And I only found out I was pregnant five days ago. I've been drinking a lot of alcohol between then. What if I hurt it?"
"I'm sure your baby is fine."
She shook her head, "I don't want to go in there."
"Would you like me to go in there with you?" Draco had hoped she would say yes, but he saw the hesitation in her eyes. She still feared him, and he didn't make it better by raising his voice at her within the few hours they've been reconciled. But then she did it, she nodded her head at him. Resisting the urge to smile at her answer, Draco stood up. Placing his hand on her back, he slowly began to lead her into the room.
Feeling his hand on the small of her back, Sarai felt a little reassurance at the fact that she wasn't alone, but she still didn't trust him. Feeling to make sure she could access her wand if he tried anything within the few steps between the waiting room, and the medi-witch's office, she tried to remain calm. Hearing the short breath behind her, she looked back in confusion. There was an odd look on her father's face. It looked as if he saw someone he… he hated? No… that wasn't it; there was something unnoticeable on his face. It wasn't hate though. She didn't dare think that it was love, but she didn't know what it was. Turning to look at the medi-witch, she smiled at her sight. Dressed in a tiny white nurse's uniform, the medi-witch seemed to share the same confused look as her father. Chestnut curls fell along the slightly ivory face while toffee colored eyes stared past her and at her father. Looking back at her father once more, then back at the medi-witch, Sarai reminded herself to ask her uncle Blaise about this woman.
"Malfoy?" the medi-witch finally spoke up, a questioning tone in her voice.
Nodding his head, Draco countered with, "Granger?"
Ahh, it all made sense to her now. Well sort of. Hermione Granger; a name she's heard many times, whether it was as a child and she overheard her father cursing the muggle-born witch or while growing up and hearing the stories that her uncle Blaise and aunt Pansy would tell her of Hogwarts. Draco refused to have his daughter go to Hogwarts, and although he brought her a wand, he forced her to turn down Hogwarts acceptance letter. The media finally just stopped talking about his muggle ex-wife, and halfblooded daughter, and he didn't want anyone else bringing it back up again. The halfblooded Malfoy attending Hogwarts would've been a guaranteed reason for Rita Skeeter to start digging around him again.
Clearing her throat, Hermione finally turned to look at the young girl standing in front of Draco. She hadn't bothered to look at the name of her appointment until only now. "Sarai Malfoy?" the girl nodded her head, "Would you have a seat on the bed, please?" then turning to Draco, she cleared her throat again. He really grew up since she's last seen him, which was only a year after the war had ended. "Malfoy, you can have a seat on the chair next to the bed."
"I heard you moved to Paris," Draco said, absentmindedly helping his daughter onto the bed before sitting on the assigned chair. "With Krum?"
"I moved back three months ago," Hermione nodded her head. "And how have you been? How's your wife doing?"
Hermione noticed the sudden way Draco shifted his feet while Sarai lowered her gaze to stare at the ground. He shook his head, "Laura and I divorced when Sarai was still eight."
"Oh," trying her best to hide her smile at the news of Malfoy no longer being married to that muggle woman he knocked up only a month after the war, Hermione stood next to the bed, "How are you feeling, love?"
"Hungry."
Chuckling, Hermione grabbed a clipboard, "I'm assuming you haven't seen a medi-witch yet?" the girl shook her head, "Well I am Hermione Granger, and I'm going to have to ask you standard procedure questions."
"Alright."
"What is your name, and birth date?"
"Sarai Rose Malfoy. June eighteenth, 1994."
"Oh you just turned seventeen," Hermione smiled, "Happy belated birthday."
"Thanks," Sarai shyly smiled, drawing another grin from Hermione. She never thought she would see the day when a Malfoy would smile.
"When was your last menstrual date?"
Draco shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he realized what kind of questions he would have to endure. He never went with Laura to any of her doctor appointments, so he didn't know what to expect. "It started March twenty fourth, and ended on April second."
"Have you been to a muggle doctor yet?"
"No, I only found out I was pregnant five days ago."
"And how did you find out? Did you take a muggle pregnancy test or a magical one?"
"I took seventeen muggle pregnancy tests, and they all came out positive."
Hermione chuckled at that part. At least the teen made sure to precisely check the results. "If you haven't had your menstruation since April, why did you wait until only five days ago to test yourself?"
"I've always had an off cycle," Sarai sighed. "Sometimes I don't get it until every six months, and sometimes I get it every month. Sometimes I have it for three months straight, and sometimes I have it for only a week. So I didn't think anything of it."
Draco lifted his head at that part, "That isn't normal. Did your mother take you to see a muggle doctor about that?"
"Yeah," not sure about why her father seemed genuinely concerned about her health, Sarai nodded her head. "They said something about me having more testosterone than estrogen. They also said it came from being overly stressed throughout my childhood."
Hermione saw the way Sarai avoided looking at Draco while she answered, and the way that Draco looked guilty, quickly looking away from his daughter. Raising an eyebrow, she took in the scene. "Were you on any sort of muggle birth control?" she asked next. "Or the potion or any contraceptive spell? Was he wearing a condom? Or is he a wizard, and was he on any contraceptive spell as well?"
Nodding her head, Sarai said, "I was on the muggle shot called Depot, and he didn't exactly like to wear a condom. I didn't know any spells or potions to prevent pregnancies, and he's a muggle."
"You didn't teach your daughter about safety?" Hermione turned to Draco.
Turning a light shade of red, Draco continued to stare at the ground, "I haven't seen my daughter since she was thirteen. I only saw her again yesterday when she came to me. And it isn't as if I expected her to go out and have sex."
"Oh," blushing Hermione caught the shocked look in Sarai's face as she stared down at her father. It looked as if she hadn't been expecting for Draco to speak the truth. "Sorry," looking back down at the clipboard in her hand, she cleared her throat once more. "Have you had any effects of the pregnancy so far? Such as have you been feeling nauseous or fatigue lately? Any odd cravings or moodiness? Are you constipated or do you have any body aches? Have you been feeling dizzy or has it gotten to the point where sometimes you feel like you cannot walk?"
"Erm…" she bit her lower lip again, and began to play with the hem of her dress. She saw Draco was watching her once more, but she also saw that Hermione was watching Draco. "I throw up almost five times a day, and I threw up this morning while taking a shower. Lately, I've been really tired and I sleep on my side now which is rare. I'm usually only comfortable on my stomach. I don't think I've been moody, but I wouldn't know, and I'm not constipated. I haven't been dizzy yet, but sometimes my feet and my back are killing me. And I keep getting these weird cramps in my stomach. When I feel it, it feels like there's a weight on one side, but then suddenly it's on the other side as well. And as for the cravings, all I want is salt. Three nights ago I was at my friend's house, and I ate only salt. It's like all I want is salt… and chicken."
Chuckling, Hermione nodded her head. "Those are all very normal symptoms, but as for the salt. You shouldn't be eating too much salty foods during your pregnancy. It isn't healthy for you, or for the baby."
Sarai frowned, and muttered something under her breath, causing both Hermione and her father to smirk. Crossing her arms over her chest, she said, "Are there any more questions?"
"I think it's safe to say she's been moody lately," Draco told Hermione.
Nodding her head, Hermione noticed the girl scowling at her father from the corner of her eyes, and wrote it down. "Have you told the father that you're a witch yet? Because if you haven't, I could treat you in my office in the muggle part of London so he can come to appointments with you. I'm a muggle-born witch, and while in Paris I've also studied muggle nursing, so I'm licensed to treat you as a witch patient or as a muggle patient."
"I'm not with him anymore," Sarai shook her head. "He isn't ready to be a father."
Once again, Hermione caught the guilt in Draco's face. She would definitely need to ask Harry what's happened with the Malfoys since she left with Viktor. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's fine."
It was Draco who heard the hurt in his daughter's voice, and he felt guilty; feeling as if it was him who had abandoned her throughout her pregnancy, and left her alone to face this on her own. Then he remembered. In a way, he did. "Is this going to take much longer, Granger?" he asked, "My daughter hasn't eaten anything yet."
"No," she shook her head, putting the clipboard down. "Sarai, I'm going to need you to lift the bottom part of your dress up so I can see all of your stomach. I'm going to put a jelly on it, then use my wand to see the development of your baby. Malfoy, are you going to stay in here?"
Not allowing his daughter any time to deny it, he quickly nodded his head, "Yes."
"Very well," helping Sarai to lift her dress up, she chuckled at the way the father blushed as he looked away when he realized that by lifting her dress up, his daughter was wearing only blue satin knickers underneath it. After covering Sarai up with a blanket, so that only her belly was showing, Hermione told Draco, "You can look now, Malfoy. She's covered up."
Feeling the coldness of the gel on her belly, Sarai looked down at her piercing, "Is it safe for me to keep the piercing in?" she asked Hermione, "Or should I take it out already?"
"You should take it out," came her father's immediate reply.
Shaking her head, Hermione looked at it. She's always wanted one, but was always too frightened. "Your belly is still tiny, only popping out very minimal, so it's not a danger yet. And even when you do begin to expand larger, they have these rubber navel piercing's made for pregnant women. So you could always just replace it."
"Okay."
Giggling at the annoyance in Draco's eyes at her answer, Hermione began to wave the wand around the exposed belly. Soon there were three long puffs of silvered smoke, and she smiled, "Congratulations, you are three months pregnant," then an image of the baby popped up. Draco gasped while Sarai just stared at it. Hermione grinned, "Congratulations Sarai, it seems you're having twins."
As if they were staring at a muggle doctor's computer screen, the three of them could see the images as clearly. Hermione began to point out what each object in the image was, but all Sarai could see were two things. Facing each other, were two little embryo looking people. She could see two heads, and two forming body looking things. There were two noses, and she could only see one extra thing. There were no fingers, toes or anything yet, seeing as how they weren't fully formed, but she could see that one of them was a boy. She was having twins; one boy and one girl. Looking over at her father, Sarai allowed him to see the fear in her eyes. She was only seventeen years old. She had been abandoned by her mum, and was living with the father who used to torture her as a child because she was a girl. How the hell was she supposed to raise twins on her own, when she was still trying to find a place in this world for just herself?
