Welcome back!
You guys are insane! Oh my god, I never ever expected such a big response to this little snippet of writing, which basically tells you nothing! Thank you so much, this is really, really unbelievable!
The next three chapters will basically cover the years after the final battle and work towards the scene in the prologue. I decided not to spend too much time in the "past" and focus more on what will happen once Draco finds out. But I also didn't want to just list things down, so I'll take the time in those three chapters to give you some sort of background.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
A special thanks to my betas: Dramione84, Affectiion, kika_kanyume7 and throughhiseyes!
I hope you enjoy this part as much as the prologue,
Kia
2. PRISON
Azkaban, September 1998
Draco stared at the letter in his hands.
He would be a father.
Something bubbled inside him but it was gone before he could even name it.
He squinted at the letter, his sight blurring the harder he tried to read it. A rogue spell during the final battle had damaged some of his nerve systems. Adrenaline and the urge to survive had made him not realise it at first- only after Madame Pomfrey had taken a look at him, had he noticed it. It was minor, the spell had barely grazed him and she could heal almost all of it. But sometimes, when he read, his eyes started to hurt and, after a while, he couldn't recognise the letters anymore.
The letter had come from Astoria Greengrass, a fellow Slytherin. Draco had known her since she was a child, her sister Daphne was in his year and their family had often been invited to his mother's balls and parties. Draco had… rekindled with her when he had returned to Hogwarts for a few days after Easter.
The school was swarmed by Death Eaters and one wrong move, one wrong utterance against Voldemort could have been the last one. But Astoria was quiet, didn't broadly exclaim that she was on Voldemort's side like many did in the Slytherin common room in those days and Draco had found himself able to get lost in her comfort. She offered, and he would have been a fool not to accept.
He had assumed she was on the potion- every Pureblood girl should be because getting pregnant in school was something even Purebloods frowned upon. But then, it wasn't like they dated. Actually, Draco didn't date. He had been stressed and she was there and they had slept together a handful of times during the length of four days. That was about it.
Then Draco had left Hogwarts to go back to the Manor and he didn't return until the final battle. And the blond girl with the water-blue eyes had instantly vanished from his memory as soon as he had left.
It must have been the beginning or middle of April, he tried to remember, counting the months back in his head.
April and May were just a blur in Draco's mind because first he was sent back to Hogwarts, and then called back by his father, who had immediately taken Draco and his mother directly to the Order of the Phoenix.
Lucius had found out that Voldemort planned on using Draco as bait, as punishment for letting Potter, Weasley and the Mudblood escape from Malfoy Manor. Voldemort was determined that Harry Potter would risk his own life to save everyone, and he wanted to use Draco to lure Harry Potter back into Hogwarts. Lucius never got to know the actual plan but Voldemort wanting to use Draco as the messenger with the intention of him not returning had been enough for the Malfoy patriarch to forget all his principles. His pride, his beliefs, his mistakes. All he knew was that he needed to keep his family safe. And they wouldn't be if they stayed at Voldemort's side.
He had taken Narcissa and Draco and run to the Order to sell Voldemort out, giving them any kind of information they wanted, which would help them prepare for the final battle. The battle was won, Harry Potter lived, and the Dark Lord was finally dead.
However, the Malfoys weren't innocent. They still had to sit trial, but with their defection from the Death Eaters taken into consideration. Narcissa was exiled for a year to a Malfoy estate in France and Lucius was sentenced to three years in Azkaban. Draco himself had received a single year in Azkaban.
He had been here for four months already, and besides his father, he hadn't spoken to anyone else. His friends didn't care and probably had more important things to do than to visit him in prison.
Draco and Lucius both had received mild sentences. They both were placed on Level A of Azkaban, where the prisoners had a cell with a window which overlooked the never-ending sea. He had a bed and a sink, a loo and a small desk for his use. Meals were eaten in the cells, but all prisoners on Level A were allowed to spend every second day in a common room for about an hour. It was only a small room, with a handful of tables and chairs, one spare bookshelf with a few books and two sets of Wizard's Chess altogether, but it was better than the accommodations on Level F, which was reserved for all the other Death Eaters. Windowless cells, worse food, complete isolation.
Draco wasn't happy but he wasn't miserable either.
The blond still stared at the letter in his hand. He had received it that morning. Mail was coming in once a week, but besides a few letters which his mother had sent him, he had never received mail from someone else.
It had started innocently, asking how he was doing and then telling him some news regarding his friends. Pansy was engaged to Theodore Nott, Astoria's sister Daphne had started to date a Ravenclaw Draco had never heard of, and Blaise still resided in Italy with his mother. Draco didn't particularly care about these things, he realised while reading them.
Those people never were his friends, not really.
His grey eyes skimmed to the next part of the letter.
... anyway, everyone is rather well, considering the circumstances. But Draco, this wasn't why I'm writing to you. Remember, when we spent some time together back in Hogwarts, about a month before the battle?
Well, I'm pregnant. I have known for a few months already and I was so afraid to tell you, which is why it took me so long to write. Please, you must believe me when I'm saying that you were the last man I was with.
I really don't know what to do and I hope this letter can prepare you a little. I would like to come visit you, Draco, if that is okay? I'm already showing and I would love to share this with you...
He breathed out, his eyes burned. The rest of the letter blurred together and he had to put it down. He closed his eyes and rubbed over his eyelids with his thumb and index finger. His head began to throb.
He was going to be a father.
"Malfoy!" The guard barked, banging at his iron cell door before he spoke through a small opening. Draco flinched and turned his head towards the door. "Assembling time starts in about five minutes, get ready."
Draco quickly folded the letter and put it inside his prison overall. He got up from his desk and sighed, running a hand through his hair while he looked out of his small, barred window. The sea was quiet and the clear, salty air blew into Draco's face as he stepped closer.
He still had eight months to go in this Hell hole.
"Malfoy! Step back from the door, hold out your hands in front of you, we are coming in!" the guard barked again and Draco turned away from the window and towards the door, taking him only three steps to reach it.
The door opened and the guard walked in, wand raised, while Draco held both of his hands out, wrists up.
A binding spell was placed on his arms and an additional magic suppressing charm on him. Draco wasn't as trained in non-verbal magic as he could be, so he thought that the latter was rather unnecessary, but he knew that it was the protocol for when the prisoners were escorted to the common room.
Draco was led down the dark and narrow corridor. Other cells were lined along the wall but Draco knew that most of them were empty. There were only about ten prisoners on Level A, all the others were on the lower levels.
When they reached the door the binding was taken from his hands but the magic suppressing charm stayed on. Draco nodded towards the guard and then rubbed his wrists before he stepped into the small common room.
Eight of the ten prisoners were already there.
Draco strode directly to his father.
Lucius Malfoy was sitting at one of the empty tables, alone, and Draco almost snorted at the sight of his proud father in his dirty grey prison overalls. Despite everything, Lucius Malfoy kept his posture and his back was straight while he sat at a table, which had one shorter leg and was wobbly because of that. His hands were folded on the tabletop while his eyes wandered around the room calculating. He looked everything like the aristocratic bastard he always was.
"Draco," he drawled as Draco sat down on the chair opposite his father.
Draco just nodded.
The other prisoners didn't talk to them, even they knew what the tattoos on their forearms stood for. Lucius always made the point clear by wearing his sleeves rolled back, the Dark Mark stark against his pale skin. Draco still frowned every time he saw the same mark on his own arm.
He hated it.
"Father," Draco started and Lucius focused on him then, grey eyes sharp and Draco was suddenly a young boy again, who squirmed under his father's stare, knowing that he had done something that he shouldn't.
Lucius recognised Draco's behaviour and he raised a single eyebrow, saying nothing verbally but mentally, he forced Draco to his knees.
"What did you do?" he muttered, voice quiet so no one else could listen to their conversation.
Draco bowed his head, almost ashamed before he reached into his overall and pulled out Astoria's letter, pushing it over to his father.
Lucius seemed to be put out for a moment but then he caught himself and he slowly unfolded the letter before he started to read.
Draco looked up, face emotionless as he studied his father's face while he read the letter.
"Is she speaking the truth?" Lucius asked tightly, "is it possible?"
Draco waved his hand. "We had… relations during the days after Easter, when I returned to Hogwarts before you," he trailed off.
"And you just believe her?"
"I'm not stupid." The Malfoy heir looked up, offended. He had expected a lecture, a rebuke, a declaration of his stupidity. He had expected his father to rave on about how he had sullied the Malfoy name, how a child born out of wedlock would be social suicide. And somehow, Lucius managed all that with one simply question.
"Is there any reason to believe Miss Greengrass, Draco?" his father asked instead, impatience laced in his voice.
"Is there any reason not to? I slept with her and I know I didn't use a contraceptive. I just assumed she was smarter," Draco shrugged.
Lucius snorted. "You just assumed."
Draco stopped his ramblings to look up, cheeks heating. "I don't know if you remember, Father," Draco spat the word, "but it was after I had to watch Granger being drained of her apparently filthy blood. And when I mentioned after that her blood was as red as mine, my dear aunt had used the same method on me as she did on Granger. Mother sent me back to Hogwarts because she wanted to spare me the Dark Lord's wrath as well and Astoria was there, so yes, I. Just. Assumed."
"Considering the circumstances," Lucius sneered, making a point by looking around the room they were currently sitting in. Right, prison, Draco nodded absently. He tried to calm himself down.
His father continued, "I have to admit, it's not the best news."
Draco laughed dryly. Then he deflated, rubbing a hand over his face groaning.
Lucius' face soften for just a moment but Draco still had his face buried in his hands, so he missed it.
"Invite her, and then make clear to her that she will get the benefit of the doubt. But the paternity of every Malfoy child will be tested after it is born," Lucius exclaimed and Draco looked up again.
"And what if it isn't my child?" he asked.
"The answer to that question should be rather obvious," Lucius stated, looking sharply at his son. Draco nodded absently.
"But what if it is?" he paled slightly, rubbing his aching forehead.
Lucius sighed. He suddenly looked older than he was. "A few years ago, I would have told you to marry her of course, but now," grey eyes turned dark, "your mother will have my head for telling you this, but Draco…" Lucius leant closer, his eyes matching Draco's in colour, "you don't have to do anything."
Draco was literally speechless.
"Listen, son, despite anything I've ever told you, after the year is up and you are free, you should do anything you want. If you want to marry Miss Greengrass, go ahead. If you don't, then don't, but let me tell you something right now: I will stand for a child born out of wedlock, but I won't stand for a child to be abandoned. If the child is yours, you will take care of them, no matter what, but that doesn't mean that you need to marry if you don't want to," Lucius said with an authority that made Draco square his shoulders.
"Yes, Sir."
The blond wizard stared at the letter which laid in between them on the table. His vision started to blur, even his father's contours became fuzzy.
"Write her back, tell her that your are willing to listen to her story but don't make any promises, alright? Think about what you want," Lucius said now with a much more calmer voice.
"What if I do want to marry her?" Draco asked. "If she is carrying my child, I feel like I should, Mother always said-"
"Yes, yes," his father interrupted. "I know what your mother thinks about such situations but you have to be aware that things change."
"I guess," Draco said, then he nodded determinedly.
"I'll write her, tell her that she should come," Draco decided and now his father was the one who nodded. "Good. Fancy a game of chess?"
Draco smiled slightly.
He wrote her back but he didn't receive a reply for almost two weeks. When the mail came in the third week, he received a short answer, which told him that Astoria would be coming to visit him on the upcoming Saturday.
Draco didn't really know what to think about it. The thought of his child growing out there, outside of this prison, was still too absurd for him to believe.
From his bed - it really was more a cot - he could see directly out of the tiny window and every evening he watched how the sky turned dark and then how the stars appeared.
One constellation caught his eye because it was visible directly through the barred opening, and he fell asleep every night, and he dreamt of a boy with white blond hair and grey eyes.
Draco was wringing his hands nervously.
He was sitting in a small, windowless room. There was one table with a chair on either side. He had never been in the visitor room before, just because there was no one to visit him anymore.
Visitation happened during assembly time, but Draco had happily exchanged a game of chess with his father with a visit of Astoria instead. Unlike assembly time, visitation was limited to 15 minutes and then Draco would be escorted directly back to his cell.
Visitation is a privilege, Malfoy, the guard had told him.
Draco's hands were on the table, they were to be bound for the whole visit, as were his ankles.
But he didn't care, he didn't care about the uncomfortable iron chair, nor the table that dug into his arms, nor that his right leg had started to cramp up. He was excited, and his excitement wasn't even dimmed when the door opened and none other than Ronald Weasley walked inside the visitor room.
"Malfoy," Weasley nodded, taking a look at him and then at the room. Draco gave him credit for not showing any emotion because he was pretty sure that the redhead wanted nothing more than to openly sneer at him.
"During visitation, an Auror will stay in the room with you and your visitor. The guards will stay outside the door. I have sworn an oath that whatever is discussed in here won't leave the room unless it's a threat to the Wizarding World, so when you talk, talk clear, no mumbling, no codes. Don't touch the visitor nor try to exchange anything with them. No objects are allowed if they weren't approved by me first. The visitor needs to register them before the meeting with the appointed Auror. If any of these rules are broken or if the behaviour gets inappropriate, I'm authorised to cut the meeting short, send you back to your cell and escort the visitor back to the Ministry. So, behave." Weasley recited what was probably a chapter in his Auror handbook.
"Yes, I will," he said sincerely and Weasley looked at him, surprised. The redhead then nodded approvingly before he turned around to open the door.
Astoria stood on the other side and Draco's heart started to beat faster as she slowly stepped inside the room, ignoring Weasley completely. Her focus was on Draco. She smiled nervously and Draco's manners forced him to get up with a pained yelp.
"Draco," Astoria rushed, "please, sit down." She eyed his magical bonds before she walked over to the other side of the table and pulled the heavy chair back.
Draco nodded and he fell down back in his own chair, his eyes never leaving Astoria. "Tori," he greeted her and she blushed, her eyes darted back and forth. "Draco, thanks for agreeing to talk to me. I appreciate it."
He laughed hoarsely.
"Don't be," Draco insisted. "Besides, it's not like I'm awfully busy at the moment."
Astoria bit her lower lip then, looking even more nervously. She put her hands around her middle and Draco's eyes trailed down to her stomach. Through the thick cloak, he wasn't able to make anything out.
She must have seen his look because she suddenly reached up to part her woollen cloak, which had been wrapped around herself, hiding her body underneath. She wore a long dress but Draco could clearly see the bump.
He breathed in loudly, automatically reaching out to touch. Weasley coughed and Draco instantly pulled his hands back to cradle them against his chest.
Astoria quickly pulled her cloak around herself again, hiding away what Draco still couldn't really grasp.
"I'm 22 weeks along now," she told him. Draco had no idea what that meant.
"And you are sure it's mine?" he requested and her face fell. She narrowed her eyes. "Of course it is!" she snapped.
Suddenly, her face softened and she leant forward. "I'm sorry, the hormones," she smiled sadly at him. "There is no way of proving it to you now, but I wouldn't come here if it wouldn't be true. I don't want anything from you, Draco," she explained, her eyes grew sad. "My parents kicked me out, I'm currently staying at a friend's flat in Diagon Alley. Daphne comes to visit me but she's," Astoria trailed off, looking away, blinking away some tears.
He stared at her uncomfortable.
She then looked back at him, smiling warmly instead. "The mediwitch said that everything is fine and the baby should be born sometime in January. Around the 20th."
Draco just nodded. "Astoria, I…" he started but his words failed him and he just continued to stare at her.
Her smile disappeared and she looked at him sorrowfully. "Maybe it was a mistake to come," she announced and looked over to Ron, ready to give him a sign when Draco cleared his throat. "No, Tori, I mean… look, this is something I was not prepared for, and being in prison makes the whole thing even more complicated. I want to believe you, I do, but you must understand that right now, I just can't-"
Draco missed how Ron rolled his eyes behind his back.
Astoria looked at him sharply, everything the aristocratic Pureblood. "I know, it's too much right now. But I couldn't bare to tell you and then surprise you after you were released. I don't know which would have been crueller, you not knowing or you knowing while being in here."
Astoria then averted her eyes. "It's hard," she admitted. "I have one house elf, who helps me and I tried to hide it as well as I can. It's just, Draco…,"
"I will write my mother." Draco interrupted. "She's still under house arrest in France but she would be able to send you money or even let you stay at the Manor if you want to. Right now, that's all I can offer you."
"I'm carrying your son, Draco," Astoria straightened her back, her blue eyes met Draco's. "And I'm not someone, who wouldn't remember who she slept with. I'm wanting to give you a fair chance to be involved. I know you have to stay in here for a few more months and you will miss the birth and all the appointments but I won't let you patronise me out of pity," she hissed and Draco stared at the girl, whose nervousness was apparently gone.
"Son?" was all that Draco could say.
"Yes," Astoria huffed and she wrapped her cloak tighter around herself. She looked around in disdain. The walls were bare and wet and this place made her uncomfortable. Someone of her kind shouldn't be here.
Draco looked at her directly.
"Two more minutes," Weasley suddenly announced. The redhead cleared his throat, catching their attention.
"I'll write to you," Astoria told him then. "Maybe you do need time to think about it." She nodded towards Ron. "We don't need the two more minutes."
"Okay," Weasley shrugged and Draco looked at him, nodding absently.
Astoria appraised the blond man across from her when she got up. Draco had lost weight since the last time she saw him, and during the war, he had already started to diminish. He looked taller though, his features were sharper, especially his cheekbones. She knew that Draco had always been handsome and even now, while he was sitting there in a prison overall, he still looked so out of place but yet he was able to make it look like he fit right in. He desperately needed a haircut, it had grown too long now and he needed to tie it back so the strands wouldn't fall into his face.
Pleased, Astoria noticed that in a few years, Draco would definitely grow up right, a perfect mixture between Narcissa's beauty and Lucius' handsomeness.
She schooled her features and gave Draco an apologetic smile. Ron narrowed her eyes on her while he looked between her and Draco.
"I know that when you came back to Hogwarts in April and we spent some time together, it wasn't supposed to last and I accepted it back then. This," she placed a hand over her stomach, "this wasn't what I had planned and I don't expect anything from you like I said, but I hope that for the baby's sake we can work it out."
"Of course," Draco said automatically.
She gave him a nod. "I will write to you," she promised again at the same the time the door was opened. The guard who would escort Draco back to his cell was waiting outside already.
Astoria gave him one last glance before she walked out of the room, Weasley on her tail. The redhead stopped in the doorway, turning around to face Draco who sat at the table, gazing into space, feeling empty.
The blond looked up to meet Weasley's eyes. He received one short nod.
"Congratulations, Malfoy," the Auror said, as he disappeared through the door, following Astoria to take her back to civilisation. Draco didn't even have time to reply because Weasley was gone so fast.
"Thanks," he told the empty room instead.
