Draco sat near his motionless wife.

This hour he spent by her side every day was the part of his day he looked forward to the least.

He read her The Daily Prophet quietly, his usually authoritative tone almost meek.

Usually, he would read to her, hold her hand, speak to her about things that had recently happened to him or people they knew, and then he would get up and leave.

Today however, was different. As he finished reading he set the newspaper to one side and scooted closer towards her.

He touched her pale forehead.

"What's happened to you, Astoria?" He wondered aloud.

Would they be able to heal her? Draco doubted it. And he knew that if she didn't wake from her coma soon, he would have to pull the plug on the entire thing.

He shivered at the thought.

Scorpius would probably leave Malfoy Manor and never come back, if that ever happened.

He laced his hand with Astoria's and weaved their fingers together; a gesture they rarely mirrored when she'd been alive and well.

He was falling apart at the seams. He couldn't deny it.

Something had to give.

Draco Malfoy was tired of fighting to rise above everything when it seemed that life was determined to pull him down.

Maybe it was karma. For all of his past wrongdoings.

He laughed.

The universe hated him. Perhaps it was time for him to reap his rewards.

"There's something Scorpius is keeping from you." The voice shook Draco from his tangent of thought. He looked up sharply, to connect gazes with Luna. She was leaning against the doorway, her arms crossed almost but not quite, defiantly.

"What do you mean?"

She stepped forwards, "He was in the basement last night." She told him, "Smoking and painting."

"How do you know?"

"I caught him," She shrugged, "I went down there to look for the healing balm and he was just sat there, surrounded by a thick cloud of smoke and splattering paint onto a blank canvas."

Draco knew that Scorpius spent a lot of time down there. But he preferred that his son didn't disclose the nature of things that he did.

He supposed in this situation, ignorance was bliss.

"And I spoke to him," Luna continued, "Briefly. He's really upset, Draco."

He quirked an eyebrow, "I thought we had already established that?"

"Too upset," She shoo her head, "When I brought up Astoria and how I knew what it felt like to lose a mother, he immediately shut himself off. He's not angry at you Draco…he's angry at her."

Draco's eyebrows furrowed into a frown, and he stared at the blonde haired woman as she watched him carefully.

"Why would he be angry at her?"

"Did anything happen between then before she fell into the coma?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Draco's tone came out harsher than he intended.

He immediately regretted it once he saw the look on Luna's face.

"Sorry," He mumbled, "I'm just really starting to feel the pressure of everything lately."

"I understand." She smiled gently, "Why don't you try and do something to calm you down? I'll take care of her, don't worry."

Draco nodded, standing slowly, and watching as Luna began to check Astoria's details.

"Thank you." He whispered gently. She looked up and nodded, a faint smile painting her powdery pink lips.

"It's quite alright Draco," She answered, "If you need me, you know where I am."

He tilted his head forward in gratitude once more, and then without another word, slipped out of his wive's room and into his study.

Right now he needed to shut the world out.

And then, then he was going to get to the bottom of this whole fiasco with Scorpius.

….

Luna checked Astoria's vital signs once more.

Everything seemed just the way she had left it last night.

She blinked up at the clock hanging off the taupe wall. It read eight fifteen AM.

It was early. Luna knew that Draco's visits were normally in the morning, the first thing he did after waking up.

She guessed it was because he was so consumed by guilt, until he performed this morning ritual, nothing else would get done.

She frowned. Draco. He was an enigma to her.

To be perfectly honest, his entire family was.

How had Astoria even fallen into this inexplicable coma in the first place?

Luna was determined to find out.

Spending nearly every day here except for Sundays, she knew that she had more than enough time to unravel the mysteries of the Malfoys.

A muffled bump caught her attention, and Luna's eyes zipped over to the doorway.

She was surprised to see Scorpius standing there, dressed in his typically black attire, donning chunky, black, biker boots.

"Scorpius."

"Oh it's you." He didn't sound annoyed, just disappointed. He frowned and shrugged, "I'll come back later."

"No, no. I'll leave."

Luna hadn't seen Scorpius spend any time with his mother once in the week she had been working here. Unless he did so on her day off or during the nighttime when Luna was sleeping in her own apartment, she doubted he'd seen her at all recently.

"Are you sure?" He asked, his entire body tense.

"Of course." She nodded gently, "I'll go make myself a tea."

As Luna brushed passed him, she sent Scorpius a gentle smile, "Would you like anything?"

He shook his head and despite himself, mirrored her smile, "No thank you."

She nodded, and then left, leaving Scorpius alone with his comatose mother.

He stepped into the room gingerly, his hands gripping the chains hanging off of his trousers tightly.

Scorpius hadn't come to see his mother in over a week now. He couldn't bare to see her.

But now he had summoned up the courage, he stepped towards her, his face clenched.

As he stood at her bedside, he stared down at her motionless body. Her usually stern face unnaturally calm and relaxed.

He wondered what she was thinking about.

"Hi mum," He whispered, his voice barely leaving his throat, "How've you been."

He laughed dryly, "Not good huh?"

He hated this. He wished she would open her eyes.

He wished he could tell her everything. He wanted to be mad at her…he was mad at her!

But he wanted to be sad too. Why wasn't he sad? Why couldn't he cry?

It was all her fault!

"I know you think you were clever about it," He cleared his throat, "But I found out mum. I kept my mouth shut and then I was going to confront you about it - I was going to tell you that I knew…but you got sick." He felt his stomach clench, "Why would you do that to us mum?" His voice dropped to a whisper, "To me, to us…to dad."

To dad.

Scorpius felt sick.

He thought he could do this, he really could. But he wasn't strong. Not like his father…his poor, innocent father.

"Why?" For the first time in months, Scorpius felt a tear slide down his nose, "Why did you do this to us mum?"

His lips neared her ear, "And why did you leave before I could get mad at you? Before I could tell you I hated you!"

He slumped back against the chair behind him and buried his head in his hands.

It wasn't fair.

A knock at the door caused him to look up. Luna Lovegood was standing before him, holding two cups of tea and smiling gently.

"I made one for you," She clarified, "Just in case."

Despite feeling like a coward, and wishing the ground would just swallow him up and be done with it, he grinned.

"Thank you, Luna."

She stepped towards him and handed him the mug.

"What's wrong Scorpius?" She whispered, her face tugged into a frown, "What's happened to you?"

He looked up sharply, his gaze connecting with hers. He readied himself to cut her off; to tell her to leave him alone.

But the look in her big, warm blue eyes caught him by surprise.

He blinked; once, twice.

And then he felt another tear slide his cheek. He couldn't do it anymore.

He couldn't lie for her.

"My mum was having an affair," He whispered, as he wiped away the tear, "I caught her in bed with him. My father's best friend."

….