Disclaimer: Harry Potter created by J.K. Rowling.
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Surrogated Affections
By: lemonmalfoy
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Chapter 3: A Small Prophecy in Diagon Alley
Storm clouds curled themselves together in the firmament above Diagon Alley.
The looming, dark grey masses continued to crowd out the sun that only a moment ago had been shining optimistically bright throughout the entire sky. Dark shadows now stretched over the paved streets and winding pathways between the many wizarding shops, causing the normally vibrant buildings to look dull and skeletal.
The streets were populated with the usual crowds of witches and wizards of all ages, shapes, and sizes, but apparently, there were no smiles or laughter among them that day.
Everything in Diagon Alley seemed as grey as the skies above it.
"Why does it have to be so dark and gloomy only when I am well enough to go outside…?"
"Maybe it's just like this all the time."
"What was that, Draco, dear? I couldn't quite hear you from here."
"Mm nothing. It was nothing."
"The rain will ruin my hair…"
An acrid smell emanating from the street gutters mixed with metallic rain attacked Draco's pointed nose, his lips drawing out an unpleasant sneer in response. He pushed Astoria's wheel chair slowly through small puddles of water, cautiously avoiding any large cobblestones that threatened his wife's comfort.
The Malfoy scion had spent an entire week drowning in a pool of anxiety whilst waiting for Astoria to become well enough to withstand travel by magic.
She was ecstatic once he had told her that they were going to have a baby after all, through a surrogate mother. From then on, she began willing her weak body to become stronger in anticipation for the trip to the special clinic in Diagon Alley. To Draco, her efforts meant that this baby idea was already beginning to work.
As per Ruby's detailed directions, the place was a small building located just past the popular booksellers shop, Flourish and Blotts, and was painted a bright red color with silver windows.
"Are we there yet, Draco?" Astoria sighed impatiently.
"No, not until we pass Flourish and Blotts, right over there."
"But, I see the gold window panes!"
"Astoria, we're looking for silver windows, not gold ones…"
Today, Astoria's dull blonde curls were decorated with several jeweled butterflies that sparkled every time she moved her head. The accessories had been enchanted to flutter their wings in time to the wearer's heartbeat. They were part of the Fluttering Heart Collection of jewelry, famous among the elite in the wizarding world, and very, very pricey.
Draco had thought it a terrible idea to wear such eye-catching things in public, but his darling wife threatened to have a fit if she couldn't go outside looking her absolute best.
His eyes darted about Diagon Alley, looking for any signs of danger.
Being a former Deatheater had its drawbacks. If recognized by the wrong person, even a simple outing such as this could mean harm for himself and his ill wife.
He hated having to live this way, constantly having to look behind you and always living in fear for your life, even with the Dark Lord dead and gone all these years.
While hunting the surrounding alley streets for suspicious activity, the young Mister Malfoy saw something glow in the corner of his vision.
His eyes were inexplicably drawn to a female figure that stood in a solitary beam of sunlight that shone through the cold wall of clouds. She was having an enjoyable conversation with the bookseller in the front of the shop. Her long chestnut curls spilled over her shoulder as she leaned casually against the doorframe with several large books in her opposite arm, all of them expertly propped up against her hip. The woman was quite beautiful, with a fetching smile that made her ocher eyes glitter. It was a memorable grin that he was sure he had seen many times before.
He couldn't stop staring at her and slowed in pace the further he moved past the radiant lady. She was just so familiar…
While focusing on her face, he felt a name resurface from the back of his mind and stick itself to his tongue like a half-melted chocolate frog.
"G-ran-ger..?"
As soon as the name rolled from his lips, his eyes widened in recognition, and he was carried away in a speeding whirlwind of memories.
With a glad heart he welcomed the whizzing trails of the familiar bright colors, hallways he once committed to memory echoing with the sounds of thousands of shuffling feet and youthful laughter, the calming smell of old tomes and the reassuring taste of expensive sweets sent from home.
Draco felt a warm fire burn within his chest as he momentarily sifted through the pleasant memories of his past.
Childhood friendships and brotherly bonds…
Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, Nott…
Petty rivalries…
Tormenting Potty, Weasel, and the Mudbl—
As if on cue, the woman he now identified as Granger turned her head slightly in Draco's direction. Her eyes widened in recognition, and her pretty smile was replaced with a puzzled look. Mildly embarrassed that he was caught staring at his former schoolyard enemy in such a way, Draco swiftly turned his head to avoid her gaze, continuing to push Astoria hurriedly away. He fought hard to keep his attention fixed upon a single, sparkling emerald hair pin on her head as they retreated.
"That was Hermione Weasley!"
He hears his wife exclaim as they progress further down the Alley. Draco felt a wave of disgust hit him like the aftertaste of a bitter toothache potion. He had forgotten that Granger had married that idiotic, red-haired, pauper-weasel. A match made in heaven…
"Draco isn't this exciting! I read an article about her in Witch Weekly just yesterday! She was named 'The Brightest Witch of the Age' just this week…"
Draco rolls his eyes heavenward as he patiently listens to the ravings of his seated, significant other.
"Hang on… did you know her, dear?" Astoria pauses, thoughtfully, waiting for a response. "She was in your year wasn't she? Was she a friend?"
"Oh, yes…" He muttered sarcastically. "A very good friend of mine..."
Astoria's butterflies moved daintily in her amusement, and she weakly clapped her hands together.
"We should invite her to tea!"
Her dimmed eyes took on an excited twinkle as Draco nearly fell over her chair at her surprising exclamation.
"N-no! I didn't mean-"He was halted by a green colored glass bottle that was suddenly, and inexplicably, pressed uncomfortably into his cheek.
"Fancy a drink, young master..?" It was a voice that sounded like wind rustling through a field of grain. A very old wind rustling through a field of grain…
An extremely drunken crone swayed in front of Draco in a mass of black rags and tattered, faded robes. She looked older than Merlin, he had decided, and was covered in warts and upon looking at her lopsided grin, she was missing all her teeth. Her dark, rag covered twig of an arm continues to hold a bottle of spirits in offering to him.
"Ugh. Drunk old' bat..."
Draco growls out, swatting her hand away in disgust, and proceeded through the entranceway of the clinic.
"Suit yerself…" The old witch slurs, hobbling around a nearby corner, her voice echoing eerily even though she was out of sight. "You'll probably wish you'd taken my offer…"
There was a rather elaborate sign painted above the clinic with a large pink clam shell that held a gigantic, glimmering pearl, and was flanked on either side by large silver lettering that read:
Mother of Pearl, Wizarding Pregnancy Clinic, the Office of Ruby Pheasant Whipple, Resident Healer.
"Ruby owns this thing?" Draco cries in astonishment. He shakes his white-blonde head in disbelief as he wheels his wife carefully through the silvery front door.
The inside of the Mother of Pearl held a small waiting room that was full of comfortable looking wooden chairs. The ornate crimson and silver wallpaper behind them depicted scenes of flying phoenixes and napping dragons surrounded by a large array of exotic looking foliage. Various couples of wizards and witches sat scattered about in the chairs, all of them ensconced in different Wizarding magazines. One man was reading the Daily Prophet, another was surprisingly browsing through the Quibbler, and nearly all of their wives were stuck nose-deep into a Witch Weekly.
He scowled at the face of Hermione Granger-Weasley, who smiled radiantly from the Witch Weekly covers. The leading title, Hermione Weasley, crowned by the Wizarding World as the Brightest Witch of the Age, Smart is the new Sexy! See what she thinks of her best friend, Harry Potter! Interview inside! made Draco give out a sharp laugh and he sneered at the photo of Hermione in a nearby woman's hands. She was as pretty as she had been only moments ago at Flourish and Blotts, turning her head every now and again to flash her small, alluring smile to the readers.
Now, after years of not seeing her, she was appearing everywhere…
Ew… Potter's in it, too?
There was a large, young man with long, dark hair nearby, who had obviously mistaken Draco's distaste for the bookworm and Saint Potter interview for distaste towards his mousy, little wife, who also had started to cry because she thought the same as well.
"Oy… why're yew laughin' a' my Daisy?" The man rises slowly to tower menacingly above the two Malfoys. Draco's eyes narrow his hand snakes into his coat pocket, grasping his wand.
"I wasn't laughing at her, you big oaf. It was the cover of the Witch Weekly she was holding." He said, as calmly as he could. 'Daisy' was now sobbing into her reading materials with little, wet, squeaking noises.
What a pair of idiots.
"Yew fink this is funny?" The larger man grabs the magazine from his shaking wife with a meaty fist and thrusts it into Draco's pointed nose. "There ain't nuffin' funny 'bout this cover, so I don't believe yew a' all."
Mr. and Mrs. Blithering Idiot…
Unfortunately, the blithering idiot looked closely at whom he was talking to, and after a moment or two of picking his brain, knew who he was. His lips curled upwards into a grin that slowly showcased his terrible teeth.
"A Malfoy, ay?" He spat, coming almost chest to chest with Draco who held his arm protectively in front of Astoria.
"You're in this place for a reason, righ'?" The large young man continued to smirk at them as he surprisingly backed off, his gaze settling upon the young Lady Malfoy. "Good thing your wife can' reproduce. It'd be a shame if i' came ou' a murderin' Deatheater anyways."
"You bas—"A soft touch jarred him from the anger that was about to suffocate the accused Malfoy. He looks into the pleading eyes of his wife and manages to compose himself, letting go of his pocketed wand.
"Come, Draco, please. We're already late…" Astoria smiles sadly at her husband from her seated position, her eyes threatening to spill the liquid building up at the corners.
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"So, your cousin, Periwinkle something or other, who you were talking about before… was your patient?"
"That would be correct, sir. I would've sounded biased if you would've known it was my practice and all."
"Well, who was the surrogate? How was she chosen? Where is she now? Does she have any connection with the child…?"
Ruby smiled at the younger Master Malfoy's harried questions.
It was a sweet, yet sad, smile.
"Don't worry yourself about any of that. We only have four steps in this process. Ahem…"
The old, yet vibrantly colored healer waves her white wand, and in one fluid motion, unrolls a giant scroll on the empty wall of her tiny office. The unrolled paper reveals a painted diagram with three moving pictures. She points to the first one, which is a single, spinning eye.
"One… we have to find out who will be the surrogate birth mother of the child. Muggles can find any other muggle and be none the worse, but we magic folk are different. Magical impregnation starts with a Seer, who is shown by the hand of fate, who will be the best vessel to hold your child. Unfortunately, this process can take up to ten years, as we know Seers cannot control the timing and or place of prophecies and such. This is the key step to success and good fortune for you and your child."
Ruby's wand tip next circles a figure of a faceless woman who holds her arms around her belly. A faceless man stands beside her and his stomach glows. Once the ruby-haired healer's wand taps the man, his glow jumps off of the huge scroll and travels over to the woman, in the place she is holding. Her stomach begins to take on a dull shine.
"Two… once the Surrogate is found, and agrees to carry the baby, we will perform a magical procedure to implant her with Mister Malfoy's seed. This will be painless."
Draco winced slightly. It was all still a very strange concept to him.
His seed, as she called it… given to another woman…
Ugh.
Then, his eyes were drawn to the new picture ahead of them. It was a baby set wiggling in the arms of two unknown parents.
This picture, he liked.
He could almost imagine Astoria and himself as the two figures, with a little platinum blonde tot giggling between them.
"Three, we wait till she gives birth, having check-ups every month, mind you. Then you have your child, simple as that. Are you ready to start this process?"
Draco and Astoria intertwine their hands together as they nod to each other in agreement.
Ruby's lime-green eyes light up again as she pats Astoria on the back gently.
"Then… you're going to be a mum!" She exclaims, her ruby-red curls stacked high on her head swaying forward with each movement.
"How d'you feel about that?"
Astoria's butterflies flutter rapidly, creating a beautiful, sparkling affect in her curly blonde locks.
"I think we should find a Seer as soon as possible!" She squeals in delight.
Draco could only wring his hands behind her in anticipation. Ruby tries to reassure him the best way she knows how and punches him in the shoulder, sending him staggering back a few steps. He had forgotten how strong the feisty little old witch was.
"And I've got a special friend I can get in here right away." Ruby scratches small nose with the tip of her wand thoughtfully." My owl will fetch her…which will take a couple hours, if we're lucky."
She flicks her wand and summons a piece of parchment and a quill.
"Why don't you two shop around Diagon Alley and come back a little later."
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It sounded easy enough.
Find Seer.
Seer finds surrogate mother.
Surrogate is impregnated with his...seed, blech.
Surrogate gives birth to Malfoy heir, and alakazam…
All problems solved.
Literally, all of them.
Draco was so enthralled, that he breezed through the waiting room with Astoria gliding in front of him. He spared nary a glance at the sneering man and his mousy wife who had so angered him before his appointment with Ruby. His magic allowed the silvery door at the entrance to float open to welcome the pair of enlightened Malfoys out onto the street.
As he takes his first step over the threshold, an abnormally strong hand latches onto Draco's arm.
Figuring it to be the disgruntled male from the clinic, Draco whips his body to face his attacker, in hopes to also dislodge his trapped appendage from his grasp. He is startled to find that he is not in the grip of the large man, but of the old, drunken lady from before in the tattered black rags and robes.
"Leave off!" Draco sneers as he attempts to pry the woman's gnarled fingers from his forearm. "I told you I'm not interested!"
She opens her mouth wide, and an eerie, soul-shaking voice erupts into the surrounding area…
"What is sought by the House of Malfoy… a child of healing. A son to shine through darkness and sins past. Fate's aching brings forth his mother on this eve…seek after the brightest witch of the age to give birth to hope and love renewed, to dispel a future of death and evil. For none other will the paths of destiny align for the House of Malfoy…on this eve… seek after…the brightest witch… of the age…"
Her head dips low then shoots up, looking as if she were suddenly awakened from a deep sleep.
Draco's heart begins to pound as he stares open-mouthed at the old woman, replaying her words in his mind.
On this eve…
Brightest …
Brightest witch…
Brightest witch of the age!
"So… you're well on your way with that baby now, aren't you Mister Malfoy?" Ruby appears beside the older witch clad in black, patting her back.
"This is my Seer friend, Hannah Truelock, whom I have no need to owl anymore, thank you very much, Hannah."
Draco's grey eyes grew larger and larger the more he processed the prophecy.
"Looks like your baby will have an especially special mother... and future role…"
Brightest witch of the age… brightest witch of the age…
Brightest witch of the age…
There is only ONE "Brightest Witch of the Age"…
"Oh, Ruby, nice to see you 'gain. Was I asleep?"
No… no… impossible.
"No, dear. You were just telling young Mister Malfoy and his lovely Missus here, clear as day…"
I think I've suffered enough.
"… that their surrogate mother is none other than…"
Don't worry, Draco…everything will be just—
"Hermione Granger-Weasley."
Oh, Merlin.
"Perfect! Draco! This is wonderful!" Astoria claps hysterically from her wheel chair. "Absolutely fantastic!"
The world plummeted around Draco.
"N-no… anyone but her…anyone!" He whispers desperately, his words coming out in hoarse gasps.
Ruby chuckles and ignores his obvious pouting. "Nonsense. We'll get in contact with Mrs. Weasely straight away."
Astoria claps once more, bringing her hands under her chin.
"Brilliant! My baby is going to be amazing! A son! A brilliant boy!"
A dreamy look creeps onto her face as she stares off into the distance.
Draco flails his arms in the air and wails.
"NO! There is no way I will combine my… my… seed with Hermione-bloody-Granger!"
"It's Weasley now…" Ruby interjects thoughtfully.
"That makes it even WORSE… ugh!"
He throws himself dramatically against a glowing silver window, hoping that Astoria would be able to grasp at how much emotional pain she was inflicting upon her husband's very soul at that moment.
"I DO NOT want to do what that Seer says! I-I want to find another one..."
The aged seer rubs her temples with the boney fingers on her weathered hand as she further recovers from her prophetic trance.
"My Inner-Eye has foretold it. There's no changin' a prophecy."
Draco swiftly turns to tower above the old woman, his tall form shaking slightly in anger and disbelief.
"Yeah? Well… I wonder what would happen if I were to gouge that Inner-Eye right out of its socket, you sick old bat…"
He turns a pale fist upwards in a threatening position while he is held back by Astoria's hand on his dark coat sleeve.
"Draco is just being humble! I bet he wishes not to have our child so wonderful as to outshine the normal children and make them all feel inferior and such…"
Who was thinking a thousand thoughts per minute at this point?
Draco.
Of all the people in the entire world, fate and all the magic of time had to go and choose Hermione. Granger. Of all the luck! Of all the rotten, dirty, filthy, stinking, muggle luck! We can't! It's impossible. Hermione Granger won't just…just agree like that! I know she hates me. I tortured her in school. I lived to torture her in school. I dreamt of ways I could torture her…my bloody Aunt really tortured her! In my dining room!There's got to be another person. There is absolutely no way she would agree. No way! No how!
Maybe someone who could be paid off would be easier…
And less awkward… I mean, she can't be the ONLY Brightest Witch…
"Mister Malfoy, fate has declared the only mother," Ruby pipes in, seriously, as if tuning in to his thoughts. "And there is only one Brightest Witch of our Age, because Hermione Granger is really the Brightest Witch of the Age."
Did she… read my mind? Draco looked at Ruby like a child caught stealing sweets from a sweet shop. He was a very talented Occlumens since the War, yet she picked his brain without him even knowing she was there.
What's so bad about finding another surrogate?
"There are disastrous results for choosing the wrong mother for this, I promise you that."
Her eyes shift to an odd red color… deep, like blood…
"Disastrous… results…"
If she was meaning to intimidate Draco by her change in eye shade and formidable legilimency, she was succeeding.
"What better witch to have bring our son into the world than Hermione Weasley?" Astoria interjects innocently."I really can't think of one either."
The Malfoy heir groaned once more and grasped his head tightly within his hands in utter defeat. His wife was unknowingly rolling him into an early grave with her naïve comments. Her fading emerald eyes grow large and pleading as she looks into her husband's stormy grey ones.
As he stares into Astoria's eyes, so tired and rimmed with darkened circles, he remembers the true reason why they needed a baby.
When it came down to it, Draco was a spoiled brat. He was born a spoilt child, and continued to be one even until this day, with him already grown into adulthood. Everything was given to him without any effort on his part. His riches, possessions, highly coveted job in the Ministry of Magic, and a beautiful wife, whom he adored.
Once the Bloodless Sickness had reared its ugly head, Draco was thrown into a world he had never experienced before. Now, he had to think about someone other than himself. He had to care for Astoria more than anything else in his own life. She had helped him to become accomplish the impossible.
He had become… a little… unselfish.
Miracles do happen.
The old Draco Malfoy would have laughed in the face of his wife, and walked off, letting her live a life of childless solitude and meet an untimely death alone, rather than father a child with Hermione Granger, token muggleborn of his childhood… but the new Draco wanted his wife to be healthy again.
If the abominable mix of Malfoy and Granger-Weasley blood was needed to do so, he would do it for her.
"Fine," Draco grunts quietly. He himself could not believe he was agreeing to something so hopeless, desperate, and insane. "What… next?"
A happy, piercing cry bursts from Astoria like a firecracker, as she turns to the younger of the two crones with eyes wider and brighter than they had been in a long time.
"What must we do next! I believe we are on step two, Ruby!"
Draco is nearly to tears at his newfound misfortune as he silently pouts and allows himself to withdraw from his growing need to perform a Cruciatus curse on the old Seer.
"How will we know if Hermione Granger is really, you know… the surrogate mother that was fortold?"
"Easy!" Ruby's eyes twinkle back to their normal lime-green hue. "All you have to do is ask her if she has the ache. If she does, then you've got yerself a baby…"
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Next Chapter: A Strange Occurrence in Diagon Alley
Hermione was surprised to find her heart beating even faster, and the ache located behind her navel deepening into a feeling of a lovely sort of… of…
Satisfaction.
It felt like she was lounging on a beach somewhere, warm, and content.
In her confusion, she couldn't do anything but stare… at Draco Malfoy.
As soon as he was out of her sight, the ache returned, throbbing in emptiness.
Hermione suddenly piled her purchased books onto Jamie's torso, and rushed back into the store.
"Hold those! I think I need to get a few more books!"
Please Review! Let me know what you think!
-lems
