Chapter 10: Chapter 10
Hogwarts. This sure brought back some memories, Draco thought as he strolled the corridors. It was summer break, so the halls were rather deserted. He raised his eyebrow as he saw Mrs Norris stalking down the corridor. He couldn't believe that old cat was still around. Or Filch for that matter.
Draco reached his destination, and knocked loudly on the classroom door.
"Come in." An annoyed voice said from inside the classroom.
Draco entered to see Severus Snape sitting at his desk, marking exam papers. Severus Snape had not changed much from Draco's time at school, well, to be honest he hadn't changed at all. You couldn't say Severus was a nice man, in fact, those who knew him would describe him as rude, sarcastic - and someone you wouldn't want to cross. In saying that, those who knew him well would say that he was brilliant, intelligent and mysterious - a man who's words and demeanour hid the true man within.
"Hello, Severus." Draco nodded to the man sitting in front of him.
"Draco," Severus drawled in his silken voice, curious as to why the young wizard was there. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
Draco took a seat and looked his old potions Professor in the eye. "I'm getting married."
This caused Severus to raise his eyebrows at his godson. Draco getting married? Good lord, he thought he would never see the day where Draco would settle down. This witch must be something special.
Frowning at Severus's questioning gaze, Draco added "I'm serious."
This caused the corner of the older wizard's mouth to turn up into a smirk. "Oh, and I do believe you Draco, which leads me to the question of who this charming young lady would be?"
"Hermione Granger." Draco replied, watching Severus closely for his reaction.
Not to disappoint, the look that overcame Severus's face was one of disbelief and question. Why and how in the heavens did Draco convince the know it all chit to marry him? And Hermione, hadn't she just had a child? If Hermione had just had a child, and Draco was marrying the girl… it couldn't be…
"And her child?" Severus asked Draco, curiously.
Now it was Draco's turn to look shocked. He hadn't expected his godfather to be aware of Hermione having a child, after all, Severus never read the papers, not that he could blame him, after all the trash they printed about him.
"Darius is my son." Draco nodded in confirmation.
"I see, yes, Minerva told me the girl had given birth, I wonder why she never mentioned you as the father?" Severus questioned Draco.
Draco saw no point in lying to the older wizard. "We didn't know until a few days ago. Hermione and I had an… encounter… at the Masquerade Ball. Then suddenly 9 months later my family tree has a new name inked on it."
Severus frowned. "How could you be so stupid, Draco? I always thought you were smarter then that. Have you not heard of contraception charms? And Miss Granger, well, I certainly expected more from her as well. Now you've got yourself in a bind, forced to marry a witch who you can't stand… tell me, Draco, how will you stand a loveless marriage? Go off and shag other witches while your wife stays at home and looks after your child?" Severus snarled at him.
Draco narrowed his eyes, choosing for now to ignore what Severus said. "Did you know about the curse on my family, Severus? That if I don't marry Hermione, my son will die?"
A look of confusion shot over Severus's face. Draco took this as a sign he had no idea.
"Yes, I'm forced to marry her - and by the Adligo ceremony, to make the situation even more complicated." Draco continued.
Severus's eyes shot up and met Draco's. The Adligo ceremony - he was going to bind his soul to Hermione's? That was raw, ancient magic.
"Surely there must be away around this? Binding your soul, that kind of magic…. Its powerful. If you die, she dies, you'll be able to feel each others emotions, hear each others thoughts - you will be literally joined as one. Are you sure that that's something that you can both do? You realize if you do that, there is no turning back, its forever." The Potions Master grimly told his godson.
Draco sighed. "I have to, Severus. I can't let Darius die. He's my son, holding him in my arms made me near complete, and I think Hermione is the other part of the puzzle… its funny, how I never noticed it before - but when I'm with her, I'm happy. She makes me happy, she makes me complete. I know I could love her, if I don't already."
Draco's blatant honesty and raw admission was unlike his godfather had ever heard from him. He had never seen Draco so passionate about anything - or anyone - like this before. Severus had to admit he was shocked, perhaps in the past he had judged his godson too harshly. He had thought of him as shallow and conceited.
It was Severus who had convinced Draco to join the Order of the Phoenix, after he sensed Draco's disloyalty to the Dark Lord, however he had always believed the sole reason Draco had switched sides was because he knew that he was fighting a losing battle, and Draco hated to lose - at anything.
Severus looked at Draco thoughtfully. "She's muggleborn, Draco."
"Don't you think I know that? Don't you think I've thought of that? Yes I know she's muggleborn. I've grown up my whole life thinking I was superior to them - thinking I was superior to HER. In fact, when I first learnt that I had a son, for the briefest moment I was worried about my precious pureblood being tainted. Then I learnt about Hermione. I held Darius in my arms. Nothing seemed to matter to me anymore." Draco answered, running his hands through his blonde hair.
Severus cocked an eyebrow at Draco. "Well in that case I guess I'm happy for you. And how does Miss Granger feel about this arrangement?"
Draco frowned. "I don't know. She's been more then fair to me, letting me into Darius's life, especially after the way that I treated her when we were younger. Sometimes I think she may have feelings for me as well, but she's hard to read. I'm definitely certain she only agreed to marry me because she had no other choice though."
Severus nodded, "She's certainly a stubborn witch, Draco. Give her time."
"Well we'll have all the time in the world, won't we?" Draco laughed bitterly.
"If you're sure about what you've found out, then unfortunately I believe you do." Severus replied.
Draco nodded. "Anyway, apart from coming here to tell you all of this, I did come to invite you to the wedding. We're getting married on Thursday."
"And Miss Granger? Is she aware you're inviting me?" Severus asked the young wizard curiously.
Draco looked at Severus in confusion. "Of course, she has no problem with it. Why would she?"
So the young chit hadn't told Draco, Severus thought. Severus shrugged at Draco. "Last time we saw each other, we had a bit of a…. disagreement."
"About what?" Draco asked curiously.
"That's not my place to tell you." Severus replied.
Draco studied his godfather. What was he trying to hide from him? "I need to know, Severus."
Severus glared at Draco. "Its none of your business, Draco. If Hermione chooses to tell you, then fine, however I will not."
Draco wasn't one to take no for an answer easily. He nodded to Severus, who relaxed slightly.
If Severus wasn't going to tell him, he was going to find out on his own. Draco quickly whipped out his wand and pointed it at Severus. "Legilimens".
Having caught the older wizard off guard, Draco saw flashes of his memories. Voldemort. Dumbledore. And then he saw naked bodies entwined, Hermione's and Severus's.
As quickly as he saw the visions, they vanished and he was cast out of Severus's mind. The next thing Draco knew, Severus had thrown himself at him, grabbing him by his collar and throwing him against the wall.
"What in the HELL do you think your doing, Malfoy?" Severus snarled at him, angrier then Draco had ever seen him.
Draco's blood began to boil. Severus had been with Hermione. His eyes flashed angrily at the Potions Master. "Get the hell off me, Severus."
"You ignorant brat. To think I thought you'd grown up. Like father like son, I guess." Severus spat at Draco, dropping him to the floor.
All Draco could see was red. He growled at Severus and stalked angrily out of the classroom.
Severus picked up the bottle of ink he had been using to grade his papers and threw it at the wall. This was not good.
Harry passed his daughter to Hermione. "Hermione, I'd like you to be officially introduced to Jayda Lily Potter."
Hermione smiled down to the baby in her arms. She definitely took after her father. A mass of raven black hair coated her head, and she had brilliant green eyes. "Hey Jayda, I'm your Aunty Hermione." Hermione cooed down to the baby.
"I'm so glad you guys finally gave her a name." Hermione laughed looking up at her friends.
Ginny smiled at Harry. "What can we say - we just wanted it to be perfect!"
At that point, they heard a cracking noise and Draco apperated into the room.
Hermione smiled at him. "Oh Draco, come and see Jayda, she's absolutely gorgeous." she said, indicating to the baby in her arms.
Draco merely glared at her and stalked into her bedroom to see Darius.
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Someone doesn't look too happy does he?"
Hermione handed Jayda to Ginny and sighed. "I'll go see what's wrong."
Hermione entered her bedroom to see Draco sitting on her bed, staring into Darius's crib at him.
"Hey." Hermione said quietly and sat down next to Draco, who just ignored her.
Hermione frowned in confusion at Draco. What was his problem? "What's wrong?" she queried him.
Draco glared at Hermione, anger evident in his eyes. "You're nothing but a whore, Granger."
Hermione eyes flew open in shock at Draco. She knew he'd been to see Severus - he must have said something to Draco. She had expected more from her old Professor, she didn't think he would tell Draco about their past.
"Excuse me?" She asked him.
"You heard." He spat at her, standing up and towering over her. "At least now I know why your potions grades were always above mine."
Hermione was visibly shaken. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm herself.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Draco." She replied.
"Don't I?" He snarled at her. "I knew Severus was keeping something from me, but I didn't think it was anything like THAT. I saw it with my own eyes, my fiancée, naked with my godfather. "
Hermione looked at him in confusion. So he had invaded Severus's memories.
"You're a whore." He continued at her. "Is that what you do, Granger? Just fuck anyone, for the hell of it?"
Hermione was getting angry. "Take that back, Malfoy."
"Why? It's the truth isn't it? Just a filthy little mudblood whore!" he challenged her.
Hermione felt like she had been slapped in the face. She couldn't believe he had just called her that… now Hermione was really angry. "Oh and just how many people have you slept with, Malfoy? You have no idea. How DARE you judge me."
Draco laughed bitterly. "Hey at least I'm honest about my reputation, you on the other hand…."
"Petrificus Totalus" Hermione pointed her wand quickly at Draco and muttered the spell.
Draco froze stiffly at the spot where he was standing. Still able to hear everything she was saying.
"Now you listen to me, Malfoy. You call me a whore? I've been with three people, three. I bet that's how many girls you normally sleep with in any given week." She started. "Now none of this is your business Malfoy, and I owe you no explanation to what happened. After Ron and I broke up, during the war, I was lonely. One night when I was healing Severus after he had been called to the dark lord, it just happened. We were both lonely and confused, and yes, it provided us with some distraction to what was going on around us. We both knew there was no romantic entanglement. We didn't know if either of us would survive the war, so we thought why not. I don't and won't ever regret it, and I won't be made to feel guilty about it, either."
Hermione released Draco from the spell. He went to say something, and she cut him off. "Get out."
Draco frowned at her. "Hermione…" he started.
"GET OUT." She yelled at him, causing Darius to wake up and start crying.
Draco sighed and apperated out.