EDIT, MAY 8TH 2017:
Hey everyone! I know that there are some issues with updates, notification emails and all that.
Therefore, this chapter is OLD!
I uploaded it on April 4th 2017! Please notice that this IS NOT the NEW CHAPTER from May 8th! THIS chapter is called 11. Tapestry while the new chapter is called 12. Fertility!
Hello, everyone :D
I'm so sorry for the long wait! I had some personal things to take care of, so I had to push writing back a little but now I'm back! And before you ask, yes, I will update ALL my stories in the next days! Give it some time, though ;-)
Thanks for all your support and all the followers and reviews! And also thanks to those, who add this story to their favorites! Still can't believe it :D
Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
A big THANK YOU to all the people, who help me with this story: Dramione84, Affectiion, kika_kanyume7, throughhiseyes, SKDMHG, Sinful824, and Lady Evora!
Enjoy this new chapter,
Kia
11. TAPESTRY
Malfoy Summer Home, December 2000
Draco sat on the steps, which led up to the sundeck behind the house. The winter sun was shining bright and warm and Corvus played hide-and-seek in the garden with Lueur.
Draco had lifted the charm placed on Corvus shortly after they had arrived at the Malfoy summer home and his son was currently playing around while almost raven black curls hung into his grey eyes.
It was a picture, Draco still needed to get accustomed to. It was only the third time that he's seen Corvus without the concealment charm and it was so different, so far away from the blond and blue-eyed boy that it made Draco almost uncomfortable.
Corvus, who didn't seem to notice the change, was running around the garden playfully, chasing Lueur with childish glee.
Draco sighed, looking around the garden his mother had planted and then back to the house. It was so different from Malfoy Manor, almost similar to Corvus with and without the charm. While Malfoy Manor was dark, with heavy walls, dark furniture and black chandeliers, this house was light. The rooms were airy and bright, the woods used were either a light brown or painted white and the overall feeling of the house was different, cosier than Malfoy Manor could ever be.
Lucius had gifted the house to Narcissa when Draco was born. It was up in the country, close to the Peak District, and it was the one place where Draco had no bad memories of.
He loved coming here as a kid. It was secluded and he was allowed to fly over the wide fields surrounding the manor. Narcissa spent years tending to the garden in the back, which was much more colorful and bright than the one she had at the Manor. Malfoy Manor had to be impeccable because that's where the guests were received for balls and parties or general get-togethers.
However, no one but Draco and his parents had ever visited the summer house of the Malfoys. None of Draco's friends was allowed here and none of his parents' friends had ever been invited to join them. It was a place for just them and it bore Draco's fondest memories of his family.
Of course, the term house was used loosely, considering that it was a three-story manor with too many rooms for three people but it was much friendlier. In fact, it was the only property owned by the Malfoys that was completely free of dark magic and objects.
Narcissa had insisted on that fact and Lucius had reluctantly agreed.
Not even Astoria had been here, and somehow it was the place for Draco to be right now. He had spent the morning cleaning the house and the rooms with the help of Lueur because there were no house elves allowed either. Only by the direct order of one of the Malfoys, were they allowed to come and clean, often a day or two before his parents would visit.
The kitchen, where Draco had told Narcissa the whole story the day before, had been clean and while Corvus enjoyed his breakfast there, Draco and Lueur had alternated going through the house to make it presentable again.
One of the highlights was the library, even though it was probably only a third of the one at Malfoy Manor. The room was at the end of one side of the house, which spanned over all three floors. The front was one gigantic window while the other three walls were bookshelves over bookshelves, with galleries and balconies, which brought you to doors leading to the other floors of the house. Corvus, who had naturally not been interested the slightest in the room, had dragged Draco out into the garden and now Draco watched him play in the mud with a contented smile on his face.
"He looks so much different."
Draco looked up to see his mother standing next to him, at the top of the steps. He had heard her arrive, probably looking for him at home. It was the first time for her to see Corvus as he actually looked and Draco watched her reaction closely.
"He doesn't really look like a Malfoy anymore." his mother told him, holding out her hand, which Draco grasped before he got up. They walked over to the table, which held a tablet with a steaming teapot and a plate full of sandwiches.
Draco sat down, his glance going back to Corvus, who was currently grasping Lueur's bony fingers and spinning in circles with her.
"Is that a bad thing?" Draco asked his mother but she just smiled at him.
"On the contrary. I think that his name suits him even better now. Isn't that right, little raven?" Narcissa shouted to get Corvus attention. She waved him over and when he saw the food, he started to run towards them to climb up the steps to the sundeck to join them.
With dirty fingers and a sheepish look, he snatched some of the sandwiches before he hurried along again, returning to Lueur. Draco watched him share the sandwiches with the house elf, whose ears turned pink at their tips.
"Why do we keep coming here?" Narcissa wanted to know, her voice heavy as she looked around her garden. "You cleaned the whole house?" she asked then.
Draco nodded, looking a little bit guilty. His mother hadn't been to this house since Lucius was sentenced to Azkaban three years ago. It probably saddened her, being here without her husband.
"Astoria tried to seduce me yesterday," Draco admitted and Narcissa raised an eyebrow at him.
He looked away, cheeks warming. "She basically told me that she wanted another baby."
Narcissa's teacup nearly broke when she slammed it back to its saucer. Draco actually flinched at the sound.
"She what?" his mother's voice was ice.
"She was suddenly there and asked me about what I thought about having another baby. I was too shocked to say anything at first and then I didn't know what I should do. Lueur saved me by interrupting about Corvus needing me. I left Astoria in the study. Everything was fine with Corvus, Lueur just wanted to help me but I stayed in the nursery for the rest of the night. Then in the morning, I took Corvus and Lueur and fled here." Draco groaned, running a hand through his hair.
"When I left, I told Astoria that we would talk about it later but I don't want to talk about it. Not with her."
Narcissa stared at him with tight lips, the frown and displeasure obvious. "I can't believe that girl!" she finally spat.
"I don't even know how she suddenly came up with that idea. She never liked taking care of Corvus as a baby. And now she wants another?" Draco continued while he watched his mother take out two scrolls of parchment from her robes.
"I went to see Frédréric yesterday and he confirmed what we already suspected. When he was called to the Manor the night Corvus was born, the baby was already cleaned and wrapped in a blanket by the time he arrived. Astoria did look exhausted lying in bed but that's quite an easy thing to fake." Narcissa told him, giving him the two parchments.
"One is a copy of your marriage contract and the other is a request for the blood certificate." she explained to him.
"Frédéric told me that we need to be careful about our next steps. If we request to annul the marriage first, then Astoria could gain custody of Corvus as she is named his mother on the birth certificate. On the other hand, if we try to solve the maternity first, then Astoria could get more creative in regards to your marriage. He said the best course would be to go to court for the maternity and once it was proved that she isn't the mother, we should then immediately file for an annulment in one hearing."
Draco nodded along, reading over the parchments with furrowed brows. "But how do we prove that she lied about the maternity?"
"That's the tricky part. Because the birth certificate is already written and signed, the paternity and maternity of Corvus are legally documented. Now, the only way to make the regular birth certificate invalid is to request a blood certificate under Pureblood laws. Despite the war, we can still plead on these laws in front of the Wizengamot and they need to sustain it."
"But a blood certificate can only be requested by the Head of House, which in our case would be Father."
"Exactly." Narcissa nodded. "Despite you having taken over the family business, while Lucius is still alive, no matter his whereabouts, you can't function as the Head of Malfoy House. Lucius will be released at the beginning of May and after he regains his place, he can request the blood certificate on behalf of assuming that Corvus might not be a Pureblood."
"So, we have to wait for Father to come home but why can't we annul the marriage sooner?"
"Would you feel comfortable with Corvus being away for the months until Lucius is released? Who knows what Astoria will do to him if she gains custody as his mother." Narcissa asked and Draco frowned at that picture.
"Your marriage contract states that the union can be dissolved within three years after the wedding. You were married on July 3rd, which means that in about seven months, your marriage will be finalised, which means that you can't ever divorce Astoria. She will have full access to all the Malfoy vaults, the official ones at least. The marriage can be finalised before the three years are up and that's when Astoria gets pregnant with your heir. Because Corvus was born out of wedlock, he doesn't count."
"So if Astoria became pregnant, there would be no way to get out of marriage again?"
"No."
Draco gulped and his mother gave him a serious look before she continued. "I don't think that Astoria brought up the second child topic on a whim. She has this contract as well and knows that if she gets pregnant, she wouldn't have to fear anything. Right now, there are seven months where the fate of your marriage is still unclear. Maybe she even sensed that you have started to act differently around her. Or that she finally realised that she had been neglecting you and Corvus."
"And if she discovers that you know about Corvus, then you can bet that she will do everything in her power to get pregnant within those seven months."
"But what if she is pregnant and the marriage is finalised and then she loses the baby or what if the baby isn't mine?"
"Those are unique cases and the marriage would be pending in every sense. In Astoria's case, if she falls pregnant now, then the pregnancy would go past July obviously. During the time of the pregnancy, you wouldn't be allowed to make any demands in regards of annulment. In your case, the final decision would be on the day the baby is born. If she loses the baby before July, then you would be able to request an annulment again but if she loses the baby after July, then it would have been fought out in front of a court. If she births the baby after July and it's your heir, then the marriage would be finalised on the date of birth. If the baby is born and isn't your heir, then the marriage would be annulled."
Draco's head was spinning. "So long story short, I can't let her become pregnant by me."
"Precisely. All we have to do now is wait out the next seven months until Lucius' release from Azkaban. He will request the blood certificate, which will prove Astoria has been lying and which will also give us a good reason to annul the marriage. You will have full custody. Astoria will no longer be your wife nor have any rights to Corvus."
"What exactly is the blood certificate again? I think I read about it but I'm not sure."
Narcissa rolled her eyes. "Oh, it's just another pureblood way to prove that the family bloodline is clear of dirty blood. Your grandfather requested one for you, which was one of the reasons why Lucius and he started to dislike each other. A blood certificate is an enchanted parchment laced with the blood of the baby. The certificate is signed by blood quills, which use the writer's blood as ink. If the blood matches the one from the baby, then the name will stay on the certificate. If the blood doesn't match, the name vanishes. It's the archaic way of bragging about the pureness of your family's blood. Nowadays the Ministry doesn't issue them anymore but they still respect Pureblood laws, so they still grant the request of those certificates. Society will surely frown upon Lucius for requesting one, right when he is released from Azkaban but that's just a small price to pay if you ask me."
Draco agreed with his mother. His glance wandered over to Corvus in his thick winter coat where he was still playing, his laugh drifting over to Draco with the wind. He nodded as well.
"Yes, I agree."
His mother smiled at him sadly, not being able to imagine what Draco was going through at the moment.
"Are you sure you want to annul the marriage, Draco? It's okay if you don't, you know. If you love…," Narcissa stopped when Draco shook his head vehemently.
"No, I don't love Astoria. I thought I could, I thought I would someday but despite the whole thing with Corvus, I started to realise that it wasn't ideal. In the beginning, she was nice and caring but eventually she only cared about her friends and having money to spend. It's been months since she said goodnight to Corvus without me being there, you know. Just her going into his room to say goodnight, read a story or whatever. She doesn't care and acts like he's… like he's," Draco paused, realising where he was going with this whole talk.
"She acts like Corvus's isn't hers." Narcissa finished his thoughts and Draco nodded, lips pressed together while his grey eyes searched for his son between the rose bushes.
"And even if we settle the whole deception and she tells me the truth, that behaviour wouldn't change. So, no, I don't think that we should stay married."
Saying it out loud sounded so final that even though Draco knew it was for the best, it just stung. But it also made him finally admit that this wasn't the first time he had doubts about his future with Astoria. Even before Corvus' secret was revealed to him, he had struggled with accepting that he had once again failed and that this marriage had been too rushed.
"What should I do then, Mother?" Draco asked. "What if I look for Corvus' real mother just to find out that she didn't want him. Because she wasn't ready or didn't want children or because he was mine." Draco paled. "That would be worse than anything Astoria could have ever done."
Narcissa's heart broke when she saw the fear of rejection of Draco's face, knowing that this went far deeper than her son had let on until now. He didn't fear that the mother hadn't wanted the baby, but rather because Draco was the father. A hot flame of anger surged through her and it was one of the few times that Narcissa actually cursed her husband for bringing them into Voldemort's ranks. It had not only scarred Draco, literally as well as figuratively, but it had also left a deeper gash than Narcissa had suspected. Or maybe she had tried to push that away as well.
Draco deserved better, that was clear.
"I know it won't be easy to live with Astoria in the coming months and pretend nothing has happened. But you have Corvus and me and if it gets too much, then just go to work or travel with Blaise and Theo. For Salazar's sake, Astoria is often enough out with her friends, so why can't you go with yours. Or send her off somewhere, I'll pay, I don't even care." his mother showed her rage openly and got more enraged with every word. Draco smiled at her thankfully.
"If I just could learn more about Corvus' mother. Isn't there some sort of record?" Draco said desperately. "Something that magically shows all birth records?"
Narcissa looked at her son with wide eyes. "There is."
"What?" Draco almost yelled at her and his mother gave him a scornful look but he ignored it. "Where, Mother?"
"Grimmauld Place." Narcissa murmured. "My aunt had this tapestry of the Black family tree. It's old magic, really old magic and it's based on blood, not on records."
"Can we go there?" Draco stood up, literally ready to go but Narcissa frowned, placing a finger on her lip.
"You've never been there, Draco and I believe that Mr Potter is the current owner of the townhouse. Sirius must have given it to him."
"So, we go and ask Potter to show us!" Draco demanded. "I decided to involve him anyway. If we hurry, we might catch him at the Ministry."
"Draco, wait-" Narcissa hold up her hand, trying to calm her son. She sighed.
"Calm down, darling." his mother reached him and patted his arm awkwardly. "The tree might not show children born out of wedlock. It's complicated magic and there are always some things that are better not recorded anywhere. The Black family had its own secrets like the Malfoys had as well. I don't want you to get your hopes up, alright?" She looked at him with sad eyes. "Let's write Mr Potter an owl and ask if he would be willing to meet us later. Don't rush and demand things, Draco. It won't get you anywhere."
She conjured some parchment and a quill and set up a letter for Harry.
"Why don't we have such a tree?" Draco asked as he watched his mother write.
His mother looked up.
"Oh, I'm sure the Malfoys have one somewhere, but Lucius never showed it to me. And I frankly never asked," she told him and Draco smiled tightly.
"You know, it's rather curious because somehow I could imagine Father making me sit in front of a family tree, just to memorise every single ancestor we have."
Narcissa smiled as she reached for her teacup to take a sip. "I had to do that. That's why I know about Aunt Walburga's tapestry. My parents sent Andy, Bella and me over there a few times to memorise it. Sirius and Regulus were forced to do it as well." Narcissa then frowned. "I think the only one, who ever knew it by heart, was Bellatrix."
Draco's face became emotionless at the mention of his aunt's name. His mother must have known because she tried to change the topic as fast as possible. "Anyway, I think Lucius had to sit through something similar with the Malfoy line but he must have hated it deeply because he never made you do it, no matter how much he told you what a proud family we belong to."
"That's true," Draco said, because the only thing he recalled was that Lucius showed him a book once with a biting comment that it held the family tree, not magically but handwritten, and that Draco was welcome to study it but he didn't need to. Draco had taken a look but it wasn't really interesting at that time, so he had put the heavy book back in its place and he had never looked at it again.
"Maybe you should visit him and ask him about it," Narcissa suggested. "If the Black one doesn't help us."
Draco bit his lip and his mother glanced at him knowingly. He had played with the thought to inform his father about the newest developments but he had no idea how Lucius would react to them.
But thinking back, his father had never been a fan of Astoria's in the first place.
"Don't be afraid, Draco," Narcissa reassured him as she finished the letter and rolled it up. "Lucius won't be any problem. And he will agree to request the Blood Certificate once he's released. I've been visiting him and told him about Cor and he's excited to meet him."
Draco shrugged but didn't say anything.
"Let's head back to the Manor. It's still rather chilly outside and then we can send the letter to Mr Potter." Narcissa cleaned the table with the flick of her wrist before she got up and straightened her robes.
Draco followed and called to Corvus, who reluctantly came to the porch, covered from head to toe in dirt.
"What happened?" Draco asked grimacing at his son's look.
"Fell!" Corvus lifted both of his arms before letting out a huff. "Happens, Daddy."
Draco raised an eyebrow as Corvus squeezed past Draco, leaving a trail of fresh dirt behind. Lueur, who didn't look any better, followed. She looked at least a little remorseful, Draco noticed with a shake of his head.
Draco followed them while cleaning up at the same time. Narcissa waited for them at the floo, her eyes wide as she spotted Corvus. Then she looked from Corvus to Draco.
"You can say what you want, but you never looked like this as a child." she stated sharply.
"I wasn't allowed to look like this," Draco answered. "There's a difference."
Corvus just smirked up at the two adults sheepishly before he grabbed Draco's hand and watched how Narcissa flooed away with a sigh. Draco waited for Lueur to put on the glamour again before he and Corvus followed. When they stepped out of the floo, Lueur was already waiting for them, completely clean while holding a towel to catch any dirt from Corvus.
While Narcissa went to send off the letter to Harry, Draco forced Corvus to follow him to the bathroom to take a bath. Corvus threw a fit because he hated bathing and it was a struggle to even get him out of the clothes. When he was finally sitting in the bathtub, splashing away because he realised that bathing wasn't so bad, Draco looked around to see that they had managed to dirty up the whole bathroom with mud.
Draco sighed, thinking about how to approach the topic of shampoo when Corvus threw a cup full of foamy water directly into Draco's face, giggling away.
"Corvus!" Draco spluttered, having swallowed some of the soapy water.
Dripping with water, smeared with mud, Draco frowned at his son, who was laughing and enjoying his bath as if nothing happened. When Lueur appeared next to him, Draco instantly silenced her with a look.
"Master," she began, struggling to keep from smiling, "ze Mistress and 'er elf are out. Zey left a message wiz ze other elves."
"Oh good," Draco slumped at the news, glad that he wouldn't have to face Astoria right now.
"Lueur can finish up, Master." the elf nodded towards Corvus, which was probably her subtle way to tell Draco that he would need a bath as well. Draco agreed and got up, leaving the two of them behind to walk towards his old bedroom.
Upon entering, the smell of hot tea immediately drew him over to the sitting area. He couldn't sit but he filled a cup while standing and took a few sips before he put the still half-full teacup down again and went into his bathroom to take a bath of his own.
After he had put Corvus down for his nap, Draco met with his mother in her chambers.
"Did Potter send you a reply?" Draco asked as he sat down and reached for some sandwiches, which had appeared a few seconds before.
"He did." Narcissa nodded, teacup in her hand. "He's willing to meet us after work, in about two hours.
"Good." Draco nodded pleased. "Lueur will look after Corvus while we are gone. Astoria is out and I hope she won't return before us."
"Where is she now?" Narcissa asked in distaste.
Draco shrugged. "I don't really care."
His mother sighed but they dropped the topic to continue with their afternoon tea.
Exactly two hours later, Draco and Narcissa arrived at Number 12 Grimmauld Place.
His mother directly apparated them in the entrance hallway. Someone screeched right above Draco and he looked over to see Walburga Black stare back at him.
"Malfoys!" she hissed and Draco wondered if she was happy about them being there or not. He couldn't really tell.
"Ignore her!" someone said and Draco looked up to see that Harry had stepped out into the hallway, smiling at Narcissa before he nodded towards Draco in greeting.
"The tapestry is in there," Harry said and Narcissa nodded, pulling Draco away from the painting, who cursed after them.
"You live here, Potter?" Draco asked but Harry shook his head.
"No, not anymore. We did, after the war for a few months but Ginny and I quickly realised that we wanted a garden to fly and play Quidditch, so we bought land close to the Burrow - that's her parents' house - and built our house there. I still keep this place, though. I don't know, probably because Sirius gave it to me. I've only been back here a few times," the black-haired wizard told them when they entered the sitting room and Draco instantly focused on the tapestry.
He found his parents at the end, beneath Bellatrix and Rodolphus and close to the burned-out face of his Aunt Andromeda. "Once you burn the faces, the tapestry won't follow that bloodline anymore," Narcissa explained. "Which is why neither Nymphadora or Teddy are on here."
Draco glanced over to Harry, who had looked surprised at that information as well. Draco noticed how he started to frown at the fact that his godson wasn't on there.
The blond focused back on the tapestry, his finger traced over his own face but then he stopped, frowning. Next to him, a new face had appeared, a banner beneath announced it to be Astoria Malfoy, née Greengrass and the year they were married. He looked further.
"Corvus isn't on there."
Narcissa stepped closer, observing her own branch and how it ended with Draco and Astoria. "Oh," she said.
Draco looked up at her. "What?"
"He's not on there because he isn't supposed to be," she explained.
Draco's face darkened. "What does that mean?"
His mother looked at him sadly. "This is a pureblood tapestry, Draco."
Narcissa watched how Draco's face fell when he realised what she had just told him. "That mean's that Corvus is…,"
"... a Half-blood." Harry answered for him. He had been keeping his distance, letting the two Malfoys observe the tapestry on their own but he couldn't help but utter the obvious fact.
Narcissa nodded, walking over to gently brush her fingers across Draco's face on the tapestry. She then sneered at Astoria. "This doesn't really answer your question but it does make it clear that Corvus isn't Astoria's and your son. Otherwise, he would have been on there."
"Bollocks!" Draco cursed and he punched the wall, Narcissa flinched at his reaction and took a step back. "Who in Salazar's name is Corvus' mother?"
"You don't remember with whom you… uhm?" Harry asked dumbly, blushing as he looked over to Narcissa and Draco stared at him annoyed.
"I do remember Pansy and Astoria but that's it," Draco told them anyway.
"Maybe you had been obliviated or your memory was modified?" Harry suggested. "I mean, when was your son born? January, that means, going 40 weeks back… April, May he must have been conceived? Any memory blackouts during that time?"
Draco stared at his former enemy, knowing that Potter had just gone into complete Auror mode. And it also meant that Ron had already filled him in on what happened. Now Draco only had to officially ask for Potter's help in his case.
"I don't…," he started but then stopped, as if he was remembering something. "Well, during the battle, when I was hit with the nerve damaging spell, I had a few episodes the days after that. That's why I wasn't directly escorted to Azkaban, I believe. I mean, I spent about four days in the hospital wing in Hogwarts before the Aurors came and arrested me. I remember the basics of those days but not everything, I just blacked out too much. But Potter, I could hardly walk… how on earth would I have been able to, well," now Draco blushed while he glanced at his mother, who rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry, darling, I do know how it works, otherwise you wouldn't be here." she snorted and Draco blushed even harder.
Harry shrugged. "Adrenaline, grief, I know that Ginny and I…" he glanced at Narcissa uncomfortably. "Anyway, but just because you don't think you were able to do it, doesn't mean it didn't happen, right? After all, you said that you can't remember everything, right?"
Draco shrugged. "Yes, I mean, I do remember that after a while in the Great Hall you assembled a group to search through Hogwarts to see if someone was still around, hiding or hurt. I remember that I volunteered and that we ran into that group of Slytherins, which had hidden themselves in the dungeons and one had cast a slicing hex at me. And because I was already weak from the nerve damaging spell, I ended up in the hospital wing. I woke up later to McGonagall's yelling."
"Right," Harry remembered. "Madame Pomfrey took care of you and then the Aurors came and wanted to take you into custody. McGonagall told them that you needed medical attention but they refused to bring you to St. Mungo's. McGonagall was afraid that if she allowed them to take you, you would end up in Azkaban where no one would look after you."
"What?!" Narcissa interrupted, staring at them in horror. "I didn't know that."
Draco actually looked guilty. He had never told his mother about that incident.
"The Aurors had arrested you and your husband while you were still in the Great Hall," Harry explained. "After that, they came looking for Malfoy but he was with our group and by the time they caught up, he had been brought to the hospital wing already. Like the other Death Eaters, they wanted to arrest him, too, not caring that he was in no condition to be put in a cell all by himself, let alone for travelling. McGonagall refused them entrance to the wing, telling them that Draco would need at least four days to recover. She said that they could come back after that to arrest him."
"I didn't exactly know what she was yelling but it did sound like she was ripping someone a new one," Draco stated smugly.
"No one wanted to deal with McGonagall that day, so the Aurors went to arrest all the others, telling McGonagall that they would be back for you in four days time." Harry grinned back.
"Yes, that I do remember. I woke up and then snuck out after Madame Pomfrey told me about the nerve damaging spell and the slicing hex. I wanted to help and I did meet some estranged students, who were already helping to clean the castle. I helped, too but at some point, it became too exhausting and I blacked out again, then woke up in the hospital wing again to Madame Pomfrey's lecturing. I think I went out a few times more after that but everything is rather hazy because I lost consciousness so many times during those days. But it never occurred to me that during that, Corvus was…," Draco trailed off, staring at the tapestry again.
"Well, after that you were in Azkaban and unless you donated sperm or something like that, it must have happened in that time frame, right?" Harry said and besides Draco, Narcissa nodded with an unreadable expression.
"And it must have been someone, who wasn't a Pureblood." the Boy Who Lived added and Draco frowned but he agreed.
"So, that already narrows things down, right?"
"I guess," Draco answered. "I mean, all logic speaks for Astoria but things like this," Draco nodded towards the tapestry, "and her behaviour, the transfiguration, the paternity test, that all proves to me that she can't be Corvus's mother and the longer I watch her with him, the more I believe it."
"Maybe we should ask Lucius if there is a Malfoy record somewhere?" Narcissa said hopefully. "The Blacks were always quick to label someone a blood traitor while the Malfoys have the strange thing where they value family over blood."
"How nice," Harry said sarcastically and Draco scoffed at him while Narcissa silenced both men with a sharp look.
"Anyway, I guess that W- Ron filled you in about the whole affair?" Draco turned fully towards Harry, who nodded.
"He did after dinner yesterday," Harry answered. "I have to admit, that's quite the story, Malfoy."
Draco laughed dryly. "You have no idea."
"He just told me, in case you wondered. Nobody else knows."
"I appreciate it." Draco nodded, then looked over at the tapestry again.
Harry smiled slightly but nodded. "You know, Ron is already on it and I will help where I can but we shouldn't draw too much attention by asking questions. But if you want to know more about the days after the battle, you could ask Neville or even Hermione."
"Longbottom?" Draco perked up.
"Yes, he's a Professor at Hogwarts and after the battle, he was really active organising the rebuilding and cleaning groups. I think he knew everyone who stayed at Hogwarts during the days after. Maybe he could help you to narrow things down further, or tell you if he saw you with anyone? And Hermione was around there as well but she wasn't at the castle but in Hogsmeade, maybe she heard something as well?"
"Right." Draco nodded absently. "Thanks, Potter."
"Yes, thank you for letting us come here, Mr Potter," Narcissa said smiling. "We appreciate your help."
Harry blushed at Narcissa's words. "No problem."
He then looked over at Draco. "You know, we wanted to meet for a game of night Quidditch later tonight. If you want to clear your head for a while, you are welcome to join. We play on a field close to the Burrow, not a full match but just for fun for an hour or so. Muggles have something they call floodlights and we installed a magical version a few weeks ago, so now we can play at night as well. It's quite fun."
Draco thought about the offer but then his mother squeezed his arm and he looked up to see her nod in encouragement.
"You should go, dear," she told him. "I will look after Corvus and I think that clearing your head would be a good idea."
"Alright." Draco nodded. "I'll be there."
"Don't worry, Malfoy. Despite your problems, nobody will have mercy on you, so prepare to get your arse kicked."
Draco scoffed. "You wish, Potter."