Authors note: Sadly I own nothing of the Harry Potter realm...*Sigh* All contents, save the plot, belong to the lovely J.K. Rowling. This is a sequel to the song-fic 'Precious Choices'. It will make more sense if you read the previous story first.
Chapter 11 – Daddy
Draco spent the next week recovering. Besides being exhausted from being crucio'd and questioned every few hours, he had three broken ribs and fractured a wrist, on top of being sick from lack of proper food and water. Blaise and I moved him up to his old room so he would be more comfortable while he was healing. He asked about the children a lot but said he didn't want to see them until he was fully healed. I spent most of my days sitting or laying with him. He was doing amazingly in his healing process.
Walking into the nursery, I grabbed the picture off the shelf and sat down on the floor with Rose, Dean and Lucas.
"Hi babies." I said, smiling. Rose climbed into my lap and Dean and Lucas came over and sat in front of me. "Rose, do you remember this man?" I asked my daughter. She nodded. "You do?" I asked, surprised.
"Fom deams" She said, pointing to the picture of Draco.
"From… dreams?" I asked. She nodded. I showed the picture to Dean and Lucas. "This man is your daddy." I told them. "He was gone for a while but he's back now."
"He huwt?" Rose asked.
"Yes. He was hurt. But he's much better now." I told her.
"I see?" Rose asked, pointing to the picture. I gave her the picture and she gazed at it for a minute before handing it back.
"What do you guys think?" I asked Dean and Lucas, not expecting an answer.
"Dada," They said in unison, taking me by surprise. I heard a chuckle from the doorway and turned around to see Draco leaning against the doorframe. He had a brace on his wrist but otherwise looked much better. I held my hand out to him and he walked over and sat next to me. Rose stared at him, seeming fascinated with him.
"Hello Rosie." He said, smiling softly. She climbed off my lap and stood in front of him.
"You back?" She asked, frowning.
"Yes, I'm back. I'm sorry for leaving." He said. She sat down in his lap, careful of his wrist, and snuggled into his chest like he had never left.
"Not you faut." She said. Draco wrapped his arms around Rose and held her close. I saw a few tears slip down his face. Rose touched the brace on his wrist. "Huwt?" She asked. Draco looked at me for a translation.
"She wants to know if your hurt." I told him.
"Yes, I am. But it's not too bad." He said, smiling down at her.
"Off." She said, trying to take the brace off.
"No sweetie, he needs to keep it on so it can get better." I told her. She frowned and looked up at him.
"Off, daddy." She said.
"Your mum is right. I need to keep it on." Rose shook her head, making her blonde curls fly around her head.
"Ean and Ucas fix!" She insisted.
"Dean and Lucas?" I asked, frowning. I glanced at the twins.
"Fix! Fix!" Rose insisted, looking at the twins. Dean and Lucas got up and crawled over to Draco. Rose crawled off his lap and Dean and Lucas grabbed his hand. Draco and I watched in amazement as a white light encased his left wrist. When it faded, he glanced at me, pulling his brace off. He flexed his fingers and wrist.
"It's healed." He said, glancing at me again. Dean and Lucas grinned and Rose squealed in excitement.
"Kids, we're going to go talk to Grandpa. Maybe we'll go out together later." I told them. Draco and I stood up. Rose jumped up and hugged Draco's leg.
"I love ou, daddy." She said. He grinned and picked her up, holding her close.
"I love you too, princess." He said. He set her down on the floor and crouched down. "What about you two?" He asked the twins, lifting an eyebrow. "Do I get a hug?" Dean and Lucas glanced at each other, grinned and ran towards Draco, knocking him over. I laughed watching them. Dean and Lucas kissed Draco on each cheek and then went back to playing. I savored the sight and was so glad the twins recognized Draco as their dad. The thought brought on worry for my sons... They'd always been smart and advanced even for being only a year old they seemed to understand everything. But this...? I wasn't sure what to do.
Draco and I headed towards Lucius' study.
"Father?" Draco called, knocking on the door. We heard Lucius call for us to come open and Draco turned the knob and pushed the door open. He shut the door behind us.
"What's wrong?" He asked, standing. "You look troubled." I took a deep breath and sat down on the couch in his study.
"The twins just healed Draco's arm." I said, staring at Lucius.
"Are you certain?" He asked, shocked. I nodded. "Well, that's… I'm not sure." Lucius frowned. "We have to keep this a secret. We can't let it get out. If the Death Eaters aren't sure of the twins powers, they won't go after them."
"There's no way to be sure of that." Draco argued, starting to pace.
"Then we'll take precautions." Lucius said, waving a hand.
"What kind of precautions?" Draco growled. "These are my children we're talking about. I can't have anything happen to them!" I stepped in front of his pacing path and wrapped my arms around his waist.
"Nothing is going to happen to them." I told him firmly, looking up at him. Tears welled up in his eyes and he buried his face in my shoulder, crying softly.
"I just got them back, Hermione. I can't lose them again. I just can't." He whispered. I rubbed his back gently realizing just how much being held captive had changed him.
"We won't, Draco. I promise you that we won't lose them."
Life for the next few weeks was quiet. Draco, the kids, and I stayed at Malfoy Manor and Harry had assigned some Aurors to keep an eye on us. I could tell that Draco was itching to get back to work but Harry had told him to take some time off. The kids were getting used to Draco being around and visa versa. Draco was getting back into the feeling of being a father again and it really upset him when the kids would ask for me instead of him.
"I hate that I've missed so much…" He said one night while we were lying in bed. I rolled over to face him and placed a hand on his cheek.
"It's not your fault." I told him softly. "They'll get used to it. They just need some time." I smiled at him and placed a kiss on his lips. It was meant to be a soft, quick kiss but he held me tight and it quickly turned passionate. We hadn't made love in over a year and it had been far too long. Our night clothes were gone in an instant and he was inside of me before I could even gasp at the feeling.
He rocked his hips against mine, slowly at first, rolling on top of me. He pressed his lips to mine in a searing kiss before trailing kisses across my cheek, along my jaw and down my neck, finding the pulse point and sucking gently. He placed kisses back up my neck, stopping near my ear. His hands slid down my body, finding the bundle of nerves between my folds and rubbing it gently.
"Hermione," He moaned as my walls clenched around him. I cried out as my orgasm hit me hard and he followed a moment later. He rested against my chest, breathing hard, before rolling away and pulling me close. I sighed contentedly and wrapped an arm around his waist. He gently kissed my forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too, Draco." I replied before drifting off to sleep.
The next day, we decided to go out and do something as a family. Draco and I packed a picnic lunch and got the kids ready to go.
"Where we goin, mama?" Rose asked. I crouched down to her level and tucked a curl behind her ear.
"We're going to go shopping and then we'll go to a park and have lunch." I told her. She put on a thoughtful face for a moment.
"Otay." She said finally. We finished getting ready and flooed to Diagon Alley. The kids needed new clothes as they were quickly out growing all of theirs. We were in Madam Malkin's when my mobile phone rang. I glanced at it and flipped it open.
"Hello, Harry." I said.
"Where are you guys?" He asked frantically.
"We're in Diagon Alley. Why? What's happened?" By the frantic note in his voice I could tell that it wasn't a simple phone call.
"Malfoy Manor was attacked. We got there in time to fend them off but Narcissa and Lucius are both in St. Mungo's." Harry replied.
"We'll be there in 5." I said quickly. I flipped my phone shut and grabbed Rose. "We have to go Draco. The Manor was attacked." He picked up the twins and we rushed out of the store to Apparate to St. Mungo's.
"Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy?" Draco asked when we reached the front desk.
"Room B63." The receptionist replied. We ran down the hallway to the lifts. Draco pushed the button repeatedly, balancing Dean on his arm, and I grabbed his hand.
"Pushing it more than once won't make it get here any faster, Draco." He glanced at me and nodded quickly. The lifts arrived, we entered, and Draco started shifting from foot to foot. I reached over and placed a hand on his arm. "They're going to be fine." I said softly. Draco shook his head frantically.
"This is entirely my fault." He said quietly. The lifts opened and he strode out quickly. I sighed and followed him. I saw Harry at the end of the hall and rushed to meet him.
"How are they doing?" I asked quickly. Rose reached for him and he took her from me. Draco set the twins down on a bench behind Harry.
"Lucius is conscious and demanding to be released. Narcissa is somewhat worse off." Harry said. "The best we can guess is that Narcissa was in the sitting room and was attacked first. Lucius heard the attack and ran to the stairs. He was hit with a spell and toppled down the stair case. Lucius has a minor concussion, a few broken bones and tons of bruises but he's otherwise fine. Narcissa has a few broken bones and bruises as well but we won't know the extent of the damage until she wakes up." He finished.
"Can we see them?" Draco asked immediately. Harry nodded and we turned to go to the room. We walked into see Lucius struggling to get up out of bed.
"Dad, you need to stay in bed." I said, rushing over to him. He clicked his tongue.
"Nonsense. I'm perfectly fine." He argued. He flinched and grabbed his side.
"No. You're not, father. Get back in bed." Draco said. Lucius ignored him and got out of bed to walk over to Narcissa's bedside. He sat down in the chair next to her and grabbed her hand.
"'Cissa, love. Come back to me." He said softly. Draco walked over and a placed a hand on his father's shoulder.
"She'll be fine. The Healers are doing everything they can for her."Lucius' head shot up.
"Yes. Everything they can do. Where are the twins?" He asked.
"They're out in the hall with Harry." Draco said slowly. "We can't have anyone know about them though." Lucius shook his head.
"No one will. It will only take a moment. We can close the door." He argued. "Draco, I can't lose her. She's your mother. Don't you want her to get better?"
"Yes, of course. But-"
"But what? They can help her." Lucius said firmly. I watched the exchange quietly with a split opinion. I loved Narcissa and I would be devastated if she died. But I didn't want to risk my children's safety either. I went out into the hall.
"Harry, we need your help." I said. "Bring the kids." He followed me back into the room. "Boys, stop arguing." Draco and Lucius looked over at me. "Harry, I need you to watch the door. If anyone tries to come in, stop them. Tell them that we're fine and just need some time alone. Got it?"
"Yes. But what's going on?" He asked.
"The twins are going to help Narcissa." I said. Lucius smiled and Draco looked nervous. Harry looked confused.
"How?" He asked.
"I'll explain later. Go watch the door." Harry nodded, set the kids down and left. I picked up the boys and set them down on Narcissa's bed. Dean climbed over and sat on her left with Lucas on her right. "Go ahead, boys." The twins looked at each other and then grabbed Narcissa's hands, closing their eyes.
Nothing happened for a moment and we all held our breath. Rose climbed into Lucius lap to get a better view. It started as a small white light that began at Narcissa's chest and slowly encased her entire body. The light was so bright that we had to shield our eyes. It faded after a few moments and Narcissa took a shuddering breath, her eyes fluttering open.
"'Cissa?" Lucius asked tentatively. Narcissa smiled and squeezed his hand. She pulled her hand away and grabbed Dean and Lucas's hands.
"Thank you, boys. Meme was fading fast." Dean and Lucas smiled and climbed off the bed, waddling over to me. The door burst open and Harry came barging in.
"What the bloody hell was that?" He asked.
"Shut the door Harry." I told him. He obliged and then turned back to me.
"Explain." He said bluntly. I sat down on the bench on the corner and pulled the boys into my lap. Harry sat next to me. I pulled out my wand and sliced my palm open. Harry cried out in surprise.
"Just watch." I told him. I held out my hand to Dean and Lucas who immediately took it in their hands. Harry watched in amazement as white light surrounded my hand and slowly faded, leaving my palm cut free.
"How did they do that?" He asked slowly.
"Have you ever heard of Fredrick and Nathaniel Malfoy? Or Arthur Miveldon?" I asked.
"Vaguely. Wasn't Miveldon some dark wizard that supposedly died of a heart attack?" I nodded. "But it confused a lot of people because wizards aren't susceptible to heart attacks."
"Exactly. Lucius has a book on Fredrick and Nathaniel. They were the only twins to be born into the direct Malfoy line, until Dean and Lucas. They had powers. Long story, short, Fredrick and Nathaniel were kidnapped my Arthur Miveldon. They slipped their restraints and killed him by making his heart stop." Harry looked thoughtful for a moment.
"So, you guys think that Dean and Lucas have the same powers as Fredrick and Nathaniel?" He finally asked.
"Yes. And now that I think of it, I don't think I've ever seen one of them with a cut or bruise or anything."
"And this is why the Death Eaters captured Draco? To try and get information from him?" I nodded. "Well, that's not very well thought out considering they weren't even born yet when Draco was captured."
"We know. Our guess is that the Death Eaters knew that the only twins to ever be born to Malfoys, Fredrick and Nathaniel and now Dean and Lucas, would be born with these powers."
"How did they know before you?" Harry asked confused. I shrugged.
"That would be my sister's doing." Narcissa said. We all looked towards her. "She told the Death Eaters about Fredrick and Nathaniel long ago. Back when Voldemort first came to power. They all thought it was just a tale though. I'm guessing that someone must have taken it seriously enough to convince everyone else and follow the story."
"We can't let this get out Harry." I told him. "If the Death Eaters even get a hint that the story could be true they'll come after the boys."
"I know. I won't tell anyone, I swear." He stood up, stretched and sighed. "In the mean time, I want an Auror with you at all times. I'll rearrange the schedule and hand it out. I want you to stay at the Manor until this gets sorted out. I'll place every security precaution I know around the Manor this afternoon."
Author's note: I profusely apologize for the long delay on this chapter! I've been getting ready to go on a family trip, which I'm on now. Hopefully, I can get the next chapter up within a week!
And a HUGE congrats goes out to Tom Felton for winning Best Villian on the MTV Movie Awards! He completely deserved it and all those hours of cleaning up cookies and voting totally paid off! Thanks to everyone who voted!
Read and Review! It keeps me going :)
