"I love you so much." I tell him and he smiles at me. "Yes, you. I do love you." His face scrunches up as water falls around his face and I smooth my fingers through the little bit of blond hair that he actually has. A part of me almost wishes he was a redhead. I massage the shampoo into his scalp and he completely relaxes as a small sigh escapes his lips. He likes it when I do that. "You are going to smell so much better now." I say with a smile.

He bats his hands against the water and makes a baby noise. "Do you think so?" I ask in response to his cooing like I know exactly what he's talking about. I suppose he's telling me about how much he loves taking baths in a sink. I take the wash cloth and clean off the rest of his body, supporting his head with my other hand. He gets some water in his eyes and makes the most disagreeable face. "Oh, no." I say softly. "You look exactly like your father when you do that."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

I don't even turn around to know who it is. "I have reason to fear when he's already scowling at me." I say, attempting to make a joke as I smile down at my son. "I didn't think you'd ever wake up." I tell Draco with a smirk.

He barely ever sleeps in later then me. So when he does I enjoy pointing it out. "Me either." He says tiredly, walking over to the cabinet and taking out his tooth brush. "If you weren't doing that annoying baby voice I probably could have gotten another hour in." he says as he puts toothpaste on his brush. He turns on the tap beside me as he starts cleaning his teeth. Double sinks are convenient. Again I'm reminded why it's nice to be rich.

"Cassius likes it." I say, doing the stupid voice again. "Don't you." I say, letting him splash and play in the water.

"Why are you giving him a bath right now?" he snaps at me. Pretending like it's seven in the morning and not two in the afternoon.

"Because he smelled like a foot."

He snorts and spits into the sink. "What a terrible thing to say." He leans over to my side and looks down at Cassius. "Did you hear what your mother just said about you?"

"He knows that I love him no matter what he smells like." I say taking him out of the water and wrapping him in a little towel. I snuggle closer to him in my arms and smelling his newly cleaned skin. "What time did you come home last night?" I ask Draco quietly, like the subject would hurt the baby's ears.

"Late." Is the short answer that I get so I nod my head and walk into the bed room. I don't want to know anything else.

I lay Cass on the bed and start changing him into the cute little shirt and overalls I chose for him. "Draco," I call as I hear the sink turn off again. He must be shaving. He makes a noise to show he heard me. "Can I take Cassius out side today?" I worded it like that in hopes of appealing to his rational side. I'm sure if I said 'could I go out today' he would have said no and gave me a lecture on how he makes the decisions and how I need to do what he says. "The weather just seems so perfect." I add hopefully.

There's a pause from him and I start fiddling with the snaps on Cassius' clothes. "What time did you want to go out?" he asks flatly as he moves about the bathroom.

"Well, before the sun goes down." I answer nervously. "I think Cassius would like seeing the fish in the lake."

There's a sigh as Draco walks back into the main room in a pair of dark dress pants. He never just wears jeans or anything like that. He walks over to the closet and takes out a green tee-shirt. As he pulls it over his head I notice it just says Slytherin on the front in black letters. This might be the most casual outfit I've ever seen on him. "It's fine with me." He says and my whole body seems to light up. I'm always so pessimistic now. "I will have a house-elf there with you so you won't do anything stupid."

My smile falters a bit but I won't let him ruin my day. "I appreciate it." I say, even though I'm not totally sure if I should. I pick the baby up and hold him against my chest. "Are you going to be gone again tonight?" I don't know why I care. I really don't.

He smirks as he puts on his shoes. "Do you miss me when I'm gone?"

No. "Of course."

He snorts like he knows I'm lying. "I'm sure." He says sarcastically. I don't know why he even asked. He's never pleased. He gets up and starts walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I ask him softly.

He turns around and raises an eyebrow. "I just got up. I'm hungry." He said like I was an idiot for asking.

"Oh," I say and follow him when he walks out the door. "I made you some lunch. Granted it was a couple hours ago, but I had the kitchen staff save it for you. The spell they put on it said it should keep it fresh."

He stops again and turns around. "You made me lunch?" he says disbelievingly. I don't know if I should be offended by his tone.

"Well, yes…" I answer feeling kind of foolish. "I really wasn't sure what time you would wake up and I made my own, so I thought I would make something for you…I didn't want to wake you up and I was bored so I thought I would do it myself to kill time. You don't have to eat it… I just… oh, never mind. Just tell them to throw it away." He narrows his eyes at me and I want to take a step back. "Or, well, I can make tell them to."

Still he stares. "Um, I guess, you know I'll just—"

"Stop stammering on." He says. Turning around to walk away again. "What did you make?" he says dismissively over his shoulder.

I take a deep breath and place my hand on the baby's head before following him. "You probably don't want it." I say honestly, kind of feeling put out. I was thinking of him today. That should get some points on his selfish meter.

"Answer my question, Gin."

Now I feel stupid, I always feel stupid. I pretend like I'm adjusting something on Cassius' overalls while I answer. "Well, I… I grilled some chicken… It was already in the kitchen and the house-elves helped me… and then I made sandwiches with it. I found some rice and made that and used some kind of dressing I found to mix it with the vegetables… it's actually pretty good. I'm not very good at cooking." I watch him as I continue to talk. He looks totally uninterested. "You don't have to eat it. It was stupid, I know you probably want something better then that…" He must think I'm horribly annoying.

He stops walking again and spins towards me. I think he's mad so I step back and look away. He surprises me by grabbing my face and kissing me deeply on the lips. My knees almost buckle because of it. When did that start happening? Cassius coughing pulls us out of our snog session in the hallway, thankfully. I'm surprised he's not glaring at me, telling me I'm not common anymore so I shouldn't do lowly work like cooking. Neither of us look at Cassius when we pull back and for some reason I can't look away from his eyes. Draco runs his thumb over my lips and smirks.

"Thank you." He says and then walks back towards the kitchens. "By the way, the wards are down from the doors." He says with out even turning around.

I smile and pick up a few things for the baby before going outside. I can even bring myself to ignore the stupid little elf that is following me around. As the sun hits my face I smile at the sensation. Cassius coos beside me so I take out a rustic orange colored bucket hat from my bag and place it on him to protect his head and face from the sun. He looks ridiculously cute in it so I kiss his cheek.

"We're going to have a good day." I tell him hopefully before walking further away from the house.

I set out a blanket by a large tree. I didn't want to wonder too far away from the house. Something didn't feel right to be away… probably because I am always in there. I sit Cassius down in front of me and hold him up in the sitting position. He makes a few baby noises and chews on his hand as he looks around. I can't wait until he can sit up on his own. I reach into the black bag that I brought and take out the stuffed dragon that Draco got for him when he was just a couple weeks old. He leans towards it, talking to it like it was a person, before finally getting a hold of its ear and chewing on it like it was a meal.

I laugh at him and lay him on his back so he can look up at the sky. "You make me so happy." I tell him honestly as I kiss his little foot. He's one of the only things that actually does.

X

She's sitting underneath a tree with her back against the trunk looking impossibly innocent and pretty. A book rests in her lap but even from here I can tell she's not reading it. She keeps on sweeping her eyes over the grounds and inhaling the fresh air deeply before turning down to Cassius who is on his back, cooing up at her.

She looks so perfect, so content… from here. Everything is better when viewed at a distance.

"Draco, I am talking to you." My father snaps and reluctantly I turn around. "You have been off recently. I don't appreciate it."

I don't apologize. I just not my head to show I heard him. "Things have been stressful." I admit and he agrees.

"They have been stressful for everyone. And I would like to bring attention to your lack of respect by not going to your Aunts funeral today." He looks me up and down. "You didn't go into work. I would have assumed you would show up."

I snort and turn around again. Ginny is standing up with Cassius in her arms. She adjusts the orange hat on his head to get it out of his eyes. I can tell she's laughing as she kisses his face. "She wouldn't have gone to mine." I say honestly.

"She was still family. Your mother's own sister." He sneers behind me. "and one of the Dark Lords most enthusiastic followers."

Enthusiastic would not be the word I would use to describe her. I would say insane. "It doesn't matter." I say dismissively as Ginny and Cassius walk away from the tree. "No one seemed to care when Mother's other sister was in trouble."

I smirk at the silence. The other sister married the mudblood Ted Tonks. We aren't supposed to talk about her. "That's not the point." He snaps after a few moments. "Your Aunt died fighting for our cause. I didn't like her either but it was disrespectful not to go. Rodopholus noticed your absence."

I sigh and turn around again. "Bellatrix Lestrange died at the hands of a thirteen your old boy because she was doing what she does best. She was ruining another team's mission, like she always does because she was unprofessional. Frankly I could care less about her being gone."

He stands up and shakes his head, straightening his coat. "Still, you need to write to your mother and apologize." He says sternly. Like I was a child. "You know she takes things like this hard." He eyes me up and down again in a gesture he always does to make people uncomfortable. It doesn't work on me. "By the way, you should know that the Dark Lord nailed Simon Malone's hands to the Ministry door. He was gracious that you weeded out that traitor."

I nod my head tightly and watch him leave with a swirl of his cloak. I look back out the window. Ginny is pointing to something on the ground, trying to get Cassius to look at it. My mother and Ginny are a lot a like sometimes. Both are… empathetic… I suppose is the best word to describe them. I totally dismiss the thing about Simon, he deserved to die.

I place my hands in my pockets and go outside to join them. I don't feel bad for my aunt either. We all know the risks of being a Death Eater, we all know we could die once we lift our wands. She was the one who kept putting herself into high risk situations with that stupid mouth of hers. I walk over to the tree and her face immediately snaps to mine. I notice a hint of disappointment in her eyes at my presence and my temper flares.

"You're going inside now." I practically bark out. Pissed off by her initial response to seeing me.

"Alright." She says softly. Holding Cassius closer and picking up the bag that she packed. She bends down to fold up the blanket she brought out. "Why do we have to go in?" she asks, not looking at me. "Are we going somewhere?"

I cross my arms and stare down at her, refusing to help. "No." Is all I say.

"Oh," I can tell she's gathering up her courage to look at me, "Then why?"

"Because I said so. Now hurry up."

She stuffs the blanket in the bag and doesn't look at me as she starts walking back inside. She stops a few steps away from me and looks over her shoulder.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asks quietly, taking in my icy glare. I don't say anything so she nods her head like that was my answer before resuming her walk back towards the house with her head down.

I feel like I just hit her or something. "Wait." I say reluctantly. She stops but doesn't turn around. "Come here."

I can tell it pains her but she turns around and walks back anyways. Her and my son both look up at me with blank stares. I'm overreacting. I run my hand through my hair. "You can stay out here." I say quickly, walking past her.

X

That was strange. I'm racking my brain trying to think of what I did that offended him but as I watch his narrow back walk away from me I decide to stop him. Against my better judgment. I walk towards him quickly and grab his hand. He stops and glares at me. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea.

"Do you want to stay with us for a little bit?" I asked stupidly. He probably has better things to do.

"No." he says shortly and I frown. Not really knowing what I did to make him angry with me.

I squeeze his hand and run my thumb over his skin. "Are you mad at me?" I ask softly. I don't want him to stew about this and blow up at me later over something. "Was the food I made that bad?"

He laughs, thankfully, and shakes his head. "I'm not mad at you." He says and his tense frame relaxes.

He's crazy. Was he just telling me to go in to show me what power he had? "Okay…" I say even though I want to ask him a million questions. I shift the baby to my side and step closer to Draco. I bring a hand up to his face and kiss him on the mouth. "I'm glad you didn't go to work today." I lie against his lips.

I've done something right because he smiles at me, breaking his hateful stance. "Me too."

He takes Cassius from me and adjusts the hat that keeps on falling down in his eyes. "I think his head is a little too small for this." He comments as he fixes it.

"He'll grow into it in a couple of days at the rate he's going." I say with a smile. I like it when we talk about him. We can find some common ground since we both seem to be rather fond of him. "Tomorrow I'm going to start him on solid foods."

"How exciting." He says down to the baby and I'm pleasantly surprised that it wasn't sarcastic. "So, what have you two been doing out here?" He asks, walking back towards the large tree I was using as shade.

"Just enjoying the day." I say as I follow him. I take the blanket back out and lay it on the ground. "Cassius loves looking up at the leaves and seeing the sun pattern through them." I tell him honestly.

Draco nods his head and puts the baby on his back on the blanket. Cassius looks up and smiles at the leaves like they were people and reaches his small little hands up to grab them. Draco sits beside him with his hand on the baby's stomach as he watches his face closely, like he was memorizing every little line and tilt. Sometimes he just randomly touches his cheek or little hands with his own fingers as I stand there watching them. I don't know why I like watching Draco act like a loving father.

Draco must feel me looking because he looks up and raises an eyebrow. I realize I must look silly, just standing there. So I put the bag down and make a move to sit. Draco shakes his head and puts out his hand for me to take. Which I know better then to ignore. So I place my hand with his and he guides me around the other side of Cassius, right in front of him. He spreads his legs out and leans against the tree as I take my seat in front of him and scoot back into his chest. I inhale his cologne and close my eyes when I feel his warm arms wrap around me. I almost like him sometimes if I let myself forget who he is.

"I want to cut my hair." I say softly as I look out over the grounds. The sun is shining, making the colors of Malfoy Manor look almost dream like. "I think it's too long."

There's a pause before Draco answers. "No."

"Why not? It's just hair."

"Because I like to look at it too much for you to butcher it off." He answers tugging on a loose strand by my face. Of course he has to control that too. He only likes an idea if he thinks he's the one who came up with it. "and we do things the way I say around here, don't we?"

I don't respond to that and relax more into his chest as I place my hands on his thighs. He kisses my shoulder. There's no point in talking any more on the matter. It seems Draco has already made up his mind. Cassius makes a noise and we both look down to him as he rolls over on his stomach. He pushes himself up on his arms and looks around for a while before the hat falls in his eyes and he starts whining. I laugh at that and sit up straight, taking the hat off of him and picking him up to lean against my chest.

"You poor boy." I tell him as he frowns at me. I relax into Draco again, using him as chair. "You are just so annoyed, aren't you?"

"Because you put a stupid hat on him." Draco answers by my ear as he touches Cassius' cheek. "And overalls. He's just swimming in embarrassment."

"He looks cute." I say with a smile as I put Cass' pacifier in his mouth when he starts to whine. He lays his head against my shoulder and his eyes start to droop. "Aw, he was tired." I say softly, running my cheek over his soft hair.

"I can sympathize with him." Draco says and I almost laugh.

"You slept until two today."

"But I didn't go to bed until nine in the morning." He says and I look out over the grounds. I don't want to talk about what he was doing that kept him away.

We sit in silence as Cassius falls asleep against my shoulder and I can feel Draco's breath on the side of my neck as his hand caresses my thigh. It's actually kind of nice to feel his body against mine, feeling his heartbeat. He's the only person I have who shows me love besides my son. After a few more moments of that he kisses my neck and then my shoulder.

"I think you have more freckles here then anywhere else." He says against my skin before kissing me again.

"I didn't wear a lot of sun screen when I was little." I say with a smile, allowing myself to remember my childhood. "I would get a really bad sunburn on my shoulders and then more freckles would pop up afterwards."

"I think they make you endearing." He smirks against my neck. "Like a spotted little puppy."

I roll my eyes. "You know you have freckles too." I place the sleeping baby beside us on the blanket again and twist my body to face Draco. I point to the two little spots on the side of his face. The two little freckles that I can't help but love. "Right there." They're the only natural marks on his whole body.

He smiles and takes my hand away from his cheek so he can kiss my palm. "Those aren't freckles." He says and I raise an eyebrow. "Those are beauty marks."

I laugh out loud at his joke and shake my head. "You might not want to tell anyone that." I say in a serious voice. "They might mistake you for a lady, Mr. Malfoy."

"That's impossible." He says with a sly smile. "I am way too manly for that." Like lightening he sits up and pushes me on my back so he's lying on top of me. "Even though I am pretty." He jokes as he settles between my legs.

I smile at how playful he's being and I put some hair behind his ear. "I wouldn't say pretty." I sigh and look away like I was bored. "Tolerable maybe."

"I'll show you tolerable." He says as he kisses me deeply on the mouth. I giggle into his mouth and I arch into him, allowing myself to enjoy his touches but when his hand starts to creep up my dress I pull back.

"Draco," I say, nodding my head to Cassius who is still sleeping right beside us.

He shrugs his shoulders and kisses my neck. "He's asleep."

"What if he wakes up?"

"He won't know what's going on anyways." He says as he sits up on his knees to unbutton his pants. I watch him do this and I bring my hands out to still his.

"Let me do it." I say as I start to unzip his pants.

He smirks and rests back on top of me. His hand goes back under my dress and I kiss the side of his face as my fingers find him under his clothes. I look to make sure the baby is still sleeping before letting a soft moan escape my lips as Draco touches my breasts and rubs his fingers between my legs. All of a sudden his whole body tenses up and he clenches his jaw shut.

"What is it?" I whisper against his ear.

He sits up and holds his right arm. I gulp, knowing exactly what it is now. "I have to go." He says sharply. Standing up and fixing his pants. He looks at his watch and cusses and then he looks back down to me. "Go inside now." He says before stomping back towards the house.

I know he's going to the Apparation point. I lie back down against the blanket to catch my breath and I chew on my nails for a few moments before standing up and taking myself and Cassius back in the house to wait for Draco.

X

"What is it?" I snap hatefully as I Apparate to our meeting point. My father raises an eyebrow at my tone. Now Voldemort's closest followers can use his dark mark summoning tool.

My group of men are already around us as I rub my arm, still feeling the burning after effects. My father throws a folder on the table in front of me. "This is where Potter and his friends have been spotted." He looks around to make sure we're listening. "They should still be there now. Go and bring them back… dead or alive. We'd prefer to have a few witnesses brought back, for information."

I look at the address on the paper and we all Apparate to the house in London. It's a pitiful little thing, about ready to fall over and our spells easily break the wards set up around it. We didn't find Potter inside but we did find the next best thing. Hermione Granger. A dangerous smirk falls on my lips as I watch her battle with Blaise. She was alone in this house but I am sure that Weasley and Potter were with her, judging by the clothes and things left around. They must have gone out for a while and left her here. It's almost funny.

"Why, isn't it the mudblood?" I say and she stops her pitiful dueling and looks at me with wide eyes. "Yes, it's very fitting of you to hide out in a muggle neighborhood." She sneers at me and my smirk broadens. "Still as ugly as ever I see."

I laugh at the insulted blush that plays on her cheeks. Blaise easily disarms her and we none too carefully cart her off to be questioned. "Harry will kill you." She says through clenched teeth as we throw her down on the floor at Zabini'a home.

"Not if I kill you first." I say softly. We're one step closer to getting rid of the biggest problem… Potter.

She doesn't tell us anything about Potter or the Order and with annoying loyalty she refuses to tell us where anyone is located. After our preliminary questioning and torture we erase her memories of our encounter so she won't know where she is when she wakes up the next morning. We do that with most of our political prisoners. It frightens and worries them when they wake up, not knowing what happened the night before and wondering where all of their sores and wounds came from. They easily break this way because they aren't sure what information they told us either, so it's easy to play them. I'm almost looking forwards to this. Blaise volunteers to hold her in his dungeons and I smirk knowing why he'd want to do that.

If I'm correct… and I'm never wrong… Granger won't be walking properly for a couple months after a night with Zabini. He has a lot of pent up sexual rage for a man who was raised in a domineering matriarchal home. The mudblood's bushy head turns towards me as I lift my wand to confound her.

"You are a disgusting piece of trash." She says. I watch her distracting horse teeth and roll my eyes. "I hate you Draco Malfoy and you will pay for this."

"And you're going to wish you didn't say that to me." I say before erasing her memories and watch the other men put a black bag over her head to carry her off.

With a smile on my face I go back home. I check my watch before going inside. Ginny should still be awake and I want to celebrate. I assume Cassius is asleep because I find her in one of the sitting rooms with a record player playing an old song from my Father's time. She's singing to the song and moving her feet as she reads a book.

I smile at her and walk into the room. She looks up and takes in my face. "You're happy." She points out and I nod my head. "You had a good night?" She says with a tilt of her head as she stands up and puts the book down.

"I most definitely did." I say. If she knew why I was so happy she would probably cry. "Aren't you pleased?"

She nods her head and responds to my smile. I only feel a little bit bad. "I'm glad."

I walk over to her quickly and lay her down on the couch. I make love to her there with a song about lost love playing in the background. I look down at her face as she bites her lower lip and grips my shoulders, vaguely wondering what she would really think of me if she knew what happened tonight. It would be another reason to add to the long list of reasons to hate me.

When she says my name in a soft, wanting kind of way I forget all about that and focus on pleasing her and getting off myself. In the back of my mind I wonder if Granger is enjoying her night with Zabini. It makes me smile against Ginny's shoulder and I close my eyes, trying not to think about it. Granger is the last fucking person I want to think about as I fuck my wife.

Ginny lifts her hips to meet mine and she starts rambling. "Draco, please, please… please." She closes her eyes and furrows her brows. "Please…"

She does that sometimes… just says that word over and over again. I doubt she even knows what she's begging for. I kind of like it so I start moving faster and when she bites my shoulder and clenches around me I totally lose it. I relax on top of her while we both catch our breath and she runs her fingers lazily through my hair.

"I'm glad you're happy." She says in a husky voice against my skin as her warm body presses into mine.

I sit up on my forearms and kiss her. "Me too." I answer honestly.

It's been a good day.