A/N - Sorry for no updates last week, but my laptop broke and I had to get a new one. To make up for last weeks missing updates, I will update this story 4 times this week (the usual Tuesday and Thursday, plus today and Friday). Thanks for your patience, and I hope you enjoy this weeks chapters.
Draco was furious when he returned home and found out just what Astoria had said to Mia at their meeting. He'd known his ex-wife was a nasty piece of work, but he hadn't thought that she would stoop as low as to upset Mia in such a horrific way. Despite his and Hermione's best efforts, Mia was obviously still troubled by what Astoria had told her. It didn't matter how many times they'd assured her that she wasn't going anywhere, Mia was still quiet and withdrawn.
By the time Mia and Zara headed to bed and Hermione and Draco got the chance to sit down and talk, Draco was beginning to wonder if they wouldn't just be better off putting the contingency plan into place without even waiting for the hearing to be over. It would certainly save Mia a lot of pain and heartache, and it was breaking Draco's heart to see his little girl in such a state. He wanted nothing more than Astoria to disappear out of their lives, and he was more determined than ever to make sure it happened.
With Mia and Zara both safely out of the way, Hermione recounted the entire meeting with Astoria for Draco. She'd been very careful how she'd explained things earlier as the girls had been around, but with them both settled in bed, she held nothing back from her fiancé. By the time she'd finished talking, Draco knew his fiancée was as angry and appalled as he was by the situation with his ex-wife.
"I hope your afternoon was better," Hermione said. "Did Lucius have anything from his investigator?"
"He had quite a bit actually," Draco replied. "Firstly, Astoria was pregnant towards the end of our marriage, but she aborted the child. And it's looking like she made the second pregnancy and miscarriage up to stop Weasley going on about children."
"What a pleasant woman," Hermione muttered. "Can we use the information in the hearing?"
"No," Draco answered with a shake of his head. "But Blaise wants to me to visit my healer and get him to release my medical records which will prove I can't father more children until I have the contraception charm reversed. I think he's also going to request that Astoria's medical records be made available to the hearing."
"That should bring her lies out into the open," Hermione said. "It might even help Ron see her for what she really is."
"About that, we were wondering if you could try and talk to Weasley," Draco said. "It's obvious Astoria only wants Mia to hang onto Weasley. If we could make him see sense, Astoria might drop the case. She doesn't want Mia. She wants to keep Weasley, and she thinks Mia is the way to do that."
"We haven't spoken since the day we all saw him at The Burrow, but I can try and talk to him," Hermione replied. "Maybe Molly can help arrange something. Because you're right, Ron is the key to this. If he backs off, Astoria won't want to know about Mia. But what if it doesn't work? What if Ron is so besotted with Astoria that he refuses to see what she's really like?"
"Then we have two options," Draco answered solemnly. "We carry on with the hearing and hope the courts can see the truth about Astoria, or we leave. As we speak, father is putting a plan in place for if things don't go our way with the hearing. If for some reason the courts award Astoria custody, the plan is for us all to leave. We disappear before we're forced to hand our daughter over. Of course, going down that route is drastic, and as Blaise pointed out, there's no going back if we do run."
"I'm assuming if we run, Lucius can ensure we're never caught," Hermione said.
"If we run, no-one will ever be able to track us down," Draco confirmed. "The Malfoys will simply disappear."
"But it's not just a last resort is it?" Hermione questioned. "You're thinking of doing it now. Before we even find out the results of the hearing."
"I wasn't until I came home to find my daughter worrying that she's going to be taken away from us," Draco replied. "It kills me to see her in such pain, Hermione. As long as Astoria's around, Mia will never feel safe. She's going to spend the next couple of months fearing that she'll be taken away from us."
"I know, and I really wish there was something we could do to stop this," Hermione said, taking hold of Draco's hand in hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "But I don't think running is the answer."
"At all?" Draco questioned, suddenly worried that Hermione and Zara wouldn't agree to run with them if the worst should happen.
"Just not now," Hermione replied. "If the worst happens and the courts are taken in by Astoria, I say running is our best option. But let's not do anything so drastic unless we must. You said Blaise said it was the last resort, and he's right. If we do run, our entire lives will change. We will have to leave behind everyone else, and never get in contact with them again. Even with the protection Lucius can promise us, we'll still be living the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders. I don't think we should put the girls through that unless we have to."
"Okay, so we stay and fight," Draco said with a determined nod of his head. "But I will not stand for Astoria upsetting Mia the way she did today."
"Something needs to be done about that," Hermione agreed. "Can we get Blaise to make an official complaint against her? Surely it's not right for her to be scaring Mia the way she did."
"I'll speak to him about it," Draco said. "But in the meantime, Astoria does not speak to Mia without either you or I right at her side. You gave her a chance, and she blew it. She proved she can't be trusted, and I will not risk her hurting Mia again."
"And I also think we need to start preparing for the hearing," Hermione said. "I'll speak to Molly and see if she can reach out to Ron for me. You need to get yourself to the healers and prove that the baby Astoria aborted wasn't yours. Astoria's picked the wrong people to fight with, Draco. We will not let her get her hands on our little girl, and I don't care if we have to smear her reputation to prove what a lying, heartless cow she is."
Draco smiled gently at Hermione as he pulled her into his arms. "Have I told you lately, just how lucky I am to have you?"
"I don't think so, but feel free to tell me how wonderful I am," Hermione joked, smiling back at Draco.
"You are amazing," Draco replied sincerely. "I love you Hermione, and I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather have at my side right now."
"Right back at you," Hermione murmured, pulling Draco's lips to hers as she silenced his worries for a few blissful hours.
The day after Mia's disastrous second visit with Astoria was a Sunday, so the entire family headed to The Burrow in the afternoon. Mia was still hurting over the previous day, and for the first time since her earlier visits to The Burrow, she refused to leave Draco's side. Even Zara couldn't tempt Mia to join in with the others, but rather than leave her sister, she stayed right with her and Draco had both his daughters with him all afternoon.
"It's so sad," Molly said to Hermione with a slow shake of her head. The two witches were in the kitchen with Ginny, and they were looking out of the window to where Draco was sitting with Mia and Zara right next to him. "She was making such good progress."
"I don't think she was this shy even when she first visited," Ginny remarked. "I barely managed to get a hello out of her when you arrived."
"It's terrible," Hermione agreed sadly. It broke her heart to see all the confidence Mia had gained in the last couple of years vanish thanks to her bitch of a mother.
"I hope the hearing will find out about this," Molly said. "Surely it'll count against Astoria that after two visits with Mia, she's terrified of the future."
"We spoke to Blaise this morning and on Monday he's going to file a complaint," Hermione replied. "We're hoping it either results in the meetings being cancelled, or it hurries the process up a bit. It's not fair on Mia to drag this out."
"I just wish there was something we could do to help," Molly said with a sigh as she continued to watch Mia refusing to move from her father's side.
"Actually, there might be," Hermione said, turning to face Molly. "It's clear that Astoria and Ron want Mia as a substitute to the baby they supposedly lost. We're thinking if we can get Ron to see sense, he might convince Astoria to drop the claim for custody."
"I thought you didn't want Ron to know about what you've discovered about the baby?" Ginny questioned.
Hermione and Draco had filled the Weasleys in on what Lucius's investigator had uncovered, but they'd made the family swear that not a word of it got back to Ron so that he and Astoria wouldn't have a clue about the ammunition Blaise was collecting to blow their claim apart. As it was, Ron had already tried to get around Molly by confiding in her about the miscarriages and how scared Astoria was to try again in case she lost yet another baby.
"We don't," Hermione replied. "It's vital that Astoria doesn't know how much we know about her miscarriages. I was hoping to get through to Ron without having to tell him about the baby. Don't get me wrong, I would love to tell him that there wasn't a baby, so he can stop grieving for a life that never existed, but right now, I just don't trust him not to run to Astoria with anything I say to him. I'm hoping all our years of friendship will count for something, and he'll listen to reason."
"How do you want me to help?" Molly asked. Like Hermione she longed to tell Ron the truth about the child he was grieving for, but she understood that it was vital for Draco and Hermione to keep what they knew from Astoria, so they could hit her with it during the hearing.
"I don't think Ron would agree to meet me, so I was hoping you could invite him over here," Hermione said. "He might come if he thinks you're willing to listen to him and possible take his side."
"But how are you going to get him to stay once he realises it's you who wants to talk?" Ginny asked.
"I'm not sure," Hermione admitted with a slight grimace. "I guess I'll have to act quickly and say enough to convince him to hear me out."
"Don't worry, he'll hear you out, I'll make sure of it," Molly promised in an intimidating voice. She was clearly going to get tough with her youngest son and force him into at least hearing Hermione out. What good it would do them remained to be seen, but at least they were trying.
As promised, Blaise raised a formal complaint against Astoria first thing on the Monday morning. He spent the entire morning at the Ministry, ensuring that the family court took the complaint seriously. To be honest he was hoping that they would cancel the pre-arranged visits until the next hearing, but what they'd eventually decided upon was to bring forward the court's inspections and meetings with the two sets of parents. Blaise left the Ministry with dates in his possession as to when Draco and Hermione could expect visits from the officials from the family court.
Eager to get the news to Draco, Blaise went straight to his best friend's office. Luckily, he'd arrived at lunchtime, so Draco wasn't in any meetings, and fortunately his best friend was also still in the office. Draco's secretary was at lunch when Blaise arrived, but Draco was still able to produce a cup of coffee and a sandwich for his friend.
"I take it you have news," Draco said as the pair settled down in the comfortable chairs in the corner of the office.
"I do," Blaise replied. "I made the complaint about Astoria, and it's gone into the court's notes."
"Are they stopping the meetings?" Draco asked eagerly.
"No, but they have pushed forward the court visits and inspections," Blaise answered. "Once they're done and filed, we'll get a date for the hearing fairly quickly."
"When are these visits and inspections?" Draco questioned.
"This week," Blaise replied. "They want to visit you and Hermione on Thursday. They'll also want to talk to Mia at the same time."
"Will Hermione or I be with her?" Draco checked.
"No, you'll not be allowed," Blaise said. "But don't worry," he quickly added, stopping Draco before he could protest. "She won't be alone. You're not allowed to be with her because the court feels she might not be able to express her honest opinions in your presence. Since she's only a minor, the court official can't speak to her on her own, so I'll be there. I'll not be able to influence her in any way, but at least she'll have someone with her whom she trusts."
"Thanks Blaise, I appreciate it," Draco said, relief flooding his features now he knew his little girl wouldn't have to talk to strangers alone. "Although I don't think we need to worry about you not being able to influence her. Mia doesn't need anyone to influence her to let her feelings on Astoria be known."
"How is Mia this morning?" Blaise asked. He'd seen his little god-daughter the previous day and she'd been as reserved as he'd ever seen her.
"Still weepy," Draco answered with a sigh. "She refused to go into school, so Hermione took the day off work. We need to end this, Blaise. Astoria is ruining Mia's life. It doesn't matter how much Hermione and I reassure her, she's terrified that Astoria will take her away from us."
"It shouldn't be much longer now," Blaise said. "Astoria and Weasley will be getting their visit this week as well. It takes a few days for the results to be turned into reports, but I would think we'd have a date for the hearing next week, probably for the week after. So, I'm going to concentrate on our case. I'm going to gather all the statements that confirm what great parents you and Hermione are, and how useless Astoria was. I also need your healer's statement, and I'll sort out the request for Astoria's medical history. By the time we've finished with her, no court could honestly justify giving her custody of Mia."
"I hope you're right Blaise," Draco said with a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair.
He didn't know how much more of Astoria and his games he could take. He just wanted everything to go back to how it was. He wanted to be a happy family with Hermione, Mia and Zara, and not have to worry about his ex-wife. But Astoria wasn't going to just go away without a fight, so Draco would fight. He would go to the ends of the earth of his daughter, and it would be a cold day in hell before he let Astoria get her hands on his precious Mia.