"You need to take the law more seriously, Draco. The only reason we haven't been given grief about having missed the two year deadline is because you're Lucius Malfoy's son, but they will enforce the law most severely on couples who haven't produced the mandatory two children at the end of five years."
Draco didn't speak, choosing to stare into the fire as he sipped on his firewhiskey. He found it easier to hold his tongue if his mouth was otherwise occupied.
"If that happens, even the Minister of Magic won't be able to intervene. Marcus says they had the Unspeakables perform some kind of ancient magic ritual which will automatically dissolve marriages of couples who failed to comply with the terms of the Procreation law."
Draco's mouth twisted into an ugly smile, which went unseen by Astoria who was busy inspecting her reflection in the mirror as she went about the task of ensuring her hair remained in perfect order.
"Well, 'Stori, if that's true, let me just put your mind at ease. As per our marriage contract, there will be no dissolving of our marriage."
She must've picked up on the bitter edge of his words for she spun around and looked him over with her eyes.
"You're in ill humour." She stated at the end of her scrutiny, turning to face the mirror once more to complete the task of fixing her appearance. Astoria Malfoy was not a vain woman, she was simply one who knew her strengths well and preferred to always play to them.
"I know very well they cannot dissolve our marriage but we don't know what horrible people they may force us to have children with."
Satisfied she looked as perfect as she possible could, she sashayed seductively over to Draco and perched on the armrest of the chair he was seated in.
"I think we should see a sex witch," she said when he made no move to ravish her even after she suggestively ran her hand up his inner thigh and traced his cock through his trousers.
She continued to massage his cock over his robes in a manner that so many years ago had driven him crazy but now barely got his attention. Despite his lack of interest she refused to give up. Hiking the skirt of her robes, she exposed her bare pussy lips to him. A lewd display of this sort from a fully dressed witch usually turned her conservatively raised husband into a sex maniac, but this time he didn't so much as blink.
Frustrated she dropped her robes and stepped away.
"This isn't normal, Draco! You're a young guy, there's no natural reason for your lack of interest in sex."
He continued to ignore her. There were things he wanted to say, but like Hermione repeatedly kept pointing out there was nothing to be gained from upsetting the status quo. Plus, he'd promised Hermione he wouldn't say anything to 'Stori. So till he had some kind of plan in place, he would keep quiet.
It wasn't in his nature to take blame for his actions, so he needed to often remind himself that none of this was Astoria's fault. The only person he could rightfully blame for the current mess was himself. He also needed to remind himself that he once loved Astoria, though he questioned if that ever held true.
Was he simply clinging to his old way of life when he decided to be with Astoria? Astoria was the perfect combination of both, a modern witch- open to Muggle culture invading and, for better or worse, altering their society- as well as someone familiar with his world of traditional Pureblood values. Was she desirable because, as a true Slytherin, he recognised the value of having a partner like Astoria to help him fit in with the changing landscape of the post-war Wizarding world? Or had he simply chosen to settle for Astoria because she was attainable while his mate was not?
"Merlin and Morgana save us! You're not even listening to me." Astoria shrieked in exasperation. "Draco, we have less than three years now to produce two kids. Marcus says I should take you to the sex witch in Knockturn Alley-"
"Marcus?" asked Draco, as if coming out of a daze and only just hearing her voice.
"Would that be Marcus Flint, by any chance?"
"Why, yes," she responded tentatively, trying to place the odd expression on her husband's face.
"And why have you been discussing our sex life with Marcus Flint, my dear wife?"
"Because, unlike you, he's actually interested in my sex life. If I didn't know any better I would say you were jealous, but it sounds like you're really just angry that it's Marcus Flint pleasuring your wife."
"You do know me well, dear. But can you say the same of Flint? It looks like he's up to his old tricks, but I'm no longer a kid," he said, guffawing. Flint had probably intended to rub his affair into Draco's face, ignorant of where his true affections lay.
Astoria got up and stood a safe distance away from her husband. He was sounding a little unhinged to her in the moment.
"Look, I don't know what's going on with you recently but we need to fix this. Maybe it's the whole veela nonsense again. Are you not having sex with Hermione either? I thought you were seeing her regularly-"
"No," he replied promptly without thought, "She's not the problem."
"So, you've been having sex."
He nodded, not wanting to give away any more than he already had.
"Hmmm... So you are able to have sex with Hermione." She tapped her lip with her right index finger in a manner she was prone to when in deep thought. Draco had once considered it adorable till she revealed that the habit was an affectation she had been forced to rehearse as a child till it came naturally to her.
"Do you think it would help if Hermione was present when we have sex? Or maybe we could even try a threesome? I mean, I don't particularly care what gets you hard, whatever does the trick, right?"
Draco felt physically ill at the idea of sharing Hermione. He wasn't sure how to respond without either agreeing with Astoria or arousing her suspicions by refusing.
Fortunately for Draco he was given a respite when the floo roared to life drawing Astoria's attention away from him. As she went to check on which of her friend's were calling- since they were in her chambers- he quietly slipped out of the room and rushed outside to the broom shed. Grabbing his fastest broom he took to the air, riding the broom hard.
He knew Astoria well enough to know how determined she could be when she got an idea stuck in her head. He felt suffocated in his marriage to Astoria and even harboured some resentment towards her because of their marriage contract, even though it was drawn by their parents. He hoped his flight cleared his head of all uncharitable thoughts of Astoria so he could to come up with a plan that would be fair to all the people involved.
Normally Draco wasn't one to care about fairness provided he got to have things his way. However, after experiencing the consequences of his past selfishness, he was determined to do right this time. After all, this time it wasn't his future happiness that was alone at stake here.