DRACO
I can't believe what I'm seeing. It all seems to go in slow motion from there. So many things going through my head. So many emotions I don't know which one is more pronounced there is too many to process.
I look over at Elayna and she is just looking at me evidently just as shocked as I am. Slowly my brain kicks in and I hear Padma.
"Hello can somebody please explain what just happened?" I look over to her and suddenly one emotion rushes to the surface, anger.
"How could you do this to me?" I say slowly trying to rain in my anger.
"Do what?" Although I see a flash of panic in her eyes.
"Tell me this baby is mine when it isn't?" The wand had glown unmistakably black.
"She is yours." Her answer was weak.
"That was a paternity charm Padma." I watch as her lip trembles. "No more lies."
I watch as she puts her face in her hands and her shoulders shake with silent sobs. I feel no sympathy for her right now. I just want answers. I need answers. I don't comfort her and neither does Elayna although she looks as if she wants to. I wouldn't stop her if she did. I'm not heartless unlike the woman sitting before me. I know this isn't true as I think it but I'm so angry right now I'm hardly thinking straight. She had almost ruined everything for me. I let her cry for a minute before it gets too much and I need my answers.
"Tell me why Padma." I say.
Her sobs start to subside a little as she tries to get herself together. Elayna conjures a box of tissues and passes them to Padma. She wipes her eyes and nose. She doesn't look at me. The opposite of me, all my attention is on her.
"Where should I start from?" She says in a small voice.
"How about when you decided to lie to me." I can put most of it together for myself.
"The real father wants nothing to do with us." This I guessed. She closes her eyes and more tears flow. "I didn't know what to do. He threatened to curse me and chased me away."
"Who is it?" I ask.
"Please don't make me tell you."
"Fine." Although my curiosity did peak it was not high on my priority list right now. "When did you decide to say she was mine?"
I watched her take a deep breath as she stared at her hands playing with her tissue. "I came home after the tournament and told my parents. I had to, I was starting to show and they needed to know. When they asked who the father was I told them I hadn't told them about the baby yet and I didn't want to tell them until I had told him."
I was silent while I listened every muscle in my body tense. "I was in the garden one day crying and trying to think about how I could get out of this mess when…when.."
"When what?" I snapped I couldn't help it. I just needed her to hurry up.
"When Narcissa came to visit." She finished still not looking at me.
"Narcissa? As in my mother Narcissa?" I shift my feet as I'm hit with the shock.
Padma's tears come thick and fast again. "I confessed to her that the father wanted nothing to do with us and I didn't know what to do. It was her I idea to say the baby was yours. She had heard we had slept together." The words rushed out of her mouth.
I don't know what to say, what to do. My own mother had been the one to almost ruin my happiness, my life. "Why?" I whisper but she hears me.
"She needed your father's money." She sniffs and wipes her face again. "There is no Black money left. It's all gone."
"What? How?" this seemed impossible to me. How was it possible my mother had spent all the Black fortune?
"Your mother said it had all been passed to male heirs and what little she had is gone. She even had a little rant about how Harry Potter even had a share of the Black fortune because of Sirius. But if you would fulfil your fathers will all the Malfoy money would be released and she would be able to access it."
I find the nearest chair and sink into it. This can't be happening. I look at Elayna, only just noticing she had changed back to herself, who looks as shocked as I feel. "What was in this for you?"
"She said she would get two things out of this hopefully. She was hoping you would marry me because of the baby. That way she would get the money and still have her reputation saved because you would have married a pureblood." She took a deep breath. "I would get a father for my child and money to raise them with."
"She was hoping I'd leave Hermione?" Padma nodded. I ran my hands though my hair trying to process all this. "Did no one stop to think about me in this equation?"
I stood up again, anger rising once again. I begin to pace needing to move.
"Narcissa said she believed you would do the right thing and leave her to be with the mother of your child." Padma finally looked up at me. "I've been thinking about telling you over the last few weeks. I just didn't know how."
"Shit Padma!" I kneel down in front of her looking into her face. "I nearly lost everything. I nearly lost Hermione." A tear runs down my face. "and... and today I feel like I lost a child."
And I did. I had nearly lost everything. But the worst part was in a way I had lost a daughter. A daughter that on some level I was looking forward to. I might have had everything I thought I wanted, but I still lost something.
"I'm so sorry Draco." Padma sobs. "I know it was a mistake, but I didn't know what else to do. Please don't hate me."
"I don't hate you." I say because I don't. I understand why she did it she wanted someone to make a home for her child and my mother can be very persuasive.
I stood up slowly and sat back down, head in my hands. As if finding out the baby wasn't mine I had to decide how I would deal with my mother. My own mother. I'm not sure I know which is worse, no baby or a mother who betrayed me.
"Draco." Elaynas voice travels through the haze. "Draco." I look up at her not really seeing clearly. "Are you OK?"
I don't answer because I don't know if I am or not. "I need to see my mother." I say instead.
"I think that should wait Draco." Elayna says concern written all over face. "You should sleep on it see how you want to approach it tomorrow."
I know she's right, deep down I know that's what I should do, but I don't want to sleep on it. I don't want to go in with a clear head. I want my mother to know exactly how much she's hurt me, how angry I am. I don't care that I might hurt her.
"I want to see her now." I say standing.
"Draco that really isn't a good idea." Elayna said I can hear the pleading in her voice. "Please."
I look over at Padma. Her tear stained face and her hand on her belly looking up at us nervously. I should hate her but I don't. I don't feel anything for her. "OK. I just need to leave." I say turning back to Elayna.
"Then let's go." She says taking my hand and leading me to the door. I don't even look back at Padma before I close the door behind me. I lean against it taking a breath. Had that really just happened? And how do I begin to process it?
"Where do you want to go Draco?" Elayna asks. I look up at her. There is only one place I want to go now.
"Home."
When I get there Hermione is asleep on the couch. How late am I? I check the time and it isn't even seven yet. That's OK. I don't know if I can talk to her yet anyway. I watched him her sleep for a minute wondering if what I found out today will actually make things better between us. I hope so because I lost something today and it hurts.
I pick her up and carry her to the bedroom. I lay her on the bed and climb in behind her. She stars slightly but I hush her and she falls back asleep. It surprises me how fast I follow suit after I pull her in to my arms but I fall quickly into a dreamless sleep.
