Chapter 16
Herimone thought nothing of Draco's dinner invitation. The group frequently dined together, and Draco often stopped by the house to cook for her and Marcus.
The surprising detail was the location - Malfoy Manor.
"Is this a good idea?" she wondered as she and Marcus approached the front door. "I mean, I'm not exactly Lucius's favorite person."
Marcus shrugged. "You're Draco's," he replied. "That's all that matters. If you feel uncomfortable in there, we'll leave straight away. He'll understand."
Nodding, she rang the bell and waited nervously for the door to open. Draco answered, slightly drunk. He hugged her tightly, pulling her into the foyer as Marcus followed. Drunk Draco always amused her, and Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "What's got you in such a good mood?" she wondered as he led her to the sitting room. She noted he was careful to avoid the drawing room where she had been tortured by his aunt.
"Ogden's Finest," he replied. "And I've got an announcement to make that I wanted you all to be here for."
"All?" Marcus asked as they entered the room. Pansy and Adrian, Blaise, Astoria, and Draco's parents were assembled. Hermione reached back to grab his hand when she spotted the Malfoys.
Draco ignored the question and let go of Hermione. The pair sat beside Pansy and Adrian, quietly asking what was going on. Both shook their heads. They were just as in the dark was the newly arrived couple. "You don't think he's going to do something stupid, do you?" Adrian whispered.
"I think that's exactly what's going to happen," Hermione replied, smiling when Draco handed her a club soda and Marcus a tumbler of firewhiskey.
Marcus groaned at the thought. "Are the sheets in the guest room clean? I have a feeling we'll be taking him home with us tonight."
Once everyone had a drink, Draco rose and tapped his signet ring against his glass. "Now that we're all here, I'd like to welcome you all to the ancestral family home," he began. "Though I guess you've all been here before for one reason or another. Tonight we're here to celebrate. We're celebrating Astoria, who has had quite a remarkable month. First her graduation from Hogwarts, then her engagement, and now a baby."
Narcissa gasped while Lucius's mouth tightened. It seemed the only people surprised by the news were his parents. Draco seemed pleased by their reaction.
"Mother, Father, I wanted everyone to be here tonight to hear the following," he continued. "I am not marrying Astoria. I am not marrying anyone you force on me. The child isn't mine. It's the heir to the Zabini line, not the Malfoy line. Cut me off if you wish. I don't care anymore."
With that, he left the room, making his way to the second floor and the east wing. He heard footsteps behind him, but paid them no mind. Entering his bedroom, his heart raced as he thought about what he had just done.
The door opened, and the two couples entered. "That was...a shitshow," Marcus announced, flopping down on the bed. "At least you didn't cry in public."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Stop exaggerating. You cried in an empty locker room," she replied, sitting down beside Draco at the foot of the bed. Her attention turned to her friend. "So, what's the plan now?"
"Who cares about the plan," Pansy said. "Did you see the look on Astoria's face when you dropped that bombshell? I thought she was going to throw up on the most ancient of Malfoy rugs."
Adrian nudged his fiancée to silence her. "Our deal still stands, Drake," he told his younger friend. "One galleon and the Hogsmeade shop is yours."
Draco allowed himself a small smile as he thanked Adrian. Before gathering his friends for the evening, Adrian had discussed with him the opportunity to run the Quidditch supply shop he'd recently purchased in the village outside Hogwarts. After everything Pansy had told him, he felt it was his obligation to support Draco.
"And our spare room is yours," Marcus added.
Draco held Hermione's hand, squeezing it for comfort. "We're family," she murmured, kissing his cheek.
A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Lucius let himself in and glared at his son. "First you bring a mudblood into my home, and now you embarrass your fiancée in front of everyone. Explain yourself, Draco."
Marcus and Adrian moved to stand near the young man, offering him the protection they had provided for two decades.
"What's to explain, Father?" Draco wondered, his energy drained. "Was I not clear enough for you? She slept with Zabini. She's pregnant with Zabini's child. I won't marry her."
"You will," Lucius stated, his voice angry. "If you want to keep your place in this family, you will marry her. You will raise this child, and you will have your own so that there is an heir."
Shaking his head, the younger Malfoy rose. "Maybe if I loved her, I could," he said. "I don't love her, and I can't now. There will be no more arranged marriages, Father. Let me be happy."
"Happy and poor," Lucius mused. "Yes, you'll be just like Miss Granger's beloved Weasleys."
"There are worse things to be," Draco retorted. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be leaving. Give my regards to Mother."
He passed his father, leaving the room. The group followed silently, making their way to the kitchens to leave through the back door. From there, they Apparated to Marcus and Hermione's house. "Who wants Chinese?" Marcus asked as Adrian poured drinks.
"I'm really sorry about tonight," Draco said, taking the proffered glass of firewhiskey. "I promised you dinner. Let me cook something."
Marcus directed him to the sofa to sit down. "We've got it," he assured him.
Sitting, he placed his head on Hermione's lap. Her fingers ran through his hair, gently tugging on the blond locks as his eyes closed. "Hey, remember when Marcus and I seemed like the dysfunctional ones," she mused, getting a laugh from Draco.
"We were insecure, not dysfunctional," Marcus yelled back from the kitchen. "And that was mostly all Draco's fault."
"You two are why I walked away from the money," Draco confided to Hermione. "Seeing him do it, it made it easier for me to do it. Now if I could just find a you, it would all be worth it."
Pansy sat on the floor, a glass of wine in hand. "Millicent is single," she commented, earning a glare from Draco.
"She's still holding out for Marc," Adrian joked, sitting down beside his fiancée. "In all seriousness, mate, what's the plan now?"
Sitting up, Draco shrugged. He had no plan beyond breaking his engagement to Astoria. Running Adrian's store would never allow him to live the lifestyle to which he was accustomed. He couldn't live with Marcus and Hermione again. "I don't know," he confessed. "Maybe I should just do what my parents want. Maybe I could convince myself that I can raise another man's baby."
From the corner of his eye, he could see Hermione purse her lips. He watched her rise and leave the room, taking the stairs to the second floor. Quickly, he got to his feet and followed. She was making up the bed in the guest room for him.
"How do you go from 'you and Marcus made me realize I can survive being cut off' to 'I'll raise Zabini's kid'?" she wondered, never looking up from the task at hand.
He grabbed the pillowcase from her hand. "Marcus had you when he left his family. I don't have anyone," he told her, his voice calm. She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off. "I know we're a family in our own way. I didn't mean it that way. It's just...is it wrong to want someone? You and Marcus, Adrian and Pansy, I'm the fifth wheel here."
"And you're fine being miserable the rest of your life just for the companionship at family dinners?" Hermione asked with a scoff.
Draco held her hand as she reached for the pillowcase. "No, I'm not," he admitted, sitting down. "There was a time, a really brief time, when I hoped that you and I...maybe we'd be together. We were always so awful to each other as kids, but that changed sixth year. After the trial, though, seeing you with Marc, I knew my chances were shot. That's not a bad thing. I like seeing you happy, and I still get to have you in my life. I just want a little bit of what you two have."
"You're not going to find that with Astoria," she replied, taking a seat beside him.
Nodding in agreement, he reached for her hand. His free hand caressed her cheek as he gently pressed his lips to hers.
Hermione pulled back sharply and rose, hearing Marcus call from downstairs that dinner had arrived. "You can't stay here," she said. Then she left the room and Draco behind.