Malfoy Manor, March 2003
Draco has been in the clouds for days, she thinks. He won't listen to sentences longer than five words, won't cheer for her when she flies, won't laugh when she scares the peacocks... Won't even stand for her whenever her Uncle discovers she's been harassing the peacocks! He only pays attention to Astoria, really. And Delphini has had enough. She is bored and boredom calls for something big.
She has everything planned for that evening. She is sitting by the fire, with the Tales of Beedle the Bard on her legs, flipping through the pages absent minded. Darkie is perched up on the back of her armchair, paying close attention to the slow moving pictures. Dinner must be almost ready. She will be told to run ahead and wash her hands; and that makes for the perfect opportunity. She makes a mental note to stop Wabby from hurting herself too much, she is going to highjack the elf's work after all.
"Delphini, young ladies do not swing their feet." Her Aunt's voice brings her back to reality.
"I'm sorry. I'll stop." She gives Aunt Cissa a little smirk. "I won't do it again." She adds, when Uncle Lucius takes a peek from behind the Prophet, looking at her from the top of his nose, in that very Malfoy way. He resumes his reading and Narcissa invites her to her side on the sofa. She jumps down from her sit and rushes to kneel on the cushion, beside her.
"Would you like to practice your scales?" She is teaching her to play the piano. Delphini nods. "Well then, show me. Play on my hands first and then we'll practice for a little while after dinner." She extends her palms towards her and Delphini sets her fingers on hers. "Even and light, Delphie. Like feathers remember?"
She practices for a few minutes. Narcissa corrects her movements, tells her when she is hitting too hard.
Draco walks in, Astoria on his left arm. They have their own wing in the manor, but like to join them for dinner. Delphini looks up and is immediately put off by the silly loving look on Draco's face. Astoria has his full attention and seems to be trying to talk him out of something. They giggle like school children after a successful prank. Humpf. Just wait. We'll see if Toria still has your attention after I'm done.
"You two are not alone in this room." Her Uncle is setting them back to rights. "Good evening wouldn't be lacking in manners."
Draco apologises. Astoria greets them, blushing. Narcissa eyes them with a knowing look and then stares at her son, square in the eye.
"Is there something we should know? Astoria?" She shifts her grey gaze to her daughter-in-law. Delphini doesn't have a clue about what is going on and doesn't like it, at all. She may be only five, but being left out of the loop is seriously aggravating.
Astoria bites her lip, shaking her head at Draco, but he has the most idiotic over-the-moon-happy smile ever seen on a Malfoy. He embraces Astoria from behind, who rolls her eyes and utters a sort of agreement under her breath. Draco laughs, kisses her cheek and plants both his hands on her flat belly.
"Draco..." Aunt Narcissa's eyes shine with tears she will not let run and her hands fly to her mouth. Uncle Lucius has a smug smirk on his face as he folds the newspaper and rises, approaching the happy couple.
"I'm sure. But it is way too soon to go about telling everyone." Astoria says, giving her husband a half-felt glare. "I'm only about two months…" She trails off at that and Delphini can tell there is something making her sad. The same shadows cross her Aunt's eyes at that, but she straightens her back and reassures Astoria that all will be well.
Uncle Lucius hugs Draco, and they never hug. Delphini's mind is racing, her plan completely forgotten. She walks up to the adults, looks at them in the most composedly displeased way she can manage and requires a justification for all this maudlin nonsense with her emerald eyes wide open.
Draco finally pays attention to her at that. He picks her up; she almost tells him that she is no longer a baby, and then he kisses her forehead and smiles. "It means we are having a baby, Delphie, Astoria and I. You'll have a little cousin!"
"And that is a good thing?" They all laugh at that, but Delphini doesn't like the idea of another child in her house. A baby? What for? You have me. She remembers meeting a baby, one of Draco's friends had a baby boy last year. She had taken a glimpse at a tiny face amidst blanket folds, held by a red-haired woman. He had cried, a lot, very loudly, and she could not understand, for the life of her, why they were all so happy about such a creature.
X
The following months make her regret not going through with her plan that night. Only Uncle Lucius pays her attention these days. And that means inviting her to read beside him, or asking her something about her day during meal times.
Astoria had become paler by the day about a month after the big announcement. She looks very weak now. Her belly is much bigger but her arms are thin, her face gaunt, deep dark shadows under her eyes. Draco spends almost all of his time by her side. She is always resting somewhere in the house. He carries her in his arms and takes her to a different room every couple of days. It is warm now, so she will sometimes find them both out in the gardens, under the sun, the summer lending some colour to Astoria's skin.
She thought, several times actually, about planning something else, but her Aunt is so worried and absent minded that something very serious must be happening. Even her piano lessons have been on hold (although the greasy tutor still drags her away for a few hours everyday). This baby business was supposed to be good, but so far it seems like quite the grim thing.
Draco is staring at a sleeping Astoria, and she looks tired even when she sleeps. He notices her presence by the door and opens his arms to her. She runs to his lap and cuddles there.
"I'm sorry Delphini. I haven't paid you much attention, have I?" He is talking to her, but his mind is not quite there. "How about a little Quidditch? I'll ask Mother to watch Astoria for a while, and see if you can take a quaffle past me, eh?"
"I'll get the brooms!" She rushes inside, happy as she can be, running across the manor. Her world is back in its proper course, even if only for a while.
X
August 7th, 2003
She wakes up in the middle of the night. Something feels off. She hops out of bed, Darkie complains about the light she lets in the room when she opens the door. It's late, she knows that, but there are lights downstairs in the hallway. She patters down the dark wood steps and follows the path of candles. 'Toria! She thinks, once she figures it leads to Draco and Astoria's wing. She runs into Wabby past a corner. The elf looks relieved.
"What is going on, Wabby? Is everyone up?"
"Yes, little mistress, Master and Mistress be up, yes. Young Master Draco too. Wabby be helping, Wabby must go now." She smiles at Delphini and, with a loud crack, is gone to fetch something.
It's only then that Delphini focus on the sounds. There is conversation coming from behind a door, cheerful. There is something else too. Crying? She pushes the door open and finds Uncle Lucius talking to two women she doesn't know. Aunt Narcissa comes to them, from the door across the living room. Draco's bedroom, she realizes. Narcissa smiles at her and beckons her forward. With her delicate hand on her back, she leads Delphini into the bedroom.
The crying has stopped. The room is much darker, lit by moonlight mostly. Astoria is asleep on the bed, but that's not new. She has been bedbound for the last couple of weeks. There is something new, however. Someone. The baby. She walks up to Draco, sitting in an armchair beside the bed, holding a bundle close to his chest.
"Would you like to meet your cousin, Delphie?" There are tears in his eyes, running silently down his cheeks, and his voice is shaking. Happy tears though, his eyes glistening. "This is Scorpius." There is a baby boy in his arms, no hair, not even eyebrows, on his tiny, somewhat reddish face.
"He is so small…" She whispers. Draco lets a sob escape his lips. "He was a bit early, but he'll grow Delphie. He will grow." She feels the happiness around Draco, and she thinks that perhaps, just maybe, this baby business can be a good thing after all.
Author's Notes: I know, I know, Scorpius wasn't born in 2003. I took some liberties, you'll see. Thank you for reading and a bigger thank you for reviewing
You may have noticed that the word count sort of got a bit longer this past few chapters. I promise to restrain myself, I hope, to chapters about 1,5K words long, tops. Sorry for the overall inconsistence in lenght. I'm getting the hang of it still