Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe, although I frequently wish I did.

"Draco … I have news. Exciting news." Astoria rushed through the doorway to Draco's potions lab in Malfoy Manor. Despite being sorely invested in his work, Draco would not deny his wife of his attention. Biting back the urge to sigh from being interrupted, he set down his potions manual, knowing very well that if he did not return to stirring his potion within the next thirty seconds, it would no longer be viable. He didn't bother starting a mental countdown in his head. Astoria loved to chat, which was one of many things he liked about her. She could keep a lively conversation. Him, on the other hand …

"Yes, darling?" Draco supplied, waving his hand to encourage Astoria to sit down on his potions bench. Astoria, with her blood disease, was growing weaker by the day. Her arms were becoming steadily thinner. When Draco took her hands, his stomach lurched with discomfort as he realized how fragile they felt, like a twig that could be snapped with ease.

Despite his fears, Astoria bubbled with excited energy. She raised her fingers to delicately brush Draco's hair out of his face, then leaned in to kiss him for a split second. "Draco," she whispered excitedly, "I'm pregnant."

Draco threw himself out of her arms and stepped back into the cauldron, causing it to spill the remnants of the potion inside. While the dreamless sleep potion seeped out onto the ground, tears welled in Draco's eyes. He should've felt anything else. Happiness. Excitement. Anticipation. Instead, all he could do was lower his gaze to meet Astoria's with burning anger.

"We discussed this," Draco urged, his voice choking with emotion. "The baby will cause you to-"

"No," Astoria protested indignantly. "This is my choice, Draco. I want you to have a Malfoy heir … to have someone with you when I am gone …"

"The child will make you weak!" Draco cried. "He will reduce the time I have with you. Astoria, I beg you, please forget about the child and maintain your health."

Astoria looked at him with such defiance that Draco quivered. "Draco Malfoy, if you dare suggest what I think you suggested again, then I will never forgive you."

Draco nodded silently and fell into Astoria's arms. Both of them sobbed, each for a different reason. Astoria with joy, and Draco with grief. The last light of dusk dripped through the dungeons window until the two were enveloped in darkness, still grasping onto each other, and when Astoria rested her chest against Draco's arms and closed her eyes to fall asleep, Draco apparated to their room and set her on their bed. Covering her in their softest blankets and landing a kiss on her cheek, Draco made his way to the dungeons once again, this time to open a bottle of England's finest Firewhisky. He spent the night in dark misery, cursing both his father and child and wishing that none of them - including himself - existed.

The knock came at exactly 10 AM eastern time. It was loud enough to cut through the wood of the Malfoys' bedroom doors. Scorpius was the first to emerge from his room, being an early riser in general, and trudged towards their apartment door feeling the slightest bit of nerves. Before he could open it, the doorknob was covered by a pale, calloused hand that wasn't his own. Scorpius looked up to find the exasperated glare of his father.

"Father?" Scorpius asked, shocked to see his father in such a distressed state. Draco was wearing the same clothes he was wearing the day before - he had not bothered to use transfiguration - and by the smell of him, he hadn't used a quick scourgify to wash himself before bed. Scorpius wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"It's probably that damned woman from yesterday," Draco muttered, ignoring Scorpius. He threw the door open with a dramatic flair to reveal a pretty woman in a yellow sundress with sleeves and a fringed mauve headscarf.

She smiled at the two of them cheerily. "Good morning!" She extended a box towards them, which Scorpius took gingerly. "I brought some donuts, to apologize for yesterday." She sent a pointed look towards Draco, which Scorpius found curious. What had happened the night before? "Also, to welcome you two to the neighborhood. What are your names? And let me guess, you two are … brothers?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Don't bother with your flattery. It's quite obvious who's older here."

The woman blushed a light pink and nodded. "Yeah, I figured. I just figured brothers would be the safer route. So, this is your son?"

"I'm Scorpius," Scorpius said eagerly, reaching his hand out to shake the woman's hand. "This is my dad, Draco."

"Constellations," she smirked. "Family tradition?" Draco stared at her, feeling slightly shell-shocked that an ignorant muggle such as herself would recognize constellations. It made his name feel slightly tainted, that his name could be understood by muggles. Then, catching himself, Draco realized Astoria would berate him if she could for thinking the way he did. Finally, he nodded slowly, not trusting himself to speak.

"Sorry, madam … but what is a donut?" Scorpius asked quietly after a few seconds had passed. The woman let out a laugh.

"Donuts? You don't have those in England?" She looked between the father and son, and upon their confused expressions, she realized they were serious. "Well … um, I guess the best way to know is to try them. You don't have any food allergies, do you?"

Neither of them said anything again, until Scorpius realized the woman was waiting for an answer. To be truthful, allergies weren't necessarily that common in the wizarding world. Nobody asked about them. "We don't have any," Scorpius offered. The woman nodded for the third time, looking satisfied.

"Well, let me know how they are," she said softly. Scorpius watched her intensely, comprehending that she was waiting for some signal of acceptance from Draco. While Scorpius was friendly towards her, his dad wasn't - apparently, something had transpired the night before that left him feeling disgruntled - and she sought his approval. Scorpius nudged his father's foot subtly with his own.

"Stop nudging me, Scorpius. Don't be a nuisance," Draco said, causing Scorpius to flush red with embarrassment.

Catching the awkward interaction, the woman laughed to herself. "Um, okay. I'll just leave you to your donuts. It's nice to meet you, Scorpius. And Draco … well. Sorry again about last night. Have a good one, yeah?" She turned to leave the hallway, carrying her purse on her shoulder. It seemed that she had somewhere to go.

"Wait, what's your name?" Scorpius called out.

The woman hesitated before leaving for the stairway. "It's Farrah!" She shouted back. "It's Arabic for joy, although I'm definitely not always joyful." Then she jotted down the stairs, snickering at her own joke.

Draco stared at the donuts and let out a relieved sigh that she was gone. "Finally. Throw those away, Scorpius."

"But dad, we don't have any food -"

"Now."

Scorpius whispered vile things underneath his breath. What was wrong with wanting to try these donuts? Why was his dad - who was supposedly open to his marriage with Rose - acting disrespectful to these muggles and their culture? The woman had shown them nothing but kindness. Scorpius made a pass towards the kitchen, as if he were to toss the donuts into the trash, but once Draco was out of his line of sight, he shrunk the donuts using a charm and with another wave of his wand, made them imperishable. One Scorpius entered his room, he pulled the donuts out of his pocket and bit into one. Tasting Rose's lips was usually his go-to description of heaven, but biting into the scrumptious, sugary delight that was an American donut felt like a close second.

"I had the weirdest night," Farrah said, picking at her salad. Alice, her best friend, leaned in across the table to grab a bite of Farrah's salad and listen more closely to her story. "I met the new neighbors last night. The guy, he was kind of rude - British and all that, so I'm not really surprised - his son was a delight though. But oh gosh; I told you about my patient that died yesterday? I was a mess. So I came home completely exhausted, and I accidentally tried to get into their apartment instead of mine. And when the guy opened his door, I apologized and cried … and it was three in the morning, so I don't blame him for being angry.

"Anyway, I went to my own apartment, sobbed on the couch, then went to the shower and scrubbed my body like six times over to get the hospital stench off of my skin. I'm telling you Alice, it was one of the worst nights of my life. I try not to get emotional about my patients, but it was just hard. So this morning, to apologize to the guy, I bought donuts. And not the cheap kind! I went to the specific donut place by the Charles River - yeah, you know which one I'm talking about, right? And this man, he did not even thank me. He was so rude. And it's like, I know I was rude to knock on his door and everything, but I was sorry! I cried! Do you think he's Islamophobic or something? Painfully awkward? Or just British? Help."

Alice munched on her arugula thoughtfully. Just as Farrah thought Alice was going to say something profound and useful, she let out an abrasive, "Is the dad cute?"

"Alice!" Farrah launched a clean napkin at her friend. "I'm serious. Help me." Alice raised her eyebrow. "But also, yes. He's really cute, you know, for a dark, gloomy, depressed and rude type of guy."

"Just my type," Alice said cheerfully. "When can I meet him?"

"You're coming over for dinner tonight, right? With your boyfriend? You can meet him then. Maybe I'll invite him and his son over for dinner, try to make them feel more welcome."

Alice rolled her eyes. "You know I'm joking, right? I love Dan. It's just nice to fantasize about other men every once in a while. Besides, maybe this new guy is meant for you." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Says the girl who doesn't like it when her boyfriend likes another girl's Instagram photos," Farrah joked. "Bring Dan, come to dinner tonight. I'll take care of the rest."

"Fine," Alice said defeatedly. Her face grew serious. "Are you okay, though? After yesterday in the hospital? I know I can't understand what it's like to be a doctor - I don't have to face anything like that as a chef - but I'm here for you, if you want to talk."

"I'm good." Farrah sent her friend a grateful smile. "Just keep cooking for me."

"Of course, babe. Speaking of which, what should I bring to the dinner tonight?"

There was a poetic, orange glow from the afternoon sunlight that had set upon her skin. Narcissa, who loved any opportunity to admire her reflection, was besotted with the way she looked underneath this light. She situated herself so that when Lucius re-entered the bedroom, he would find her draped elegantly in her robes underneath the window, and hopefully, they would … well. That much was clear. During the time of the Dark Lord, the only happiness in Narcissa's life was Draco. She focused all of her energy on buying him sweets and writing him letters and listening to him rant about Potter and his mudblood - sorry, Muggleborn - friend Granger. Now that the Dark Lord was gone, and Draco had married, and Astoria had given birth to Scorpius, all of Narcissa's time was consumed by patching up her relationship with Lucius. The two of them loved each other dearly then, but they had forgotten the meaning of romance. Everything was about survival.

Suddenly feeling solemn, remembering the second wizarding war, Narcissa picked herself off the ground and moved away from the window, allowing the darker shadows in the room to overtake her. She laid on the bed in a very unlady-like way. Tears overtook her, and Narcissa hated how vulnerable she felt. She was a strong woman! She had lied to the Dark Lord, to his face, and successfully protected Draco from having to kill his headmaster by enlisting the help of Severus … who was dead. And her heart ached for her dear sister, Andromeda … it had been too long since they had spoken.

Narcissa reached for her wand, and with a delicate switch, retrieved a piece of parchment from a desk in the bedroom. This parchment was strange looking. It wasn't aged - it was a stark white, and oddly symmetrical. Narcissa hummed to herself, wiping away her tears. Although muggles were inferior in every possible way, at least their parchment was aesthetically pleasing. Using her wand, Narcissa penned a letter to Andromeda, knowing she would never send it. Narcissa had been doing this for years, since the war ended. She never sent the letters. She figured Andromeda would not want to see her, especially since she had her own beloved Teddy to take care of. Oh, how Narcissa longed to meet the boy! But no matter. Once she finished writing, Narcissa pocketed the letter, and stepped out of the bedroom to find her husband. She heard raised voices in the room outdoors and shook her head. Men. They loved to argue.

"You got us into this mess! Now, boy, you will find a way out of it!" Lucius yelled at Scorpius, his face turning an unattractive red.

"I'm sorry you're hungry, but I refuse to do things the wizard way! Grandfather, it's simply unethical to use our wands to steal food -"

"Your son is a bloody Hufflepuff!" Lucius bellowed to Draco. Draco paled and looked between his father and son.

"Father," Draco said in an attempt to calm his dad, "Scorpius and I will run out to find a means to get food. Please leave him; I will deal with him accordingly."

Lucius snorted, implying that Draco was soft on his son and wouldn't discipline him. Draco felt rage build inside of him.

"You have no right to -"

Knock knock.

Narcissa entered the main room just as the four of them heard the knock on the door. The Malfoys froze except for Draco, who grew far more exasperated.

"It better not be that bloody woman again!"

"Dad, be nice!" Scorpius sprinted to the door, making sure he could open it before his dad. "Hi, Madam Farrah! Pleased to see you again."

Farrah looked at him wearily. "No need for Madam. Just call me Farrah, please. Anyway, I was wondering if you and your dad would like to join some friends and I for dinner tonight? I know you're new to the neighborhood, so …"

"What is that ghastly thing she's wearing on her head?" Another voice spoke from inside. Farrah frowned and reached up to fix her headscarf, trying to place the voice she had just heard. It didn't sound like Draco. Instead, a third one of them popped out from behind the door. He was older than Draco and Scorpius - probably Draco's dad, Farrah surmised - and although his face was covered with tight wrinkles, he was still thoroughly attractive. Farrah knew her gaze lingered longer than necessary, because when she moved her eyes back to Draco, his eyebrow was raised.

"What do you want?" He asked curtly.

"You heard me. I'll cook for you all. My best friend's a chef, actually … but how many of you are there?"

"Draco, who is this … woman?" Narcissa asked, peering through the doorway. This time, Farrah's jaw did drop.

"Holy frick; is your whole family this hot? Jeez, talk about good genes."

The Malfoy clan was stunned. Finally, Narcissa broke it. "You … you dare?" She asked.

"Sorry if I offended you. It's the truth, though. You guys are attractive as hell. Anyway, dinner at my place in two hours? All of you are invited. Please, let me welcome you to Boston. Besides, my good friends are coming and you'll love them."

Lucius looked ready to explode at this point, but his stomach beat him to it by letting out a winding, gurgling sound. An amused smile danced on Farrah's lips. Before Narcissa or Draco or another one of the blonde grumps could decline her offer, she gave them a stout, "perfect! See you soon." Then she was off on her way, skipping merrily to her half of the hallway, and slammed her door shut with her typical American audacity.

"Draco," Narcissa started slowly, trying to maintain her composure, "You have a lot of explaining to do."

"You know, Farrah, you care way too much about making people like you," Dan commented as he set the table. "These neighbors have been nothing but rude to you; why do you care so much?"

Farrah walked past the dining table and tutted to herself, waiting until Dan walked back into the kitchen to fix the plate arrangement. As much as Farrah loved Dan as a friend and liked him for Alice, she couldn't help but be frustrated with his lack of eye for design. He had also folded his napkins into cheesy hearts, as if they were hosting a Valentine's Day party.

"Hey! Alice, Farrah ruined my hearts," Dan whimpered as he stepped back into the dining room to find his precious napkins gone. Alice shoved him aside, carrying two large pots of stew and rice.

"I have more important things to worry about, Dan. I love you, but I'm trying to find Farrah a husband."

"Alice!" Farrah exclaimed. "Could you please leave it alone? Nothing is going to happen! I've only talked to him once, and he's honestly quite rude. And he has a son! I'm sure he's older than I am."

Dan gave Farrah the once-over and shook his head. "You're almost thirty, though. It's not that big of an age gap. Besides, you said his family was weirdly young and hot, right? That kind of makes up for it."

"Shut up, all of you," Farrah said, aggressively placing new napkins onto the table. "I've got enough things to worry about."

A knock interrupted her thoughts. She smoothed her hands on her emerald sweater and walked to the door. Her four neighbors were dressed impeccably, each more attractive than the other. Behind her, Alice gasped for air. Dan couldn't even bring himself to be irritated that his girlfriend was ogling some other guy, because he was ogling the older Malfoys too. How?

"I approve," he whispered under his breath to Alice, who took his hand and squeezed it.

Farrah ushered the Malfoys into her dining room. She noticed that the oldest male - Draco's father - pulled a chair out for his wife before sitting down. Her heart melted slightly. She stared at the two of them wistfully before making her way around the table. Before she could sit down, she noticed Scorpius pulling her seat for her with a gallant smile. Scorpius had seen the look on Farrah's face many times … on his dad's face, since his mom died. It was a familiar expression of loneliness, and he hated it.

He let his thoughts wander to Rose. How was she back in England? Why hadn't she owled him back? Was she still angry with him? He missed being with her, sitting underneath the elegant dining room lights at this fancy table seating. Much like her dad, Rose Granger-Weasley loved to eat. He felt slightly guilty, thinking about eating all of this delicious, unfamiliar food without her. While Farrah ushered her friends - Dan and Alice - and poured everybody's drink, Scorpius observed his family. Lucius and Narcissa were sitting next to each other, holding hands underneath the table. They were staring at the food hungrily, which Scorpius found funny. His dad, on the other hand, was dead silent. He played with his Malfoy signet ring and refused to look up. Scorpius felt slightly embarrassed by his family. Why couldn't they do more to make Farrah feel appreciated? She had welcomed them into her home. None of them were talking. As the sound of clinking glass and water pouring ceased, Scorpius was hyper-aware of the tension in the air.

"This tastes great, Farrah," he commented. "How long did it take you to make this? How did you make this?"

"I made it, actually," the pretty brunette said. Alice; that was her name. She was wearing a revealing pink top, which made it hard for Scorpius to focus. Rose. Remember Rose, he told himself. He locked eyes with the boyfriend - Dan - and realized that he had been caught. Dan shot him a teasing wink. Scorpius looked away. The conversation died down again quickly.

"So, Draco - that's your name, right? Tell me, what's your situation? You know, with the wife?"

Everyone turned to look at Alice. Farrah was absolutely horrified and kicked Alice underneath the table. If Draco was silent before, he was practically dead now. His face didn't move an inch. After a few seconds of silence and Lucius and Narcissa exchanging glances, he crisply said one sentence. "She passed away about six years ago."

Everyone continued eating silently, unsure of what to say. Farrah, who was sitting across from Draco, reached out and grasped his hand in hers. Draco's eyes shot wide open, unaccustomed to blatant displays of affection. "I'm sorry, Draco. I can't imagine how hard that must be for you, for all of you."

Draco leaned in so close Farrah could feel his breath on her face. "Don't touch me again," he seethed. Then he tossed the napkin down on the table and stormed out of the apartment. The echo of his stomping bounced off of the thin apartment walls. For the second time in two days, Farrah burst into tears, and she ran out of the dining room to her bedroom.

"Jesus," Alice whispered underneath her breath. "I've never seen her so sensitive. She never cries."

The remaining Malfoys sat quietly, none of them daring to speak. Dan, the ever-clever marketing man, knew exactly what to say. "I'm sorry if she offended your boundaries. And for this awkward dinner. See, it's customary in America to provide comfort through physical means … and Farrah's usually not this sensitive either. It's been a tough week for her. She had a patient die on her yesterday."

The Malfoys listened to him, shocked. Finally, Narcissa spoke up for the first time, her melodic voice low and curious. "What do you mean, patient? Who passed away?"

Dan's brows connected in a puzzled expression. "She's a doctor."

Scorpius' mind scrambled for the right words. What was it they had learned in Muggle Studies back at Hogwarts? Ah. "She's a healer, grandmum." The two of them locked eyes, and Scorpius could've sworn that he saw a glint of appreciation in Narcissa's eyes.

"I see," Lucius drawled. "So she is so incompetent … that a patient passed away? Her responsibility?" His lip curled evilly.

Alice stood up, causing her water to spill. "I won't have you disrespecting my friend like that. She's a hard worker, and it wasn't her fault. She's the best doctor I've ever met. Apologize … or get the fuck out of her apartment."

Scorpius didn't stay to hear the rest. Humiliated, he ran out of the apartment and straight into his bedroom in their own apartment. He didn't bother to look for his dad or wait for Narcissa and Lucius. He shut his eyes, and fell asleep far earlier than he normally would, once again dreaming of Rose's face.

One of Farrah's favorite things about her Boston apartment was that it had a balcony. The building had a stream of balconies on each row that were so close to each other, that if one wanted to, they could climb from one balcony to another without fear of falling. The entrance of her balcony was from her bedroom. When Farrah finished crying in her bed, she walked towards the balcony and stepped outside, feeling the cold Boston breeze nip at her shoulders.

Flowers hung from the metal bars. They represented everything Farrah wanted from life but couldn't have. It was three years ago when she went to the gynecologist and was told she couldn't have children, and instead of crying, she sucked it up, drove to the local Wal-Mart, and bought a shit ton of seeds. She planted everything imaginable on her balcony, and they were now her babies. They were low maintenance too. Farrah would've gotten a pet, but she knew from experience that fish died easily, and she couldn't have that on her conscience. Plants were nice. They worked well with her doctor hours. They didn't do the same as having a kid … but they would do fine. Farrah strolled across her small balcony and fingered each flower petal, leaning in every once in a while to smell their sweet scent. While she was bent over a pot of hyacinths, a voice cut her out of her thoughts.

"Are you finished snogging your bloody plants?"

Farrah was immediately thankful she was holding on to the bars. Draco's voice had startled her to the point she might've fallen off the side of the balcony, as she was in a compromising position, hanging over the bars to smell her flowers. She turned aggressively to face him, and was held back briefly by the picture of how handsome he looked. His alabaster skin was slightly shining underneath the combination of moonlight and Boston streetlights. His hair hung loosely in front of his eyes, which even from her seat on the balcony, Farrah could see were a striking grey. Her insides turned to mush. When she finally settled on his curled-lip smirk, Farrah regained her anger. She inched towards the side of her balcony that met his and leaned over so she was in his bubble.

"You were rude to me, you know." She retorted. Draco had the audacity to look surprised, and afterwards, guilty.

"I know," he said so quietly, Farrah barely picked it up underneath the howling of the evening wind. Then he leaned forward so that he was on her side of his balcony. "I apologize. I have a proclivity for hurting those completely undeserving of my rudeness." He rubbed at his left arm, which Farrah noticed curiously.

He appeared so genuinely distraught in the moment, that Farrah could not help but forgive him. She thought back to all of her experiences in medicine … and then the other experiences outside of medicine, which she despised thinking about.

"Yeah. I get it. When you lose somebody … especially somebody you love, it feels like your whole world is ending. And then people try to offer their sympathies, but you just can't accept it, because what do they know? They don't know what you're going through. So … I accept your apology for being rude to me, because I was trying to help, but I can also understand that you're going through a lot. I can't imagine it's easy to lose your wife. It seems like you loved her a lot."

Draco ran his fingers through his hair, warming up to talking to the muggle woman. She was so earnest. "Yes, you're quite right. It is difficult, and a lot of people don't understand. I suppose I'm angrier about it because … well, never mind that. She gave me Scorpius though, and he is the greatest gift. There's nothing like the love of a child." Draco chuckled to himself quietly. "I understand now why mum used to spoil me so disgustingly when I was younger, at Hog - at school. She'd send me sweets every bloody day. For Scorpius, I would give the world."

He noticed that Farrah had grown quiet, which was unusual for her. At least, from what he could gather from only two days of knowing her, she was quite the talkative woman. "You've got an exceptional amount of plants, you know that?" She giggled.

"Yeah, I know. They're my babies, although I can't send them candy."

"Sweets, you mean," Draco amended.

"No. Candy."

The two continued to peer out into the night until Farrah spoke again.

"Sometimes it can get lonely in this big city, so if you're looking for a friend … you can have one in me, okay? I've got a busy schedule, so it might be hard for us to see each other, but I think you and I could get along pretty well. Besides, let's be honest. You and Scorpius know nothing about America."

Draco laughed at that. "We haven't even left our apartment yet … your assessment is correct."

"We'll have to change that," Farrah chimed. "Also, how were the donuts, by the way?"

Draco gulped, hoping she couldn't notice him in the darkness. "Quite delicious, actually … thank you."

Minutes passed before either of them spoke. Their peaceful silence was only shattered by the sound of Lucius, Narcissa, and Scorpius arguing inside of Draco's apartment. Farrah laughed and looked at him intentionally. "Good night, Draco. Good luck figuring it out."

"Good night," he said to her shadow as she slinked back into her apartment. Draco stepped inside his room, closing the balcony doors and locking it with his wand. He laid in his bed, watching the clouds cover the moon, until he finally drifted asleep and found himself facing Astoria once more.

Author's Notes:

Hey guys! Oh my gosh; I'm so grateful for the support this story has received so far. I haven't advertised it yet, so I'm surprised to have already gained three followers! Thank you, guys!

I'm really excited about writing this story. Like I mentioned earlier, it's going to be a long one, so brace yourselves! There will be fluffy moments, and there will be more serious moments. You'll see. Right now, though, we're still in the introductory phases.

Please do let me know what you guys think! I'd really appreciate your thoughts and comments!

Thanks again,

dreaminginsilver