Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Chapter 03
Malfoy closed the classroom door firmly behind him. He could feel the beginnings of a migraine forming at his temple as he looked at the girl and her mother. It was clear to him that the girl shared her mother's features – her curly hair, the shape of her eyes, nose and her sweet cupid bow lips. The child was a truly pretty and sweet looking princess – naturally, for she was a Malfoy, and there was no such thing as an ugly Malfoy, he smirked to himself.
"So," he drawled, attracting the attention of Granger who was struggling between ignoring the father of her child and highly curious about what he had to say about their predicament. "Looks like you eventually succumb to my devastating charms, huh?" he ended roguishly.
"In your dreams, Malfoy!" she snapped, turning away from the Slytherin and attempting to keep her growing blush down.
It was more than obvious to the two intelligent students what had happened – the girl must have somehow gotten transported back through time into their own time; which meant that sometime in the future, the two of them would… No, better not think about that now, they both thought simultaneously. Thinking about what would happen in future – in their future together would undoubtedly create more uncomfortable questions than satisfying answers.
The trio walked in silence for a while, with the little girl holding the hands of her parents, jump-skipping happily in-between them. Malfoy surreptitiously glanced at Hermione, who rigidly refused to acknowledge the Slytherin's presence. 'Typical Gyffindor reaction,' he smirked to himself.
"Well then, Princess, let's play a game," Draco smiled at the little girl, who beamed back at him in earnest. He noticed Hermione cutting her eyes over to him at his suggestion to the girl.
"Okay!"
"I'll ask you some questions, and you must answer them truthfully."
The girl nodded her head solemnly.
"If you answer them all correctly, you'll get a prize."
The girl grinned in anticipation. "Really, Daddy? Okay!"
"Are you ready, then?"
The girl nodded her head vigorously, sending her tousled golden ringlets flying.
"Good, first question. What is your name?"
The girl licked her lips the way Hermione often did when she faced a particularly tough question. "My name is Victoria Olivia Malfoy," she answered carefully and smiled with a sigh, glad that she knew the answer to that question. "Everyone calls me Vicky. Uncle Harry says that my name means we won the Great War, but nobody will tell me what prize we won. Oh, and… and… Mummy says that Olivia means peace," she scrunched her face as she said in sotto voce to her father, "but I don't really like Olivia because olives tastes yucky. Oh, and Sevvus calls me Belladonna."
Hermione stopped in her tracks at the girl's answer.
"We won the war?" she whispered, looking up to see Malfoy's reaction.
"Yes," Vicky affirmed with another vigorous nod of her curly head, "Sevvus said that I was born because we won. Sevvus said that when you married Daddy, there were many bad people in the world, and Daddy and you did not want children," she pouted prettily. "Then we won the war and then you had me," she grinned. This was one of Vicky's favourite bedtime story, which she took great pleasure in retelling.
Hermione stared at her nemesis blankly, attempting to take what the girl said in. So, they had married during the war, long before Victoria was born. Evidently, they had to have loved each other enough to consider marriage.
Draco was visibly stunned. So much for not thinking about their future. Victoria had not only foretold what would happen to them – get married! What was he thinking? – and that the Dark Lord, whom his father served, would be defeated.
Vicky turned back to her father and asked with a serious mien when she found her father was non-responsive, "Did I answer correctly, Daddy?"
Startled back into reality, Draco nodded.
"Er, yes, um… yes. Answered perfectly, Princess."
Vicky's eyes twinkled brightly and she graced her father with another sweet smile.
"Right then, Princess. Second question: How old are you?"
"That's easy! I'm five years old!" Vicky declared, removing her hands from her daddy's, and holding it up to show five tiny fingers. "And Xavier's three," she closed her index and thumb, leaving three fingers in the air.
"Xavier?" echoed Draco.
"My brother. And we are s'pose to have another brother at Christmas," the girl glanced at Hermione, a frown forming a worried look on her face. "Mummy, where did Xander go?" she pointed at Hermione's middle, to Hermione's great embarrassment.
Malfoy looked amused at Hermione's spluttering.
"Um… well… that is, um… Xander…" Hermione racked her brains for a plausible excuse, "um… Xander went to… went to… um Xander's gone for a short holiday!" she tousled Vicky's baby fine hair. "But he'll be back shortly."
Draco snorted at Hermione's excuse, earning him a short glare from the mirthless witch.
So, they not only got married, and have a daughter – they had two kids, with one on the way.
'Yup, that just about summed it up,' Draco thought wryly.
"Excellent answer, Princess," he praised the girl, who was enjoying the game immensely. Draco was delighted at the discomfited witch walking with them, who was worrying her lips in a blatant display of nerves. "Now for a tough one," the Slytherin returned to questioning his daughter, "Where do we live?"
"That's an easy one, Daddy!" she rolled her eyes. "We live in the Hogwarts dungeons, of course! Mummy teaches Potions and you teach Defence Against the Dark Arts and Sevvus don't teach anything – he just walks around a lot and takes points from the students and…" she trailed off, with yet another frown to her brow. "Why are you and Mummy wearing school uniforms?"
Draco smirked. "Well, Princess, we forgot to tell you this morning – today's a special 'Wear the Hogwarts Uniform Day'. Mummy—" he glanced at Hermione with a wink, who had rolled her eyes at the easy way he had woven a tale to distract the girl "—and Daddy has a set of Hogwarts Uniform just for you too… and you can put it on after visiting Madam Pomfrey at the Infirmary."
"Is that my prize?" Vicky whispered in an excited awe.
"It sure is, Princess!" he grinned at her, dropping to his knees to meet Victoria at her eye level.
Vicky gave a cry of delight and hugged Draco, almost knocking him into the ground. "Oh, thank you Daddy! I love you!" she kissed her surprised father elatedly.
Draco easily lifted up the child into his arms and smiled genuinely at her enthusiasm. Hermione shook her head at the way Draco would obviously spoil the child, and then suddenly stilled herself at the thought of Draco as the father of her children. Hermione felt her world shift under her feet. It was not likely that Draco would be a cold and aloof father, if Victoria was so willing to bestow her eagerness to please and smiles and hugs on that… that albino ferret! If anything, Victoria seemed to genuinely love her Daddy… and unless she was sorely mistaken, Malfoy seemed to be taken with her as well. She had never seen her nemesis so open with another person, as he'd always chosen to smirk, sneer or drawl his way through his social interactions. Hmm… all the same, there were a great many details revealed by Victoria and she had to file all those bits of information away to think upon later.
"Ah, Princess," Malfoy tapped his finger on his daughter's button nose, "but you haven't finished answering all my questions yet."
"But I said we live in the Hogwarts Dungeons… but not all the time. We stay at Grandfather's house in the summer where Grandfather would take me flying on his broomstick and Grandmother would bring me shopping at Diagon Alley. We also visit Grandpa's house in London and I get to play with Grandpa and Grandma's dentist thingies. But I like Hogwarts best of all because Sevvus is here."
"Sevvus?" the young man prompted, with a twinkle in his eye.
"Sevvus is my Godpapa, of course! He's the bestest Godpapa in the whole wide world," was the earnest reply.
"Indeed," her father replied with an elegantly raised eyebrow, while her mother filed yet another tidbit to her evergrowing pile of 'weird things to ponder on'.
The family turned into another corridor and Malfoy asked another question.
"Good answers, Princess. Ready for your next question?"
At her nod, Draco asked, "Where were you before you woke up?"
Vicky cast her eye downwards and glanced fearfully at her mother. "I was… I was… I'm sorry, Mummy. I know I wasn't s'pose to touch Sevvus' thingies, but..." The girl took a deep breath and looked determined to tell what would obviously get her into a great deal of trouble. "I was looking for Sevvus in his office, but he wasn't there. So I looked into his cupboard. Then I saw the golden thingy and when I touched it, it became dark and then I woke up and I can't find anybody. I'm sorry Mummy, I really am!"
Victoria looked so sorry and miserable that Hermione's heart went out to her. Unconsciously, Hermione lifted her arms and Vicky transferred herself from her father's arms to her mother's. Vicky gave her mother a fierce hug and started sobbing quietly into her shoulders, whilst Hermione stroke and patted her back. "There, there, love. I know you are sorry. You know you shouldn't go touching magical objects – there's no telling what they'll do to you," she admonished the girl gently. "That's enough, dear. You're safe," she whispered more soft comforting nonsense to Vicky and the child calmed herself once more.
Draco observed the way the girls interacted surreptitiously. He had a strange mixed feeling about all that Victoria had revealed. Surely this warranted much thinking; after all, Ars Potents Est was not one of the Malfoy Family Creed for nothing – what more fore-knowledge.
"Vicky?" whispered Hermione when she felt the child slumped heavily against her. Victoria had fallen asleep, knackered out by the emotional upheaval of the day.
"Here, let me take her," Malfoy offered, stepping close to mother and daughter.
Just as Malfoy reached out to carry up the sleeping child, the girl in question started to fade away.
*********
TBC.
Ars Potents Est: Knowledge is Power
(My primary school's Motto *wink*)