Disclaimer: I do not own any original Harry Potter characters. Sniff sniff.
Claimer: I own Jack Harry Arthur Potter, Robert Clegg, Victoria Fitzsimmons, Amy, Maxmillian Xavier Black, and the entire 'de Varci' family.
This story is being used for entertainment purposes only, no money is being made and no violation of copyright intended.
Read, enjoy, and review!!! *****************************************************************
This chapter is dedicated to Charlotte and her wardrobe of all-black clothes. **************************************************************
It was very early in the morning, about three a.m. Draco had been sitting in the same chair by Max's bed all night and showed no intention of moving. Hermione had pretty much left him alone, just coming in every hour to check on Max's progress before going back to Amy's office to send more owls to the Ministry about Draco getting custody.
Draco's face was pale, as usual, but there were deep shadows under his eyes that hadn't always been there. And Hermione could see old scars on his forearms that she had never seen before. He had regained his usual calm façade, and watched Max's sleeping face without movement.
Finally, Hermione couldn't take it any more. She came into the room, and pulled up a chair beside Draco.
"What happened?" she asked, looking straight at him. He didn't look away or attempt to change the subject.
"Which scar?" he asked hollowly.
"All of them." She replied.
"Lucius." He said simply.
"How could someone do that to his own son?" Hermione asked, remembering when he had told her about his fellow Slytherin schoolmates and their abusive parents.
"That's why I want to know. I could never, ever hurt Max. Which is why as soon as I can I'm tracking down 'Robert' and kicking his ass from here to-"
"Draco, Robert's in jail. There's nothing we can do. He's done enough, he'll be punished for it."
"Fine. That's Robert screwed. But what about Max? If he's anything like me, he'll have nightmares for years. He'll be horrible to other kids and stay in his own little shell away from the world. I don't want that for him. He's far too young, he's only two."
"So he is. Maybe he'll forget, Draco."
"Well what if one day he's looking at photos and says 'Hey, Dad, why are there no pictures of my second birthday?' Then I'll have to tell him he spent that birthday with his mother and her good-for-nothing husband. You know, I sent him presents that day? Some toys and some kids' quidditch robes like he really wanted? And they sent them back to me, unopened. Every single one. Even the card." Draco said, pounding his fist into his palm.
"Max is here now, he's with you, he's safe." Hermione reassured him. Just then, Max stirred and is eyes fluttered open. Faster than anything, Draco was kneeling by the side of the bed.
"Max? Can you hear me?" he asked softly.
"Daddy." Max said, a tear running down his face.
"Are you okay? Does anything hurt?" Draco asked.
"No. But I don't want to go and live with Mummy and him! I want to stay with you!" Max cried.
"You will. It's fine. I won't let anyone take you from me ever, ever again. And if you need anything I'll be here." Draco said, stroking his son's hair gently. Hermione slipped out of the room to get Amy who needed to check Max over once again in case Hermione had missed anything. After Amy had gone through everything thoroughly, she went away and a hospital representative came in sheepishly.
"Mr. Malfoy? Would you mind if I asked you and your son some questions for evidence against Mr. Clegg in the custody case?" She asked quietly.
"Maybe in the morning. My son is very tired and upset and I think it would be best if-"
"Please, Mr. Malfoy, it will only take a few minutes. Then I can have the paperwork on its way to Headquarters and the custody papers could be filed by lunchtime."
"Maxy, can you answer some questions that this lady asks you?" Draco said to his son, wiping the tears carefully off Max's face. Max nodded.
"Should I leave?" Hermione asked Draco.
"If you don't mind staying, it's always good to have a witness." Draco replied. She stayed.
The representative, whose name was Victoria Fitzsimmons, asked Max a few questions such as who hit him (Robert) with what (a belt buckle) when (every night) whether he hit Cendrillon too (yes) if it was true that Cendrillon was expecting a child (yes) did he know how long it would be until the baby was born (no) where had the family been living (somewhere in the country) was Cendrillon nice to him (yes) and why had he chosen to live with his mother in the first place? Max thought hard before answering the last question.
"I just wanted to know what it was like to have a Mummy. I didn't know it would be forever. I missed Daddy a lot." He said finally. After asking Draco a little about his marriage, the representative packed up her things and left. Hermione started to feel slightly dizzy for some reason. Draco noticed her expression as he glanced over.
"Are you okay?" He asked. She nodded, not wanting to force herself into the spotlight.
"Just tired. I'm going to go home now, but I'll be back in the morning." She said, getting up.
"Thank you." Draco said as she made for the door. She turned, confused, one hand on the wall for support.
"What for?"
"Everything." He said. Hermione shrugged and went out of the room, dragging herself up to Amy's office where her wand was. Amy looked up for her desk where she was looking at a book. She never seemed to get tired, even though she worked one of the longest shifts in the hospital.
"Coffee?" Amy offered as Hermione lowered herself into a chair.
"No thanks." Hermione replied, trying to fight back waves of nausea.
"Want me to run a check on you? No offense, but you look pretty bad." Amy chirped. Hermione hated her perkiness.
"Yeah, sure. It's nothing big probably." Hermione grumbled. Amy muttered an incantation and there was an orange glow of light. She squealed and enveloped Hermione in a huge hug, knocking all the air out of her.
"What?" Hermione asked, hand firmly over mouth.
"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?" Amy asked. Hermione's brain went numb, her limbs went weak.
Pregnant. The often anticipated, often dreaded word. She should have known. Vague recollections of that drunken night with Dean played back in her mind, the fumbled passion in his apartment. Amy noticed her glazed expression.
"Oh god. This isn't good news, is it?" she asked gravely. Hermione turned on her, full glare.
"Ten points to you! You win the game!" She yelled. This wasn't happening. Not to her. What would her parents say? It wouldn't matter, since she had lost contact with them after the final battle, but still. What about her job? And her apartment? She couldn't share with Lavender if a baby was involved.
The decision was an easy one. She was having an abortion.
*******************************************
OK, guys, I know the story is going really fast but I am soo jetlagged right now and it's taken me an hour to write this.
sweet_me- I didn't have a big reason for making Max choose Cendrillon over Draco. It just made the plot thicken slightly.
etlan red - I agree. Like I said above, the story is going way fast. But I have no energy right now to write a long and angsty chapter about Draco missing Max. I already had most of the last chapter done and right now I'm just completely out of it. I'm really sorry.
Summery-ice – the hot guys were English guys, from my brother school, but they were in Canada with my school on the joint school ski trip. Five or six of them were soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo FIT. Esp. Y and M. I won't say their real names online in case my friends read this.
Alright, yawl. Peace.
Claimer: I own Jack Harry Arthur Potter, Robert Clegg, Victoria Fitzsimmons, Amy, Maxmillian Xavier Black, and the entire 'de Varci' family.
This story is being used for entertainment purposes only, no money is being made and no violation of copyright intended.
Read, enjoy, and review!!! *****************************************************************
This chapter is dedicated to Charlotte and her wardrobe of all-black clothes. **************************************************************
It was very early in the morning, about three a.m. Draco had been sitting in the same chair by Max's bed all night and showed no intention of moving. Hermione had pretty much left him alone, just coming in every hour to check on Max's progress before going back to Amy's office to send more owls to the Ministry about Draco getting custody.
Draco's face was pale, as usual, but there were deep shadows under his eyes that hadn't always been there. And Hermione could see old scars on his forearms that she had never seen before. He had regained his usual calm façade, and watched Max's sleeping face without movement.
Finally, Hermione couldn't take it any more. She came into the room, and pulled up a chair beside Draco.
"What happened?" she asked, looking straight at him. He didn't look away or attempt to change the subject.
"Which scar?" he asked hollowly.
"All of them." She replied.
"Lucius." He said simply.
"How could someone do that to his own son?" Hermione asked, remembering when he had told her about his fellow Slytherin schoolmates and their abusive parents.
"That's why I want to know. I could never, ever hurt Max. Which is why as soon as I can I'm tracking down 'Robert' and kicking his ass from here to-"
"Draco, Robert's in jail. There's nothing we can do. He's done enough, he'll be punished for it."
"Fine. That's Robert screwed. But what about Max? If he's anything like me, he'll have nightmares for years. He'll be horrible to other kids and stay in his own little shell away from the world. I don't want that for him. He's far too young, he's only two."
"So he is. Maybe he'll forget, Draco."
"Well what if one day he's looking at photos and says 'Hey, Dad, why are there no pictures of my second birthday?' Then I'll have to tell him he spent that birthday with his mother and her good-for-nothing husband. You know, I sent him presents that day? Some toys and some kids' quidditch robes like he really wanted? And they sent them back to me, unopened. Every single one. Even the card." Draco said, pounding his fist into his palm.
"Max is here now, he's with you, he's safe." Hermione reassured him. Just then, Max stirred and is eyes fluttered open. Faster than anything, Draco was kneeling by the side of the bed.
"Max? Can you hear me?" he asked softly.
"Daddy." Max said, a tear running down his face.
"Are you okay? Does anything hurt?" Draco asked.
"No. But I don't want to go and live with Mummy and him! I want to stay with you!" Max cried.
"You will. It's fine. I won't let anyone take you from me ever, ever again. And if you need anything I'll be here." Draco said, stroking his son's hair gently. Hermione slipped out of the room to get Amy who needed to check Max over once again in case Hermione had missed anything. After Amy had gone through everything thoroughly, she went away and a hospital representative came in sheepishly.
"Mr. Malfoy? Would you mind if I asked you and your son some questions for evidence against Mr. Clegg in the custody case?" She asked quietly.
"Maybe in the morning. My son is very tired and upset and I think it would be best if-"
"Please, Mr. Malfoy, it will only take a few minutes. Then I can have the paperwork on its way to Headquarters and the custody papers could be filed by lunchtime."
"Maxy, can you answer some questions that this lady asks you?" Draco said to his son, wiping the tears carefully off Max's face. Max nodded.
"Should I leave?" Hermione asked Draco.
"If you don't mind staying, it's always good to have a witness." Draco replied. She stayed.
The representative, whose name was Victoria Fitzsimmons, asked Max a few questions such as who hit him (Robert) with what (a belt buckle) when (every night) whether he hit Cendrillon too (yes) if it was true that Cendrillon was expecting a child (yes) did he know how long it would be until the baby was born (no) where had the family been living (somewhere in the country) was Cendrillon nice to him (yes) and why had he chosen to live with his mother in the first place? Max thought hard before answering the last question.
"I just wanted to know what it was like to have a Mummy. I didn't know it would be forever. I missed Daddy a lot." He said finally. After asking Draco a little about his marriage, the representative packed up her things and left. Hermione started to feel slightly dizzy for some reason. Draco noticed her expression as he glanced over.
"Are you okay?" He asked. She nodded, not wanting to force herself into the spotlight.
"Just tired. I'm going to go home now, but I'll be back in the morning." She said, getting up.
"Thank you." Draco said as she made for the door. She turned, confused, one hand on the wall for support.
"What for?"
"Everything." He said. Hermione shrugged and went out of the room, dragging herself up to Amy's office where her wand was. Amy looked up for her desk where she was looking at a book. She never seemed to get tired, even though she worked one of the longest shifts in the hospital.
"Coffee?" Amy offered as Hermione lowered herself into a chair.
"No thanks." Hermione replied, trying to fight back waves of nausea.
"Want me to run a check on you? No offense, but you look pretty bad." Amy chirped. Hermione hated her perkiness.
"Yeah, sure. It's nothing big probably." Hermione grumbled. Amy muttered an incantation and there was an orange glow of light. She squealed and enveloped Hermione in a huge hug, knocking all the air out of her.
"What?" Hermione asked, hand firmly over mouth.
"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?" Amy asked. Hermione's brain went numb, her limbs went weak.
Pregnant. The often anticipated, often dreaded word. She should have known. Vague recollections of that drunken night with Dean played back in her mind, the fumbled passion in his apartment. Amy noticed her glazed expression.
"Oh god. This isn't good news, is it?" she asked gravely. Hermione turned on her, full glare.
"Ten points to you! You win the game!" She yelled. This wasn't happening. Not to her. What would her parents say? It wouldn't matter, since she had lost contact with them after the final battle, but still. What about her job? And her apartment? She couldn't share with Lavender if a baby was involved.
The decision was an easy one. She was having an abortion.
*******************************************
OK, guys, I know the story is going really fast but I am soo jetlagged right now and it's taken me an hour to write this.
sweet_me- I didn't have a big reason for making Max choose Cendrillon over Draco. It just made the plot thicken slightly.
etlan red - I agree. Like I said above, the story is going way fast. But I have no energy right now to write a long and angsty chapter about Draco missing Max. I already had most of the last chapter done and right now I'm just completely out of it. I'm really sorry.
Summery-ice – the hot guys were English guys, from my brother school, but they were in Canada with my school on the joint school ski trip. Five or six of them were soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo FIT. Esp. Y and M. I won't say their real names online in case my friends read this.
Alright, yawl. Peace.