Things were quiet at Malfoy manor; of course it was in due in part to the fact that it was a few hours past midnight. The master of the house was lying in bed, watching his wife sleep. The last week had been an exhausting one for them, and yet Lucius couldn't sleep.
He was thinking about the events of the past that had led to the wonderful things that had happened in the last few years. He didn't reminisce often, so he had decided to let his mind remember what it wanted too.
Towards the final battle of the second war with Voldemort the truth about the Malfoy men had came out. The wizarding world had been shocked to learn that both Lucius and Draco were spies for the Order of the Phoenix. What was even more surprising was that Lucius had been one prior to the first demise of Voldemort right along with Snape.
The only member of the family that had a true allegiance with the dark lord was Narcissa. She was never as insane as her sister Bella, but she was a very close second. She found out about her husband and son, and then ran to the dark lord to tell him all she'd learned. Luckily for them Voldemort had told Severus to take care of the "traitors" and then he went straight to Dumbledore who, of course, helped the Malfoy men.
Lucius smiled in the darkness as he moved a few strands of hair from his love's face. Because of Narcissa's actions he met a woman that meant the world to him, so while he still, to this day, hated his former wife, he was thankful for what she had done, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten to know her.
He and Draco had to stay at the Order's headquarters, along with a few other select members. One of those members was lying in the bed next to him. The other members were Potter, of course, his sidekick Weasley, and the brains of the bunch, Hermione Granger. The three had been sequestered inside the house since the day of their graduation from Hogwarts two years prior.
It took a while for the trio to trust the two newcomers but it eventually happened. Surprisingly it was Hermione who, after listening to Lucius' story, decided that they were telling the truth and made her two friends follow suit.
Leaning over her he gently brushed his lips against her forehead, sighing when she snuggled closer to his hard body. He fell in love with her gradually, so gradually in fact that it took Blaise Zabini flirting with her, before he realized that the urge he had to kill his son's best friend was simply because he had been hitting on the woman he loved.
He had walked over to the couple and warned Zabini off with a few well-hid threats. Turns out he was more obvious than he thought, because after he had walked away Hermione had followed him and a very loud confrontation ensued.
He still couldn't remember everything that she'd been shouting at him, because he had gotten distracted by the way her body moved, the way she enunciated words when she spoke, and the way her face lit up when he finally pulled her into his arms. He'd been shutting her up effectively ever since.
During the final battle Narcissa went after Hermione but she had underestimated the younger woman's abilities quite a bit. She'd barely gotten the "avada" out before Hermione had uttered the full curse and watched the surprise appear on the older woman's face before she suddenly fell backwards, dead. Soon after Potter killed Voldemort once and for all, with the help of Dumbledore, Snape, Hermione, Lupin and himself, which had ensured the end of the git for good.
Two weeks later he'd asked Hermione to marry him and she'd said yes. Two months later, every paper in the wizarding world had the wedding covered on the front page.
That had been three years ago. Almost a year and a half ago they'd suffered a miscarriage, which had devastated them. It took about a year for them to decide to try again. After Hermione had become pregnant again they hadn't told anyone until the mediwitch she saw told them she was past the danger point. A week later they had a family dinner and told everyone their good news at once. Complete and utter chaos had ensued, but they'd enjoyed it immensely.
That had been five months ago. Four days ago, Hermione had given birth to Arianna Elizabeth Malfoy. Lucius had surprised everyone by being with his wife for the entire birth; no one was more surprised than Draco. But Draco had been over to see Hermione and his sister everyday since.
Lucius knew his wife was still exhausted from being in labor almost thirty-two hours, so he was thankful the baby only woke once during the night to be changed and fed. He tried to help as much as possible but he had to wake Hermione up after changing Arianna for her to be fed.
Grinning, he walked through the connecting door into the nursery. Arianna was almost ready to start crying loudly when Lucius picked her up. She quieted immediately knowing who had her. He started to murmur quietly to her as he laid her on the changing table and undressed her. After changing her diaper he picked her up and snuggled her against his chest as he walked back into the bedroom. He found Hermione propped up against a few pillows smiling sleepily at him.
"I could have went and changed her." She said as Lucius handed her the baby and then stood watching as she unbuttoned the nightshirt she wore. She put the baby at her breast and gasped a little when she latched on.
Leaning down, he kissed her softly on the mouth then pushed a stray curl off her cheek before he walked around the bed and climbed in beside his small family. "I didn't want to wake you until it was necessary. Besides, you know I love to help with her." He replied as he ran his fingertips over the pale blonde hair his daughter inherited from him.
"I know. I'm so happy Lucius!" Hermione said as she looked up from their daughter. Lucius smiled softly as he noticed the tears that were pooling in her eyes. He wiped one away with his thumb before he slid his arm around her shoulders.
"I know, sweetheart, so am I."
THE END