It didn't take very long for the Dark Lord to reconfigure the wizarding world. He already had many followers all over the planet, spanning every continent and they took the roles delegated to them. Muggles had begun to notice the magical activity for years now and a new terror swept across them as they were uprooted from their lives and treated as vermin by the wizards and witches in the area.
Not all were mean, of course. There were some who survived from the Order side and were forced to adapt to the ways of Voldemort. Those who were loyal to the Dark Lord were rewarded beyond their wildest dreams. The Malfoys most prominently so.
Once Draco was better, he was given the highest honors as Voldemort's right hand man. He and Rachel were well rewarded and given one of the bigger castles in England to live in together with their pick of some of the most able servants. The senior Malfoys, Lucius and Narcissa were also given a grand castle not too far away, as were the Lestranges.
Although there had been so much hatred for their opposition, Rachel insisted on the proper burials of Order members who died in battle- mostly for the benefit of her uncle, Sirius. She still held the same love and respect for him, even though they were against each other in battle. He and Remus lived in Rachel and Draco's new home, as both were stricken with grief for their lost loved ones. She didn't have the heart to turn Lupin away- he was the last of her Uncle's good friends and had always treated her civil by comparison to the others. Grimmuald place and all of the other Black heirlooms were given to Rachel, including her Aunt Andromeda's former home in France.
"Morning all," Rachel had just come down to breakfast and joined the three men in the breakfast room. "I apologize for my tardiness." She held up a halting hand to them as they went to stand, as was the custom when a lady enters.
"Good morning Love," Draco kissed her cheek as she took the seat next to him at the beautifully carved rowan table. "Sleep well?"
""Extremely." She smirked at him. "Uncle, Remus, how are you this morning?"
"Fine, Rachel," Remus' smile was very strained and she felt a newly familiar heavy feeling in her chest. "Just fine."
"Good." Draco sipped his coffee, his face forming in the now-familiar elegant smile. He had been using that smile more and more frequently with their new houseguests. It was hard to be nice to them so he settled for polite and aristocratic, something he had a lot of practice in during his life. "I would hate to have any guests of my house unhappy."
"Darling, they are not guests so much as they are family." Rachel kicked her husband under the table, mentally scolding him for his lapse in respectful demeanor. Your tone is not appreciated.
"Of course," Draco kept his strange smile on. "How could I think otherwise?"
"What kept you so long, Rachel?" Sirius asked between bites of toast.
"Morning sickness," She scowled. "It is quite irritating!"
"I'm sorry for that, Love." Draco pat her hand in a sympathetic gesture.
"You should be!" She slapped his hand away. "It's all YOUR fault you horny bastard!" She crossed her arms. Draco blanched a bit as Sirius and Remus snorted into their own mugs of coffee.
"It is NOT my fault!" Draco stupidly argued back. "I wasn't the one who drank the potion."
"No, but you're the one that slipped it into my tea!" Draco scowled at her response.
"I was acting under direct orders from…"
"I don't care if a giant hippopotamus threatened to do the cancan on your face! That was a DIRTY and UNDERHANDED thing to do…Actually, thinking about it, it is kind of a turn-on…" The men all scowled. Rachel was more than a little insane to begin with, factor in pregnancy hormones and she was hilariously dangerous.
"I think I will take a walk in the gardens…" Sirius hurriedly excused himself.
"And I think I will join you, Padfoot old friend…" Remus followed.
"Rachel, are you alright?" Draco asked in what he hoped was a soothing voice.
"No everything is not alright!" She shrieked. "My feet are swollen and my stomach hurts and I'm FAT!"
"You're not…" He began.
"And it is all YOUR FAULT! YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU!" She scowled and kicked one of the table legs. "OUCH!" She started to wail.
"How long until this phase is over…?" He held his head in exasperation.
"For NINE MONTHS I get to be a raging bitch and a crybaby and a hyper freak and there is NOTHING you can do about it!" She stuck out her tongue. "And I cannot be blamed for a single thing in my state." Draco scowled at her. "Now rub my feet."
