Chapter 2

He didn't think it would take so much energy to keep a secret from his wife. And it will give you so much satisfaction. A smile appeared on Lucius Malfoy's face. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Narcissa standing right next to the fireplace. If he had stopped even for a moment, he would have seen the grimace of dissatisfaction on his wife's face.

xxx

She was drinking a cup of her afternoon tea with milk. Puzzled, she thought about her husband's changed behavior. It wasn't much of a difference, but her trained eye picked up an increasing number of small changes from his daily routine. He was thoughtful, absent-minded, sometimes irrationally excited. He locked himself in his office more often than before. His lonely trips off their property, so rare since the end of his house arrest, had become almost the rutine. She didn't know what to think about it. She was beginning to fear that her beloved had begun to seek fulfillment outside their marriage bed.

"What's going on mum?" - She looked at her son in surprise - "You look as if you were absent. At least in your thoughts."

She sighed, and after a few seconds of awkward silence, which she spent trying to regain her usual mask of indifference, she replied. "Draco, nothing happened. I just was thinking." - After a moment, she asked something she knew would distract her child. "I wonder what might have happened to Miss Granger. How long has it been?"

There was resignation in Draco's eyes. The extent of his sadness surprised the witch.

"It's been exactly fourteen days since the attack. Fourteen long days since I last saw her..." - The boy's eyes widened as if he realized what he had just said "...since she was last seen. Nobody knows what happened to her. No one knows who was behind the attack on the Golden Trio. Potter takes an extremely active part in the search for Hermione. At least that's what I heard from Blaise."

"Do you think he might still be alive?"

"She needs to come back to me..." - he murmured so quietly that she probably wasn't supposed to hear it - "Honestly? I'm afraid that she is dead. I saw how much blood there was, mum. I doubt anyone would survive that even if they took the blood-replenishing potion in time."

Narcissa with pain in her heart watched as her son's fingers tightened on the cup of coffee he was drinking. He held it so tightly that he was moments away from crushing the pottery in his hands.

xxx

Egg spread sandwiches, blueberry muffins, shortbread cookies, chocolate chip cookies… Despite the fact that on the platter standing on the table where they drank tea, there were only his favorite snacks, he couldn't focus on it. The only thing he thought about was the fact that this cheeky little Gryffindor had been standing in the kitchen all day instead of resting.

"How are you?" - he asked, wondering how to make her accept the house elf's help, he himself had little respect for them, but she could do what she wanted with hers.

"Much better. I'm still weak, but I don't know if it's more because of the healing wounds or because of the increasing morning sickness."

Lucius looked at the girl trying to remember what his wife looked like at this stage of pregnancy. It didn't take long for him to see a vision of Narcissa very different from her usual, perfect appearance. Sometimes he felt her current attention to detail stemmed from the loss of control she'd suffered during her pregnancy.

"I remember... Narcissa also suffered when we were expecting Draco. I was terrified because the mediwitch thought we were expecting a daughter. My father was furious. He believed that having a daughter indicated my wife's infidelity. After all, Malfoy men produce only boys."

The young witch tenderly placed her hand on her belly. He wanted to repeat the gesture but he wasn't sure if his action would be appreciated. Lucius knew he had many flaws, one of them was that he had a hard time dealing with rejection.

"I hope at least one of the babies will be a girl." - He could clearly see that Miss Granger had drifted off somewhere in her mind.

"It doesn't matter what gender they are. The most important thing is that they are healthy."

Until a few days ago, he wanted nothing to do with the bastards fathered by his son. However, when he saw the twins on the screen of something called an ultrasound, he couldn't deny the feeling that rose in his heart. At that moment, he understood that he would not be able to exclude them from his life.

"Thank you for what you just said." - Miss Granger abruptly stood up, then sat down almost immediately.

"What's happening?" - he asked worriedly.

"I got dizzy."

"Salazar, what have I got with you? How many times do I have to tell you that you need help? I can't live with you, but I can give you a house elf."

"Give a house elf? Like some fucking thing? We've already talked about this. I don't want to use them!"

Lucius clutched his temples. Hermione Granger was one of the most stubborn witches he knew. Her stubbornness and steadfastness in her views matched those that he had developed in his son over the years. If the children currently living in Miss Granger's womb inherit even a fraction of this trait, they will have a problem.

"Little lion cub. By give I meant delegating one of the elves working at Malfoy Manor."

"Do what you want, but pay this poor creature before you send it to me." - she muttered under her breath, defeated - "If she is in a similar condition to Dobby, I will castrate you personally."

"Are you in such a rush to see the next Malfoy's penis?" - he winked with a smile on his face.

"Merlin, LUCIUS!"

xxx

Meanwhile, on the floor where the Auror department of the British Ministry of Magic was located, someone was asking themselves one question over and over again. Harry Potter wondered how he had failed to protect his friend. Throughout history, he will be remembered as the one who defeated Tom Riddle twice despite having the support of his mother the first time and his friends the second time. Hermione was always by his side. Even when he pushed her away again and again.

He paced his office angrily, trying to organize the information he had collected. For the past year, he and his friends have received death threats. Only he, Ron, Hermione and the two Aurors who accompanied them knew about the route. Ron lost his forearm to a cutting spell. He himself was burned. Two Aurors died and Hermione disappeared.

What the hell happened there?

xxx

The first snow of the year fell today in the city where I live. This is another excerpt from the notes for this story. Regards, Katie Krum