Chapter Three: Graduations

Present Day:

Draco chuckled, shaking the memories into the back of his mind. He stood from the window seat and walked back over to the bed, his form reaching a good 6' 1". Gently, he reached down and brushed the hair off of his wife's ivory face, she smiled softly in her sleep. Draco hoped her dreams were pleasant. He froze however, hearing shifting and soft murmuring in the next room. Grabbing his wand, he bolted as silently as possible towards the noise, then chuckled after opening the door. "Mother, what are you doing up at this hour?" Narcissa Malfoy smiled up at her son.

"He was crying, so I warmed up a bottle for him." She replied from her seat at the edge of the crib. She motioned to the tiny little bundle in her arms and Draco merely chuckled again. "Mum, you shouldn't have gotten up for that. He's my job to take care of."

"Oh I know, but I remember holding you when you were this young, your father watching from the doorway…" She trailed off as another figure appeared in the room. "Speak of the devil." Narcissa grinned.

Lucius Malfoy strode into the room, nodding to his son and bending to kiss his wife on the cheek. His face was weathered and weary, as the past ten years had not been easy on him. Lucius had served a term of 5 years in Azkaban for his services to the Dark Lord, of whom none of the Malfoys followed anymore, their family having seen the error of their old ways when Draco had finished his years at Hogwarts.

Chuckling softly, Lucius levered his wife from her chair. "Come now Narcissa, leave young Thomas alone with his father." With that, Lucius handed the tiny baby over to Draco and led his wife from the room.

Draco looked down at his gurgling son and grinned. The young lad had Draco's eyes and his mother's ebony hair. The child was barely a year old, but Draco was still smitten with his son, Thomas Malfoy. Trying to be as silent as possible, Draco headed over to the rocking chair in the corner and sat down. Gently he began to rock his son until the gurgling had stopped and his tiny gray eyes had closed with sleep.

Though his young son was already sleeping soundly, Draco continued to rock back and forth, thought after thought filling his mind. He was thinking of his graduation party, after leaving Hogwarts and his father proudly denouncing the entire family from the Dark Lord's grasp.

Seven Years ago:

With a rush, the entirety of the Malfoy family and the very small portion of the Black family silenced themselves as their head of house, Lucius Malfoy stood and raised his goblet. "I am proud to announce, that while he did not reach status of Head Boy," Lucius gave a wink to his 17-year-old son Draco, who merely scowled playfully. "I am still very proud that he has successfully graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." The family roared with applause as Draco stood and took a bow. The young woman beside him clapping loudest of all.

"Now now Father, you've forgotten about the rest of my year-mates attending this party." Draco chuckled.

"Of course, how silly of me!" Lucius laughed heartily. One by one, the 17-year-olds stood as their host called out their names. "Crabbe, Goyle, Miss Parkinson of course. We are honoring several families here today." Lucius beamed at the cheering families of the former students. "And I think Miss Van Mihron deserves applause as well."

A roar came from a small section of grass where several witches and wizards were huddled, dressed in Bulgaria's colors. Aura's parents, aunts, uncles and even her younger brother had traveled to the Malfoy's manor to celebrate their daughter's graduation.

After the clapping and cheering had subsided, the teenagers were free to roam about the grounds, mingling and having fun at their own graduation party. Lucius and Narcissa, of course, headed over to greet the Van Mihron family. Aura was currently speaking in rapid Bulgarian to her father and her tiny younger brother was staring with immense interest at Lucius's snake-head cane. The blonde man grinned down at the little boy and handed the cane over.

It was then that Aura realized she had company. "Oh! Forgive him Mr. Malfoy." She smiled apologetically "Oh, thank Mr. Malfoy Aximoph for letting you play with his cane." Aura smiled down at her younger brother, who blushed and ducked his little head in a bow.

"Thank you Mister." He stated in a clear, proud voice. The adults around him chuckled, for the boy was no older than 4. He had the same ebony hair and pale skin as the rest of his family, but his eyes differed from his older sister's. Instead of a brilliant emerald green, they were a stunning sapphire. Narcissa merely beamed at the child and scooped him up.

"Oh aren't you precious!" She smiled as Aximoph giggled happily. "And what pretty eyes you have."

Lucius then turned his back on his wife and introduced himself to the couple standing before him. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He spoke clearly, in case they didn't understand very much English. It was the father that answered. His accent was thick, but he spoke surprisingly excellent English.

"Good evening Mr. Malfoy. It is also a pleasure to meet you. I am Cysero Van Mihron." The man held a hand out to Lucius and the two shared a friendly handshake. "This is my wife, Mishka." Lucius noticed that Mishka had the same blue eyes as Aximoph, and that Aura shared her green eyes with her father. He also noticed the fleeting glances Aura was making towards his own son and decided to help her out a bit by steering her family away to show them the grounds. The moment they were out of sight, Aura bolted for Draco's side.

Draco happily threw his arms about her and spun her around before setting her down to share a kiss. Aura merely laughed, returned his kiss and stuck her tongue out at Pansy. She still held a grudge against Aura for taking Draco from her, but Aura didn't care. She had her man and that was all that really mattered to her.

"Do you think our parents will get along?" Aura asked, worry hinting at the back of her emerald eyes. She didn't need to ask about Aximoph, since her little brother was already smitten with Draco's mother.

"I think our parents will get along beautifully." Draco assured her, smiling twinkling gray eyes at her. This was the girl he had given up a lot for. The power he would have gained joining Lord Voldemort. He still occasionally longed for that power, but those longings were quickly defeated by thoughts of Aura's smile. He had given up being a Death Eater, and though it was far too late to get his father out of trouble, Draco had convinced him that what they were doing couldn't possible do any good for them. That eventually, Voldemort would be defeated and they would be left to rot away in Azkaban if they didn't change their ways. Lucius was sentenced to 5 years in Azkaban in exchange for the names of powerful Death Eaters. He was currently still serving his sentence, but was allowed a day of freedom for his son's graduation party. He'd be returning to the wizard prison later that evening.

To Draco, the memory of the day he refused the Dark Arts still rang clear in his mind. He remembered telling Aura of his plans, of all the power they would soon gain. But he felt the sting of rejection when Aura refused to have anything more to do with him. She had even struck him across the face and simply refused to even look at him. Draco had thought he could move on, that he could return to Pansy and move on with his life, gaining the power he so deeply wanted. But he couldn't, he tried, but he could never get that ebony hair and those emerald green orbs out of his mind. The anger they held in their depths had haunted him until he swore to himself, his family and to Aura that he would never again dabble in the Dark Arts. He renounced all of his followings of the Dark Lord and even managed to convince most of his family that what they were doing was wrong. That their current lifestyle couldn't possibly hold a happy ending. And he was right.