Sleeping with the enemy

By Kat Potter

Chapter One: Unexpected

One Draco Malfoy walked into Diagon Alley for the first time in ten years. He leisurely strolled through the crowded streets, taking the time to enjoy the sights and sounds. He hadn't realized he missed Britain so much until he actually got back here. When he had had enough of looking around he headed towards Florean Fortesce's for a vanilla ice cream. One of Draco's secret pleasures in life was vanilla ice cream. When he had been a child his parents had had to buy him an ever-filling cool box, perpetually filled with vanilla ice cream. And Florean Fortescue had the best vanilla ice cream he had ever tasted. It was practically orgasmic. So having gotten the biggest cone of ice cream they had, he sat down outside the shop to enjoy an ice cream when he saw a familiar face.

Blaise Zabini was walking towards him, a little girl with his nose holding his hand. Draco was considering waving him over when he spotted him and briskly walked towards him.

"Well, well, as I live and breathe, Draco Malfoy has decided to grace us with his presence. I see you're still your same perfectly-coifed self," Blaise grinned at him.

"And I see you're still your same stupid-joke-cracking self," He grinned back.

"Well, what can I say, it's in my nature."

"So, who's the kid?" Draco jerked his head toward the little girl trying to hide behind Blaise's legs.

"Draco Malfoy, meet Vanessa Zabini. She's my daughter." He squatted down and picked the little girl up. "Sweetie, this is Draco, he went to Hogwarts with daddy."

"So, I see you ended up marrying Daphne. She looks a lot like her mother. She's just as beautiful. How is Daphne anyhow?" asked politely.

"Draco Malfoy, don't you dare try to seduce my wife away from me," said Blaise with a not-quite-evil grin on his face.

Draco scoffed. "You know perfectly well that I am firmly on the other side of the fence. If anything, she should be worried I was trying to steal you."

"Speaking of wives," remarked Blaise, "where is that witch of yours?"

Draco got a tight look on his face. "She…passed away."

Blaise looked shocked. "Oh Merlin, Draco I'm so sorry. What happened?"

"She got cancer. In the breast. Seems wizards aren't immune to muggle diseases." Draco swallowed tightly.

Blaise sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug. "I know neither of you was interested in the other sexually, but I could tell you were fond of each other. And you're obviously still hurting." He felt Draco sniff into his shoulder. Merlin forbid a Malfoy show some real feeling. "Tell you what, why don't you come over and have dinner sometime this week. Whenever you feel like it. And I saw your godfather in the apothecary a few minutes ago, I bet he's still there. Why don't you go and see him. I know he misses you a lot."

Draco sat up and surreptitiously and grinned weakly at him. "Thanks, Blaise. I'll do just that." He stood up, ice cream forgotten. "And don't think I won't take you up on dinner."

"Good," he replied. "I'm counting on it." He picked up his daughter and walked down the street. Draco decided that Blaise had the right idea and headed towards the apothecary. There he found his godfather lurking between the shelves, looking at the various rather nasty looking and most likely deadly ingredients.

"Hello, Severus."

The tall, imposing man whirled around in surprise. "Draco! You're back!" And much to Draco's surprise, he was enveloped in a tight hug from the man he had come to think of as a father figure in his teens.

"You're looking well," said Draco, his usual composure back in place.

"Yes, life has been treating me well after the war," he answered.

"So, have you finally found a little wife to massage your smelly feet when you come home tired in the evening?" Draco asked with a smirk. He knew perfectly well that Snape was rather old fashioned when it came to wife material.

"Oh, yes," the man answered, a strange glint coming to his eyes. "In fact, why don't you come home with me for tea? You can meet my little housewife and we can catch up a bit."

"That would be splendid," he replied. "I have to meet the unfortunate sod that ended up with you."

"Very funny. Even if I am your godfather, I can still hex you all I want."

"Fine, fine, I'll play nice."

"I'll be along in a minute. I just need to grab a few more things."

Draco waited by the entrance, pondering his life and other things appropriate for a Malfoy to ponder until Severus returned and they headed towards the Leaky Cauldron to floo to his home.

.:oOo:.

When Draco stepped out of the floo after Severus, he saw a timid little creature with a mop of black hair taking Severus' coat. He barely heard the muttered "relego" before the coat disappeared. Then Snape pushed his spouse forward in what Draco could in no way think of as loving, and said with a satisfied smirk on his face, "Draco, meet my little housewife, Harry Snape, née Potter." The eyes that had apparently been very interested in a spot on the carpet flicked up to look into his for a moment. Draco barely had time to register the vivid green eyes that he had once been very familiar with before they returned to scrutinizing the carpet.

"Pleased to meet you," he murmured.

Draco lifted an eyebrow. "Surely you remember your rival from school Potter? I hope the war hasn't addled your brains, since you didn't really have a lot of them to begin with," he drawled with a smirk to cover up his shock at seeing this man reduced to something quite opposite of what he had been when Draco had last seen him.

Harry's head shot up and stared at his old classmate. Then as if realizing he had committed some kind of horrible social blunder, swiftly returned his gaze toward the carpet. "It's nice to meet you again, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco could see Severus' hand squeezing Harry's shoulder quite tightly, though he spoke in a most normal tone of voice.

"Why don't we adjourn to the parlor, Draco? Harry can serve us tea in there."

Severus walked off into the house with Harry following meekly after him. Draco stared for a moment at the very strange couple before following them. They walked through the halls of what was obviously a large, old house, which had most likely been in Snape's family for decades, if not centuries. They came to a small, comfortable looking parlor, obviously intended for casual guests. While Snape sat down in a plush looking chair, Harry shuffled through a door at the side of the room; to make tea Draco guessed, though why the house-elves didn't do it was puzzling. Draco sat himself down in a chair across from Snape.

"So," began Snape, "what have you been doing with yourself after you up and left?"

Draco settled back in his chair. "Well, Pansy and I decided that moving somewhere warm would be the ticket and ended up in the south of France, in Nice, actually, very quaint town. We raised our son there, so you'll excuse if he has a bit of a French accent. He'll probably lose it after a while, that is assuming we stay here."

"Yes, I think Pansy sent me a picture of him a long with one of the very few letters ever sent, a few years ago," Severus said with a pointed look. Draco looked a tad guilty for a moment. "Gavin was his name, wasn't it?"

"Yes, he's the light of my life, especially after Pansy…" he forced down a swallow. Snape looked as if he might actually be considering go over to his godson and consoling him when Harry walked in with a tray filled with a teapot, teacups and all other essential tea paraphernalia.

They looked over at him, watching him coming over to them. Draco realized a split second to late that the corner of the rug was turned over and was likely to trip Harry, which it did, sending the whole tray and its contents flying across the room, only to land on the floor with an almighty crash. Harry stared across the room at the mess with a horrified look on his face for a couple of seconds before hurriedly scurrying over to pick up the shards of broken pottery. Draco made to go over and help him but Snape waved him away and stalked over to where Harry was crouched down. With a flick of his wand the mess was gone and he grabbed Harry none too gently by the arm and proceeded with him towards the door from which Harry had come.

"Excuse us, Draco, I need a word with my husband here," Severus practically snarled out.

Draco realized that a silencing spell had been thrown up when the door didn't make any noise when it was practically slammed shut. What fucking alternate reality have I landed in! My godfather is married to the previous bane of his existence, who is looking more and more like a cowed and beaten housewife as the seconds go by and for some reason everyone is ok with this? He sighed and rubbed his temples. I so don't need this right now. But I'll never live with myself if I don't find out what's happening behind that door.

So, using a very handy spell that he had learned during the war, and had saved his life before he left, he proceeded to spy on the happy couple. As he muttered "aucupium Harry Snape" a small sphere appeared before him and he could see perfectly what was happening in the small room next to him.

Snape was standing over Harry, who was a quivering heap on the floor. Snape grabbed him roughly by the arm and hauled him up, only to slap him so hard that Harry head snapped to the side.

"You fucking, stupid whore!" Snape yelled at him. "Why the fuck can't you do anything right? All you had to fucking do was serve tea to my godson and you can't even fucking do that right!" Snape grabbed him by his throat, to Draco's horror, and Harry only looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Now, get in there and do it right this time or Merlin help me, you'll be sorry." He roughly pushed Harry away who stumbled a bit before wheezing, "Yes, sir."

Snape brushed past him and Draco barely had time to cancel the spell before Snape appeared again, looking as if he hadn't just been squeezing the life out of his spouse.

"Sorry about that, he'll be back in here in a few minutes with some tea," he said with his usual air of composure.

"Quite alright," Draco answered, trying to hold on to his own composure. "So, have you thought of getting any of those male fertility potions?" Where the hell did that come from?

Snape smirked in a self-satisfied way. "Oh, we didn't need one of those, one of the perks of being married to the boy who lived. Harry's magic is strong enough that he got pregnant all by himself."

Draco almost gaped. "Circe, he must be fucking overflowing in magic! That hasn't happened in – in ages!"

"Yes, well, now we have a lovely little Snape girl by the name of Raelle," he smirked.

"Unusual name, did you pick it?" Draco mused aloud.

Snape sneered. "No, I suppose Harry found it in some book."

At that moment the man in question walked in, head bowed, with another tray. Draco could faintly see the beginning of a spectacular bruise forming on his cheek, though he probably wouldn't have noticed had he not witnessed that scene. It seemed Harry was used to not drawing attention to himself. Draco swallowed the bile that threatened to come up at the thought, wishing he could escape from this horrid house. To his luck he spotted a clock in the corner of the room and realized he really did need to leave, he had to pick up his son.

He stood and said to Snape apologetically, "I'm really sorry, Severus, but I just realized I have to go pick up Gavin at his grandmother's."

Snape looked put out for a moment but recovered and walked him back to the floo and bayed goodbye, but not before extracting a promise that Draco would return so they could catch up properly.

Oh, you can bet I'll be back. I'm getting Harry out of this if it's the last thing I do.

tbc…

An: Here are the meanings of the children's names:

Vanessa means Butterfly according to the baby names page I looked at. Raelle, well, rae means wise protection and elle means girl and last but not least, Gavin means White Hawk, which I thought was very appropriate for a Malfoy.