AN- This is the end. Thank you to everyone who has ever reviewed, I really appreciate it. Thank you again and I hope you enjoy this.

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My father lost his mind after that Christmas Feast. He was never quite the same. Took up drinking a little too much firewhiskey everyday. Bottles of it lined his study. Empty bottles, I might add. I always thought it was because he was finally reunited with his lover and then torn away from her just as fast, knowing that he would never be able to have her back. Grandmother, Mum, and Cassie never agreed with me, but I suppose it was because I was the only one my father ever trusted. I was the only one who saw how fast he descended into his drinking habit. Grandmother tended to be silent after that Christmas Feast, she had thrown herself into turning Cassiopeia (she had always refused to call her Cassie) into a proper society lady to represent the Malfoys with pride, like I had been raised. I think the thing that made her work harder was that Cassie was a Gryffindor, and the wounds of Uncle Sirius were still fresh in her mind, though he had died years ago. Cassie never really knew Father like I did, so I never expected her to understand, but Mum? Mum loved him and lived with him for four years, she should have known how my father, her ex-husband, would have reacted to seeing her again, especially learning about her voice abilities.

He was really shaken up after hearing Grandfather's voice coming out of Mum. That was one of the things he had confided in me before I left for school in my seventh year. Knowing that my mum was forever lost to him and had married his childhood enemy, who all along had been her best friend. When the rest of society slowly learned about Cassie's and my true parentage, for a short time, we were black-listed. Or well, the Malfoy name was now tarnished. I proved them wrong whenever I spoke because I showed the Malfoys had nothing to lose and only made best of what they were given. My father stopped going out in public after that fateful Christmas Feast and left my grandmother and I to the public engagements. Cassie learned slowly, but she never really adapted to becoming a society lady.

Even my godfather had been shocked to learn of Cassie's existence and my mother. Apparently, the only one my father had ever told was Harry Potter in a drunken stupor one night long ago. After my father took to drinking, my godfather let me escape to his house most nights. My grandmother had no idea I was unhappy at home, so it came as a surprise to her when I asked to spend the summer after fourth year at my mother's house. My grandmother agreed, assuming I'd only spend the summer with my mother, which was entirely proper in her mind. In all honesty, I don't think my father ever noticed I was missing.

When I returned to school that year, Sebastian asked where I had been most of the summer, since my father had come many times to his house looking for me. I shrugged it off, telling Sebastian I spent it with my mother and he understood. My father also spent many nights drinking with his father, Marcus Flint. Now that everyone knew about my mum, Father didn't stop telling everyone his woes. When I did not return to Malfoy Manor for Christmas that year, Grandmother was disappointed in me. Because I had spent it with Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted, and not just my mother's family, she accepted it, but demanded I come home that summer.

Of course, I refused her and she went straight to my father to have him force me to stay home. When I told him I wanted to move out and live with Mum, that was the first time he ever hit me. It was also the last night I ever spent in Malfoy Manor for two years.

During the Christmas holidays in my seventh year, Cassie and I stayed at Malfoy Manor because it was to be Cassie's debut as a society lady. She would soon be sixteen and it would be appropriate for suitors to approach my father asking for marriage to Cassie. Cassie approved of this, as long as she was also allowed to meet and date the guy before the engagement was finalized, which my grandmother agreed to. At this point in the time, I don't think my father was very coherent. He was drinking several different types of liquor every night, consuming at least two bottles every day. I trusted Harry enough to tell him that I was worried about my father. Previously, I had told Blaise, who had shrugged it off as nothing, that I shouldn't worry, my father's a big man, he can handle himself. It was clear to me that he couldn't handle himself. Most nights that Christmas I ended up dragging him to bed because he could barely walk in a straight line, let alone the stairs from his study to the bedroom. I had convinced Grandmother not to allow him any drinks the day of Cassiopeia's debutante ball. Luckily, she agreed, since it would not be good for a Malfoy to show up drunk to his daughter's society ball. Especially since this would be the first time in centuries that a Malfoy would have the honor of doing this.

Cassie's ball was boring. I tried to dance mostly with Alexia, Marigold, and Azalea, who were the only girls that I was friendly with that attended. With Cassie's debutante ball, it also meant my father would be more serious about looking for a prospective bride for myself. I had always assumed that he was trying to set me up with one of the Flint girls, considering how often he was at their house, according to Sebastian. Sebastian became my trusted confidante who knew about my problems with my father. At the end of the ball, I left with the rest of the guests, following Sebastian back to his house, where his parents welcomed me with open arms. They loved me like I was their own, they certainly loved me more than their Ravenclaw daughter. I didn't return to Malfoy Manor the rest of the holiday and stayed wherever anyone accepted me, refusing to go to my mother's house. My mother would have sent me straight back to my father, which was the last place I wanted to be. I was seventeen and legal in the wizarding world. Now that I was legal, I had also inherited millions of Galleons.

I only wish I could have done more for my father. Wizards have cures for things Muggles struggle to live with. One thing that is incurable no matter who the person is alcoholism. Unless the person wants to overcome it, there is no success. My father would never have admitted that he had a drinking problem. A Malfoy would never had confronted his flaws and then told someone he had flaws. Well except Cassie, but she was a girl, she didn't count. At least that's what my father always told me.

In April of my seventh year, my father passed away due to alcohol poisoning. There is no spell to revive the dead, as my grandmother sobbed constantly over the next several days. It was the Easter holidays and Cassie and I left to attend his funeral. Mother related his funeral to the funeral of Don Corleone from a Muggle novel The Godfather. Don Corleone was a well-respected Mafia boss and everyone turned out for his funeral. The lines outside of Malfoy Manor reached the gates during most of the viewings. After he was buried, my grandmother pulled me aside.

"I've now seen three Malfoy men die. Your great-grandfather, your grandfather, and now your father. I only wish you the best of luck as the new Head of the Malfoy family. The hardest was burying your father. He knew how to show respect without fear and bribes." Those words hit me like a brick. I was no longer heir to the Malfoy fortune. Since I was legal, I received all of the money upon my father's death, with some going to my grandmother and sister. My mother received nothing since she was divorced and had remarried. Grandmother's words shocked me and I realized I would need to marry soon in order to produce a new heir. If I died suddenly, the fortune would pass on to Cassie. She was not raised to handle it and I don't think she'd handle the pressure. Nana and Pop-pop never seemed to understand me. I always thought it was just because I was not from a completely loving family. After my father's death, I realized they were always cautious because they were afraid of what I might become. They had known my grandfather, who was not a pleasant person at all. The scariest thought to me was the fact that I was barely an adult and controlled a large amount of wealth. My father was barely forty when he died, which was too young for a man who had such hopes and dreams as a child. My grandmother urged me to marry quickly in order to produce an heir. She knew that Malfoy men usually did not live long and would rather not have made my sister the heir. My grandmother saw her family line die out and she did not want that to happen to me.

After the funeral, I returned to Hogwarts and spent a long night talking with Sebastian. Now that Sebastian and I were both legal, the negotiations would begin for our brides. My grandmother was my advisor, I trusted her judgment, after all she had been Head of the Malfoy family between the time my grandfather had died and the time my father returned from New York. The first thing she said about marriage was not to marry for love like my father. I saw my father drink himself to death of love and I would not allow that to happen to me.

"I've narrowed it down to Marigold, Alexia, or Azalea," I said, reasoning that they would be the only ones I would be able to live with in the future.

"If you're going for one of my sisters, go for Marigold. Azalea's not your type," Sebastian said. To most people, it would seem unusual that we would be talking about who we would marry, but we both knew how important it was to our families, especially since our parents had failed. My father was suppose to marry Sebastian's mother, but broke off the negotiations almost immediately after they left Hogwarts. The union between the Flint and Malfoy families was inevitable, even though I had Weasley blood in me.

"How's Tristan's hunt for a bride going?" I asked. Tristan had left Hogwarts nearly four years, and last I heard, was roaming the globe spending his family's vast fortune.

"Apparently, he's given up. You wouldn't mind if I proposed a match between your sister and myself? Right now, I'm choosing between Alexia and your sister."

"Does Alexia know she's being bartered between us?" I asked. She was my friend and I had no intentions of hurting her.

"She's rather happy that it's between the two of us and not some random person. Though she's not too happy about your background," Sebastian added, referring not to the Weasley line as much as the fact that Weasleys tended to be in Gryffindor.

"That doesn't say anything. Your parents are both Slytherins and your sister is a Ravenclaw. Aunt Andromeda was the Ravenclaw among Slytherins. Uncle Sirius was the Gryffindor among Slytherins." I added.

The conversation ended around then because we both fell asleep before long. Cassie had come up to me during the next few days and asked me if there was anything that she could do to make it easier on me, knowing how much responsibility was shoved onto my shoulder since our father died. I said yes, that she could agree to marry whoever approached her. When she said that she had already agreed to this with Father, I was happy. But then I made her write an owl to Mum, knowing that she probably had not told her.

Breakfast was certainly interesting the next morning. Anything that was related to the Malfoy fortune was first sent to Grandmother while I was still in school. I knew it was coming. Nothing can hide the bright red parchment of a Howler. I braced myself for the one that headed straight towards me.

"HOW DARE YOU?" my mother's actual voice screeched. "HOW DARE YOU PUT YOUR SISTER IN THAT POSITION? I THOUGHT I KNEW YOU BETTER THAN THAT! IS THIS WHAT IT HAS COME TO? I WANT YOU TO LET YOUR SISTER OUT OF THE DEAL!" Next was her impersonation of Harry. "YOU KNOW HOW THIS MAKES YOUR MOTHER FEEL! HOW COULD YOU?" Then Harry's voiced jumped, "Orion, I didn't say that. If it makes you and Cassie happy, fine. Just remember you are still a Weasley and you have the freedom to choose. Write your mother sometimes and you won't get one of these from her." Cassie scampered out of the Great Hall, not wanting to face anyone. They would be talking about her for the next several hours and she could not deal with it. I, on the other hand, knew what had to be done. I had to write to my mother and Harry, thanking Harry, of course. First, I needed to talk to Cassie and make sure she understood what she had agreed to. I found her later that evening alone in a corner in the library.

"Cassiopeia?" I asked.

"Orion, please, I'm still just Cassie to you. I am still your sister and also the Malfoy heir. I know what I need to do."

"Do you really? You're going to lose your ties most of Mum's family. James and Serena are old enough to know why. As soon as school lets out, you'll make your decision. If you go home with Harry, then you will be free to marry whomever you want. If you come home with me, then the negotiations will begin." I said calmly in a businesslike manner.

"Yes, I understand. If I go home with you, I want one condition," Cassie said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"What condition?" I asked hesitantly.

"That I have to agree before marrying anyone."

"That's it? Then yes." I reached out and hugged her as she nodded. Cassie was strong and would make it through this. She was just barely sixteen, and already agreeing to something that would determine the rest of her life. Maybe I shouldn't have asked her to do this one thing for me, in fact, I wasn't sure why I had suggested it.

That summer Cassie followed me home, the whirlwind began. Cassie named the morning post "the whirlwind" because so many owls from so many people fluttered in every morning that it felt like a whirlwind. Grandmother and I would sort through the letters one by one. Randomly one morning, Harry Potter stopped by to demand that Cassie come home, or at least write to her mother. He also said that it was tradition to have an engagement party following the betrothal. I assumed it was because he missed his adopted daughter, but he was only interested in Ginny and Cassie's happiness. He was truly concerned for Cassie and I was glad she had someone who did love her in her life.

One night about halfway through the summer, Cassie and I fought after Grandmother had gone to bed. Cassie and I had both been awake eating some dessert when suddenly, she ran out of the room and up the main staircase, shouting back at me. Apparently, she had gotten a letter from Harry begging her to come home because Mum had not gotten out of bed in almost a week. Now for me, if someone had told me my father had not gotten out of bed for a week, I would have asked them why they were telling me this. But Cassie was raised differently than I was and she told me flat out that she was leaving to be with her mother, since I had not done enough for her. She had no proposals, which was not surprising considering that she had just turned sixteen in April and was not considered compatible to some because she was not raised with the same way as the rest of those in the pool, as I referred to it as.

Well, I walked away and went up one of the other staircases to my room. The next morning, I found Grandmother sitting alone at the table, which was unusual because Cassie always got up before me. Grandmother passed me a letter, which had Cassie's neat scrawl on it. I read it quickly. The only important thing contained in the letter was that Cassie had gone home and would only talk to me in person, which would mean I would also have to face my mother.

The next day, Marcus Flint approached me about a marriage between Sebastian and Cassie. The arrangements were to be made between Marcus and I, but I told him that I would like to handle it through Sebastian. Since Sebastian was legal, Marcus agreed. When Sebastian talked to me, I told him that he would need to court Cassie and then she would willingly marry him and be faithful, something that was unheard of in the pureblood society. He accepted the challenge and I knew it was now my turn to find a spouse.

I needed someone who also is faithful, not destroy me, and share similar beliefs. The only person I could think of at the time was my best friend Alexia Wilkes. As the head of the family, I would have to approach Alexia's family myself, and I was afraid that I would be turned down. After my father's death, the Malfoy name lost some respect, though not enough where arranged marriages were unnecessary. There was nothing to worry about, I found out, because her father accepted almost immediately and contacted my grandmother to discuss the wedding, which would take place in September. That would give enough time to be a socially acceptable wedding without seeming too drawn out or too rushed.

That summer, Sebastian visited the Manor often to ask me questions about Cassie, like her favorite color, favorite food, and favorite restaurant. I hoped he would propose to her the traditional way, in order to appease my mother, who was still disappointed that my own marriage to Alexia had been arranged. I did like Alexia and we agreed on many principles, which Grandmother assured as essential and that love will come with time. Grandmother and Harry became my pillars of support the first summer as the Head of the Malfoy family. Harry visited often, usually with little notes from Cassie.

During the summer, Cassie fell in love with Sebastian, though he had not proposed yet. She was just sixteen still and entering her sixth year at Hogwarts. That Christmas was the first Christmas I had ever spent without my father and I felt very alone in the manor. Sebastian had invited me to join his family at their home to celebrate. Later in the evening, he proposed to my sister in a manner unusual for a pureblood, but his parents said nothing. She was happy and the first time, I was happy for her. Azalea had wanted them to get married before Cassie started her seventh year, but Cassie immediately overruled that and said she wanted to wait until she was at least graduated, plus she wanted her mother to get used to the idea. Mum would now at least have time to meet her future son-in-law, unlike my marriage to Alexia, where Mum basically met Alexia the week before the wedding.

When I married Alexia, she had known that she would have to bear a child early because Malfoys tended to die young. I felt guilty because having a child would change her life, as well as mine. I always wished that my son Leo could have been born later in life, but Alexia and I learned to fall in love during her pregnancy. She had become pregnant just after my nineteenth birthday in January. I always wanted siblings growing up and Alexia had always been thankful that she had Tristan, but we both agreed we needed some time to wait for Leo to grow a little older and for us to mature ourselves. I knew how hard it was for my parents and under no circumstances did I want to end up like my father.

James and Serena never seemed to like me after that Christmas Feast. I always wanted to get to know my younger siblings, but they felt that I had stolen their sister away from them, when in reality they had stolen her away from me. They knew her better than I did and I wanted to get to know my baby sister. I suppose that was why we had never gotten along very well, but it might have also been the amount of times Mum cursed me out in their presence. Harry seemed to be the only reason James and Serena even acknowledged me at all.

Years later, I looked back at how my life has changed and I remember thinking that I did not want to end up brokenhearted like my father. I loved my children, after I had turned twenty-four, Alexia gave birth to a beautiful daughter we named Vega. Cassie, who married a few weeks after she graduated, could not have been happier. We both found what we had always wanted, we found the person who we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with. Cassie named her daughter after Aunt Andromeda. The family nicknamed her Andy, since we couldn't very well call them both Andromeda. Little Andy Flint was born two years after Sebastian and Cassie married. With Sebastian being the only male heir of the Flint family, it was up to Cassie produce another heir. Three years after Andy was born little Perseus, a year after my own little daughter was born.

The future would have been drastically altered if Cassie and I had never met when we were little, if we had never suggested the Christmas Feast, if someone had caught the signs of my father's disease, or if Cassie had never agreed to the pureblood tradition. I vowed to raise my children among both traditional and non-traditional ideals so they will not rebel against me, like my own father rebelled against his parents. Life was not always simple, but I realized that simple things are what make everyone's day. A smile. A rainbow. A picture. A Quidditch game. In the end, happiness is what matters most in life. Forevermore, my father started a trend of intertwining between Houses. The barrier between Gryffindor and Slytherin was broken and now, House rivalries are small, with less fights breaking up. Maybe this will create peace for the future, I don't know. All I know is that slowly, I gained my life back and made my life into what I wanted it to be. A happy one.

THE END!

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AN-Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and please review.