Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every second and fourth Saturday!
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Draco frowned at Narcissa and in that instant, his resolve rose within him like a swirling storm.
"No." He firmly replied.
"Draco!" Narcissa hissed in disbelief.
Draco maintained the frown on his pale face while his mother clutched his hand in hers and whispered, "Draco, I implore you to see reason! Lord Voldemort has demanded that you take a wife! Your father and I have done our very best to secure a suitable bride for you."
"I already told you and Father what I want!" Draco snarled defiantly.
That was only half of the truth.
"...And for once, darling, we can't give you exactly what you want, but we can help you earn your freedom, eventually……." Narcissa pouted with sad acceptance in her blue eyes.
"What do you mean 'eventually'?" Draco asked with a scowl.
"The girl in the parlor is very ill." Narcissa revealed as she looked at her son carefully, "The healers say she likely won't last a year, although her parents have tried to conceal that bit of news. Marry her, father a son, please Lord Voldemort, and then send her to her grave a happy, fulfilled woman while you're free to do as you wish."
Lord Malfoy's grey eyes widened as he contemplated his mother's cold words.
After everything he had witnessed, it still startled him that his parents could orchestrate something so vile.
Narcissa sighed as she looked at Draco and asked imploringly, "Will you at least meet the girl? She's waited to be introduced to you."
Draco thought for a moment.
He scanned over his mother's face and furrowed his brow as he gave her a reluctant nod.
"Very well, Mother." He agreed with grim determination.
"That's better! Thank you, my darling." Narcissa replied as a happy smile danced across her lips.
While Draco considered his options, Narcissa squeezed his hand as she led him down the hallway.
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Draco stepped into the parlor with Narcissa at his side as he looked upon the brown-haired girl while his mother announced, "Lady Astoria Greengrass, this is my son, Lord Draco Lucius Malfoy."
Draco blinked at the frail, young woman who stared up at him with a frown nearly as deep as his own.
In an effort to mask the bitter disappointment that plagued his heart, he tried to make his expression appear serious and concerned.
However, as Draco looked upon his morose fiancé, he realized that she seemed to have been victimized by their arranged marriage as well.
"Hello, Lord Malfoy." Lady Greengrass said as she stood to her feet and curtseyed politely, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Hello, Lady Greengrass." Lord Malfoy replied with a cordial nod as he took Lady Greengrass's hand and gave it an equally cordial kiss, "The pleasure is all mine."
Draco could instantly tell by the lack of scent he detected that the woman in front of him was neither an alpha nor an omega, but her visage conveyed her brittle health.
Her dark eyes were sunken into her skull and her lips, which may once have been plump and fair, were stretched and lined.
Lady Greengrass had a much fairer complexion than Lady Granger, but what should have been admirable alabaster was tainted by a sickly pallor that roused sympathy in Draco's heart as he and his future wife frowned at each other in displeasure.
"I'll order the elves to bring some tea!" Narcissa chirped with a bright smile as she glanced back and forth between the two unfortunate people in front of her, "We have so very much to discuss!"
As Narcissa turned away to send for some of the Malfoys' servants, Draco watched the melancholy pout that appeared on Lady Greengrass's face as she clasped her hands together and wrung them nervously.
"Lovely day, is it not, Lady Greengrass?" Draco asked with a look of utter distress on his face as he attempted to make idle conversation and test his betrothed's reaction.
"I beg your pardon?...Oh yes, Lord Malfoy, the...the day's very lovely indeed." Lady Greengrass replied with a smile so forced that it could have been mistaken for that of a prisoner awaiting execution.
That insincere smile comforted Draco as he nodded joylessly at Lady Greengrass.
It brought Lord Malfoy relief to see that his future bride shared in his dismay about their odious union, but relief didn't solve his problem.
How could he appease his parents and his dark master while keeping Lady Granger safe and all to himself?
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The month that followed was a dizzyingly busy one.
During every available opportunity at which Draco could manage to make an escape from the prison that his family home had become, he did just that and apparated straight to Lady Granger's side.
Lord Malfoy began to form a close bond with his omega through secret kisses stolen under the light of the moon, through long, meaningful chats by the fireside, and through the hushed whisperings of sentiment that he and Lady Granger shared during their private moments.
If Draco became fortunate enough to receive a simple touch from Hermione, then for him, that was all he needed to make it through another day of pretending, of living a lie.
It was a tragedy for Lady Granger and Lord Malfoy that while they grew closer together, their parents were diligently working on plans that would rip them apart, however unintentionally.
Mr. Granger had made contact with all of his business partners in Germany.
There were several families there who had agreed to take the displaced trio in and shelter them until they could become established in their new land of residence by building a proper home.
All that was needed were the preparations for the Grangers' safe passage and then they would be gone.
Meanwhile, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had gladly spread the happy news of their son's engagement.
The wedding plans were made at a suspiciously hasty pace as they leapt at the chance to continue Draco's record of satisfying the Dark Lord.
Draco felt so remorseful over the turn of events that he hadn't found a way to tell his darling mate about his woes.
A part of him had mentally liberated himself from the harsh reality that he faced.
Instead of brooding over dreary certainties, Draco wistfully dreamed that he would disappear with Lady Granger and her family, fake his own death, and be forgotten.
Draco was a skilled wizard, although he knew the limits of his own talents well.
It would be impossible for him to fool Lord Voldemort with such a predictable scheme.
Voldemort would know that Lucius's son continued to walk the earth.
He would hunt Draco down like an animal and slaughter everyone dear to him before he made him beg for his own murder.
Lord Malfoy couldn't flee from his problems, that was one luxury that the wealthy heir had not been afforded.
As Draco appeared outside of the Grangers' cottage one week before his marriage to Lady Greengrass, his heart felt so heavy that he wondered how he could possibly bear its crushing weight.
When Lady Granger opened the door to the cottage and stared up at Draco, his expression of depressed exhaustion vanished.
He smiled fondly down at his mate, refreshed by the mere sight of his darling omega.
"Good afternoon~." Draco purred as a happy grin played over his lips.
He noticed quickly that something was terribly wrong.
Lady Granger's amber eyes shimmered with tears and a firm pout had planted itself firmly on her kissable lips.
When she didn't move or welcome him inside, Draco blinked down at her and asked, "...Have I offended you in some way, my lady?"
Without a word, Lady Granger finally stepped to the side and allowed him to enter her humble house.
His dread bore down upon him when he noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Granger sat by the fireside.
Mr. and Mrs. Granger stared at Draco with expressions that were just as sorrowful and lamentful as the one that their daughter wore.
"What's happened…..?" Draco asked as he looked from Lady Granger to her mother and father, "...Is someone ill? Did Lord Voldemort's men find the cottage?"
"No, Lord Malfoy." Hermione frigidly replied as she wiped at her brown eyes discreetly. She stubbornly held onto her determination to preserve what she felt that she had left of her dignity as she added, "No one's found the cottage."
Draco looked at the unhappy family as Lady Granger deftly walked over to the sofa across from her parents and sat down.
Draco felt out of place as he stood in front of the Grangers while he asked, "May I inquire what the matter is then? Mr. Granger, I assure you, I am working day and night to arrange a flawless passage for you and your family to get safely out of the country and into Germany, far away from Lord Voldemort's domain."
"I thank you, Lord Malfoy, but Germany is not our concern at the moment." Mr. Granger replied with an uncharacteristic iciness in his tone that made Draco frown.
Mr. Granger was usually a friendly and agreeable man.
The shift in his personality worried Lord Malfoy and he asked the family, "I would greatly appreciate it if someone would be kind enough to enlighten me about the reason behind your long faces? Please, if you tell me your trouble, I'll do everything possible to ease your concerns."
"I don't believe this is the kind of concern that can be easily alleviated, Lord Malfoy." Mrs. Granger spoke with a sullen frown on her lips.
Draco frowned at his beloved's mother before he turned his gaze onto Lady Granger and waited as she opened her mouth to speak.
"I'm…….." Lady Granger whimpered while she heaved for breath.
Lord Malfoy's eyes narrowed as he sat down beside her.
"I'm……" Lady Granger gasped breathlessly.
"Yes?" Draco asked worriedly.
He watched the color drain from Lady Granger's face as she leapt from her seat on the sofa to hurry outside.
Her parents frowned, but Draco chased after her.
His eyes widened in shock when he dashed outside and found Hermione bent over as she vomited into a pile of leaves.
Draco immediately pulled her chestnut hair away from her face and laid a gentle hand on her back to comfort her until her retching ended.
He heard her sob at first, once the violent fit of illness reached a conclusion, then, in a voice barely louder than a whisper, the words slipped from his mate's fair lips…….
"I'm with child."