Hermione could hardly believe her eyes, and a glance at Draco revealed her husband was just as shocked as she was. Hermione just couldn't work out how anyone could mistake Theo for her husband. They were very different men, not just in looks but personality wise. Although since the French witch seemed so sure Theo was called Draco, it would appear the source of the confusion stemmed from Theo himself. Hermione just wasn't sure why he was wandering around, pretending to be one of his best friends.
The obvious answer was to attract witches. But Hermione wasn't sure why using someone else's name would attract the opposite sex. Clearly Theo hadn't changed his looks, just his name, and since the witch who had turned up unexpectedly obviously hadn't known who Draco was, it wasn't like he'd used Draco's name as a pull. Besides, there was the fact that Theo was a married man.
Theo had married Pansy Parkinson the summer after leaving Hogwarts, in a union arranged by their fathers. Hermione knew their marriage was no love match, but since she'd gotten together with Draco and gotten to know the couple, they had seemed content with their lives together. They had produced a son within eighteen months of their marriage, and while no more children had been forthcoming, they'd seemed content with the family they did have.
Hermione had even asked Pansy about her arranged marriage, but she'd assured Hermione that she'd gone into her union with Theo with her eyes wide open. Although she'd also pointed out that her father was nothing like Draco's father Lucius, who when it had mattered had supported his son's wish to marry for love rather than to keep the family line pure. Although how supportive Lucius still was of his son's marriage with no Malfoy heir in the offing, Hermione wasn't sure.
"So now, can I speak to the real Draco Malfoy?" the French witch asked, breaking into Hermione's thoughts.
"I am the real Draco Malfoy," Draco growled. "Haven't I just proven it to you?"
"No, you simply proved that Draco is married to someone named Hermione Granger, and that you two are married. I see no evidence that you are Draco Malfoy."
"I think I can prove this," Hermione muttered, jumping in before her husband truly lost his temper. Pulling out her wand, she summoned the previous day's edition of The Daily Prophet, and turning partway through the paper, she handed it over to the witch whose name she still didn't know. "If that's not proof enough, I don't know what is."
The page of the paper Hermione had handed over, contained a roundup of a recent charity event the Malfoys had attended. And since Hermione and Draco were particular favourites of the press, there was a rather large picture of them at the event.
"Millionaire businessman Draco Malfoy and his wife, Hermione," the witch read quietly before looking up at the couple in front of her. "You really are, Draco Malfoy, aren't you?"
"I am," Draco confirmed. "Although it does occur to me that we don't know your name since we've never met before."
"I am so sorry, I'm Marina," the witch replied. "And who exactly is he?" she asked, pointing at the picture of the man she'd known as Draco Malfoy.
"That is one of my best friends, Theo Nott," Draco answered.
"Why is he going around claiming to be Draco Malfoy?" Marina questioned.
"That is something I am damn well going to ask him," Draco vowed. "In fact, unless you object, I propose I go and see Theo and bring him back here so he can explain what exactly is going on."
"What about Pansy?" Hermione asked as Marina agreed that she wanted answers from Theo.
"I think she also deserves the truth," Draco said. "I'll be ten minutes," he promised as he headed off through the floo to contact his friends.
"Who is Pansy?" Marina asked Hermione.
"Theo's wife," Hermione replied.
"Have they been married long?"
"Nearly ten years."
Hermione couldn't help but feel sorry for Marina as hurt flashed through her eyes at the news that Theo was married. Although it didn't get any easier as when she asked if Theo had any children, Hermione had to reveal that he and Pansy had a son.
"I feel a bit sick," Marina muttered, clearly thrown by how things had gone since she'd arrived. "Could I use your bathroom?"
"Of course, it's just down the hallway," Hermione answered, pointing Marina in the right direction.
"Would you mind taking her?" Marina asked as she unfastened the baby sling.
With no real choice but to say yes, Hermione took the baby and settled down in an armchair. Holding the baby in her arms, Hermione felt a panging of longing and she felt tears spring to her eyes as she wondered if she would ever hold a child of her own like this. Marina wasn't gone very long, and when she returned, Hermione reluctantly handed her daughter back over to her.
"She's lovely," she said to the other witch with a sad smile.
"I think so," Marina replied with a smile. "Do you have any children?"
"No," Hermione answered in a whisper. Not wanting to discuss the matter further, she got to her feet and suggested they move into the main living room.
"This isn't the main living room?" Marina questioned with wide eyes.
"No, it's just the floo room," Hermione explained as she led Marina across the hallway to the large living room.
"That article wasn't exaggerating when it called your husband a millionaire, I take it," Marina muttered as she gazed around the vast room and the expensive décor.
"If anything, it might have undersold it," Hermione admitted. "Draco comes from two of the richest wizarding family lines in Britain. As well as his inheritance from his father's family, he also came into a lot of money from his mother's side of the family. And of course, the family business is one of the most successful in the country."
"Maybe that's why his friend pretended to be him," Marina snorted.
"Theo might not be as rich as Draco, but he's hardly a pauper," Hermione retorted. "But hopefully we'll get answers as to why he did this soon."
As if her words had summoned her husband, the sound of the floo network echoed around the house and moments later, Draco appeared in the doorway. He was followed into the room by Pansy, who greeted Hermione warmly and gave Marina a questioning look. Theo followed Pansy into the room, however the moment he spotted Marina he froze, and all the colour drained from his face.
"Hello Draco," Marina greeted sarcastically.
"Draco?" Pansy queried, turning her head towards her husband.
"Draco Malfoy," Marina clarified. "Or least that was what he told me his name was."
"He told you his name was Draco?" Pansy questioned, turning back to Marina. Although when she spotted the baby in her arms, her eyes narrowed and everyone in the room could see she was starting to put the pieces together. "When was this?"
"Nearly a year ago," Marina replied.
"And the baby?" Pansy asked calmly.
"He's your husband's," Marina confirmed in a small voice. "I'm sorry."
"You bastard," Pansy hissed as she whirled back around and before anyone could react, she slapped her husband soundly around the face. "I warned you this could never happen."
"You warned me about scandal," Theo muttered.
"And what the hell do you think this is, Theo?" Pansy yelled. "Not only have you got a child with someone else, but for some reason you didn't even tell her your real name. What were you playing at?"
"I was playing at protecting our reputation," Theo shot back. "I knew there could be no comeback on us, if I never used my real name."
"So, you were happy to use mine, and let me receive the comeback?" Draco snapped at his old friend. "What were you thinking, Theo?"
"I didn't do it deliberately," Theo said with a sigh. "And if it's any consolation, I didn't always use your name."
"Oh, so there might be more witches with children popping out of the woodwork causing trouble for our friends," Pansy sneered. "Nice one, Theo."
"I don't think I understand this," Hermione said. "I think everyone here deserves a full explanation."
"Yes, that is the least you can do," Pansy said, fixing her husband with her most ferocious stare before she flounced over to a chair and flopped down to wait for an explanation.
Crossing the room, Draco sat down next to Hermione while Marina also sat down, still cradling her daughter. Theo was the only one left standing, and rather than sit, he wandered over to stand beside the fireplace.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his attention flicking between his wife, his friend and the witch who had borne his daughter.
"Start at the beginning, Theo," Draco ordered.
"It started when Pansy and I married," Theo said. "It wasn't a marriage either of us would have picked for ourselves, but we vowed to make the best of it. However, it soon became clear that we would never love each other. After Oscar was born, we made a pact that either of us could take lovers on the one condition that it never affected our family life and there was never any scandal."
"So you decided the way to achieve that was to lie about your name?" Draco scoffed.
"It wasn't a conscious decision," Theo admitted. "A few months after our agreement I was in Ireland for business and met this witch. I didn't even think it through, I simply introduced myself as Blaise Zabini. After that it became habit to use a different name when it came to my extra-marital activities."
"So it was never done with any malice towards Draco?" Hermione checked. "You weren't subconsciously trying to make him suffer for some reason."
"Of course not," Theo gasped. "I would never have done this to hurt him, or anyone else whose name I may have used. I was simply protecting my family."
"So if anything like this happened, we would be looking for the wrong man," Marina remarked, gesturing to her daughter. "And now because of your actions, I came knocking on the door of an innocent man and informed his wife I'd had her husband's baby. I hate to think what sort of pain I've caused today."
"You have not caused any pain," Hermione assured the other witch.
"That is all on Theo," Draco growled. "Because I bet it's never occurred to you how much heartbreak you've caused today," he snapped at his best friend. "What do you think this has done to Hermione, having a witch turn up on her doorstep with the one thing we both want more than anything?"
"I didn't know this was going to happen," Theo cried, waving his hand towards Marina and the baby. "I didn't know about this."
"Well now you do," Draco said coldly. "So what are you going to do about it?"
"I..I..I.." Theo stuttered, his head swivelling between his wife and the witch he'd had an affair with.
"I'll tell you what you're going to do," Pansy snapped. "Firstly, you are going to take this poor woman somewhere private and give her the apology she deserves, and you're going to come to sort of arrangement to support your child. Then you are going to come home, pack a bag and leave."
"You're throwing me out?" Theo gasped, staring at his wife in disbelief.
"Damn right, I am," Pansy sneered. "I warned you, no scandal. And no matter how you handle this, there is going to be a scandal. An illegitimate child is always a scandal."
"We can handle this together, Pans," Theo begged his wife.
"You can do what you want, Theo, I'm done," Pansy announced as she got to her feet. "We had one rule and you broke it. And now you've given me a way out of this marriage."
"A way out?" Theo muttered with a frown.
"Yes, a way out. And even my father won't object when he finds out what you've done," Pansy remarked with a smirk. "So, I guess I should thank you really, Theo. At least now I've got the chance to live my own life and be with who I want to be with."
"There's someone you want to be with?" Theo questioned.
"There is," Pansy confirmed. "Only unlike you, I stuck to the rules. I kept things private and under the radar. You had no idea, I've got a lover, did you? I bet you have no idea it's been going on for years."
"Maybe this is something you should deal with in private," Draco suggested. "We've had our explanation from Theo, and quite honestly I want him out of my house."
"That makes two of us," Pansy laughed humourlessly. "You've made your bed Theo, now you have to lie in it."