When Draco had arrived at the Notts house and informed Theo and Pansy that there was an urgent matter that needed their attention, Theo never could have imagined what he would walk in on when he accompanied Draco back to his house. He was plunged straight into a nightmare, admittedly one of his own making. His head was still spinning, and he was still trying to make sense of what was happening when Draco practically kicked him out.
With Pansy making it clear he wasn't going home with her, Theo was left to accompany Marina to a hotel, where he booked her a room. Still hoping he could salvage things with his wife, he didn't bother booking himself a room. He did however accompany Marina to her room, and for the first time he held his daughter and asked her name.
"She's called Amelie," Marina said as she watched Theo cradle his daughter in his arms. "And I'm assuming you're not going to be crass enough to question her parentage."
"No, I believe you when you say she's mine," Theo replied. He did think he'd always been careful with his extra-marital affairs, but he wasn't going to argue the point as he doubted Marina would have presented herself in England unless she'd been sure of who her baby's father was.
"I guess we've got things to sort out," Marina said, taking Amelie from Theo's arms and settling her in the crib the hotel had provided.
"We do," Theo confirmed with a nod as he wandered over to the mini-bar and poured himself a generous glass of firewhisky. "Do you want a drink?"
"I don't drink in the afternoons," Marina replied as she sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Nor do I as a rule," Theo snorted. "But I rather think these are exceptional circumstances." Finishing off his first glass, he poured himself a second before sitting down on a chair and turning it to face Marina. "The first thing I should say, is sorry. I'm sorry for lying to you about who I am."
"I think I understand why you did it," Marina replied. "I can't say I approve of what you did. Not only have you lied to every witch you've slept with behind your wife's back, but you've dragged innocent people into your mess. I am fairly sure I hurt someone today, simply because I did not know the truth about the man who had fathered my daughter."
"I am sorry about that, but I can't change the past," Theo said. "All I can do is offer you the chance to start afresh. Not as a couple, but as Amelie's father. I take it you're here for a reason, especially when you didn't get in touch when you were pregnant."
"I had made the decision to do this alone," Marina admitted. "What we had was a fling, an enjoyable one, but a fling nonetheless. I did consider getting in touch when I found out I was pregnant, but I decided I could handle things on my own. And I would have done, had I not lost my job shortly after Amelie was born."
"They didn't fire you because you'd had a baby, did they?" Theo frowned. "Because I'm pretty sure that's illegal."
"I did ask a friend who knows about the law for advice, and while she suspected my absence from work made the decision of who to fire easier, I didn't have any real case for objection as other people also lost their jobs at the same time, and none of them were off having babies. The timing was just bad for me."
"And with no job, you need some financial support," Theo surmised.
"I am only asking for you to support your daughter," Marina reminded Theo. "I don't want this to get nasty, and if you would like to be part of her life, I have no objections. But the simple fact is, I can't cope on my own anymore, and as Amelie's father, you have a duty to help her."
"I would never dream of denying her my help," Theo assured his former mistress. "We can arrange for me to give you an allowance for Amelie. And while I don't doubt she's my daughter, I will need proof if I want to include her in my will, and I do want her to get what is rightfully hers as my daughter. I would also like to visit her and get to know her. I want to be a part of her life."
Agreeing with Marina that they would sort everything out in the coming days, Theo finished off her firewhisky before heading home to face the music with Pansy. He still had no idea what was going to happen with his marriage, but despite what Pansy had said earlier, he wasn't ready to admit defeat. He and Pansy may not have ever been in love, but he did care for her, and he was quite happy with their life together, and didn't intend to lose what he had without a fight.
Theo found Pansy in the living room, standing gazing out of the window. He could see his wife was deep in thought, but he also knew she was aware of his presence as she tensed the second he entered the room.
"Where's Oscar?" Theo asked. Their son had already been with Pansy's parents when Draco had arrived, and he wasn't sure if his wife would have picked him up or if he was still with his grandparents.
"I've asked my parents to keep him tonight," Pansy replied without turning her gaze from the view outside of the window. "He doesn't need to be here to see this. Tomorrow, I will tell him you're away with work and once I'm ready, we can sit him down together and explain that our marriage is over."
"It doesn't have to be over, Pansy," Theo begged. "We can get through this."
"I don't want to get through this, Theo," Pansy snorted, turning to face her husband. "We accepted how things were between us because it was the right thing to do. We owed it to our families to make a go of this marriage, and until today, I thought we were achieving just that. We each had our lives outside of our marriage, but it never affected the family we'd built together and the reputation of our two families. I will admit, part of me wanted to be free, especially when I found someone I loved. But I knew the deal, so I stayed and made peace with the fact you would always be my husband and my lover could never be more than that."
"I don't expect you to give up your lover," Theo pointed out. He had to admit he was shocked to hear that his wife had a long-term lover as he'd always assumed she'd been like him and merely took a lover now and again to scratch a physical itch.
"I really don't care what you expect, Theo," Pansy sneered. "You've shamed me and brought scandal to our door. Affairs are common in our world, in fact it's rarer to find a faithful pureblood couple than it is to find other couples like us. The affair is not the issue here, Theo. The fact is, you've fathered a child with someone else, and that is not going to go away. Everyone is going to know what's happened, and if I simply accept it and we carry on as normal, I will look weak and pathetic."
"So you're giving up almost ten years of marriage for the sake of your ego?" Theo questioned.
"No, I am giving up nearly ten years of marriage to finally be happy," Pansy retorted. "Even my father will not object when I tell him I cannot stay married to you now that you've fathered an illegitimate child. You have given me a way out, Theo, and I am going to grab it with both hands. You should have been more careful, Theo."
"I thought I had been," Theo muttered.
"However it happened, it's done now and like it or not, it changes everything," Pansy remarked. "You now just have to find a way to live with the consequences."
"I am going to give Marina some money every month, and I want to accommodate Amelie in my will," Theo admitted. "She is my daughter, and I want to do what is right by her."
"I'm pleased," Pansy said with an approving nod. "You're a good father, Theo, and your daughter deserves to have you be there for her. I also want you to know that I don't want to fight over Oscar. He's our son, and I want you to be part of his life. I want you to be able to see him as often as you want. I also think we should keep this civil for his sake."
"I don't think civil is how your father is going to make this," Theo snorted. "Divorce is still frowned upon in our world. To avoid you coming out of this with a stain on your reputation, your father is going to make sure my name is dragged through the mud, and that means making sure everyone knows about my daughter."
"Yes, that is likely what will happen," Pansy agreed. She already knew how her father would react, and what he would do to ensure that she emerged from her divorce looking like a sainted victim. "But we don't have to let that affect how we deal with Oscar. I can promise you now that I will never say a bad word about you to our son. I will not turn him against you."
"Thank you, Pansy," Theo said. It was clear now that his marriage couldn't be saved, but he was grateful for Pansy for making this as easy as possible for them both. "I am sorry you know. I would give anything for this not to have happened."
"As I said, it's done and we can't change the past," Pansy shrugged. "Although I would say, you've got more than me to apologise to. It's unfortunate one of your affairs resulted in a child, but it's not unfortunate that she didn't know your name, that was downright deceitful on your part. Not just to the witches you lied to, but to the people whose good names you abused. I take it Draco and Blaise weren't the only names you used."
"No, I used Vince and Greg, Adrian, Marcus, a few other people," Theo admitted. "I even used Potter and Weasley."
"Then I suggest you visit everyone whose name you have abused and make a personal apology to them," Pansy advised. "The last thing you want is for the same thing to happen again. It's bad enough that this happened to Hermione and Draco. I can only imagine how painful this was for Hermione."
"You don't think she doubted Draco do you?" Theo asked with a frown. Of all their friends and acquaintances, he thought the Malfoys had the strongest marriage and he'd never seen a hint that either of them doubted the others fidelity.
"No, I think she rightly trusts Draco with her life," Pansy answered. "But just consider their situation. They've wanted a baby for years and it's just not happening for them. And in the midst of all that, some witch shows up on Hermione's doorstep, claiming to have her husband's child. Everything may have been sorted out quickly enough, but even with total faith in Draco, Hermione must have had a tiny moment of total heartbreak. You could have caused real damage in their life, Theo."
"I didn't mean for it to happen," Theo argued. "I didn't know she was pregnant, and I certainly didn't know I'd used Draco's name when we were together. It was just a bad coincidence."
"And what happens if there's another of your conquests out there who does something similar?" Pansy asked. "What if it hadn't been Draco's name you used? What if this had happened to Blaise and Daphne? Their relationship is much newer than Draco and Hermione's, and Blaise has a much murkier past than Draco. He had to work hard to convince Daphne he could change and commit to one witch. Her faith in his fidelity is not as strong as Hermione's in Draco. If this had happened to them, you could have seriously damaged their marriage."
"I know," Theo admitted with a sigh. "And I guess you're right about the apologies. I need to let people know what I've done, and prepare them in case something like this happens again. But what if I lose friends over this?"
"That's your fault, Theo," Pansy said with a careless shrug. "You only have yourself to blame for any of this. If people end their friendship with you, then you should know it's all your fault. You never should have used their names like that. Although, I do think you should prepare yourself for Draco not forgiving you. Even if he could get over you using his name, I can't see him getting over the hurt you've caused Hermione. You know how much he loves her, and what she means to him. I think what you've done to her today is the end of the line as far as your friendship with Draco is concerned."
Theo wanted to protest. He wanted to vow to save his friendship with Draco, but he knew Pansy was likely right. Hermione was the most important person in Draco's life, and whether he'd meant to or not, his actions had caused her harm today, and he couldn't see Draco forgiving him for that. It looked like he'd lost the best friend he'd ever had, and he had no-one but himself to blame.