Chapter 12: No Girls
A/N- prompt used: [Color] Black
Word Count- 488
"You can see Cygnus right there. See how it looks sort of like wings?"
Astoria looked up at the endless black that stretched in every direction. She curled up closer into Draco's side on the picnic blanket and hummed. "Looks more like a dragon than Draco does."
"It's actually a swan."
"My my, who knew Draco Malfoy was such a nerd for astronomy? Well… I suppose with a name like Draco…"
Draco twisted with a sigh and ducked down to mouth at her neck. "You're." Kiss. "So." Kiss. "Hilarious." Then he started tickling her.
"NO, STOP! Aah! Draco!"
She giggled and shuffled out of his reach, lifting up a leg and pressing a foot against his chest to stop him. "Fine. I won't make fun of you anymore." She smiled up at him, the moon making a perfect halo behind his head, and the inky black sky looked like a picture frame. "Besides… I was enjoying the lesson. Do continue."
Draco smirked and flopped back down beside her, an arm curling around her shoulder in a clear invitation to return to the crook of his body. She fit herself so nicely there, as if the space in the dip of his waist was made specifically for her.
"Alright, see where the head of Cygnus is pointing, those five stars that sort of look like a child's drawing of a house. That's Cepheus."
"Uh-huh. I remember a little from Astronomy. It's named after some King, right?"
"Yeah, the king of Aethiopia. And that king was married to Cassiopeia. Her constellation is right next to his, those five stars there that make a… squiggle, I guess."
"An 'M'?" Tori suggested. "Like for Malfoy."
Draco laughed. "I always did think Cassiopeia would make a nice girl's name."
"No girls."
The silence stretched for a long moment and in that moment, Astoria thought she hadn't actually said that thought out loud. Then…
"No girls?"
Tori continued to look up at the vast blackness as she explained. She cleared her throat. "The— the malediction— it can only be passed down to girls. So, we— we can only have boys, understand?"
"You can't—" Draco stopped mid-sentence. He rubbed her bare shoulder with his thumb, and it calmed her enough to look at him. He was looking right back at her. "It's a 50/50 chance, love. You can't just choose the gender."
"I am a stubborn witch and I get what I want," Tori refuted. "We will have a boy, and I will hear no different."
Draco's silver eyes sparkled in the moonlight. He turned on his side until they were lying with their temples touching and their legs intertwined.
"Well, I do like the name Scorpius."
Astoria laughed, her body flooding with relief. "That name is ridiculous. He will be laughed out of Hogwarts." She leaned forward and kissed Draco softly on his lips under the dark black sky. "It's perfect."