A/N: Hello again my dears, it is I, Elle! We are here with out third installment of Fade to Black and I hope that you enjoy it as much as you have the other two chapters! Here, we have Healer Malfoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, only the plot that deviates from the original story.

XoXo,

Elle!

Chapter 3

Draco was sitting in front of the fire in his suite of rooms, his stormy grey eyes locked on the flames. He had been a mere shell of himself for the past year and a half, but that's what losing the love of your life could do to you. When he lost Astoria, he'd lost his best friend, his other half and the mother of their beautiful little boy. All to some congenital heart defect that had been unknown to anyone. Astoria had obviously had it her whole life, but this was one instance where Muggle medicine was actually better than wizarding medicine. If she had been born a Muggle, it would have been detected and could have been corrected, allowing her to live out her life. But instead, she had been stolen from him while giving birth to Scorpius.

He hurtled his tumbler of Firewhiskey into the fireplace, the flames roaring in reaction to the alcohol hitting them. It still angered him, the injustice of it all. After all that his family had been through in the second wizarding war, being spies for the Order, doing the right damned thing. His father killed by Voldemort himself for being too soft, his mother barely scraping by with her life. They deserved happiness. But Merlin, the fates, whoever the fuck it was, had decided to continue to take a shite on their fortunes. Sure, he had his son, the light of his life, the only thing keeping him afloat, but he missed Astoria so damned much.

Now, here he sat, at the age of twenty-three, a widower. He and his mother had their marital status in common as well as their pale blond hair and a son who was missing a parent. Draco heaved a sigh, closing his eyes for a moment, letting his memory conjure the image of Astoria on the day she'd told him she was pregnant. She had been radiant. Her blue eyes had been alight with a love and excitement that had little to do with him in that moment and everything to do with the fact that they had finally conceived. Finally created a life inside of her body. They had been trying since they had gotten married at the end of 1999. It had taken two long years, but they had finally done it and her joy had been incandescent.

She had been sleeping peacefully next to him that fateful night, her stomach round and heavy, propped up by pillows. He'd kissed her goodnight and told her he loved her, just as he always had. Draco loved when she would lay on her back and he would lay next to her and just run his hand over the rounded bump, talking to their child, until she fell asleep. But when she woke him the next morning, she was scared to death. Her water had broken and she was having contractions so intense that she was bent over double.

The specialized healers were called in and everything had gone smoothly until she had started pushing. That was when everything had went awry. Her heart had started to give out on her and Scorpius got stuck in the birth canal. Her final words had been, "Save him, save Scorpius." Then her eyes had rolled back in her head and her heart had stopped beating. The Healers had split up then, one moving to work on Astoria, the other working to free Scorpius from her body. One was successful, the other was not. She was gone from him and there had been nothing he could do to save her. Oh, he had tried. Everything he knew, but it had been too late. All the healer training he had been through had been useless.

As he sat beside his wife's lifeless body, they had handed him his squirming newborn son, his little cries filling the room. Draco had looked down upon the tiny bundle in his arms. His son had a head full of straight blond hair, just like his, but eyes of the richest blue, just like his mother's. They had never decided on a name together, just thrown around the options, but the last word she had uttered had been the name she wanted for him. That was the name their child was going to receive as a last tribute to his wife.

Sitting in front of the fire, he rubbed his fist over his aching heart, pulled from his thoughts as a Patronus in the shape of a hyena appeared before him, tongue out, panting as if it were a real animal. Out of the misty shape came George Weasley's voice, strained and stressed. "I need you to come to the flat above Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes immediately, please."

Draco frowned as the Patronus faded into nothing, its job done. He knew that the last time he'd seen George, about three months ago, the surviving twin had yet to return to the flat he and Fred had shared. So for George to be summoning Draco to that very flat had him immediately worried. He knew the kind of pain that places like that could take you. If it hadn't been for Draco's counseling sessions and Scorpius, he probably would have gone down the same road as George.

Draco was thankful for Healer Brownstone, and he had inspired Draco to further his healer career by becoming a grief counselor.

Draco rose from the leather chair and left his room to go in search of his mother and Scorpius. Draco found them in the sun room and he could hear the giggling before he even got to the door.

He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest as he smiled, watching his mother hold a squirming Scorpius as she tickled his ribs. As the littlest Malfoy had grown the last year and a half, his looks had morphed, his face narrowing out a little. He used to look exactly like his mother, and it had pained Draco to look at his son. But now Scorpius had begun to favor Draco more, though still retaining some of his mother's features, like her soft, rounded nose - not pointed like Draco's - and Astoria's blue eyes.

Those sharp blue eyes locked onto Draco and a wide smile lit Scorpius' face. "Daddy!" He finally squirmed free of his grandmother's grip and ran over to Draco.

Draco knelt down and opened his arms, scooping his son up and kissing all over his face. "Hello, buddy. Are you having fun with Grammy?"

The little boy nodded enthusiastically, his grin never fading. "Yyyyyep."

Narcissa had gotten up and walked over to the boys with a smile, leaning up to give Draco a kiss on the cheek. She had always been able to tell when something was bothering him. "Is something wrong, darling?"

Draco set Scorpius back down on the floor and watched as his son ran over to the toy train set and began playing with it. "George called for me just a moment ago, he said he needed me immediately."

Narcissa frowned, her eyes darting over to check on her grandson. "Weasley?" Draco nodded and his mother sighed. "I'll watch over Scorpius, you go. It could be an emergency." When Draco hesitated, his mother gently nudged his arm. "Draco, go! I have Scorpius."

"Scorp, buddy, Daddy has to go out for a bit. But I'll be back for bedtime, okay?"

Scorpius looked up from the train and grinned Draco's way, "Kay, Daddy. Love you."

Draco inhaled slowly and smiled back at his son, "I love you too, buddy. Bye, mum. I'll try to be back as soon as I can, but I'll definitely be back to put him down for bed."

Narcissa shooed him away and he left to go and grab his Healer's kit from his room. He wasn't sure what he'd be walking into and he wanted to be prepared. Draco closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, calming himself enough to apparate to Diagon Alley. He landed in front of George's joke shop and headed for the stairs at the side of the building. Once at the landing on top, he knocked on the door, stepping back to wait, hoping George answered unharmed.