"Is this okay?" Astoria asked as she ran her hands over Draco's shoulders and went to remove his jacket. He nodded, and she did so. For every item of clothing that she removed, she asked his permission. She understood what had happened in his past, and she felt as if she needed to do this to make him comfortable. Between undressing, they kissed harder and more desperately, allowing their tension to run over them.

Astoria stood up in front of him as if she were on display. She took the opportunity to remove her clothing, one item at a time, and slowly. Their tea remained on the table, forgotten. Draco watched her hungrily, taking it all in. He stood up and removed everything that was left on his own, then did the same for her. Her skin was soft, and his touch raised goosebumps on her. He kissed her shoulders gently, and then went up to her neck, and then back to her mouth. She let him guide her back to the couch and laid her down on it before he climbed on top of her, although there wasn't much room. Draco kissed her along her collarbone as his hand explored her body. He made his way down her, down her sternum, down her stomach, down even further…

When Draco finally returned to Astoria's mouth, he found that she was practically breathless. He grinned down at her. After all this time, after all this wanting, he wasn't about to let her go so quickly.

By the time they were through, they were both on her bed. She was lying on her stomach with her eyes closed. Draco looked at her, for once confident that he hadn't made a mistake. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. He ran a finger down her spine and she squirmed. He had early on in their experience learned that she was ticklish. It was the most childish thing that he had experienced in ages, and he let himself enjoy it. Draco didn't know the last time he had allowed himself to be somewhat goofy, if he had ever allowed himself to feel that way.

"So," she said as she closed her eyes again. "About time."

All he did was grin. She wasn't able to see him, so he felt as if he could get away with it. For a long time, his amusement was shown only as smirks. This time was different. It felt foreign on his face. He had surrounded himself for so long for people who made him feel good about himself, and not necessarily people who saw him as an equal. He preferred it that way. These people idolized him and made him feel important. When he bragged to them, or downright lied to them, they believed him without question. It wasn't as if he didn't care for these people, but eventually they had exhausted him. For once, Draco saw someone who didn't either act condescending to him but also didn't see him as a superior.

"Yeah," he responded, unable to find the words that could express how he felt in that moment. He had never been good at words, at things that weren't said as sarcasm or some sort of joke. "About time."

It wasn't until a few weeks later that Astoria discovered that she was pregnant.

Draco wasn't alone when he sat in the observation room. Sean Finnigan had insisted to be present, too curious to resist. Fleur Delacour also sat there, along with Ginny Weasley – or, he thought, Potter. It was hard to remember that they were married. It had seemed like it came from nowhere, perhaps an attempt for Potter to actually be seen as a real brother to Weasley. It seemed like the sort of nonsense he would do. How could it be that much of a coincidence that he married the only sister of that clan?

Ginny had become annoyingly obsessed with Draco's work. She didn't trust him whatsoever. He supposed he didn't blame her, but it didn't make it less irritating.

Draco was so used to working alone that he felt crowded. He wanted to be able to do this on his own, to see the results without prying eyes. He felt as if it were a double edged sword. If something worked, he most likely wouldn't get the praise he deserved. No doubt Finnigan would get the credit, for being the one who had given his input and somewhat helped with the potion. He hated to admit that Finnigan had been useful, but he hadn't been the one who had put it all together.

However, if the potion failed, they would definitely hold it against him. He had already failed him when he had let Bill go home that last time. He knew that if this had adverse effects, his family wouldn't consent to anything else. If anything, they would demand a new Healer. To this day, he was surprised that they had even allowed Draco to be Bill's Healer in the first place. Then again, there was still a stigma against werewolves, and made even more complicated by the fact that Bill didn't officially meet the criteria of being a werewolf, even with that transformation a while back. He didn't change every full moon, and that alone was enough. He doubted many Healers would want to take Bill on.

"Go ahead," Draco waved his wand and muttered an incantation to momentarily make the mirror separating Bill and the observers disappear. Bill's eyes landed on each of them, and paused on his sister, but didn't say a word. He had signed a form allowing Ginny to be there, but it was clear that he hoped that she wouldn't show up. No doubt he didn't want Ginny there, but even Draco knew that if Bill said something against her presence that Ginny would argue him on it. Ginny had her arms crossed, but somehow managed to seem concerned at the same time.

Bill paused for a moment before he took the cup that had been placed before him on the table and consumed it. With another wave and incantation from Draco, the mirror reappeared. This time, it didn't appear as a mirror on Bill's side. Draco didn't want Bill to observe himself. Instead, the mirror managed to look like a regular part of the wall. Their side gave them a view of the room.

Fleur went to the window and placed her hand upon it gently. For a moment, all eyes were on her. Draco didn't know if it was her Veela side or if it was just how she was, but she managed to look delicate and determined at the same time. She was exhausted but hopeful. Despite all the couple had been through, they hadn't gave up yet. Fleur still believed there was a chance. She seemed to be the only one who believed this completely, but whether it would be Draco who brought this about was debatable. She acted like she would go to hell and back before she would give up on her husband.

Draco turned away and brought his attention back to his patient. He couldn't look at Fleur anymore. Before, he would have hated her faith. He would have thought of her as naïve. Now he began to see why she couldn't give up on him and why she didn't allow herself to think otherwise. If she gave up even for a moment, she wouldn't be able to be that rock that Bill needed. Her faith wasn't for herself, but for him. He didn't want to understand how she felt. It made everything harder – more personal. It was easier when the patient and the family were just numbers and just patients that came in and out of the door.

"What's supposed to happen?" Ginny asked, impatiently.

"Ideally, nothing," Seamus answered for Draco.

He wasn't sure if he was grateful or annoyed that Seamus answered. On the one hand, Draco was so focused on what was going on that he didn't want to answer her question. On the other hand, Seamus answered so casually that it seemed that he had been the brains of the operation. Ginny was just one of many people who had severely irritated Draco throughout school, straight from year one when she had been grabbed for the Chamber of Secrets. Draco knew that his wishes when he was twelve that she had died weren't appropriate, but at the same time, it didn't stop him from being jealous of the attention that it brought those Weasleys, as if they didn't have enough attention of being a shameful pureblood family. He supposed now he was in the same shameful pureblood family club, but even now he struggled to see himself at the same level (or even lower) than the Weasleys. It had been so ingrained in him growing up that the prejudice just didn't go away.

Bill stood up and stretched around. He paced around a little bit, and every eye was on him. Draco imagined that Bill knew that he was being scrutinized heavily from the other room. They watched for over an hour and nothing happened.

"Does this mean that 'e is okay?" Fleur asked.

Draco shrugged his shoulders. "It could. It also might not."

Fleur glared at him, and even though he wasn't looking at her, he could feel her blue eyes boring into him. He finally turned and looked at her when he felt like she was about to strike him. For some reason, irritating those he didn't particularly care for still brought him a weird sense of satisfaction. However, he had come to terms with the fact that he had grown to actually like Bill, and therefore he felt that he should be a bit more respectful to his wife.

"I can't say if it'll work for a while now. He's going to have to take this every day," Draco explained to her. He practically ignored everyone else in the room. "And by that, I mean that for life. If he misses even one dose, I can't guarantee it'll work. I can't even guarantee it's going to work forever."

"That's reassuring," Ginny muttered from behind him.

"Do you have a solution?" Draco sneered. "If not, bugger off."

"You can't tell me to leave," Ginny responded, just as irritably.

"I can if I tell them you're being a hassle," Draco told her.

Ginny rolled her eyes. He could definitely see her point of view, but he didn't have to tell her that.

"When are they going to say he's safe?" Fleur asked.

"After the last time…" Draco paused, and they both let the silence hang over them. "It might take a bit longer."

"And whose fault was that?"

Draco couldn't bring himself to turn to look at Ginny again. Instead, he closed his eyes and took a breath. He chose to ignore her.

"I don't feel any different," Bill announced.

This time, it was Seamus who made the window/wall disappear. "That's what we want to hear."

Bill didn't ask if he could go home. Instead, he looked at his wife, and without permission he stepped through the threshold and went to her. He pulled her into his arms and his face disappeared into her hair at her shoulders. From the way his shoulders shook, it was obvious that he was crying, and he didn't even try to hide it. Fleur tried to keep her composure as she rubbed his back, but tears rolled down her cheeks nonetheless.