Title: The Perfect Wife
Author: slytherin-nette
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you recognize from the HP books in this story. All I own is the plot. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling. She rocks.
Pairings: DM/femHP, RW/LrM, BZ/HG, SB/RV, BM/??, AM/?? and many others.
Warnings: This is a Post-Hogwarts story so it will be slightly more mature than TPG but equally insane. Wahaha. Also, this story contains PREGNANCY, RATED scenes and SLASH relationships.
A/N: Uhm. Hope you guys don't hate me for this chapter. After all, every story has to have a conflict for it to be good, right? ;) Enjoy reading!
Chapter 12 – Children and Strangers
Ginny narrowed her eyes at the entrance of the Zabini Manor ballroom for the fifth time that evening, her gaze searching the crowd of entering guests for a sign of her supposed husband. Where the bloody hell is that prick?! I've been waiting here for two hours! She thought angrily to herself, checking her watch again and noting to herself that Anton had promised to arrive hours ago.
Beside her, the other two Malfoy wives, Annabelle and Helena, shot her a worried glance from where they were standing beside their own husbands near the refreshment table. Ginny gave them a reassuring smile but they excused themselves from their husbands anyway, rushing over in concern.
"Ginny, are you okay? Anton was supposed to have been here hours ago! Don't you dare bother trying to cover for him this time!" Helena whispered angrily as she reached her, pulling Ginny aside by her arm so that they stood in the far corner of the room. Ginny smiled weakly again but before she could answer, Annabelle chimed in as well in a similar angry tone of voice.
"William just told me that he saw Anton with his mistress last night after work…He is SUCH a jerk, Ginny! I don't know WHY you put up with him all the time." She raged, earning a small smirk from Ginny as she looked at her two friends' angry faces. Behind them, she could also make out Lorraine's questioning gaze from where she was standing beside Ron across the room.
Why DO I put up with him? Why do I even bother coming to these parties at all? I don't even feel like a genuine Malfoy given the state of things. Ginny thought to herself silently, turning back to glare at the entrance of the ballroom in helpless exasperation at the thought of her husband.
Over the two years she had spent in the Malfoy family following her surprise wedding to Anton – a somewhat reluctant wedding from both his family and hers at that – she had strived to keep a safe distance from the rest of the Malfoys as much as possible given their hostility towards her own family.
Since her wedding to Anton had been so sudden and unexpected, many of the Malfoys seemed to think she had somehow coerced the half-veela into the marriage and didn't take too kindly to her presence altogether. To be quite honest, she didn't take too kindly to Anton's family either.
The males Malfoys were, in her opinion, nothing but arrogant and obnoxious bastards.
Although the others, like Byron and Reggie, were much friendlier and made an actual effort to talk to her every now and then, Draco, William, Lucius, Louis and the rest of the males ignored her presence completely. It didn't help that the family seemed to be angry with Anton as well and regarded his marriage to Ginny as a fake one he staged for his benefit – which was actually the truth.
With the exception of Narcissa and Lizette, Ginny was severely grateful that most of the Malfoy women were, surprisingly enough, human. Harry and Lorraine stayed by her side during family functions to make her feel comfortable but unfortunately, Harry hardly ever was at family gathering these days that Ginny had a difficult time with the Malfoys anyway – especially since Draco seemed even nastier to everyone else in the family whenever Harry wasn't by his side.
Ginny had eventually developed a friendship with Annabelle and Helena, William and Reggie's wives respectively. The two women were her constant companions during most family social gatherings and would often help her out in many awkward situations. Ginny hadn't expected, however, to develop a fondness for Genevieve Malfoy – perhaps one of the nicest women she had ever met.
Which is SUCH a shame because Lawrence is probably the worst Malfoy of them all. Ginny thought to herself with a scoff, shaking her head at the thought of her grandfather-in-law. The man scared her…and that was saying something because Ginny was usually never intimidated by anyone.
She could easily understand now why Anton often spoke of his grandfather with such fear and child-like respect. The man simply commanded authority with his presence and pretty much still exerted his influence on the family whenever he was given the opportunity.
His grandmother, however, Anton spoke of with an unmistakable gentleness in his eyes that Ginny found quite endearing. During the two years that she had spent in the Malfoy family, it wasn't hard to see that Anton was Genevieve's favorite grandson and this was shown clearly in the way she showered Anton with more affection and concern than any of the other Malfoy sons.
This was also perhaps the same reason Genevieve seemed to show more interest and concern for Ginny than any of the other Malfoy wives in general. Over the time she had spent married to Anton, Ginny couldn't deny that she had grown very close to Genevieve and often sought her advice about different matters pertaining to Anton whenever she could.
She was the only reason Ginny had managed to last in the Malfoy family this long.
"Anton is coming tonight right, Ginny? Were you able to remind him earlier today?" Helena asked her again, breaking through Ginny's thoughts and causing the redhead to blink at her in confusion. When she understood the other woman's question, she nodded and looked at her watch.
"I told him specifically that the party starts at nine in the evening. He's probably just finishing up some work or something in the office, Helena. I'm sure he'll get here." Ginny told her with a forced smile and nod, causing both Helena and Annabelle to raise their eyebrows at her in disbelief.
"As much as the family keeps a tight lip about it for the sake of preventing gossip, we all know about the state of your marriage, Ginny…And about Anton's libertine ways. You don't have to bother hiding it from us." Annabelle told her with a pointed look, earning another sigh from Ginny in response.
She shook her head and held up the glass of champagne she held to her lips to take a sip. "I'm sure he'll be here soon, guys. Don't worry…Go back to your husbands over there. I'm sure they're already missing your presence." She quipped teasingly, causing them to give her an uncertain frown.
"But—"
Ginny rolled her eyes and ushered them forward, already turning to walk away before they could protest. "Go on already, you two! I'll be fine, I promise. Anton will get here soon. He's probably on his way now as we speak." She smiled reassuringly at them and walked away before they could say anything else, making her way over to the front of the ballroom towards the other Malfoys.
She was just about to help herself to another glass of champagne from one of the passing house elves when a familiar voice suddenly spoke up next to her, causing her to jump and whirl around in surprise just in time to meet Byron Malfoy's friendly, grinning face. He smiled at her and chuckled, reaching over and handing her the extra glass of champagne in his hand.
"A pleasant evening to you, Ginny…" He greeted easily as she took the champagne from his hand and helped herself to a small sip. "How goes you and your never ending marital trials with my idiotic, playboy cousin? I see he isn't here yet…Do you have any idea where he is?" He asked nonchalantly, watching as Ginny sighed and offered him a shrug in response.
"I talked to him this morning and he said he'll be coming from work. I'm sure he'll be here soon, Byron. He probably just got held up on the way." She answered him calmly, causing the metamorphagus to scoff and offer her a conspiratorial wink.
"Well if it's any consolation…I saw Anton this afternoon just before going back to work and he was sporting two very distinct black eyes…Any idea where those may have come from?" He asked innocently, trying not to smirk when he saw Ginny blushing in mild embarrassment.
She bit her lip and took another sip of champagne before she answered.
"Yeah…About that… Uhm…Fred and George kind of found out about his little affair with that Italian opera singer last week and well…Let's just say that I wasn't aware of their little stunt until Anton had come home with his face all bruised and his bones all broken." She winced after she had said this but Byron just snorted with laughter and shook his head.
"That's classic! So that's why I saw the Weasley twins looking so smug tonight." He shook his head again and gave her another sympathetic smile. "Why do you put up with it all, Ginny? Anton knows nothing about the meaning of a purely monogamous relationship…I doubt he ever will." He drawled. Ginny held back an irritated retort and set her empty glass of champagne back down.
"It's fine, Byron! Anton is just…He's very misunderstood and I'm sure that he'll eventually settle down and grow up. Excuse me…Let me just—" She didn't bother finishing her sentence as she whirled around and walked off, ignoring the confused expression on Byron's face as she hurriedly made her way through the crowd of guests towards the opposite end of the ballroom.
She passed by several more of her friends along the way – including Harry, Ron, and Hermione but she ignored their questioning looks and hid her face, stopping only when she had reached the corner of the room. Just as she was sure she had gotten away from all the unwanted attention, she stiffened again when she heard another familiar voice calling out her name.
"Ginny! Sweetheart… What are you doing here all alone? Where's Anton? Late again?"
In spite of herself, Ginny couldn't prevent a small smile from breaking out onto her face as she slowly whirled around and met Genevieve Malfoy's concerned features. The elderly woman was peering curiously at her and was frowning in slight disapproval and it was obvious from the look in her eyes that she already knew the answer to her own question.
Nevertheless, she smiled warmly at Ginny and pulled the other woman into a tight hug. Ginny sighed in relief and hugged her back tightly, inwardly grateful for her sudden presence. When they pulled away, Genevieve smiled at her again and gestured nonchalantly to her gown and appearance.
"You look beautiful, darling…That dress really accentuates the color of your hair." She gushed in a teasing voice, causing Ginny to laugh in response and give her a grateful nod.
"Thank you, Grandmother. I picked it out myself…Actually…I wasn't so sure about coming here tonight at all. I mean…It's not like Anton and I have any children to bring along so what was the use right?" She kidded but Genevieve frowned at her and raised an eyebrow in thought.
"Speaking of which…I was just meaning to ask you, Ginevra. When are you and Anton planning to give me grandchildren?" Ginny blushed at her question but she continued anyway.
"Why…If I'm not mistaken, you've been married to my grandson for two years now…Surely the idea of children has crossed your mind? Or are you busy with work these days?" She asked kindly, causing the flush in Ginny's cheeks to darken even more in mortification.
Laughing nervously, she coughed and tried to find the correct words to say. "U—uhm…W—well…That is…Grandmother, I—Children! Ehehe…The thought hasn't popped itself up in our immediate plans yet. Although we do want them, of course! Just… Not now, I suppose." She reassured her hastily, failing to see the amused twinkle in Genevieve's eyes.
The older woman held back a giggle and nodded in understanding; taking pity on Ginny's blushing face as she effortlessly changed the subject. "I see…Well in that case, how are your jobs then? Anton is a great diplomat but I hear you also just got promoted. Congratulations, darling!" She gushed and at her words, Ginny smiled widely again and nodded in affirmation.
"Just this week actually, Grandmother…I'm now Assistant Editor-in-Chief. I'm really excited about it too. From what my boss tells me, I'll be given a lot of interesting articles and issues to write about—" She failed to finish the rest of her sentence as a voice suddenly cut her off from behind, causing her to jump in shock when a warm hand wrapped itself tightly around her arm.
"Grandmother! Ginny, love…I'm so sorry I'm late again!"
Ginny and Genevieve both looked up and found themselves staring at the handsome, slightly flushed face of Anton Malfoy – who at that moment had just arrived and was now smiling and waving sheepishly to several of his friends around the Zabini ballroom. After nodding in acknowledgement to Blaise and Hermione across the room, he rewarded both women with a devastatingly handsome smile.
"Ah…What a lovely sight…My two most favorite…most beautiful girls in the world." He greeted in a teasing tone of voice, bending down to place a kiss onto the back of Ginny and Genevieve's gloved hands. Rolling her eyes fondly at her grandson's antics, Genevieve shared a similar smirk of amusement with Ginny and shook her head at Anton as he straightened himself back up.
"Anton Louis Malfoy…I'll bet you're just saying that to charm your way out of your lateness again, aren't you?" Genevieve pretended to glare at him after she had said this, earning another handsome, slightly sheepish smile from Anton. "Oh you…The tongue of the devil, I tell you Ginny…I don't know why you married him." She teased further, this time eliciting a laugh from both Ginny and Anton when they heard the disapproving tone of her voice.
Anton ignored Ginny's pointed smirk at him and shook his head, pretending to give his grandmother a childish look of guilt. "Grandmother! I am appalled you would think that! I meant what I said—" He paused and turned to Ginny, taking her hand and intertwining their fingers together.
Ginny flushed and quickly averted her eyes, oblivious to the way Genevieve was watching the two of them with a happy, knowing smile on her face. Anton failed to see her expression, however, and continued to speak anyway, his eyes still lingering intently on Ginny's embarrassed features.
"—you two really ARE my two best and most beautiful girls..." He paused again and turned to Genevieve, giving his grandmother a peck on the cheek and chuckling when all she did was to roll her eyes at him again. "My beautiful grandmother…And my beautiful Ginny…" He turned to Ginny and looked right into her bright blue eyes. "My best friend…My better half…My wife…"
They stared at each other for a few minutes – their fingers still tightly intertwined – before Genevieve finally giggled and broke the silence, turning to give Ginny a conspiratorial wink. "He may talk with such a graceful tongue now, Ginny…But believe me when I say that Anton used to be SO shy around women back when he was a little boy. He was always stuttering and blushing and—"
"Grandmother." Anton interrupted her hastily, ignoring his wife's smirking features as he turned back and playfully stuck his tongue out at Genevieve in childish humor. "Can we not go into the past? I'd rather my wife 'believes' me to be the naturally talented charmer I appear to be." He quipped with an easy grin, causing both women to laugh gently to themselves again.
Ginny finally spoke up for the first time since he arrived, drawing her husband's attention immediately to her mirthful grin. "I never said I thought of you as a 'naturally talented charmer', Anton. I believe the right words I used to call you were 'sleazy' and 'cheesy'." She teased and at Anton's slightly miffed expression, Genevieve laughed again and shook her head at their banter.
Anton raised an eyebrow in indignation and scowled to himself. "Great…I'm being double-teamed by my wife and my grandmother. Not really something comforting for my masculinity but I'll let it slip this time." He kidded again, causing his grandmother to roll her eyes at him again.
She stepped forward and began to usher the two towards the dance floor, grabbing the drink Anton had in his hand and setting it down onto the nearby table. "Oh you…Stop talking now Anton and ask your lovely wife to dance! It was about time you showed up! Poor Ginny here was waiting all night for you and to be honest, she looks way too beautiful tonight not to be on the dance floor." She scolded the blonde half-veela lightly, causing Anton to chuckle in agreement.
He turned to stare intently at Ginny's flushed face, his lips quirking upwards into a small smile as he reached up and tucked a stray strand of red hair behind her ear. When she flinched and looked away from him, Anton laughed and turned back to meet his grandmother's pointed glare.
"Too true, grandmother…How foolish of me. Ginny…I apologize for my tardiness. Allow me to make up for it…Can I have this dance, love?" He asked, raising a single hand and offering it to her with a handsome, roguish grin. Genevieve watched with a smile as Ginny looked up and nodded, easily slipping her gloved hand into Anton's offered one with a mischievous smirk.
"Buy me that beautiful blue satin dress I saw yesterday, Malfoy. THEN we can call it even." She retorted bluntly with an innocent smile. Anton didn't even bother hiding the slightly choked-up, surprised laugh that had escaped his lips at his wife's subversive response – the reaction on his face causing his grandmother to erupt into another fit of highly amused giggles.
Anton shook his head to himself, laughing under his breath as he took Ginny's hand into his, excused himself from his grandmother and slowly began to pull her towards the dance floor. Once they were there, however, and Anton began to lead Ginny into an easy, graceful waltz, the smile on her face eventually began to fade and her eyes slowly dimmed in disappointment.
Once again, the unfamiliar scent of another woman's perfume lingered on her husband's robes.
She hid her face from him when she realized this, looking up over his shoulder and forcing her attention on the crowd of guests gathered near the end of the ballroom. From several feet away, she failed to notice that Genevieve Malfoy was still looking intently at them – a sad smile on her elderly features as she caught the look of unmistakable pain on Ginny's face.
"Garrett and Gabriel are both so handsome, Drakie…They look so much like you." Pansy cooed with a high-pitched giggle, directing a flirtatious smile at Draco from where she and many other pureblooded aristocrats had gathered in a small circle near the very end of the Zabini Ballroom.
Draco tried not to roll his eyes at her words while Blaise and Daphne simply smirked at each other in amusement, shaking their heads at Pansy's never-ending obsession with the former Prince of Slytherin. Oswald Cunningham didn't seem to appreciate his wife's open flirting towards one of his friends and scowled, gesturing to his son in the large children's playpen in the corner of the room.
"No offense, Malfoy but MY son Baxter is obviously the most handsome boy in there. He takes after his father in nearly everything! Look at him!" He boasted with a loud scoff, directing all the adults' attention to the group of playing children several feet away. A 3-year-old Baxter Parkinson Cunningham sat right in the middle of the large playpen – locked in what appeared to be a fierce tug-of-war with 3-year-old Chessie Malfoy Weasley for an enchanted toy broomstick.
After several minutes of this, Chessie finally giggled and let go of her end of the broomstick – causing Baxter to cry out loud when he ended up toppling backwards and tripping on his feet onto the carpeted floor. Draco and Blaise both stifled their amused sniggers behind their hands when Baxter instantly began to wail, causing Pansy to wince and immediately rush to her son's side.
Oswald glared at them but Draco just smirked back, raising an eyebrow mockingly at him. "You're right, Cunningham. Baxter does take after his father. He just got beaten in strength by a little girl." He drawled sarcastically, causing the rest of the purebloods around them to laugh again.
Daphne smiled at Blaise and took a sip from her glass of champagne, gesturing across the room to the playpen of children. "Elliot is really handsome, Blaise. He just turned four right? Has he shown any signs of magic yet?" She asked curiously, causing Blaise's eyes to soften as he watched his four-year-old son now playing with Chessie and three-year-old James Vallehan Black.
Elliot Granger Zabini was rolling a magical Quaffle back and forth to James and Chessie, pausing every now and then to look up and shoot his mother a wide, toothy baby smile across the room. Hermione smiled back and waved at him; looking away from her conversation with Lorraine and Ron every now and then to make sure she kept a close watch on her four-year-old son.
Blaise glanced back at his friends and grinned proudly, nodding before taking a sip of his drink. "He's started to make random things float up every now and then but that's just about it. He's really clever though. I reckon he gets it from his mother." He mused, pausing as Pansy finally rejoined them.
Edward Haskins, one of Draco and Blaise's pureblooded childhood friends, chuckled and gave Blaise a knowing wink. "Any plans of following him up with another kid sometime soon, Zabini? Your lovely wife is quite the sight for sore eyes as well…If you know what I mean." He drawled with a meaningful glance at Hermione, causing both Pansy and Daphne to stiffen in affronted indignation.
Scowling, Pansy latched onto her husband's arm and sulked to herself. "Sure…If you like mudbloods. Granger isn't really all that pretty…Right, darling?" She looked up at Oswald's face with a pout, failing to see the death glare Blaise had sent her at her use of the word 'mudblood'.
"Of course not, my sweets—" Oswald failed to answer his wife's question properly when Blaise cut him off with a dark growl, drawing both Oswald's and Pansy's attention to his angry sneer.
"Parkinson, I TOLD you never to call my wife that foul name. And I know my wife is gorgeous, Haskins but you'd better keep your eyes to yourself before I punch them senseless!" He snapped, causing the other men to roll their eyes and Draco to smirk at his best friend's jealousy.
The Malfoy Head remained silent and simply listened to his friends' conversations, flicking his eyes every now and then to where his twin sons were busy playing with an enchanted set of toy dragons in the middle of the children's playpen. Every couple of minutes, Garrett or Gabriel would suddenly look up and search around the room for their father with panicked, wide green eyes – only to relax and smile adorably at him moments later when they were reassured of his nearby presence.
Draco offered Garrett a small reassuring smile just as the blonde toddler looked up at him. His older son giggled at this and smiled back, waving happily at his father before he turned his avid attention back to catching the toy dragons flying around and above his and his brother's head.
Eventually, Draco's gaze drifted and he found himself staring openly at his wife across the room instead. Jaimee was too busy talking and laughing with her Gryffindor friends to notice him but Draco watched her anyway, silently admiring the way she wrinkled her nose cutely when she laughed and the way her eyes lit up whenever she was talking about something she genuinely liked.
Her long black hair was down and carefree as usual and she wore a very simple green evening dress that wrapped tightly around her body, drawing attention to her slim waist and her long legs. Draco already sensed at least a dozen pairs of male eyes – including his own friends – lingering on his wife's lovely face from all around the room. That thought alone irritated him with irrational jealousy.
As always, however, the sight of her brought an unexplainable surge of happiness in his chest and he had to force himself to look away from her to gather some coherent thoughts. I hardly get to see her like this anymore…I'd forgotten how beautiful she was. He thought sadly, flicking his eyes back up and watching with weary gray eyes as Jaimee laughed again at something Neville was saying.
"Hey Malfoy!"
Oswald broke through Draco's musings and sneered angrily at him, obviously still not over the fact that Pansy was still staring at Draco with a hint of admiration gleaming in her eyes. Highly annoyed, Draco reluctantly tore his eyes away from Jaimee and glared back impatiently at Oswald.
"Speaking of gorgeous wives…I'm surprised yours came tonight. She was always good for some eye-candy. Where is she anyway? And why isn't she with YOU?" He mocked, unwittingly causing Draco's eyes to flash in irritation. His clenched his jaw and forced himself to squelch back the interesting stream of curse words that were threatening to come out of his mouth.
Instead, he gave Oswald a deceptively calm smile. "She's right across the room, Cunningham. If you so much as try to go near her again tonight… So help me, I will pull out your bulging eyes and make you eat them as your so-called 'eye-candy'." He mocked in a similar sarcastic tone of voice, causing Oswald to flush in anger and the men around them to snigger amongst themselves.
Just as Oswald looked on the verge of another angry retort, William Malfoy beat him to it and gave his older cousin a grin, pointing to his own son in the playpen across the room.
"My son seems to like playing with Garrett and Gabriel, Draco. They're probably the only other children he plays with. Do you think it's because they recognize the Malfoy genes in each other?" He kidded, finally earning a genuine laugh from Draco as he turned his attention to his twin sons again.
Gabriel was currently locked in what looked like an 'intelligent baby conversation' with blonde, pig-tailed Angelica Malfoy – Reggie and Helena's daughter, while Garrett was now chasing toy dragons around the playpen with Tristan Malfoy – William's two-year-old blonde son with Annabelle.
All four toddlers stood out so easily in the playpen amidst the other children because of the striking silver-blonde shade of their hair and their pale, distinct Malfoy features. Several more young children of Blaise and Hermione's other friends were gathered around the playpen but Draco didn't recognize most of them, his attention focused mostly on his twin two-year-olds.
Just a couple of feet away from Garrett and Gabriel, Chessie and Victoire– Bill and Fleur's 4-year-old daughter – also stood out with their flaming red Weasley hair. Both girls took after Lorraine and Fleur's veela features. Their pale skin was without the usual freckles of most Weasleys and their hair a fiery red but with the sleekness and texture of their part-Veela mothers.
Even at a young age, it was easy to predict that the two Weasley daughters would undoubtedly be two incredibly beautiful young women when they grew up.
"Those two Weasley girls turned out really beautiful, huh? I reckon I just may have found my son's future wife." Edmund Hatchetson, another pureblooded Head and one of Blaise's business partners, drawled out loud, earning himself a glare from both Daphne and Millicent at his words.
"So what are you saying? Are you saying MY daughter isn't pretty?! Is THAT it? Is she not 'good enough' for your prissy little son? He's not THAT handsome too you know!" Daphne snapped irritably, failing to see the highly amused smirk Blaise was trying to hide behind his hand.
Edmund looked back and forth between the two women, wincing further when Millicent gave him a threatening growl. "MY daughter is a possible match too, Edmund. Quite frankly, it isn't fair that you base your opinion solely on looks alone." Millicent hissed, much to her husband's exasperation.
"Millie, don't do that—" Goyle stopped when Draco, Blaise and Theodore all burst out into sniggers. Ignoring Daphne and Millicent's glares at them, the three former Slytherins chose to avoid their eyes; turning their attention back to their children and watching them run around the playpen.
Luckily enough for Draco, Gabriel chose that exact moment to look up around the room to search for him in panic – much like Garrett did awhile ago. At the sight of his father's familiar face and smile, Gabriel instantly relaxed and giggled happily, waving before he went back to playing with Chessie and another brown-haired little toddler that Draco didn't quite recognize.
Frowning to himself, he raised an eyebrow and nudged Blaise beside him. "…Who's that brown-haired little kid playing with my son?" Blaise set down his glass of champagne and turned around at Draco's question, following his best friend's gaze to the little boy sitting beside Gabriel.
After staring at the toddlers for a couple of minutes in thought, Blaise finally chuckled and answered in a lazy drawl. "I believe that's Longbottom's kid…What was his name…? Daniel?" When Draco made a face at this and scowled irritably, Blaise laughed again and shook his head at him.
"You're still such an arrogant snob, Draco. Gabriel's just a toddler; I doubt he has ANY idea who he interacts with. He doesn't care about stuff like that like YOU do." Blaise pointed out but Draco's scowl just deepened and he shook his head fiercely.
"That's just where it all starts, Blaise! It starts with the type of children your kids hang out with until eventually, they ends up being best friends with them and being influenced by the way THEY were raised. I do NOT want my son influenced by ANY Longbottom! He might end up becoming all goody-goody, nice and Gryffindorky. Ugh!" He shuddered for effect, causing Blaise to chuckle again.
"Aren't you being a bit melodramatic, Draco?"
Draco snapped his eyes up at him and answered him with a firm glare. "I am NOT! I swear it's the truth! I learned it from one of those 'how-to' parenting books I read—" He stopped abruptly in the middle of his sentence and flushed in embarrassment when he realized what he was about to say.
Looking up with a sheepish cringe, he forced a laugh as he was met with the bewildered, disbelieving faces of not only Blaise and the other males but also Pansy, Daphne and Millicent. All three women had their eyebrows raised and looked as though they were trying not to laugh out loud.
It was Millicent who spoke up first and she rewarded Draco with a teasing, knowing smirk. "Uhm...You read Parenting Books, Draco?" Draco flushed darker and scowled when he heard Oswald and Crabbe hastily try to cover up their snorts of laughter behind their hand with a fake cough.
Daphne added even more injury to this by grinning widely at Draco and giving him a saucy wink. "Oh Draco… You should know…Pansy and I were thinking of attending a mother's counseling session next week…Would you like to come and join us too?" She asked sweetly, causing more snorts of stifled laughter to erupt from the rest of the pureblooded men gathered around them.
Draco sneered warningly at them, his eyes narrowing into angry slits. "ALRIGHT! So I'm a concerned father! It's nothing to be ashamed of! I happen to be VERY proud of my sons! They're PERFECT. Which is more than what I can say for most of you and YOUR stupid children!" He scoffed arrogantly, causing Blaise to roll his eyes and the other males to glare at him in mild insult.
Pansy giggled at this and smiled flirtatiously at him again, gesturing to where Garrett and Baxter were now playing together with some building blocks.
"Well I think that's really sweet and cute how you care so much about your sons, Drakie-poo—" Oswald and Theodore sniggered to themselves again at the words 'sweet' and 'cute' while Draco grimaced and silenced them with a dark glare. Pansy went on anyway, oblivious to their reactions.
"—I'm curious though, Draco…How can you tell your sons apart? They're really cute but they look so much alike! I have trouble keeping track of them both." She cooed, unwittingly causing her husband to stiffen in annoyance again and Blaise to roll his eyes to himself as he answered.
"They look so much alike because they're IDENTICAL TWINS, Pansy. DUH." He ignored Pansy's miffed glare at him and shook his head, inciting more sniggers from the small group around them.
Draco smirked as well and was just about to answer Pansy's question when all of his friends suddenly looked up, their attention drawn to something over his shoulder. "Well look what the cat dragged in…" Theodore Nott suddenly mused, causing Draco to raise an eyebrow in confusion.
"What—?" Curious, he turned around and followed Theodore's gaze to the man who had just walked in through the entrance of the Zabini ballroom. When he recognized just who exactly his friends were so busy smirking at, Draco felt a sneer of dislike forming on his own lips.
Maximillian Thornton.
"—and it was all so WICKED, Harry! There were these floating ghosts everywhere! And the Great Hall was so huge and the Gryffindor Common Room was so beautiful! And there was QUIDDITCH and oh TRANSFIGURATION was so WICKED! Professor McGonagall was all like—"
"Whoa…Slow down there, Keira! Talk more slowly for me, I can't keep up!" Harry laughed in amusement, watching 11-year-old Keira Vallehan Black's eyes light up in absolute excitement as she continued to rant on about her first year experience at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft of Wizardry.
The adorable little girl Harry had first met years ago during her Hogwarts debut was now a beautiful young redhead who was already a younger version of her mother Regina. Her eyes were twinkling with mirth and she was practically bouncing up and down as she talked, earning more laughs from Harry as she listened to her rushed sentences and exclamations.
"—a—and Isabella and I almost got lost in the Forbidden Forest but it was alright because we had a Hippogriff with us and we just flew him right back to Hogwarts castle! We got detention though, Professor Snape is SUCH an annoying slimy haired git! Daddy told me that you once rode a Hippogriff to rescue him in your third year, Harry! Is that true?! That's so WICKED!" She burst out again, causing Harry to wince at her fast-paced rambling and step back to rub her sore ears.
"Yes it's true, Keira…But how on earth did you and Isabella manage to trap yourselves in the Forbidden Forest in the first place? First years aren't allowed in there right? That's—" Harry stopped when Keira interrupted her again, bouncing up and grabbing the Malfoy Mistress by her hands.
"O—oh and Isabella tells me that she's going to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team next year just like her brother Blaise! I want to try out for the Quidditch team too – do you think I should Harry?! I want to be Captain and Seeker just like you! You're my role model! Did you know that they have your badge and Quidditch stuff and trophies in the Gryffindor trophy room?" Keira said this all in a single breath, looking up to see Harry staring incredulously at her with wide, confused eyes.
"Er…I'm sorry…I didn't catch all that yet, Keira—"
"I told Mommy and Daddy awhile ago that I can't wait for little James to grow up and go to Hogwarts as well! I'm going to teach him the ropes! And we're both going to become the best Quidditch seekers of Gryffindor, you'll see! I want my trophies right next to yours, Harry! You know that the Gryffindors still talk about you every now and then?! And I'm all like – YEAH! I know, Harry Potter! She's like an older sibling to me! Hah! So there!" Keira paused again to take in a breath of air.
Harry had pretty much given up trying to keep up with Keira at this point and just laughed again, nodding helplessly for her to continue. "Uhm…Okay…Go on—"
"Did you know that Slytherin boys are JERKS?! I mean Isabella's a Slytherin but even SHE tells me that her housemates are JERKS! There's this ONE boy…A lot of my girl friends say he's really hot and good looking and all that but I HATE him! He and his friends are always picking on me and—"
Harry began to laugh harder, her shoulders shaking with hilarity. "Hahaha! My sides—"
"It's NOT funny, Harry! I'm serious! He's such a PRICK and – OH! ISABELLA'S HERE! I have to go, Harry! That stupid Slytherin prick is actually HERE with his parents and Isabella and I are going to think of ways to get back at him for all the mean stuff he called us in school! I'll see you later!" Before Harry could answer her, Keira gave her a quick hug and ran off towards Isabella Zabini across the ballroom – leaving Harry gaping after her with another incredulous look on her face.
As soon as the young redhead had disappeared into the crowd of guests, Harry shook her head and shrugged, reaching for a glass of champagne from a passing house-elf. That girl is just brimming with energy! Hard to believe she's already in Hogwarts. Time sure does go by…She realized in amazement, sighing as she began to make her way to the far corner of the room.
After walking a couple of steps, it wasn't long before she felt someone tapping insistently on her shoulder from behind. Whirling around; she was instantly rewarded with her godfather's sheepish laughter followed by him grinning warmly and pulling her into a tight, fatherly hug. Laughing, Harry returned his hug briefly before she pulled away and offered him a bright smile.
"Sirius! When did you get here? Keira just told me that you wouldn't get home from France for about another hour or so." She exclaimed, rolling her eyes when all Sirius did to answer her was to offer her a conspiratorial wink, pushing back strands of sleek black hair out of his eyes.
"Well I left early…I couldn't help it. Business conferences are a complete waste of my time! Besides…I didn't want to miss the chance of giving my little Prongslet a...LOOK OUT! HERE IT COMES!" He grinned widely, linked his arm around her neck and ducked her head down to give her a playful noogie, causing Harry to growl and struggle wildly against him in exasperated irritation.
"SIRIUS! ARGH! LET GO!"
Still laughing to himself, he allowed her to push him away after several minutes, watching as the younger Gryffindor attempted to fix her now thoroughly disheveled black hair with a scowl on her face. As she did this and grumbled repeatedly under her breath about 'annoying godfathers', Sirius chuckled and spoke up again, gesturing to Keira and Isabella across the ballroom.
"I saw you talking to Keira awhile ago…She's quite a handful, huh? She's been doing nothing but rant about Hogwarts these days. Kind of makes me wish I was a kid again and back at school." He let out a wistful sigh as he said this but Harry just rolled her eyes at him and gave him a teasing grin.
"We're not THAT old yet, Paddy!I mean…Look at me. I'm married and I have TWO kids and I don't feel ANY older at all. I still act like a kid most of the time." She kidded, flicking her eyes across the room to see Garrett and Gabriel giggling loudly and playing building blocks with Baxter Cunningham and Daniel Longbottom in the middle of the children's playpen.
Sirius followed her gaze and stared at the twins in thoughtful silence. After several seconds, he finally sighed and turned back to her with a grim expression on his face.
"Actually, Harry…That's…kind of the reason I left the conference early." He began, wincing slightly when he sensed Harry's shoulders tensing and the way her eyes had narrowed at his words. She remained silent and waited for him to speak first before she dared to speak up.
Sirius shifted uncomfortably and sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his robes. "Hermione talked to me a couple of days ago. She asked me to talk to you about something she was concerned about…Frankly, I think she may have a point, Prongslet." He paused and looked up to gauge her reaction, frowning when Harry just rolled her eyes in growing irritation.
She turned her head away from him and downed the glass of champagne she had in her hand in a single gulp, setting it down noisily on the table in front of them. "Ugh…Here it comes." She grumbled and sure enough, the first words out of Sirius' mouth confirmed her initial suspicions.
"Ron and Hermione tell me that you're becoming a bit of a workaholic, Harry—"
Harry broke him off with an exasperated sigh, shaking her head and reaching a hand up to massage her temples in frustration. "Oh for the love of Merlin…Not you too, Sirius!" She muttered, reaching for another glass of liquor before she looked up and met Sirius' admonishing glare.
"Hear me out for a minute here. Your friends are just a little worried about you—"
Harry let out a sound that sounded like a desperate, frustrated growl, snapping her eyes up to glare angrily at her godfather. Inspecting her weary features, Sirius noted the dark circles under her eyes and the way her cheeks seemed to be flushed with enormous amounts of stress and exhaustion.
"Sirius…PLEASE lay off. Okay? I don't need this right now." She took a deep breath to calm herself before she continued, clenching her hands tightly into fists. "I just need a couple more months until I earn my promotion. After that, everything will be back to normal and I'll be able to balance my time properly again…Okay? PLEASE don't make this any worse for me."
The helplessness of her voice caused Sirius' eyes to soften as he stepped toward her and placed a comforting hand onto her shoulder. "Harry, you just really need to get some rest. Just…Lie low for awhile. Spend some time with your family. Spend some time with your kids. I reckon you've missed a lot of important milestones in your sons' infancy because you're so busy all the time—"
He stopped when Harry snapped her head back up and silenced him with a single glare. "You think I don't KNOW that, Sirius?! You think I don't THINK about that all the time whenever I see them?! Look, it's not like I ENJOY not being able to spend time with my family! I'm only ONE person! Things have just been so hard and stressful for me lately that I—"
Sirius shook his head and gave her a pointed look. "Then TAKE A BREAK, Harry! It's not like it's going to kill you to be a wife and a mother once in awhile. There comes a point when a job just asks too much of you that you have to think about the things that really matter." He told her but he sighed when his goddaughter's eyes just flashed again in stubborn indignation.
"I KNOW that, Sirius! And I am trying my goddamn BEST! I am practically KILLING myself just so I can be every SINGLE person that people expect me to be." Sirius looked as though he was going to say something else but Harry went on anyway, her eyes narrowing slowly into angry slits.
"I am trying to be FOUR different people all at once! MISTRESS MALFOY to society, a MOTHER to my sons, a WIFE to Draco and still bloody HARRY POTTER to everyone else! Do you have ANY IDEA how much I want to EXPLODE right now from all that pressure?! I am trying my BEST!" She hissed out through clenched teeth, her words finally causing Sirius to sigh and nod slowly in understanding.
"I understand it's difficult, Harry—"
The younger Gryffindor scoffed in derision, reaching for another glass of champagne from a nearby table and downing it in one angry gulp. When she slammed the glass back down, she looked up and silenced the rest of Sirius' protests with a single angry sneer of contempt.
"In case you didn't realize, I am just ONE PERSON! I can't be in two places at once! This job is the ONE THING…the ONLY thing I am doing for MYSELF. It's only for a few more months, Sirius…Things are already so difficult for me – not being able to see my kids and all but—"
Sirius chose that moment to cut her off again, directing her attention to his exasperated glare. "That's exactlythe problem, Harry! You don't seem to realize that you're not the only one having a difficult time in all this—" He tried to explain himself more but Harry was obviously not listening anymore and was already beginning to turn away from him towards the other direction.
"Leave it alone, Sirius. I can take care of myself."
She didn't give her godfather a chance to answer as she stalked off, ignoring his loud protests and pushing her way through the crowd of people towards the opposite end of the ballroom.
"So glad you could join us here today, Thornton…How's the family doing? Still with magic?" The mocking words had slipped out of Draco's mouth even before he could stop himself and he sneered, stopping just right behind the other man and causing him to start at the sound of his voice.
Oswald, Theodore and Goyle followed his lead and gathered around Max in a small circle, forcing the other man to stiffen and look up at Draco's smirking face. He looked like he wanted to say something scathing back in response but instead; he forced a smile and nodded in acknowledgment
"A pleasant evening to you gentlemen. Malfoy…Cunningham…Nott…Goyle…" He nodded respectively to all the other purebloods around him before turning back to meet Draco's cold gray eyes. "Is there anything I can do for you?" He asked them politely, causing Draco to arch a single eyebrow at him in exaggerated boredom and give him another haughty sneer.
"I believe the question is better phrased at… 'What CAN you do at all, Thornton?' You're a squib, remember? I doubt you could do anything for us." He drawled back, causing Max to stiffen with anger again and Oswald, Theodore and Goyle to erupt into gales of amused guffaws and laughter.
Highly encouraged by his friends' reactions, Draco smirked wider and spoke up again in a deceptively innocent tone of voice. "Speaking of which…Have you heard of the magical plague that's been going around Europe lately? They say purebloods are the most highly susceptible to catch it." He pointed out casually, hiding a smirk.
Max seemed to give him a wary look as he answered. "Yeah, of course I have…It's all over the news these days. What about it?" He asked grudgingly, taking another step away from them.
Draco would have answered him but Oswald spoke up instead, slinging an arm over Max's shoulder from behind. "Have you taken the necessary health precautions, mate? We fellow 'purebloods' should watch out for each other right? Oh wait—" He paused and pretended to blink in realization, turning his head back to stare in exaggerated confusion at Max's irritated face.
The other men stifled another laugh again as Oswald turned to wink at them briefly before snapping his attention back to Max and offering him a speculative smile. "—I just realized…You're lucky! I doubt the magical plague would do anything drastic to you anymore, right? I mean…Given the state of things." He smirked wider when Max growled and shoved his arm away.
"What are you talking about, Cunningham—"
"Come now, Thornton. Cunningham is just being a good friend by trying to warn you to be careful…" Draco pointed out, pretending to look offended with the other man's reaction. Max glared at him, his eyes narrowing carefully into angry slits. He looked as though he was going to snap something back when Theodore suddenly turned to Draco and let out a derisive scoff.
"It's not like the idiot has anything to lose…right? I doubt the stupid disease would accomplish ANYTHING with him anyway. There isn't any magic to drain out of him in the first place!" He blurted out loudly, causing Draco and the other men to erupt into another fresh round of laughter.
Max looked thoroughly furious and humiliated at this point. He clenched his jaw and was just about to walk away from their group when Draco's eyes suddenly narrowed in anticipation. The Malfoy Head shot a hand out and clasped Max tightly by the shoulder to stop him, keeping him firmly in place.
"Whoa, whoa…Hold on a minute there, Max. Don't be rude. We're not done talking to you yet. We still have so much to catch up on." Draco said sarcastically, his eyes gleaming with malice as he callously shoved Max away. Goyle grinned and caught him by his arms, keeping him from struggling.
Oswald and Theodore both sniggered, stepping closer around them so that they shielded Max from the other guests around the ballroom. Still struggling, Max turned his hateful glare to Draco and snarled, the look in his eyes completely murderous as they rested on the Malfoy Head's face.
"Malfoy! You sadistic bastard! You haven't changed at all!" He hissed angrily, struggling harder against Goyle in growing agitation. "Let me go! Get your filthy hands off me, Goyle! I'm warning you!" His struggles became violent, attracting the attention of many of the other nearby guests.
Draco ignored this and reached into the pocket of his robes, pulling out his wand with deliberate slowness and pointing it warningly at Max' thrashing form. This ceased the other man's movements immediately, causing the other men around them to snigger amongst themselves again.
His eyes gleaming in sadistic amusement, Draco raised his wand higher and pointed it at Max's growling face. "You know…I've never really liked you, Thornton. But then again, you probably already knew that." He drawled carefully, smirking as he watched the other man's reaction.
Max chose to remain silent, the expression on his face completely unreadable as he looked up at Draco's taunting silver eyes. Oswald, Theodore and Goyle were watching the scene unfold in mild interest and just as it looked as though Draco was going to say something else again, they were all distracted by a voice suddenly calling their attention from behind.
"Draco! STOP! What the HELL are you all doing?!"
Whirling around, the hand Draco used to hold up his wand lowered inadvertently as he found himself staring at his wife's furious face. Harry's eyes were flashing and she looked disgusted as she sauntered over to him, snatching his wand out of his hand and pulling him away from Max.
Oswald and Theodore suddenly looked uncomfortable at her arrival, watching silently as Harry shoved Goyle away from Max and helped the other man steady himself back up. Draco clenched his hands into fists and glared at her from behind, his eyes darkening into a stormy near-black shade.
"Harry…This does NOT concern you. The guys and I were just fooling around a bit, everything's fine. In fact, we were just in the middle of an important conversation. Stay out of this." He warned her in a low voice but Harry purposely ignored him, turning her attention to Max instead.
"Mr. Thornton…If you're not too busy with whatever it is my husband and his idiotic pack of followers are talking about with you…Perhaps you wouldn't mind allowing me one dance?" She asked him with a polite smile, giving him a pointed look that indicated her intention of helping him get away.
Draco's eyes hardened instantly at her words. "Harry, did you not hear what I said?! I said STAY AWAY from that filthy squib—"
Max cut him off sharply and gave Harry a friendly, grateful smile.
"It would be an honor to dance with you, Mistress Jaimee. If you'll excuse me…Malfoy…" He spat the last word of his sentence in an angry hiss. "Manners come first, after all. Good evening, gentlemen." He didn't bother waiting for the other men's responses as he took the hand Jaimee offered him and quickly led her to the middle of the ballroom – all the while ignoring the angry, murderous death glare he knew Draco was sending the back of his head as he walked away.
Once they had reached the throng of other dancing couples and Max began to lead Jaimee into an easy waltz – his hand resting on the curve of her waist – the anger in Draco's eyes flared up again and he saw absolute RED, the familiar feelings of raging jealousy suddenly rising up in his throat. He began to bare his teeth, a low, vicious growl already escaping him as his hands began to close themselves very slowly into tight, angry fists.
If there was anything that Draco hated above having other men STARING at his beautiful Harry… It was having other men LAYING their filthy…disgusting…insignificant…PAWS on HIS wife.
That blasted squib was going to pay with his limbs.
As soon as they were in the middle of the dance floor, Harry sighed and looked up to give Max an apologetic grimace. "Allow me to apologize on behalf of my husband and his friends, Mr. Thornton. I realize he's a man that most people may often describe as 'insufferable'." She said with a sheepish smile, earning an easy laugh from Max as he began to lead her into a slow waltz.
He spun her around once before answering her apology with a wry grin. "Once again…Call me Max, Harry…And don't worry about it. I've known Draco Malfoy since we were five. He was always an arrogant bastard...If you'll excuse my term." He added hastily, gauging her reaction to his words.
To his surprise, Harry just laughed and shook her head in fond amusement. "Yes, he is…But he's actually very lovable once you get to know him well enough. Otherwise, I would never have married the silly git." She quipped and hearing her words, Max raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"I highly doubt that 'lovable' is a term I will ever use to describe your husband, Mistress Malfoy but I'll take your word for it." He kidded with a grin, causing Jaimee to laugh again at the incredulous tone of his voice. They waltzed their way around several of the other dancing couples before he spoke again, flicking his eyes up and giving her another friendly grin.
"Actually…If I may be allowed to say so… I find it very surprising how you two ended up together. From what I know of you so far, you two seem to be completely opposite in personalities." He mused out loud and at this, Harry rolled her eyes and scoffed, answering him with a small smirk.
"Don't I know it…?" She kidded, flicking her eyes back across the room to where Draco was still standing with his friends. As she expected, her husband looked absolutely furious with her – his face twisted into an angry growl as his eyes blazing with jealousy as they lingered intently on her form.
"We weren't exactly the best of friends back in school either but these things…Well they don't always happen the way you expect." She stopped talking after she had said this and sighed in exasperation, tearing her eyes away from her husband and offering Max another forced smile.
"So…Anyway…How do you like your job at the Ministry of Magic office in London so far, Max? Is it any different from your old job in France?" She asked nonchalantly, making sure to keep herself a good distance away from Max's body to placate Draco's glinting, watching eyes across the room.
Max quirked the corner of his lips into a small smile and shrugged, spinning her around carefully before he spoke. "Not by much…I do like working with Hermione at the department though. I think she's one of the brightest women I've met." He told her, causing Harry to smile in agreement.
"Yeah…That's Hermione alright. At certain times, she can get carried away and load you with too much information in the span of a single conversation though. Has that ever happened to you yet?" She asked him curiously, smirking when all Max did to answer her was to make a cringing face.
"…And I thought that was just me."
Harry laughed again at the deadpan tone of his voice and this time, Max joined her, pausing just as the waltz music playing around them ended and the other dancers began to get ready for the next dance. Once they had repositioned themselves and began to dance to the soft music again, she bit her lip and gave Max another genuinely apologetic smile.
"I really would like to apologize for what happened though, Max. Draco tends to get carried away. If I overstepped my boundaries and insulted your pride or anything, feel free to tell me. I understand exactly how a male may respond to being helped out of that kind of situation by a woman and I—" She stopped when Max shook his head firmly and silenced her by holding up his hand.
"It's really fine, Harry…Don't worry about it. I really appreciate your help. I reckon things would have probably taken a turn for the worst if you hadn't arrived so…Thank you." He told her, smiling when Harry's tense shoulders seemed to relax and she let out a relieved laugh in response.
Max chuckled at her reaction and shrugged, ducking his head behind his hand and offering her an embarrassed smile. "By the way…I've been meaning to ask you…I saw your robes awhile ago in the Ministry…Are you an Unspeakable?" He asked, his eyes widening when Harry nodded in response.
He grinned widely at her, his eyes lighting up in boyish excitement. "I thought so! That is so wicked! I've never actually met a real Unspeakable Agent before! What do you guys do up there? I've always wanted to know." This time, Harry answered by smiling sheepishly and shaking her head.
"I can't really say, Max…I'm sworn to secrecy by Ministry Decree—"
The rest of Harry's sentence was abruptly cut short by a shrill wail that suddenly erupted from the end of the Zabini ballroom, causing Harry, Max and the rest of the adults to stiffen in alarm. They whirled around to search for the source of the noise, their attention immediately drawn to the children's playpen in anxious concern. Once she saw where the noise was coming from, however, Harry cringed to herself and buried her face into her hands in utter embarrassment.
There, right in the middle of the children's playpen, sat Baxter Cunningham and Daniel Longbottom – both of which had burst into tears and were now crying loudly for their mothers while pointing every now and then to one happily giggling Garrett Potter Malfoy. The silver-blonde two-year-old was smiling smugly while holding in his two hands what looked like Baxter and Daniel's toy rattles, both of which Garrett had obviously stolen from them and was keeping for himself.
Gabriel sat just several steps away from his brother and was beginning to cry as well, his big green eyes flicking back and forth between Garrett and the other two toddlers in what almost appeared to be guilt and uncertainty. Scowling, Garrett held up Daniel's rattle in his hand and promptly hit his brother on the head with it, finally causing Gabriel to whimper and burst out into tears.
Once Gabriel's loud, shrill wails had joined Baxter's and Daniel's, the rest of the babies in the playpen seemed to stop what they were doing immediately and began to cry for their mothers as well. The sudden chorus of baby screams caused every single adult in the ballroom to cringe and cover their ears in a mixture of exasperation and irritation.
Oh for Merlin's sake, Garrett! Harry thought to herself with a groan, slapping her face with her hand. She looked up and watched as Garrett simply giggled and gurgled happily to himself amidst all the crying children around him, raising Baxter's rattle to his mouth and nibbling on the handle.
Harry looked up and met the angry glares she was receiving from most of the women – including Hermione and Luna – around her with a sheepish smile. She watched in amazement as practically every mother in the room rushed forward towards the children's playpen; gathering their son or daughter up into their arms in a gesture of comfort and reassurance.
For a minute, Harry observed this scene in awkward uncertainty – watching as Hermione, Luna, Lorraine, Regina, and even Pansy rushed over to their respective children and scooped them up from the floor, hugging and cradling their child to their chest in an effort to get them to stop crying.
Once safe in their mothers' arms, most of the children began to calm down right away.
Elliot was sniffing and had buried his face against Hermione's shoulder while she gently caressed the dark strands of hair on his head. Lorraine was repeatedly dropping a kiss onto the top of Chessie's hair, pulling her daughter to her in a tight, warm hug. Luna had Daniel in her arms and was swaying him gently from side to side, her son's arms wrapped tightly around her neck.
Harry shook her head to clear her thoughts and hastily rushed forward towards her own crying son, muttering a quick apology to Max over her shoulder as she walked away. Taking a hint from the other women, she bent down to scoop Gabriel up into her arms, flinching in shock a second later when Gabriel responded by crying even louder and scooting away from her in unfamiliarity.
Harry paled at this, completely taken back by her son's reaction.
"Gabriel…What are you doing—Come here, let me see that bruise…" She tried to ignore the painful pang in her chest and bent down towards Gabriel again, gathering the crying toddler up into her arms and attempting to pick him up from the floor.
The minute she had touched him, however, Gabriel seemed to erupt into even louder screams and began to whine even more – kicking and trashing violently against her in angry protest. "NO! NO! DOWANNA! DOWANT YOU!" He shoved his mother's hands away, causing Harry to step back in shock.
"Gabriel! What—"
Gabriel kicked at her and pushed her hands away again, tears streaming down his face as he scrambled back up onto his feet. "I WANT DADDY! DADDY! DADDY!" He whimpered loudly, sobbing as he turned around and tore himself away from his mother, running as fast as his little legs could carry him to where his father was watching the scene from across the room.
As soon as he reached Draco, Gabriel whimpered again and buried his tear-streaked face into his father's left leg, crying softly and wrapping his tiny arms around his father's ankle. Refusing to say anything, Draco bent down slowly and gathered Gabriel up into his arms, raising a hand and gently inspecting the forming bruise on his son's forehead. The two-year-old sobbed again and pressed his face into his father's robes, his tiny arms going up to wrap around Draco's neck.
Harry stared blankly at this entire scene unfold from the opposite end of the ballroom – her green eyes wide and her entire form frozen in place. She remained completely oblivious to the silent stares she was receiving from all the other mothers around her and looked up into Draco's gray eyes, noting the silent accusatory anger and disappointment seen clearly in those silver depths.
She felt…stung.
In that moment, nothing seemed to register in her mind except for the repeated memory of Gabriel kicking and shoving her away from him over and over and over again. He had looked fearfully at her as though she was a complete stranger to him and she couldn't seem to think of anything else except for the expression on his face as he had turned away from her and screamed for his father.
She felt a harsh stinging in her chest but she refused to let her emotions show on her face, turning sharply away from the angry, pointed look Draco was giving her over Gabriel's shoulder. She ignored the heavy silence around her – which she knew was brought about by the fact that everyone was still staring at her – and began to walk over to where Garrett was kneeling on the floor.
Her older son was the only remaining baby in the playpen at this point and was happily gathering all of the other babies' toys to himself, pausing every now and then to giggle and clap his hands to himself in gleeful excitement. Harry bent down on one knee beside him and forced herself to speak – directing Garrett's attention to her stern expression.
"Garrett…You know these toys aren't yours. We're going to return them all to everyone and apologize, okay?" She reached forward and made to take one of the toys from his pile but Garrett scowled and shoved her hand away, shaking his head furiously and making a face at her.
"NO! DOWANNA! MINE! MY TOYS! MINE! ALL MINE!" He screamed at her, grabbing one of the toy rattles and using it to hit his mother's hand. Harry's jaw tightened impatiently as she caught the rattle in her hand, yanking it out of Garrett's grasp and putting it back down onto the floor.
Across the room, Draco sighed and began to make his way towards them with Gabriel still in his arms. Harry didn't see him and bent down close to Garrett once more, trying to take the stolen toys from the pile he had stacked up in front of him. "Garrett…I mean it! These toys are NOT yours and you will apologize to the other children for making them cry like that—"
"NO! NO! NO! NO!" Garrett stomped his foot repeatedly on the ground and grabbed one of the larger toys in the pile – in this case, Elliot's magical quaffle. "DOWANNA! TOYS MINE! MINE! MINE! GOWAY!" Before Harry could say anything else, Garrett screamed and hurled the ball angrily at her, causing his mother to pull back in alarm and duck, the ball missing her face by a couple of inches.
Bolting back up to her feet, Harry finally lost control of her patience and snatched Garrett up by his wrist, her green eyes flashing dangerously as she glared down at her two-year-old son.
"Garrett…You will apologize to me right now! I am your MOTHER!"
Garrett stomped his foot on the ground again and scrunched up his face, glaring stubbornly back up at his mother in childish anger. "NO! DOWANNA! DOWANNA! NO!"
"Why you—" Before she could stop herself, Harry finally exploded with anger – her voice suddenly coming out in a loud, furious shout. "GARRETT! I'VE HAD JUST ABOUT ENOUGH OF YOUR SPOILED, BRATTY ATTITUDE! I SAID STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" She screamed back angrily, immediately regretting her actions a second later when Garrett finally stopped and flinched at her angry, screaming voice, looking up at her in sudden fear and shock.
His wide green eyes slowly began to fill with tears as he stared up at his mother's furious face, his bottom lip trembling and the toys he was holding slipping from his arms and scattering to the floor. A timid half-sob, half-whimper escaped Garrett's lips as he slowly began to back away from her, tears beginning to pour down his face and his childlike features crumpling into a terrified grimace.
Shit… Harry immediately felt a pang of guilt as she stared right back at him, noting the genuine fear gathering in her son's eyes and the way he was now looking at her as though she was the scariest thing he had ever beheld in his life. I shouldn't have shouted at him…Shit…I'm such a screw-up at this! She sighed and bent down towards him again, trying to pull him back into her arms.
"Garrett… I'm so sorry…Mommy's sorry for shouting, sweetheart…I'm not mad at you, I—"
Garrett continued to stumble backwards away from her and raised his tiny, fisted hands to his eyes, rubbing the tears that were beginning to fall. "D—D—DADDY…D—DADDY..." His began to cry softly, his sniffles beginning to grow louder. Eventually, he tripped backwards onto the carpeted floor and began to sob, his watery eyes searching around the room for his father.
Harry tried to pick him up and help him off the floor but Garrett only whimpered louder and crawled backwards away from her again . "NO! NO! DADDY! DADDY!" He screamed desperately, crying even louder as his tiny frame began to tremble with sobs and hiccups.
Ignoring the stares she was receiving from all the other occupants of the ballroom, Harry finally sighed in defeat and buried her face into her hands – desperately trying to prevent her own tears of guilt and helplessness from flooding her eyes. She felt a sharp movement beside her and looked up, her eyes coming to rest wearily on Hermione's reproachful expression.
The Zabini Mistress had Elliot cradled to her chest as she stared at her, shaking her head at the overwhelmed look written all over Harry's face. "Harry…" She began uncertainly, adjusting Elliot in her arms before turning her attention to where Garrett was still sobbing into his hands on the floor.
"Harry, you're NOT supposed to shout at your son at his age…Actually, you're not supposed to shout at your children like that AT ALL…You should have known better than that. Garrett's only TWO years old." She whispered softly under her breath so that no one else could hear them.
At her words, Harry's eyes suddenly hardened and she answered Hermione with a derisive sneer of contempt and self-disgust.
"Yeah…Well forgive me if that piece of information didn't exactly come naturally to me, Hermione…" She spat out sarcastically, swallowing the painful lump in her throat as she looked back down and watched as Garrett whimpered again and reached out towards Draco across the room.
The Malfoy Head had stopped in the middle of his stride and was now standing frozen several feet away, glaring disbelievingly at them with dangerously narrowed eyes. His handsome face was twisted into a furious sneer as he met his wife's broken expression and even from where she was standing, Harry could see the way Draco's jaw was clenched tightly in unkempt anger.
He ignored Gabriel whimpering in his arms and stalked towards them, stopping a couple of feet away from Harry and meeting her guilty expression with an infuriated, accusing glare. "POTTER…" He hissed, causing Harry to flinch again at the harsh sound of his voice. Garrett jumped up onto his feet and ran to hide behind his father, muffling his whimpers against Draco's left leg.
Draco continued anyway, completely ignoring the fact that everyone in the ballroom was watching the private scene in shock and mild interest. "If you EVER shout at my sons like that again….So help me, Potter…I don't care if you ARE my wife, I will make you REGRET it—"
Harry felt her guilt immediately replaced by a sudden surge of anger. She glared right back at him, her green eyes hardening with stubborn indignation. "Oh is THAT so?! In case you haven't noticed, MALFOY…It's YOUR fault that our sons are so bloody SPOILED in the first place!" She raged right back, scowling further when Draco's jaw dropped and his eyes flashed in angry indignation.
"MY FAULT?! You think this is MY fault?!" Draco laughed harshly, his eyes glinting with contempt as he met her eyes. "You have SOME nerve, Harry! For the past TWO YEARS, I have been TRYING to raise our sons ALONE! What have YOU done?! Maybe I wouldn't have to do the parenting ALONE if you were AROUND!" His last sentence ended up louder than he would have liked and both Gabriel and Garrett flinched again, their eyes filling up with more tears.
Harry fell silent at this, staring back at Draco's angry features with a completely blank and speechless expression on her face. She watched as he bent down and picked Garrett's sobbing form up with his free arm until eventually, both two-year-olds were crying against their father's shoulder.
For the first time since their argument had started, Harry's eyes flicked upwards and she finally became aware of the pairs of eyes that were watching them from all around the ballroom.
She flushed in humiliation as she was met with her friends' reproachful stares. Byron and Sirius were standing several feet behind Draco and were biting their lip in uncertainty while just behind them; Ron, Anton and Ginny were awkwardly trying to avert their eyes away from her. The rest of the Malfoy family stood behind them and were giving both her and Draco a disapproving glare – no doubt displeased with their display of such open dispute in view of the public.
Max Thornton was standing right behind them with another unreadable expression in his eyes but Harry didn't linger too much on him, her eyes slowly moving back to rest on her husband's weary features. Draco was staring at her with a hint of sadness and angry disappointment in his silver eyes. Just as he shook his head and was about to turn around to walk away, a sharp scream suddenly erupted out of nowhere – bringing everyone's immediate attention to the very front of the ballroom.
"NO! OH MERLIN, PLEASE NO! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP! PLEASE!"
Her argument with Draco momentarily forgotten, Harry was on her guard immediately and tore through the crowd towards the direction of the scream, ignoring everyone's panicked whispers as she pushed her way to the front of the ballroom and hurriedly yanked her wand out of her robes.
"OH GOOD GOD! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP HIM! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING! PLEASE!"
Harry stopped at the circular clearing that had formed within the crowd of guests near the front of the ballroom and paled, a jolt of unexpected fear suddenly surging through her chest as she stared at the horrifying scene that greeted her.
Pansy was crying and kneeling on the ground with her hands covering her mouth, her eyes wide and her entire frame shaking with sobs as she stared at the convulsing form of her husband in front of her – laid out lifelessly in front of her on the cold, marble floor. Baxter was standing right behind her and was staring at his father's pale, lifeless body with wide, tearful eyes, sobs and whimpers escaping his lips as he backed away and buried his face into his mother's robes.
Oswald Cunningham, on the other hand, showed no signs of consciousness and his entire body had turned ashen. His eyes had rolled up onto the back of his head and his frame convulsed like that of a man having a seizure for several seconds before he stopped and began to cough violently, blood pooling up in his mouth and spilling onto the white tiles of the ballroom dance floor.
"Everyone please stay back! Back away! It may be contagious!" Harry shouted out loud, causing more panicked screams to break out from around the room as many pureblooded families hurriedly grabbed their children and began to run for the door. Byron tried to help usher everyone out while the rest of the Malfoys backed away, their faces pale with shock and disbelief.
Draco's eyes widened when he saw this and he backed away in fear, clutching his sons tighter against him and turning away to shield their eyes from the horrifying sight. Blaise, Max and the other pureblooded males gaped and backed away as well while the women around them began to gasp and scream loudly in growing hysteria, their shrill cries echoing around the large ballroom.
Hermione, Lorraine and the other women held their children tighter and shakily ran away from the scene while Ginny clutched Anton's hand and nervously pulled him away. Sirius was shielding Regina and Keira from the entire scene and was holding little James protectively against him while Ron and the rest of the Weasleys were simply frozen in shock, watching everything unfold in silence.
Oblivious to all this chaos around her, Harry knelt down next to a crying Pansy and Baxter and raised a hand to check for Oswald's pulse along his neck, paling even further when she was met with a very weak, unstable heartbeat. Looking back up, she met Byron's equally wide, suspicious eyes from across the room and gulped, nodding silently to him as though in unspoken agreement.
She knew that the fear she saw in those golden brown eyes perfectly mirrored her own.
A/N: Before you all start hating Harry, let me first explain something very important about Harry's reaction to Garrett in this chapter: Harry never HAD a parent figure all her life except for the Dursleys. How did they treat her? By shouting at her all the time. Her reaction to Garrett was a psychological impulse on her part because of her childhood experiences. Draco, on the other hand, was loved, pampered and absolutely SPOILED ROTTEN as a kid. It's only natural he would also spoil his children.
Their parenting styles CLASH and strange enough as it would seem, Draco is actually the better parent at this point. Harry WILL get better in the end, don't worry. And yes, Harry is being a stubborn prick. She wouldn't be Harry Potter if she wasn't. :D
Next Chapter: More on the magical plague, More marital problems, More Byron/Vincent :D
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