Author's Note: Thank you for sharing your creative theories on Astoria's overall plans – I enjoyed reading them. A bit more is revealed in this chapter.

Thanks, as always, to pagan for taking the time to beta this chapter so well.

Plans and Schemes

Draco spent his Sunday morning organising everything he needed for a busy week of meetings ahead. It wasn't something he'd dreamed about doing when younger and was part of the reason he felt older than his years. But, the truth of the matter was that he'd turned to work as a panacea for the troubles in his marriage. He could forget about how maddening Astoria was and lose himself in investments, although he was now realising that this wasn't the healthiest thing in the world. All it had done was help him pretend his problems didn't exist.

He frowned at the knock on his door. He hated being disturbed until he'd finished. It always threw him off and it was usually someone he didn't want to see.

"Come in," he snapped, continuing to speedily write across the parchment.

"Is that anyway to speak to your father?"

Draco looked up in surprise before placing his quill neatly next to his work. He'd planned on visiting his father after lunch.

"Father," he greeted. "Please, take a seat."

His father pulled out the chair from across his desk and sat, folding his hands around his cane.

"We need to discuss Astoria," Lucius said, opening the conversation.

Draco sighed as he thought of their argument the night before. "Yes, we do."

"She knows about Granger."

"Yes, she doe—How do you know that?"

"She came to me yesterday morning, demanding I do 'something' about the child. I believe she thought I could harm it in some way."

Draco felt the anger immediately coursing through his veins. He was surprised by his paternal feelings towards the foetus, but the thought of anyone harming his child was infuriating. He'd thought that he would need time to come to terms with the reality of the circumstances, but as soon as he'd been told he was going to be a father, he'd been so happy, albeit worried, about the situation. The fact that his wife had tried to scheme behind his back to end his chance of being a father was rage-inducing.

"She did what?! I'm going to kill her!"

"Now, Draco, you can't let your emotions affect you. We need to try and deal with this without anger."

"That's easy for you to say, this isn't your child we're talking about."

"No. But it is my grandchild and you know that I would've had more children had I been able."

Draco sighed. His parents had tried desperately for a second child but had been unable to conceive and wizards hadn't been aware of IVF treatment in those days. Not that his father would've proceeded down a Muggle path then, anyway.

He ran a hand through his hair. "So, what did you say to her?"

"What do you think I said? I told her she had until the end of the week to get her belongings and get out of the Manor."

Draco chuckled. It was amusing to him that his father had come to exactly the same conclusion he had.

"What's so funny?" Lucius asked.

"It's just I told her the same thing last night."

"Last night?"

"Yes, I got home from my Quidditch game and she… er… tried to seduce me."

"Seduce you?" his father asked, amused.

He couldn't help the tint of colour that came into his cheeks. Even though he was 29, it was still embarrassing to have conversations like this with a parent.

"Yes, she thought she could try and rekindle our marriage. Now I know why; you'd told her earlier in the day that her days were numbered."

"She did threaten to get back at me."

"Well, if she planned to do it through me, then she's seven years too late. She's lost any appeal that she once held."

"Well, it's good to know that you are no longer thinking with a certain part of your anatomy."

Draco shot his father a glare to which Lucius just raised an eyebrow.

"So, what now?" he asked, deciding to leave that jab well alone.

"Now we get Horatio on the case to draw up your divorce papers," Lucius replied.

"I guess it is too much to try and present us as a happy family now."

"Astoria would never play along with that, unless you guaranteed she would be a permanent fixture as your wife."

"Well, that's not going to happen." He scowled.

"Good. The important thing is we dissolve this marriage with little fuss or publicity. Especially as we hope to present a Malfoy child to the world in nine months. It wouldn't do for the real story to get out, or for it to look as if you were having an affair. That would do a lot to muddy your reputation."

He agreed with that. He'd only just got his reputation back and wasn't ready to have it dragged through the mud once more. "How are we going to get Astoria to agree to an amicable divorce?"

"I plan on going over her head to speak to her father tonight. Either he gets his daughter to toe the line or we pull all our money out of his business. Cadmus Greengrass enjoys his luxuries. He won't want to have to start to scrimp and save."

Draco nodded. The one thing that had always made Lucius successful in swimming the choppy waters of politics was his innate understanding of other people's desires and how to play off them. The only time he'd failed in this was when he'd embroiled them once more with the Dark Lord. He'd underestimated Potter and the sheer strength of conviction that the Boy-Who-Lived had. Without a doubt, if Lucius had realised the strength and depth of the Order of the Phoenix, he'd have defected long before the final battle. But, that was neither here nor there; if there was one thing his father knew, it was the pureblood mentality.

"Do you think he'll be able to get his daughter to toe the line?"

Lucius pondered this for a moment. "I honestly don't know. I hope that his fear of losing any windfall from us will mean he'll push her to behave."

Draco's lips compressed themselves into a tight line. Astoria was wilful when she didn't get her own way. She reminded him of the twelve-year old version of himself: spoilt and used to getting his own way all the time. Had he not gone through the sobering reality of the war then she would've made him the perfect wife. They would have been the most demanding, selfish, and spoilt married couple the world had seen in a long while.

But, times had changed, and whilst Astoria might not want to see that, Draco was all too aware that he'd needed to grow up. Responsibility had hit him hard and had turned him a little bitter. He resented the loss of the swaggering self-confidence he'd once possessed. However, this more hardened, realistic Draco was a lot more equipped to deal with his current situation.

"What if Astoria chooses to be stubborn and refuses to leave the Manor?" he asked his father.

"Don't worry, I've got that covered. I've already briefed the house-elves to remove her, using any force necessary."

"Let's hope we don't have to resort to such drastic measures."

"Oh, I don't know. I think I'd relish the sight of Astoria being taught such a lesson after the way she spoke to me the other day," Lucius said, clearly amused by the prospect.

Draco couldn't help the smirk that settled on his lips at his father's words. Lucius certainly did have a way about him and it wasn't for the faint-hearted. Being his daughter-in-law didn't make you immune from his wrath if you decided to cross him.

"There's something else I wanted to talk to you about," Lucius said, settling back in the chair with an uneasy air.

He frowned. He hadn't seen his father look nervous about discussing something with him… well, ever.

"I need to talk to you about why I pushed you to remain with Astoria when you first broached the idea of a divorce."

"It was because you wanted a pureblood heir to carry on the name."

"Yes… and no."

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, thoroughly confused now.

Lucius braced his arms on his knees and looked down at the floor. "I didn't want to tell you this, but your mother insisted. I'm still not sure if I want to put this burden on you," he said before stopping, clearly hesitating about whether to continue or not.

"Please, Father, if Mother wants you to tell me then it means it's important."

And both men knew that statement was right. Narcissa didn't push either of them to do something unless she considered it necessary. She certainly didn't like to interfere in their relationship for no reason.

"I know." Lucius sighed. "I just didn't want to do this."

Draco sat patiently, waiting for his father to find the words. It was obvious it was something of a bombshell and he knew his father was trying to figure out how to frame this to soften whatever blow was coming.

"I'm sick," Lucius said baldly, obviously deciding that brutal honesty was the way to proceed. "And I don't mean a little sick. I'm effectively dying."

His head reeled as it tried to digest that information. "What?" he asked, faintly.

"I've been ill for a good five years or so. The Healers at St. Mungo's are working on it but so far, they can't find a cure. They believe that it could be because I was present when the Dark Lord experimented with magic. This is why I pushed you to take over the business before you were ready. I didn't want to do so, I wanted you to enjoy your youth, but I was afraid I might suddenly die and you'd be unprepared."

Draco's first thought was to feel vindicated that his thought processes about his father's reasons for giving him the Malfoy business reins were correct. But then, the crushing reality of what Lucius had just explained hit him and the pain was almost unbearable. After all they had been through, to lose his dad to an unknown and seemingly untreatable illness was unthinkable. Despite what outsiders thought, the Malfoys were a close-knit family and he had never felt anything but loved by his parents. They'd showered him not only with gifts and material things but also love—unconditional love. And despite the fact that his father could appear uncaring or too demanding of him, he knew that his father was proud of him.

"This can't be happening," was all he could say.

Lucius smiled a little half-smile. "Believe me, Son, I wish it wasn't. But, the truth is I have to make preparations in case I die. It was why I pushed for you to have a child with Astoria."

"I did wonder why you were so adamant about keeping her around."

"I'm not stupid, Draco. I knew that if you divorced Astoria you would take your time before marrying again. But I'm not sure if we have time for that. I wanted to make sure there is an heir in place before I die."

"Stop saying that," he said agitatedly, running a distracted hand through his hair.

"Why? It's the truth. I'm dying, Draco; it's why I've done my best to make sure you are up to speed on everything you need to know to act as head of this house."

He stood and paced to the window, looking outside unseeingly, before turning towards his drinks cabinet, picking out the Firewhiskey and flinging a shot down his throat. He coughed a little as the alcohol burned a path down the back of his throat.

"Do you want one?" he asked, offering his father a glass.

"No. I try to stay away from alcohol. It can trigger attacks."

"You had one the day I told you about Granger."

Lucius smirked. "In those circumstances, I think I can be excused."

Draco chuckled but the sound held no amusement. He sat back down, cradling a tumbler of Firewhiskey between his hands. "What do we do now?"

"Continue as we are. It's unfortunate that everything with Astoria has blown up right at this moment, but maybe it will be a blessing in disguise. How are you getting on with Granger?"

"I'm meeting with her on Wednesday evening. The female Weasley talked some sense into her and she's agreed to discuss the situation with me."

"That's a positive thing, right?"

"I don't know. She's hostile and she views this baby as solely hers. There's no way she'll ever give it up."

Lucius steepled his fingers. "Maybe we have to revisit things a little. I've spoken to Horatio and he thinks it's unlikely we'll get sole custody of the child. He's spoken to a Muggle family barrister and outlined the situation. According to the Muggle courts, Granger would most likely be given primary care. You'd be allowed visitation rights. If the Wizengamot is determined to continue to look towards the Muggles in this area, then we have to be realistic."

Draco nodded. This wasn't a massive surprise. He'd done a bit of his own research on the topic. "Visitation rights could work."

His father shot him a sharp look. "Don't get complacent, Draco. It's not ideal by any means. No Malfoy has ever grown up outside of the Manor since William the Conqueror granted the land to us. I'm only settling for this option out of practicality. I want the child to grow up and know its heritage and what it means to be a Malfoy."

"If it even carries Malfoy as a surname," Draco commented bitterly.

Lucius' head whipped up and it was obvious that he'd never thought about that. "No," he said, slashing his hand through the air. "I demand that the child has the Malfoy surname. That is non-negotiable."

"It's no good adopting that tone with me! If were up to me, the child would grow up here and know nothing of Granger, but sadly, it appears she's in command."

"You need to emphasise how important that is, Draco. The child needs to be publicly recognised as a Malfoy."

"Give me a chance, Dad! I've only just got her to agree to actually meet me, and even then, that wasn't my doing."

"Work hard on this. I was serious when I said you need to use your charm. You have to befriend her and get her to agree to this, at least."

"Why do I think that will be easier said than done?"

Lucius appeared to relax a little. "No one ever said this would be easy. And Gryffindors were always stubborn," he said with a flash of humour.

"Yeah, great," Draco grumbled.

His father leant forward, stuck his hand out and patted Draco's shoulder. "I have faith in you, Draco. You can turn this situation around; you just need to believe in yourself."

Draco couldn't help but think that things would be a lot more complicated than that but now was not the time to burden his father any more. He'd give it a go and see where it led. After all, he'd never tried being nice to Granger before.

Hermione sat in her solicitor's office, flanked by Harry and Ron. She had never been so pleased to have such a strong circle of friends as she had been these last couple of weeks. They had pulled out all the stops for her and instead of being judgemental, they were standing firmly behind her, regardless of whether they agreed with her initial decision or not.

It was a good thing she had these friendships to fall back on because things definitely weren't going the way she wished they would, and she was grateful that Harry and Ron had said they would come with her to her appointment at the solicitors—despite it being first thing on a Monday morning.

"What do you mean Malfoy would most likely get visitation rights?"

"This isn't a straight forward situation, Hermione, and you need to recognise that," Lucy Gordon, her solicitor said placatingly.

"I know that, but surely my contract rules out any role for the biological father."

"If the sperm belonged to a donor, yes. But Mr. Malfoy isn't a sperm donor. He went to the De Braun Clinic to father a child. That puts his contract into play and a court will most likely decide to award you residential custody but give him contact. A child needs both a father and a mother, and the courts are keen to make sure this happens in the majority of cases."

"The child would have a father figure. Plenty of them," Ron said, butting into the conversation.

Lucy flashed an irritated glance his way. "I'm sure that's the case, Mr. Weasley, but fact of the matter is that Mr. Malfoy is the child's biological father, and he has rights too."

Hermione's heart sank. She'd known this deep down but it didn't make hearing the news any less devastating. Her hopes that somehow her contract would be upheld and would invalidate Malfoy's were receding fast.

"Is there anyway that I could use the clinic's mistake to my advantage, especially regarding the contracts?" she asked.

Her solicitor shook her head. "The only role the clinic has now is if you decide to sue them for such a mistake."

Hermione sighed. She'd already had this conversation with her parents, who had been outraged by such a basic medical mistake. They'd brought up the possibility of suing but she wasn't hugely interested. She didn't need the money and certainly did not need the stress of dragging another case through the courts. The first one with Malfoy was bound to be humiliating enough.

"If you do want to go down that route, I can put you in touch with a good litigation solicitor. I'm not a specialist in that area of the law," Lucy offered.

She shook her head. "Thanks, but it's not something that interests me at the moment."

"It's probably best to concentrate your energies on fighting one legal battle at a time," her solicitor advised.

"So, do you think it best if I offer visitation rights to Malfoy and hope for an out-of-court settlement?" Hermione asked.

"Look, it's early days yet. I don't want to push you into making a decision about this right now. We haven't even booked a court day yet or heard from Mr. Malfoy's legal representation. But I don't want to give you unrealistic legal advice, which is why I want you to be prepared for the fact that Mr. Malfoy might well play a role in your child's life."

"Is there anyway that he could get sole custody from me? He does present a more unified family life."

Both Harry and Ron moved in closed to Hermione, closing ranks at the mere suggestion of such a thing happening. She was touched. It made her feel a lot more supported, like she could face anything once more. Her two best friends were good at making her feel invincible in the face of overwhelming odds.

"Again, it's too early to know. Is he going to put in a claim for sole custody?" Lucy asked.

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know, but I feel as if I want to be prepared for all potential outcomes. I can't imagine Malfoy wanting me to play a role unless necessary. We don't have the best history."

"Well, all I can say is that if you are unlikely to get sole custody then he is even more unlikely, regardless of his family background."

"Can he bribe the courts?" Harry asked.

Lucy shook her head. "No, and this is the big reason why the Wizangamot has deliberately looked towards the Muggle courts. We want to stamp out any corruption or bribery in legal cases. It's why there are now professionals taking on cases rather than just anyone being able to represent in court. Something you would know all about, Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded and Hermione thought back to the ridiculous 'trial' he'd had to face before their fifth year at Hogwarts began. She felt much more secure knowing that the system was a lot more professional than it had been back then, when Fudge had played prosecution, judge, and jury. Even Professor Dumbledore shouldn't have been allowed to defend Harry. She was happy that nothing like that could happen now, even more so considering Lucius Malfoy's track record with the Wizangamot.

Fifteen minutes later, they had finished up their appointment and were heading for some much needed sustenance.

"Bloody hell, I can't believe this poor kid is going to actually have Malfoy play a role in its life," Ron said, after they settled in a nearby café.

"Don't, Ron," Hermione said with a groan.

"How are you feeling about it?" Harry asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I wish I was surprised but I've read too much regarding family law recently to be shocked by what Lucy has said. It makes me more reconciled to the meeting that Ginny pretty much forced on me."

"What meeting?" Ron asked, his mouth full of sausage.

"I've agreed to meet Malfoy on Wednesday evening."

"What? Why?" the redhead asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Because, as your sister pointed out, I've got to try and be an adult about this. I might not want him to play a role, but as you saw just now, I might not have much choice about it."

"This whole situation is rubbish," Ron said.

"Tell me about it. Try dealing with it when your body is raging out of control and your hormones keep making you cry."

Both boys grimaced. They'd seen Hermione cry more in the last few weeks than at any point in their entire friendship with her.

"Maybe you should cry when you meet Malfoy. He'd probably run a mile," Ron said with a smile.

Hermione giggled a little at that. Ron might not be the most percipient person but he always did a good job at cheering her up. She needed that right now. This whole pregnancy was falling around her.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Harry asked.

She smiled at him but shook her head. "No, I think it's best if we meet alone. Besides, it would look really silly if I came with back-up. I want us to try to deal with this maturely and that's not the best way to set the tone."

"We're happy to be in the vicinity if it would make you feel more secure."

"I doubt he'd do anything to me. I think if he wanted to do that, he would've moved by now."

"I know, and I agree, especially after my conversation with him. But I meant emotional support for you," Harry said.

"No, I should be fine."

"Have you thought more about putting in a complaint about Bulstrode?" he asked.

Hermione had thought about it. She was outraged that the former Slytherin witch would abuse her position of power in such a manner. It wasn't acceptable to breach the trust of your patients. After getting back to work after her previous appointment, she'd been fuming and so close to writing an angry letter of complaint to the Head of Maternity Magic at St. Mungo's as well as changing to a different hospital. But her rage had cooled and she'd thought of the potential benefits if she used her information over Bulstrode carefully.

"To be honest, I think I'm going to leave it."

"What?!" Ron said, spluttering. "She completely abused her position. You could have her sacked for that. You should have her sacked."

"I could, but I could also use this to my own advantage. Oh, I don't plan on letting her get away with it. I know that she loves her job—I've asked around. And I will confront her about it. This action proved that she's close to Malfoy and as he's not exactly being very forthcoming with personal information at the moment, I thought I'd use Bulstrode to fill me in."

Harry whistled whilst Ron looked at her in shock and admiration.

"Blimey, Hermione, are you sure you shouldn't have been in Slytherin?" Ron asked.

She smiled cheekily. "Possibly—if they didn't hate Muggle-borns so much."

"Well, you certainly display the right amount of cunning to pull it off. First that stunt with Rita Skeeter in our fourth year and now this," Harry said.

"Both women have it coming. Although to be fair to Bulstrode, she's not exactly in the same league as Skeeter. That woman is both foul and evil."

"If you do want us to arrest Bulstrode, let me know. What she did is illegal, I'm sure," Harry offered.

She grabbed both Harry and Ron's hands, squeezing them. "You are the best friends a girl could ask for."

"Just don't start crying again. Please, Hermione," Ron said, a mock-scared look on his face.

She threw a crust of bread at him.

Across the city, at the same time as Hermione was giggling over breakfast with her best friends, a beautiful brunette was making her way down Diagon Alley towards a tall, shiny building that had been built a few years ago.

As she walked into the immaculate lobby, she smoothed her hands down the side of her pristine robes, knowing that she looked her best. Her make-up was perfect and not a hair was out of place. She presented a cool and efficient façade, precisely the look she'd been going for. Her heels clacked against the marble of the floor as she made her way over to reception desk.

The receptionist behind look suitably impressed when she stopped, facing her.

"How can I help you, ma'am?" the receptionist asked.

Astoria frowned for a brief moment. She'd rather be called 'miss' as she was only twenty-seven. Then again, she didn't want to appear young or gullible. The person she was here to see would eat her alive if that was the case.

"Could you please tell Rita Skeeter that she has a visitor?"

"If you could please take a seat over there in the waiting area, I'll let her know that you're here, Mrs—?"

"She's expecting me," Astoria said, not willing to give the receptionist the pleasure of having her curiosity assuaged. She also knew the importance of keeping this visit as quiet as possible. The less people heard of it, the better.

The receptionist nodded, cowed by her assured air into not demanding a name, and Astoria made her way over the plush sofas that made up the rest of the reception area. She sank gracefully into the sofa facing the desk and languidly picked up the latest copy of Witch Weekly.

AN: Our stubborn parents-to-be are finally accepting that they need to allow the other a role in their child's life. I know this has taken a while, but it needed to be worked out in their heads (as well as mine!). As for Astoria, what can I say? She proved most of you right.