Draco sat in the waiting room watching Janet keep glancing up from the paper she was reading, humming to herself and making small comments every now and then that Draco couldn't hear. He knew what was on the front of the paper she was reading, as he'd seen it himself that morning while eating his breakfast, making himself sick at the front-page story.
The news of Lucius Malfoy being set to be released from Azkaban after serving his twenty-year sentence had been front page news. Questions were being thrown around about how the world thought he would react to finding out that there were two half-blood Malfoys, whose mother was none other than the famous muggleborn witch, Hermione Granger. There was a picture of his father's mugshot next to one of the twins walking around Hogsmeade with Hermione. Even on paper it made Draco uncomfortable with his father being so close to his children.
His father, for his part, had yet to comment on the development, whereas his mother had mailed in her response simply stating that she was thrilled to welcome more grandchildren into her heart. Always able to spin the truth to make it look better on herself, Narcissa had neglected to mention that she'd already met the twins that had ended with harsh words exchanged between herself and their mother. Her public image was always her main concern, trying to hide that behind closed doors she was still the bigot that she'd always been.
When the healers came to retrieve Draco, taking him back to the procedure room, they, as always, went over what they were doing and what he could expect. As they did the imaging on his brain, the male healer made his notes while the female jumped up excitedly.
"Oh, this is wonderful. Absolutely fantastic progress!" She squealed, even going as far as to jump into her partner's arms and give him a proper snog right there. "Unspeakable Granger will be able to explain things further," she said when she finally turned her attention towards Draco, "but, this is stunning. Unheard of honestly, but thank you, Mr. Malfoy, you have no idea how many lives you're going to change with this."
He was more than a little surprised, as in all honesty the only reason he'd ever even agreed to participate in this experiment was because he was a selfish person at his core. It'd started with wanting to understand why someone would have gone to such lengths to erase his memories and morphed into wanting to build his relationship with Hermione and his children. Now, he was wanting to make sure that whoever had done this to him would pay for all they'd taken from him, keeping his motives still in line with his selfish nature.
He never got a chance to respond to the healer, before Granger was pushing the door open. She looked a bit paler than usual and the circles under her eyes were darker, but still, she was stunningly beautiful.
"Jilli, Brandon," she greeted the healers before turning towards him, giving him a soft smile, then turning back to the scans the healer, Jilli, had been so excited over. "These are from today?" Hermione asked, spinning back around once she'd seen what was there, "there isn't a mix-up of any sort?"
"No, I just took these images a few moments ago. His brain, it's repairing itself, rapidly, much faster than any of our other subjects had." Jilli said, approaching Hermione to hug her as well, "this changes everything, the countless lives that will be impacted, just, thank you." The younger witch said pulling away from Hermione, tears brimming in her eyes.
Even though Draco didn't feel like he'd done anything extraordinary, and it had been all Hermione and her team's hard work, he couldn't help but feel proud of himself when Brandon slapped his back and said good job.
Hermione used the back of her hand to wipe away the tears that had pooled in her eyes before clearing her throat. "Alright, let's see what we can find with this next session. I imagine we're getting close to a full unlock, but we aren't there just yet. However, with that said," Hermione turned back towards Draco with a smile so wide he swore her cheeks were going to hurt, "you're incredible, thank you."
Draco accepted the handshake, knowing that right now was probably not the best time to snog the witch of his dreams in front of her co-workers. Tucking that thought away, Draco decided once they were finished, he was going to properly show her on her desk just how incredible he found her to be. He slowly took off his shirt, laying down letting the healers do their prep on him. As Jilli stood over him, he began to count backwards, before the world went dark as he slipped into a deep sleep.
Draco sat at his large desk, shifting through more contracts that had come through while he'd been out of town. The negotiations with his mother over a property Draco was wanting to sell due to the grounds the estate was built on was infused with dark magic, but that was neither here nor there at the moment.
A letter from Azkaban was wedged in the middle of his mother's notes, and Draco couldn't help but feel his spine stiffen seeing his father's script addressing him. A part of him wanted to throw the entire envelope into the bin and set it ablaze, but another part, the small boy in him, was holding out hope. Hope, as misplaced as it could be, that the five years his father had spent in that hell hole of a prison had opened his eyes to the errors of his ways. That the path that he'd encouraged Draco to go down when he was only sixteen had been so wrong, so dangerous, and should have ruined his son.
Twirling the pen in his fingers, Draco staring at the letter, until his curiosity got the better of him. Grabbing the letter opener that had been passed down through the Malfoy line, he sliced through the paper easily and began to read. Anger growing in his chest with every line he read.
There was no atonement for what he'd done, no, instead his father had only written to inform him that after Draco's dismissal of Winston Greengrass, the wizard had reached out to Lucius in hopes a marriage contract with his youngest daughter could be secured. With Winston's money, Lucius had already begun the paperwork, and was pleased with the match, being as good as he was able to procure at the moment.
It was emphasised that Draco had brought shame to the family and their 'good name' by ignoring Winston, and as the new head of the house, Draco should have made accommodations to meet with the man. The fact that the Greengrass family was part of the sacred twenty-eight was pointed out numerous times, the entire letter just showing how little his father cared of either Draco or the crimes he'd helped a half blood madman commit in the name of blood purity.
Throwing the letter into the fireplace, Draco stood and watched the words burn into ash. Any rational thought that he ought to be having; ignoring the letter and accepting that his father would never respect him, even if he was Lord Malfoy. Instead of staying home and waiting for Hermione, Draco marched into the floo, calling for the outpost that boated visitors to Azkaban.
Being so well known was often more often a nuisance than helpful, however, in this case, it was very helpful to be the infamous Draco Malfoy.
'Lord Malfoy,' the younger woman working the registration desk nearly stuttered. Were we, were you scheduled a visit? I apologise, I have nothing on the books regarding–'
Draco held up a hand, causing the girl to snap her mouth shut. 'I need to speak with my father as soon as possible. I'm positive you can help me out, can't you,' Draco looked at the nameplate on her desk, 'Sophie.'
When called by her first name, the girl's face instantly began to turn a deep red and her eyes rapidly began to blink. 'S-s-sir?' She asked, clearly struggling to understand what Draco was asking of her.
'You see, Sophie,' Draco said, leaning in closer, 'I need to speak with my father, and you hold in your hand the ticket to get me in to see him.'
As the realisation dawned on the girl, Draco stood back up. When he did, a small pouch filled with gold thumped against the inner desk drawer. 'Yes, Lord Malfoy, I apologise, I see your appointment here now. Your ticket to cross into Azkaban, safe travels.' She said, holding out a weathered piece of paper with his name and the date written across it.
Without another word, Draco moved away from the desk and to the que of wizards waiting for their turn to board. If someone came in ranting and raving about their visitation slot going missing, well, there was nothing Draco could do to help the poor lad. Wait times for visitation were scheduled out months in advance, such a shame.
The ride to the wizard prison was short, as even though the distance between the small island and the shore was long, magic made it a quick journey. Had they travelled by muggle means, it would have taken hours. With magic, only a few minutes passed by before the towering building came into sight.
Draco clasped his hands behind his back as he walked through the checkpoint, pretending to not notice how each guard gripped their wands a little tighter as he walked through. The whispered accusations and the murmurs that he should be locked in the cell next to his father floated past him, but still, Draco didn't react.
When he was escorted into the secure visiting room, he could feel the magic dampeners begin to pull from him. The guard grunted instructions Draco didn't catch before slamming the door shut. Sitting down at the hard cold metal table, he folded his hands on top of it and waited.
Clearly the guards who were in charge were not thrilled with the unexpected visit, and therefore they kept Draco sitting and waiting nearly an hour before his father was brought in. It'd been five years since Draco had last laid eyes on the man, and that was during his trial when he looked like the impeccable Lord he'd once been. Looking over the man, Draco tried to find what part of this shell of a human had been his idol for his entire childhood.
Lucius was gaunt, his long white hair thinning, the bones of his fingers clearly visible through the thin skin of his hands. As he shifted in the seat across from Draco, the cuffs moved, showing where they'd dug into his skin, causing abrasions. The only thing that hadn't changed was the hardness in his eyes, the look of boredom, as if Draco coming to visit was nothing more than a mere nuisance that he had to deal with before getting on with better things.
'Father,' Draco said, breaking the silence first, no need to stay in this hell hole any longer than possible. 'I received a letter from you, even though I know that I'm on your no contact list.'
Lucius didn't answer, only looked at his nail beds. Draco held in the sigh that threatened to slip, still not letting his mask drop and showcase the irritation he was warring with.
'I won't marry the Greengrass girl, I have a ring, and I'm going to ask Hermione Granger to marry me. I just thought you ought to know that before whatever deal you make with Lord Greengrass goes any further. You won't be able to keep up your end of the bargain, so whatever you're promising him–'
'You will,' Lucius said, cutting him off and smiling towards Draco. A few of his teeth had begun to rot, making him look even more vial. 'You'll marry the girl, because she's dying. There's nothing Winston wants from me besides the marriage so he can rid himself of her and make an alliance before she passes.'
'That's sick, father,' Draco said, pulling away from the man. 'You can't honestly expect me to marry a girl who's dying!'
'I expect a pureblood heir,' Lucius responded, letting out a sigh of his own. 'I realise this might come as a shock to you. You've been living a privileged life where nothing was expected from you and–'
'Nothing was expected from me?' Draco sneered at the man, 'nothing except my life. And now you expect me to marry and impregnate a dying woman just because that's what you and her father want?'
'I expected you to do what needs to be done to continue our line, Draco. Your mother was too soft on you, and I warned her that sending you to Hogwarts would be the demise of this family, and now here we are. I sit in prison, and you, a weak boy, are the Lord of our house.' Lucius was out of his chair and had rounded the table before Draco could even move, his fingers digging into Draco's shoulder. It was clear that the show his father was putting on was just that, because the state he appeared to be in, he should not have been able to move like that.
'I'll never marry Astoria Greengrass, and you will have to watch as the next heir to the Malfoy family is a half-blood.' Draco slapped the hand his father had placed on his shoulder off, and stood, knocking the chair over in the process. 'I'd hoped you would have seen the errors of your ways sitting in here for the last five years, but obviously you have not. Enjoy your life, because even after you're released, I never want to see you again.'
Draco turned to walk towards the door, only to see his father slowly place a hand in the pocket of the jumpsuit he wore. Lucius didn't look like a man who was defeated, and that ought to have worried Draco more than it did, but at the moment he just wanted to get as far away from Azkaban and his father as possible.
'I look forward to hearing how the wedding is,' his father called out just before the door slammed shut.
Draco's heart was racing as he shot up from the table he was laying on. Hands were on his bare chest, and calming draughts were being poured down his throat. "His blood pressure is skyrocketing," Jilli said, the euphoria she'd been displaying earlier completely gone. "Brandon, what's wrong with her?"
"I think she's gone into shock, whatever they uncovered was big," Brandon said, from where he must have been with Hermione on the floor. "Unspeakable, I'm going to need you to come back to me, look in my eyes, Hermione. Everything is fine, what you just saw was a memory, it is in the past and can't hurt you anymore." The healer's words were being softly murmured, but Draco could only focus on one thing.
Hermione. She needed him.
Extracting himself from the female healer was harder than he would have thought, but eventually he'd moved so he was on the floor, pulling Hermione into an embrace. Her breathing was erratic, but as he rubbed a hand over her back, he slowly began to pull her out of the panicked state she'd been in.
"Shh," Draco said into her hair, "it's alright, everything is going to be alright."
"He could come after my babies," Hermione muttered, keeping her face pressed against his chest. "That lunatic is set to get out and knows about my babies, and he was behind your obliviation." Hermione looked up at Draco, her honey eyes filled with tears and fear that he'd never seen there before. He'd already suspected his father's involvement, but this cemented everything for him.
"I love you, and I promise, he's not going to harm our family." Draco pulled Hermione back to his chest, just as the clicking of the door shutting behind the healers leaving could be heard. "I'll never let him come between us again, I swear it."