Chapter 6: 5th of December 2022

Draco was pacing back and forth while the healer stood at the foot of the bed talking quietly to his wife, giving her words of encouragement. Theo, bless the man, was holding Hermione's hand with complete confidence that everything was going to be alright while Draco was freaking out.

"She'll be fine. It's not like this is her first go," Portia said, sliding up next to Draco in the delivery room.

Another yell came from Hermione before he could bother to answer his stepdaughter, the cheeky witch claiming that she needed to be around for moral support. Though, Draco did appreciate the distraction she gave him, allowing him to hide his fears from his husband and wife.

He knew from his mother's experiences that childbirth didn't always end with a healthy mum and baby, therefore ever since Hermione had told him that she was pregnant he'd been slightly mental.

"Mrs. Malfoy," the healer instructed between her legs trying to get Hermione's attention as she gripped Theo's hand. Her face was a deep red and tears were streaming down her cheeks. She'd been in labour for hours at this point and Draco knew that she was exhausted from it. "Mrs. Malfoy, I can see your baby's head. I promise, only one more good push and you'll be done."

"What colour is the hair?" Hermione asked, laying her head back as she closed her eyes. "I need to know which one of my husbands to blame for putting me through this, again. And at my age."

Draco swore he could hear the healer chuckling, but when he looked down at her, her face was pure concentration.

Hermione let out another yell as she gave it everything she had, and before he knew it, the room was filled with the sounds of a crying baby. Draco looked to the foot of the bed and it was as if his world had shifted on its axis.

"It's a girl," the healer announced, laying the baby directly on Hermione's chest before putting a blanket over the two of them. A few quick waves from the wands of the assistant healers and they were able to give assurance that the baby was perfectly healthy as well as his wife.

She was perfect. No other word could describe the pink baby girl with the tufts of white hair laying on his wife's chest.

Draco couldn't take his eyes off his daughter even if he wanted to. Hermione laid in the bed crying, though Draco wouldn't dare to ask if they were in joy or relief that she was finally finished with her pregnancy and birth.

When first she'd come to him and said that she was expecting, Draco had been terrified. Though when he'd gone with her to her appointment and saw the little blob that would eventually become his daughter, he'd known that he didn't just want to act as if he were part of their family. He needed to officially be theirs.

It hadn't been a very large wedding. Blaise, Ginny, and Luna had actually been the only ones besides their four children to come to the ministry to witness their union. With their new marriage, Hermione and Theo had thought that it might be time to allow their children to carry on the Potter name while they took Malfoy.

With the work that each of them had done thus far in therapy, the children had been understanding of their parents' wishes. They had still celebrated Potter's birthday this year and gone to visit the grave they'd put together to mourn his loss. He wasn't forgotten, but Hermione and Theo were at last ready to move onto the next phase of their lives.

"What shall we call her?" Portia asked, coming up to look at her newest sister. Draco glanced away from his daughter and to his stepdaughter, grateful that she'd been able to join in this occasion.

The room was silent, and Draco had to admit that he had been so caught up in just readying himself for fatherhood that he'd not even considered that they'd have to name their child. As he looked at her, nothing he thought of seemed right.

"I had an idea, and by all means you can say no," Theo offered, looking between Hermione and Draco, seeming slightly nervous. "What would you think of Lyra Astoria? I just thought, well, I thought it was fitting."

Draco was speechless. Twenty years ago, he'd pictured himself in this moment so clearly, but the witch on the bed with his heir had been Astoria. Up until her death, Draco had craved having a family more than anything, wanting to right all the wrongs that his father had made with him. Though, when he'd lost her, he'd thought all hopes of that dream had gone with her.

"I think it's perfect," Hermione answered, catching Draco off guard. "Lyra Astoria Malfoy, our little star."

Looking at his spouses, his daughter, and his stepdaughter, it seemed as if all four were waiting on him to say something. When no words would come, his emotions too thick, Draco did the next best thing. He pulled each of his spouses and Portia into a hug, before carefully laying a kiss to the back of Lyra's soft head.

With his new life ahead of him, Draco realised that while the past may be full of darkness, there was always something worth fighting for somewhere. Sometimes, you just have to know where to look, and other times, it will just find you.

And with that, they all lived happily ever after.

The End

A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you've enjoyed! If you've enjoyed this story, make sure to check out the rest of my works. My current WIPs that I'm working through are called Written in the Stars and Transfer Student. Updates for those are coming out about once a week or more. Another one of my WIPs called Time Keepers is getting ready for an update, so if you like a longer and darker fic that might be one for you.

If you want to hear more from me, you can find me on social media. I'm active in the Facebook groups Sarah Fraser's Forest and Dreomione Appreciation and I'm also on twitter sarahfhickman