October 13, 2009
The words swam around in his head, mocking him…haunting him…shattering him.
He had already lost so much. How was he expected to lose more? Losing his wife had been hard enough but now he was going to lose his son…to the same damn curse. How could it possibly be happening?
"Draco?" He heard but couldn't react. He was stuck in a frozen world of darkness and the voices around him were far-off in the distance. Too far for him to respond to.
"Draco?" He heard once more and this time he blinked and turned his head to the right. His cloudy grey eyes met his wife's warm brown ones. They were so different from Astoria's pale green eyes.
Draco had married Astoria Greengrass in January of 2000 after their parents had forced them into an engagement and they had a son the following year. They named him Scorpius and he was the spitting image of his father. From his blond hair to the striking grey eyes, Scorpius's resemblance to Draco was remarkable.
At three years old, in 2004, Scorpius lost his mother to a horrible blood curse. It had been a brutal death. She had been bed-bound for the last half-year of her life.
After her death, Draco didn't date anyone for nearly two years. When he first began dating, it was extremely casual, and he made sure to never let them meet Scorpius. However, when Draco began to date Hermione Granger that changed.
He had run into Hermione at a New Years Eve bash with their friends and the two began chatting. As they began to date, Draco felt so comfortable that he brought her home one evening, a month into the relationship to meet Scorpius.
The two got along marvelously.
Seeing his young son smile so widely around a woman that he cared for made him fancy Hermione even more.
Draco and Hermione continued to date, and the connection between the three of them was the most natural thing in the world. The couple would go out to dinner but never stayed out late, so that they could go back to the house and see Scorpius to bring him his 'date night sweet treat'.
Once Scorpius went to sleep, the one-on-one date would continue.
After a year of dating, Draco proposed, and she immediately said yes.
Draco felt as if his world was being pieced back together again. He was deeply in love with a wonderful woman and his son was happy.
In February of 2008, they were married. Hermione almost immediately became pregnant and later that year gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Draco's world was complete and full of joy.
But now that world was shattering around him. Draco sighed and squeezed Hermione's hand before turning back to Healer Cho Chang.
"How…" he swallowed. "How long?" He asked, though he was still struggling to believe that he was asking how long his eight-year-old son would live.
Healer Chang sighed and blinked before saying, "Scorpius has about six months in total but only about three of those months will be good…four, if he's lucky. The last few months will likely be spent in bed."
Draco clenched jaw, fighting against the devastation he felt ripping through him. Part of his heart and soul had just been given an utterly unfair life limit and he didn't know how to handle that.
He heard Hermione sniff and looked over, knowing that despite Hermione not being Scorpius's birth mother, she still loved him greatly. The motherly connection she had with Scorpius was surprising in the wizarding world; a world where stepparents and stepchildren refrain from interacting with one another out of 'respect' for the birth parents.
Draco looked at her with the saddest grey eyes she'd ever seen.
"How erm…" Draco swallowed, trying to contain his emotions as long as possible. He cleared his throat and looked back at the Healer. "How does one usually tell a child their going to…" he swallowed again, unable to say the word just yet. "How do you do that? Is there a guide of some sort? I know I might sound sardonic but I'm not intending to."
Healer Chang nodded, "I understand completely, Mr. Malfoy." She said. "There is not a guide, but I can assist you in explaining it to him. He's a smart young lad."
Draco nodded, "Yeah." He said shakily, "He is so very smart. He's only eight years old and he knows all the charms that one learns during first year. He can't perform them, of course, because his magic isn't strong enough yet, but he knows them."
Hermione squeezed his hand lovingly, but he knew he had used the term 'yet' and hated that that term didn't apply to his son anymore.
"Well, when would you prefer to tell him? He'll need to stay here one more day to continue getting the hourly potion to dampen the curse a bit while we still can." She said.
"Let's tell him now." Draco said. "He knows something up. He's too smart not to know something is going on and it's not right to keep this from him."
The three adults made their way back to Scorpius's hospital room where he and his baby sister were being watched by Blaise Zabini and his pregnant wife, Ginny.
The moment Blaise saw his best friend's face, he looked at his wife, who picked up the one-year-old girl.
Ginny looked at the little girl and said, "Let's go get your brother a gift from the gift shop, yeah?"
Blaise patted Draco's shoulder on the way out of the room.
"Dad?" Scorpius said, looking over at them, "Mimi? What's wrong?" he asked. His innocent, dimpled face, breaking Draco's heart.
They walked over and Draco sat on the edge of the bed, "Scorp, listen buddy. Erm…" He sniffed, "You're…you're sick."
Scorpius's light eyebrows furrowed as he looked at his father with a confused expression, "Like Dragon Pox? I don't have any spots?"
Draco swallowed and shook his head, "No. Not like Dragon Pox."
Hermione stepped closer and put her arm around Draco's shoulders but didn't speak.
Draco cleared his throat and tried again, "Buddy, you're sick like…like Mummy was sick." He said and Scorpius's eyes went wide.
"But…but Dad…Mummy died." he said nervously, sitting up a bit more.
"Yeah, she did." Draco replied with an emotional sigh, "She did."
"Dad…am I…am I going to die?" Scorpius asked in the smallest voice Draco had ever heard his son use and his heart shattered into a billion pieces in that moment.
Draco couldn't speak. Nothing would come out. How does one answer that question when it comes from their eight-year-old child?
Healer Chang stepped forward and spoke up, "Scorpius, it does look like you might die. But we're going to try to keep that from happening. What you've got to do is be strong and brave. Can you do that?"
Scorpius swallowed but nodded.
Draco grabbed his son's hand and squeezed it, "I love you, son."
Scorpius nodded, "I love you too." He said quietly as a nurse came in to administer the hourly potion.
"Here you are, dear." The older witch said kindly, handing over the vial of dark blue liquid.
Scorpius sniffed and wiped his eyes before taking the vial and drinking the foul-tasting liquid.
"Mr. Malfoy, could I speak with you?" Healer Chang asked.
Draco swallowed and nodded, standing up. He felt sick to his stomach and was relieved to step out of the room for a moment.
He and the Healer left while Hermione stayed with Scorpius. She was standing by his bed, gently brushing his blond hair out of his eyes.
He yawned and sighed before looking up at Hermione, "Mimi?"
"Yeah, Scorp?" She asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"If I die…" He said, swallowing as he blinked slowly, the potion beginning to take effect and causing him to fall asleep, "you need to take care of Dad. He'll have lost Mummy and me. That's a lot. He needs to know he won't lose you or Lyra. Please take care of him…you know…if I die…" he breathed out, falling asleep.
Hermione's heart broke as she watched him sleep and tears began to slowly stream down her cheeks.
As he slept, she reached down and brushed some of his hair out of the way before kissing his pale forehead.
Later that evening, Narcissa stayed with Scorpius at the hospital, and Lyra stayed with the Zabinis. Draco and Hermione went home to get some rest since neither had slept in days.
As they arrived in their house, Hermione looked over at Draco, "What did Healer Chang talk to you about outside of Scorpius's room?"
Draco sighed, "She said that if Astoria had taken the Blood Curse Curing Potion while she was pregnant, it would have prevented Scorpius from contracting it." He replied quietly as he changed out of his shirt. "I just…it hurts to know that her taking a simple potion, one time, would have kept him from…" swallowing, he shook his head, "He would live." He whispered.
Hermione shook her head, unsure of what to say.
Once Draco had fallen asleep, Hermione went down to the lounge and floo called the Zabini house.
Blaise and Ginny brought Lyra over immediately.
While the one-year-old slept in her mother's arms, Hermione's spoke with Blaise and Ginny, updating them.
Ginny looked over at her husband which caught Hermione's attention.
"What was that?" The brunette asked.
Ginny exhaled, "Blaise and I have come up with a possible solution."
Hermione's eyes widened, "What is it?"
Inhaling deeply, Blaise replied, "All of this could be solved with a trip back in time."
Hermione looked from Blaise to Ginny, "But the Time-Turner that I had at Hogwarts was McGonagall's. I don't have it anymore and I truly doubt that she'll allow us to borrow it."
"Well, we have one that you can use." Ginny said.
"What? How?" The other witch asked in shock, still holding her sleeping daughter.
"My family has had one for centuries." Blaise answered. "It's free of curses and you are welcome to use it." He said, "But you must be careful."
"We will." They all heard as Draco entered the room with hope in his voice. "We will be, Blaise. I swear."
Blaise nodded, "I also have this book…" He said, pulling a brown leather book out of his back pocket. "It's a Time-Turner Instruction Manual that will help you if anything should go wrong."
Draco took the book and flipped through as he sat down beside Hermione on the sofa across from the other couple.
"Now, in order for you to do this, you'll need to go back to a specific date. This Time-Turner is slightly different than the others." Blaise explained, "What date would be best to go back to?"
"January 1, 2001." Draco replied in a thoughtful tone. "It'll be right before she gets pregnant with Scorpius, and I can explain everything to her."
"We can explain everything." Hermione said pointedly.
He looked at his wife before nodding.
"Draco, the two of you will need to go back while in disguise." Blaise said as Ginny took Lyra so that Hermione could look through the book. "You'll need to speak with Astoria without 2001's Draco knowing you're there. Be sure to explain everything to her and be certain that she understands it all before you both return to this date."
Draco nodded, "May I see the Time-Turner?"
Blaise nodded and pulled out a small wooden box with a red velvet inner-lining. The Time-Turner looked similar to a time capsule but had several spinning sections with numbers along them. The first section had the numbers 1 through 12 while the next section had 1 through 31. The following four sections had numbers 0 through 9. A pin was in place at the end of the capsule and Draco asked Blaise how to use it.
Blaise explained while Hermione read the book, "The first section is for the month; the second section is for the day and the last four sections line up to the year. Once you have the spinning sections in place to the accurate desired date, you pull the pin. Once you've arrived there, you replace the pin."
Draco nodded, "Okay. Got it." He said.
They took their time and went over every detail.
"When do you two want to go?" Ginny asked.
"I want to leave now." Draco said. "We just need to change our clothing and put our disguises in place."
Hermione nodded, and the couple rushed up to their bedroom to change into warm clothing before returning to their lounge. They each kissed their baby daughter before hugging their friends.
"Thank you." Draco said to Blaise who nodded.
"Just be safe and get on back here." Blaise replied.
Hermione nodded, "We will."
The couple walked out of the house and up the hill of the property a bit, into a hidden alcove of some trees before they charmed themselves into their disguises.
Hermione's hair became pitch black and only had a slight wave to it. Her piercing blue eyes were quite different from her usual warm brown ones. While she grew a few inches, Draco shrunk down several, bringing them close to the same height. His hazel eyes and shaggy chestnut hair and beard were so unlike his natural pale grey eyes and blond hair. He had broad shoulders and a beefy build which was also nothing like his natural tall, slender, yet muscular build.
"Are you ready?" He asked in a low and gruff voice.
She nodded as he hung the Time-Turner around both of their necks.
He looked down at the capsule shaped piece and altered the numbers to January 1, 2001. Just as he pulled the pin, a couple of the numbers changed, and the world began to spin around them. Together they watched as year after year passed by.