Written for QLFC Round 9

Team: Falmouth Falcons

Position: Keeper

Prompt: Meeting one's doppelgänger (Restriction: May not use any canon twins)

Word Count: 1,307

Warnings: Dealing with the idea of death

Thirteen

Astoria Malfoy relished these shopping trips with Scorpius; finding all the items he would need for the upcoming school year, as well as some treats for being such a good person and doing well in school. Even Draco would sometimes jokingly question how did he end up with a son that was so pure and empathetic. And so they would go as a family, spoiling Scorpius for a few hours, as they'd always been careful to not spoil him all the time. Their own childhoods had paved this way of careful thinking.

Some people dreamt of big careers or being famous, but Astoria had only ever dreamt of being a mother. To raise children and watch them grow up and love them. Maybe she wanted it more because she'd been told from a young age children would not be an option for her. Not with her blood curse.

She hadn't thought much about it when she had first been told what the curse meant for future – a shorter than usual life, weaker… and definitely no children. But then the younger cousins had arrived and she loved to take care of them, to love them and play with them. She loved their excitement at seeing her entering a room. To be adored and wanted in such a way was intoxicating.

When Astoria left school, after everything that she'd gone through during the war, she felt strong and healthy. Maybe they had been wrong about the curse. Even her magic was stronger with how much she'd had to use it to protect herself and Daphne during that last year. They may have been Slytherins, but they weren't blood purists, which may as well have made them Muggle-born in the Carrows eyes.

So if Astoria was stronger than she was meant to be, then maybe she could get married and lead a happy life with her partner. Maybe adopt children. A thought that wouldn't leave her as her schoolmates started getting engaged and married.

Then the children of her school friends started arriving while she was arranging her wedding to Draco. Astoria knew then she could adopt – would adopt, but… there was something about needing to have a child that was yours through and through. She was still strong. Maybe one child would be okay.

Scorpius arrived exactly one year after the wedding. As much as her family were disappointed in her taking a risk, they were hopelessly in love with the newest member of their family.

Yes, having a child had weakened Astoria, more than she ever thought it would, but it was worth it. To see her son's grey eyes stare at her with trust and love… it completed her.

As each year passed, another birthday of Scorpius' she saw, Astoria regained some of her strength. Again, she begun to think that maybe they had it wrong about her blood curse. Maybe it wasn't what they thought it was.

However, it did come with a word of warning that had never been wrong in the centuries it had chased her ancestors; When a ghostly double has been seen, death will follow in thirteen. The 'thirteen' was the tricky bit. An uncle had died in thirteen seconds. A great-grandfather had died in thirteen months.

As the Malfoys wrapped up their day in Diagon Alley with an ice cream, Astoria felt the safe haven she'd convinced herself she was in come crashing down.

"Hey, look," Scorpius said with a disbelieving laugh, "doesn't that woman look just like you, Mum?"

"She does!" Draco laughed, leaning around his wife to look at the woman walking behind Astoria.

Sitting at a table outside Florean Fortescue's, the Alley still busy with shoppers, Astoria swallowed against her dry throat and slowly turned. It didn't matter if she never saw her doppelgänger, it still meant the same thing if she'd been near them. Her heart dropped into her stomach when her eyes landed on the woman walking alone, looking like an identical twin of Astoria. She even had the same arch in her left eyebrow, just slightly higher than the other. The woman smiled at Astoria, like an old friend, and then disappeared into the crowd.

"How weird," she said quietly, turning back to her little family. Well, thirteen seconds had already passed, but what if it was thirteen minutes. Did she want her last moments to be for everyone to see? "I'm not feeling too well, would you be terribly upset if we went home?"

Draco immediately put a hand on her forearm, concern in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

Astoria forced a smile, patting his hand. "Too much sugar and indulgence. That's all."

Draco knew about the blood curse, but she'd never told him about the little detail that came with it. She'd made her family swear they wouldn't either. When it was her time, Astoria didn't want them clock watching and panicking every time a thirteen milestone hit.

"I want to send Albus a letter, tell him all about my owl," Scorpius said happily.

Astoria reached over to stroke his cheek affectionately. "I do love you."

"Mum!" Scorpius pushed her hand away with a giggle. "People can hear you."

"I hope they can," she teased, starting to get up with a small glance at her watch. Three minutes had passed already.

The moment they arrived home, Astoria took herself to bed, but not before squeezing the life out of Scorpius. He gave her an odd look as he skipped off to his room. Draco soon followed her up, bringing a cup of tea for her.

"Are you sure everything's okay?" Draco asked, sitting on the windowsill while she up in bed, sipping her tea. "You've gone really pale."

Astoria opened her mouth a couple of times, not quite finding the right words. Instead she settled for a half-truth. "It might be time for me to settle my affairs," she said quietly.

"The curse?" Draco whispered. He rushed to the bed, taking her cup from her to put it on the bedside table. He gripped her hands in his, practically crushing her knuckles. A look of… understanding passed his face. "Daphne was right."

Not for the first time that day, Astoria's heart dropped to her stomach. "She told you?!"

"On our wedding day – you can't be angry with her, love. She was trying to do the best for you… to prepare me." He kissed the back of her hands by the knuckles. "I thought it was a superstition. I never thought for once that seeing a doppelgänger would be an actual omen."

Astoria looked to the clock. Now she had to wait for the thirteen hour mark. She patted the bed. "Join me. I just need to feel normal."

Draco didn't hesitate, moving quickly to spoon his wife. Astoria snuggled back into him, like she was trying to get under his skin. It still wouldn't be close enough though. He kept peppering her with kisses on the back of her neck, squeezing her to him tightly, and she silently pleaded that she would have a little longer.

While Draco had known about the forewarning of Astoria's death, he didn't know the details, so the burden of 'waiting' was on her. The thirteenth hour passed while he was sleeping gently by her side and she could breathe a little easier.

But when she awoke a few hours later, Astoria realised the thirteenth day was going to be her time.

She couldn't hold herself up, feeling like she'd had the worst flu of her life, and it didn't lift the next day. Or the next. Or the one after.

And on the thirteen day since seeing her doppelgänger, Astoria, surrounded by her son, husband, parents and sister, took the hand of her ghost twin and sobbed quietly as she left the family she wasn't ready to leave.