QL, Round 6, Pride of Portree, Beater 2. Theme: Old and Young.

Prompts: (word) inheritance, (pairing) Draco/Astoria, (object) quill.

WC: 2960

Beta's: Dina, CupCakeyyy, S. Lowelle

Draco's breath halted at his mother's discriminating words the day before his wedding to Astoria. His stomach twisted as he stepped backward and turned away from her. The twenty-year-old took a deep breath to remain calm. "May I remind you, that it is not acceptable to speak those thoughts?"

His mother's face hardened. "We are alone, Draco. There's no need to censor our words."

"Actually, Mother, I advise that you do," he replied firmly. The war had ended two years ago, but things still occasionally became tense between him and his mother. The generational and age gap had become an issue. Draco now stood up for his beliefs. Even though they aligned more with his mother's than with his father's, they were still vastly different.

His mother usually only made small comments which . hinted at a way of thinking that was way too similar to what supremacists prided themself with.

Draco was simply glad that his mother rarely graced the presence of others, as he simply could not handle her self-righteous moods.

Eventually, he turned to face her and noticed that her expression was closed off. "We need to change with the times. Both of us." His tone was grave, yet determined as he met his mothers' gaze.

No response.

That was how a lot of their conversations ended nowadays.

Draco walked away. There was no point in having a one-sided conversation with somebody who was stuck in the old ways.

It was upsetting to Draco that his relationship with his mother was so tense; they used to get on really well, she used to be so supportive. However, without the harsher and stricter presence of his father, he noticed how much his mother aligned with Pureblood supremacy. Though she had never received the Dark Mark, for most of his life she had supported the Dark Side and its values. In his opinion, that was just as bad.

Draco found it difficult to fully acknowledge how prejudiced his mother was, and he had to accept that. Times had changed, but she refused to. Draco thought back to his late grandfather and shuddered as he remembered how strict and firm he had been - especially when it came to associating with anybody not worthy to be called a Wizard.

Times changed people. And their ages determined how well they would adapt.

The twenty-year-old was lost in thoughts as he moved to the library, a room both he and Astoria appreciated for its calmness.

He often found his fiancée writing in her journal, while sat at the lone desk in the library. The flames of the fire lit up her beautiful face as her fingers delicately moved the quill over the parchment; soon, that old quill would be the one he would give to her for their wedding, marking it as hers and only hers.

As he thought about his soon-to-be wife, all of the negative emotions about his mother drifted away.

His skin was heated, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest, and his cheeks were hurting from the big grin on his face. He could feel a love so overwhelmingly powerful, that it overtook everything. Those were the only feelings Draco remembered from his wedding day - from Astoria's breathtaking entrance, to their promises and vows, to the reception, and finally bringing her back to the manor; their home.

He had earnt his inheritance but would have married her regardless of it. This meant that Malfoy Manor was theirs, which was an amazing prospect.

The blond didn't expect the feeling of accomplishment, love, and excitement to fill his body as this realisation washed over him.

"It's ours," he whispered to the love of his life.

Her face was shining with happiness. "For the rest of our lives."

"Together," he promised.

"Together."

Draco smiled as he watched as his wife moved through the hallway and into the kitchen. She was so beautiful - shiny waves of luscious dark brown hair fell over her shoulders; faded red lips from all of the drinks since the lipstick had last been applied; a white dress, which was pristine and fit her body perfectly; eyes, honey brown, staring straight into his. She was perfect. Nobody could ever change his mind about that.

"What?" she asked as a beautiful blush coloured her cheeks.

"How did I get so lucky?" He tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear. He was free to be himself in front of her. No stern exterior. No name to live up to. No evil past to repent for. Just Draco. When they were alone, he never faltered to do what felt natural - and that usually meant complimenting her.

Astoria finished the last bite of her sandwich before leaning forward and dropping a loving kiss onto his lips. "By being yourself."

His heart pounded. He would do anything for her. "I have something for you," he said softly, pulling out his wand and accioing the quill.

He held the delicate box in his hands for a few moments as she eyed it curiously. It was charmed silver, but underneath was a simple rectangular ash wood box with no visible pattern. Draco held it out to her, and the second her hand touched it, a swirly design appeared, intricate lines wrapping around the sides of the box until her name - Astoria Malfoy - became visible on the lid.

A gasp left her lips as she stared at the box in awe. "This is beautiful."

"Open it," he prompted gently.

Her joy-filled eyes fluttered up to his before focusing on the box as she opened it and peered inside.

The quill was the same silver colour, with matching thin feathers glistening at the end. The same patterned name was embedded in the quill, but only when in the hands of Astoria herself.

Gently, she lifted it up, a smile evident on her face. "This is magnificent." Tears filled her eyes as she looked at him. "I love it."

Draco smiled and took her free hand. "I know how much you like to write."

Once again, the newly-married couple leant in for a loving kiss.

"Thank you."

Draco Malfoy watched his son hazardously ride around the ballroom - now formally known as the playroom - on his newly acquired child broom. He was too big for his toddler broom, however, it unnerved Draco to see Scorpius moving so quickly. Brooms for children had several protection charms added to the bristles and the handle, yet not as many as the toddlers' broom, and Draco really did not like thinking about the missing protection. It made him anxious just thinking about what could happen because of those missing charms.

Astoria, on the other hand, was completely relaxed as she wrote a letter to her sister. Draco's lips turned upwards when he noticed she was using the quill he'd bought her all those years ago - she always did.

"Careful!" Draco called as his son got too close to one of the walls.

A laugh escaped the boy's lips. "I know how to fly, Dad!"

"Sit down and relax," Astoria said, as her quill signed her name. She caught his hand and tugged at it gently. "He'll be fine. He gets his skills from his dad."

Draco couldn't find it in him to sit down or relax. "What if he falls and gets hurt? Or worse? He needs to be alive to gain the inheritance."

A stronger tug from his wife made him sit down, however, relaxing wasn't something even his wife could control. "If he falls, he'll learn. And I'm not worried about him getting too injured with all of the protection charms."

That was a valid point, but Draco did not share that reasoning with her. Before he had a chance to reply to her, though, his mother interrupted them as she walked into the room - how long had she been lurking there?

"Gaining the inheritance isn't that easy, my boy. Not for a Malfoy." Her scowl was focused on both Astoria and Draco.

Draco waved off her words - he found that it was best to not converse to her about such issues. Astoria, however, did not share that opinion. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, her eyes shooting daggers at her mother-in-law.

Narcissa took this opportunity to sit on the chair opposite them, waving at her grandson when he called a 'hello' before directing her words towards the other woman in the room. "There are conditions to receiving the prestigious inheritance and everything that comes with it. You should know that. Little Scorpius has to keep up the Malfoy name."

"Mother, let's not discuss this now."

If Narcissa had heard her son, she didn't show it. "He must marry an appropriate Pureblood, who is capable of providing a male heir, follow the traditions as we have, and preferably, be a Slytherin. If he's in another house, he may be swayed by blood-traitors."

Astoria, who was usually calm and collected, bristled with anger. "My son will not be forced to live up to any of your old traditions or expectations. He is just a boy."

"But one day he will be a man. He needs to understand what he must accomplish," Narcissa spoke smoothly. "He must understand what is expected of Malfoy men."

As Astoria's nostrils flared, Draco rested a hand over his wife's. "Mother, I believe it is time for you to see yourself out."

"I've just arrived," she defended. "I haven't spent time with my grandson yet."

"And you won't," Astoria said, firmly.

The two women's eyes connected.

"Mother," Draco said calmly. "Either you see yourself out, or I will remove you from my premises."

With her head held high, Narcissa stood up and dusted off her dark green velvet dress. "There's no need to be uncivilised. I only wish for my grandson to be able to access the whole inheritance, just like you did, Draco."

Draco felt his wife's hand clench and could feel the anger radiating from her. Draco had married her out of love, but it had just so happened that she had been an appropriate match - he hadn't searched for a Pureblood, however, his upbringing hadn't let him consider anybody who was less than one. His mother had always been supportive of him following his heart, but he was starting to realise that he had never been completely free to do that. He had been encouraged to follow his heart 'appropriately'. He didn't want his son to deal with that.

His mother had been married off to his father. It had been an arranged marriage. That had been much more common in her youth than in Draco's. However, since this last war, Purebloods had shied away from making those sorts of arrangements for fear of repercussions of 'supremacy' or 'discrimination'. Draco and Astoria had both been approached more than once about 'guiding their children together' for the future.

Neither had the intention of doing this, but they had set up playdates. Was this the wrong way forward? Would Scorpius believe that he was only allowed to be friends with Purebloods? Those were the only play-dates he had gone on. Maybe they needed to make sure that he made friends with children of a different blood status? He wasn't so sure about that, though. He had never dwelled in their community.

If he was honest with himself, Draco wasn't sure he was comfortable with engaging his son to play with other children - he didn't know their parents that well. He didn't want to unknowingly force him to stay in houses of people who had other goals in their minds.

"It will be okay," he told his wife, his mind still filled with hundreds of thoughts. "We won't raise our son on those standards." He turned to her sincerely. "I made a promise to you, and I will keep it. Scorpius is free to make his own decisions."

Astoria was still furious, but begrudgingly nodded and took a deep breath. "I know," she said. "I just find it difficult when your mother says things like that around him. What if he overhears? What if she's telling him who he should be when we're not here? How do you know she's not going behind our backs?"

Draco sighed; he hadn't thought about that. And that really worried him.

Draco watched as his son unpacked all of his belongings for the Christmas holidays. He had been gone for too long, almost four whole months! But he was back until January, finally. Draco couldn't put into words just how much he had missed his little boy. Not having him run around the manor, cause havoc around every corner, was very weird, unsettling even. He had never thought that he'd miss the mess, noise, and stress.

Seeing his son glance up every now and then made him chuckle. "Tell me all about it," he said, sitting down on the chair by his son's desk, preparing for a storm of excited babbling.

Scorpius didn't hesitate to jump onto his own bed, sit cross-legged, and tell his dad everything. He was beaming, and had excited red blotches covering his pale cheeks. "It was amazing!"

Draco smiled instantly at his son's immediate excitement.

"I know I sent letters, but you just need to know it all! After you dropped me off at platform nine and three quarters, I was feeling a bit nervous and chose a compartment alone. But a few other boys joined me! Liam Lowe, Henry Kiln, and Greg Goyle! I only knew Greg, but the others seemed nice enough. And we talked nearly the whole way! During the journey, Al joined us too! Apparently his brother was being a pain - but after meeting James, I agree. We arrived at Hogwarts and had to get on boats! Did you know we'd be doing that? I was with Al, Greg, and Liam. Hogwarts was amazing! The Great Hall was too!"

Draco nodded as he patiently listened to his son.

"Anyway, we were all lined up as we were being sorted. I was sorted into Slytherin, of course. But you already know that. Anyway, Al and Greg were also put into Slytherin, but Liam and Henry were sorted into Ravenclaw. We still sit together anyway - I don't really understand why we're sorted into houses though. But anyway…" He paused.

"In my dorm, there's me, Al, Greg, and Pollin. We get on really well, but Po does snore sometimes," Scorpius paused in his chattering to frown slightly.

"But the lessons are amazing! The professors always tell me that I'm doing really well, and I study in the library all the time… well, not all the time, but some of the time. Don't laugh, I swear I do that! And it's all so fun! I was the third person in the class to get the feather to float in Charms! And Potions is really fun! It's like cooking but sometimes you melt the cauldron - sorry about that, by the way. It really was an accident." Scorpius winced as he thought of the big lump of metal on the wooden table.

"Oh, but I haven't even told you about Quidditch yet! I am definitely joining the team next year! Al wants to be a chaser, so I want to be a chaser too! Then we can do it together! He's really amazing! I wish that Henry could be on our team as the third chaser, because he's incredible too! But he's going to try out for the Ravenclaw team." Scorpius shrugged but his mood didn't seem to dampen.

"I can't wait to go back to Hogwarts, but I'm really happy to be back here! I've missed you both so much! Where's Mum gone?"

Draco tried to take in all of the information he had just been given, but managed to answer the last - and only - real question his son asked. "She went to lie down."

Scorpius' expression softened. "Is she still not well?"

Draco shook his head. His son understood that Astoria would likely not make it to his graduation, however, what he didn't know was that she might not make it for his second year at Hogwarts either. "I'm sure your mother would love to hear about Hogwarts, though, if you wanted to keep her company."

Without hesitation, the eleven-year-old jumped up and ran out of the room.

With a deep breath, Draco stood up and decided to continue to empty his son's trunk. A Ravenclaw scarf caught his attention and made him think back to exactly what his son had excitingly told him mere moments ago.

Hogwarts was definitely different from when he had been at school. There seemed to be a lot of inter-house communication. Draco had rarely had any of that - Slytherin had generally been isolated from other houses. Though, he didn't remember much of the rest of the houses, or whether they hung out.

After emptying the trunk and putting it away, Draco headed downstairs to his office and read over the 'requirements' for Scorpius to be able to access the full inheritance. It hadn't been updated in nearly a hundred years. But now it was time that it was.

The first thing he would change would be allowing a female heir to receive the inheritance. Astoria had one sister and no brothers. If her family stuck to this particular rule, then neither of their children would have received anything.

It took Draco nearly an hour to cross out and edit a lot of the old out-of-date rules. With a swish of his quill, he signed it.

He would get this officialised the following morning, but now, it was time to spend time with his family. After all, he wouldn't be this young forever, and his wife wouldn't be around forever either.