Chapter Eighteen

Hermione had taken a step outside, even though the ballroom had been charmed not to over heat, she needed some air. There was a lot of people and the dirty looks from the Lestrange twins was getting too much for her.

She could hear Draco's voice not far away so wondered though the dark ground to find him. She hadn't realised how far voices must travel in these grounds and was thinking about turning back when she saw him through a small patch of trees.

She took a couple of steps closer, "Knock knock?" she said.

Draco turned around and gave her a small smile.

"Am I interrupting?" Hermione asked.

"Not at all." Draco told her, "I'm just coming."

"It's OK, I'll come to you. I needed the air you see, feeling a bit overwhelmed in the house." She said, already walking forward.

"No it's..."

Hermione was already standing next to him. She could see the small clearing in the trees was well cared for. Bunches of wild flowers grew around the edges and there was a sparklingly clean white marble bench, that Draco had been sitting on, was on one side.

That wasn't what caught Hermione's attention though. That was the eight, small stone grave markers.

"What is this?" Hermione whispered.

Draco took a deep breath, "Please don't say anything to Mother or Father?"

Hermione nodded, "Of course not. But Draco..."

"These are my siblings." Draco said, "Put simply."

He guided Hermione to the bench and sat next to her, she looked like she was about to cry or faint and he wasn't sure which.

"I… I don't understand." She said, "I didn't..."

"It's not well known." Draco told her, "But Mother really struggles to have children."

"Where do you fit?" she asked, she couldn't take her eyes off the graves.

"I'm her sixth pregnancy." Draco explained, "They were still trying for more children but every time… every time she looses one, we nearly loose her."

Hermione managed to tear her eyes from the graves to look at him. There were tears in his eyes, and she felt a pang of guilt for coming in here.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered.

"I end up coming here a lot when I'm announced anywhere. It sound stupid bit I sometimes feel like I stole the title." Draco told her, it felt good to get it out. He'd told Harry but only because Harry had also once stumbled across the sight and that was a long time ago, he wasn't even sure if Harry would remember or not.

"Who? Umm?" Hermione wasn't sure how to say it.

Draco stood and knelt by the side of the first grave stone.

"This is my eldest brother, he should have been born in the late spring, early summer of 1974 but Mother miscarried at sixteen weeks. His name was Abraxas." Draco told her.

"She must have been very young." Hermione said, moving to kneel by Draco.

He nodded, "She was. Barely finished school when she married Father." he smiled.

"How did they meet?" Hermione asked, happy to get him on a less upsetting topic.

Draco let out a laugh, "That's a whole other drama."

"You don't have to tell me." Hermione said, "But I wont tell anyone if you do."

Draco shook his head, "Most pure bloods already know. It's not a well kept secret they just don't say anything about it. Mother wasn't meant to marry Father. They met when Father was courting Bellatrix and Mother was their chaperon."

Draco was clearly in his own little world so Hermione didn't interrupt even though she had questions she wanted to ask.

"They didn't love each other or anything, it was just their parents had decided that the Black and Malfoy houses would join and Bellatrix is the eldest. It all went wrong though, Mother had just gotten back from school for the summer before her seventh year and her and Father fell in love. It was slow to start, but when she went back to school they wrote to one another and when she was home for the holidays they snuck out." Draco told her. "However they weren't as careful as they should have been, and at the beginning of August she fell pregnant. They didn't know until the beginning of October, but by then even without a test, Mother was pretty sure. They told Druella, her mother, and she lost it. They were going to announce Bellatrix and Father's engagement in just a few days and Mother was terrified that they still would and they would just take the baby from her. Instead, they let Mother and Father marry six weeks later, the same day that Bellatrix and Father were meant to marry. It's why they could have such a big wedding so quickly."

"So Bellatrix can't have been happy." Hermione said, "I mean Lucius or Rodolphus is a pretty clear choice."

Draco nodded, "Yep. There had been talks about a Black/Lestrange marriage but Druella thought they could do better for their daughters but Bellatrix and Andromeda had already had to be barefoot at one wedding so they had to marry Bellatrix quickly. Andromeda wasn't having any of it though. She saw how terribly her sisters were being treated, from Bellatrix being tossed around like a hot potato to Mother being locked in her room for a week while her fate was decided by others. She had been talking with a muggleborn boy, they'd met at school and he lived nearby and she ran off with him, only told her parents she was married after it was to late for them to do anything about it."

"Wow." was all Hermione could think to say, "So I'm guessing they weren't best pleased?"

Draco shook his head, "No. Not at all. They disinherited Andromeda there and then and kicked her out the house. Mother didn't have any contact until after the war. I like to think that one of the reasons they sided with You-know-who during the war was not to further piss off there parents."

"Was Lucius's parents angry as well?" Hermione asked.

Draco nodded, "Yeah, a youngest daughter isn't as socially high as an eldest, not to mention the fact that Father had been misbehaving himself. Grandfather and Father weren't close at the best of times. Grandfather blamed Father for Grandmother's death, said it was the shock that killed her."

"That's horrible." Hermione said, "It wasn't his fault surely?"

"No but it shook Father up a lot." Draco told her, "They hadn't been married long when they lost Abraxas. Mother barely got out of bed when she was pregnant with me, she was so scared of loosing another one."

"And no luck afterwards either?" Hermione asked.

"No. She always looses them, the youngest was nine weeks the oldest was thirty-four. Her name was Sophia and she looked just like a sleeping baby, tiny but perfect."

"You saw her?"

"Yeah, I was nine when Mother lost her. I crept into the nursery to see her. She was all wrapped up in a little white nightdress and blanket. I reached out to touch her because she looked so alive. I couldn't believe that something so peaceful looking could be dead but she was stone cold." Draco said, trying not to cry, "It was the first time it was all real to me. I'd always been a bit lonely as a child, I had Harry and Neville come round for lessons but they went home to children in their own houses and I was alone again. It was the first time that I worked out it was these deaths that make me alone."

Hermione didn't know what to say so instead wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Well at least now I know why Bellatrix is always so nasty." Hermione said after a few minutes.

Draco nodded and smirked, "Yeah. Total jealousy there."

"It's not like she's a patch on your mum anyway." Hermione smiled.

Draco shrugged, "Depends who you ask. Aunt Bella already thinks she's won."

"How?" Hermione asked, shaking her head.

"She has three children. She only had them to show Mother that she could. She barely lets Rodolphus touch her." Draco said.

"I'm not sure that's how children are made." Hermione laughed.

Draco snorted, "She got drunk, after You-know-who was defeated and Lily made it well known he was gone. The story goes that Rodolphus brought home some seventeen year old blonde thing, drunk Bellatrix kicked her out and let him have a go instead."

"That explains one and two but what about the youngest?" Hermione asked. They were slowly wondering back to the house now, enjoying the cold night air.

"Ah, an heir and a spare." Draco said.

"What?" Hermione asked, very confused.

"It's an old saying. Basically Rodolphus needed two male children just in case something happened to his first son. He was over the moon when his first son was brought to him and then he was told it was twins. He was sure that he was going to get another boy and never have to worry about his cold and bitter wife again."

"But he got Gemini." Hermione nodded in understanding.

"Exactly." Draco said, "She was the ultimate disappointment for him. He wouldn't stop nagging until Bellatrix tried for another baby; she had barely recovered from having the twins when she was pregnant again but at least it was another boy."

They reached the door of the house and paused,

"Thank you so much for inviting me tonight." Hermione smiled, "I really enjoyed myself."

Draco smiled back, "I'm very glad."

She checked her watch, it was nearly eleven, her parents would be here to collect her soon.

"I'll see you at school?"

Draco nodded, "Yep. Have a good last few days of freedom."

Hermione laughed and went inside to say goodbye to everyone and grab her jacket.

Her parents were waiting just outside the Malfoy manor grounds. Lucius insisted on waiting with her until her parents arrived.

"Thank you for walking me to the bus stop." Hermione said.

Lucius nodded, "It's only proper." he said with a small smile.

It wasn't long before the Grangers pulled up in their car. Lucius looked over it rather confused.

"Hi Mum, Dad." Hermione smiled, giving them both a hug as they got out of the car.

"Did you have a good time?" Her mother asked, tucking a bit of Hermione's bushy hair behind her ear.

Hermione nodded and beamed, "It was brilliant!"

"I'm glad." her father said, "Hi, I don't think we've met. Richard Granger, this is my wife Jean."

Lucius shook his hand, "Lucius Malfoy."

"Thank you for walking Hermione to the bus stop." Jean smiled.

"I could have walked that far by myself mum." Hermione mumbled.

"No problem at all. Draco, my son, would never forgive me if something happened to Miss Granger here." Lucius smiled, "It was a pleasure having her at the party. We're so glad she enjoyed it."

Hermione's parents smiled,

"Well we're just sorry we couldn't make it." Richard said, "We had a lot of paperwork to catch up on."

"I completely understand, there's always the next party." Lucius smiled.

Hermione grinned and waved goodbye getting into the car. Lucius watched until they'd driven away before slowly walking back to the house.

He paused for a moment, a cold wind whipped around his shoulders, ruffling his cloak. He was sure he heard the faint pop of someone apparating nearby.

"Hello." He called out, his right hand reached into his robes and formed a tight grip on his wand. There was no response.

He began to move forward slowly when he saw a crushed flower on the ground in front of him. Lucius scanned around him before bending down to pick it up. There was a sticky red substance on it that he was sure was blood.

Lucius felt his heart begin to race, "Who's there? I demand you show yourself!" he ordered, but there was no answer. Lucius forced himself to take several deep breaths to calm himself and made his fingers let the crushed and bloody narcissus flower fall to the ground.