Good morning (or whatever time it is that you're reading this)! How are all of you? I'm hoping you're all doing awesome. My friend ShopaholicRed just recently published a Scorpius/Lily fanfiction, and if you are interested in those stories you should go check it out because she's great and she credits me for inspiring her to publish on this site again and that's just the sweetest thing ever and I love her for it. Anyway, thank you all for your continued support (as always), and happy reading!

I don't own anything from Harry Potter.

Draco stopped in the entryway of the favored sitting room of the Manor, watching Freya Greengrass snap at her daughter who was climbing out of her husband's sleeping arms in response to her mother's dismay. Daphne rose tiredly, her face still smeared with her makeup caused by her tears cutting through it from the night before. She looked up at her mother, her face flashing with emotion before she stood to throw her arms around her, burrowing her face into her mother's neck. Freya let out a shocked and uncomfortable grunt, grimacing deeply as she looked down at her clinging child, her arms hovering over the witch's body with reluctance. Draco was not surprised by the girl's reaction based on what she had seen from the previous night of the woman. He would have the same reaction had it been his own mother he had witnessed attempt to off herself, a blood traitor or not. A mother was a mother no matter her flaws or mistakes. However, Daphne would surely panic in moments time when she realized her mother was now in the Manor with her disowned son, just as Draco was on edge over that reason.

"Must you?" Freya asked, the distaste in her voice strong as Daphne hugged tighter.

"I love you, mum," Draco listened to the young woman confess, her voice breaking, no doubt picturing her mother in her worst state.

Freya huffed out a sigh, finally giving in and embracing her child in return, shaking her head in disapproval. "I love you too, but I'd love you more if you didn't embarrass me by being such a wreck, and what are you wearing exactly? This is what that Russian bint has dressed you in? I've raised you with better fashion sense, whether you are going for a more revealing look or not. Remember who your mother is."

"You smell so good. Like home," she went on, ignoring her mother's lecturing. "I missed you."

Freya's shoulders fell slightly as she visibly softened into her loving daughter's hold, stroking her hair before scowling at the tangles, beginning to fuss with it in an attempt to put it up and out of her face. Draco glanced around the room, finding no one else was in there, and he had no idea where the former Greengrass heir had gone. Draco's eyes scanned back to the embracing women, halting on Pucey's gaze as he looked at him with a concerned, cautious expression, certainly thinking along the same lines as Draco regarding the disowned son of the Greengrass matriarch and his female that were apparently roaming freely about his home.

"Morning, Mrs. Greengrass," Pucey said cheerfully, sliding his eyes from Draco's as he grinned lazily at Freya and she looked him up and down, pursing her lips as she pulled away from Daphne.

"Adrian," she replied, looking unimpressed at him before licking her thumb as she grabbed Daphne's chin to examine her face before wiping at the mess of mascara under Daphne's eyes as she cringed away, protesting with sounds of disgust and going on about how she wasn't a child while Freya ignored her. "You do realize this is your wife you have pushed up against you in the middle of a home that isn't your own for all to see? Not some whore? I'd greatly appreciate it if you didn't treat my daughter with such lack of respect, and Daphne why exactly does your face look like that? You and your sister, I swear-" Freya stopped as she did a double take at the Pensieve in the room, staring at it with an unreadable expression.

Draco stopped himself from dramatically tipping his head back and groaning as he cursed himself for leaving the thing uncovered. The wife of the man he had stolen the magical item was next to the last person he wanted to come in and discover it.

"What the fuck were you thinking," the woman hissed when she finally spoke, looking at them with demanding eyes. "Stealing from your father? Do you believe he didn't know the moment you took it?"
"Naughty words so early in the morning," Adrian mumbled, looking at the back of Daphne. "We're innocent. Curse at Malfoy."

Daphne's eyes flicked over to Draco as she frowned, causing her mother to look over to him as well, Freya's emerald eyes narrowing on him.

"This was your brilliant idea, darling?" She asked, her scathing tone dripping in false sweetness.

"Mrs. Greengrass, I'm afraid your husband's toy is the bottom of the list of worries," he drawled, fully entering the room as he smoothed his suit, tilting his chin up ever so slightly as he faced the oddly intimidating woman. He may hold sympathy for his mother-in-law, but never would he be alright with being spoken down to in his own home.

"Mrs. Greengrass, hello," Granger's voice came from a different entryway than the one Draco had entered from, giving her a worried smile.

"The one and only worth mentioning," Freya replied, her facial expression flipping instantly from furious to confident and relax as she smiled at the Auror.

"Um.. I'm sorry that you're here. Has Draco told you what is happening?"

"I thought we went over the first name-"

"Not now, Malfoy," Granger snapped impatiently, pulling a cold, narrowed look from him. Several women apparently had the gall to disrespect him on his own property that morning.

"He hasn't," Freya replied, smiling tightly at her. "Would you mind filling me in? Seeing as my daughter is in shambles."

"Oh," Granger said, glancing at Daphne with a furrowed brow. "I'm not sure about her.. But an Anti-Dispparition Jinx has been placed around the Manor property. We do not believe the Death Eaters are present, or have gotten through Draco's wards, and-"

"They haven't," Draco said smoothly, surely.

"-we are taking care of it. However, it may take a while, as I'm having trouble.. Well.. There definitely has been a bit of altering to the magic, especially since the house-elf isn't able to leave. It's rather frustrating to say the least. Draco, would you mind if I use the books in your library? Seeing as it seems most of them are related to dark magic."

"I don't care, Granger," he replied, his upper lip twitching as it threatened to curl. "You've already slept in one of the beds in my home. I'm not sure you could violate my things much more than you already have."

"Good then," she quipped, turning her face away from him. "How kind of you."

"Kindness is what I'm most known for."

"Lovely," Freya said, her tone sugary in its sarcasm. "Well, seeing as we are apparently under target, I suppose I should do a head count of my children. One." Freya nodded to Daphne before looking at Draco expectantly, obviously only trying to get an answer to where her other daughter was.

Draco opened his mouth to inform her that Astoria was still sleeping, unsurprisingly, before Freya's eyes focused behind him, her eyes flickering with ten different emotions.

"Two," she announced brightly, instantly composing herself with impressive swiftness before she focused back on Draco's face, her tight smile returning. "Where is Astoria, Draco?"

"Sleeping," he murmured, assuming her son was behind him based on her reaction as well as her words. "She had a rough night." He murmured the words slowly, implying the meaning behind him as she now knew what he'd be referring to.

"That girl," Freya scoffed, shaking her head. "Always a lazy brat. Why is she not down here helping the Aurors?"

"Oh, we appreciate it, Mrs Greengrass. However, we will handle it ourselves. It's not really protocol otherwise," Granger responded, glancing past Draco as well before looking at Freya with a pitying interest.

"So you do have a protocol in place?" Freya inquired, acting completely unfazed by the new presence in the room. "I never would have guessed, no offense intended, dear girl."

Granger smiled without humor as her response to Freya's words before looking to him. "Draco, I'll be back with questions if I have them."

Draco made a sound of acknowledgement to Granger, raising his eyes slightly as Joseph entered the room.

This could very well turn into a shit show quite quickly.

"Why is it," Freya said slowly, watching Granger exit the room, her eyes now following Joseph who had exchanged places with the Auror. "That men are in charge of everything in the world, yet they are so inexcusably stupid."

"What have I done this time, Freya," Joseph asked dully, eyeing the woman with a neutral expression that was poorly covering something deeper.

"Nothing this time," Freya said stoically before turning to look past Draco again towards her son. "It's my son-in-law who feels the need to steal from my husband, and my actual son who feels the need to ruin everything he and everyone else has sacrificed by showing his face back in a world he was lucky to have escaped."

"You shouldn't be addressing him as your son, Freya. Do you really trust Draco and Adrian to not defame you?" Joseph asked, still watching her with an off expression.

"I don't trust any man or anyone from our lot for that matter," she snapped back. "And I certainly do not trust you of all people, so I'm not sure why you have excluded yourself."

Draco looked back at Edric to find him standing beside his wife as he stared at his mother, his lips parted as he struggled to find words to say to her. His eyes were fighting with their emotions, appearing as if he wasn't sure whether to be happy or completely crushed. Draco supposed having his mother accept his existence after so many years was a curious thing to react to, and he wasn't sure how he would react to it himself.

"Will your husband be joining you?" Draco asked her, anger lining his tone as he spoke. "If so, you may want to make sure Daphne gets cleaned up before he catches her crying over such a matter before she gets herself punished for it with the cruciatus curse."

Freya froze, her eyes falling on Draco's as she stared at him, stunned as a haunted look fell over her.

"Malfoy," Pucey said accusingly. "Was that necessary?"

No, it hadn't been necessary, but Draco was angry. It hadn't been this woman's fault, but this woman hadn't done anything about it either, whether it was fair to expect her to or not. His wife was his main concern, and his wife had been damaged. That was what he cared about, and that was all he would continue to care about.

"He wasn't punishing Astoria," she said slowly when she had composed herself enough to respond, her voice eerily hollow as she seemed to be somewhere else as she spoke. "He was punishing me, seeing as I let Edric go. Do you believe he would have sat through her piercing screams had he not fully meant for me to listen?" Freya's face settled back into it's cold expression as her eyes narrowed in on her son once more. "I told you not to come back. What have you done? Do you want to die?"

"Mother, I-"

"She isn't your mother," Daphne spluttered, the despair in her eyes at her mother's words shifting to fury as she addressed her brother. "You don't get to call her that."

"Of course I'm his mother, as he came out of my own body! That is why I can't believe he could be so stupid! How are you so stupid? How did all of all of my children end up so stupid? You can figure out how to keep this silly girl from your father, but you can't-"

A throat was cleared and all of their heads snapped towards the direction of the man who made the sound, his eyebrow raised at them. "Hello there. Granger told me that I ought to come and sit with you all. Everything okay?"

"Naylor," Daphne said, looking him up and down in disbelief and irritation as she distracted herself from the more dramatic scene. "When did you get here?"

"This morning. Early. Came to check in when the rest of them didn't return.. Unfortunately," he replied, taking a bite of an apple that he most likely took from the Manor's food supply. "You look like shit. What's up?"

Freya's expression returned to the same mask she held in front of Granger, turning to take a seat in one of the armchairs as she dropped the issue at hand so easily in front of the man sent to watch over them, Joseph following her actions as he muttered about being babysat. Edric slowly moved along with his wife to sit in one of the more secluded areas of the room, sitting down with her stiffly, and Draco slowly sunk down onto the couch nearest to him.

"Was he one of your friends at school, Daphne?" Freya asked her daughter, watching her intently as if communicating to her. Most likely trying to tell her to act as if nothing was amiss, and to not draw attention to their problems, just as all pure-bloods were meant to act in such situations, though this particular family was disturbingly good at it.

"No," Daphne replied, meeting her eyes before looking back at him. "He was with Tracey at school. It didn't end well."

"Well, she cheated on me, so," Naylor replied in an unbothered tone. "With your husband I think actually."

"Who did I fuck?" Pusey cut into the conversation, squinting. "Tracey..?"

"Davis," Daphne muttered, looking at her husband coolly. Pucey looked up at the ceiling, thinking this over.

"She's what? A half-blood?"

"Interesting you are so open with sleeping with half-bloods, Pucey," Draco drawled, deciding to go along with the fact they were meant to act as if everything was casual.

"Don't act like you haven't screwed any half-bloods, Malfoy," Pucey said dismissively. "It's best to put them to good use, yeah?"

"See, this is the sort of commentary I believe I'm meant to write down? Not that I'd know, as this isn't my damn job, but I'll humor them," Naylor commented, holding the apple in his mouth so he could write some notes down on his clipboard.

"She is frequently at our home, Adrian," Daphne said shortly, ignoring Naylor. "Attending our parties."

"Already claiming the parties as your own? I can't imagine you being an adequate host, is she, Adrian?"

"She's.. Doing her best, giving it an honest try," Pucey replied to Freya fairly.

"Actually, it might have been Higgs. I always get the two of them mixed up," Naylor added.

Adrian sat back in offense, staring at Naylor with a horrified expression. "Excuse me? And who the-"

"Daphne, don't be so outwardly rude," Freya scolded her. "I didn't know you had such classless friends, cheating on their boyfriends and what not."

"Don't judge her too harshly for it, Mrs. Greengrass. Think she just wanted someone to listen to her whine about her sister being loved more than her by you and your husband," Naylor said, smiling and falling into the nearest armchair himself, still working on his apple and eyeing the Pensieve with interest.

Freya turned her head to give Daphne a dull look. "That's what you chose to complain to your friends about, darling? Honestly and truly? You spent your time complaining about not being the favorite? What good would being the favorite do you? Did Astoria seem as if she were having the time of her life?"

Daphne looked away, shaking her head in shame and embarassment. "That is not all I did, mother."

"Mmm," Draco sounded in his disagreement.

"That same sister claimed to be your friend, Naylor," Daphne said, turning to watch him expectantly, seemingly still doubting her sister's claims.

"I wasn't aware Astoria had friends," Freya said, looking at him with interest.

"Yeah," he replied, nodding. "Astoria and I were friends."

"Really?" Granger asked, coming into the room with a bound book in her hands while Draco noticed Theodore in the opposite entryway, leaning against it. "She's a nice girl."

"Nah," Naylor said. "Not really a nice girl, Granger."

Draco snorted and saw Nott raise an eyebrow, an amusement in the man's eyes along with a bit of knowing, knowing that he was under the impression he held for his wife, a similar knowing look to the one Draco registered Edric holding in the corner of his vision.

Granger stopped making her way over to Draco to give him a curious look. "No? And why do you say that? From what I've read all of the professors at Hogwarts loved her, and she's very polite. Her world view is a bit off, but considering this." Granger paused to motion around the room. "Is what she's had to work with I'd say she is very decent."

"See, you think that until she drops her quiet, polite school girl act and gets this eerie, hateful attitude on and says some of the harshest shit you'd never expect to come out of a fourteen year old's mouth. I've got to give some of the pure-bloods credit for how creative they get with their nastiness, as I don't know how they even cook up some of the things they say. She was rather nasty about Tracey, it was rather enjoyable for me, seeing as I loathed the bitch at the time."

"Of course she did," Daphne breathed irritably. "The little traitorous twit."

"I wouldn't be bragging about enjoying your ex-girlfriend being degraded, Naylor," Granger said in a clipped tone. "It's hardly mature or admirable."

"Come on, Granger. You know what it is to be cheated on, Weasley and Finley were at it in the back office not too long ago when I'm pretty sure you two were still together."

Granger's face fell into surprise then hurt at his words, her eyelids fluttering as she processed them, slight denial crossing her features.

"Judging by the look on her face I'd say she didn't know what it was to be cheated on until now," Joseph said slowly, raising an eyebrow at the debacle.

"Shit," Naylor said, pulling his lips back over his teeth as he sucked in a breath through them. "Ah.. Well actually, that was - nah nevermind. I've never been quick on my feet when it comes to lying. Sorry about that, Granger. At least you aren't still together.. You are.. Right. Okay, well. Deep breaths." Naylor rubbed a hand over the back of his head uncomfortably before whistling a couple of notes while Granger stood there, seeming to be fighting back tears.

"Let's keep work separate from our personal lives, yes?" Joseph asked, grimacing at Granger who surprisingly nodded slowly at his words, forcing herself to agree and finish walking over to Draco, handing him the book, her hand trembling.

"Will you open this please?" She asked him, her voice soft as it threatened to break and Draco fought the urge to roll his eyes as he snatched the book from her, flipping it open as it didn't open to those of her blood status.

"Right, moving on. Listen, Granger - this is stupid," Naylor announced, waving the clipboard in the air. "What are you accomplishing with writing down 'suspicious' shit they say? I could write a novel from what I heard in the Slytherin Common Room, if that's the 'evidence' you're going for. They're all violently prejudiced. We know this. This is a waste of time."

"It's not your job to question it," Granger responded shortly, having a much more difficult time composing herself than the other women in the room regarding their own personal lives, taking the book back from him.

"Uhh. This isn't my job period. Actually, technically, I'm a bit higher up than you in ranks, and the only reason I'm here is because we are short staffed because your mates went off on some out of country adventure while chasing an unlikely trail. But sure. I'll let you play boss seeing as you're sad that you're finally realizing your ginger is a prick."

Granger shook her head, inhaling deeply as she fought to control her annoyance and emotions. "Which I don't understand how you are considered above me. I'm.. I'm just-"

"Hermione Granger," Naylor nearly cooed. "Harry Potter's best friend. I know, you have some shit to sort out with that one."

"It just doesn't make much sense to me."

"Perhaps you ought to befriend the prized daughter of Aldrich Greengrass then, but wait. You won't. Because she's not the nice girl you believe she is, which is another reason why this little method you have on sniffing them out is nonsense. You can't even see through the fake show some of these people put on. What is the point in babysitting the pure-bloods if you fall for all of their tricks? Hell, Astoria is probably ten times the threat Malfoy is, and it's him you're more concerned with. Bit sexist of you there, and you have too many commentaries on their marriage in these files. The point is to find the members of this new little group, not squirm our opinions into marriages."

"Aren't you a pure-blood, Naylor?" Granger was close to fuming now, and Draco figured it was because she knew he was right. Draco wasn't idiot enough to believe Granger that dense. "Surely you're a good person for this job then, despite your complaints."

"Depends on who you ask, really. To these people? No. My great-grandfather married a half-blood, as in one muggle for a parent." Naylor motioned a cutting motion near his neck, making a clicking sound with his tongue. "That automatically drops my name down pretty far. Both my mother and grandmother have been from decent bloodlines though, so my blood is pretty so-so, not to mention I'm pretty much considered a blood traitor at this point." He tilted his hand back and forth as he spoke the last words.

"Your blood is so-so?" Granger asked, looking at him with disapproval as she continued to act is if she wasn't completely and pathetically heartbroken by the news the man had just provided her. "What, you buy into that nonsense? Blood is blood. It's red. It flows."

"Only offensive if you care, Granger," Naylor replied, looking unbothered. "It seems it's about time you stopped caring."

Theodore hummed loudly in agreement from the doorway and Draco stole another glance at Freya who was still remarkably composed considering everything that was going on.

"Well, you were friends with Astoria, weren't you? She can't be completely horrid if you're a blood traitor, and as you implied her father helped you gain your position.. Which I will definitely be investigating as I do not like the sound of that."

"Never said she was horrid, but yeah. She's a good friend."

"I don't understand when or why that happened," Daphne said bitterly, sitting back. "And why would my father help you?"

"I'm interested in as much as well. What did you or do you have to offer my family, darling?" Freya chimed in.

"He did all of Astoria's Potions work," Draco told them, his tone bored.

"Snitching on your own wife? That's cold, Malfoy," Naylor replied, squinting at him as he lifted his apple into the air with his wand.

"What?" Daphne demanded in her bewilderment. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Daphne, do control yourself," Freya snapped, narrowing her eyes slightly at Draco. "Did she tell you this?"

"Perfect little Tori with the most perfect grades and perfect behavior, cheating on a whole entire class!" Daphne went on, snaking her head roughly as she fumed. "I can't believe this. I worked so hard on my studies, and she-"

"See, this is why people say that you bitch all day about your sister," Naylor said, dropping the apple back in his palm.

"Good to know you were such an honest student," Granger commented to Naylor, looking over at Ophelia and Edric with uncertainty before looking at Freya.

"She didn't tell me, but I saw it," Draco answered his wife's mother, both amused and annoyed at Daphne's strong reaction.

Freya shook her head, blinking in irritation. "What a shameless girl, allowing a boy to take hold of her education in such a way."

"It sounds like father knew," Daphne said angrily.

"Of course he knew," Freya scoffed. "He doesn't care about a woman's pride when it comes to such things."

"Why does it matter now? She fooled my mother already, and she's my wife. What's done is done. She got away with it."

"That isn't the point, Draco," Freya said sweetly, her eyes cold as she watched him. "The point is that she should have a bit of self decency and take it upon herself to be a moderately intelligent woman without giving all of the credit off to men."

"I agree," Granger said, looking a bit too pleased with Freya's words, her spirits seeming lifted for the moment. "I really like you, Mrs. Greengrass."

"Of course you do," Naylor said, shaking his head. "Only more evidence why you're poor for this job."

"Draco, bring my daughter down, won't you? I'd like a word."

"I'm here, mother," Astoria's voice came calmly as she slipped into the room, the sound of her entrance otherwise unnoticeable aside from her clear voice that was giving off no sign of emotion at the fact her mother was now there sitting in the same room as her brother.

Draco took in his wife's appearance as she came to sit gracefully besides him, no where near resembling the broken and weeping girl she had the night before just before she had used him for her own distraction. Not that he was complaining about her methods, as he had fully enjoyed her to display when he allowed her to indulge in him. Sex certainly was one of the oldest methods of forgetting one's self.

"Good morning, Astoria," Granger said brightly, clearly paying no mind to what Naylor had said about her. "You look lovely today. I wanted to apologize to both you and your sister about.. Well.. Nevermind." Granger awkwardly turned away with uncertainty when Naylor cleared his throat in disapproval, her eyes catching on the Pensieve.

"No apologies required, Hermione," Astoria replied warmly. "I apologize for running off so quickly, and to you as well, Ophelia." Astoria stopped to nod towards the woman she had so recently attacked. "I regret not properly welcoming you into my home, surely you will forgive me."

The woman looked both disturbed and taken aback as Astoria so openly addressed her, glancing at her husband's lap before mustering up a very weak smile in reply. "It's alright, Mrs. Malfoy. Everyone is very stressed and afraid."

"That is very true," Astoria agreed, nodding once. "Thank you for understanding." Astoria smiled cheerfully at her, a smile that did not reach her eyes. "I like your necklace."

Freya was watching Astoria intently, her mouth set in a hard line as she watched her with a great cautiousness. Draco assumed she also wondered if Astoria had experienced the memory of her own torture as well. Daphne stared at Astoria along with her mother almost warningly. Technically it was not Ophelia that Astoria wasn't meant to acknowledge, only her brother. Still, Draco was also just as on edge at his wife's display.

Astoria looked to her mother with a worried expression. "Mother, I'm afraid you're stuck in here with us now. This puts to waste all the effort you and father put in to keeping you both in hiding.."

"Everything will be fine, Astoria. We have it under control," Granger insisted.

"Do we?" Naylor asked, raising an eyebrow.

Granger gave him a look before motioning to the Pensieve. "This is rather impressive. Is it a Pensieve? I've never seen one like this before, but I have to say I've heard a few rumors about Mr. Greengrass.."

"Rumors from who? Legitimate sources or girls who fancy all the rich men involved in the Ministry?" Naylor mused, spinning his apple by the stem.

Freya laughed loudly in response before addressing Granger. "Yes, it is my husband's Pensieve. It seems Draco has borrowed it, the silly boy."

"Oh, Braden. Thank God you're here." Draco looked up to see another female Auror in the room, looking at Naylor with a tired expression before her eyes flicked to Granger who gave her an unamused look.

"Yes, thank God," Naylor replied, his lips twitching at a smug expression at the woman's reaction to him.

"What is it?" Granger asked her impatiently.

The girl scowled and motioned out of the room, looking at Naylor expectantly as she waited for him to follow as well.

"Stay here," Granger ordered Naylor shortly who shrugged in response, smiling apologetically at woman who led Granger out while watching him reluctantly.

"Hello, Braden," Astoria told her previous friend, picking up a tart from the tray that the house-elf automatically put out thanks to his wife's instructions to offer such things every time the Aurors came. "It's lovely to see you again. When I told my sister you and I were friends she did not believe me."

Draco watched her oddly, surprised she was touching the sweets, especially in front of others.

"Friends?" Daphne scoffed. "I would not call exchanging services friends."

"Are you unaware of how our house works? I'd call that the best of friendships," Naylor responded.

"Are you eating sweets for breakfast, dear?" Freya asked, watching her with disapproval. "I thought your taste for sweets had been cured."

"I'm only trying to help Daphne seem a bit more on top of herself," Astoria replied calmly, innocently. "Balancing out the two of us."

"Aha! So interesting seeing as the whole room is now aware of the fact that you cheated your way through school, and thus making you a fraud. Draco ought to be rid of you," Daphne shot back, sitting back and glaring at Pucey when she caught him rolling his eyes at her. "Plenty of women have been scorned for similar tricks in our community, why should you get away with it."

"Plenty of women are too foolish to get away with it. That's the difference," Astoria replied, tiling her chin up before reaching for another tart. "I do hope you don't plan on nagging in my ear all morning. It's much too early, and you can trust that I've heard it all from you a thousand times before. You may spare me."

"Daphne may spare you, but I will not," Freya said kindly. "I believe we should excuse ourselves and call for a family meeting of sorts so I am able to speak to both of you properly."

Astoria went to reply to her mother before her face drained of color, appearing ill before she leaned forward. Draco placed a hand on her back, watching her with slight concern before she heaved once, covering her mouth before she pushed herself up and rushed out of the room, his eyes following her.

Freya sighed heavily and Draco looked at her to find her rolling her eyes as she adjusted her dress. "Daphne, are you embarrassed that your little sister is pregnant before you are?"

Draco froze at her words, rooted in his seat as the idea fully sunk into his skull, sure he was going as pale as Astoria had before he found himself getting up and following after her, finding her vomiting in the nearest bathroom. He closed the door behind him, watching her pull herself up from the toilet and stumble to the sink, washing her mouth.

"Are you alright?" He asked her finally, his stomach threatening to put him in the same state as Astoria, a faint ringing sound running through his ears.

Astoria nodded quickly, cupping her hand under the water before bringing it to her mouth, rinsing out the remnants of vomit. "I suppose I shouldn't try and eat sugar for breakfast," she murmured, looking at herself in the mirror, her eyes watering from her puking.

"Mmm. Is that what it is?" He asked before stepping closer to her, pointing his wand to her stomach. She looked down at his wand as he uttered the inquiring spell, closing his eyes when his wand warmed in his hand in confirmation.

Her mother had been correct.

He had loosely performed a contraceptive charm over his bedroom around the time they had gotten married, but contraceptive charms were not always reliable, especially not as lazily as he had used them, and especially not in the Manor which had been known to have charmed walls to help with reproduction. A reason why his mother had went to the hospital specifically to halt her ability to become pregnant after she had provided his father with a son. Hogwarts had been the opposite, which had been a help to Draco in his years of carelessness there, as it was much harder to impregnate a witch in that castle.

Draco felt Astoria's hand wrap around his wand, checking the answer herself. Neither said anything for several moments as they both took in the situation, both of their breathing ceased.

"Are you angry?" She whispered, her voice so incredibly fragile he almost felt the words shatter against his ears as they reached them.

He wasn't angry, he wasn't sure how to feel really. He had not anticipated her becoming pregnant so soon, it wasn't as if they were having sex three times a day, and seeing as the pure-blood world was in current wreckage it was not the convenient time to bring a child into it.

"Draco?" She asked, worry and fear laced into the sound of her voice when she pushed for his answer. She was fearful of what his reaction would be to his child growing inside of her, worried he would be angry at her for something they did together, something she as his wife was meant to do.

"No," he sighed, lowering his wand to gently tug her against his hand as he brushed it against her naval before moving it around her waist to brace it against her back as he touched his lips to her temple. "I'm not angry."

Astoria nodded in her relief, her body relaxing. She hesitantly wound her arms around him, resting her cheek against his chest. "I hope there really is nothing to worry about and Granger is correct.."

"Everything will be fine," he said stiffly, his chest tightening at the thought of something happening to her even more now that she carried his child. "I will see to it."

"I trust you, Draco," she told him, the sincerity in her voice hitting his emotions. "Truthfully. I feel safe with you, and I believe you're a talented wizard."

Similar words would have normally made him smirk as they stroked his ego, eliciting some sort of smug retort, but instead her words struck him much deeper than he could have guessed, a wave of both affection and sadness overwhelming him. She trusted him and his ability to protect her and now their child, and he wasn't sure he could live up to that trust. Not when he hadn't been able to protect his own parents, his mother.

"My mother is here," she said before he could reply. "She saw him."

"Yes."

"Did she..?"

"Yes. She called him her son as well."

Draco heard and felt his wife's sharp intake of breath, her arms around him going stiff. "Why would she do that," she said roughly. "Who else saw it?"

"Nott, Adrian, your sister. Naylor may have caught some of it."

"Father will know," she said, her voice thick. "He always finds out about these things, and now-"

"He won't know, Astoria," he cut her off. "You saw your mother get a hold of herself, and surely by now she knows how to handle things."

"And now my mother has seen the Pensieve," Astoria breathed. "She's angry about that.. Why does she consider Edric her son still..? I don't understand.. He left us.."

Draco sighed, unable to answer her question as she ran through all of the pressing issues on her mind. He didn't know, didn't understand the family much at all to begin with.

"Who told them about Potions?" She demanded, pulling away to glare up at him. "I doubt Braden did."

"You trust Naylor more than you trust me?" He asked slowly, a twinge of possession at the sound of her saying the man's first name. She didn't need to say any man's name other than his own.

"Was it you?" She asked, ignoring his question.

"Mmm. Yes. Everyone deserves to know what a lying little snake you are."

"Again with the house references," she mumbled, her tone unimpressed.

He hummed and his eyes settled down on her stomach, picturing it growing larger in time with his child. He felt himself warm with pride at the idea, his fears and uncertainties pushed aside for the moment as he thought of how his beautiful witch would soon be holding their child. He couldn't be more pleased at the mother his child would have, intelligent and perfect, everything a Malfoy mother was meant to be. A sweeping of regret moved over him and he realized it was possible she had been pregnant when he had left her to suffer alone.

It was possible she had been pregnant when Nott had put his hands all over her.

"Are you happy with me?" She asked him in a small, hopeful voice as she watched where his eyes were trained. "Have I pleased you?"

"Yes," he told her, her words halting the dark cloud of jealousy that had begun to color him, the vulnerability in her tone softening him. "You've pleased me."

"I hope it's a boy," she said firmly, looking down at her stomach as well.

Of course she did, just as all pure-blood women hoped as it was their duty to provide an heir.

"I don't care what it is."