Father and Son

~Chapter 3~

Planning-Session

Draco sat alone at his desk. He had started to work non-stop to get his thoughts off Ginny. Only the more Draco tried to not think of her, the more he did. He missed her terribly. So much that he had tried to swallow his pride and had gone to Potter. The thought that Ginny could be with Potter now nearly killed him.

And so it did, when he saw his beautiful wife sitting there next to Potter with that child, that he did not recognize, on her lap. He still wondered if that child was perhaps hers. That she had a child with Potter behind his back. That would explain why she had been there so often in the past few month.

Although he wanted to run away, he stayed and asked her home. He wanted her back. But he just couldn't do more than ask her home. It was all that had gotten out through the lump in his throat, that night. And for a second he had recognized that she wanted to come home. He had recognized the old sparkle that had once been in her hazel eyes when she looked at him.

The second he had really believed she'd come home with him, everything changed. Her expression became cold and mocking. She had snarled at him that she wouldn't come home because she was enjoying herself with Potter and his wife. And all the anger he had tried to suppress had broken free. How had she dared to make fun of him, to mock about him, when he was giving in? When he was putting himself at her mercy?

And then everything had gone wrong. They began shouting until Draco hadn't been able to stand it anymore and ran off.

While he was still thinking about this night, there came a knock on the door.

'I said I didn't want to be interrupted!' Draco snapped, when the door opened.

'Well, I don't care, dear cousin,' said a deep voice, and a tall man with broad shoulders, dark hair, and rather handsome features, that were destroyed by a long scar running all over his face, entered the room.

'Leave me alone, Blaise!' Draco scowled at his cousin, who was airily wandering into the room and placing himself into an armchair in front of Draco's desk.

'Nice to see you, too, Draco,' Blaise Zabini said dryly, smirking at him.

'What do you want, Zabini?' Draco asked and eyed him suspiciously.

'You need to get out of here, Draco. I told you before. Come on, let's go somewhere and have a drink, and you tell me everything. You know, I know what it's like to have trouble with one's wife.'

'You were married four times, Blaise. I highly doubt, that you are the right person to get some advice from,' Draco growled.

'Hey, I'm perfectly happy with my fourth wife!' Blaise said, trying to sound insulted.

When Draco turned back to his work, Blaise said:

'I know I'm not the one who should be giving you advice about marriage. You've always been the one telling me what to do. But you can at least tell me. Believe me, it's much easier, if you can talk about your problems.'

Draco thought about it for a minute. Blaise was not the brightest one, but he had always been a good friend to him and Ginny.

Finally he sighed.

'Okay, Blaise, but I've got to tell the children,' he said and rose behind his desk.

'I wouldn't,' Blaise said, smirking.

'Why?' Draco asked, suddenly alarmed.

'Well, I don't want to give away my god-daughter, but I think, she's... um... busy with her boyfriend.'

'She's what?' Draco asked, shocked. 'How do you know?'
'Well, she asked me... to show her the contraception spell when I arrived. And then... she vanished with her boyfriend.'
'I don't believe it! You showed my baby girl how to use a contraception spell?' Draco asked, furious.

'Amaris is seventeen and I prefer showing your 'baby girl' a contraception-spell to seeing her have her own baby girl!' Blaise defended himself.

'You're right, it's just... why the hell did you have to tell me that? Now it'll be worrying the hell out of me!'

'She's seventeen, Draco, and she's a very clever girl. And what do you expect? She's your daughter!' Blaise smirked.

'I know,' Draco growled. 'That's why I'm worried!'

He let himself fall into his armchair behind the desk again.

'She should be asking her mother to show her the spell. She should talk to Ginny about it.' Draco felt a sting in his chest, thinking about her again.

'Amaris wouldn't want to talk about it, and you know that.'

Draco nodded.

'Only a year, Blaise, and she'll be gone, too. She'll probably marry Sky after she's graduated, and I'll never see her again.'

'What are you talking about, mate?' Blaise said.

'Ginny wants the divorce, and the children will go with her, sooner or later. They'll go to her family. Because it's the only thing I can't give them: a family!'

Blaise looked at Draco in shock. He had never heard him talk so desperately, yet so cold.

'I'm a loser, Blaise. I failed as a husband and as a father. I can't even keep my family whole. And Ginny... I still can't believe she has left me. For Potter,' he spat out the name of his hated rival.

'Ginny?' Blaise asked, not believing his ears.

'She's been seeing him a lot, and mostly she didn't even tell me. She has always been honest to me, why would she start to have secrets, other than being with another man?!'

'Draco, I can't believe that. Besides you've always been way too jealous.'

'Now it's my fault that she's fucking scar-head?' Draco snapped.

'Calm down, mate. Let's go to the Sleazy Skull and have a drink. Once you've been out, you'll feel better,' Blaise said and threw a hand of floo-powder into the flames of the fireplace, which turned immediately green. He went through the flames, beckoning Draco to follow him and said: 'Sleazy Skull.'

Draco shook his head and followed his cousin.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

'You think, when they both drink the Veritaserum, they'll come together again?' David asked his aunt, not quite sure what to think of her idea.

'We'll lock them in a room, and they'll have to talk to each other,' Hermione explained. 'They won't be able to hide their real feelings. It's the only way they can talk to each other freely and get to know the other's feeling.'

'What if they don't tell each other the truth we expect?' David asked seriously.

'Yeah, what if Malfoy tells her he's not in love with her anymore?' Ron asked.

The twins glared at him.

'Ron, they wouldn't have this argument if they weren't in love with each other anymore!' Hermione scolded him.

'But he's right, somehow. What if they tell each other things that will make things worse between them?'

'Like this secret?' David asked, looking innocently at Harry.

'That's what I meant with "it could go horribly wrong",' Hermione said.

'But... they are a couple after all. Shouldn't they be completely honest with each other?' Diana asked.

'Yeah, but you see, there are things that shouldn't be said bluntly. You've got to handle your thoughts carefully and consider what would do more harm than help your relationship,' Harry said carefully.

'But what else can we do?' David asked.

Now with the famous trio sitting here, trying to make up a plan with them, he was feeling much more comfortable about the whole situation. All three had been involved in the second war, just like his parents, and they had been at the final battle, defeating one of the most evil wizards their century had seen. Ginny had often told them about Hermione's famous plans she had come up with during their adventures at school. And Harry, Ron and Hermione were probably the persons their mum was closest to. David couldn't think of anyone else who could help them better than these three. On the other hand they were his father's arch-enemies, and he somehow had the feeling he had to defend his father, so it was a rather two bladed sword.

'We could try and talk some sense into them,' Ron suggested.

'I already tried with Ginny. You know how stubborn that woman is,' Harry said, rolling his eyes.

'It's the same with dad. He always blocks off when we try to talk to him about mum,' Diana told them.

'It would be senseless to talk to Ginny, because I think she's somehow doing the right thing. She wants her husband to trust her and if this is the only way then I'm fine with it. I think it's Malfoy we should think about.'

'He won't trust mum as long as she's staying here. She's provoking his jealousy,' David pointed out.

'Perhaps there's more to it than this acute argument about a 'secret' Harry and Ginny have. You don't take your leg off if it only started hurting a few hours ago. There must be chronic damage.'

'Neither is my father an aching leg nor is he chronically damaged,' David said through gritted teeth.

'I meant the relationship,' Hermione said, irritated.

'You think they have other problems and just taking this as an excuse?' Ron asked.

'Perhaps it was just the final straw,' Hermione said.

'They always argued then and again, but it was always harmless. Someone always gave in and apologized, and no, it was not only mum. Father couldn't stand mum being angry with him for long,' David explained, absent-minded, remembering the years when they were younger. When they had only started Hogwarts.

'It increased the in last years,' Diana said sadly. 'They often didn't make up afterwards; they just got back to the daily grind.'

'Last month, mum moved into the mistress bedroom. They used to sleep in the master bedroom, because mum didn't feel alone there. She's alone a lot when we're at Hogwarts. It must be really bad if she prefers loneliness to his company. Even if they weren't speaking with each other after an argument they still sat together in the living-room just to have each others company,' David explained.

Harry nodded.

'But perhaps the Veritaserum will make them tell each other what's wrong. I mean, what is really wrong. There will be a lot of screaming and arguing but in the end both will know what the other one thinks and wants,' Ron said, and he shrugged.

'It would be tough for Ginny. She always told me how she hates to fight with Malfoy,' Harry said.

'And dad can't stand her crying,' Diana added.

'Oh, really?' Ron said sarcastically, but he only received glares from everybody.

'So let's just think about it once. Let's just pretend, they would be locked in this room and tell each other the truth. About every thing. What do you think would happen?' David asked.

'They'd shout and scream until they lose their voice at first.' Harry said.

'Mum would start crying at some point,' Diana added.

'Which father can't stand,' David said triumphantly and smirked.

Harry immediately recognized Draco's trademark smirk, which David had probably inherited, too. To him, David seemed more a clone of Draco than his son. Still, he had his own style. Perhaps it was because of his sister sitting next to him or perhaps it was just Ginny's influence or genes.

'You mean he'd comfort her?' Hermione asked, surprised.

David nodded, still smirking at the adults.

'So the whole argument would cool down for a while. There would be the possibility of them talking seriously and reasonable,' Harry thought aloud.

'And they would be honest,' Ron added.

'So you think we should give it a try?' Hermione asked her best friends.

Ron nodded, but Harry kept silent for a while, considering everything in his mind, while his green eyes were fixed on David and Diana.

'They'll probably kill us, you know!' he said, grinning.

'Has sure death ever kept us from doing something?' Ron grinned at the other two.

'Okay, we need a room, that has to be charmed completely locked,' Hermione pointed out in the bossiest voice she could muster. 'We need to get them there...' 'We need to get their wands so they won't kill each other...,' Diana added.

The adults nodded.

'Absolutely,' Ron said.

'And the most important thing; we need Veritaserum,' Hermione reminded them.

'Yeah, how do we get that?' Harry wondered, scratching his head and messing his hair up even more.

'Snape!' Diana suggested.

'Knockturn Alley!' David said, nearly at the same time.

The adults gaped at them.

'What?' the twins asked in union, looking innocently at them.

'I don't know which possibility is worse!' Harry said gloomily.

'Snape!' Ron said, at the same time as Hermione had said 'Knockturnalley!'

Everybody looked at them.

'How nice. At least one couple is one on everything,' David sneered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Sleazy Skull was a dark looking pub in Knockturn Alley, where Draco and Blaise had often been in the years after graduating from Hogwarts. Looking around, Draco noticed that nothing at all had changed. The bar was at the same place near the entrance, the walls and the floor were of dark ebony and the air smelled of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey and self-brewed brandy. The pub was rather well furnitured, being one of the higher class bars in Knockturn Alley. Mahogany tables, black leathered chairs, benches, and mostly male customers of the richer sort.

When they sat down, one of the waitresses, only clothed in a short black dress, came over to them, and Draco remembered how Ginny had always hated it when he went here. The Sleazy Skull was famous for adulterated drinks, gloomy figures, black-market, and especially for the waitresses, who often increased their tip by vanishing with the guest into one of the many private rooms upstairs.

Ginny always cried when he came home from the Sleazy Skull, frightened he could have been up there with one of these girls. He had stopped coming here regularly after one of those evenings, when he had been sitting on their bed holding Ginny in his arms letting her cry into his shoulder and trying to comfort her, trying to tell her he hadn't even thought about going to some of those tarts. She hadn't stopped crying, and finally he had promised her never to go there again. He had broken his promise a few times, but never said something to her. He had always made up a story, hoping she'd believe it. He wasn't sure she did, but she never said anything.

'Oh, Draco, honey! Finally here again? We've been missing you, you know,' the young woman said in a seductive voice. He smelled her rich perfume, which was mixed with a male one, as she leaned over to kiss Draco on both cheeks.

'Yeah, you look like you've been mourning for me for ages.' Draco smirked.

'Loulou, can you bring us some of your best Firewhiskey?' Blaise ordered for them. 'By the way, you look great. Have you been upstairs already?' he whispered, winking at her.

Loulou just giggled, swatted him playfully on the arm and went to the bar, not without having flashed Draco a last smile.

'Blaise!' Draco hissed warningly

'It was a joke!' Blaise held up his hands defensively.

The waitress returned with the Firewhiskey and immediately left again as three other men called for her.

Draco snorted helping himself to a glass of the Firewhiskey.

'Imagine, Ginny used to go bonkers every time we went here and was crying the hell out of herself because she thought I had done one of those tarts. And now, she's blaming me to be the jealous one,' he said, taking a gulp of the whiskey.

'That's because you brought her here once. My wives never knew where we went.'

'I didn't bring her. She insisted on coming, remember?' Draco growled.

'So what's this whole shit about her and Potter you were giving me?'

'Where do you think she's staying at the moment?!'

'How do you know?' Blaise asked, knowing Draco tended to exaggerations and fast suspicions.

'I was there, Blaise. A few days ago. She's playing happy family with him,' Draco said angrily

Blaise gaped at him.

'I don't know what to believe, Blaise. On the one hand, she's been meeting Potter in secret and now she's staying at his house, and on the other hand she's denying to have an affair with him, saying I'm not trusting her enough and mocking about my jealousy. I mean, if she wants to be with Potter, why doesn't she admit it and get divorced?'

'Did she say she wants to?' Blaise asked.

'No, but she obviously has had enough of me or she wouldn't have moved out,' Draco sighed.

'Did she fetch her things?'

'No, not yet,' Draco growled.

'Then she doesn't want to get divorced,' Blaise informed him matter-of-factly.

Draco studied his cousin and quirked an eyebrow.

'How do you know that?' he asked, suspicious.

'When Muriel moved out, she sent someone to fetch all her things. Same with Delilah. Believe me, mate, I'm specialist in getting divorced.'

Draco snorted.

'So what do you think she's doing at Potter's place, then?' Draco asked, not knowing whether to believe his cousin or not.

Blaise thought about this for a moment, pouring Firewhiskey in his already emptied glass.

'I'd say she's waiting,' he finally said.

'Waiting for what? For me to ask her back? I've been there, I've done my pleading!' Draco snapped.

'I don't know, perhaps she's waiting for an excuse or...or...'

'Or she needs time to decide what to do next,' Draco finished, sounding defeated.

'You still love her, don't you?' Blaise asked after a short silence.

'Of course, I do. More than anything else. She's the mother of my children!' Draco exclaimed indignantly.

'Do you love her only, because of that?' Blaise asked seriously.

'No. No, Blaise. She's always been there for me day and night. Fussing over me when I was ill, encouraging and helping me when I thought I'd lose the Malfoy Holdings. She had so much trouble with her family for marrying me. And hell, I'm mad about her.'

Suddenly he went silent.

'I'm so mad about her that I fear nothing more than losing her, Blaise,' he said quietly, looking intently at his half-emptied glass.

'Why, don't you tell her instead of me?' Blaise suggested nonchalant.

'I can't,' Draco said coldly. He gulped down his Firewhiskey and hit the glass on the table. 'She's with Potter, remember?'

'You don't know that!' Blaise shouted angrily at his cousin. 'Hell, Draco, are you that daft? She's provoking you, she's asking you to fight for her, that's why she's at your arch-enemy's place!'

'Yeah? And that's why she's not coming home, when I've been there, making a fool of myself? That's why she's cooing Potter's baby on her lap, instead of caring for our children?' Draco snapped back, his temper rising. 'Blaise, our relationship has cooled down the last years,' he said sharply. 'She's growing tired of me and we are fighting all the time. That's why she's with Potter now and...'

'I don't believe that, Draco!' Blaise interrupted him, glaring at his cousin.

'Blaise, I've got evidence for it,' Draco said emphatically.

He leaned back in his seat, looking at his drink again.

Blaise waited for Draco to continue.

He didn't.

Just as Blaise was about to ask, Draco raised his eyes looking at him, his expression defeated.

'I opened a letter from her Gyn. It said that the test she made was positive and that she was still able to give birth to a child.'

'Perhaps she wants another child with you and...'

'Don't be silly, Blaise. A child? Now that our relationship gets worse everyday?'

'Perhaps...'

'Blaise!' Draco cut him off. 'We decided, we don't want another child, because the last two pregnancies were so risky for her and the children. And even if she changed her mind...' He paused, leaning forward over the table and looking at him seriously, '...I had an operation. I can't give her a child anymore.'