Father and Son

~Chapter 6~

A husband and a father

August 2015

David and Diana stayed for dinner, trying to sort things out with their mum, and desperately trying to convince her to come home again.

But all their pleading and talking was in vain. Ginny remained stubborn. As it grew late, Ginny wanted to send the children back to the Manor, but they refused to leave without their father. Draco was, as far as Ginny could see, still sleeping and in no state to floo or apparate home. Luna immediately offered that they could all stay with them for the night and put David and Diana up in one of their guest-rooms.

Diana was sleeping right after they'd turned off the light, but David was still awake, staring in the darkness of the room, listening to the rain and the approaching sound of thunder.

There were so many thoughts racing through his head. Not only the problems of his parents troubled him, but also thoughts of Harry Potter and Hermione and Ron Weasley were soaring through his mind. Although they were so close to his mum, he didn't know them at all. What was their relationship to Ginny like? Why did they hate his father? Why hadn't Ginny stayed with Harry? Why had they broken up back then at Hogwarts? Because of his father? And did she regret it now?

Perhaps Harry had lied to them and Ginny and he... No, David didn't want to believe that. But what was this secret, Harry thought as so personal that their mother risked her marriage for it? And why...?

Suddenly the door cracked open. David's hand immediately moved to his wand under his pillow.

A small slot of light from the hall shone into the dark bedroom. Then, a tiny shadow covered the light and moved into the room.

Then another one, but tinier.

David, realizing who had just entered, rolled his eyes in annoyance and had a firmer grip to his wand. A flash of lightning, followed by a deafening thunder, made the shadows shriek in fear.

'Lumos!' David said, pointing his wand into the dark room.

Rachel and Emma cowered on the wooden floor.

'Why aren't you in bed?' David hissed.

'We are frightened!' Emma said in a teary voice.

Now David saw the tears on their faces.

Sighing in irritation, he got out of bed.

'Come on, we'll search for your aunt and uncle.'

'NO!' Rachel shrieked, her eyes widening in fear.

'The monster has taken them!' Emma explained anxiously.

'The monster?' David repeated.

'There are noises from their room. They are screaming!' Emma told him, wiping her tears away.

'I bet it's a big nasty troll!' Rachel told David seriously.

'You stay here, I'll see what's up there, all right?'

'Don't leave!' Rachel pleaded.

'Yeah, what if the troll eats us?'

Then I'll be finally rid of you, you little buggers, David thought.

'Then, come on. I'll protect you, if there's a troll or a monster or whatever...' He rolled his eyes again and turned to the door.

The girls followed him through the corridor to the master bedroom.

When he came near he heard Harry and Luna's voices.

'Oh, no!' David groaned and turned around heading for his own bedroom again.

'Now, I'll never be able to sleep!' he muttered.

'What is it?' Rachel asked anxiously.

'Your aunt and uncle...,' David stopped in mid-sentence.

He couldn't possibly tell those kids what Harry and Luna were doing.

'They are okay. I think they got rid of the troll!' David said instead, trying to sound convincing.

'Oh great! Then we can ask Aunt Luna to make us some of her sleeping tea,' Emma beamed and started for the master bedroom.

'NO!' David stopped the little girl.

'No?' Emma asked, confused.

'Well... Your aunt and uncle... are probably... pretty tired from dealing with the troll, you know. Uhm... Why don't we go to the kitchen, and I'll make you some of this tea?' he suggested. And this time, I'll keep an eye on my wand! he thought, scowling, as he lead the two girls down the stairs.

'Where's your brother, by the way? Wasn't he afraid of the storm?' David asked, suspicious about the siblings being incomplete.

'He's vermiting!' Rachel said, emphatically.

'It's "vomiting", silly one!' her sister told her in a familiar bossy voice. 'She means, he's throwing up!' Emma said to David as if to confirm her sister's statement.

David's eyes grew wide in shock.

'Bloody hell! Why didn't you tell me sooner?' he yelled at them.

'We thought the troll was more important!' Emma defended herself, pouting a little.

'Where is he?' David asked harshly, ignoring the little girl's response.

'He's in our loo,' Rachel told him, hopping from one foot to the other one.

'What is it with you?' David asked, sensing more trouble.

'I've got to go to the loo, too!' Rachel squeaked.

Suddenly she stood still again and looked sheepishly up at the elder wizard.

'I think I don't need to anymore,' she said, tears building up in her eyes.

'What the...? That's enough! I can't handle this... Someone else has to take care of this!' David started pacing, trying hard to think of something to fix the mess he had gotten into.

'David? What are you doing down here?' suddenly, a voice asked.

His father stood in the doorway from the living-room.

'Father! Those... they just... and I...'

'Calm down, son, what is it?'

'Those two can't sleep, because of the storm, their brother is upstairs vomiting and... and I think Rachel just wet herself. What am I supposed to do?' David asked desperately.

Draco looked at his son for a moment and then started to laugh.

David scowled at him.

'That's not funny!' he sulked.

'You remind me of myself, when I confessed Ginny that I had lost control over you kids and needed her help!'

'With the difference that those little buggers are not my children!'

Draco looked at the little girls and felt a pang in his heart. The tiniest had obviously Weasley-red hair. Potter's child was a redhead.

'I'm cold!' the little redheaded witch told him pointing to her wet pyjamas.

Draco swallowed the pain. It wasn't the girl's fault that Ginny had an affair with Potter.

'Right, let's get you to a bathroom,' he said and took her into his arms.

'She's... wet!' David exclaimed, not believing that his father didn't mind that.

'She's just a little girl,' Draco said softly. 'Take the other one,' he commanded strictly.

David, still scowling, took Emma into his arms and followed his father up the stairs.

Reaching the bathroom, David smelled the sickening stench of vomit. He stopped at the door not entering the bathroom.

'Yuk! That's disgusting!' exclaimed Emma, holding her little freckled nose shut.

Sam was sitting in front of the toilet, still vomiting what looked like it used to be his dinner. The trace on the floor between door and toilet led to the conclusion, that the little boy hadn't made it to the toilet in time.

The boy was looking death-pale and his hands that were clutched to the seat of the toilet were shaking.

David watched his father putting Rachel into the large tub and rushing over to his nephew-in-law.

Draco felt the boy's temperature. He was glowing with fever.

Draco damped a towel and put it to the boy's face, who was still throwing up into the toilet every now and then.

David noticed that the boy was crying, sobbing silently.

'Shh, it's all right. Everything's gonna be okay,' Draco said in a soft voice. He sat down and took the boy onto his lap.

'I'm tired!' Emma whined, pulling at David's sleeve.

'Put her into bed and sit with her till she's asleep,' Draco told his son.

David wanted to protest about having to sit with the little brat, but his father's firm voice left no room for discussions.

Draco started to clean the little one's face with the damp towel, while he rocked him on his lap.

A shadow appeared at the doorframe, but Draco didn't notice.

He sat Sam down again, who had stopped crying, and went over to the little redhead, who had patiently waited for her turn.

'You've got to go to the toilet, if you need to,' he scolded her gently and started to take off her clothes. 'You are a lady, aren't you? And ladies do not wet their panties.'

'I know,' Rachel said sheepishly. 'Will you tell mummy? Because she's always getting angry at me, when I... when I...!' The girl started to sob.

'Now, now! I won't tell your mum. Stop crying, little one.'

He took the showerhead and turned on the warm water.

The shadow in the doorframe smiled to herself.

Suddenly Draco noticed someone behind him and turned around to face his wife.

She took another towel, damped it and cleaned the floor around Sam.

'Aunt Ginny!' Rachel squeaked.

Draco had nearly dropped the showerhead when he heard Rachel call her 'aunt'.

What did you expect? That she'd say mummy? He scowled at himself.

'Are you all right, dear? Do you think that was all?' Ginny asked her nephew, and when he nodded, she got him to his feet, took off his dirty pyjamas and put him into the tub next to Rachel.

Draco just watched her.

He suddenly felt helpless. All the emotions came rushing back to his mind. Anger, confusion, desperation, love...

He knew how to cope with the mess children made, but he felt not able to deal with the mess his marriage was.

'They'll get cold, if you just hold the shower head there,' Ginny said cheekily.

Draco scowled at her and started to shower the children.

He noticed that she was watching him closely.

After a few minutes, she left the bathroom to fetch some new clothes for the children.

Rachel was falling asleep when Ginny dried her with a large towel, while Draco helped the weakened Sam into his clothes.

The silence between them was deafening.

Draco carried the boy to his bed, conjuring a bucket next to it.

Ginny followed shortly, carrying the little Rachel that was fast asleep by now.

Then, with a soft 'pop', she disapparated, only to return a few minutes later with a little bottle of yellow fluid and a cup of tea.

He took the bottle from her, knowing she'd fetched some potion from the kitchen to heal the boy.

She conjured a spoon and held it out to him.

Draco took it. The contact of their fingers, though only meeting for seconds, made them jump inwardly.

Draco tried to concentrate on giving the boy the potion and gently rubbing his arm till he was asleep.

But then, there was nothing to concentrate on anymore.

And the silence between them grew more and more audible.

'He had a temperature,' Draco said, not looking at his wife.

She nodded. 'I know, the potion was an anti-pyrexiacum.'

They fell silent again.

'I'll sit with them. If they wake up again, they might need someone,' Ginny whispered.

Draco nodded. He went to the door, but frowned before he reached it.

He didn't turn, though.

'I heard you talking about me, this evening,' he simply said.

'Yes, I told your children what a nice person you used to be when you were drunk,' she said, sarcasm running thickly through her voice.

Draco glared at her.

Ginny ignored him and sat down in an armchair which was standing in a corner of the room.

She looked over to Emma's bed where David had fallen asleep while sitting with her.

'Did you send the children after me?' Ginny asked after a short silence.

'I didn't even know they were here,' he answered honestly.

Again there was silence.

'Potter's children seem quite fond of David,' Draco said and looked askance at her.

'They are not his children,' Ginny said, surprised. 'They are your nieces and nephew.'

'Weasley and Granger?' Draco asked.

Ginny nodded.

'And why did they wake up David instead of Potter or Lovegood?'

'I don't know,' Ginny said, shrugging.

'They were frightened of the storm, but they heard noises from Harry and Luna's bedroom and thought it was a troll or something, so they came to wake me,' David answered the question.

'I thought you were sleeping?' Ginny raised an eyebrow at her son.

'Noises? That never stopped you to come into our bedroom!' Draco growled at David.

'I suppose, Luna and Harry locked the door.' David shrugged.

'Locked the door? They have children to watch after and they lock their door?' Draco asked flying into rage. 'I'll tell this bloody scar-head...'

And with that he had stormed off.

'Draco, wait.' But before she could go after him, her nephew had woken up again and started to throw up into the bucket.

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

Harry kissed Luna's dirty blond hair. His wife had snuggled up to him and pulled the blankets around them.

He felt himself drift off as someone knocked violently against the door.

'Potter!' Draco growled. 'Open the door this instant or I'll just blow it up!'

'What the...' Harry got up, put on his boxers and went to the door.

'What do you want, Malfoy? As you can perhaps see, I'm shagging my own wife, not yours,' he pointed into the room, 'so why the hell are you making such a fuss in the mid of the night?!'

'Bloody hell, Potter! You can't shag your wife while there are small children sleeping next door. And you can't lock your door! That's irresponsible! The girls were frightened to death and the boy is throwing up.'

'Sam's throwing up? I didn't know...'

'Yes you didn't know, because they couldn't come to you!' Draco snapped.

'They could have knocked!' Harry defended himself.

'They heard screams from your room!' Draco shouted back in annoyance

'I didn't know they could hear us!'

'The whole house could hear you!'

'I...' Harry blushed furiously.

'You know what, Potter? Perhaps I failed watching my wife, but you failed watching the children. And caring for the children is more important than caring about your wife! At least you are not a father.'

And with that Draco turned and walked back into the children's bedroom.

Harry couldn't move. He just stared after Draco in horror.

You failed watching the children! At least you are not a father! Draco's words echoed in his ears.

He's right, Harry thought. Oh god, he's right!

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

Ginny went downstairs after Harry and Luna arrived to take care of Sam.

She entered a dark living room. The only source of light was the sparkling fire in the fireplace.

Draco sat in an armchair in front of it. Only the hard lines of his pale face were visible as he stared into the flames. The rest of him seemed to fade into darkness because of his black clothes.

Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed that he was playing with his wedding-ring.

She looked at her own.

It was a ring of white gold, plain, but with little engravings. Old runes that held a message which had become so dear to her. It was Narcissa Malfoy's wedding ring. Ginny herself had taken it from her white, dead fingers when she found her beautiful body between the many corpses of the final battle, and she had been shocked when Draco had asked her to wear it. It had made her shiver. Now she wouldn't want to miss it on her hand. It was as familiar to her as every part of her body was. She had taken the ring, because it meant a lot to Draco and because of the words it whispered to her every time she looked at it:

Love is patient and kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast and it is not proud.

It does not behave rudely, it does not seek its own,

It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

Love is always willing to forgive.

It bears all things,

Believes all things,

Hopes all things,

Endures all things,

And it lasts forever.

Love never ends!

Hermione had once translated it to her and Ginny was impressed that Narcissa Malfoy wore such a unique ring and until today she wondered if Narcissa knew what the runes on the ring meant. Many times she had looked at the parchment that held the translation.

And she knew those words by heart.

But now she couldn't understand them anymore. She didn't know how the writer of the lines came to those conclusions. Ginny couldn't help but think that it was terribly hard to love someone this way. Especially when times were bad.

Do you promise to love him in good times like in bad times?

- Yes, I do!

She heard her voice far away and nearly not audible, but it was there.

He promised it, too! She thought bitterly and blinked away a tear that tried to escape from her eye.

'Stop creeping up on me, witch!' he suddenly snarled without taking his eyes of the fire. 'I know, you probably miss being able to look at me all the time!'

'Arrogant prat!' Ginny replied and went into the room to sit down in the armchair next to his.

'Yeah, start calling me that again. It will be like back then.' He smirked.

'Back then!' Ginny snorted. 'I had to think a lot about "back then" today.'

'About the day you gave me that scar?' he enquired.

Ginny didn't answer, but he knew it from her silence.

'Do you remember how you told me, you want to be regarded as the father of our children?' she asked instead.

'Like it was yesterday.'

'You know, "father" is a title that you've got to earn yourself.'

Now he turned his gaze from the flames, looking at her curiously.

'And do I deserve this title?' he asked.

Ginny smiled at him. 'I think you proved it just a few minutes ago.'

'By telling off Potter?' Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Yeah, even by telling off Potter.' She smirked. Then she got serious again. 'I mean it, Draco. How you took care of Rachel and Sam...'

'They are children. I couldn't just leave them that way,' Draco growled.

'Yes, you could! They are not even your own. You thought they were Harry's, didn't you? You took care of them even though you thought they were the children of your worst enemy!'

Draco fell silent. He was suddenly reminded of the thought that had come to him, when he first saw the little red head.

'I'm proud of you.' Her hazel eyes searched his face.

And suddenly Draco leaned in and kissed her gently.

They remained kissing until Draco suddenly pulled back, looking away again.

'Don't be,' he said coldly. 'I didn't know where David and Di were, Amaris doesn't know were I am... Though I doubt she'll miss anyone. You know what? She asked Blaise to show her a contraception-spell today. And she's alone with her boyfriend, now!'

Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again, sighing.

'That's all my fault. I'm an awful mother, running away from my babies!'

'No, you're not...,' but he stopped in mid-sentence. 'Yes, you are! That's irresponsible of you. You should come home this instant!'

'It would be the same in a few weeks,' she said tiredly and stood up, walking to the windows.

'I wish it really was like "back then",' Ginny said, not looking at him.

'Stop being hypocritical,' Draco snapped.

'Hypocritical?' Ginny repeated.

'Yes! You are telling me you want everything to be as it was, but you simply refuse to come home with me. You are staying at Potter's house although you tell me you do not cheat on me. You act like it's all my fault that we have this row, but you're doing nothing to end it! And you know what? I can see through your little game. I know what you're playing at!' Draco spat.

'Yeah? Tell me! What am I playing at?' Ginny inquired fiercely.

'You are trying to make it look like it's my fault that we get divorced. That I'm lying about you cheating with Potter! Because then you'd get your share of the Malfoy fortune. You are staying here with Potter's wife, because which affair would stay at the same place as the wife? You are putting all this on for the judge, because if I proved that you cheated on me you would have no right to lay claim to the money and to the children!'

'That's what you think of me? Oh, that's so typical of you. Our marriage is going down the gutter and all you can think about is money! Your dear mother may rest in peace, but she has spoilt you rotten!'

'And your mother hasn't, and that's why you are going for my money now!' Draco yelled back at her.

'I don't care a thing about your bloody money, but perhaps I really should go for that, because it seems the only thing you care about!'

'Don't twist it like that! I never said it was, and I care a lot about my children. I just don't want you to take them away. They are not going to spend their childhood with that foul-minded scum you like to meet with!'

'Their childhood?' Ginny screamed hysterically. 'In case you haven't noticed, they are nearly grown up, but I don't think you would have noticed being in France all the time when they are at home! If you'd been home last Christmas, you would have noticed that Amaris is nearly as much a woman as your last fling was. What was her name? Chantal?'

Draco's face was twisted with anger. 'Don't you dare bringing that up again!'

'Why? Because you're feeling guilty?' she sneered. 'Or because it's something entirely different, if you cheat on me?' Her voice was a mix of bitterness and resignation.

He didn't know what to say anymore. He was still fuming, but he felt she'd defeated him.

'Don't call me hypocritical!' she finally said and went to leave the room.

Before she left, she turned once again and said: 'If that's the way you want our marriage to end, I'll call my lawyer. I didn't think it was right in first place, but perhaps a divorce is really what we need.'