Just Right

"Why did you marry me?"

The first time Draco Malfoy asked that question was after two and a half years of marriage. He'd always wanted to ask, but he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"Because I love you," Pansy said, in exactly the way he expected her to say it, complete with the puzzled look.

He didn't have the courage to force the issue that time, but six months later, he asked again. She was nearing the due date for her second pregnancy, and it seemed crucial. So when she responded that she married him because she loved him, he asked the question he really meant. "Did you marry me because Harry Potter dumped you?"

Pansy's eyes grew wide. "No. He didn't even really break up with me."

"Are you trying to tell me that you broke up with Potter when... Is that what you're saying?"

She avoided his eyes. "I... just sped up what was inevitable. What I had with Harry was never going to last for very long."

The next question he had to ask killed him. "Did you know you were pregnant when you broke up with him?"

"Draco... I... I wasn't."

"Pansy, I know, okay. I know that Matilda isn't mine."

"She is yours! You are her father; it doesn't matter who... The biology doesn't matter. You have to see how much she adores you. You are her father. I'm sorry..." He saw her take a deep sigh. "How long have you known?"

"I always knew. Did you know you were pregnant when you showed up on my doorstep? Is that why you married me?"

"I knew I was pregnant, but I married you because I love you."

-----

It had been nearly six months since Draco returned to England. He had gone into hiding when the Dark Lord fell. Draco had become a Death Eater for many reasons, but he couldn't deny that a significant factor in the decision had been his pure, unbridled hatred for Harry Potter. So when his master fell to the Boy-Who-Lived, savior to the entire bloody wizarding world, Draco couldn't help but engage in one last act of revenge. He kidnapped Potter's girlfriend.

Draco had no use for the redheaded blood traitor and no desire to see her freckly face again, so he deposited her at a Muggle mental institution in Australia. He would have been content to leave her there in the catatonic state he had cursed her into, but when he returned to England he discovered how ironic life could be. In the year and a half that he had been gone, Harry Potter had moved on with none other than Pansy Parkinson, the girl Draco had left behind. The girl who should have been waiting patiently for him. Even when Draco was back, and in control of the Malfoy assets, Pansy never came to see him. So he had to bring back the weaselette to break them up. He picked her up in Australia, restored her mental function, and erased her memory for extra safety. He chose the night of Pansy and Harry's one year anniversary. Yet, they stayed together for another four months after that.

Still, here she was on his front porch, as stubborn and aloof as ever. "Maybe I don't want you back," he said.

"Right," she snorted, as she pushed past him and into the house.

It wouldn't do to let her have the upper hand. "Pansy, I'm serious. You're tainted by the half-blood now. You couldn't honestly expect me to touch you after you've been with that."

Pansy shrugged. "You were gone. I had to save my arse somehow. You'll notice that I am not in prison. You may also notice that you are not in prison either. I protected you. And, yes, I do honestly expect you to touch me again. Not because I protected you, but because half blood isn't contagious."

Draco folded his arms. That wasn't enough. "I've been back for months. It seems to me that you made your choice."

"Yeah, I like Harry. He's a real stand-up bloke. I did make my choice, and it's you. I'm here."

He shook his head. "Too little, too late."

"Look, Draco, that's fine. You take all the time you need. I know that we're going to end up together. I know that you still love me. And I still love you. I've always loved you. I slept with someone else while you were gone. I kept sleeping with him to punish you when you came back. These are the games we play; we're Slytherins. We understand each other better than anyone in the world. That's why I know we belong together."

"That's all--"

"I know you kidnapped Ginny. I don't think you did or assume you did; I know you did. So when she came back and my lover was so desperate to know what happened to her, that's when it became clear where my loyalties lie. That's when I chose you over Harry. I can't believe you would ever doubt that I would make this choice."

She was right. Of course they were going to end up together. So Draco didn't take any time to think about it; he welcomed her back with open arms. He believed her until two weeks later when she announced she was pregnant.

She thought she was a good liar. She probably was, but Draco could always see through her. She hadn't just found out about this pregnancy, which meant that she wasn't carrying his child. "You're pregnant?"

"Yes, and I know it's soon; it's really soon, but Draco, I think this could be a good thing."

"And I'm the father?"

"Well, yes."

It did not bother him that she would lie to him, but Draco was a little surprised that she actually thought he would believe this. "It is fast. We only reunited... fifteen days ago."

"I know, but, er... you're the father. It couldn't be anyone else. Harry and I didn't... There hasn't been anyone else since the last time I... you know."

Draco honestly did not know. "No."

Pansy sighed. "You are the only man I've had sex with since my last... cycle."

"Oh." That was a lie, of course. She actually wanted to pass off the half-blood in her stomach as the Malfoy heir. Was she out of her mind? "Pansy, I can't be the one who does this. I've let down my family enough for one lifetime. I can't be any more of a disgrace to the Malfoy name."

Pansy nodded her head slowly. Draco saw the tears pool in her eyes. It broke his heart to see her like that. He loved her.

She cleared her throat. "For what it's worth, I--"

"That's why we have to get married quickly. I can't have a child out of wedlock." He was shocked to realize that he loved her enough to raise Harry Potter's child as his own.

-----

"Does Potter know?"

Pansy shook her head fiercely. "If he knew, he'd want to be a part of her life. There's no way he would stay away from his own child. And he can't know. We don't need him in our lives."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I wasn't going to tell him."

Pansy rubbed her swelled stomach. "This child is yours, one hundred percent."

"I know that."

"Then why are you doing this now?"

-----

Pansy insisted that if they had a girl, she be named Matilda. Draco thought that was a horrible idea. Her name would be Matilda Malfoy. He pointed this out to Pansy, but she didn't see the problem. Draco pointed out the alliteration. Pansy responded with, "You mean like Pansy Parkinson?" That's when Draco knew he had lost the argument. Still, though he didn't like the name Matilda Malfoy, he hoped and prayed it was a girl. The first-born son, the one to carry on the Malfoy name, he would have to be a real Malfoy.

Matilda was born in November. She was the most beautiful baby Draco had ever seen. She had tufts of dark brown hair and after a few days her eyes turned deep brown. At least they weren't green, Draco reflected. Even from that young age, she was the spitting image of her mother. That was a blessing. No one would ever question that.

No one ever did, either. In fact, the occasional kindly old woman would tell him that Matilda had his mouth. Pansy's eyes would always brighten when she heard about things like that. "It does look like you mouth," she would reflect. "After all, I suppose she couldn't get everything from my side." And Draco would smile, but the lie ate away at him.

-----

"I'm doing this now because it's the first time I've had the courage to press the issue."

Pansy sat on the couch. "There is no issue. I was young and I made a mistake. We've rectified that. Everything is good now."

Despite it all, Draco had to admit that he was happy. He loved his wife and he loved his daughter. Now that this lie was no longer between them, he was ready to move on.

Then he heard Pansy speak, so softly he had to strain to make out the words. "Why did you marry me?"

He turned to face her. Certainly he had misheard. "What did you say?"

Pansy's breath hitched in her throat. "Why did you marry me? If you knew that I wasn't pregnant with your child when you proposed, why?"

So many thoughts started popping up in Draco's head, but there was one that outshone all the rest.

"Because I love you."