"Where are you going?"

Draco froze halfway down the staircase at the sound of his wife's voice.

Turning slowly on the step, he looked up at her scowling face as she furiously pulled her dressing gown tight across the beginnings of a protruding stomach.

"To work," he said, surprised at how easy the lie left his lips.

"At half past four in the morning?!" She spat, giving an incredulous bark of laughter.

"I wanted to attend to Orion first," he murmured, trying to keep his voice steady. "Unless you wanted to take him out on his morning walk?"

Astoria shuddered in disgust as though Draco had just asked her to take a swim through some rat infested sewers.

Shit, he'd been so keen to go back. It didn't even occur to him that it might look suspicious leaving at such an early time. He just wanted to see them again, to make sure it hadn't all been some sort of beautiful dream.

He'd hated saying goodbye the previous night, hated that he had to leave Blaire and their son to return to a woman he didn't even like, let alone love.

It was Blaire that he loved, Blaire he wanted to be with. He had been desperate to tell her that, desperate for her to know. But it was crass and unfair to say the words aloud whilst he was still married to Astoria.

He couldn't even fucking divorce her since Voldemort had made it illegal. Under his rule, once you were married, that was it; till death do you part, whether you wanted it in the first place or not.

Minimum sentence for caught breaking your marriage vows was death; maximum - the Kiss.

"Just don't be late home again," Astoria said, narrowing her eyes. "Tonight we announce the chosen godparents."

"Fine," Draco muttered bitterly. It's not as though he was ever going to have a say in the matter anyway. There was no point in arguing, there never was.

No, if he wanted any kind of freedom then he needed to continue keeping up appearances whilst helping to feed the resistance any useful information that could lead to Voldemort's downfall.

As for his unborn child, well, he'd never give up on him or her. And he was so fucking glad that Blaire understood that.

Blaire, the girl he should have married. Would she have been safer up here in this life if she hadn't been in that explosion? Only if she'd complied and agreed to become a 'good' Death Eater's wife, he supposed.

Although somehow Draco suspected she'd have rather cut off both her feet than attend 'work' dinner parties and make polite chit chat with his 'colleagues'. He could only imagine the biting, sarcastic remarks she'd surely make, and the thought made him feel a fierce burning love for her.

One thing was for certain, he'd have protected her and Jack with his life.

He still could, and he would. Nothing, not even wild hippogriffs could stop him now.

******

Astoria flinched as the slam of the back door echoed through their country manor.

Fury coursed through veins when she thought about her so called husband. The second she'd heard the spare bedroom door click open and shut that morning, she'd ran from her own, determined to find out what his reasons were for sneaking out early.

The utter arsehole had barely even seemed apologetic, already eager to escape the house he refused to even share a bed with her in anymore.

Returning resignedly to her room, she dropped her dressing gown and crawled back under the covers.

"Gone to attend to that rangy mutt of his," she muttered to the enquiring eyes of the man lying next to her.

"Damn fool," he growled huskily as he pulled her against his chest, dipping his head to slowly nibble the space just under her earlobe. "I know what I'd rather be attending to."

Warm lips smirked against her cool skin as her entire body shivered, feeling the familiar knot of desire in her abdomen.

"Won't Daphne be wondering where you are?" She asked, as his fingers started tugging up the hem of her nightie, pulling it up over the bump of the thing that was stretching her skin and destroying her once perfect body.

"I told her I was on an all nighter," he shrugged; his hand instantly moving up her body to grope a tender breast.

She let out a small gasp of pain, inwardly cursing her pregnancy. It was getting more vulgar everyday and she hated how her own body was becoming so alien to her.

"You're still beautiful," he rasped hungrily, as his twinkling eyes roamed her nakedness. "Still more fuckable than your sister."

"What about Zabini?" Astoria pouted, trying not to cringe at the needy tone of her voice. "Am I more desirable than her?"

Hot air tickled her ear as he gave a low chuckle. "I don't rate dead chicks."

Astoria wanted to scream, to throw a pillow at his head.

Because that wasn't really a no.

******

"Draco, what is all of this?"

I stood with my hands on my hips looking down incredulously at the white-blond haired Slytherin, who was perched on the sofa emptying the contents of his obviously charmed briefcase all over our floor.

"Just a few home comforts," he shrugged as his top half disappeared into the depths of the case, emerging with a great big wide screen tv.

"Maybe keep this one quiet, mate," Ron chortled from the table where he and Jack were both sat eating cornflakes. "You might get accused of favouritism."

"Well of course it's favouritism," Draco scoffed derisively, "it's for my son."

"Yes, but we've had to adapt to a communist way of living down here," Hermione explained kindly as she handed out freshly made cups of tea, "and you bringing capitalism into it may cause conflict or bad feeling. Surely you don't want that for Jack?"

Draco's face fell as he glanced over to the table. Jack was currently giggling away as Ron randomly hung a spoon off the end of his nose and pulled silly faces.

"I just want to provide him with the best," he murmured quietly, hurt flickering in his eyes.

My heart twisting for him, I moved over to the sofa and sat myself down next to him.

"Jack doesn't need the 'best'," I explained gently, taking his hand in mine, "he just needs to know that you are there for him."

"I don't know how..." he trailed off gloomily; Jack's squeals of wild delight filling the room as the spoon fell off Ron's nose and 'plopped' into his cereal bowl.

Hermione and I exchanged a glance, it was clear Draco was feeling highly threatened by Jack's bond with Ron.

"Uh, Ron," Hermione said, bustling over to the kitchen to tip her freshly poured tea down the sink. "I've just remembered caffeine is bad for the baby. Let's go and see if Luna has anything of the herbal variety."

Without waiting for an answer, she dragged a spluttering Ron from his half eaten breakfast, pushing him with surprising force through the door.

Jack looked a little lost sat alone at the table without his breakfast buddy, so I silently motioned to Draco to go over and join him.

"Uh- hullo," Draco said, rubbing the back of his neck as he nervously approached the table. "Would it be okay if I took a seat?"

Jack blinked up at him, wide eyed and equally nervous.

"But- but then we won't have enough," he whispered, his voice wobbling dangerously. "Where will we all sit when Auntie Hermy makes Sunday lunch?"

Draco looked back to me; sheer panic and confusion on his face.

"Jack, it's okay," I called over to him, giving him a big smile so that he knew there was nothing to worry about. "Daddy just means he wants to sit with you. He's not going to take the chair away."

Jack gave a huge shuddering sniffle and nodded as he wiped his arm across his face.

"So, cornflakes, huh?" Draco said, eyeing Ron's half eaten mess of a bowl with evident distaste as he sat down in front of it. "I've always preferred Lucky Charms, myself."

"What's that?" Jack asked curiously, frowning.

"Cereal for pretentious little rich boys," I snickered under my breath.

"I don't seem to recall you complaining when you were helping yourself to all my marshmallows, Zabini," Draco drawled loudly, obviously having heard me. "Your mummy always used to pinch my sweets," he added, throwing Jack a conspiratorial wink, "you've got to watch her with sugar."

I poked my tongue out and Jack gave a small giggle, watching our exchange with fascination.

"Auntie Hermy says too much sugar is bad for your teeth," he said, glancing shyly back up at Draco.

"Well, that's no fun," Draco retorted, pulling a look of indignant horror, making Jack smile.

"The joys of living with a dentist's daughter," I muttered, beginning to clear the breakfast things off the table.

"Don't do that," Draco frowned, placing a hand on my arm to prevent me from picking up Ron's abandoned bowl.

"Drac, I'm not just going to leave a mess," I sighed, removing my arm from his grip, "we don't have House Elves down here, you know- and no! Don't you dare offer to get us one!" I added when he opened his mouth to interrupt. "Hermione would never let us hear the end of it."

"Well at least let me help," he grumbled as he retrieved his wand from his pocket and lazily flicked it, expertly sending the remaining items soaring into the sink in one go.

Show off.

******

Draco stayed with us for the majority of the day, beginning to build bonds with Jack, who thankfully, seemed to warm to his father quickly.

He even took Draco's hand to give him the official tour of our underground world, leading the way with his Fox the Explorer hat sat proudly on his head.

And I watched as Draco's face beamed with immense pride when Jack introduced him to McGonagall as 'my daddy' when we participated in our daily race to her quarters. ("Well I'm sure Daddy is immensely proud of what a brave wee explorer you have turned out to be.")

However, when I gently tried to enquire as to when he was expected back home, he became immediately evasive, wanting to change the subject.

I noticed he refused to talk about Astoria, to mention her name or even acknowledge the child she was carrying.

It didn't sit easy with me, because we couldn't just pretend they didn't even exist. It made this whole arrangement seem sordid somehow, and I didn't want that for Jack; I didn't want him to be anyone's dirty little secret.

But I didn't want to push Draco either, suspecting there was probably more to it than I understood. And I loved seeing him so relaxed and happy, sensing that it'd been a long time since he'd been so.

"I wish I could tell Mother," he murmured sadly as we collapsed back into the sofa, watching Jack play delightfully with his new bucket and spade in the corner of the room with Mr Dog.

"Jack would love her," I agreed, curling my legs up to hug my arms around my knees as I thought wistfully of the woman I once looked to as a mother, "especially her awesome pancakes."

We both fell into a silence, remembering.

"I miss her," I sighed, wondering what kind of relationship she had with Astoria; jealousy twisting at my insides.

I felt Draco's eyes on me, studying me intently. But I refused to look at him, not when I was feeling like this. Instead, I focused on our little boy; the reason for everything from now on.

I could endure the pain for him; because I'd do anything for his future happiness.

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Draco reaching for his briefcase which contained more crap than the whole of our underground world.

After a few minutes of rifling, he shut the case and turned back to me. This time I couldn't resist glancing up at him.

I felt an instant warm glow from within as a bubble of laughter rose to my throat at the ever so familiar and welcoming sight before me.

Long slender fingers expertly shuffling a deck of well worn cards; grey eyes glinting wickedly into mine.

"What do you say, Zabini? Best of five?"

******