Draco emitted a frustrated groan as the sound of clinking glasses and tinkling laughter greeted him upon stepping into the hallway of his and Astoria's country manor.

He'd forgotten about the fucking party.

He'd been so wrapped up in being with Blaire and Jack that his mind hadn't been on anything but them.

And fuck, he'd had the most amazing day. He already loved Jack with every beat of his heart and every breath in his body; already knew he'd do absolutely anything for him.

Draco thought his heart would just burst when Jack had asked him to read his bedtime story. He chose Fantastic Mr Fox ("Mummy says we are the foxes and the Bad Men are the farmers, are you just pretending to be a farmer, Daddy?") and he proceeded to listen to Draco read the story in rapt silence, hanging onto his every word.

Despite only intending to read one chapter, Draco had finished the entire book, neither of them wanting it to end.

By the time he went back out into the living area, Blaire was fast asleep on the sofa. The temptation to curl up alongside her and close his eyes had been immense. But instead, he crouched down next to her and took a moment to appreciate her beauty, not being able to resist tucking her hair behind her ear and pressing his lips against her forehead.

Dark eyes fluttered open; her face instantly softening as they focused on him.

"Hey," she whispered; lips tugging into a smile that melted his heart.

"I've got to go," he said regretfully. "But I promise I'll be back soon."

She reached out a hand and touched his cheek, warm fingertips delicately caressing the cuts inflicted by his wife. He had closed his eyes, trying to suppress the sob that had risen out of nowhere in his chest.

"You're a good father, Drac," she murmured, her face so close he could feel warm breath tickle his skin. "And you're a good man. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise, okay?"

Resisting the urge to kiss her, to lose himself in her completely, he simply nodded and whispered 'thank you', before getting to his feet and walking away.

And now here he was back home. Except this place didn't feel like home at all. Blaire was his home, she always had been.

But he couldn't have that until he divorced Astoria. And he couldn't do that until Voldemort was destroyed.

So he'd try his damnedest to achieve that; to fight for Blaire and Jack, and for the future of his unborn child.

He had promised them the world and so that's what he'd fucking give them.

And with that new, determined thought in his head, he hurried upstairs to find his smartest suit.

Draco Malfoy had a lot of butt kissing to do.

******

If Astoria was pissed off at him for his lateness when he arrived in the crowded drawing room twenty minutes later, then she hid it well.

"Sorry I'm late, darling," Draco murmured, feeling her stiffen slightly as he kissed her cheek - an act they automatically put on in public. "I was held up filing a report for Dorlores."

This was not technically a lie. Umbridge had caught up with him on his way out of Hogwarts, enquiring as to how his investigations to the Dementor activity was going.

"Hmmm, yes," a voice drawled lazily behind him before Astoria could respond. "I heard Umbridge was keen to have you on the case. Makes sense, I suppose; you always were her favourite whipping boy."

Draco turned away from his wife and came face to face with Theodore Nott who held a glass of whisky in each hand, offering one up for Draco to take. "Here, you look like you could do with one of these."

Draco eagerly accepted it, grateful to see at least one tolerable face at this thing tonight.

"Theo, you're a guest, not the host," Astoria scolded him in a tone of light heartedness, although Draco could be certain she was furious inside. "My husband should be the one offering drinks."

"Give the poor man a break," Theo chuckled, smacking a hand down on Draco's shoulder, "it's not easy working in such a high powered career."

"Well, now you're finally here," Astoria said, pointedly pressing a hand to her stomach, "we can make the announcement."

"Great," Draco muttered unenthusiastically, knocking back his glass as he drained the contents in one go.

"Has anyone seen Cedric?" She asked, looking anxiously around the sea of faces.

"Just left him chatting to some chick in the kitchen," Theo smirked, throwing Draco a conspiratorial wink, "legs that go on for miles, let me tell you."

Astoria's face twisted in annoyance. She looked furious; opening and shutting her mouth like she wanted to say something. But instead she stormed off without another word, presumably to the kitchen to 'rescue' the beloved Diggory twat.

Indeed, not even five minutes later, Draco was trying his best not to punch the smug Hufflepuff as he readily accepted the position of godfather to his child.

"Of course, what with being a war hero, I get asked this a lot," Diggory drawled smoothly as he flashed unnaturally white teeth, "but for a Malfoy heir, how could I resist?"

Gold digging prick, Draco thought as he was forced to shake his hand, making sure to squeeze it extra firmly.

Daphne, Draco noticed, was very demure in her acceptance of being godmother. He'd half expected her to start squealing and flapping her arms about like Astoria's clique tended to do when faced with such news.

"Delighted to," she replied sombrely as she allowed Draco to kiss her cheek.

He glanced over to his wife to see if she had noticed anything off about her sister's behaviour, but she seemed to only have eyes for Diggory; gazing up adoringly at him, brushing her fingers over his medals and giggling shamelessly at his jokes.

The sight angered him, not because he was jealous, but because he felt humiliated.

He tried to concentrate his thoughts on what mattered; Blaire, Jack and his unborn child. He wished his mother was there too, but according to her, Lucius had taken a bad turn and she hadn't wanted to leave his side.

Draco knew, though, that it was just an excuse. She had been just as infuriated as him to discover who Astoria had planned on asking to be godfather.

But without freedom of speech, she reminded him, they had to keep their opinions firmly to themselves.

In the meantime, he just had to smile and accept that Diggory was going to be his kid's fucking godfather.

"Thinks he's gods fucking gift," Theo snarled; draining his own glass and then looking back down at it as if surprised there was none left. "Fuck, I need another. Want one?"

Draco nodded, glad that he wasn't the only one who despised that fucking piece of shit.

Daphne glared at Theo's retreating back as he swanned off in search of more whisky. "He promised me he would only have one drink tonight."

Damn it, Draco thought when he realised only he was in earshot of Daphne, and that she was probably expecting a reply of some sort. He prayed Theo wouldn't get waylaid on the way back.

"Sorry, Daph," he sighed, tiredly rubbing his forehead. He really did not want to get caught up in his sister in law's marital woes. He had enough of those himself to deal with.

To his horror, Daphne burst into tears. Draco looked around in pure panic, but nobody seemed to notice; least of all his wife who still only had eyes for Diggory.

"I'm s-sorry," she wept, as she quickly dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. "It's just he didn't come home again last night."

"Perhaps he had a lot on at work?" Draco suggested, guilt tearing at his insides as he realised he'd used the same excuse.

"That's what he said, but when I asked him doing what, he just acted all defensive and accused me of being an over-hysterical pregnant woman!"

Draco's eyes flicked down to her large stomach, recalling that Astoria mentioned she was due in the autumn. Next month.

He would like to call Theo a git, but who was he to talk? It didn't matter that he was in a loveless marriage, Astoria was still carrying his child, just like Daphne was Theo's.

But that wasn't Jack's fault - fuck, it wasn't even Blaire's. And he could hardly be honest to Astoria and tell her that he's popping off to visit his other family who happen to be in hiding from his boss.

And he wouldn't, no - he couldn't stop visiting them now he knew they were down there. He would never turn his back on them, he loved them too much.

Fuck, he needed to get away from Daphne; being around her right now was eating him up with shame as though it was he himself who was betraying her.

Luckily, Theo chose that moment to return, carrying two replenished glasses.

"Oh for fuck's sake Daph," he muttered, clocking his wife's tear stained face. "Don't look at me like that, I've had a tiring couple of days at work. Let me enjoy myself for once. Hey- where are you going, man? I just got you another whisky."

But Draco didn't answer, the bile from his stomach already rising rapidly in his throat as he pushed his way out of the room.

******