His Saving Grace

CHAPTER FOUR: Living Proof













Draco Malfoy sat behind a desk in the study he had claimed as his own, reclining in the large desk chair he stared out the window. He couldn’t focus on anything else since that little girl had looked up at him. His father had grown frustrated with him as they met with the accounting goblin at Gringott’s. He hadn’t heard a word spoken, learned nothing of the accounts tied to the businesses.







He pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes. His head ached and he was exhausted, he had barely slept and when he did, he had nightmares of that tiny baby being branded with the dark mark. He still couldn’t believe it, he was a father. He had a daughter and he didn’t even know her name. His mind kept conjuring up the image of soft, blonde curls, dimples and pale blue eyes.







He didn’t know what to think, what to do. He was just shy of his twentieth birthday, too young to be a father. What if he was horrible at it? What if Hermione didn’t want him near the baby? He looked down at the information lying on his desk and he wondered what to do. Hermione and the baby lived with Potter in the old Black house. According to his sources she worked in the library at the Ministry and had not yet registered the birth of their daughter. What was she waiting for?







Draco shoved the document into his desk drawer and made his way down for dinner. He greeted his mother with a soft kiss to her cheek and his father with a curt nod of his head. He couldn’t bring himself to eat however. He pushed his food around on his plate as his mind worked over the issue at hand.





“Master Draco?” A small house elf appeared carrying a silver salver bearing a letter. “This just arrived sir.”







“Thank you, Aggie.” Draco said as he took the letter and opened it.





Dear Draco,



I know you have questions. You are welcome to come by this evening and we can talk about it, I can explain. I live at 12 Grimmuald Place, I will open the floo connection for you at eight.







Regards,



HG





Draco folded the letter and slipped it into his pocket. He sipped his wine and stared down at his plate.





“Draco darling, are you alright? You look a bit peaked.” Narcissa looked concerned as she stared across the table at her son. Lucius looked over at him, frowning slightly.





“You have been behaving very oddly, Draco. What is going on with you?” Lucius asked gruffly. “It is interfering with your work and now you are worrying your mother, are you relapsing?”





“No, father. I am just dealing with a bit of a personal issue at the moment. I will fill you in soon enough, but right now I beg you to excuse me, I have a meeting I must attend to.” He stood, and made his way out of the room. Lucius watched him go, worried about his son, though he would never admit to it. Malfoy men did not fuss over their children, though Draco’s sadness had cut him deeply, for it was his fault his son had been broken emotionally, he had remained stoic and distant on the surface.







“Oh, Lucius, I hope he isn’t drifting back to that awful place again.” Narcissa said, staring into the empty doorway through which her son had passed.







“We will just keep an eye on things, Cissy, perhaps this meeting will solve whatever it is that has him so contemplative.” Lucius said soothingly before returning to his attention to dinner.





**** **** **** **** **** **** ****





Hermione glanced in the mirror over the credenza one last time. Her wild mass of curls was pulled back with a wide, black band to match the scooped neck tee shirt she wore, and her denim skirt fit her to perfection, the entire outfit chosen because it showed of her softer, rounder figure to perfection. Grace had been fed and put down for the night, the receiver to the baby monitor sitting on the coffee table in case she cried.







She wasn’t certain why she was so anxious about seeing him, why she wanted to look pretty for him, she just did. Hermione seated herself on the sofa and twiddled her thumbs nervously as she waited for him to arrive. She didn’t wait long, shortly after eight o’clock, the soft whooshing of the floo being accessed caught her attention and Draco stepped through, shaking off his robes along the way.





Hermione stood, her breath catching as her heart skipped a beat. She smiled softly when he looked up. He looked a lot healthier, his skin boasting a healthy glow and he had regained the weight he had dropped. He was still tall, his blonde hair brushed his shoulders, just a bit longer than it had been when she saw him last.





“Hello, Draco.” She said softly. “It’s good to see you.”





Draco wasn’t sure what to say. He hadn’t really thought about what his reaction would be to seeing her again, but he wasn’t expecting to feel as though he had been punched in the stomach. Hell, they had hated one another for the better part of seven years, only spending one night in each others arms in a moment of weakness and need. Why all of a sudden was he rendered speechless at the sight of her? She looked amazing. She had filled out a little in the last year, her hips a little rounder, her breasts a little fuller. Her cheeks were flushed prettily and she looked happy.







“It’s good to see you too.” He said, finding his voice.







“Here, let me take your robes.” She said, walking behind him and helping him off with his robes, she tossed them onto a coat rack near the door. “Have a seat. Can I get you a drink?”





“No thank you.” He said, sitting on the sofa. Awkward silence passed between them. Neither knew quite what to say to the other. Draco stared at his folded hands and Hermione stared at him.







“Her name is Grace.” Hermione said. “Grace Elizabeth.” She reached for a small picture frame on the side table and slid it into his hands. Draco’s breath caught as he stared at the image of the baby lying on her back, arms and legs waving madly. “Isn’t she pretty?”







“She’s beautiful.” Draco said softly as he stared down at the photograph of his daughter.







“She was born on March twelfth.” Hermione said. “I tried to contact you when I found out, Draco. My owls were returned undelivered. I didn’t find out until later that you had left the country.”





Draco set the frame onto the coffee table in front of him and looked up at Hermione for the first time.





“I’m sorry, I should have been more careful…” He said, his cheeks flushing. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do, how to handle this.”







Loud thumping from the kitchen caught their attention just before Harry made his way into the living room. He was dressed in his uniform from the training academy, and he looked tired and very grumpy. He stopped suddenly when he saw Draco sitting on the sofa, his eyes narrowing as he stalked forward. Draco got to his feet immediately, prepared for a confrontation.





“I see you actually showed up, Malfoy. I wondered if you would, or if you would just turn tail and run.” Harry said, a bit harshly, but Draco understood.







“If I had known, I would have been here sooner.” Draco answered none of the anger or hatred that he once felt laced his response.





“Harry, please, I invited him here to talk.” Hermione said, resting her hand on Harry’s shoulder.







“She says that what happened was consensual…she isn’t trying to protect you because you are Gracie’s father is she?” Harry asked, his green eyes flashing.





“Harry!” Hermione gasped, horrified.







“I would never do something like that, Potter. I never hated anyone that much.” He said. He understood where Potter might think that he had forced her, or harmed her. He had been a right prick in school before the war and during. It wasn’t until afterwards that he figured out that he just wasn’t who he was pretending to be.





“I’m glad to hear it. She seems to think you have changed, Malfoy, she believes you have the right to be in the baby’s life if you want that. But I am warning you now; I will not allow Hermione, or Gracie to be hurt.” Harry said softly.







“That is not why I came; I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Draco said. “I just want to know what happened.”







Harry wasn’t sure quite how to react. Where was the Malfoy who wouldn’t hesitate to draw his wand? Where was the cocky young man who would call him a nutter for threatening a pureblood on behalf of a muggleborn? Who was this calm, quiet person standing in his living room in the guise of Draco Malfoy? Harry turned towards Hermione, winking at her to let her know he was just doing his part to protect her.





“I’ll leave you two alone to talk. I need a shower and I want to peek in on my Gracie girl before I go to bed. I’ll be in my room if you need me.” He said, looking back over his shoulder at Draco. “Goodnight, Malfoy.”







“Goodnight, Potter.” Draco replied, shoving his hands into his pockets as he watched the dark haired man disappear into the hall.





“Are you and Potter…a couple?” He asked, his nerves prickling at the thought.







“No.” She said, smiling as she resumed her seat on the sofa. Draco joined her, turning his body so that he faced her. “Harry has been with me from the beginning, he took care of me, was with me when Grace was born. He gave us a place to stay when we had no where else to go.”





“You didn’t go home?” He asked.







“I did. My parents wanted me to terminate or give the baby up for adoption.” She said, shaking her head sadly. “When I refused, they told me I was on my own. I sent them a letter after she was born, but I haven’t heard from them.”







“I guess I was surprised that you kept her, knowing I was her father.” Draco fingered the tiny hairclip inside his pocket as he looked at her. “When I saw Ginny Weasley with a kid, I just assumed she and Potter had gotten an early start…then she said that it was yours and pulled that silly hat off…..”





“I couldn’t live with either of those decisions. As for Ginny, well she thought you didn’t like babies.” Hermione laughed. “Said you looked like you were going to fall over.”





“I wasn’t expecting her to…her eyes…her hair…” He shook his head, his thoughts muddled.





“She is clearly a Malfoy, isn’t she? She looks just like you.” Hermione said softly. “When she smiles you can see mischief in her eyes already.”







“I’m a bit surprised that your friends didn’t hunt me down.” He said, looking back towards the doorway as though expecting Harry to come through at any moment and curse him.





“They didn’t figure it out. Never crossed their minds that it could possibly be you.” She said. “Actually, Harry is the only one who knows, and he figured it out when Ginny mentioned bumping into you. My reactions were telling I suppose.”







“So you never told anyone?” He asked softly.







“No. And I didn’t think anyone should know about Grace’s paternity until you knew.” She said. “I wasn’t going to mention it to anyone else until you had the chance to decide what you wanted to do. I have until she is six months old to register her birth with the ministry. If you want to acknowledge her, be a part of her life then she will be registered as a Malfoy. If you do not want that, if you cant handle being her father, especially since she is a half blood, then Harry wishes to assume responsibility and she will be registered as a Potter, his adopted child.”





Soft shuffling sounded through the baby monitor and they could hear Harry whispering Goodnight, Gracie girl. Draco suddenly felt jealousy and anger begin to stir in his belly. The idea of another man raising his child, halfblood or not, bothered him.





“Potter cares for her very much, doesn’t he?” Draco asked, frowning at the monitor.







“He does. But he would never try to take your place, unless you make the choice to walk away.” She said. Draco turned to her, confusion clearly written all over his face.





“Why aren’t you angry, Hermione?” He asked. “Why haven’t you yelled at me, cursed me, thrown a hex or three my way for screwing your life up like this? Why don’t you blame me?”





“Is that what you want?” She asked.







“It’s what I would have done. You are only nineteen, I’m going to be twenty in a few days, what right do we have being parents, we are practically kids ourselves.” He said. “Because I was too stupid to remember a simple charm….”





“Stop, Draco, stop.” She said, reaching out for his hand. “I was angry at first. But then I realized I could have just as easily stopped you, or cast the charm myself. I was an active, willing participant in the creation of that child. It hasn’t been easy, but it hasn’t exactly been a hardship either. I wouldn’t change anything, I love that little girl more than anything and no matter how my plans have to change because she is here, I will never regret the choice to have her.”





“What do you want me to do?” He asked, distracted by the feel of her small hand in his.







“I want you to think about it. She’s your daughter, Draco, there has been no one else, but I will submit to testing if you need proof. Your parents are not going to be happy that you have fathered a halfblood and I will not let you dance in and out of her life. So think about it, because if you decide to be her father in everyway, then I will hold you to it. If you decide that you just can’t, then that is okay too. I will not hold it against you.” She said.







“You know, I have thought about you…I didn’t just walk away and forget.” He said softly, brushing his thumb over the top of her hand.







“I thought about you too, everyday.” She smiled when she heard Grace cooing over the baby monitor. “Would you like to meet her? Properly this time?” Draco nodded slowly. “Follow me.”





Draco followed her up the stairs of the narrow, sharply angled house to the third floor. At the end of the hall she led him into a bright airy room. Immediately he recognized the sweet scent, her scent. The room was painted a soft lavender color, with cream colored bedding and dark, cherry furniture. She led him through a connecting doorway into a tiny room that held a cot, a low, padded bureau, several toys and an old rocking chair situated by a large window.







Draco stood off to the side, watching as Hermione lowered the side of the cot and leaned over. She lifted the chubby little baby into her arms, smiling brightly at her.





“Hello pretty girl.” She cooed. The baby was dressed in soft cotton sleepers that zipped up the front, pink with little white sheep embroidered on the chest. “Some one came to see you, Grace.” Hermione said softly as she carried the baby across the room to Draco.





“Here, hold your daughter.” She said, shifting Grace into his arms as he clutched the baby awkwardly. He stared down at the plump bundle that was suckling noisily on her two middle fingers as she stared up at him.





“Hello, Grace. I’m Draco…I’m your…I guess I am your Daddy.” He said softly. His heart nearly burst when the little angel smiled at him around her fingers, her dimples flashing. Draco smiled back then looked over at Hermione who was wiping the tears from her eyes. “She smiled at me.” He said, looking for all the world as though he had never seen anything so brilliant. His life changed, irrevocably in that one moment, he would never be the same again.







~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~