When Stars Align

Chapter 10

The Greengrass family left the Manor shortly after dinner. The dinner was strained and extremely rushed. After Draco's announcement, everyone in the room knew that there would be no marriage between the two families.

Now, the three Malfoys were in their library. Lucius pacing with liquor in his hands, Narcissa staring at Draco as if she couldn't recognize him, and Draco comfortably lounging on the couch without a care in the world.

Narcissa was the one to break the silence.

"Draco, please explain yourself. Why would you do this? Why would you use muggle technology to beget your heir? Why couldn't you have married a witch first and conceived a child in the traditional way? We had almost secured an arrangement with the Greengrasses! You could have waited just a little bit more for a wife and soon after I'm sure, a child!"

Draco stared at his mother. His comfortable smile now gone, he spoke calm and assured:

"Mother, that is precisely the reason why I hurried to conceive a child. I do not wish to be in a loveless marriage. I will never marry anyone for convenience. I will only be betrothed once in my life and I won't be betrothed to anyone that I am not all-consumingly in love with. However, besides my belief on matrimony, I had been wanting for a child for a couple years now. I have had a deep yearning to start a family of my own for some time and have been preparing myself so that I can be the father my child deserves. I knew that you and father would have arranged for a marriage and I could not let that happen. It may be difficult for you to understand, but this is where I am coming from."

Lucius, furious from hearing Draco's explanation, said, "How could you be so selfish? We did this for you! To save our name from what it has become and so you can regain your rightful position in wizarding society! This alliance would have helped your standing in our circle! And what of the witch that donated her eggs to your...your child? What of her?"

Draco, irked that Lucius would still care so much about their standing in the pureblood circle even after everything, could feel his patience wearing off.

He hardened his features and spoke in a cold voice:

"Father, I do not share your beliefs anymore on this matter. I do not wish to be a part of the pureblood circle that we have been a part of before the war. I am not the same person anymore and will never go back to who I was. I have changed for the better."

"As for the generous witch who has biologically mothered my child, I do not know anything about her except that she is in great health with no known family history of illness." Draco concluded.

Both Narcissa and Draco gasped. They looked horrified.

"Draco, you don't mean that, do you? She...she could be a halfblood? Or a...a muggleborn?" Narcissa asked, appalled.

"Yes, I do. I do not know if she is a halfblood or a muggleborn or a pureblood. But, I would surmise that her being a pureblood is highly unlikely. She would either be a muggleborn or a halfblood. My wager is on muggleborn."

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Lucius declared,

"We are visiting that facility tomorrow and finding out everything about the witch!"

Draco countered, "You can't. I signed a legal contract that stipulates on a non disclosure agreement in both my identity and the witch's. My child, only when he or she becomes of legal age, may decide to find out. The witch doesn't even know if she has become a mother." Draco responded with a finality.

Both Lucius and Narcissa were furious beyond words.

Narcissa, to Draco's surprise and guilt, started shedding tears.

Lucius, fixing him a lethal stare, articulated:

"If you decide to keep this child, I will disown you. You will no longer be the rightful heir to the Malfoy line. You can always have more children with a suitable witch later. I will not allow you to go on with this preposterous plan!"

Although he had prepared for the worst, Draco couldn't help but hurt at his father's words. Although he had told himself that this was a possibility, it was difficult to grasp that his father hated his own grandchild so much that it outweighed his love for his own child.

He looked at his mother with a silent question.

His mother, although looking stricken, eventually looked down.

That hurt more than he wanted to admit.

Shaking slightly and with tears streaming down his face, Draco knew that this would be the last time he would be seeing them. He would never voluntarily bring his child near people that hated his or her existence, even if said people were his/her grandparents.

"Mother. Father, if your hatred for your own grandchild is so strong, I cannot imagine I will ever bring him or her near you. What you suggest to me implies that you love me conditionally. Frankly, I do not...will not...settle for that anymore. I have my family to take care of now. Someone that needs my unconditional love. I don't know how we can move on from here. I wish you both good health. Goodbye."

With that, he left the Manor.