Chapter 22 *2021 Update*
Malfoy Manor. It housed many generations of Malfoys. From Armand Malfoy, the first Malfoy to arrive in England to Lucius Abraxas Malfoy and now heir, Draco Lucius Malfoy has resided in the Elizabethan home. Not only was it a part of history it also showed the prestige of the old family. The Malfoys have always prided themselves in their pure lineage but the pride of the family came with a price. As the Second Wizarding War reached its climax the home housed one of the most dangerous wizards. Instead of a home that showed the elegance of pure life, it has been tainted by the powers of darkness. The halls that once entertained parties and soirees are now tainted with the memory of a massacre. It took a total of three years to completely rid the home of its bloody history.
Despite clearing the place, one could faintly hear the screams of agony and torture. The walls nor the paintings have not completely forgotten what they witnessed. The only way it could be fully clear is to let the light it but Draco had to move out leaving Lucius, Narcissa, and house elves to occupy and roam the manor. On this particular day, however, Lucius was out of the manor for business. Narcissa Malfoy was inside her own study holding yet another red envelope. Every day a new one came but it had the same message. The letter she was holding however was from yesterday's mail.
"Another letter, Mistress." The house elf slowly approached the desk and placed the tray of letters.
Upon seeing the red envelopes, Narcissa snarled. Without uttering a single syllable the tray of red letters erupted into flames startling the little elf. The elf panicked and quickly threw the burning envelope into the fireplace. Narcissa noticed the elf still glued in front of the fireplace. She stood from her chair and to her horror, the envelopes, and their contents were still intact. The words written on charmed stationery glowed in the fire.
You Can Never Run From What You Did.
Skilled. Whoever was behind these letters was clearly skilled in magic. It's best not to underestimate the culprit. Someone knows. The past was slowly creeping into the present.
Flashback
"Push!" The healer encouraged the young woman. The young woman screamed and let out another push.
"I can see the head. Give me one more big push."
Despite being completely exhausted, the woman gripped the rails and pushed with all of her remaining might. An infant's cry filled the room and the mother fell back on the bed completely drained of her strength.
With blurry vision, she watched as the healer and matrons wrapped the little one in pink blankets.
"It's a girl." Said the healer as she cradled the baby in her arms.
The young woman felt another contraction erupt causing her to shoot up from her position to grip the rails of the labor table. One more. She said to herself and gathered what's left of her strength for one more big push. It was like the gods were listening to her and she finally gave birth to another baby.
"It's a boy." Said one of the matrons and wrapped a blue blanket around the crying baby boy.
"Good work, Miss Granger. You are a mother of twins." The healer congratulated and carefully placed the two babies beside Hermione.
Precious. That was the word that kept on repeating in her head. Despite everything that happened she didn't know what she did to deserve such a blessing. I promise to always love you and protect you.
"Rest easy Miss Granger. Your children are in good hands."
Outside the labor room was a furious-looking Narcissa Malfoy. No one dared to even approach or walk past her in fear of getting hexed or jinxed on the spot. The pureblooded witch was boiling over the fact that her son had impregnated a muggle-born witch. Despite all that has happened in the war they must keep their status. The balance had to be maintained.
Not that she wasn't aware of the young witch's relationship with her son, she had hoped it would dissipate after graduation. When she saw no signs of it, she had to pull out her charm to convince the head of the Auror Department to include Hermione with the class that would spend most of their time overseas. It was to buy her time for Astoria and Draco to realize their responsibility and honor the arrangement. Get married before the witch comes back. It worked, of course, but she did not foresee such a circumstance.
If Draco knew of the children then it would destroy the Malfoy name. Draco would acknowledge the children as his without question and a divorce would follow. He would be the first Malfoy to have children outside of wedlock and get a divorce. The scandal! She could even picture the front page of The Daily Prophet. She could not take another scandal connected to their name. The events from the war were enough for her.
She had called an old friend for help. Healer Erma Darsol, an old friend from Hogwarts who pursued the science of healing. Despite being a pureblooded Slytherin, her skills and experience as a healer had her healing Muggle-borns. Her family convinced her not to threat Muggle-borns but it's her oath as a healer to help anyone and disregard blood status.
"Erma, I need you to dispose of the abominations of that Granger girl." Narcissa ordered upon returning to Erma's office.
"You know I can't do that, dear." Erma replied standing up from her office chair. She swore on an oath to not bring harm to anyone. "I might have the power to do so but I won't. This is my reputation and my healer's license we're talking about."
"I still have connections, Erma." Narcissa reminded her. "I can sweep this under the desk."
Healer Darsol didn't face her. Her moral scales were weighing her decision.
"It's only a matter of time before someone finds out about the twins. It could destroy Draco." Narcissa was trying her best to coax the healer into a decision. Her voice was firm in every word she uttered.
Erma, being a once mother, weighed that the child shouldn't even consider such atrocious acts. She had lost a child and the pain of losing a miracle almost sent her down to insanity. No parent should ever go through that dark place. The thought of dying just to be with her child never left her. It's been years since but the memory was still fresh.
Her scales were starting to tip in favor of her motherly conscience.
"Narcissa, this goes against everything I've been through. I can't do it."
"She's a mudblood who gave birth to half-bloods!" Narcissa exclaimed.
"She's also a mother." Erma replied calmly. "Blood status aside, she's still a mother."
"Draco will die if this gets out. They'll be dead either way. We are the last remaining line of purebloods. Almost half of the Sacred 28 lost half-blood children since the war ended. Only a few survive. If the hierarchy was to be abolished it could be chaos. I'm afraid that I'll lose my son. The fear is eating me. It's like I'm reliving the feelings from the war."
Erma was silent. She thought of ways to get through the dilemma. Maybe she can think of a way to get rid of the children but not kill them without Narcissa knowing. Only she would know.
"I-I suppose I could do it but it would be risky." She finally said. Narcissa smiled. Another win.
"Do what you have to do and I'll meet my end of the bargain. No loose ends." Narcissa walked out of the office leaving Erma to her thoughts.
Erma sat back down on her chair. She could feel a headache forming. Was she able to do this? It's a complicated situation. If she disposed of the Granger twins, problem solved but the guilt would eventually consume her. Blood status-wise, Narcissa was right. It would destroy Draco and lead to the eventual death of the innocent babies. Blood status aside, she had the power to disobey Narcissa. Mother to mother she wouldn't want a woman to go through what she had gone through. She never wished such fate even to her worst enemy. She picked up her silver antique phone headset and quickly called the matron station to find out who was handling the Granger twins.
An hour and a half later the young matron entered. "You called, Healer Darsol?"
"Yes. I want you to," She hesitated. Despite wanting this to be done it seems like the words couldn't even come out of her mouth.
"Are you alright, ma'am?" The matron asked, noticing the healer's complexion turn pale.
She took a deep breath and finally said, "I want you to dispose of the Granger twins."
The matron's eyes widened and her mouth gaped. She wasn't sure if she heard it right or she was tired from a long shift. Her eyes didn't leave the healer's stiff posture.
"D-dispose?" The matron stuttered. Erma nodded, not meeting the matron's eyes. "Healer, that's illegal. You could lose your license."
Before the matron could answer the phone rang on her desk. She picked up the receiver and immediately ran to the operating room. A pregnant woman had fallen down a flight of stairs and on the verge of losing her child.
"Who is she?" Erma asked as she was putting on her gloves.
"Astoria Malfoy." Erma stopped momentarily. The matron continued to read through Astoria's chart but she only heard snippets. "Fell down..." "A month early..." "A complication..."
"Prepare for a C-Section. The baby will not survive this if we wait." She ordered. The group of healers nodded and the matrons prepared everything they needed for the surgery.
Erma's heart dropped when she held the silent baby in her arms. She quickly tried to stimulate the baby to cry and take its first breath but there was no response. Everyone in the room except the unconscious mother was aware of what it meant. Erma started to tremble. The trauma of losing a child was quickly overcoming her senses. She took a step back and the matron beside her noticed.
"W-wrap him with the blue blanket." She ordered the matron holding the dead baby. The matron did as she was told. "Get baby boy Granger and exchange it with this baby." Everyone in the room was shocked to hear the words coming out of her mouth.
The matron who was now holding the baby boy stared at her in shock, "B-but..." It was all she could utter.
"No buts Carmen! Do as I say." She hissed.
The matron hesitantly agreed and left the room.
"As for everyone here..." Erma trailed off whilst gripping her wand. She turned around and pointed her wand at her colleagues, "Obliviate."
When the news of Hermione Granger's death spread in the hospital, Erma had called for Narcissa. Erma told her of the events that transpired a few hours ago and the reason why she went against Narcissa's wishes.
"What?!" Narcissa exclaimed.
Despite her outburst, Erma appeared calm. "Cissa, think about it." She started, "Draco would be crushed if he knew his son died." She sympathized.
"You gave him an abomination!"
"Be it as it may but it's the only way."
That caught Narcissa's attention. What does she mean by that statement?
"What are you talking about, Erma." Her tone was now soft.
Erma pulled out a folder from her drawer. The St. Mungo's emblem was stamped in front and Astoria's name written below it. "Astoria's tests came back and it's not good."
Narcissa sat down on the chair in front of Erma's desk and took the file from the healer's hand. She opened and read the results of the test.
"A blood curse?"
"It runs in her family but it resurfaced in her. She's healthy but childbirth would be a risk. If she would give birth to another heir, she could die leaving Draco a widow. I'm sure that the Malfoys would refuse Draco to remarry. There aren't many purebloods left to be a candidate if it were to happen. Biologically, the child is still a Malfoy. You can keep his status to yourself. No one will know."
Narcissa sat on the chair pondering on what Erma had revealed. No matter how she looked at it, it's the best option. The lesser evil as it were. The Malfoy line is still strong with a male grandchild albeit not a pureblood. It's the best option there is.
With a heavy sigh, Narcissa spoke, "You're right. There is nothing we can do now. Draco and Astoria are happy. As long as Granger is dead, she cannot claim that her daughter is Draco's child."
"It's for the best."
"By the way, Erma. How did Granger take it?"
"I do not know if you have luck on your side, Cissa but she died with the baby girl presented. Her relatives were told about the baby boy. She died not knowing. They would reunite in death but left the baby girl to live. I feel my heartache for that little girl."
End of Flashback
Years passed since then. Narcissa had grown to love Scorpius. Despite knowing he was only a half-blood, she believed him to be a pureblood. She never expected to love him as much as she loved her only child. Everyone in her family was happy and she was not going to destroy it with a mere blood status.
Only Erma knew of the secret. All the witnesses were obliviated and records were tampered with to erase any suspicion. The suspicion of Erma telling someone about it was slim but it was a possibility. If she did, why now? She died two years ago. If she told anybody why not reveal it two years ago? Narcissa needed to find out who was sending these letters and put a stop to it or else everything she build will come down on her. The foundations are starting to crumble. She needed to act or else.
A/N: I swear it would be 2035 by the time I finish editing all the chapters. Honestly, even though I have the whole plot written down, I am having writer's block. Maybe I'm overthinking things since I have a timeline to follow. Anyway, Christmas 2021!! Yaay! Hope you liked my early Christmas gift. I'll try to edit more chapters. I won't promise anything yet since work takes most of my time.
Thank you for all your support through the years! I love you all!