Malediction: the love and life of Astoria Malfoy

Chapter Twenty Four

About a month later, Draco received a letter from his mother. Apparently, his father wasn't doing well. They were unsure exactly what it was. Afterall, he was young, only fifty two. And yet, he was getting increasingly ill. It was early, and Draco was at his parent's house, checking up on them.

Attempting to be supportive, I offered to come if he'd wanted me to. He literally laughed. "Yeah, I suppose I'm not very good for your father's health. . . ." I said, laughing too.

I was folding laundry upstairs when I had the feeling again. A wave of nausea, a growing sensation in my throat. I rushed to the washroom, kneeling beside the toilet. I closed my eyes as I retched, and, thinking it was over, opened them. My head cocked to the side and my face scrunched up. "Huh?" I said out loud. There was no blood. No red. I just threw up.

I felt my forehead with the back of my hand. No, no fever. I flushed the toilet, feeling my head again. Then my eyes widened. I hurried down the stairs as the thought flashed across my mind.

I gripped the calendar from the kitchen wall, beside the cabinet. A picture of Hamish MacFarlan was waving at me from his broom on the calendar. I traced my finger to the date. "April fourteenth," I mumbled to myself. I flipped the page back to March, where Brevis Birch smiled, a broom propped over his shoulder. "Third," I whispered.

My period is a week and a half late. Morning sickness. Morning sickness. Oh my God. OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod. Was I. . . .

I dropped the calendar, the pages fluttered to the ground. I did a silent little dance and ran (yes, ran, me, Astoria Malfoy actually ran), up the stairs back into my room where a mirror stood in the corner. I tore my shirt off my stomach, angling myself to the side. Of course there was no bump, I wasn't sure why I'd been expecting one, but still, I kept inspecting my belly. I ran my fingers over my stomach.

My smile was so wide my cheeks were starting to sting. I was crying now, and laughing at the same time. To an outsider, I must've looked completely deranged and mental. My hands were shaking with excitement, my cheeks flushed and damp.

I stayed staring at my belly for a good half an hour, talking to the baby that I was convinced was in my belly. So, as I said before, completely mentally deranged. I heard the door open, and Draco say, "By Merlin Astoria, you should've seen him. . . ."

I walked down the steps, a giddy smile on my face. He was already at the sink, putting on a cup of tea. He held out a second cup to me, but I pushed it away lightly with my hand, shaking my head. He didn't bat an eye, instead turned the cup upside down into the sink.

"He looks dreadful." He sipped his tea, which couldn't have been brewed enough yet, hence his scowl at the taste. He put the cup back down on the counter, leaning on it, and looked at me. His eyebrows knit slightly. "Are you okay? Your eyes are all red."

I took in a breath, still shaky, my smile still beaming. I locked eyes with him. "I think I'm pregnant."

His eyes widened in unison with his jaw dropping. "What?"

I gripped his hands in mine, shaking them, tearing up again.

He froze for a second. Then, "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD -- ARE YOU REALLY?"

I nodded exuberantly. He laughed/exhaled, placing a hand gingerly on my belly, glancing up at me and back down, as if asking if this were okay. I placed my hand on top of his. His eyebrows were still knit slightly, his mouth still parted in a smile. Tears pooled in the bottom of his eyes, and he sunk to the floor, wrapping his arms around my middle, head against my belly.