Blaire Zabini || Draco Malfoy

Fox

Draco twirled the ring upon his finger.

Round and round. Round and round.

He couldn't get used to it. He wanted to rip it off and hurl it angrily against the wall and bellow and cry at the injustice of life.

Life. Pfft. What even was that anymore? As far as he was concerned, his life ended the day that Blaire was killed.

Six years. Six years to the exact day when he had watched the 'Safest Place in the World' blow up taking everything he had loved with it.

There had been no funeral, no way of mourning. Every single body inside that castle had disintegrated into ashes. No survivors.

The time that followed was nothing but blurry, painful memories for Draco. His mother had held him, begging him over and over again to keep standing, not to show weakness.

Weakness was not allowed. Weakness got you killed on the spot.

Draco wouldn't mind death. It sounded like freedom to him.

But he couldn't do that to his mother; couldn't put her through the kind of pain he has had to endure.

And he wouldn't leave her alone with him. The man who Draco used to call Father. The man who had raised his wand and helped kill the girl he had loved more than anything.

The door opened and Draco looked up to see his wife enter the room.

He quickly rose from the sofa, bowing his head to her.

"Happy Voldemort day, my love," she smiled brightly as she swept across the room towards him, presenting her hand for him to kiss.

"Happy Voldemort day," he replied curtly, trying to ignore the twist of his heart as his lips brushed the pale skin on the back of her hand. "And how does the morning find you?"

"Very well, very well indeed," she said, her blue eyes twinkling up at him, "in fact, I have a gift to share with you on this wondrous and momentous day."

"Oh?" Draco replied in confusion, feeling slightly uneasy. "I must apologise for I had no forewarning of a gift exchange."

A light tinkle of laughter left her lips. "Oh don't be silly, darling. This gift is from you."

And, as Astoria Malfoy's hand went to her stomach, Draco felt his own wrench violently as realisation hit him.

Happy fucking Voldemort day indeed.

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He was bored, so so bored.

It was one of those days when no one really wanted to talk but he didn't really understand why.

What was so different about this day from any other? They were all pretty much the same. They woke up, washed in the big tub and had whatever there was for breakfast before the grown ups all gathered in the Secret Room, where he was not allowed. And every now and then an adult would appear to give him more food, sometimes even play with him.

But today no one wanted to play, and no one wanted to explain to him why everyone had sad faces.

So he took it upon himself to find some adventure.

He found his Fox the Explorer hat that his uncle had helped him make. He liked his uncle very much. His uncle was funny and liked to pull silly faces to make him laugh.

But even his uncle was too sad to pull silly faces today.

Placing the hat on top of his head, flattening the mop of long dark wavy locks, he snuck away, tiptoeing just in case he was heard.

He wasn't allowed out without an adult. It was too dangerous they would say. Why? They never said.

But Fox the Explorer wasn't afraid of anything. Fox the Explorer was brave and laughed in the face of danger.

So out he crept, looking left then right. He knew his left from right now; his auntie taught him that one. She said that big boys like him needed to know these things.

And off he went, the light of the torch on his hat leading the way as he kept close to the wall and his footsteps light.

His heart was beating fast, but he wasn't afraid. Not when he had Mr Dog in his pocket. He reached in, giving it a squeeze for extra courage.

After a short while, he realised his teeth were chattering. Chatter chatter chatter. He tried to clamp his jaws tight shut, but this just made the chattering worse and he began to worry he was being too noisy.

Perhaps he was cold? This would happen to him when he got out of the big tub, his body still wet from the water and his mummy had laughed once as she wrapped him a towel and called him her little snowman.

When he asked what a snowman was, she had stopped laughing and her face had become sad, so he didn't ask again, not liking to see his mummy upset.

So, if he wasn't cold, why was his teeth chattering? The answer came to him when the light of his torch died and he suddenly found himself plunged into complete darkness.

He was scared.

And thinking of his mummy made him want to cry because he suddenly wanted her so much and to say sorry for trying to be a big brave soldier, but he just wanted her to be proud of him.

He was frozen on the spot, too scared to move in case he went the wrong way and got really, really lost.

And now he was crying, but only babies cried and he wasn't a baby; he was a big five year old boy. A whole hand.

A sound from somewhere made him jump, and now he was certain he was going to die, and he should have listened to the grown ups and stayed where he was even though it was boring. But right now he yearned to be bored because being bored was much better than being frightened.

He squeezed his eyes shut as the sound got louder and nearer, and when a light hit his face he felt the shameful wetness drench his trousers.

"Jack!"

Relief flooded his heart and his eyes flew open as the most familiar and comforting voice in the world filled his ears.

"Mummy!" He cried, as she crouched down and threw her arms around him, dropping the torch she had had in her hand to the ground.

He flung his little arms around her neck, sobbing as he buried his face in her hair.

"Jack Neville Zabini-Malfoy," she breathed, picking him up in her arms as she kissed his face and stroked his hair, "don't you dare do that to me again."

To Be Continued...

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A/N: So as you can tell the story is not over. And just in case it wasn't clear: Blaire is alive, and has had Draco's son. And if that wasn't enough, Draco has discovered his wife, Astoria (yes, sorry - I went there), is pregnant with his child.

Book two 'Boy' is out now, and it will explain where Blaire has been/is and why she hasn't been in touch with Draco.

Also, some of you may have noticed I have used 'Room' as my influence on the character Jack (including the name). An amazing book (and film) that I thoroughly recommend if you haven't read or seen yet.

My whole point of writing book one was to get to this, and I hope book two won't disappoint as I have been so psyched about writing it.

Thank you for staying with me, and for all the love and support you have shown. I love you all!

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