Draco looked down at the parchment and kept his face expressionless. Of worst moments, this one at least involved very little blood. He took a deep breath and examined the quill in his hand.

Being a Malfoy had ruined him. He'd been raised in hatred and intolerance. His body and soul were offered up to a madman to save his parents. He'd survived it.

Broken and battered, he'd put himself back together. It hadn't been easy. Finding his way in the world had given him a taste for freedom.

"It's a blood quill." The wizard across from him seemed anxious. "You don't need to ink it."

"Thank you." Draco narrowed his gaze at the man sitting their with all his avarice on display. Arranging marriages was a financially beneficial profession. He would be paid a fee by both families if the contract validated. "I am not a dolt."

"Sign the contract, Draco." His father tapped his cane on the floor. "I have better things to do than sit around this office while you mince about."

"Yes, Father." Draco glared up at his father. "Let's rush through this nonsense so my life can proceed according to your plan."

"I assure you the contract is quite fair." The annoying little toady looked down at the papers on the table. "All of the expectations and concessions are clearly outlined."

Draco took a deep breath and closed his eyes. This was not what he wanted. He wanted last night back. He wanted to curl up next to Granger and watch the strong blonde woman kiss the blond vampire that was nothing like a real vampire. Sure, it was weird and muggle, but it made Granger weepy and soft. She'd stroked his arm, the disfigured one even, without hesitation. She'd watched the telly, but he'd watched her.

"Draco." His mother's voice broke into his memory like a battering ram. "Sign them."

"Drakey." The blonde witch across from him rolled her eyes. "We need to get this done. I want to go to the vault and select my betrothal set."

"Don't call me Drakey." Draco examined the bit of frippery that earned his parents' approval. "I am a Malfoy, but also a Black. My name is derived from the great serpent that plays in the sky with the northern lights. I am not some duck with pretty plumage."

"You said the boy wouldn't be difficult, Lucius." Ignatius Greengrass glared at the elder Malfoy male. "You said he would see sense. We will give you a few minutes to clarify his position."

The room emptied with the little toady offering beverages and biscuits. Draco sat quietly and waited for the explosion. It didn't come.

"I know where your little pied-à-terre is." Lucius stepped into his line of sight. "It's charming how you revel in living like a common muggle. Does your little flat mate make you scrub the commode?"

Draco looked up at his father and saw the disdain and disappointment.

"A young man can be forgiven his youthful folly, Son." His mother grabbed his hand. "We can obliviate the girl if necessary."

"If he doesn't put quill to parchment, I will not be held responsible for my actions." Lucius fondled his cane's decorative handle. "This contract has been in place since he was six. We can not be seen as oathbreakers. Only the Greengrasses may withdraw."

"Because honor is more important than happiness." Draco put the quill down. "You want me to tie myself to those money grubbing fools. I am happy in the muggle world. I have a job. I have a life."

"We have let you be, Boy. We have let you have your fun. The war left us all in need of a change." Lucius sighed. "But, it is time to focus on the future."

"She's a pretty girl." His mother shrugged one shoulder delicately. "I can teach her to seem less grasping."

"Yes, what a wonderful life you've planned for me." Draco pushed up from his chair and stalked around the room. "Loveless marriage to an untrained, money grubbing whore."

"The girl is pure." His mother frowned at him. "Her parents assured us."

"She does not love me. She only wants her betrothal set." Draco stopped and looked between his parents. "She doesn't care about anything but money. Thus, a whore."

"You must sign it." His mother looked away from him. "The original agreement is in place until you do."

"The agreement that set forth the promised negotiation of our marriage when she was an infant, and I was more interested in acquiring a crup." Draco rolled his eyes. "I never did get that crup. perhaps I can transfigure her. Might be a bit yappy, but what's silencio for?"

"If you don't put that quill to parchment, The Greengrass family can charge us as oath breakers and take the guaranteed reimbursement." Lucius looked at his son. "The charge could see me back in Azkaban. The financial restitution would beggar us after paying all those fines. I don't want to force your hand, but I have no choice."

"I have a good life. I have a good job. I have a good relationship." Draco returned to his seat. "I sign this, and all that disappears. Everything I've built since the war. You're asking me to sacrifice my heart and soul for this family again. I love you. Hecate help me, I do, but when will it be enough? When will I be free of this noose?"

"Your family is not a noose." Lucius glared at him. "I regret that you are inconvenienced by this, but living in the muggle world doesn't help your family reclaim its place in society. A proper marriage does."

"Draco." His mother sighed. "Please. We have no choice. Your father will remove any obstacle that stands in the way."

Draco nodded. There wasn't a choice. There never had been. His father had shown him the pictures of Hermione, dozens of pictures of her at various places. The implied threat had been enough to get him here. He'd held onto some vain hope that his parents would choose his happiness over their own, but it was simply not the pureblood way.

"I'll sign the papers." Draco closed his eyes. "But we are done. I don't want to see either of you again."

"Draco!" His mother surged toward him from her seat. "No, you can't. We're your family. Your blood."

"It will be rather difficult to avoid us with the wedding and other required social functions." Lucius examined the back of his hand. "He won't feel that way in time."

Draco ignored them and waited for the witnesses to pour themselves back into the room. His future bride held her quill in her hand. She smiled brightly and seated herself across from him with a flounce.

"I'll sign first." She pulled the parchment toward her and smiled up at him. "Then I want to find something suitable, maybe emeralds."

She pressed the quill to the parchment and dragged it along in what appeared to be a looping scrawl, but no writing, bloody or otherwise, appeared.

"This quill is defective." The Greengrass girl looked over at the facilitator. "Get me another."

"Miss Greengrass, there is no chance that quill is defective." The man straightened to his full diminutive height. "They are charmed specifically for this purpose. If it isn't working, then you are unable to hold true to the agreed on stipulations."

"Get me another quill, now." She stamped her well heeled foot. "This one is defective."

"Use this one." Draco held out his own. "I'm sure it will work."

It most decidedly did not.

Astoria Greengrass devolved from somewhat spoiled into a screaming, bouncing mess. She screamed at the facilitator and at her parents. Some little used drive toward self preservation kept her ire from landing on his parents. Draco leaned back in his plush chair and felt a smirk settle on his face.

"The girl was tested for fertility." Ignatius frowned and silenced his daughter. "This makes no sense. It seems we may need to renegotiate."

"No." Narcissa stood up. "This child is obviously not prepared for the rigors of married life. I will not make my Draco her life long caretaker."

"If she's truly your daughter and fertile, then she isn't pure." Lucius curled his lip. "These dramatics are not at all befitting of a lady."

"Of course, she's pure." Ignatius glared at Lucius and turned to his daughter. He lifted the silencing spell with a twitch of his fingers. "Tell the Malfoy's that you are pure."

"Of course I am pure." The girl snarled. "I can prove my lineage back to the time of Merlin himself."

"Oh, that's precious." Draco snorted. "Stupid and dramatic. They weren't asking about your pedigree, Pet. They wanted to make sure you wouldn't try to put a cuckoo in the nest."

"You live in a nest?" The young witch took three steps back. "It's true? You are a veela?"

"I think we are done here." Draco looked to his father and waited for his nod.

"There is no point in renegotiating." Lucius frowned at Ignatius. "We will keep our own counsel about what has happened here. I wish you luck finding a suitable match."

The Malfoys rose as one and exited the room leaving chaos in their wake. Draco took a deep breath. His father and mother paused in the small waiting room and he turned toward them.

"No more contracts. None of this nonsense." Draco tilted his head to the door that had just closed behind them. "I am not your puppet."

"There are other families." Lucius sighed. "This wasn't a success, but we will find the right match."

"No, you won't." Draco swallowed down the pain. "If you continue on this course, we will never share a room again. I do not trust you. Bringing me to the table by threatening the witch I love was foolish."

"You haven't visited in months. You don't answer our owls." His mother grabbed his arm. "What were we to do?"

"Understand that I need space from you and your ridiculous ideas of what is right for me." Draco closed his eyes and pulled his arm free. "I love you, Mother. I do, but this farce just showed me that you don't love me so much as an idea of me."

"How can you say that?" Narcissa reached for him, but he stepped back. "We want what is best for you."

"I have a constant reminder of what you deem best riding on my arm." Draco glanced from his mother's shattered face to his father's stern visage. "Forgive me for questioning your judgement."

"Draco, come to the Manor for Mabon." His mother shook against his father's arm. "Let us talk and be together as we should."

"I'm afraid I've made other plans." Draco bowed and left before his mother's sadness broke his resolve.

He walked down Diagon Alley and enjoyed the peaceful hubbub of the place. He strolled past the colorful display of WWW and ducked inside. He was barely past the door before he hit a quickly tossed shield.

"Malfoy." George Weasley rolled his eyes and let the shield drop. "She's not in today. I'm not letting you in if you've been naughty. Did you piss her off again?"

"I might have." Draco smiled at the only Weasley he could tolerate for an extended period. "Any advice?"

"Grovel, flowers, books, bordering on a new library's worth, and pray she doesn't have her wand." George rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "She's been particularly vicious this last week. Are you coming to The Burrow for Mabon? I should start laying odds on Ron's ability to stay intact if you are."

"I hope we aren't." Draco smirked. "I have some plans, but it's up to Granger."

"Then you'd best get home and do a good job groveling." George tossed him a candy. "It'll turn your hair a less obnoxious shade. Let you blend better."

"Sure, it will." Draco pocketed the sweet and waved. "See you."

Draco headed back out into the fresh air and headed for Flourish and Blotts. Books were actually the hardest thing to buy for Granger. She carried around books in that bag of hers that could only be opened on a moonlit night in May. The rarest of the rare were hers. The Black family library lived in an expanded trunk in their guest room. Her muggle books confounded him. There were so many.

He'd developed a relationship with Edgar Blotts out of desperation. He needed a bibliophile of the first water to even come close to understanding his situation. He passed by the quidditch supply with a look of longing, but there was nothing for it. His lioness was already roaring.

"Young Mr. Malfoy, I have been expecting you." Edgar Blotts smiled widely at him. "The lovely Miss Granger was in earlier. her hair was quite sparkly."

"I've heard." Draco forced a smile to his face. "Tell me you have something for me."

"Of course." Edgar waddled to a place behind the counter and bent low to pluck an already wrapped package from the shelves. "Had it wrapped and everything. Put it on your tab. I wouldn't linger about. She seemed a bit more distressed than I like my best customer to be."

"I've only got one more stop." Draco sighed as he picked up the parcel. The lavender wrapping was set off by a lime green bow. The whole thing was rather garish. He much preferred the white paper with the navy ribbon that was usually used.

"You may shrink it, Sir." Edgar smiled. "Everything is new and non irritable."

"I'll see you soon." Draco shrunk the parcel and tipped his imaginary hat to Edgar.

"Of course, you will." Edgar grinned. "You're my second best customer."

"We are going to lose him, Lucius." Narcissa paced through the solarium with long strides. "He's not coming home for Mabon."

"It's one holiday, Cissy." Lucius frowned down at his tea cup. "We did try to force him into a loveless marriage with a whorish harpy. I think he deserves some time to relax. Cooler heads will prevail."

"You say that, but that boy seems more and more like a Black to me. He doesn't forget. He doesn't forgive." Narcissa threw herself into the chair next to him. "Maybe we should make peace with his muggle born friend."

"I don't think she's openly hostile to us, Cissy." Lucius set his tepid cup aside. "I don't imagine that we cross her mind all that much. She's a competent witch. That job at the joke shop has resulted in patents that will line her offsprings pockets for generations."

"Severus was fond of her. I remember how he hated not being allowed to nurture talent where he found it." Narcissa sighed. "He had contingencies to save her in his private papers. Her and Potter. Both for Lily. He was such a devoted soul."

Lucius let his wife wax on glorifying his best friend to near Merlin like heights. It was easier to see the dead as flawless. After all, the complicated reality of Severus Snape didn't hold much appeal for the masses.

"I could use the emerald on Mabon." Lucius took a deep breath. "It wasn't deemed a dark artifact. I don't think any of them bothered to look to closely at it."

"Well, it looks like a lump of greenish rock and only reacts if a Malfoy of the direct line touches it." She waved her hand dismissively. "You've avoided it all these years. I know it's dangerous."

"Nimue's gifts don't come without a sting." Lucius stood and walked over to the windows. "My father thought asking the most specific question would yield the best results. He asked for the best route to power for himself."

"The Dark... Tom Riddle." Narcissa nodded. "There is a runic inscription on the box. What does it say?"

"One chance to each generation, the future under your tongue, if faith you have, my gift will turn in beauty true." Lucius shrugged. "It isn't remarkable in translation."

"So, tonight?" Narcissa smiled. "Do you need help determining what to ask?"

Lucius watched on as she took the conversation for a walk without him. She was the light of his life. Each laugh, each shared scheme, each sleepy morning smile brought him peace greater than any potion.

His son deserved to have a witch that brought light into his darkness.

Granger was standing on a chair hanging a banner when he opened the door. Draco managed not to mock her mercilessly for not using magic, but it was a close thing. she fell back on her muggle heritage so easily. He let the door close with an audible snap, and she whirled around dropping the banner.

"The colors are a bit pastel for Mabon." Draco looked at the balloons that were held in bunches around the room. "Are we having guests?"

"No." Hermione bit her lip and glanced across the wide space to the fallen banner. "What did your parents want this time?"

"To marry me off to an especially dull witted witch of impeccable breeding and little brain." Draco shrugged one shoulder and moved across the room to pluck her from her perch. "Their scheme failed."

"They've been annoyingly persistent of late." Hermione sighed into his collar.

"Is that why you've got half of Diagon Alley reminding me that an angry witch likes flowers?" Draco pulled back a bit and stared down into her eyes, enjoying the golden flares of her magic that sparkled just for him. "The other half was too afraid to come out and see me."

"The other half wouldn't have come near you anyway." Hermione curled against him. "They have no idea how wonderful you can be."

"I don't need the world to love me, Granger." Draco buried his hand in her hair. "Just you."

"So, you have books and flowers and diner from my favorite Thai place?" Hermione grinned up at him. "You're getting predictable."

"Well, we can't have that." Draco twisted one of her curls around his finger. "I've asked you dozens of times, and you've always said not right now. I know you didn't mean to shake my confidence, but I'm finding this moment rather intimidating."

Draco set her down in the chair and knelt before her. He watched her eyes widen and her cheeks flush before summoning the ring box to his hand with a flick of his wrist. The quick and audible gulp from Granger was music to his ears.

"When we started this relationship, in madness and strife, the war was still fresh and tempers were high. We hid from everyone. We went from stolen moments and secret trysts to dating on the muggle side which was, I admit, a challenge for me." Draco grinned as she rolled her eyes. "You told George, and he tried to kill me."

"It was just one half of a puking pastille." She rolled her eyes. "It wouldn't have killed you."

"We can debate that later." Draco pressed a finger to her lips. "I am in the middle of something here. Harry still treats you as if you've lost your mind, Ron makes those odd choking sounds and turns purple if you hold my hand, and my friends are convinced you will come to your senses or break the Imperius any day now. Still, we've struggled through it all. I've actually made friends with a Weasley though I'll never eat a thing he gives me. Blaise and Theo both adore you and envy me. Through it all, you've been letting me find myself. Never wavering when I've mourned or raged about like manticore, you've been there. You made us this sweet little nest in the muggle world and didn't laugh when I attacked the first ice box for humming."

"Or screamed like a terrified banshee when I turned on the telly with the remote." Hermione smirked down at him. "You're just too adorable."

"All adoration is welcome, but, again, I am in the middle of this." Draco gestured slightly with the ring box. "I had this whole thing planned with a trip to Italy and the Spanish Steps. It was a tad flamboyant. Blaise told me to rein it in."

"We could just get to the part where I say yes." Hermione reached out and cupped his cheek with her free hand. "Yes, I will marry you."

She kissed him, and Draco almost dropped the ring. In one of those awkward and fumbling moments that only seemed to happen around her, he clutched the box against his chest and managed to topple Granger and her chair on top of him as he fell to the floor. She laughed against his lips and all was right in his world.

"We are going to need to be a bit more careful in the future." Hermione pressed a kiss to his chin. "Please, get this thing off me."

"More careful?" Draco twitched his fingers and the chair righted itself.

"I wasn't putting that banner up the muggle way because I forgot I'm a bloody witch." Hermione pushed him down onto the wood floor. "My magic is off."

He watched the tiny flashes of magic spark out from her hair in a random rainbow of colors. She wasn't angry and she wasn't, well, caught up in the throws of passion. Fear grabbed him hard.

"You're not decompensating?" Draco pushed up to a sitting position from underneath her and pulled her body close to his. Magic pushed to its limit didn't always heal. In some cases, it became an almost sentient force separate from its host. They called it decompensation, but it was a nightmare beyond those in the Janus Thickley Ward.

"No. My magic isn't trying to destroy itself." Hermione rubbed her cheek against his. "It would seem our children will be unusually magically gifted. I was working here this morning when an orange juice floated toward me from the kitchen and hovered. I hadn't summoned it"

"Our children?" Draco sat gobsmacked with his beloved tight in his arms. "You're pregnant."

"I think we should get married before I start showing which will be sooner with twins." Hermione licked her lips. "George won't kill you, but the others might."

"You're pregnant." Draco blinked.

"Yes." Hermione tapped his shoulder. "I went to Saint Mungo's and made an appointment to see a healer. I don't imagine a muggle doctor could handle floating fruit juice as a symptom."

"You're pregnant." Draco looked down at her and blinked twice. "We need to go now."

"Where do we need to go?" Hermione blinked as he levitated her up from the floor and sprang to his feet. "I would like some dinner, and you haven't actually put the ring on my finger."

"We need to go to the stones." Draco pushed his hair back from his face. "We need to go now. It's Mabon. A suitable high holiday. I was thinking Samhain, but that's too long to wait."

"Why do we need to rush?" Hermione grabbed at his arm. "What's wrong, Draco?"

"My father will kill you before I can marry you. He will. Those babies aren't real for him, yet. He will see them as blight on the family tree." Draco shoved his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry that we don't have time to make this special."

"Your father has no way of knowing." Hermione grabbed his shoulder. "Relax."

"You made an appointment at Mungo's. He knows." Draco spun around summoning her bag and jacket. "We need to go."

"Lucius Malfoy is not going to kill me." Hermione grabbed her jacket and her bag. "They'd send him back to Azkaban for the kiss. He'd rather not have intimacies with a dementor."

"Keeping the Malfoy line pure is an obsession for him. He would view it as a duty." Draco grabbed her hands. "Once I acknowledge you as my wife, he will be able to sense the children. He won't be able to refute them. They'll appear on the tapestry. He'll feel their magic, and Mum will kill him if he hurts her grandchildren."

Lucius stared at the stone in his hand. He wondered what it would look like when he was done using it. Each member of his family had drawn it or photographed it after its use. The thing had never been more than an ugly lump of rock, but it was always changed when his ancestor's spat it out.

He dropped it into the water and purified it with a quick spell. He lifted the glass and stared at the stone. Seeking an answer wasn't the same as seeking a truth. Every other member of his family had sought a solution to a dilemma or a path to power. They'd all known what they wanted from the stone, but he did not.

The damn thing had led his father to Riddle.

It could not be trusted to be benevolent.

What Malfoy would trust in something that was?

He stilled.

It couldn't be that simple.

Generations of patriarchs had confronted this.

No Malfoy would trust it.

Not one of his forefathers would have put their faith in the stone. They would have tried to command it. They would have used it to bend the world to their will.

He examined the stone through the glass. The water moved it as he tilted the glass. The stone was always purified in water. It was always returned to that from which it came.

Nimue, gracious lady of the lake.

The stone was a gift from Nimue.

It was hard and ugly, but it was powerful.

A powerful being of associated with water had given his ancestors an unyielding stone. Water moved as time and fate did. It flowed. It changed. It yielded and it destroyed.

Malfoys were given to hubris. He knew it to be true. He'd thought the world should be at his feet, until fate disabused him of the notion.

This stone was a gift from a being that was as close to divine as he had ever heard described. She had elevated Merlin and worked against him in turns. In that moment, the answer came clear.

He plucked the stone from the glass and spilled the water in a circle around him.

"I ask only to see what should be." Lucius took a deep breath and pressed the raw emerald under his tongue.

As he closed his mouth, images swirled around him. Children playing in the garden. Many and boys with wild curls in a variety of blondes and browns. He saw Draco kissing his witch gently, their joined hands resting on her ripened belly. Then he saw himself with one boy tucked under his arm and a girl riding his shoulders as they played by the sea. He saw Narcissa seated on a blanket with a sprawl of grandchildren around her as she read aloud.

A round table with a variety of school ties strewn across it burst into view. Most were green and silver, but some were scarlet and gold, blue and bronze, and yellow and black.

Wild games of quidditch flew by in his mind followed quickly by loud boisterous meals. He smelled cookies, but saw none. Just crumbs on an empty plate. Quiet moments with books and the scratch of quills competed with bonfires on a beach. An elf followed behind a young girl with a bucket of some potion that allowed her to create iridescent bubbles with a special wand. He wanted to roll himself up in these images.

They filled him with a new desire. Power didn't need to be hoarded.

He saw the foundations of a new dynasty.

Love, joy, and purpose entwined within him. He wanted this future. He wanted this family.

His purpose.

Magic pulled him in a wild swirl and dropped him just beyond his family's stones.

He saw the wards shimmering and knew the muggles were being redirected for a reason. He moved closer and took a deep breath before stepping through his son's magic. The circle sealed behind him. He spat the stone into his hand and was awed at the bright facets of a perfect emerald.

"Father." Draco pulled his witch behind him and raised his wand.

"I come to bless the union." Lucius held up his hands. "I swear on my magic."

"Why?" Draco didn't drop his wand an inch.

"I have faith in you, Draco." Lucius held out the stone. "You and your witch will renew our line. You will build a worthy family together. I've seen it."

She pushed out from behind Draco and looked at the stone.

"Luna has a stone like that." Hermione looked up at him. "She tells a story about two brothers and Nimue."

"I would like to hear it soon." Lucius smiled at her. "I think there may be much for me to learn."

"Two brothers alike in beauty." The witch licked her lips. "One took the stone and let it guide him to love. The stone of Belle Amour. The other brother took the stone and turned it to his will."

"The stone of Malfoy." Lucius nodded. "I think the magic is gone from it, now."

"It brought you here?" Draco stepped beside his bride.

"It did." Lucius nodded.

"I've married Hermione." Draco held up his arm and displayed the wild flare of magic trapped under his skin as the runes set. "She carries my children under her heart."

"She carries our future." Lucius smiled and lifted the stone towards the pair. "You are its guardians, now."

Draco took the stone from his father's hand and the laughter of children swirled around them. He felt the drag of little fingers on his robes. Lucius closed his eyes and felt at peace for the first time since his youth. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes to see the wonder in his son's.

"Our children." Draco pressed his hand to her abdomen.

"Yes." Lucius nodded. "Your witch carries blessings for our house."

"This witch prefers to be called Hermione." She pulled his hand towards her and settled it next to Draco's. "There's nothing to feel yet, but have at it."

Draco met his eyes and he knew. His son felt it as well.

Love.

Author's Note

Emeralds under the tongue were believed to allow visions of the future. It made even the less attractive stones valuable. I thought gemstone divination would appeal to Malfoys.

This story was written for one of the kindest readers out there, Chanelblanc. Every review is a treat. I hope this shows you how special your words are to me.

Thank you for reading,

Anna