To Dance With Jean

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. I Majasty do not own the characters of this fanfiction except perhaps a few OC's that may make an appearance. Otherwise, all characters belong to JK Rowling. Additionally, this fanfiction gets inspiration from a combination of different movies, books, and real life events. A full reference list will be uploaded at the end of the story. Mischief managed.

This story disregards the Deathly Hallows except for some key dates and times. It also disregards the epilogue. This story is set primarily in the year of 2040 and has some parts of 1997-1998. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

Draco and Jean

Melbourne, Australia. November 2040

To whom it may concern,

I am writing in hopes that this address still belongs to my one true love Draco Malfoy and that you who are reading this letter are him – the person I have been searching for. If you are not, I deeply apologise and hope that you can understand that this is just a desperate attempt from an elderly lady to find the person that she is still in love with after forty-two years. If you are not the one I search for, then please let me introduce myself…they call me Jean.

London, England. November 7th, 2040

St Jerome's was quiet, but then again that would be expected considering its only occupants were dead. Nevertheless, if you listen closely you could still hear the wailing whispers into the distance, probably cries from loved ones acknowledging that those they loved were gone. Or perhaps they were cries of those that now lived in the space, after all, ghosts are not uncommon for magical folk.

The old cemetery seldom had any visitors, which was a shame considering that plenty of those that gave their lives in the war now had their names written upon one of these graves. Right after the war, this place was filled with people mourning all those they had lost, now… it was often well…dead. Pun intended.

However, after forty-two years it wasn't improbable that everyone that was initially around to visit the graves had also passed along. Some that were still around were elderly and unable to make the journey to visit, and unfortunately, despite saying that they will never forget, life and time were not on their side and as a resort it appears that they do. As generations passed so did the story of the Second Wizarding War and along with it, everyone's name and story.

So, to see some life in a place filled with dead was a humble change. Despite its hauntingly creepy air, St Jerome's was beautiful during this time of year. The air was chilly preparing for Winter, and the trees were bare, but splashes of red, oranges and yellow lined the cobblestone paths indicating the Fall.

-Crunch-

Draco Lucius Malfoy walked down the familiar cobblestone path, wearing his black designer dress robes from Italy. His dragon-hide shoes silently tapped across the ancient stone, making occasional crunching sounds when he stepped on some fallen leaves beneath his feet. His left hand kept his hood safely guarding his face while his right tightly clutched onto a bouquet of white lilies, and red carnations that he picked himself from his home. The white lilies symbolised mourning and innocence, while the red carnations symbolised affection that he still had. Yes, an affection that he still had, even after all these years.

It had been over forty-two years since the end of the Second Wizarding War. Unbelievably, these forty-two years were filled with peace, and life continued in harmony. No other tyrannic wizards had yearned to win a position in the magical world as a new 'Dark Lord,' and no other wizarding wars had emerged. It appeared that the last wizarding war served as a portrait that exhibited a time filled with darkness, fear, and regret, and everyone wanted to stay away from those dark times.

Bitterness slowly ebbed away and was buried along with Lord Voldemort. Long gone were the extremist methods of promoting blood purity, and instead, they were replaced by reconciliation – the act where you forgive and forget.

"Death Eater" and "mudblood" were terms no longer used in everyday life in Wizarding England. There were no segregations between the blood statuses and the two sides soon became one large population that shared one mutual dream – to forgive those that hurt them and forget the horrors of that year to attempt to live as though the events never occurred.

Of course, immediately after the war there remained those who refused to move away from their beliefs and old-fashioned method of thinking, but as time passed on, so did those people, and thankfully, their children did not share the same views thanks to proper education and new laws and policies that were introduced after the war. Now, wizarding England shares a dream to abolish the indoctrination of pureblood children, whom then indoctrinated their own children and so forth, beginning the hostility against what they classified as the lower class consisting of muggleborns, halfbloods, and blood traitors. Purebloods were no longer seen as the royalty in the wizarding community, but instead, everyone was equal and accepted one another as everyone that was against the movement was either killed in the war, sent to Azkaban, or isolated themselves from this new reformed society.

1998. The year that marked the end of the second wizarding war between the dark and the light, between Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix, and between Tom Marvolo Riddle – better known as Lord Voldemort – and his arch nemesis Harry James Potter. 1998, Forty-two years ago since England was enveloped in a dark shadow, only for the sun's light rays to slowly but surely poke through. Forty-two years, of having England's wizarding population work together to achieve the peaceful integration of both pureblood and muggleborns into the magical community, and finally, forty-two years of Draco Malfoy being alone, searching for the only woman who he ever truly fell in love with.

Draco Malfoy continued to walk the familiar path as he silently searched for the name he was looking for. He finally spotted it under a large willow tree which cast shadows upon the unique name.

He silently placed the bouquet beside the name and pulled down his hood to reveal the aged however still defined features of Draco Malfoy.

"I hope you forgive me," Draco began to speak clasping his hands together as he looked down at the polished rock that bore the name Jean. "Forgive me for not looking for you after the war. You know that I did love you in a way, even if I may not have been able to show it to you. Although it is late, I still found you. Better late than never right? Merlin knows that I did love you in a sense. I remember how you cared for everyone despite what you had been through, and I remember being so irritated with how you always knew so much…much more than me. I guess I admired you for that and eventually that admiration turned to love. However, there is and always will be only one person that would hold the place in my heart as my true love. Only her, it was always her."

London, England. July 11th, 2040

Draco Malfoy walked through the familiar double doors of St Mungo's Hospital. He hated hospitals. No, it wasn't the clinical white walls or the gray curtains that fuelled his hatred, and it wasn't even the smell of disinfectant. No, his hatred run way deeper because it was in a hospital that some of his memories were brought to life.

Draco's left hand clutched his faded trenchcoat shut, while his right hand held onto his cane. Although Draco inherited a lot from his father, he found his old cane to be his most favourite item.

"Oh, Mr. Malfoy! Good to see you. My, my you look as young as the first day you walked into my consulting suite," came the bright voice of Maureen Thomas.

"That would be quite worrying Maureen as I first walked in here about four years ago," Draco smiled to the younger witch. "How are Parvati, Luna, and Dean?"

"The grandparents are fine, but I highly doubt you came here for all these pleasantries?"

Draco smiled at the younger witch again. She was such a combination of the people he had grown up with, it really was amusing.

Parvati Patil and Dean Thomas married straight after the war as many couples did. They were all overwhelmed with the fear of being alone. Everyone had been wounded one way or another by the war and no-one wanted to face a new day all by themselves. However, many marriages soon failed after they all realized that their marriage was only built upon fear and the need for escape.

Parvati and Dean were amongst the few who survived the era of wizarding annulments and divorces.

They had three children. The eldest was named Lavender after Parvati's best friend Lavender Brown who passed away during the Hogwarts battle. Parvati never quite accepted the fact that her best friend was gone – bitten by Greyback and drained of her blood. However, Parvati naming her eldest daughter after her seemed like a fitting way to reincarnate her in the form of her daughter. Their second child was named Seamus, named after Seamus Finnigan who had been Dean's best friend who also died at the Hogwarts battle in the hands of Amycus Carrow. Like Parvati, Dean had never seemed to accept that Seamus was gone either. Yes, he still had Neville as his other best friend and Parvati now only had her twin, but it still hurt the same. Their youngest daughter was named Sybil after Parvati's favorite Hogwarts teacher Sybil Trelawny, she passed away during Parvati's second trimester due to natural reasons and Parvati and Dean wished to honor her.

Parvati and Dean's son Seamus had married Luna and her husband Rudolpho's daughter named Clarice, and then their daughter had grown to now become Draco's healer. Her name was Maureen Thomas. She went to Hogwarts with William and resembled a fairy with blonde hair, tanned skin, and eyes that were always glazed; a trait she inherited from her grandmother Luna.

"You had some news?" Draco sighed, causing the light discourse between the two to take a more sinister turn.

"Oh right, ehem," Maureen paused to clear her throat, a little nervous at her news. "I umm, well…well, the good news is, I have received your results back earlier than expected." Maureen commenced, attempting to look cheery, although so obviously looked uncomfortable in her seat.

"And the bad news?" Draco quirked, raising his eyebrow at the witch, knowing quite well that the good news was not really going to be good news.

"The treatment department have also studied your results and…" Maureen paused to take a deep breath, "I am sorry Mr. Malfoy, but you have reached the later stages of your illness." Maureen had explained as she looked over Draco's Charts, and at the wall, and at her desk…anywhere just to avoid looking at Draco's face.

"We have considered and tried every possible spell, potion and charm to try and reverse your sickness; however, we can only return your memory at a temporary level while each of the other traits of Magical Memory Disorder cannot be cured. There is only so much magic can do, and unfortunately, even magic cannot reverse the effects of this wizarding illness. Slowly your memory will decrease until you can no longer remember anything at all." She sighed as he looked at the elderly man seated before him. "Magical Memory Disorder is so much worse than say muggle dementia. Soon your brain and body will begin to forget your magic, you will have language difficulties, and your motor skills will possibly be decreased until..."

Draco looked up at the pretty, young, blonde healer that was standing before him scribbling onto her notepad and reading numerous charts. Draco knew her so well, she knew that she would potter around if she were uncomfortable, he had seen her grow up, seen her parents grow up, he never thought it would be so painful that from all the people that could have delivered the news it had to be someone he knew at a close level. That was why Draco didn't want her to be her healer. It was Xavier and William that had insisted. Frankly, Draco did not want his healer to be someone who would pity him or would have such an emotional attachment when delivering the news. The news was not very new anyways. Draco had expected it really. He was now 60 years old, and for about three years of his life, he had taken potions in an attempt to reverse his condition. He also took potions so that he can remember things in daily life, such as Xavier and William. However, sometimes he even forgets to take all his potions, and therefore he suffers memory impairment.

One time he went to Diagon Alley and then he could not remember where he actually lived in order to apparate home. To apparate you need the three D's: destination, determination, and deliberation. How the hell was he meant to get home when he could not remember it as his destination? That night William had to go out and search for him because he had not come home. They found him sitting on the steps of Gringotts looking more confused and lost than ever before. Ever since then they hired him a mediwitch.

"Mr. Malfoy, I estimate that you have about six months maximum to live." Maureen continued talking – taking Draco out of his reverie. Six months? That was not a very long time, and Draco had plenty of things he had to do before he passed away. He had to draft his final will, free his house elf that had served him for twenty years which he had promised to free – if he wanted to stay he could – and finally he to accomplish the one task he had been avoiding for the past forty-three years of his life because he was simply a coward.

"Is there really no possible way to cure this? Money is not a problem, hire all the best inventors of spells in the world, create new potions, I cannot afford to pass away now, there are still things I wish to complete. There are places I want to go, people that I want to meet." Draco pleaded. Yes, Draco had accepted ages ago that he was going to die, he just never expected for it to be so soon. He had not even begun to search for the person he was so desperate to find. Now he was running out of time, and Draco was afraid. He was afraid that he would not be able to find her before he leaves. He was afraid that he would never be able to tell her everything he wanted to say. He was a coward to say anything back in his youth, but now Draco had grown up, and he knows exactly what he wants. He wants her to be in his arms even just for one last time, he wants to be able to dance with her for once in their lives, and he wants her to know that he loved her – that it was always her.

"It is not about the money Mr. Malfoy. I am quite aware that you are able to pay for all of the best spell-makers and potion masters in the world to find a cure. However it is not about the money, it is honestly just impossible to find a cure that would reverse the effects of your memory damage and permanently cure it. I am sorry Mr. Malfoy, but I believe that it is now time to accept that your time is, in fact, running out. Instead of dwelling on how you can live longer physically, why not try and live longer emotionally? Make every minute of your remaining time count. Every place you wanted to go to, every person you wanted to meet, everything you wanted to do, do it all now before it truly is too late." Maureen said clasping her hands together.

"Mr. Malfoy, it is hard for me as well telling you how long you have to live. I mean I am close friends with William, so it hurts me to have to tell his grandfather that he does not have very long to live. I know there are still plenty of things you wish to complete in your life. However, I am warning you that your time is running out. Six months is only the maximum estimation that I have withdrawn from the statistics of your charts. It may be shorter, or if you are lucky, it may even be longer. You may have six months left, or eight, or four if you're lucky you may still have a remainder of a year and then there's the reality of being unlucky and only lasting weeks at the most." Maureen explained sympathetically as she looked into the grey pools of Draco Malfoy's eyes.

Maureen sighed again and sat down next to Draco when she noticed the way his shoulders had slumped at the idea of having six months to live. "Mr. Malfoy, you know I didn't want to have to tell you that, but it is the reality of the matter. Believe me, I have spent days attempting to formulate a potion that may cure the illness of MMD, however, everything I have tried had failed. You went to Hogwarts with three of my grandparents, and William is one of my closest friends. It hurts me as much as you this news that I have given, but I tried and there is nothing else I could do. I am so sorry." Maureen said with tears threatening to spill from her deep blue eyes.

"It is not your fault Maureen," Draco said with half a smile to reassure the young girl. "I always knew I was about to die, it was not old news. I just didn't expect it to be so soon. As you said there are plenty of things I want to do in life and my time is ticking away. Sometimes I just want to get a time-turner and return to when I was seventeen and perhaps change the course of my life. Everything that I regret I just want to erase or replace with new memories, but then I may never have had the life I had. Maureen, it is not your fault, I doubt even my god-father Severus the great potions master can devise a potion to cure my illness. Do not blame yourself, dear."

After that, the two just sat in a comfortable silence excluding the sound of light sobs coming from Maureen.

Draco had not changed in the forty-two years since the war. He was older yes, with his strong jaw and pale skin littered with wrinkles as well as his greying hair; however, his eyes that were a pool of melted silver still held the fear of the eighteen-year-old boy who defied his father and everything he believed in. His eyes still held the rebellion of his years, the wisdom he had cumulated and the boy that had fallen in love despite his rough and cold exterior. Yes, his eyes were now ringed with dark circles and framed with expensive lenses, but behind those eyes is still the same boy, the same Draco Malfoy from the Second Wizarding War against Lord Voldemort who could hide his fear behind an expressionless façade.

"Now if you do not mind Mr. Malfoy, I have some other work to attend to, I wish there was some way to save you. You are after all one of our biggest donors at St Mungo's, donating money yearly. However, as I said, it truly is, impossible." Maureen said as she shrugged her shoulders, opened the door to lead out to the cold, bright and white hallway of a stereotypical hospital that St. Mungo's adopted.

Draco gave Maureen another weak smile before walking out into the corridor where his mediwitch was waiting. Draco's mediwitch named Hope had been with him for two years and trained at St Mungo's under his first healer named Xypherious who was a cold bastard of a healer. She was a very good mediwitch, she knew what she was doing. Well, it was to be expected, he was after all the Draco Malfoy, and he only deserved the best. Not only was Hope his mediwitch, but she was also Teddy Lupin and Victoire's daughter, so she was also related to Draco considering Teddy was his cousin Nymphadora's son. Hope had also gradually come to be one of Draco's most trusted confidantes, and he loved her like a daughter or a granddaughter considering she was only slightly older than William.

Like routine Hope entered the room that Draco had just vacated to talk to the healer. During this time she was told about changes to Draco's diet, changes to his potions, his progress, anything along those lines. Hope was kept up to date about Draco's MMD possibly even more than Xavier and William. Xavier never seemed to care about his father at a great level – they were always arguing and fighting. Hope never actually understood why, then again, the hostility between father and son seemed to have originated years before she came along. Xavier was always very formal towards Draco. His sentences were always limited, and he always referred to him as "father." Draco suspected it was because Xavier blamed Draco for his mother leaving, but what would Xavier know? He was only a baby when his mother had left.

Xavier was not always like that. Xavier looked up to his father when they were younger. It wasn't until they moved houses and Draco got a new job at the ministry that it began to change. Draco was about twenty-four years of age then, and Xavier was about six. He still called Draco 'papa,' and he used to seek attention asking about his mother, but when Draco changed the subject about her Xavier would get angry. Soon the anger grew into hostility between father and son and when Xavier turned eleven and was about to enter Hogwarts, the relationship they once had was gone, and Xavier had resulted to referring to Draco as 'father' in substitution for the endearment of 'papa.'

William, on the other hand, seemed to be in the same situation. The relationship between him and his father Xavier was cold. They never talked unless it was completely necessary. William had a closer relationship with his grandfather Draco. However, he too was unaware of the level of Draco's illness because he was currently having a rocky relationship with his wife, Kathy. He was always desperate to make things better with her that he never had time to pay attention to Draco. Thank Merlin Hope was always there.

Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, England. July 11th, 2040.

"So…healer Maureen told me about your dilemma," Hope said as they arrived back at the manor and she helped Draco to his favorite seat in the library – next to a table in front of the floor to ceiling windows, next to the fireplace. "Six months is a very short time don't you think?" Hope asked as she leaned against the window and watched Draco accio some parchment, quills, and ink from his study room.

"Yes, it is Hope, and that is why I am beginning to draft my final will. I do not want to run out of time and have my estates gone to the wrong owners." Draco explained pushing his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose.

Draco flattened out a roll of parchment before sucking the end of his quill and dipping it into his inkwell. He stared out the window in thought before resuming his task and scratching away.

To Xavier Orion Malfoy I leave my…

To William Archer Malfoy I leave my…

"Draco do not tell me you are just going to sit in this house for the remainder of your time or else I myself will vanquish to France as an act of frustration," Hope said as she took a seat beside Draco.

"Of course, not Hope, I would still go to watch quidditch and go to Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, and we cannot forget about going to my fortnightly check-ups at St Mungo's," Draco replied absentmindedly as he continued to scratch away on his peace of parchment.

To Teddy Lupin I leave…

"Do not be such a sarcastic smartass Draco, you know what I meant!" Hope huffed with a sigh as she looked at her boss with an irritated expression. "Is there no places you wish to go, people you wish to meet, and things you want to do?" Hope inquired with her eyebrows raised as she plopped her elbow on the table and rested her head on her hands. "Come on Draco, you and I both know there is one thing you have wanted to do for about forty-two years of your life. You have always found an excuse to try and avoid it because you were a coward to face up to your mistakes. But Draco, come on! You are running out of time! Do not waste it because you are afraid to be rejected. You need to do this, and you know it. Now I ask you again. Isn't there places you wish to go, people, you wish to meet and things you want to do before your time is up?" Hope asked again in her determined voice hoping to persuade her boss into opening his eyes and realizing that what she was referring to must be done before he dies.

Draco sighed before capping his ink and rolling up his parchment. He looked up from his desk before replying in a defeated tone, "Yes, I want to dance with her. I want to dance with Jean."

Author's Note: Arghhh! I have wanted to write this story since I was 17. I am now 23 LOL. Anyways, after many, many, many attempts this story is FINALLY published.

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Please leave a review. I like to know that people are reading...otherwise I tend to procrastinate because I assume no one reads my stories anyways.

Next chapter will be up soon :)

-Majasty

Trivia #1: I am from Melbourne, Australia hence why the first location in this story is Melbourne.

Trivia #2: The names "Orion" and "Archer" are also names of constellations like "Draco."