Pregnant.

The word seemed foreign to Draco, a word that he could never learn to understand. He merely stared at Astoria with an empty look on his face. His eyes lowered to her stomach as if he would see a large bump there. The idea that his child was growing in there – his child. After everything Draco had gone through in his life, after everything he had learned, a child was the last thing he had ever considered. Passing his surname was only one of the small things that had run through his mind. Draco had barely been able to take care of himself growing up, how was he to do so for someone else? He hadn't been shown a healthy example of parenting, either. He didn't really know what it entailed. Besides, he had no friends, no real family. Astoria had more support than he did, but she wasn't particularly close to them, either. She didn't hold any resentment towards them, but she was just so independent.

Draco didn't want to show his initial emotion of dismay. He couldn't read Astoria's body language. He had no idea her opinion of the situation. They had never talked about kids because their relationship had seemed so new so it didn't seem like a conversation they needed to have.

"You sure?" was all that he could spit out.

Astoria had the mind to roll her eyes, but resisted. She had become much more irritable as of late, and that included towards everyone, including Draco. She even annoyed herself.

"Yes," she replied, flatly.

"This is, er… something you want?"

She eyed Draco warily. She wanted to tell him her true opinion, but couldn't bring herself to. It seemed better to appear neutral, but when they both attempted the same tactic, they came across an impasse.

"It wasn't intentional if that's what you're asking," Astoria said. She had felt that he had thrown in the implication. Whether he had or not seemed kind of irrelevant, because she knew that it would cross his mind eventually.

"I would hope not," Draco stated impulsively. Even though it was almost a sneer, Astoria was glad that he at least showed some emotion.

Draco wanted to point out that they had been fairly safe, but clearly not enough. They sat in silence uncomfortably, neither of them knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry," Astoria said suddenly.

"What for? Not like it takes only one person to get pregnant," his tone was almost sarcastic. "You're just the lucky one with the parts."

"What's your thoughts?" Astoria asked. She figured it was best to ask directly or they would around the bush for way too long.

"I…" he paused. "It's not something I expected for myself."

"I feel the same way."

It was difficult for her to say out loud. It was one thing to keep this in her head and almost act like none of this was real, but when she finally let it out, she could feel the severity of the situation. It didn't matter that she had been going to a Healer. It was too early for it to really sink in.

"I guess we'll have to make the best out of this," Draco said. His tone was somewhat grudgingly, but what else could she accept from him? If the tables were turned, Astoria was sure that she would probably react the same way, if not worse. He paused and put his hand on top of hers on the couch between them. "I still have to go to Bill's."

Astoria sighed. It wasn't what she had wanted to hear, but she couldn't control him. She had never been the type to boss someone else around in their life, and she certainly wasn't going to do that to Draco, someone whose life was almost entirely made up of that. She also knew that Draco felt immense responsibility for the case and had put himself entirely into it. She didn't know him without Bill his case. He had shared admittedly too much with her about it, and she could also tell by the way he spoke that he cared about Bill as well. He complained about Bill incessantly, but there was just something underneath that said so much more. The more Draco spoke about someone, whether positively or negatively, seemed to show that he liked them or was envious of them in some way. It was nothing that Astoria pointed out nor intended to. She knew he would deny it.

Their following conversation didn't do much to comfort Astoria other than the fact that finally she had told him. He seemed just as lost as she did, but without officially saying it, came up with the consensus that they were going to go through with it. Astoria Greengrass was going to have Draco Malfoy's baby.

Bill dropped his bag onto his bed and looked around the room as if it were the first time he saw it. Draco stood on the opposite end of the room with his arms crossed. He looked away from Bill and out the window. Even though it had been night time when he had been attacked, the landscape was the same, and it increased anxiety in him. He wouldn't admit it, and he would try to keep the emotions off his face. He believed in the cure this time. There had been no indication otherwise, and they had been extra careful this time. They took extra precautions that they hadn't the first time.

"Wow, this is a great," Bill stated. He didn't look away from the view. He must have found like a released prisoner after all this time. This endless freedom that had been denied to him was suddenly all his. Fleur had given Bill space to settle in, also because when Dominique first met her father, she had burst into tears and needed to be consoled. Bill merely laughed and handed her back as if nothing in the world could bother her.

Draco wondered if he could be the same way with his future child, if he could brush off being rejected like that by them. When Dominque had screamed, Draco had looked at Bill and had expected hurt to cross his face, not amusement. He had spoke endlessly about meeting his child, and so it would have hardly been the introduction he would have expected. Victoire had seemed shy, but she wasn't afraid of her father. It was just the normal shyness that young children showed initially when they hadn't seen in a long while.

He turned around and grabbed Draco's hand and shook it gratefully. "Thanks, mate." He chuckled. "Not really something I ever expected to say to you."

He released Draco's hand and began to unpack. He didn't seem to mind Draco's presence, but Draco supposed it was because Bill had become accustomed to Draco's nearly constant observation. He felt awkward just standing there, so he decided to give Bill some privacy – something that had been denied to him for so long. He almost immediately ran into Fleur. Victoire had scampered off, and Dominique was somewhere else, he supposed in a crib or something. He didn't know how it worked. He saw women with their babies strapped to them or in buggies or laying on the floor. How did one decide what to do with a tiny human like that?

"Merci! Merci beaucoup!" Fleur exclaimed as she drew Draco into her arms. Draco didn't hug her back because he didn't know how to respond. It didn't matter because she quickly released him. He knew that she didn't trust him, but he also knew that she felt grateful. She was torn, and it was obvious in her facial expression. He could see that she was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. She had nothing but appreciation in that moment. Bill was finally home. "I can't believe this day is finally 'ere," she admitted. "You are sure that this is permanent, yes?"

She was clearly concerned. She twisted her hands together in front of herself anxiously. Draco didn't want to tell her that he had believed that Bill should have been fine the last time that he had been given any sort of freedom. But now it seemed to be different.

"Just make sure he takes his potion everyday," Draco instructed as he took a step back from her. He had always been uncomfortable with people standing too close to him.

"Of course," she said, enthusiastically. "I have the instructions stuck to the wall in the kitchen."

As appreciative as she was that he was there, Draco could feel that she wanted to be alone with her husband and family. He went to open his mouth to make his exit when the door of the cottage opened and Ginny Weasley entered, and her smile faltered as her eyes fell upon him.

"Why are you here?" she asked immediately.

He figured that she had just said it without thinking about it.

"I just came to spend time with this lot," he responded sarcastically.

Ginny rolled her eyes and then placed her gaze upon her sister-in-law. "Is he doing alright? Where is he?"

Draco definitely took it as a moment to depart, particularly now that all the attention had been taken off of him. He left the cottage, and instead of Apparating out immediately, he walked himself down to the beach. The wind was brisk and the waves came in, although not very strongly. The sky was overcast and overall dreary, but he supposed that almost anything would look good in that moment. He wanted to go home, but underneath the surface, he didn't want to run into Astoria. He hated himself for thinking that way, as if it was her fault that she was pregnant. But she was the one who carried their offspring, and that was what he thought of most.

He ran a hand over his face in an exasperated fashion before he kicked a stone into the water. He knew that he and Astoria could have had so much. They had met each other almost a year ago and started to officially see each other not long ago. They had experienced such a small amount of time together with just the two of them. Now there would soon be three. Even though Draco felt a strong bond to Astoria, he had no idea if parenting would bring them further together or drag them apart. He hoped it was the former, but there was no way to be sure. He couldn't imagine himself changing nappies or playing pretend. He couldn't imagine Astoria that way either.

He also couldn't bring himself to linger around Shell Cottage forever, especially not with Ginny Weasley lurking around. He expected most of their clan to show up soon, as they always seemed to do. He didn't want to discuss it all with all of these people who had held him down for so long. They had no trust or faith in him, even after all that he had done for them. Instead, he left it to Bill and Fleur to fill in the blanks. A part of him hoped that the couple would speak of him in a favourable light, and he wasn't quite sure why.

He disappeared on the spot and popped out just outside of the hospital. His shift wasn't over, no matter how much he wanted it to be. He didn't know what to do now after Bill had been discharged. He knew it was up to him to keep tabs, but he wasn't the only one. There was a schedule on the wall in his office that kept track of these things, and his calendar would make an annoying noise whenever it was it was to be his turn the next day.

It was his office to where he disappeared. He had to fill out his paperwork regarding Bill. He had already filled out the discharge papers but it was now up to him to fill out his first observation update. He kept it succinct, as he hadn't been there long. If something came up, there was going to be enough people there to deal with it who were better equipped than he anyway. He couldn't imagine it would be long until Potter and Weasley would show up. He wondered if those two hoped something would go wrong so that they could save the day. It was a non-issue, however. As much as he would like to see that duo eliminated from their high ranking positions, it wasn't likely to happen. He and Seamus had made sure of it. Draco had actually sought out help this time. They weren't going to be wrong this time, and Draco desperately hoped that he would get recognition for it.

He sighed as he placed Bill's file into a filing cabinet in the corner of his office. He stretched and then went to the emergency centre. It was where he had initially been hired for, but Bill had become his by accident. A part of him hoped that he would get lucky with another case again like this sometime soon. He needed to keep his mind busy, but he supposed keeping his mind busy with emergencies would work, as well – that is, if half of the intakes were that serious at all and not just simply jinxes or small ailments that wasted up time. When he walked into the area, he could feel eyes on him. He had hardly seen many of these employees in quite some time. He had typically went to his area with Bill, and so now it was like he didn't know where to start. At least this a good way to not think about the fact that his child was being created even as he stood there.