Spellbound

Chapter 1

Draco Malfoy scoffed and tossed the days Daily Prophet down onto his desk. Hermione Granger's face smiled up at him from the front page.

"Brightest witch of our age, my fucking arse. Got lucky, she did. Filthy, little m-"

"Daddy, whats an 'fucking arse'?" said a tiny voice behind him. And when Draco spun around, he was face to face with a tiny little blonde boy. His only son; his mini-me.

"Nothing, Scorp. Nothing you need to say. Especially not in front of your mother." He hoped the 5 year old would listen for once.

"I'll just go ask Mummy, then. Since you won't tell me." The defiant little boy spun on his heel and began to walk away.

"How about- How about we go get ice cream?"

"In Diagon Alley?" The boy turned back to his father with a hopeful look on his face.

Draco grinned at how easily he had been distracted. He had definitely changed since the end of the war. Hell, he'd changed even more since getting married and having a child. He was still a Malfoy, of course, just with a tab bit of a softer edge to him now.

"Yes. In Diagon Alley. Now, go get your shoes on and I'll let Mummy know we're leaving."

As Scorpius darted out of the room, Draco grimaced at what he had almost called Hermione. A word he hadn't uttered since their school days. A word that used to flow freely from his mouth. But God damn it, seeing her just struck a nerve and made him so angry. Maybe it was how successful she had become while, 13 years later, his family was still working their asses off to restore their name. Maybe it was because she seemed to be so happily married to The Weasel and his marriage had never been anything close to perfect and had began crumbling after Scorpius was born. Maybe it was because... He stopped himself and decided the last reason wasn't a reason at all. (Or maybe the biggest reason of all.)

He found his wife in the kitchen, pouring over a cookbook. Her long, flowing hair tied in a messy bun on top of her head. She was beautiful. She was his perfect woman. So, why did he not feel anything for her? His parents had made an arranged, pureblood marriage work (sort of), so why couldn't he?

" 'Storia? I'm gonna take the little guy to Diagon Alley to get some ice cream. We'll be back before dinner."

Astoria sighed and curtly closed her cookbook. "Don't ruin his dinner, please, Draco. And don't buy him anything he doesn't need. And don't... Be gone long."

"What's the matter?" Draco's shoulders fell. He knew he had done or said something wrong, but he didn't know what it was. The sentences that had came out had sounded perfectly reasonable to him.

"You don't think that maybe I'd like to go? Were you even going to ask?"

"Do you want-"

"No, just go, Draco. I have a dinner to fix."

" 'Stor-"

"Go, Draco. For fuck's sake, just go already."

"Fucking damn it, Astoria. Fine. See you later."

Draco practically ran Scorpius over as he stormed into the hallway. "Are you ready to go, Daddy?"

"Yep. Did you tell Mummy bye?"

"Yes, sir. Let's go!" He grabbed Draco's hand and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Ready?"

Scorpius nodded his head, keeping his eyes tightly closed and with a pop the pair disapparated out of the hallway and into the dining room of the Leaky Cauldron. After exchanging pleasantries with Tom the barman, they made their way into the back alley. Draco would have preferred to have just apparated straight into Diagon Alley, but Scorpius just loved watching the wall melt away.

As they walked down the street, Scorpius looked up at his father. "Daddy, can we go to... Foolish & Box and get Mummy a book?"

"It's Flourish & Blotts." He corrected a little too harshly at the mention of his wife. And when he saw his son's face fall, he quickly changed his tone. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that. Why do you want to go to the bookstore and get a book for Mummy?"

"Because she's sad. I want to make her happy."

Draco stopped in his tracks and knelt down in front of the blissfully unaware child. "Oh, my dear boy," he said placing his hand on Scorpius' cheek. "You do make her happy. I know you do. But if you want to find her a present, then we shall find her the best present there is." He stood up and they rejoined hands to continue walking. "Now, the big question is... Do you want to find it before or after ice cream?"

Scorpius didn't miss a beat. "After. Duh."

With smiles on their faces, they made it to the ice cream parlor and ordered. As they were sitting down at the table that Scorpius had picked out, Draco noticed a slender brunette bending over, tying the shoe of a tiny redheaded girl. When she stood up, he tried to sneak a peek at her backside but wasn't sneaky enough. Before he could look away, the little girl had ratted him out. And as the witch turned around to tell him off, he wished he had just kept his eyes to himself.

"Draco Malfoy, you disgusting rat. And in front of, I'm assuming, your son? What in Merlin's name are you trying to teach him?" The woman half-shrieked.

"Granger. I'm sorry. Didn't realize that such an annoying creature as yourself could have such a nice arse."

"Did you really just insult me and compliment me in the same sentence?"

"Hmm... Guess I did. So, famous Miss Granger, huh? You're all over the papers these days with your ministry work and marriage. I bet Weasley just dies everytime the money rolls in. Say, how is it being married to a weasel?"

"How about you ask your wife how it feel to be married to The Amazing Bouncing Ferret and I expect her answer will be the exact opposite of mine." Hermione scrunched her face into a condesending smile.

"Yeah, you're probably right about that. Look, I'm sorry I was rude. How about we start over and you introduce me to the beautiful little girl hiding behind your legs." Draco leaned down and smiled at the tiny girl.

Taken slightly aback by Draco's change in tone and demeanor, Hermione tripped over her words for a second. "This- This is my daughter, Rose. Rosie, say hi to Mr. Malfoy?"

She managed to squeak out a small "Hi." before retreating back behind her mother.

"And who are you?" Hermione smiled at Draco's clone.

"I'm Scorpius! I'm five!" He said, happily.

"Are you?" Hermione smiled at him again, this time brighter and a little happier. "Rosie, here, is only four. But she'll be five soon."

"What's your name?"

"My name's Hermione." She watched as he scrunched his face trying to figure our her complicated name. "But you can call me something else if you'd like. Something easier."

Scorpius thought for a second before declaring, "I like 'Mione. It's smaller."

"You know, I like it, too." She smiled at him and Draco smiled at her. He liked that she was being so nice to his son when there was no earthly reason for her to. Except, of course, that she was a nice person. And beautiful... And... Draco had to shut his brain off again. He was getting sidetracked. "But we have to go now, okay? I was very nice to meet you, Scorpius. And very nice to see you again, Draco."

"Uhm, yeah. You, too, Hermione." Thankfully her voice shook him out of anymore thoughts that he really shouldn't have been thinking.

"Say bye, Rosie?"

Rose squeaked out a "bye!" with out coming out of hiding and then they began to walk off.

"Can I write you?" Scorpius yelled after them.

"I would love it if you would write me!" Hermione grinned at Scorpius and then shot her grin over to Draco. He thought he had seen her give him a quick wink as they popped out of Diagon Alley, but he couldn't be sure. So, he decided to pretend she had. Even though, he probably shouldn't have.

X X X X

When Draco and Scorpius apparated back into their kitchen, Astoria turned away from the pot she was tending on the stove and scowled at Draco. "What took you so long? I thought you were just getting ice cream and figured you'd be back an hour ago."

"He wanted to find you a present. And it took him forever to find you the perfect one. We visited almost every single shop." Brushing off her dirty look, Draco nudges Scorpius. "Wanna give her the present?"

Scorpius handed his mother a bag and her eyes lit up as she pulled out a very ornately designed wooden jewelry box. "Are you happy now, Mummy? I hope you are."

"My sweet, what makes you think Mummy's not happy?"

"You always look sad. And I hear you cry all the time when Daddy's not here. Are you happy now, Mummy? I just wanted you to be happy for once."

"Oh sweet boy," She stroked his cheek. "I'm always happy with you. Don't you worry about me. I'm always happy when I think of you. I love you."

As much as Draco appreciated what Astoria was telling their son, he knew Scorpius was the only reason for her happiness. He knew that he was the reason she was so sad all the time. He knew he didn't make her happy. They had made each other happy for a while, at first. But not "married couple" happy. He knew they were staying together for Scorpius. And knowing all of these things crushed him.

"So, why don't you go get washed up for dinner, darling? It's almost ready." She tousled his hair as he darted out of the kitchen. "Did he really pick that out?"

"All by himself. He really wanted you to have it."

Astoria nodded and turned back to the stove. When she did, Draco walked up behind her, snaked his hands around her waist, buried his face in her hair and breathed deeply. He very much liked how she always smelled like cherry blossoms.

"What are you doing, Draco?" she asked curtly.

"I want to make you happy again. I want you to love me again. Is that too much to ask?" He said quietly, moving away from his wife.

"Was it too much to ask that you loved me in the first place? This marriage is bogus, Draco. And we both know it. We aren't meant for each other. Blood status doesn't matter anymore, so I don't know why we agreed to try and keep up appearences with this shit."

"Come on- "

"No. Quit fooling yourself, Draco. People know. They can tell. Now, please go get ready for dinner. It's almost done."

xxxx

A/N: This is my first HP fic after reading these books since they first came out, so be kind please! Reviews are very much welcomed! :)