Henrietta Potter And The Slytherin Child - (A 'Henrietta Potter' sequel) || D.M

13 - Astoria

A/N: This is a new chapter which wasn't in the original publication. I have added it in the hope that it gives a little more depth and understanding behind Draco's marriage to Astoria.

******

Shifting the tray to one hand, Draco tentatively pushed open the door where, on the other side, his wife lay dying.

"Did Scorp settle in okay?" Astoria rasped weakly as he set the tray down on the little table over her lap.

He nodded a dismissal to the nurse, an elderly witch who had been hired as Astoria's full-time carer, waiting until she vacated the room before he answered his wife's question.

"He certainly seemed happy to be with his friend," he said, repositioning the pillows behind her back as he helped her to sit up. "The break should do him good."

He pushed the vegetable smoothie he had made for her across the tray and positioned the straw so that she could tilt her head forward and catch it in her mouth. After taking a long sip, she let her head fall back against the pillows, exhausted. Draco looked away, finding it too painful to see her this way, the guilt eating him up.

"Tell me about her," Astoria said breathlessly when she regained some strength back. "Was she friendly towards you? Does she have a nice home?"

"Uh-" Draco felt the stirrings of panic, he had not expected this. Astoria had seemed happy enough for Scorpius to stay there simply on the basis that all he ever did was rave about Albus and she would never deny him a single thing. "It's a modest house in a modest part of the country."

He was playing it down. What he had actually thought when he had arrived at Etta's abode was how perfect it all was. It was warm and homely, full of love and life, reflecting Etta's personality down to a tee. It made him dread returning to the cold and draughty Manor where memories of death, fear and torture were waiting for him around every corner.

"Was it awkward for you? I know you two had your differences during Hogwarts. It must be strange for you both to have your sons so friendly."

"It was a long time ago," he shrugged, hoping he was coming across as casual, "we were just kids back then, both with egos too big to be able to stand in the same room."

"Did you stay long?"

"Just for a quick coffee. Albus was showing Scorp his Muggle games when I left."

"That must have been painful for you." A weak smile tugged at her lips, briefly lighting up her face. "I can imagine Henrietta Potter is a good mother; it mustn't be easy for her bringing up a child on her own."

A silence fell and Draco glanced down at his hands, absentmindedly twirling his wedding ring round and round his finger.

"She's a strong woman," he said quietly, his heart giving a painful squeeze. "She always has been. It's what gave her the strength to walk to her death."

He was so consumed in his own feelings of guilt and remorse that he did not notice Astoria frowning at him.

"It's her, isn't it?"

Draco blinked, trying to make sense of her unexpected question.

"The woman who has your heart." Astoria pressed, her voice steady. "The woman who has always had your heart."

The atmosphere seemed to shift, and Draco was left momentarily winded as the breath all but left his body.

"I don't- I have no idea-" Draco started spluttering, completely thrown by what his wife was saying. She no longer looked weak and frail, but somehow fierce and defiant as she looked up at him, daring him to argue.

"Stop it, Draco. I know you've never loved me. From the very beginning it was clear that you were pining after someone else. I used to kid myself that time was all you needed, that maybe one day you would wake up and love me like you love this other woman. But you never did. Every day I would see the sadness in your eyes and the pain etched on your face. I used to resent you for it at first, used to feel so angry. But then you gave me Scorp and suddenly I was okay about not being your world because I was his and he was mine."

"Astoria," Draco's voice was barely a whisper as he shakily sat down in the chair next to her bed, scarcely believing what he was hearing; scarcely believing that all this time she had known and yet she had never said a single thing, never gave the slightest indication.

"The thing is," she spoke gently, surprising him by reaching out to take his hand in hers, "I actually find myself feeling sorry for you."

Draco's eyes lifted in surprise, wondering why she wasn't shouting at him or at least throwing her smoothie across the room with the little strength she had left. Instead, she was pitying him.

"Why?" he asked, his voice strangled. "Why are you being so... nice?"

She gave a small laugh, shaking her head. "Believe me, there was a time when I hated you for it. Even when we used to make love you looked as though you would rather be somewhere else, with someone else." Draco flinched, feeling utterly ashamed. "But I'm dying, Draco. And I need to let go of my anger... for Scorp's sake as well as my own. I want him to have a happy father. And if I'm the only reason stopping you from being that then I don't want to be anymore."

"What are you saying?"

"Go and do what makes you happy. I'm giving you my permission. Just promise me one thing. Promise me that you will tread carefully with Scorp. I want you to be happy, but not at his expense."

"I'm not going to just abandon you, Astoria. Not like this."

"I'm not going to be around much longer," she whispered, her face crumpling as tears began to swim in her eyes, threatening to spill over, "and the thought that you are simply waiting for me to die so that you can go to her is more than I can bear. I'm not asking you to divorce me, I'm asking you not to wish me dead."

Draco's heart thudded noisily against his ribs as he squeezed her hand in his, desperate to try and find the right words to console her, to try and make this whole train wreck he'd created somehow right again.

"Astoria, I could never-"

"Don't insult my intelligence, Draco," she spoke sharply, slipping her hand out of his. "I'm dying, not stupid. You have loved her since school, haven't you? You've never stopped."

Slowly, because Draco now knew he owed her the truth, he nodded.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as what she already knew was confirmed. But Draco could not give her the whole truth, could not admit that he had betrayed her more than she realised. Not when it risked upsetting Scorpius.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, knowing that, after all this time, his apology meant so little. She had not deserved any of this and he had treated her appallingly.

And, because he knew it was the very least he could do, he dismissed the nurse altogether and spent the next two weeks caring for his wife.

*****