The Marriage Decree

Chapter 46: Thank You For Your Concern

Draco lies on his back, staring absentmindedly up at the ceiling. As soon as he climbed into bed, Hermione shuffled closer to him, wrapping her arms around his chest and entwining their legs, preventing him from escaping their bed. He can't take his mind off the file hidden in his potion book downstairs.

He wonders if Mr Vyner managed to figure out which filing cabinet he had purposefully been searching in. Did he know about the missing file? If he did, there's no doubt in Draco's mind that Mr Vyner would inform Kingsley straight away and their access would be revoked. Not that it would make much of a difference. Hermione found out about Karina Rowle and as soon as Draco can entangle himself from his wife, he'll find out about Hyperion Malfoy.

He needs to know what Hyperion could possibly have done that his own mother refuses to acknowledge his existence. Although, to a pureblood family, it could be anything from befriending a Muggleborn to attempting the assassination of the Minister of Magic. Anything that could tarnish the reputation of a pureblooded family was cause for being disowned and forgotten about.

Not wanting to waste any more time lying in bed thinking about it, he carefully rolls Hermione over to her own side of the bed and makes his escape. He pauses under the threshold of the door to ensure she's still sleeping and not about to walk in on him whilst he's read the file. He watches as she shuffles into a more comfortable position and then sighs softly before making his way downstairs into the living room.

The potion book he had chosen to hide the file in was the first book on the bottom shelf of the bookshelves. He removes the book, taking it into the kitchen where he waves his wand at the kettle to silence it, then flicks the switch. He wasn't going to take any risk of waking Hermione up. He makes himself a cup of tea then takes a seat at the kitchen table, facing the kitchen door, with the book laid in front of him. He takes a long sip from his cup, sets it down and then opens the book to the page with the file.

Draco flicks through the file only to find a few pieces of parchment which confuse him. If Hyperion did something to cause himself to be disowned, he would have expected to find a lot more than three pieces of parchment. With a deep sigh and another sip from his teacup, he picks up the first piece of parchment.

'Hyperion Malfoy (1947 - ), is the eldest child and son of Abraxas Malfoy (1919 – 1986) and Marcella (Black) Malfoy (1920 – 1977). On 15th February 1956, Abraxas and Marcella took their son to the Ministry of Magic to have his magic tested where it was discovered Hyperion Malfoy is a Squib. Abraxas Malfoy sent his son to live in a Muggle orphanage. It is unknown what became of Hyperion Malfoy.'

Draco has to reread the first piece of parchment five times before it finally sinks in. He stands up abruptly, regretting the noise the chair makes as it scrapes along the kitchen floor. He paces the kitchen from the back door to the living room door, running his hands through his hair and down his face. He pauses in front of the file to reread the paragraph once more.

"Hyperion Malfoy is the eldest child and son of Abraxas and Marcella Malfoy." He mutters to himself as he reads "He's my uncle." He says as he starts pacing again. "I have an uncle." He laughs, going back over to the table.

He sits back down at the table, taking a quick sip from his tea cup before picking up the second piece of parchment.

'Muggle records show that a Hyperion Malfoy lived in Staffa, Hollybush Hill in Snaresbrook, London, until February 1964 when the orphanage closed down. There are no Muggle records of Hyperion Malfoy moving to Exeter, Devon with the other Staffa orphans, however, he was seventeen years old at the time and most likely stayed in London to find employment.'

Draco can barely believe what he's reading. He has an uncle who's a squib and was sent to live in a muggle orphanage in London. How can there not be any records of him since 1964? Don't muggles make records when someone gets married or buys a house? Unless his uncle moved away to another country once the orphanage closed down.