With you in my Arms

92. Get a move on

The next couple of days saw Draco and Hermione spend their time with walks in the grounds of Malfoy Manor as well as them reading together in the library and while their infant was mostly asleep they tried to be awake together as much as they could.

Right now Hermione was taking a nap. Their son had been especially hungry the previous night. With a look of contentment on his face the new father was observing his son and heir in his cot. All snuggled in and... Heir. Draco looked up and stared into space. Somewhere at the back of his mind alarm bells where ringing. He couldn't quite say why, but there was something about... No, he wouldn't even think the name of his son. Better save than sorry. He knew that his beloved witch wouldn't use Legilimency on him deliberately, but she was a girl and as such very curious by nature.

A moment later it hit him. Heir! He was the heir to his father as his son was his own heir. But the will stated that there must be only one living Malfoy male in order for Draco to inherit. Now there were two!

"You bastard!" he cursed quietly.

That evil... evil... words failed him while trying to find something to express his utter disgust for the man who had sired him. He wouldn't be able to inherit under any circumstances. The will stated that he needed to produce a son, but at the same moment there mustn't be any other male... With creased brows he slowly climbed off the bed and walked over to his desk. It only took him a few minutes to compose a letter addressed to the Minister of Magic. Was he aware of this? Had the auror, Allerby, also realised that inheriting was impossible for him no matter what they tried?

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Kingsley Shaklebolt needed several minutes until he had woken up enough in order for him to realise that the annoying noise was an owl tapping against his window.

Retrieving the letter and feeding the bird some treads gave him just about enough time to wake up before reading this very early correspondence. He glanced at the alarm clock on his night stand. 3:48 am. He groaned. This better be important.

I can't inherit as I have a son.

What? He sat on his bed and then skipped to the bottom of the page.

Draco Malfoy

He sighed. What was it this time?

I needed to present a son to my father.

Yes, of course. They all knew that.

But there has to be only one living male Malfoy in order for me to inherit at the same time.

Yes, he knew that as well. Allerby had filled him and Henri in.

Me and my son are TWO male Malfoys alive.

Yes, father and son... Then it finally dawned on the Minister what he was told. Lucius Malfoy had it made impossible for his son Draco to lay claim to the Malfoy estate regardless of what he did. Except maybe, if he killed his son after having shown him to his grandfather. Lost for words he stared at the parchment in his hands. How was it that one man could be this maliciously evil? Voldemort started to look like a fluffy bunny in comparison.

"Merlin! What are we going to do?"

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It had been a long while since the Head of the Auror Office was woken in the middle of the night for an emergency meeting with Kingsley. The last time had been at the height of the war.

He arrived with his shirt only half buttoned up, two differently coloured socks and a hairdo that would take some serious brush work to correct. The mug of steaming tea in his hand threatened to burn his fingers more than once as he hastened through the empty corridors of the Ministry of Magic.

"Henri, good of you to come straight away." He was greeted as he reached the Minister's office.

"It sounded pretty bad. What has happened?"

"Sit down. Allerby should be here any minute as well."

Henri frowned. Allerby was coming? That meant it had to do with the Malfoy estate and by definition it involved Lucius Malfoy as well.

"Ah, Allerby. Take a seat."

Nodding to his boss the auror took at seat.

"I know it's very early and I would have preferred it, if I didn't have to deal with this, but there you go."

"What exactly has happened? Has the monster escaped again?"

"No, he's still securely in Azkaban. There is something in his will that we all seemed to have overlooked, something essential."

Kingsley took a sip from his own tea before he continued.

"Allerby, one of the requirements of inheritance is the showing of a boy, Draco has fathered, to Lucius, right?"

"Yes."

"Another requirement is that there must be only one male Malfoy left."

"That's not quite correct. There must be only one heir left." Allerby corrected, "Though... The Malfoys inherit down the male line, which means neither Narcissa nor Hermione would be regarded as heir. They would be only seen as custodians for the heir. Any living male Malfoy would be an heir."

"Fine, but still. Draco can't show his father a son, another Malfoy, if he wants to get what rightfully belongs to him as his son and him are two Malfoy heirs..."

It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when they did, the Minister for Magic could see that both wizards facing him knew what he tried to say.

"How can one man be so evil? Why would Lucius do his best to destroy his own family?"

"I have no idea, but we need to get this sorted. Once and for all! I want to dispose of that malicious monster." Kingsley said.

Allerby looked as if he was lost in his own little world. His brows were crunched together and a frown had settled on his face. He knew that there was always an escape route, a Plan B, in any magical contract and will. It was supposed to keep the balance of things intact and in this case this delicate equilibrium would be severely disturbed, if Lucius was allowed to screw his son over like he seemed to have intended. There was a way for the lad to get what was rightful his, without having to do something unthinkable like killing his own flesh and blood. They just had to find it.

In this moment in time there were two natural heirs to the Malfoy legacy, Draco and... whatever the child would be called in the end. Lucius was the one dictating the terms for Draco to inherit and in turn the lad was the one... The frown on his face got even more pronounced. Kingsley and Henri exchanged glances. If the youngest Malfoy was excluded from inheriting he wasn't an official heir any longer and his father could claim the estate. This would mean for the infant to be disinherited though. Draco would have to make a will of his own in order to achieve this. Changing a will later on wasn't that complicated, but in this case there were too many variables to consider. Nobody wanted Draco to have his son go through what he was going through in the moment. Then again...

Kingsley had met Allerby on only a handful of occasions in the past. The auror was mainly working on the legal aspects of the cases the Auror Office was involved in. He was a good enough fighter, but his strength was the unravelling of magical contracts and their detailed implications, just like in this case. Maybe it would have been better to have him deal with the Malfoy papers from the start, but there had never been any incident of a lawyer being as compromised as it had transpired for Snuggens to be this case. They would be warned for the future though.

Allerby was still looking at the situation from all possible and some impossible angles. In his mind he ran through the exact wording of the will and after a moment a wide grin appeared on his face. There it was! The loophole guaranteeing the balance was simple, but effective. Now they had only to persuade the young Malfoy couple to actually go through with it. He went over the legalities in his mind just to make sure he hadn't overlooked anything. He hadn't.

"I think, I found a way out off this."

Head Auror and Minister for Magic looked at him.

"I'd like to explain it to them as well as you at the same time, if that is okay."

Glances were exchanged again.

"Sure. I'll owl them and ask them to come here as soon as possible."

"Thanks."