My Son

Chapter2:

Through the half-open window, Draco watched the snow fall. Sitting in the waiting room of St. Mungo's, he waited. On the other side of the wall, his son was dying. A potion accident. An ingredient in excess. Not good. A student who struggled between life and death. How could he be so stupid to do that? Had he not inherited the intelligence of his mother?

Tears began to flow down Draco's cheeks. He did not want to lose his only son.

He remembered the day he had picked it up. He saw again the smile of this little angel and then the joy of Daphne when he had announced to him that they were going to raise this child like theirs. She had not asked him anything other than his name. Since he did not know, they had chosen him together. GABRIEL. A nice, neutral name, no relation to Voldemort or Harry. They had spent the evening arranging a room for him and thinking about what they would tell to justify the birth of this child. And for the first time since their marriage they had shared the same bed.

It was the next morning, shortly after they awoke, that they learned that the dark lord had been wiped out. They had looked at each other and they had smiled for a second: the world was free and their son, since he was now, would grow up in a country in peace. It was when they heard shouts outside and the aurors knocked on the door that they remembered that they were not in the right camp.

It was Bill Weasley who was responsible for the arrest. Draco did not object because he had nothing to defend himself and because he had to protect his wife and son. He remembers smiling when he thought Hermione would come for his child. He thought of the happy life he was going to have. Bill must have seen him smile because he had called him crazy.

Ginny had appeared at that time. She was impressive in her auror dress. His approach was that of a tired, injured person. Draco knew that she had just escaped from the Riddle's mansion, where he had been healing the night before. She had thrown herself into her brother's arms and prevented this arrest. Draco had not heard their conversation, just the last sentence: he treated me, it's thanks to him that I'm alive. He gave Luna a potion to kill her so she would not crack and reveal a secret of the Order of the Phoenix.

When he did that, he did not know he was doing it for the Order of the Phoenix. He did it for Luna, who was suffering and begged him to let her go. He had once acted without selfishness, had disobeyed his master, at his expense. What would have happened if Voldemort had discovered his gesture? But he did not know that this gesture, one day, would allow him to avoid Azkaban to him and his family.

Daphne then proposed a seat for Ginny to sit down and give her a drink. The young auror was exhausted. She had asked Bill about her friends and he had told him about Ron's death and Hermione's death. Draco and his guest had kept his tears when this news was announced. Ginny had looked at Gabriel and said: this war is over, this child will live happily with his parents in a world in peace.

Then she was gone and Daphne took Draco in her arms. She did not know what was going on and Draco never told him about it. He never revealed to her that this child's two parents had died that night. She congratulated him for having sided with the Order of the Phoenix, not only because it saved their lives today, but because he had joined the court of justice.

Daphne died a year later from a death eater's wand that the ministry had not yet arrested. In killing him, he wanted to avenge Draco's betrayal. This Death Eater was Damien, the little brother of Lucius, his uncle. Draco cried for a long time for his wife, the one who had known how to be his best friend and who had shared his life, starting with the worst: this war and ending with the best: Gabriel's education.

Draco was left alone with his son. The only person who knew that he was not the biological father was him. He never revealed this information to Gabriel. Their life was beautiful.