_____

''Only ours.''

_____

Amelie stared at Draco, frighteningly and wide-eyed. He failed to speak a word for minutes, but to her, it felt like hours. It felt like those weeks she kept it from him.

He didn't say a thing. He simply looked at her. Straight in her eyes. Into her soul, and he pinned something there. A piece of himself. A piece of him. Peace. He placed his peace with her, hoping it would be enough to protect her. Protect both of them. Her. His Amelie and their baby. But he didn't say it. He didn't speak it. He just meant it.

She could feel it. She could always feel him. Amelie felt how he gave them the last of his soul, how he granted her everything that was left of him. Everything but the sinners that kept feasting on him.

''Draco...'' She said, so quietly that he barely caught it, ''Please say something.''

He didn't. Malfoy swallowed hard as he wrapped the hand still holding the ring around her neck, and he pushed his lips to her forehead, ''I love you,'' He whispered.

''Please,'' She begged him, ''Please, don't go.''

Sealing his eyes and breathing in the calmness she brought, before he let go of her altogether, and he walked out. Leaving her in tears behind him.

Draco couldn't see her like that. He couldn't possibly look at her when she cried, when she stood there in front of him carrying his child. He couldn't stand himself for doing that to her. How he so desperately despised himself at that moment.

He did that to her. He settled himself inside her, and now he was more vulnerable than he was before. He put her at risk. He had spent nearly two years protecting her. Shielding her from everything he could, only to be the absolute downfall of her.

Believing that he ruined her, he hated himself. He couldn't do this, not to her.

''Draco—'' Narcissa called out for him as he marched past them, heading down to the cellar where he'd been locked up for weeks. She could hear how infuriated he was on the steps he was taking, ''Draco, dear!''

He was already gone, storming down the stairs, he reached the bottom floor, and he yanked at the door. It was locked. The door was locked, and he didn't have his wand. He'd left it upstairs with her. Her. He failed her.

Malfoy was angry. So angry that it only took three boots with his foot to cave the metal.

He booted it open. Leaving it shattered behind as he stepped through the entrance. He didn't spare a second. He went straight for the chair, for the table, for the chains. He ripped it all to pieces. He threw it as it shredded along the walls.

He took it all out in that room, over and over until he fell to his knees. His chest heaving. Rising and falling uncontrollably. Draco usually had control. He didn't now. He didn't own any rule over himself, and before he knew what was happening, he shouted.

He shouted so loud that the rocks coating the walls shook. The floor vibrated. He broke. He broke and broke and broke again.

He razed her. He destroyed her. He ruined her.

She was stuck with him for eternity now. Not that he didn't want it. He did. If there was anything Malfoy ever wanted in this life, it was a life with her. Filled with her. Crowded with them. Him and her mixed and fused together. He wanted her to carry their children. He wanted her to have them, to have them with her.

He just didn't think he deserved it. He didn't deserve what was happening. He didn't deserve her. He didn't deserve the child she was carrying. He didn't deserve any of it. He didn't deserve to be a father. He couldn't even stay when she told him about it.

He ran. He fled. He escaped. He left her upstairs in tears. He asked her to marry him, and she was pregnant. She is pregnant. Amelie is pregnant. She's growing a child. Their child. Them. She's growing a part of him and a part of her as they speak, and he walked out. He didn't deserve her.

''Draco, darling...'' Narcissa stood in her own tears, staring at what her son had done in that cellar. Everything was torn and ripped to pieces. Her son was spiraling again, and there wasn't a thing she could do to stop it, ''Tell me what happened.''

Draco didn't tell her. He stayed on his knees with his hands tugging at the roots of his hair. Tangling his fingers into the blond strands and pulling. He wanted pain. He deserved the pain.

''Dear...'' Narcissa kneeled next to her son, lifting a hand and stroking his forehead with the spine of it, ''Whatever this is, we'll figure it out. We'll take care of it, and it will be alright.''

He merely scoffed at that. A shrug of his shoulders was what he gave.

''I know it might seem pointless now, but you are together again. You have her, and with her by your side, it will be—''

''Amelie is pregnant, mother. She's bloody pregnant.'' He raised his chin, looking at the tears rolling down his mother's cheeks, ''She's nineteen years old, and I made her fucking pregnant.''

Her face held so much worry for her son. He had been through enough, ''I see....'' She said, sympathetically, ''I could tell something was wrong.''

''Wrong?'' He hissed, cocking his head and looking up at her again, ''I got her pregnant, mother. She's carrying my fucking child at nineteen, and I can't—'' His voice broke again. His neck arched as he buried his face in his hands, ''I can't do this to her.''

''You're nineteen too, son,'' Narcissa said, placing her hands on his shoulders, ''You're only nineteen as well.''

''I know I am,'' Draco's voice ruptured, ''But this isn't about me. It's about her. I wanted more for her. I wished so much more for her. Not this. Not this life. Not stuck with me and what she's carrying.''

''What did Amelie say?''

''Nothing'' He was quick to reply, ''I didn't give her a chance. I just walked out.''

''Draco...''

''I know!'' He gritted, clenching his jaws in shame. He knew how wrong it was of him to do that to her, ''I know I fucked up. I shouldn't have walked out. I should've stayed.''

''You should've,'' His mother pathed her hands up his neck until they settled on his cheeks. Bending his face in order to see him properly, ''But if anyone understands that you need a minute —  it's her. She knows that you're not going anywhere. This is a lot for the both of you, and I presume she has had a few weeks to deal with this on her own?''

''That's what bloody hurts, mother,'' His eyes flickered. He felt so at fault, ''She didn't come to me right away. I think she doesn't trust me after... what I did to her. I don't think she wanted me to know in case I would hurt her again.''

''Oh, Draco,'' Narcissa brought him into a hug now. A warm embrace that healed so many wounds he didn't know he held. They didn't do this too often anymore. Talk. His mother had enough to take care of when it came to Atlas, and he didn't want to stand in the way of that — while he, himself, wished to be with Amelie in all the ways he could, ''You have no idea how wrong you are.''

Draco huffed out, on the edge of tears.

''She trusts you more than anyone, but to find out about something like this, at her age, with her background... that isn't easy, son. She trusts you. She just needs to find the strength to trust herself.''

''I didn't want to hurt her,'' Draco was breaking again. It felt to him as if everything was coming down over him. Everything he tried to push away. Everything he'd neglected. It crashed. He crashed, ''I didn't want to do this to her.''

Nodding, she felt how her son was nearly crying into her shoulder, ''Do you want this, Draco? Do you want this future with her?''

''Of course, I do,'' Malfoy didn't even hesitate. He answered even before he could hear her question fully, ''There's nothing I want more than this, and especially with her. I want her, mother. All of it. She's it for me. You know that.''

Narcissa smiled. She smiled because she heard how far he'd come.

When Draco was a child and growing up — he wasn't like the person he tended to be today. He was everything she never wished for him to be, and to see him now, to see him opening up and to see him be the man Amelie caused him to be, that was everything to her.

Narcissa did it. She succeeded. They made it.

''Do you know...'' Being hesitant, she doubted her question for a moment, ''Do you know how long?''

''At least six weeks. Since the night I made it out. We had a... moment after that,'' Draco felt a coiling feeling, something speaking against what he told his mother, but at the same time, it didn't feel strange telling her. He liked being truthful with her, ''Or before that. We did things before I was captured.''

''You haven't been with each other after that? So that it can be later on?'' She asked but was greeted by him, drawing back from her and giving her a suspicious glare, ''I don't... I'm just trying to understand, Draco. It's alright if you don't want to tell me.''

Malfoy's mouth twitched a bit in uncertainty, ''We have... a few times.''

''But you're sure that it was six weeks ago?''

''If it were earlier, it would've shown when Teddy healed her after her mother stabbed her. I think we would've known.'' Draco wiped the tears that were close to falling. Before they fell, he didn't deserve to cry, ''It had to be then. It just feels like it was that time. It meant a lot to the both of us.''

Nodding, she let her hand brush across his hair, smiling, ''I can help her tomorrow, do a spell, and we'll find out everything we need to know, but for now, Draco, for now, I think you need to go up there and be with her. No matter how terrifying this is for you — imagine how it is for her. She's been alone in this for six weeks. That can't be easy.''

The guilt swallowed him again. His veins ached at the thought of it. Her being alone. Her going through that alone. Finding it out alone. He couldn't even envision what that had to be like for her.

''I just...'' Shaking his head, he withdrew from his mother. Shifting in his position and hugging his knees to his chest, ''I don't know if I'll be good at it. Being... responsible for another human like that. Being a—'' He couldn't even speak it. He didn't feel worthy of speaking the term.

''A father?'' Narcissa held that gracious smile on her lips, ''You don't think you'll be good at being a father? Well, let me tell you something, Draco. I was only a couple of years older than you when I became your mother, and I have never feared anything as much as I feared not being enough for you at that age.'' She took a breath, gazing at her son, ''But I don't think age has anything to do with it. I think it's about you and how you are as a person, and if that's the case — I can't think of anyone that would suit better as parents than the two of you.''

Draco was so close to tears again. He wanted to believe that. He wished he could. He knew Amelie would be amazing, even with her background — it would only strengthen her to be an even better mom than he'd ever thought she'd be.

Mother. Amelie would become a mother. She would become the mother of his child. That should scare him, but somehow, that only caused him to fall harder. He loved her even more, knowing that she was at that very moment, carrying their child.

Their child. It was something special with those words as they went on repeat in his head. Hitting his mind and blurring his thoughts over and over. She would be a mom. She would be a mother, and she'd be the best mother he'd ever met. He didn't doubt that for a second.

''That child, Draco. Your child will be the luckiest child in the world.''

He hoped so. Oh, how he hoped so. He knew so. He knew his child would be the happiest luckiest child there was because it was hers. Hers and his. Theirs. Their child. She's pregnant.

''You think so?'' Malfoy peered up at his mother, dragging both of his hands through his hair, ''Do you think I can do this? Do you think I could be a father?''

''I know you can,'' Narcissa said softly as she bent forward, planting a kiss on her son's head, ''I know you will. You'll be the best father I have ever seen, and she'll be the best mother.''

Mother. Amelie was becoming a mother. He still couldn't get that through his head. The mother of his child. Lucky. He was so lucky. Not only was their future child lucky, but so was he. He was so lucky that she was the one he got to do this with.

That feeling of joy quickly faded. It went so fast that he barely felt it until it was gone. He saw his mark. The dark mark that was carved into his skin. He hated himself again. Hate. Hate. Hate.

Narcissa noticed. Ever since her son got that mark, she could always tell how insecure it caused him to be, ''That mark changes nothing, Draco. Nothing.''

''Except it does,'' He mumbled. His voice leveled harder, more disappointment increased, ''It changes everything. I don't want my child to have a Death Eater as a father.''

''You did,'' His mother spoke, brushing her hair out of her face until her hands settled in her lap, still seated on the floor with her son, ''Your father is a Death Eater, Draco, and that changed nothing in how he felt about you. Your father loved you, even if he did all the wrong things. You turned out better than I ever thought you would with the background you have. That mark changes nothing.''

That wasn't what scared him. Draco knew he wasn't the mark inked in his skin. He knew he wasn't a Death Eater like the rest, but it scared him. It scared him to think about the future. Knowing that the symbol he carried would one day come to haunt his child. His family.

Her. She was his family.

''It's everything,'' Malfoy sighed, looking away, ''It's everything around it, mother. It's what will happen next, what will happen to her and our child, and the little one upstairs. Atlas. Is the Dark Lord going to find them? Will he turn their mother against them? Will he kill them? Will he take them from me? It's that I don't know. I don't know shit, and it makes me feel so fucking helpless. If I don't know — I can't protect her.''

''She has a whole house of people to protect her, including herself. She's not the same girl you brought home almost two years ago, Draco. She's stronger now. So much stronger and with the will of protecting all of you, her brother, you, Teddy, Adrian, and that child growing inside her... She'll be unstoppable. I don't think you have to worry much about her.''

''That's all I do. All I do is worry about her.'' It was. He did. Amelie was it all to him. The person worth being worried for. Nothing would change that. Even in a life where she'd immortal, he'd still worry, ''I'm... I'm scared, mother. I'm scared for her. I'm scared of what she'll do when that day comes. When they come for her. I'm so scared that she'll give herself up to protect Atlas and her mother.''

It ached again. It ached so much. It turned unbearable on that floor. It crawled within him. It ached and stung.

He stood up, pacing around now, ''I'm so scared that I'll lose her. What do I do, mother? If I don't lose her because of the Dark Lord, I'm sure I'll lose her for what I've done. Even if we find a way to beat him — I'm still guilty of murder. Not only Death Eaters. I killed for him. I slaughtered for him even before she came into the picture. I'll be put on trial, and I'll be found guilty because I am, mother. I am guilty. I killed good people. For God's sake — I killed children.''

She did what he'd done. Narcissa stood up. Brushing her long skirt down and fixing her hair before she looked at her son again, ''If that's the case, we'll deal with it when we get there, but nothing is going to happen to you. If you have to serve time for what you've done — I'll be here. Or I'll take the blame for you. You know I will. She'll never be alone, and neither will you.''

''Promise me, mother,'' Draco demanded, seriously now. He stopped. He didn't pace around anymore, ''If anything happens to me. You'll take care of her. You'll protect her — them. All of them. You choose her. You choose her over our child. We can make another child. Hell, we can make ten more, but there's only one Amelie."

''Draco—''

''No,'' He wasn't playing around now. Amelie was everything, ''I need you to promise me that you'll choose her. That you'll make Teddy choose her if it ever comes down to it. She would never do that. She'd choose that child, unborn or not. She'd choose our child over herself without question, but I need you to promise me that you won't let that happen.''

He'd do it too. He would choose their child over himself without a second thought, but he couldn't let her do it. Never.

Narcissa tipped her head, stepping closer to her son over the chaos he'd made, and once again, she wrapped her arms around him, ''You know I will. You know I will protect that girl with my life and especially now when she's carrying my grandchild. I'll do my best to protect them both, Draco.''

It warmed Draco, hearing that. It almost made him as warm as Amelie did. He was giving his mother a grandchild. That was something he never thought he would.

''But speaking of her... I think it's time, Draco. I think you need to talk to her.''

''What if she doesn't want this?'' He was scared again, ''What if she doesn't want this like I do?''

''Sometimes, dear,'' Narcissa chuckled amusingly, ''Sometimes I wonder where all that sanity you usually hold goes when you speak foolish things like that.''

_____

Amelie had gone to bed. She stayed up for as long as she could, but from being exhausted by the sickening feeling she so constantly carried — to crying her heart out at the way he left her earlier, she couldn't stay awake any longer.

Not wishing to run after him, she understood that he needed time. He needed time to think, to process what she told him. Amelie had the three weeks she kept this to herself to gather her thoughts of what this meant. Draco needed time too. She knew that.

So she tried to sleep. She tried to cry herself to sleep because that was the one thing she couldn't stop doing. Crying. She couldn't stop crying.

Amelie was happy. She was so happy that she indeed had a child growing inside her. That no matter how this would end, what would rule the world, and what regime would concur — a part of them both would live even if they didn't.

A part of Draco's love for her, a part of him would still be there. And a piece of her. A piece of her unconditional love for him. Their love for each other. Nothing calmed her more than that. If she didn't make it, he'd have someone to love, someone to care for, someone that would care for him. He wouldn't be alone.

But that also made her terrified, scared out of her mind. Amelie was frightened to a point where she didn't know what to do anymore because now she had one more soul to shield. Something more that Draco would feel responsible over, and it ripped her apart. It caused her heart to shatter.

Stroking her hand over her stomach, she tried to ease the pain. All the pain she felt. All the hurt that could come from this.

It wasn't until she heard the door to their room open and close. His steps marching quietly over the floor as he shut the wood to the bathroom behind him. Hearing how he showered and how he later walked out of it. It wasn't until the moment he lifted the cover on his side of the bed and until she sensed his arms wrapping around her chest, she felt like she could breathe again.

He didn't touch her belly. His touch landed across her ribs, and he pulled her spine into his chest. Draco's breaths fanned against her shoulder, trailing shivers all over her skin.

''I'm sorry,'' He whispered, kissing her neck, ''I'm so sorry.''

Amelie felt tears in the lids of her eyes. They burnt. They stung. They were so threateningly close to falling.

''I'm sorry I walked out on you,'' Draco continued, holding her close, ''You didn't deserve any of it.''

''Don't—'' She breathed her words so silently, ''Don't be sorry. This is a lot. This is so much.''

''It still wasn't fair to you,'' There was a tear in his vocals. He held so much remorse for how he'd handled the situation, ''I shouldn't have left.''

Amelie grasped at his hand, carefully bringing it up to her lips. She kissed the palm of it, ''You did what you had to do, Draco. It's fine.''

It wasn't fine. To him, nothing of what he'd done was fine.

''I just...'' Pushing his mouth into the back of her head, he mumbled, ''I just needed... a moment. I did this to you. I caused this.''

Amelie shifted around in his arms, her pulse quickening at his words as she faced him in the darkness, ''It's not your fault. This is as much my doings as it is yours. I didn't stop it. I let you... be inside me.''

''I should've stopped it,'' He said. He wasn't regretting it. He loved being with her in that way. Even if this were the outcome, he'd do it again, ''I didn't mean to do this to you. It was reckless—''

''I don't—'' Her fingers brushed along his jaw as she admired him. She was looking at him so lovingly. She loved him so much. Amelie loved Draco more than she thought was possible. She read a lot of love stories in her life. Teddy used to read her romance, but never did she think she'd have her own love story right there. In front of her. Him. Draco, ''I don't regret it....''

Draco blinked. He blinked surprisingly. He didn't regret it either. He just thought she did. He didn't think she wanted this. He didn't think she wanted this with him. She had been crying when he walked out. He thought that meant no, that it meant something bad. Something they'd never be or never have.

''I know you do. I know you regret it, and I'm so sorry that you do. You don't have to be a part of this, any of it. I can do this, Draco. I think I can do this by myself—''

''Shut up,'' He muttered and without resting another second. He kissed her. He pulled her body to his, and he kissed her. So deeply, ''For a Ravenclaw, Amelie. You're more than foolish sometimes.''

It took him minutes. It took him so many kisses that he was out of breath before he held the strength to pull away from her.

He needed her. He needed her so much that his lungs didn't fill with air unless she was breathing the same as he did. His heart didn't beat unless it was in bearing with hers. His heart. That's what she was. Amelie was his heart. She was all of him. All the good and all the bad. Everything. She was every little thing of him.

''I don't—'' She clung onto him, with everything she was. She was his. He was hers. It was them. Had been. Will be. Is. It's them, ''I didn't think—''

''That what?'' Draco smiled shyly. He still didn't dare to touch her stomach, ''That I'd stay? That I'd leave you? That I'd walk away after everything? After what we've been through? That I'd give up on you?''

She was shaking now. Crying. She was crying again. Happy. He knew that now. She was crying because she was happy. He made her happy.

''I'm yours, and you're mine, Amelie....'' He whispered, silently against her lips, ''And this....'' He took her hands in his, and he placed all four of them on her belly. He finally touched her. Them, ''And this is ours.''

Sobbing out, Amelie's forehead leaned to his as he continued. He was speaking to her, he was speaking to her heart, he was speaking to the tiny human living inside her, ''I'm yours, and you're mine, and this is ours. Just ours. Only ours.'' He said, and never had he meant something as much as he meant this.

''Just ours,'' She nodded, tears gushing and wetting the both of them, ''Only ours.''

They laid there for a while. Him kissing her. Her kissing him. Their fingers tangled. Their hands steady over her stomach. Their stomach. Their doing. Them.

''You never let me ask you my question, earlier,'' Malfoy huffed out, his tone low as her breaths struck his chest, ''Or I asked it, you just never answered.''

Amelie closed her eyes, pinching them shut, and she buried herself deeper into him, hiding her face, ''I wasn't sure you wanted me to answer,'' She whispered, hesitantly, ''I didn't know if you wanted me after what I told you.''

''I love you,'' Draco kissed her forehead softly, propping himself up on one elbow as he towered her in between their sheets, ''I love you more than I thought I would, Amelie. I am so in love with you, and this... all of this only causes me to love you more. What we created only makes me fall harder for you. Nothing you tell me, no matter what it is, can change that. That's the one thing that will never change.''

She was crying again. She was crying so much. That was all she did. She loved him. She loved them. She cried. Crying. Draco cried too, sometimes. He loved her.

Oh, how he loved that stubborn, reckless girl she lived to be. He loved her with everything. She was everything. He loved her with every fiber in his body, with every tear he owned, with every breath he took, with every drop of rain that fell outside in the autumn weather.

Rain. He peered to the side. Seeing and hearing the sound of it as it collided with their windows. It was raining.

Autumn. It was Autumn. It made him happy. It gave him hope. Another season passed, and they made it out. They made it through summer. It made him more than happy. It had him smiling. She was right there. Looking down at him through her tears, her hands steady over her own body, already protecting what they'd created.

He loved her.

He loved her. He loves her. Draco loves her.

Her. Her. Her.

The only difference was that it wasn't just her anymore. It was them. Her and that beautiful piece of them both living inside her. Growing. She was growing a human. She was growing the person who would become the biggest love of his life. She was growing the person who would change the world for him. Someone that he'd give it all to, and that was strange for Malfoy.

He never had many people around him, but now — now he had two. His own persons. His own human beings. A miracle. His miracle. Her miracle. Their miracle. Theirs. Only theirs.

''I know,'' Amelie's head felt so heavy upon her pillow, she was so tired, yet she'd never felt more awake, ''I know it won't, but I just... I didn't know what to say.''

Draco lowered himself underneath the duvet but still on top of her until he was lying on her legs. With his chin close to her belly. He gave it a swift tip of his head, and she nodded, giving him the permission he sought to drag up the nightdress she was wearing. He let it rest over her ribs as she pushed herself up a bit, leaning against the headboard and looking at him.

His hands moved over her. The tips of his fingers brushed over her stomach, ''I love you,'' He whispered before pushing his lips into the bump that wasn't even there. He kissed her. He kissed them, ''I love you, Amelie. And I want to marry you. I want you to marry me.''

The girl smiled. Her own fingers found his hair, combing through it, ''I want to marry you.'' She said. Her voice was like a heavenly orchestra to his ears. He just fell in love with her again. And again. And again. Over and over.

''My beautiful girl,'' Wrapping his arms around her, he buried his chin against her stomach, looking up at her through his lashes, ''I don't deserve you. I don't deserve this life with you, and you can think I'm crazy. A fucking maniac for wanting this at nineteen, but I'm not. I'm just so in love with you. I always will be, and I don't want to waste it. I don't want any of us to go to waste. It's proven that we have no say in what happens around us, so I want this. I want you. I want us. All three of us. Hell, I'd even stand Adrian and Teddy as long as it means I can spend the rest of my god damn life with you.''

Amelie kept touching him. She kept dragging her fingers through his hair, ''You do, Draco. You deserve so much.'' She smiled. He did. He did. He did. He did. He just didn't know it, ''You deserve the entire world, Draco.''

''You then,'' He kissed her skin, his hands holding her tighter, ''You are my world. You're it.''

Her heart skipped a beat. Her skin flushed in warmth, ''You are my world, Draco.''

''Both of you,'' He hummed now, brushing his nose along her belly before he arched up a bit again, looking her straight in the eyes. Into her soul again. He felt her. She felt him, ''I'll take care of you, Amelie. I will take such good care of both of you. I promise.''

It was a quietness as he gazed at her. Admired her. Adored her. Her hair, her skin, her lips, her nose, her eyes, all of her. This was the perfect place to do this.

A bed. It started on a bed.

The day he realized he couldn't stay away from her — it started on his bed back at Hogwarts. He had taken her away from Adrian, and he brought her up to his room. That's when it fell. When he fell. That's when he couldn't do nothing anymore.

She belonged to him. He couldn't stay away. She was made for him. Her bones arched where his did, and they fitted perfectly together. His hands were made for touching her. His lips made for kissing her. His voice made for speaking how much he loves her. He was made for her, and she for him.

''Marry me,'' He said again. For the third time, ''Marry me, Amelie.''

And there it was again. The ring. He brought it into bed. He placed it on her stomach. He looked at it before looking at her. Her. Only her.

It started with a slow nod, a gentle tip of her head as it leveled into her crying again, ''I'll marry you,'' She sobbed out, bending forward as he sat up, catching her body in his arms, ''Yes. Yes. Yes. I'll marry you. I'll marry you, Draco.''

He kissed her. His hand placed on her stomach again. He just wanted to be there, to feel her. To feel what was theirs. He kissed her head. Slipping that ring onto her finger and holding her. Kissing her. Holding them. Kissing them.

''Can I show you something?'' Amelie laid on top of him now, his hands in her hair, her lips on his, ''I want to show you something.''

''Mhm,'' He groaned at the feeling of her rolling off him and crawling between his legs to sit in his lap. Her spine pressed against his chest as he peered over her shoulder, looking down at her wand, ''Amelie, what are you—''

She mumbled the same words she'd done in the bathroom the night she found out. The magic that allowed her to hear the heart of the little life beating inside her, ''Listen,'' She said, reaching for one of his hands and bringing it to her stomach, ''Do you hear? The heart beats with ours.''

He cried. He didn't think he would, but he did. More than he'd ever done. More than he'd ever cried before. He couldn't stop it. Not this time. Silently, he cried at that tiny sound as it echoed around them. Filling the room.

Heartbeat. Heart. His heart. Both of them. His. Only his.

''It does...'' He tried to mutter into her head, kissing the pad of it as he held her. Them. He held them. His reasons. His heart, ''It beats with ours, Amelie.''

______

''A girl?'' Draco was standing next to Amelie, on his side of the bed. One hand was knitted with hers, while the other gripped the headboard, hovering over her, ''Why do you think it's a girl? Any reasonable explanation for that?''

''Why don't you think it's a girl?'' Narcissa smiled, hunching to sit on the edge of the bed, her hand brushing along Amelie's stomach, ''If you haven't noticed, there's enough testosterone in this house as it is, Draco, All I can do is wish.''

''Well, it's my child, mother, no matter what gender he is—''

''There it is again, Draco,'' She glared at her son, finding Amelie's hand without looking, ''He. You always refer to the baby as he.''

Merely rolling his eyes at his mother, he pathed Amelie's fingers he was still holding up to his lips as he kissed them, ''What do you think, Amelie?'' He hummed, kissing her hand once more.

He did that a lot. He kissed her so much now. All the time. Everywhere. If he couldn't get enough of her before, she didn't know what this was. He was next to her at all times.

One month had passed since she told him. Since she agreed to marry him. Since they, in some sort, became even closer. More in love. More of everything. The world around them was darkening. The number of people going missing and bodies being found was uncountable, but not there. Not with them. Amelie and Draco tried so hard not to let it get to them.

She did everything she could to hide Atlas. To protect her little brother and Adrian. The Dark Lord couldn't know about either of the two boys. They had to be hidden, shielded no matter the cost. They had to hide—all of them.

Draco himself wished to go out and battle. Try and help people that didn't stand a chance, but he couldn't. Not when she was there. Not when she was pregnant. She'd be put at risk. He couldn't have that. So instead, he settled. He stayed.

They were meant to do this earlier. The day after she told him, but Amelie didn't want to. This went so much deeper than to hear a heartbeat. This was everything. This would expose everything about their unborn child. She was so scared. Amelie didn't tell Draco that, but she was terrified.

Not sure whether the torture she had to go through as a child or the injuries she earned as an adult would play a part. Not knowing if her body was meant for this, if she was ready.

Amelie didn't even reveal her secret to Teddy, even if he was suspicious of them. She didn't tell him. She didn't want to. She couldn't. Not until she knew it was okay. Not until she knew that her child was safe. They kept it a secret. They kept everything a secret.

Even if it was so hard to do so. To lie and pretend like nothing when they, in reality, were so happy. Sneaking around, finding small precious moments to themselves.

Draco kissed her knuckles again, stroking his nose along the spine of her hand. Something was off with her. He could tell. He could always tell. Even more now. He read her like an open book.

''I don't know....'' Amelie looked at Narcissa, shaking her head as she, after a minute, stared down at her stomach. She was showing a bit more now, especially lying flat on her back, and oh, how Draco loved that. It was his favorite thing, her stomach. Their child, ''I don't think it matters,'' She stuttered, ''I just want the baby to be healthy.''

Draco sighed. He understood now. He realized why she was shaking the second she said that ''It will be,'' Malfoy tried to ease her, his eyes finding hers, and he nodded, ''You know it will.''

Forcing a smile. She looked down at her belly again before she gazed wide-eyed at Narcissa's wand, ''Whenever you are ready, dear.'' Draco's mother spoke, and she smiled warmly at the trembling girl.

Amelie tilted her head back. Staring up at the roof and nodding. She shut her eyes. She couldn't look. She didn't want to. She didn't want to see it until Draco said it was safe to do so. She didn't want to hear. Not see. Not feel. Not hear. She was terrified. So scared.

Malfoy was scared too, more than it, but he had to keep it together for her. He couldn't panic as she did.

Her chest was heaving. She gripped his hand so tightly that if he didn't restrain himself — he'd scream out. It hurt. Her nails digging in. She was breaking. She didn't want to break. Feeling as if she'd be the absolute worst mother in the world if she did. She couldn't hold it together. She couldn't hold it back.

Draco looked at her. The whole time it took for his mother to hum the spells, he looked at her. Bending down the second he saw her tears. He kissed them away. He loved kissing her. He loved feeling her.

''Amelie...'' He whispered silently. He didn't want to interrupt Narcissa's magic, ''You're beautiful. So beautiful.''

She smiled fearfully, ''You're the beautiful one.'' Still having her eyes closed, she didn't dare to look yet.

He huffed out a chuckle, pushing his lips to her forehead. His hand was yet wrapped around hers, ''It's alright....'' He breathed, calming her, ''Just be here with me.''

''Draco—'' Narcissa cut him short, and he immediately arched back up, staring blankly at his mother.

''What?'' Amelie choked out, squeezing her eyes together so firmly that she saw stars, ''Draco? What is it?''

He didn't say a word. He barely breathed.

''Draco,'' She said again, harder this time, ''Draco, tell me. Tell me what's wrong—''

She panicked. Something was wrong. She knew it was. She could feel it. So terribly wrong. She wasn't meant for this. She knew she wasn't.

''Draco, please—''

Those seconds felt like hours. She couldn't breathe. She didn't find the strength to breathe. She couldn't move. All she felt was her own hand finding her stomach, unconsciously, almost.

Amelie could hear them talking. Yet, not a word was understandable to her.

Malfoy fell to his knees beside her. His heart missed a beat as he took their hands to his face. Tears. She could feel tears. He was crying. He never cried. It was done. Over. She knew it was. He'd never forgive her for this. He'd never look at her the same again. She'd lose both of them. Over. Over. Over.

Amelie felt her own tears as they rolled quietly down her cheeks. She still didn't look. She just felt the magic around her. Her heartbeat rang in her ears. Swelling. She didn't hear anything else but that. Her heartbeat. Panicking. Panicking. Panicking. She was hysterical inside. Everything crackled. Her heart broke.

''Amelie...'' Draco whimpered, holding her hand so tightly that it turned pale, ''It's a girl....''

It hit her. Like a thunderstorm. Something so forceful. Rain. Storm. A tidal wave. A train at high speed. It hit her, again and again. It wasn't her own heartbeat she heard. It was their baby's. It was theirs. Not hers.

''What?'' Her skin was red, feverish, and burning. She yanked forward. Finally watching the magic as it flooded around her. She saw it. She saw what he saw. It was a girl. Her girl. His girl. Their girl.

A daughter. She would be a mom. Her mom. Draco would be a father. Her father. A daughter. Their child. She made it. They made it.

''No—'' Amelie shook her head. She broke. She broke, and she broke again. It couldn't be true. She couldn't believe it, ''No....''

Draco let his forehead fall to her shoulder, and she wrapped her arms around him, ''It's a girl, Amelie.'' He sobbed out, ''A girl—''

If she thought that she was breaking — Draco shattered. He was so happy that he couldn't describe it with words. He could just cry. He didn't know what to say. What to do. How to act, ''I love you,'' She whispered into his head, ''We love you.''

''Almost three months....'' Narcissa smiled, widely with tears as they rimmed in her own eyes, ''Your little girl is strong. She's so healthy, Amelie.''

That only caused Draco to sob out even louder. He was shaking. Shaking and breaking. He couldn't breathe. He just caved. He caved into her. Her. Her. Her.

The girl ripped him of his insanity and replaced it with reason. Reason. She was his every reason. Both of his girls. His girls. The loves of his life.

''Nothing's wrong?'' Amelie asked, her words thin and hesitant, ''She's healthy?''

''Amelie,'' Narcissa's voice laced with peace and composure, ''She's healthy. You're having a healthy little girl.''

''I love you,'' Draco lifted his head from her shoulder, still shaking, unwaveringly, ''I love you. Both of you. She's perfect. Our little girl is perfect. So are you. You're perfect, fuck — you're perfect.''

It stung in his chest. In his eyes. He'd never felt like this before. Never.

His girls. His two girls. Them and them only.

His body jolted. Flying up to two feet almost. Looking at her with shock and excitement in his eyes. He nearly forgot, ''I need to show you something.'' He traced her hand up to his lips again, placing a peck on her fingers. She smiled.

And somewhere, she believed, somewhere in all the chaos. Somewhere in between the life she'd lived through. Between all those lines crowded with hurt and torture — the hell she both kneeled in front of and the hell she overcame, perhaps it could turn out for the better. Maybe they could have their happy ending.

They deserved it. All of it. They deserved to live freely with their daughter, even at a young age as this one. Nineteen.

Amelie never thought she'd make it to nineteen. She never believed she'd age. She never thought she'd be able to see the world as she saw it to this day — even if it was dark. Horrendous. Dangerous. Menacing. She managed to see the good in it. Always.

Draco saw the good through her. She was good to him. She was good for him. He had lived nineteen years on this earth that kept failing him, but with her by his side, she made it count. Every damned day, she turned to the better.

He dried his tears, and he pulled her up on two feet with him, holding her close, ''Come here,'' He mumbled, ''I have something for you.''

It hurt when she looked at him. It hurt to see him happy. Because she knew. She wasn't foolish. They all knew.

She knew what was coming. She could feel the storm rising. She could feel the thunder as it echoed. The hurt, the fire, the screams.

She knew it was happening, around them, close to them, among them. This wasn't forever. This calmness was simply the heaven she was meant to cherish before it all went straight to hell.

_____