Draco swiftly pocketed his wand as Astoria crumpled to the floor.

He stared breathlessly down at the unconscious body of his wife- no, that bitch, and wondered briefly if he should tie her up.

Before he could come to a decision, a wailing sound drifted down from upstairs and it took him a moment to realise what, or even who, it was.

Scorpius.

Sprinting up the stairs, he grabbed his son from his cot, soothing him as best he could whilst he frantically tried to straighten his thoughts.

Jack and Blaire were in immediate danger, and he needed to act quick before midnight struck.

But he couldn't leave Scorpius, and there was no way he was going to allow Astoria near him ever again. She couldn't even be trusted to look after a dog.

Speaking of...

Collecting as much of Scorpius's essentials as he could carry, Draco ran into the garden and whistled for Orion, Apparating the three of them to Malfoy Manor.

If his mother was shocked to see her son turning up in the middle of the night armed with a baby, a nappy bag and a dog, then she hid it well.

"I've no time to explain," Draco said as he hurriedly thrust his son into his mother's arms. "Take them to the treehouse and wait for me there. I'll be back as soon as I can. And whatever you do, don't let anyone else in."

He looked down at his watch. Half eleven.

Time was of the essence.

******

"I CAN'T FUCKING DO THIS!"

"Yes you can, Hermione!" I insisted fiercely as I sat between her legs on the floor next to the sofa.

I had sent Ron, who had been on the verge of fainting, into my room to check on Jack; hoping he was somehow sleeping through all of this drama.

"He's still fast asleep and I've put a Silencing charm on the room." Ron said shakily as he nervously reappeared. "Shall I get Mum now?"

"Yes!" I urged, as I glanced down anxiously at Hermione who began to moo through yet another contraction.

Due to my own pregnancy and simple boredom, I had busied myself studying the midwifery journals that Kingsley had managed to procure; and from what I knew, I could tell that Rose's head was only moments away from popping out and saying 'hi'.

"I love you Hermione Granger!" Ron called back just before he disappeared out the door.

"I love you too, Ronald Weasley," Hermione replied weakly.

As soon as the door closed behind him, tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm going to die. I'm going to die and lose the baby."

"No, you're not," I said firmly, forcing her to look at me. "Seven weeks early of a very sketchy due date is fine. It probably just means that we were way out in estimating it. Now listen to me, I'm going to get you through it. I know the pain is unbearable and it makes you think for sure that you must be dying, but guess what? That's normal. Remember when I had Jack? I asked you to kill me with the kitchen knife. Remember?"

Hermione nodded as tears continued to roll down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I told you off for being a drama queen."

"It's cool, I get it," I grinned, grasping her hand tightly in mine; her face beginning to screw up as another contraction consumed her.

Fuck, I thought as she almost broke the bones in my fingers, Ron had better hurry.

*****

Hogwarts, to Draco's relief, was quiet and still.

His heart hammered violently against his ribs as he raced at full pelt across the grounds, following the green glow of his fox towards the Whomping Willow.

He couldn't get to them fast enough, terrified that somehow he was too late, that Diggory had already gotten to Jack.

As he stumbled and slipped his way down into the tunnel, he kept making promises to himself; a deal to the greater unknown, that if he got to Blaire and Jack in time, he'd never ever let them down again.

Barrelling through the 'secret' wall, he headed straight for their living quarters. Jack was his priority; he was the one with a price above his head thanks to the fucking Malfoy fortune.

The ironic thing was Astoria needn't had resorted to plotting a murder with that prick Diggory to get hold of it. Draco would have given up every single Knut that he was worth just so he could be with his real family.

When he heard the screams, he nearly stopped to vomit against the tunnel walls, certain that he was too late and Diggory had already gotten to them.

No, no, no, NO!

He was almost relieved to discover it was just Granger on the floor giving birth.

A relief, however, that was extremely short lived.

"Draco?" Blaire gasped, looking up from where she was knelt down between Granger's sweaty legs. "What the-?"

"They're coming," Draco choked, his voice a strangled breathless mess. "Astoria found out about Jack and has betrayed us. Diggory is on his way with the Death Eaters and they're going to storm the place at midnight. You need to get out of here now, all of you."

A look of utter horror swept across Blaire's already shocked face and he wanted to scoop her up right there and then in his arms and promise her he'd look after them, that he'd protect them all.

"Jack," she breathed, looking frantically towards the bedroom door to where their son hopefully lay sleeping.

Without hesitation, Draco strode across the room, flinging himself through the door of Blaire and Jack's bedroom and sighed with relief at the sight of the small sleeping body curled up on the bed.

As gently as he could, he pulled back the covers and leaned down to scoop Jack into his arms; the second son he was saving that night.

He stirred awake instantly, flinging his little arms around Draco's neck.

"Daddy?" He whispered in a small sleepy voice.

"Shhhh, it's alright little fox," Draco murmured as calmly as he could, hoping that the sound of his racing heart wouldn't expose his fear, "I'm just here to take you on a really big adventure. Would you like that?"

Jack nodded, rubbing his eyes.

Carrying his son, Draco strode back out into the living area where Granger was making a noise not unlike a wounded animal.

Where the fuck was Weasley?

"Mummy?" Jack started to tremble, looking around confused. "What's wrong with Auntie Hermy?"

Before Draco could stop him, Jack twisted away from him and wriggled down to the ground; his little pajamaed body running towards his mother.

Blaire jumped up, hurrying across to meet him before he could get any closer to Granger.

"Hey little man," she said tenderly, crouching down to his height as she placed her hands upon his shoulders. "Aunt Hermy is going to be just fine, but look, Daddy is here to come and take you somewhere exciting-"

"Blaire, I'm not going without you!" Draco said vehemently, her words consuming him with panic.

"I can't leave Hermione," she said in a steady voice, her big, dark eyes looking sorrowfully up at him over Jack's head. "You do understand that, don't you? She saved our lives. She saved our son's life and now I owe it to her to save her and her child's life too."

"I'll wait-"

"No! You need to get Jack to safety." She implored, getting back to her feet as she moved towards him, her expression desperate and pleading. "Please! We need to put him first!"

"He needs his mother!" Draco's voice broke on the last word and he found himself sobbing. The truth was, he needed her; the idea of losing his best friend all over again was frightening him.

Blaire instantly threw her arms around him and Draco held her tight, sobbing into her hair and not wanting to let her go.

"Please," she begged, her voice muffled against his neck. "Save Jack, save our little boy."

"I love you," he choked as his body wracked with sobs, "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she said, lifting her head and cupping her hand to his cheek. "And I know you'll keep our son safe."

"I'll take him to my mother and then I'll come back for you," he promised, resting his forehead against hers, "I'm not going to give up on you. Not this time."

Granger started to cry out again and Blaire stepped back, turning to Jack who looked understandably alarmed and confused by the frightening events unfolding around him.

"Jack, I need you to be a brave little fox and go with Daddy," she said steadily, forcing a smile that hurt Draco's heart. "He's going to take you Upstairs, and you'll finally see all of the awesome things we've talked about. Isn't that exciting?"

"But what about you, Mummy?" Jack asked, his bottom lip trembling. "Aren't you coming too?"

"Mummy needs to stay here and look after Aunt Hermy," Blaire said as tears began to swim in her eyes. "But just remember that I love you, I love you so much, little fox. And there is nothing to be scared of because Daddy is going to look after you and he is one of the bravest people I've ever known."

Draco swallowed, really not feeling it. He'd spent his whole life being a coward and he didn't feel any different now, only sick to stomach with fear at the thought of not being able to save them both.

But his son, his fiercely brave son who was faced with the terror at being parted from his mother, gave a small frightened nod.

And, as Blaire tearfully picked Jack up to envelope him in her arms, Draco thought to himself that if his six year old son could show such courage in the face of fear, then so could he.

"I'll be back," he promised again, stepping over to them to cup his hand to the back of Blaire's head as he pressed his lips ardently against her brow. "I'll be back for all of you."

They stood there, the three of them, three hearts beating fearful and fast whilst they said their furtive goodbyes.

"Are you ready little fox?" He asked Jack as Blaire passed him over.

Jack sucked in a deep shaky breath and this time his nod was determined, brave.

And then Draco was carrying him away; away from his mother and away from the only home he'd ever known.

******