A/N: First of all, I would like to apologise sincerely for the delay of this chapter. I have been struggling hugely with writers block and as a result I have been anxious beyond belief about continuing this story. However, I want to finish it so much as I just cannot leave Blaire and Draco's story untold. So thank you to those who have been patient with me, and please forgive the shortness of this chapter, I have been extremely hesitant about posting it, terrified that I'm going to write myself into a difficult corner. I hope that this is the beginning of the end to my writers block and that the next chapter will follow shortly.

Enjoy.

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"I want my mummy."

"I already told you, I am your mummy now."

Astoria tried her hardest not to roll her eyes as the boy started sobbing. This kid, she discovered, was nothing but a ball of snot and tears. It was beyond tiresome.

She had hoped that he would have been more like her - Blaire. Her strength and attitude is what Astoria had admired beyond anything. Nothing had seemed to phase her, she had been so... chill.

Whereas this pathetic creature was showing what a true Malfoy he really was - all gold and no balls.

And he had brought that fucking dog with him too. She thought she had seen the last of that diseased fleabag, but no. The boy seemed weirdly attached to it and Astoria hadn't known what else to do.

"Come on," she ordered, practically dragging the little brat along with her, trying not to flinch as the dog kept growling and biting at her ankles. "Your father is waiting for us."

"Daddy?" He trembled, his lower lip quivering. "Did he find Auntie Hermy?"

"Yes, Daddy," she snapped, "or whatever you want to call him." Secretly though, she doubted he would like that term.

"And Uncle Ron?"

"He has them all," Astoria said sharply, desperately trying to hurry him along. "They are all waiting for you and are going to throw you a big surprise party."

"With cake?"

For fuck's sake. Did this boy never shut up? If he wasn't crying he was asking an endless stream of irritating questions.

She pulled him along harder, digging her nails tightly into his palm which she could feel was trying to pull away from her grip.

Typically, this made the boy cry again.

"WHAT?!" She screamed, her patience at an all time low.

"You're hurt-hurting me," he hiccoughed, tears springing at his already bloodshot eyes. "I want my mummy."

Astoria closed her eyes. Voldemort, it was like being on a fucking Merry-Go-Round.

*****

Draco's heart thudded in his chest as he grasped Blaire's hand, trying to draw strength from her.

He was so unbelievably frightened, so sick to the stomach that something bad was going to happen to his little boy.

But he knew, he knew this was it. This was the only thing he had left to do. And if he couldn't do it for Jack, then he would not be able to do it at all.

"It was the best thing, you know," he choked as he and Blaire stood side by side in the headteacher's office, staring up at the Sorting Hat, "finding out that not only you were alive but you had my child, our child."

She turned her huge dark eyes up at him, and he felt a sick twist in his stomach at the look of desolation and fear in them. It was the look of a mother who had lost her child, and all he wanted to do in that moment was make it right for her.

And he would, he promised himself, he would do anything it took.

So, after leaning down to kiss the top of her head, he turned back to the Sorting Hat and shakily removed it from the shelf.

"Where to now?" Blaire breathed, Draco detecting the fear behind her strong voice as she watched him carefully place the hat inside his robes.

He swallowed, trying to ignore the lump at the back of his throat.

"The London Dungeons," he murmured, trying his hardest to keep his voice fierce and steady. "It's where he is. It's where the snake will be."

She nodded, and he could not help but clasp the back of her head as he pressed his lips ardently against her forehead.

"I'm going to get him back, my love," he hissed fiercely, his cool lips moving against her warm skin. "I'm going to get our boy back even if it's the last thing I do."

*****

Jack could feel his heart racing fearfully in his body. Thud, thud. Thud, thud. It was making him feel sick.

"Kill the dog."

The man with red eyes and no nose spoke the words so suddenly that Jack wasn't sure he heard right at first.

But when the scarf around the scary man's neck suddenly came to life and slithered off his shoulders, dropping heavily to the ground at Jack's feet, he knew that he and Orion were in the biggest scariest danger ever. And it was all his fault.

Because that was not a scarf, and that man was definitely not his daddy.

Run, Orion, run! Jack screamed in his head as white flashing lights began to blind his vision.

He wished he could shout them out loud, but his voice would not work. Instead, however, a warm, unpleasant wetness filled his shorts right before the world tipped around him and darkness came.

*****