Chapter Text
It had been a chilly January first, with the new year bringing hope. The house that sat at the end of a winding road looked quite quaint framed in the snowy background. Frost dotting every surface in the late morning air. And all the occupants cozy, unknowing the day they were about to have was going to anything but pleasant.
As the clock struck ten, and almost all of the family had left their rooms. Scorpius Malfoy was milling in the library, and his sister was flying through the grounds. Her new broomstick she swears is faster than her old one, and Scarlett needed to find every new trick before term restarted.
Their father, Draco Malfoy, was sitting in the kitchen. Eating breakfast, reading the paper. Enjoying a quiet morning, a hopeful beginning for a new year. For the first time in almost two years, Draco had a feeling in his chest, maybe Astoria was hoping for him to have a good year too.
Daphne Greengrass, the children's aunt, and Draco's sister in law, was still very much in bed. Knowing her, she most likely wouldn't be up until early afternoon. But there was no reason too. The day was setting up to be a lazy, but wonderful, start to the new year.
Morning bled into afternoon, and more of the family returned to the kitchen. Hungry, ready for a heavy meal.
"What do you guys want?" Draco asked, he was breezing through the pantry that he forced for his parents to put in. He had grown quite attached to the one in his muggle home. "There isn't much here, even though your grandparents installed this. It doesn't seem they keep it well stocked."
"Hey, there not my grandparents!" Daphne yelled from her spot on the couch in the room over. The twins snickered, it seems there Aunt might have had a bit much to drink last night.
"And I wasn't talking to you!" Draco yelled back, shaking his head at the antics. "I was talking to my children, what do you guys think?"
Both kids were stumped for a moment, they very rarely all got to eat a meal together. Finally, Scorpius thought of an idea. "How about Mom's old recipe, you and Auntie know how to make that."
Draco sighed, it was his kids comfort meal, but god did it take a long time to make. "Fine, but I'm definitely going to have to go to a store to grab those ingredients."
"That's fine, you need us to go with you?" Scarlett asked, she knew her father still wasn't the best in a muggle grocery store.
"I can go with him!" Daphne yelled. "I think I need some stuff at the store anyway."
"We are not going to go to the grocery store just to get you medicine, you can take a potion here," Draco argued, he thinks he can handle this by himself, but he had a weird feeling about leaving his children alone.
"No way Draky poo, I definitely need to go the store, and not just for medicine. Besides, your the only one who knows how Astoria prepped this dish." Daphne states, but everyone had a slight wince at the idea of her going to the grocery store alone.
"I can go with her, I know where everything is," Scarlett offered, she enjoyed going to the muggle stores and getting there drama magazines. "Besides, you are the only one who knows how to prep the dish. We will be fine going by ourselves."
"Alright, you two stay safe though." Draco was already walking them to the door. It was only five, but for the three hours of prep with the ingredients they do have, they should leave as soon as they can.
After they left, Draco and Scorpius were in the kitchen.
"Dad, why did you stay?" Scorpius asked, as they were chopping brattle sprouts. "You could have still gone with them."
"I had a feeling I should stay here. Besides, why can't I spend some time with my favorite son." Draco praised, scratching his son's head as he moved around the kitchen. They had managed to get better with the physical touch after all the things that happened with Delphini.
Scorpius looked at him, a look of adoration in his eyes. "Well, I'm glad it was for anything bad."
There was a moment of silence between them, comfortable and calm. Draco again felt that pull in his chest, like something just wasn't right. Maybe he shouldn't have left Scarlett and Daphne alone, he should have gone with them.
Trying to get the feeling of his mind, Draco asked Scorpius. "How about you tell me about that new book you were reading about?"
Scorpius grinned, already thrown into a character analysis of the main character. Draco rolled his eyes as some parts, and smiled faintly when Scorpius' back was turned. Draco never thought this is how his life was going to turn out, but he definitely wasn't upset about it.
Once most things had been prepped and there was little they could do before the others returned. They got to work on setting the table, and making sure there was nothing out of place. Making an Astoria dish was a special occasion in there family.
On their second trip back from the kitchen to dining room, they heard a starting noise come from the sitting room. They looked at each other, any noise was odd in the house, but one that loud was alarming.
"What was that?" Scorpius asked, startled and nervous.
"I don't know. Stay right here, keep your wand out, I'll go check it out." Draco whispered, all his nerves on end. This was unusual.
Draco headed for the sitting room, guard up, and wand raised. He arrived at the door, everything looked perfectley normal. Couches were kept, and the curtain were pushed back. Nothing out of place or fallen. Maybe it wasn't anything, he was being paranoid from being in the house for too long.
As he turned around, a man was standing behind him. That was the last thing he saw before the world turned black, was the fire shooting from the end of his wand. And the last thing he heard was his son's screams.