Title: Three
Author: softly_sweetly
Characters/Pairings: Draco/Astoria, Lucius/Narcissa
Rating: R
Kinks/Themes Chosen: Male Infertility
Other Warnings: Infidelity
Word Count: ~1300
Summary/Description: Truth is entirely relative.
Author's Notes: Thank you E for the beta. Having ma-hoosive internet issues at the moment, hence the 'skating in just before the whistle' posting today. Enjoy!



Lucius fluttered kisses up the long, smooth leg, resisting the urge to bite and suck lest he leave marks. She was too pretty, too cultured to be marked like any Knockturn whore. He'd taken the potion that evening, and could feel it coursing through his veins. An heir was needed, and Lucius was sick of leaving it to nature. A little help was required, and the potion was not beyond his abilities. Something to enhance conception, to ensure that a child was born to carry on the lineage.

Pushing her thighs apart, Lucius inhaled deeply. The scent made him shudder, sweet with promise as she moaned softly. He could make her wait, could put it off, but that would be cruel. Besides, the potion would wear off soon. Much as he wanted this over and done with – Lucius was no good at waiting once he had a goal in his sights – he took his time, teasing her with little kisses before he finally tipped his head forwards, flicking his tongue out and over her plump lips. She whined, the noise low and primal in the back of her throat, and it made his body jump. Plunging his tongue in further, Lucius wondered just how rough he could be, just how far he could push her. Lapping at her clitoris, forgetting all grace and decorum as he coated his face in her juices, Lucius let his mind picture her pressed up against the head board, banging it against the wall with each thrust. She'd like that, he was sure of it. He pushed his finger up inside of her, feeling her squeeze down around him with a moan. She'd drunk enough that she was relaxed, shameless, and it was erotic beyond belief.

"Please..."

Demanding woman. But Lucius was on a schedule, and the taste of her already had him close to frenzy. So he acquiesced, sliding gracefully up the bed and pressing his lips against hers, letting her taste herself on him as they kissed. Her kiss was greedy, much like her hands as they clawed at his back, trying to draw him into her. Lucius would not refuse a lady. At least, not when fulfilling her requests would benefit him too. So, focussing on the end goal, on the prize that would be delivered in nine months time, Lucius slipped into her body with a smile.


~~~~~~~~~~


"Either you provide an heir, or I will."

The words had sounded like an empty threat at the time. The diseased ramblings of a man sent around the bend by Azkaban. A man who had never really been stable to begin with.

Draco had enjoyed his freedom over the last few years. He'd been able to get a job, find a woman who could forget the past, get married and do all of the things he was meant to do with his life. He'd been able to make a moderate success of himself, after such a shaky start. He'd even enjoyed bits of it; the honeymoon in Rome, the challenges of working for a living. He'd enjoyed the trying, the succeeding, even the failing in places. But no matter how hard he tried, he provided no heir. Astoria did not fall pregnant, and the gentle questions from his mother and mother-in-law turned into disapproving tuts, turned into worried stares. It wasn't the done thing, to be married for five years and still childless. It cast doubt on the pureblood lineage.

He'd kept the test secret, not wanting anyone else to share in his embarrassment, in his shame. And when the Healer, paid far over the odds to ensure his silence, had confirmed Draco's worst fears, his world had collapsed.

Astoria was a lot of things, but she was not unfaithful. A Polyjuice potion was no problem for Lucius' potion-making abilities. Lucius would have known that Draco would take his infertility to the grave, and would have been low enough to offer the Healer enough money to break his silence. Quite how he'd found out to begin with, how Lucius had seen the first tiny thread that he could pull to unravel Draco, Draco had not worked out yet. But Lucius had found it; he'd as good as announced his actions and detailed his plans when Astoria announced her pregnancy. The look in his eyes had said everything, and Draco had known the truth without having to be told.

Holding the tiny baby in his arms, Draco swallowed down the acidic lump in his throat. Genes were not everything. They couldn't be. Leaning closer to Astoria, Draco put a smile on his face. He would love this child regardless of its genesis. Seeing his parents stood outside of the room, Draco raised the child in his arms and pressed a kiss to the little boy's forehead, saying loud enough for all to hear, saying firmly so that it would be true,

"Look what we made, Astoria."


~~~~~~~~~~


Astoria had known, of course she had known. Draco's retreat into himself, the large withdrawal from their bank account. The fact she was still without child after trying so hard, after taking every potion that she could find, had made it painfully clear to her. If Draco had only spoken to her, only admitted the truth, she could have reconciled herself to it. Could have put to rest her desperate desire to have a child of her own, and broached the subject of adoption with her husband. But he'd hidden the truth, maintained the charade of them trying, refusing to admit that each attempt would end in failure. As it was, his denial only made it harder for her to let go, only made the need for a child grow stronger in her chest. Refusing to admit what he couldn't give her made Astoria unable to admit what she could never have.

When Lucius had walked into the house that evening, thinking a potion would hide the fact he was not her husband, foolishly believing that looking the same made him anything approaching the man that she shared her life and her bed with, Astoria had thought Draco had orchestrated the whole evening. She should have refused then and there, should have thrown Lucius out of her bedroom, and Draco out of her life. But she loved him, and after two bottles of wine her judgement was hardly stellar. Lucius was rough, couldn't make her scream like Draco did, and seemed far too focused on the end result instead of paying attention to how they got there.

She hated herself for days afterwards, hated Draco, hated not knowing how to broach the subject and challenge what Draco had done. But the longer she waited, the harder it got, and the clearer it became that Draco had played no part in any of this. He was oblivious, and she prayed he would stay that way.

The test coming back positive was both the greatest and the most terrifying moment of her life. She'd blurted it out to Draco without thinking about it, without having a plan in mind, and his enthusiasm had been dazzling. Neither of them brought up the obvious, and it was easy to forget how the life had come into existence.

Looking at Draco, watching him watching the baby, Astoria wasn't too tired that she missed the adoration in Draco's eyes. A child was not genes, they were love. Draco loved her, he loved the child, and in the happy little cocoon of this hospital room, it didn't matter that deception had brought them there. Not really. Resting her head against Draco's, she agreed with his sentiments. They had done this, her and Draco. What mattered was them, and the family they would create from today.

But she couldn't stop the chill of revulsion she felt when Lucius stepped into the room, smirk playing around his lips as he asked, "And how long until you try for siblings?"