A/N: For LilithShade, a wonderful friend and an even better mother.

Thank you PrincessJuliaOfHeart for pitching this idea. Special thanks goes to PrincessJuliaOfHeart, MimiFreed, LilithShade and GhostsInTheWalls for tossing the idea around to make this happen.


The water of her womb, your first home.

The body she pulled apart to welcome you to the world.

The spirit in you she helped grow with all she knew.

The heart that she gave you when yours fell apart.

You are her soft miracle.

So she gave you her eyes to see the best in the worst.

You carry your mother in your eyes.

Make her proud of all she watches you do.

MOTHER by NIKITA GILL


I'll tell you a secret; There is a room in the Department of Mysteries that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there...

"Hermione - your tea."

But please know that you will never need to go to such lengths to find what is hidden there-

"Which is it you're writing now? 'How to construct the perfect study guide' for little Scorpius? Or is it an outline on 'How to create the perfect outline'?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, finally allowing her focus to be broken to accept the steaming cup from her husband's outstretched hand. "Neither if you must know-"

"Right, because you already wrote both of those in the journal that is supposed to be filled with love letters to our child." There was no venom in Draco's words- there hadn't been for years - However, Hermione had learned a long time ago that venom and her husband being a prat did not have to be mutually exclusive.

She gave him a playful slap on his arm before taking a sip of the tea he brought her. As she felt the warmth flood through her, her hand rubbed her six month old belly. She was growing her first child and she was happy with their life. "Even if I did include that, passing along useful knowledge is a form of love, Draco. Plus you were the one who wrote out how to fly a broomstick properly! Something he will learn at Hogwarts-"

"He'll have a toy broomstick before then, plus Madam Hooch doesn't know what she's on about." Draco tried to keep a straight face as he said this, but one glance at the murderous stare Hermione gave him and he had to bight back his laughter. He knew how she felt about the idea of their child riding a broom before the age of eleven, but he couldn't help but tease her about it. "I only wrote it not to be out done by you, you know."

She scoffed and briefly thought about ever since since they said their vows, they kept exchanging mannerisms. "You included a water color sketch of the main archetypes of brooms, labeled each part of it, and I'm the one who is loading the journal with information instead of sweet nothings?" Hermione raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side with a smirk. She knew she was right - she was still almost always right.

Draco took his time taking a sip of his own cup of tea. "Passing along useful knowledge is a form of love, Hermione." As she rolled her eyes at him, Draco lifted an arm, inviting her in for a snuggle. "It's about time we let my parents write in it. We've had your parents write something along with the Potters, the Weasleys, Pansy even-"

Hermione groaned as she picked up her pen again. "I know, I know. It was my idea and I can't exclude the dragon-in-laws." Hermione mumbled the last part to herself knowing that Draco wasn't too fond of the nickname the Golden Trio had come up with for his parents. "Let me finish this last bit before I cuddle up to you." Draco simply replied with a soft grunt, but Hermione was already too sucked into her own train of thought to think anything of it.

After writing another sentence, Hermione paused and thought about Lucius and Narcissa before sighing. After adding a sentence and underlining it, she set down her pen down she finally was able to lay against Draco so they could enjoy their tea together. "They're not that bad, love." His hand drifted to where hers was already resting, protectively over her belly. Hermione liked to imagine she took this pose often because her 'mother bear' instincts were already kicking in and not because of a war she fought in.

A war where Lucius and Narcissa were on the wrong side of, once upon a time. "I know."

It was nearly four years after the war had ended, but Hermione still felt that there was a gap to bridge between her and Draco's parents. It wasn't for lack of trying, she told herself, it's just that I can never seem to get comfortable around them. Hermione wished she still had a chocolate croissant that Narcissa baked for their Sunday brunch on her plate so she had something to nibble on as she watched Lucius' face. He wore a cool mask of indifference as he stared at the several inch thick, leather bound book sitting between them.

"You want us to write in this?" In the middle of the book there was a picture of Scorpius' latest sonogram. While Narcissa had this same photo on her nightstand in her beadroom, Lucius still found it odd that the muggle photo did not move.

Hermione gave a smile as she nodded at his question. "It's a collection of letters for our little one from our loved ones." Lucius eyes flicked up from the brown journal to Hermione before looking back at the book and picking it up. He silently thumbed through it and Narcissa turned to look at Hermione when her husband did not reply.

"I think it is a lovely idea. Some muggle customs are so endearing." Hermione gave Narcissa the warmest smile she could manage. They tried, they really did, but she found their politeness sometimes left the air between them awkward and a little strained.

Soon after they finished off the remaining tea, Hermione and Draco were back on the manor's doorstep, saying their goodbyes before driving off. Hermione refused apparating or traveling by floo as both modes of transportation often triggered her nausea - one of the worst symptoms she still had to deal with to date.

"We'll pick up the journal next brunch." Draco looked behind him to make sure that Hermione was seated a safe distance away in the car before turning back and looking at his father. "The letters mean a lot to her. She really wants everyone to feel included in Scorpius' life." Lucius nearly responded by raising his eyebrows at his son, wondering where the conversation was going to go. "Please don't try to out-do the others if you read what they wrote." Lucius started to object, but Narcissa laid a hand on his arm when Draco started to walk off, a silent request not to argue. When Draco opened the drivers side door, he looked up at his parents once more. "And please don't use the gold ink for the letters. It's gaudy and won't show up well on this type of parchment."

Without another word, Draco got into the full sized sedan and drove off, leaving a waving Narcissa and an annoyed Lucius on the marnor's steps.

"Who does our son think he is?"

"I do wish they would stop by more." Lucius and Narcissa looked at each other as they both spoke at the same time. Lucius nodded his head for his wife to continue. "He's just building his own family now. Remember how protective you were of Draco when it came to your father? You wouldn't even let them see each other until Draco was a year old."

"There was a reason for that though. Did you notice this isn't even real leather?" Lucius raised the thick book to his nose, sniffing it to confirm his statement. He was disappointed with how plain it was, too. He had hoped Draco would developed the same extravagant taste Lucius had now that there was going to be a new addition to their home, but it seems Draco's excitement was everywhere but spoiling the soon-to-be born babe with the best of the best. At least the edges of the pages are lined with gold-

Narcissa snatched the book from his hands and started to make her way to one of the private rooms. "I'll bring this to your study when I'm done."

"But-"

Narcissa looked over her shoulder at him, one hand on the corner she was about to round while the other clutched the journal close to her chest. "It took you three months to write your vows, and this time you'll only have until next Sunday to come up with something heartfelt. It will give you time to brainstorm." She ducked her chin at him, prompting him to argue with her. When he didn't, she blew him a kiss at her husband before disappearing completely into the hallway.

With a bitter look on his face, Lucius walked to his study, hands in his pockets. He wasn't pouting due to the fact that Narcissa had taken the opportunity to write before he did. He was pouting because she was right.

Lucius had possession of the journal since Tuesday evening and it was now Saturday night. Words eluded him, even though he was surrounded by poetry and vow books that measured up to his shoulder in the manor's library. None of the great wizard authors were providing him inspiration and it frustrated him more than anything else. He had slung together a few words and sentences, but nothing was as good as what the others wrote;

Pansy Parkinson, who Hermione and Draco announced would be Scorpius' godmother, wrote about her promises to spoil the kid rotten with toys and skin care products so he would never have to worry about the scars dragon pox is known to leave teenagers with once Scorpius eventually got it. Ronald Weasley wrote several awkward jokes Lucius was sure would need to be explained to Scorpius once he was of age, while George Weasley, the child's God father, wrote actual funny age appropriate jokes. Molly Weasley wrote a full-hearted paragraph or two before writing the recipe of Hermione's favorite dessert, and a list of domestic charms, while Arthur Weasley drew terrible doodles in the margins of the page - one drawing being a knitted sweater that Molly had already made for Scorpius. Harry Potter had listed what Lucius perceived to be obscure advice like "Rats: Don't ever own one" or "If a random old man decides to tell you the fate of the world rests on your shoulders, ask some questions about that." Narcissa wrote a blessing that doubled as lyrics to a lullaby for Hermione to soothe the babe to sleep and the Grangers, being the practical muggles they were, had written normal, endearing letters. Lucius also noticed their entry was one of the first and he didn't put it past Hermione to make that intentional so they wouldn't have to see the enchanted additions that some of Hermione and Draco's friends had left - like the "Wrackspurt free page" Luna Lovegood enchanted with animated Mooncalf sketches or the moving photos Andromeda Black Tonks had added in of her and Teddy.

But the witch that really had him feeling, well - he would never admit this out loud- insecure was his daughter-in-law Hermione Granger-Malfoy. Between her thought provoking letters about the state of the Wizarding World and her thoughts on how the principles of magic are perceived by the average wizards, was love. Love was between every dash, every period as she anticipated the arrival of her babe and it was especially apparent in her most recent entry - which was the one that happened to be his favorite:

I'll tell you a secret; There is a room in the Department of Mysteries that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there. But please know that you will never need to go to such lengths to find what is hidden as your father and I have already provided it to you: Love. Love that will also be mirrored by everyone who has written to you in this book. And I do mean by everyone.

Despite Draco's small request, Lucius planned on writing something that would outshine the advice, the doodles, and animated pictures easily, but after taking a delve into Hermione's mind, he decided he wanted to write something genuine instead. Something that would complement Narcissa's contribution, if not everyone else's entries. The only issue was that he was unable to come up with anything to say.

Young Malfoy - Lucius' nose wrinkled at that, thinking he sounded like his father and used his wand to vanish the letters away. He tapped a pointer finger on his bottom lip, thinking about what he wanted to write. Lucius wanted something meaningful, perhaps advice?

Dear Scorpius, I hope by the time you are able to read this by your lonesome, you are also able to grasp a message that I had failed to when I was younger: boastfulness and pride tends to be the Malfoy men's undoing. He stopped there, unsure of what to write next, as he was unsure if he should vanish the new words, too. Lucius picked up the vial of gold ink and eyed it again, considering going against his son's request if he were to start over. 'Gaudy' he says, Lucius scoffed at what he considered to be a preposterous statement made by his son. This ink is practically ichor - Oh, that's an idea.

Lucius removed the stopper in the glass that held the expensive ink, and carefully placed several dots in the lower left hand corner before he connected them with a few lines to create the constellation Scorpius. Lucius tilted the book towards him as the ink dried, satisfied that even though the picture was minimalistic by nature, it showed he had at least one stoke of an artist's ability in it - unlike Arthur. Draco was right about how the parchment reacted to the ink as he watched the vibrant gold fade into a pale, shimmering, yellow, but it worked well for what he wanted anyway. Using the same technique of mapping the stars first, he arranged the constellation Orion in the opposite corner of the page. He had to go over a few words he had written, but he knew he could go back over it with the midnight blue ink he had started with.

I wonder, when you read this, will you know the importance of your name? Have your parents told you that I had suggested it over a cup of your grandmother Narcissa's favorite tea? If not, then I hope you'll listen to this tale about how even deities should be careful about having hubristic beliefs even in themselves;

Artemis was more than just Apollo's twin, and she wasn't just the goddess who carried the moon across the sky. She was also the Goddess of the Hunt. While she was known after a sport that none of the other gods could even come close to in skill, she was humble in her own way: Artemis made sure that every arrow she shot was to kill, giving the animal a quick death to avoid any unnecessary suffering and she also made sure that when she did kill, she used every part of the animal to honor its short, but meaningful life. All but one patron of hers found this to be important.

Orion was a formidable hunter. Even without being a demi-god, magical and non-magical historians agree that his vigilance was unmatched by other humans. He hunted by night, and slept by day, and while he was known on his island to be a man of few words, this did not mean he went unnoticed by others, especially by Artemis. One summer holiday, she invited Orion to hunt by her side seeing how swift he was with his hunting tools. Orion would have been a fool to decline.

Day after day, they slept. Night after night, they rotated between hunting game, breaking down and dressing the day's catch, along with storytelling in front of the campfire. The Goddess was awed that she found someone who could almost keep up with her and Orion was impressed to find someone who seemed to love the thrill of a kill as much as he did. It was not long before she considered the mortal to be a friend - something that was known to be an issue for immortals.

It wasn't until their sixth day together that their holiday together had gone awry. Orion and Artemis had separated for the night, and when she found him later in an attempt to regroup, she found him standing in the middle of a field, sounded by the carcasses of an entire singular. Every wild boar that had been present was killed, and at the sight of Orion only picking up two boars to bring back to their campsite, Artemis grew hot with anger as the ichor in her veins rose to her face.

When she confronted him on how his unjustified blood thirst would come back to haunt him, he laughed, not taking her seriously. His only reply when he saw her lack of jest was to mock her, boasting that he would mercilessly kill all the animals and creatures on the earth so he could one day prove he was a better hunter than she. While Orion thought highly of her, the self-conceit he felt had nearly doubled over the last couple of days, and he failed to remember that words could cut just as deep as his spear.

Artemis, who was not often offended, was now personally insulted. Forgetting that Orion was a simple demi-god in her rage, she summoned a scorpion, engorged it and cast a hardening charm on it's shell so Orion's sword and arrows were unable to penetrate it. She left him on the island, thinking in a few hours she would come back to a humbled friend whom she would help heal after the battle.

Orion fought what was meant to be a physical representation of a tough lesson on pride for hours. The scorpion's movements were quick for its new size, but slow in comparison to how it should have moved, allowing Orion to dodge its attacks with ease. As the sun started to rise though, his mortal muscles became over worked, not resting from the night's hunt and they started to cramp. His strikes were no longer would-be devastating blows if he could get past the arachnid's armor and his blocks from the scorpion's stinger were becoming lucky saves. Regret built in him as he knew his time was coming as Artemis showed no signs of returning soon.

The last image his weary eyes saw was Apollo, pulling his chariot across the sky over the island, bringing the sun back into the sky. In Orion's last breath, he said a prayer to his Artemis that doubled as an apology, knowing she would be able to hear it at the same time the scorpion dealt its devastating blow on Orion.

When Artemis arrived at the island to see her newest friend slain, she mourned him, knowing that the price of her own ego was more costly than anything else she had lost before. That night, she brought Orion's body in her chariot and placed it in the sky as a new constellation. It allowed her to visit her friend every night while she chased away the sun's rays, a shadow of a race she and her friend had once shared. Artemis later decided to raise the Scorpion into the sky opposite of an Orion, so she would never forget the lesson her carelessness had brought on to herself while she warned her followers to be more careful with their self-regard.

Lucius licked his lips as he read what he wrote before deciding to continue.

No one knows how the consequences of our actions will play out, and try as we might, we will never be the masters of our destiny.

This is the lesson I want to instill in you, Scorpius. Do not become Orion, or think yourself to be an Artemis like I once had. Your peers, no matter their blood purity or gender, are your equals. No matter your lineage, you must always remember to act humbly, and to make your decisions out of love.

Lucius reread his tale several times, wondering if there was anything he should add, like how Artemis also took a vow of chastity, but dismissed it as unimportant. He learned long ago from Narcissa that a woman's worth was not based on how many children she could bare and would not infringe on that ideal in the slightest. Satisfied with what he had written, Lucius closed the plain journal. He pursed his lips before looking over at the vial of gold ink again, the moonlight glinting off of the glass being a small invitation for him to continue using it.

It really is a shame that this book is so plain looking.

"I don't like that you won't let me see what you have written. I swear if you wrote something to offend Hermione and she doesn't bring that darling babe here once he is born..." Narcissa warned.

"I know, Narcissa." Lucius flicked a stray lock of hair on to the top of his head with the tips of his fingers. It was his equivalent to an eye roll.

"Divorce, Lucius. Di-vorce."

"I'm sure what father had wrote will be just fine for little, Scorp." Draco's smile was reserved for his mother, but his slightly narrowed eyes were strictly for his dad. Draco always tried to keep the peace with Lucius, but Draco was still unable to pin how his father would react at times when Hermione was around - Especially with how Lucius was acting today. Hermione and Draco were too polite to say anything, but they did notice the shift from Lucius simply being polite, to him being overtly friendly with Hermione.

While Narcissa served a lemon-grape tang tea, she made light conversation with her son and daughter-in-law. Instead of the usual scones, they had cake to balance out the bitterness of their beverage.

"Speaking of, where is it?" Draco looked around the room, as if it would be lying on one of the spare side tables.

Narcissa looked at Lucius then, the smile from Hermione's complement still on her face. "Yes, where is the book, My dear?"

Lucius had done well up until that moment in being the excited soon-to-be grandfather. The corners of his mouth twitched in the slight upward pull he had them in. "It's in my study." Everyone stared at him, waiting for him to summon it, but instead he took a sip of his tea, pretending not to acknowledge they were waiting to see it.

Narcissa raised one eyebrow in question. Her usual smile remained on her face, but it no longer reached her eyes as the suspicion that something was off was reflected in her next suggestion. "Perhaps you should summon it?"

Another sip. "Perhaps." Lucius instead wished he could summon firewhiskey into his tea. He drank deeply as three sets of eyes bored into him.

"Father?" Hermione had glanced at Draco for reassurance, distress starting to show in her face. "What have you done?"

"I haven't done anything." Lucius shot back, before finally picking up his wand to summon the book. The last thing he wanted to do was stress Hermione out.

With a soft pop, the journal appeared in front of him. Draco and Narcissa's mouths dropped as Lucius held it out to Hermione with both hands. Blatant disbelief was on her face as she stared at the book Lucius was holding, unsure if it truly was the one she dropped off to the manor one week prior. Hermione carefully took it and flipped through the pages to ensure its contents were undamaged. There were few times that Hermione was dumbstruck, and never before was she speechless by something Lucius had done, but there was a first time for everything. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish as she looked up with Lucius with tear filled eyes.

Shit, she hates it. Lucius' eyes widened, unsure of what to say himself to make the situation better.

Draco placed a hand on Hermione's back as she started to cry. "Hermione-"

Hermione tried hold back the tears choking her up by placing her face in her hands, but she was only able to get two words out before dissolving into tears. "It's beautiful!" Lucius let out a breath he had not realized he was holding. Hermione cried into her hands, being overwhelmed by the kind gesture and the pregnancy hormones. "Its- its like the one my parents had for me! Its just how I wanted it to look." Hermione closed the journal again and looked at the front cover. "I don't know why I'm crying so much!"

Oh. Once again, Lucius was annoyed by Draco's ordinary style. Of course he was the one who wanted it to look so plain.

"May I?" Narcissa held an outstretched hand. Hermione nodded as she passed the journal over. Draco kissed his wife's temple, still trying to calm her down.

When Narcissa finally had it in front of her, it took everything in her not to go into a fit of laughter. "You can never let anything be simple can you?" The brown faux leather material had been replaced with a satin pillow like material. It gave an iridescent shine in the light and the edges of it were covered with a frilly lace. In the middle of it, it still held the unmoving, muggle photo of the latest ultrasound of Scorpius, but that too had been framed with lace. The part that was the most eye-catching though, was the gold stars that twinkled and flew around the book. "Just like the stars you enchanted on the ceiling of Draco's nursery." With a feather-light touch, she ran a hand over the front cover, before tilting it to the side to look at the spine. "My love, you have forgotten to enchant the spine."

"Oh, that was intentional. I didn't want anyone to see the stars moving around if they weren't meant to."

This fact made Hermione cry even more at how considerate Lucius had been. Hermione's parents were still alive and well, but they now shied away from magic since having their memories returned.

"Oh? Showing some restraint, are we?" Narcissa teased him with a twinkle in her eye.

"I show restraint everyd-"

"Not with children you don't." Her eye brow had been raised once again. "After you enchanted Draco's ceiling, you decided to change his entire bedroom to be space dragon themed-"

"I still see no issue with that."

"It doesn't make sense. There are no Dragons in space! And you kept it like that until he - by chance might I add - grabbed a Snitch rattle when we were on a shopping trip in Italy when he was one year old. Then everything had to be Quidditch themed." While Lucius was amused by his wife's arguments, it was apparent that she still was not over the home decor choices he dictated when Draco was growing up.

"He likes Quidditch."

"After you groomed him to! Transfigured the Welsh Green Dragon mobile above his crib into a Snitch and Seeker one. Oh, and you kept him unbreeched until the age of six!"

"Mother-" Draco begged, but it was too late. Hermione's head already had snapped up at the mention of Draco having to live in dresses until he was the age of six.

Hermione wiped a tear from her pink face. "Would you happen to have any pictures of that?"

"Do we have pictures? Lucius would have hired a photographer every month to document Draco's growth if I hadn't stopped him - and he only conceded when I said I would buy him a camera." Draco's head was in his hands as Narcissa wasted no time summoning a large photo album that was easily double the thickness of Scorpius journal - which was saying something.

"And you said I could have one portrait painted every year of Draco around his birthday."

Narcissa muttered something unintelligent before she shooed Draco over to the far end of the couch he and Hermione were seated. Lucius being excited at seeing his son young again, joined them on Hermione's other side. Hermione had stiffened at first, never having been so close to the man before, until he started to recount the stories of each picture, obviously unbothered by being so close to her. Hermione listened to his tone and watched how the micro-expressions flitted across his face before she relaxed, her own tension with Lucius melting away. She recognized that for once, Lucius was showing that he liked her and most importantly accepted her.

The four of them stayed looking at the photos like that for hours; Narcissa cooed at the appropriate times and Draco groaned at inappropriate times, earning him a quick scolding from his father on interrupting the story Lucius was telling. Hermione found another tear escaping her right eye as she rubbed her belly, coming to understand that she was right once again: What everyone had written in the book for Scorpius was written with love, nothing more and nothing less.

And she did mean everyone.


A/N: ALSO! I couldn't find a way to fit any of the lyrics in, but if you want to know what I imagined to be Narcissa's blessing/ lullaby is, I imagined it to be Sleepsong by the Secret Garden. It's a beautiful song that I honestly play myself to pass out at times.

This line: No one knows how the consequences of our actions will play out, and try as we might, we will never be the masters of our destiny. Also belongs to Nikita Gill and can be found in her book Great Goddesses.