Prologue
“Wake up, sleepyhead,”
Draco felt his wife’s fingers run through his hair, an ongoing tradition that had been in place for years. She ruffled it up a bit, twisting a strand just enough to annoy him into consciousness.
“Good morning, love,”
His piercing eyes opened, softening when he saw Astoria’s face to the left of him. She always found a way to have that type of effect on just about anyone, most of all Draco. Those chocolate brown eyes of hers could never leave him angry for long. Neither could the small smile that crossed her lips just now, the corners of her mouth rising ever so slightly.
“You know, you really need to stop that, or else I’ll never get out of this bed,”
Draco took the hand that was running through his hair out, kissing it gently as he placed it next to him. Her lip jutted out in a pout, eyes made to match in an attempt to persuade him.
“But I want you to stay for as long as possible. I like you here,”
“I have work,”
“You can spare a few minutes,”
She pressed her lips to his, rejecting his relocation of her hand and placing it exactly where it had been before. He noticed how soft her lips were in the morning despite the fact their window was open every night. Even the harsh winter winds wouldn’t deter her from perfection.
Cupping her face, he went deeper into the kiss with an intention to release what he’d been needing to for the past week. Every morning, he brushed past his wife in a hurry to the damned Ministry. Not today.
She pulled away for a second, already flushed, “Is that a yes, ‘I’m staying,’ husband, or am I mistaken?”
He chuckled, “Still thinking about it. Convince me?”
She kissed him again, this time rolling over so that she was positioned under him. Both hands were in his hair now, running through with an unspoken urgency.
His bed head wasn’t going to look any better after this.
“Thank you,” she said between kisses, “I needed this,”
The inflection in her tone suggested something. It was confirmed as one hand became free, running down Draco’s boxers.
Draco saw her smile grow as his breath began to hitch. Though he desperately wanted to let her have her way, their three year old in the next room and the Ministry would probably not be too pleased if he did.
“Love,” he breathed, “I want to, I really do, but I’ve got to work,”
“I thought you said you were staying,” she replied, beginning to kiss from his neck to his collarbone in a jagged line. The hand his wife had placed in his hair pulled him down to her, almost trapping him in her embrace.
He struggled to remove her hand from his boxers. A wave of pain rushed through him as he was successful, especially after seeing the crestfallen look on her face.
“I never said sex.”
Draco’s tone was serious now. He rolled back onto his side of the bed, disheartened.
“Please,” she pleaded, “I’ll make it quick. You won’t be late,” She kissed him again, but it wasn’t like the others preceding it. This kiss was desperate; devoid of passion.
“I’m sorry,” Draco sighed, “We will eventually, I promise,”
“I want you,” Astoria hissed, “I don’t want to force you into anything, ok? But I don’t know how long I can manage without it. And I don’t know how much longer we can do this before I become a cripple again,”
When she put it that way, Draco looked considerably more like an ass.
“You’re not a cripple, Astoria. You never were,”
“But I will be,” she retorted, “Childbirth took me out for an entire year. I won’t come back from the next wave of maledictius, no matter what spin you put on it,”
“I’ll have you any day, no matter what you look like, or what disease is attacking you from the inside out,”
“But will I?”
The gravity of words seemed to echo across the entire neighborhood.
“I’m going to start getting ready for work,”
Draco stretched quickly, preparing to get out of bed. Somehow, he had managed to disappoint both him and his beloved, and now, he had to trudge his way to work without any security in his role as a husband.
“I’m sorry, Draco,” her quiet voice said, “I know it’s a lot, managing work and Scorp and me and everything else. I understand if it’s too much sometimes,”
His last train of thought stopped dead in its tracks. Astoria’s tendencies toward self-criticism always caught Draco off guard, especially because they were almost never true. Sure, Astoria was not perfect; no one was, but she was everything. Just everything to him.
“Astoria,” he cupped her face one last time, “You are never too much for anyone. Don’t say things like that when you know you are absolutely incredible,”
“Oh, shut up,” she teased, “Now I want you to go to work,”
His eyes closed one more time as he leaned in for the final kiss of the morning.