D ~ 3
The days after Danica's disappearance were filled with sleeplessness and reluctant meals for both father and newborn child (Draco had run out to get baby formula for Astoria when it looked like Danica would be away for the next feed.)
The brief moments of sleep that overtook Draco were cut short when he sat up at the smallest of noises, bleary and disoriented, desperately looking around for his wife. Sometimes, Astoria would wake up as well, drawing her father's attention with her ear-piercing cries.
For all of his distractions, Draco always headed straight for his daughter's crib, cooing softly at her. He often took his shirt off to give the baby skin-to-skin contact. Heaven knows if it helped, but he liked to think that it was comforting at least. It wasn't long before his mind would wander back to the noise he heard, straining his ears to hear anything else that would tell him that someone was in the Manor.
For the sake of his sanity, he would often grab his wand, balancing Astoria in one arm and head toward where the noise had come from. The Manor was usually empty, devoid of the house elves that roamed the halls when he was young. Danica despised the use of house elves and never wanted them in her home against their will. ("The abuse!" She would gasp, one hand on her heart, the other on his upper arm. "Oh! The poor loves.") In lieu of this, Draco had dismissed each elf with a generous payout, ensuring their survival outside the household, or so he'd like to think.
On one occasion, he found his mother, messing around in the kitchen, fixing the mess that Draco couldn't be bothered to clean up. He sighed, lowering his wand and looking down to check on Astoria, still nestled securely in his arm. Narcissa had given him a once-over, brow furrowing in confusion.
"What's wrong with you, Dear?"
"Nothing, Mother," Draco responded softly, tucking his wand into his pants and readjusting his daughter's position in his arms.
Narcissa's frown had deepened as she looked back at the remnants of the mess. "Where's Danica?"
"Oh, she's gone on a," he paused for a short moment. "work trip."
Draco wasn't sure if his mother believed him or not, but he couldn't bring himself to care much. Nodding down at Astoria, he spoke to his mother again. "I'm going put her back down."
Without waiting for an answer, he turned and walked back upstairs.
The day after his mother's visit, Draco decided to go out and look for Danica because heaven forbid, he was going to try to find his wife. He left Astoria with a house elf that had chosen to stay at the manor but usually worked in the gardens.
He then made a job of speaking to everyone he knew, friends of Danica and random and calling in favors. He'd do anything to reunite his family. To his dismay, no one had seen her, or heard from her since the day she left. A few of her friends had gotten a message from her saying that she was safe and just had to go on a trip, though she withheld the location of the trip, and any messages sent to her after that were returned within the hour.
By this point, it had been a week and a half since he'd started looking, and it seemed that Danica was nowhere to be found. Once again, Draco returned to his self-inflicted torture of laying on his bed and nearly starving himself. To his credit, he still attended Astoria, as he did before, seeing no point in punishing the baby as he was punishing himself.
He just couldn't figure it out. Why had she left? Had he done something? God, he just wanted to know where she was and if she was safe.
-/-
His next idea came while he was laying on his back, Astoria resting on his chest, sleeping. Danica might have travelled to the muggle world. Owls from the wizarding world could travel across the barrier, however, and most definitely could deliver a message to an individual who was in the muggle world. That was how Harry Potter had received his letter for Hogwarts over two decades prior.
Draco gasped softly, clicking his fingers a few times. He'd been focusing his efforts entirely on the wizarding world when he should have been splitting his attention between both worlds.
So that's what he did. When the morning dawned, he got up and gathered some necessities for both him and Astoria. He also packed a suitcase for both of them, filled with clothes and undergarments. He tucked his invisibility cloak into one side of his suitcase along with Danica's, just in case. He planned on taking the baby, as he might be away for days on end rather than just hours as he had while searching in the muggle world. He left a note for the house elf, informing her that she would be allowed to return to her usual duties.
Draco used the floo network to get to the train station, heading for the wall well known to connect the muggle and wizard worlds. After watching several people run at the wall and disappear through, he took a deep breath, doing the same. A slight breeze blew through his hair and brushed against his arms as they passed through. The train station they came out on looked a bit different to the one he'd come from but the layout seemed identical. With a glance either way, he headed for the exit.
Draco mentally thanked his father for insisting that he keep a lot of muggle currency handy in case he needed to change over as he could buy a pram for Astoria so that he didn't have to carry her all the time. And thus they began looking around.
Within a few days, Draco had looked pretty much everywhere in England without luck.
A week and a half later, he'd had no luck in Ireland and Scotland.
He tried France; No Danica.
Germany was no better.
Denmark was just as Danica-less as everywhere else he'd looked.
As was Poland.
Having had enough of European air for the moment, Draco booked a flight for Los Angeles. Maybe he'd have better luck in America.
-/-
After 18 hours on a flight, Draco was ready to drop. He'd apologised when he got on for Astoria and quietly begged her not to cry too much during the flight. He'd fed her just before she was due in hopes to avoid a fit, and mostly succeeded save for a few small fit when she needed to be changed.
It was incredibly early in the morning (4:45am) so Draco headed straight for a hotel, hoping for a good sleep and a long search for Danica in the morning. He found himself awake the next evening, having slept through his alarm. Of course, he'd woken a few times to tend to Astoria and go to the bathroom, but other than that he'd expected to be woken by his alarm.
He forced himself up, groaning. "Maybe tomorrow." He assured himself as he reached for the room service menu. The food arrived soon enough, and Draco ate as he watched a show.
Father and daughter were made to go out that evening anyway, as Astoria was out of food. Draco settled her in the pram and grabbed his stuff, tucking his phone and the cash he'd exchanged when he landed into his jacket.
Out into the warm-ish night they went, Astoria's quiet fussing being swallowed by the sound of cars and people walking past, some in clubbing gear. Draco pushed the pram along the pavement, following a group of early-twenties girls who were laughing as they went.
They must be headed toward a night-life district
Draco mused to himself as the lights of the surrounding buildings gradually seemed to grow brighter and more extravagant with every step he took. Soon enough, the sound of patrons waiting for entrance into an establishment filled every nook and cranny of the already noisy street.
A long line of people stood outside a large building with the word "LUX" on the outside. The group of girls ahead of Draco squealed with what he could only assume was excitement.
It intrigued him, such an innocuous building drawing such a large crowd? Must be something truly special.
Or maybe it was the very tall man who pulled up in the alley beside the building in a black 1960's Corvette. He stepped out, and Draco could see him grace the gathered crowd with a smile and nod of his head as he adjusted the cuffs of the suit he wore.
Still watching in slight fascination, Draco was surprised when the man did not head for the doors, instead handing his keys off to a valet (he assumed) who reversed the car out of the alley and turned into the multi-storey parking lot on the other side of the alley.
The man who had driven up in the car turned toward the parking lot as well, studying it as if expecting it to come alive.
Astoria got very fussy just then, drawing Draco's attention from the sharply dressed gentleman across the road. Leaning down to attend to his daughter, Draco almost missed the blonde woman who walked out from the exit of the car park.
She was dressed in dark pants and a red long-sleeved shirt and carried a carry cot in one hand. A different man in a suit (likely a bodyguard) followed her most of the way before dropping back to stand a few metres away. The tall man seemed to speak to the guard who nodded and walked away, but Draco's attention remained on the woman.
That was Danica. That is his wife. Her hair, her height, and even the way she carried herself was akin to Danica Barlowe. But why, then, was this woman holding a carry cot? Their child was with him.
Before Draco could call out, or cross the road, the tall man rested a hand on her back and guided her smoothly through the doors of 'LUX'. It was then that Draco heard chatter from a different group of people in club wear approaching.
"Did you see Chloe?"
So the woman was called Chloe
"I did! She looks gorgeous!"
"And only, like, 3 months after giving birth too!"
Draco's gaze snapped down to Astoria. She was only 3 months, or there abouts. His mind wandered back to the cot in Danica- no, Chloe's hand. Danica had only given birth to one baby, right?
Yeah. He'd been there during the labour. Only one baby was in her womb. One baby was born, and that was Astoria.
But, then-
No.
Draco couldn't take this tonight.
With that final thought, he turned and pushed the pram along the pavement again, determined to find some formula and go to bed. He'd work it out in the morning. Right now he needed time to think, to analyse what he'd just seen.
-/-
For several days, Draco did his best to see the woman again, but it seemed he either kept missing her or she wasn't coming.
After another afternoon of fruitless watching from a Cafe a little more down the street than from where he'd originally seen her, he stood, dusting imaginary dust off his hands. He turned Astoria's pram around, pushing it up the street. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed someone approaching.
It was 'Chloe'.
'Hi," She began, a friendly smile on her lips. "How are you?"
Draco watched her warily. "Hello. I'm well, and you?" He answered out of instinct.
"Oh, I'm well enough. Thank you," Her smile widened ever-so-slightly and Draco felt a pang in his heart. He longed to pull her into his arms, but at the same time, she wasn't acting as if she knew him so he would let her make the first move.
Her head tilted in question and Draco realised that he had drifted off into a daydream and completely ignored whatever she had said.
Clearing his throat, he spoke, "Sorry? I didn't catch that."
"That's okay. I was saying that the bouncers over at Lux have noticed you looking over there quite a lot. My bodyguard said something similar. Is there anything you need from me?"
Draco swallowed.
"Or perhaps you would like to speak with Lucifer?"
"Lucifer?" Draco croaked.
"Mm-hm. The Co-owner of Lux, Lucifer Morningstar," She gestured behind her to the aforementioned building. "He's up in the penthouse now, if you'd like a word."
Draco shook his head.
Chloe's brow furrowed, and her lips pursed a little. Her bright blue eyes searched him up and down, as if looking for an answer to the unasked questions she had.
"Well, if you need either my husband or myself, please, go over and speak to Harley," she moved to the side, pointing at the bouncer standing by the door of Lux. "Oh! Or if you need Amenadiel."
At the face Draco pulled, Chloe continued, "The other Co-owner of Lux."
Draco nodded and Chloe gave him a smile and wave. She turned to go back to the club. It was at that moment that her words sunk in. Or rather, one word - Husband.
Unable to stop himself, he called out. "Danica?"
Chloe paused and turned back, "Beg pardon?"
There was a moment of silence between the two before Draco gathered the courage to speak again. "Nevermind, excuse me." He turned and walked away, sparing the blonde a quick smile.
-/-
Draco didn't go to Lux or the Cafe for a few days afterwards. He needed time to think, to decide what he wanted to do. He needed to go back to the wizarding world, but the trip probably wouldn't be good for Astoria, and if this Chloe was actually Danica, there was no one better for Astoria to stay with than her.
Besides, once he got back, if he wanted to, he could speak to the woman and her husband. He assumed her husband was the tall man with the Corvette from his first night in Los Angeles.
And so the plan was made. It tore Draco's heart to think of leaving his baby girl with people he didn't know, but he'd made his decision, no matter how impulsive.
He pushed the pram out of the room along with Astoria's suitcase, only donning the invisibility cloak when they got close enough. He thanked the Heavens that Danica had left hers behind as well, using it to cover the pram. Once he had settled the pram in a safe place, somewhere where she would be found quickly, he pressed a kiss to the baby's forehead and turned, walking away quickly.
The rest of his day moved in a blur as he packed his suitcase and signed out of the hotel, heading for the airport. Once he landed, he went straight to Kings Cross, passing back across to the wizarding world and the very empty Manor he once shared with his mother and father, and more importantly, his soulmate and baby.