Prologue

May 2, 1998

Draco Malfoy was off to the side of the Great Hall, exhausted and slumped on one of the benches along the wall.

Potter had managed to defeat the Dark Lord, again, and the war was finally over.

His parents had been next to him, unsure of what to do, until Aurors took them to the Ministry for some questioning.

As the dust settled, Draco watched and waited until it was his turn to be taken into custody—he knew it was only a matter of time. There were witches and wizards all around him, and even more pouring in from the entrance, most likely family and friends looking for those who fought in the battle. He was surrounded by people, though none seemed to pay him any mind. Some were crying for those who were lost, others were crying for those found, safe and alive, and even more were searching for the missing among the rubble.

He saw Daphne Greengrass enter the hall, and she seemed to be searching for someone. He was shocked when her eyes landed on his and relief fell across her dainty features. When she started walking towards him, Draco noticed she was carrying something—a baby, swaddled within the crook of her arm while her other hand carried a leather-worn, pink suitcase. Standing, he eyed the baby with Malfoy-blond hair, and gave the witch a curious, cautious look as she approached.

"Hello, Draco," she said, almost breathlessly, as if she's been searching everywhere for him.

He gave her a short nod. "Hello, Daphne." He motioned to the baby in her arms. "Who's that you got there?"

Daphne smiled as she set the suitcase down and shifted the infant in her arms so that he could see her properly. "Her name's Lyra. Lyra Jean Malfoy. She's yours, Draco."

"Mine?" His eyes snapped up to hers. "But, how? We've never..."

Daphne shook her head and placed the baby in his arms. "Not mine. Yours. Yours and— "

But before she could say anything else, a commotion nearby interrupted her; a hidden Death Eater emerged from the shadows, shouting how the Dark Lord will prevail, even in death, and started shooting spells around the room haphazardly.

Before the Aurors could contain the Death Eater, a flash of green headed straight towards Draco. He turned his body on instinct to block the curse from the baby while next to him he heard Daphne gasp then push him away, putting herself in the line of the Killing curse.

Draco swirled around and watched as she fell to the floor, her lifeless eyes still open. The baby in his arms started to cry from being jostled, and in that moment, with the Death Eater confined and being dragged away by the Aurors, and others running over to the fallen girl in front of him, he realized he still had no idea who the mother of this child was.

Happy New Years Eve! (At least it still is for me for another 2hrs)
I was going to post this new fic starting tomorrow, but I figured I'd post the Prologue today and Chapter 1 tomorrow.
This is a fic that I have been working on for nearly two-years. I've started and stopped working on this fic as a my muse saw fit, but I finally joined the Dramione Fanfic Writers ROD Challenge in September and with all the challenges and games we did, I was able to complete this story!
That's right! This fic is COMPLETE! It's currently sitting at just over 100k words, but there are still edits to be made in the last chapters so that number may change slightly. It has 40 chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue.

I will post new new chapters weekly, probably on Sunday's.

Major thanks to my Alpha, Anne Ammons and my Beta Caitlin (CaitlinCheri28) without who I wouldn't able to get this fic ready by the New Year!

Tags: memory loss, single-father Draco, Lyra Malfoy, infertility, epilogue what epilogue, slow-burn, rivals to lovers, friends to lovers, 6th year compliant, hidden pregnancy, shop-owner Draco, bookstore Hermione, eventual smut