It was like having Draco back.

That first night he stayed, getting up with Nova every time she cried, passing her to me so I could feed her, and then watching us with such love in his eyes.

And as soon as she fell back asleep, he would place her back in her cot, and join me back in bed, wrapping me in his arms, making me feel so wonderful and loved.

"I can't stay every night," he said sadly when we awoke the next morning, "I've got this task to complete. I- I have to do it I'm afraid."

I didn't miss the way his eyes flicked to the dark ink on his left forearm and my heart twisted at the sad and frightened expression upon his face.

"Draco, all I need to know is that you're doing everything to keep yourself safe." I said, placing a hand to his cheek and looking up at him intently.

"Everything but this," he said huskily, leaning down to brush his lips against mine.

I felt desire pool in my stomach as he began to kiss me deeply, his hand scooping up my hair and clutching the back of my head.

A small cry made us break apart and, without hesitation, Draco got up to fetch Nova from her cot.

"It's lucky you're so cute," he said kissing the top of her head as he cradled her to his chest. "Daddy wouldn't forgive just anybody for interrupting kisses with Mummy."

"Nothing gets in the way of this girl and her food, I'm afraid." I laughed as he climbed back onto the bed, passing Nova to me.

He draped an arm around me and kissed my shoulder as I pulled up my vest to allow Nova to feed.

"I don't think I could ever get tired of seeing you feed our child," he murmured, pulling me closer to his side.

"Well, she's certainly good at it," I smiled, looking up into Draco's twinkling silver eyes. "Which is lucky as it makes feeding between classes a lot easier."

"You're amazing, you know," he breathed, nuzzling his face in my hair. "Doing all this. I wish I could do something to help you, to make life easier for you."

"You are helping, Draco." I assured him. You're here, loving me. That's all I need."

It was just for a fraction of a second, but I felt him still.

"Draco?" I asked, looking up at him fearfully.

"Aurora, I'm always loving you, but I may not always be here." He said sadly, his voice full of regret as he clung to me a little tighter and cradled a hand upon the head of our feeding daughter.

I closed my eyes against the familiar pain that crashed over me.

The pain of knowing that Draco could never be mine.

******

Draco hurled his wand at the cabinet where the dead bird lay, and sank to his knees, letting out a strangled cry of frustration.

It was no fucking use. He couldn't do it. And time was almost up.

Voldemort was going to kill him and his mother if he hadn't succeeded by summer.

The big party that Pansy kept harping on about was either going to be their engagement party or his funeral.

He didn't know which was worse.

And would he be able to do it, he wondered. When it came to it - would he be able to kill an innocent man?

He thought of his daughter and of Aurora, wishing he could be with them up in the room.

Over the past couple of weeks, he had been visiting them as much as he could, helping Aurora to catch up with her work, cuddling his daughter, and blissfully climbing into bed with them, closing his eyes, holding them close and pretending it was real - that it wasn't temporary, and that he wasn't engaged to Pansy.

Sod it, he thought, standing up and striding across the room to retrieve his wand.

The cabinet could wait. He was going to spend as much time with his girls whilst he still could.

She opened the door to him with a look of surprise in her eyes. She was wearing just a towel and he couldn't help but feel the familiar twitch in his trousers.

"Draco! I didn't realise you were coming tonight. Nova's just gone down and I was just about to get in the shower."

"Mind if I join?" He growled, pushing her inside, kissing her hard as he did so. He suddenly wanted her more than anything.

They hadn't done anything since he had started visiting them, Draco being keen to be respectful of the fact that she'd been through a lot, and that their daughter was right there next to them.

But he was relieved when she didn't object and pulled him into the bathroom after her.

His stomach knotted in utter longing as she closed the door behind them and connected her lips back to his, letting her towel fall to the floor as she clumsily tried to loosen his tie.

He breathlessly broke the kiss, taking over as he ripped it clean off, immediately followed by his shirt.

He stripped down to nothing as Aurora turned on the shower and stepped inside, Draco following as he pulled her to him and hoisted her up so that her legs wrapped around his middle.

He felt himself pressed hard up against her, desperate to be inside her.

"Aurora are we safe?" He asked, suddenly feeling panicked and ashamed of his own unpreparedness.

However, to his relief, she nodded.

"Madam Pomfrey gave me another potion. It's been safely locked away in here." She panted breathlessly, her eyes swirling with hunger. "I started taking it as soon as you began visiting."

He instantly connected his lips back to hers, feeling ridiculously pleased that she had been wanting this as much as he had.

And he wasn't wrong, he realised as he pushed her against the shower wall and moved his hand between her legs, Aurora almost biting his lip as he slowly began to slide a finger, and then two inside of her. Water splattered down on his back as she gasped and moaned in pleasure, his fingers working faster as she gripped his shoulders, her whole body writhing and her legs spasming as she neared her orgasm.

"Look at me," he said thickly, his voice hoarse with longing. "Open your eyes, Aurora and look at me."

And she did, her eyelids fluttering open to reveal her beautiful brown eyes, pupils dark and dilated with lust. The sight of them was too much for Draco and he removed his hand from between them and, hoisting her up again so that she could rewrap her legs around his middle, he pushed himself inside of her.

He clamped his mouth around hers, muffling their moans. She felt deliciously amazing, and he wasn't sure he was going to last long, having missed this so incredibly much.

"Aurora," he grunted, breaking his mouth away from her lips, his voice strangled in his efforts of trying not to come too soon.

He couldn't help but pick up the pace, suddenly desperate to reach the peak, his breaths quick and ragged as he moved his mouth against her neck, moaning against her sweet, succulent skin.

"Draco," she whimpered, her arms tightening around his neck as he pummelled against her harder and harder, digging his fingers into the soft flesh of her hips. "I'm close."

Those words were sending him over the edge, but he didn't want to let her down, so with all his effort, he unclasped a hand from her hip and moved it to where they were joined, rotating his thumb against her clit as he continued to ram into her.

He watched her face contort as she reached her climax, the beauty of her alone causing him to finally reach his.

"Fuck," he cried out, as his whole body suddenly shuddered and then tautened as the knot in his stomach ripped, causing his orgasm to rush through him.

"I love you, I love you," he whispered over and over again as he peppered kissed over her face, his heart racing crazily against his ribs, threatening to burst when she repeated the words back to him.

That night, they crawled into bed as he wrapped her in his arms and held her close, their hearts beating contentedly side by side.

He tried not to think about the cabinet,

waiting to be fixed, in the Room of Hidden things.

And he tried not to think of that Slytherin girl, whom he despised more than anyone, sleeping down in the dungeons - betrothed to be his wife.

All he thought about, and all he ever wanted, were right here in that very room with him.

And he closed his eyes against the familiar pain that crashed over him.

The pain of knowing that Aurora and Nova could never be his.