24

Jade was a very quiet baby and, much to her parents' delight, would sleep hours at a time. She never fussed, not even when given a bath or having her diaper changed. She would just stare up at you with her big, grey eyes. Hermione noticed that her baby never smiled or cooed for her, and it bothered her to think that, at only six months old, Jade was already an unhappy child. It bothered her so much that she would spend stressful hours trying to get her baby girl to just give her the tiniest smile.

Draco watched in amusement as Hermione made extremely funny faces, dancing around singing some Muggle song about shaking your booty. She even made farting noises with her armpit. Nothing worked; Jade simply sat there on the floor, staring at Hermione like she was crazy.

"Oh, I give up!" Hermione cried in exasperation after a few hours. "It's hopeless! I think she does it on purpose to drive me mad!" She plopped herself down into an over stuffed chair, put her feet up on the ottoman, and then blew the straggled pieces of hair out of her face. "She has no sense of humor!"

"Nonsense, my dear wife!" Draco said, getting up and making his way over to the baby. "You just have to know what she finds funny. Observe," he said, putting his hands over his eyes and then pulling them away. "Boo!" he said loudly. Jade jumped, startled, and then cracked a smile. "See?" he said to Hermione smugly. "Daddy knows what you like, doesn't he, my little angel?" he said, picking her up and blowing on her tummy.

Much to Hermione's annoyance, Jade giggled. Of course, she was daddy's little girl! Maybe the next one would prefer her dramatic attempts at humor to his peek-a-boos and tummy raspberries! Still, it was a relief to know that her baby was not a sullen, unhappy child. Maybe if they kept her happy, she wouldn't grow up to feel unloved. Hermione had decided that it was the reason her daughter had the affair. She simply felt unloved by her husband and family. Why else would someone stray?

She watched Draco playing on the floor with their daughter, waving a toy in her face. She knew she could never tell him, and she also knew that she could never tell Harry and Ginny that her daughter was the reason their son took his own life. She would bear this burden alone to spare the feelings of her husband and her friends. Somehow, she would find a way to change her daughter's destiny and maybe the destiny of everyone close to her. Her hand went to her stomach, and she closed her eyes, wishing happiness and health for the new life that was growing inside.

"Draco?"

He looked up from his daughter, and she took the opportunity, while he was distracted, to grab the toy from his hand. "Why, you little devil!" he said, tapping her on her cute little nose. She giggled and tried to hit him, but he caught her tiny hand and kissed it. "What did you want?" he asked Hermione, looking up at her again. He saw excitement mingled with fear plainly etched on her face. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

Hermione slid out of the chair and sat next to him. "I have something to tell you. Something that I hope will make you happy." She took his hand and held it over her stomach. "Do you sense anything?"

He looked confused for a second and then what she had meant dawned on him. "Another baby?" A smile lit up his face, and he jumped on her, knocking her over onto the plush carpet. "Are you sure?" he asked, holding himself above her with his strong arms.

"I found out just this morning. Are you sure you're okay with this?" she asked, rubbing her hands over his biceps. "I know it's so soon and Jade is only a few months old..."

Draco leaned in and kissed his wife's open mouth, quieting her. "Hermione, my love, I've never been more happy or more excited! Another baby! Just think about it, maybe you'll get lucky and this one will think you're funny."

"Ha ha! Malfoy!"

Suddenly, Narcissa appeared in the doorway. "What is all the commotion? The house-elves are in a flurry, passing around bottles of butterbeer and congratulating me on having such a virile son."

Hermione and Draco couldn't help but laugh at the very image of a house-elf toasting to his manhood. "Mother, Hermione just told me that we're expecting another baby."

Narcissa's hand went to her throat in surprise. "Really? I'm going to be a grandmother again?" She seemed both happy and distraught at the very idea.

"What's wrong, Cissy?" Hermione asked in concern, crawling out from under Draco.

"Oh, nothing! Just that now I'll have to say I have two grandchildren. People will think I'm so old!" She rushed over to the mirror and examined her still youthful face.

"Mother, please! You know you look twenty years younger than you really are! No one will think you're old!"

She fixed her hair, even though there wasn't a strand out of place. "I'm so happy for you!" she said, turning and gathering them into a crushing embrace. "I must tell everyone. Will you excuse me?" She kissed them both on the cheek and rushed from the room.

Hermione went over to Jade, picked her up and swung her around. "You're going to be a big sister!" she said, smothering her drooling face with kisses. For a response, Jade hit her in the head with the toy and then threw it to the floor.

Draco laughed, "It looks like she's not very happy about it!"

Hermione handed the baby to Draco. "Well, she's just going to have to deal with it now, isn't she?" Somewhere deep in her heart, she knew that maybe this was how it started. She had always heard of sibling rivalry, but neither she nor Draco had ever had to deal with it, being the only child. "You'll see, Jade, darling," she said to the yawning baby. "You and Ruby will get along famously!"

The little girl simply stared at Hermione. Her huge grey eyes seemed to shout, 'It's not going to be all right, mother! She's going to steal all the attention! You'll love her more than me, and I'll end up searching aimlessly for that lost love, finding it in the form of a sinister man who'll talk me into leaving my husband and daughter! I'll die lonely and broken-hearted because you just couldn't use birth control!'

Hermione tore her eyes away from Jade's accusing stare and fled from the room.

***

It seemed that Hermione had worried for nothing after the birth of her second child. Jade and Ruby seemed to get along like the best of friends. Jade would hold her hand and make sure she didn't get into trouble; she would play dolls and tea party with her. Everything looked fine...on the outside.

What Hermione and Draco didn't know was that Jade loved to torture her little sister when they were alone. She would tell Ruby scary stories, threaten the little toddler by telling her she was going to throw her from the tree house. Jade would pull her hair and pinch her. Jade even told Ruby that if she told mum or dad about any of it, she would sneak into her room at night and set her bed on fire.

Ruby would lie in her bed at night, crying in the dark, her sister in the next room listening with a huge, satisfied grin on her face. She hated her sister and she really didn't know why. It was something she had felt since she first saw the squalling newborn in her cradle. Maybe it was the way her mother doted on the little brat, telling her how smart she was. Her mum never said anything like that to her! Sure, she held her and kissed her, sang to her, but it always seemed fake to her, as if her mother was just going through the motions and didn't really mean it.

She sometimes felt that her mother could see right through her, knew all the terrible things she did to her sister. It made her feel guilty and ashamed, and sometimes she just wanted to climb into her mother's lap and tell her everything while her mother rocked her and kissed her, telling her it would be all right. All she wanted was for her mummy to love her like she loved Ruby.

Her daddy was a different story; she was his favorite and could do no wrong in his eyes. He sat with her and read her stories, told crazy knock-knock jokes and called her his little angel. She loved her daddy with all her heart, and sometimes she worried that he would find out what a bad girl she was, and then he wouldn't love her anymore.

She listened as Hermione went into Ruby's room and tried to soothe her.

"Baby? What's the matter? Why are you crying?" Hermione said, lifting her up and rocking her. "Did you have a bad dream?" She kissed her terrified daughter on her tear-stained, chubby cheek.

"No, mummy, I just thought I saw... I saw a monster at my window."

Hermione laid the sniffling girl back in her bed, and after conjuring a glass of cold water, she gave her a sip. "That's my girl! Now, tell mummy about the monster."

Ruby wanted desperately to tell her about the things Jade had been doing to her, but she didn't want to be set on fire in her bed. "The monster hurts me, mummy."

"Hurts you? What do you mean?" Hermione asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. For some reason, her heart was pounding very fast.

"It likes to pinch me until I scream, and sometimes she... I mean it puts its hand over my face so I can't breathe, and it laughs and laughs when I try to kick it." Ruby suddenly sat up, her eyes full of terror. "Oh, mummy! I don't want it to hurt me anymore! Make it stop!" She clung to Hermione, shivering and crying. "I don't want to be burned up! I don't like fire!"

Hermione felt like she had been punched in the stomach. All the air left her lungs, and her vision turned black. She knew who 'the monster' was now, and she could see it clearly. Hermione had noticed bruises on Ruby, but just thought they were the kind every four-year-old got while running and playing. Last night, during Ruby's bath, Hermione had seen a huge black and blue mark on the child's back.

"How did you get this?" she had asked her. 'It looks painful. Does it hurt?"

Ruby looked up at her, eyes filled with tears. "I fell down the stairs. It hurted really bad, but now, not so much."

Hermione now had a dreadful suspicion that her oldest daughter was behind this, and it made her sick to think about her baby girl being hurt like this. "It's going to be all right, sweet pea. Mummy will fix everything. The monster won't hurt you ever again." She picked up her daughter and held her close. "Would you like to sleep in the nursery with Emerald tonight?"

Ruby nodded her head. "I like to watch baby sister sleep; she smiles when she's sleeping."

Hermione carried her daughter to the nursery and laid her in the bed next to the crib. She stayed until she fell asleep. After kissing Ruby on the forehead and making sure Emmie was covered up, Hermione went back down the hall and stood outside of Jade's room. She stood there, staring at the closed door, trying to calm herself. 'How did this happen?' she thought. 'I was so careful to make sure she felt loved and wanted. Why would she do this?' Hermione thought that maybe there was some mutant evil Malfoy gene that was passed down through the bloodline, something that Jade had been born with. It had to be something like that!

Her hand grasped the doorknob and she slowly turned it. Stepping into the room, she closed the door behind her. It was semi-dark, a stream of light coming from the fairy nightlight next to the bed, casting shadows across the floor. Hermione slowly walked over to the bed and looked down at her daughter.

Kneeling down, she smoothed the pale curls from the angelic face and kissed her lovingly on her tiny, pink lips. Emotion took over and she started sobbing. "My baby, my beautiful girl, I've failed you!"

Jade's eyes flew open at the sound of her mother crying. "Mummy, what's wrong! What is it?" Jade thought that her tattletale sister had ratted on her. 'Whatever she said, I didn't do it! She's a liar!"

Hermione abruptly stopped crying and stood up. She wiped the tears from her face roughly. "I know what you've been doing Jade Malfoy. I know that you've been hurting your little sister, leaving marks and bruises all over her body." Hermione took a long deep breath. She was disgusted by the fact that she wanted more than anything to grab the girl and shake the hell out of her. "Why, Jade? Why are you doing this?"

Jade simply looked up at her mother and said, "Because I hate her, and I want her to die."

Hermione gasped in shock. "What did you say?" This was not happening. Her daughter did not just tell her that she wanted to kill her little sister. "What is wrong with you?" she said, shaking her head in horror. "How can you say things like that?'

"You only love her, not me." Jade hugged her favorite dolly tightly. "If she was dead then you would love me again."

Hermione bent down and picked her up. "I love you, Jade, more than you'll ever know. You are my first born, my special girl. Tell me how I can make you see what I feel in my heart.'

Jade wrapped her arms around her mother and kissed cheek. "Just be with me sometimes, hold me like this and tell me you love me, like daddy does."

"I do tell you!' Hermione was tearing up again.

"You tell me, but you don't mean it."

"Yes, I do mean it!" She hugged the little girl closer. "I love you, baby girl, and your sister loves you too. She looks up to you and wants to always be with you. Please don't hurt her anymore, Jade. If you do, we will have to send you away. We can't have you hurting other children or yourself."

Jade started crying, "Don't send me away! I don't know why I do it. Honestly, I don't! Sometimes I hate her so much that I just have to hurt her! I don't want to be like this, mummy! Please help me!"

"I will, darling. Mummy will help you, I promise."

An hour later, Hermione came back to her bed. She took off her robe and slippers and then climbed under the covers. "Draco?"

He rolled over, putting his arm around her. "Yes, my love?" he said tiredly.

"We need to talk."

"About what?"

"Jade."

"What about her?" he asked, opening his eyes and looking into her red splotchy face. "Have you been crying?" He sat up and turned on the lamp next to the bed. "What's wrong?"

"It's Jade! She's been hurting Ruby."

Draco narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, 'hurting Ruby'?" He didn't believe for one second that his little angel would ever hurt anyone.

"Ruby was crying and I went to her room. When I asked what was wrong, she told me that a monster had been hurting her."

Draco waved his hand. "It was just a nightmare!" he said dismissively. "What's this got to do with Jade?"

"I've been noticing cuts and black and blue marks on Ruby. At first I thought they were just normal everyday bumps and bruises, but the one I saw tonight was not normal. It looked like she had been hit with something."

"Did you ask her how she got it?"

"She said it was from falling down the stairs, but I could tell she was lying." Hermione sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. "When she was telling me about the monster, she slipped and said, 'she' instead of 'it'. Then it just hit me. Ruby spends a lot of time alone with Jade."

"How can you sit there and accuse our little girl of being some kind of child abuser? She's six-years-old, for Merlin's sake!" He shook his head. "No, I refuse to believe that my angel would hurt Ruby. There has to be another explanation!"

"Draco," Hermione said, frustrated. She had never seen any man so loyal to his child. It both pleased her and made her jealous at the same time. "Jade admitted to me that it was her. She said she wanted Ruby to die because she thinks I love her more." Hermione tried to reach out for him, but he shrank away in disgust. "Jade was crying, telling me that she didn't want to hurt anyone, but that she couldn't help it."

Draco collapsed onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He was silent for so long that Hermione thought that he had gone into shock. "What are we going to do?"

Hermione leaned over and laid her head on his chest. "We need to get her some help. I promised."

Both being Medi-Wizards, Draco and Hermione were able to find the best and most discreet help available for their daughter. They refused to send her away and demanded that the psychiatrist come to their house daily instead. She was diagnosed with Anti-Social Personality Disorder, and treatment was started immediately to help her deal with her hostility and impulsive behavior.

Draco and Hermione both had long shifts at St. Mungos, but they made sure that if one of them couldn't be home with her, the other could. On the rare occasion that they had to work the same shift, Narcissa made sure that Jade went nowhere near Ruby or Emerald.

Jade slowly made progress and was allowed playtime with her sisters, and even with Harry and Ginny's son, Raiden, who was around the same age as Ruby. Harry and Ginny knew something was going on, but never asked. They knew the Malfoys were a very private and very proud family, and it really was none of their business what happened inside of the Manor.

Even though Jade never hurt her sister, or any other child for that matter, ever again, she was now prone to bouts of depression that lasted for days. By the time she was eleven, her dejection had worsened. Her letter from Hogwarts came in the mail, and they debated whether or not to send her.

"Jade, angel," Draco said, coming into her room. She and Raiden, who was her constant companion, were building a tower with Exploding Snap cards. "Something came by owl for you today. It's your letter to Hogwarts for this fall."

Jade looked up, her smokey eyes alight with excitement. "It did?" she asked, jumping up and knocking the tower over, where it exploded, sending smoke into Raiden's face. "Let me see it!' She snatched the parchment from her father's hand and read it. "Oh, Raiden, look! I'm going to Hogwarts!" she said, thrusting the letter at him.

"Do you really want to go, Jade?" Draco asked, watching her dance around happily.

"Of course I do! What a silly question!" She stopped twirling around and looked at her father suspiciously. "You don't want me to go, do you?" She suddenly began to cry. "I knew it! You and mum aren't gonna let me go! You want me to stay locked up here like a freak and never have any friends or do anything fun!" Raiden jumped up and assured her that HE would always be her friend.

Draco rushed over to his daughter, assuring her that it wasn't true. "Jade! Please, honey, listen to me!" He grabbed her by the shoulders. "If it means that much to you, you may go...but if there is a problem at any time, you are going to have to come back home," he warned.

"Oh, Father! I promise to behave, and I'll try my hardest not to be sad!" She hugged a startled Raiden and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll miss you, but soon you'll be going as well, and then we can be together again!"

***

When it was time for Jade to go to school, Hermione and Draco saw their daughter off, and as the Hogwarts Express rolled from the station, Hermione turned to Draco. "I'm trying to be positive, but I have this crushing fear that she's not going to be fine and that something terrible is going to happen."

'You're just afraid that she's going to be sorted into Slytherin, aren't you?" Draco said teasingly.

'I'm kind of thinking she will be whether I like it or not. She is her father's daughter, after all!"

But they were wrong. Jade was sorted into Hufflepuff, much to her father's disgust. His daughter was the first in the entire history of Malfoys not to be sorted into the house of Slytherin. "I'm embarrassed to even tell people. When they ask me what house she's in, I will always have to change the subject!"

"Well, I'm happy she's in Hufflepuff! It shows that instead of being just smart or courageous, or cunning, she's hard working and loyal as well! I'm proud of her and you should be too!"

"It's still embarrassing!" he said, from behind his Daily Prophet. "Although there is one good thing about her being in that House."

"What's that?" Hermione asked, sipping her tea.

"She won't get into any trouble there! It's full of boring, rule-following goody goodies, who never swear, drink or have dirty thoughts!"

***

Jade's first year went smoothly. She had only one bout of depression that lasted for only two days. Luckily, it was over the weekend, and she could just pass it off as being tired from doing school work all week. Sometimes, she missed her family terribly, but the person she missed most was Raiden. Never a day went by that she didn't receive a letter from him. She kept them all tied in a blue satin ribbon in the bottom of her underwear drawer.

She made plenty of new friends; one she liked in particular was named Kate. Kate was a dark skinned, black haired girl with loose morals and a knack for getting in trouble. Jade thought her wonderful and longed to be like her, but didn't want to disappoint her parents, so she stayed away from her.

By her second year, she was beginning to become bored with the endless studying, stupid Quidditch matches and boring talk about things she cared nothing about. She wanted excitement and adventure! She heard all the stories from her parents about the things they did while they were at Hogwarts, and so far her experience was nothing like theirs.

She decided to make her life more fun, more full of danger, and in order to do that, she became best friends with Kate. Kate introduced her to firewhiskey, swearing, and sneaking around the school after curfew to be groped in dark corners by horny Slytherin boys. She was having the time of her life! This was how it felt to be free, to be careless! Oh, how she missed being bad!

During holidays and the summer, she had fun telling Raiden all the naughty things she had learned during school, and much to his delight, she even showed him some of her exploits. He fell more in love with her every time he saw her. He may have only been eleven, but he knew what he felt was real. She was beautiful and smart. He could overlook the fact that she swore like a sailor and stole liquor from her parents' bar.

In her third year, Raiden and Ruby came to Hogwarts. Ruby was placed in Ravenclaw, and Raiden was put in Gryffindor. Hermione and Draco were very pleased that their middle daughter was so intelligent, and Harry and Ginny glowed with pride that their son was following in their footsteps.

Raiden was so excited about seeing Jade every day, but that excitement was short lived when he saw her making out with a Slytherin boy who was older than she. His heart was crushed. He thought she loved him, and he had every right to think that! Every letter she sent him said, 'I love you,' and just this past summer she had told him that she wanted to marry him when they grew up. Now here she was, letting some perverted Slytherin put his hand up her skirt!

All through their years together at Hogwarts, Jade was friendly to Raiden, even flirting relentlessly with him, but he was just not exciting enough for her. She kept him dangling, drove him mad with desire and made him jealous with her endless affairs with bad boys that cared nothing for her.

"Why can't she see that I love her? That I would be so much better for her than those blokes who just use her and abuse her?" he asked Ruby, who was sitting next to him on the bench doing her homework. Across the lake, he could see Jade and her newest conquest flirting with each other. Every once in awhile, he could hear her giggle, and it drove him nuts.

"Why don't you just forget about her? Obviously, she cares nothing for you except as a friend." Ruby snapped her book shut. "You've wasted your entire youth waiting for her to realize she wants to be with you. I think it's time to open your eyes and see that right in front of you is someone who does love you!" Ruby leaned over and captured his shocked mouth in a passionate kiss.

Across the lake, Jade stared in disbelief. "How dare she!" she said furiously.

Her boyfriend followed her gaze and chuckled. "What does it matter if she's fucking that Potter kid? Unless you're jealous, that is?"

Jade tore her eyes away and looked down at the smirking Slytherin boy. "You don't know anything, so shut your fucking mouth! I'm not jealous, I'm just shocked to see my little sister snogging someone!" In fact, she was more than shocked, she was angrier than she had ever been in her life! She thought Raiden was in love with her! How dare he shift his feeling to her sister!

Jade couldn't stand it if she was not the center of attention and hated it even more if a man was in love with someone else. In her twisted mind, all men should want her and desire her. She did everything in her power to make it so. When one of her men defected, it made her crazy with anger.

The Slytherin boy tried to pull her down into his lap, but she shoved him off and stalked around the lake to confront her sister and her lover. "What do you think you're doing?" she screeched.

Raiden and Ruby unglued their lips and looked up at her in surprise.

"Jade, please, just calm down!" Raiden said, standing up. "It's not what you think!"

"Not what I think? I'm not fucking blind, you know!" she replied hotly.

Ruby was on the verge of tears. She loved her sister and never wanted to hurt her, but for once she felt she needed to stand up to her. "Now, you listen here, Jade Malfoy! I'm free to kiss whomever I want, and as for Raiden, he doesn't belong to you! In fact, he's tired of you stringing him along, making promises you never keep, telling him your heart belongs to him and then ripping it out and stomping on it! You are nothing more than a whore and..." Jade's hand suddenly ricocheted off her face.

"I thought you loved me!" she said to their stunned faces. "You are a bitch, Ruby, and if I ever see either one of you again, I'll kill you!" She suddenly grabbed her own hair in her hands and fled across the lawn, screaming at the top of her lungs.

For three days she refused to come out of her room or eat. Finally, her roommates went to the Headmaster. He tried to help the distraught girl, but there was nothing he could do. Draco and Hermione were sent for, and they quietly took their daughter home one month before her graduation.

No matter what they tried, no matter what they said, Jade would just lie in her bed day after day, staring at the wall. The only person that could get her to eat was Narcissa, and even then, it was a chore.

"I think," Narcissa told her son, "that it's time to discuss sending her somewhere where she can get the help that she needs. Having Ruby home for summer holiday is only making matters worse. She keeps trying to sneak into Jade's room. I think she feels responsible for Jade's depression and wants to help her, but all it does is make Jade worse."

Draco slammed his fist down on the table. "I will not send her away! She's gotten better before and she can do it again!" Hermione said nothing. She knew Narcissa was right. The situation seemed hopeless, and there was no other option.

Narcissa sat down and calmly tried to talk some sense into him. "Draco, I know how much you love her, but you have to understand that she is not getting any better. There is nothing more that we can do for her. She needs to be in a facility where professionals can help her around the clock."

"Draco, your mother is right. We can't just sit here while our daughter is wasting away in her room upstairs; we have to get her some help."

He put his face in his hands and sighed. He was so damn tired! This was so emotionally draining! "Fine, but let me be the one to tell her." He got up from the table and headed to his daughter's room.

He was halfway down the hall when he heard Ruby's screams. Rushing into the room, he saw her standing there with her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with terror. "What?" was all he managed to get out before she pointed to Jade's bed.

"No!" She was lying there in a pool of blood; both of her wrists were cut so deeply that he could see her bone. "Ruby, get help, NOW!" The girl didn't move; she was rooted to the spot in shock. "Ruby!"

She seemed to come out of her daze, looked at her father's terrified face, and then ran from the room screaming for help.

Jade barely survived. If Ruby hadn't found her when she did, she would have bled to death. For the next year, Jade was institutionalized and made amazing progress. Every weekend, like clockwork, Raiden would come to visit her. At first, she didn't want to see him, but she could never stay mad at him for very long, so after the tenth try, she told the nurse that she would like to see him.

He was still sort of going out with her sister, and even though he liked Ruby and cared about her, his heart still belonged to Jade. She was his first love and his soul mate, and it hurt him to know that he was partly to blame for her being sent away. He still planned on marrying her one day, and if it took years, he would wait...he was a very patient man.

She looked forward to his visits and to their long talks, and she found herself falling in love with him. Why didn't she see what a great guy he was before? Why did she have to waste all those years falling for bad boys who just used her? She suddenly remembered that she had thought Raiden boring and not very sexy. Had she been blind? He was gorgeous with his green eyes and black hair. His smile was sweet and sincere, and he definitely had a nice body. He was everything she wanted...everything she needed.

And so the day came when she was to be released, and he came with her parents to take her home. He held her hand as they left, her parents smiling behind them.

"Raiden? If I told you that I loved you, what would you say?"

He picked up her hand and kissed it gently. "I would say that I love you too."

"But what about Ruby?"

"It's over between us. Apparently, she wasn't happy about all the time I've been spending with you, and so she decided to find herself a more loyal man," he laughed lightly. "She deserves someone who can love her back. I could never do that because my heart already belongs to you."

Jade and Raiden were married two years later. It was the happiest time in her life, and when she found out that she was pregnant, she was even happier. When she told her parents, they gave each other giant grins and embraced excitedly. She thought she heard them say the name Amee, but wasn't sure if she had heard right. It always seemed that her parents were hiding something, some secret that only they knew about.

Her daughter was born, and she named her Amethyst. She looked nothing like her father except for her nose. Her hair was pale blond like her mother's, and her eyes were grey, almost silver in color with thick, dark lashes. She was beautiful, and Jade made sure everyone knew it. She loved to parade her around at tea parties, dressed in the most fashionable baby clothes, making a fuss when she drooled on her expensive, frilly dress.

Draco would take the baby from her and not give her back for hours. He loved to walk with her in the gardens where she would pick flowers and eat them, and he would laugh when she spat them out. She was the most wonderful little girl, very intelligent, polite and loving. He would do anything for her.

Hermione paid close attention to Jade, trying to catch the slightest glimpse that something was wrong. She had the advantage of knowing what her daughter was going to do, and she planned on putting a stop to it before it happened. She thought she was doing a pretty good job and was even beginning to suspect that maybe something had changed and Jade's future would be different. Her marriage looked happy, she loved her daughter...everything looked fine.

And it was fine... for a while. After a few years, Jade began to get bored. She found herself lying in bed next to her snoring husband, fantasizing about having wild sex with mysterious strangers. More and more, she wanted out of her marriage. It was stale and predictable, and she found motherhood a tedious, unfulfilling job.

One night, she decided to go out and have some fun at the local wizard pub. Instead of telling Raiden her plans, she snuck out in the middle of the night. The feeling of doing something behind his back was intoxicating, and she wondered why she had never had the courage to do it before.

The pub was crowded and noisy, and after ordering a drink, she sat down at an empty table. She liked the music, and she tapped her fingernails against her glass to the beat. There were so many good-looking men! Men with large, rippling muscles, white smiles and smoldering eyes. She was looking around, trying to choose which one she would be fucking later, when someone caught her attention.

He was standing in the corner, staring at her. He was very tall and handsome. His hair was raven black and messy in a stylish sort of way. His eyes were a crystal blue, and he smiled at her with very sensual lips. He pushed off the wall and walked over to her, confident and aloof.

"If I may say so, you are the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on." His voice was deep and sexy, and from the moment Jade heard it, she knew she wanted him.

"There is no need for flattery. Mr....?" she looked at him, waiting for a name.

"My name is Adrian."

"I'm Jade. And now that we know each other's names, I'll get right to it. I find you extremely attractive, and I want you to take me somewhere and fuck me until I scream." He took her to his place, and the moment the door was closed, he threw her up against the wall, ripped her clothes off, and then kissed her violently.

"Mmmm!" she moaned. This was how she liked it, dirty and rough. He dug his fingers into the tender flesh of her arms as she slid her hand in his pants and pumped his rock hard cock. He made deep groaning noises as she stroked him harder and harder.

He licked and bit her neck, her shoulders and her breasts. She released him and arched her body to give him better access. His mouth found her nipple, and he sucked it so hard that she screamed. Suddenly, she was turned around, and he bent her over, one of his hands pulling at her hair, the other plunging into her soaked pussy.

He rammed his cock into her and fucked her relentlessly. He grabbed her hips, and she ground her ass into him, meeting his every thrust. Slipping out of her, he turned her around and pushed her to the floor where he threw her legs over his shoulders and then continued fucking her until both cried out as violent orgasms racked their bodies.

Sex with Adrian was wild, animalistic and addictive. That's why she found herself meeting him every night. After a few months, all she cared about was seeing him again. If her family was falling apart, she didn't notice and really could care less.

Raiden suspected that something was wrong. His wife was cold to him, snappy and quick-tempered. She no longer made love to him or even kissed him, for that matter. She was different with Amethyst as well, and it hurt him to see his daughter being ignored by her mother.

He did the only thing he knew to do; he went to Hermione for advice. Usually, he went to Narcissa, but since she had died the previous spring, Hermione was the next best thing. He would never bother his own parents with anything because... well, because they never had any good advice.

"What do you mean she's acting strange?" Hermione asked, handing him a cup of tea.

"I don't know. It's like she doesn't want to be bothered with us any more. She leaves at night and doesn't come home until the crack of dawn. She ignores Amee and refuses to tell me where she's going or what she's doing. It's like she hates us or something."

Hermione sipped her own tea. She knew the time had come. She knew what her daughter was up to, and she planned to tell her son-in-law exactly what it was so that he could put a stop to it. "Have you considered that maybe she's having an affair?"

Raiden sighed and sat his cup down. "I have thought about that. Do you think that's what it is?"

"I do, and I think you should confront her about. Put a stop to it before it ruins your lives!" Hermione hoped that her daughter would see what her selfish actions were doing to her family and that she would stop. If not, she was going to have to think of some other way to help.

That very night, Raiden waited for her to come home so that he could confront her, but she never arrived. For days he waited and panicked, wondering if she was lying dead somewhere.

Draco, Hermione and Ruby all went out to search for her, but turned up empty-handed. On the fifth night, around midnight, she came home, acting as though nothing was wrong. She walked into the bedroom, took off her coat, and that's when she noticed that Raiden was sitting in the corner chair, staring at her.

"Oh, hello!" she said, nonchalantly, slipping off her shoes.

'That's all you have to say?" he asked, leaning forward. "You've been gone for days, and all you can say is, 'oh hello'?"

"What else would you like me to say?"

He sat back, the air puffing from his lungs in disbelief. "For one, I'd like you to tell me where you've been all this time!"

Jade smiled sweetly at him. "I've been with my lover, if you must know. We drank, we talked, and we fucked all day and night!"

Raiden just stared at her. This woman was a stranger. She had somehow ceased to be his loving wife and had become this hideous monster. "You are a selfish bitch, do you know that?"

She gave a high-pitched laugh, as if making fun of him for finally figuring that out.

"I have known you and loved you my entire life. I have tried to look past all of your faults...and believe me, they are to numerous to name...but this time you've gone too far, Jade, my dear." He stood up, ready for the argument he knew was going to erupt. "You have hurt me more than once, but now there is a child involved. A child who has been up night after night crying for her mother. Her selfish, cold-hearted bitch of a mother, who cares for no one and nothing but herself!"

"You know what, Raiden? You are absolutely right. I'm tired of pretending that I want to be with you and that being a mother is wonderful. I've been living a lie, and I just can't do it any longer!" She took out her overnight bag and started throwing things inside haphazardly. "If wanting to be happy is selfish, then I guess I'm guilty!"

"Where are you going?" he asked, grabbing her arm.

"I'm leaving."

"You're going to him?"

"Yes, and don't bother trying to talk me out of it because you'll just be wasting your breath!"

Raiden lost all control and shook her like a crazy person. "I won't let you go! I won't! You are my wife, and I love you, do you hear me? I love you!"

Jade pushed him with all her strength. "I don't care if you love me! It doesn't matter anymore because I don't love YOU and because I'm having his baby!"

Raiden locked eyes with her, and he could see that what she said was true. "Well, I hope you'll be happy with your lover, and for his sake, I hope he finds out what a selfish whore you are before he gets too involved." He turned and walked from the room, slamming the door behind him.

She finished packing, and after taking one more look around, she Apparated to Adrian's flat. Jade stood there staring at the door, wondering if she really was doing the right thing. Sure, Adrian was handsome and exciting, and the best lover she had ever had, but there were things about him that were disturbing as well.

He was the leader of a society that practiced the Dark Arts. He told her that his family, who had come from Hungary, had always been a part of this secret society and had always held positions of great importance.

Soon, Adrian wasted no time in getting Jade involved in their ceremonies. They consisted of sacrificing animals, huge orgies that were both erotic and humiliating, and then sometimes there were people being tortured until they died. There was always a drink at the beginning that tasted both sweet and sour, and it made your mind swim and your inhibitions fly out the window. It was through this drugged haze that Jade watched and participated in all kinds of sexual deviance and debauchery.

One night, about two months ago, they had given her a double dose of the drink before a ceremony, telling her that she was going to play an important part that night. All she remembered about that night was the killing of some animal that screamed horribly as they slit its throat and the feeling of its blood falling over her naked body as she was being fucked by Adrian. He was chanting some spell over and over, her mind was spinning, and then she blacked out.

She had woken up the next night with a massive headache and felt sick for days. She tried to ask him what had happened, but he only told her cryptically that in time she would know everything. She had dropped it; after all, she loved and trusted this man, he would never hurt her.

Making up her mind, Jade reached out and opened the door to his flat, and then walked in. She closed the door, sealing her fate.

***

Raiden sat in the den with the Muggle gun that his father-in-law had given him lying in his lap. He and Draco had spent hours together, shooting at targets. His father-in-law was obsessed with the Muggle Old West. Many times he would catch him playing cowboys and Indians with Amee, just like he did when he, Ruby and Jade were children.

This particular pistol in his lap was a birthday gift from Draco. It was an antique and highly valuable. What better use for it than to blow your brains out? He sat in the quiet darkness of the room, thinking about nothing. His mind was blank; he was calm and at peace with his decision. She had broken his heart for the last time; it would never happen again. He put the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger. The last thing he saw was the form of his daughter, standing in the doorway, looking sad.

The shot echoed through the house, and Amee sat up in her bed. She had been having a terrible dream that her daddy was going to hurt himself. It was so real that for a second, she was confused about where she was. He was in the den, and she had been watching from the doorway. He had the gun that grandfather Malfoy had given him... Suddenly, her bedroom door was thrown open, and her nanny rushed to her bed, picked her up and Apparated to her grandparents' house.

Draco rushed to Raiden's house and found him slumped over in a chair in the den. His brains were splattered all over the wall beside him. When he found out why his son-in-law had taken his own life, he disowned his daughter forever. It was heartbreaking to think that after all they had done for her, she would throw it all away for some strange man she had met at the pub. It was hard for him to sever all ties with her, but he was bound and determined to pretend she had never been born.

In the following months after the suicide, Jade tried to make contact with Draco, but every owl she sent was thrown into the fire, unopened. He focused his energy on his granddaughter, Amee. She needed his love and support. She had lost her mother and father in one day. Hermione was very upset. She knew now that there was no hope. There was no changing the future; it had happened the very same way it did before. Maybe Draco was right and, no matter what you did, you could never change your destiny.

Jade finally stopped trying to contact her family. If only they knew what kind of trouble she was in, they would help her, she knew it! Adrian had turned out to be an abusive freak who told her the baby she was carrying was a Dark Lord with evil powers.

He kept her locked in his flat and raped her every chance he got. A few times, she managed to get away and send for help, but it never came. She was so sorry for the pain she had caused her family and just wished she had never been born.

When she realized that she was in labor, she knew she had to escape. Her baby deserved a chance to be normal. Not for one second did she believe that the child she was carrying was full of Dark magic. If only she could get away from Adrian, then her baby would have a chance.

When Adrian came home that night, she was ready for him. She had broken the bathroom mirror, and in her hand she held a huge shard of pointed glass. As soon as he walked through the door, she plunged it into his chest, and then she fled from the building, not looking back. She only stopped running when her labor pains became so intense that she fell to the ground, the rain pounding the ground around her. She was hysterical and crying and just wanted her mother.

***

Draco looked up at Hermione as someone knocked on their door. It was rather late for visitors, and they had no idea who it could be.

It turned out to be their daughter. Shivering and wet and in intense labor. Hermione quickly brought her into the downstairs bedroom, and without asking any questions, she took off her daughter's wet clothes, dried her off and then made preparations for the birth of the child. She was moaning and saying that her baby was in danger. That Adrian wanted their baby to be evil. Hermione ignored it; she just thought maybe Jade was hallucinating from the pain.

"I don't want her here!" Draco said angrily as Hermione exited the bedroom. "Send her back to her lover, let him deal with this!"

"How can you say that, Draco? She's our daughter! I don't care what you say; I'm going to help her. Now, get out of my way!'

Draco was livid. Here Jade was, thrusting another problem of hers on them. They knew nothing about this man who she was clearly running from. What if the man was insane and he came here looking for her? She had put her life in danger, and now she had put the same fate on the heads of everyone in the house.

He noticed that Amee was standing in the hall, looking at him with wide, frightened eyes, and he calmly told her to go to her room. She said nothing, but ran away as fast as her little legs could carry her.

In her room, she lay on her bed with her hands smashed over her ears, trying to block out her mother's screams.

Hermione told her daughter to push one more time. There was so much blood, and she knew her daughter was bleeding to death. She could see the baby's tiny head of black hair emerging, and then he was out. Blood gushed from her daughter's body and splattered the bed and the floor.

Hermione quickly handed the baby to Draco and went to work trying to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. Jade had lost too much blood. "Jade, honey, you're going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine."

"Mother, you were always a poor liar. I know I'm dying, and I just want to say that I'm sorry for everything. Please take care of Jasper," Jade whispered weakly.

Hermione promised that she would take care of Jasper and then held her dying daughter's hand until she faded away.

The baby began to wail, and Hermione quickly got to her feet. Draco gave him to her, and she looked down at him. He was beautiful and innocent. She could not believe for one second that he would do the things Amee had said he would do. He looked so tiny, so helpless, there was no way he would grow up to be a killer. It just wasn't going to happen! She had failed her daughter, but she would not fail her grandson. She stood there, kissing and rocking the baby that would some day grow up to murder her.