Chapter 24 (Updated)

It was already past midnight when Draco finally emerged from the fireplace of his Hogwarts quarters. With a heavy sigh, he threw his coat on the armchair and flopped his body on the couch. He covered his eyes with his right arm trying to have a moment of peace. Only a day had gone by but it felt like his body had gone through a week's worth of stress.

Earlier that day he was called by one of the Malfoy elves. Seeing a Malfoy elf at Hogwarts only meant one thing. The Malfoy matriarch needed his presence immediately. Although his career ventured into the field of research and academia, he still had a hand in their family office assets. Thus, his mother requested his presence immediately to discuss a matter concerning their family office assets. Wealth must be preserved after all.

Recently, their oldest asset was slowly being bought off from right under their noses. It wasn't until Lucius was going through the records that he found out that one company had bought almost 40% of its stocks. It alarmed him to see that one company could quickly buy a large amount. He had called his wife to discuss the sudden change in favor of the company. They still have 50% and the remaining 10% was divided into two stockholders.

"Who bought the stocks, dear?" Narcissa inquired trying to hide the panic in her tone. It happened so suddenly that she had not received word or rumors.

"We need to find out. We still have 50%." Lucius replied trying to ease his wife's panicked state.

Lucius called one of his lawyers and asked to investigate who owned the 40%. The next day they had found out that a private equity firm was behind it all. What's worse was the company was a subsidiary of the McLaggen Group. They had a reputation for buying or being partners of the biggest companies in the world. They were inside every industry. They managed to do friendly acquisitions but they also had a reputation for hostile takeovers.

"The McLaggen Group?" Narcissa questioned. Lucius only nodded.

"I've heard of them years ago. I believe Draco went to school with the chairman. Sadly, he has passed." Lucius informed her.

"To buy 40% instantly is alarming, Lucius. What's worse is this is the Malfoy wealth. To be at par with someone is unimaginable. We should call Draco and the board of directors."

"I believe so. This is happening quickly so we must act before we lose control of the whole company. This is the one thing we cannot lose."

This is all giving Draco a pounding headache. This was the last thing he wanted to think about. His problems were starting to pile up and he couldn't keep up. The recent assumption that Alicia could be his child was keeping him awake and therefore unable to concentrate on certain matters. What puzzled him was the timeline of it all. Intimately, he was sure that he had been with Astoria before they were even married. In his memory, it was under the influence of several bottles of fire whiskey and a few bottles of unknown alcohol from another country during a party. He might need to check his memories to be certain.

Alicia might be his daughter but where does she fit in the timeline? He was sure he was with Astoria but there's doubt. A sudden ache from his head caused him to groan and placed his palm on his forehead.

He seemed to have a foggy memory of that night. He remembered Hermione wearing a daring black lace mermaid evening dress. It was the most daring outfit he had seen her wear. She wasn't the one to dress up but when her friend found out about the party he couldn't wait to dress her up and get her out of those ill-fitting jeans and into something more flattering. To her surprise she enjoyed her look. It was one of the rare moments where she complimented her appearance.

Draco was in awe of her appearance. He wanted to relish the moment. If only that moment would last.

Closing his eyes Draco let himself drift to sleep.

*

"Alicia, are you sure you want to finish all your homework here?" Destiny asked. It was almost dinner and the studying students decided to head to the great hall for supper and retreat to their dorms to finish their remaining homework.

"Yes. After I finish this I need to borrow a book on the Goblin Rebellion. You go on ahead." Alicia replied her concentration was still on finishing the conclusion paragraph of her essay.

Destiny looked at her companions and then back to Alicia. She was worried. Alicia had been waking up late and waking up even more tired. She had been eating less and less saying she had to finish up the remaining homework and other requirements. She had seen her only drink soup when they were at meals. Scorpius also noticed this occurrence. He and Destiny had been sneaking snacks in Alicia's bag just in case she suddenly had the urge to eat.

At first, they had thought she was going through a phase or some of the older models had off-handedly commented about her weight but she couldn't care less especially with school and other things to worry about. Days turned into weeks and eventually, two months had passed since she had a proper meal. It was already obvious she was losing weight.

"I'll bring some dinner. Please eat later, Alicia." Destiny pleaded.

"Yes, of course." Alicia stopped writing and looked at her friends. With a small smile, she reassured them that she was going to eat.

Destiny was hesitant to even leave the library but it could only annoy Alicia if she stayed. If Alicia wasn't back in the dorm by the time they returned to their dorms she would go back and drag Alicia back to the dormitory whether she liked it or not.

"I'm worried," Patricia said, cutting her daze from the jelly on her plate. "Has anyone noticed how she became irritable?"

"She isn't getting proper sleep for weeks. I wake up to drink water and see her bed untouched." Destiny sighed. "I found her once in the common room just staring at the fireplace."

"At least she's eating. Even if it's the chocolates in her bag." Scorpius joined in the conversation.

"We should all tell her to go to the infirmary. Merlin knows how stubborn that witch is." Patricia said and all of them agreed. It was the practical choice since tomorrow was a weekend and they all knew Alicia tried to finish all her homework on a Friday night to free up her weekends. She had no reason to say no.

*

With a contented sigh, Alicia finished her outline and closed a thick book on the Goblin Rebellion. Friday night meant all homework to be completed and weekends left to be enjoyed. Maybe this weekend she could finally get some rest. The headaches and lightheadedness were hitting her hard at random times and it caused a delay in schoolwork. She opened her planner to check off her last remaining homework on her to-do list.