A/N: Uh oh! Early baby! What's Edward gonna do and how will Harrison himself handle this new turn of events?

Disclaimer: Nope.

ECHPECHPECHPECHPECHPECHP

I'll miss the winter, A world of fragile things

Look for me in the white forest, Hiding in a hollow tree (come find me)

I know you hear me, I can taste it in your tears

Holding my last breath, Safe inside myself

Are all my thoughts of you, Sweet raptured light it ends here tonight

-Evanescence

ECHPECHPECHPECHPECHPECHP

Chapter Twenty Eight--------Last Breath

Edward wasn't sure what was happening when Voldemort suddenly reeled in pain until he heard his mate frantically screaming his name. Oh no…They were supposed to have three more weeks! He rushed up the stairs to find his mate in his brother's arms, crying out in agony. This was bad. Harrison was weaker than ever! Voldemort touched some sort of necklace with a horrid looking skull on it that he wore and it glowed a fierce red. He was calling the man that he had planned to deliver Harrison's baby. Edward had refused to allow a stranger near his mate at first but when the Dark Lord insisted on the grounds that Carlisle had never delivered a magical, male pregnancy before as well as the man he had chosen having treated Harrison almost all his life, then he had reluctantly agreed.

It was time. While he was ecstatic over the arrival of their daughter at last, no matter how early it was, he couldn't forget that today was the day that he would lose his mate. Would his mind survive the loss? His heart burned with the agony that the thought brought. Harrison…gone forever. They all rushed upstairs to the bedroom that he had been settled in. Edward's bedroom. His husband was in the bed, gripping at the bed sheets frantically as pain ripped through his body. Cold sweat glistened all over his body. Finally, it ended and, despite the fact that Harrison now looked like a balloon, all was as well as could be expected. His face was sweaty and Carlisle was helping him work through the contractions.

Unfortunately, they would have to do a c-section considering that Harrison obviously was lacking the correct parts for natural childbirth. Within an hour, Carlisle had decided that since it would be a long while, that the couple could have some time alone. Especially knowing what was to come. Harrison was gripping Edward's hand with almost a thick desperation, his eyes refusing to move from the vampire's own. His hands were trembling and he was looking pale and drawn. The Malfoys had arrived and were downstairs. Draco had stormed the fort when Tom told him that Harrison had gone into labor early.

"I'm scared, Edward…" He said, his voice weak and quivering just as surely as the rest of his body.

A tear slipped from his gemlike eyes and Edward felt his heart break. He tried to put on a smile for his distressed husband but they both knew that by the end of the day, Harrison would be gone. He stroked the teen's sweaty hair gently.

"It's going to be alright," He lied as another contraction forced a tortured hiss from the teen.

The birth was much harder than it should have been simply because his body didn't have the energy to handle such a thing. He didn't have the strength to do it on his own. They would have to practically deliver the baby themselves. They would have to help kill him.

"Please don't leave me."

He wanted to rage, to throw anything he could reach out the window. It wasn't enough that his mate had to die like this! He had to suffer through knowing about it! He had to be afraid knowing that he would die in pain.

"I'll never leave you."

~ o ~

Harrison cried out, almost choking on the numbing potion that was pushed into his mouth. They had to numb him before they could cut him open after all. Severus Snape looked down at the student he had once despised with a sad sigh. It was his first time seeing the boy since before he had defected. He never expected their reunion to be under such circumstances. Delivering the Boy-Who-Lived's baby. The press would have a field day if they knew. And he knew that Potter had always had problems with food but the boy looked practically emaciated now.

He knew that he should have done something about it then, but he had let his dislike get in the way of helping one of his students. Now...there was no way Potter would survive this. It just wasn't possible. The pain potion kicked in almost immediately and the teen's eyes seemed to clear slightly even though he was still giving whimpers and cries. Edward was standing nearby, holding his husband's hand with a look that mirrored terror. They had tried to take off the heavy locket around his neck but Voldemort had forbade it. It didn't seem worth fighting over given the current circumstances.

Edward watched in mounting horror as Snape cut a wide incision in his mate's stomach, fortunately only earning a soft cry from the drugged up Harrison. The young wizard looked like death warmed over. He wasn't going to make it much longer. His eyes were dull with pain and his face was tired and gaunt. Edward nearly snarled at the man who had just cut into his mate but was able to hold himself back. Carlisle and Voldemort stood at their side, ready to jump at a moments notice should it be necessary. Everyone else had been ordered into the hallway. Voldemort had never really left Harrison's side except to give them those last few precious moments alone.

"Okay, Harrison, now I want you to start pushing and don't forget to breathe. This isn't your potion's final." Snape said calmly, earning a half strangled laugh from the teen.

"It's good to see you, professor." He panted and began to push, screaming with the effort and the pain that simply would not be held under even the heavy pain killers.

Edward let him squeeze his hand but he was half afraid that he would grip his small mate too hard and break his hand so he just spoke encouragements and ran the his thumb over the back of that straining hand. The whole time, when he could draw breath enough in between screaming, Harrison would feverishly mutter one phrase: "Please don't leave me."

Edward realized with a jerk that his mate was terrified of dying alone. His temperature had spiked and his breaths were becoming more labored as if they were becoming hard to draw. He was watching his mate's life seep away, giving everything he had to make sure his baby could live. He gave a final push and finally, Lily Ana Potter-Cullen was born into the world, screaming at the inconvenience of the cool hands holding her and the unfairness of losing the warmth of her parent's body. Severus handed the baby girl to Carlisle to clean up while he worked to put Harrison back together.

It was mere moments before he was sore but whole again and seven pounds, six ounces lighter. Harrison began to cry at the sight of his baby even though he was so weak he could only move enough to squeeze Edward's hand. The vampire's eyes held love, pride and a deep agonizing pain at what was happening before his eyes. He pulled Harrison gently into his arms, careful of moving him too much. Snape was watching them with black eyes filled with darkness. He knew what was happening. Little Lily was clean and finally carried over to them, safe in Carlisle's arms. She had a tuft of amber colored hair and bright green eyes

"You did so good, Harrison. Look at her. She's so beautiful. She has your eyes and everything." He whispered, his voice thick with grief.

Harrison drew in a rasping breath, giving his daughter a smile full of love, adoration and amazement that the beautiful creature before him had come from his mangled, wretched body. She was the most perfect thing he'd ever seen. Even more perfect because she was a little of both of them. She was taking a bottle greedily in her grandfather's arms. Harrison tried to move his hand up to touch her soft skin but only managed to lift his wrist off the bed slightly. Edward's hand trembled as he lifted his mate's hand himself to let it drag along her cheek, to touch her hair. She was perfect. He lowered the appendage to his own face, so Harrison would look at him. His green eyes were darkening and becoming glassy.

"I'm so tired, Edward…"

He almost choked on the grief and screaming pain he felt at such a small declaration. He wanted to say no, to beg his beloved to stay with him but he didn't want Harrison to die afraid. He wanted him to feel…peace. His eyes were burning but no tears were shed.

"It's okay…Sleep, Harrison. You can rest now…" He said, his voice hoarse from emotion.

Harrison took in his face as if memorizing it to heart. A tear slipped down his cheek, a testament to his loss. Edward kissed his forehead. It was no longer hot but cool.

"I know, but I don't want to…" His voice was faint, barely able to be understood.

"Rest, love. Rest now…"

With his whispered words, Harrison took his last breath and his heart stopped at last.

~ o ~

When Tom saw Harrison finally die, he yelled for Draco and swept up to the table. Edward jumped back in shock. The Dark Lord started to mumble some sort of strange language, the Parsletongue that Harrison had spoken about. There was a flash of light just as Draco burst into the room. Edward felt the loss hit him suddenly and he sank to the floor, his senses screaming. There was pain. So much pain! And an emptiness the likes of which he had never felt. He looked up to see Voldemort holding something glowing and white to his chest before it disappeared inside him. What were they doing to his mate's body? Lily Ana was watching the proceedings with a pacifier in her mouth. It was such an odd thing to see in the face of what had just happened.

He made a hissing noise and the locket on Harrison's cooling chest opened with a startling scream. He snarled at it and the man reached as if to grab for it, ripping it away and instead came away with more of that white glowing magic. He wasted no time in promptly shoving the matter into Harrison's chest. There was chaos all around them. Snape was forcing potion after potion down Harrison's throat and Draco was shooting spell after spell at his prone form. After a time of this strange and confusing behavior, his mate arched up off of the bed and suddenly, a heartbeat, faint but there appeared on the monitor beside him.

Edward stared at the machine as if it were daft, completely unresponsive to the proceedings. Voldemort got off of where he had been straddling the deceased teen with a sigh, his legs nearly collapsing out from him when he stepped on solid ground. Severus caught him quickly and told Carlisle to take Harrison's vitals, handing the child to his father who sat uncertainly on the floor. As soon as Lily Ana was in Edward's arms the vampire didn't care about what it was. Not until Carlisle gasped in shock and spun to face him.

"He's alive…" His father said in excited surprise.

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