Hope's Salvation
By:Brianne Crandle

Chapter One: Hope is Born



She was dying. Draco was positive now. He gripped her hand all the more tightly in his much larger one, his heart contracting strangely and his eyes stinging painfully. Her pale, soft, thin hand was cold and wet with sweat, muscles below the graying skin quivering with the intensity of her pain. The pulse at her wrist was very faint and slipping quickly, the rise and fall of her chest becoming less and less frequent. Waves of white velvety hair were sprawled over the pillows and sheets, tendrils of it sticking to her long graceful arms and neck. But it was her face that really tore at Draco. Her beautiful features were contorted in pain and drops of sweat lingered on her pain creased forehead. Her normally full red lips were quivering and pale, nearly blue as she drew slow ragged breaths, each one becoming more forced. She opened her eyes slowly, long dark lashes lifting off ashen cheeks. Her normally brilliant blue eyes were dark, nearly black with pain and they had taken on a glazed far away look. Draco choked down a sob that surprised him.

Narssica murmured so softly Draco wasn't sure she had actually spoken. Her hand tightened softly on his, her long nails digging softly into the muscles of his hand.

Draco..... please... please, she was definitely speaking to him now and he leaned over her anxiously.

I'm here mother, it will be all right, once the doctor arrives everything will be all right, he forced the lie from his lips hoping it would give her some kind of strength.

No doctors were coming. And everything was not all right.

Draco.... please.... pro....protect you sister...... protect her... from y-your f-f-father...., she managed to moan as another spasm of pain shook her frail body. Draco stiffened at the mention of his father and glanced at the bundle at the other side of the bed. His little sister, frail and disappointing to their father, had been born less then twelve hours ago, and was now sleeping peacefully, one frail tiny hand holding a strand of his mothers hair between delicate baby fingers.

A surprisingly strong squeeze of his mothers hand brought his gaze back to Narssica. Her pain filled eyes were desperate even through the haze of the torment she was enduring.

Swear to me..... s-swear to me Draco.... p-protect her! his mothers voice cracked and squeaked as she struggled for breath, forcing the words out with a rattled moan.

Fearfully he held his mothers hand all the tighter in his, Mother, I swear, he gulped down a sob that threatened to escape him. But you'll be here for her, just hang on mother. Please hang on, his last words came out on a soft sob, the first he had uttered in many years.

Narssica smiled softly, her face strangely calm and her hand lax in his. I love you..... son..... her last words poured out of her like a dying breeze, and her eyes fluttered closed, her whole body, which had been tense and strained with pain only seconds before, was now still and relaxed beneath the sweat soaked sheets.

She was dead.

Draco felt his heart burn in his chest. Anger at his newly born sister. At his father. But mostly at himself. He released her hand slowly and placed it gently over her still chest, steal gray eyes cold as slate.

As if his mother meant nothing more to him then a discarded belonging he turned away from her and rose to his feet, his quivering knees silently giving away his true emotions. Silently he walked to the other side of the bed and lifted his sleeping baby sister in his strong arms, gently freeing their mothers hair from her tiny fingers.

Staring down at his small, delicate sister, Draco felt all his anger towards her slip away. She was indeed rather frail, with thin arms and stretched torso, but her skin was a healthy pink and a shock of white blonde hair played along her soft, still forming scalp. Shifting her in his arms he watched as her tiny lashes fluttered and her deep blue eyes opened. She ahd their mothers eyes. She looked up at him with what Draco thought was a measuring gaze, her bright eyes staring into his cold gray ones. After a long moment, his little sister gurgled softly and latched a small hand to his black cloak and fell back into an easy sleep. Draco took that as a sign of acceptance.

Pulling his grief numbed mind from his sister, Draco's thoughts began to slowly turn. He would have to leave quickly and as silently as possible, before his father returned with the Dark Lord. Holding his sister lightly against his chest, Draco grabbed a few bottles of milk the nurse maid had conjured before leaving, seeing that Narssica was in no condition to breast feed her new born child. He stuffed the warm bottles into his cloak along with a spare blanket and a few tiny sets of cloths his mother had received from visiting friends. Grabbing a sheet from a near by closet he quickly formed a sling and set his still sleeping sister gently in it before tying it tightly to his chest, making doubly sure the infant could easily breath.

Mind racing Draco turned to leave the room, but before turning the elegant handle of his parents bedroom door, Draco turned and gave one last fleeting glance to the still form of his mother. She hadn't been happy with her life as Mrs. Malfoy he knew, and she hadn't loved Lucius anymore than he did now, but she ahd loved Draco. He knew that for sure. She had tried to shelter him when he was little, from what, he hadn't understood until recently. When the hero worship had finally faded away and he had glimpsed the true Lucius Malfoy, he'd finally seen, finally understood. His mother had been trying to save him from becoming like his father. Cold, cruel, malicious, deceitful. Evil. And Draco wasn't all too certain she had succeeded.

Blinking back tears Draco determinedly turned the golden handle and threw himself out of the room and into the dimly lit hallway. Quickly he regained his cool demeanor and walked swiftly down the hall towards his own rooms. Throwing the door open roughly he rushed to his expansive room sized closet and threw a few naturally stylish pairs of clothing into a small bag that magically shrunk each item. A gift from his father. At least he was good for a few things, he thought bitterly and buckled the bag closed, grabbing his expensive and shinning broom from near the door.

Deciding against exiting from the main door, which was large and took much to long to open, Draco headed hurriedly to his bedroom window, attaching his bag quickly to his broom as he walked. The window was high up even for his height and he snatched a near by chair in annoyance. Standing on it he gracefully swung his leg up onto the sill, the jolt, how ever small, caused his sister to wake and begin wailing desperately. Draco cringed. That was loud!

Quickly he adjusted his distressed sister more securely to his chest hoping to muffle her cries and forcefully pushed open the small window. He crouched down in a very awkward position. Squatting with his broom between his legs, back and head bent, careful not to bang his head on the brick above him.

This is lovely, he muttered and teetered towards the edge of his window. He quickly broke the first rule of jumping from a great height, by immediately glancing down. Draco gulped loudly and cursed the fact his room was on the sixth floor of their great manor. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that he had ridden a broom quite often and found the heights to be no problem.

But you've never jumped from one before, whispered a cruel little voice in his head.

I can do this, Draco muttered darkly as his sister continued to wail, and he found himself marveling at the very loud sound she was relentlessly producing.

He was hesitantly glancing down a second time and thinking that the front door hadn't been such a bad idea, when from somewhere down below he heard a great crash that sounded like the main door had been blasted apart. Draco gasped and fear clogged his throat.

His father was home.

And the Dark Lord was most certainly with him. Whatever the Dark Lord and his father wanted with his sister, Draco wasn't about to let it happen. He could at least do that for his mother.

Pushing back any last traces of fear from his mind, Draco clutched his still wailing sister to his chest with one arm and dove dangerously out his window, straight towards the ground below. For one terrifying moment Draco completely forgot how to fly, his mind seemed to have completely shut off, but a sharp sob from the babe in his arms knocked him back into reality and he jerked his broom upwards sharply, causing his teeth to chatter and his knees to bang together painfully. He grimaced and speed as quickly as possible into the distance, realizing he had very narrowly escaped.

Breathing deeply a few miles from his home, Draco slowed his pace and realizing suddenly it was rather cold. He quickly unbuttoned his cloak with one hand and secured it over the makeshift sling he wore and the wide-eyed infant within its folds. Slowing his speed some as he raced off into some random direction, he reach down and brushed one claused finger over his sisters soft cheek. Exhausted from crying she closed her brilliant blue eyes, and gripped his large finger in her little hand. Draco smiled softly, feeling a small painful pull at his heart as he thought of the terrible world his innocent sister had been born into. He had saved her from one danger and thrown her into another that was just as threatening, if not more so.

Closing out these thoughts he realized his sister didn't have a name. Shifting his broom as to be certain he would fly above some on coming clouds, Draco pondered the thought. Almost instantly a name popped into his mind and he uttered it before actually thinking it over.

he whispered down at the sleeping bundle. It meant hope' in Spanish he remembered, and me smiled slightly at the thought.

With that Draco quickly decided on his destination, the last place his father would look for him, and he pointed his broom in that direction.

Well Esperanza, we're off to meet the Weasly's, he said more to himself then her, and he cringed visibly at the thought.




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Well I hope you all enjoyed that. Draco seems a bit soft in this first chapter but don't worry, he'll be back to his old sarcastic cold self soon enough! I kinda wanted to do the title in Spanish because of Esperanza's name but I don't know.... what do you think?! Salvación De la Esperanza, is what it would be. Too much do think? To complicated? Well thanks for reading ya'll, and I'd be very much so pleased if your reviewed! Reviews prompt chapters! ^-^
~Brianne Crandle*