DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created
and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited
to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and
Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or
trademark infringement is intended.
By the time Draco walked through his front door, he was in a panic, and couldn't even remember how he'd even gotten home. Since the initial pain, he had gotten two more, and they were scaring the hell out of him. He was still nearly a month away from his due date, so it was too early for him to be having the baby. All he could think of was the time Harry had had a miscarriage. When it happened, Harry had been in pain, and he was afraid that the same thing was now happening to him. He quickly hurried into the living room and threw a handful of powder into the fire, calling out Molly Weasley's name. Moment's later, she finally responded to him.
"Yes dear, what it is?"
"Aunt Molly, help me." Draco pleaded in desperation, fear filling up his voice.
"Draco? What's wrong?" Molly asked, instantly on alert at the tone of his voice.
"I-I'm in pain, Aunt Molly, really bad. It's like, I keep cramping up. I don't know what's happening. Please Aunt Molly, help me . . . I don't want to lose my baby."
"You're not going to lose the baby, dear. Go up to bed and lay down, I have to get a hold of Hermione and then we'll be there. It sounds like you've gone into labor."
"Labor? N-no! It's too early, I can't have her yet . . . I can't! She'll be too little, she . . . "
"Will be just fine," Molly interrupted him. "But you need to calm down and stop panicking. I want you to go upstairs and get off your feet. Be ready for an exam, that means nothing on bottom. We'll be there soon, sweetie. Try to calm down and relax."
Draco nodded dumbly and carefully climbed the stairs to his bedroom. After stripping off his pants and boxers, he slid into bed and ran his hand over the small swell of his stomach. Another pain ripped through him and he squeezed his eyes shut tight, biting on his lower lip until it finally subsided. With each minute that ticked by, Draco became more and more worried, scared to death that something was going to happen to his daughter. His first medi-witch had told him that the baby would need to be full term in order for it to be healthy. Now here he was, in labor a month pre-mature.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Molly Weasley and Hermione appeared at his side. Hermione immediately grabbed his hand and gave it a small squeeze while smiling at him reassuringly. Molly began to busy herself around the room, unpacking a small medical bag she had brought with her, and conjuring up several larger items she would need. Finally she came over to him, a small bottle in her hand.
"Draco, I'm going to give you something to try and help with the pain, and then I'm going to examine you, okay?"
Draco nodded his approval, and watched in interest as she rubbed a sort of cream on his stomach. It dissolved quickly into his skin, and within seconds the intense cramping had lessened into a dull ache. Draco immediately relaxed against the pillow as Molly pushed the blanket he had covering him up, so that only his waist and chest were covered by it. She examined him as quickly as possible, not wanting to make him uncomfortable and the covered him back up again.
"Is everything okay, Aunt Molly? Is my baby going to be okay?"
"She'll be fine, Draco. You're only about 7 centimeters dilated, and your water hasn't broke yet, but you definitely ARE in labor."
"But . . . I can't have her yet, it's too soon. Isn't there something you can do to stop it?" Draco pleaded in desperation.
"No, I'm afraid not, but don't worry. Babies are born a little early all the time, and they're fine. Now we're just caught in a waiting game, waiting for things to happen. We've got a long wait ahead of us, sweetie. That stuff I gave you to help with the contractions should last awhile. I'm going to give you something to help you sleep and I'll be in about once an hour to check on you."
Draco just nodded his head mutely and drank the medicine she was offering him. With in minutes, he could feel himself becoming drowsy and eventually drifted off into a light sleep. Every so often he would be woke up by Molly in order for her to examine him, and see how far his labor was progressing. Each time she told him he was moving along nicely, but they would still have awhile to wait. It was sometime after the third such visit when it happened. Draco had begun to drift back to sleep when the pain medication apparently wore off because he was jerked awake by a searing pain ripping through his abdominal area. He let out a blood curdling scream, which brought both Molly and Hermione running into the room.
"Draco, what is it, what happened?"
"The pain, it's back worse than before, and I think my water broke. Damn it Aunt Molly, I don't want to do this anymore, it's too much trouble."
"I'm afraid it's too late to think of that, dear. Hermione, would you mind checking him for me, I have a few spells I need to set up."
Hermione nodded her agreement and disappear to the end of the bed. Draco could feel her poking and prodding him, and shut his eyes tight in embarrassment. A minute or so later, she was standing next to Molly again, giving her report.
"His water DID break, and he's at ten centimeters, he's ready to go whenever you want him to start pushing."
Molly nodded an acknowledgement that she'd heard her daughter-in-law and waved her wand in the air. Seconds afterwards, the sound of the baby's heartbeat could be heard through the room. She moved to the end of the bed, taking over where Hermione had been sitting.
"Draco, when you feel the pain again, I want you to push, okay?"
"Yes, Aunt Molly." Draco laid back and waited for another contraction to hit him, and when it did he pushed with all of his might. When he did, it sounded to him as if there was a change in the rhythmic sound of his daughter's heartbeat. However, neither of the medi-witches said anything about it, so he thought that maybe he was imagining things. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Molly told him to stop pushing. "Is she out yet?"
"N-no . . . no dear, she won't be out quite yet. It's going to take quite a few more pushes for her to be born," Molly explained, with a slight quiver in her voice. "Hermione, come here please. Quickly."
Hermione rushed to the end of the bed where Molly and herself had a quick, whispered conversation. After receiving hurried instructions from Molly, she waved her wand in the air over Draco's body, and a fuzzy two- dimensional image of the baby began to hover in the room. After studying it a moment, her eyes got wide and she looked down at Molly, nodding silently.
"What? What is it?" Draco asked in a panic, he had seen the look of fear in both of their eyes.
"Now, Draco, try not to be upset," Molly began.
"No, something is wrong with my baby, I can see it in your eyes. What is it?"
"The baby's umbilical cord is wrapped around her."
"What? What's that mean?"
"Right now it means that every time you have a contraction and push, it's causing stress for her."
"What can you do for her?"
"Normally we would cut you open and remove the baby from you surgically."
"O-okay, do it then. Do whatever is best for my daughter."
"I can't, honey, you're bleeding. I don't know from where, or what's causing it. If I try to deliver the baby surgically, I could end up killing you," Molly attempted to explain to him. In all of her years as a practicing medi-witch, nothing like this had ever happened to her before.
"I don't care about me, I only care about the baby. Save her, that's all I want." Draco pleaded. At that point in time he didn't care if he died, as long as his child lived. If he lost her, he wouldn't be able to go on with his life.
"No, I'm not about to do something that could be fatal to you! We're going to continue with the birth the way we had planned, we're just going to have to be a little more careful. When you push, do it as easily as you can, while still having enough force behind it to push the baby out of you. The quicker we get her out, the better, but I don't want to risk being too forceful and hurting her."
Draco nodded as a tear slid unnoticed down his cheek. Everything had to be alright, it HAD to, he couldn't stand losing another important part of his life. Another contraction came and he pushed, being as gently as he could, and trying to ignore the telltale beating of his baby's heart, telling him that he was causing her distress.
"Good, that's very good sweetie. Stop pushing now, easy . . .easy . . .very good," Molly encouraged him as the contraction ended. "Do it just like that every time, Draco. I don't think her heart rate dropped quite so badly that time."
And so it continued for ten . . .fifteen . . .twenty minutes. . .half an hour. Every time a contraction would come, Draco would push as carefully as he could, taking relief in the fact that though it faltered, his daughter's heart was indeed still beating. Every time, Molly would tell him that the heart rate hadn't dropped significantly. And every time, he could tell by the looks on the faces of both her and Hermione, that she was lying. Each time he finished pushing, Draco would collapse back against the bed, feeling more and more drained of his energy every time. Finally, after forty-five mintues, Molly looked up at him, worry etched all over her face.
"Draco, she's almost here, I can see her. We need to get her out of you NOW, you're losing too much blood. With the next contraction I want you to push . . . HARD, so we can get her out. Hermione, I want you to be ready as soon as she's delivered. I have to try and find out what is causing Draco's bleeding, so as soon as she's out, I'm giving her to you, you know what to do. Draco, are you ready?"
Draco nodded feebly, he was so exhausted and so weak that he could barely move his body. He had no idea how he was going to deliver the baby now. Seconds later another contraction ripped through him and mustered up every ounce of strength he had left and pushed hard, forcing the tiny baby from his body. He saw Molly hand a tiny, bloody body to Hermione before she turned her attention back to him. Draco fell back against the bed, completely drained of all energy, and feeling as if all the live had fled his body. The last thing he heard as he closed his eyes and entered a world of darkness was Hermione's frantic and panic filled voice.
"Molly, she's not breathing. I can't get her to breathe, what do I do?"
By the time Draco walked through his front door, he was in a panic, and couldn't even remember how he'd even gotten home. Since the initial pain, he had gotten two more, and they were scaring the hell out of him. He was still nearly a month away from his due date, so it was too early for him to be having the baby. All he could think of was the time Harry had had a miscarriage. When it happened, Harry had been in pain, and he was afraid that the same thing was now happening to him. He quickly hurried into the living room and threw a handful of powder into the fire, calling out Molly Weasley's name. Moment's later, she finally responded to him.
"Yes dear, what it is?"
"Aunt Molly, help me." Draco pleaded in desperation, fear filling up his voice.
"Draco? What's wrong?" Molly asked, instantly on alert at the tone of his voice.
"I-I'm in pain, Aunt Molly, really bad. It's like, I keep cramping up. I don't know what's happening. Please Aunt Molly, help me . . . I don't want to lose my baby."
"You're not going to lose the baby, dear. Go up to bed and lay down, I have to get a hold of Hermione and then we'll be there. It sounds like you've gone into labor."
"Labor? N-no! It's too early, I can't have her yet . . . I can't! She'll be too little, she . . . "
"Will be just fine," Molly interrupted him. "But you need to calm down and stop panicking. I want you to go upstairs and get off your feet. Be ready for an exam, that means nothing on bottom. We'll be there soon, sweetie. Try to calm down and relax."
Draco nodded dumbly and carefully climbed the stairs to his bedroom. After stripping off his pants and boxers, he slid into bed and ran his hand over the small swell of his stomach. Another pain ripped through him and he squeezed his eyes shut tight, biting on his lower lip until it finally subsided. With each minute that ticked by, Draco became more and more worried, scared to death that something was going to happen to his daughter. His first medi-witch had told him that the baby would need to be full term in order for it to be healthy. Now here he was, in labor a month pre-mature.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Molly Weasley and Hermione appeared at his side. Hermione immediately grabbed his hand and gave it a small squeeze while smiling at him reassuringly. Molly began to busy herself around the room, unpacking a small medical bag she had brought with her, and conjuring up several larger items she would need. Finally she came over to him, a small bottle in her hand.
"Draco, I'm going to give you something to try and help with the pain, and then I'm going to examine you, okay?"
Draco nodded his approval, and watched in interest as she rubbed a sort of cream on his stomach. It dissolved quickly into his skin, and within seconds the intense cramping had lessened into a dull ache. Draco immediately relaxed against the pillow as Molly pushed the blanket he had covering him up, so that only his waist and chest were covered by it. She examined him as quickly as possible, not wanting to make him uncomfortable and the covered him back up again.
"Is everything okay, Aunt Molly? Is my baby going to be okay?"
"She'll be fine, Draco. You're only about 7 centimeters dilated, and your water hasn't broke yet, but you definitely ARE in labor."
"But . . . I can't have her yet, it's too soon. Isn't there something you can do to stop it?" Draco pleaded in desperation.
"No, I'm afraid not, but don't worry. Babies are born a little early all the time, and they're fine. Now we're just caught in a waiting game, waiting for things to happen. We've got a long wait ahead of us, sweetie. That stuff I gave you to help with the contractions should last awhile. I'm going to give you something to help you sleep and I'll be in about once an hour to check on you."
Draco just nodded his head mutely and drank the medicine she was offering him. With in minutes, he could feel himself becoming drowsy and eventually drifted off into a light sleep. Every so often he would be woke up by Molly in order for her to examine him, and see how far his labor was progressing. Each time she told him he was moving along nicely, but they would still have awhile to wait. It was sometime after the third such visit when it happened. Draco had begun to drift back to sleep when the pain medication apparently wore off because he was jerked awake by a searing pain ripping through his abdominal area. He let out a blood curdling scream, which brought both Molly and Hermione running into the room.
"Draco, what is it, what happened?"
"The pain, it's back worse than before, and I think my water broke. Damn it Aunt Molly, I don't want to do this anymore, it's too much trouble."
"I'm afraid it's too late to think of that, dear. Hermione, would you mind checking him for me, I have a few spells I need to set up."
Hermione nodded her agreement and disappear to the end of the bed. Draco could feel her poking and prodding him, and shut his eyes tight in embarrassment. A minute or so later, she was standing next to Molly again, giving her report.
"His water DID break, and he's at ten centimeters, he's ready to go whenever you want him to start pushing."
Molly nodded an acknowledgement that she'd heard her daughter-in-law and waved her wand in the air. Seconds afterwards, the sound of the baby's heartbeat could be heard through the room. She moved to the end of the bed, taking over where Hermione had been sitting.
"Draco, when you feel the pain again, I want you to push, okay?"
"Yes, Aunt Molly." Draco laid back and waited for another contraction to hit him, and when it did he pushed with all of his might. When he did, it sounded to him as if there was a change in the rhythmic sound of his daughter's heartbeat. However, neither of the medi-witches said anything about it, so he thought that maybe he was imagining things. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Molly told him to stop pushing. "Is she out yet?"
"N-no . . . no dear, she won't be out quite yet. It's going to take quite a few more pushes for her to be born," Molly explained, with a slight quiver in her voice. "Hermione, come here please. Quickly."
Hermione rushed to the end of the bed where Molly and herself had a quick, whispered conversation. After receiving hurried instructions from Molly, she waved her wand in the air over Draco's body, and a fuzzy two- dimensional image of the baby began to hover in the room. After studying it a moment, her eyes got wide and she looked down at Molly, nodding silently.
"What? What is it?" Draco asked in a panic, he had seen the look of fear in both of their eyes.
"Now, Draco, try not to be upset," Molly began.
"No, something is wrong with my baby, I can see it in your eyes. What is it?"
"The baby's umbilical cord is wrapped around her."
"What? What's that mean?"
"Right now it means that every time you have a contraction and push, it's causing stress for her."
"What can you do for her?"
"Normally we would cut you open and remove the baby from you surgically."
"O-okay, do it then. Do whatever is best for my daughter."
"I can't, honey, you're bleeding. I don't know from where, or what's causing it. If I try to deliver the baby surgically, I could end up killing you," Molly attempted to explain to him. In all of her years as a practicing medi-witch, nothing like this had ever happened to her before.
"I don't care about me, I only care about the baby. Save her, that's all I want." Draco pleaded. At that point in time he didn't care if he died, as long as his child lived. If he lost her, he wouldn't be able to go on with his life.
"No, I'm not about to do something that could be fatal to you! We're going to continue with the birth the way we had planned, we're just going to have to be a little more careful. When you push, do it as easily as you can, while still having enough force behind it to push the baby out of you. The quicker we get her out, the better, but I don't want to risk being too forceful and hurting her."
Draco nodded as a tear slid unnoticed down his cheek. Everything had to be alright, it HAD to, he couldn't stand losing another important part of his life. Another contraction came and he pushed, being as gently as he could, and trying to ignore the telltale beating of his baby's heart, telling him that he was causing her distress.
"Good, that's very good sweetie. Stop pushing now, easy . . .easy . . .very good," Molly encouraged him as the contraction ended. "Do it just like that every time, Draco. I don't think her heart rate dropped quite so badly that time."
And so it continued for ten . . .fifteen . . .twenty minutes. . .half an hour. Every time a contraction would come, Draco would push as carefully as he could, taking relief in the fact that though it faltered, his daughter's heart was indeed still beating. Every time, Molly would tell him that the heart rate hadn't dropped significantly. And every time, he could tell by the looks on the faces of both her and Hermione, that she was lying. Each time he finished pushing, Draco would collapse back against the bed, feeling more and more drained of his energy every time. Finally, after forty-five mintues, Molly looked up at him, worry etched all over her face.
"Draco, she's almost here, I can see her. We need to get her out of you NOW, you're losing too much blood. With the next contraction I want you to push . . . HARD, so we can get her out. Hermione, I want you to be ready as soon as she's delivered. I have to try and find out what is causing Draco's bleeding, so as soon as she's out, I'm giving her to you, you know what to do. Draco, are you ready?"
Draco nodded feebly, he was so exhausted and so weak that he could barely move his body. He had no idea how he was going to deliver the baby now. Seconds later another contraction ripped through him and mustered up every ounce of strength he had left and pushed hard, forcing the tiny baby from his body. He saw Molly hand a tiny, bloody body to Hermione before she turned her attention back to him. Draco fell back against the bed, completely drained of all energy, and feeling as if all the live had fled his body. The last thing he heard as he closed his eyes and entered a world of darkness was Hermione's frantic and panic filled voice.
"Molly, she's not breathing. I can't get her to breathe, what do I do?"
