Chapter 16
Draco sat in his chair, looking out the window. He and Hermione had been trying to get enough time alone to make love for the passed 3 days. Each time they tried someone would show up to hang out or tell them they needed to be somewhere else. At that very moment Draco was supposed to be resting while the guests of the house went shopping. His mother had sent a list with them while she spent some time with her baby.
In other words, she was sleeping in and didn't care to get up anytime soon. That was fine with him too because he was having cravings for blood. He had noticed it the first night back at the dinner table. Everyone was saying what a good meal it was and all Draco could think was 'I wonder who's blood test best'. He found the food did not fill him up, even though he ate twice the normal amount. His plan was to feed on Hermione once they had a moment alone.
That wasn't happening though. He got a little uneasy last night when he was sitting with the Weasley boys talking about this or that, but hearing their heartbeats thunder in his head. His throat went dry as Bill Weasley was handing Fred Weasley some egg nog. The guy put his wrist inches from Draco's mouth and he had a little cut that was bleeding. Draco came so close to jumping the man he had to dig his nails into the chair, bite his tongue, and suck on his own blood to keep himself seated.
He had been trying to avoid the obvious solution to his problem. Going out into the woods and hunting alone. There were some problems with that however. The first one being a muggle town was very close by and a lot of muggle children would be playing in the woods while their families were looking for trees. Then there was the being alone part, Draco had gotten use to hunting with his dad. It was their bonding time, something he had never had with Lucius. Draco didn't like the idea of going out with out Peter. He knew it was silly, but it just didn't feel right.
Finally, Draco hated the idea of feeding on anything. Just the idea of drinking blood made him uneasy. He knew he had to go, but he was trying to put it off as long as he could. He was trying not to hate it, but there were so many reasons he just couldn't accept it. His vampire eyes caught site of a bird landing in a tree. He could hear its heart beat, making his eyes roll in the back of his head as his mouth slightly opened, letting out a soft grown.
"Draco sweetie it's mommy, can I come in?" His mother called from behind his double door. Swallowing hard, Draco tried to shove his beast half away as he told his mother to come in. She came to sit next to him at the window. "How are you feeling today?" she asked softly as a house elf entered to put tea and cookies on the little table next to them.
"I'm good, just a bit hungry," He said, taking a cookie and shoving it in his month. He could feel his mother's eyes on him as he put another cookie in his mouth. She was pretending to check to make sure she was given her tea cup. Her tea cup had a small chip in the handle from when she dropped it the moment she found out she was pregnant. Ever since that day, she kept the chipped cup as a memento of that moment.
"I can see that," She said softly as she sipped her tea, while holding the cup handle in one hand. She placed the cup gentle down on its plat in the other. "Draco I came to give you the Malfoy's family engagement ring." She placed the cup down on the table before removing the ring from her finger and handing it over to him. "You do plan to ask Hermione this week, after all."
Draco took the ring, looking it over before putting it away "Yes, I plan to ask her soon…maybe tonight." His mother smiled at him as she reached for her tea cup. "Ow," she draw her hand back suddenly as a small drop of blood ran down her finger tip. "Well that was silly of me."
Draco's mouth went dry as his heart beat raced wildly in his chest. The smell and sight of his own mother's blood was more powerful than any he had known. He stood up so fast he knocked his chair over. "Draco it's just a little cut no need to get that upset," she said, putting a little pressure to her finger. Draco could feel the change setting in.
"Mum you need to go." He barely whispered as he backed up into the corner, digging his long finger nails into the wall. He was breathing hard as the scent lingered in his nostrils making his teeth grow and causing him to moan out loud. His mother had gotten to her feet, but not to run away as he had asked her to. She was getting closer to him. "No mum stay back," he whimpered, scared out of his mind he might jump her.
"Draco honey what is going on? What's wrong with you?" She asked him, stopping a few feet from him. His two halves were inner mixing, making him speak as if he were only a four year old child.
"Me so hungree…Want to feed." His glowing eyes looked up into his mothers confused ones. "Feed me mommy," his mouth dropped open to show his mother his fangs as he panted lightly. His wizarding half was holding him back, while his vampire half was begging to get fed. Both halves were not sure of how their mother would take this.
Narcissa stared at her son, she wasn't scared of what she saw, just confused. Nodding more to herself than her son, she moved toward him. She could see he was scared as he clinched his eyes shut, lowering his head and weeping a little. "Were you bitten by a vampire?" She asked him, kneeling down next to him to run her hand up his arm. Her son trembled, but managed to say 'no'. She had always known Draco was different somehow, even when he was baby she had a feeling he need something other children did not need. "It's ok baby mommy's here…You're hungry for mommies blood?"
She watched as his scared gray eyes looked up into hers. He nodded his head yes slowly, but made no move to feed. She smiled, slowly putting her hand out to him. "Go ahead sweet heart drink what you need." She watched as his hands slowly reach up to take hold of her arm. His mouth open as his eyes closed and he leaned forward to lick her cut. He pulled away, suddenly cringing and looking down at the floor. Sitting down, Narcissa moved her son in to her arms placing her hand in his month.
"When you were just a baby and I nursed you," She said softly as he closed his eyes biting her hand and drinking her blood. "You had the tendency to bite me so hard with your gums I would bleed. I would pull you away so you didn't get blood in your mouth, but you would cry and cry until I allowed you to drink both my blood and milk." She ran a gentle hand through his hair. "I couldn't understand how you could bite so hard with no teeth or even why you would want to drink my blood…Your father just told me to let you do what made you happy," She smiled to herself. "I should have known then that he did something to you."
Draco's gray eyes no longer held fear as he looked up into her face. "I always knew you where special, that you would need something other children did not. I had no idea this would be it, but it's ok, you're still my baby and I still love you." She watched as he let go of her hand, yawning slightly as he closed his eyes and leaned his head on her shoulder. "All better?" She asked in a low whisper, he nodded sleepily against her shoulder. "Good…Why don't you take a little nap sweetie" She said as he looked as though he was falling asleep on her. "When you wake up, you can tell mommy all about it and let me know if your girlfriend knows just how special you are."
(Later that night)
Draco felt relaxed as he patted the ring in his pocket with one hand and took Hermione's hand with the other. It was snowing lightly as the two walked around the softly lit grounds. They were on the far side of the pond, heading for the gazebo that was all lit up in red, blue, and green holiday lights. Hermione had wanted to go out in the snow, but no one else wanted to come. It was the perfect setting to pop the question.
They were alone, in a beautiful winter wonder land, the mood was romantic and the timing was just right. After what happen that morning with his mother, Draco had come to terms with what he was and had finally accepted it. He was no longer ashamed of it and he was no longer scared of it. After talking about it with his mum he realized that asking Hermione to marry him wasn't so scary either. It was really just all about the timing.
"It's so beautiful!" Hermione said, stepping into the gazebo and looking up at the floating reindeer figures. The ceiling showed a picture of London. Moving about on the street were headlights and some other lights. It was like you were a star looking down on the city and every few minutes a reindeer-drawn sleigh would fly over the city, landing on roof tops. It really was quite the thing to see. Draco, however, had seen it many times before, so his eyes were on something else just as beautiful.
"Hermione," He said softly, getting her to look down from the ceiling into his gray eyes. She held such a wondrous look in her eyes that made Draco's heart beat a little faster. Taking both her hands in his, he leaned down to kiss her. "Remember you asked me what my idea of a proposal was?" He asked in a low voice, letting his hands slide around her to bring her closer to him.
"Yes," She breathed out quietly as her arms moved up his back pulling him into a kiss. Their kisses were gentle, loving, and warming. He allowed one hand to slip into his pocket pulling out the ring he step back from her to kneel on one knee. He held the ring up so she could see it, letting their eyes meet so he could see it all registering in her eyes as he began his little speech.
"I know we're still young, but I can't see myself with anyone else. We can set the day for when ever you want it, but I just have to know now. I can't wait any longer." He smiled a little. "I need to know you'll be in my life forever…Hermione will you marry me?"
Her face filled with tears as she smiled and jumped into his arms "Yes, yes Draco I will." They kissed several times before she removed her glove and had him slip the ring on her finger. They sat on the floor of the gazebo looking up into the scene, just holding each other. He could see Hermione looking the ring over, admiring the silver and gold band, while she counted the emeralds set around the band. "Do you like it?" He asked her softly, she looked up at him as if asking 'like what'. "The ring, do you like it?"
"Oh yes I love it, it the most beautiful ring I've ever seen." She said as she moved in for a few more loving kisses. "Maybe tonight we can finally make love, it is Christmas Eve after all." Draco looked up the hill at the manor, smiling slyly to himself. He reached behind one of the benches, pulling out some pillows and blankets. Hermione raised an eyebrow at him.
"We always kept these down here in the winter." He said, wrapping the blankets around them. Hermione got the idea and soon the two of them had made a make-shift bed. They kissed gently as they removed each others clothes. They took their time to warm each others bodies with there hands and mouths. Draco moved slower than she did, wanting to enjoy their 'first time' as much as possible.
Once both of them were naked and each of them had explored the others body to the fullest, Draco moved Hermione back on the blanket and pillows. They kissed as her legs moved apart to run over his. Ever so slowly he moved himself inside her, taking his time to give her time to adjust to him. He had learned a long time ago that he was much larger than most and to be polite to his lover he needed to go slow and give them time to take him all in.
He could hear her moan as he moved deeper inside her. Her hands ran over his back pulling at his hair as her walls closed in around him. He to, moaned out in pleasure at feeling the connection they had been dieing to make for days. They kissed passionately as they gave each other time to feel the other. Whispers of love could be heard as they slowly started to move. They were of one body and one mind, moving together to reach the same goal for each other.
They stayed out there all night long making love until the sun began to shine. Happy to have gotten what they truly wanted for the holiday, they dressed, put things away and headed inside. In only a few hours they would be sharing the news of their engagement with their friends and family. In their minds this was truly a joyful day.
THE END