Falling
Months had flown by and it became June. The NEWT's would begin in two weeks and the Quidditch season was almost at its end. The last match would be between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
Hermione and Draco were sitting in the library. They had seated themselves cosily in front of the fireplace with a book called 'So You Are Expecting A Little Wizard?'. Hermione had been worried that there was something wrong with the baby, because you could barily see she was pregnant, if she put on a loose sweater. Madam Pomfrey, who followed her progress closely, said she had nothing to worry about.
"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Draco asked, his head resting on hers.
"For the last time : yes! I'm not having any contractions yet and besides, I wouldn't want you to miss that match for the world. I know how important it is for you and you musn't let your teammates down. You go play nicely, while I go to madam Pomfrey for my examination." Hermoine replied.
"Alright, I'll see you later then. And you," he said to Hermione's belly, "You stay in there until I return!"
Hermione smiled and gave him a kiss. "Before I forget," she said, "Harry gave me this. He told he had picked it up before Ron could destroy it." Hermione gave Draco his grey tie back.
Draco smiled and left the library. He left the castle, together with a bunch of Slytherins who wore a fake snake around their neck. Draco was glad to play some Quidditch again, the weather was fantastic and the sun rose high above the lake.
Draco was also relieved that no threats had been send anymore, he could leave Hermione's side without having to worry about her. He himself was under the watchful eye of Dumbledore whenever he left the safe walls of Hogwarts.
With a big smile, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain entered the dressing room and he put on his green robes, with a shiny silver snake on his chest. After his instructions, he ordered the team to go to the Quidditch pitch. The crowd was roaring when they came into the sunlight. Both teams were whispering insultments to eachother, Hooch didn't notice. Maybe Draco and Harry could stand eachother now, their Houses could not. The captains shook hands.
"Good luck Malfoy." Harry said.
"Good luck Potter."
The players jumped on their brooms and the game began. The match started almost friendly, but after a few minutes, the captains couldn't control their teams anymore. It became a dirty match, as always.
"Spinnet wants to score, come on Alicia!" Leo Jordan yelled, "Oh no, she got hit by a Bludger! And the Quaffle goes to Pucey...Bell...Johnson...Montague, Montague scores! Ten points for Slytherin!"
Ron was infuriated, not because he hadn't prevented Slytherin from scoring, but because Harry gave Malfoy a friendly pat on the back.He flew away from his hoops to Sloper and ripped the bat out of the boy's hands.
"What's Weasley doing?" Leo shouted confused, "Ron don't do that! Ooooo that's got to hurt!"
Ron had hit Draco in the back with a Bludger. Hooch blew on her whistle.
"Penalty for Slyherin!"
"Pucey takes the Quaffle, come on, stop him Ron! And...he scores! Slytherin is leading with twenty points."
Draco almost lay flat on his broom from the pain, he thought he had heard something crack when the Bludger had hit him. But he kept seeking after the Snitch and he was thrilled when he felt a glowing warmth in the handle of his broom, indicating that the Snitch was near. Draco excelerated and he saw Harry doing the same. They crossed eachothers path and flew next to eachother.
"What's that?" Harry suddenly yelled, pointing to Dumbledore who was waving with a white flag. Draco knew the signal, he had agreed with Dumbledore to give him a signal when Hrmione was in trouble. He looked forward again and saw the Snitch hovering only a few metres away.
"Push me Potter!" Draco said to Harry.
"What?!?"
"Just do it!"
Harry bumped into Draco and draco pretended he lost control. He flew towards the ground and landed in an unprofessional way. A silence filled the stadium, then a loud noise errupted.
"Harry Potter has caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup!" Leo screamed.
Draco ran out of the stadium and jumped back on his broom. He was burning inside. He flew to the castle where McGonagall was waiting for him.
"Contractions have started half an hour ago," she said, "She'll give birth soon."
Together with McGonagall, Draco ran as fast a he could to the infirmary. Pomfrey ordered him to stay outside with his dirty robes. It was a habit amoungst wizards to wait outside anyway. Birth was a witch business.
Draco was nervously pacing, wanting to go inside every time he heard Hermione scream. After what seemed an eternity, the door opened.
"You can visit her now, but I warn you to let her rest soon. She's lost a lot of blood. Too much to my opinon." Pomfrey said.
When Draco entered, Hermione lay on a bed that was surrounded by curtains. She carried a bundle in her arms, and was exhausted. Draco softly kissed her forehead and said: "Are you alright, my love?"
"I'm fine," Hermione whispered, "Would you like to see your son?"
"A son?" Draco asked, smiling.
Hermione gave him a faint smile and nodded. She carefully gave him the child. Not much to Draco's surprise, his son's hair had the same colour as his. But he had his eyes from his mother. The little boy let out a cute little laugh and fell asleep in his fathers arms.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
-Evening -
Hermione was resting in the silent infirmary. Draco and Pomfrey had left her for a moment to get something to eat. Hermione looked up when she heard someone entering the room. It was a witch who wore black robes and carried a briefcase.
"Good evening, Miss Granger." she said with a smile, but there was something about her smile that Hermione didn't like. The witch now stood near the little bed of the child.
"Who are you." Hermione asked suspicious.
"Someone who dispises mudbloods like you." the witch hissed.
Hermione was shocked, who was this woman? She tried to get up to protect her child, but she fell back from the pain. The witch took the baby out of his bed and lifted him above her head to study him in the moonlight.
"Yes, I can see you're a Malfoy." the witch whispered.
"Stay away from my child! Give him back!" Hermione yelled, trying to get out of her bed.
"I'm sorry, my dear, but I'm afraid I'm going to keep him." the witch said and she left the infirmary with hasty steps.
"Please, please, give my child back!" Hermione cried.
Not more than a minute later, Draco entered the infirmary.
"She has our baby! Go after her!" Hermione cried hysterically.
"What? Hermione, calm down! What's wrong?!?" Draco asked surprised.
"A witch was here, she has stolen our baby! She left the infirmary right before you, go after her! GO AFTER HER!!!!" Hermione screamed.
Draco took in all the information and he had left the infirmary, not even a second later. He ran through the corridors, pushing away students and teachers. A cout of armour fell on the floor with a terrible noise. When Draco reached the stairs of the hallway, he saw the witch leaving the castle. He ran from the stairs and followed her outside.
The witch sat on a wall, beneath her the deep cliffs on which Hogwarts was build. Draco drew his wand, but the witch held the baby in front of her chest, making it impossible for Draco to curse her.
"Draco Malfoy, just the wizard I needed.Did you receive my letter?" the witch hissed.
"Who are you and what do you want from me?" Draco asked angrily, pointing his wand. He spoke as loud as he could, trying to get people's attention.
"What? You don't remember one of your father's best friends? Take a good look, Draco." the witch sneered.
Draco narrowed his eyes. Could it be? But he thought she was dead, finished off by Aurors months ago.
"Bellatrix Lestrange?" he whispered.
"Oh how delightful, you remember!" Bellatrix snarled, "But I'm not here to chat, you know. No! You are the most discusting Death Eater I've ever met. How dare you to betray our Lord? You killed my master. Now, I'm afraid, I'll have to kill one of your most precious people."
She jumped on the wall and stretched her arms, the baby in front of her, the child now hanging above the sharp rocks of the lake hundreds of metres lower.
"Kill me then, Draco, I dare you!" she screamed.
Draco's mind was racing. What could he do? Then he came up with something. His lips curled up in a cold smile.
"No. You're not worth dying by my hand. Who says I would even be hurt by your act, Bellatrix?" Draco shrugged.
"Don't behave so stupid, boy, it's your child!" Bellatrix hissed.
"Yes, I won't deny that. It's my insurance that the Malfoy bloodline is preserved."
"Oh really, Draco, with a mudblood? You have to make up something better than that."
"Are you really that backward, Bella?" Draco sneered, "Did you really think I like that filthy mudblood? No, I want my pleasure once and a while. And why not take a Gryffindor whore who's down at my knees?"
Draco was satisfied to see some confusion in the witch's eyes, he was even more happy that she took a step back from the edge.
"No, no! Can not be!" Bellatrix said, "You were shocked when you killed Karkaroff, you betrayed us and gave your service to Dumbledore!"
"You are a real idiot, Lestrange!" Draco yelled, pretending to become annoyed, "It's all part of my genious plan. Don't you get it?!? No one suspects me anymore! With Voldemort defeated, there's no one in my way anymore! I. I will be the next Dark Lord! And now that I can get near Harry Potter, I will be the one who defeats him. And you know it. You know how I got trained by my father. The only thing you were better at as my father, was your stupid Crucio Curse."
"Ridiculous! You'll be the last one to become the next Dark Lord! I'll be sooner a Dark Lady than you a Lord!" Bellatrix screamed.
"Why don't we duel for it?" Draco hissed, almost reaching his point, "You know there can only be one."
"I accept." Bellatrix bit. Draco was horrified that she almost threw the baby on the ground, but he tried not to change his cold expression. Bellatrix drew her wand and pointed it at Draco.
"No rules, every curse is accepted." she whispered.
"Stupify!" Draco yelled.
The curse missed Bellatrix. She laughed and shouted: "Crucio!"
With a reflex of a snake, Draco avoided the curse, but right after the first, Bellatrix fired a second curse. It hit Draco, who fell on the ground.
"Weak, Draco, weak!" Bellatrix laughed. Draco shook his head, a pain shot through his head.
"Impedimenta!" Bellatrix hissed. Draco's body was paralized, his head became light and his eyes became glazy. A voice entered his head.
"Stand up, take your son and step on the wall." the voice ordered.
Draco felt how his body rose, how he walked to his child and picked it up. Stop, stop! he thought to himself in panic, but the curse was extremely difficult to resist. His body stepped on the wall. He saw the sharp rocks surrounded by the deep dark water.
Draco closed his eyes, his mind exhausted by trying to control his body. It became dark. His feet shuffled closer and closer to the edge. Far, far away he heard his baby cry in his arms. He felt cold tears falling on his cheek. A thought ran through his mind like an icy wind: I'm going to die, I'm going to die...
He heard birds cry above his head, it was almost like singing.
"Let yourself fall, Draco Malfoy." the voice said, and...
He did.
Months had flown by and it became June. The NEWT's would begin in two weeks and the Quidditch season was almost at its end. The last match would be between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
Hermione and Draco were sitting in the library. They had seated themselves cosily in front of the fireplace with a book called 'So You Are Expecting A Little Wizard?'. Hermione had been worried that there was something wrong with the baby, because you could barily see she was pregnant, if she put on a loose sweater. Madam Pomfrey, who followed her progress closely, said she had nothing to worry about.
"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Draco asked, his head resting on hers.
"For the last time : yes! I'm not having any contractions yet and besides, I wouldn't want you to miss that match for the world. I know how important it is for you and you musn't let your teammates down. You go play nicely, while I go to madam Pomfrey for my examination." Hermoine replied.
"Alright, I'll see you later then. And you," he said to Hermione's belly, "You stay in there until I return!"
Hermione smiled and gave him a kiss. "Before I forget," she said, "Harry gave me this. He told he had picked it up before Ron could destroy it." Hermione gave Draco his grey tie back.
Draco smiled and left the library. He left the castle, together with a bunch of Slytherins who wore a fake snake around their neck. Draco was glad to play some Quidditch again, the weather was fantastic and the sun rose high above the lake.
Draco was also relieved that no threats had been send anymore, he could leave Hermione's side without having to worry about her. He himself was under the watchful eye of Dumbledore whenever he left the safe walls of Hogwarts.
With a big smile, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain entered the dressing room and he put on his green robes, with a shiny silver snake on his chest. After his instructions, he ordered the team to go to the Quidditch pitch. The crowd was roaring when they came into the sunlight. Both teams were whispering insultments to eachother, Hooch didn't notice. Maybe Draco and Harry could stand eachother now, their Houses could not. The captains shook hands.
"Good luck Malfoy." Harry said.
"Good luck Potter."
The players jumped on their brooms and the game began. The match started almost friendly, but after a few minutes, the captains couldn't control their teams anymore. It became a dirty match, as always.
"Spinnet wants to score, come on Alicia!" Leo Jordan yelled, "Oh no, she got hit by a Bludger! And the Quaffle goes to Pucey...Bell...Johnson...Montague, Montague scores! Ten points for Slytherin!"
Ron was infuriated, not because he hadn't prevented Slytherin from scoring, but because Harry gave Malfoy a friendly pat on the back.He flew away from his hoops to Sloper and ripped the bat out of the boy's hands.
"What's Weasley doing?" Leo shouted confused, "Ron don't do that! Ooooo that's got to hurt!"
Ron had hit Draco in the back with a Bludger. Hooch blew on her whistle.
"Penalty for Slyherin!"
"Pucey takes the Quaffle, come on, stop him Ron! And...he scores! Slytherin is leading with twenty points."
Draco almost lay flat on his broom from the pain, he thought he had heard something crack when the Bludger had hit him. But he kept seeking after the Snitch and he was thrilled when he felt a glowing warmth in the handle of his broom, indicating that the Snitch was near. Draco excelerated and he saw Harry doing the same. They crossed eachothers path and flew next to eachother.
"What's that?" Harry suddenly yelled, pointing to Dumbledore who was waving with a white flag. Draco knew the signal, he had agreed with Dumbledore to give him a signal when Hrmione was in trouble. He looked forward again and saw the Snitch hovering only a few metres away.
"Push me Potter!" Draco said to Harry.
"What?!?"
"Just do it!"
Harry bumped into Draco and draco pretended he lost control. He flew towards the ground and landed in an unprofessional way. A silence filled the stadium, then a loud noise errupted.
"Harry Potter has caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup!" Leo screamed.
Draco ran out of the stadium and jumped back on his broom. He was burning inside. He flew to the castle where McGonagall was waiting for him.
"Contractions have started half an hour ago," she said, "She'll give birth soon."
Together with McGonagall, Draco ran as fast a he could to the infirmary. Pomfrey ordered him to stay outside with his dirty robes. It was a habit amoungst wizards to wait outside anyway. Birth was a witch business.
Draco was nervously pacing, wanting to go inside every time he heard Hermione scream. After what seemed an eternity, the door opened.
"You can visit her now, but I warn you to let her rest soon. She's lost a lot of blood. Too much to my opinon." Pomfrey said.
When Draco entered, Hermione lay on a bed that was surrounded by curtains. She carried a bundle in her arms, and was exhausted. Draco softly kissed her forehead and said: "Are you alright, my love?"
"I'm fine," Hermione whispered, "Would you like to see your son?"
"A son?" Draco asked, smiling.
Hermione gave him a faint smile and nodded. She carefully gave him the child. Not much to Draco's surprise, his son's hair had the same colour as his. But he had his eyes from his mother. The little boy let out a cute little laugh and fell asleep in his fathers arms.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
-Evening -
Hermione was resting in the silent infirmary. Draco and Pomfrey had left her for a moment to get something to eat. Hermione looked up when she heard someone entering the room. It was a witch who wore black robes and carried a briefcase.
"Good evening, Miss Granger." she said with a smile, but there was something about her smile that Hermione didn't like. The witch now stood near the little bed of the child.
"Who are you." Hermione asked suspicious.
"Someone who dispises mudbloods like you." the witch hissed.
Hermione was shocked, who was this woman? She tried to get up to protect her child, but she fell back from the pain. The witch took the baby out of his bed and lifted him above her head to study him in the moonlight.
"Yes, I can see you're a Malfoy." the witch whispered.
"Stay away from my child! Give him back!" Hermione yelled, trying to get out of her bed.
"I'm sorry, my dear, but I'm afraid I'm going to keep him." the witch said and she left the infirmary with hasty steps.
"Please, please, give my child back!" Hermione cried.
Not more than a minute later, Draco entered the infirmary.
"She has our baby! Go after her!" Hermione cried hysterically.
"What? Hermione, calm down! What's wrong?!?" Draco asked surprised.
"A witch was here, she has stolen our baby! She left the infirmary right before you, go after her! GO AFTER HER!!!!" Hermione screamed.
Draco took in all the information and he had left the infirmary, not even a second later. He ran through the corridors, pushing away students and teachers. A cout of armour fell on the floor with a terrible noise. When Draco reached the stairs of the hallway, he saw the witch leaving the castle. He ran from the stairs and followed her outside.
The witch sat on a wall, beneath her the deep cliffs on which Hogwarts was build. Draco drew his wand, but the witch held the baby in front of her chest, making it impossible for Draco to curse her.
"Draco Malfoy, just the wizard I needed.Did you receive my letter?" the witch hissed.
"Who are you and what do you want from me?" Draco asked angrily, pointing his wand. He spoke as loud as he could, trying to get people's attention.
"What? You don't remember one of your father's best friends? Take a good look, Draco." the witch sneered.
Draco narrowed his eyes. Could it be? But he thought she was dead, finished off by Aurors months ago.
"Bellatrix Lestrange?" he whispered.
"Oh how delightful, you remember!" Bellatrix snarled, "But I'm not here to chat, you know. No! You are the most discusting Death Eater I've ever met. How dare you to betray our Lord? You killed my master. Now, I'm afraid, I'll have to kill one of your most precious people."
She jumped on the wall and stretched her arms, the baby in front of her, the child now hanging above the sharp rocks of the lake hundreds of metres lower.
"Kill me then, Draco, I dare you!" she screamed.
Draco's mind was racing. What could he do? Then he came up with something. His lips curled up in a cold smile.
"No. You're not worth dying by my hand. Who says I would even be hurt by your act, Bellatrix?" Draco shrugged.
"Don't behave so stupid, boy, it's your child!" Bellatrix hissed.
"Yes, I won't deny that. It's my insurance that the Malfoy bloodline is preserved."
"Oh really, Draco, with a mudblood? You have to make up something better than that."
"Are you really that backward, Bella?" Draco sneered, "Did you really think I like that filthy mudblood? No, I want my pleasure once and a while. And why not take a Gryffindor whore who's down at my knees?"
Draco was satisfied to see some confusion in the witch's eyes, he was even more happy that she took a step back from the edge.
"No, no! Can not be!" Bellatrix said, "You were shocked when you killed Karkaroff, you betrayed us and gave your service to Dumbledore!"
"You are a real idiot, Lestrange!" Draco yelled, pretending to become annoyed, "It's all part of my genious plan. Don't you get it?!? No one suspects me anymore! With Voldemort defeated, there's no one in my way anymore! I. I will be the next Dark Lord! And now that I can get near Harry Potter, I will be the one who defeats him. And you know it. You know how I got trained by my father. The only thing you were better at as my father, was your stupid Crucio Curse."
"Ridiculous! You'll be the last one to become the next Dark Lord! I'll be sooner a Dark Lady than you a Lord!" Bellatrix screamed.
"Why don't we duel for it?" Draco hissed, almost reaching his point, "You know there can only be one."
"I accept." Bellatrix bit. Draco was horrified that she almost threw the baby on the ground, but he tried not to change his cold expression. Bellatrix drew her wand and pointed it at Draco.
"No rules, every curse is accepted." she whispered.
"Stupify!" Draco yelled.
The curse missed Bellatrix. She laughed and shouted: "Crucio!"
With a reflex of a snake, Draco avoided the curse, but right after the first, Bellatrix fired a second curse. It hit Draco, who fell on the ground.
"Weak, Draco, weak!" Bellatrix laughed. Draco shook his head, a pain shot through his head.
"Impedimenta!" Bellatrix hissed. Draco's body was paralized, his head became light and his eyes became glazy. A voice entered his head.
"Stand up, take your son and step on the wall." the voice ordered.
Draco felt how his body rose, how he walked to his child and picked it up. Stop, stop! he thought to himself in panic, but the curse was extremely difficult to resist. His body stepped on the wall. He saw the sharp rocks surrounded by the deep dark water.
Draco closed his eyes, his mind exhausted by trying to control his body. It became dark. His feet shuffled closer and closer to the edge. Far, far away he heard his baby cry in his arms. He felt cold tears falling on his cheek. A thought ran through his mind like an icy wind: I'm going to die, I'm going to die...
He heard birds cry above his head, it was almost like singing.
"Let yourself fall, Draco Malfoy." the voice said, and...
He did.