Dose of Your Own

By: OurLoveIsForever

Epilogue

"How about you tell Draco he can screw himself?" I argued back, throwing the bouquet of flowers directly into my opponents face. I practically hissed for him to move away, but he remained, glaring at me intensely. "Four years of marriage and I still have to spell it out?" I growled with another wave of pain. "N-O."

"Astoria, honestly, calm down!" Tracey ordered from across the room. Her hair was tied up in a tight braid atop her head. "He'll be here."

"Yes, like he was there for the—"

"Bloody hell, Astoria." Theo said beside me, clutching to my hand. "Breathe. I know that Draco is in for it when he gets here, but let's save that anger for him, shall we? There's no need to kill the rest of us with your screams. Save it for your husband." I held my breath as another contraction hit.

Yes, I would bet that Theo wanted me to have at Draco as soon as he stepped foot within the room. Seeing as though the man holding my hand had been with me since only moments after my water broke, dropping whatever important case he had been on with Creevey to help me to the hospital, he had heard nothing but my growls of contempt for the Great Prat that fathered the child within me.

My belly was so big that I couldn't see my feet below me, nor did I really have any desire to see my feet. I could guess that they were rather large like the rest of me. It was late in the evening during the month of April. Nearly a week overdue. This child was going to be like his father: inherently late. Draco was in some very important meeting with a group of merchant wizards from Poland when my water broke while I was being handed tea by Narcissa. During the final three months of pregnancy, I had been on bed rest due to high blood pressure—Another crushing wave of pain blasted its way through me, snapping me out of my memories.

"You couldn't bloody wait?" A voice said from the door. I jerked my head up to see my Draco looking windswept and nervous, a rarity for that bloody Malfoy! "Impatient little—"

"I wouldn't anger her right now, Draco, she—"

Before I could verbally rip the man's head off that had caused this pain, I gritted my teeth to deal with another bought. Draco rushed forward at once, his hand coming to the side of my face. "Oh, bloody hell…" I thought he looked paler than usual.

"I should say so, mate." Theo smiled, patting my hand before releasing it. Over the course of time, he had learned that Draco was not much willing to share and when it came to events like this, I knew he didn't want to impose. Well, there was that and I thought I heard Lisa's voice from outside the labor room. Nott leaned down to peck a small kiss on my forehead before striding toward the doorway. He disappeared without a second glance.

A medi-witch was bustling this way and that, checking vitals signs, making things ready for the arrival we had been waiting for.

"Mother is outside with Lady Zabini."

I smirked slightly. "Camilla will take good care of her." Raising an eyebrow, I eyed his nervous expression. "You're scared." He looked away to watch the thin woman run this way and that. I gulped down a scream when a blinding bout of pain blazed through me. I instinctually reached for his hand.

"You can handle more pain than this." Draco almost huffed, looking down at the tips of his fingers, which were becoming white from the lack of blood circulation. "You—"

"Don't you dare." I hissed, turning my head violently toward him. "There are two days that you are not allowed to harass me. One was our wedding day. We both know how that ended." His lips pulled back into a mix between a smile and a sneer. "The other is today. I swear, Draco Malfoy, if you harass me today. I will make your life very unpleasant until it ends…painfully." He stared down at me as if contemplating if my threat was genuine. Somewhere on the other side of the room, I heard the medi-witch laugh lightly. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." He sighed, rolling his gray eyes.

He stood in silence, holding my hand, cursing every so often when a bought of pain seemed to hurt me too bad. At one point, when I was unable to control a scream, he looked around frantic. A nurse began to enter the room, seemingly oblivious. "Do something, you bloody idiot! She's in pain." When I assured him that there was little they could do, he calmed once more.

The time finally came at one in the morning. Everything was a blur of sound and lights. I could feel the pounding in my head. Somewhere in my swimming vision I could make out Draco's anxious expression. "Draco," I reached out to place my hand on his arm. He flew into action, calling for a medi-witch from down the hall. I would guess that all of the sleeping patients were awakened by his yell. I cringed once more, growing tired of the tedious process. I was ready to be done. I was ready to just pass the point of pain.

My midwife hurried in, nearly slamming the door in Draco's face, to which he gave her a fierce glare. "Are you ready, Mrs. Malfoy?" She asked, propping both of my feet into high stirrups. I closed my eyes and let my head fall back as she assessed my dilation. "Yes. It's time." She muttered a quick cleaning spell in her hand before holding her wand to her throat. "I need the birthing team in room thirty-three. This is an emergency." She placed her wand on a small metal plated table before turning to Draco. I noticed his eyes narrow a bit before he mouth opened. "Mister Malfoy, I am going to have to ask you to step out."

"No."

"Excuse me?" She questioned, hastening herself with other matters, making sure that all things were in place. I was breathing hard in and out. In and out. I could feel my pulse quickening with the thought of him leaving. The door behind him opened when I turned my head to the side, resting it against the pillows. It was almost instantaneous that he was beside me once more, taking hold of my hand. The medi-witch looked slightly amazed before shrugging. I smiled weakly up into his eyes.

"You need to push."

"Bloody hell…" Draco whispered in an awed tone as I put all the force I could muster into one single movement. Every muscle was tense and sore as the counting somewhere in my mind ceased. I fell back onto the pillows, tears leaking from the corners of my eyes out of strain. Draco brought the sleeve of his button down shirt over my forehead, mopping away the sweat. The command came again. And again. There was a sound something like a 'pop'. A story that Narcissa had spoken of but I hardly believed, seeing it as some inside joke that mothers like to tell. All in one moment, I was a mother. There were screams, crying. My eyes fluttered closed, all of my energy spent. Draco was speaking into my ear, his nose nuzzled into my hair. "Astoria, you're done. You've done it, baby."

I smiled, turning my head slightly to kiss his lips before we heard the voice of the midwife.

"Would you like to hold your son?"

Nodding, she walked closer, a bundle of blue soft blue fabric cradled in her thin arms. She lowered the treasure toward my arms, he eyes moving from me to Draco and back. "He's beautiful." The weight was more than I expected, bringing him closer so that I could see his face. His eyes were closed, but his mouth was still open, breathing in heavy breathes. I felt tears begin to fill my eyes as I looked from the precious thing before me to his father who stood beside me and back. Blond curls were winding their way from under his little knit cap, nearly snow white in color. "He has your hair." I whispered. Draco seemed to stop breathing as he brought his finger over the cheek of our baby son, the little thing's eyes opened automatically, looking right up at us. "His eyes are blue."

"Your eyes." Draco murmured, sliding his hand over the bundle. A wave of fatigue fell over me as my eyes drooped. The midwife saddled up quickly, motioning for Draco to take the baby. I eased him up until Draco scooped him up, holding him so close that it was possible the two became one. As my sight began to become unfocused, I saw Draco eyes widen as loud beeping sounds began to emit from the monitors. I lost consciousness.

"Of course he's handsome. He's a Malfoy after all." Draco's voice said somewhere down a tunnel. I felt myself rushing to the surface of the 'water' before my eyes snapped open. The room was darkened, all the hustle and bustle had died down. Slowly, I turned my eyes toward where I had heard Draco's voice. He was standing over at the baby incubator, his eyes focused on our son's face below him. Theo stood on the other side, gazing down as well. "She may be out for a couple more hours, they said."

"They were wrong." I muttered, smiling when both men turned shocked stares on me. Draco hurried (if that was what one could call two large strides) toward me, his arms wrapping around my shoulders. "What in the world—"

"You've been asleep nearly all day. They said that your blood pressure tanked off." He said, placing a kiss to my cheek, then gently to my lips. I shrugged slightly.

"There's no threat now. I assume that they've taken care of it?" I asked, looking from Draco to Theo.

Theodore nodded, stepping toward the bed. "They said that you shouldn't risk another pregnancy."

My eyes widened only a bit before I laid my hand on Draco's. "One's enough. Goodness knows he will have looks and wits to kill." Nott laughed heartily, earning a fierce glare from Draco.

"If you wake him again, I will be forced to mangle you." My husband hissed, standing.

Nott sobered quickly. "Only if your wife agrees, Draco." The man in question pulled out his wand to which Theo snorted. "Like hell. You're an idiot but not that much of an idiot." Before he could stay to find out, a figure appeared shadowed in the door way. Nott grinned down at me and winked. "Not that I don't find threats against my life highly amusing, I best be going." He bolted before I could say a word in protest. Lisa had him wrapped around her little finger. With her being six months pregnant herself, it was only a matter of time before she would be in my place and Theo was the one trying remain calm.

Draco eased down to sit on the side of the bed. "I gave him the name we agreed on."

"Oswalt?" I quipped, smirking. His eyes rolled.

"Scorpius Hyperion." He replied, raising his chin slightly. "A very dignified na—"

"A very 'please, sir, kick my ass' name."

"You have that reversed. You see, this child is a Malfoy, thus he will be the one kicking this metaphorical 'ass' you speak of-"

"Who said it is metaphorical, hm?"

Four years of marriage and he had already learned to ignore me. "You admitted last week that anything was better than that name for Potter's second." I nodded, sighing. Everything was a competition with this man. Nothing had changed. Combine that with the fact that Draco wouldn't shut up until I settled on the name. Like a little bloody kid, he was. "We settled, remember?"

"Oh, I remember." I relinquished, my eyes moving toward the incubator where our child slept. He was a combination of the two of us, our wrongdoings, our fights, our love, and our hopes. He was the symbol for the trust that I had in humanity, in my husband. Surely he would grow to be honorable, I couldn't see us raising him with any other mindset. I prayed that he would never have to endure any of the hardships that we had during our times. Even for that, I knew that life was not life without dark times, times that shape us into what we are becoming. Perhaps in his years, a new Dark Lord would rise. Perhaps there would be terrors and wars, rumors of wars. Perhaps peace would reign. Regardless, he, like his father and I, would be a culmination of his experiences for better or worse.

That was all I could hope for, in the end, I suppose.

THE END.

A/N: I am sad to see this story end.

To all of my wonderful reviewers: There are some that have been with me from the very start, some that have come to join us, and some that I hope will read this later...I want to thank you for the never ending support. You have truly made this a dream come true. I said somewhere at the beginning that I wanted to write one of 'the' Draco/Astoria pieces out there. I hope that I have.

Also a huge thanks to all of the wonderful people who have favorited and alerted this story! I sincerely appreciate it!

I really wanted Dose of Your Own to transcend some kind of strange barrier that I have noticed in fan fiction. I wanted to delve into Astoria's mind, well, this Astoria's mind. I wanted her to be as real as possible. Someone that could be accepted as canon, mistaken as canon.

In the end, the message I wanted to convey was: we are all culminations of our experiences. Good or bad, we grow and learn from them. Astoria did this throughout the piece. I hope that translated well enough.