Author note: This story has been floating around in the plot bunny playpen for a while now and it was a picture by Rhysenn-M at Deviantart that really popped the idea into place for me. At least one particular scene to come later…Don't worry, you'll love it. I had started it a completely different way, but then something screamed as I was proofreading…Mrs. Malfoy II. THIS FIRST CHAPTER IS GRAPHIC AND INCLUDES A CHARACTER DEATH INCLUDING A CHILD. PLEASE BE AWARE.
Emilia had awakened with a smile on her face. Today was the day they learned of the unborn child's sex. She had so desperately wanted a girl, but knew that Draco preferred a son. He wanted a son so that whatever wrongs that had been done to him by his father were corrected through another decent generation of Malfoy heirs. She got dressed in a plain yet feminine cream dress and dark green robes.
Draco met her at the stairs and marveled in the glow on her face.
"Ready, love?" he asked taking her hand to help her down the last couple steps. She wasn't very full with child, but she still wobbled sometimes.
She smiled at him and nodded her head. "I can't wait. I do so hope it's a boy. I feel so big that it might be one of each."
Draco paled slightly then acquiesced. "As long as they're both as beautiful as you."
She stretched to kiss him and then dropped her hand sharply to her side. Draco watched the movement with curiosity. "What is it?"
"I'm fine. Just stretched too hard. Those lips are impossible to resist sometimes," Emilia said as she headed for the door with a flirtatious wink. Draco followed her out only to be met by Hermione on the sidewalk.
"I was just coming to meet you. Are you ready to go?" Hermione asked her young daughter.
"Mum, I told you. Draco wanted to go with me and there just isn't enough room on his broom for the two of us, let alone my stomach. I'll floo you here when we find out. I promise," Emilia said knowing full well that her mother wasn't going to budge.
"BROOM?! What in the bloody hell are you talking about? You can't ride a broom! What if you fall? What if the two of you run into a bird or.. Or… or worse, a building? NO! Absolutely not. I will take you in the car and we will get there safe and sound," Hermione protested.
Draco stood aside knowing not to get mixed up with these two stubborn women arguing. He did not, however, like the fact that Emilia just experienced some kind of pain and this discussion was just going to get her blood pressure up. "Hermione, please. This is my child. I want to be there when she finds out if we're having a son or a daughter. I won't let anything happen to her. Besides, you've seem me fly. Quidditch, remember? I'm not that bad even if I am a lot older than 16. She'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to her. I promise."
Hermione studied the man holding her daughter to his side with a protective arm. She couldn't trust a Malfoy as far as she could throw them, but this one was definitely different. Therefore, she stepped aside and allowed them to mount the broom.
"Malfoy, after everything you've ever seen in this house since you were a child, remember you've never seen anything like what I can do to you should she get hurt. You got me?"
He nodded solemnly and grasped the stick in front of him. Within seconds, Hermione stood staring and cursing a small dot in the afternoon sky. "Too fast, you stupid blighter!"
"Draco, I'm felling ill. Could you slow down a bit, please?" Emilia called to her husband over his shoulder. He complied and turned his head to her.
"I'm sorry. I'm just excited. And after that pain you felt, I'm a bit worried, too. We'll be there shortly, " he replied and kissed her fingers that laid on his shoulder. What he didn't expect was the yell that escaped her lips.
"DRACO!"
His head whipped around just in time to see a black iron rod protruding from the side of a building, but it was too late. It struck him full force at the equivalent of a muggle 30 kilometers an hour, forcefully throwing him back into his wife and successfully knocking her to the ground…twenty feet below.
Draco was on the ground and beside her in a matter of seconds which felt like years to him. The thoughts that ran through his head were enough to make him feel like it was taking forever to get to her. She was lying with one leg warped under the other. Her head was bleeding and her right arm was twisted grotesquely.
"Draco," she whispered.
He shook his head. "Don't talk. Let me look you over. It'll be alright. Just a couple broken bones, that's all. I'm so sorry, love."
She shook her head this time. "No, it's not your fault. If I hadn't distracted you…"
"Shh…I'll take care of you. It'll be okay." He looked up to see a small crowd of people gathering. He could hear their whispers.
"Is she alright?"
"Of course not… look at her legs."
"…shouldn't have been riding a broom and pregnant. Stupid girl."
Draco turned back to his wife and saw that her stomach was tensing under her robes. Contractions. But they were too quick. And they were too close together. At least that's what that book Hermione gave him said.
"I need some help. Is there a mediwitch here? Please, my baby! Somebody help me!" Draco screamed at the faces that looked at him with horror, fear, and condescension. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to a old woman on his left.
"Step back, dear. It's been a while since I've helped a child into the world, but I think I can remember easily enough. Now, hold her hand," the woman said softly.
Draco did as she said and held the hand of the one he loved with all his heart. "The baby is going to be fine, Em. Just fine. Just lie back and relax. We get to see our child in a few minutes. And then everything will be okay."
While he talked with Emilia for a few more minutes, the never even glanced to see the old witch using her wand to cut open Emilia's abdomen. There was no pain with magical incision, and Emilia just laid back against Draco and stared into his steel gray eyes.
"I want him to have your eyes. Your eyes are so beautiful, Draco. I love looking at them," she said.
"Your nose," he replied.
Emilia tried to laugh at the jest towards her father, but her chest hurt. Possibly broken ribs, she had thought, until she started coughing. The blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
"Emilia, Draco," the woman addressed having heard them use their names. "You have a son."
Draco's face lit up and he looked at his wife. "A son! Emilia, we have a little boy!"
Emilia smiled lightly and touched Draco's cheek weakly. "Just like you wanted."
Then her hand fell lifeless to her side.
"Emilia? Emilia! Wake up, love. Emilia!" he screamed holding her head to his chest.
"Mr. Draco, sir…I didn't want to say this while she heard. I wanted her to go in peace and happiness. It's better that way," the woman said.
He looked at her with confusion through watery eyes.
"The child, sir…didn't make it."
For some reason the knock on the door was resounding and startled Hermione. She quickly gathered her wits and answered it to be met by three men, two of which were book ending a very pale and shaky Draco.
"What on earth? Who are you? What have you done to my son-in-law?" Hermione asked the men whose faces were somber. She looked to Draco and then looked around the men. "Where's Emilia?"
The night sky was pierced with an shattering scream that faded its high pitched squeal when Hermione fainted and fell to the floor.
AN: As you might could tell this is going to be a right painful beginning to get through. Please bear with me. As for the other chapters I have completed, I have been made aware of a couple mistakes.. and I myself have to reread Mrs. Malfoy to remember.. LOL! That's what you get when you let the plot bunnies write and don't pay attention!... Hope you like this one.