Bittersweet Reality
~A few months later; the Potters� house~
�Oh no you don�t!� James grabbed the cat before he managed to get outside. They had to be very careful these days. Any mention of the Potters living in the neighborhood and they would have to move again. They�d already moved four times in just the past month. James looked up and down the street to make sure no one was there before picking up the paper and hurrying back inside.
It was a Muggle newspaper. This was a Muggle neighborhood for the most part, so a subscription had been easy to get. They were now restricted to using Owl Post only for emergencies. The Muggle post, though slow, was safer. After all, who would suspect Lily and James Potter to be hiding here?
Yes, the only people who knew where they lived were Albus Dumbledore and Sirius Black. Dumbledore, in fact, was in charge of making sure the Potters were notified when their secret was in jeopardy of being revealed. Sirius knew because he was the godfather and besides, James trusted him.
What was this secret they were hiding? James didn�t rightly know himself. All he knew was that it had something to do with their daughters, and that it was serious enough for Dumbledore to be involved.
A baby�s crying interrupted James� thoughts. He hurried to the nursery to see who it was. It was Sheila. James grabbed a rattle off a shelf and gave it to her. She immediately stopped crying and James smiled. He looked over at Sheila�s sister Melissa, who was sound asleep in her crib. He could hardly believe that these little girls could cause such an uproar.
A dull thud from across the hall echoed through the house. James rushed to see what had happened. Lily had fainted and was lying on the bathroom floor. Clutched in her hand was a pregnancy test.
It was positive.
~Four days later; Malfoy Mansion~
�Are you done in there yet?�
�Give me a minute!� Narcissa shouted, holding the test up to the light to read it. After double-checking the result, she opened the door.
�Well?� Lucius prompted.
�It�s positive,� Narcissa said simply. She didn�t really know how to react. She supposed she was supposed to be happy, and she was. She just hoped that she wasn�t setting herself up for another fall.
~A few months later; the hospital~
�The baby looks very healthy, Mrs. Potter.�
�Thank you doctor,� Lily said, looking at the ultrasound screen. If she concentrated hard enough, she could see the baby, right down to the little fingers on his hands.
�Everything seems to be in order,� the doctor said, standing up. �Be sure to make another appointment for next month so we can check his progress.�
�I will,� Lily said, standing up. She left the room and found her husband waiting outside the door.
�So?� James said, looking at her tentatively.
�The baby�s fine,� Lily said reassuringly. �Did you call Albus?�
�Yes,� James replied, wrapping an arm around her and leading her away, �he�s doing a memory charm as we speak. The doctor won�t remember a thing.�
Lily gave a painful smile. She hated that they were using memory charms, but there was no other option. This was the only way to protect their daughters and their unborn son.
~April 1st, 1980; unknown~
�The prophecy is upon us! The day of reckoning will be set upon the birth of this one child. Malfoy, step forward.�
Narcissa stood with her husband and walked forward, stumbling slightly. Lucius grabbed her arm and pulled her to the center of the circle, pushing her onto her knees before the Dark Lord.
�Give me your arm,� the Dark Lord hissed. Before Narcissa could react, Lucius grabbed her left arm and pulled the sleeve up past her elbow.
The Dark Lord tapped her arm with his wand, hissing a spell that Narcissa didn�t recognize. She felt like acid had been poured over her arm. Pain radiated through her, and she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. Then, just as quickly as it had come, the pain stopped.
�It is done,� the Dark Lord announced to his followers. �The Dragon will be born and the day shall be set for the disposal of those who dare to oppose the Lord of Darkness!�
The followers cheered. Lucius pulled Narcissa to her feet and dragged her back to their place in the circle.
Narcissa lifted her sleeve to see what the spell had done and nearly fainted. Instinctively, she placed a hand on her stomach where her baby was. How could her baby be the Dragon? Surely there had been a mistake. But, mistake or not, the sight of her arm scared her.
On her arm, right below the elbow, was a black tattoo of a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. The Dark Mark.
~A couple weeks later; the Potters� house~
�Are you insane? Get it away from me!�
James took several steps backwards, nearly tripping over the cat. Lily covered her mouth and ran to the bathroom. James tried to block the sound as he threw out their uneaten lunch.
Lily came back out, stumbling slightly. �Are you insane?� she asked again. �You know I can�t stand the smell of fish right now!�
�I�m sorry,� James said, backing away from Lily as though she was an escaped dragon. �I forgot. I saw the can of tuna in the cabinet and thought you might like some lunch.�
Lily�s anger immediately disappeared and her eyes filled with tears. �That�s so sweet of you!� she cried, walking over to James and hugging him.
The sound of a baby�s crying filled the house and Lily�s good mood evaporated. �Take care of that,� she ordered. �I need to lie down.� She headed towards the bedroom, leaving James to check up on the babies.
James went to the nursery and saw that Melissa was the one crying. He picked her up and her crying stopped. James smiled. He was getting better at this.
Unfortunately, Lily�s emotions weren�t as predictable as Melissa and Sheila�s. The mood swings alone had exhausted him. Add to that the fact that Lily was now sick at the sight of several dozen kinds of food, and James didn�t know how he would make it to July, which was when Lily�s due date was.
~April 30th, 1980; Malfoy Mansion~
Lucius Malfoy read over the prophecy again. He couldn�t afford to mess this up. He needed to think of a name to keep the dragon reference. He pulled out several foreign language dictionaries before finally finding the perfect name: Draco, the Latin word for �dragon.�
Lucius thought about this for a while. Draco Malfoy had a sinister sound to it. The name seemed to be made to strike fear into the hearts of witches and wizards everywhere.
Lucius looked up from his desk as the door creaked open. Narcissa stepped in, looking worried.
�Lucius,� she said, her voice breaking slightly, �my water broke.�
�What?� Lucius roared, leaping to his feet. He grabbed the bag of Floo Powder off his desk. The phone in the crystal rang a couple of times before a Muggle finally picked up.
�Good morning, you have reached Excel Cabs, how might I serve you?� the man asked cheerfully.
�We need a cab,� Lucius said hurriedly. �1286 Newport Drive. It�s an emergency!�
�Yes sir, your cab will be there in ten minutes,� the man said and hung up.
Lucius grabbed the book with the prophecy and led Narcissa downstairs, making sure she didn�t trip. He couldn�t let another accident happen.
* * *
�It�s a boy!�
Narcissa collapsed onto her back, exhausted. She�d read a lot of books about giving birth, but she didn�t think they were very accurate. That had been a hell of a lot more painful than the books had said.
The nurse carried the baby over to the other side of the room and brought him back in a blanket, handing him over to Narcissa.
�Have you decided on a name?� the nurse asked.
�Draco,� Lucius said quickly, �Draco Malfoy.�
Narcissa looked down at her son. He certainly didn�t look like a Draco. He seemed to be even smaller than Gerry had been, his arms being not much bigger round than one of Narcissa�s fingers.
Suddenly, Narcissa noticed how quiet he was. Too quiet. �He�s not breathing!� she cried, causing the nurse to jump in alarm and rush forward.
�He needs to go to intensive care,� she said, taking Draco from Narcissa and rushing away.
Narcissa looked up at Lucius. He stood stiffly, his face gray in color. Narcissa knew what he was thinking. A fresh wave of tears came, blurring her vision, and she turned away. She didn�t think she could stand for this to happen again.
* * *
�Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, follow me.�
Narcissa stood up and followed the nurse out of the room. Lucius came too, though he walked apart from them. Narcissa tried not to think about what might happen and just concentrated on walking.
They entered a room all too familiar for Narcissa. She had a sudden flashback of the rows of incubators, the Muggles standing in groups around them, and little Gerry taking his last breath.
�Here he is,� the nurse said, stopping by an incubator.
Narcissa looked down at her son and almost cried. As tiny as he�d seemed before, he looked even smaller now. A tube ran from a machine into his nose, helping him breath.
�I�ve been informed that you have been through this before,� the nurse said. �Your choices are the same as then, either to administer the medicine and risk side effects, or take him off the machines to fight his battle alone.�
�May I discuss this with my husband?� Narcissa asked before Lucius could answer. The nurse nodded and left.
�There�s nothing to discuss,� Lucius said, staring down at Draco in disgust. �He�s weak. He can�t be the Dragon.�
�Lucius,� Narcissa said, gathering her courage for what she had to say, �I�m not going to stand by and let you kill another one of our sons. If you go through with this, I�ll leave you, and you won�t have an heir.�
Lucius looked like he�d gone past anger and right to fury.
�Think about what He will do if you fail,� Narcissa added quickly.
She�d said the magic words. All of the color drained from Lucius� face and fear flashed in his eyes briefly. After a moment of silence, he regained his composure and spoke.
�All right,� he said, glaring at Draco coldly, �he�ll live, but hear this. He will be raised properly. If you try to influence him any way, if either of you disobey, the punishment will be far worse than death.�
Narcissa shivered at the cruelty of his words. She looked down at her son and wondered if she�d just made a terrible mistake.
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Author's note: Before I have an angry mob knocking down my door, give me a break, I'm only 15! I know very little about medicine, hospitals, and giving birth (thank GOD).
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