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Of Lions And Lambs - Part Four	By : Marblez Category: Harry Potter Crossovers > Slash - Male/Male Views: 9326 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight and I will not make any profit from writing this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter Eighteen

Draco was slowly going insane.

He wanted to get up, no, he needed to get up.

His body was demanding that he do something, anything, other than what it was currently being put through which was hour after hour of “bed rest” under the watchful gaze of his friends and family who wouldn't even let him pick up his own glass of water from the bedside cabinet in case something happened.

“Surely that would be a good thing, though,” he'd pointed out the first time they'd attempted to use that particular argument against him. “I'm already a couple of days overdue. Surely doing something to get this show on the road is a good thing? Because seriously I’m getting to the point where I want this thing out of me.”

He felt like a beached whale.

Merlin, he looked like a beached whale he was so big!

They'd disagreed with his logic, of course, and continued to do so even though he was now officially a week and a half past his due date and Healer Mogg had actually raised the subject of possibly being forced to induce his labour if “the baby didn't drop soon” and if he was being completely honest Draco didn't particularly like the sound of being induced and would definitely prefer to trigger something naturally.

“How could you stand it?”

Harry, the target of his question who was sat bottle feeding the now six month old JJ, chuckled deeply and shook his head before responding brightly.

“Don't look at me,” he advised with a grin. “I didn't make it this far, don't forget.”

Draco let out a deep huff.

He had forgotten the fact that little JJ had arrived months early which meant that Harry literally had no idea what he was going through but then neither did Bella whose pregnancy had been so quick and filled with so much worry that she'd grown used to being coddled by everyone around her very quickly.

“I want to go for a walk, a long walk in the woods,” he whined, bunching his hands into the covers pooled around his lap due to his position reclining against the mountain of pillows. “Or I want to clean something. Merlin, listen to me, I sound like a bleeding house elf! But I really, really want to clean something. Preferably the kitchen. Or maybe the bathroom. Something I can give a good, proper scrub.”

“Wow, pregnancy really has done a number on you, hasn't it?” Harry chuckled, setting aside the now empty bottle and expertly encouraging his son to let out a loud burp before placing the baby onto the bed between Draco legs, using his friend’s limbs as a cradle for his son. “I wonder what everyone back home would say…”

Draco huffed even louder this time before cutting himself off with a pained gasp.

“Draco? Is it–”

“No,” Draco gasped sharply, shaking his head as his hand pressed against his side where the pain was emanating from. “Just kicking. Nothing unusual just…fuck…it’s really quite painful, you know? I think bump might have just cracked my rib…”

Bella was the only one who could sympathise with him in regards to the amount of pain that could be caused by a hybrid foetus simply pushing or, even worse, kicking.

Hell, Renesmee had broken Bella’s spine by accident shortly before she was born.

Of course this was yet another reason that he'd been restricted to bed rest despite the fact that they had pregnancy friendly potions and creams to help heal the bruises and broken bones being caused by his unborn child moments after it occurred.

“Must be bad if you're swearing again,” Harry chuckled sadly, automatically getting up from his seat in order to grab a vial of skellegro and a pot of bruise cream from the top shelf to hand over to Draco. “Do you need me to fetch a pain potion?”

“No, these should be enough,” Draco murmured, lifting his incredibly loose fitting shirt up to expose his swollen belly, unattractive stretch marks and all, and began applying the cream to the large bruise already beginning to appear on his right side. “If you really want to help make me feel better we could sneak out for a walk…”

Harry let out a bark of laughter, reaching over to rescue JJ’s favourite soft toy (a vivid blue pixie with oversized wings) from where the baby had thrown it just out of his reach and effectively ending the inevitable tantrum before it had even begun.

“Not a chance,” Harry informed him. “Your husband trusted me to keep you from getting up whilst he and his family fed this evening and I take my duties very seriously, as you well know, so just suck it up and pick the next film.”

Grumbling even louder than before Draco obeyed, choosing the first Star Wars film which, according to Emmett, was actually the fourth film if you watched them chronologically but they had been made out of order…which really confused him.

Emmett also claimed that the original films were better than the newer ones.

It was shortly after they’d rescued the out-spoken Princess from the bad guys that JJ decided to projectile vomit all over himself, his favourite toy and Draco’s bed sheet.

“Shit!” Harry gasped, jumping out of his seat in order to scoop his screaming son into his arms, heedless of the mess being spread across his shirt. “Draco, just…hold on. I’ll just…I’ll be back to clean up the mess in a minutes…shit…”

Draco watched his friend as he hurried out of the room with his son, a look of pure worry transforming his handsome features and in the end he waited all of five minutes before the smell of baby sick became too overwhelming for him to bear.

Pushing himself up with his arms he carefully gathered the sheets up so that the sick was contained in the middle of the pile and, after ever so slowly swinging his legs off of the bed, he began making his way out of the room, along the corridor and down towards the families utilities room where the washing machine and drier lived.

He was halfway down the final set of stairs when he felt a pain unlike anything he’d ever felt before, going right the way from the centre of his back, around his stomach and down into his…well…further down and so strong that he could help but cry out, dropping the soiled sheet as he clutched at the bannister, his legs giving out.

“Oh…fuck…” he gasped when the pain had finally passed leaving him clutching at both the bannister and his stomach. “Oh…fuck…”

It couldn’t be.

It couldn’t be.

And yet when the pain came again even stronger than before there was no denying the fact that he was in labour and was therefore about to have a baby.

Whimpering loudly the blond haired wizard shifted his body so that he was sat properly on the step he had collapsed down on moments earlier, his hands continuing to clutch at the bannister so tightly that his knuckles quickly began to turn white while his forehead came to rest of the cool glass of the stylish bannister.

“Oh…fuck…”

He was the first one to admit that he wasn’t good at handling pain.

He never had been.

As a child he had sobbed his head out over every scraped knee and bumped elbow, the pain genuinely frightening him or even overwhelming him until he was treated.

“Ow…ow…ow…ow…”

This was significantly worse than any pain he had ever experienced before and that included the unfortunate incident with the hippogriff in his third year and the night he was branded with the tattoo that was currently pressed against the glass.

How had people coped with this before medicine had been invented?

And how could some people willingly go through this more than once?

Like, seriously, his respect for Molly Weasley just tripled!

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt as he found himself frowning deeply.

“Did I really just think the phrase like, seriously?” he gasped once the pain of his latest and greatest contraction had subsided, finally dropping his arms down to clutch at his stomach. “I’ve been spending far too much time with Jessica Stanley.”

“Draco?” Harry’s voice called out worriedly from above him. “Draco?!”

“Oh, thank goodness…” he gasped softly before tilting his head back and calling out as loudly as he could manage with the aftereffects of the last contraction still tormenting his body. “Harry! I’m down here! I…I think I’m in labour…”

He listened to Harry’s footsteps as the dark haired wizard sprinted along the hallway of the floor above him and began rushing down the stairs.

“Draco!” Harry gasped in shock as he stumbled to a halt only a couple of steps above his friend’s vulnerable body after almost literally running into him. “Draco!”

Hurrying around the now grimacing wizard he dropped to his knees, his hands fluttering across his friend’s body as he checked him for any sign of injury.

“Did you hurt yourself?” he gasped out worriedly, visibly deflating with relief as his hands moved to join Draco’s on his stomach. “How far apart are your contractions?”

“Not long,” Draco mumbled softly. “Couple of minutes, maybe, I don’t really know…”

Harry nodded thoughtfully.

“Ok, let’s get you back to bed and then I’ll contact Healer Mogg,” the dark hair wizard announced, already moving to help his friend up to his feet. “Does Jasper take his mobile phone on hunts with him? Or should I send my patronus to fetch him?”

“Sometimes they leave their phones behind if they want to go off the grid for a bit,” Draco answered softly as, with Harry’s help, he began to climb back up the stairs leaving the dirty sheets where they had fallen. “You might have to use a…”

He trailed off with a whimper, his body doubling over as he clutched at his stomach for the duration of the latest contraction, grateful of Harry’s support as his strong arms were genuinely the only thing keeping him upright at that particular moment.

“Yeah, I remember that pain,” Harry muttered sympathetically, encouraging Draco to begin moving again once the worst of the pain had passed. “It’s worth it in the end, though, I promise. As the saying goes it’s a little bit of pain for a whole lot of joy.”

“You and I have very different definitions of a little bit of pain,” Draco gasped out as they reached the top of the stairs and began moving towards his room. “JJ?”

“He’s fine,” Harry reassured him, helping Draco back onto the bed once they were inside the room. “All cleaned up and in his crib under a monitoring charm. I’ll get Carlisle to have a look at him when they get back but he seems ok for the moment.”

Draco nodded, curling up on his side as his hands rubbed at his stomach.

After conjuring a patronus charm to fetch Jasper and the others from the woods Harry hurried downstairs to use the main fireplace to call Healer Mogg, barely managing to get out the words needed to explain the situation before the motherly woman was ordering him to get out of the way so that she could come through.

“Where is he?”

“Upstairs.”

Healer Mogg led the way as they hurried upstairs to find Draco suffering through another contraction, his teeth clenched painfully tight as he tried not to scream.

Placing her bag at the foot of the bed Healer Mogg drew her wand and performed a quick diagnostic spell on her patient, consulting the information whilst casting a quick transfiguration charm on Draco’s clothes to turn them into a hospital gown.

“Well it looks as though your babies in a hurry to join us, Draco, as you’ve skipped the early stages of labour and gone straight into active labour,” she announced once she’d finished reading all of the information provided by her spell. “And it looks as though you’re about to enter the transitioning stage.”

“Wonderful…” Draco grumbled, glaring at his stomach. “You’ve put off joining us for days but now all of a sudden you’re in a hurry? Make up your mind, bump.”

Healer Mogg smiled.

As predicted Draco’s labour shifted itself up a notch only moments later, his contractions increasing in both pain and length whilst the gap in between grew shorter and shorter, making him gasp and scream and sob and plead for relief.

“You’re doing really well, Draco,” Healer Mogg reassured him, encouraging the wizard to grip hold of her hand for the duration of each contraction. “I know it’s hard but you’re doing so well, Draco. You just need to stay as calm as possible.”

Panting between contractions Draco nodded to show his understanding.

It was as he let out another pain filled cry that the Cullen’s arrived home, bursting in through every available entrance into the house with Jasper leading the way up the stairs towards the sound of his husband in distress.

“Draco!”

Moving across the room in a blur the southern vampire took hold of his husbands other hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and receiving what would have been a painfully tight squeeze in response had he not been an immortal vampire.

“Draco, I’m here,” Jasper reassured his husband, using his other hand to smooth the wizards damp hair back from his sweat soaked forehead. “I’m here, my love.”

“S’about time you got here…” Draco panted as the contraction passed. “Considering your child seems to be in a bit of a hurry to join us to…to…today…”

He broke off, crying out loudly in pain and clutching at the hands holding his.

“Dr Cullen, I would advise that you gather whatever you need for Draco’s transformation as I can’t see this taking much longer,” Healer Mogg advised as she consulted the latest information provided by her diagnostic spell. “Draco, pretty soon your body is going to start telling you to push. Don’t do it.”

“O-Ok…”

“At that point I’ll be performing your caesarean to bring you’re little one into the world,” Healer Mogg continued with a smile, conjuring herself a pair of gloves and a screen which effectively kept Draco from seeing his stomach. “Once I’ve…”

Her voice was cut off by a sharp cry of a different kind coming from the blond wizard currently in her care, one that stole his very breath away as a pain worse than any that he had felt before and sent him arching uncontrollably off of the bed.

“Draco!”

To everyone’s shock blood began to bubble out of the corner of Draco’s mouth, running down his chin and dropping onto the hospital gown he was now wearing.

Several of the vampires in the room stiffened.

Jasper, however, merely reached up to wipe the trickle of blood away with his thumb, the scent of his mate’s blood having no effect on him whatsoever.

“The baby has shattered four of his ribs, three of which have punctured his lung,” Healer Mogg reported worriedly, her hands quickly uncovering Draco’s stomach in such a way that his dignity remained. “Anyone who can’t handle the blood needs to leave the room now, vampire or otherwise, as I need to focus on safely extracting this child and keeping Draco alive long enough for the turning to be possible.”

No one thought any less of Rosalie when she hurried out of the room, nor of Alice who all but had to force Charlie out of the room as he struggled to maintain his control or of Emmett who, after hesitating for a long moment, followed his wife.

“What can we do to help?” Bella asked, her own ability to resist the scent of human blood coming in handy even as her husband forced himself to keep calm. “Carlisle?”

“Jasper, do you still wish for me to perform the turning?” Carlisle asked his adopted son softly, moving to stand behind the worried vampire who could only respond with a sharp nod. “Very well. I may need assistance to remove myself once the job is done but until then perhaps you will be of more help to Healer Mogg, Bella.”

Esme, who had also remained, had crossed to stand beside Harry who was shaking.

“Harry?” she murmured softly, placing her arm around the wizard. “Why don’t we go and look in on JJ? He seems to be stirring and I’m afraid he’s not very happy at all.”

“He was sick just before Draco went into…” Harry murmured, his eyes widening as Healer Mogg cast first a numbing spell of Draco’s body and then set about cutting open his swollen stomach with the tip of her wand. “I…I…”

“Come, you don’t need to see this,” Esme murmured, guiding him from the room with a firm but gentle hand. “Let us go and look after your son.”

Draco’s fear filled eyes locked with those of his husband.

“I’m sorry…” he gasped, significantly more blood escaping from his mouth to run down his chin. “I’m sorry…I love you…please…if I…if I…”

“Shh…” Jasper hushed his husband, attempting to wipe more of the blood away but only succeeding in smearing it across his husband’s skin. “You're going to be fine.”

It was painfully obvious that Draco was finding it more and more difficult to breath with each passing moment but there was nothing they could do to help him until his child was born, even Healer Mogg had been forced to place one life in front of the other for the moment for fear of the unborn child inadvertently hurting Draco further.

"I love you..." Draco whimpered, clutching at Jaspers hand with all his strength. "You are…the best thing that…has ever happened to me…you saved me from…the darkness…and I love our baby…don't let them grow up thinking that I…that I didn't love them if…”

He broke of, gasping desperately for air just as Healer Mogg successfully finished her magically aided operation to bring their child safely into the world, the unmistakable cries of an infant echoing throughout the house as she wrapped the wriggling newborn in a soft cloth before lifting the child out from behind the screen to present it to its parents.

“Congratulations, Draco,” she murmured tearfully. “A healthy little boy.”

“A boy?” Draco gasped, his eyes going wide as he gazed desperately at his son. “It's a boy?”

“Yes, Draco,” she confirmed, stepping closer to his head so that Carlisle could gain access to the pale arm lying limply along the side of the bed. “You have a beautiful little boy.”

“Scorpius…” Draco sighed, sinking back into the pillow as his eyes remained locked with the image of his child nestled snuggling in the soft blanket. “Scorpius Harmon Malfoy-Whitlock.”

Jasper wasn't the only one who cried out fearfully when the wizard’s eyes rolled back into his head, the unexpected injuries he'd suffered during the birth and the complications they had led to finally forcing him to lose consciousness, blood continuing to run out of his mouth.

“Carlisle…” Jasper whimpered. “Please…”

It went against Healer Moggs inner code to step back and watch her patient slowly bleeding to death but this wasn't any ordinary situation and her magic, while it could possibly help to stabilise Draco, was neither wanted nor needed at that particular moment in time.

Instead all she could do was cradle the young wizards son to her chest and watch with a somewhat morbid fascination as Carlisle gently raised Draco's wrist to his lips, pressing his lips against it for a moment as he mentally prepared himself before baring his razor sharp teeth and sinking them deep into the vulnerable flesh, more of Draco's blood running free.

In all his years as a vampire Carlisle had always thought that turning Edward would be remembered as the most difficult thing he had ever done, never before having had to fight against his instincts when confronted with the taste of human blood.

He had been wrong.

Draco's blood tasted like nothing he had ever sampled before.

A loud, wanton moan escaped his lips as he began to suck in earnest and when he felt strong hands pulling him away from the delectable taste he fought back, hard, and it was only Bella’s lingering newborn strength that eventually succeeded in removing him.

“Carlisle!” Edward snapped, moving to stand between his father and his brother-in-law. “Stop! You've done enough! If you take any more of his blood he'll never survive.”

Carlisle’s only response was an inhuman growl.

“Get him out of here,” Jasper ordered from where he had gathered his husband’s body into his arms. “Edward, please, I know what it's like to be…lost…in the blood. He needs to go somewhere that he can't even smell the blood, somewhere he can scream and fight and…”

Edward nodded sharply, obviously agreeing with whatever he'd seen in Jaspers mind.

“I'll send Alice up to help you clean him up before the turning begins,” he murmured before aiding his wife in literally dragging the normally peaceful vampire from the room. “Healer Mogg. Thank you for everything you've done but you may wish to leave. A vampire turning is a…painful and unpleasant experience for all involved.”

Her response was a stunned nod.

“Who do you trust to care for your son, Jasper?” she asked softly. “I assume you plan to remain with Draco for the duration of his ordeal so to whom should I entrust Scorpius?”

“Esme,” Jasper answered without hesitation. “Esme and Rosalie will look after him until…”

With everything settled and agreed upon everyone went their separate ways, Alice aiding Jasper in getting Draco cleaned up and settled whilst Healer Mogg passed over a fussing Scorpius to his emotional grandmother and overjoyed aunt, both of whom knew exactly how to care for a human/vampire hybrid having looked after Renesmee as an infant.

For the first day Draco lay as still as death, his chest barely rising and falling with each breath as the venom injected into his blood spread throughout his body.

On the second day he stopped breathing and started screaming, his body thrashing as the pain of the changing finally began as his organs were killed and reborn immortal by the venom, as his injuries were healed and he was restored to the picture of health.

Jasper could remember the pain of his own turning and he could only hope that, due to his husband’s unconscious state, he wouldn't be able to remember the burning sensation that came with the venom, wouldn't remember the hallucinations and the paralysing fear.

On the third day the screaming finally stopped and Draco lay still once more, his skin taking on the same porcelain appearance as the other vampires while his hair regained its natural lustre and thickness, falling almost artfully around his face.

One unfortunate side effect that Jasper knew his husband would be greatly upset by was the fact that his new porcelain appearance meant that the tattoo on his arm was more vivid and more noticeable than ever before, the edges clean and sharp and the colour painfully vivid.

“Any sign?” Alice asked on the third evening as she brought Scorpius into his parents room, passing the infant to Jasper who cradled his gently against his chest like the precious thing that he was, adjusting the little boys blanket so that he wouldn't get too cold. “Jasper?”

“Nothing yet.”

They had realised within the first day that Scorpius was as different to Renesmee in life as he had been during his creation, showing absolutely no signs of his cousin’s rapid growth.

It was already obvious that Scorpius had inherited his mortal fathers platinum hair colour, the barely there strands covering his cute little head looking almost completely white.

His facial features, however, were entirely Jasper right down to the dimple in his chin.

Only his eyes were different, another thing that differed from his cousin whose bronze coloured eyes were proof of her mixed parentage whilst Scorpius’s enormous eyes were an absolutely stunning blue, so bright and pale they almost looked like ice.

One thing he did have in common with his cousin was his well-behaved easy going nature even at this young age although he was still a newborn and had to be treated accordingly.

It was at times like these that not needing sleep came in really handy, they found, as newborn babies needed to be fed quite often and didn't sleep for particularly long periods of time, not that any of them minded having an excuse to look after the little boy.

“Narcissa called again,” Alice announced, adjusting a lock of Draco's hair so that it lay artfully across his forehead. “She wants to know when they can visit. They want to meet their grandson, understandably, but they're also concerned for Draco. Carlisle explained that he might need time before he can be around mortals and I think they understood.”

Jasper nodded.

“Harry and Jacob are all settled in on the reservation,” she continued, going to the window and opening it just a fraction to let some fresh air but not too much, conscious of the baby. “Teddy is apparently missing Renesmee as only a little boy can.”

As Draco was expected to wake up any day now and given that there was no way to predict how well he would handle his new cravings and enhanced senses it had been decided to “remove all temptation” until they could be sure that everyone would be safe.

“Alice?”

Esme’s voice carried easily from the kitchen where she was currently washing up the latest batch of bottles, doing it by hand as had become her habit whilst caring for Renesmee.

“Would you mind running to the shops for me? We need more nappies and baby formula.”

“An excuse to go shopping?” Alice giggled in response. “Let me grab my purse.”

Jasper shooed her away when she offered to take Scorpius down to one of the others, enjoying his snuggle time with his son and not wanting to give him up just yet.

“You're going to be a proper little heartbreaker when you're older, aren’t you?” he chuckled fondly as his son blinked up at him from behind his deceptively long eyelashes, his little fingers playing with the fold of his shirt. “Just like your Papa…”

Almost as though he knew who Jasper was talking about Scorpius shifted where he lay in Jaspers arms and turned his head towards the perfectly still form of his other parent and, despite his logical mind informing him that an infant didn't begin to see properly until they were a month old, he was convinced that his little boy was searching for his Papa.

“He'll be so happy to see you when he wakes up,” he murmured, altering his grip on the now wriggling baby until he was cradled more securely in his arms. “He loves you so very much, Scorpius. I know he does. He told me so. Yes, he did. Yes, he did.”

Scorpius scrunched his face up in a familiar face of displeasure.

“None of that now, we just have to be patient,” Jasper murmured, bouncing his son soothingly in his arms as he smiled sadly across at his husband. “The worst has passed but now we just have to wait for your Papa to wake up. We just have to be patient.”

Apparently Scorpius wasn't too keen on that idea and really began to fuss.

Over the last three days everyone had noticed how his daddy's voice was one of the few things guaranteed to calm the infant if he was hungry or upset, particularly if his daddy's voice was supplied to him in the form of a song and so Jasper settled back into his chair and began to softly sing one of his current favourites, smiling as his son almost instantly relaxed.

“See those tumble weeds a-blowin’,
Lord, it makes me want to cry.
It reminds me of my daddy,
And that Texas lullaby.

See those cactus flowers bloomin’,
Like the twinkle in his eye,
Every time he started singin’,
That ole Texas lullaby.

Yippee, yi little doggie,
Roll along, roll along.
Yippee, yi little doggie,
Take me home, take me home.
It's so cold on the desert,
I'm chilled to the bone.
Yippee, yi little doggie,
Yippee yi.

Look yonder there's a dust cloud,
Painting pictures in the sky.
Daddy told me all about it,
In that Texas lullaby.

Them ole Longhorns are a bawlin’,
Lord, I know I must be high.
Wish my dad could hear me singin’,
This old Texas lullaby.

Daddy left me this old guitar,
Though I never quite knew why.
He said someday I'd be famous,
Like that Texas lullaby.

But it's been a month of Sundays,
Since I seen that edge fly.
And no one wants to listen,
To a Texas lullaby.”

“Well that was a depressing thing to wake up to.”

His eyes snapped up from the now peaceful face of his son to the owner of the voice, meeting the blood red gaze of his husband whose head still lay on the pillow.

“Draco…” he couldn't help but gasped loudly. “You're awake.”

“Obviously,” Draco sighed, pushing himself up into a sitting position on the bed, his legs folding comfortably beneath him. “What happened? Am I…?”

“Yes.”

Draco smiled, examining his hands with his newly enhanced vision.

“And is that…?”

Jasper smiled, rising from his seat so that he could place their son into the arms of his Papa.

“This is Scorpius, our son, and he's been waiting none too patiently to meet you,” he explained, perching beside his husband just in case the newborn vampire reacted badly to the newborn baby which was now sleeping in his arms. “Scorpius Harmon Malfoy-Whitlock.”

“He's perfect.”

Jasper all but sagged in relief.

“He also appears to be…glowing,” Draco continued with a frown, his blood red gaze shifting to his husband as his frown depend. “As do you. Any particular reason?”

Now it was Jaspers turn to frown.

“What do you mean?”

By this point there were several members of the Cullen family hovering outside of the room having heard Draco wake up from his changing induced slumber, all of them apprehensive for a variety of different reasons now that they were faced with their latest newborn.

“You've got a sort of blue glow all around you, like a fog, and it's got these little firefly like things floating around in it,” Draco murmured, reaching out hesitantly to trace the outline of the glow surrounding his husband. “His…his glow is more of a green colour.”

“Draco? What about the rest of us?”

The newborn vampires head snapped around to face the group of vampires, his blood red gaze locking with Carlisle’s Amber coloured eyes for a long moment before he answered.

“You’re all glowing blue,” he announced. “I take it that's not normal?”

“What about you?” Bella asked softly even as Carlisle shook his head ever so slightly. “When you look at yourself do you have a glow like the rest of us?”

Draco frowned down at his hands for a long moment before rising from the bed in a seemingly uncontrollable blur of speed which took him stumbling over to the full length mirror.

"Blue…” he mumbled as Jasper plucked the still sleeping infant from his husband’s arms. “Why…why is everyone glowingly? Did something go wrong? Am I…is there…”

“Draco!” Carlisle interrupted him sharply. “It worked perfectly. You're a vampire.”

“But then why…?”

“I suspect you may have been given a gift,” Carlisle announced calmly, reaching out to stroke Draco's smooth cheek. “Once we figure out exactly what that gifts entails we can set about helping you learn to control it. Until then how do you feel? Are you…hungry?”

A gift?

Draco visibly sagged with relief.

“Draco?” Esme called out softly. “Are you hungry?”

Why were they so concerned about that?

Surely figuring out his gift was more important?

“I'm fine,” he reassured them. “More thirsty than hungry, to be honest.”

Carlisle nodded thoughtfully.

“And is there anything in particular that you'd like to drink?”

Still studying his aura in the mirror Draco thought about absentmindedly for a long moment before answering as he turned to face his husband with a dazzling smile.

“I would love a cup of tea but something tells me that just won't cut it anymore,” he chuckled, licking his lips as he moved towards his husband a little bit too quickly. “This whole advanced speed and senses is going to take some serious getting used to.”

“Trust me, it's nothing compared to getting used to your new strength,” Bella piped up with a light chuckle of her own. “Would you like to go hunting, Draco?”

“No,” Draco sighed in response, holding his arms out in a silent request for his child as he stopped in front of Jasper. “I'd like to get to know my son for a little while first.”

He didn't notice how everyone stiffened slightly in response to his answer.

"Draco..." Carlisle began hesitantly. “Perhaps you should…I mean…”

“What everyone's too afraid to say is that they're worried you're going to go crazy and drain your baby dry,” Rosalie piped up bluntly from her place by the door. “He is mostly mortal, after all, so they want you nice and full of animal blood before anything happens.”

“I would never harm my child!” Draco all but roared, his voice louder than any of them had ever heard it before. “The very idea is physically repulsive! How could you ever think…?!”

“You're a newborn, we have to worry about these things,” Carlisle interrupted him quickly.

“You didn't worry about them with Bella!”

“Actually we did, a lot,” Esme announced, stepping closer to him to take his hands in hers. “We made sure Renesmee wasn't present when she woke up as we were afraid of how she would react. Then we made sure Edward took her hunting straight away. It was a miracle she was able to resist hunting the humans they came across. They shouldn't have been there. And it was only after all of this that we finally allowed her to meet her daughter.”

Draco sighed loudly.

“But I don't want to bite him,” he whined, his lips twisting into a pout as he twisted his body to look across at his child. “You've always said that human blood smells like the most amazing thing in the world, that it's so hard to resist, right? Well that's not what he smells like to me! He smells like…like garden sweet peas and…freesias. Not tasty, just…nice.”

Carlisle wasn't the only one to frown in confusion.

“…and what about the rest of us, Draco?” he asked softly. “What do we smell like to you?”

Normally, although a vampire had an enhanced sense of smell, they should still only be able to smell either the blood of a human, the adverse scent of a shapeshifter or the bland surrounding smells which ended up clinging to a vampire, masking the scent of death.

Only after years of honing their enhanced senses could most vampires begin to differentiate between healthy blood and sick blood, between the different species of animal blood and other such anomalies but never had a newborn vampire spoken of something like this.

“Jasper smells like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange,” Draco answered after a long moment. “Esme smells like forget-me-nots and Carlisle smells like fresh pastry.”

His eyes fluttered closed as he took in another deep but completely unnecessary breath.

“Bella smells like strawberries and cream. Edward smells like honey and camomile tea. There's also a lingering scent of…gardenias which I'm guessing is Renesmee,” he continued softly, meeting each person’s gaze in turn. “Rosalie smells like freshly cut roses. Emmett smells like the strongest cup of coffee I've ever come across.”

Emmett smirked broadly when he learned of his strong scent.

“Charlie smells like marshmallows,” Draco pressed on, his attention shifting back to the baby snuggled content lay in his husbands arms. “And again if the lingering scent is anything to go by Alice smells like pink hibiscus. Now can I please hold my son again?”

Still the majority of them frowned.

“What?” Draco sighed grumpily. “Please, I just want to hold him…”

“He's telling the truth,” Edward announced suddenly. “His words have been true to his thoughts. The very idea of harming his son is utterly repellent to him. He is…fine.”

“Hey!” Draco snapped. “Get out of my head!”

Just at that particular moment Alice appeared in the room, literally jumping in through the window with a huge grin on her face which quickly shifted into an impressive pout.

“I missed it,” she grumbled good-naturedly. “Do I really smell like pink hibiscus?”

Draco nodded.

Clapping happily the pixie like vampire bounced across the room to pluck Scorpius out of Jaspers arms, dancing across the room with him before passing him over to Draco with a flourish, completely ignoring the way everyone else had shifted worriedly.

“Seriously?” she sighed, her pout returning. “Remind me again who it is in this family that can see into the future? Oh, that's right…me! Don't you think I would said if I knew something bad was going to happen when he woke up and wanted snuggle time.”

It seemed that Alice's announcement was (finally) enough for the family to relax, gathering around the newborn vampire who only had eyes for his son and occasionally his husband.

They did eventually go hunting that day, Draco rather reluctantly bringing down his first kill and, after apologising to the poor creature, enjoyed his first taste of fresh animal blood.

“Enjoyed is not the word I would have used to describe my experience in the woods earlier,” Draco countered with a grimace when they arrived home and Esme, who had been left caring for Scorpius, had innocently asked him if he'd enjoyed himself. “I understand that the act of hunting and drinking blood is now a part of my life but I doubt I'll ever enjoy killing.”

Esme had smiled understandingly and, after waiting for him to get suitably cleaned up, passed over his wide awake son who was apparently in a wriggly mood, much to everyone's delight if anything his inability to sit still made the little boy even more adorable.

Draco, however, dreaded to think what he would be like when he was older.

The mystery of his gift(s) was finally explained when his parents arrived to meet their grandson for the first time some three weeks later once the vampires were confident that Draco had come to terms with his new diet and had things under control.

“Oh,” he gasped loudly as they stepped out of the fireplace. “You're yellow.”

“I beg your pardon, Draco?” Narcissa responded with a frown, glancing down at her emerald green ensemble. “You, of all people, should know how much I detest wearing yellow.”

“No, I know your clothes aren't yellow,” Draco explained somewhat sheepishly, realising that in all their correspondence since his changing and his sons birth he'd never mentioned the first of his new gifts. “I can see auras around people, for lack of a better word.”

“Auras?” Lucius asked with a frown. “Is that…normal?”

“No, not really,” Draco mumbled with a shrug. “We figured it must have something to do with an enhanced perception of some kind and I think I've just figured it out. All of the vampires I've come across, myself and Renesmee included, have a blue aura around them. Scorpius, however, has a green aura and the two of you have a yellow aura.”

“Magical signatures,” Narcissa concluded her sons thinking with a smile. “Your gift allows you to see magical signatures in the people around you. I suppose that's not too much of a surprise considering the fact that you've always been sensitive to magical signatures.”

Moving gracefully she crossed the room and plucked her grandson out of her son’s arms.

“However, as fascinating as this subject is, I've travelled all this way to finally get my hands on this little one,” she announced joyfully, cradling the little boy in her arms as she turned to display him to her husband. “My love, don't you wish to meet your grandson?”

Lucius appeared to be the most affected of the pair.

“Draco, he's perfect,” the wizard sighed, his voice more than a little bit choked as he reached out to stroke the smooth skin of his grandson’s cheek. “Absolutely perfect.”

Smiling happily Draco leaned back into the circle of his husbands arms, content to watch from a slight distance as his parents fawned over their son for a long moment before moving to join them, leading Jasper over by his hand but abandoning their connection in favour of stepping into his father’s open arms for a tight hug, smiling to himself as he picked up a soft scent of summer rain from his father and a scent of peppermint from his mother.

“Congratulations, Jasper,” Narcissa murmured as father and son hugged each other tightly, smiling across at her son-in-law who moved to stand close beside her. “And thank you.”

Jasper merely smiled in response.

After that they were positively plagued with visitors dropping into to see the latest addition to the family, almost everyone who had stood for them as a witness making an appearance at least once over the next couple of months much to Draco's amusement.

“And to think we all used to hate each other,” he chuckled across to Harry as the two of them watched the gaggle of Weasley's cooing over their respective sons. “Who knew our lives would turn out this way? From bitter enemies to, dare I say it, the best of friends?”

“Yeah, who knew?” Harry chuckled in response. “It's nice, though.”

“Never said it wasn't.”

During Harry and Jacobs first visit post his transformation Draco had finally understood why the vampires referred to the wolves as dogs when they weren't happy with them.

“Merlin, Jacob, your kind really do smell foul!” he'd gasped with a broad grin, wrinkling his nose up in disgust as the smell of wet dog assaulted his senses. “Labrador. That's what you smell like, a wet and soggy Labrador. And if you were wondering you have a red aura.”

JJ, it turned out, had a beautiful orange aura while Teddy had a faint silver aura.

He was slowly learning to control his gifts so that hopefully one day everyone would appear and smell perfectly normal to him unless he pushed deeper with his senses.

It wasn't easy and his sympathy for Bella and her crash course in gift control had increased.

Harry reached up with his left hand, obviously intending to fix his hair, but the limb never reached its target as Draco's hand whipped out to grab his wrist, bringing the offending hand closer to his face as his eyes caught sight of something adorning one of his fingers.

“Harry?” he asked slowly and clearly. “What's this?”

“That?” Harry responded equally as clearly. “That’s an engagement ring, that is.”

His words had the desired effect as everyone, not just the vampires, heard and let out various sounds of excitement and joy, Mrs Weasley literally screaming in shock.

“Congratulations!” Draco chuckled, glancing across at where Jacob had been entertaining Teddy and Renesmee. “When did he propose? Or did you propose?”

“He proposed last night,” Harry answered. “Or rather he conspired with that little monster over there and used our son to propose to me but, yes, last night. And I said yes. Obviously.”

“Now that sounds like a story that needs telling…”

“Well it all started with Teddy being the neediest and demanding child I have ever come across for most of yesterday evening, barely letting me take my eyes off of him,” Harry chuckled fondly. “Of course I had no idea that Jacob had put him up to it.”

Draco smirked.

He could well imagine how much Teddy had relished his “assignment” from his alpha.

“We'll eventually I got him calmed down and went off in search of Jacob and JJ who I hadn't seen in an hour or so. I know, should have been my first clue,” Harry muttered, laughing at himself. “So I eventually find them in the nursery. Jacob had his back to me and was holding JJ so that I couldn't see him. Well when he turned around I realised that he'd dressed our son in a new t-shirt which had the words Will you marry my daddy? on it.”

Several of the women present cooed loudly.

“Well, I'm in shock as you would probably expect and then all of a sudden Teddy’s there, impish grin and all, holding out a little velvet box with this ring sitting inside,” Harry concluded his telling of the proposal. “So I said yes. I mean, how could I possibly say no?”

“Who knew Jacob was hiding a romantic soul underneath all that muscle,” Draco chuckled, earning a broad grin from the shapeshifter in question. “You do realise, however, that you won't be able to get away with eloping like I did? Or even a quiet ceremony?”

Harry sighed deeply.

“Yeah, I kind of figured that out already…”

“I can see the headlines already – Wedding of the Century!” Draco announced dramatically. “Scandal as saviour marries father of his son, an unregistered Animagus from America.”

Harry let out a groan as several people chuckled at the realistic prediction.

A week or so later Demetri, who had barely set foot inside the house in all the time he'd been staying with them despite Carlisle and Esme’s countless attempts to make him feel welcome carried a large package into the living room and deposited it in front of Draco.

“…it's not my birthday,” he pointed out with a frown as the silent vampire watched him expectantly, his hungry eyes apparently attempting to see deep into his soul. “Did we order something that I've forgotten about? I'm sure everything should have arrived by now…”

“It is from Volterra,” Demetri finally announced coldly. “A nomad just delivered it.”

“Oh.”

Volterra.

The Volturi.

They'd sent an old fashioned card announcing the birth of Draco and Jaspers son to the vampire coven, along with a notation that Draco's transformation had been a success.

“It's not a bomb is it?” Draco wondered. “Jane wouldn't send me a bomb, would she?”

Demetri smirked.

“It's not a bomb,” he confirmed. “Not even Jane would get away with something like that?”

“Ooh, do I sense tension between you and the little bi–” Draco cut himself off as he noticed Esme’s sharp look. “–vampire, the little vampire? Not the best of friends, then?”

“Jane and I have had our differences over the years,” Demetri answered, seeming as surprised as everyone else by his own willingness to talk. “Alec follows her lead but isn't too bad if you can get him on his own. She's just a spiteful little minx who's in love with Aro.”

“In love with…ew!” Draco gagged loudly. “Did not need that mental image.”

“Are you not going to open it, Draco?” Carlisle enquired softly, silently celebrating the fact that he could see glimpses of the Demetri he'd known before Chelsea got her hooks in him with her power to manipulate emotional bonds. “One does not refuse a gift of the Volturi.”

Letting out an unimpressed sigh Draco passed his son over to Jasper, their hands lingering on each other's for a moment before the newborn vampire began unwrapping the parcel.

The first thing he came across was an envelope addressed solely to him.

Breaking the wax seal he retrieved the letter contained inside, easily understanding the elaborate handwriting which covered the sheet of parchment thanks to the fact that most witches and wizards still wrote in a very similar manner to the vampire.

“My Dearest Draco,” he read aloud calmly, grimacing at the term of endearment. “May I begin by offering my most sincere congratulations on the birth of your son, Scorpius. Please find enclosed with this letter a small gift for your son to celebrate his safe arrival.”

Pausing in his recital of the letter Draco reached inside the package to bring out the two items he found there; what appeared to be an antique babies hair brush with the softest looking bristles he'd ever seen and an equally antique little rattle which, thanks to the tinkling of bells it produced when moved, immediately caught his sons attention.

“Two pieces of antique silver is considered a small gift?” he snorted, passing the rattle over to Jasper ego proceeded to help his son take hold of it, the bells tinkling loudly. “And just how on earth did he happen to have gifts that were appropriate for the birth of a baby?”

“You'd be surprised by the things Aro keeps in his vaults,” Carlisle murmured. “I believe those are two items of a set which once belonged to Edward VII when he was a child.”

“…are you trying to tell me that my son is now sucking on a rattle which once belonged the King of England?” Draco all but demanded after a long pause. Carlisle nodded. “Huh…”

“He seems to have a fondness for things belonging to members of the British royal family,” Bella mused, thinking of the necklace she had received from Aro as a wedding gift which was safely locked away in her jewellery box. “What else does he say?”

“I would also like to extend my congratulations on your successful transformation. I am sure you shall be an excellent addition to our species–” Draco broke off with a visible grimace. “Talk about creepy,” he muttered sincerely before continuing. “–and I look forward to the day when you and your son shall grace me halls as my guests. Sincerely, Aro.”

Sucking in an unnecessary breath he returned the letter to its envelope before he announced as calmly as he possibly could,

“Well I'm afraid he'll be waiting for hell to freeze over as I have no plans whatsoever to visit his creepy lair. I happen to like my freedom, thank you very much, and if he thinks that I'd willingly let my son set foot there with or without me he is very much mistaken.”

Not one single person tried to suggest otherwise.

That evening after Scorpius had been carefully bathed by his parents, their cold hands warmed by the water so as not to upset his delicate skin, Draco stood beside his crib watching the little boy he had created sleeping soundly on his back, his little arms and legs spread out underneath the impossibly soft blanket they had covered him with.

“What wrong?” Jasper asked softly so as not to disturb their son, pressing himself against Draco's back as his arms wound about his waist. “I could feel your mod shift from outside.”

Draco let out a deep sigh, his hands moving to rest on the edge of his sons crib.

“What if I'm not good enough for him?”

“Draco…”

“What if I do something wrong and it hurts him?” Draco pressed on, his expression twisting into one of genuine horror. “What if I fail him in some way? Jasper, I can't…”

Jasper nuzzled into the side of his husband’s neck, pressing gentle kisses on the smooth skin.

“The fact that you're worrying about these things as much as I am reassures me that we’re going to be just fine,” he murmured sincerely. “We're going to get some things wrong, all first time parents do, but we've got so many people around us who will be there to help us.”

Leaning back into his husbands embrace Draco finally released his tight grip on the crib, instead resting his hands atop Jaspers own on his perfectly flat stomach.

He'd been rather thankful to discover that his body had been returned to its pre-pregnancy state during the transformation, vain creature that he was, and had been doubly pleased to find that each and every stretch mark that he had acquired had vanished into thin air.

In fact the only things marring his porcelain skin now we're Carlisle’s bite and the Dark Mark, both of which were on his left after and were easily concealed beneath long sleeves.

“I still can't believe we created something so prefect,” Draco sighed, linking their fingers together as their now identical amber gazes fell to their slumbering son. “We did that.”

“Yes, we did,” Jasper agreed softly. “I love you, Draco Malfoy-Whitlock.”

Draco smiled, tilting his head in such a way as to silently beg for a kiss which was, of course, freely given, their tongues dancing together for a long time before they separated.

“I love you, Jasper Malfoy-Whitlock.”

To think that not all that long ago Draco had been resigned to a life in solitude, a life of pain and regret, of tears and sadness and now here he was, happier than he could believe.

He was loved.

He had a family.

He had a future.

~ * ~ * ~

A/N The End…apart from a little interlude which I can't not write and, of course, the all-important Epilogue but for the main part of the story this is it. This series has definitely been a labour of love, starting way, way back in March 2009. Ugh! This series is six years old! Now I feel really old! Hope you've enjoyed it. Marblez. X

A/N 2 The song used is “Texas Lullaby” by David Allen Coe.
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Of Lions And Lambs - Part Four