Forbidden Union

“So why wasn’t Magnus the one to change me? Why the Count Meris? I would have thought you might want to keep it in the family?”

The three men were seated in the library on red leather chairs, his father held a small goblet of fire whisky. “Don’t speak to me like that, Draco.” his father calmly sipped his drink without answering.

“I refused.” It was the first time in the few hours Draco had been home that he’d heard the man speak. His voice was smooth and surprisingly deep. Lucius remained silent but Draco could see the glint of anger in his eyes. Once that alone would have been enough to make him hold his tongue, but not now.

“Why?” He asked Magnus, his distant grandfather.

“I did not agree with your father’s decision.”

“So why are you here now?”

“Enough!” His father demanded, glaring at them both.

“No. You cannot command me, great, great, great Grandson. I was there when you were born, I was there when your father, and your grandfather and your great grandfather were born. I drew the plans for this room we sit in, and I watched while stone was put upon stone to make it happen. This boy may be your son, but he is no longer of your kind. He has become a vampire, and now I am here to make sure he is trained in our ways. You cannot create a vampire and keep him as a pet, to do your bidding. Draco is now stronger then you, and he will still be here, beside me, when you are dust. So sit, or leave if you must, but we have much to talk on, he & I, and I will not be quieted by the likes of you.”

Lucius, who had half risen in righteous anger sat back down heavily. He was arrogant but he was not stupid, he had lost this battle, but he would be a part of the discussion which followed, he would not be shut out of this part of his son’s life. Draco bore the mark, and Lucius had command over his wife and child, and his mother. He may not be able to command Magnus, but he would not give up control over Draco that easily.

“You have many questions, child, please ask them.”

“Why didn’t you agree with making me a vampire? And why have you changed your mind?”

“I did not agree with making you a vampire because we are a dead race. For all our strength, our experience, our knowledge we are not accepted among mortals, and it is mortals that rule this earth. I also did not agree with turning one so young, in the days when we were accepted it was practise to turn the older members of a family, after they had given their children to the line, we were turned so our knowledge and experience could be preserved to benefit our family. You were turned to make a tame slave for your father and the Dark Lord to use. This shows that even though the Dark Lord seeks a truce with us, he doesn’t understand us at all. They thought that because they had control over you as a human, they would rule you as a vampire, but now you are one of us & we will protect you. Also you are my kin, and I want the best for you. Don’t misunderstand me, I do not regret becoming a vampire, I enjoy the... advantages. However I would not have chosen to give up any of the years I enjoyed being human either. The choice to become vampire is not one which should be made lightly or in ignorance...”

Draco couldn’t help interrupting here, as fascinated as he was with the insight he was being given into vampire life: “but I wasn’t given a choice.”

There was silence as his grandfather stared at him for a full half minute before turning his cold silver gaze to his father. “You chose to have your own son, your only son to be made vampire, before his 17th birthday and after producing only one unborn heir to carry our family name? This you did against his will? Why?”

Lucius sipped his fire whisky slowly; “Draco was a single child, as was I. I believe you yourself had only produced one heir when you were turned.”

“Actually my wife and I had had two children, but our daughter died very young. Also we were in our sixth decade when we decided to make the change. This is irrelevant anyway, we made our choice, we made it for the good of our family, after we had exhausted our usefulness as humans. Draco did not make his choice, it was made for him, before he had reached his third decade. We wizards are relatively rare, our birth rate is low, why would you take away from Draco the opportunity to add to the numbers of pure blood wizards?”

Draco was shocked and ashamed to see his father’s eyes slip away from the older mans. All along, even when his faith in his father was at its lowest, he had believed Lucius did what he did for the family, for his beliefs, for some reason; but not out of fear. He hadn’t believed that his father had sold him out of fear. Now it was in front of him it seemed so clear; his father was a coward. He was afraid of the Dark Lord, and he was willing to do whatever it took, including putting his family in danger, if it meant he would be safe. He felt like his breath was coming in gasps, his chest hurt, he felt light-headed; how could his father do this to him?

“Leave now Lucius.”

“What? No I will not leave, this is my house and my son.”

“Not your son any longer I think. Now I know you are another man’s eyes, and this ‘Dark Lord’ you follow, he should have no say in what happens now. He has done enough damage, and you have let him. Now LEAVE.” The last was not said loudly, but it seemed to echo strangely, and Lucius’ face went oddly blank as he left the room without further argument.

Draco watched the door close before turning back; “what did you do?”

The older man sighed; “so many questions, I thought I had remembered what it was to be mortal, to be young; but perhaps my memory is not as clear as I had thought. What I did was make a suggestion, one which would be hard to ignore for anyone not very strong willed, and your father is not.

“So to continue answering your previous question I did not change my mind, I still believe that your becoming a vampire was a mistake, however it is one that has already been made, and I thought it best that I make the most of the current situation. You should know about the heritage you have taken on, and you will need to know about our laws.”

“We have laws? And did you say before my great, great... er your wife had become a vampire too? Do I have any more family?”

“Of the Malfoy lineage there is myself and my wife, and our son, your great, great, great grandfather the Count Cordis. There was my own great grandfather, however he travelled abroad around a century ago & hasn’t been seen since.”

They were interrupted by a light knock on the door before it opened to admit Narcissa; “Draco your wife is awake, she would see you now.” If Draco’s mother saw anything odd in the two of them closeted together without Lucius, she didn’t show it.

Draco followed his mother to Carla’s room. He was suddenly nervous. He hadn’t seen his wife since he left to complete his last year at Hogwarts, and they hadn’t been on good terms then. She had been barely showing then, her small rounded belly visible through her robes only when she sat down or turned a certain way and the robes stretched taut. Draco found it hard to believe she was really pregnant, that he was going to be a father soon, and this wasn’t just some strange joke.

His mother opened the door and stood aside for him, Draco stepped inside and looked back as his mother closed the door behind him, Draco resisted the impulse to open the door and ask if she wasn’t coming with him.

She lay in the bed, propped up on pillows. She was huge, her swollen stomach looked incongruous set against her pale thin arms and sunken face framed by listless blonde hair.

“You look terrible,” Draco said without thinking and instantly felt his face go hot with embarrassment; “I’m sorry, that was rude; I wasn’t thinking. I meant, it looks like this pregnancy has taken a lot out of you.” Damn it, he felt awkward and stupid. This wasn’t him anymore, why did she make him feel this way? “I’m sorry,” he said again.

She smiled faintly at him, “It’s ok, husband. I am well aware of how I look. I have been told it will happen tomorrow, possibly the next day. I will be glad to have this body to myself again. Our son is strong, he is ready to come into the world, and no, he hasn’t made this easy on me.”

Draco took the chair by the bed and awkwardly took his wife’s hand, unsure how she might react but wanting to show his support. He was surprised when she squeezed his hand lightly.

“We are going to be parents, Draco. I think of my own childhood and I feel overwhelmed. I had a happy childhood, my parents were very supportive, always there, seemingly always having the answers. I am not sure I can be like that for our son, but I want to try. I have had time to think, and I realise that I have been selfish; I only saw my own disappointment, I was angry at my father, and yours, and you. But I’m not angry anymore; my priorities have changed. I don’t pretend to know or understand what you are, what you have become. I look at you and I see a stranger, a mysterious, scary, not quite human stranger. But I also see the father of my son, and I hope we can come to an understanding.”

“I would like that.” Instinctively he leaned forward and took her in his arms, and she wrapped her own thin arms around him, awkwardly, as her round stomach got in the way.