Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the computer this was written on. All characters are owned by JKR, except for the one’s that will be mentioned in A/N at the end of the chapter, please read it over so I can give proper credit where it is due. I’m so broke I make the church mouse look like a millionaire, so please don’t waste your time or your lawyers.
Once again I apologize for the delay in updating but for the last week to ten days my time has not been my own. Nasty weather, school closings and general chores have taken up a great deal of my writing time. Again, this is a long chapter so I hope that the length will make up for the delay and that you will all forgive me. Enjoy!!!!!
Ginny felt the displacement of air and heard a soft ‘pop’ when she reappeared, held tightly in Draco’s arms, in the foyer of their home. He said nothing as he started up the stairs still carrying her, her face buried in his shoulder, her grip tight around his neck.
The door to their room flew open when he reached it, slamming shut again after they passed through it. He didn’t stop in the sitting room but continued through the arched doorway that led to their bedroom, and again the doors shut loudly after they had passed.
Every step that he took without speaking a word caused her heart to race faster and her already sore throat to tighten. Was he was so angry with her that he couldn’t even speak? Fear worse than what she had experienced that morning knotted in her stomach, sending shudders through her body.
When he reached their bed he set her on her feet before helping her to sit on the edge of the bed. Straightening up, he summoned some pajamas, then bent over to remove her shoes and socks. Her blouse and bra went next, only to be replaced by the top he had summoned. Then he took her hand and with his arm around her waist, he helped her stand.
The jeans she had put on this morning were now dirty and torn; with one hand still supporting her, he flipped the button open, pulling down the zipper with the other. Sliding them over her hips, he helped her sit back down before pulling them completely off. Next he slipped the pajama bottoms over her feet, helping her to stand again; he pulled them up, rolling down the waist like she always did.
Reaching behind her, he pulled the bedcovers down. Scooping her up again, he gently laid her down on his pillow and pulled up the covers. She quickly grabbed his hand when she thought he was going to pull away. Instead, he sat down beside her, gripping her hand tightly. His other hand brushed her hair away from her face before he ran his knuckles down her cheek.
Looking up into his still stormy grey eyes, her throat tightened once again, “Draco, I…,” she started, her voice nothing more than a whisper.
He stopped her by placing his finger lightly against her lips. “Shush, not right now,” he whispered, his own voice deep and husky.
He bent down and placed a lingering kiss to her forehead, then kissed her lips gently before sitting back up. He ran the back of his hand along the other side of her face; she could feel the cool metal of his signet ring as he did.
“Right now you rest,” he murmured, his voice still husky, “I’m going to call for the healer.” Leaning forward, he kissed her forehead again. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Closing her eyes she breathed deeply, savoring his scent and shivering as she felt his warmth. Her eyes flew open when she felt him stand up. Letting go of her hand, he tucked the covers firmly around her and walked towards the doors.
Opening one of the double doors, he turned back to her, his eyes boring into hers.
“I love you, Ginny, never forget that I love you.”
He held her gaze for a few more seconds before turning and pulling the door shut softly behind him.
Turning onto her side, Ginny wrapped her arms around her stomach, bringing her knees up and pressing her face into his pillow. Guilt slammed into her after seeing the pain in his expression, and she was unable to stop the tears that escaped as sob after sob shook her body, until she cried herself to sleep.
After closing the door behind him, Draco walked over to the fireplace in the sitting room. He intended to call the healer, but the events of the morning began flashing through his mind once again. Grabbing the mantle with both hands, he closed his eyes and lowered his head, trying to erase the visions going fast forward in his mind.
Gripping the mantle so hard his knuckles whitened, he breathed deeply, trying to clam himself. He swore his heart had started and stopped a dozen times at least since waking up this morning to slamming doors and Jade’s raised voice.
When Ginny had first come flying out the door of W3 towards him, he had never been so happy to see anyone in his life, until the words she was yelling at him registered. Then he’d seen Percy follow her out the door and pull her backwards by her cloak. Fear and rage had torn through him, his heart calling out to her, ‘Ginny’.
Seeing Percy shield himself with his wife’s body, his wand at her throat, Draco could well imagine what the Nundu felt as they moved in for the kill, because at that moment he became a predator. Had his wife not stood between them he would have torn Percy apart with his bare hands.
He could see the people he considered family spreading out behind him from the corner of his eyes, knowing they had his back, but his eyes focused on what was before him. He heard the exchange between Percy and Ginny; seeing the arm that Percy’d held her to him with move to her throat, Draco’s hearing went out of focus as he tried to assess how he could best get his wife away from her brother.
He tuned back into what was being said just as Percy shouted ‘The Malfoys need to be destroyed, wiped off the face of the earth.’ Draco knew at that moment that Percy would not stop until he had killed Ginny. He began to move forward, his only thought getting her away from him, but then Percy wrapped his other arm around her, threatening to snap her neck.
When he saw Ginny clawing at her brother’s hand he backed off, hoping Percy would relax his grip, only stopping when he felt a hand on his shoulder. His father-in-law’s deceptively calm voice had the desired effect when Percy relaxed his hold. Ginny’s eyes were glazed and she coughed as she tried to replace the air she’d been deprived of.
Watching her as her eyes cleared, he saw her mouth ‘I’m sorry’ to him. The pain on her face was killing him. He refocused on Percy; if he looked at her, he would lose control. Years of tutelage as Lucius Malfoy’s son kicked in as his mind focused on his target.
As strange as it sounded, he’d felt a tug of pride when his father-in-law had called him a ‘good man’ and said he had taken good care of her. Everyone knew that Ginny was Arthur Weasley’s princess; it was his inability to deny her anything that had caused him to sit down with Draco when he had wanted to make his intentions towards his daughter clear.
That feeling was quickly squashed when Percy finally revealed his motive for his actions. For the first time since killing the man he had called father Draco felt the last of his guilt slip away. If killing him stopped what had happened to Penelope Clearwater from happening to another woman, then it was worth it.
For just a moment he could feel for Percy Weasley - would he do any less if it had been Ginny? It was Lucius and Blaise’s father’s threats against Ginny, Jade and Pansy when he, Blaise and Anton had been captured that had led to Lucius’ and Jeran’s deaths.
That moment was fleeting at best because it was now his wife that Percy was threatening. He had already killed his father for just threatening her; killing Percy Weasley would not cause him to lose a moment’s sleep. But first he had to get Ginny back safely. Pride be damned - he would beg. To offer himself up was no great sacrifice, he would do it gladly, and he trusted the people who had his back. Nothing would happen to him, Blaise and Anton would see to that.
As Percy was spewing his venom he saw the madness in Percy’s eyes as he began choking Ginny again. Tears were leaking from her eyes and when Percy declared his intention to kill Ginny there was nothing to hold Draco back. He started running at him, going for the kill.
When he saw Ginny go unconscious he stopped in his tracks, his heart no longer beating for what felt like the longest time, then just before he started forward again. He saw Ginny plant her feet on the ground and push backwards, slamming the back of her head into her brother’s face while twisting and throwing her elbow into his midsection.
While the momentum of the blows broke Percy’s grip on her throat he still held her with his arm. Draco almost laughed when he saw her pull her feet back up off the ground forcing him to release her. He remembered thinking ‘That’s my girl’. Before she even hit the ground he heard the voices of Jade and Pansy send disarming spells at Percy, causing him to fly backwards.
He continued forward, the only thought on his mind was to get to Ginny, who had crawled toward him, her head low in anticipation of the spells sure to be flying her way. But no one else had had the chance to get off a spell because even as Jade’s and Pansy’s spells had hit Percy, Draco heard three voices from in front of him send stunners at Percy’s flying body. The force of the stunners sent Percy flying forward again right towards Ginny, who had turned when she heard the shouted spells only to see Percy’s body land at her feet.
He barely registered the sight of Ron, Bill and Charlie Weasley walking out of W3 with their wands still pointed at their brother. He had reached Ginny and wrapped her up in his arms, his relief immeasurable.
He wasn’t even aware that he had tears rolling down his face until she reached up to wipe them away. When she apologized, his heart stopped once again. He didn’t care to hear it; all he knew was that she was in his arms again, right where she belonged.
He held her tighter to him, kissing the top of her head before burying his face in her hair to breathe in her scent. His words of comfort were as much for himself as they were for her, having to convince himself that she was in his arms and safe. He’d thought he had lost her. Percy was right about one thing, losing her would have destroyed him in a way nothing else could have. She was his life.
As Ginny’s mother hugged her from behind he heard Arthur suggest they take her to St. Mungo’s. As he was just about to agree, Ginny protested, holding even tighter to him. He could feel her fingernails digging into his neck.
Molly tried to argue with her but she looked up at him and told him she wanted to go home. He was torn, concerned over the ordeal she’d been through; he wanted to have her checked over himself. Most important was the fact that she held tightly to him and wanted to go home, whatever had caused her anger the night before was forgotten - she still loved him and wanted him to take her home.
Wiping the tears from her face, he saw the need in her eyes and could deny her nothing. Extracting her agreement to see a healer at home, he picked her up and brought her back where she belonged.
As soon as they arrived he brought her up to their room, his main concern seeing to her comfort. He had been afraid to speak, as the adrenaline had begun to wear off and he was afraid he would break down.
He had not cried since he was a small boy when his father had beaten into him that a Malfoy doesn’t cry. But the steely control he had developed to keep his emotions in was rapidly deteriorating after the events of the morning. So he channeled his thoughts into getting her settled and calling the healer.
He knew by the time he got her settled in their bed that she had misinterpreted his silence for anger. He sat beside her and was no longer able to resist touching her, but when she’d started to apologize again, he stopped her. Kissing her forehead and then, unable to stop himself, her lips, he brushed the side of her face with the back of his hand. They would have time to talk later, right now he just wanted her to rest until the healer got there to look her over.
He could see the bruises on her throat and it made him nauseous. Kissing her forehead again, he got up to go call the healer, stopping at the door before leaving he told her what he’d been wanting to tell her from the moment she had disappeared the night before.
“‘I love you, Ginny, never forget that I love you.”
Taking several deep breaths, Draco finally got his raging emotions under control. Straightening up, he grabbed some Floo powder and threw it into the fire.
The call to St. Mungo’s was blessedly short. The healer on duty in the trauma ward, Maria, had assured Draco she would contact Susan personally and send her to come see Ginny. She seemed to be a nice woman and asked him to let them know how Ginny was doing; thanking her, he agreed to keep them informed before ending the call.
As he was brushing the ashes from his shoulders, Blaise, Jade, Anton and Pansy entered the sitting room after knocking on the door. They all sat down while Draco informed one of the house elves to let him know when Susan arrived.
“How’s she doing?” Jade asked as soon as the house elf disappeared.
Draco sighed, running his hand through his hair. “She’s resting, we’ll know more after Susan has seen her.”
“How are you doing?” she then asked.
“I’ll be fine once I know that she’s okay,” he answered truthfully. “I need you guys to do something for me.”
“What’s that?” Blaise asked.
“Hold them all off,” Draco requested. “No one gets in here until Susan is done with her. She doesn’t need all of that right now.”
“Consider it done,” Anton assured him.
“Thanks, I will be in with Ginny if you need me for anything,” then pausing for a moment, he spoke again, “by the way, thank you.”
“Draco, wake up.”
Draco came instantly awake, his arms covering his wife protectively before he identified the voice as Jade’s. As he relaxed his hold, Ginny stirred, burrowing her face closer to his neck but remaining asleep.
“I’m awake,” he said, looking over at his longtime friend. “What’s going on?”
“Susan just Flooed, she should be here in about half an hour,” Jade said, speaking in a low voice. “Charlie is downstairs with someone who wants to talk with you. Blaise, Anton and Pansy are down there with them now.”
“It’ll have to wait, I want to stay with her while Susan looks her over,” he sighed, running his hand through his hair.
“I’ll stay with her and have Susan come talk with you when she’s done. You really need to hear this.”
“Alright, show Susan up when she gets here, I’ll wake Ginny up.” Jade nodded before she turned and walked out the door.
He hated to wake her. Right now she was resting peacefully, unlike when he’d first come back into the room. She had been shivering, curled up in a ball and still shuddering from crying herself to sleep.
So he’d taken off his shoes and robes and climbed into bed to hold her, and she had grabbed onto him in her sleep. At first she had held onto him for dear life, slowly relaxing as she fell into a deeper sleep. At some point he must have dozed off, as well.
Rolling slightly towards her, then pushing her on her back, he propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at her now peaceful face. Tucking her hair behind her ear he leaned down and lightly kissed her lips before sliding across her cheek to her ear.
He nuzzled her ear with his nose, cupping her head in his hand; he gently sucked on her earlobe. Closing his eyes, he nibbled down the side of her neck and back up.
Feeling her beginning to stir, he rubbed his cheek against hers and spoke softly in her ear, “Ginny…..Gin, baby, come on time to wake up.” He continued his tender ministrations to her jaw and ear. “Come on, sweetheart, wake up.”
Slowly coming back to consciousness, Ginny shivered as Draco’s deep, soft voice coaxed her to wake up, feeling his kisses on her neck and jaw. Lifting her hand she threaded her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and opened her eyes.
Pulling back when he felt her hand in his hair, he smiled when he saw her eyes open, “Hello, sleepyhead.”
“Hi,” she whispered, her vocal chords still sounding strained.
Eyes shifting down to the dark bruises on her neck standing out against her pale skin, he trailed his finger against the offensive marks, his face tightening.
“I’m sorry, Ginny. I’m sorry that I didn’t come up and talk to you last night instead of making you sit and wait.” He couldn’t look her in the eye, staring at a spot just above her head. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to you sooner, but most of all I’m sorry that my miserable excuse of a father has once again, though inadvertently, almost cost you your life. I wish he had never existed.”
Ginny had watched the emotions roll across Draco’s face the entire time he was talking; she could see the muscle in his jaw twitching. Very rarely did he allow his emotions to show so openly and it broke her heart that he was blaming himself for her foolishness and Percy’s. She didn’t know what to think about that yet, but this, this had to stop.
Reaching up she put her finger up to his lips and shook her head, he looked down at her.
“Stop it right now,” she said firmly as she smiled up at him, “I could have sworn I married Draco Malfoy and not Harry Potter.”
“WHAT.” There was a look of shock on his face.
She laughed at the look on his face. “You sound just like Harry used to whenever anything bad happened he would add it to the long list of things he blamed himself for,” she sighed. “He cursed his own existence even more than you did.” Deciding to lighten the scowl on his face, she grinned, “In fact, one of his true comforts was always beating you to the snitch, and even that was taken away from him your last two years.”
“Glad I could be of service,” he smirked.
She ran her eyes over his face before brushing his hair out of his eyes. “You know you two really are very much alike and yet exact opposites, almost like two sides of a mirror; it’s strange, really, if you think about it.”
Stunned that his wife would compare him to Harry Potter, he protested, “Potter and I are nothing alike!”
Frowning slightly, Ginny pointed out, “You both have a very strong presence, people know when either of you are there, but Harry is introverted and shy where you’re extroverted and there’s not a shy bone in your body, yet you both brood quite often.”
Draco sniffed, “Malfoys don’t brood.”
A small grin lifted the corner of her mouth, “Yes, Malfoys do brood, you were doing it just a moment ago.”
Rolling his eyes, he decided to drop it for a moment. “Continue.”
“Everyone calls Harry a hero, the savior of the wizarding world, on the side of all that is good. Everyone considered you dark and evil, but it was that darkness that made Harry’s victory over Voldemort possible. Without you and the other Slytherins working with the Order he never would have survived to face Voldemort, let alone defeat him,” she raised her eyebrow at his surprised look, “You both have very strong magic, you both were Seekers, and both suffered at the hand of your guardian. For Harry it was his aunt and uncle; for you, your father.”
“Why me?” Draco asked the question that he’d pondered over a million times.
Ginny cupped his cheek. “It only could have ever been you, never Harry,” she smiled at up at him. “Do you remember when you picked me up from the train after my final year?”
When he nodded, she continued, “Do you remember what Jade said to my mother after her ‘drop Draco for Harry’ speech?”
“Something about ‘eating him alive or hexing him’ or some such nonsense. What about it?”
“No, not nonsense, Draco. If Harry and I had ever tried to have a relationship it would never have lasted.”
Intrigued, Draco sat up facing Ginny; he helped her to sit up, placing some pillows behind her back.
Once they settled down he took her hand, “OK, you have my attention. Why wouldn’t it have lasted?”
“You have to understand that I was raised on tales of The-Boy-Who-Lived. His father trying to hold off Voldemort and Lily giving her life save her baby. It’s all very tragically romantic, Shakespeare would have loved it.
“Then Ron became friends with Harry and it was so exciting. The summer after your first year, Fred, George and Ron actually had to rescue Harry from his uncle’s house and they brought him back to the burrow. He was so sweet and shy, the tragic hero from all of the stories I had heard growing up sitting at our kitchen table, and I fancied myself in love with him. Bless Harry, he knew about my crush but he was never cruel, never teased but those prat brothers of mine did. Fred and George were the worst. They embarrassed me to death whenever we were in the same room together, and it got to the point that when I saw Harry I’d run as far and as fast as I could.”
Draco laughed, “You’d run away from him?”
Ginny gave a sheepish grin,. “Yep, I would constantly embarrass myself so I tried to stay out of his way. Poor Harry, I don’t think that he knew what to think, probably thought I was nuts.”
The grin disappeared from her face. “The point is, that day when Lucius slipped that diary in with my books, I was a sad, confused and lonely little girl lost in a sea of brothers with a crush on a boy who barely knew I was alive. I had no one to talk to, I’d never had to make friends. I always had my brothers and I was leaving the safety of home for the first time - I was vulnerable. The perfect target, really, so when that diary wrote back to me, despite knowing that it was probably dangerous, I kept writing because I finally had something that was truly mine and, for a time, the perfect friend.”
At the mention of his father’s name, Draco’s jaw had tightened again and he looked away.
“Draco, look at me,” she raised her hand to his cheek, turning his head back to her. “Let me finish,” she pled with her eyes.
Draco grabbed her hand and kissed her palm, then closing his stormy eyes he nodded for her to continue.
“After Harry rescued me from the Chamber, well I had my own personal hero, how could I not have loved him? But something else happened because of the diary: I changed, I found a strength inside of me. I had fought off that diary for almost a year, it took time, some help and some growing up but I realized that I was not the type to need a hero; I was not willing to be a damsel in distress no matter how badly my family wanted me to be. I was a strong and powerful person myself.”
“So what made you decide that you didn’t love Harry?” he asked quietly.
“The summer after Cedric Diggory died Harry was stuck once again with the Muggles and by the time he came to headquarters he was sullen, depressed and just plain angry, so a bit of that hero image was chipped away and then I got to know him as Harry, not The-Boy-Who-Lived. Then the next year Sirius was killed, that summer he came to the Burrow and he withdrew from everyone, he barely ate, and was so depressed, I was just waiting for him to do himself in.
“So while everyone tip-toed around his moods, I just got more and more fed up with everyone. I finally took matters into my own hands. I dragged him away from everyone and told him about how I’d felt after the Chamber, the nightmares and the guilt, and slowly he began to open up and talk about things, dealing with them. We spent a lot of time together that summer. It drove Hermoine nuts, that I had helped him when she couldn’t,” she grinned.
“That doesn’t tell me how you decided you didn’t love him.”
“He kissed me,” she smirked.
“He what!”
She was laughing at him. “He kissed me, and it was absolutely the worst experience in my life.”
“Ha, I knew he was a crap kisser,” Draco smirked.
“No, I didn’t say that,” she grinned as Draco’s smirk died, “I said it was the worst experience in my life because I may as well had been laying a big wet one on Fred or George. It was like kissing one of my brothers.”
The grimace on Draco’s face was comical.
“Apparently Harry felt the same because after we both just burst out laughing, we decided then and there we made brilliant friends but that was all,” she squeezed Draco’s hand. “You know I do love him, Draco, but only as a brother. So Jade was right, he would never have been able to handle me, I would have run right over him and that’s just not the type of man I want or need. I needed a passionate man who was not afraid of me and who can give as good as he gets.
“Draco, I love you with all my heart. So when you say that you wish your father never existed, despite all the pain he’s caused, I’d have to disagree. Because without him, you wouldn’t be here and I need you.”
Draco pulled her into his arms and she threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest, tears running down her face. She felt his hands, one cradling her head, the other rubbing her back.
“Oh, baby, I love you too,” he said, running kisses over her cheek and neck. “I died this morning when Percy followed you out of the store and grabbed you, I wanted to kill him.” She felt a shudder go through his body. “I don’t know what I’d have done if anything had happened to you.” he grabbed her face with both hands, kissing her deeply.
Slowly breaking away she reached up and grabbed both of Draco’s hands and held them in front of her, running her thumbs across his knuckles. It was time to tell him, “Draco, there is something I need to tell you, that I wanted to tell you last night,” taking a calming breath. “Yesterday, I…”
A knock sounded at the door before Jade poked her head in. “Draco. Ginny. Can we come in? I have Susan with me.”
Ginny sighed before answering, “Come on in, Jade,” trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
Jade pushed the door open, letting Susan pass before following her in.
Draco squeezed her hand, “Gin, honey, Jade is going to stay with you while Susan looks you over. Charlie is downstairs and wants to talk with me about something.” He looked in her eyes, “Will you be alright?”
She gave him a small smile. “It’s okay, I’ll talk with you when you’re done.”
Leaning in to kiss her again, he got up.
“Thanks for coming over, Susan. If you need anything, let Jade know, she’ll help you.” He closed the door softly behind him.
Jade sat back and watched as Susan examined Ginny, she saw the healer feel along the bruises along Ginny’s neck. She saw Ginny glance nervously at her when Susan asked her a question in a low voice.
Okay, something was up; they had been friends for too long for her to not recognize that there was something that Ginny was hiding. Even without the nervous look the blush that started to creep up her face was a dead giveaway.
The last twenty-four hours, not even that long really, had been surreal. Ginny, out of the three of them, was usually the most in control of her temper, so for her to take off by herself was quite unusual. In the past when Draco did something to make her really mad, she would come over, and after a Floo call to Pansy they would sit down and hash it out. She wondered if Draco knew how often she and Pansy had saved him from having Ginny blast his bits into oblivion.
Jade’s attention was drawn back to the other two women when Susan used her wand to cast a couple of healing spells. She than handed Ginny a goblet with a potion in it, Ginny grimaced after swallowing it.
“Well, I think that’s about it, Ginny, everything seems to be fine,” Susan told her as she took the goblet from her. “The bruising will fade quickly and that potion will help soothe your throat, you’ll be talking above a whisper in a few minutes.”
“Thanks for coming over, Susan. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem, but I want you to take it easy for the next week or so. From what Pansy and Jade told me, you’ve had quite a shock. You don’t need the shock to cause any complications.” She squeezed Ginny’s hand. “I’ll arrange for your leave from work for the week, let me know if you need more, okay?”
“I’m sure that will be more than enough time, but thank you.”
“If you’re done Sue, I’ll walk you out,” Jade spoke up.
“Thank you, I need to see Draco before I leave. Floo me if you need anything, Ginny.” Susan walked out the door Jade held open for her.
“I’ll be right back,” Jade said, giving Ginny a pointed look she walked through the door and pulled it shut.
“Susan,” the other woman turned back to her, “would you mind if I had a house elf show you to the parlor? I promised Draco I’d stay with her and after this morning I don’t want to test his …patience.”
Susan laughed, “No, I don’t mind at all. I know Ginny insists that he is not as bad as everyone remembers, but to be honest he scared the hell out me at school, still does sometimes. So if you promised to stay with her then you’d better.”
Jade laughed at Susan and called a house elf. “Show Healer Bones to the parlor and get her anything she wants. Then let Draco know that she is in the parlor waiting to speak with him. Also, have porridge and tea sent up here to the sitting room.”
“Thank you, Susan,” Jade said, watching until she disappeared with the house elf before turning back to Ginny’s room, ‘Okay, time to find out what’s going on.’
Walking back into the bedroom she saw Ginny looking at the now faded bruises in the mirror.
“I sent for some breakfast and tea, it should be in the sitting room in a minute or so.” She ran a critical eye over her friend. “Care to join me?”
“Yeah, as a matter of fact I’m starving.” She grabbed her robe and pulled it on as she followed Jade into the sitting room.
The porridge and tea were sitting on the table in front of the couch waiting for them. As Ginny ate they talked about unimportant things, waiting until Ginny finished to get to the real discussion Jade wanted to have.
Ginny sat her bowl down and turned to her longtime friend, “Before we get started I just want to say thank you.”
Jade raised an eyebrow, “For what?”
“For sending me that owl this morning. I was on my way out to the Leaky Cauldron when Sabra arrived telling me to stay put. Perc…he’d have probably gotten me if you hadn’t done that, so thank you for saving my butt,” smiling she grabbed Jade’s hand and squeezed.
“You’re welcome. Now spill,” in a stern voice. “What caused you to take off last night all by yourself?”
Ginny stood up and began to pace in front of the fireplace. “Truthfully, I’m not exactly sure, I was just so mad at Draco,” she stopped and looked at Jade. “I mean it was such a long week with him gone and then yesterday I found out some wonderful news. I was so excited and so I spent all of yesterday afternoon planning just how I was going to tell him.”
As Ginny began to pace again, wringing her hands, Jade got a small grin on her face.
“I went and bought him a gift to help me break the news to him and I planned for a romantic dinner in here, all his favorite dishes.” She turned to look at Jade and smirked, “I put on that sexy little black ‘come fuck me’ dress I bought when we want shopping two weeks ago, you remember.”
“The one for a special occasion, I remember,” Jade nodded for her to continue, and Ginny began pacing again.
“So everything was ready, all I needed was Draco but he was late, which he never is, and I got more and more nervous. When he finally got here I noticed that he looked like he’d had a rough week but he looked so damn good and I was so happy he was finally home,” she came back over and sat down. “I had no more gotten him in my arms to kiss him when Blaise’s head appears in the fireplace and he tells me that they had more things to go over.”
Turning toward her friend, “I was so disappointed to get interrupted that I brushed off his apology and told him that when he was done his dinner would be up here.” Sighing, she continued, “I sat up here for over an hour waiting for him before I decided to eat without him. By then I wasn’t really hungry but I tried, but the longer I sat there the angrier I got. I couldn’t figure out what they could have possibly had to talk about when they’d been together for the entire week. In light of everything that’s happened it seems silly now, but by the time it was going on two hours I’d been waiting I was so angry at him, so I incinerated the gift I’d bought him and left the ashes smoldering on his plate. After that I just felt like I had to get out of here so I grabbed some clothes, some money and left.
“Now, everything is such a mess,” she said with tears in her eyes. “How am I going to tell him now?”
“Tell him what?”
“Jade, I’m pregnant. Draco and I are going to have a baby.”
Jade immediately began cackling.
"Umm…" Ginny started after a moment, staring at her best friend as though she’d finally lost her mind. Calling on years of restraint and emotional control, Jade finally quieted, the only traces of her sudden attack of mirth being the mischief still dancing in her eyes.
"Yes, yes, I know," Jade said after another moment, a smirk forming as Ginny's mouth fell open the slightest bit.
"How?" Ginny half-exclaimed, half-demanded, sinking back into her chair, quite stunned.
"Well…" Jade started, trying her damnedest not to snicker, "You see, Pansy and I, we knew how much you wanted a child, and how upset you've been about your attempts not working."
Ginny nodded her acceptance of those facts. Of course her best friends had known that.
"And, being the Potion geniuses that we are," Jade was never one for false modesty, "we started working on a draught to increase a witch's chance of becoming pregnant. After eight months, we'd perfected it."
Ginny simply stared, everything slowly beginning to sink in.
"Of course, that was just theory, through tests and such. So, to make sure that it was safe in practice, we needed a guinea pig before we tried it on you. We used ourselves in the end, since we decided that secrecy was more important than using a Hufflepuff."
"Oh gods," Ginny breathed, the ramifications of that becoming clear.
"I'm not entirely sure how Blaise is going to react," Jade continued, her eyes darkening with a hidden, deep-seated worry that never would have shown itself had any others but a few been around to see it. "But it was worth it."
"Jade, are you serious?"
"Quite. You're pregnant, aren't you? We wanted to help, and if I have to bear my love's heir much sooner than planned, then so be it."
"But…" Ginny started, flabbergasted, "you don't want children! Not for years yet, you said so yourself!"
Jade shrugged. "It matters not. I can see how happy you are, glowing and beautiful."
"You…How?"
"We put the potion in your tea nearly two months ago, a day after we found out that it had worked for us."
"I can't believe this!" Ginny finally burst out. "I can't believe you! How could you sacrifice so much? I would have gotten over it eventually, you didn't have to—"
"Do shut up." Jade cut in, her smirk changing to a fond smile. Few had ever seen the ebony-haired woman do so, and it probably would have shocked them to death to even know that she knew how. "You're our best friend; of course we had to do something."
"But Blaise, I mean he—" Ginny stopped abruptly, wishing she'd kept her mouth shut when those white-blue eyes darkened once more.
"Doesn't want a child yet, either." Jade finished for her, her masks firmly settling into place and leaving her expression utterly blank within a second. It was a Slytherin trick, but only those with the oldest, coldest blood could pull it off so quickly and completely.
"Jade, I—"
"Don't worry over it." Her friend said gently, though no warmth infused the words, as she had retreated too far inside herself for anything of the sort. "Anton and Draco will be thrilled, and as for Blaise…well, that's my problem, isn't it?"
Jade gave a strained, almost-pleasant grin, and Ginny watched her for long moments. She had always wondered how much of her friend's reluctance to have a child had been her own, and how much it had stemmed from Blaise's steadfast refusal to even discuss such a thing. She knew that he and Jade had only talked about it once or twice, and it had ended every time with Blaise sleeping on Draco's couch and Jade Apparating to France to her family's House seat. The Delacours had many branches, but she came from the main one, the second born after her older brother. The estates had been divided between them in her parents' will, but her brother, Carnelian, always welcomed her with open arms. He despised Blaise, saying that the Italian wizard had tricked his sister into marriage.
He was a bit sore about her not having children, always casting worried, heartbroken glances at her when heirs were mentioned, and it had only helped to fuel Ginny's own suspicions. There was also that incident of three years ago, when they had all gone to the Delacours for a party and Carnelian had said as something along the lines of Blaise using his beloved sister for nothing more than a trophy wife, yet he wouldn't even give her a child to keep her company while he was always gone on business. Blaise had heard him, blood had been shed, and the tension between them had evolved into something constantly nearing explosive violence. Jade watched it all with detached, hooded eyes, keeping any pain it caused her deep beneath the surface.
Many thought her heartless, callous and cold, and she usually was. But the few she allowed to love her and the few she loved in return knew better. They knew that she felt strongly, even if over very little, and they knew that something had been eating at her for a while. But she shared none of her inner turmoil, not even with Ginny or her darling brother, and no one knew if she had at least confided in Blaise, because he gave no outward sign that he could even tell anything was wrong. To tell the truth, Ginny had been on the verge of cornering him for weeks, but she had been hesitant to meddle. Until now. Until she saw her best friend slowly pulling away from even her and disappearing somewhere alien and dark, somewhere unreachable.
So she wondered. Should she interfere? Should she scope out the situation and try to see what Blaise's reaction would be? She loved him like a brother, but if he turned away from her friend because of this, she might do something…regrettable. But it was their business, wasn't it? She wouldn't want anyone poking around in hers and Draco's relationship, after all, not even their friends. She knew that Blaise wouldn't appreciate such an action, and she seriously doubted that Jade would, either. But what if Jade told him and he did something rash, something stupid, something unforgivable? What if he left her, or said something harsh and cruel, which both he and his wife were masters at? She'd never seen them truly fight, but she knew that it happened occasionally.
And if her hormones were already acting up, then Jade's had to be, too. How would her friend take such a thing? How would she react if he took off or if he said something nasty and petty in a fit of anger and surprise? Ginny thought about how she would feel if Draco did something like that, and knew that no matter how Jade would try to lie and say it didn't matter, that it would crush her, crush her enough that she might do something foolish. And Blaise, once he'd had time to cool down and think, would feel horrible if she did. Beyond horrible. And Ginny, she would know that she'd had the chance to help, but hadn't, still too hesitant. But…but it was their business. Not hers, not Draco's, not Anton's, not Pansy's. Theirs.
"What's your problem?" A suspicious voice came from the other side of the door a second before it opened, and in strolled Anton, who looked exhausted and still vaguely furious. "Blaise will forgive you, I'm sure."
Jade looked almost stricken, so Ginny spoke for her. "What did you hear?"
"Just the last bit about Blaise and something being her problem." Anton replied, and a flicker of familiar concern flashed in his eyes as he looked at their statuesque friend. "So what is the problem, exactly?" He asked again, and in a move that surprised them both, Jade stood quickly, leaned over the small table and kissed Ginny's cheek, her eyes shining with unshed tears, before striding towards the door and slithering around Anton too swiftly for him to stop her.
"I have to go. Love you both." Then she was gone, and they were left stupefied.
"What just happened?" Anton demanded, and Ginny sighed wearily, motioning him over. He came at once, and the concern was back, this time for her.
"Are you alright? You had us so worried, Red. I thought Draco was going to lose it."
"I'm fine." Ginny said, taking his hand in hers with a friendly squeeze. "I'm more than fine. I'm ecstatic."
"About what?" He questioned, and she looked at him for a minute. He, too, was one of her best friends, and he had a right to know.
"I'm pregnant." At least it was getting easier to say it.
"Oh." Anton blinked. "Oh!" Then he was hugging her and laughing, and she was smiling despite her new worries. "That's…that's great! I mean…just…wow."
"Yeah." She agreed, laying her head on his shoulder.
"But then what was Jade upset about?" He asked, and she wondered how much to say. She couldn't tell him about Pansy, that much was obvious, but she knew she could trust him about Jade, and she desperately needed advice. He'd known Jade and Blaise longer anyway, ever since they were children, and if anyone could help her, it would be him.
"Jade's pregnant, too." She decided to be blunt and get right to the point, and he stiffened and froze, drawing away from her with slightly wide eyes.
"What?"
"You heard me." She said with another sigh.
"I know. I just wish I hadn't." He replied shortly and stood, starting to pace. Her fears began solidifying, and she rose as well, feeling the beginning stirs of panic.
"Why doesn't he want children?" She demanded, and Anton didn't have to ask who she meant. He stopped, leaned his head against the wall, and took several deep breaths.
"Out of all of us," he started slowly, carefully, his own masks falling into place with precise precision, "they had the worst childhoods. But for Blaise, in the beginning, he wasn't alone either. He had two brothers and a sister."
Ginny felt her lungs ice over and her heart drop to her feet.
"Jeran killed them." Anton continued as though he were reciting lines from a book, not speaking of one of the many horrors in his best friend's life. "He killed them right in front of Blaise when they were all under five, and he was barely six. The youngest, the girl, she was just a baby, not even past her first year. Her blood was served in the wine at dinner that night. Blaise vowed then to never have children."
"No." Ginny didn't mean to speak, but the protest slid out without warning.
"Yes. Later, he knew he would need to, in order to carry on the bloodline, but…but he still doesn't want them. Ever. He told Jade as much when they first got together years ago, and she took it in stride gracefully, all her talk of children ceasing from there on out. She used to speak of them, you see, she used to sit around with the other girls and make up names, but she didn't after that, not ever again."
It all made so much sense in a disturbing, disquieting way.
"I knew then that she truly loved him." Anton laughed, a mockery of his earlier, joyous outburst. "I knew then that she would do anything for him, even forsake her dreams, and part of me resented him for that." He said it so calmly, and Ginny mentally reeled. She'd never heard him speak so. "But that wasn't his intention, and I can hold nothing against him for long. I love them both, but I knew that this would cause problems, no matter how well she's hidden her desires, even from him, the one who knows her better than anyone else could hope to."
Ginny wanted to run, run to Jade, to Blaise, run to stop the storm that she felt growing just past her perception.
"This will not go prettily, Red." Anton said as if confirming her thoughts, and she felt like screaming. Everything in her life seemed to go from good to bad to worse to good to horrible in record time. "I know them both too well, and they are too alike and too different for this to blow over smoothly. She's too bruised and battered already beneath her layers of deceitful, prideful arrogance, and he's too scarred and wounded underneath his own. I fear what this may cause."
Ginny felt helpless, helpless and confused and torn. "But they love each other," she said, knowing it was true. "They'd never really hurt one another."
Anton just looked at her for a moment, before shaking his head and moving to the low couch, falling onto it bonelessly. "I forget, sometimes, that you were a Gryffindor. Yes, Red, they love each other. More then most people can comprehend or even imagine. But it's a fierce, wild love that even I have a hard time understanding every once in a while, and they are…they are still lifeless and dead in many aspects. They have many hurts that have not healed, and that may never heal."
She stayed silent, absorbing every word. She knew a bit about their childhoods, but she'd had no idea that they were this traumatizing. She suddenly wished their parents were still alive so that she could kill them herself.
"They're cold, Red, colder than the rest of us." Anton kept on, as if he'd been wanting to talk about it, too. "I think that's one of the main reasons why they're so compatible. They understand one another like no one else can. Have they ever shown you the physical scars that couldn't be spelled away? Or the other scars, those inside? Have they ever been around you during one of the rare moments when all of their masks fall and they're left bare and bleeding? They're bitter, Red, so bitter, and old beyond their years. This will stir up old anger, old resentment, and both will act out of instinct, not thought. I fear it as I have feared few things. I fear what they will do and what it will mean."
"What do we do?" Ginny asked desperately minutes later, her nails digging into her palms. "What can we do?"
Anton buried his face in his hands. "Nothing. We must simply be here to pick up the pieces, if there are even any left."
Suddenly the sunlight seemed obnoxious coming through the sitting room windows, how could it shine so brightly when the full ramifications of what Jade and Pansy had done was brought out in the open. Her mind just reeled from the sickening revelations Anton had just imparted to her and the world shifted under her feet.
Her vision narrowed and her breath came out in shallow pants, the room suddenly felt to hot and she broke out in a cold sweat, fear and pain for her friends engulfing her. She had to lie down. She felt sick to her stomach as she took an unsteady step towards her bedroom her knees felt as if they would give out on her.
She could hear voices swarming in her head as the events of the day buzzed through her mind at an alarming rate. Waking to the sounds of the alarms at the shop, Jade’s message warning her about Percy, relief at seeing Draco walking towards the shop, panic when the alarms went off again and footsteps closing in on her, falling backwards into Percy’s arms, the suffocating feeling as he choked her, the voice of her father talking with her brother, breaking free from Percy, spells being shouted out, Percy landing at her feet, Draco carrying her up to their room, his soft kisses and declarations of love, her confession to Jade, Jade’s shocking revelation, and finally Anton’s dire predictions all swirling thru her brain at a dizzying speed.
With each jerky step the ringing in her ears got louder and louder, her head felt as if it were swimming. She barely heard Anton calling her name, his panic filled voice not even penetrating the foggy haze she seemed to be floating in.
Not even realizing she had been speaking out loud she repeated, “I have to lie down,” with each step, as if it would give her the strength she needed to make it to her bed.
Draco and Blaise had just seen their visitors off and were walking down the hall towards his bedroom when they heard Anton call out Ginny’s name, the panic in his voice not lost on either of them. After exchanging a surprised look they both took off at a run for the open bedroom door.
Anton had just come around the couch when the door slammed against the wall and Draco and Blaise ran into the room. His head swung around when he heard the door slam open his eyes briefly meeting Draco’s before turning back to Ginny, moving towards the wife of his best friend.
Shoving the door open as he sprinted into their room Draco saw the panic on his friends face before finding his wife standing a few feet from their bedroom door.
“What the fuck,” he said as he started moving towards her.
Blaise too saw the panic on Anton’s face before looking at Ginny, she was pale and shaking like a leaf as her head turned towards them. Genuine concern for the woman he loved like a sister caused him to follow Draco as he moved quickly towards his wife.
All three men were just steps away from Ginny when she whispered Draco’s name just before her eyes rolled back in her head and her knees gave out under her. Draco lunged forward and caught her before she hit the floor unconscious.
Seeing her husband she tried to call for him, the one solid thing she had to hold on to, but it barely came out a whisper, “Draco,” and then everything was blessedly black.
A/N: A portion of this chapter was co-written by dracademented and she provided yet another wonderful plot twist that has endless possibilities, such fun ahead. So I want to thank her for her contribution and I hope you all enjoy it. Again I also have to thank her for letting me use her OC’s from her story ‘Unexpected’ and now its sequel ‘Descension’ please look them up at ff.net and read them, it’s worth your time I promise. Anton, Melody and Daphne are hers she’s just letting me play with them.
Draca is also kind enough to read through as I write, hold my hand, pat my back, and give encouragement all the way. And now sillysun22 has offered to beta my final drafts so that you are not subjected to my awful spelling, punctuation and other little quirks……thank you my dear!!!!
Thank you to all who have reviewed, your encouragement keeps me going. Please continue to send your kind words and constructive criticism is always welcome.
TTFN
Kelly
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