The Dragon's Rose ...
"What?!" Harry and Hermione exclaimed in unison.
Ginny and Draco's heads turned sharply at the sound of their voices. Ginny turned red. "Hermione! Harry!" She gasped.
Hermione's eyes were as wide as saucers. "You're pregnant?" She asked, in shock.
Ginny nodded numbly.
Draco wrapped his lover up in a warm embrace. "I promise you, Ginny. I will always want to be with you. I'll never leave you ever again." He whispered in her ear.
Harry frowned. "Ginny.. your family... they won't like this." He said, concerned.
Ginny let out a sigh. "I know, Harry. But... I think Draco and I can figure this out. Right, Draco?" She asked him, hopefully.
Draco nodded fervently. "Now that my father's gone, my mother won't stand in our way... and I've inherited the Malfoy fortune. Trust me, Virginia, everything will work out. Some how." He said, and grasped her hand tightly.
Ginny nodded softly. She turned back to Harry and Hermione.
"In the meantime, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anybody." She said. "Especially not Ron."
Harry and Hermione nodded hesitantly.
"How long are you planning on keeping this a secret?" Hermione asked, worried. "It's awfully important, and after a while... it'll show."
Ginny nodded. "I know. But we'll tell my family when we're ready." She said.
Draco turned her around and they walked off, leaving a confused Hermione and Harry in the hall.
Hermione turned to the boy who lived with a little frown on her face. "This is terrible." She said.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "You aren't happy for them?" He asked.
Hermione huffed exasperatedly. "Well, yes, I suppose I should be, but Ginny is only 15, Harry... and the Weasley's won't like it one bit, and now we know, and if we don't tell Ron, when he does find out, and finds out that we knew and didn't tell him..." She babbled.
"Hermione! 'Mione, calm down, will you??" Harry interuppted her rant, and put his hands on her shoulders.
Hermione sighed. "I think I'm more stressed out about this than they are." She said, and Harry smiled gently and gave a peck on the lips.
"That's just like you, isn't it, worrying about others." He said, softly, and she allowed herself to relax into his arms, wrapping her arms around his waist; her fingers dancing lightly upon the small of his back.
He smiled gently, as she lay her head on his shoulder. They remained like that a while.
...
Lavender came running through the portrait hole, nearly tripping on it's edge.
However, she did trip over Ron and Neville's chess game, and it brought her demise. She fell on her face, getting a mouthful of carpet.
Ron casually rolled her leg off his lap. "You're getting more graceful each time I see you, Lav." He retorted, moving a knight and capturing one of Neville's pawns.
Lavender gave him a glare that could freeze water in July. She stood up angrily. "Oh, jee thanks I've been working on it, especially for you." She hissed.
He smiled smugly, as Neville made a bad move.
"What are you in such a hurry about, that you would so rudely interrupt our chess game?" Ron asked, capturing two pieces in one move.
"I've just got my hands on the juiciest gossip to hit Hogwart's since James and Lily Potter were shagging in the hospital wing." She said, talking quickly, her hands fluttering about as she spoke.
Ron laughed. "Oh, I suppose you know about that how??" He asked.
Lavender rolled her eyes. "Only every good Gryffindor girl knows about that. It's a cherished piece of information, like... like the first couple ever at Hogwarts, Davinla Snow and Onnel Pouch. And this gossip I've just accquired is the greatest yet." She said, brightly.
Ron snorted in doubt. "You're so ditzy." He said.
She glared and kicked his knee sharply. He yelped in pain. "Watch it!" He said.
She inhaled slowly. "All right, I'll let you know first, since you'd probably want to know anyways..." She said, and he snorted again.
Lavender put her nose high in the air.
"Your sister is preggers." She said, and then ran up to her dorm to tell Parvati.
The knight that Ron was holding in his hand fell from mid air, hitting the chess board with a -thunk-.
Neville looked at Ron, confused. "Really?" He asked.
Ron shook his head silently. He was gobsmacked. "No. Lavender's lying. Ditz."
But his actions betrayed his words, as he pushed the board over and ran up to the girl's dorms, determined to find the truth.
He pounded on the door impatiently.
"Lavender Brown, you get your little ass out here right now!" He hollered.
The door opened a crack, and Lavender glared at him. "No, and my ass is not little, thank you very much." The door closed again.
Ron knocked sharply again. "Lavender!! Please, come on, I need to know, damn it!" He called.
The door opened again, and this time Lavender stared at him silently, blue eyes looking through blond bangs.
Ron looked at her directly. "Is it true?" He asked.
"Take it back." She said, softly.
"Take what back?" He asked, confused.
"That I'm ditzy, Ron. Take it back." She ordered.
He sighed heavily.
"I'm sorry, Lavender, I didn't mean it." He said, quietly, and the way he was staring at her made nervous, for some reason.
Her eyes met his again, the blue orbs staring each other down.
"It is true." She said, finally. "I saw her say it to Malfoy herself. Harry and Hermione know, too, but Ginny made them promise not to tell a soul. It doesn't matter, it will be all over school by tomorrow." She said, a tad sorrowful.
Ron shifted his weight from foot to foot, and his face turned different colors. Red with anger to purple with frustration. His cheeks finally settled into a rosey complexion, and he slumped to the floor, leaning against the wall.
His hands formed fists, and he brought one down on the stone floor hard, and he winced in pain. Why'd Ginny have to go and get herself knocked up? By a Malfoy, no less. He'd seen how they'd looked at each other, but he was worried that Malfoy's feelings might not be completely true.
Ron desperately hoped his worries weren't true.
Lavender knelt down next to Ron, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. Ron tried not to smile, he always was fond of her with her hair pulled back.
"Ron.. I'm sorry. If you want, I.. I don't have to tell anybody." She said, sincerely.
Lavender had never really been close with Ron, not like Harry and Hermione were, anyways. She felt uncomfortable under his steady gaze, and the sight of him helpless and frustrated made her nervous.
She wasn't sure how to go about comforting him, and she placed a gentle hand on his arm, and his blue eyes looked at her again.
She trembled slightly under his gaze, but when she was enveloped in a hug, she didn't protest.
Her arms wrapped around him, as his embrace tightened, holding her to him.
Parvati opened the door from the dorms. Ron and Lavender let go of each other immediately, avoiding each other's eyes.
Ron stood up. "I'm not feeling well. I think I'll take a nap..." He murmured, and then took off for the boys dorms.
Lavender looked at the floor, trying to ignore Parvati's questioning frown. "What's all this, then?" Parvati asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lavender stood up and dusted herself off. "Not a word to anyone, Parvati, not a word." She said, threateningly, and brushed past her into the dorm.
...
Draco was writing a letter to his mother, with Ginny closeby.
Ginny paced back and forth. "Well?" She asked. "Let's hear it." She said, and Draco cleared his throat and read the letter aloud.
"Dear Mum,
It's your son. Yes, that's right I'm alive. Bloody fantastic isn't it? Don't worry about father, he's dead. Splendid how that works out, huh? Yes, I agree. Anyways, now I have the Mafloy fortune, and I own the Manor.
"On a different note, my fiance, Ginny, is pregnant. Your awful abusive husband is dead, your son is saved from certain death, and you're getting a grandchild.
"You should be happy, mother. We'll visit for Christmas to make plans for the wedding.
"Your loving son, Draco."
He looked up at her for approval. Ginny lifted an eyebrow. "Is that anyway to speak to your mother?" She asked, crossing her arms across her chest.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Love, in my family, nobody is treated like they should be... it's sad, but true." He explained.
Ginny grimaced, and took a sheet of paper.
After a few minutes of writing quickly, she clear her throat and read her version.
"Dearest mother,
"Good news, I made it out alive. On a sadder note, I'm afraid father didn't make it out alive. Terrible loss.
"However, I've just been informed that my lovely fiance Virginia is pregnant. We will be visiting Christmas to plan the wedding.
"Please owl back as soon as possible, I'd be very grateful. Hope you're feeling well and healthy. I'm doing fine, thank you.
"Your loving son, Draco."
She looked at him and smiled sweetly.
Draco shook his head. "There's no way she'll believe it's me. I'm sending my version." He said, settling the matter.
Ginny made a little 'hmph' noise and looked at her feet. "I'm your fiance, then?" She asked, uncertainly.
Draco looked at her, startled, as he folded the letter meticulously. "Well... I was planning on asking you when I had the ring..." He said, blushing a little.
Ginny gave him a little smile. "Of course, Draco. You never have to doubt our love." She said, and he nodded, slowly, and leaned in, inhaling her scent.
"When I first gave you that tutoring session, Ginny, you wouldn't believe how much the smell of you drove me mad..." He confessed, burying his face in the corner of her shoulder and neck, inhaling.
` The feel of his breath on her neck made her turn red and she reached across, taking his hands in hers. His hands gave a gentle tug, and pulled her into his lap.
He kissed her, and Ginny gratefully returned it, as their lips danced, she shivered in bliss. His kisses always melted her, from the first kiss to this one, the passion was the same, the love, the heat.
They started kissing hungrily, feasting on the taste of each other, and he traveled down the length of her neck, leaving a reminder here and there.
Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she pressed up against him, and his hands flew to the buttons on the back of her robes, his slim fingers easily undoing them, as she kissed his lips again.
Ginny's hands moved up his chest gently, and reached the little buttons that kept the dress shirt closed, and began undoing them. Soon Draco's shirt was pulled open, and he hungrily suckled at her neck, pulling her closer, grinding his body against hers...
"Ahem!"
The loud exclamation had come from Madam Pince, the librarian. She was fuming, clenching her hands in fists at her sides.
"OUT!!!" She screamed, "The library is not the place for your sexual excapades!!!" Madam Pince pointed to the door, and Ginny and Draco hurriedly gathered their things, and rushed out.
Madam Pince huffed, after the two had left.
"Children these days." She muttered, pushing her spectacles up her nose, returning to her post at the front desk.
She sat there idly for a while, as there weren't any students left.
Glancing around surreptitiously, she carefully pulled a large manilla envelope out of a drawer.
After one more furtive glance around the room, she took out a stack of letters. Madam Pince looked through them all, but stopped at one, which was grey, with little specks of silver glittering off of it.
She picked it up, looking at the slanted emerald handwriting, and as a speck of glitter glimmered, catching her eye, she was reminded of how when she first opened the letter, a downpour of the glitter had fallen from it's folds, covering her in shimmers.
Madam Pince smiled sadly.
Her eyes scanned the letter, and tears formed in her eyes as she read a line or two. "My dearest Sartana... how I remember you. Your hair, red as fire, still blazes in my memory. How many times I've ran my fingers through it, I still remember, your voice, your eyes, your hair. Those gleaming locks of aubern that I have so often revelled in the scent of."
Her hand went up to her hair, having long lost it's color. The romp she'd just so rudely interuppted reminded her of her school days, the girl reminding Madam Pince of herself. She'd watched them sadly for a while, but had to remember her duties as librarian.
Her eyes flew to the signature at the bottom of the letter.
"Love always, Tom."
Sartana sighed.
...
Draco and Ginny left the library, carefully fixing their hair and clothes. They were disappointed at the interruption, but Draco had to owl the letter to his mother anyways, and if Madam Pince hadn't intervened, the letter would probably have to wait until the next day to be owled.
They made their way to the owlery, where Draco sent the letter off with a tawny owl.
He turned to his fiance, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Where were we?" He asked, throatily.
She giggled, and bumped her nose against his.
"I believe you're in the owlery, Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Weasley." An eldery voice reminded them from the doorway. Draco and Ginny groaned.
It seemed to be their day for interruptions.
Ginny turned to see Dumbledore standing in the doorway, leaning on a walking cane. She frowned; he never used a cane.
They walked over to him, and Ginny looked up at the friendly headmaster with concern in her eyes. "Are you feeling well, headmaster?" She asked, placing a hand on his forearm.
Dumbledore smiled tiredly, the glimmer still in his eyes, but softer, faded, if possible.
"I'm aging, Miss Weasley... many wizards have tried to live forever, and though some have suceeded, I think that aging and death should be the one thing magic shouldn't interfere with." He said, gravely.
Ginny's eyes went wide. She'd never heard the headmaster speak of death, and especially not so easily, as if he wasn't worried.
"Are you going to die?" Draco asked, bluntly,but there was concern tainting his words. Every student had a soft spot for the headmaster - whether he or she wanted to admit it or not.
Dumbledore's eyes smiled. "Everyone dies, Mr. Malfoy." He said.
Draco frowned in concern. He took Ginny's hand and squeezed it.
The headmaster made his way over to a black owl, and tied a letter to it.
Draco began tugging Ginny out of the owlery, but she paused before leaving. "Headmaster, I hope you'll be all right." She said, smiling genuinely.
Dumbledore smiled.
...
Voldemort had teleported back to his hideout with a monstrous headache.
He collapsed on the ground, exhausted.
Lying face down, he contemplated the past events. Why hadn't he dueled Harry? Maybe it was because of the powerful bond their wands shared - perhaps he couldn't bear to face his past victims again.
But even Voldemort didn't really know why.
Something had told him that it wasn't the right time.
Voldemort drew himself up to a sitting position, and he slipped his mirror amulet off of his neck; and looked into it again.
He still saw a faint image of Harry and his friends, but suddenly, the image changed. Slowly, it oozed into an image of Tom Riddle, and Sartana Pince. They were behind a greenhouse, talking softly.
Voldemorts boney hands clutched the amulet with all his strength.
What was left of his heart now burned in pain, at the once happy memory. He stood up slowly, and then rushed to a window, and threw the mirror out, as far as it would go.
The mirror, and the image, plumetted to the ground beneath, shattering into thousands of pieces.
Part of Voldemort made him want to run downstairs and repair it, like last time, but he resisted with all his willpower.
What was he to do now? Both of his top Death Eaters had been taken - Wormtail was in Azkaban and Lucius was dead.
Voldemort looked at his hands. Somehow, some way, he'd figure out how to get what he wanted. But for now, all he wanted was to sleep.
He collapsed in his bed and slept.
...
Ron was in his bed, taking a nap so he didn't have to think about Ginny being pregnant, or his intensifying feelings for Lavender Brown, or Voldemort, or... you can understand. The boy was tired.
The door to the dorm room was opened with a creak - somehow the house elves never got around to oiling it - and Harry walked in.
He looked at his sleeping friend, fighting the urge to tell him Ginny's secret.
But he'd promised to Ginny, and Hermione made him swear again, afterwards. Flopping down on his bed, Harry tried not to think about anything, but he had alot on his mind.
Ron opened his eyes. "Harry, that you?" He asked, quietly, and Harry came to his side.
"Yeah." Harry said, trying to keep his responses to a minimum so he wouldn't slip.
Ron sighed heavily. "I think I really, really like Lavender." He confessed.
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"No. Really?" He asked, sarcastically.
Ron sneered at him.
"Yes. Oh, and by the way..." He said, casually.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"I know Gin's preggers." Ron finished, looking at the ceiling.
Harry's jaw fell open in shock.
"You do?? And you aren't furious?" He asked, gobsmacked.
Ron grimaced. "Of course I'm furious, what kind of a bloody git do you take me for? Malfoy's just knocked my blessed sister up, I'm boiling mad. I just... I don't know whether or not to be sure Mafloy's all right or not... you know?" He said.
"I suppose you have every right to be confused... but... Ginny really loves him. And Malfoy really loves her. Before you and Hermione showed up in Salazar's study, Ginny threw herself at Voldemort's feet, begging him to take her instead of Draco. If that isn't true love in it's purest form then I don't know what is." Harry said.
Ron sighed.
"I know. Truth be told, I do know that he's true to her, I just don't want to believe it... after all these years of him being this evil terrible person, suddenly he's Gin's soulmate. It's a big leap, Harry. It's a big leap. And then there's Mum and Dad...
"I don't know whether or not to tell them or wait until Ginny want's to tell them. If I tell them, Gin'll be pissed with me. But if I wait until she reveals it, Mum and Dad are gonna be pissed with me because I didn't tell them."
Ron finished venting, and huffed. "The worst thing is that now I've got these God damn complicated feelings about Lavender... Harry, Lavender Brown of all people!! And I don't know what to do... I have so much other shit going on, I don't know how I'm going to be a very good boyfriend... I don't think I can handle all of this." He confessed.
Harry sighed, this time. "Well... how about this. You tell Ginny that you know she's pregnant, and that you're a bit disappointed, but you're happy about being an uncle. Tell her the truth... about how at first you weren't so sure about Malfoy, but now you understand. Tell her about your parents.
"That way, she might tell them sooner, and the sooner she tells them, the less they can be angry at you. Then deal with the Lavender situation. I don't know what you mean about not being able to be a very good boyfriend. So you've got some emotional baggage - chicks dig that... I mean look at me and Hermione... or Draco and Ginny." Harry said, teasingly.
Ron snorted.
"Well, you're right about the order. I don't know about the emotional baggage shit, but I'll talk to Ginny as soon as possible." He said.
Harry grinned, and headed for his bed, needing a nap of his own.
"By the way." Ron called, from his bed.
"Thanks, mate." He said, and Harry smiled to himself.
...
a/n: ack, i thought id never get this chap out... i swear in the beginning i was sooo stuck. and then 2 days ago i had a writing spurt, but my comp crashed before i could save anything... i was so pissed that i didnt start again until yesterday.
anyways, thank you sooo much for hangin in there, waiting for my chapters to come out. i really appreciate reviews. flames are totally welcome, i think id rather have a flame than no review at all, honestly.
^_- jk, gimme reviews.
lol, so anyways, im off to start the next chapter. please review!
by the way, i did take the liberty of giving madame pince a first name. i thought pince - pinch. and then i thought crab. -_- i dunno. anyways, the hebrew word for crab is sartan.. (i take hebrew) so i added an a and voila... 'sartana'.
i need a life. can i get them on ebay?
"Thank the Lord in Heaven. All glory is due unto Him. Let's just praise God."
...
yeah... that's not goin in there. "oh, he's hott, he's funny, and he makes lots of moneeeeey, he's tom felton!!!" *hops off, singing*
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Draco and Ginny belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Bros and various other corporations. They are being used here without permission and/or affiliation with the above. None of the authors listed here make any profit from these stories.