Ginny awoke with the distinctive feeling of being exceedingly comfortable. It was odd, her sleep-addled brain thought, how one could wake up and her first thought would be, 'I'm warm; I'm comfortable. What's wrong?' Her mind was further convinced of the lack of 'rightness' when she suddenly realized she was without clothes. Further inspection revealed that an equally naked Draco Malfoy was lying next to her. Last night came back in startling clarity, and Ginny felt herself start to blush. Had she really been so deep in the moment, that she had actually asked Draco Malfoy for it? Her face burned again, but this time in shame. She couldn't believe it! Well, there was simply only one thing to do. She'd have to make her amends with Harry. There was no way around it. It didn't matter how many boring Quidditch details she had to listen to. She needed Harry as a weapon, a very powerful weapon against Draco Malfoy.

            'And,' her brain further reasoned, 'Harry needs to be happy; we need him to defeat Voldermort, and he can't very well concentrate on getting rid of You-Know-Who when he's so worried about Quidditch.' Her reasons were feeble, and she knew it, but that didn't stop her from using them.

            Beside her, Draco Malfoy stirred and woke up.

            "Morning love," he mumbled and sleepily wrapped his arms around her, pulling their forms together. "Last night was lovely," he continued into her ear. For her part, Ginny begged to differ. Sure, last night had felt good, but it hadn't been lovely. Lovely was being with someone you had feelings for, not being seduced into submission.

            Ginny made a non-committal noise and tried to delicately pull away from Draco, but Draco held fast, determined to keep his pet the way he liked her.

            "I can't believe you were really fighting with Potter," Draco said, easily running his hands across her slightly pregnant stomach. Ginny made the same noise and again tried to squirm away.

            "Stop," she said, "we're going to be late for breakfast if you keep that up." She would have simply pushed his hands off her body and gotten up, but she needed to make up with Harry sometime, which meant she needed Draco in a good mood. It was ironic; she wanted Harry back, so she could upset Draco, but to get Harry back, she had to pretend to be Draco's perfect little, "Malfoy wife." She hated hated acting complacent and obedient. It reminded her much too much of last August. She didn't care how many fights and bruises she had to put up with so long as she could remain herself. This was only for a day or two. She could do it!

            "We've got an hour before we need to be down to breakfast," Draco said and now his left hand joined his right on Ginny's body.

            Ginny closed her eyes and concentrated very hard on Professor Snape, Quidditch, flubberworms, and any number of disgusting or mundane things.

            "We can just use a few scougifys. I don't like doing that much either, but I'm willing to sacrifice."

            Draco's mouth was now paying attention to that spot on her neck and Ginny's thoughts were now sounding something like, 'FLUBERWORMS, Fluberworms, fluberwormmm...'

            "Stop," she managed aloud, "we'll be tired all day." Draco ignored her and plunged on. Ginny was mad. Her body was betraying her! How dare it enjoy pleasure at the hands of a monster? Ginny lay still under him, trying to reason her way into enjoying this. She was really quite helpless under him like this. He was heavier and stronger, and with both their wands locked up in his trunk, there was no way for her to defeat him. She was a victim, just as she was a victim when he was rough with her. She lay under him, hating herself for enjoying this, but satisfied that she was doing nothing to provoke it. It was as if Draco knew her thoughts though, because he wouldn't let either of them finish until she asked for it again. She did, but only under the pretence that she would be distracted the rest of the day if she didn't.

            Once he was finished, he ran a hand smoothly down her spine, but she lay motionless under it. She hated herself for enjoying that, and she hated Draco Malfoy for making her enjoy that.

            That morning, she was as pleasant as she could possibly be, and Draco lapped it right up.  Ginny was amazed at how easily Draco forgot that she'd shouted that she hated him at least two dozen times in the last few weeks.  It was really quite sad.

            'Pathetic little git, aren't you?' she thought as they walked down to breakfast arm in arm.

            Draco looked at Ginny.  Was it true?  Was she finally coming around?  Is this what getting rid of Potter did to her?  She'd given herself to him twice, twice in twenty-four hours!

            Breakfast was a surprisingly enjoyable affair despite the fact that she had to pretend to be complete infatuated with Draco.  She was desperately trying to keep the conversation on house points.  Slytherin and Gryffindor were neck and neck for the lead and what she was planning would require Draco to remember just that.  Not only did this mean that her mind was constantly working, but it also meant that she didn't have to listen to any of Pansy's drivel about robes and color motifs.

            "Well ever since I've been married to Draco," she said, with a self-forced smile at Draco, "I've found that the teachers are taking more and more points from Gryffindor for minor infringements, and I never get the benefit of the doubt."  Ginny had been sitting at the Slytherin table long enough and heard enough anti-Gryffindor sentiment to know exactly what buttons to push.

            "Well that's the classic house prejudice for you right there!"  Elizabeth Avery shot.

            "Too true," her brother agreed.  "We're right up there with Gryffindor for house points, and no one's willing to let precious Potter lose a point today men," it never ceased to irk Ginny how, at the Slytherin table, the 'men' always addressed one another as if the 'ladies' weren't present, "we're just going to have to be on our best behavior and not do anything wrong."

            There was a silence at the table and Ginny didn't quite know what to do, but she was saved from wondering when Pansy Parkinson burst into giggles and the rest of the table followed suit.  Ginny, of course, found herself laughing with them.

            "But seriously," Edward Avery said wiping tears away from his eyes, "let's just all be on time to classes today, and don't do anything that can get us caught."

            "It's a shame we don't have Potions," Draco blurted out, "I mean, Snape's the only teacher left who will take points away from Potter."

            Ginny wanted to disagree but found herself unable.  It was untrue.  Hermione had told her that Harry had lost ten points in Transfiguration when he fell asleep and snorted loudly.  Although… on the other side of the coin, if Draco had fallen asleep in Transfiguration, he would have lost at least thirty points.

            "I suppose Snape will just have ample reason to take points from Potter come Thursday," Elizabeth said with a sly grin.

            Ginny was surprised the conversation had gone so well.  They had said everything she hoped they would and all she had needed to do was bring up house points!

            Once they were leaving, Ginny waited until she saw which way the trio was going and hit her head.

            "Oi!  I forgot my Transfiguration text!" Ginny said,  "Draco, won't you come back to our room with me to get it?"

            Draco hesitated, and Ginny could see the wheels turning in his head.

           'Well,' he thought, 'I'll be late to Care of Magical creatures if I don't leave right now, and That Great Oaf would just love to subtract points from Slytherin.  She's been really good lately and she wouldn't have time to do anything besides go back to the room if she wanted to be on time to Charms.  If she's late, she'll lose points and I'll see that on the hourglass.  Of course, if she already has the book with her, then she has a good ten minutes to lollygag around with that mudblood." Draco hesitated for a second longer before saying, "why don't you let me take a look in your bag and see if I can find it, honey?"

            Ginny nodded and handed Draco the bag.  She didn't bother being nervous about whether or not he'd find the book.  The lovely (and illegal) thing about her new bag was that it repaired itself automatically.  All Ginny had had to do was rip a seam and stuff the book in the lining.  Draco hastily pulled out all of her books and made sure she didn't have the Transfiguration book.  She didn't; Draco was pleased to see.

            "Grab your book and go straight to Charms," Draco commanded, handing her her bag.

            Ginny nodded and jetted off in the direction of their room, but veered at once in the direction of Gryffindor tower.  She caught up to them in a mercifully abandoned corridor and started talking.

            "Meet me in my room tonight Harry; we need to talk."

            "Can't. Quidditch," he replied.

            Ginny let out a curse word under her breath but replied, 'fine, tomorrow then." Harry nodded and Ginny dashed to charms, making it in just before the bell rang.

~

            "I'm going to Quiddtich practice dear," Draco said that Thursday evening.  Ginny nodded but didn't look up from the book she was reading.  All in all, it was a good thing that Harry hadn't been able to come last night because Draco hadn't left.  She'd become so used to not having Draco there at night that it hadn't so much as occurred to her that he wouldn't be leaving now that he thought she was devoted again.  She hated acting like this; it felt so horrible to let Draco touch her, to enjoy Draco touching her.  Every ounce of her skin got goose bumps when she even thought of it.  There was simply no argument against it; Harry needed to come back to her.  Once he was back, she would have her weapon again.  He'd provide the means to making Draco hate her once more.

            "Bye Luv," she muttered, turning the page.  Draco walked up and kissed her on the cheek then left, closing the still charmed door behind him.

            It was a whole hour before Harry appeared at her door.  She was just growing slightly annoyed thinking that he had stood her up when the door swung open to reveal none other than Harry himself.

            "Ginny?" he said, "Ginny are you okay?  You seemed really worried yesterday."

            "I'm fine, I just had to talk to you and then get to Charms on time," Ginny said casually, setting down her book.

            "Oh," Harry said, sitting carefully down next to her, "Er—right, so do you think you want to er—talk, maybe?"

            "Right, talk," Ginny said and opened her mouth to launch into her carefully prepared speech, "listen Harry, I'm sorry that you were going through all that, and I should have listened, but I was stressed and only thinking of myself at the time.  I hate Malfoy and I've always sort of had you, or the idea of you, to hold me up through that, so when I felt like you weren't going to be there, I felt sort of lost; you know?  And then when you came and saw me again a few nights ago, I was still really annoyed with you and Malfoy and I didn't want you to come in and muddle up my emotions any more than they already were.  I'm sorry I acted the way I did and I'd still really like to be together, if we can."

            Harry, who had listened intently through her whole speech nodded and took a deep breath, "Ginny, I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have brushed off Malfoy, but I was hurt that you just acted like all I was going through was nothing, when I've sat here and listened to all you've had to say tons of times."

            "I know—I just—can't stand him," Ginny said with a shudder, "but tell me about the stuff that's going on with you."  Harry started talking and Ginny repressed a sigh and readied herself to listen to Harry's 'problems.'

~

            Quidditch practice was not going as planned.  It was raining and cold and Draco finally decided to call off practice after he'd managed to miss the snitch twice in a row and couldn't stand another embarrassment of the sort.  He trudged up to the room, cold, wet and constantly brushing his blonde hair out of his face.  He barely noticed that the door was cracked open a tiny bit, but when he reached for the knob he heard Ginny's voice.

            "I hate him," he heard.  Draco rolled his eyes. 'Silly girl talking to herself about Potter,' he thought.

            "I don't blame you sweety," another voice said.  Draco stopped dead when he realized exactly whose voice it was--Potter's, and he was using a term of endearment. He felt a hot rage coming over him.  What had happened to their fight?  Why on earth was Ginny allowing Potter to call her 'sweety?'

           'She must be leading him on!' his mind told him. 'Just watch her.  She'll tell him off!'  Moving closer to the crack in the door he found his wife laying on the bed with Potter, his arm draped around her middle, and she was pillowing her head on his chest.  He felt his stomach give a sickening jolt, but still managed to convince himself that Ginny was playing Potter.

            "Let's pretend, just for a bit, that there is no Draco, no war, no You-know-Who--"

            "Pretend it's just us, alone on this bed without a care in the world?" Potter interrupted her.

            "Exactly." Draco watched Ginny snuggle even closer to Potter and his blood began to boil. '

           She's leading him along… she's leading him along…' he allowed his brain to chant the mantra.

            "So let's say I gave this to you." Potter held up Ginny's left hand to display her wedding ring.  They wedding ring he, Draco, had given to Ginny, not Potter!

            "And this is yours," Ginny said and moved Potter's hand down to her swelling belly.

            "Oh can I name him?" Harry asked earnestly

            "Of course," Ginny said.           

            "Well," Potter hesitated, "I'm not good with this, what do you like?"

            "Me?  I'm fond of the name Joshua." Ginny chirped.

            "I like it.  So Joshua James Potter it is?"

            "Sounds marvelous." Ginny cooed before moving in to kiss Potter right on the lips.  He heard Potter groan and saw him slip his hand up her shirt to rest on her back.  An untamable rage began to build in Draco.  How dare Potter kiss his wife?  How dare that little whore lie in bed with Potter like she used to do with him and show complete dedication?  It was only then that he couldn't deny it anymore.  Ginny wasn't leading Potter along.  She was with him again!  He hated her.  He loathed the whore.  With a sudden rush of adrenaline Draco flung open the door, sending it crashing into the opposite wall.  Ginny and Potter practically flew apart.

            "Get out!" he seethed to Harry.

            "No," Harry stammered.

            "Get out of my room right now!" he yelled, almost hoping that Potter would refuse again so he could punch him; It'd feel so good to feel Potter's nose breaking under his fist.  He cracked his knuckles, picturing them connecting with Potter's glasses.

            "Promise you won't hurt her," Potter said evenly.

            Leave it to Potter to be reasonable the one time he was hoping he'd be a nosy bastard.

            "I don't think that it is any of your business what I do to my little whore of a wife." He cast a look at Ginny who recoiled slightly.  'Come on.  Defend her.  Give me a reason to pound your face into a bloody pulp.'

            "I think it's plenty of my business if you're going to hurt her."

            "I won't touch her Potter.  She is carrying my child after all."  Perhaps, if he kept tormenting him, Potter would lunge at him first.

            Harry studied Draco, as if to check to see if he was lying before pulling the invisibility cloak on and leaving.  Draco waited placidly until Harry's footsteps had faded from earshot before slamming the door violently with a wave of his wand.  Ginny let out a petrified little scream.

            "You should scream; you dirty little whore!  How dare you so much as think of cheating on me?  When I get through with you you'll wish you were dead Virginia.  I'm sending you straight home!"

            "We didn't do anything!" she protested.

            "Didn't do anything my arse!  I saw you lying on the bed with him acting like you were married to him," he paused. "You're married to me!" he yelled in case she needed reminding.

            "Don't you get it!" she yelled, "I hate you! I hate everything about you!  I hate the way you breathe, the way you stand, the way you walk, talk and act.  I always have and I always will.  I want nothing to do with you.  I hate you!  I hate you! I hate you!" Ginny screamed at the top of her lungs.  Draco tried not to let the hurt show on his face. 

            "You little whore!" he shouted.  "I don't care how much you hate me.  We're married you pathetic red-haired pauper.  You promised to obey me, and you will obey me when I tell you to stay the hell away from Potter.  And if you won't obey me, you'll spend your time at home, locked in a cell until you learn to obey me!"

            "You just want to see me miserable.  It's your own stupid ego that wants to keep me away from Harry.  You don't care for me at all.  If you really cared about me, instead of your own stupid pathetic ego you wouldn't be threatening me, your wife, with such a horrible fate!"

            "How could I care for a little whore who sleeps around?"

            "I haven't slept with Harry!" she countered, "I'm still too traumatized by your fumbling antics to even think about sleep around."

            "You seemed to enjoy it at the time."

            "Only because it was the only way to get away from you.  We've covered this.  I hate you!  I hated you at that time.  Every time you touched me I felt like bathing for hours."

            She had crossed the line.  "Why you little—" he said advancing on her and grabbing her forearm.

          "Try it," she said, "Harry spilled the last of the bruise Potion when we got into our fight."

           Draco eyes narrowed.  "Did he now?  But you know I'm a Death Eater.  The Cruciatus curse doesn't leave any bruises does it?"  He smiled when he saw the smug look fall from her face and morph into one of absolute fear.  "That's what I thought."

            "You wouldn't," she said slowly trying to wrench her arm from his grasp, "the baby," she continued in disbelief.

            Draco, who had no actual intention of doing the curse, raised his wand.  With a final wrench, Ginny pulled her arm from him and sprinted from the room.  She fled as fast as her feet would carry her.

            Draco smiled and put his wand back into his robes.  He listened to Ginny's attempt at hurrying footsteps. That would teach The Whore to stay away from Potter and to mind him.

            Ginny was frantically trying to put as much distance as possible between Draco and her.  She hadn't had such an urge to flee since that night in August.  Desperate to get away, she hastily turned down a staircase and began to sprint down it without minding her feet, but halfway down her foot got caught in the hem of her nightgown and she tripped.  She gave a scream and then she and her baby fell down a dozen steps.

            Draco stopped smiling when he heard the sound of a female scream followed by the sound of a human body thumping down a number of steps.  He didn't have time to feel spiteful; no, his stomach dropped and he was running down Hogwart's halls to find Ginny.  His heart was pounding in his chest.  What if she was dead? He found her at the bottom of a rather long staircase holding her stomach.  He let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.  She was alive!

            "Are you okay?" he asked running down the stairs and kneeling by her.

            "Do I look okay?" she seethed. 

            "Why'd you run away? You're bleeding," Draco said, his rush of caring easily forgotten when he remembered how nasty Ginny really could be.  Perhaps it would have been better if she had died.

            "I need to go to the hospital wing," she said, unsuccessfully trying to stand up.  Draco watched her try numerous times before she finally got frustrated enough to hiss, "Well help me up you moron!"  Draco briefly considered leaving her there, figuring that if she was well enough to insult him, she was damn well enough to find her own way to the hospital wing, but she was bleeding, and he had been brought up to never leave a lady in trouble.  So with a grunt, he scooped her into his arms and started towards the hospital wing.  He smiled in spite of Ginny's pain; she was so dependent again.  Perhaps this nasty fall would teach her not to mess with Draco Thomas Malfoy.

            Ginny hated being in Draco's arms.  She had the most distinct feeling he got some sort of perverse pleasure out of carrying her.  Had she been able to walk, she would have bolted from his arms, but she didn't.  The blood wasn't coming from any open wound; it was coming from deep within.  She had a sinking feeling she had lost her baby.

            Draco set Ginny down on an empty bed and knocked rapidly on Madame Pomfrey's office door.

            "Mr. Malfoy!" Madame Pomfrey said when she appeared in the doorway wearing a dressing robe.

            "My wife," Draco drawled, "she was going to the bathroom and she tripped."

            "Mrs. Malfoy!" Madame Pomprhey said alarmed when she saw Ginny in the bed, blood covering her robes.  Ginny scowled, she didn't think she would ever get used to being called Mrs. Malfoy.

            "Get to bed Mr. Malfoy."  Madame Pomfrey commanded.  "I'll deal with your wife.  You may visit her in the morning."

            Draco walked calmly to his room, but he was a little worried now.  Madame Pomfrey was infamous for shooing visiting students away but every time he'd seen a student to the hospital wing in the past, Madame Pomfrey had acted as though the student was complaining of nothing, whether it was a head cold or a head injury.  Was his Ginny in trouble?  What's more, was the baby in trouble?  He didn't want to admit it to anyone, even himself, but he had nothing but high hopes in that baby.  What if it was gone?  Was it his fault?  Ginny was the one who ran, but she wouldn't have if…

            A nasty feeling began to stir in his stomach.  It felt like someone was reaching inside with ice-cold fingers and twisting his stomach until he felt that he might be sick.  Draco returned to his room and slept alone in their bed.  The small bed had never felt so empty before.

            "Mrs. Malfoy," Madame Pomfrey said as she hovered over Ginny, "what happened that would cause you to go tromping around in the middle of the night?"

            "I had to go to the bathroom," she found the Contract forcing her to say, when she wanted to yell, 'he was threatening to curse me!'

            The nurse made a sound like she didn't believe that for a second, but blessed Madame Pomfrey never asked questions.

            "Drink this," she said pouring a particularly foul- tasting potion down her throat.

            "This is a very critical night for you," Madame Pomfrey said and handed her a goblet of dreamless sleep potions.  In seconds, Mrs. Malfoy was out like a light.

            Ginny awoke the next day to Madam Pomfrey's face hovering uncomfortably close to hers.

            "Why didn't you tell anyone you were pregnant?" she asked immediately.

            "Pregnant?  I'm pregnant?  I didn't know," she found herself saying.

            "Come now Miss. Weasley, you were four months along."

            "Draco says I'm under a Confundus Charm from August, maybe that's it."

            Madame Pomfrey made a non-committal noise before handing her another goblet and commanding her to drink it.

            "Well, am I still?" Ginny asked quietly, fearing the answer.

            Madam Pomfrey regarded her for a second, but her stern gaze softened and she answered quietly in return.

            "No Mrs. Malfoy, I'm afraid you are not."

            Ginny nodded.  Of course she'd known last night that there was no hope of saving the child, but this was a definite no.  There would be no Joshua, or Thomas.  There'd be no little bundle to cradle in her arms or show off to friends and family.  The worst thing was that she couldn't even show how upset she was.  How could she be upset over a baby she didn't know about until thirty seconds ago?

            "I'll leave you alone." Madame Pomfrey said, somehow sensing that she needed solitude.  The instant she heard the click of the door shutting Ginny broke, and a flood of tears came rushing down.  Angrily, she wiped them away.  She'd promised herself she wouldn't cry anymore.  But this was a different sort of grief.  She was mourning a lost life now.

~

           Draco was sitting in double Potions class the next day not paying any particular attention to Snape.  Snape still needed him to put in a good word with his Father, and that's all that mattered to Draco.  He was slightly worried about Ginny; his father would never forgive either of them if she lost that baby.

            "Mr. Malfoy!" he heard Snape call sharply.

            "Huh," he said snapping out of his stupor and causing the Gryffindors to laugh.  The Slytherins, however, knew better.

            "Someone is here to see you," he said nodding to the door.  Draco looked to see Madame Pomfrey standing there with Weasley. He got up and followed Madame Pomfrey's lead towards the door.

            Harry watched Madame Pomfrey lead Ron and Malfoy away.  There was only one person who could be in hospital wing if Madame Pomfrey wanted to talk to those two particular people; it was Ginny, and Harry knew exactly what or rather who put her there.

            Ron knew what this was about, too.  Harry had come up late to the dorm and had quietly told him what had happened.  He didn't particularly like hearing about Harry and Ginny being romantically involved, but Ginny was so miserable with Draco that he supposed Harry was the lesser of two evils.

            Madame Pomfrey started telling them why they were pulled out of potions class as she led them up to the hospital wing. "I'm afraid I have some news for the two of you," she paused and regarded each of them somberly; "Mrs. Malfoy lost the child last night." It struck Draco that Madame Pomfrey acted as if they both knew about Thomas.  Wouldn't the contract have forbidden Ginny to tell Madame Pomfrey she was pregnant?

            "Is Ginny okay?" Ron jumped in.  Draco scowled, leave it to Weasley to not even think about the baby.

            "Your sister is fine Mr. Weasley."

            "Mr. Malfoy, perhaps you want to go in and visit with her.  I'm sure she needs you.  Mr. Weasley, why don't you wait a bit and give Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy some time alone?"  Ron nodded and Draco entered the hospital wing.  He was tempted to tell Madam Pomfrey that he was the last person Mrs. Malfoy would want to see at the moment but held his tongue; he didn't think his father would be too fond of the idea.  He found Ginny sitting up, the curtains pulled around her bed, staring blankly into space.

            "Hi," he said, interrupting her thoughts and causing her to jump.

            "Hello," she said coldly.

            "Well you got your wish, the baby is gone.  I know you've been trying to make the best out of it lately, but you never really wanted this child in the beginning."

            She snorted indignantly, "got my wish, huh?"

            "Well you made it quite clear you wanted to get rid of the child back in November."

            "Back in November I wanted nothing to do with you!" she hissed turning towards him. "Now I'm stuck, married to you, and I don't even have a baby to show for it."

            "So we're going to have to get you pregnant again," he said, a smiling curling on his lips at the idea.

            "I'm sure there are spells where you don't actually have to do anything."

            Draco shrugged; he'd let her believe that if she really wanted to. 

            "You know you could at least apologize," she carried on when he didn't reply to her statement.

            "Me?  What did I do?  You're the one who ran down that staircase like an idiot!"  The same sickening feeling from last night began to stir in his stomach at Ginny's words and he tried to shove it down again.

            "You were the one threatening to curse me!" she countered, "I was trying to save an unborn child from its father."

            Draco felt bile begin to rise in his throat.

            "Good job with that," he snorted immediately defensive.  "You know if you weren't such a whore sleeping with Potter—"

            "I did not sleep with Harry," she hissed again. "I've done nothing with Harry except a little kissing."

            Although Draco felt the smallest bit of relief at the news, he still cringed at the idea of .

            "Well at some point we're going to have to have children."  Draco bit back, trying to remind her whose wife she was.

            "There are spells—"

            "No there are not.  Trust me." Draco knew no such thing for sure, but for some reason, the thought of impregnating Ginny using some spell made him rather upset.

            "Hermione has mentioned something about Muggle methods," she mumbled.  Draco ignored her; there was no way he was using any sort of Muggle method to get her pregnant either, but he didn't feel like having a row right now.  In fact, seeing Ginny all upset about the baby was making that sickening feeling in his gut much worse.  He wanted out of the hospital wing right now.  He didn't want to see her sitting there, looking worse than she had even on their wedding night.  The bile started to rise in his throat again.

            "Your brother is waiting outside," Draco choked out, hoping she would ask him to leave her alone.

            "Good.  Leave, and tell him I need to speak to him."

            Draco allowed Ginny to order him around on account that he was too sick to even notice she was doing it.  Any moment now he was going to be literally sick and he had no intentions of doing it where Ginny could see him.  Thus, he could only manage a nod and, leaving the confines of Ginny's curtained cubicle, he saw Ron and told him that Ginny wished to speak with him.

            He turned down an empty corridor to head back to his room, only to come face to face with Harry Potter.  Ugh, he didn't feel like seeing Potter right now either.

            Wands forgotten, Harry shoved Draco Malfoy up against the wall.

            "What did you do to her?" he seethed through a clench jaw, as if opening it any further would result in a certain unforgivable curse slipping out.

            "I didn't touch her Potter," Draco replied, and although he would have liked nothing more than to see Potter walking through the halls covered in sick, he had no such desire to be the one to actually throw-up on Potter.

            "Bullshit!" Harry countered.  "You expect me to believe that you found her lying in bed with another man, threatened her and she just happens to be in the hospital wing the next morning?"

            Draco only nodded, scared that if he opened his mouth he'd throw-up.

            "How is the baby?  Did you hurt that, too? Have you already started abusing your unborn baby along with your wife?"

            Draco lost it.  He grabbed Harry and using all the strength he could, turned them around so Harry was the one slammed up against the wall.

            "I didn't touch her.  I didn't kill that baby.  None of this would have happened if you had kept your mitts off my wife," Draco breathed.  This wasn't his fault!  It couldn't be his fault!

            "If you weren't so cold- hearted and evil perhaps your wife could keep her mitts of me!" Harry responded venomously.

            "Oh she'll keep away from you Potter," Draco said before letting Harry go and running away.  Harry straightened his robes and walked towards the hospital wing, never having noticed the stray hairs Draco had pulled off his robes.

~

            Draco ran to the nearest bathroom and threw-up.  What possessed him to act like this?  He rested his chin on the cool porcelain of the toilet and closed his eyes.  It wasn't his fault.  It was Ginny's fault.  She shouldn't have been with Potter.  She shouldn't have run away!  Not his fault!  Not his fault…

~

            "Harry!" Ginny squealed when he walked through her curtains.

            "Hey sweety," he said quietly.  "Are you okay?"

            "I'll be fine... but the baby—" she stopped; tears were choking her voice.

            "Aww sweety," he took her hand and started lightly stroking her hand with his thumb.

            "I'll leave you two alone," Ron said.

            "Come back later, won't you Ron?"

            "Of course.  I know you two just need a few moments when no one will notice Harry is here."

            Ginny nodded, and Ron left.

            "Did Draco hit you Ginny?  I'll kill him if he did.  Me, Ron and Hermione will."

            Ginny shook her head, "no Harry, he didn't hit me.  After you left we got into a row. He threatened to curse me and while I was running away I tripped and fell down the staircase.  I don't know for sure but I'm willing to bet that it was that potion Mr. Malfoy put on my baby that really killed him.  I reckon the baby wasn't able to deal with the impact of the fall at all and died."

            "Oh Gin.  It's all my fault!  If I had stayed, or maybe if I hadn't come at all last night, you'd still have little Joshua right now."

            "It's not your fault Harry.  It's all Draco's.  None of this would have happened if it wasn't for him."

            The teens chatted through the lunch hour until Madame Pomfrey shooed Harry away and he was forced to spend afternoon classes with his stomach rumbling in a combination of worry and hunger.

~

            Long after supper had adjourned, and the majority of the students were in their dormitories, Draco Malfoy could be found searching through his trunk for a vial he'd been saving for a long time.  It didn't take him long to find it and, he shook the potion it contained to make sure it was still good before adding the final ingredient—Harry's hair.  He smiled thinking of his plan.  The baby dying was Harry and Ginny's fault.  It always had been; he'd been so stupid to even consider for a second he played a part in it!  Now they would suffer.  He would take Potter away from Ginny forever and Ginny away from Potter.  His plan was simple enough really.  He would go to the hospital wing as Potter, tell Ginny it was over and to never speak to him again and then leave.  If he had any luck, not only would it keep Potter away from Ginny, it would essentially end any friendship between her brother and Potter.  The mud-blood would most certainly side with Weasley as she was also Ginny's friend.  Harry would be left alienated and without any friends. The potion changed a violent shade of Gryffindor scarlet, causing Draco to mutter, 'figures,' before he downed the vial's contents in one gulp. It tasted horrible and the pain that followed was even worse. It was all worth it, however, when he looked in the mirror and saw Harry Potter, scar and all staring back at him.  He raised his hand, so did Harry.  He pulled, or at least attempted to pull, his fingers through the gravity defying black hair, so did Harry.  Without wasting anymore time he transfigured his tie into Gryffindor colors, and set off towards the Hospital wing.

            Ginny was in a light sleep when she felt a hand on her arm gently shaking her.

            "Harry!" she exclaimed when she saw him.  There were very few times Draco could remember Ginny looking at him with that smile, and none of them were in the last six months.  He was intrigued.  Maybe a little chat would be fine.  It would, after all, only make the break-up that much harsher.

            "Hi sweety," he said after a second, using the pet name he had heard him call her the previous night.

            "Well don't just stand there!" she commanded holding up the sheets.  "Climb in and keep a married women warm."  Draco felt his blood begin to boil but forced himself to let it go.  Instead, when Ginny giggled a second later, he chuckled along with her and climbed in next to her.

            Draco lay down besides Ginny and she immediately snuggled up next to him.  It was a stance they had adopted many times during that fateful August, but Draco hadn't realized until now how much he'd really missed it.

            "Mmmm," Draco said, inhaling the scent of her hair, "I wish we could stay like this forever."

            Ginny weaseled one small, smooth, delicate leg in between his before replying, "wouldn't it be nice?"  There was a silence where Draco enjoyed having Ginny in his arms, and Ginny enjoyed being in Harry's.  This felt so right.  Ginny was where she belonged.  He ran his hands through her hair, reveling in the fact that Ginny wasn't unconscious when he was doing it.

           "I love you so much," she said.

            "I love you too, Virginia."  Draco said, but the words felt foreign.  He'd never said them before, or had anyone say them to him for that matter.

            "Virginia?"  Ginny said indignantly. "Don't call me Virginia.  Only Draco calls me Virginia.  I detest the name Virginia!"

                "So er--tell me about your studies," Draco said, having no idea how to keep up a casual conversation with her.  'Tell me about your studies' sounded sort of…Potter-ish.

            "Oh, they're just fine.  You know how I've become much more fond of Potions lately?  Well Snape is letting me work on a hard one because I've finished all that the sixth years are supposed to for the month.  Isn't that cool?"  she said, looking up at him with big brown eyes.  He swallowed and pulled her a little closer.  This felt so good!

            "Hello?"  Ginny said when Draco didn't answer.

             "What?" he asked, snapping back to reality.

             "I asked if you thought it was cool that I got to go ahead in Potions,"

           Draco laughed; he had never been fond of Snape. "If being around Snape is what you would call cool then I suppose so," he replied once he'd heard her question right.

            "I don't like Snape, I like Potions. There is a difference.  A subtle one, but it's there," Ginny said as she ran her freckled fingers through his hair.  He closed his eyes to enjoy her simple touch.  "I suppose so," he barely remembered to reply as he returned the favor and wove his hands through her hair again.

            "So tell me about how things are going with your studies," she said smiling up at him.

            "Oh the usual, everything is rather boring really," Draco replied honestly.  He'd been spending so much time in the library lately that classes had become a breeze now.

            "Surely you're worried about NEWTs," she said indignantly

            "They're a long way off," he replied truthfully, moving his hand from her hair to run it up her thigh.  Finally things were right.  His wife was here, with him, in bed, having a nice quiet discussion that didn't involve yelling or screaming.  Everything was perfect!

            "Funny," she said stifling a yawn, "that's not what you said last week."

            'Last week?' thought Draco. 'We've never discussed—'

            "Harry," Ginny said interrupting his thoughts, "Don't you think its time you go back to bed.  I'm getting mighty sleepy and as much as I hate to see you go the last thing we need is for You Know Who to find us in bed together."

            "Why would the Dark Lord find—"

            Ginny snorted, "Not that You Know Who, Silly.  Draco.  I hate him so much I don't even want to speak his name."

            It was as if he'd been flying and someone had suddenly pulled him straight off the broom.  The little whore!  How dare she say that?  She's just said she loved him!  'no,' his mind corrected, 'she told Potter she loved him, and she's just told Potter she hates you!'

            "Alright, alright," Draco said trying not to tighten his grip on her in anger.

            "Well can't I give you a kiss goodbye?" he asked hopefully, trying to keep himself from rolling on top of her and making her kiss him.

            "Of course," she said, and before Draco could blink her warm lips were on his, pressing urgently against him.  He responded immediately even though it felt odd to have Ginny being the one instigating things.  He'd forgotten how much he loved the feeling of her in his arms with her lips pressing up against his.

            "Bye," he mumbled as he pulled himself off the bed.

            "Night," she responded.   "I love you Harry Potter," she murmured as Draco was walking away.  Draco clutched his fist.  He hated the whore.  He hated her.

            It wasn't until Draco was lying alone in his and Ginny's bed that he noticed he'd failed to do what he'd taken the potion to do.  Oh well.  He could always send home for more.

A/N:  Sorry it took so long to update, but school has started up again and I'm in for a hard year!  If you'd like to be added to the e-mail update list, leave your e-mail address in your review.