"…ninety-nine," Draco exhaled as he did his final pushup. "One-hundred." There wasn't much to do in his cell. The few books Greg had bought him had already been read from cover to cover. He could read his son's letters, but the grief seeping through each owl recieved, made him more depressed. Draco hated that. What was there to do but try and keep his body fit? He had to take care of himself, for Ginny and Alex's sake. It helped keep him sane. Jogging in his cell became part of his normal routine, as were his daily pushups and situps. Draco had to laugh at the irony of it all. Here he was resorting to Muggle methods to stay in shape, when he would do anything at all for a sweaty game of Quidditch. He would even be content to allow Potter to catch the Snitch.
Draco wiped the sweat from his forehead, as he lay onto his back and began his situps. As he did his final set of exercises, he had almost been able to forget the pain Ginny and Alex were going through. But otherwise, in spite of everything that had occurred, he had moments of joy and peace. He smiled slightly, as he raised himself to do his last situp, remembering and relishing the moments when Ginny had been in his arms. Draco could still feel the sweet weight of Ginny curled on top of him, and the warmth of her body. He could remember her soft breathing and the intensity of their lovemaking.
Draco thought it was death he feared. Funny, but the possibility of receiving the Dementor's Kiss no longer filled him with dread. The fear that broke into his sleep and crept around the edges of his mind during his waking hours was far worse. Being separated forever from the woman he loved and the son he might never see grow into a man was a fate more frightening.
But that wouldn't happen. Draco shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts. Was he not a Malfoy? Things had to work out in his favor. They just had to. He would be leaving Azkaban soon and would be the father Lucius was not. One day soon, he would marry Ginny. She may have said no, but her eyes told him yes.
Draco turned his head slightly, the sound of footsteps growing nearer drawing him out of his daydreams. "Harrison?" Draco asked trying to keep his voice steady, knowing that his shift had been over hours ago.
Warden Thompson stood outside his cell, two burly guards on each side. "You have a visitor, Malfoy."
Draco couldn't help the sudden surge of excitement. It had to be Ginny. "Has Miss Weasley returned?" It was almost too good to be true.
And it was.
Draco didn't expect the Warden's wand thrust into his face. He backed away, tensing against the ordeal to come. The last words to leave his lips were Ginny, as the Crucio curse was thrown at him again and again.
He tried to sit up as the curse wore off, his body bloody and bruised when the cell door was thrust open. Two guards rushed towards him . One bound him while the other covered Draco's face with his own pillowcase.
"You can't even do a proper blinding spell, can you!" Draco screamed through the sheet, trying not to suffocate, as the guards dragged him down the corridor. .
He felt as his body was being thrown inside another room; the hard crunch of his torso against the wall, signaling that yet another bone had been broken. "Where's Ginny?" Draco yelled. "She won't let you get away with this!"
Draco gasped for air as the pillowcase was ripped from his face. An Auror whose badge read Addison, stood over him. "Who the hell are you? You goddamn prick! I'm not to be harmed. Minister Weasley's orders!"
"The orders have changed," came the soft reply. Draco turned his head, taken aback to see a familiar shade of red.
"This is for Luna and Ginny."
The last thing Draco saw before collapsing was the heel of Ron Weasley's boot as it came smashing down upon his face.
*****
A burden seemed to lift off Ginny's shoulders as she sat in her chambers surrounded by Hermione and Harry, her mother and Alex. Her son took the news of her pregnancy better than expected. Had she really any doubt? He would be a great brother and a tremendous help to her.
Alex was already hard at work furiously magicking a pair of kneedles to knit a pair of pink booties. The sight alone brought a small smile to Ginny's face. A Malfoy male knitting? Lucius was probably rolling over in his grave. The fact alone brought Ginny amusement. So alike in look to the Malfoys, yet so different in temperament. Then again, none of the Weasley males ever did a minute of what they would call witch's work. Her brothers would pile their ripped sweaters and socks full of holes at her bedroom door when she was younger .
It was beneath a wizard to do such feminine work, her brothers would say. Absolute rubbish, Ginny had thought. Men were just a lazy lot, except of course for her son and the man who defeated Voldemort. Harry Potter was giving Alex tips on the finer points of knitting, both Muggle and magic.
"My Aunt Petunia made me mend Dudley's socks. What do you think I did all those days and nights in the cupboard under the stairs?" Harry offered up as an excuse to his prowess in the textile arts. "In fact," he added quietly to ensure only Alex and Ginny could hear, "My wife still makes me sew. You'd think that the smartest witch in a century could manage some decent household spells."
Hermione who had been engrossed in the latest Wizarding Baby Magazine with Molly and Ginny looked up immediately, "What was that Harry?"
Ginny and Alex shared a laugh over Harry's current predicament. "Oh, nothing dear. Nothing at all."
A knock at the door interrupted their laughter.
"It's me Miss Weasley," a very out of breath Head Girl, Lisa Mcdougal managed to say.
Ginny answered the door, the Head Girl handed over two scrolls. One addressed to Hermione and Harry, the other addressed to her.
"Auror Weasley's owl. The poor creature was almost at death's doorstop. He must have flown nonstop. Must be important."
"Thank you Lisa," Ginny said waving the girl away. She handed Hermione and Harry their scroll, waiting to see the expression on her friend's faces before opening hers. A small cap fell out, a Portkey.
"Ron wants me and Hermione to meet him in Azkaban."
"What for?" Alex asked. "Can I come?"
"Just some paperwork we have to help your uncle out with," Hermione quickly added. It was a lie, and Ginny knew it. From the look on her face, Ginny knew whatever was written on the scroll didn't bode well.
She slowly unrolled her own parchment. It simply read:
Alex must not leave Hogwarts. He must not go into town. Do not let him read the Daily Prophet.
Ron
"What does it say, Mum?" Alex inquired, eyeing the piece of parchment suspiciously.
Ginny conjured up her most convincing smile, " Your Uncle Ron sends his love and your father says the same."
****
"Dementor's Kiss now!"
Draco awoke with a start. He rubbed his tired eyes trying to orient himself to his surroundings. Hadn't he just met the wrath of Ronald Weasley moments before? Or was it hours before? Where was he?
He searched the darkened room, now becoming increasingly familiar. Draco had been in this room that dreaded morning when Alex had almost been taken away from him. He was in Azkaban's sick bay. He absently picked up a cup of tea on a tray set beside his bed. It was filled with an assortment of jellies and biscuits. First he was kicked, now he was being fed. What was going on?
"Dementor's Kiss now!" came the flood of voices. He glanced out the barred windows amazed to see what looked like hundreds of people beyond the gates of Azkaban. Glowing letters were magicked into the night sky. Their message couldn't be any more clear. They all wanted him dead.
Eerie fireworks exploded their words into the night sky. Bring us Draco Malfoy!
Draco almost jumped when a familiar voice reached his ears, "I'll soundproof the room."
Draco didn't bother to turn, seeming entranced by the protesters calling for his demise. "Come to finish the job Weasley? Soundproof the room so they won't hear you kill me?"
Ron came around to face Draco. He smiled though his eyes remained cold. "I could have killed you earlier. In fact I think that's what most of the world wants me to do."
"Then why didn't you?" Draco snorted. " Go ahead and be a hero, Weasley. You'll be even more famous than Potter."
"While that sounds like an incredibly enticing proposition, I may have to pass." For a moment Draco thought Weasley was lying as his wand was flung at his face. Draco waited, ready to hear the final words that would take his life away.
"Lumos," Ron chanted seeming to enjoy the fear he thought he had momentarily instilled in Draco. Fear that was no longer there; without his son and the woman he loved, Draco almost welcomed the idea of ending it all.
Ron flooded the room with light, holding out an envelope for Draco to see, writing that seemed at the same time familiar yet unrecognizable at the same time.
"What's this?" Draco asked confused. The envelope was addressed to Ron Weasley, not to him. "What has this to do with me?"
"A moment before I was to send you on your journey to the afterlife, this message was owled to me. Seems like you've been given a reprieve, for now."
Draco called out for him as the redhead walked away., "By who?" He did not like secrets kept from him, especially from the likes of Ron Weasley. Now more than ever, Draco needed to know what was going on, who he could trust and who was on his side. From the looks of the angry crowd outside his window, he needed as many friends as he could get.
"That's none of your concern. Just be thankful you are still here. In the meantime drink your tea. It will get rid of your headache." Ron paused before slamming the door behind him, "And Malfoy, if I were you, I wouldn't look out the window lest a stray spell strike you dead."
*** *
"Thanks for coming," Ron said as his two friends were ushered into his makeshift office at Azkaban. "Would you like some tea or something to eat?" he offered, ready to pour them both a cup.
Hermione looked uneasily outside the window, eyeing the crowd that seemed to grow by the hundreds. "We might need the strength." She said, taking a cookie and nibbling nervously on it. "How secure are those gates?"
"Very secure," Ron answered.
"That is if you trust the warden in charge of keeping the spells in place." Harry said.
"Thought of that already." Ron shoved the Daily Prophet towards Harry. "I did a few extra security charms on the gates and windows. But I may need a few more since this article came out, hot off the presses."
"We'll be glad to assist in any way," Hermione offered, her face full of disdain as she glanced at the article. "Tabloid journalism, that's what!"
"What about Hogwarts and Hogsmeade?" Ron asked. "What is the crowd situation? I assume similar to these?"
"Hogwarts is fine, as it has been for many years," Harry reassured. "Before we Portkeyed here, Hermione and I did a fly by around Hogsmeade. The crowd is almost as big. He quickly added, seeing the worried expression on Ron's face, "Don't worry Ron. Alex will be safe at Hogwarts, as well as a few of our other students who fall under the Blood Debt."
"There's another reason I called you both here besides helping me put extra security charms in place." Ron opened an envelope carrying classified scrolls from the war. "I was sent an owl this morning carrying material that was addressed to me as urgent. As you can see, we are the only people besides the document writer who has ever seen these scrolls."
"What are you doing with these?" Hermione asked, grabbing the documents. "These scrolls are from the Wizengamot. Even your father doesn't have access to these! The only one who can open them…" Hermione's voice trailed off, at the realization of who had sent them to Ron dawned on her.
Ron rested his weary head in his hands. "Malfoy can't fight off Veritaserum. We've all been told a lie. Malfoy admitted he was the father the very day he was questioned. These were sealed to protect Alex from the Blood Debt and to protect my sister. There are those who would have killed her and her unborn baby."
"We can test Draco Malfoy out then. We should start as soon as possible." Not wasting any time, Hermione with quill in hand started compiling a list of potion ingredients they would need.
"Already done," Ron said. "I put some in his tea. We can start asking him questions now. It will take a lot of convincing on my part. I've seen too much. I'm only doing this for Alex and Ginny. Not for him. I could care less about Malfoy's life."
"I do have one question." Harry traced the handwriting of envelope writer. It was so familiar. Was it… No, It couldn't be… "Who signed off on these documents? Who is responsible for hiding the truth from us?"
Ron answered, confirming Harry and Hermione's suspicions.
"Dumbledore."
***
To Be Continued
Much thanks to my betas - Adrith aka clanmalfoy , Rainpuddle13, and VioletJersey. After reading this, if you want more D/G, even better D/G, go read my betas stories. They have fanfiction here on thissite.I promise you, you won't be disappointed and you will be begging them for more.
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