Authour's Notes: This is the chapter which contains Big Cliché Number One. I've tried my best to keep it fairly realistic and everything, yet still stay within the HP realm. Contained herein is 80% of the plot, believe it or not. At this time, I'd like to thank Claire and Alexis for being the little cuties that they are. I also have a live journal now if anyone wants to check it out. My username is singtoangels (for those of you on ff.net who can't see the link) and the link is http://livejournal.com/users/singtoangels It's my public journal for things such as cookies from AIDE, ficlets, smutlets, and updates on how much I've written and when the next chapter might be out. It also contains boring things like rants and fun things like recs.
I know that I really left you all hanging in the last chapter, and I'm sorry, but the resolution with that is slow in coming. I finished chapter 30 a couple of weeks ago and that contains a bit more, but it's still not resolved with what exactly Albus Quaffle is. I've started chapter 31, and I'm slowly but surely getting all my plot threads back together after the death of my old computer right buggered me by losing my notes and everything.
A heads up to Colin lovers. Chapter 28 is going to be a real tear jerker with him. He's going to make you cry. Me, the hard-assed bitch that I am, cried at his dialogue, so expect some warm sniffles.
I'm excited about the next chapter coming out. It's all about Percy and just what the hell motivated him to join up with Lucius and the Death Eaters. It has art from Lizard and Glockgirl and I'm quite pleased at that. Two pieces of art for one incredibly long chapter. Yay!
Go on now, go read. You don't want to be arsed with my inane and copious notes anymore. Shoo!
(Psst: Sharlene, don't worry about your fat mouth, just tell me what you think. Hee hee.)
I existed from all eternity and, behold, I am here; and I shall exist till the end of time, for my being has no end.
~ Kahlil Gibran - Anthem of HumanityGinny awoke the next morning with a pounding headache. The sunlight glinting through the windows was bright and cheerful, and there was enough of it to tell Ginny that it was almost noon. Apparently Colin told her dormmates not to wake her up for lessons.
She grumbled to herself and went to swing her legs over the bed, but they bumped into something solid.
"Wha-? Hermione? What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"
It was true. Hermione was sitting on the edge of Ginny's bed, her back rigid and her hands folded calmly on her lap. She seemed to have been waiting for some time because Ginny's outburst startled her.
"Oh, I see that you're finally awake."
"Erm," Ginny rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, I s'pose I am."
Hermione nodded and stood up. Her manner was strangely businesslike as she carefully smoothed her skirt down. "I asked if I could bring your work up to you. It gave me an excuse to be here and the perfect time to do it. Everyone's in lessons right now."
Ginny nodded warily. "All right. Um." She stretched her arms out over her head and yawned. "Thanks for bringing my coursework and everything, but uh-"
"I didn't come up here just to bring that!" Hermione snapped coldly. "Get out of bed and follow me."
Ginny blinked and decided not to bother asking what was going on. She grabbed the dressing gown beside her bed and slipped it over her shoulders, choosing to go without her slippers for the time being, in case Hermione yelled at her again because it took too long to find them.
Hermione walked stiffly to the sixth year girls' lavatory across the room and Ginny shuffled after her, still half-asleep. She watched as Hermione pulled several vials from a rucksack she was carrying and line them up carefully on the sink.
"What are those?"
"Something I've been working on," Hermione muttered as she started to mix ingredients together. "It's amazing how utterly backwards the wizarding world is about some things, but completely open about others. I mean, you found that stupid potion in the back pages of Witches' Weekly, yet I had to create this potion through research in Muggle chemistry because, apparently, no wizarding equivalent exists." She held a vial up to her eye and swirled it around carefully. "I've looked through loads of books in the Restricted Section and all for nothing. And Madame Pomfrey wouldn't let me near her precious medical books again." Hermione made a scoffing sound at the back of her throat and mumbled something that sounded like 'old-fashioned hypocrites'. "It's positively ridiculous," she said a bit louder. "Give me your hand."
Ginny was hesitant, but she stretched her hand out anyway. Hermione snatched it up and quickly pricked her finger with a pin, causing Ginny to cry out.
"Oh, be still! It's just a pin prick."
She squeezed the end of Ginny's finger to extract a large, ruby drop of blood before upending it over one of the vials. She let go of Ginny's hand and swished the light blue liquid around, mixing the blood in thoroughly before pricking her own thumb and carefully dripping some of the blood into the other vial.
"There," Hermione said with satisfaction. "Now we just have to wait for one and a half minutes and if it changes colour, we'll know for sure."
"Uh . . ." Ginny was a little more awake now, but still groggy enough that she completely missed the point. However, she had the feeling that even if she were in full possession of her senses, she would still be confused. "What will we know for sure?"
Hermione stared at Ginny for a moment before blinking and clearing her throat. "Well, we'll know. Don't tell me that you haven't suspected at least."
"Suspected what?"
Hermione shook her head in exasperation and pinched the bridge of her nose so hard that the tips of her fingers were white. "Ginny, you do know that the potion you made at the Burrow was faulty, right?"
"What?!" Ginny was suddenly wide-awake and panicked. "The potion was faulty? B-but I did everything it said! The only things missing were the Flobberworms, and they only thicken it so I don't see-"
Hermione nodded. "I know that's what you thought, and I-well, I can only blame you so much because I took it, too, and didn't bother to check for myself if it was brewed properly. Though I realised later what you left out of the first batch when I read through that book of Madame Pomfrey's. I've done research on that potion, you see, and it was defective to begin with. Even though it does work roughly eighty-percent of the time, there are better methods for long term contraceptives with some of the more common tinctures such as slippery elm mixed with progesterone and or estrogen producing herbs." Ginny blinked stupidly at her and Hermione sighed in exasperation. "Forget about that for now. You see, the Flobberworms in that 'preventative potion' . . ." She trailed off for a moment and glanced at the vials. The liquid was still the original colour. "Well, the Flobberworms are the most important ingredient. They build a-" Hermione screwed up one eye and squinted at her. "Are you sure you want to know this? It's a bit disgusting."
Ginny nodded, her heart thundering in her throat so hard that she didn't trust herself to speak. She forced herself to stare at Hermione's face so she wouldn't look at the vials of potion behind them.
Hermione took a deep breath. "All right. You know that Flobberworms produce mucus, correct?" Ginny fluttered her eyes and she continued. "Well, the Flobberworms force your body to produce more mucus, and the other ingredients are sort of a directive to tell your body exactly where to produce this mucus. So the mucus forms a protective layer over your cervix by direction of the Diricrawl feather and the other ingredients are mostly inactive or strengthening by increasing the natural acidity of your, um-" Hermione cleared her throat, her cheeks noticeably red as she nearly tripped over herself to keep talking. "Anyway, this layer, once fully formed, keeps the man's ejacula-"
Ginny held up her hand at this point. "I understand, Hermione." She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the cool tiles of the wall. "I didn't think that I could be so thick," Ginny muttered.
Hermione's eyes were a trifle hard when Ginny peeped out from under her lashes to look at her. "Well, I feel a bit foolish myself for blindly trusting you to brew that potion correctly! I'm in just as much danger as you are, you know. The use of that potion represses your monthly so long as you take it, as I'm sure you know, so I have no idea if I'm preg-"
"Merlin, don't say it! I don't think I can handle hearing that word. Especially now." Ginny moaned and scrubbed her face with her hands as Hermione started again.
"You need to hear it! Because this is reality, Ginny, and you can't act like a two year-old about something so important that may affect one or both of us."
But Ginny was staring at the vials now; she couldn't avoid their presence any longer. One was a dark purple while the other remained the same crystal blue. She closed her eyes and breathed very slowly in and out.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to act like a child again, Hermione. Look." Ginny pointed at the sink and Hermione turned to see the change and gasped.
"Oh my-Merlin!" Hermione whispered. She clapped a hand over her mouth and stepped back. Her callous manner seemed to melt away and she was all at once only concerned for Ginny. "Oh my God. Oh, oh, Ginny! What are you going to do?"
Hermione quickly enveloped Ginny in a hug and held her tight, whimpering in her ear. "Oh what are you going to do? You have to tell your mum and she'll be so disappointed. And Professor McGonagall, what will she think of this?"
Ginny stepped out of Hermione's strangling embrace and shook her head. "No. I-I'm just not going to tell them, is all. I mean," Ginny looked down at her stomach and poked it gently. The firmness she'd been so proud of had turned out to be a baby. How-disappointing. "The school year is almost over and I suppose that I can hide this under my robes until then. After that, maybe Mum will let me go to Colin's for summer hols and-and I can have the baby at his house! Then I'll bring it home and say that I found it on a doorstep and she'll want to take care of it and she'll be proud that I decided to take in a poor orphan baby and-and-" Ginny put a hand to her lips and her voice cracked on a sob so she stuffed her fingers in her mouth and bit them, hard.
Hermione was staring at her blankly. "That's ridiculous, Ginny. No one would ever believe that. You have to tell her about this. We'll go right now to Professor McGonagall and I'm sure that-"
"No!" Ginny yelled. Her face was hot and she wanted so much to lie back down on her bed and cry. Or curl up with Colin or- "Draco. Sweet Merlin. He can't know about this, he just can't. He'd kill me. Or ignore me. Or laugh. I don't know which would be worse. Oh God."
"But this is why we need to tell Professor McGonagall! If he finds out, he may try to hurt you. And I know that you may be a love-sick fool, but surely even you can admit that you'll need protection from him. And I don't think that your robes will hide your belly until the end of the year. We still have a little over three months and you'll start rounding out long before then."
"No! She'll tell Mum and then Mum will tell Dad and then-and then- no! Just no. You're not telling McGonagall anything about this. Do you hear me?" Ginny squeezed her eyes shut. "And I'm not in love with him. I never was."
"Oh please, Ginny! Don't assume for a moment that I'm stupid. You've been mooning around ever since he broke up with you. And worse than that, before he broke up with you, you were acting like some sort of servant to him. 'Yes, Draco. No, Draco. Oh let me knit a jumper to keep your poor little black heart warm, Draco.'" Hermione slapped the sink and the vials shook in their holders. "You were worse with him than you ever were when you had that crush on Harry. You won't do anything without your precious Draco's consent!"
"That's not true!" Ginny argued hotly. "I don't love him. I never will love him, and even if I did, it's none of your business."
Hermione gritted her teeth. "I'm trying to help you! Don't you see? When it comes to Malfoy, you're blind. You can't see how-how evil he is."
Ginny scoffed. "Evil? He's not evil. All right, he's a git, a first-class arse, even. But Draco isn't evil." Ginny scowled at Hermione. "And you're not telling McGonagall. Because then she'll ask who the father is and I'm not going to tell her. I'm not telling anyone about this."
But Hermione was collecting her vials together with a determined air and shoving them back into her bag. "I've not been myself for too long. All this stress lately- I thought that it would be all right to take a page from Harry's book and have a bit of fun, lighten up . . ." She was mumbling to herself and the vials were clinking inside of the rucksack. "This is the last straw. I wasn't meant to break the rules. I'm not made for it." Hermione shook her head and turned to push past Ginny. "It's high time that I was myself again. Starting right now."
Ginny's eyes widened and, panicking, she threw her weight into Hermione and pinned her to the wall. Hermione was only slightly taller and heavier than she was, but Quidditch skills and fear combined to make Ginny almost invincible. The small, hard roundness of her belly throbbed when it bounced against the other girl's.
Hermione inhaled sharply and squirmed against her. The bag fell to the ground with a crash, spilling shards of glass over the tiles. "What's wrong with you? Are you mad? Let me go!"
"Don't tell McGonagall," Ginny demanded. "Just don't tell McGonagall and I'll let you go. Promise me!"
Hermione shook her head, her bushy hair tickling Ginny's face. "I'm not going to promise you anything, Ginny. I have to tell her. I have to tell her for you. You can hate me, and rage at me, or never speak to me again if you want, but I'd rather that than see you even more hurt by this. Or dead."
Ginny twisted Hermione's arm, her thumb pressed painfully into the soft flesh and Hermione cried out into her shoulder. "Promise me, Hermione. Because I know what my parents will tell me and I don't want to do it! Promise me."
Hermione sobbed, tears running down her flushed cheeks and Ginny stepped back, startled by her own anger. She put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, Hermione. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-"
But Hermione took one last, wide-eyed look at Ginny's trembling form and ran out of the lavatory, cradling her elbow. Ginny closed her eyes and sunk to the floor. She didn't care that her knees were in broken glass, or that she bruised her forehead when she let it fall against the tiles. Ginny only knew that she had just hurt one of her best friends in the world. A friend who was looking out for her well-being, even if she didn't know just how much trouble she would cause by going to McGonagall.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Ron cracked his neck and stood up, rubbing his cold and aching backside. Pansy had left sometime during the night and hadn't bothered to wake him. She also hadn't bothered to leave a note to let him know that another troll didn't eat her on the way back to her dormitory. Then again, if she were eaten, she wouldn't have been able to leave a note, would she?
He frowned as he put on his hard, muddy Quidditch robes. He shouldn't care if a troll ate Pansy. The night before aside, she was still a Slytherin. But even though she was a Slytherin and a would-be murderer . . .
Ron still fancied her.
His shoes were coated in flaking bits of mud, but Ron mindlessly shoved his feet into them and tied the stiff laces together. He remembered his broken Firebolt II with a pang and couldn't bring himself to retrieve the pieces of it from just outside of the Forest, so he trudged off through the dewy grass to the castle and his dormitory.
It was still early morning, but it seemed as if everyone had already left for breakfast. If he hurried, Ron thought that he just might get to the Great Hall before all the bacon and marmalade were gone. He dug through his trunk and pulled out some school robes that weren't terribly wrinkled.
Ron was just about to shuck off his underpants when a glint of light caught his eye. He turned to look and saw it again, flitting behind the curtains of Harry's bed.
"What the devil . . .?" Ron muttered to himself, and as he crept closer, he could hear muffled grunts and the rustling of bedclothes. Ron's body became rigid and he turned stiffly away. Harry was probably 'entertaining company,' if Hermione could be considered company.
"Stupid pillock," Ron grumbled, pulling his school robes over his head backward in his hurry to get away.
"I said get in the box!" He heard Harry shout suddenly amidst more rustling.
What type of weird game were they playing now? He'd heard from Seamus and Dean that Hermione and Harry's bedroom behaviour was rather . . . eccentric, but this was just odd. Was he really talking to his-?
"If you don't get in the box, I'm going to thump you. I mean it!"
Ron sat on the edge of his bed and tied his shoes with his head cocked to one side, listening. He hadn't yet heard Hermione, and Ron couldn't help but overhear-
"You don't like the box? Well, what else am I supposed to put you in? You can't just go flitting about like a faerie, you know." Pause. "Yes, I know that you're a-a wizard with rights and-you sound an awful lot like Hermione."
Ron's hand jerked suddenly and he broke his shoelace. Harry wasn't with Hermione? Who was he talking to then?
"Um, no I don't have any toys. Oh wait! Seamus sleeps with a plush Quaffle, so if you don't mind bunking with him and keeping quiet at night, I don't see why I can't stuff you in there."
Shuffling toward the door, Ron's mouth was slightly open and he craned his neck to see who Harry was in bed with, but the curtains were mostly closed and all he saw was one of Harry's naked feet dangling off the edge.
"No, you should be all right." Pause. "Well, Seamus is a nice enough guy, but I don't know if he kicks. I've never slept with him."
Ron shook his head and carefully closed the door behind him, making his way down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Ginny sat at the Gryffindor table that evening, ignoring Colin's concerned chatter and letting her soup drip off the end of her spoon before picking up another bite to do the same. If Ginny concentrated on playing with her food, then maybe she could forget that she was- that word. And she could also forget about Hermione and her promise to inform McGonagall about the situation. Ginny hadn't seen Hermione all day, but then she'd been in the bathroom or in bed since she'd found out about-her condition. She was getting to be as bad as Draco with the sleep thing, but she supposed that she had a good reason.
The thought of him made her glance over to look at the Slytherin table unconsciously and her chest tightened. There he was: a polished blonde ideal, holding court among a throng of young Ravenclaws and two Slytherin fourth-years. Girls that were old enough for him to have fun with, but too young to know any better. Ginny snorted and let her spoon fall into her soup bowl with a clatter.
The rest of his housemates kept shooting dirty glances at Draco, but he didn't seem to be paying attention to anyone but the garden of girls surrounding him. He was most distinctly not looking in Ginny's direction since his body was turned away from the Gryffindor table.
She frowned and let her eyes rove over the rest of the hall. Pansy Parkinson was staring at the Gryffindor table, though; in what she probably thought was a covert manner, of course. Ginny followed her line of sight and was startled when it led to Ron, but she was even more shocked to see that her brother was openly looking back! And he wasn't scowling or making rude gestures, Ron merely sat there, his brow furrowed as if he were working out a particularly nasty Arithmancy problem while he studied the Slytherin girl. Ron looked confused, whereas Pansy appeared to be content just to fixate on him from the corner of her eye as she ate her blancmange. Ginny shuddered. That was just scary.
"What's wrong with your famous brother?" Colin nudged Ginny in the arm with a chicken leg he'd been gnawing.
"Absolutely no idea." She absentmindedly swiped at the grease on her blouse with a linen napkin. "I think that Parkinson is star-struck, though." Ginny pointed subtly with the crumpled cloth at the Slytherin table. "Then again, Ron did save her life." She wrinkled her nose. "Although I don't know why. I mean, she's a fellow student and all, but I can't see Ron diving in to save her like that and just ignoring the game yesterday; that's more Harry's bit. He could have told Snape or someone just as easily and let them handle it."
Ginny peeked at Ron again. He was absently picking at a chicken and leek pie. Every once in a while he would stuff a bite in his mouth half-heartedly. "I don't think that he knows why, either."
Colin shrugged and took a sip of his pumpkin juice. "Well, darling, let Ron sort out his own messes. Maybe he's broadening his horizons. I mean, he's already had nearly every girl in his year from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, not to mention several from our own house. So perhaps he's getting friendly with the snakies now."
Ginny scoffed and almost laughed outright. "I hardly think so. Ron hates Slytherins with a passion."
"They all look the same in the dark, chicken. An arse is an arse, or whatever." Colin's nose twitched slightly and Ginny laughed lightly.
"Pervy bastard." She smacked him on the leg in a friendly manner and finally took a bite from her now-cold beef and barley soup. Or she would have taken a bite if a shadow hadn't have fallen over her plate.
Ginny looked up and almost screamed when she saw Professor McGonagall; the one person in the world she didn't want to see right now as it could only mean one thing. McGonagall seemed slightly more severe than normal, her already thin lips pressed into a tight line.
"Miss Weasley," she crisped. "I'm sorry to interrupt your meal, but the Headmaster and I would like a word with you."
Colin's eyes widened slightly and he glanced from Professor McGonagall to Ginny's drained face and back again. "Gin? What's happened, Professor?"
"I'm afraid that I can not tell you, Mr Creevey. This is a private matter."
Colin scowled, but it softened when Ginny clutched his thigh under the table. He put an arm around her and squeezed carefully. "What's the matter, Ginny?" he whispered.
"Come with me. Please, Colin. I-I don't want to go by myself." Ginny's voice was breathy and low; she could barely find the strength to speak. Surely Professor McGonagall would let her bring Colin; she needed him.
"Miss Weasley, kindly stand up and come with me now. You may talk to Mr Creevey later."
McGonagall stood firm and people were beginning to stare. Ginny searched for Draco to see his reaction, but he had already left the Hall.
"She wants me to come with her. Surely Professor Dumbledo-"
Professor McGonagall cut Colin off before he could finish. "I'm sorry, Mr Creevey. But this meeting is for Miss Weasley, not you."
"But I'm her friend!" Colin burst out, and made to stand up. Ginny put her hand on his arm and drew him back down.
"I'll be all right, Colin," she whispered. "I knew this was coming. Will you wait up for me?"
His face was flushed with anger, but he nodded and pressed her suddenly cold fingers. "Go on then, love. I'll be in the common room until you come up to bed." He looked her in the eyes sharply. "Where I expect a full explanation of what the devil is going on here."
Ginny swallowed hard and nodded before standing up to follow Professor McGonagall out of the Great Hall. She tried to step bravely, but her insides were quivering.
"Why are we going to see the Headmaster, Professor McGonagall? I haven't done anything wrong that I can think."
She could almost swear that the Professor's lip twitched slightly before answering. "Don't play innocent, Miss Weasley. You know full well why you're being called to his office."
Ginny's throat swelled and she couldn't breathe for a moment. When the feeling of panic subsided, she gave one last attempt to save her pride. "I won't tell you or anyone else who he is, Professor. You can give me V-Veritaserum if you'd like, but I'll bite my own tongue before I say a word."
Professor McGonagall's face softened and she chuckled before uttering the password to make the stone gargoyles in front of Dumbledore's office part and the spiral staircase appear. She placed a warm hand on Ginny's shoulder.
"I'm so glad to see that this generation of Gryffindor are as brave as their predecessors," McGonagall stated with a dry twist to her lips. "And a confession would be quite unnecessary, my dear. Despite appearances, I do keep up with school gossip. Now up the stairs you go."
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