Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the story line...sadly. JKR owns everything - including the characters, spells, and the entire world of Harry Potter. I wonder if I could buy it from her for a dollar?
Thanks to my wonderful, wonderful beta - dragonsangel68.
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Chapter 3
"Do you have no manners or do you swear at everyone that comes to your door? The least you could do is invite me in and offer me something to drink."
Ginny stood to the side and held the door open for him. He glided into her flat and regarded it with only slight repulsion. "For crying out loud, Weasley. Seeing as I know cleaning and scouring charms, you must know them."
She nodded. He sighed and cast the charms for her. Within minutes, the front room of Ginny's flat was pristine again and Draco sat on the couch. Ginny was still rooted to her spot beside the door she had finally managed to close. Standing with an afghan clamped around her shoulders, she rethought her views on running away or using Muggle means to terminate her pregnancy.
"So, you left me this and here I am."
"Yes, here you are." She wasn't ready for this. She had to find somewhere to run. So, she ran directly into the bathroom and purged her ice cream binge from earlier in the evening.
Revolted, Draco walked into the modest kitchen and put water on to boil.
When Ginny found her way off the floor of her bathroom, she reappeared in the living room. "Do you vomit for all your house guests or just for me?"
"Just you normally, but lately it's been for everyone."
"Ah. Got a touch of the flu, do you?"
"If only that were it. Merlin knows I wish that were all it was." Her hand instinctively went to her stomach as if to protect her unborn child from it's own father's view.
A confused look crossed over Draco's features, but vanished as he waved away Ginny's cryptic words.
"So, how have you been, Weas-Ginny. I should call you Ginny, considering I've seen you naked."
"Yes, you could probably get away with it." She moved to the opposite end of the couch Draco was reclining on and seated herself. "I remember very little of what happened. Perhaps you could tell me exactly how we ended up doing what we did."
Draco had the decency to look sheepish. Rubbing his hand up and down the back of his neck repeatedly, he related the details of the story to her. "Well truth be told, I don't remember much of it either. I remember sitting in my usual spot in the back of the pub, until I saw you come in. I'd never seen anyone I recognized come in there and decided, for some reason, to talk to you. I suppose we traded barbs as usual, but that's where it becomes fuzzy. I do remember asking if you wanted to go somewhere else, you nodding and us shagging in the women's loo at the pub."
"The women's bathroom!" Ginny was horrified. Now she met the father of her baby in a pub and simultaneously conceived and found out about the conception all in the same damn bathroom.
"Yeah, the women's bathroom. I don't remember what we talked about before or after, but I do remember that the sex was phenomenal. I suppose that explains why I responded to this letter."
"Phenomenal? Come off it, Draco. I'm sure it wasn't that spectacular."
"Yes, it was. No matter what you might think, I've not had as much experience as is rumored. However, I've had enough of it to know that the sex we had was phenomenal."
"Ah. Well, I'll take your word for it."
"So, as I said, how have you been?"
"I've been pregnant," she spat out.
"Oh?" Draco's eyebrows shot up.
"Yes." Silence draped the room until they were both nearly stifled by it. "I've been pregnant, and, apparently, you're the one who helped me become that way." Ginny fidgeted with the edges of the blanket.
"Oh?"
"Yes. That was my real reason for sending the note. I didn't remember enough of the evening to recall what I had done, hence the letter. I've only known for about a week and a half."
"Really? How do you know for sure?"
"I took a Muggle pregnancy test. Consequently, I took the test in the bathroom at the pub…apparently also the site of the conception of said child."
"That will make a fabulous story someday."
"I'm sure it will be funny after the fact," she said while shooting him a wry glare.
"I'm not trying to add insult to injury, but how do you know it's mine?"
"No matter what you think of me, I don't commonly go into pubs, get pissed, and sleep with random people. In fact, I've never done that before and I've not had sex in two years except for that night. There isn't anyone else that could be the father. I just didn't know what else to do except for leaving that note. I didn't want to do this alone and my thought process led me to believe that if I found the father, I might not have to." Ginny hid her head in her hands to conceal her tears and embarrassment.
"I wasn't trying to imply that you were common whore. I was merely inquiring as to how you came to the conclusion that the baby was mine."
"Well, of course I didn't know it was yours or I would have been more discrete." The thought of running away to a deserted island was beginning to appeal to Ginny more and more by the second.
"What is it that you want me to do?"
"I don't know what I want to do! How am I supposed to know what I want you to do?" The elevated level of her voice caught Draco off guard and he jumped a little as his eyes snapped up from the floor to look at Ginny.
"Alright, that's valid. In the ideal situation, what is it that you'd want to happen?"
"I don't know. I suppose having some support in the matter would be nice. I don't know how I'm going to tell my parents and I don't know how I'm going to handle the entire situation. I'd like to discuss the options like adults." Ginny pulled her legs up on the couch and wrapped the afghan around her tightly.
"Alright, what are the options you've considered?"
"There are a few I suppose. Several viable, some completely ludicrous."
"Do tell," he said flatly. He turned his body towards Ginny and looked her straight in the eye in full Malfoy mode.
Ginny launched into her description of the options. "I could keep the baby. You could decide you don't want anything to do with us and I could keep you a well-guarded secret. I don't think I'm strong enough for that at this point, but I guess it's still an option. I could go away, keep this whole thing a secret, and give the baby up for adoption. I could have a Muggle abortion…" she trailed off.
Draco winced at the mention of an abortion. The sound of the teakettle whistling brought him out of his thoughts. He rose and went into the kitchen. The tea was conveniently located just beside the stove and he made tea for the both of them. Upon returning to the living room, he handed her the cup. He looked at her closely. She looked broken…hopeless even.
He resumed his perch on the couch. "This is so hard. I never thought things would happen this way. This isn't how things are supposed to be. I just want to die," she said so quietly he almost didn't hear it.
"How things are supposed to be is a loose theory at best." He shrugged his shoulders as his head cocked to one side. "We could try to present a united front for the sake of the child. It didn't ask to be created after all. Simply because it is the product of a drinking binge doesn't mean it has any lesser worth," he offered.
Ginny's gaze snapped up to rest on Draco. "I suppose that is also an option."
"Well, I'm laying it on the table. I don't think that dying is a good choice. I refuse to let you get an abortion and I don't like the idea of adoption. I don't think going away is a bad idea, though."
"You refuse to let me have an abortion? It's my body. What if that is what I want to do?"
"It's supposedly my baby you're carrying. Given that a medi-wizard confirms paternity, I'd like to have as much say as you do in the matter. I, of course, will provide for you in any way that I am capable of," Draco reasoned. "I can't control you at every moment of the day and couldn't stop you if that was your choice, though I'd like it if that weren't your decision."
"What do you mean that going away isn't a bad idea?"
"I mean that I think it might not be a bad idea. We can tell the pertinent people of recent events and then leave town to avoid the hellfire raining down on us for participating in the act as if we were randy teenagers."
Ginny smiled a little at his metaphor. They had indeed acted as if they were randy teenagers. "That sounds
nice."
"Of course this isn't the ideal situation. I hardly know you and you hardly know me. However, we should make an attempt to get to know each other better if we're going to be bonded together for life. If you had a boy, it would be my heir. I'd have to show him the family business and such nonsense. If it's a girl, she'll have to be taught societal niceties that can only be provided within the proper societal circles and with the proper training. She'll need those skills in order to marry well."
Ginny's mind was swimming with the possibilities. Would she be thrust into the public eye? Would their indiscretion be fodder for The Daily Prophet? What would her family say? Was going away with the father of her child to some location unbeknownst to her an option she was willing to consider? "It appears to be my only option at this point? I wanted support, didn't I? He seems willing enough to give it. I should take it."
"Alright, I suppose that's our plan of attack then. When should we go for the test?"
"What test?"
"The test of paternity."
Draco was taken aback by Ginny's statement. Finding that he'd already accepted this child as his was startling. What was more disconcerting was that he found he rather liked the idea of becoming a father. He heard his mother's voice in the back of his head, "Draco, darling you're twenty-six years old. It's time to settle down and provide an heir. You do nothing but work. You're going to find yourself too advanced in age to procure a suitable wife if you don't move quickly." But, was Ginny Weasley a suitable woman to marry? "I doubt it." "Too right. I'll make an appointment with my family's medi-wizard and owl you with the time. The test will be done here as to minimize the stress and to ensure proper discretion."
"Lovely."
"I'll owl you as soon as I know the time and date, then?"
"I'll be expecting your letter."
Draco rose from the couch and started towards the door. He found he wanted to give her some indication that things would be alright, but he didn't know how to go about assuaging her fears. Displays of affection weren't a part of his repertoire, so he just unlocked the door and moved to open it.
"Draco?"
He turned to look at her.
"Thank you."
"Of course. I'd never shy away from my responsibilities."
A bittersweet smile crossed her lips.
"Put the wards back up when I leave, if you have any."
She nodded. "I had them down because I didn't want the father of my child knocked onto his bum when he showed up looking for me."
"That is much appreciated. It's safe to put them back up now."
She nodded, and he opened the door and left.
Ginny rose from the couch feeling a bit better, but a bit worse at the same time. Raising the wards, she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
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