Waves
"If only I had seen it," Ginny cried, feeling Fred's arm come around her shoulders and hug her to him.
"I'm going to kick that Slytherin's arse!" George said angrily, pacing back and forth between the beds in the hospital wing.
"George, watch your language," Molly said but not very convincingly; she was sitting next to their father on a well made bed, both looking very worried.
"I saw Malfoy go after Nott and tear him a new arsehole; never seen him so livid before, so don't worry Ginny. That Slytherin will get what he deserved and I know Ron will be fine," Harry said from his spot next to Hermione, who looked visibly shaken, but supported Harry's comment.
"He'll be ok, remember all the times he was in here?" Hermione nudged Harry and Ginny gave a small smile, feeling Fred's arm drop as Samantha pulled back the curtain where Ron was…he was awake and alert broken wrist, ribs and all.
Ginny spent a few minutes, crying yet again at the look of Ron, lying there pale with bandages on him. She saw Samantha lightly touch his hand and was happy that Ron had found someone who cared deeply about him.
Madame Pomfrey came in and checked out his shoulder and wrist, making Ron wince in pain. She told the Weasley's and friends that they had a few minutes and that Samantha could stay until he was asleep again. Ginny saw her mother smile at Samantha as they talked a bit about Ron's fall.
"I need to go, Ron," Ginny said quietly and squeezed his good hand. He gave her a sleepy smile and said he would see her later. George pulled her aside as she turned away.
"You ok?" he asked her and Ginny nodded.
"The fall just scared me and Ron made me mad that he left his position," Ginny wiped her eyes with a tissue George handed her, trying to control her emotions.
"Any of us would have done that," he said gently and hugged her. Ginny nodded against his chest, feeling a rush of love for her brothers, knowing that they would protect her at all costs. She pulled away and kissed his cheek, saying she would see him at dinner.
Head down, Ginny tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and walked towards the doors of the wing, having someone open them for her. Looking up she first saw the Slytherin green robes for Quidditch then up at Malfoy's face. Next to him was Theodore Nott, looking very unhappy to be there. Ginny stared at him and took a few steps towards him, a bit shorter but not by much she pointed a finger at him, touching his chest.
"You are a bastard! You know that?" She took a step towards him, forcing him to step back, away from Malfoy's side.
"If you EVER hurt my family again I will kick your stupid arse. I hope Malfoy kicks you off the team for what you did, and if there weren't two Prefects standing here, I would hex you to yesteryear," Ginny exploded at him, her voice controlled but white hot anger seeped through. Draco looked at her with a ghost of a smile at the edges of his mouth. She was in Nott's face not backing down as he stared at her. Malfoy knocked him against his shoulder.
"Say it Nott," Malfoy demanded. Ginny stepped back, hands on her hips, still in her Quidditch robes like the two before her.
"Sorry," Nott said very unconvincingly, actually looking rather angry that he was being made to do this. Ginny stared at him, her mouth set and her hazel eyes burning into him. Draco could see that Ginny had been crying and looked as if she was going to do it again.
"Go," Draco ordered Nott, who turned and walked down the hall, not looking back. Ginny put a hand to her face, willing herself not to cry as Malfoy stood there quietly. She was tired, sore, angry and very much in Weasley temper mode.
"He's been dealt with, Weasley," Draco said crossing his arms and watching her rub her forehead. He saw her nod struggling for control as she dropped her hands, squared her shoulders and looked up at him. Their eyes met but before she could say anything an owl came flying in and dropped a note between them. Ginny bent down and picked it up, noticing it had Draco's name on it. Silently she handed it to him. He uncrossed his arms and took it from her, brushing her fingers with his causing Ginny to feel a shiver move down her spine. She spun around and walked quickly towards The Fat Lady to get ready for dinner.
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Ron was up and about the next day, albeit slowly and nothing seemed to dull his pain like the news that Samantha was joining the ranks of Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore had agreed to try an exchange program of sorts…Lavender Brown was to attend Samantha's school in London, while Samantha stayed here actually sharing Hermione's room until the holiday break. She would shadow her cousin to classes and write a paper about the difference between the Magical and Muggle World.
Ginny, Samantha and Ron walked slowly back to the castle after seeing their parents off and noticed that Harry had gone
over to the lake; he had tried Legilimens on his aunt, intent on finding out how she and Professor Snape knew each
other, and now was trying to process the thoughts that he had seen in her head.
"Did I tell you that Malfoy was bringing Nott to you to apologize yesterday?" Ginny asked her brother as they entered the school.
"No, but I would love to have seen that," he snorted.
"I ran into them outside the wing, told off Nott and Malfoy said he was being dealt with, whatever the hell that means," Ginny waited for her brother to catch up on the stairs. Samantha was walking slowly behind him, worrying that he might fall backwards.
"Good-can't think what I would have done to him if it had actually hit YOU," Ron winced as he moved his wrist the wrong way. They argued for a few minutes while walking towards the tower, about how he should have stayed at the rings, until Samantha told them both to stop (but privately enjoying learning how their brother/sister relationship worked). They entered the common room and Ginny begged off a chess match, knowing she would be beaten. She gave Ron a careful hug and his arms came around her and held her tightly.
"Glad you are feeling better," Ginny said into his chest. He made an agreeable noise and stepped back.
"You look tired; get some rest…classes tomorrow you know," Ron ruffled her hair and she ducked out of his reach, waved to Samantha and headed up the girls staircase, intent on getting some sleep, but feeling restless.
She saw her roommates involved in reading a book, writing a letter and two were chatting about boys.
"Hey, Ginny…heard that Malfoy made Nott apologize; how did that go yesterday?" her roommate, Susan, asked looking up from her book.
"Yes he did; I ran into him outside the hospital wing," Ginny flopped down on her bed and closed her eyes, lying on her stomach.
"I also heard you laid into Nott," Maggie, who was writing, said in her usual bored voice; nothing seemed to excite Maggie an exceptionally smart girl who was always writing…books maybe? Ginny never thought to ask.
"I did; moment of anger and all that."
"I heard from Ernie that Malfoy was talking about how you laid into him, which is what he deserved," Susan
saw Ginny open and eye and look at her.
"He did deserve it; if Malfoy and I weren't prefects I probably would've done something drastic. Git," Ginny muttered and rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling.
"What is strange, though, is that Malfoy seemed to be impressed. He wasn't slamming you or anything like he usually does," Susan continued and saw Ginny's head turn towards her. "What did you say to impress him?"
"I have no idea," Ginny recounted what she had said to Nott. "Maybe he thought it was funny or something. Who the hell knows? Malfoy has been acting weird all year."
"How so?" Susan put her book down and looked at Ginny. Ginny rolled onto her side, telling her about going to the kitchens in the early morning hours and seeing him down there.
"You saw him in his pajamas?" Maggie asked, surprise in her voice. Ginny and Susan stared at her, not used to her questioning them. "What did he look like?"
"Uh-ummm…green pants and a grey t-shirt…what most guys sleep in I guess," Ginny looked away trying to ignore the flush in her face, remembering how she liked that look on his tall frame.
"That's hot," Maggie said then turned back to writing. Susan giggled and Ginny hid her face in her bed, embarrassed to be talking about him.
"How is Ron?" Susan asked politely. Thankful for the subject change, Ginny said he was coming along and doing ok.
No one said anything more about it and Ginny drifted off to sleep, still in her clothes and she slept deeply until the sounds of her roommates moving around woke her up at 7am the next morning.
Ginny showered and dressed, getting ready for class the next morning when Hermione burst into her room. Startled Ginny dropped her hairbrush and spun around.
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, glad her friends had left for breakfast already. Hermione looked panicked and like she was going to cry.
She walked over to Ginny's bed and sat on the edge staring at Ginny.
"Last night, Harry and I had sex," she began and Ginny thought she seemed a tad bit upset for that to be the reason she was here, "and we forgot the Contraception Charm."
Ginny stared at her, speechless.
"Hermione," Ginny walked over and sat next to her, "that must be killing you."
Hermione nodded, wringing her hands together.
"So stupid of me! I can't get pregnant! Not now, not with NEWT's and this being my last year," Ginny laid a hand on Hermione's shoulder, thankful that she hadn't gone that far with a guy; it seemed to add stress sometimes and this moment verified that.
"How's Harry?" Ginny asked and Hermione nodded as she answered.
"Ok, said he will be there no matter what and I believe him, but still. He didn't need this either."
"What are you going to do now?"
"Well, I won't know for about another twelve days if I get my period or not; so I have two weeks of torture ahead." Hermione stood up and straightened her robes. "I just had to tell someone and get if off my chest; I'm sorry to bombard you with this so early."
"You're my best friend, tell me anything you want. I'll be there for you as will Ron you know."
"Harry's telling Ron today; I'm going to feel so strange in front of him."
"Why? It's RON," Ginny didn't understand what Hermione meant.
"I don't think he even knows we have sex, but if he does a baby would never enter his mind. Now, he will look at me and think that."
"It's Ron; I doubt he will think that deeply about it," Ginny smiled and hugged Hermione. "Let's go get something to eat. We will take this a day at a time ok?"
Hermione nodded and picked up her bag where she dropped it near the door. Together they walked down the stairs and to
the Great Hall for breakfast, before they each went their separate ways.
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The next two weeks passed by slowly for the group of Gryffindor's. Harry and Hermione always seemed to be talking, or rather Hermione talking TO Harry, trying to make herself understand why she forgot something so important. Ron was getting better and better as his wrist bandages came off and his ribs seemed to be completely healed. Samantha was fitting in nicely and entertained Ron to no end with stories of her school.
Tom had been bugging Ginny about going to the Halloween Dance with him and she kept saying No, she wasn't sure if she was going. Colin asked her as did another boy from Ravenclaw and Ginny said NO to all of them. Seeing what Hermione was going through had scared her away from boys for the moment; she loved the close relationship that they had and enjoyed watching Ron and Samantha get closer and had even walked in on them snogging on the sofa. Boys, for the moment were on hold…much to her brother's happiness.
It was in the matter of a week that Ginny's world started to spin a bit differently.
For one, she found out after coming upon Ron waiting for her after her Divination class, which he had never ever done, that Hermione was indeed pregnant and due at the end of June, right before their graduation. Ginny felt her knees go weak for her friend and she sank onto the bench in the middle of the hall. Ron quickly explained that she was up in her room resting, with Samantha watching her…knowing that Ginny would drop her Potions class and go if she felt the need. He squeezed her shoulder and said he had to get to class and that she should too.
Ginny managed to make her way through two more classes until she met up with everyone in the Common Room. There was a moment of unease as they all stared at each other, trying to adjust to the shift of their lives. Ginny walked over and gave Harry a hug, seeing the stricken look on his face made her want to cry for him. He held her long and hard and she could feel him struggling to get his emotions under control. Slowly he pulled away and dropped his hands, refusing to look at her; Ginny turned to everyone.
"Let's go get something to eat for dinner; then we can all talk," and everyone nodded, thankful that
someone had taken control of the situation.
Ginny walked next to Hermione, talking quietly with her about her appointment earlier that day with Madame Pomfrey. With everyone's mind on Harry and Hermione, no one noticed that Draco Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were walking behind them.
Draco was only half listening to Crabbe rail on some girl in his Transfiguration class as he studied the group ahead. He was very good at getting a sense of what people were thinking and up ahead he saw Harry and Ron walking behind the girls, closer than usual. Earlier that day he had walked past Potter and Weasley comforting a crying Hermione on the bench outside the Hospital Wing. He knew whatever they were feeling now stemmed from that incident, though he had no idea what was wrong. The situation had peaked his interest but no one else, except Pansy, had really seen them sitting there. She refused to talk about it, just happy that that "mud-blood" had a breaking point.
Over the next few days Draco sensed a deep sadness in Hermione. She shared the NEWTs level Potions Class with him and wasn't her usual annoying, know-it-all self. He had watched Ginny walking through the halls and she seemed to be her typical chatty self until she came upon Harry or Hermione; then she would get serious and none of them would crack a smile.
It was the following Monday evening that he was sitting in his common room, trying to push off Pansy who kept trying to get him to invite her to his room. Lately, he was becoming more and more annoyed with her; she was there at every turn, waiting for him after class, hanging on his arm. It was in the middle of him untangling himself from her when an owl swooped in and dropped a letter in his lap. Pushing Pansy to the side he slid his finger under the "M" wax seal on the back and started to read.
After the first few seconds, Pansy could sense something was wrong; Draco had gone very still and he paled.
"What is it?" She asked hesitantly.
"My father was killed," Draco's voice was very neutral but his body language said otherwise.
"What? How!?" Pansy gasped, trying to grab the letter, but she wasn't answered as Professor Snape walked in.
"Malfoy. I see you have heard; come with me," he ordered and Draco obediently stood up and followed his Head
of House out of the Common Room, down the hall to the Potions classroom, where he was told to sit.
Professor Snape launched right into the details. "Apparently, he and someone got into an argument and out of anger, this person, a Death Eater as you well know, used an unforgivable curse on him," Professor Snape said just as neutrally as Draco had said earlier.
"Avada Kedavra."
"Yes. Your mother has been notified and preparations are being made to send your personal items to Malfoy Manor. The funeral will be tomorrow and as no one can find out who did this, there is nothing else that can be done except a Will Reading. That will happen later though." Professor Snape stood up and noticed that Draco was staring at a spot on the floor. He felt Draco struggling to get his emotions under control. It had been at least a year since he had seen his father; likewise for his mother. But it WAS the only father he had known and he was the only child, the only son to the Malfoy name and now EVERYTHING fell on this 17 year old's shoulders.
"If I can help with anything, just ask," Professor Snape offered in a rare gesture of goodwill; having been a friend of Narcissa's for years it was the least he could do. Draco nodded, thanked him and headed out of the office back to his common room.
In the matter of a half hour, Draco collected his belongings, owled his mother that he was coming and had an all out yelling match with Pansy. She didn't feel the need to be there at the Manor since she hadn't seen him either for the past year. Draco said this whole arrangement, this "relationship", was something both sides of the Pureblooded families set up and it was her duty to show up. She then argued about what her duty was and he just turned and walked out; going to Snape's office to Floo home, not caring whether Pansy came or not.
It was a few hours later that Neville heard from a 6th year Gryffindor who knew Pansy that Draco's father had been killed. Neville found Harry and Ron playing Chess in the Great Hall and told them excitedly what happened. Both seemed a bit stunned but recovered quickly realizing that with everything Lucius Malfoy had done, he had probably deserved it…but that still didn't make it right. Harry knew what it was like to lose a parent and even though Ron was making jokes, Harry couldn't bring himself to get caught up in Ron's enjoyment of the fact. Draco Malfoy was now the head of Malfoy Manor; the richest 17 year old, bypassing Harry Potter, in the Wizarding World and he wasn't even done school yet.
That night Harry told Ginny, Samantha and Hermione about Lucius. Hermione just nodded and went back to her work; Ginny
looked stricken thinking of her father for a second and excused herself. Samantha didn't understand and was told by
the other three what Draco's father was like; starting from secretly hiding the Diary in Ginny's books to his
exploits paying off certain Ministry officials to do his bidding for him. The news spread fast throughout the castle
and some students worried that these rouge Death Eater's were going to go after other families. Professor
Dumbledore had quelled their fears by saying there was only a handful left and this was something that was a personal
grudge, nothing against the outside world.
Draco had been gone for two days and when he returned he wasn't talking to Pansy.
Many people shied away from him in the halls, seeing the dark look upon his face. Younger students plastered themselves to the wall when he walked by; he seemed to command more space around him. In the matter of three days he had gone from being a 17 year old teen age student being trained to take over his father's position in another few years or so…and now, near the end of October, he was suddenly a man, in charge of a fortune and the responsibility of making sure his mother was being taken care of. Quietly and alone he had arrived at his NEWTs level Potions class early so he got to watch the 6th years file out of the class, talking happily, oblivious to how his world was just turned upside down.
Draco saw her before she saw him. She had her back to him, her red hair falling a bit past her shoulders and down loose for once; not in a head band or all gathered up in a clip.
As she turned around from the last row she saw him standing there looking at her. He wasn't very far away, just on the other side of the door and she could see his eyes and for a minute she saw pain and tiredness in them.
"Go, Weasley, unless you WANT to stay for another class?" Snape droned from the chalkboard at the front of the class room.
Quickly grabbing her books, Ginny walked towards Draco, not moving her eyes and noticing he didn't move his. She stopped briefly in the doorway and looked up at him seeing tiredness etched around his eyes.
"I'm sorry about your father," she said softly. Draco blinked in surprise then bowed his head at her.
He watched her turn slowly away from him and walk down the hall to whatever her next class was. Draco's eyes
followed her until she turned the corner, not quite sure how to handle the feelings her comment had extracted from
somewhere deep inside of him. Tiredly, he walked into Potions, hearing approaching footsteps of his classmates; not
bothering to look up from his notes or cauldron the entire class, except to look at the blackboard. He didn't feel
like dealing with everyone's pity; he didn't need it. For once, he just wanted to be left alone.