Fallen Angel
Chapter 12
"I was really worried about you," Clarissa moped in her usual baby voice as she curled up with Draco in bed. Ginny was there, as always, and Draco was awake and rather uppity given all he had been through. Having Clarissa finally in there with him certainly helped, she had spent the night at Nymphadora and Remus' house and hadn't been there to see her father get brought home is such a state.
"You know it takes a lot to take me out," he assured, holding her chin despite his cast, he still had use of his fingers.
Clarissa just nodded while pouting and clung to her dad's good arm as though to never let go. It was very early and Draco hadn't said anything to anyone, but he planned on going to work that day. Ginny certainly had something to say about that when he eventually climbed out of bed after Clarissa had left them.
"Are you crazy?"
"Don't ever call me crazy," he snapped venomously.
"Well then stop acting like it and get back in bed this instant," she snapped back equally, pointing at the mattress firmly.
"I have a job, but not for long if I don't actually show up, Ginny," he argued, attempting to get his shirt on but stretching and moving his ribs was agony. They were purple and red with bruising. He tried to get the sleeve over his cast but was unable to button the cuff and finding it difficult to work his left hand over the buttons down the front.
"You nearly get killed and now you are going right back?"
"I was attacked in Muggle London, not Diagon Alley, and I won't be traveling through Muggle London, so I can't imagine what the issue could be."
"Can't imagine…Draco, you have a concussion, you shouldn't be out of bed!"
"I've had worse," he dismissed, though feeling like each step was a stumble. If he fell over, he wasn't going to be getting back up.
"Draco, don't do this, please…" she said, then using one of Draco's own tactics against him, giving him the biggest saddest eyes she could muster, her voice weak and baby-ish.
"Ginny," Draco sighed, looking over at her and dropping his tie around his neck to let it hang. "Please, I'm not doing this to be a stubborn pain in the arse…for once. I know my new boss, however, and he is just looking for an excuse to dismiss me. I cannot miss work, he won't have it, I can tell you that much with quite certainty."
"I'm just so scared that you are just going to die one of these times," Ginny sobbed and Draco's last defenses crumbled. He sat on the bed and held Ginny's hand, unable to offer a hug.
"I'm not going to die, don't be silly," he said, trying to be light-hearted but it not terribly appreciated by Ginny. "What I said was true, I have been through worse, and it takes a lot to take me down. The only thing that can keep me down is myself, right? Moving forward is what is best."
"You are just putting yourself last," she sobbed and Draco frowned his brow at that.
"You know I am far too self-centered to ever do such a thing."
"Michael said…"
"Never mind what Michael said," Draco cut off quite firmly. "Come here," he then offered, opening his arms and preparing for the pain. Ginny barely leaned, but he was able to put his arms around her, and they sat there in a sort of barely-touching embrace. "I am fine, and I will only get better with time."
"I know you believe that, but I also know that you don't understand your own limits," she sobbed.
"Speaking of work," Draco pressed on, trying to act as though he hadn't heard that. "Shouldn't you be getting ready? You're pregnant, not broken, right?" he asked, that frequent reminder of hers now used against her.
"Oh Draco, not today," she whined.
"I get the feeling you are avoiding your problems there, by not going, and by me facing things head on you are feeling guilty about it."
"Draco-"
"I'm not snooping. All that from observation. Am I close?" he asked and Ginny managed a weak laugh.
"Maybe," she admitted, Draco kissing her forehead and rubbing her back. "But it is different, you are hurt. Sunday you couldn't even get out of bed you were so ill, now with everything that has happened, barely a week later you are worse than ever…you need rest…"
"I will go to work, be home by five, and I will rest up, I promise. We can watch a movie, sing some songs, have some dinner, and live a life the world refuses to accept that we have."
"Sing songs?"
"If I must, to get a smile on your face again," he said, rubbing her back one last time while kissing her forehead, then her nose, then her lips.
Draco did not drive to work that day, instead he was able to Floo from his house to a chimney in the Leaky Cauldron, but the spinning and harsh sudden landing did not bode well for Draco's concussion and he had to stumble and sit for a while so as to recover. Ginny was right, he needed rest, but that wasn't an option for him. Sweat on his brow, Draco pressed on, unwilling to succumb to his body's limitation. Walking now, however, with his cane in his good hand, lame one swinging as naturally as he could manage, he made his way to the library as though he were as well as ever.
"Draco, good-lord," Oliver said while stopping dead in his tracks as Draco walked in, it obvious he hadn't been expected.
"Morning," he drawled, not tagging "good" onto that, and for good reason. Oliver's look of surprise was only rivaled by Draco's look of pain as he collapsed at his desk. "Would it be too much to ask of you, to fetch my robes from the back for me? I would not typically ask, but now that I'm sitting, it would be such a bother to get back up. I'm comfortable," he drawled, as though he was just being a sarcastic bastard, hiding the fact that he was really, actually, asking for help. His pride wouldn't have that, just like his body wouldn't have him standing again at the moment, so he was rather stuck.
"Draco, what are you doing here?"
"I work here, or has that changed?" he replied, leaning his cane against his desk but only getting it to stay upright on the third attempt.
"No, I mean, yes you still work here…but Draco, after what happened…"
"And what exactly did happen, do you know? I'm not aware of any paper printing anything short of some tale of my head-first jaunt down a flight of stairs, so do tell me what you believe happened, I could use an update on my gossip," he drawled again, his temper there but it being somewhat cold.
"I…I heard about that, and it is none of my business. But still, you shouldn't be out of bed regardless of what happened, you look a right bit better than death," Oliver argued.
"Would Mr. Crudelis appreciate my missing another day of work?" Draco asked. Oliver kept his lips pursed together. "Precisely what I thought. I will be fine. I will sit right here at my desk, like a good little wolfy, and do my job," Draco said, brushing his hair out of his eyes. His new haircut was annoying him. The longest part was up front and cut at an angle to hang in his face which he brushed to the side, while the back was short, not much able to be salvaged after the hack-job he had made of it.
Oliver wanted to argue with Draco further, but knew Draco wouldn't have it, so he fetched him his robes. When he came back to deliver them, however, he found Draco to be not alone.
"Couldn't be bothered to owl in, could you?" Mr. Crudelis scolded as Draco stood before him in an obvious reprimand.
"I was unconscious, sir," Draco attempted to weakly argue.
"That's no excuse. I give you a job and you take off the very next day? Have you no appreciation?"
"Sir,"
"I suppose since you are a Malfoy, you feel you are entitled to more. Expect special treatment do you? It won't happen, Malfoy. You miss another day like you did yesterday and you can forget coming in again, you got that?" he bellowed and Draco just nodded before looking down. "And put on your robes, this isn't a Muggle business," the man snapped as he walked away, Draco still in his slacks, dress shirt, and tie.
"Draco…" Oliver said once their boss was out of range, offering the robes to Draco.
"Have you tracked down those volumes on Merfolk yet?" Draco asked, meaning to go straight into work because he knew Oliver was going to attempt in being consoling.
"Draco, don't let-"
"Please, just don't." Draco said, rather harshly. He was glaring at his desktop, waiting for Oliver to answer him.
"No," he said and Draco nodded slowly, fetching some parchment and an inkwell. Oliver looked at him for a long moment before leaving him. It was obvious Draco didn't want to talk about it.
------------------
Ginny took a deep breath before Disapparating. She was showered, she was dressed, she was very obviously pregnant. Standing before the mirror, she couldn't help but feel huge, cumbersome, and a little less than glamorous. She had removed all the spells that had hidden her pregnancy up until this point, but that meant most of her clothes didn't fit anymore either. There were some benefits to such depth-creating spells, one being she could still wear her smart looking clothing to work. Now she needed to wear actual maternity clothes that made room for her bump in the material and cut, not by magic black-hole, and it left her feeling big, and fat, and awkward. Ginny Apparated in the Atrium of the Ministry, and hoped to just fall into flow with the steady stream of incoming personnel without notice or pause.
She found success in this, up until the lifts. She needed to get to level six, the Department of Magical Transportation, which was only two floors up, but the lifts were always crowded.
"Morning,"…"Good morning," the people greeted as they entered the car but upon Ginny's attempt all words failed them and everyone just stared. Ginny tried to ignore this, but just trying to step in got everyone to shuffle backwards some, as though afraid to bump or even touch her. Some people acted as though just bumping a pregnant woman would somehow be detrimental, others acted like it was a highly contagious condition. Many in the lift, however, knew who -or maybe more accurately, what- the father was, and seemed to want to keep their distance as a result. With the press swarming Draco since the full moon being terribly negative, the photo, the news of Ginny's pregnancy, Michelangelo's display on the steps of Gringott, and then the "attack"…Ginny wasn't surprised by the people's reactions, but they still managed to get her down.
"Morning, Ginny," Neville greeted as he entered the lift last moment, sounding a little winded as though he had jogged, something his bum leg made more awkward.
"Hey Nev," she greeted back, thankful there was someone on that lift who wasn't treating her like she had the plague.
"I wrote you an owl last night, I wasn't sure if you…"
"Yeah, I got it. I would have written back but it was so late," she explained and Neville just shook his head to show there was no explanation necessary. He wanted to talk about his concerns over Draco, that being what he had written to her about already, but knew this was not the place.
"How about you and I have lunch?" he asked as they reached level seven.
"That would be nice. You can tell me how Orla is doing," Ginny said with a smile.
"She is tired, as am I. I try to stay up with the baby as much as possible so she can rest."
"You love it," Ginny accused and Neville smiled in an unmistakable way.
"My first little girl," he beamed and Ginny laughed, level six now being announced over the small speaker, Ginny moving towards the doors.
"Draco wants nothing more than to have a little girl," she said as she walked backwards.
"I know he does. You two should come over and meet Abigail," he said, the lifts starting to close.
"I think he would get too excited holding the little girl, you wouldn't get her back," Ginny laughed, waving goodbye to her good friend.
In high spirits, Ginny walked towards her office. Along the way she crossed paths with all sorts of her co-workers, and the looks on their faces were unmistakable. Ginny tried to cling to that confidence Neville had granted her, but was already tired eyed and defeated as she walked into her office. She closed her door behind her, opened the slot for planes to enter should one show up, and she dropped her bag on the floor with a deep exhale. She had known this would be tough, but why did people have to look at her like that, like a freak? They weren't just thinking "oh-my-god, I hadn't known she was pregnant", no, they were thinking "Oh-my-god, she is having that werewolf's pup," and it was obvious. She wasn't a mind reader but such a skill wasn't necessary if one took in the horror and disgust in people's eyes. People didn't typically look like that when presented with a pregnant woman.
Ginny rubbed her forehead and sighed, the baby giving her a firm kick to the kidney.
"Gin, oh-MY-god, I did NOT expect you in today!" her friend said as she walked in without knock, her voice urgent with her excitement.
"Morning, Mandy," Ginny sighed, rounding her desk to ease herself into the chair. Mandy Brocklehurst was a former Ravenclaw of Draco's year. She and Ginny worked together and she was the closest co-worker Ginny had. She considered the woman a friend, though they rarely did anything with the woman outside of work and lunch. Ginny rarely did anything with anyone outside of work anymore, not since dating Draco, which had led to a certain amount of atomicity towards Draco within the office, like some believed it was because of Draco Ginny did not associate with them or something.
"Okay, spill," Mandy demanded, snapping her fingers at Ginny while standing before her desk.
"Mandy, really, I have to get to work," Ginny tried to argue but the look on the other woman's face showed she wasn't about to be dismissed. "Fine," Ginny sighed.
"You didn't tell me that you are pregnant?"
"Not just you, I didn't tell anyone, so don't feel bad."
"I will and I do! Come on, of all people to not trust with this?"
"It isn't that I don't trust you, I just kept this quiet from anyone who isn't family."
"Why?"
"You read the papers?"
"Yes."
"That's why," Ginny sighed, leaning back in her chair.
"Oh, you can't let what the papers say get to you."
"Easy for you to say, you have never had anything good OR bad written about you."
"I have seen the terrible stuff written about Draco lately," Mandy admitted, speaking softly, in a more understanding tone, as she reached up onto Ginny's desk and picked up the photograph there where Ginny and Draco were posed, Ginny periodically turning only her head to kiss his cheek and Draco's only reaction while facing forward in a very proper pose was to look sideways at her with only his eyes.
"He's a trooper, I'll give him credit for that," Ginny said, looking at one of the other photo's she had of him on her desk and smiling. He was sitting on his old couch, in his old living room of his old apartment, with a pair of old jeans with the torn out knees. On his lap was his new guitar, and he was strumming it, Ginny unable to hear the song but could remember it so clearly. She loved it when he sang for her.
"So come on, details!" Mandy pressed, placing the picture frame back down.
"I can't imagine what you would want to know," Ginny laughed, finding some ease in her friend's acceptance of this, especially after that ride on the lift and the walk down the halls.
"Are you getting married?" she asked.
"No," Ginny replied flatly.
"Well, when did this happen?" she asked, waving her hands in Ginny's direction so as to indicate Ginny's condition.
"Christmas," Ginny admitted, placing a hand on her tummy.
"Oh, really? How romantic," Mandy gushed and Ginny laughed.
"Yeah, the Christmas gift that keeps on giving."
"You said you only started seeing him a few days before Christmas though," she inquired and Ginny took a deep breath. "That true, or were you lying?"
"No, it's true," Ginny said, almost laughing actually, as she shook her head. "He and I got together on that Friday before but didn't get together until the Remembrance Ball on Christmas eve. Then, the next night, well," Ginny trailed off to shrug, blush, and smile all at once.
"Oh, come on, that is too funny."
"I fail to see the humor in it." Ginny said blandly, almost shocked that such a tone had escaped her. That was a reaction Draco would have given.
"Okay, okay, tell me about the kids."
"I have told you about them before, nothing has changed."
"Oh yes it has. You have told me about them, but not about how they feel about this baby, come on, spill. I see now why Michael would be so firmly set against you, but how about Claire?"
"She is almost as excited as Draco."
"So he is excited then?"
"Like a first-year invited to be on the Quidditch team," Ginny laughed and Mandy joined in. "Goodness it would be nice to see Draco in such a light. You assure me he is some kind of sweetheart, but with nothing positive ever written about him, and my recollection of him from Hogwarts being what it is, I just find it difficult," she said apologetically and Ginny nodded, understanding what her friend meant.
"I know, I know. I wish there was a way for me to share with the world this happiness I have with him, this wonderful person I see in him."
"You consider giving an interview?" she asked and Ginny stared. "Don't look at me like that, come on, you haven't though about it? An interview to get your side out," she said and Ginny shook her head.
"Draco wouldn't like that, even if all intentions were good. He doesn't like the media, because he likes his privacy. Even if something good was written about him, he would still be bothered that they wrote something at all."
"I think it would be what's best though. They are not going to STOP writing about him, or you, so it isn't like by not giving this interview you are saving him any grief. If something is to be printed one way or another, why not make it positive for once?" she pressed and Ginny actually though on that, not having seen it that way before.
"You think it would help? Seriously?" she asked.
"I can't see how it would hurt. I mean, people will either believe it, or not, but at least the truth would be out there for those who are willing to listen."
"That is true," Ginny agreed, thinking on it.
"Come on, imagine it, you and Draco, with the kids, in that old house, some charming candid shots of the family being like any other family, an exclusive interview about how the family dynamic has panned out with you added into the mix, your plans for the future, your feelings on all the bad press."
"Candid photos? I don't think Draco would agree to that. Interview probably never, photos absolutely never. He hates getting his picture taken."
"Oh-Merlin, the BABY photos! This interview being exclusive would rake in a whole lot of gold for you and this family, but think about how much exclusives of the baby photos would get you! You know Harry and Hermione are pulling in almost a million for the exclusives on theirs, right?"
Ginny sighed and fussed with her hair.
"Yes, yes, I know. I really don't want to make this about money, people reading the article will just think it is us banking on the publicity and be even less inclined to believe what is written."
"You know as well as I do that you need the money, and banking or not, you NEED to get your side out there, preferably before the baby comes because you KNOW the types of loons out there," she said, rather darkly and Ginny sobering up considerably at that point.
"I just want to hide until this all blows over."
"You think this will EVER blow over?"
"You sound like Draco," Ginny moped.
"He is a smart man then," Mandy teased.
"That's all a lot to think about, and something I need to discuss with Draco. Right now I have enough to deal with, like how I'm going to go about submitting my maternity leave," Ginny said, looking around her desk for a quill.
"You are, what, seven months?"
"Yeah, due September seventeenth."
"You staying right up until then?"
"That had been my intent until I impulsively revealed I am pregnant in front of a swarm of paparazzi. Now I'm not sure," she sighed, still thinking about the situation as a whole and it being vast and daunting.
"I think you should take off in August, I mean, no saying when the baby will come, and we all know you could use the rest. You have been running around here like you haven't been pregnant for months."
"I'm pregnant, not feeble," Ginny grumbled, tired of having to explain that to people.
"You are creating and supporting LIFE, your body is taxed more than it has even been in its life…and you can't deny your life is one big dollop of stress…rest wouldn't hurt," Mandy argued.
"If money weren't an issue I would agree with you know, file for leave, and go home right now, take the next two months off…but I can't."
"A big-fat paycheck from a tabloid would cover your time off nicely me thinks," Mandy said and Ginny froze for a second, caught up by that.
-------------------
Draco was at his desk when he heard the front doors open. He looked up while removing his glasses, prepared to be helpful and welcoming but caught off guard by who was approaching.
"Hello, Potter. Welcome to Albus Dumbledore Library," Draco greeted, not standing as Harry approached with a great sense of purpose.
"When do you take your lunch?" he asked, more like demanded.
"Not for another hour," Draco answered though not sure why he wasn't just telling Harry to fuck off. Wanting to keep his job might have had something to do with it.
"I need to speak with you."
"Because you aren't right now," Draco drawled, putting his glasses back on and dipping his quill in his inkwell. He had a lot of paperwork to do and it was obvious Harry wasn't there looking for directory assistance.
"No, I mean, outside of here," Harry said, pushing his hands through his messy black hair and Draco finally acknowledging the waves of anxiety coming off the man.
"What have you been up to?" Draco asked, about to pry but giving Harry the opportunity to be honest…if he were smart.
"I wanted to know if the name William means anything to you," he then said and Draco looked at him with wide eyes of surprise.
Draco made a quick excuse for himself and punched for lunch while Harry waited in the main hall. Draco didn't share a word with Harry until they were in a private booth of a secluded restaurant, tucked away in a dark corner, able to speak in confidence.
"What does William mean to you?" Draco demanded then, no pretenses, already looking deep into Harry's mind in search of answers, of truth.
"I went to the Beast Department this morning, intent on seeing exactly what was going on over there, and was met with great resistance. They didn't seem very keen on admitting me."
"Imagine that," Draco said, taking a sip of his water.
"I got as far as the Pen before I was stopped, but I was able to proceed with a chaperone which made me think they were hiding something," he explained, Draco just riveted by all this and about to get snippy if Harry didn't get relevant real fast. "I discovered a whole department dedicated to research I didn't even know existed."
"I could have told you as much, if your heroism would allow your ego the chance to look into something before diving head first and straight in on your own," Draco snapped, very aggressive and defensive all at once.
"Draco…"
"So what did you find exactly that has you so waxy-faced and sweaty-palmed?" Draco already knew the answer.
"I saw some terrible things down there…"
"Again, as I could have told you."
"Why didn't you?"
"What would you have had me do, Harry, go to you and sob about how mean the big-old-Ministry is? Would you have believed me, or would you have thought I was just playing the victim again?" Draco snapped.
"That's not fair."
"Life isn't fair, Harry, and it's about time you realized that. The Ministry treats me, and every other werewolf, like shit. Sorry I didn't tell you about it, next time I'll leave you a note."
"So then you know about…"
"William?" Draco interrupted, Harry looking queasy and awkward. "Yes, I know about him. Did you come here to tell me so as to feel like a hero, or make me feel worse? I suppose you could have intended and done both, you have always reveled in my misfortune and misery," Draco accused.
"I have not!"
"Have too! You banked off my incarceration, you took my woman and treated her like dirt, you lived off my gold, and you took credit for MY good deeds. Upon my release you did all in your power to keep me quiet and your dark manipulative past secret."
"I tried to keep the press off your back, but that wasn't me trying to hide anything and you know it!" he argued, not sure how to even go about arguing about who's woman Ginny had been at that time, or how he had treated her. That was a secondary argument, just meant to be a jab at Harry, and Harry wouldn't take the bait and have that same old row again, not with the topic of why he came to Draco in the first place so pressing.
"You were hiding your guilt Harry, don't fucking lie to me."
"Fine! You win Draco, your life sucks more than mine. What's your prize? Rubbing my nose in it until I feel like shit too? Making my life hell? Being unforgiving and unrelenting? What? If it somehow made you happy I would say go for it since I admit I screwed you over, as unintentional as it was…but by the looks of it and that scowl on your painfully thin and bruised face, I would say you are not happy at all, so why don't you cut me some fucking slack!" Harry snapped while Draco glared. Harry took a huge gulp of water and slammed his cup down and Draco's eyes finally fell. Harry was still fuming when Draco murmured something that he hadn't quite caught.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry," Draco repeated, barely any louder but Harry catching it that time and it startling him. "I guess I haven't been very fair to you," he admitted, looking sadly at his glass so as to not have to look at Harry.
"Draco, no…I shouldn't have just yelled, I'm sorry…" Harry attempted, rubbing his face in frustration, but Draco glared like he wasn't appreciating Harry's attempt to be more apologetic than him. Harry backed down. "I really did have all the best intentions," Harry finally said.
"The road to hell is paved in good intentions, as my father always told me."
"I didn't mean to hurt you with this business; I just thought you hadn't known…"
"I knew," Draco sighed. "You want to know too."
"A part of me does, I won't lie…but a larger part of me really doesn't want to know how a son of yours ended up in that department, in that condition."
"He was still-born, Harry, born just before Michael, his twin. William was what I had to give up so as not to be sterilized that first time I became a father. His mother had made the decision at the time. She knew either situation would be crushing, but the loss of a son with the hope -ability at least- to have another was the lesser of two evils and that was the road she took," Draco explained. "I was told about it after the fact, and it did hurt, but I was thankful for it, because by then Clarissa was on the way, and I couldn't imagine a life without her."
"I can't believe the Ministry has such laws. I was there when the Beast Department was reestablished after the war. I wasn't in it first hand, but I was being told of all that was being reformed within the department, told of the cataloging and documenting-"
"You mean tattooing and incarcerating?"
"I didn't know. Remus never told me about being tattooed. The reports I was getting were so detailed and informative…forgive me, but I didn't question them with how spread thin I was over every other department within the Ministry. I was being told the werewolves were being sheltered, offered Wolfsbane, and steps were being taken to prevent the spread of the disease…I couldn't see how that was bad."
"Well, by sheltered the Ministry really meant kidnapped from their homes and penned in undersized, filthy, prison-like cells. Offered Wolfsbane was their way of saying `forced upon' because as beneficial as it may be, it should still be someone's choice to take it, the stomach-pains it causes with regular use deterrent enough for some of us to feel we are better off without it. And as for `preventing its spread', well, that was them prettying up the fact that they were systematically sterilizing us," Draco said as he glared at his glass. "Sterilization, abortion, experimentation. Sounds charming, I'm at a loss as to why those were not also included in your reports."
"Unspeakables work in the department, I hadn't known that. I would have wondered why such security measures were being taken if I had but known."
"You seem insulted that things in the Ministry were happening without your knowledge, let alone your consent and approval."
Harry couldn't deny something that was obvious with Draco's ability to read him like a book.
"Why didn't you become Minister of Magic? No one would have run against you, and you would have free-reign of the Ministry like you so obviously want."
"I was too young. There has never been an eighteen year old Minister and I wanting about to be the first. I needed time to deal with everything that happened with the war, time to grow up, make mistakes, live a little. I was still under unimaginable scrutiny while in the public eye, but at least I wasn't held to such a high responsibility."
"So what is stopping you now?"
"Don't you know?"
"I'm trying not to pry, it's called being polite."
"I'm a recovering alcoholic insomniac," Harry sighed, picking up his water glass again.
"And I'm a relapsing drug-addict paranoid schizophrenic. What's that got to do with anything?"
"You're not trying to change the world," Harry moped.
"Says who?"
Harry just looked at him.
"Harry, if there is one person I can trust to do the right thing, make that judgment and difficult choice between two evils so as to do the most good, it's you," Draco said and Harry stared with even wider eyes. "Don't look at me like that."
"I thought you hated me."
"Just resented you," Draco said in a small voice.
"Still?"
"I wasn't lying all those years ago when I said I hated you because you had everything I ever wanted. You think things have changed? We might be older, and I'm a little crazier, but still, our situations are the same other than I have Ginny now. You are the Golden-boy, and I am the son of a Death Eater."
"I'm sorry that you have had to pay for that for so long. I really should have owned up and taken care of you."
"You didn't owe it to me to save me, Harry. I went into that situation expecting to die. It was all just bad planning on my part that wound up landing me in such a predicament. I tried to die a hero's death with hardly a hero's résumé. It was far too ambitious and pretentious for me to pull off and I had to learn a valuable lesson."
"What lesson was that?" Harry dared to ask.
"Not what you think," Draco glared. "It wasn't to not put other's before myself, to never be so self-sacrificing again, to be guarded. I know that's what you think of me, and that is what I have led you to believe, because I am rather guarded."
"I've noticed…"
"But that's not really what I have taken from all my experiences. What Ginny sees in me, what you can't understand because I have never allowed you to see, is that I now know a hero's worth is something measured by his heart. I had to look beyond the glory and had to find strength and value from within, and that the satisfaction came from doing the right thing, not the praise received for it."
Harry looked down. "Looking beyond the glory is the hardest part," he said, having succumbed more than once to the fame, fortune, and praise of being a hero. He knew his ego today still banked on his expectance of being treated like someone greater, someone important. He was humble but he was also arrogant. Apparently it made him insufferable. It was one of the reasons he was in therapy. "I guess our misunderstandings of one another have led to this animosity," Harry said, Draco sipping at his water.
"Yeah, and while you have always come across as the hero, I have come across as the jealous lament one. I guess that has left me bitter and unwilling to be forgiving."
"What changed?"
"My therapist seems to think I'm causing more than you an unnecessary amount of stress," Draco shrugged, not about to mention his ulcers, weight-loss, restless nights and drinking. Harry didn't need to know about that to get the message loud and clear, and he was sharing enough as it was. Draco hated these feely-feely bonding moments. He was glad Ron and him were past such things, but he wasn't about to make Harry his best mate either. He still wanted Harry to get hit by the Knight Bus, he just wasn't about to be the one that shoved him at that point.
"Dr. Valensclaro is a very hard-knocking man. He can totally get you to open your eyes to things, even while in your deepest denials"
"I've noticed," Draco drawled. "Does he ever talk about me?" Draco was sounding mildly insecure despite his indifferent tones. Harry and he shared another common link, therapy. They both saw the same man several times a week, sat in the same office, on the same couch.
"Not much, confidentiality and all that. Say's I shouldn't give up on you, however."
"Oh, that's nice…" Draco drawled dryly. He had already decided to not see that man again. Anyone who would throw him to the Ministry like that, and tell his girlfriend and her family and such that he was schizophrenic without having done a single damn test to see if it were actually true or not, was not someone he wanted to confide in.
"I'm worried about the Pen."
"I'm worried about a great number of things," Draco responded, vaguely indicating his left hand, possibly unintentionally, as he pulled out a cigarette.
"I don't know who attacked you, Draco."
"Funny, me neither. I never imagined we would have so much in common," Draco drawled as he flicked his lighter open with his right hand, unable to do so with his left as he had just discovered.
"Draco," Harry sighed disapprovingly at Draco's curtness after Draco had been so open for the first time…ever.
"They accused me of doing this to myself," Draco then explained his sudden turn of temper, closing his lighter without lighting his cigarette first.
"I know."
"They asked me, if I had a wand, why didn't I use it?"
"Well, why didn't you?" Harry asked delicately.
"I haven't had a wand in over fourteen years. I got one two days ago. My first instinct wasn't to go for my wand; it was to run, to get away, to survive. It embarrasses me, but that's the truth. I didn't go for my wand and fight, I ran away, cowardly."
"That wasn't cowardice, Draco, it was smart. You haven't had a wand in fourteen years, and forgive me, you weren't the best dueler in your prime. You would have gotten killed if you had fought it out. You did the intelligent thing, you got out of there."
Draco seemed to blow Harry's words off at that, like he himself thought himself cowardly and stupid. Harry could see how hard Draco was on himself, had for a while now, people's negative opinions of him affecting Draco more than he would ever admit.
"I feared it was a Death Eater," Draco then divulged.
"There are no…"
"I know, there are none left. I have been one of the people telling everyone that, but still, that was my first reaction to seeing the guy, and it was a feeling strong enough to stop my heart, Harry. I don't know if it was to psyche me out, if it was a sign of something resurfacing, or if it was just a coincidence…but it shook me, more than the attack itself it shook me," Draco admitted, flicking his lighter again and taking a deep breath from his cigarette. The end flared to life as Draco flicked his lighter closed and let out his breath of smoke through his nose.
"When you said resurfacing…"
"I don't mean him coming back," Draco assured, though snappishly. The thought of the Dark Lord coming back scared him just as much as it did Harry. "I mean to say, there are few people the Death Eaters hate more than me. Family and former supporters now out of Azkaban all have a vendetta against me, as they do you, but I'm more accessible, and frankly, more despised. You destroyed their leader; I gave you the means and opportunity. They HATE me," he said, taking a deep breath from his cigarette.
"So that is who you think went after you? Some Dark Lord sympathizer?"
"I don't know. Not a true Death Eater if that is the case, they are all dead of have life-long stints in Azkaban. I'm the only person with the Dark Mark out on the streets. The only one's who would have such a motive, who would have the means, would be a Death Eater's family member, or a particularly bolded Neo-Eater out to make a name for himself."
"They haven't the balls to-"
"Oh please, you know as well as I do that enough time has passed since the war for people to start idolizing the Dark Lord. The young and impressionable who can't properly remember the war are becoming enthralled with the dark side, as is what happened after the first war and how I came to be so audacious in Hogwarts. There is no Dark Lord for them to support, but that doesn't stop them from holding true to his ideals, and being overtly bastardly to make him proud."
"You know something about this movement, more than you are letting on." Harry accused.
"Of course I do, I'm a once Death Eater, son of a Death Eater, one-time recruiter for the Dark Lord, and a werewolf. If anyone would know about the underground going-ons of the Dark Arts and those who support it, it would be me," Draco said dismissively as he took another taste of his cigarette, blowing the smoke away from Harry respectfully.
"I thought you said they all hated you."
"The Death Eaters in Azkaban sure do. Those on the outside -besides maybe their families who still hold me personally responsible for their family's shortcomings and fall from grace- actually hold me to a high regard. I beat the system, I'm out, I'm free, and able to continue to be devious, if I so wish. They don't realize that is not my calling anymore, thus how I got out."
"It sounds to me like you hang with a dangerous crowd."
"Hardly. I have little if anything to do with them, they seek ME out from time to time, that's all. Besides, they are novices full of piss and wind."
"Sort of like how you were?" Harry jabbed. Draco glared but then nodded.
"Yeah, just about. Except I recall giving you a run for your money more than once."
"Yeah, because you were possessed," Harry scoffed.
"Whatever," Draco dismissed, puffing away at his cigarette, wishing their server would show up soon. They had been there for fifteen minutes and already Harry had made two jabs at him in regards to his dueling abilities. Besides, he only had forty minutes for lunch and Ginny really would like it if he ate something.
"So, the Neo-eaters who would have the means to attack you wouldn't, because they like you, and the Death Eaters and their partisans who would want to hurt you would, but don't have the means, so who does that leave?"
"There are plenty of people out there NOT associated with the Dark Arts who hate werewolves, Harry. I could have been attacked by a second-grade school teacher for all intents and purposes, so long as they don't like werewolves they are a prime suspect."
"You really think-"
"No, I know. There is a difference. You may have friends who are werewolves, but you don't know what it is to be one of us, to live as one. The kind of stuff that happens to me on a daily basis would blow your mind, the kinds of people doing it would shock you. You don't have a healthy fear of old-ladies like I do," Draco then managed to joke, what he was saying not all that funny, however.
"There have been disappearances of werewolves all over Brittan."
"I already know about that."
"You feel this is connected?"
"Possibly."
"Only possibly?"
"Harry, if I didn't have something thrown, spat, or pitched at me every day, if I weren't insulted, berated, and threatened on a daily basis, if I didn't get hexed, cursed, or jinxed every now and then, and if I did get denied admittance to businesses and places just because I'm a werewolf, I would absolutely think the two are related. But from all I have experienced, it could just be one of those far too frequent, but random hate-crimes. I don't like it, but I have to keep my outlook open here."
"Is it really as bad for werewolves as I fear?" Harry asked in a defeated tone. He had seen the Beast Department, he now heard Draco's firsthand accounts, and he had a feeling he was still not seeing the whole picture. It worried him.
"Worse," Draco sighed, breathing from his cigarette in a long dreg before flicking it in the ashtray on the tabletop between them.
-----------------
"A pretty flower, for a pretty lady," Draco said upon returning home and seeing Ginny. He had four flowers, but only offered one to her.
"Thank you my lover," she said with a grin as Draco kissed her knuckles. Ginny loved his new haircut and watched his hair slide forward to cover his right eye before he gave his head one graceful shake to flip it out of the way, back on the side of his cheekbone. He must have been feeling better for that to have not hurt his head. The haircut looked chic all combed forward like that, and actually made him look younger, helped hide the fact that he had a high hairline -which Draco LOVED about the style- but it was white, all the old grown-out hair dye gone with the hack-job he had made of it. Ginny had actually referenced a magazine ad to style his hair. He now had the cut of a GQ sunglasses model. Draco was a little smitten with that comparison, Ginny a little love-struck. When he would put his sunglasses on, despite the cut lip and bruise that extended beyond the lens, he looked like he could pass for a model. He might not have felt that was true, but she did, and it certainly put a little bounce in his gimpy step to know how hot she thought he was.
Draco's eyes were locked with Ginny's for a passionate moment before he turned his attention to his daughter as she entered the room too.
"And one for my baby girl," he said, offering one to her. She grinned and took it and allowed Draco to kiss her forehead. "One for the best mum ever," Draco said, offering one to Narcissa who took it but just shook her head at him. "Now where is, oh, there he is," Draco said, turning to find Michelangelo sitting in his old beat-up chair from the old apartment, it tucked in the corner because it was quite hideous but Michelangelo refusing to part with it.
"You too good for a flower?" Draco asked, sitting on the arm and offering it down to his son, but it not being taken.
"Dad."
"Just say the word and I will throw it to the ground and stomp on it if you like," he said and Michelangelo smiled and accepted it. Draco reached around and grabbed his head firmly by its base, and pulled his forehead against his lips to give him a kiss. "You behaved today?"
"Of course," Michelangelo said quite snottily, but in a playful manner.
"Excellent. How about a movie?"
"A movie!" Clarissa beamed, bouncing up and down. "I get to pick it! I get to pick it!" her hand was up in the air.
"No way, he asked me, it's my choice," Michelangelo argued.
"Someone is in a good mood, and feeling better?" Ginny said as Draco came up to her and pressed himself against her front, to hold and hug her, kiss and rub her.
"Glad to be home more like it."
"Long day?"
"As long as yours," he said and she nodded, him well aware of her feelings, mind reader and all. Her lunch with Neville had been nice but she had been unable to think of much else but what Mandy had said to her in her office. She knew she needed to talk to Draco about the idea of having an interview, but he seemed so happy to just be home, she would wait. She also wanted to ask why he wasn't at his therapist session with Dr. Valensclaro given that it was Friday, but could guess his answer. She felt terrible, all she had wanted was for Draco to get better, but the man had betrayed him. Despite that, however, Draco seemed in high spirits, so Ginny wouldn't ruin that with his mention.
"Lion King." Michelangelo demanded.
"Little Mermaid," Clarissa argued back.
It seemed like the children would not agree.
"Hercules. I win. Now get ready for the movie," Draco interrupted, both his children looking at him before racing out the room, down the hall, and up the stairs in yet another competition, to get ready for bed and a movie. It was far too early for pajamas and pillows, but it was standard attire for a movie viewing in the Malfoy household.
"Are you alright?" Ginny asked, Draco never having been this high of spirits without some kind of external source prompting it.
"Yes," he said, knowing what she was thinking. He was in an inexplicably good mood. Well, maybe not that inexplicably. He knew why he felt better. He wouldn't tell Ginny though that he had had a heart-to-heart with Harry. This wasn't due to his secrecy, he just didn't want to admit to her that his therapist had been right, and forgiving Harry to some extent as well as being more open at the very least, did actually make him feel better. The man may have been right, but he was also a bastard, so Draco kept mum. The potion Harry had given him certainly had helped as well with his spirits. The only way to mend a bone was by spell, which didn't work with Draco's resistance to most wand magic, so there wasn't much that could be done about his ribs or wrist. But there was a decent potion that was good for healing deep bruising, while helping with the overall pain, and that helped Draco considerably. He would still need time to heal up completely, but it was a massive step forward and a real leap in the healing process, effectively halving it. He mentioned that part to Ginny at least so she would understand why he was holding her to tight, with no fear of pain.
"Harry could get in a lot of trouble," Ginny fretted.
"Like anyone would question the Golden-boy? No one would ask him what he did with it; he is Harry-frickin-Potter."
"Still-"
"No, no worrying. I told you, we are coming home to watch a movie, and have some dinner, and we are going to snuggle. I can't snuggle if I'm in massive amounts of pain."
"You promised me a song," Ginny reminded and Draco smiled into her hair.
"As you wish," he whispered into her ear.
------------------------
"Draco, what's this?" Ginny asked, picking up a heavy, leather-bound book from his dresser and holding it in her two hands. They were readying for bed, movies watched, songs sung, supper finished. Draco seemed to have a healthy appetite for once, and Ginny could tell he was still in high spirits, the songs he had sung evidence to the fact.
"That is called a book, Weasley darling," Draco replied in his typical drawl as he pulled down the blankets, everyone already in their pajamas already from before.
"I know that, prat," she said while rolling her eyes. "I mean, is this a book on astrology?"
"It would appear to be, yes," he said indifferently, her able to read the cover as easily as it would be for him to just tell her.
"Why do you have it?"
"Funny thing about books, people get them to read."
"You interested in astrology?" she asked, ignoring his sarcasm, Draco shrugging in answer.
"I needed something to read, and working in a library provides me with an endless supply of reading material. In the Hall of Records I was limited to strictly history texts, so I decided to change it up a bit now with this opportunity. History, though my favorite subject, is just too damn depressing."
"Please don't tell me you are one of those people who just reads exceedingly long and boring books for the sake of reading."
"What else would I do with a book, Weasley darling, converse with it over tea?" Draco asked so sweetly as he batted his eyelashes at her. She wanted to pinch his arm.
"Like, you don't read fiction novels or best-sellers, you just read volumes and volumes to expand your knowledge," she said.
"Reading makes you smart," Draco said in a very uneducated tone and manner, giving her a blank stare.
"Oh, stop it!" Ginny laughed, raising the heavy volume like she would throw it at him. "You are like Hermione, you just read, stuff, anything, on any topic, for no explicit reason."
"You take that back, I am not like Granger, yuck," Draco drawled and Ginny raised the book again. "I wasn't top of my class because I read the Quibbler," he said smugly, confident his girlfriend wouldn't risk bruising his pretty face any more than it already was by throwing the book at him, no matter how much of an arrogant git he was being.
"Hermione was top of you class, you were second," Ginny pointed out to be just as infuriating and Draco's left eye made a twitch in a way that so eerily reminded her of his mother when she was silently composed but truly irked.
"Thank you for that reminder," he managed to say very calmly though she could tell it was forced. His jaw and teeth were very much so clenched. He sat down at the vanity and meant to pick up his comb with his left hand, seemingly remembered with that motion that it was in a cast and used his right, then stared at his reflection as though unsure what to do with his new hair.
"Let's see what this book has to say about you then," Ginny teased, ready to make better and lightening the mood as a means of apologizing. "You are a Gemini, right?" she asked.
"Yes," Draco answered slowly, watching her as she flipped through the book haphazardly, looking for whatever it was she was searching for.
Ginny finally settled on a page and smiled, patting the bed beside her for him to join her.
"Come here, you," she enticed. Draco smirked at her as he crawled up beside her with his broken arm curled up against his chest -weight bared on the right only- and Ginny read aloud.
"Gemini: Adaptable and versatile, communicative and witty, intellectual and eloquent, youthful and lively," she said and looked over at Draco who smiled smugly. "Nervous and tense, superficial and inconsistent, cunning and inquisitive," she then read and Draco glared over her shoulder at the page indignantly, Ginny continuing before he could object or complain. "It says here: Individuals born under this sign are thought to have a inquisitive, clever, courageous, and adaptable character -among the other characteristics listed above- but one which is also prone to superficiality, maliciousness, inconsistency, cowardice, nervousness, and cunning," she read and Draco huffed.
"Typical likes for a Gemini are sex," she said and Draco leaned in to lick the under edge of her jaw-length slowly, getting her to scrunch up her shoulders and giggle because it tickled. "Stop it…" she laughed. She cleared her throat and continued. "Talking, the unusual, teaching, learning, having multiple projects all going at once, traveling, making jokes," she said and Draco shrugged unable to argue with any of that because it all seemed true. "Dislikes typically include losing, being wrong, being in a bad situation, mental inaction, being alone…not getting credit for one's successes," she said, stifling a laugh as Draco glared down at the book.
"Moving on," he said dryly, Ginny clearing her throat again.
"Physically, individuals born under this sign supposedly tend to have a straight and narrow nose," she said reaching over to poke him in the nose which he responded by playfully trying to bite her fingertip. "Long and thin limbs," she said and smiled at him, both unable to deny that Draco was thin and lanky. "A well-proportioned chin," she said, and Draco stuck his out proudly, his masculine chin curtsy of his father, a much firmer chin than that of his mothers for which he was grateful. "A pointed jaw line, high cheekbones, fine bone structure," she read, thinking of Draco's mother and such features Draco had inherited from her. "Finely-textured hair, small hands, long and slender fingers," she read and started laughing as she announced the next, "and large ears," she chuckled and Draco looked over at her from his posing and fawning over himself to look indignant.
"What?" he demanded.
"They are thought to usually be slender in build and of average height," she said and he scoffed before she could continue. "Among medieval astrologers, Gemini was thought of as a fortunate sign, and its subjects were considered to possess the qualities intense devotion, genius, largeness of mind, goodness, and liberality," she finished reading, looking over at Draco, "I think that is fairly accurate when it comes to you," she smiled.
"I do not have big ears," he pouted and Ginny snapped the book closed, threw her head back, and laughed open and loudly. "Hush. Now what did it say about me being devoted, and a genius?" he inquired while taking the book from Ginny's hands and opening it to flip through the pages to find where she had been reading, choosing to ignore the part where he was also supposedly "superficial, malicious, cowardly, nervous, or inconsistent." Who says being "cunning" is a negative quality anyways? It was a very prideful mark of any Slytherin.
"Oh yes, you really do, babe, but I like them," Ginny said, leaning up to dart her tongue against his earlobe and causing an indisputable shiver to run through him. Draco was so doped up on his potion from Harry he was feeling a little restless. Apparently that was a side effect. Harry had mentioned it in passing as Draco had unquestioningly downed it. Now Draco felt he knew what Harry had meant as he looked down at Ginny.
Ginny looked up at him, ready to just laugh with him, sigh in contentment, and fall asleep in each others arms. It was how they often fell asleep, it was part of their special bond, and how she expected him to feel as banged up as he looked, but her eyes met his and there was a weight there that pulled her in so she couldn't look away, her smile slowly wilting to just look at him in question. Draco leaned down while closing his eyes to plant a kiss on her, and Ginny did nothing at first. She raised her arms slowly to then hold the sides of his face and he wrapped his arms around her, the casted one a little more stiffly.
Ginny was the one who deepened the kiss, and Draco took that as an open invitation to proceed as he placed his right hand on her breast, palming it firmly, loving their size and weight. He couldn't deny it; he was a bit of a boob-man. Ginny being pregnant as she was, her breasts were large and obvious. His hands found themselves on them frequently, his eyes if they were out in public, but he made sure he was gentle, knowing they were tender.
Draco was kneeling on the bed while bent over, Ginny on the mattress before him and leaning backwards across his lap, supported by him in a sort of sweeping kiss. Ginny allowed herself to be lost within the kiss, until she felt Draco shift and lay her down on the mattress, good hand up behind her head for support, right leg lifted to swing over her and mount her lap. She found herself pinned to the mattress in one graceful shift by Draco and she broke the kiss to enquire exactly what he thought he was doing.
"Draco, what-" she attempted to ask but he shushed her softly.
"Us Gemini like sex," he said softly, pressing his lips against hers so she couldn't object. He knew she would refuse him if he gave her a chance, not because she didn't want to, but because she was worried about him. He wouldn't have that, and he wouldn't sit there and explain to her his capability either. He wanted her, and he knew Ginny was game despite her protests, so he would take her. It was a reversal of roles for them since it was usually Ginny taking the more dominant spirit most nights. Draco was conquered a lot, and it certainly was fun, but sometimes he wanted to be the one to take charge and make her moan for more. He wanted to pull her hair tonight, lick her throat and nip at the skin, rub up against her and breathe heavily across her nipples.
Reaching down he slipped his hands under her nightdress and pushed it up her thighs. Ginny didn't have sexy knickers on like she used to wear when they first met. At night, while so pregnant, she just wore well covering cotton, but Draco loved them. He lifted up that white hem and crawled backwards to rest on her knees, face presented with her cottens and a devilish smirk creeping across his face. Ginny had to lean on her elbows to see over her stomach and Draco beyond it, but she knew exactly what he was doing when he kissed the front of her kickers, way down low. He opened his mouth to bite at the material and run his teeth over it and Ginny moaned, loving it when Draco paid this focus to her and made such an effort to arouse and stimulate her. Draco kissed and played with her through the knickers, spreading her legs to nose between them, Ginny biting her bottom lip and smiling, her body really liking this, the heat erupting from her down there notable and strong. Draco ran his tongue over her knickers in one long stroke and breathed heavily in her scent -smell being the most important sense to a werewolf after all- and he could recognize the pheromones, the sweat, the desire.
"Draco," she moaned as he rubbed her through the thin material, her legs flapping closed a little at that sudden strong stimulation. Draco held them open, then crawled up over her to be back up at her neck, hand still down between her legs where he was now rubbing her in a circular motion, Ginny's mouth open, Draco's lips trailing along her shoulder.
He smiled as her hips tried to rock up towards his hand but her pregnant condition and his body over hers preventing that. He rubbed her a little more firmly, getting her to pant, and then slipped his hand under the edge, to grab her hair then as a contradictory stimulation. A little pain after so much pleasure got her to gasp before his fingertips wondered lower, to kindle her like before, only without the knickers in the way.
"Draco, why are you doing this?" Ginny asked in her breathlessness, eyes closed as her hips eagerly tried to rock, encouraging him on.
"Because I love you," he said quite simply, lips still against her skin.
"But you are sick. You were close to death…"
"Well, then be a good doctor and cure me of my ails," he said, stopping in his touching of her to grab her hand and pull it towards him. Ginny wasn't sure what he was doing until she felt him place her hand on himself and she could feel through his trousers that he was already erect without having so much as touched himself yet. Ginny opened her eyes to look at him and he smirked, kissing her as he inserted his hand back down the front of her knickers. Ginny gasped and grasped him with his fingers sliding in her, and Draco's hips bucked a little at her sudden force. Knowing he wouldn't appreciate another yank like that, she made amends by slipping her hand down the front of his pajamas and found him without knickers, his body large and warm and ready there, waiting for her.
Ginny smiled -Draco able to feel that against his lips- as she wrapped her hand around it. He turned his hand, Ginny appreciating that greatly and rewarding him with a pump from her own. The angle was a bit off, but he seemed to realize this before even she did, and he shifted, eager for her to join in on this little mission he had started.
Draco always tinged a little pink when doing something sexual. She had learned it wasn't a modest blush like she had first assumed, but just something he did when he was excited. She leaned up to lick his slightly flushed cheek and he took the opportunity that break in kissing offered to lean his head back and pant a little as Ginny's hand helped itself to all he had to offer.
Ginny knew they could go on like this for a while, both manually stimulating the other to the point of breaking and easing back, both a tease like that, making this last for hours. Yes, they had done that before, and yes, hours…but Ginny wanted more. Draco did too, and he knew what she wanted. Being a mind reader had its uses. Knowing how exactly to please your woman was just a fringe benefit, but one that made it all worth while if you asked him.
Both still dressed, Draco felt they should loose the cotton bed-wear first, before they decided what exactly they would do to one another. Draco pulled back from Ginny to be straddling her legs again, but this time the front of his trousers were pulled down to expose his erection, just rigid there like that between them. Draco wouldn't be distracted, however, so while Ginny stared with greedy eyes, he pushed up her nightgown and encouraged her to lift her bum so he could pull it up. It went over her tummy, over her breasts, and over her head very quickly and Draco tossed it aside carelessly. Ginny was left with her large, covering -supportive but not terribly sexy- maternity bra and panties. They were both white, both a little boring, but Draco stared down at her like there was nothing more beautiful. Ginny didn't understand how Draco could see her so alluring when she was so pregnant, but he loved her pregnant, loved her body, and loved that she was carrying his pup. Seeing her naked, his child curled up within her, her body nurturing and supporting her -or him- always got him excited. It made Ginny so special, so gorgeous, even more so than he already saw her as.
Ginny leaned up then and removed her bra as Draco unbuttoned his shirt as best he could with one bum arm. It didn't hurt at the moment, but the cast was still heavy and awkward to work with, causing his fingers to fumble.
Free of her top, Ginny's breasts were unsupported and laid bear. Draco took a moment to appreciate with his eyes how they had grown. Ginny couldn't imagine what he was so thrilled about, they weren't all that attractive, her nipples had grown and darkened, and she had blue veins just under the skin working overtime, her breasts starting on that whole milk production thing only making them engorge further. Draco couldn't seem more pleased, however, so Ginny tossed her bra aside to help get Draco's shirt off. Spidery veins would one day pass, so she could live with that, but she loved magic, and because of it, she didn't have a stretch mark to show for her massive belly. It was a wondrous thing. As ridiculously large her belly had gotten, it actually was very attractive with the smooth skin, the freckles that Draco always tried to clean away with his tongue though had yet been unsuccessful.
She pushed the shirt down his shoulders and pulled it over his hands for him. His chest was deeply bruised and painful looking, but nothing Draco was doing gave any indication he was in any sort of pain, so she looked past it to appreciate him for all that he was. Very thin still in a bony way, he was still so beautiful despite that. His skin was barely better than white. Cream was really pushing it; milk was probably the best comparison. His skin never saw the sun, not for years and years. He had a "second belly-button" as he liked to call it, above his natural one, which was a bit of scar tissue from where he had been run through in that final battle. She couldn't see the scars on his lower left arm because of the cast, but she could see his tattoo on his right, his family's crest on a shield and a dragon twined around the sword behind it. She kissed it, wishing he would show off the beautiful tattoo, wear short-sleeved shirts, love his body like she did. Draco leaned down to hold her face and guide it up. He kissed her lips, Ginny reciprocating, hands on the waistband of his pajama trousers. They were half off, but she wanted to see that cute little bum of his.
Her hands slipped under the elastic and over that smooth flesh and once palmed she grasped. Draco grunted a little, always caught off guard by a bit of bum grabbing but never one to admit how much he liked it when she did. She pinched his bum, smacked it, grasped it, quite often in their daily lives. In bed she was no different. He had thought it inappropriate at first for a man to be fondled in such a way, but she liked his arse, who was he to deny her the joys it entailed? Ginny pulled his pants down, gave his bum a little smack, and allowed him to get his knees, ankles, and feet free while she lay back down, placing a pillow under her lower back because she couldn't let herself lay flat in her condition.
Draco tossed the trousers aside to find only one last article left between them. He ran his hand over Ginny's knickers like he had at the start of all this and found them moist. Some of that was from him licking and kissing at them, but lower, where it was damper, and warmer, that was all her. He could smell it, smell her, and it was enough to make his body release some of its pre-ejaculate.
Retreating back down to his starting position, Draco nipped at her knickers with his front teeth and gave them a tug. Ginny giggled as she leaned up, Draco removing them with his just his teeth. He gave a tug, a pull, and with a little help from her lifting her bum up off the mattress some, he was able to pull them down her thighs. His hands took over at that point so he didn't have to climb off the bed to finish removing them, and he returned to burry his nose in her, smelling her, licking at her, Ginny holding her breasts as she closed her eyes, enjoying Draco's admiration. Draco helped make sure she was moist down there by adding a little bit of his saliva, spreading it and her own body's lubricants around with his tongue, knowing they were going to need them if he was to enter her without any painful friction. They had learned months ago that Ginny was narrow, and he was wide, and together they made a frictional couple. With so many tasty, tingly, warming, cooling lubricants, lotions, and gels, it had opened up an interesting door for them, but they didn't have those things at the moment, so they would make do, sometimes the friction the most mind-blowing part.
Draco had his good-hand down between his legs, running it over himself, getting ready and as moist as he was going to get on his own.
"Don't do something you are going to regret in the morning," Ginny warned as Draco slowly climbed over her tummy.
"I will never in my life regret touching you, Ginny," he assured as he remained bridged over that pregnant belly, so much implied but left unsaid with their child between them, using his hand to guide himself into position, about to put a stop to Ginny's fretful protests once and for all.
Ginny took a sharp breath as Draco pressed into her, and she relaxed her lower body to allow his entrance, but it was still a measured process. He carefully pressed forward, using his fingers to help her spread, and Ginny kept her hands over her breasts until she had to breathe out or pass out, taking that moment to reach down and hold his bum, pressing him forward into her and a slightly faster rate.
It burned a little with no added lubricant, but there they were, comfortably joined, Draco above her and looking as happy as a cat with a saucer of cream before him. Ginny looked up at him, seeing that smile on his lips and giving his arse a smack, knowing how much he was enjoying himself and her unable to complain but for that smugness. One would think by the look on his face that he had conquered the unattainable. She had never been that hard to get, not when it came to him at least.
It was slow at first, giving Ginny time to relax some and for him to become slicker. It was also enjoyable, so why rush it? Draco was patient, despite how badly he would love to just dive in and have at it. They could when they first got together, it was why they were pregnant now actually, but they hadn't been able to do that any time recently. He couldn't go so deep with her as pregnant as she was, so his movements were measured and tame. His mouth found itself on Ginny's breast, and he sucked on her nipple a little, holding the other breast in his right palm all while moving in and out of her. It was almost too slow, one near-full stroke followed by another. Ginny found it maddening, but it was necessary. Still, she wanted more. She reached down to grab his swollen balls and Draco groaned, Ginny still unable to get him to be vocal in bed. She knew he liked things by how he softly moaned, groaned, and panted, but he wouldn't cry out even if she hurt him. He giggled now and then, denied that later of course, but she was determined to take him one day and have him screaming for more. They still had time. Once she was no longer pregnant and her mobility returned she would top him; top him until he called out her name.
"Draco," she moaned. Draco knew what she wanted, like a good lover, and he gave it to her, like a considerate lover. He didn't exactly barrel into her, but he stopped taking such long deep strokes and halved them, replacing the length of each withdraw with a more speedy thrust. He kept his mouth on her breast, Ginny gripping his much shorter hair as she tried to rock her hips to meet his but finding that far too difficult with their baby between them and Draco above. He had to keep his weight off her tummy, as waifish as he was, so he was arched. He had a surprisingly flexible spine, Ginny had discovered. Draco was far more flexible than anyone she had ever met, more than you would think by just looking at him, and she wasn't talking about bending over and touching his toes either.
The baby right then gave an indignant kick, like "keep it down, I'm trying to sleep here," and Draco felt that against his own upper stomach which was barely touching her.
"You feel that?" he panted, worried if this would hurt the baby. Parenting books all said it was safe to have sex, care to be taken if there is a history or risk of miscarriage or pre-mature labor, but something about the act, with their baby there with them at this late stage, seemed obscene. Could the baby hear them? What did the sex sound like from within Ginny? Was her quickened heartbeat and shallow breaths affecting their child? Draco kind'a wanted to stop then, fearing the situation would become too intense for Ginny's delicate condition, even if she refused to acknowledge her fragility.
"I think he knows we're up to something," she panted, hoping Draco would not stop since he had certainly slowed.
"He?" Draco asked, wanting to give Ginny a particularly vigorous thrust to refute that but resisting and actually stopping. He made a girl, he did, he was going to get Ginny to see that.
"Don't stop, Draco, please don't," she begged, Draco obliging, though keeping a close eye on her while leaning less over her. He was upright now, Ginny on her back. It was certainly easier on his back to not try and crane over while thrusting, but it felt less intimate at the same time having their faces so far apart. It was one of the reasons why he liked taking her from behind so much. Her belly wasn't an issue then, she tended to be more comfortable on her side, and he could have his face right up alongside hers. He could kiss her, bite her, grope her. Thinking on that, why was he doing it this way?
Draco had his hands on Ginny's bent knees and looked down as he withdrew. Ginny sat up some as she felt him leave her and she was about to question why he was stopping, but his smirk reassured her that he was not through. He was still hard and ready as ever, and looking ready to cause some mischief.
Draco crawled up along side her, Ginny's eyes remaining between his legs as he drew closer, and he laid himself down beside her, going right back to their kissing, Ginny recognizing this switch of position immediately and rolling over some so she was kissing over her shoulder with him to her back, him leaning around. He reached down with his right arm to lift her leg, needing to get right back to what they were doing.
Ginny felt Draco drag just his tip forward and backward over her a few times, not like he was missing, just being a tease about it, not entering right away, arousing her like he had before with his hand. She hated it when he did this. Not that she didn't enjoy it, but it made her too much of a begging puddle of mush. She liked to dominate. Getting dominated was fun but she fought it. Draco enjoying the rivalry and challenge, thus she was rewarding him. She rubbed her bum backwards against him in that way that drove him crazy and she could tell by the way he was sniffing her that certain instincts of his were taking charge. She had gotten accustomed to his behavior, and accepted that him being a werewolf meant he really wasn't a man -despite appearances- and his desires reflected this, but he hadn't yet done or asked to do anything that made her uncomfortable. A little growling was sexy.
He pressed into her like before, both of them moist already, Ginny already prepped for him, and so it went much faster this time. Draco was already thrusting from the moment he slid in, his narrow hips rocking up against her backside, Ginny moaning with each completed thrust. It couldn't be as deep this way, but that actually served to make it more comfortable for her, being pregnant certainly making sex so much more complex than it used to be. Their room was protected so no one outside would hear them, so Ginny was able to let loose and be loud, even when Draco wouldn't. The bed could thump against the wall, mattress creek, she could scream, and he could grunt over and over, and no one in the house would be any the wiser.
Magic was a beautiful thing.
"Oh-god, Draco," Ginny panted in pleasure after some time, one hand bracing her, the other holding her stomach, Draco's pace increasing with each of her verbal enticements. Their sheets were damp and askew. Their lights were still on, as Draco liked it, and Ginny could see themselves in the mirror on the wall across the room. She wanted him to go, and go, like they had been, but there was a point where the pleasure almost became too much, and it became a discomfort, and she knew then it was starting, and her body started to tighten around his. His thrusts became a little slower, him having to push deeper, and Ginny started to moan loudly, releasing some of that tension but Draco not wanting that. He leaned around while turning her head so he could kiss her, not wanting her to loose any of their steam, wanting it to remain contained until the very end. He could go at any moment, and would happily now if he was guaranteed Ginny would join him, but he had to see this through, see to it she came so he could then join her, because it was the best when they shared it.
Ginny's hand gripped his, gripped it so tight he thought she would break his fingers of, and her body finally spammed. Ginny tore her lips away to let out a scream that encouraged him to grab her by the fronts of her hips and press himself into her as he tilted his head back, feeling his rhythmic contractions as he released and her milk him for all he was worth. He didn't scream like her, but the fervor was still there, their bodies slick with sweat, hair a mess with vigor and carelessness, bodies throbbing and joined.
Draco laid himself down behind Ginny, still spooned against her as tightly as possible, and he hooked his chin over her shoulder as his body still spammed now and then, abs and lower still feeling the residual effects of his orgasm and him knowing she was going through much the same. They panted, Draco more than her with the expended effort, and took a moment to enjoy the moment. Ginny wiggled and spread her toes, like she always did, and Draco smiled because of it. That was almost his favorite part.
"I love you," he whispered into her ear, a drop of sweat dripping from his chin onto her neck.
"I love you so much, Draco," Ginny reciprocated, sighing as they laid there, hands held, bodies quivering and joined as he licked her salty skin slowly.
Author's Note:
Hello my darlings! Thank you ALL for they lovely reviews! 15! Gosh, I wish every update could be my birthday, but then there would only be one update a year. :/
I have a nice blog about this chapter in my LJ here: http://draconisangelus.livejournal.com/9978.html and I hope you all check it out! I included a drawing I did of Draco's new haircut, a drawing of Michelangelo since many of you have never seen him before, and I also posted the song Draco sang to Ginny that I cut from the chapter. TONS OF FUN TO BE HAD, so check it out, please? *puppy-eyes*
Don't let the smut overpower your reviews if you write one. Lol!
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