Merlin, Help Me!

Chapter One

Funny How Quickly Life Paths Can Change

Draco's POV

We had been together for over a year, but always in secret. I feared my father's reaction. My father is, as far as the world is concerned, cruel. However, he has never raised his hand or wand to me, unlike many would believe. He had loved me and adored me for as long as I can remember. My greatest fear was to disappoint him or to see disapproval in his eyes. I saw it once before; the night he found out I had taken the Dark Mark. My mother and I were both surprised.

He explained that he willingly did everything asked of him by the Dark Lord so I would never have to be in that same position. So I would never have to walk down the street and hear comments about being a Death Eater. So if things didn't go as he had hoped that I would be free. His disappointment mellowed that night when I explained the threat the Dark Lord made about my mother.

But last night he called me into his study.

Flashback

"Draco, I have it on good authority you have been seeing someone in secret."

I knew what he was capable of, so I played it cool. "She's only someone to warm my bed, and a damn good fuck too."

"Draco, you must be careful; a girl who knows she's only a plaything could be willing to stop at nothing to keep you and get her hands on this family's money. Think about what your name and money could do for this girl. More experienced men than you have fallen into the trap of their mistress becoming pregnant."

End of flashback.

I knew how Father would react if he ever found out who she was. If I tried to continue seeing her, she would be at risk.

Now I waited in the room that had become our room, above the Hog's Head. She was still in school, so our time together was limited to her weekends. As she was in her seventh year, she could come to Hogsmeade every weekend. I knew what I was going to say.

When the door opened, she wore the most beautiful smile; the smile that had melted my icy heart. Her hair had a wave to it that softened her appearance and reminded me of how breakable she was. I had to do this fast. The longer it took, the harder it would be.

"How did your week go?" she asked as she closed the door behind herself.

"Good," I lied.

She walked across the room and reached out to hug me. I reached out and grabbed her wrists, stopping her. I saw it in her eyes; then she knew something was up.

I dropped her hands and turned away from her, shoving my hands into my pockets. "Oh, now this has been great; getting to fuck the girl that Potty only wishes he had the chance to fuck." I couldn't look at her and watch her heart break.

"Draco, what's going on?" she asked. There was something in her voice I couldn't place.

"Come on, Weasley! I'll be the first to admit you're a great fuck, but you didn't really think it was anything more than that?"

"You said you loved me."

"Don't you know? Those words don't count before, during, or after sex." I turned to face her finally, "Cheer up! I know a good number of men who would pay handsomely for the chance to fuck you." I could see her crumbling in front of me. The sad thing is, it made me feel good. If my words hurt her this much, I knew she did love me.

Her lip trembled for a second, then the fiery girl I loved broke through. "You're right, they don't! Just like the words 'that was great' don't count. Maybe one day you'll learn how to tell if the person you're with is faking it... oh wait, first you would have to actually get a girl to reach orgasm, which I don't see happening any time soon!" She turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

As the door slammed behind her, I knew I did it; I made her hate me. If that was the right thing to do, why did it hurt so much? Because I couldn't hate her. She reacted exactly as I had guessed. Her words were a little harsher than I thought they would be, but this was better than ending things and having her believe that because I loved her we might be together some day. No, I had to be the asshole.

Ginny's POV

I made it as far as I could, until I knew he could no longer see me from his window, before I broke down. How could I have been so stupid? I knew men like him didn't marry a woman like me. He was never serious about me for a second! As if guided by wandless magic, I made my way back to the school grounds. In the shape I was in I couldn't stay in Hogsmeade, but at the same time I couldn't go back into Hogwarts. Once on the grounds, I began walking towards the forest edge. I heard my name being called, but I didn't stop. I stepped into the forest; I just wanted to be far enough in to be out of sight. Once I was sure I was, I dropped to the floor of the forest and began to openly sob.

Not long after, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Ginny, what happened?" a voice asked. I knew it, but couldn't place it at that moment.

I slowly raised my head that was resting on my knees, not that I could see through the tears.

"Gin?" The person shifted and sat in front of me, pulling me forward. "You know you can tell me anything."

"I was so stupid!" I sobbed.

He rubbed my back. The rubbing told me who it was; it was Harry. Why was he there when I was at my weakest? First with Tom, then now.

"What happened, Ginny? I've never seen you like this," he said.

I sobbed harder, and he pulled me into his lap and held me like a small child. I clung to him as I cried. He just held me and whispered soothing things. What I guessed was over an hour later, he asked again, "Are you ready to tell me?"

"I'm so very stupid! So very stupid! I should have known! Why did I believe him?"

"Who, Ginny?" he gently pushed.

"He said he loved me! And I believed him!"

"Of course you did, Ginny. Who couldn't help but love you?" I could hear the words vibrate in his chest where my head still laid.

"No one will ever understand."

"Tell me about it and I will try," he encouraged.

"They will never forgive me; they'll hate me."

"Who will?" If he was frustrated with me, it wasn't clear in his voice.

"My family," I said with a dry sob.

"About what?" he asked.

"Draco Malfoy," I whispered, expecting to be tossed off of his lap.

"Malfoy is the reason you're upset? Gin, you need to explain from the start." His arms were still around me.

I didn't want to tell him. I can't explain why I started talking. "We have been seeing each other whenever we could for a long time." He didn't say anything and he wasn't losing it, so I continued. "He told me he loved me and I believed him, but it was all a lie! It was just one more way to piss you and my family off! He said I would make a great whore. I'm carrying his baby, and I met with him today to tell him."

Harry didn't react like I would have expected. He hardly reacted at all. "Did you tell him?" he asked.

"No. As soon as I got there, he started off. I was so hurt, but I wasn't going to give him anything else to hurt me with. Oh Merlin, Harry! What am I going to do?" I started to cry again.

He was quiet, but he gently moved me off his lap and sat facing me. He took my hands in his. "You're worried about how your family will react to the fact that your baby is a Malfoy?"

I could only nod as the tears began to fall again.

Harry dropped my hands and took my face in his hands. "Here's what we're going to do: We tell your family that I have been dating you for a long time, that we didn't tell them because we didn't want any pressure, that now you're pregnant, and that we're getting married."

My crying stopped since I was now in shock. "What? Why?"

He still held my face. "Because, Ginny, I do love you, and I know I can trust you. I have girls falling all over themselves to be near me now. but you have always been there. You're one of my closest friends. I know you'll always be beside me and be there for me because you have always been there."

"But Harry-"

"Ginny, look, I won't lie; it will be hard, but we are friends. We have been in a relationship before and it worked pretty good. I mean, I never felt like I was kissing my sister or anything. And I don't think you felt like you were kissing one of your brothers, right?"

I shook my head.

"Then to make a marriage work, what more do we need? We have trust, there is lust, and there is friendship," he stated.

"What happens when you fall in love with someone else?"

"I don't see that happening. I mean. I'm at the point of questioning everyone who even nods at me on the street. Gin, I know we can be happy." His excitement about this had me on guard.

"We could never explain it if the baby looks like a Malfoy."

He smiled at me. "It's more likely to look like you, like a Weasley. Everyone in your family has red hair. And if it has blond hair, we'll tell them my aunt had blond hair, so it must be from my mother's side." (Taken from the book HPATPS, second paragraph first page)

"Harry, I could never ask you to do this; to raise Draco's baby. That's crossing the line, for sure."

"Ginny, you're not asking. I am willingly doing this because I want to."

"Why?" was all I could say.

He picked up my hand in his. "Lots of reasons. One, to prove I'm better than my aunt and uncle, but mostly because I owe something to a man I can never repay. And even though he is in no way related, I feel this is a good way to make it up. To show him I did learn something from him, even if he never wanted to teach it to me."

"I don't understand," I admitted

He glanced back at the school, then down at the ground. "Severus Snape. He hated my father for most of his life, but because of how he felt about my mother, he put himself in great danger and was upset when he finally understood that I had to die at Voldemort's hand. I want to show him I can put aside my feelings and do what's right, like he did." He paused for a long moment, then continued, "So, Ginny Weasley, will you marry me?"

A/N Please leave me a review.