Chapter 9

"Oi. Draco! Ginny!" called out Alyza

The two turned and looked at the pale blonde approaching them. As she came closer, you could see the worry and sadness in her face. When she was standing right in front of Draco and Ginny, Ginny looked at her with eyes wide in shock. The normally cool and collected Alyza was now a tear stained mess. Her normally sparkling eyes and lost all the glint to them. Looking passed her, Ginny saw Blaise sitting on the couch with an unreadable expression plaguing his face.

'What is it with Slytherin men and the unreadable expressions?' Ginny thought to herself as Draco asked the one question that was on both of their minds.

"What is the matter Alyza?" asked Draco

"Mum is in St. Mungo's" she replied with a sob "She got hit by an ancient curse from a box in the family room today."

"How bad is she?" asked Ginny looking scared

"No clue. She is unconscious" Blaise explained

"What was the curse?" asked Ginny as Draco had turned to stone in silence

"No idea. The Ministry Official that was sent to the manor to investigate from the Spells department specializes in Ancient spells and he doesn't even know. He is unclear as too whom the spell caster was and what the spell's incantation was. He also doesn't know the exact name of the spell or the exact year it was performed. The year was pin pointed to around the founding of Hogwarts, that he did know. He said he would have to do more tests and research, but one way or another, the family will know eventually." said Blaise as he came to stand behind Alyza

"What are the symptoms?" asked Draco regaining his speech

"Other than being unconscious, nothing. All her vitals are normal." Alyza said with relief "Father wants us there right away though"

"Of course" replied Ginny as Draco be-lined for the fireplace and disappeared in a blur of green flames, closely followed by Alyza.

Taking a moment to look at each other with questioning looks, Ginny and Blaise soon vanished from the fireplace. Once they each flooed into the St. Mungo's respectively, they walked up to the receptionist. After having a fight with the receptionist about being married to the children of Mrs. Malfoy, and having to call the Ministry registry office, they finally made it up to the spell damage floor. When they stopped and asked a nurse where they could find Mrs. Malfoy, they heard a strangled cry. Glancing at each other, Ginny took a deep breath and held it until she was looking at Narcissa lying motionless on the hospital bed. Shaking her head, Ginny realized that after she started holding her breath, she seemed to have lost her mind in a sense. She couldn't remember walking to Narcissa's room. Or even opening the door. Staring around the room, she saw Alyza sobbing into the crook of Blaise's neck on one side of the bed. Parallel to them sat Draco and Lucius, seated in the same position, both wearing the same expression. She knew that expression well. She had worn it herself. She had recently seen Pansy wear it. The life they had known for so long was falling apart. She was about to say something, when Draco looked up at her.

"Come here Gin" he said quietly

Within an hour of their arrival, Alyza had stopped crying and was staring silently at her mother's still form. Blaise was subconsciously rubbing her back and playing with her hair. Lucius had laid his head on the back of the chair and closed his eyes. Everyone was silent. Everyone, except Ginny and Draco. Even though they weren't talking, they were communicating with their eyes. Without any notice, Draco gracefully stood and asked for Ginny to accompany him on a walk. Taking his offered hand, the two walked out of the room together, hand in hand. Stopping in a deserted corridor, Draco pulled Ginny so that she was standing in front of him.

"I'm worried Gin" he said letting all of his barriers down

It was times like this that Ginny was thankful for. She was the only person to see him with his barriers down.

"I figured you would be Dray, but we have no need to worry. Personally, from what Alyza said, it sounds like she was hit with an eternal sleep spell. If that is the case, only a life changing event will wake her up." Ginny explained

"I have no clue what that is really" he sighed "But, it isn't mother I'm overly worried about, its father" Draco explained

"What do you mean?" she asked leading him to the nearest seats she could find

"Well Alyza was walked calmly up to the room, but I ran, when I entered, he was balling. Like a baby. I have never known him to show that much emotion, let alone cry. Especially in a place where nonfamily could see him." He explained "I'm worried that if she never wakes up that I will loose him as well"

Xoxoxoxo

The next morning, he was awaken by the sound of tapping on the window. Opening his eyes, he realized that it was actually an owl. Getting up, he opened the window and the owl swooped in. It landed on his desk. He walked over and gently grabbed the letter from his beak. After the letter was free of the owl's grasp, the owl soared out of the window. Rolling his eyes, he got dressed in dark wash jeans and a black tee shirt. Throwing a black plaid shirt over top, he sat down at his desk and opened the letter.

Draco,

Come. The doctors have discovered some information. Bring your sister and Blaise as well. Hurry.

Love Father

Dropping the paper on the desk, Draco ran to the bed and woke Ginny up. After explaining to her what was going on, he ran to Blaise's room. Surprised at what he saw, he shook his head and told Blaise to hurry and get dressed. He ran back to his dorms to find Ginny dressed and ready to go.

"Ginny-" he started until he saw her "Wow"

"What?" she asked scared

"You" he replied

"What about me?" asked Ginny

"You look amazing" he replied "I love what you are wearing"

Smiling to herself, she looked down at what she was wearing. She was wearing black jeans that fit to every curve perfectly. She had on a deep blue satin shirt that was form fitting around the breasts, but from there down, it was loose and flowing. A pair of simple black boots and modest silver jewelry pulled the outfit together. Her hair was in simple subtle curls that cascaded down her back and around her face.

"Thank you Dray, I love that plaid shirt on you" she said

"You do?" he asked surprised

"Yes." she said "Shouldn't we be going?"

"Yes. Blaise and I will meet you at the hospital. You need to go and get Alyza" he explained

"Why can't Blaise get her?" she asked

"She wasn't sleeping in Blaise's bed with him." Draco explained "Can you just go check your old dormitory please?"

"Of course. See you two at the hospital" she called as she ran out of the doorway as Blaise came striding into the room

She ran from the head boy dorm all the way to the stair case that lead to the girls dormitories. She laughed to herself as she realized that she was out of shape. Taking a deep breath, she ran up the stairs and barged into the sixth year girl dormitories, scaring all of the occupants awake.

"Damn it Ginny." cursed Carmen

"Shut up Whyte" snapped Ginny in a venomous voice "Alyza!"

"Ginny?" Alyza asked questingly as she came out of the adjoining bathroom "What's the matter? Do you need to sit down?"

"I don't have time to sit down. We need to go quick" Ginny said

"Where?" asked Alyza starting to panic

"St. Mungo's." Ginny said without needing to say more

As soon as Ginny finished, Alyza grabbed her wand and transformed her pajamas into presentable clothes as she ran out of the dormitory. Sighing, Ginny turned on spot and ran after her. As Ginny entered the common room, she saw Alyza disappear in a flare of emerald flames. Once the flames had extinguished themselves, Ginny climbed in and was gone soon after. As the waiting room at St. Mungo's became more focused, emotions started to hit her. As she stepped out of the fireplace, she saw Draco come towards her with an expression she had never seen him wear before. When she enveloped him in a hug, she felt her shirt get wet as tears started to fall from his eyes. Pulling away, she wiped his eyes dry and started to lead the way to Narcissa's hospital room. When they entered, she was shocked by what she saw. Flowers from most of the pureblood's families were everywhere. Lucius sat in the same chair that they left him in. His head was rested on Narcissa's arm as he held her hand with his own. He didn't look up when they entered. He meerly grunted when Ginny said hello. Alyza sat in a chair beside her father, with Blaise beside her. She was staring at her mother's motionless body as Blaise rubbed her back soothingly. Ginny and Draco occupied the seats on the other side of the bed. Draco automatically took hold of his mother's free hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb. Ginny glanced at Blaise who smiled weakly as she sat down. As she returned the smile with a matching one, her attention jumped back to the person in the bed by the call of her name.

After what felt like eternity, the healer entered the room. With grace, the men stood, shocking their female counterparts.

"Hello Malfoys… and Zabini's. I hope I find you well enough" said the healer "I am Healer Johanna Cunningham. We have ran tests over Mrs. Malfoys body and we found something interesting. It seems that she came into contact with a powder. Now, we took a sample of powder and ran some tests on it. It seems that the powder was infused with the Forever sleep enchantment. The base of the powder however is a memory powder. We have dated it back to the 13th century."

"What is a forever sleep enchantment?" asked Alyza, looking at her mom with fear

"It is a charm that causes the victim to fall into a deep sleep. Only a life changing event will wake them. Some people refer to it as the true love spell, because for some people, they were awoken by true loves kiss. However, the powder should make it that she remembers everything from before with no confusion." Explained Healer Cunningham

"What kind of life changing event?" asked Draco

"A marriage within the family. Could be a pregnancy or a birth. On some accounts, graduations have awoken a person. It all depends on the person under the charm. Somehow, it reflects what they truly want to be a part of" Healer Cunningham explained

"Thank you Healer" Lucius said when he saw that neither of his children were going to say a thing

"Of course Mr. Malfoy. If any of you have anymore questions or concerns, please feel free to visit me at my office. It is just down the hall" she said, because turning and leaving the room

Silence followed her departure. The occupants lost in his or her own thoughts as they stared at the silent form of the Malfoy matriarch.

"Daddy. What does mother truly want?" Alyza asked

"As far as I knew, she truly wanted many things. Things money couldn't buy" Lucius said

Again silence ensued. Lucius of course knew what would wake Narcissa. What she truly wanted was grandkids. He wouldn't dare tell the kids that however. If they came to the conclusion on their own, it would be different.

"You kids best be returning to school." Lucius said

Without another word, the kids got up and left. After they were gone, Lucius turned to look at Narcissa's still form.

"You couldn't just wait patiently for grandkids could you" he stated softly while shaking his head

Unbeknownst to him, Ginny had come back to get her sweater that she had forgot. Quietly, she backed out of the room, and with a frown, she went and joined the others at the fireplace to floo back to school.