Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my made up characters and the plot.

I know Blaise seemed to take the news really well, but trust me, it'll take its toll on him. It's very shocking at first, but it'll hit him later.

I hope that you can keep it, my dirty little secret
Who has to know?
When we live such fragile lives
It's the best way we survive

Draco looked up at the noise he heard from behind the couch he was sitting on. He put down his book and turned his body toward the noise.

"So?" But Blaise said nothing. He just looked at Draco with a blank expression on his face. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm… shocked, is all."

"Care to tell me?"

"Not here. There are too many ears around. Let's go to my room."

Blaise shared a double with Theodore Nott, and Theo wasn't there at the moment, which was convenient for them though he would find out eventually.

"So tell me what's wrong with her. Is she alright?" Draco asked, worried.

"It depends on what you mean by alright…"

"Blaise, don't beat around the bush. Tell me," he persisted.

Blaise's body slumped with a heavy sigh. "She's pregnant."

Draco's eyes widened. "WHAT?!" His friend cringed at the noise. "Holy shit, Blaise!"

"I know…"

"What is she going to do? What are you going to do?"

"What can I do? I can't run away, nor would I ever want to. It's just… I've spent most of my life pining for this girl, and when we finally get together, it's a drunken night of sex and I knock her up."

Draco gave him a concerned look. "You didn't knock her up. You are both responsible. Stop taking the blame for everything, Blaise. What was her reaction?" So Blaise told him everything that happened, everything they said to each other, and Draco listened with rapt attention. He felt for his friends. He certainly never expected something like this to happen. He could only imagine what they are feeling. "At least she doesn't want to get rid of it. That would kill you."

"I know… gods, Draco. What's going to happen when Voldemort finds out?" Blaise put his head in his hands and sighed, trying not to tear up. He was so afraid of what the dark lord would do to Pansy if he found out that Blaise was the father and not Draco. "That is the only reason why I would consider an ab… NO. I can't even think about that."

"We'll figure something out. We will," he assured his friend. "We'll have to come up with a cover story. Tell him that I'm the father, not you –"

"Oh, yeah, that'll work. A dark-skinned, black-haired baby is your child. Yeah, he'll believe that."

"What I was going to say, was to tell him I am the father for now and by the time the baby is born, Potter will most likely have a bigger army assembled and a battle planned. You know what?" Blaise looked up at him. "I can't believe I'm saying this… I heard that he's still holding sessions for Dumbledore's Army. If we join, we can teach the other students the dark magic you aren't taught in school. We can make them much stronger, and then, when the final battle approaches, they'll be a hell of a lot stronger than Voldemort is expecting them to be. We can join the Order of the Phoenix, and teach the other order members, as well."

"Heh. I can't believe you said that, either. Well, I think it's a great idea. We should talk to Potter."

"I guess we have to, huh?"

Blaise nodded. "He's our only hope. You and I will both be seventeen this month and Pansy will be in March. We have to join the order."

"I have to agree with you… as much as I hate to admit it," Draco said. "Especially now. Our situation is even more dire because of Pansy's condition." A spark lit up in his eyes. "Her condition… so that's why she couldn't play quidditch."

"Huh?"

"When Red came to tell us Pansy wasn't feeling well, and to not ask questions later."

Blaise's eyes widened. "Ginny knows!"

Draco nodded. "Yeah, she knows."

"Pansy told me to tell you guys what's been going on with her because she doesn't have the heart to do so, herself," said Ginny.

"Finally," Trinity said. Ginny and Aurora looked at her strangely, and Amanda and Hermione looked confused. "Well, I knew you've been hiding something from us."

"Trinity, if any of us hide something from the rest of our group, don't assume that we're doing it with no good reason!" Aurora snapped.

"I told myself that there must be a good reason because you two are my best friends, so I'd like to hear it!"

"Pansy is pregnant!" The other three who didn't know were shocked. "She didn't want us to tell you! Is that a good enough reason for you? Ginny was the first to know because she walked into Pansy's room and found her kneeling on the floor, crying, with a pocket knife in her hands. She thought the worst and ran over to her, so Pansy explained. She was holding the knife because it was a gift from her father, and it calms her. Then, I found out because I pressured her into telling me and she asked us not to tell anyone. I assume because she wanted to be completely sure about it, and she wanted Blaise to be the first to know. Obviously he wasn't, because we knew before he did. I can only assume that she told him when he went after her earlier today, when they left the study session."

"Oh my goodness…" Hermione breathed. She put her hand to her heart. "The Halloween party!"

Ginny nodded. "They got completely wasted. Nooot a good idea for two sex-deprived people who've had a thing for each other ever since they reached puberty."

"Er, nicely put, Ginny," Amanda said. Ginny just shrugged.

"I knew something was off…" Trinity said, mostly to herself.

"Huh?" Ginny asked.

"She was acting so strange. I can't explain it, but she just wasn't herself and it was obvious to me that there was more to it than being upset about what happened to Anne. I'm sorry for being annoyed that you didn't tell us but can you blame me? Anyway, how is she taking it?"

Aurora sighed. "No, I can't. I was hurt when I found out Ginny knew before me. Well, when we went to Hogsmeade last week, we got a bunch of pregnancy tests and went back to school to the Slytherin prefect bathroom," Aurora started.

"She tried a few, and all of them said she was pregnant. The last one said… ah… um… that she was definitely pregnant, yeah." They looked at Ginny suspiciously.

"What did it really say?" Trinity asked.

Ginny looked at Aurora for help, but the blonde shook her head. "I'm not helping you with this one."

"Well… it told us the gender of the baby but I can't tell you! I can't believe I almost did. Pansy would want Blaise to know first. We just happened to be there…"

"Ginny, it's fine," Hermione said. "We understand. What I don't understand is how the gender can be determined so soon. In the muggle world, we can't find out until women are four months pregnant. Sometimes five."

"That's a long time! I don't think I could wait that long," Ginny said.

"Well let's hope you wait a long time before you become pregnant, first," Hermione said. Ginny playfully glared at Hermione, but she knew there was no way she could become pregnant. She and Draco always used a contraceptive charm, and those were 100% safe.

The girls went down to dinner a little while later and sat at the Slytherin table with Draco, Blaise, Pansy, Theo, and Zack. The large group was then joined by Fred and George when the twins saw them enter the Great Hall.

"What's up?" Fred asked Blaise when he and his twin sat down.

"You look down, mate," George said.

Blaise shrugged. "I'm alright. Not down, just a bit weary."

Fred and George glanced at each other, then shared a look with Trinity across the table, but she quickly turned away. The two of them were thinking the same thing – there was a piece of information she knew that they did not, but they wouldn't push it out of Blaise. They knew it concerned Pansy, but they didn't know what it was. This was bothering them to no end; they always knew things before everyone else, yet this time, it seemed that someone else had gotten it first.

"I know that look," Trinity whispered to them. "You'll have to wait, just like the rest of us did."

Fred put on his best pouty face, but she shook her head and he frowned.

Dumbledore, who was sitting at the teachers' table, smiled with a twinkle in his eyes. There have been inter-house friendships before, but this year was the first year that it truly showed, and all because of Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger. There were a lot of Gryffindors at the Slytherin table, and sometimes, that particular group of Slytherins sat with the Gryffindors. Not even quidditch could break that group apart. He was tickled pink. He shared a knowing look with Minerva, and went back to his miso soup.

"So where are you going to be for Christmas?" Theo asked Ginny, who was sitting next to him and opposite Draco.

"We're all going home this year, even Ron, who usually stays at Hogwarts. The wives of my brothers Bill and Charlie are pregnant, and we all want to have a family dinner. Harry is coming, too, and Hermione will join us after she visits with her parents. What are you doing? Oh! You should come with us! Or at least visit. I've already asked Rora, but she still has to ask her mother."

"That sounds like fun!" Theo said. "Maybe I will. Thanks!"

Draco looked up. "She didn't say anything to me about that."

"That's because I wanted to clear it with mum, first," Aurora explained.

"Hm."

"Oh don't be such a sourpuss," Ginny said. "I'm sure she was going to talk to you about it. You can come, too, you know."

Draco's eyes widened. "You were thinking of inviting me? To your place?" He was stunned, and he knew it showed. So he hid it under sarcasm. "Do you realize that I'd be going into the snake pit?"

"Oh but you are a sssnake, dahling," Fred said with his best impression of a gay man. Those who heard him snorted with laughter, especially Theo, who was gay. Draco narrowed his eyes at Fred, which only caused Fred and George to laugh harder.

"The lion pit, then."

"Us lions? Dangerous? We won't hurt you…much," George said, grinning. He choked on his pumpkin juice when Draco's glare became even more narrowed.

"Well, I am going to my house," Draco said defensively. He didn't want them to know how much Ginny's thoughts about him coming to her home affected him. He was incredibly surprised, and heartened.

"Well fine, I won't ever invite you, then," said Ginny, equally defensive. She went back to stabbing her chicken.

"Aw Gin, I'm sure he would love to, but you see, he's too damned closed-up and proud for his own good," Blaise said. She smiled; he was acting more like himself.

"Who asked you?" Draco asked, turning to face his darker friend.

"I did," Blaise said merrily, eating some more of his steak. He sent a smile to Pansy.

"So Pansy, are you going with Blaise and Mr. Frosty for Christmas?" Ginny asked. Draco glared at her, and she had to do everything she could to keep herself from laughing. Even Pansy cracked a smile, which warmed Ginny's heart.

"What's today's date?" the dark haired girl asked.

"The seventh," Ginny answered. "We have another two weeks to decide before we go home."

"I was planning on visiting Draco and Blaise, but I'm sure I can make another stop. It's what I usually do after I visit my par…" She was about to say parents, but she stopped herself and looked down at her plate, her heart heavy. "Mother." Draco subtly placed a hand on her knee and squeezed. She looked at him gratefully.

When Harry and Ron walked in, they spotted everyone, looked at each other with a little bit of uncertainty, then Ron started to walk over to the Slytherin table and sat down on Ginny's left. Harry sat between him and his girlfriend.

"What?" Ron asked Draco and Blaise defensively when they stared, surprise clearly written on their faces.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Blaise said, and went back to his food.

"How about we all go to the Room of Requirement after dinner and hang out for a bit? Maybe talk about where everyone is going and how we can see each other over break," Aurora said suddenly, addressing everyone. They all murmured to each other and nodded, all agreeing.

They left the table at different times, and arrived at the Room of Requirement at different times to not attract attention. Fred and George were the last to arrive, as they had taken their time to eat.

"Amanda, when are you arriving at our house?" George asked.

"Uh, Christmas day in the morning. My parents wanted me to at least see them on Christmas before I left. I'll come at eleven. Is that alright?"

"That's fine," Fred said. "Ginny will wake us all up at six AM shouting, 'It's Christmas! It's Christmas! PRESENTS! HOORAY!' so we'll be wide awake by then," he teased.

Ginny lightly punched his shoulder and scowled at him. "I do not do that!"

"You so do," George added.

"I do NOT!"

"Do."

"I admit I used to but I don't do it now!"

Fred leaned over to Blaise and Draco and mock-whispered to them. "She so does."

They snickered but wisely kept their mouths shut after they saw the look on Ginny's face.

The group talked for a while, then Hermione pulled out a game from her pocket, took the shrinking spell of it, and opened it. There were piles of red and green cards, and everyone looked at her, interested.

"It's a muggle card game. It's called Apples to Apples. It's really fun, I assure you. Who wants to play?"

"How do you play?" Pansy asked. Ginny smiled again.

"Everyone is given seven red cards each. They have people, places, and things on them. Everyone takes turns, in a circle of being the 'judge' which is the person who is given a green card. The green cards have adjectives on them. The judge puts down one green card in the middle of the circle and everyone else has to put down a red card of their own. Each person picks what they think is the best noun for the adjective, but remember this! Play to the judge. For example, I know Ginny will most likely pick the funniest red card when she's the judge. Everyone is different, so if you know the judge well, play to them. A lot of the time, judges will pick the opposite of the green card they put down. For example, if they put down 'fuzzy' and someone else put down a red card that said 'handcuffs', if the judge has a dirty mind, they might pick handcuffs."

Draco and Blaise snorted and Fred, George, and Ginny laughed outright.

"Well, now you know the people who have dirty minds. So, any questions?" They shook their heads and then began the game. They played for about two hours when Harry and Ron said they had to go to the library to do some studying for potions. Hermione's jaw dropped and the boys laughed at her.

"I'm surprised they came," Pansy said when they left.

"I'm super surprised that they even sat with us at dinner," said Ginny.

"I think Ron is getting used to you being friends with us naughty evil Slytherins," Blaise said. Ginny rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Alright, we're off, too," Fred said, standing and cracking his back.

"We have to hit the… sack."

"You're going off to that tunnel again, aren't you?" Hermione asked.

"Who, us?" George asked innocently.

"You promised to let me have another look."

"And you shall, my dear Hermione." She smiled and they left the room. The people left were Draco, Blaise, Theo, Zack, Pansy, Ginny, Hermione, Amanda, Aurora, and Trinity. Pansy sighed and put her cards down.

"I do believe you told them?" she asked Ginny and Aurora, meaning Hermione, Trinity, and Amanda. Ginny nodded. Pansy looked at Blaise, who gave a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand. Theo and Zack looked very confused.

"You remember that whole thing with Anne, Pansy, and I at the Halloween party, yeah?" Blaise asked them.

"How could I not?" Zack responded.

"Well, she's… pregnant."

Theo and Zack's eyes widened.

Zack, who had been lying on his stomach, sat up. "Merlin, you two!"

"That's… a pretty big problem for two people in school who have parents on the dark side. What are you going to do?" Theo asked.

"Well, that's why I suggested that we meet up here after dinner," Aurora said. "I thought Pansy and Blaise wouldn't want Harry, Ron, Fred, and George to know, but I knew they wouldn't stay as long as us in here."

"Thanks, Rora," Pansy said, sounding tired and wiped out. The blonde girl smiled. "I honestly don't know what to do. I'm not showing yet, because I'm only about five weeks along, but my mother will notice that I'm not myself."

"You can blame that on her murdering your father," Blaise said furiously through his teeth. He loved Mr. Parkinson, who loved Blaise like a son. Blaise also hated how the death of Pansy's father affected the girl.

"She'll wonder why that would affect me so heavily," Pansy said. "It won't work. I can try to hide it, but I'll be so paranoid about her finding out that she will become suspicious."

"You shouldn't go home, then," Ginny said.

"But I always used to. She'll blame it on my father's death, and my weak mind. She thinks she did me a favor," Pansy spit out, "by killing him. He made me soft, apparently."

"Well, I don't know what you should tell your mother, but my idea was to tell Voldemort that the baby is mine," Draco said. Ginny bristled at this. She did not like this idea at all. She knew she was being stupid, but she hated that. She really hated it.

"But they're both dark-skinned," Hermione said. "He's not stupid. He'll know it isn't yours."

"Thank you," said Blaise. "My point exactly."

"She's only five weeks pregnant, Blaise," Draco reminded him. "A baby takes eight months to grow. She has seven left."

"Less than seven."

"Alright, one week less! Blaise, we can tell him this and, like I said earlier, Potter will most likely have an army assembled by the time she has it."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, now very worried.

Draco, Blaise, and Pansy shared a look, then Pansy explained. "Ginny, the dark lord is getting extremely impatient. He is trying to get as many of his followers as possible together to attack the school by the end of the year. We wanted to tell Po… Harry, but he and Ron left. You, Harry, Ron, and Hermione need to tell the Order as soon as possible."

Ginny nodded shakily. "Okay… thanks for telling us… when did you find out?"

"That's why we were gone last Wednesday night," Draco said, but with a tone that clearly stated he wouldn't say any more on the matter.

"Oh."

"So, what are you going to do about the students?" Trinity asked carefully. "You will eventually show."

"She could use concealment charms," Hermione suggested.

"No… I wouldn't be able to explain why I can't play quidditch…or other things I don't know about yet."

"A lot of Slytherins have parents that are either death eaters or supporters of Voldemort," Theo said, looking at Draco. "If your story is you are the father, how will that work? The whole school knows by now that Blaise and Pansy are a couple."

"They could pretend to the Slytherins that the real couple is Draco and Pansy," Zack said. Most of them forgot he was there because he was so quiet until now. "And act to the rest of the school like it's Blaise and Pansy."

"But it's not acting," Blaise said protectively.

"To the Slytherins, it would be. And you have to act like that. You can't slip, or this plan will never work. To the Slytherins, bash the Gryffindors and say you're only acting like their friends and letting them sit at our table because you want to get on their good side, get into the Order of the Phoenix, and become spies for Voldemort. To everyone else, you won't have to act."

"You know, that's a very good idea," Hermione stated.

"I am known to have them once in a while," Zack said.

"So wait a minute," said Pansy. "Outside the common room, the couple is Blaise and I. Inside the common room, it's Draco and I." Zack nodded. She took a deep breath. "Okay, I can do that. But what will I tell my mother? She's set on marrying me off to Draco, as is the dark lord. He wouldn't like it if he found out that Blaise and I were a couple. His favorite is Draco, even though his father is an incompetent ass and currently in Azkaban. He thinks that Draco has much more potential than his father. If he found out…" She looked very worried.

"So you tell Voldemort and your mother, just like the other Slytherins, that the baby is Draco's but you have to pretend that it is Blaise's in school with everyone else because you are trying to get rooted in the Order for him, to be spies for him."

"Zack, you might have something there," Blaise said. He seemed to like the idea. He saw poor Ginny's glowering face, and was confused. Maybe it was her time of the month? He shrugged. Trinity, however, was suspicious, but she didn't know of what yet. She still wasn't sure of anything and had to get her information completely correct before moving in.

"Alright, that works, but we will have to ask Severus for occlumency and legilimancy lessons. Also, what will I do for Christmas break? I want to perfect this plan before I tell it to my mother."

"Why don't you tell her you want to spy on the Weasleys?" Ginny asked. "And come to our place?"

"NO!"

Everyone looked at Draco.

"Huh?" Ginny asked.

"No! She will come with Blaise and I and be where she'll be safe – at the manor."

"Draco, she'll be the safest she can be at the Burrow," Aurora said gently.

"No she won't! She'll be safest with us!"

"Oh stop being unreasonable!" Ginny said, losing her temper with him finally. "She'll have no excuse to not go to her own home if she says she is going with you. Her mother will become suspicious if Pansy says she wants to go straight to your place!"

"Her mother wants her to marry me!" he said, and immediately regretted it, but said nothing. A glimmer of pain shot across Ginny's eyes, but it was gone as soon as he saw it. "If she tells her mother that she wants to rope me in finally, her mother will have no problem with it."

"But she'll be safer at the Burrow! My brother Bill is a curse breaker for Gringotts, Charlie works with dragons, Fred and George are the best at hexes and diversions, Ron's temper is scary, and I held off five death eaters in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic last year! My mum and dad are members of the Order, too! Harry, might I remind you, defeated Voldemort when he was just a baby and has defeated him multiple times since then, Hermione is the smartest witch of her age, and Aurora is one of the best students in our defense against the dark arts classes and that's not just because Snape is her godfather. Remus and Tonks will also make frequent appearances, and we have the best wards there are on our house. My place is where Pansy will be safest!"

"I don't want her out of my sight!"

"THEN STAY AT OUR PLACE, FOR MERLIN'S SAKE! STOP BEING SELFISH AND UNREASONABLE!"

"Your place can barely hold nine people, and you're already cramming it! Its dirty, frayed, and with that many people in it, it might finally fall apart," he said nastily.

Ginny couldn't believe what he was saying. "At least I'm nice enough to invite you! But forget it, now! I don't fucking care. At least we're a loving lot! Blaise, you are, of course, still invited." Ginny's eyes began to water. She stood up quickly and left, slamming the large oak door behind her.

"Oh well done, Draco," Aurora said. She got up with Hermione, Trinity, and Amanda, and promptly left to find Ginny. Zack and Theo glanced at each other.

"I should probably get a good night's rest," Theo said. Zack agreed, and they left.

"Well? Aren't you two going to leave, as well?"

"Don't cop an attitude with me, Draco," Pansy said. "I can't believe what you said to Ginny. Her place is the safest I can be, and that is where I will go. I hope you can learn to accept it, and apologize to her for being such an ass." She stood. "I'll see you tomorrow, Blaise." He nodded as she left.

"So… nice work."

"Shut up."

I hope you liked it! I shall write more as soon as I can!