A/N: Thanks to SometimeSelkie, who is not responsible for any mistakes I may have made. I did add a bit to one part that she has not seen.
Also, I know I have not replied to the reviews yet - it was either reply to them or rework this chapter to get it posted on time. I figured you would all understand. I will be replying to them very soon - if not as you are reading this. :) I am so grateful for all the support this story has been getting. It has made all the difference in getting it finished. Thank you.
The Safe House
Chapter Thirty-Seven
It took a week for Blaise to obtain the paperwork needed to prove that Ginny was, for now, legally Draco's wife. Blaise sent an Owl to Pansy as soon as he left the Ministry. Within the next hour, Pansy brought him to the Muggle flat so he could hand deliver the papers to Ginny. She quickly grabbed a bag for the baby and changed into a pretty dress. She wanted to look nice for her husband. Pansy suggested that she accompany them in case there were any problems, but also so she could watch the baby. She thought that the couple would appreciate some time alone.
Arriving at Parkinson Prison, Ginny was relieved to see that it still felt more like a home than a jail. Although the insides had been completely remodelled to accommodate the new facility, it was not dark and foreboding like she had envisioned. The guards at the front did not antagonize them when they registered to see Draco, and Ginny wasn't sure if it was because of Pansy's presence, the newspaper articles, or her Ministry-stamped wedding certificate. She could hardly control her breathing as they made their way to his room. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest, and her eyes were already tearing up at the thought of seeing him again.
They approached his room, and she noticed the guard stationed outside the door. Narcissa had informed her that he was very friendly, as she had been visiting her son for the last few days. Pansy simply smiled at the guard and walked past him to open the door. Ginny wiped her eyes and adjusted Thuban on her hip. For a moment, she simply stood in the doorway, admiring her handsome husband, who was busily working on something at his desk.
"What breed of dragon has glittering eyes with no pupil?" she asked with more attitude than she felt.
Draco dropped his quill when he turned towards the door. His face broke into a broad smile, and he answered her with a smirk. "Would that be the Antipodean Opaleye?"
"You're right. That's a point to you." She walked into the room, closing the door behind her, and sat Thuban down.
"Dada!" He quickly toddled over to Draco and clung to his legs. "Up! Up!"
Draco picked up his son and held him tight. "Thuban, I missed you so much." He kissed him several times on the cheeks and forehead. The baby touched Draco's face softly and smiled. He leaned forward and gave Draco a sloppy kiss.
Ginny let out a choked sound at seeing the two of them reunited. Her tears had begun to fall, and she wiped at her eyes. Draco looked up at her and, in one step, had her in his arms. He sat Thuban down after a moment and grabbed her to him again, inhaling her scent and burying his face in her neck.
"God, I've missed you," he breathed into her hair. He took her face into his hands and kissed her slowly. After she put her hands into his hair, he deepened the kiss. They stood kissing each other for several minutes until they felt little hands pulling on their legs. Breaking apart, Draco picked up Thuban and hugged his family once again.
She stroked Draco's cheek and smiled at him. "It feels like an eternity. I can't believe it's only been ten days."
"I know." He kissed her again. "You'd think I would be used to this after the house. But you have ruined me, Ginevra. I can't live without you – or this little guy." He bounced Thuban up and down, earning a hug from the baby. "I think he's faster than he was."
"George plays with him all the time. He loves to chase his uncle." She continued to touch Draco, stroking his cheek and his arm, not able to get enough of him.
Draco grabbed her hand and held it to his heart. His voice was low and filled with concern. "Are you okay?"
She nodded quickly as she said, "I'm fine. Are you?"
"I'm happy to see you." He smiled, but she could see that he was upset. "Ginevra, you know that they have no case against me."
"Blaise has been telling me everything." She looked very serious for a moment. "Enjoy your son. He asks for you every day." He gave her a look that indicated disbelief. "Yeah, he does. Pansy and Blaise are waiting outside, and they will take him in another twenty minutes. We have an hour before they will make us leave."
"An hour? Is that total for each day or each visit?"
"Each day, I think." She forced herself to smile. "So I brought some of his toys. Let's play together. I want him to feel like everything is okay… I wish he could come with your mum, too."
"Blaise is working on that. It's more paperwork, apparently."
She gave him a weak smile, but then perked up and sat on the bed. He slanted his eyes at her in bemusement, but he took the bag from her and sat on the bed with Thuban. They played with his toys and talked to the baby until they heard a knock on the door. Pansy peeked into the room, smiling at the family.
"It's been twenty minutes. Did you want me to take him now or come back?"
Ginny began to pack away the baby's things. "You can take him. He will probably be very fussy, but if you read to him, that might calm him down." She turned back to Draco who had stood up with the baby.
Draco crossed the room and handed Thuban to Pansy. "Bye-bye, Snitch. Daddy will see you tomorrow." He leaned over and kissed his son's blond head one more time.
Pansy patted the baby's back. "You surprise me, Draco Malfoy. I never thought I'd see you being such a doting father."
"Yes, well, I never thought I'd be one either." He felt Ginny's arms wrap around his waist from behind. "Snitch, Daddy and Mummy need to talk, okay? Be good for your Aunt Pansy."
The brunette's eyes gleamed. "Aunt Pansy? I like that, and it's about time, too. Don't think we won't be talking about this later, Ginny." She gave Ginny a pointed look, and the two witches laughed, which caused Thuban to giggle.
Ginny quickly added, "Okay, go now while he's laughing."
Once the door was shut, Draco turned quickly in her arms and began kissing her again. His hands worked their way down her body, and she moaned into his mouth. Upon reaching her bum, he hoisted her up and carried her to his small bed, gently laying her down before covering her with his larger body.
"Draco, can't they see us?"
"I don't care."
"What about the door window?"
"Pansy's not into that, and she won't let Blaise look."
"But – "
"Ginevra?"
"Yes?"
"Shut up." He quickly returned his mouth to her neck and began opening up her dress.
It didn't take long for them to discard their remaining clothes. They knew that there was little time for this reunion. Draco found Ginny more than ready to be with him again and did not hesitate to rejoin their bodies. They were kissing frantically as they rocked into each other, trying to feel as much as possible in their limited time together. Ginny bit into Draco's shoulder as she climaxed, trying not to cry out. He followed quickly after and collapsed on top of her. She held him close as they whispered their love to each other.
"How much time do we have left?" He was still laying on her, and she was stroking his hair.
She lifted her wrist and looked at her watch. "We have about seventeen minutes."
He chuckled into her chest and then kissed each mound softly. "That's plenty of time for another go."
"We need to talk, Draco."
"I know. Trust me, I didn't miss that look you gave me earlier." He kissed up her neck and then gave her one more, long kiss on the lips. "I love you." He pulled himself off the bed and helped her up and began putting her back into her clothes.
"I love you." She threw her arms around him once more, holding him tightly, her dress still undone and hanging open.
He held her for a moment. "Okay, what is it?" He started buttoning her dress, and then smoothed down her hair.
"I just need to hear you tell me that you had nothing to do with the attack on Ron, Hermione, Remus, and Tonks." She stilled his hands and looked into his eyes.
"I have no idea why things happened the way they did. I did not set them up."
"Okay. I believe you." She bent over and picked up his clothes, handing them to him.
He put on his pants and trousers. "Do you?"
"Draco, I have always believed you, but I just wanted to reconfirm what I already knew."
After he finished dressing, he sat back on the bed and pulled her onto his lap. He spoke into her neck. "I was so worried that they would make you doubt me. That they would make you think I had done something to you."
"They tried. And I'll admit that I did consider it. Not because I doubted you, but because I had to at least think about what they were saying. It was so awful to even imagine that we could be a lie."
He pulled back and held her gaze. "This is not a lie."
"I know." She gave him a small smile. "But you did do something to me."
He lifted his eyebrows in confusion and asked, "I did?"
"Yes, you married me and got me pregnant," she explained.
He kissed her neck and spoke with a seductive voice. "Yes, I very much did that."
She let him continue kissing her neck and replied matter-of-factly, "I know; you did it twice."
He paused, his lips still pressed against her neck, and his voice lifted with his simple question. "Twice?"
"Mm-hmm." She nodded and then kissed his head.
His voice dropped, a hint of understanding mixed with his confusion. "Twice?"
"Mm-hmm." She nodded again and lowered her eyes to his.
He grinned and rested his forehead against hers. "Really?"
She giggled before kissing him. "Is that what you're going to say every time I tell you I'm pregnant?"
"Yes. Because I will always be amazed that I get to have you."
Several minutes later, Pansy entered the room again, without Thuban, and smiled as she watched Draco holding Ginny. They were seated on the bed, leaning against the wall, her in between his bent legs. Her hands were resting on his, which were covering her tummy.
Ginny opened her eyes and looked at her flatmate. "Time to go?"
"Yes. I gave you an extra five minutes, but Blaise is insisting that we follow every rule." She rolled her eyes. "I didn't bring Thuban back in because it took ten minutes to get him to settle down the first time. He really misses you, Draco." She stepped back into the hall in order to give them one last moment of privacy.
Ginny stood up and pulled Draco up from the bed. "I'll see you later." She frowned a little, trying to hold back her tears. "Don't say it. Just tell me you love me."
"I love you." He kissed her sweetly and then placed his hand on her stomach. He leaned in and whispered, "Both of you."
She whispered back, "We love you, too."
ooo
When the Rita Skeeter article appeared in the following Sunday Prophet, the public became completely engrossed in the upcoming trial of Draco Malfoy. For the first time in her career, Rita Skeeter had actually written an article that reflected the boy who lived in only the most heroic light. She had also included a few quotes from Ron saying that he was convinced that Draco had "damaged his sister" and that the Order had given Draco a chance to fight for the right side, but he had only betrayed them in the end. Molly and Arthur Weasley were listed as "too distressed to comment". Ginny felt some gratitude to her parents for abstaining from making any kind of statement to the untrustworthy reporter. She only felt sorrow for her brother as she considered that it was really he who had been damaged during their time apart. Harry had disappointed her by stooping to this level, but she knew he had to have been desperate in order to seek any help from Skeeter. She decided to take comfort in the idea that his desperation was a sign that the case against her husband was weak. Still, Ginny was very concerned that Harry's popularity and sympathy would sway everyone to believe that Draco could not be trusted.
Although Blaise and Pansy seemed unfazed by the piece, Draco believed it only proved that Harry would go to any lengths to win. He and Ginny were concerned that Harry would somehow be able to discount Draco's testimony or to have it twisted in his favour. Even though they knew that Draco would be under Veritaserum during the trial, they also knew that the potion only revealed what the witch or wizard believed to be true. It was not unheard of for testimony to be disregarded if the person was found to be an unreliable source, or mentally unstable. The only thing that kept them calm was Blaise's assurance that this latest development would, in the end, help them. It kept their story alive and would give them a good reason to respond with more articles from Luna. He also had been able to get the trial set for mid December, much earlier than the Ministry was originally planning. It seemed that even with the Skeeter article slanting popular opinion in favour of the Ministry, many of the higher ups did not want the case to be drawn out any longer than necessary. Blaise was convinced that even Minister Shacklebolt knew that the case being tried in the papers would not bode well for his new office.
Ginny and Thuban continued to visit Draco every day in the afternoon, just after Thuban's naptime. Pansy would always accompany them and then take Thuban so the couple could spend some time alone. Ginny's morning sickness was starting to become more of a problem, and she had to call for the prison elf to let her into the loo during several of her visits. She had not gone to see an obstetric Healer and had not even told Pansy about the pregnancy, but she knew the witch was suspicious. It was only a matter of time before she would have to let everyone know, but she wasn't sure when that would be. She was afraid to see a Healer because she knew that news of her pregnancy would be a hot commodity and would quickly be sold to the paper.
One morning in the beginning of October, Ginny was feeding Thuban his breakfast, enjoying some time alone in the flat, when the smell of his food wafted towards her and made her stomach twist into familiar knots. Afraid of leaving him alone, she ran to the sink and emptied her own breakfast.
"Yuck! Don't let Aunt Pansy know what I just did, Thuban," she warned the baby, who was cheerfully banging on the high chair. Ginny crossed back over to the table to grab her wand. Just as she stopped to stroke Thuban's cheek and hand him his sippy cup, Pansy came running back into the kitchen.
"Hello! Forgot to grab this book for Andromeda. I even had it next to the coffee this morning." She crossed the kitchen and picked up the book from the counter. As she turned around, she saw Ginny's "breakfast" in the sink. "Yikes! What is this?" She pointed her wand at the sink and Scourgified it, three times.
"Um, it's just some food." Ginny smiled weakly and then grimaced as her stomach flipped a few more times at the thought of what had been in the sink.
Pansy watched the other witch for a moment. Her eyes grew wide as a knowing smile crept across her face, and she shouted, "You're pregnant!"
"Um, well, Pansy," Ginny fumbled and began looking around the kitchen, avoiding the other witch's intense gaze, and then sat back down at the table with a thump. "Yes, I'm pregnant."
"You little tart! I can't believe you didn't tell me." She quickly sat across from Ginny. "So? When did this happen? Was it in the prison? That's kind of kinky."
"No!" She shook her head and then stopped and gave a guilty shrug because it could have happened that way. "Well, I'm not saying that we haven't done … that, but no, it happened at the Safe House."
"You guys really didn't have anything else to do, did you?" Pansy said with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
"Har har." Ginny's smile spread across her face, and she placed her hand on her tummy. "Actually, we wanted another baby."
"Draco wanted another baby? What kind of magic have you worked on him?" She paused and shook her head back and forth. "I think your family has it completely backwards; you're the one who has had her wicked way with him!" They both laughed, and Thuban threw his cup to the floor, wanting some attention. "So does Narcissa know yet?"
Ginny retrieved the cup, cleansed it with her wand, and returned it to the baby. "Yes, she was the first to know. I let her perform the test. And, of course, Draco knows. But no one else! Seriously, Pansy. Not even Blaise needs to know this right now."
"Why not Blaise?" Pansy scooped the naughty boy from his high chair just before he hurled the food from his plate. She nuzzled his neck and bounced him on her lap, entertaining him for the time being.
"Okay, fine. But let's let Draco tell him. It's not like he will get to tell anyone else."
She shrugged and then handed Thuban a piece of his abandoned toast. "How far along are you?"
"I think about eight weeks."
"You haven't been to the Healer?"
"I'm a Healer!"
"Whatever. You need to go and get checked out."
"You sound like Draco." She frowned at the other witch and stood up, taking the plates to the sink. "Not yet. They'll just sell me out."
"They can't legally do that. But you're right, it will be a huge story, which is why you should also tell Luna."
Ginny turned quickly from the sink and placed her hands on her hips. "NO! Absolutely not. I already feel like everyone wants to see Thuban. Can you imagine how bad it will be if they know I'm pregnant?"
"But you will be showing by the trial, right? You should break the news before someone else does. You need to be in control of this story, Ginny."
She held down her t-shirt against her flat stomach. "I think I'll be able to easily hide the baby with winter robes."
"Even better. You can announce it in court, and then Luna can run the piece on the baby."
"I don't know. What if things aren't going well? It could just be more for them to use against him." She handed the cup once again to Thuban, who took it and cuddled into Pansy's chest.
"Well, tell Draco to tell Blaise so we can talk with him about it. I'm sure he'll want to give us his expert advice. Oh, and then he can arrange for a Healer to come to his estate and have a confidentiality contract drawn up."
"Thanks, Pansy. You really are quite wonderful when you want to be."
"Please. I'm wonderful all the time. I'm just nice when I want to be."
ooo
Several days later, Draco sat at his desk working diligently. When Blaise entered the room, he waved him over to the bed and held up his hand to silence his friend.
Blaise sat down and then lay back onto the bed. He rolled to his side and picked up some parchment that had been abandoned on the floor. "What is this? Is this a new spell?"
"Shh! I'm so close," Draco muttered, once again waving off his friend.
Blaise rolled his eyes and began shuffling through the papers. "I don't get it. What are you trying to do?"
"Dammit, Blaise. Can you just shut it for five minutes?"
"Here I come bringing you news from the outside world and some chocolate from your beautiful wife and you can't even give me the time of day?"
Draco turned quickly. "News from the outside world? Really? I think you forget that I lived three years without any contact from the outside world. Three years!" He smirked at his friend and then broke into a genuine smile. "Now give me that chocolate."
"So predictable." Blaise laughed as he handed the candy over.
"How is she?"
"She's good. You see her every day."
"I know. But I also know she doesn't want me to worry. And …" He paused and swallowed a piece of chocolate. He smirked again as he said, "She's pregnant again."
"Seriously?" Blaise just stared at Draco, who was beaming at him. "Umm, when did this happen?"
"At the house. Now, I need you to convince her to see a Healer as soon as possible. She's worried about being discovered so you need to make sure that doesn't happen. And Pansy has some crazy plan about the trial so now that you know, I guess you should find out about that as well."
"All right then. Well, congrats, mate."
"Thanks. Just get me out of here, Blaise. My family needs me."
"I'm working on it. I think your last interview with Luna really has made an impact in the public's perception of you. And I was able to do some research at Malfoy Manor – your mother is moving back in, by the way – and I found out that there is a spell that will reveal whether or not the binding was cast."
"So let's do it."
"They won't let me bring my wand in here, Draco. You know that. I'm not sure if they will allow the spell to be performed before the trial, but it will be happening. I'll make sure of it."
"And if it didn't work?"
"It's really irrelevant. Don't give me that look. Your being legally married is not a factor to the Wizengamot. It's your alleged coercion of Ginevra that they are interested in."
"Well, we know that didn't happen."
"Exactly. And I'm getting a new Healer for Ginevra to help prove that her mind and memories are undamaged. The Ministry is demanding that she be seen before the trial, but she absolutely refuses to be seen by that Cerletti woman again. Not that I can blame her, especially now that I know that she's pregnant."
Draco sat back in his seat and sighed happily. "I can't believe I'm going to be a father again."
.
.
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A/N: Thanks so much for reading and of course reviewing in the next few seconds. :)
So Draco and Ginny finally got back together, even if only for visitation. How was it? And yes, she's pregnant. Of course, she is. She's a Weasley, and as Pansy said, there wasn't much else to do in the house.