A/N I know, updates are a bit erratic in the moment, but there seem to be forever so many things I need to take care of.

Enjoy and please REVIEW.

After her fainting in the hospital Hermione never made it to Harry that evening after all. Draco insisted on her lying on a couch by the fire.

She had tried to protest, but he had just ignored her. Taking a seat in the corner of the comfy furniture he had pulled her down so that she would sit in front of him. As hard as she tried not to lean back and enjoy the heat radiating of his body she finally did after all.

She sighed. Why was it suddenly so hard to refuse him? Why did it feel too good to be true to just sit here with him? She felt his hand on her tummy, stroking lazily over the fabric of her jumper. His lips caressed her hair. Merlin! He was oozing sensuality without even trying. No wonder all the girls at school had been swooning over him.

She closed her eyes, concentrating on feeling his body next to her own. He was lean and she doubted that he would ever bulk out like Ron had done over time. Ron was so different from Draco. Her fiancé was the classic Seeker, Ron was built for anything but. For a moment she wondered, how he was doing. He had never been one for writing, but after she and Ginny had met him in the Leaky Cauldron... Did she still have feelings for him? No. Nothing that went past being friends in any case. There was only one man truly important in her life now: the wizard holding her in this very moment.

"What are you thinking?" She heard him whisper.

"That Ron is not built for being Seeker, that you are slender but rather strong and that Ron will only ever be a friend to me."

"Hm-hm."

"And you?"

There was a rather long pause.

"I was wondering about that mark Mother had been talking to you about. What kind of mark? Where would it appear and why? If a Malfoy truly loves the mother of his children and is being loved back, there should be no need for anything like that. I mean, you are going to wear a wedding ring..."

"Yes, but all the other Malfoy couples would have been doing that as well. This must be to show that... that... I don't know. That they are special to each other?"

"Okay, but the couple would know that anyway." He frowned. "Do you think, that it will be somewhere openly visible?"

"I hope not."

"Me too. If you could choose the form of the mark, what would you choose?"

"You mean, what it would look like?"

"Yeah."

Hermione thought about that for a while. What kind of image, symbol or... She grinned. It was so obvious!

"A dragon."

Draco shifted to be able to look at her.

"A dragon? Seriously?"

"Yes. It's obvious, isn't it? It should be something that would be personifying you. You are Draco, a dragon."

"Oh."

She grinned. His face showed a bit more colour than usual suddenly.

"What about you? What would you choose?"

A big smirk appeared on my face.

"As you said, obviously it would be... a lion. A lioness to be precise."

They both laughed. Settling back to embrace his witch once more the young wizard closed his eyes contently. He had never been as happy as he was right now. The girl he loved was going to marry him, they were going to have a son and once his mother was back and Pansy caught they would be going back to their house in Edinburgh. He was looking forward to it.

George had only gone to the Burrow to ask if his mum and dad would want to come to his place for Sunday lunch. He had been about to open the back door into the kitchen when he heard the voices of his mother and sister.

"Mum! I'm not that stupid!"

"Hermione managed to get herself pregnant without meaning to. So, why are you so sure, that you are not..."

"Mum! I told you! I'm here to organise... Oh, never mind, if that is the only thing you are concerned about."

"Who is concerned about what?"

It was the voice of his dad that had joined the conversation in the kitchen now.

"Dad, I told mum that I wasn't thinking about having kids any time soon, but she thinks..."

"Pity."

"Arthur!"

"Dad!"

"I mean, there is lots of space in the house and as Bill and Fleur... There is also Teddy..."

"I don't believe this!"

"Ginny, dear, we know that you and Harry are a normal young couple. Children are just a normal progression..."

"That's it! You're both impossible!"

There were footsteps ascending the stairs and George was wondering, what exactly he had just heard. He turned and instead of entering the house went across the yard to the orchard.

He sat underneath one of the apple trees and started thinking. Ginny had come home to organise something. She was not pregnant as their mother had suspected. He pursed his lips. He very much doubted that his sister would tell her mother first that she... Not before she had spoken to Harry. Though, she wasn't, was she?

She wanted to organise something. What? What could she want to organise that Harry seemingly wasn't supposed to know about? Not a birthday party in any case. It would be another nine months before his next birthday. What else could she want to organise? He tried to wreck his brains but didn't come up with anything.

"Here you are."

He looked up. Alicia was standing only a few feet away from him.

"What are you doing here? Have you already spoken to your mum? Are they coming on Sunday?"

He took her hand and smiled.

"No. I haven't spoken to her as yet. Ginny is here."

His girlfriend looked at him.

"Ginny is here? I thought, she is somewhere in Europe with the Harpies."

"Officially she is. She came back to organise something."

"Oh?"

"I have no idea. Mum and dad seem to think she is here because she is pregnant."

"Is she?"

Alicia sounded rather excited. George sighed.

"Not according to her and I would go with that for the moment."

"She and Harry are serious about their relationship, aren't they?"

"They are engaged to be married. I don't think you can get any more serious without actually getting hitched."

They sat in the warm October sun for a while.

"You know, George, I wouldn't mind getting serious with you. I mean seriously serious."

He glazed at her. Grinning.

"Are you proposing?"

She grinned back.

"Yeah, George, I think I am."

"Well then, proposal accepted."

"Longbottom!"

Neville stopped dead in his tracks. Turning slowly he saw Kingsley Shaklebolt coming down the corridor. It wasn't unusual for the Minister of Magic to come to the Auror Office, but normally he didn't have that much to do with the trainees like himself.

"I've just spoken to Shaw. You and Potter are going to accompany him to Azkaban. I want you to interrogate the Skeeter woman. Make sure, she tells you everything about her connection with Pansy Parkinson, how the Patil girl is fitting into all of this and...," for some strange reason he looked up and down the corridor before continuing, "make sure that you find out where Hermione and the young Malfoy are. If she knows, too many other people will know as well. People that shouldn't know."

"Okay, sir."

Without another word the young auror was left standing. Neville blinked. He had known that the head of the Auror Office wanted him to talk to Rita Skeeter, but what was this all about Pansy Parkinson and... Had he been talking about Pavarti or Padma Patil?

"Neville, there you are."

It was Harry that approached him, smiling.

"I just heard, you are coming to Azkaban as well."

"Yes. Shaklebolt just told me. Harry, what does he want to know about one of the Patils? He didn't say which one it was..."

"It's Parvati. She is Ron's girlfriend."

"Yes, I know that, but what has she to do with Rita Skeeter?"

"She's working at the Daily Prophet."

"Oh."

"Oi! Potter, Longbottom! We don't have all day."

That was the voice of their boss. They turned. Henri Shaw was an impressive figure at nearly seven feet tall and with a built that allowed him to block any doorway by just standing in front of it. He would be able to come up top in any fight with a Muggle and everybody knew better than challenging him for a duel as well. His black hair and deep blue eyes were a startling contrast and most people stared at him openly when they first met him. Most prisoners were cowering in a corner when he entered a room. Though, anybody that had ever seen him with his four year old daughter would have thought him a right push-over.

"Shaklebolt has told you that you are coming with us?" he asked Neville, who nodded. "Good. Let's go then."

They went to a special apparition point situated in a seemingly empty office. It was allowing only apparition to and from Azkaban. Should a prisoner ever manage to disapparate from the prison he or she would would him or herself in the middle of the Auror Office.

Harry was looking at Neville. He could see that he was as apprehensive as he felt himself. Going to Azkaban was not something he had thought he would ever be doing.

"When we arrive you will be staying behind me. I'll do the talking until I say otherwise."

"Yes, sir." the young wizards chorused.

Ginny was sitting in her room at the Burrow and was wondering, if she should try and get hold of Hermione. She might have some good suggestions. Then again, she was probably all wrapped up with... Malfoy. She frowned. Malfoy... Draco Malfoy. Why did Hermione get involved with him? Why had he chosen that it would be her he wanted to... wanted to what? Seduce? According to her best friend he hadn't. He had just come to apologise to her for all the years of cruelty. He must have been quite determined, if he risked to be seriously hexed should she think it was all a cheap stunt. It hadn't been a stunt though. He had been up front with her to the point of embarrassing himself for all eternity.

A heavy sigh escaped her. It had taken Hermione weeks to face up to the fact, that she had feelings for the ferret. It had taken weeks during which she had been driving poor Kreacher to his limits. Not to mention Harry. She let her fingers run over her stomach. She knew, that she should handle the whole situation a bit more maturely than her friend had, but somehow she was even worse. What she had been planning to do when she came here was... It would have broken Harry's heart, should he have ever found out about it. It would have finished their relationship for sure.

A tear was rolling slowly over her cheek. She didn't want to do it. She never had, but what else was left for her, if she wanted to carry on with the Harpies? She had always dreamt about playing Quidditch professionally and now that she had the chance to do just that she... More tears were spilling over her watering eyes. What was she going to do?

She didn't hear the door open or saw George entering her room quietly. When he sat next to her she flung herself into his arms, sobbing.

It had been years since the Weasley twin had seen his little sister cry. She never had cried much in the past. Only when boys entered the picture the tears had come with them. He held her close and gently rubbed her back. He felt her shoulders tremble. What could have happened that reduced her to this state? She was a strong witch with an iron will, but something seemed to have been able to get to her nevertheless.

"I can't do it, George! I can't!" She wailed.

"It's okay, Ginny, it's okay. You don't need to do anything you don't want to." His voice was soothing, but his mind was racing. What couldn't she do? What was this all about?

He felt her pull away a bit and looked at her tear stained face. It was such an alien sight for him. He had never thought he would see the day his sister would lie in his arms bawling her eyes out.

"What happened, Ginny? Did you have a fight with Harry?"

"NO!"

He was taken aback by the ferocity of her answer.

"Okay, okay. You haven't been fighting, but then, what has happened? I have never seen you so upset. Ever."

"George, I can't tell you. I haven't even told Harry. He's going to kill me..."

Her brother pulled her back into his arms.

"I'm sure, he'll do nothing of the kind. He loves you more than anything, sis."

More sobs, louder than ever. Concern started to rise in the heart of the brother holding her. What could be so awful that she feared Harry would not forgive her? A thought rose in his mind. A thought he didn't really want to entertain. What, if she really was pregnant after all? What, if she hadn't told Harry? What, if she had thought about...! He shivered. She was right, Harry would never forgive her, if she had actually done it.

There was a rather strange feeling in the small of Hermione's back. She couldn't tell what it was. It felt as if something was wriggling about on her skin. She shivered. Had some creepy crawly managed to get into their bed? She wasn't afraid of insects but preferred not to have to share the place she slept in with them. She got up as fast as she dared, not wanting to wake Draco.

As she was standing next to their sheet covered playground of intimacies she lifted the sheets carefully. All she could see was the delicious body of the wizard still unaware of what she was doing. His pale skin was showing a slight pink tinge and as he was lying on his side facing her she was privy to the view of his...

"Aaaaah!"

What ever had been crawling over her was still there. She let go of the sheets and tried to see what it was, rubbing her skin with her hands in order to get rid of the little pest.

"What are you doing?" A sleepy voice was came from the bed.

"There is some insect crawling on my back."

"What? Come here."

She close to run to him, stood in front of him facing the windows and while still rubbing her back she heard him gasp.

"What? What is it?"

Draco scooted over to sit on the edge, got hold of her hands and held them so that she couldn't move or try to protect her back any longer.

"Have you seen this?" A rather husky voice asked.

She half turned and saw the stunned expression on his face. What was he on about? Had that flipping thing bitten her of all things?

"What? For Merlin's sake!"

Still holding her hands he whispered, "I don't believe this."

"What is it, Draco? What has that thing done to me?"

He looked up at her and the feelings in his eyes were puzzling her for a moment. He looked astonished, surprised and... She didn't get any more time to dwell on it as he scooped her into his arms, towering over her for the slightest of moments before kissing her passionately.

"Lea, I love you!" he breathed against her lips with a sigh of utter happiness.