A/N: I know it's been a long time, but the good news is that I have actually been working on finishing this with my beta, the amazing SometimeSelkie, and should be updating regularly until it is completed.
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The Safe House
Chapter Fourteen
A few weeks before Christmas, Ginny was standing in the kitchen, looking at the calendar. There was something bothering her about the date, but she couldn't place it. It had been snowing the last couple of days, and she already missed spending more time outside. She couldn't imagine how Draco coped with being cooped up all alone last winter. At least now they had each other. I still can't believe that we are married, and for three months.
Draco entered the kitchen from the back door, stomped his feet, and shook the snow out of his hair. He looked up at Ginny and grinned, holding up some plants from the greenhouse. "They are surviving really well. Longbottom would be proud. You okay? You look like something is wrong."
"No, yeah, I just keep feeling like I am forgetting something. What's on the fifth? Oh, let me see them." She reached over and took the dittany from him.
"My birthday is on the fifth, so today is my half-birthday." He smiled wickedly at her and then took the plants from her, placed them on the counter, and grabbed her to him in one fell swoop. "We should celebrate."
"Should we now? The last time you wanted to celebrate we ended up sick in bed and – "
"Then let's skip that part and go straight to bed." He kissed her once, twice, three times before she smiled at him.
"Well, since it is the half-anniversary of your birth…." She kissed him back, and no sooner had her lips met his, she knew what had been bothering her. I'm late.
Ginny allowed Draco to lead her to their bedroom and start to undress her. She was in a bit of a daze when suddenly she felt him nip her neck. "Hey! Not so rough. I don't want a mark."
"Are we planning on having company for dinner tonight? I say we mark each other wherever we want." He leaned back down and bit into her shoulder.
"Draco, seriously! It would probably be my luck that you would cover me in love bites the day my parents find us." She playfully slapped him and, with a valiant effort, pushed any concerns out of her mind. "On second thought, feast away! Maybe they will show up tonight!" She laughed as he picked her up and carried her to the bed.
For the next week, Ginny was acting very strangely in the mornings. Normally she enjoyed spending time with him, talking in bed before they started their day, but Draco had noticed that she was running to the loo every morning. He questioned her about it, and she told him that she just needed to use the loo "really bad for some reason." In reality, Ginny was checking to see if she had started her period. She knew the spell to find out if she was pregnant, but she was terrified of knowing. She was terrified of the possibility that they were bringing a child into this house without a way to get out. One night, she had even dreamt that the child turned into Voldemort. So she chose the ignorance is bliss path and instead of performing the spell, she drove herself crazy and worried her husband.
Finally, a week before Christmas, Ginny made her way to the loo not to check on her period, but to get sick. She sat on the side of the tub for several minutes thinking about the fact that she had probably just experienced her first bout of morning sickness. She started calculating quickly in her head and knew that if she were pregnant, it would have happened on Halloween. Her November period had been rather small and should have been her first clue, especially since she was a Healer. You are such an idiot, Ginny! Why didn't you catch this sooner?
A knock sounded on the door, "Are you alright? Were you getting sick?" Draco sounded very concerned, and the tone of his voice made Ginny want to cry.
"I'm fine, be right out!" She called and then mentally cursed herself. Hesitantly, she pointed the wand at her abdomen and performed the spell. Christmas is next week. I will tell him then.
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The Weasleys were determined to spend Christmas together this year. They had not all gathered together since Ron's birthday. Molly refused to let the war take any more from her. She had already lost one son, had another severely injured, and her daughter was still missing, even if the clock still showed that she was 'home'. Ron and Hermione walked into the kitchen together and embraced the Weasley matriarch. They looked very happy to be home, but Molly could tell something was on their minds.
They were planning on discussing Ginny's situation with Molly and Arthur that evening. Hermione and Ron had met with Harry the week after she had seen Molly about the clock to inform him of the change in Ginny's clock hand.
~.~
"Do you think that this means she is coming home, 'Mione?" Harry looked at his friend with such hope in his eyes. She had not seen him look anything but worn and beaten for years.
"Harry, I think that something else is going on. I think that they have brain-washed her, or even worse, they have Obliviated her, and now she thinks that she is with them, really with them."
He put his head down onto his folded arms resting on the table. "She could be pregnant right now with that monster's spawn."
"I know. And if she is, I kind-of hope that she doesn't know what's really happening. But Harry, I don't think that he is human enough to - "
"Fuck my girlfriend? Yeah, well I'm sure he has found a way to make it work. It would explain the lack of activity lately. I'm afraid he's going to go into hiding until she…God, I can't even say it."
Ron walked over and put his hand on Harry's back. "Harry, if we find her and he has succeeded, what are we going to do?"
Hermione spoke. "Ginny is not a Horcrux. He cannot succeed in this plan. He will not be reborn, Ron."
"She's right. Damn it, Snape. If he hadn't been killed, then we could have at least gathered some more information. First Malfoy and then Snape. We need another spy. I have been thinking that maybe Narcissa could help us."
Ron looked coldly at the two of them. The war had hardened his heart, changing him from approachable and loving to a closed off and callous man. "They would eat her alive if she returned, Harry. I honestly don't care, but I don't think it would be good for morale if we just sent her to her death. And I know Ginny's not a Horcrux, dear, but she may have become one of them."
Hermione leaned against her husband and sighed. "Regardless of what is actually happening, I think we are going to have to tell Arthur and Molly. They need to know what he wanted with her. They need to be prepared that she may not be the same ever again."
~.~
Unfortunately, the first time that the three of them could meet with the elder Weasleys was at Christmas. Harry had not been available since he had left to search out another Horcrux. Ron greeted Harry outside of the house and walked with him to the door. "I think we should only tell Mum and Dad, the others don't need to know anything."
"I agree. Let's just get through dinner, and we can talk later." Harry paused for a moment at the door and put on a fake grin before entering.
Later that night, after most of the Weasley children and their families had left, Ron stopped his parents from retiring to bed. Molly and Arthur sat together in the living room and looked expectantly at their youngest son.
"Mum, Dad. Harry has some information about Ginny that we think you should know. It's not good. I don't want you to get your hopes up."
Molly sat perfectly still as Arthur wrapped his arm around her. The only indication that she had heard Ron was the single tear that fell from her cheek.
Harry pulled a chair over and sat across from the grieving parents. "There was a plan for Ginny. I had an informant, a spy, who had told me that Ginny might be targeted. He was killed, and I didn't know any more details for months, until Snape contacted me shortly before she was taken."
Arthur tightened his hold on his wife and asked, "What kind of plan?"
Harry glanced behind him at his two closest friends, who nodded. "Voldemort thinks that she is a Horcrux…."
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oooooOOOooOooOOOooooo
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Draco rolled over on Christmas morning to kiss his wife only to find her missing again. He frowned and called out for her. After a few minutes of no response, he dragged himself out of bed and headed towards the loo. Once he opened the bedroom door, he heard that the shower was on and his frown returned. It wasn't like Ginny to shower in the morning. She usually was not a morning person at all, and it was not her habit to get up before him or to shower before eating.
He slowly opened the door to the loo and peered inside. "Morning. Can I join you?"
"Please do. And grab the wand, it's getting cold."
After retrieving the wand from the sink, Draco performed the Warming Charm on the room and on the pipes, and then he joined his beautiful wife. The two did not make it a habit of using the shower together because now that it was cold, it was annoying to have to stop showering, or other more romantic activities, and reapply the Heating Charms. Also, the shower was one of the few places that offered the illusion of real privacy. As much as they loved one another, they were still susceptible to getting claustrophobic within the wards and found that they were both happier when they had some alone time.
The plan had been to give each other only one gift for Christmas. It could be anything they wanted to give: a poem or a love letter, a massage, a pass on chores, anything that they thought would be meaningful to the other. After preparing and eating their dinner together, they sat on the sofa in the sitting room. Draco had made a small tree from some branches in the woods, and they had decorated it with various trinkets transfigured into ornaments. The tree sat on the table nearest to Ginny. She handed him a gift wrapped in a pillowcase, and he handed her a gift wrapped in some cloth.
Ginny smiled brightly at her gift and then said, "You go first."
"You sure?" To which she nodded. "Okay." He opened up the rectangular package and looked back up at her, astonished. "Did you really draw this?"
She felt unsure about her gift, knowing that she wasn't the best artist. "I know it's not perfect, but I thought you could help me finish it."
"It is perfect. It's our wedding. And this is exactly how I remember it. Thank you." He leaned forward and kissed her. "We can hang it up in our bedroom."
"Did you ever think you would be so happy to get a handmade gift?" She chuckled as she reached over and brushed his hair off his forehead. "I should have given you a haircut."
"First of all, I love the gift. And yes, you definitely should give me a haircut. It's getting on my nerves. Now, open yours." He looked so excited for her to open his gift. She thought it was rather endearing.
She pulled out a book from the cloth and noticed it was the copy of Wuthering Heights that he and she had read before. She gave him a curious look, trying not to be disappointed in the gift.
He laughed loudly and then said, "Look inside."
She opened the book and noticed that it was completely blank, not one word written on any page. "What is this? Did you erase this book? You really like this one."
"It's not a diary unless that's what you want it to be, but I thought that you would want to write some things down about your time here. Memories, letters to your family, you can even draw in it. I guess it's a memory book for when we leave. That way you can share things with your family that they have missed. I know you wished we had a camera for the wedding. Also, since we don't have much parchment to spare, I thought I'd use this book. It had the best paper and was a good size. You can change the cover to whatever you like."
"I love it!" She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. She started to cry as she held onto him.
"Ginevra, hey love, why are you crying?" He pulled her completely onto his lap and shifted back to look into her eyes.
"I don't know. I'm just happy. Thank you. It must have taken you forever to erase all of those pages."
"I was glad to do it. Happy Christmas, Ginevra." He kissed her.
"Happy Christmas, Draco." She kissed him, and just as he started to deepen the kiss, she pulled back and hopped off of his lap. "Oh, wait. I just saw something." She walked over to the table with the tree and pulled out a small box approximately six inches tall.
He rolled his eyes at her excuse, and then questioned her, "You just saw something? What are you up to? We said one gift."
"How do you know it's not for me? Let's look. Oh! This is definitely for you." She grinned at him and her eyes sparkled.
He took the box quickly, opened it without looking at the tag, and pulled out a small stuffed dragon. He looked up at her and noticed that she looked apprehensive. "Did you find this here?"
"No, well, I made it from a stuffed bear I found in the extra room."
"You know, I had one similar to this when I was little. I think it was my first stuffed toy."
"Was it?" Her voice was tight with emotion.
He stared at her for a moment trying to read her face and then looked down in his lap, seeing the tag on top of the box that read Daddy. He held his breath for a moment and then looked back up at her and exhaled, "Really?"
"Really."
He quickly stood up and crossed to her, kneeling in front of her. He reached up and kissed her gently on the mouth and her forehead. When he pulled back, she could see that his eyes were glistening. He tentatively placed his hand on her abdomen and murmured, "I don't know what to say."
She covered his hand with hers and gave him a watery smile. "I know. It's not what we wanted – "
"No, don't say that. You are everything I ever wanted. This," he lightly pressed his hand into her stomach, "is everything I ever wanted." He reached up with his other hand and pulled her into another kiss. Smiling broadly, he added, "We just need to work on the timing for the next one."
"Well, no more Muggle alcohol then." She laughed lightly as she rested her head against his.
"Is that when?" He climbed up onto the sofa and pulled her onto his chest, quickly replacing his hand back over her womb.
"Yes, well, if I calculated correctly. Plus, I know we have always used the charm since then. And that night, I'm not sure we even had the wand with us."
"Yes, I remember looking for it after I hit my head. I think I found it in the sitting room…"
"On the piano?"
"I think so."
"Where I sat it down the night before to – "
"Keep me from cheating! Yes, I remember. … Well, I didn't cheat."
Ginny stayed on the sofa with Draco, enjoying the feel of his protective hand over the tiny baby growing inside of her. For just a little while, she would not worry about the implications of bringing a baby into the house. She would let herself be a happy, expectant mother.
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A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read and now please give me just one more moment and leave a review!
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