Pansy

The next morning, I made sure to wake up early, earlier than Ginny at the very least, I sat up in her bed and noticed that it was still dark outside and realized I'd woken up much earlier than anticipated. I turned to face my own bed, assuming that if Ginny had come back to the dorm, then that's where she'd be sleeping. I smiled at the sight before me, Ginny had in fact returned and slept on my bed, and she just looked so content as she slept facing me. Every now and again I heard a quite sniff, I wasn't sure who it was coming from but I like to believe that it was Ginny sub-consciously sniffing my pillow because it still held my scent.

I quietly left the dorm, heading for the Common Room as it was not allowed for students to be out and about on the school grounds. As I rounded the corner to enter the Common Room, I heard a sort of rustling, like papers moving together.

"Emily?" I asked as she came into my view. She quickly flipped the papers as I walked up to her, "What's that?"

The young girl shrugged her shoulders as a blush came to her cheeks, "Just some… Personal stuff," She said unconvincingly.

I stared at her with a raised eyebrow, "Really?" I asked, knowing she was hiding something.

"Yeah…" She flipped over the top sheet and revealed a drawing.

I smirked as I looked at the drawing, she had drawn what looked to be herself, just an older version of herself with an unknown man down on his knees brandishing a small box, inside the box was a ring. "Why would you hide this?" I asked as I picked up the drawing, admiring how good it was, and the amount of detail that she had put in.

"I don't know," The blond shrugged her shoulders, "It's just embarrassing, you know?"

"Can I see the rest?" I asked causing the young blond to blush even more as she shook her head.

"No way."

"Aww, come on, it's not like I'm going to tell anybody else, besides we're friends," I tried to persuade her, really looking for some kind of distraction.

She shook her head again as she started to gather the papers, "No way, its too embarrassing," She said as she took off back up to our dorm, leaving me with the one drawing she'd shown me.

I made to follow after the blond but was stopped as I saw Ginny standing in the corridor, she smiled sweetly at me, "You didn't wake me up like I woke you."

I shrugged my shoulders, not really knowing what I should say, "I wasn't sure it would be appreciated… You know, after yesterday."

Ginny quickly walked over to me and I flinched slightly as she wrapped her arms around me, the fear still set deeply in my heart. But as I settled into her arms I felt myself start to relax, the fear drifting away as the part of me that was afraid seemed to realise that Ginny wasn't going to hurt me again. I smiled before wrapping my own arms around her, I'd missed her warmth all day yesterday and the day before and I couldn't stop myself from revelling in the feeling of her arms wrapped around me.

"Where did you go yesterday?" I broached the topic we'd started to talk about yesterday but not wanting to dive straight in just yet.

Ginny smiled at me, "I ran into an older Hufflepuff girl that looked remarkably like you. She calmed me down and told me about her mother, she helped me to see things in a different light," The redhead explained cheerfully. "And… I'm sorry, for running out when I did, but I'm here now, we'll get through this together."

I felt a sharp pain in somewhere deep inside as she told me this and was forced to pull away from the younger girl, she whined at the loss of contact, but that was it. I studied her carefully and watched as she seemed to take in my whole appearance at once, a look of confusion occasionally crossing her face but it was wiped away almost as soon as it appeared.

Finally, I was able to speak again, "Together," I said simply which caused the other girl to smile, but brought the pain back to me.

I cursed under my breath as I sat down, seriously confused about what was going on with me. Ginny sat down next to me and delicately grabbed my hand, squeezing it softly. I was grateful that my inner-self allowed me to accept the comfort immediately without having to deal with any fear or pain.

We sat there in silence for almost an hour, just trying to come up with something to say but nothing ever came to mind until eventually, I couldn't handle the silence anymore and I brought up the first topic I could think of. "Who was this girl that you talked too?"

Ginny smiled as she spoke fondly of this other girl, forcing a feeling of jealousy to flare up within me, "Her name's Sera, she's really smart and really mature it was really surprising. Honestly, I was very surprised that I'd never heard of her before. Usually, you'd hear about someone like that, what with all the gossiping that happens at this school."

I nodded my head as the name revolved around my head, a small frown marred my features as I thought of this mysterious girl, this girl that had captured my loves attention and admiration from just one conversation. I shook the girl from my mind and focused on the redhead sitting beside me, I forced my head down to rest on her shoulder as I wrapped my arms around the younger girl, ignoring the fear that bubbled in my stomach.

"Ginny, I really think somethings wrong," I spoke after a few moments as the fear didn't slip away this time, I stood up and started to nervously pace the room. "I think I need to go see Madam Pomfrey," I said frustrated with the situation.

Ginny nodded her head as she stood up as well, keeping a small amount of distance from me, which I appreciated but also hated at the same time, "I'll come with you."

I smiled as I headed out of the Common Room, Ginny walking beside me happily, although I could tell she was struggling with the whole situation. I was just impressed that she was still here, especially after how volatile she had been in the past. We walked through the nearly deserted halls in an almost comfortable silence, I distracted myself by looking at the very few students that had gotten up as early as us, especially considering it was a Saturday. Ginny seemed to have the same idea as she looked around at the various students before one seemed to catch her eye.

I followed where she was looking and, smiling back at my girlfriend was an older blond girl with green eyes and I realized that this must be the girl from yesterday, Sera. I looked away as I was filled with jealousy before walking at an increased pace, Ginny kept up with me and out of the corner of my eye, I could see her watching this other girl. I grabbed Ginny's arm and pulled her into me, annoyed that she was looking at this other girl so much, and quickly kissed her deeply in front of the blond. Ginny yelped at first but melted into the kiss which caused me to grin, she's still mine, I thought to myself before releasing her and continuing towards the Infirmary. Only now I held the redhead's hand in mine, clutching it possessively for the rest of the trip.

We walked into the Infirmary and found Madam Pomfrey tending to another student, so we waited patiently for her to finish. As we did I felt Ginny's thumb slowly running along my hand, I sighed and closed my eyes as I accepted the comfort for a short while. But the longer we sat there, the harder it was to keep myself calm and soon enough I had to pull away.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as I threw my head into my hands, a few tears escaping my eyes, I hated treating Ginny like this, but I just couldn't seem to fight whatever was happening to me.

"It's okay," Ginny said quietly from beside me before a throat clearing drew my attention to a slightly disheveled Madam Pomfrey.

"What are you girls doing here so early?" She asked, annoyance slipping very easily into her tone.

"I have a problem, but I have no idea what it is," I said before explaining what had been happening ever since Ginny had accidentally lost herself and hit me. Madam Pomfrey listened quietly for me to finish my explanation before sighing in frustration.

"I'll run some tests but I this seems more like a mental issue rather than a physical one," She said before pulling out her wand.

Ginny and I sat patiently while the older woman ran her tests which seemed, from the outside at least, like she wasn't doing anything. But as her face contorted into something between rage and concern it was evident that she was actually doing something… And had found something. I clutched at Ginny's hand but was immediately pulled away from her by the older woman, who had a surprising amount of strength for a woman her age.

"Miss Weasley, please leave us this instant," Madam Pomfrey ordered, Ginny seemed to hesitate, so I nodded to her, letting her know that it was going to be fine. But as Ginny reached the door to leave Madam Pomfrey called out to her again. "Miss Weasley, stop right there." Ginny halted immediately and watched from afar as Madam Pomfrey immediately summoned the Headmaster.

Professor Dumbledore, along with Professor McGonagall and Professor Leanora rushed into the Infirmary, Ginny visibly flinched as she watched the three Professor's rush in, "Where is Snape?" Madam Pomfrey asked looking between the three of them.

"He's busy trying to find some things out for me," Professor Dumbledore explained before looking over at me with worry.

"W-What's going on?" I asked, my body filling with a feeling of dread with the sudden appearance of the three Professors.

"To put it bluntly-" Madam Pomfrey started but was cut off by the Headmaster with a wave of his hand.

He sat down next to me on the bed and placed a hand on my shoulder, "That's the thing, we don't know for sure. But what we do know is that you have been cursed, it's a curse that is centered around your feelings for Miss Weasley over there."

Madam Pomfrey nodded along, "I noticed that it seemed to flare up as she got closer to you, but when she was about to leave it started to get worse again. Whoever did this to you knew about your relationship, knew that you two were having some small problems and are used those problems to get the curse onto you. But we don't know how… Unless-"

The Headmaster cut the woman off again and glared at her, she glared back in kind and was joined by both Professor McGonagall and Leonora.

"She deserves to know what we're thinking," The Potions Master said, backed up by the other two women, "This was clearly a targeted attack, unlike with the nightmares where it was a lot of other students."

The Headmaster sighed in defeat before turning back to me, "Do you know of anyone that may want to hurt you?"

I snorted at the question, "What, you mean like everyone in the Slytherin House who see me as a traitorous freak? Or what about all those people I used to bully? Oh, maybe even Arthur!" I yelled the last part, immediately feeling guilty as a hurt look crossed Ginny's face.

"Arthur?" The Headmaster asked.

"Ginny's father," I mumbled, "He isn't happy that I'm dating Ginny, but I highly doubt he'd actually do something like this. I was just frustrated with the question because a lot of people don't like me." I sighed, hating that the number of people that could have been even partly responsible for this was quite substantial.

The Headmaster and the other Professor's nodded, "We'll look into it, don't let this get to you though."

"What about the curse!?" Ginny yelled from her spot at the door, "Aren't you going to cure it!?"

The Professor's looked at the two of us with sorrow, "Unfortunately since we don't know what kind of curse it is, we can't just simply cure it, but we will work tirelessly to find out who did this and what curse they used."

Ginny stood at the with tears running down her cheeks, I just wanted to run up to her and wrap her in my arms, but as I started to move a hand rested on my arm. I looked up into Madam Pomfrey's eyes and she shook her head, I ignored the warning and rushed over to her wrapping her into a tight hug before whispering into her ear.

"We'll get through this, someway, somehow, we'll get through this." The redhead nodded before pushing me away, a worried look etched on her face. I sighed before walking back over to the Professor's only to be reprimanded for my foolish act.

"This isn't a game young girl! The more you ignore my warning, the worse the curse is going to get!" The old nurse hissed at me as she pushed a potion into my face, "This will hopefully, reduce the effects enough so Ginny can go to class, but you'll both be sleeping here from now on and you'll be staying here until you're cured. I don't need you getting any worse when I'm not there to see you through."

Ginny walked closer after I'd finished the potion, "Does that mean I can be at least a little closer to her as well?" She asked hopefully and was added by a small nod.

She grinned happily before joining the small group of people, "But wait a minute, how can you dull the effects but not cure them?" I asked confused.

"We just can't," Madam Pomfrey said, "It's like treating a disease if you don't know what the disease is you can still treat the symptoms, but there is little chance that you can cure the disease."

I still wasn't sure but I trusted the Nurse, she'd been working here for a long time after all. I smiled reassuringly at Ginny as the Professor's left, I pulled her in for a quick hug and realized that the effects were definitely dampened. But a gnawing at the back of my mind told me that they were still there.

Ginny pulled away sadly and stood to leave, "I'm just going to grab your work… Anything else you want me to get you?" I shrugged my shoulders, not really knowing what would be good.

"A couple of books maybe… And… Can you bring me one of your Sweaters?" I asked embarrassedly.

Ginny giggled before nodding and walking out the door, leaving me in the Infirmary with only the sounds of a couple of wheezing students to keep me company. At that moment I felt completely alone, distant, out of touch with the rest of the world. My body shaking as my vision darkened, I started to hyperventilate as the world seemed to start collapsing in on itself. Distant shouts and the feeling of someone poking at me were the last things I remembered before my world went black.

Fleur

Hermione and I were walking around the nearest shopping center, what was going to be just us looking for a piece of clothing for Sammy had quickly developed into a date. We were walking hand in hand towards a small café that we'd seen a sign for, it was advertising a couple's discount, a discount we were going to at least try to get. With all current staring, I'm sure the both of us just wanted to be validated as an actual couple in the eyes of someone.

We walked into café and walked straight to the counter, not making eye-contact with any of the other patrons. A beautiful young woman with shoulder-length black hair was the only person at the counter, she had a stud in her nose as well as three earrings in her left ear while her right only had one. I couldn't help but wonder how someone that looked like that could work in such a cute little café. It's not that she looked bad, but she'd definitely look a little unapproachable if you just saw her from a distance.

But up close her smile was completely infectious and it made me smile in return especially when she looked down at mine and Hermione's connected hands and her smile grew ever-so-slightly.

"Here for the couple's discount?" She asked happily and smiled, even more, when the both of us nodded. "Are you sure? I mean…" She glanced down at Hermione's stomach and bit her lip nervously.

Hermione sighed irritably, "Yes we're dating, I'll have a small, herbal tea and a big slice of chocolate mud cake," She grumbled before stomping off to a booth on the far side of the café.

I smiled after my beautiful, grumpy girl before turning back to the woman, "I'm sorry," She apologized, clearly looking ashamed, "I shouldn't have said anything."

I shook my head, "It's fine, she's just grumpy thanks to everyone else staring at us like we are clowns in a circus. Anyway, can I have a large coffee and an Apple and Cinnamon muffin?"

The woman nodded and gestured for me to sit down with Hermione, I did as she wanted, assuming that I'd be paying for our order when we left. Hermione was pouting as I sat down, pointedly looking away from the counter, as she did so.

"Come on Hermione, she didn't mean anything by it," I soothed the girl.

She looked at me, looking like she was very annoyed, but sighed in defeat as I met her gaze, "I know, but we never needed to deal with all this damn staring back at school," She complained.

I grabbed her hand and ran my thumbs over her palm, massaging it lightly, "I know…" I turned to the counter and smiled, "But look," I said as I nodded my head in the direction I was looking in. Approaching our table was the same woman that had served us, she had a bright smile on her face and she winked playfully as her eyes connected with Hermione's. "You see, not everyone is uncomfortable with us."

"Hi girl's, I just wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have said anything," Our server apologized, looking directly into Hermione's eyes.

Hermione smiled happily, "It's no problem… Well, it was, but you apologized and I understand why you were thrown, so it's okay."

The woman smiled gratefully before putting our order down in front of us, "It's on the house."

I started to object but the woman walked off before I could even say a word, laughing as she did so, I grumbled under my breath as she did so. Hermione grabbed my hand and smiled at me, squeezing it softly before digging into her cake, I followed suit, tucking into my muffin happily.

Hermione and I spent the rest of the day just walking around the shopping center as we tried to find the perfect piece of clothing to give to Sammy. It seemed to take ages, but eventually, Hermione found the piece of clothing that she was to give Sammy. She had decided on a simple white dress, along with white socks and some black sneakers. I raised an eyebrow at her choice, especially since we'd walked past the various items more than once, but I didn't question it, Hermione knew what she was doing.

As we were leaving the shopping center we ran into the café girl again, she smiled as she approached us, "You guys are still here?"

We both nodded, "Why wouldn't we be?" I asked.

"Well, the shops are closing now, that means you were here all day."

"Really?" Hermione asked as she looked around at the hurrying shoppers trying to get things done at the last minute, "Wow, I didn't even realize it'd been so long," As she spoke her stomach started grumbling loudly, causing the brunette to go red in the face.

"I guess we should get you back home, we've already missed lunch and your eating for two right now," I said as I hurried us towards the sidewalk.

"Are you guys walking?" The café girl asked from behind us.

I turned around and nodded, "We only live about twenty minutes away," I explained.

The girl shook her head as she unlocked her car that was, conveniently, very close to us and the exit, "Hop in, I'll give you guys a lift."

I looked uncertainly to Hermione who simply nodded, before walking back to the girl, I shrugged my shoulders as I followed after her. We jumped into the girl's car, thankful that we didn't need to walk as it started raining almost as soon as we had set off. I was directing her to our house when a thought occurred to me, I was currently sitting in a car, with my pregnant girlfriend, and we don't even know the woman's name.

"Hey, random question. What's your name?" I asked from the backseat, stoking Hermione's hair as she leaned against me. The brunette giggled softly as she, too, realized we didn't even know that about our driver.

The black-haired girl laughed a little as she pulled up to our house, "Jasmine, what's yours?"

I'm Fleur, and this beauty here is Hermione," I introduced the both of us, causing the brunette to blush a little.

We climbed out of the car together, Jasmine joining us, "Do you guys… I don't know… Maybe wanna hang out sometime?" The woman asked embarrassedly.

Hermione and I both chuckled at the older woman as she acted like she was a kid that was in her first grade of school. "We'd like that, when are you free next?" Hermione asked the older woman.

"I'm free tomorrow," The older woman replied hopefully and I couldn't help but wonder why she was so set on spending time with us.

"Cool, just meet us here at say… Twelve?"

Jasmine nodded with a smile before saying goodbye and hopping into her car, "I'll see you then," She said before driving off.

Hermione and I stood there waving for a short while before she excitedly ran into our house, I knew immediately what was running through Hermione's mind, and not wanting to miss what was about to happen, I ran in after her. As I entered the house with my hands full of bags, I heard Hermione call out for Sammy, she was already holding the dress out in front of her with a big smile on her face.

"Yes, Miss?" Sammy asked as she appeared in front of Hermione, her eyes wide with delight as she took in the piece of clothing being held out in front of her.

"Here, you're free now," Hermione said as she handed the white cotton dress to the small creature.

"Miss… Miss…" A tear rolled down the House-Elf's cheek as she held the dress close to her chest, making sure not to get any of her tears on the garment. "Miss Granger…"

Hermione smiled as she knelt down in front of the crying little creature, resting a hand on her tiny shoulder, "You deserve it, just like all the other House Elves that are still enslaved in the magical society. And don't call me 'Miss Granger' anymore. My name is Hermione, and this is Fleur." The brunette said as she gestured between the two of us.

Sammy nodded happily, still unable to speak as she continued to clutch the dress closely. I walked up to the small creature and knelt down in front of her, meeting her eyes I smiled as I cupped her cheek, wiping away one of her tears with my thumb.

"If this is enough to floor you then…" I gestured towards the many bags that took up the space by the front door, "Those might just kill you."

Sammy's little eyes widened as she looked from me to the bags by the door before looking back to me again. Hermione nodded next to me, answering the unasked question that shone in the little creature's eyes.

"Yes, they're all for you," She grinned as Sammy shook her head.

"N-No Miss… Hermione… That's just too much… I couldn't possibly."

"You can," Hermione stated, "You deserve a little pampering after all the work you've done over the years."

Sammy stood there, still shaking her head, clearly overwhelmed by our generosity. I smiled at Hermione before leading the still shaking Sammy into her room. It was really just the walk-in pantry but she wouldn't accept the spare room, complaining that it was too big and that if someone stayed over, then she'd feel bad having them sleep on the couch.

I sat her down on her bed before forcing her to look me in the eyes, I could feel Hermione right behind me, her hand coming to a rest on my shoulder as I knelt in front of Sammy.

"Hey, Sammy, your part of our family now, and we can't have a member of the family walking around in an old rice sack and no shoes. You're representing the Delacour's and the Granger's now." I said, appealing to her sense of loyalty and duty.

Sammy blinked away her tears, wiping her face as she did so, "Your right," She announced as she jumped to her feet, magically dressing herself in the dress in an instant. She looked at herself in the tiny mirror that sat on one of the shelves that she'd converted into a makeshift desk, smiling at herself. "Now I can represent our family properly," She nodded before running out of her room and starting dinner. I quickly joined her, making Hermione a sandwich as I knew how hungry she must be.

Ginny

I sat in the Infirmary, staring teary-eyed at the limp body of my love, it had been three days since the curse had reacted badly to Madam Pomfrey's potion. I wiped futilely at the tears that just continued to run down my face, wishing I could just go up to her and hold her hand, wrap my arms around her waist and just give her some sort of comfort. But I couldn't, I couldn't move from where I was sitting as Madam Pomfrey had been able to deduce that where I currently sat was the best distance so I had as little impact on the curse as possible. But it didn't seem to help, nothing any of the professors did seemed to help as Pansy lay in the Infirmary, unconscious and completely helpless.

A warm hand on my shoulder pulled me from my inner thoughts and smiled sadly at the white-blond that was standing next to me, "How's she doing?" Luna asked, her voice full of concern.

I sighed, utterly defeated by the whole situation, "She's getting worse, the Headmaster has decided that it is now time to notify her parents."

Luna nodded sadly, "Do you think she'll make it?" Luna asked, knowing I needed to talk about it.

I shook my head sadly, "I wish I could say yes, but nothing anyone does seems to help," I replied as fresh tears gathered in my eyes.

Strong arms quickly wrapped around me as I broke down crying, my Pansy was dying before my eyes and I couldn't even be with her. Couldn't hold her, couldn't kiss her or stroke her hair. I was distracted once again as the doors to the Infirmary flew open, slamming against the walls they were attached too.

A tall man with a hard face stormed over to the Nurse and my love, Professor Dumbledore running after the man, "Auror! Auror John! You mustn't disturb her," The professor called out to the man.

I ignored the two men, instead focusing on the woman that followed them in at a much slower pace. Instead of heading towards Pansy she instead walked towards Luna and me, I was surprised mostly by her pink hair, as I always was, but also by the way she carried herself like she didn't have a care in the world. I scowled as she approached, my love was dying, and she was just bouncing towards me like it was nothing.

"Woah there," She said as she approached, holding her hands up in a non-threatening manner, "I'm just here to talk."

I growled but stopped scowling, as she now stood in front of me, "Then talk Tonks" I said as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Well, we have a lead on who may have put this curse on your friend over there," The woman stated proudly.

I growled at her once again, "She's my girlfriend," I stated for the umpteenth time as I processed what the woman was saying.

"Yeah, yeah, anyway do know this person?" She asked as she held out a picture of a young Slytherin boy.

I shook my head, "I've never seen him before… Is he the kid that locked Pansy in that closet?"

"Yes, and we're afraid he may have, at the very least, facilitated what has happened to Pansy, but he seems to have disappeared," Tonks explained.

I groaned, some lead since the kid has run off somewhere, I shook my head as I turned back t Luna, grabbing her hand and squeezing it searching for any comfort I could. The pink-haired woman walked towards Pansy's body and shook her head as her colleague rattled off question after question.

"Please, don't leave me," I whispered, hoping that somewhere, somehow Pansy could hear me.