Disclaimer: I don't intend to infringe on any copyright laws, I just want to exercise my freedom of speech.

Lifeless Narcissus

Draco had wished this day would never come. His head bounced slightly against the window as the train sped on to Hogsmeade. This time, they weren't alone; there were a few older Hogwarts students on the train and so they were restrained as to what they talked about. He could, however cuddle with Ginny, and knowing that it was her beneath the polyjuiced exterior provided some comfort, but he wondered when was the next time he would be able to hold her, just like he was. He didn't know when they'd get married; if they did his father would find out because it would be recorded not only at the ministry, but in the Muggle lawbooks as well. He supposed after the war.

Ginny snuggled into him. Even if she didn't look like Ginny, she still smelt like her and he nuzzled her hair with his nose.

"Who would've thought that you, of all people, are fond of cuddling?"
            "Certainly not me."

He had felt very protective over her recently, mainly because she hadn't been feeling good. She had been throwing up a lot, which wasn't good for the baby, but Molly had assumed that was just because Ginny hadn't thrown up during her first trimester. She joked that Ginny was a late bloomer, whether it was getting her period or having morning sickness. Draco didn't think it was so funny.

They were nearing the end of their journey, and once at Hogwarts Blaise and Draco would branch off from the group and return to their homes while Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny would return to headquarters. Every moment that passed Draco felt was precious, like time was holy water slipping through his fingers and no matter how hard he tried, he could stop time from passing him by. Next to him, Blaise and Harry were wrapped around each other in an equally intimate position. He stared out the window, at the houses that were coming closer and closer together, their thatched roofs covered in snow.

"Hogsmeade Station," a voice sounded magically in the compartment, and Draco reluctantly released Ginny. They gathered their trunks and took a horseless carriage to the castle. It was warm inside the castle, a nice feeling compared to the biting chill outdoors, but Draco couldn't help but feel apprehensive with every step he took. It was as if with every step he shook off the carefree feelings he had been harboring the past two weeks and left they like a puddling trail behind him. The door to the infirmary was shut firmly with Dumbledore sitting in front of it.

"Quickly, inside. We want you to get in before they arrive." Draco knew he meant their parents – Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had come along so that they could retrieve their children as well as Harry and Hermione – and he stepped through, the others following quickly. The patients were already awake and he strode over to the one who looked like himself.

"Blimey," the man said, his thick Irish accent clouding his words, "I never thought I'd see something as strange as myself walking towards me."

Dumbledore waved his wand, making the fake trunks disappear and they deposited their trunks where the fake ones used to be.

"Now what do we do?" Ron asked, or at least the one who was sitting next to the person who looked like Ron.

"We wait for the potion to wear off." They sat awkwardly for a few moments before Hermione suggested a game of Exploding Snap which they all played – even Dumbledore. A half hour later, Draco realized he recognized the hands that held his playing cards and saw that the person sitting next to him, who used to look like Draco, looked like the person Draco had been. It was then that he stopped playing and called Blaise to him. They separated from the group; he wouldn't have played cards with Muggles and Muggle-lovers before. After the next game, Dumbledore asked the six people who had pretended to be Draco and the rest to go to Hogsmeade station to wait for him and they did, leaving dutifully. Frowning he turned to Draco.

"Forgive me," he said, pressing his forefinger to Draco's temple. Draco watched has the headmaster's face became graver and graver with every passing moment.

"What is it?" Ginny had come to stand beside him.

"Draco, you're poisoned." Draco's knees buckled and he sank down on the bed. How could he be poisoned?

"Poisoned? With what? By whom?"

"I am afraid I do not know. I'll have to get Severus to get a look at you; hopefully we can administer the antidote. I don't want to lie to you, Draco, the poison is very strong."

"I…my mother. You'll have to get her away from my father."

"That can be arranged." Dumbledore's eyes had lost their sparkle, but Ginny's eyes were shining more than ever.

"In my trunk, there's a key to my vault. It's got my initials engraved on it. Use it for the child."

"I will," Ginny whispered, drawing him into a hug. "But you're not going to die, I won't let you." Over her shoulder, he saw Dumbledore smile a remorse filled smile. Draco knew he could very well die. He didn't know how long he had been poisoned for.

"I think…I'd like to go for a walk. Alone," he added, looking pointedly at Ginny, "if you don't mind."

"No, go ahead."

He wanted some time to think without the disturbance of his hormones or the crucio of his father's wand. Poisoned. All the promises he had made to Ginny and her family; they had involved her living. Poisoned. The empty castle provided perfect isolation. He found himself led to the Astronomy Tower. Poisoned. Looking around the room brought many memories, most of lust, but one of love. It was here Ginny had shouted that she loved him and her voicing of the emotion had made him falter, completely surprised until an emotion surged powerfully within him. It was like his heart was contracting and exploding at the same time and he had almost run back to her but control had reigned him and sent him in the opposite direction. Poisoned. He would never be able to show her the extent of his emotion if he died. They had only just begun with each other. Poisoned. It wasn't fair.

The door creaked open and he turned to face the intruder. It was Ginny; she must have followed him.

"How are you?" Her voice was a little too bright; she must be hiding some emotion.

"Not so good." She walked over and sat beside him on the step, just like she had that night when she had told him she was pregnant. In the dim light, her stomach looked smaller.

"Draco…" she placed her hand soothingly on his knee. Usually she would hug him and rub his back, but he supposed that was under different circumstances. He was faced with death now, not old memories. He took the hand and placed a kiss on her palm. She leaned in to kiss him, her fingers spreading and meshing with his. Each finger felt the same.

"Ginny?" he asked, pulling away, "where's your ring?"

"Ring?" she replied, bewildered. A thought fell upon him as though he was struck by a falling hippogriff.

"Who are you?" he demanded, pushing her against the iron banister, "and why are you pretending to be Ginny?"

He didn't find out, because she whispered something and the world went black.

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy arrived to find the Weasleys waiting patiently in the waiting room. The Zambinis hadn't yet arrived and the Malfoys were reluctant to share the waiting room with such filth as the Weasleys but they didn't want to make a scene. Narcissa just wanted her son back; it was bad enough he had missed Christmas.

They sat primly as far away from the Weasleys as was possible. They waited another 15 minutes before the Zambinis arrived and Mrs. Malfoy rose to greet them, as if she had invited them to a garden party. The Zambinis were a very old wizarding family and Mr. Malfoy was pleased that his son was dating their daughter. A marriage to a Zambini was just as good as a marriage to a Parkinson, if not better; the Zambini's were advocates for the cause, even if they weren't part of the Dark Lord's circle.

"What are we waiting for?" Mrs. Zambini asked Mrs. Malfoy as she took a seat next to her.

"I don't know. Knocking just seemed like a bad idea." As if on cue, Dumbledore opened the door.

"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, Mr. and Mrs. Zambini, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, I am afraid you can not return with your children home. Draco went to the bathroom two hours ago and hasn't returned. I'm having the children search the castle and if you all would help I am sure he can be found more quickly. I know that it has been some time since you were students here and so the corridors may be unfamiliar but we need all the help we can get."

Mr. Malfoy cursed silently. The boy was much more trouble than he was worth. Mrs. Malfoy, sunk further into her chair.

"He hasn't run away, has he?" she asked in a small voice. Dumbledore smiled kindly.

"I'm certain he hasn't run away, but perhaps Peeves got to him."

"Damn poltergeist," Mr. Malfoy muttered, whirling to lead the pack on the hunt. The boy would pay dearly for his trouble.

"Is the map broken?" Ginny asked. All five of them were now hidden in the broom closet.

"Of course not," Hermione scoffed, "the Marauder's map never lies. This means he's not in the castle."

"But he could be anywhere!" Ginny exclaimed, feeling suddenly very teary eyed.

"Where do those passages lead?" Blaise asked, tracing her finger along one of the passages that led off the map.

"Hogsmeade," Harry replied glumly, "and after that, who knows where he could be."

"We'd better check the passages then," Ron said.

"But there are seven of them and only six of us," Blaise interjected.

"Wait," Ginny said, "we also need to get Narcissa Malfoy into safety. So use one of the ones Filch knows about to get her to safety. Dumbledore can get her away from Hogwarts and cave in the passage; make it look like an accident."

"Ginny, that's brilliant! Two birds with one stone! Dumbledore can check the passage for us! I'll go tell him and then check this passage." Harry pointed to one towards the middle. "Blaise, you take this one, there's a tapestry of horses over the entrance and the password's Centaur. Ron, the next. Hermione, this one. And Gin, oh you better take Hermione's, Hermione knows how to get past the Whomping Willow. Look for a mirror, the entrance is behind it. You have to trace you wand around the mirror before it will let you through. Mind you, the passage is caved in about halfway but Draco might not know that."

"Why do you think he left?" Ginny asked.

"I think he might have tried to leave so he wouldn't have to die at his home. I think that if he was going to die, he wanted to do it around you. Also…he might have died already, which would be why he doesn't show up on the map. It only shows spirits. If there isn't a spirit in the body…it might not show up." Ginny blinked fiercely.

"He didn't die." Ron pulled her into a hug, something he hadn't done in a long time. A few tears escaped her before she could stop them and he rubbed her back like her mother would.

"Right then…so we should split up."

"Dumbledore!" Harry called, running towards the headmaster. Dumbledore was finally alone and Harry didn't want anyone to be suspicious.

"What's the rush, Harry?"

"I figured out a way to get Mrs. Malfoy to safety." He explained the plan and Dumbledore cracked an amused smile.

"I think that will work quite nicely. Unfortunately, I will not be able to accompany Narcissa, but I think Mrs. Weasley would be up to it. Harry, I am aware that you are in possession of an invisibility cloak. Would you fetch it? And…let's see." He conjured a set of women's robes. "Give these to Molly. But what to do about a body…I suppose I'll have to transfigure something. Harry, would you know where I could find a doll of some sort? Preferably blond. I could always summon one…"

"You could check the Room of Requirement?"

"No, it can't be magically made if it's to withstand the transfiguration."

"There's a vampire doll in the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom."

"I suppose that will have to do." He summoned it and it sped into Dumbledore's outstretched hand from a nearby classroom. He transfigured it and in his hand, Narcissa Malfoy stared blankly up, blood leaking from her mouth.

"Give this to Molly as well. Tell her to engorge it and put an Obvious charm on it. She should take Narcissa under the invisibility cloak to the Three Broomsticks and Madame Rosmerta is to keep her in the back room. Narcissa will fight Molly but have Molly tell her about her son and his leverage there. She should know he is dying. Walk with them. I assume you know other ways into the castle from Hogsmeade and Molly will need to get back before she is suspected."

They had emerged, one by one from the broom closet, Ginny was the last to leave. She ran up the four flights of stairs, nearly falling in a trick step in her haste. The hallway was eerily quiet, but she rushed onwards, checking every room for a mirror. Finally the fifth room she checked had one. It was Gilderoy Lockhart's old office; it wasn't any wonder why he had chosen this room. The mirror was beautiful, full length with a molded copper edge and clawed feet. Tentatively, she walked to the mirror, almost afraid it would bite. She withdrew her wand and traced the edge. Nothing seemed to happen, her reflection stared back at her as scared as ever. She lifted her hand and touched the surface. It bent for her, like her was pushing clear dough, before her hand slid through. The mirror felt like water and she withdrew her hand fully before stepping through the mirror. She turned, staring in amazement at the back of mirror. Looking through it was like looking in a window, even the light shone through.

"Lumos!" she muttered, starting down the musty passage. The stone floor wanted cleaning and the passage wanted airing, no light came through and it slanted downwards in a spiral. If she tripped she would probably slide to the bottom, she thought.

The slanting and spiraling ended abruptly to leave a level passage that was wide with a reasonably high ceiling so she didn't have to duck. Tired of running, she walked quickly, the wand providing little light to reveal what lay ahead, often she came upon sharp turns in the passage that made her almost walk into the wall before she realized the turn. Along the passage were little bits of Zonko's memorabilia and chocolate frog wrappers. She thought one dated back to the 1800s but she didn't stop to sate her curiosity. In the distance, she saw another wandlight illuminating the area and she ran faster. She could see two figures very close together. Then a blast of green light lit the entire passage – she could feel the power reverberating off the walls – and one of them fell to the ground.

"DRACO!!!"

"I won't work against Lucius," Narcissa said, sitting on the bar stool as if it were a throne.

"You won't have to."

"I only came because Draco wished me to."

"I understand. I have children."

"No, you don't. Draco's all I have. I fear Lucius but Draco's my little boy."

"I have gotten to know Draco over the past two weeks. He's a good boy, when he's not pressured to be otherwise." Harry wandered around the room, half-listening to their conversation but feeling like he was intruding somehow.

"I happy to hear that."

"My daughter's pregnant."

"And she's not even married," Narcissa scoffed.

"She's pregnant with your son's child."

"Draco would never be so careless."

"She's in love with him," Molly continued, "and so whether I like it or not I have to deal with him. Not only has he fathered my first grandchild, but if he dies, she'll pine for him."

"What do you mean, 'if he dies'." Narcissa's perfect composure faltered.

"He's been poisoned," Harry said, staring at a crack in the paint on the wall, "we don't know why or by whom but he's dying. Dumbledore promised you safety and we don't know whether Draco's going to make it or not. We don't even know how long he's been poisoned, or what he's poisoned with and so Dumbledore has given you safety, just in case the worst should happen."

"My baby…" Narcissa breathed, clutching her breast as though her heart was being ripped out and she was trying desperately to keep it.

"I'm sorry," Molly said, "but you're his mother and you should know. I think it would be best if our grandchild knew you. You're not as cold as you seem and if you won't work for us, it would be best if you can't work against us." Narcissa stared in shock at a hole in the carpet.

"We'll be back," Harry said after a moment, "but Mrs. Weasley and I really should get back to school. We don't want to be missed."

"I'm going to be a grandmother," Narcissa said, smiling tearfully. The two women hugged.

"He can't hurt you, not with us protecting you, and the baby." She grasped Molly's hand between her own.

"Thank you."

Harry ushered Mrs. Weasley out, leaving his invisibility cloak with Mrs. Malfoy and led the way to Honeydukes. It wasn't very busy and he led Mrs. Weasley to admire a display of sweets near the partition. When the man at the counter was wrapping up someone else's purchases he ducked under, beckoning for Mrs. Weasley to follow. In the storeroom, he found the trap door and opened it, letting Mrs. Weasley down first before climbing down himself. He closed the door and followed Mrs. Weasley who was already walking down the passage, her wand lit and held high before her. Harry lit his own and they walked briskly down the passage.

"It's filthy down here," Mrs. Weasley commented.

"I don't think the house-elves know about this passage, which is good for us students who want to sneak out of the school, so the dirt is a small price to pay."

"In my day, we were content to stroll about the grounds."

"I think it's too risky; the Forbidden Forest has its dangers and Filch will report you, though Hagrid's nicer, not to mention if you wake up a portrait you're instantly reported because the inhabitants have free roam." Ahead, another light shone towards them, like a car headlight.

"Harry?" he heard Blaise call.

"Yeah?"

"Did you find him?" she was running towards him and he could see Ron and Hermione with her.

"No, you?"

"No. We can't find Ginny either, but we haven't tried her passage," Ron replied.

"That's odd. Her passage is shorter then ours. Maybe she found him then."

"Probably. We'd better hurry," Hermione said before turning to Mrs. Weasley. "Is everything set with Mrs. Malfoy?"

"Yes, but what's all this about Ginny's passage?"

"We'll explain later. You probably shouldn't come with us; the adults would wonder why you're missing. Just tell Dumbledore everything's set and be seen about." They had reached the chute and scuttled up, one by one.

"Alright, just be careful," Mrs. Weasley said, patting her hair.

"Are we ever?" Ron asked, grinning.

"Never. Now go before I have a heart attack worrying about Ginny and forbid you to."

~~~~~

Narcissus are a flower, I was going to choose "dead roses" as the chapter title but any excuse to rhyme is a good excuse. This is quite a bit more Cassandra Claire-like with all the skipping around but it was quite a bit of fun. And of course you're all dead curious about what happened to Draco…and only I know. Oh, I feel so evil. It's a nice feeling.

Dukerbrown: Thanks! But what do you mean about introduce the baby? When is it going to be born? Or do the Weasleys know about it? The Weasleys do know about it because Molly knows about it and Molly rules all, lol. I hope that answers your question.

Kk: Sorry, I missed the more bit. But here you go.

Gwuinivyre: If your 'Anna and the King' movie disappears, I didn't steal it. :: hides movie behind back:: I'm glad you aren't turned away by the amount of sex I like to pack into my stories, or that the other stuff balances out the sex, because PWPs can only provided so much entertainment. And I'm proud you signed in. :gives you a Hershey Kiss and runs away with the movie::

Dracomio: Ah what would the world be without fluff? Very hard I think. So here's your padding so you don't strain your back.

Lunebeam: I have to disagree with the best poem ever bit, I prefer Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" but it is a great poem. Thanks for reviewing!

Adie: I couldn't bear to have Draco make a speech. I mean, Ginny already made one and I thought it was painfully awkward but anywho, I'm glad that my proposal was to your satisfaction. It came to me by moonlight…

Flirtin' Hogwarts Girl: Thanks!

Anime10473: Cuteness is my specialty (I was the cutest four year old. I wanted to be a movie star and would wear these star-shaped glasses). Ah, mawwage (like the priest in 'the Princess Bride'). And here's your more. Thanks for being such a faithful reviewer.

And to all those who are reading without reviewing, it would make me very happy if you reviewed. Every girl likes to feel special and it makes me feel special when I get reviews because I know people are enjoying themselves. I'm a people-pleaser, what can I say?