I had to keep my head clear! I could not allow myself to believe in his plans of escape. I knew when I started this that there would be no future with him. Our families have fought for generations, and his father would probably kill both of us if he didn't leave me behind with the rest of his memories of Hogwarts.

Draco would do it too. Even if we loved each other, he would never choose me over his privileged future. Of course, we were never about that. No, we loved the way we made each other feel, the passion in each others touch, the fight for dominance when we had sex. But it was never love! Well, at least not on his part.

As the weeks went by, we met each night in our secret room, sometimes making love, sometimes sleeping, sometimes, simply talking. Slowly, I began to admit to myself that my obsession may have been a bit more than that. I began to look forward to being with him. We shared small, discreet glances across the dining hall, slight touches as we passed in the crowded corridors. Each night, we met earlier, going back to our rooms for lights out, only to sneak back as soon as everyone was asleep.

Yet, I knew that it wouldn't last. Regardless of how I might have felt, Draco Malfoy was incapable of feeling true love. I knew that he would laugh if I asked him to stay with me. I still had one year left of school, and how would we live without his allowance? Surely, his father would suspend that if he knew that his only child was sleeping with a hated Weasley! And why should he dirty his hands with menial work? No, better to take what time we had, and not say a word.

For that reason, I kept my secrets to myself as I lay with him spooned against my back. Even if I had told him anything, it wouldn't change what he would do. As I have said, he might play at planning forever, but we both know that we only had the now.

His breathing changed, and I knew that he was awake. He had been dozing after our usual strenuous session, his palm resting against my womb as if he knew what I had been hiding from him. Determined, I ignored the twinge of guilt that flared up at the thought. His knowing wouldn't change anything. After all, he was Draco Malfoy! He had no heart!

I shivered as he ran his palm over my stomach, feeling the tension that darted through my muscles.

"What are you thinking about, Ginny?" He whispered, curious.

He always asked me things like that, wanting to know how I thought, what I thought about, he said. Draco was interested in everything, even my tears! Especially my tears!

He wanted to know what made me cry, who upset me, and why. It was as if he could stop the world from ridiculing me, as if it wasn't allowed from the moment I became his possession.

Possession. A deep, dark sliver of my mind was certain that that was why he was so careful with me. Draco Malfoy always kept his possessions neat and in working order…. Why would a girlfriend be any different, to him?

"Us." I knew better than to lie. He always knew when I was hiding anything.

"Hmm? What about us?" He kissed the back of my neck, enjoying the shivers that ran through my body at his touch.

"End of year is coming… you'll be leaving for good, soon." It was better to stick to the truth as much as possible. If I lied outright, he wouldn't stop pestering me until he found out the truth… the whole truth.

"So? We'll still see each other. We could meet in Diagon Alley anytime, you know. We're always just a floo away."

"I don't think your father will like that, Draco. I don't think he'll allow it." His hand stilled on my belly, and I held my breath, wondering if he noticed the slight swell that I only discovered that same morning.

"I'm an adult, Gin. My father has no say in what I do, and even less in who I see. As far as I'm concerned, he can sod off."

"Draco… he'll disown you."

"I have my own money, from my mother's uncle. Comes with a castle not too far away from Hogsmead, actually."

"He could kill me." I said it quietly, letting the words sink in. "He would kill me, Draco."

He was still for a moment, his arms tightening around my still slim body. "You're mine, Ginny. I won't let him."

"But.."

Gently, he rolled me over to my back, and stole my lips with his. Laying soft, butterfly kisses over my chin, he murmured reassurances, as if he comforted a child. "Shh.. He won't get you, Ginny-girl. I told you, I won't allow near you."

I didn't want to fight him. We only had a few short weeks left, after all. I might be able to meet him over the summer, but come September, I would be too big to lie to him any longer.

:::Better to break it off before school ends.::: I closed my eyes, submitting for now.. For possibly the last time. I simply couldn't risk it anymore.

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"This isn't over, Ginny!" He raged, his voice rising, oblivious to the stares that shot our way. I could see Ron come down the steps, and knew that I had to silence him somehow.

"Draco, everyone is staring!" I pleaded, my hand touching his, "Please! I don't need this right now!"

"I don't care if Voldemort himself where here, staring! I want to know what this is all about, Gin! It's about my father, isn't it? Isn't it?"

"No! Please, lower your voice! Ron is coming this way."

"I told you I wouldn't let him near you. I mean it, Virginia! You're mine, I wouldn't let him hurt you!"

"Draco… I'm not 'yours'. I belong to myself, and I have to take care of myself. I can't rely on you, or anyone else to keep me safe. I'm sorry, Draco… but it is over."

Ron was about five feet away, close enough to hear everything we said. Ignoring his call, I turned around and ran to the carriages taking us to the train.

::Now, If only Draco let's me go.:::

Ron sat across from me on the way home, staring as if I were a bug he had never seen before. Every once in a while, he'd open his mouth, then close it, unable to comment. The very fact that Draco and I had been seeing each other behind his back just blew his mind apart. Finally, he coughed, breaking the silence.

"What was that about?"

Four little words, that nonetheless, asked quite a bit. :::How much should I tell him? Eventually, he would know everything, but could I trust him not to confront Draco right now, in front of everyone? Still, I would need him in my corner when I told our parents.:::

Resigned, I looked into his eyes, demanding his full attention. "Before I say anything, I want your word that you will not confront Draco with what I'm telling you."

"Why don't you tell me, and then I'll decide." He tried, already disliking my tone of voice.

"It doesn't work that way, Ron. Either you give my your word now, or you can sod off."

"Sod off?" He squeaked, "Is that what you learned hanging around him?"

I simply stared at him, willing my brother to either agree or go away.

"Alright. I won't talk to Malfoy."

"Promise?"

Now it was his turn to stare. Sighing, I sat up straighter, and watched the scenery outside the window. It flashed past us, a never-ending tunnel of greenery and rock. I've often wondered in the past if it was the true scenery of Scotland and England, or a magical simulation meant to keep the unwary traveler in the dark over Hogwarts location.

Finally, I spoke. "We were lovers. I was ending it before his father decided to make me a target for the death eaters."

"Did Lucius Malfoy threaten you?" He spat out, further outraged that his baby sister might have had to face the monster.

"No.. He didn't have to. I knew how it would end even before I first approached Draco."

"You approached him? Ginny! What possessed you?" I could hear the disbelief in his voice, and couldn't help but be amused.

"Ron, did you think I was an angel? A naïve little girl who never felt any passion? Trust me, you are way off."

"But…"

"There's more. Something even Draco doesn't know… If he did, he wouldn't have let me walk away earlier."

"No… not.. That."

"I'm pregnant." I ignored his protest. He would figure it out, eventually when I outgrew my dresses. "If he found out, he would insist on being noble, and well.." I grinned, laughing at myself, "Nobility doesn't suit Malfoy."

"He deserves to know, Ginny." He said it so quietly, that I wasn't sure I heard him right.

"I thought you hated him."

"I do, but it's still his child. I hate myself for telling you this, and God knows, I can't stand the bloody prat, but he deserves the chance to know his own child." He was quiet, then growled, "I can't believe I'm taking his side in this!"

I couldn't help it. I slid down into my seat, giggling softly as I met his disgusted face. "Ron, you're a guy. Of course your going to see things his way. But, you have to understand, that If I told Draco about the baby, he would insist on us getting married. Can you imagine what his father would do? I can… and I won't risk it."

"You still have to tell him, Ginny."

"No."

He sighed, then gave up, reading the finality in my words. "Just think about it, Gin. I'll stand by what ever you say, but he DOES deserve to know."

Ron reached across the gap between seats, and took my hand in his, giving it a supportive squeeze. "You do know that I'm still going to kill him." He smirked, "I just have to make up a good reason, first."

I squeezed back, then let go. It felt weird, holding onto his hand. It might have been because I simply wasn't the little girl who worshipped her older brother anymore. It might have been because I wasn't the innocent child he used to protect, or it simply might have been because I didn't feel as if I deserved his understanding, and felt unsettled that he had given it anyway. Either way, we had reached a turning point in our relationship, and I had the worst feeling that nothing would ever be the same.

Hermione and Harry chose that moment to come in, laughing over something they had saw on the other end of the train. I pretended to be interested, and Ron, sensing that what I told him was to stay between us, did as well.

Still, I couldn't quite stop the stinging in my eyes when Draco's name was mentioned. I felt myself look away from the happy threesome, needing desperately to put some mental space between myself, and the graduated trio.

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I told my parents the next day. I didn't want to, and goodness knows, I would probably still be putting it off if Mum hadn't heard me be sick in the upstairs bathroom. Worried, she banged on the door, demanding entrance, and horrified, I looked up and begged her to go away.

She wouldn't, though, and the argument became louder as the minutes dragged on. I stood up, and rinsed my mouth out, then flushed the toilet, and still she wouldn't leave. I couldn't blame her, she was the very thing I would shortly become - a mother.

Still, enough was quite enough already!

I finally got the air to break through her tyrant. "I'm not sick! I'm pregnant!" I shouted, hearing loud crashes come from outside the door and downstairs. Then, and ominous silence hung over the Burrow.

:::Well, that was easier than I thought… maybe it was the locked door. I certainly felt safer that they couldn't reach me just yet.:::

Then, the handle turned with an array of golden sparks. Good old alohamora, or a close cousin, anyway.

The flimsy wood opened slowly, then thumbed against the black and white tiled wall. My mother and father stared at me from the hallway, with the twins and Percy standing behind them on the staircase. Ron was to the left, smiling encouragingly from his bedroom door, letting me know that he was there if I needed help.

I took a deep breath, then repeated. "I'm not sick. I'm pregnant."

A mixed up jumble of questions followed that, and I almost sank to the floor, too embarrassed to go too deeply into detail, and too much the obedient daughter NOT to answer them. Finally, Ron took charge in his usual obnoxious way.

"You know, I think she needs to go lay down. She's looking a bit green there."

I breathed a sigh of relief as everyone got quiet. Then, my parents realized that we had an audience. Turning around sharply, she came face to face with the twins. Tweaking Georges ear (or was it Fred?) she twisted, then pointed silently downstairs. The three men didn't have to be told twice. They ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, meeting directly under the thin flooring below the bathroom in which I stood. Ron shrugged, then followed before Mum had to use force. Then, she turned to me and pointed to my room.

I sat on my bed and waited for them to come in. Daddy was extremely uncomfortable with all of this. I could tell by watching him that all he really wanted to do was leave with the rest of the boys and let his wife handle it. He would be quite happy to come back when everything was settled, perhaps even go to the boy's house and demand satisfaction or give the young wizard a man to man talk about responsibility. The last thing he wanted was to be trapped in this tiny room in which his youngest child, his only daughter slept, talking about the one thing each father dreads the moment they are told that they have a daughter.

Mum, on the other hand, was stoically determined to get this over with. She dreaded it just as much, but like any good Englishwoman, she stiffened her resolve and plowed right in, refusing to go away without having the discussion first.

"Who was it?" She demanded, her eyes giving no quarter.

:::It looks like It's this again.::: I sighed, then proceeded to tell them the entire story. In the end, they didn't agree with me. Like Ron, they felt that it was Draco's right to know about the child. They also pointed something out that I hadn't thought of before.

"How can you support a child when I hadn't even finished school yet? Your father and I aren't made of money, Young lady, and babies take a lot of money! More to the point, whether we liked it or not, Daddy work s with Lucius Malfoy. Eventually, he'll find out that your father is a grandfather, and wonder which one of you has had a child. The wizarding world was a small one. Young Malfoy would find out eventually, and then he would hate you. It's awfully hard to raise a child with someone who hates you. It's better to simply tell him.

"No." They didn't understand at all. I couldn't tell Draco when he still didn't believe the threat his father really was. Then, there was also the problem with the arrogant ass's insistence that I belonged to him. The baby would seal that belief, and then I would never be anything else but a possession to him.

Everything would have been much easier if I had fallen in lust with a simple poor boy with no family and no self-esteem.

In the end, they had their way. Father sent an owl that very day to Mr. Malfoy requesting his son's direction, and received an extremely rude one in return. Not daunted, knowing that their feelings of loathing for each other was mutual, he sent another, explaining that they were to be grandparents, and he was simply informing the young father in lieu of his daughters obstinate refusal to do so herself.

Now, THAT got a better answer, of course. Mr. Malfoy came almost immediatly with Draco, demanding proof that the child was his son's. Of course, I was still unwilling to spend the rest of my life as a possession, no matter how much I loved Draco (and yes, I must finally admit that I loved him.) I also didn't see my life being that much longer with the elder Malfoy knowing what had been going on in the secret rooms of Hogwarts.

So, to borrow a saying, desperate times call for desperate measures. I gathered what money I had, as well as my robes, and snuck out through the fireplace while they were all arguing in the kitchen.

I knew that it was far from over. Draco would realize that if I were pregnant, than it could only be with his child. He would come after me and haul me back if I didn't find a safe place to hide!

I got off the floo network somewhere in Diagon Alley. Of course, this would be the first place they looked, so I couldn't stay near the public entrance for much longer. I also couldn't go anywhere obvious, such as the Leaky Cauldron.

::::They wouldn't suspect me to go into the muggle world.:::

It was a rogue thought, but a good one. I made my way to the physical entrance, and out through the Leaky Cauldron's front doors and into the bright sunlight of the oblivious muggle world.

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A/N - Alright. I'm going to end this chapter here. For one thing, I have no idea what will happen to Ginny from this point. I know that 1) She has to find some sort of job. And 2) she has to find somewhere to live. Also, 3) I refuse to allow this to end without somehow getting Draco and Ginny back together. /sigh/

SOOO… I'll stop here and think about it for a bit. Maybe play with some ideas tonight. G

~Caliko