She stared hard at Harry Potter, trying not to let him see her fear that she felt was palpable. She had been fighting the overwhelming desperation and panic tooth and nail since last night, when Harry had wearily broke into her room and told her, in hushed whispers, that she would be leaving the following night for three years.

"Or until Voldemort decides to make an earlier move," he had said grimly, his green eyes large and sad behind his glasses.

"Who is this?" Ginny Weasley had gasped, ten minutes earlier, when Harry had folded her arms around a breathing bundle. Her brown eyes were shocked and alarmed, though she tried to veil it. "Harry, what - "

"He's asleep. Hermione made a sleeping draught, mixed with his milk. That's Malfoy's son," he had said in a strained voice. "William. He's been hidden at school for the past year…take care of him, Ginny. Take care of him, Ginny, it's very important. Promise me you'll take care of him."

"Is he important too?" she had whispered, gazing down at the baby. His skin was so soft beneath her fingertips. "William…"

"Yes, he's important." Harry's breathing had been ragged.

Now, he had calmed himself somewhat. "You have to touch the Portkey, Ginny, it'll take you there straightaway. Remember, you mustn't send owls unless it's an emergency. Tell me if anything - if anything - goes wrong. With you, Will, or Malfoy. Tell me. The owl will find me…Ginny, you have to do it, now. Hurry - "

"Harry," she tried to organize her thoughts, shifting the baby to her other arm. "I can't tell Ron - "

"No, you can't." Harry's face was heartbroken. He had never been one to conceal his emotions, and now Ginny felt his pain fuel her own, and it left her speechless - robbed of both words and breath. "Everything will be fine, I'll work it all out. Malfoy will give you an explanation."

Her hand stretched out towards the Portkey, a goblet, and froze. She snatched her hand back suddenly. "I can't. I can't. I can't run and hide. People will need me, Harry. You can't ask me to run away, not now."

"You don't understand! You can't be risked, not now. It's too dangerous - and you know. You know. If you stay here, they'll attack your family."

"They'll attack to bring me out!"

Harry opened his mouth to argue again, but his head suddenly swerved to the window of the Astronomy tower. Moving aside from the Portkey, she saw the steps of Hogwarts littered with eerie green lights. When Harry turned to look at her, his face was set.

"Go. Now."

"Death Eaters," she said. "Death Eaters. How did they get past the gates? Harry - Ron and the others, they're all asleep. We have to go warn them - "

"They are not. Everyone knows; we've all been on guard lately." Harry's face was white. "Go, Ginny. Touch the damn thing!"

"Harry," she said helplessly.

"No time," he muttered, and looking at the baby cradled in her arms, he said, "In three years. Three years, and this will all be over. Gods, I wish - "

Stepping back, he looked directly at Ginny. "Remember what I said. Malfoy will take care of you."

He shoved her - not hard, but forceful enough - into the table. Her free hand fell to the wooden table in an attempt to steady herself, and her hand brushed the Portkey.

"No!" she tried to scream, but the words were torn away from her in a soundless breath as the world tipped and spun around her.

There was a loud, sudden sound that echoed loudly in the room and a mumbled expletive. She lay stunned against a full-length green couch. A fire burned steadily in the corner, the ashes smoldering. She instinctively glanced down at William, who stirred, but remained asleep. She surged to her feet, clinging to the baby, eyes darting wildly around the room until she found the source of the noise.

Draco Malfoy, tall and lean, was opening the drawers of an elaborately carved desk, seemingly at random, rifling through its contents. He flicked a careless glance at her and straightened.

"Well, you're here. Congratulations. Just sit there and be patient for five minutes."

He bent over the desk again and opened another drawer.

"There are Death Eaters attacking Hogwarts!" she raged, stumbling over to the desk in front of him. "I left - Harry made me, he pushed me - and there were Death Eaters that had gotten past the gates. We have to go back!"

"No." Draco slammed a drawer shut and yanked open another. "We are going to Switzerland."

"Those are my friends - my brother - there at Hogwarts! How can you be so damn coldhearted?" she screamed at him.

He stilled his movements and looked up at her away from the papers he was rummaging through. "Because Harry asked it of me," he said simply, and continued his search for Merlin knew what.

"Harry?" She was frantic.

"Yes, your precious Harry. With eyes the color of a 'fresh pickled toad.'" He eyed her. "How's the kid?"

"Kid? He's your son."

"That's right. How's Will?" Draco grabbed several papers and a seal, performed a shrinking spell on the items, and tucked them into his robes.

"Asleep." She touched his head. "Malfoy, we have to go back. I don't know what you and Harry decided, but I'm sure he didn't expect that Death Eaters would attack tonight - "

"For God's sake, Weasley. They've been expecting an attack for months, and you think they wouldn't expect one tonight? Gotcha, damned thing." Draco snatched up another object with relish and satisfaction. He strode around the desk to stand before her; she took an inadvertent step back. He opened a small velvet black box, the kind engagement rings were kept in, and held it out to her expectantly.

She looked at the ring, befuddled and horrified. It was a beautiful engagement ring, one she might have dreamed of having. The ring was slender and elegant, a simple, silver band that twisted into a tiny rose with thorns. A single emerald dewdrop lay within the open petals.

Draco was casting a hasty look around the room. She took another step back. "I'm going back to Hogwarts. You can have your son - "

His hand snaked out and clamped around her wrist. Holding the box in his other hand, his thumb reached out and stroked the ring. He was smirking at her when she felt the lurch behind her navel, jerking her forward.

Draco's hands steadied her when her feet touched the ground; it was a good thing he had because using two Portkeys within ten minutes had left her legs numb and her knees weak.

"Now, don't hold this against me," he advised. "You're going to be around me for a long time. Might as well start fresh."

"Take me back," she commanded, furious.

Draco was already shaking his head as he lit his wand. "Lumos. No can do. This place has Anti-Apparition charms locked on it. I'm not giving you the Portkey that will take you back, and if you think you can fly back, well, let's just say it's going to be a long flight. International flight, you know."

"Where are we?"

"I told you. Switzerland. You're standing on Malfoy property. My mother had Lucius buy her a side of the mountain in the Swiss Alps. So, here we are." Draco strode away, the light from his wand retreating. She hurried after him, hampered by the baby in her arms.

"He heavy?" Draco glanced down at her.

"No." She'd be damned to let him see a weakness, even if it were something as stupid as not being able to hold a one-year-old baby.

"Give him to me."

Warily, she handed him over. She couldn't very well deny the git the right to hold his own son, could she?

Draco's expression was curiously neutral as he said, "Nox" and tucked his wand away to receive Will. He looked down at the baby, and the expression on his face was one of odd tenderness. Then he seemed to feel her eyes on him, and his eyes were shuttered away again as he thrust the baby back at her. She felt as though a window had been shut, a window that had showed a million shining stars outside in the midnight hues of the night sky.

"Don't worry about Potter. He can hold his own, and he's not alone. They'll be fine. The Death Eaters just wanted to show that they could get onto the Hogwarts grounds, nothing more. It won't be much of a battle." He continued through the room, checking the interior. "I've only been here once. I think this was my parent's honeymoon site. At least, that's what I assume. Maybe my mother had another lover. That would have been interesting."

He flung open a door and declared jubilantly, "Brilliant. The bedroom. And…a huge ass bathroom. Bless my mother."

"Where is she?" Ginny shifted Will to her other arm.

"In hiding. Like we are."

"Malfoy, Harry said you would give me an explanation?"

Draco stilled. "Oh, did he?"

"Yes. I want one."

"We can't all have what we want. You and Will can share this room; I'll be down the hall. Did Potter inform you of your job on this trip? You're to keep yourself and Will away from me. Do that, and these three years will pass by in a flash." He snapped his fingers for emphasis, and she jumped slightly. He arched an eyebrow at her.

She moved hesitantly into the musty room, but unarguably expensively and classily furnished bedroom. "Are we going to be staying here long?"

"God, no. Too far from civilization." Draco looked pained. "Just until the Death Eaters and Snake face figure out that we're missing. Then we're leaving. If you're a good girl, maybe I'll let you pick where we go next. Do me a favor and wash up, will you? Going underground is no excuse to go slumming. But that wouldn't be much of a change for you, would it?"

It was deliberate barb. She sensed that he was intentionally needling her, trying to find her weak points. She gave him a cool look, but said nothing. Although his face remained distantly impassive, she thought that maybe something in his expression had shifted subtly. He bowed low, pausing in the doorway.

"Ask your questions later, Weasley. After your shower."

And he shut the door.

Author's Notes
gilmorechick: I reposted "The Road too Far" because closed my Applecede account, probably because of ratings issues :)