A/N: thank you for reviewing finally! As for when the others will show up, they will eventually. You must remember that they all lead separate lives now and will have to show up as the story progresses.

Anyway, who likes the way I portray evil characters? XD

Chapter Thirteen

Harry woke up to the sound of someone walking into the infirmary. He looked around and saw someone he did not want to see at that moment. Mr. Malfoy walked over and stood, leaning on his cane, and gazed at Astra with a look that was so guarded it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

Harry was debating whether he should ask why the man was there in the first place, but Mr. Malfoy beat him to it. "She's an idiot."

"She was trying to do her duty, sir," Harry said with a growl in his voice.

"Her duty is to be the mother of my son's children, to take care of them and protect them, not get herself killed in a stupid battle," he said in a soft voice.

"It was only a small fight," said Harry as he stood up.

"It was a battle and she could very well have died in that same battle that killed the school librarian." Mr. Malfoy bowed his head slightly toward Astra. Harry wondered if Mr. Malfoy's gruffness was him showing his worry for his daughter-in-law. It made little sense for the man to worry about her when despised her, but the thought occurred to him that maybe he might be feeling a little love toward his son's wife.

"She'll be all right, Mr. Malfoy," Harry said, testing his theory.

Mr. Malfoy finally looked to him with an annoyed glare. "Did I ask you for your input? I know very well she'll be all right," he snapped coldly.

Harry's theory wasn't helped any. He sighed and sat back down again, looking on at Astra. She had lost a lot of blood from that one wound. She looked as white as the sheet she was under. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach as he gazed at her, wishing it had been him that was hit instead.

"She does this for you, for everyone. Such a stupid girl; does she think she can save the world all alone? Does she think she can save everyone all by herself?" said Mr. Malfoy quietly. "What if she died? Who would take care of my grandson and my son?"

"She's not going to die. She's made of tougher stuff than most of us will ever know. I've seen her come back with worse injuries, half dead and still trying to protect everyone," Harry said with a faint smile. He had been right; Mr. Malfoy was worried about her, if only for his son's sake.

Mr. Malfoy turned toward the doors and started walking out. "My son will be here with my grandson soon. When she wakes up, tell her that." Then, he walked out, leaving Harry alone with Astra once more. It made Harry smile a bit seeing Mr. Malfoy actually worried about someone's welfare rather than being the cold-hearted snake he was so often.

He still didn't rule him out as a cold-hearted snake, but he did think the snake had actual feelings and warmth somewhere inside that body. It meant that not everyone was as horrible as they seemed if given the opportunity. It meant that Ginny and Astra were right when they told him that love can change people for the better.

He suddenly thought of his wife at home, taking care of Lily. He walked over to the fireplace and threw in a pinch of floo powder from the bowl next to it. Then, he stuck his head in as he shouted into the fire for his own home.

He saw a swirling tunnel at first; firelight everywhere and the heat of the flames making it hard to breath. Then, he saw his home. He heard a faint sound in the distance, Lily crying. He wanted to reach out for Lily to help quiet her, but he couldn't.

"Ginny! Ginny!" he called.

There was only the sound of crying. He couldn't even hear someone moving around. "GINNY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

There was finally a scuffling sound, someone running into the den where their fireplace was. Ginny appeared in the den, frazzled and pale. "Harry? HARRY!" She ran over to the fireplace and got down on her hands and knees. "Harry! What's going on? Are you all right?"

Harry blinked. "I was going to ask the same! What's wrong with Lily? Is she all right? Why is she crying? Why do you look so scared?"

Ginny laughed and placed her hands in the fireplace, putting her cool hands on either side of his face. She kissed him gently and smiled. "Nothing. Nothing is wrong, I just… I was trying to put Lily in her crib for a nap and I heard something that sounded like someone breaking in. I should've known it was just you."

Harry frowned. "Do I make that much noise when doing this?"

Ginny tilted her head to the side. "I really don't know. I just heard something strange and when I heard your voice, I nearly jumped out of my skin."

Harry frowned even more, looking more than just concerned. "Ginny, we had an attack here at the school. The man we've been trying to catch broke in and killed Madame Pince. He shot Astra in the shoulder with a crossbow of sorts, but she's all right. I need to know what sort of strange sound you heard."

"It was nothing. I heard something like someone coming into the house, that's it. I think it was your head coming through the fireplace is all," she said, trying not to sound worried. Harry could see it in her face, though.

"Be careful, Ginny. The last thing I want to lose is you and Lily," he said softly.

"I know, Harry. I love you," she said as she kissed him again.

Harry could feel himself being pulled back. "I love you, Ginny!" he gasped as he felt his head jerk back through the flames. He landed on his back, glasses askew as he looked up at someone a bit blurry and pale, but a great deal bulkier up near his shoulders that Harry thought should be humanly possible.

"You have some nerve leaving my wife lying there without supervision, Potter," growled a familiar voice. Harry's nerves frayed more when he heard it.

He sat up and pushed his glasses back onto his nose. "Shut up, Malfoy. She'll be fine. I was just looking in on my own wife, you twisted ass."

Harry looked up and saw the reason for the strange appearance of Draco. He had in his arms a red haired little boy with bright blue eyes, bluer than the ocean. Draco hefted the boy a bit more and glared at Harry, squinting slightly. The man was always too vain to wear his glasses.

Harry stood up and looked at the boy. "Is that… YOUR son?"

Draco smiled at Harry and grabbed Harry's collar. "Don't make me hurt you, Potter," he said as a vein began to throb on his forehead.

"That's right, Astra first showed up as a blonde, not white haired. Plus you're related to the Weasleys so it just goes with it that you should end up with a little red haired boy," grinned Harry.

"You really enjoy testing me, don't you," grunted Draco. He patted his son affectionately on the head and smiled faintly. Then, he turned and walked over to where Astra was laying. "Has she been awake at all?"

"Before or after she was skewered?" said Harry.

Draco shot him a glare and then looked back at Astra, placing Kevin next to her, moving her limp arm around the boy. He kneeled down and stroked his wife's cheek, frowning. Harry suddenly felt very bad about teasing Draco, but he knew Draco would have done the same to him if it had been Ginny.

The thought of Ginny in Astra's position made his heart stop. He shook slightly as he sat down in a chair, trying to calm down his heart. He wouldn't put it past whoever was getting into the school to try to take him down by going after Ginny, but he couldn't bring her closer to him because that would make her a definite target.

He wiped his forehead, getting his color back. He would have to keep Ginny where she was, or send her back to her parents so she would be safe. He stood up as Draco looked at him. "What on Earth is wrong with you?"

"I need an owl. I need to send Ginny someplace safe," he said quickly as he ran out of the infirmary. He ran to the owlry and pulled down an owl that looked light and fast only to be surprised to see someone most familiar flap down to him. Hedwig looked as well groomed as an older owl could look, but she was still flight capable and accurate. It was almost a source of pride with her that she stayed by his side even when he forgot to bring her.

"You're here, Hedwig," he smiled as he stroked her feathers. He set her down gently and wrote out a quickly letter to Ginny. Then, he tied it to Hedwig's leg and sent her off.

He suddenly felt a familiar feeling of wonderment as he watched his old bird fly away. He was in his twenties and he still had Hedwig by his side. She was getting on in her years, but she still flew his letters to and from wherever he needed her.

He walked out of the infirmary and ran into Avalon. He blinked as he looked to her. "Vee? Are you all right?"

She turned her gaze toward him slowly, hair in front of her face. "It's here," she said softly, "He knows it's here, where two dragons fight each other." Then, she walked off around the nearest corner.

Harry jogged to catch up with her, but found she'd disappeared. He looked around the hall and saw nothing, not even the sound of her walking could be heard. "It's… It's happening again." Then, he ran to find another owl.

"Where two dragons meet and fight each other for control, is where it will be found." The cloaked man read from the book in front of him and grinned. Killing the librarian had been fun. He thought about who else could die that would be just as fun, aside from his main target Harry.

The elf-woman had been fun, of course, but then she fought him off like a rabid animal. Anything so in tune to their instincts was going to be both trouble and entertaining to destroy. Harry needed to be more in tune to his instincts. He needed learn to fight without abandon like the elf.

He closed the book and looked to the castle once more. A sick grin played across his face as he stood. "This will not end for a very long time," he said to the air, "Because I will make sure it will never end."

Draco sat beside Astra and held her arm around Kevin. His wife had been out for a long time, not even moving. Her pale complexion was now white and her light freckles on her cheeks stood out from the rest of her oddly. He sighed and leaned down, placing a kiss on her forehead.

He couldn't think of a time he felt more uneasy than when she had been giving birth to their son. She had constantly told him never to worry about her, that she would always be all right. She had said a little thing like giving birth would be no problem, but when he heard her screams, he couldn't handle even being in the same area as her. He wanted nothing more than to rip out Kevin for her and be done with it. It frayed his nerves every time he heard another scream from her throat.

Now, he heard nothing from her except her breathing.

"Astra, please wake up. That wound was nothing and you know it. Sure you lost some blood, but what about it? You've had worse injuries and lived through them. Hell, you've been awake through them, so why start being the damsel in distress now, knight?" Draco said in a harsh whisper in her ear.

A faint smile twitched at her face. He almost didn't see it. He grunted and held her hand. "You always did like making me almost have a heart attack."

Astra opened her eyes and smiled at Draco. She felt Kevin moving against her and her arm came around him, bracing him against her body, though a shot of pain in her shoulder stopped her. "Urgh—damn it."

"You should know better than that," he grunted. He picked up Kevin and placed him in his lap, holding him up for Astra to see. "You were just waiting around for me to show up and pray at your bedside for you to come back, weren't you?"

"Actually, I was having a most interesting dream, though I…can't recall it for the life of me." She slowly sat up and smiled weakly at him. "Thank you for coming, though."

"Don't expect me to always come when you're lying unconscious on a bed with a pole stuck through you," Draco drawled. However, his expression of annoyance gave her a better image of what he felt. He felt relief that she was all right. It was the Malfoy way to try to act as though nothing could ever bother them even when it did, though that rule went out the window when they were faced with something bigger than they were.

She put a hand on her aching shoulder and grinned at Draco. The iamge of him with their son was almost priceless, even if Kevin looked nothing like Draco except the pointed face.

"Kevin will grow up to look like you, you know. Only with pointed ears," she said with a smile.

"The pointed ears are fine, as long as his mother will continue staying around him," Draco said gruffly.

"I love you, Draco," she chuckled. Then, she leaned over and kissed him, his own mouth pushing hers so that her head was back on the pillow.

"Don't sit up for a while. Lie down and let Madame Pomfrey take care of you," he said softly against her lips. "I'll stay here with you with Kevin in my lap."

She smiled and kissed him again, thanking God silently inside her heart for her blessings.