When he awoke again he was shivering in the cool air. He reached beside him to pull up the blanket and his hand landed on his new wife lying dutifully beside him. He sat up and looked down at her beautiful face; she was sleeping peacefully. His eyes rested on her abdomen where it was not yet showing the signs of its sweet burden. God, he wanted her so badly he could taste her but he wasn't going to force her after all she had been through… besides, he didn't want to hurt the child. Here he was: still at school, married, a Dark Mark and a child on the way that didn't belong to him biologically. He gently touched the flaming hair that fell across her pale face.
Ginny's eyes opened sleepily, "You're awake," she sat up slowly. " I was worried."
"About me? Wow now there's the dutiful wife I married to!" he said with a smirk.
Ginny rolled her eyes and carefully got off the bed, "You were in a bad shape earlier…and you're the one who needs to go on a diet. I nearly passed out just trying to get you on to the bed."
Draco gasped, "Ginny! You can't do that. You could've hurt the baby!"
"What do you care?" she asked suddenly. Why was he asserting claim over her. "You hate me…"
"I don't hate you Ginny," he let out an exasperated sigh, "How many times must we go over this? I am going to take care of you and the baby."
"Save it for the public," She said and poured herself some water from a pitcher that sat on the nightstand and took a long drink. She felt weak herself with all the excitement of the day. "Do you want to go down to dinner or I can go down and get us something to eat."
Draco was already up and changing his robes, "We'll go down there. We can't let Voldemort know we're afraid. We need to show everyone who we really are."
Ginny nodded and pulled her cloak over her Muggle clothes. In the past few days she had begun to notice a couple of pounds creeping up on her and a small knot in her belly. "Are you sure you're strong enough?"
Draco sneered, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He grasped her hand and led her down the corridor as if she didn't know where the Great Hall was.
Dinner had already begun and Draco put his arms around her waist as they walked to their seats which were vacant. He piled food on his plate and avoided eye contact with well-wishers and those who wanted to get a good look at the newlyweds.
Ginny ate slowly but what she really wanted to do was shovel food in her mouth under the table. People were staring and her stomach lurched every time someone leaned over to, inevitably, speak about her and Draco. She ate a few slices of ham, mashed potatoes and a slice of apple pie before it got too bad for her to continue.
Draco noticed that Pansy and Blaise were chatting it up quietly, "What's with you two?" he asked moodily as he watched them.
Pansy silenced and sat bolt upright, "Nothing, we were talking about nothing."
"Nothing, hmmm? Well sounds like the usual." He snapped and looked over at Ginny, "Are you ready to go, darling?"
Ginny nodded and allowed Draco to help her off her chair and hurry her out of the hall. "That was terrible." She said as soon as they were outside the doors. She leaned against the concrete wall, "I think one of us should transfer… it should be me."
"No, we need to stick together!" he said and leaned on the wall beside her. "Especially because of your… condition."
Ginny rolled her eyes; she hated when people called pregnancy a 'condition'. It was so cold and clinical. "Fine but you do realize that some little whispers are the least of our worries."
A gaggle of Ravenclaws walked by and stopped in front of Ginny and Draco. One of the girls giggled and turned to the group, "They're the ones I was telling you about." She said not-so-secretly as they continued.
Ginny grabbed Draco before he went after her, "Who cares? Let's worry about something else like... nursery colors?"
"That little whore is spreading rumors about us and you're worried about your darn baby?" he asked angrily as he watched the girls retreat to their common room.
"Oh I see — now it is my darn baby. That's fine Draco because I knew this was too good to be true." She took off down the hall.
Draco called after her, "No Ginny, I didn't mean it that way!" He cursed, she was gone and he had wrecked their wedding night. He was trying to reassure her but instead he let something stupid like that slip. He would end up sleeping in the common room for the rest of his life.
Ginny fled to the room and pulled off her cloak. She cried herself sick, not just over Draco but about her marriage, her pregnancy — everything! She threw up in the bathroom before brushing her teeth and lying down on the comfy bed. Sleep overtook her quickly and she didn't even hear Draco come in.
Draco walked in and threw his cloak on the chair before he looked over to see Ginny sleeping peacefully on the bed. She is beautiful… well for a Weasley that is, he told himself. He wondered if he really could love her; would it hurt him so much to try with her. He had screwed nearly all the girls in the Slytherin house and some from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw — but never a Gryffindor. Gryffindors were the enemy to him yet here he was married to one and she told him she could possibly love him. He drew the chair beside the bed and sat. He just wanted to watch her sleep.
Sunlight crept through the window before he even realized he had fallen asleep in the chair beside her bed. His eyes snapped open to find that she was not in the bed…and nowhere around him. He stood up quickly and groaned as a deep pain in his neck set in. "Ginny?" he called nervously.
Ginny awoke to find him at her beside; not in the bed but sleeping in a chair as if he wanted to keep her safe. She smiled as she went about preparing herself for the day; she didn't have the heart to wake him up before she went for breakfast so she resolved to bring him something back. When she walked in she found him half-frantic, "What happened?"
Draco spun, "My God I thought you were dead!" he cried and put a hand to his forehead.
Ginny handed him a small package of food, "I was out for maybe 20 minutes!" she retorted. "What happened to you? Are you okay?"
Draco sat down, "I woke up and found you gone? I thought the worst…"
"That's sweet of you! No one's ever cared what happened to little ol' me." She sat down on the bed. "So you really thought I got captured or something and you weren't cheering?"
"Oh shut up." He said irritably and finished up an egg on a bagel with cheese before changing for classes. "What do you have for this morning?"
"Charms and Double Potions before Care Of Magical Creatures." She said and grabbed her tattered backpack.
"Be careful! I don't want you getting hurt." He said firmly.
"Yes Dad." She giggled before stepping out.
Draco rolled his eyes and followed out a few minutes after her.
A/N: Okay! Here we go, we're rolling towards a resolution. I love the reviews, keep them coming! I just ask, on a very personal level, that you stop saying to kill the baby. That's way beyond anything… I've lost a child and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, rape or not. Leave that out of reviews…I understand what you are saying.
Spoiler for Chapter 6: Hogsmeade and a Weasley clash.