Ginny had spent the next two weeks in an excruciatingly boring stupor. She was forced to spend ten hours a day flat on her back and then the rest sitting down in a chair, eating meals or taking short walks around her room. Death would surely become her if she didn't get out soon…

Draco had been so vehemently overbearing that even Goyle had told him to take a break. To do so, the men had set off to a quiet part of the grounds to enjoy the late July weather and to give Ginny some breathing room.

"Come on Ginny, it's time to have some fun!" Pansy exclaimed as she threw open the shades in Ginny's room. "Goyle took Draco out to the lake for some fire whiskey. They'll be out for the better part of the afternoon and I've invited Narcissa over for tea!"

"I don't want anyone to see me like this!" Ginny exclaimed, smoothing her frizzy hair. "I have to bathe first!"

Narcissa walked into the room with her arms folded. "You look positively radiant! Put your hair in a twist and join us in the sitting room. I have a surprise for you."

Pansy quickly helped Ginny brush out her scarlet hair and threw it into a braid before ushering her into the sitting room. "Would you enjoy some iced tea?" She asked both of her guests.

"Please." Ginny said, taking the glass that was offered her. "You don't know how nice it is to be up and about. Draco's a little crazy about this bed rest business."

Narcissa chuckled warmly. "Lucius was too… I mean, when I saw him. He hired a midwife to look after me, locked my room from the outside and even went so far as to have his mother come visit so I wouldn't want to come out of my room."

Pansy and Ginny both dissolved into giggles. "What was wrong with Lucius's mother?" Pansy asked tentatively.

"Well nothing, dear! Nothing at all… that was the problem. She was perfect and she made it very clear to the rest of us just how pitiful we all were. You never came from Lucinda Malfoy's presence thinking you were bigger than a toadstool." She said with a thin lipped smile. "But she loved her son dearly and there is something to be said for a woman of Lucinda's stature. She really did try to be nice, she was just too arrogant."

Ginny sighed. "I'm glad I've got you as a mother in law then Narcissa. I don't think I would have made it without you!" Taking a long sip of her iced tea, she felt more relaxed than she had in weeks.

Pansy passed each of them an apple turnover before sitting on a chair across the way from Ginny and Narcissa. "So, you said you had a surprise for Ginny?" she pressed excitedly.

"Oh yes, this should make you very happy." Carefully she reached beneath her blue silk robes and extracted a letter. "It was very difficult but Severus was able to get a letter from you mother at the Order of the Phoenix meeting and pass it to Lucius. I thought you might want to have it."

Ginny gasped as she tore open the letter. Tears were streaming down her face and she hadn't even read it yet. The telltale scrawl of her mother was blurred in several places by tears:

To my dearest daughter,

If this letter ever reaches you, I shall be the happiest mother on the planet. I have longed to hold you in my arms and make all of your pain go away, but I cannot. It kills me to live while you are in the thick of this crazy scheme to defeat he-who-must-not-be-named for good. Arthur—your father—has assured me that you are fine and Lucius has kept me up to date on your progress. Congratulations on your pregnancy! I never thought it would be you to give me my first grandchildren. But still, I cannot wait to embrace them and you when all of this is over! On your graduation as well, it hurt not to clap when you received that special award from Professor Dumbledore… and even more so not to be able to share in your joy. Just know that I love you with all of my heart and on the day that you come home, there will be more joy in the Weasley house than there ever has been.

I love you,

Mummy

Narcissa took Ginny's hand. "We're all here for you. Even though you have to be cut off from your family, they still love you."

"That's not entirely true Narcissa, which is why I'm so glad you are here." Ginny sniffled and sent a look over at Pansy. "You must tell Lucius that my brother Percy is the one that Voldemort is feeding off of."

Narcissa's eyes widened in shock, "Are you sure?" She whispered disbelievingly.

"Would I implicate my own brother if it wasn't true?" Ginny asked crossly. It hurt her enough to believe that Percy was doing this to her… and yes, it was about her. She was the one who Voldemort wanted, and Percy was helping him destroy her. "And he isn't under Imperious either! After all these years, someone would've noticed. He knows exactly what he's doing."

Pansy placed her hand on Ginny's to calm her. "Don't worry, he will be stopped."

"If this is true then Percy Weasley must die… for if the Dark Lord has been bonded with him this long, then it is impossible to distinguish between the two. If Percy dies, so does Voldemort." Narcissa said excitedly. "And he will not be able to come back… for there is a law in nature that would keep him from returning."

Ginny looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, that once one becomes a specter you defy nature. You're not alive but you're not dead… it's not natural. And higher forces do not like to be defied… never again could the spirit of a man who toyed with them, live. He'll be banished forever." She stood up, rushing to gather her cloak. "I must report this to Lucius immediately."

Pansy stood. "Does this mean it's all over?" She called after her.

Narcissa turned. "If Percy really is the host of the Dark Lord, he's going to be extremely well hidden away. It'll be immensely difficult to get to him, but I'm sure that Severus and Lucius can get to him… keep faith. The higher powers are eager to collect their due from Voldemort."

Ginny did feel more hopeful than she had been in a long time. "Thank you Narcissa… travel safely!" She called. Soon Narcissa had flooed away and Pansy was left with Ginny. "I can't just sit here and do nothing, Pansy… there has to be something I can do to help!" she exclaimed.

Pansy folded her arms. "No Ginny! You cannot be rushing out trying to find Percy; you could hurt yourself and your babies."

"I know!" Ginny sighed heavily as she took a large bite of the apple turnover. "But I have to do something! I swear I'll kill myself if I sit alone in that room any longer. I know Madame Pomfrey wants me on bed rest…but I can't deal with it."

"I'll spend more time with you then Ginny. I can have Narcissa for tea every day if it'll make you happy! It'll only be a couple more weeks until your babies are here, and then you'll WISH that you this bored." Pansy said with a hearty laugh.

Ginny chuckled as well but she didn't much feel like laughing. "I know, but that doesn't make it any less boring." She took another drink and examined the room. It was bathed in pink and white, lacey curtains and an assortment of crystal figurines on the mantle… Gilda Goyle had some strange taste. "Where is Faye?"

Pansy smiled brightly. "Goyle took her out with him and Draco. It's so sweet how tender he is with her… I wish you could've seen them last night. We were in our room and Faye had a nightmare… or at least she SAID she did," she rolled her eyes lightly. "And Goyle picked her up and he told her that nothing could ever hurt her while she had him and me around. I was nearly in tears. I didn't think it was possible, but I loved him more at that moment than I ever have before."

"Aww, that is sweet! Goyle will make an excellent father." Ginny said. "And speaking of being a father, when will we see little Pansy and Goyle's running around?" She asked, laughing heartily.

Pansy's face turned a deep shade of crimson. "Well, we're both very young… but I don't see why we should wait. I've always wanted a big family; mind you, I don't want 7 children but I think three or four would make me very happy."

"Pansy, that's great!" Ginny spluttered. She had expected her to laugh it off, but this was even better. "Does Goyle know how you feel?"

"Does Goyle know how you feel about what?" A deep voice emanated from the doorway. He stood there with an amused grin on his face. "Is that all you ladies ever talk about, little old me?" In his arms, Faye was dead asleep with her head lolling on his shoulder.

"No, we talk about other things too…" Pansy began. "You're just good tea time conversation."

Goyle raised an eyebrow as he looked over at her. "Are you going to answer my question, love, or will I have to ask Ginny?"

Ginny felt bad now. "Oh it was nothing Goyle, really! She was just telling me how great you were with Faye and how she was very glad that you were her husband." She lied smoothly, much to Pansy's relief, and looked around. "And speaking of husbands, where is mine?"

"Draco is out walking the grounds… he just needs some time alone." He reassured her gently. "It is killing him that this is so hard on you Gin. He thinks it's his fault."

Ginny frowned. "That crazy man! How could he have stopped the Dark Lord for doing this when he had no idea what was going on?" Sighing heavily, she hoisted herself up from the couch with extreme difficulty. "I don't care if it does kill me; I'm going to set that man straight."

Pansy shook her head as Ginny waddled off to find her husband. "We better follow her; make sure she doesn't hurt herself."

"No, Draco isn't far from the house and it won't do to spy on their conversation." He said firmly. "Now why don't you tell me truth about what you were saying?" He gave her a mild look that clearly said you-can-tell-me-anything.

"Oh it's silly!" Pansy said with a laugh. "Just know that it wasn't a lie, I was telling Ginny about how great you are with Faye and she… well she asked if we would ever have children or if I even wanted them."

Goyle shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he looked over at her. "And what did you say?" He was nervous that she was going to have the complete opposite view and they'd never compromise on the subject. He loved Pansy… and he didn't want something like this tearing them apart.

Pansy's cheeks tinged pink again. "Well…I said that I'd like to have children just not as many as Ginny's parents."

"Well thank the gods for that!" Goyle said, his chest filling with love. "I've wanted to have children since I met you Pansy. When you told me that our baby died, I was devastated… but that was in our 6th year and you father no longer has control over you. We can try again."

"I love you!" She burst out, throwing her arms around Goyle (and Faye, in the process). Gently she kissed him. "I was so afraid that you wouldn't want children… especially after what happened 6th year and how I lied about it for so long."

"I love you too Pansy… now I think Faye needs to be put down for a nap." He stood up, moving towards the door. "And I know just how to pass the time too." He gave Pansy a sultry wink and disappeared down the corridor.

It did not take long at all for Pansy to rush off after him.

Draco leaned against a tall oak tree and let the hot sun beat down on his face. The shade of the tree made the heat bearable and he was more than happy to indulge in it. Truthfully, he was at wits end with everything happening in his life… Ginny being the most important part. It was awful for him to force her to be in that room day and night; but he didn't want anything to happen to her or their children. The very thought kept him awake all night...he couldn't bear it if he lost her, not now.

Ginny had walked the short distance to find that Draco was chucking little rocks into the river that ran beside the Goyle estate. "Fancy meeting you here, stranger." She said with a little grin.

"What're you doing here? You should be in bed!" Draco scolded, standing up quickly. "Weren't you having tea with my mother this afternoon?"

Ginny sighed. "I'm fine Draco; the fresh air is good for me." She walked to his side. "Your mother was here but she left to find Lucius after she heard what I had to say. Pansy and I are certain that it is my brother Percy who is feeding his life force to the Dark Lord."

Draco was silent as he absorbed what she had said. "Ginny, I'm so sorry."

"No, don't be… I knew it all along; I just never wanted to see it!" She said with a bitter smile. "He cut himself off from us and he was always around that Cornelius Fudge… and we know he was in league with Voldemort from the beginning! It wasn't Imperious… it was just malice."

"I'm still sorry it was your brother." Draco said quietly. "And if my father knows, it won't be long until Voldemort is vanquished."

Ginny smiled brightly for the first time in—what seemed like—months. "We can start our lives then, Draco. Just you and I and our babies."

"I want that more than anything Ginny." He said with a smile.

Ginny was sensing a 'but' here. "So why can't we have it?" She pressed onward. "I love you and, for once, I trust these higher forces you speak of. It's faith that you told me to have, why don't you have it too?"

Draco turned away from her. "I have faith Ginny… I just don't know what to believe anymore. My mother is the one who told me to rely on the higher powers to keep me safe and happy. It's a bunch of bullocks! If someone is up there watching to make sure I'm safe and happy, would we be here now? Would we be hiding? Dragging our friends into this horrible mess? Why us?"

"I don't know." She said quietly. "But why was I chosen to open the Chamber of Secrets? Why does Tom want me to birth an heir for him? I don't know the answers…maybe Tom is one of these higher forces! Maybe we're all higher forces… maybe we all add different elements into our world!" She was starting to work herself into a tizzy and Draco grasped her arm to calm her.

"Don't bother yourself with it… we're creating our own destiny now." He gently took her elbow as they walked toward the house. "Now you go on up to bed, I've got to talk to Goyle for a minute and then I'll join you."

Ginny had been about to protest when a yawn overtook her. It was early afternoon still but she felt tired; ascending the stairs, she found Faye sitting cross legged at the top of the stairs. "Hallo Mrs. Malfoy!" she said brightly as she continued playing with her dolly.

"You may call me Ginny, Faye… what're you doing here?" She didn't even try sitting down next to the girl… it would take some serious spell work to get her up off that floor and doing magic on her while pregnant was NOT a good idea. "Where's Pansy?"

Faye smiled. "She and Uncle Goyle are in their room. I was supposed to take a nap but I'm not sleepy! Let's play dollies!"

"You're not tired then? Well, I'm sure we can play dollies in my room then…Draco would be mad if I don't get into bed." She said, following Faye into the lavish room that Goyle had set her up in.

"Oh, are you supposed to be napping too?" Faye asked secretively.

Ginny laughed outright. "Well… yes." She didn't really want to explain anything to an almost 3 year old. The girl was a genius by all standards… but explaining how Madame Pomfrey and her husband were forcing her to stay in bed, didn't seem high up on the to-do list. Instead, she reveled in having something new to do.

It felt oddly nice to be playing a silly game of Angelia the doll goes to Diagon Alley. It was just a taste of things to come.

Draco waited for her to get all the way to the top of the stairs before disappearing into the Goyle family study. It was a masculine room, one of the few in the house, with a cooling charm that prevented it from being smoldering in there. With a glance over his shoulder he opened the desk drawer.

After picking up several pieces of parchment he took a quill and began scrawling madly. His blonde hair fell over his cloudy eyes as he stopped to read over the letter. It seemed alright…just, how did you write something like down on paper? How would his wife every forgive him was the real question?

Letting out a low whistle, he called a majestic black owl with luminescent orange eyes. "Take this to the Ministry of Magic immediately and make sure it gets to Cornelius Fudge." He said and gave the bird an affectionate stroke as he let her out.

This would either save their lives or destroy them forever.

I am so sorry this update took so long! It's hard being a single mommy! Anyway, I would ask that NO ONE put HBP in reviews or in anything you say. The book does not come out in my country until October 1st and there is just too much for me to do it in English. I speak well but not that well. Thank you in advance for this.