DISCLAIMER! I OWN NOTHING HARRY POTTER, ONLY THE DRAGON GODS!

Draco stepped out of the fireplace into his father's drawing room. The older man stood with his back to his son, pouring a glass of a rich amber liquid. Draco coughed discreetly and he turned. He held the glass out. "Draco, my son, good to see you well. Here, drink. This brandy is excellent." Draco accepted the glass and sipped as his father poured another. "Come, sit. I have a surprise for you," Lucious said, gesturing to a green brocaded sofa with his free hand. Draco sat.

"Yes, Father. I am glad to see you well," the lie was like bitter dust on his tongue. "You said earlier that you had a surprise for me. What is it?" Draco sipped at the brandy again. He rarely drank, preferring to remain clear headed.

"Well, my son, you became a man last month, did you not? You are now seventeen." Draco looked at his father strangely.

"Yes, Father, you know that. What is this about, sir?" Draco's voice was respectful, even though he was anxious. His father took a long drink from his glass, then sat it down, hard.

"There is a prophecy we have just recently discovered. It was found inside a dragon's lair and it concerns you." Draco's ears perked. He could not be talking about … but his father was continuing. "It says:

The Dragon and the Weasel

Will, unite to change the

Future and

The Serpent and the Lion

Will, Break the world again.

It obviously is talking about you. Everyone knows about your affinity for dragons. Your name, even, means dragon. That means that you will be united with someone, in marriage, from the way the prophecy sounds. The part about the Weasel was harder for us to figure out. There is only one wizzarding family that this particular part can mean. The Weasleys. In the wizzarding zodiac, both Arthur and Molly Weasley were born in the year of the weasel. Their last name is also a signifier. That means that you will be joined with their family."

Draco's head was reeling. He had known it, from the start. They were going to marry him to Ginny Weasley. Tonight. But, their prophecy was different from the one that the Dragon Gods had given him. There were only two subtle differences, but… Suddenly, he got it. The prophecy had been found in a dragon's lair. The Dragon Gods had planted it, in it's changed form, so that Lord Voldemort would find it and believe it. "You did not call me here to tell me this, Father," was all Draco said.

"You are right, my son. I called you here tonight for a wedding," Lucious said.

"Mine. To Ginny Weasley," Draco made his voice cold and calm, though inside of him there was a storm raging. His father sighed and picked up his glass again.

"Yes. The board of directors at Hogwarts has set things in order for your union to be possible without anyone's knowledge. Hermione Granger will choose Ginny as her partner in the Head girl's headquarters. You will choose Ron Weasley. Now, I will call your companion. He will help you ready yourself for your wedding. Hurry. Your future wife is waiting for you." Mr. Malfoy strode from the room, leaving Draco sitting there, alone and stunned. In a few moments, Draco's companion appeared. Anton was a vampire, Valkyre's lover. He had been responsible for Draco since the day of Draco's birth. Anton smiled sympathetically.

"I hear that I am supposed to be readying you for a wedding," the green-haired, blue-eyed vampire said. "I snuck in to see your bride. She is beautiful, at least. Like sun shot rubies." Draco was not in the least impressed by his companion's poetic tendencies.

"Let's just get this over with," he said and stalked out, headed towards his room. The vampire ran to intercept him.

"Wait, wait!" Anton touched his hand to Draco's arm. "Come this way. We've prepared your chambers for your wedding night. Your father had this guest room made ready for you." He directed Draco into a guest room three doors down from his own. The walls were paneled in expensive tiger-wood and the floor was carpeted in some kind to Oriental rug, but Draco did not notice. His eyes were only for the deep, rich green on black of his dress robes. His wedding robes, he corrected himself. His thoughts drifted to Ginny. She must be terrified. His father would not have permitted Valkyre to tell Ginny what was going on. It would add to Lucius' joy to frighten the young woman who was to become Draco's wife. Anton helped Draco into the robes. They were heavy, dark green brocade on a base of midnight black. The sleeves and collar were trimmed in silver thread. As Draco was belting it into place, the vampire slipped out and returned, bearing a small box.

"What is that, Anton?" Draco asked, warily.

"What?" Anton returned, hiding the box behind his back. Draco pointed.

"That. That box you are unsuccessfully trying to hide behind your scrawny back. What is it?" The vampire gave an uneasy laugh.

"Well …"

"Well what, Anton? What is it?"

"It's something that Lord Voldemort devised for his new favorite couple," Anton brought the box out and opened it. Inside was a pair of rings. One was made in silver in the shape of a serpent with ruby eyes. The other was in gold and formed into a roaring lion's head, emerald eyes almost glowing. "They're, well, a type of insurance, your father says."

"What kind of insurance?" Draco asked, heart going cold in his chest.

"That a … Well, that a … a…"

"Out with it, Anton!" Draco yelled.

"That a child will be born! Tonight. Your wife will conceive tonight." The last words were whispered into a silence that was almost as deadly as the dragons Anton's companion was named for. Draco dropped his head into his hands.

"So that's my father's game," the blonde said, weariness flooding him. Suddenly, steel filled him. "Well, I won't let him succeed. He won't get my child, our child," he amended himself, thinking of Ginny. "I'll explain everything to her. Everything, now. My wife deserves no less." His words were quiet, almost inaudible. Louder, he said, "You and Valkyre will be accompanying us back to Hogwarts, I take it?"

"Yes, milord, we will," replied the vampire, shocked at his master's abrupt change of mood.

"Then hand me the damned rings and let's go get this marriage over."

"Yes." Anton handed the box to Draco, then led the way out of the room and down the hallway to the receiving room. "I leave you here. I am to go join Valkyre. Through there," Anton gestured Draco through the door and disappeared. Draco stood where he was for a few seconds, preparing himself, then walked through the door.

The sight that greeted him almost took his breath away. Draco had never paid any attention to the Weasley girl. She was only another in a long line of annoyances, but now that she was to be his wife, he took a good, long look. He was stunned by what he saw. Ginny Weasley was beautiful, absolutely, jaw-droopingly, beautiful. She was dressed in a muggle wedding gown that revealed her creamy, freckle spotted shoulders. The thin material draped a body, he now saw, was made up of tantalizing curves, which were normally hidden by her school robes. Her hair was the color of sun shot rubies, Draco thought dazedly as he made his way to the front of the room. Then, his eyes locked on hers and a single thought rang through the draconic part of his mind. MINE.