Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I would take private yoga lessons. Everyday. For the rest of my life. So that way I could do all sorts of crazy contortionist stuff, because it looks like a lot of fun.

I don't own DABDA (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance). It really is the five stages of the psychological development of terminal illness. I'm a psych major so occasionally I like incorporating stuff I learned into my stories.

Alexandria J. Malfoy: aww, thanks for the review, here's a new chapter and less than a week!
FroggHopper: I hate clichés where once they get together everything is hunky-dory, so I made it not like that, lol
Flipinpenname: actually it's devastated, but I did update rather quickly
Kiera14: you're on to something there, and the next chapter is the last chapter (I think) and there will be an epilogue after that
CoolMilena: I'm definitely American, New York in fact and thanks for the review, glad you liked it
ladyerudite: DABDA isn't mine, it actually is the five stages, and I'm glad you liked the chapter
Ada Achlys: hey, thanks for the review, and I'm glad it's not overly melodramatic and a perfect relationship is extremely unlikely for Draco and Ginny, at least in my story
SilverWingPhoenix: I'll try on that miracle, and thanks for reviewing
SilvinArrow: wow, thanks for the review, and here's the next chapter
Chaney: hmmm, I think you're the only person who wants him to die, kinda funny that, well here's the next chapter
QuinkyDink: aww, don't cry, I feel bad now….ok, so not really, but thanks for updating, I really appreciate it
Momentyne: cry your purple heart out? Purple? That's pretty cool, and I'm glad you like Dragon
pix: here's the next chapter and thanks for the review
GPGA: you cried? Aww, I'm sorry, and at the same time I'm glad I made people cry, it was supposed to be sad, thanks for updating
louey31: mmm, good idea, but it wouldn't work, sorry, but thanks for reviewing

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Draco nervously made his way down to his godfather's lab in the basement of the AllChemists building. No, he wasn't nervous, Malfoy's didn't get nervous. He was… apprehensive. Draco arrived at the end of the stairs and reached for the doorknob. Scratch that, he was down right terrified. He took a breath, grasped the door handle and turned it. He pushed open the door to find his godfather filling potion jars with all sorts of cut up ingredients.

"Go right in, Draco," said Sev, looking up and nodding in the direction of his office. Draco managed a wan smile and entered the office, sitting on the end of the couch as usual and setting his briefcase by his feet. His hand started rising in the direction of his hair before he realized it, and he immediately put it back down, knotting his fingers together to stall the agitated motion.

Severus came in a few moments later, drying his recently washed hands on his robes and sitting in the armchair opposite Draco.

"So, what is so important that you skived off work to come and see me?" he asked, his black gaze on Draco's face. Draco immediately began wondering if this was such a good idea.

"I don't suppose you'll let me pass with a 'why can't I visit my favorite godfather' excuse, will you?" he asked.

"Not for a moment," said Snape.

Draco nodded. "I figured you say that. I'm here for two reasons; the first one is to return something of yours." Draco reached down to his briefcase and pulled out the thin, red leather book he had stolen from Snape's original office six years before. He held it out to his godfather. "Sorry for taking it, but it's been really useful."

Sev took the book and read the title. "Cursed Weapons. Do I want to know why this has been useful?"

"Probably not," said Draco. Sev gave him a look; Draco sighed, but then smiled, rather ironically. "Congratulations. Your godson is going to be the first person to die from the Seven Year Curse in over two hundred years." He supposed that wasn't the best way to break the news, but humor, no matter how crude and unfeeling, helped him deal with the situation.

Sev handled it rather well. "How long have you known?" he asked calmly.

"Since I stole the book, a couple of days after the last battle," said Draco. "It was the knife that Lucius stabbed me with."

"Of course it was," said Snape. "Only blood family can invoke the curse, only blood family can break the curse. It's one of the more ancient works of Dark Magic. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Draco shrugged. "I didn't want to be treated any differently, I didn't want any of the pitying glances or the secret whispers where ever I went. I wanted these remaining years to be normal."

Sev nodded and then got up to pace the room. Draco noted the clenched fists and the locked jaw and winced; Snape was angry.

"Sev?" he asked quietly.

"LUCIUS, YOU BASTARD!" Snape screamed, whirling around to his desk and throwing what looked to be a sneakoscope at the wall. It shattered, along with a few glass trinkets on the desk that weren't hurled. Draco jumped at the outburst, then looked at the shattered glass impressed. That was quite a powerful bit of accidental magic there.

"I'll kill him," said Snape very quietly, and very calmly. "I will kill him."

"He's already dead," Draco reminded him. "That's sort of my problem."

"Then I'll simply have to resurrect him so that I can kill him again," said Snape, very logically. "It shouldn't be too hard."

"Sev, it's alright," said Draco.

"It bloody well isn't," Severus snapped. "You're dying!"

"Well, you seem to have skipped the denial stage," said Draco, more to himself though. "Sev, even if you do kill him again, it won't be helping any."

"Of course it will," snarled Snape, not to be appeased. "Murdering Lucius will solve everything."

Draco decided that his godfather's statement right there could be a form of denial, so he was comforted in the fact that DABDA still held true for friendly and familial reactions to some one with a terminal illness. He sighed, leaned back on the couch, and waited for his godfather to settle down.

Sev sank back into his armchair. "I suppose Miss Weasley knows," he said, his smooth tone back in place.

"Yeah," said Draco. "She found at after the Quidditch World Cup." He vaguely wondered if Sev was jealous that he wasn't the first to know, but before he could clearly develop that thought train, Sev spoke again.

"She's a good girl," he said. "Never got to tell you that, but if you did have to go and fall in love with a girl from Hogwarts, I'm glad it was her. There's definitely some Slytherin in her."

Draco smiled. "Thanks Sev."

Severus leaned forward. "I'm going to find you a cure, Draco. I swear I will."

Draco shook his head. "There isn't one, Sev," he said. "I already checked, but it's alright."

"No, it's not," said Snape. "Lucius took my life from me when he convinced me to take the Dark Mark, and there is no way he's taking my godson from me as well. I won't allow it."

"No," said Draco, firmly. "I don't want you becoming obsessed with finding a cure. I've got a few months left and I want you to be with me, not down here in your lab buried under papers and potions always straining after some thread of hope when that's all it is, just some thread."

Sev looked like he was about to object, but Draco cut him off.

"I mean it, Sev," he said. "I don't want you gone, alright? I couldn't take that. You've always been telling me what to do; well, now it's my turn. Promise me you won't look for a cure, at least not when you should be with me, okay?"

Sev looked away, not answering, but then he nodded.

"Promise?" Draco asked softly.

Sev nodded again and Draco felt a weird clenching sensation in the back of his neck and his eyes were stinging slightly. He tried swallowing but his throat was closing up. Then Sev was beside him, clutching Draco to him, as if by holding him, Death would be unable to tear him away. If a Gryffindor had been embracing him, the arms would have been comforting and warm, but Sev was not a Gryffindor, and that was okay, because Draco wasn't one either.

Sev's arms were instead hard and unyielding and his grip was bruising in its strength, and that was what Draco needed. Right then, in that harsh, uncomfortable grasp, he felt truly at home, and he returned the embrace, his own arms perhaps a bit too tight, but knowing that, for these two Slytherins, it was the only way of showing just how much of a toll it would be costing them. The embrace ended far too quickly, but, in after thought, so did life and so neither of them mentioned it.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't speak of this to anyone else," said Draco. "I haven't told anyone besides you and Ginny, and I'd rather keep this private for now."

Sev nodded. "Of course," he said.

Draco gave a slight smile and then tugged on his hair. "I should probably get back to work," he said. "We're going public and all so there's quite a bit to be done."

Sev nodded again. "I was wondering why you would go public, but now I know. I should get back to work too; I've been restocking the potions cupboard so that when my partner finally comes back we can get to work again."

"When is Hermione coming back?" asked Draco, not out of real curiosity, but to keep the conversation on safe topics while he gathered his bag and walked out the door. Sev followed him out into the potions lab.

"After New Year," he said.

Draco nodded, and shifted awkwardly on his feet. "I'll see you at the Christmas and New Year's Party at the Burrow, right?" he asked.

Sev nodded. "I'll be there," he said.

"Alright," said Draco. "Well, see you there, then." He turned and left the AllChemists building, Flooing back to his office. Ginny was waiting for him, and she closed the door as soon as he got in and then shut the blinds.

"You're going to make the secretaries talk," said Draco, flopping into his swivel chair.

"They already talk," said Ginny, shrugging. "So how did it go?"

Draco spun himself around on the chair, staring at the ceiling to get himself dizzier. "Well, he smashed a few paper weights with accidental magic and then he gave me a hug." He stopped spinning to look at Ginny. "I feel like one of the worst people ever. I made my godfather upset to the point where he gave me a hug. Snape, of all people, giving hugs! It's not supposed to be like that."

"Well, it's better than crying, right?" asked Ginny.

Draco thought for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so," he said. "I still feel like crap though."

"Let's go home," said Ginny. "You look like crap too."

"Glad for the vote of confidence," said Draco, dryly. She smiled up at him.

"It's why I'm here," she said, and Draco smiled as well.

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Over the next two weeks, Draco watched his companies go public with a little twinge of regret. He had started those companies out of nothing. He had built them up and given them all of his time and effort, and now they were going into the care of other people, people who didn't know them like he did.

He confided his fears to Ginny, who had laughed, and told him that if he were this emotional with his companies, she wondered what it would be like if he had children and had to send them off to school. He bristled slightly at her laughter, but didn't stop her. There hadn't been a lot to laugh about lately.

The scar on his side was no longer red, but it had turned black with surprising speed. The black was spreading too, through his veins and up his ribcage. As his skin was so pale, he had always been able to trace the blue and purple squiggly lines that covered his skin and marked where his veins and arteries were, now the blue lines that were located around his scar were coal black and the blackened veins stretched up, almost to his heart, and were also beginning to wrap around his back. It was actually rather gross.

Along with the blackening scar, the dream of the field had been plaguing Draco's sleep night after night. It would start out with everything perfect, but than that reflection and the voice would come, bringing with it a raging storm. Draco didn't know why it terrified him that much, storms had never bothered him before, but with the rain and lightning came the sensation that he was being pulled away from everything he had ever loved, and he would wake up struggling with sweat dripping off of his body.

Christmas came around rather quickly, and it was a very white Christmas as well. It snowed a good couple of inches so that the grand total accumulation made it rather hard for walking in. He spent Christmas with Blaise and Pansy at the Manor where he played the doting Uncle and gave the children way too many presents.

Ginny escaped her own family party and came over in the afternoon, arriving just in time for the snowball fight on the front lawn. After everyone was thoroughly wet, Blaise and Pansy went upstairs to change the kids' clothes, and Draco and Ginny went into the living room to dry out by the fire and stare at the Christmas tree.

"I got you a present," said Ginny, as she leaned against his side. She reached into her purse. "It's not wrapped because I had no idea what I was going to get you until a few days ago, and this took a while to be made."

She pulled out something flat and circular and handed it to him. Draco took the proffered gift and stared down at the object. It was a dream catcher, approximately the width of his hand in diameter. Pale gold and fiery red strands were stretched across a gold circular frame with jade green beads strung through the threads at random intervals while feathers and silk tassels decorated the outside edge.

"It's to catch your bad dreams," said Ginny. "You hang it above your bed at night."

"How did you know I was having bad dreams?" Draco asked.

"Blaise told me. He said that he could hear you yelling sometimes and that you were always up at odd hours of the night."

Draco pulled Ginny over for a kiss. "I suppose I should thank him," he said rather grudgingly.

"He's just worried about you," said Ginny.

Draco looked down at the dream catcher in his hands. "Are these-?"

"Strands of our hair," said Ginny. "To make it work best, the threads should be hair from the person it is intended for and from someone who loves the intended. There's strengthening charms on the hair so it won't break and I had to cast a lengthening charm on your hair to make it long enough."

"I didn't even know you took a piece of my hair," said Draco.

"I got it from your comb," said Ginny, smiling a little smugly.

Draco kissed her again. "Thank you," he said, sincerely. He then reached under the tree for a tiny gold wrapped box and handed it to her. "I love you," he whispered in her ear as she took it.

She unwrapped it eagerly, but neatly, pulling out a black velvet box and opening it.

"Oh," she breathed.

Draco smiled at her expression as she pulled out an expensive looking necklace. The chain itself was gold and made of links so small, it looked completely seamless. A teardrop pendant hung from the chain, only slightly bigger than a thumbnail. It was made of glass, and inside the glass was a dragon carved out of a single emerald and wings of yellow topaz and upon the dragon's head was a butterfly made of rubies. The detailing on the animals was so intricate that it was possible to make out the ivory dragon's teeth and onyx eyes, and the butterfly had flecks of diamonds on the wings. It was a wizarding masterpiece and upon observation, the dragon writhed within the glass and the butterfly beat its wings.

"Put it on me," said Ginny, giving him the necklace and turning while holding up her ruby-red hair. Draco did as commanded, and when he had finished he wrapped his arms around her, and she let her hair down. She leaned back, twisting so that she could give him a kiss. "I love you so very much, Draco Malfoy," she said and in response, he tightened his hold on her, never wanting to let go.

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The family Christmas/ New Year Party was held from the 29th of December to the 2nd of January. The adults were not exchanging gifts, but they all came with presents for the little ones, who were all going to end up spoilt beyond all belief, especially when their 'Uncle' Draco was the richest man in the wizarding world.

They arrived late morning to unpack all of their things, put all the presents under the tree to be opened the next morning, and set up rooming arrangements. The Burrow had a few renovations done in the spring so that all of the young boys had a room, and the girls were sleeping together as well. The really little ones were sharing rooms with their parents.

Draco was originally going to be rooming with Harry and Severus, the only single males (besides Fred and George who had their own room) but Severus was unable to sleep over, or so he said (Draco figured that his anti-social godfather couldn't take that much friendly time) and so Harry decided to room with Padma, kicking Ginny out so that she ended up rooming with Draco.

"And there are two beds," said Fred, giving Draco a look as he put Ginny's bag in the room.

"So we expect you to behave yourselves," finished George, also giving Draco a look, though he was smiling as well.

Draco didn't mind Ginny's company at all. He had left the dream catcher at home, having forgotten to bring it, and as it really did banish the dream, he was hoping Ginny's presence would do the same.

They then went down for lunch where the Weasleys and Co. tried to explain to the new members of the family (mainly Draco and Padma) all of their Christmas traditions. Padma was handling the onslaught of information much better than Draco was, but then again she did have a normal family growing up so the idea of a cake with a silver piece hidden inside didn't seem quite so foreign to her.

"And then whoever gets the slice with the coin in it, is King for the day," said Charlie.

"And then we have a baking contest," said Mrs. Weasley. "Where the men and the women face off to see who can make the best cookies. The judges are the children, and no, bribery is not allowed."

"We also play a game of Monopoly New Years Eve," said Hermione.

"And we go sledding as well," said Fred. "And ice skating."

"But not at the same time," said George.

"And we have our annual snowball fight," said Fred.

"Which will be tomorrow," said George.

"Unless of course we do the Snowman Building contest tomorrow, because then we would have it today," said Fred.

"But if we do the cookies today, then we can't do either," said George.

Harry burst out laughing. "The look on your face is priceless Draco," he said. "You've never done anything like this before, have you?"

"Not exactly," said Draco, feeling a little overwhelmed.

"You'll get used to it," said Harry. "I know I did."

As it turned out, most of the activities they did were competitions between the men and the women, and the score was being kept by Mrs. Weasley and Severus. On New Years Eve the winning team would be decided and the participants of the team would receive a prize. That afternoon they had the snowball fight. A person was 'out' when snow was shoved down their back, or front, and then they had to go to the opposing team's snow fort until another member of the team tagged them. The game ended when all of one team was captured.

The children played as well and as there were more girls than boys, the female team had a slight advantage. Never-the-less, the men gradually triumphed with a spectacular frontal assault planned by Ron Weasley. It might have been slightly unfair because Ron was in charge of planning different strategies and tactics for the Aurors, but no one complained too loudly.

After the snowball fight came the snowman building contest because it was such a nice day out. The sun was shining and there was very little wind so that even though it was cold, it wasn't bitter out. Even so, Draco found himself coughing slightly and silently swore. He had better not be getting sick again.

The women won the snowman building contest, which was actually a 'build any type of snow figure you want as long as magic isn't involved'. As none of the men were really that artistic, the women won with no complaint from the men because their own lopsided snowman couldn't compete with the penguin wearing sunglasses by the women.

By then it was getting dark and time for dinner. Afterwards they played a few board games, and Ron beat Draco at chess, and then went off to bed. Draco was right, Ginny kept the nightmares away as well.

The next morning Draco awoke to a pounding on the door.

"Get up!" shouted a voice through the wood. "Get up for presents!"

Draco glanced at his watch and moaned; it was six-thirty.

"Just be glad they slept in this long," said Ginny from the bed across from him. "Last year they got up at four forty-five."

"Why do we have to get up?" asked Draco, running a hand over his face.

"They can't go downstairs until everyone's up," said Ginny, kicking off her covers and reaching for her green fleece robe. "Fred and George like to torment them by going in 'slow motion'."

Draco smiled at that and clamored out of bed as well.

"You should put a sweater on," said Ginny.

"Why?" asked Draco, looking down at his t-shirt, but then he saw why. The black spreading in his veins had finally reached his left arm and now there was black up to his elbow. He pulled off the t-shirt to see the damage. The skin directly around the scar was a dark grey and the black veins had reached the area above his heart.

"You can't hide this from them forever," said Ginny softly. "When are you going to tell them?"

"After the holidays," said Draco. "I don't want to ruin it."

"Draco-," Ginny began, but she was cut off by more pounding on the door.

"Presents!" yelled the voice again.

Draco turned to Ginny with a slight smile. "Let's not keep them waiting," he said.

Two hours later and he was downstairs on the couch in a sweatshirt with Ginny beside him as the children played with their new toys amidst a sea of wrapping paper. Zak was zooming around on the broom Draco had given him, while Hermione frowned at him.

"You just had to give him a broom, didn't you?" she asked Draco.

"But you can control the settings on it," protested Draco. "Plus, it has an anti-falling charm on it. If it senses the rider is slipping, the wards will come up to catch him."

Hermione still looked a little suspicious, but couldn't say anything because Zak looked so deliriously happy.

"Did Ron give you his present yet?" asked Ginny to Hermione.

Hermione held up her hand in response and Ginny examined the ring on her finger. "It's beautiful," she said. "But what if you have another?"

"No," said Hermione. "No more kids. Besides, three's a nice number to have on a ring."

"What is it?" asked Draco.

"A mother's ring," said Hermione. She showed it to him. "It has all of the birthstones of my kids."

"It's nice," said Draco.

"What did you give Ginny?" asked Hermione.

"This," said Ginny, pulling the necklace out from under her robe and showing Hermione. Hermione gasped and immediately called the other women over.

"Great," said Charlie to Draco. "Now they'll all expect better stuff from us next year." He said it plaintively, but he was smiling so Draco didn't take offense to it. All of the women swooned over the necklace, calling it gorgeous and romantic.

"Alright," said Faye to Draco. "How on earth did you pick that out?"

"I actually had it specially designed," said Draco, which seemed to impress the ladies.

"How did you get it so lovely though?" asked Faye.

"I simply told the jeweler what I wanted in the necklace and then told him that I knew the most beautiful girl on earth and that I wanted it to match," said Draco.

All of the women squealed and got sappy looks on their faces, but Draco got the result he was looking for. Ginny came over with blushing cheeks, perched on his knees and kissed him soundly on the lips. "Did I ever tell you that I love you?" she whispered in his ear.

After presents and breakfast the family bundled up and went sledding. Even this was a competition as the farthest sled was the winner that round for their team. The men all huddled together and gave Ron a huge push and won that competition by a good ten feet. Draco had never gone sledding as a child, a fact that left the Weasley's horrified, and Ginny immediately dragged him on a sled with her and they were off.

It was a steep slope with many bumps and they ended up over turning three quarters of the way down and landing sprawled on the hard snow. Those on the top of the hill were all laughing and calling down to see if any of them were injured, seeming rather disappointed when they yelled back up that they were fine. Ginny explained on the way up that most of the time everyone went home with a few injuries and that the more spectacular the spill and injury, the greater bragging rights the victim had.

Indeed, by the time everyone was back home, Zak, Gavin, and Michael were sporting lumps on their heads when they had flipped their sled upside down, Fred and George had scratches from where they had accidentally steered into the woods, and Harry, Ron, Blaise, and Bill had run into each other on the way down resulting in a few large bruises and headaches.

To calm things down after lunch they had the cookie bake-off. The women claimed the kitchen first before the men had the chance to 'thoroughly destroy it' as Hermione said, and the men were kicked out to play a game of Quidditch with the kids. Once the women were done and tidied up, the men were let into the kitchen.

It is never a good idea to put a bunch of amateur chefs into a kitchen all by themselves, especially when those amateurs are all men. Charlie was the only one who knew exactly what he was doing, and as it was hard to hear his commands over the food-throwing that immediately commenced, their cookies turned out a little too puffy and completely different from the recipe. They were still surprisingly edible, but the women still won and so the tie breaker would be who ever got the silver piece in their cake next evening.

That night instead of playing games, the adults merely sat in the living room while a fire was lit in the grate, talking quietly and sipping glasses of Firewhiskey that Charlie had broken out. Draco was leaning against the couch with Ginny curled up next to him as he stared at the flames listening to the soft voices around him. He looked about the room, feeling that he would give anything for things to stay just the way they were.

"Merlin, I love this," said Harry, finishing his whiskey and stretching out on the ground in front of the fire. He glanced around the room with a smile of contentment on his face. "I thought I was doomed to be with the Dursley's forever, then I found you guys."

He was obviously one of those drinkers who got nostalgic after the first glass.

"What was it like?" asked Pansy. "I know they weren't the nicest of Muggles."

"I usually got a pair of Dudley's socks for Christmas," said Harry. "And then they would go out to parties and if I was lucky, they would forget to lock the door on my cupboard so I could get out and sneak a tiny sliver of pie."

"Sounds terrible," said Pansy.

"Can't really complain," said Harry. "They were too afraid of me to do anything except lock me away or make me do chores. How about you, Draco?"

The question took Draco by surprise. "What about me?" he asked.

"How were Christmases on the other side?"

Draco drained his glass as well. "Lucius and Narcissa were usually at business parties or the like on Christmas so I got a roomful of presents to keep me occupied. 'Course when Lucius got home I also got a black eye and a split lip, but hey, anything for the newest racing broom, right?"

"That's sick," said Mrs. Weasley, anger in her eyes.

Draco shrugged. "Can't really complain," he said. "I got so much stuff, I could have sold half and fed all of China."

"No wonder you were a bratty child at school," said Hermione.

"Thank you," said Draco. "I worked hard at it."

The Gryffindors who had gone to school with him shook their heads in helplessness, but Ginny gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you," she whispered.

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Draco woke up the next morning coughing.

"You alright?" asked Ginny, rolling over to look at him worriedly.

Draco coughed once more into his hand, spraying his palm with saliva, but regaining his breath. "I'm fine," he said, looking at his hand and noticing flecks of blood that stained the pale skin. He hurriedly wiped his palm on his black pajama pants and gave Ginny a reassuring smile. "I'm fine."

It was apparent by lunch that he wasn't fine. The coughing had gotten worse, but he had managed to hide it from the others, though Ginny had walked in on him when he was hacking away in the kitchen. She took one look at his blood splattered hand and immediately had him sit down and gave him a glass of water, rubbing his back soothingly. As soon as he stopped coughing, she had rounded on him angrily.

"When did this start happening?" she demanded.

"This morning," said Draco.

"And when were you going to tell me?"

Draco sighed. "I didn't want to worry you. Not when we're supposed to be having fun."

"Draco, don't keep things from me, alright?"

"Alright," said Draco.

"Now how bad is it?"

"The specialists I've seen tell me that coughing up blood is normal. As the curse spreads through my body it starts attacking different organs, but as it moves on, my lungs will repair themselves. The curse will keep attacking different parts with increasing strength and speed, until my body can't deal with all of it, and dies."

"How long do you think you have?" asked Ginny.

Draco shrugged. "It's called the Seven Year Curse, because it takes on average seven years, but some people get more, some people get less. I'm thinking I'm one of those less people, maybe a few more months."

Ginny nodded, biting her lip, and Draco pulled her into a hug and they stayed huddled on the floor until the door opened and Emeric came in.

"I know," he said quietly.

Draco and Ginny stared at him.

"Know what?" Draco asked.

"That you don't have long for this world," said the young Seer calmly. "But I actually came in to tell you that they're looking for you two to go ice skating, so unless you want them to find you two on the floor, which would lead to a lot of questions, you might want to get up."

They colored and got to their feet. Emeric studied them for a moment longer and then gave them a slight smile.

"I won't tell," he said. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Draco stared as the boy left. "That's downright freaky," he said.

They spent the afternoon ice skating and then returned to the Burrow where they had dinner and then afterwards the cake. Faye found the silver piece in her cake and so the women won the three day long competition and they all received gift certificates to a wizarding spa.

After putting the younger children to bed, the Monopoly board was brought out and as there weren't enough pieces for everyone there, teams were set up by couples, and Mrs. Weasley and Sev were put on a team together as well.

It was bad planning on the others part for putting Draco and Ginny on a team together. Yes, most of the game was luck of the dice, but some of it was financial savvy and sticking the couple together who had pulled the wizarding world out of the depression, wasn't fair to the other players. Draco and Ginny were finally brought down when Faye and Charlie joined forces with Sev and Mrs. Weasley and also Harry and Padma.

The game ended close to midnight and Fleur ran to open up the front door to welcome in the New Year. They all counted down with the announcer on the radio, and when they reached "Zero!" they all pulled holiday crackers, specialty of the Weasley twins, and let loose a flock of doves, pigeons, and various other birds from the holiday wrappings. Once the flying mammals had returned to their original confetti form, they all cleaned up and went to bed.

Despite the laughter of the night before, and Ginny's comforting presence, Draco dreamed of the field again that night and he woke up to sunlight streaming through the window and Ginny shaking his shoulder.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Draco, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. "I'm good."

"Bad dream?" asked Ginny.

Draco nodded and swung his feet over the edge of the bed and ran a hand through his hair.

"It's getting worse," said Ginny quietly, looking at his arm. He did too, the black veins has reached his wrist. "When are you going to tell them?"

"When I have to," said Draco.

"And when is that?" Ginny demanded.

"Not right now," said Draco, rummaging through his suitcase to find a shirt with long sleeves.

"I don't like hiding things from them. This is a secret that shouldn't be kept," said Ginny, reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged her off angrily.

"Well it's not your secret to keep!" he snapped. "It's mine and you have no right to tell me what to do with it!"

"I'm telling you that there are people out there who deserve to know what's happening to you," said Ginny, exasperation in her voice. "They care about you and you can't keep this hidden."

"Yes, I can!" Draco yelled, slamming the top on his suitcase.

"I hate to break it to you, Draco, but it's rather hard to hide this!" she poked him hard on the arm where the black veins were visible.

"Get off!" Draco snarled, jerking his arm away from her touch. "And don't touch me. I'll tell them when I bloody feel like it!"

"If you had your way you'd tell them when you were six feet under. Now I realize you don't have much experience with family, but this is something you should tell them!"

"Yes, so they can go and have a pity party for me, well I'm not interested!" Draco yelled.

"What are you afraid of?" Ginny asked. "Why won't you tell them?"

"I'm not afraid!" Draco said.

"Then why won't you tell them?"

"It's none of their damn business! And I'm starting to regret that I even told you!" Draco knew the minute the words left his mouth that he had gone to far. Ginny stared at him with tears beginning to fill her amber eyes and her hand darted forward to connect with his cheek with a loud smack. She left the room, grabbing her robe, and slamming the door behind her.

"Damn it!" Draco hissed, kicking his suitcase. He coughed, dark blood flecking his palm as he covered his mouth. He sighed and wiped it off with a tissue, then proceeded to get dressed.

He went downstairs and found Ginny at the table with the others eating breakfast and resolutely not looking at him. Draco glared, two could play this game.

To say that breakfast was uncomfortable would be an understatement. While the children did not notice the tension between Aunt Ginny and 'Uncle' Draco, the adults were all too aware of it and kept casting 'discreet' glances at the two and dropped 'subtle' hints as to their silence. While Draco hated that Ginny was mad at him, he was sick of being the one to chase after her and apologize. As far as he was concerned, she could say sorry first, hang the fact that he was the one in the wrong.

The battle of silence continued all throughout the morning and into lunch, where Draco had to excuse himself when he started coughing. He made his way into the empty kitchen with a tissue pressed to his mouth, knowing that Ginny was right; he would have to tell them soon because he was having trouble hiding the cough that was only worsening.

For a moment there in the kitchen Draco was afraid that he really had coughed up the lining of his throat. He was racked so badly with the coughs that his body bent double, he couldn't breathe and for a second all he could do was gag as blood and a greasy black substance drooled from his lips.

"Oh Merlin!" exclaimed Ginny's voice. She ran to his side, helping him to sit on the kitchen floor. "This is becoming a habit with you, Draco," she said, referring to the two of them once again leaning on the cupboards under the sinks.

"Mmm," was all Draco managed, crumpling the tissue that was beginning to soak through with red and black.

"I'm sorry, Draco," Ginny whispered, and as soon as Draco heard the words he had been wanting to hear from her, he felt incredibly guilty.

"No, it wasn't your fault," he said. "You were right, I should tell them, I just…telling them makes it all more real, and then I'm going to have to put up with everyone coddling me, and putting me in bed or in a chair to rest when I don't want that. I want to play Quidditch and get in a snowball fight, and I can't deal with their pity. I feel bad enough for my self as it is, and I don't know if I can take their condolences on top of it."

"I'll help you then," said Ginny, taking his hand. Draco smiled down at her.

"That's why I love you," he said, leaning down for a kiss.

"Eww, no," said Ginny. "You've just been hacking up blood and some nasty black stuff. Rinse your mouth out."

When Draco and Ginny left the kitchen laughing together, all of the adults at the table visibly relaxed and the rest of the day was spent outside playing a game that involved a large circle in the snow made of footprints and an 'X' through it. They had another snowball fight which turned into a pure wrestling match with the guys, and when the sky grew dark, they all headed in for dinner.

All throughout the meal Ginny kept giving him meaningful looks and sharp kicks under the table, to which Draco responded in a hiss, "Not with the children listening."

The children were put to bed after a few more games and then the adults once again retired to the den where they sat around the fire. Now that the time had come, Draco felt unexplainably nervous, which he found more annoying that anything else because he was going to die in a few months and here he was getting nervous. He frowned and decided to just get it over with. He took a deep breath, and Ginny beside him on the couch gave his hand a squeeze.

"Umm, could I have your attention for a moment?" he asked, cutting into several conversations, but not really caring. Everyone one in the room turned to him, and Severus spared him a rare, small smile for encouragement.

"Thanks," said Draco. "I really don't know how to say this, but it needs to be said." He tugged on his hair, then put his hand down hastily. "I'm dying," he said bluntly. "I have a few more months to live, maybe not even that."

They stared at him, not knowing if to smile at this joke, or to call the doctor to see what was wrong. He gripped Ginny's hand tighter and plunged on.

"I should have told you sooner, and for that, I'm sorry. I've been dying ever since the last battle when Lucius stabbed me with a cursed knife."

Blaise started upright in the armchair he had been lounging in. "No," he said, shaking his head. "You told me that the curse had worn off, you told me you were fine."

"I thought I was," said Draco. "And then I found out otherwise."

"No!" said Blaise, empathetically, still shaking his head. "You're joking. This is some sick joke. Well, it's not funny, Drake, so stop it!"

"I'm not joking Blaise," said Draco. "I wish to Merlin I was, but I'm not. The curse that was on the knife was the Seven Year Curse. My years are up."

Harry swore, climbing to his feet and turning away from Draco, staring out the back window and rubbing the back of his neck. Bill and Charlie both looked down, their wives clutching onto their arms. Fred and George did the exact opposite, turning their gaze to the ceiling and Percy put his arm around his wife. Ron looked pale, rubbing Hermione's shoulders as her hand covered her mouth. Blaise on the other hand glared at Draco, then jumped to his feet and strode out of the room, while Pansy called after him.

"Isn't there anything that can help?" asked Mrs. Weasley, her hands twisting together in her lap. Draco shook his head.

"No. Only blood family can wield the curse, only blood family can break it," said Draco. "I've been to specialists and what not, but they all say the same thing, 'I'm sorry, but there's nothing to be done'."

"You've known all this time?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah," said Draco. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you all sooner, but I wanted things to be normal, as normal as possible, until it couldn't stay secret."

"Is it that bad?" asked Harry, facing Draco again. Draco pulled up his left sleeve to show them the black veins covering his entire arm. "Shit," Harry said with a hitch in his voice and whirling around again to face the window. Padma stood up and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm going to be honest with you," said Draco. "It is getting bad. I've been coughing up blood as well."

There were several muttered swear words, Faye was blinking rapidly, and all of them had the same expressions of shock, horror, and sorrow on their faces.

"Look," said Draco, his voice rough for some strange reason. "I don't want you to be sorry for me, alright? This last year has been my best year ever, and I wouldn't trade it in for the world."

"And you really can offer that for a trade, can't you?" asked Harry, choking out some of the words, but trying to smile.

Draco felt his own lips give a slight twitch. "Yeah," he said. "Or at least pretty close to it, but the point is that, that, damn it. I really should save all this sentimental crap for you Gryffindors."

More laughter, though some of it was forced.

"We love you too, Malfoy," said Fred, getting to the gist of his faltering words.

"And it was good knowing you," said George.

"Group hug?" suggested Fred.

"He's a Malfoy," said George. "They don't do hugs."

"I suppose I could make an exception," said Draco. "I'm mean, I'm dying right? So there's no reputation to really worry about."

Fred and George tackled him. As he was on the couch, all he did was get pushed back into the cushions, and he laughed as the twins nearly smushed him. Harry was there next, holding out his hand and pulling him into a manly embrace with plenty of back thumping. That actually seemed to be the Weasley way of hugs, though Mrs. Weasley and the women all held him tightly. Pansy was last, whispering, "Go talk to Blaise, won't you?" as she pulled away. Draco nodded, and left to go after his best friend.

Blaise was on the porch, gripping the rail so tightly his whole body was tense as he stared out at the sky.

"Hey Blaise," said Draco, coming up beside him.

"Don't talk to me you son of a bitch," Blaise snarled.

"Yes, I realize that my mother did have some bitchy qualities, but it's bad to speak of the dead," said Draco.

"You bastard!" Blaise screamed, whirling towards him and smashing his fist into Draco's jaw. "You told me that you were fine, that you were fine, Draco. Fine in my book is not getting cursed by some bloody dagger your damn father stabs you with!"

"Blaise, I'm sorry," said Draco, reaching up to touch the bruise already forming.

"You had better be!" Blaise yelled. "I'm you're bloody best friend and you didn't tell me? Does our friendship mean that little to you that you would lie about your health when you're bloody dying?" Blaise's voice was raw, meaning that he was near tears. "I'm sorry if it never meant that much to you, but you're like a brother to me, Draco. Merlin, you're my best friend!"

"Blaise, it was never that," said Draco. "I was scared, alright? So I ran, and when I did get to see you, you seemed so happy I didn't want to tell you and ruin it all. You are a brother to me as well, and if I didn't tell you, it wasn't because you weren't my friend, but it was because you were my friend that I didn't tell you. I really am sorry, though."

"What do you have to be sorry for?' asked Blaise wearily. "It's not like you went and stabbed yourself." He sighed, and looked back out at the stars.

"Hey Blaise, I don't know if I ever said this to you, but when we were at school and you would listen to me whenever I didn't know what to do, or when I was having a hard time with Lucius, well, it meant a lot to me, it still does. I guess I just want to say thanks, for being nice when I was so sodding difficult and bratty."

Blaise let out a bark that was half laugh, half sob. "You sound like a bloody Gryffindor," he said.

"Sorry about that too," said Draco, but then Blaise pulled him into a hug, a Slytherin hug that was one part comfort, one part pain, just like life and love.

"Next time someone throws a cursed dagger at you, how about you move out of the way, okay?" Blaise asked, voice cracking.

"I'll remember that," said Draco, as Blaise pulled back and he followed his best friend back to the living room. Hermione, Harry, and Ron were sitting in a circle in the middle of the floor, Hermione was writing something on a piece of parchment. The rest of the family was crowded around them as well, though Ginny came up to give him a hug.

"What's this?" asked Draco, looking at the group.

"Well," said Harry. "You know how you say that it's only luck I survived Voldemort?"

"Yeah?" asked Draco slowly.

"Well, if I can survive a killing curse, we're hoping that my luck can help you survive your family curse. We're going to find a way to beat this."

Draco opened his mouth to protest but Ginny cut him off.

"Its how they show they care," she said, giving him a short kiss on the lips and then smiling. "And who knows, maybe they'll find a cure."

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so I shall leave you with that piece of hope, and as for the christmas traditions and new years and what not, I just took as many traditions I knew of, even though they might be a little warped and threw them together, sorry if it offends anyone

well, read and review, one more chapter I think, and maybe an epilogue