Chapter 30

Realizations

It didn't take long for Ginny to go from needing to blow her nose to having full-blown influenza, and then for that to develop into pneumonia. The doctors and healers who were dealing with her case were all very concerned as the medication to treat the pneumonia was harmful to an unborn baby. Therefore, Ginny was refusing treatment. After they left the one day, she and Lucius were left to talk.

Lucius was concerned for his wife. "You need to take care of yourself," he stressed.

"This baby needs me to live," she replied matter-of-factly.

"You both will die!"

"Lucius, I'm only 24 weeks along! If the baby was born today, she would only have about a 50% chance of surviving. If I can make it to 26 weeks, that jumps to 90%!" She paused to take a breath, which hurt her greatly. "I have to make it to 26 weeks! Then, like the healer and doctor said, they can take her and give her all the potions she needs to finish development. And they can treat me as well."

"Did you hear what they said about a tube down your throat and into your lungs?" he asked, sounding horrified.

Ginny had tears in her eyes. "Please Lucius, I have given up so much to protect her. Please don't have all of that be in vain."

Lucius hated seeing tears in her eyes. In the time they had been together, she had shown him she was the strongest person he knew. "Ginevra, this is your life we are talking about losing."

She reached out and grabbed his hand to place it on her baby belly. "Lucius, I won't put her at risk to save my own life. Promise me that you will support me in this! Let them keep me functioning enough for her to make it to 26 weeks, then they can take her and treat us both."

Lucius looked at his hand on her belly and felt the baby kick It seems Ginny has decided the baby was a girl. Then he looked at his wife; she looked like hell. Her skin was void of colour, she had dark circles under her eyes, and her breathing was carefully executed. "Ginev-"

"Please," she pleaded "Promise me!"

"I don't like it, but for you I will respect your wishes. Just promise me you will be too stubborn to die."

When Ginny's condition was explained to Pansy, she panicked. She had no knowledge of Muggles or Muggle healing. In fact, she had never even been in Muggle London! After leaving the Manor, she headed straight for the book shop. She almost ran in the store looking for Charlie, and once she found him, she breathed a sigh of relief. She went up to him and wasted no time asking, "Where can I get books on Muggles, specifically Muggle healing?"

Charlie looked at her and knew something was wrong. "What's wrong? You look really upset."

Pansy suddenly realized how upset she was. It amazed her how in such a short time Ginny had come to mean so much to her. "My friend, the one whose baby I have been buying books for-" Tears were welling in her eyes.

Charlie could see how upset she was. "Come on, let's grab a tea and you can tell me what's happening." He reached out and took her by the elbow. "Peter, I'm going for a coffee," he called out to his boss.

His boss knew exactly who Pansy was and didn't object. He knew Charlie was the reason she was spending so much money in his shop.

Once at a tea shop, Charlie asked, "What's happening?"

"My friend, she might die! She and the baby will die!" Pansy sobbed.

"What? Why?"

"She's really sick and the only treatment is too dangerous to the baby, and they are unwilling to risk the baby. Ginny is going to-"

"Wait, Ginny? As in Ginny Weasley?" Charlie, up until now, had no clue who Pansy's friend was.

"Ginevra Malfoy, yes."

"I have to go!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Why?"

"I'm Charlie, Ginny's brother." He then bolted from the shop, leaving Pansy upset and a bit confused. She thought from what Ginny had said that Charlie worked with dragons out of the country, and the only brother who worked in a shop was the one who owned the Joke shop; the one twin. She never could tell them apart and wasn't totally sure which one was still alive.

Pansy sat in the shop for a long time. Some time later, Draco passed by and spotted her. "So you know then?"

Tears welled up again in Pansy's eyes. "Yes. Draco, this is insane."

Draco sat down with her. "She is too bloody stubborn for her own good!" he admitted.

"I don't know why I'm so upset."

Draco looked at her for a long time before replying, "You've never really been close to any other girls, Pans."

She played with her tea cup, unsure of what to say.

"She kind of worms her way into one's heart." He paused, realizing how much his friend was hurting. "This is killing Father. He hasn't admitted it, but I think he loves her."

"What's really going to happen?" Pansy asked.

"Odds aren't in Ginny's favour. They possibly could die, unless Ginny is too damn suborn to die." Draco gave her the honest truth.

"Why is Lucius allowing this then?"

"She made him promise her."

"When has that ever stopped Lucius Malfoy from doing what he wants?"

"He did for me cause he loves me."

Since Charlie had left Pansy at the shop, he went to the joke shop and got George to close the shop. Then they headed to the Burrow, where a family meeting was called. It was the first time since Ginny married Lucius that the whole Weasley family, minus Ginny, had all come together.

Charlie called for everyone's attention. "A lady I know told me some news today. It seems Ginny is expecting, and is sick. Very sick. Lucius won't allow her treatment because it would harm the baby." He had come to the wrong conclusion. He paused. "She is likely to die."

Arthur, always the calmer of the two parents, asked, "How do you know this?"

"This girl, Merlin, I don't even know her name, has been coming in to the shop a lot for the last while. We have talked mostly about books, children's books most of the time. She has been buying them for a friend who is expecting. Today she came in really upset. She explained that her friend was ill and said the friend's name was Ginny. I guessed our Ginny, and she confirmed it."

"My poor baby!" Molly gasped. "He's using her as an incubator to break this damn curse!"

"We have to stop him!" George said.

"We could fight 'im in court. It'z only in 'is best interests to allow 'er to die." Fleur, who had also come to join the family meeting, suggested. She was still married to Bill even though weren't living under the same roof.

"Any court would look at who he is and see he is just trying to kill her," Ron added. "They would have to side with us and order the healers to treat Ginny."

The fact that neither Harry nor Hermione had been invited to this meeting only showed how much things had changed for the Weasleys. They no longer functioned as a family unit and were fractioned and disjointed now.

Lucius had stopped going in to the office to be near his wife. Their bedroom now looked to him like some type of Muggle torture chamber. His king-size bed was replaced with a single metal frame bed with a mattress covered in a plastic sheet that made noise when Ginny moved. The bed also had bars on it to keep her in it, and she was attached to machines that showed her heart rate and breathing pattern that would ring every so often to warn of a change. Hours earlier, the doctor had put a tube into Ginny to help her breathe, and there was tape holding the tube in her mouth. Just looking at the tape on her face made Lucius feel uncomfortable, but he hadn't left Ginny's side other than to use the washroom. He had spent most nights half asleep in a chair in the room. The hand that had at the beginning of Ginny's pregnancy rested on her flat belly now held her hand, as if he was holding on to his own life.

Lucius was angry; no, mad as hell at her for making him promise her that he give her every possible chance to get the baby to the 26 week mark. But he also knew, at this point, if he broke that promise to her she would NEVER trust him.

He had gone over in his own mind every interaction he had ever had with her more times than he could count. They played in his mind on a continuous loop. He now knew the moment he fell in love with his young wife. It was when she uttered the words,"Insolent, perhaps. Child, no. Now, as far as marrying you goes, I have not made up my mind as of yet. I'm only seventeen and I need more time to decide which way I want to ruin my life."at their first private meeting.

Did she really feel that marrying him had ruined her life? He didn't want that for her. He wanted her happy; that's why he allowed this insane Muggle healing that was now killing her in the first place. He had not told her how he felt about her. He felt he had no right to. He was old enough to be her father! She should have had to marry Draco. Maybe Draco could have earned her love and made her happy enough that she would have wanted to fight for her right to live, above the baby's rights. Right now, he was even mad at Narcissa. Why could she have not gone riding till the evening that day that seemed like a lifetime ago?

Draco entered the room. He nodded to the nurse, Stella, who was sitting in the far corner of the room. He looked at Lucius, who was staring at Ginny. Lucius was unshaven, his hair looked unkempt, and according to Draco looked better in the final year of the war.

Draco had taken over all business matters at the office. When the solicitor arrived with the order to appear in court, Draco was only able to accept it on Lucius' behalf because of the doctors who were staying at the Manor agreeing that Ginny could not be disturbed and Lucius wouldn't leave her.

Draco read it over and while his first reaction was to go to the Burrow and give them a piece of his mind for turning their backs on Ginny up until now, he knew this was his father's battle. He honestly didn't know how Lucius would react to this.

Draco slowly walked up to Lucius. "Father, I know you don't want to leave her, but there is something that must be discussed immediately."

"Not now," Lucius replied, his eyes never leaving Ginny.

"It can't wait. It's about Ginny; something that would upset her. You don't want her to hear this. Father, I would not, have not, bothered you with anything so far. You must realize that I would not unless it was a matter of life and death."

This caught Lucius' attention. He looked over at Draco, who had the court papers facing his father, knowing he would realize they couldn't hold anything good in their words.

A/N Please review!