Title: Pieces of You

Summary: Lavender is pregnant. Why is that important to the Dark Lord? What can Ron do about it? And more important: what can Draco do?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

"Weasley!"

Ron groaned, speeding up at once. How did Malfoy know just where to find him when he was alone? He regretted saying goodbye to Hermione and Harry –who had gone up to the Quidditch pitch early– and prayed that if he kept walking someone would come to rescue him. His stomach ached, he felt a weird tug on his heart, as if his body mourned the loss of their chain. He silently cursed his body for betraying him, still walking through the hallways as fast as he could.

"Hey! Weasel!"

Draco tried to catch up with the redhead, feeling the knot –that had been present ever since he had read and reread the letter from his father– in his stomach twisting and turning. What would he say if he could get Ron to listen to him? He felt angry, almost like Ron had betrayed him by sleeping with a girl. But what should he care? It was not like he reciprocated the feelings Ron had!

"Ron!"

The Gryffindor felt his body tingle the moment Draco said his name. Unaware of his movements he slowed down to a normal pace, allowing the blonde to catch up with him. The hallways were empty, all the students having gone down to the Quidditch pitch already, which gave Draco the opportunity to snake his arm around Rons' waist. The redhead jumped, trying to push the other boy away.

"Shhh..."

The Slytherin purred, his teeth catching hold of Rons' earlobe for a second. He enjoyed the whimper emanated by the tall Gryffindor, followed by a short intake of breath. Pushing the momentarily distracted boy into the wall he whispered:

"You know you want me."

Ron didn't answer. Draco allowed his own body to press into Rons', relaxing against hard muscles. His hands traveled over the Gryffindors' body, almost unable to suppress a groan.

"What do you want Malfoy? I have a game coming up in fifteen minutes."

The redhead said, trying to remain calm. Draco grinned, seeing through his façade.

"You know what I want Weasley...I want you. Your body."

"Slip of the tongue Malfoy? I thought you said you didn't want me. I thought you said that it was just physical."

Draco slammed Ron into the wall, his arousal increasing from Rons' suppressed growl of pain.

"You don't want to make me angry Weasel...not if you want to know what the Dark Lord has planned for you."

He was surprised that Ron didn't fight him, not knowing that the Gryffindor was too tired to resist his former lover anymore. Instead, Ron just rested his head against the wall, his eyes closed. Part of Draco wanted to hurt him, wanted to provoke a reaction, any reaction, while another part wanted to fight away his fears, cradle the taller boy in his arms and kiss him in the most loving way he could. The thought scared him.

Ron sighed, slowly turning around, surprised that Draco let him. He rested against the wall, captured in Draco's arms, his eyes still closed.

"Just do it Malfoy. Do whatever you want. I'm not even going to fight anymore. It's not worth it."

Draco was torn between wanting to kiss the redhead senseless and letting him go. He wasn't like this, was he? He didn't want to hurt Ron.

Oh Lord, he wanted to protect him.

His face twitched. His hand traveled up to Rons' cheek, touching the freckled area in a tender fashion. The Gryffindor didn't respond, his eyes still firmly shut. Draco's lips brushed those of the other boy for a few seconds before suddenly letting go and running off.

"Come on Ron! You can do this!"

Harry shouted at his friend who was hovering a few feet above him, looking as pale as if he'd just seen a Dementor. Ron looked at his friend and merely nodded, still too busy figuring out what had happened to Malfoy. He didn't pay much attention to the quaffle, instead his eyes kept lingering on the Slytherins, who were bursting into another couplet of "Weasley is our King". Strangely, Draco wasn't there. Everybody else was there to watch the game, but Draco Malfoy wasn't.

Almost everybody was there. There weren't a lot of people who noticed, but a young Gryffindor girl was also missing. A young pregnant Gryffindor girl, though she didn't know it yet.

The game took two hours. In the end, Gryffindor managed to win from Hufflepuff by a ten point margin. Ron felt guilty, knowing that they would have lost if Harry hadn't caught the Snitch. It didn't look like anybody cared though. It didn't matter how awful the game was, as long as they ended up as the winning team. Harry walked up to Ron, who somehow had ended up in a hug with Hermione. Everybody was cheering and laughing, and although Ron was happy that they had won, he couldn't keep his mind of off Draco. He hoped nobody would notice.

"Ron? Have you seen Lavender? She wasn't at the game..."

A worried Parvati looked at Ron, who was sipping his butterbeer in the corner. Ron turned to her, a questioning look in his eyes.

"Why would I know where Lavender is?"

Harry and Hermione seemed to listen in on his conversation, which made him feel uncomfortable in a way, but good in another. If they heard what happened between him and Lavender they would never suspect the truth. They would think he was inattentive during the game because he was worried about a girl.

Parvati smiled, leaning in to him.

"I know. You don't have to keep it secret with me. I know you two are together. Sort of."

He nearly choked on his butterbeer, wondering when he had ever led Lavender to believe that they would be more than just classmates. Apart from the sex of course, but that had been a one time deal. She had known that, right? He had made that clear from the start, hadn't he?

"I haven't seen her around lately. So she wasn't at the game? Didn't she tell you where she was going to be?"

Parvati shook her head.

"I was supposed to meet her at the game. She wouldn't miss seeing you play, not for the world."

Ron grinned shyly, growing more and more uncomfortable with the whole situation. Parvati seemed to notice, because she suddenly smiled sadly.

"If I see her, should I tell her that it was just a one-time thing? It might break her heart more gently if I tell her."

Ron nodded, feeling relieved, though guilty.

Draco looked down at the girl sobbing at his feet. He stepped back, not wanting her to befoul his expensive shoes. With a repulsed look on his face he grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

"Why?"

She choked, tears streaming down her face. Her eyes tried to focus on his, but he kept looking away.

"You don't want to know why."

Lavender tried to grab his hand, tried to persuade him to tell her, to leave her alone. He wouldn't. His voice was harsh, as were his features.

"It's better this way."

She shook her head, her hands clinging to him.

"Please."

He curled his lip in disgust.

"Don't beg. I'm no bloody Gryffindor. I'm Slytherin. Evil, remember?"

"So you're doing this because you're evil? Because you can?"

She choked out, her watery eyes following his every move.

"Because it has to be done. You're better off not knowing why."

Why did his voice suddenly sound gentle? Why was he about to give in? To explain? Damn that redhead! He had softened him, made him into a bloody girl! He sighed, kneeling down next to the crying girl. He was one second away from putting his hand on her shoulder. Luckily, she shied away from him.

"Brown...Lavender, you're not just pregnant. According to Voldemort you're carrying some sort of evil superbaby. He wants to have that baby. If he gets it...I don't know what he'll do with it but it won't be fun and bunnies. You're a Gryffindor. It's for the best."

Apparently, sincerity wasn't expected nor accepted for a Slytherin. Needless to say, she didn't believe him. She started yelling at him, hitting him with her tiny fists until she was out of breath. He let her, watching her silently.

"I'm sorry. I can't let this happen."

She looked down in defeat, her whole body trembling with fear. Draco sat next to her on his knees, his wand pointing at her stomach.

"Don't tell the Weasel."

He muttered a spell, before lowering his hand to her mouth. She started twitching, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks as a red stain appeared on her dress. Her eyes were widened in fear and pain, and Draco felt guilty. He looked at her, his one hand holding her tiny fingers as he tried to calm her down by just looking into her eyes. She gasped for air as wave after wave of excruciating pain ran down her body. Yet she made no sound.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead as she relaxed against the wall, the pain finally subsiding. She had her eyes closed, tears still hanging from her eyelashes.

"I'm sorry,"

he whispered, though he wasn't really sure if she'd know that he meant it. She merely nodded, too tired to speak.

"I'm not lying. I know you won't believe me, but it's true. I don't want anything to happen. I don't want Voldemort to start a second war."

He stood up again, watching her for a few more minutes. Lavender kept her eyes closed, hoping that if she stayed silent he would just leave. After a long silence he finally did. It took her some time to get up, her body still shaking. The wall was a much-needed comfort.

She felt numb. Empty. Though she hadn't known she was pregnant, it still felt like something was missing from her body. A hand on her stomach, another on the wall, she made her way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, where the party was still going strong. A huge red stain covered her dress, her eyes were bloodshot. She didn't want to see anyone, but she knew that she couldn't avoid her friends.

Stumbling into the Common Room she was immediately the center of attention. The whispers led to a deadly silence, in which Parvati rushed to her side, followed by a cautious-looking Ron. His eyes were the last thing she saw before she passed out.