Thank you so much to those who have taken an interest in this story so far. Those of you have reviewed have also helped greatly. Well I won't keep you any longer, so onto the story…


Chapter Three

Draco's POV:

I awoke several hours' later feeling rested. It was probably the most sleep I had received all summer. I hummed in contentment and sat up a bit. I then noticed the unfamiliar pressure against my chest. I looked down and almost screamed out in shock. I had fallen asleep in the dungeons with the girl! No wonder my back ached and I was chilled to the bone.

"Ah, Draco, I was wondering when you were going to wake." My blood turned to ice in my veins once I heard that silky voice in the dark. "Lumos."

"M-my Lord-"

"Silence," He interrupted in a harsh hiss. At once I shut my mouth and turn my gaze to his hems. Drat it; he has that bloody snake with him. I could see the outline of her lithe body in the darkness as she climbed up his robes to rest upon his shoulders. She then reaches out till she is merely inches away from the girl. She flicks her tongue out and tastes her flesh. I cringe and thank whatever gods would spare a moment for me, that she is still sleeping.

Nigini then let out a series of hisses and looked up to her master, who smiled with the news.

"So she drank the potion?" My brows knit together for a moment as I try to remember a potion. I had been asleep but I'm a relatively light sleeper, I would have noticed if someone came to distribute a potion. "Don't be so daft, boy. You gave her the potion." My eyes widen. The water! It really wasn't water after all. But how could I have not known? I would have tasted something. There was no potion in my knowledge that was clear, scentless, and tasteless.

Voldemort laughed. "You really do take after your father." Absentmindedly, he strokes the great snake that lay across his shoulders. "It was a gravada ingravesco draught." For a minute or more I forget how to breathe. Then when I remember I willed myself to just stop so I can drop dead but perhaps I was wrong about the potion. Perhaps I had gotten my Latin wrong. I almost had to roll my eyes at the thought though. I had been studying Latin since I was five years old. So the possibility of me not knowing this word, or not getting it correct was almost impossible.

"You can't possibly mean-," I rant before I remember whom I'm speaking to. "My a-apologies, my Lord." I mutter, as my cheeks flame red. He smirks in amusement.

"Yes, Draco, you are correct. I have ensured that she would become pregnant. And before you ask another mindless question, yes, you have sired the child." I look down at the sleeping form in my arms. I didn't even know her name! And if I had known this would have happened I would not have offered her the potion…I wouldn't have even touched her. I didn't even think such a thing could happen. Why would he want it to?

"Ah, another admirable question." He sneers. "I'll answer it, in a round about way, just since you did such a good job with our little guest." He conjures up a chair and takes a seat then silently lifts the girl from me and lays her comfortably on her side, tucking the cloak around her body. My eyes involuntarily wonder over to her sleeping form. I feel like something is missing with her not in my arms. What a peculiar feeling. But I will have to ponder it later. Right now my thirst for knowledge is drowning out all other thoughts.

"How well do you remember your second year, Draco?" I try to think. My second year was fairly normal. I had made the Quiddich team that year and lost to fuckin' Potter by the sheer accident of falling off my broom! Then he had beaten me in dueling class just because he could talk to snakes. Wait that was it! That Chamber of Secrets!

For three or four months everyone suspected me of being the heir of Slytherin until they found out Potter could talk to snakes. It turned out to be a fairly decent year after that little tid-bit slipped out. Everyone was terrified of him and avoided him like the plague. I smirked to myself then turned my attention back to the Dark Lord.

"The Chamber of Secrets was opened that year, my Lord"

"Very good," he chides. "But I don't suppose you remember who opened it, now do you?" I opened my mouth but quickly closed it. It had to be a trick question. Voldemort was Slytherin's heir and had to have opened the chamber but I had heard an absurd story detailing that Potter had opened the Chamber to save some pathetic first year? Of coarse this was only a story. It had to be. I had heard it from Pansy after she got back from that ridiculous feast where everyone wore his or her pajamas! On the other hand it would prove why scar head had received all those undeserved points for Gryffindor at the end of the year feast.

"I didn't think you did." He said after many silent moments of me thinking. I looked up at him with remorse. "You had been rather young," he sighed, as if talking to himself. "However I'm sure you knew of the diary your father planted for me." I nod my head slowly. I vaguely remembered my father telling me about a job well done entitling a journal.

"That diary proved to be a very prudent accessory to me in more ways than one. I had, of coarse hoped to have it given to Harry Potter but nonetheless it was given to a very unique person, indeed. She was an innocent child at the time. At first glance I assumed she would be nothing more than an idle plaything but she ended up being one of the greatest followers of her time. Too bad it wasn't voluntary." I tilted my head, urging him to go on, but I didn't like where this was going at all.

"She wrote her deepest darkest secrets to me and bit by bit I learned more about her. Ginerva demonstrated what is to be smart, amusing, and beautiful. But me being a memory I had no way of being with her. But steadily still, I found that I was, for the first time in my life, falling in love." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This all seemed so surreal. The Dark Lord in love? The idea would be comical if it wasn't so dire.

"But alas she was taken from me by Harry Potter of all people. I vowed I would get him back for taking the most precious thing in my memory and now I have a way to harm him in a way I never have."

He glanced over at the girl. She was snoring softly, her breath leaving an icy imprint in the air. She must have been a close friend to that scar head for this plan to make him hurt work successfully. I felt even worse for her than I already had. She was merely a pawn in a cruel and unusual game. I didn't know her but I didn't think she deserved this. No one did.

Slowly, the dark Lord rose and made his way over to her sleeping form. I watched with growing repulsion. I didn't want anything more to come to harm her. I didn't know why I felt so strongly towards her but I did. Perhaps it was because like her I was also a prisoner.

"And now I have what I had desired for so long." He raised her sleeping form into the air so that she hovered a few inches from his nearing hand. "How I have missed our little chats." He said as he stroked one pale finger across her lush lips.

So the story that Pansy had told me was true I thought as my eyes widened in understanding. This girl was the girl who had wound up in the Chamber of Secrets and had to be rescued. She had also been the girl who had captured the dark Lord's heart if he ever possessed one in the first place. But there was still so much I didn't understand. So feeling the pressure to learn more I asked a question, a very unwise thing to do but I needed to know.

"What does this all have to do with me impregnating her?" I blurted out then waited for my punishment. But it never came. He didn't even reach for his wand. He instead stroked the girl's pale skin once more then lowered her back to the floor.

"A thirst for knowledge," he smirks as he places himself back on the chair. "I see that I have not told you everything and neither shall I but you deserve to know a bit more." I bow my head in thanks and steal a glance at her once again and thought of her name. Ginerva. I could picture her a little clearer in my mind. In class her friends had called her 'Ginny' I think once Potter had even used the pet form of that and called her 'Gin'.

"I am unable to produce an heir. I have learned this many years ago while I tried to produce you with your mother." I cringe and bite my tongue to keep myself from saying something I would greatly regret. "Your parents have been loyal, not always a immense assistance to me, but loyal nonetheless. I knew you would be no different."

He was right. I was no different from my parents. I was just as weak and pathetic as they had always been and still are. I have only had a moment where I was given a chance to be brave and that moment was killed, literally. Now I just had to wait for my next assignment like the good little pet I was raised to be.

Without me noticing, he stood and walked to the door. The sudden light that flooded into the room was the only thing that alerted me. I looked up, confused as to what was going on.

"Wake her and take her to the East Wing. She will be occupying the room that is adjoining to yours. See to it that she is cleaned and dressed properly." With that he left the room, leaving me once again alone with her.

For the first time in hours I stood and walked over to where she lied. She looked so peaceful. It would be a shame to wake her, but it was a command. On the other hand he didn't say I had to do it right away.

I knelt down beside her and just watched her for a couple minutes. This girl, Ginerva or whatever she was called would be the mother of my child. The dark Lord would be fathering it but it would still be my fresh and blood.

Absentmindedly I stroked a strand of her crimson hair from her face. She nuzzled into the touch and hummed in contentment. I smiled and edged a little closer to her. It was so odd to be around another human being. For the most part, I spent my days alone occupying myself with various books.

It would be nice to have someone to talk to. 'But what makes me think she's going to talk to me?' I sigh and let my hand fall. I'm being stupid if I think she's going to be a friend. Malfoy's don't have friends. I learned this at a very early stage in life I don't know why I am looking back on it now.

Inching away from her, I prepare to wake her. It probably would be for the best. At least this way she wouldn't be stuck in the dungeon. Which really was freezing.

"Ginny," I whisper as I shake her shoulder carefully. Her eyes flutter for a moment then she groans. I nudge her again "Come on Weasley, I promise you'll get more sleep later." She looks up at me and nods reluctantly.

"I'm freezing," she mutters, her teeth chattering in confirmation as she wraps my cloak tighter around her small form.

"You'll be warmer soon," I say as I help her up. She looks at me suspiciously but says nothing as she takes my hand and rises to her feet. I usher her to the door but we don't get very far. She stops dead after only a couple steps and doubles over to retch everything she has left in her stomach. I wait patiently for her to stop then lift her easily into my arms.

"What are you doing," she asks weakly as I nudge the door open with my leg and make my way out of the ominous chamber.

"I figure we'll never make it to my room at the pace we were going."

"Your room?"

"I have orders to get you cleaned and dressed." She nodded and looked up at me then laid her head against my chest. I didn't know what to say but I didn't want her to go back to sleep so I took a stab at a conversation.

"What do you like to be called?"

"Hmm," she asked sleepily.

"Come on wake up and answer my question. What should I call you?"

"Malfoy, I don't want you calling me anything." She attempts to glare at me but ends up looking more fragile then she did before. I just roll my eyes. I expected the answer.

"Weasley, we're not in school right now. I don't have to play the bully, okay? I'm making an attempt to be civil, don't you think you could try as well?" I looked down at her in question. She sighed and offered a small bob of her head that I took for agreement.

"You can call me Ginny." I walk up the stairs carefully then turn to make it to my room.

"I suppose since we're on first name basis, you can call me Draco." I watch as her eyes light up for a moment but then quickly look away. But I'm glad to see that she is looking more alive. She even feels warmer to the touch. She looks a bit flushed though. I hope she wasn't becoming ill. It wasn't hard to do though.

Making the rest of the way to my room, I usher us both in and gently set her atop the bed while I went into the bathroom to make her bath. After turning on the water and checking to make sure that the temperature would be okay, I peeked back into the bedroom to see that she had fallen back asleep. I sighed and walked towards the bed to wake her again.

"Ginny, come on, let's get you into some warm water. It'll make you feel so much better."

"'M tired," she moaned.

"I know," I said as I grabbed her from off the bed to carry her to the bathroom. I sat her down on the toilet seat and turned to turn off the water. I was hesitant to do what I was about to do. I just kept telling myself that it was a command and I had no choice in the matter and that she would feel better after being cleaned.

I turned back to her and reached for her blouse. As soon as I did this, her eyes flew wide open.

"I'm just getting you ready for your bath." I assured and unbuttoned the first button. She coiled away from my almost non-existent touch as if I had struck her. This made me feel horrible but I willed myself to be patient. After all she had been through a lot and she didn't even know the half of it.

"I won't touch you, I promise." She looked at me long and hard for what seemed like a lifetime but in the end allowed me to undress her. I did this as fast as I could while trying not to linger on any part of her. Once she was undressed I gently placed her in the warm, bubbling water.

"I'm going to wash you now." I reached for my own favorite washcloth knowing it was the softest then poured on some of my sweetest smelling body soap hoping all of this would add some kind of comfort to her.

"I like the smell," she says as I begin to wash her. I nod absentmindedly as I keep my strokes soothing and soft. I wash her neck and shoulders with ease but once I get to her breasts I tense up but try to remain calm and seem as if I'm at ease. I gently circle her right breast with the washcloth moving in even circular motions. I then moved to the other one to repeat the process.

I could feel myself hardening with each stroke of the washcloth. But I couldn't think about such things right now. I took a few deep breaths, hoping that would do the trick as I moved down her body. She tensed as I passed her navel. I rested the washcloth on the soft patch of curls that nestled between her thighs and chanced a glance up at her.

"You're going to have to trust me."

"Why should I?" It was a very good question, one that I didn't expect. Why should she trust me? After all I was Draco Malfoy. My reputation wasn't supposed to be trusted.

"You have no other choice but to take my word and trust that I won't hurt you," I say after many minutes of contemplating with myself over the matter. "I'm going to clean you as fast as possible and get you ready for dinner. Nothing more. Nothing less. Understand?" She lets out a breath and nods reluctantly. Gently I ease my hand between her thighs to her most private parts.

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath then holds it as I stroke her softly. Slowly the air leaks out from between her lips and she eases her eyes open to look at me for a moment. She goes to take another deep breath but by the time she does I'm already moving on to her thighs and legs and before she knows it I'm finished.

I help her out of the water and wrap a big fluffy green towel around her then take her in my arms again and walk back into the bedroom.

"Thank you," she whispers as I lay her down upon the bed once more. I offer a small smile then turn to walk into her room from mine to find something for her to wear.

Her room is small and lifeless compared to mine. It has a single quilt on the bed that I know isn't going to keep her warm during the night and a wardrobe in the corner. No pictures on the wall, no chairs to make her comfortable, no blinds on the window to cheer the room up, not even a pillow to rest her head on.

The way the Dark Lord went on about her I thought she would have a far better room than even mine with all the furnishings that any person deserved and more. I suppose love only ran so deep with him.

I didn't ponder it anymore though. Instead I walked over to the wardrobe to fetch what I came in here for.

I walked over to the rather incongruous piece of furniture and opened it once again expecting much more than what was in there. Three articles of clothing hung from three different dingy hangers.

A tatty old sweater that had once belonged to me when I was much younger, a pair of my old slacks, and what looked like one of my mother's dinner gowns that belonged to her when she was a young girl.

Arching an eyebrow I took out the dinner gown, assuming that was what the dark Lord wanted her in and left the room.

The first thing I noticed once I entered my room was the puddle of vomit spewed over my bedspread and her looking over at me with wide fearful eyes.

"I-I'm so sorry," she sobbed. I shook my head, dismissing her apology. After all it wasn't her fault. The pregnancy drought was obviously making her violently ill. I just wish I could tell her that was what it was. She looked so scared. I didn't blame her. She had no idea what was happening to her.

"It's fine, really."

"I didn't mean to, honest," she cried pitifully. I walked to her side and carefully laid the gown as far away from the mess as possible then I fished out my wand from my pocket.

"Scourgify," I said pointing my wand at the vomit. In a blink of an eye the mess was gone leaving my bedspread as clean as it had been before she had gotten sick. "There we go, no harm done. Now lets get you dressed." She nodded and wiped her nose across her arm. I sigh eyeing her up. She really was a fright at the moment. Hopefully getting her dressed in one of my mother's dresses would right her up a bit.

After a minute or two she was dressed in the peach colored dress. She was a vision to behold even in her stupor. Lace covered her from head to toe. I fastened penny fashioned buttons down a trail from her collar to the small of her back and watched as the folds of silk and satin flowed down her body. She was an absolute picture of femininity.

"This dress is really beautiful," she confessed as she fingered it carefully.

"Yes, I believe there is a portrait somewhere that shows my mother wearing it after she had me." She smiles and for a moment looks prouder like the pureblood she was. I even forgot for that moment that she was a Weasley.

"I'm so afraid that I'll be sick again while wearing it." I sit her down on the edge of the bed and summon a brush from the bathroom.

"I wouldn't worry to much about that. After all I am a wizard, am I not?" I joke earning an endearing smile from her. I wish I could make her smile all the time but there really wasn't much to smile about.

We sit in silence as I work through her knots and tangles. She then turns around once I near the end of her long strands.

"Why are you doing all of this?" I open my mouth to answer but she cuts me off. "And don't say it's because you were 'commanded' to." Hmm, she really was a smart girl. I don't want to tell her the whole truth but I decide I'll tell her part of it.

"To be honest I feel horrible about last night." She quickly lowers her eyes from mine as her cheeks tinge pink with either embarrassment or anger. I really can't tell which. "You didn't deserve to be treated like that…and I'm just trying to make up for it."

"So I'm just a charity case? Or is it your feeling guilt for the first time in your life and you don't know how else to make it go away?" My eyes widen in shock and confusion after her little outburst. I couldn't believe how wrong she was. Didn't she realize that I felt something towards her? I had hoped that she felt the same mutual understanding and empathy that I felt towards her but obviously I would always be an evil, heartless person in her eyes. And maybe she was right. Perhaps I really was a horrible person and no matter how hard I tried to change I would always stay the same.

"Your right, Weasley." I agree, deciding it didn't matter what I said. She would believe what she wanted to believe. And see me as she wished. I glare at her, playing the part she had chosen for me. "I just feel pity for you since you're nothing more than a mere fuck."

She raises her hand to strike me. I wait patiently for the impact to come but it never does. Instead she just stares at me with a million different emotions. I try to catch one but as soon as I try it changes to something different.

"You don't mean that," she says but it sounds more like a question then an assumption.

"It doesn't matter what I mean," I hiss, now angry at the whole situation. I felt so many things right now and the millions of feelings were making my head hurt terribly. I just wanted everything to stop so I didn't feel so lightheaded.

"You honestly feel bad about everything, don't you Draco?" She said my name. That was the first time in her life that she had called me by my name. It sounded so pure and guiltless coming from her. I wished she would say it again.

"Just drop it, Weasley," I sigh, rubbing my temple slowly, trying desperately to ease the pain away. I was too tired to deal with these types of situations.

"Thank you."

"We better get down to the dinning room for dinner." I say, trying to block her out entirely but failing miserably at it. I take a deep breath and offer her my arm. She takes it without question and we slowly make it out of the room.

She looks over at me and for a brief moment I catch her eye. I smile to myself with what I see in her innocent glance. She may be the only person in the world that has a fleeting idea that I may be more than what I look to be.


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