Disclaimer: Anything that rings a bell belongs to J.K Rowling

Chapter Twenty One: Everything and Nothing

29th August 2005

Ky's POV

"Miss Ky!" I barely stepped out when a familiar voice ascended on me, and I was hugged tightly at my midriff. "I is so sorry! It is all I's fault! I was with Master Bane when he was taken, I was made to sleep, but I should have fought."

"Come now, Kinks, save your tears for joy when we have our little one back." I comforted the elf, who had been by my side every step of the way of raising Bane.

Loud barks filled the room and a black blur dashed forward, leaping onto Kinky and I, and I steadied myself as I petted Padfoot, who was beside himself with excitement at being reunited. His wagging tail fell, and he began howling, it quickly turned to cries and I comforted him.

"I know boy, I know. We'll get him back." He continued whining at me just as the flames turned to green once more and Harry, Ron, Mi, Rolf and Theseus followed me into the living room of Malfoy Manor. It was different to the last time they would have been here, Astoria had been a blessing to the place, adding warming blues and greens to the cold atmosphere Lucius Malfoy preferred.

I had to hold Padfoot back as his crying immediately turned to fierce growls and he lurched forward defensively, "Down!" I didn't have to speak twice, and he sat back, but he continued growling at them, "I'm sorry, he isn't usually so hostile, I suppose with Bane being taken…"

Theseus walked forward and petted him, and his growling stopped, finally recognising someone.

"Master Harry." Kinky bowed low.

Harry had a look of relief mingled with surprise on his face, "Kinky…I thought you were dead in the final battle."

"I is so sorry." The elf sobbed, "I is staying with Miss Ky. I did not break your order, I served Miss Ky, as you asked me to."

Harry nodded, "Well…I am just happy to see that you are well."

Kinky curtsied to each of them, and then went downstairs.

"She's been crying all morning, Flopsy was actually nice to her." Draco had wallked into the room, his hair slightly damp, he must have just got out of the shower. I nodded blankly at his words, Kinky and Flopsy were not fans of each other, struggling to share duties under the manor which was Flopsy's domain. Padfoot went over and gave Draco a welcoming lick, which I was surprised he didn't recoil at, they were not fast friends. His silver orbs found mine, "Are you alright?"

"She's hurt her foot and her shoulder, perhaps you can take a look?" Harry had spoken, and I suddenly realised why he hadn't forced me off to Mungo's.

Ron and Rolf had walked further into the room, glancing about it, and Padfoot immediately started growling at them, and Draco held him back, "Sorry, he has been weird ever since we woke him up, Blaise put him in a magical sleep, same as Kinky, in order to get Bane out. Do you mind having a look at him, Scamander?"

Rolf hadn't responded, glancing at the portrait in the corner of the room of some old dead Malfoy ancestor.

"Rolf?" He snapped to attention at my voice.

"Oh, what? Sorry I've never been anywhere this…wow." He muttered and I shook my head, Rolf was known for having his head in the clouds but I was hoping for a bit more attentiveness given the nature of our situation. "Oh yes, I'll have a look at him." He walked over to Padfoot who still hadn't stopped growling and I looked on sadly at my poor puppy being ushered out by Rolf.

"What were you saying about your shoulder?" Draco looked between Harry and I.

"Later." I prevented a visible reaction to the pain of my left foot as I stood on it and walked towards the stairs, ascending quietly to the room that Bane slept in. I stood at the entrance, looking at the tidy room. He was an exceptionally neat child, even when he was a toddler, he'd upend his box of toys just to rearrange them again. So much like Sev…

I could feel someone behind me, but couldn't tell who it was. "I just realised I don't know what he he was wearing yesterday."

I felt comforting hands at my back, and silver blonde hair pass by, "Flopsy already did the laundry."

"We could use his bedsheets." That was Harry, he spoke quietly from behind me.

Draco nodded, flicking his wand at the sheet and it flew off and folded itself, and hovered over to Harry.

"I'll send this over to Alex, and if it's okay with you Malfoy, Theseus and I wanted to have a look around the place."

Draco cocked a brow, and so did I.

Theseus and I?

That was fast.

"Why?" My confusion slowly cleared as I turned around and saw Harry glance quickly at Draco. "Harry, I trust Draco with my life. I left my son with him-"

"And he's missing."

Before I could respond, Draco stepped forward, "It's fine. Look wherever you like Potter, just try to be quiet in the nursery." He gestured to the room across from us, "I just put Scorpius down."

Harry nodded, and I was pleased to see he looked a bit guilty this time.

"I can examine you in the meantime. Flopsy." His houself appeared, quite tall for her kind.

"Master Malfoy." She answered gracefully with a curtsy.

"Please arrange for refreshments for our guests downstairs. Perhaps some diluted pepper up tonic as well if they would like, it's been a long night."

She curtsied in understanding and vanished.

Harry glanced one more time between Draco and I, and then walked off.

I entered Bane's bedroom, walking to the back where his bookshelf was kept. He loved reading, and I was grateful to Draco for filling the large shelves of this room with children's books, magical and muggle, a mere day after we said we would be staying longer.

Bane and I would play a game back home where he would rearrange his books on his shelf and I'd have to guess what he had organised them by.

I fingered the spine of a random book, noticing that he was halfway through with rearranging them… he'd often take days doing it, seeing as he would think of such creative methods of organising. The last time it was done by birthdate of the author, that took me a long time to figure out. I pulled a book off the shelf, not being able to see the writing in the blurriness of my fresh tears.

"Ky, I'm so sorry."

I sniffed, turning around to face Draco, "I don't blame you. You had your hands fill with Scorpius. I shouldn't have left you on your own."

He walked over, gesturing at my bare left shoulder and I nodded, and he took his recitator out, "I was the one that pushed you to take the weekend off." He sighed, "It's fractured, diluted skelegrow will do the trick. Sit."

I sat on Bane's bed, pulling his pillow into my arms and hugging it as Draco lifted my right leg and took off my black heel, inspecting my foot.

I cuddled Bane's pillow, not for the first time wondering if I had done the right thing as I stared out the window, rain drops pelting the glass softly in the quiet night.

Four weeks ago

I watched the scene unfold through the rain spattered pane, the restaurant was busy, and they had been smart seating the famous family right in front, passersby gawking and pointing, much to Harry's displeasure.

I tightened the belt about my trench coat as he chatted to Mi, whose face was beet red, she had consumed about a bottle of wine during the very long dinner.

"Excuse me." I moved silently out of the way of an exitting couple, catching my gasp of surprise, it was Alex Silver and Parvati. I was unrecognisable in polyjuice form of a random muggle girl I got a hair off earlier in the day, and Alex's eyes narrowed at the friendly smile I had automattically given them.

That was stupid.

"So, will he do it today? You told me he bought the ring like a year ago."

He looked away, sufficiently distracted by his wife, "Not a year, but yes a while ago. He says so, it's a good excuse, all her family are there, and he thinks she might like that, or he could wait for her birthday in two weeks."

"Oh but that's so close to the wedding, wouldn't Hermione and Ron think they're taking attention away from them?"

I didn't get to hear Alex's response as just then, a quiet pop symbolised the entry of a friend. "Hiya, Ky."

It was Rolf, my roommate. "Hi. How was Madagascar?"

"Unfruitful. Which is ironic considering how plentiful the island is with fruit. How was the funeral?"

"I couldn't go." Astoria's funeral was today, and seeing as very few people were invited, I couldn't even go in disguise.

"And…the birthday?"

I didn't answer, not liking that Rolf knew me this well. I had done well to stay away from Harry the last ten days, despite being nearby, but I couldn't help stopping by to watch him enjoy the last few minutes of his twenty fifth birthday.

"Why don't you go in?"

I turned around, astounded at the suggestion, "What? You know I can't."

"You don't have to talk to Harry. You could just, I don't know, get a better look. Hear his voice."

Hear his voice?

Godric I hadn't heard his voice in three years. Yes I saw his face in newspapers all the time, but his voice.

"Go on, I'll have your back." I frowned at Rolf, conflicted. Just then I watched as Harry whispered something to Ginny, and they both stood, vacating the table.

Oh Godric.

It was happening.

He was going to propose.

Without thinking, I entered the restaurant. And before anybody could see me I made a beeline to the passage Harry and Ginny had headed down.

I needed to see it happen, I needed to see him bend down and ask her.

I found them, and quickly hid behind a wall, grateful for the large statue of some Greek god that blocked me from view.

"-not want to get into it here, in front of everybody."

"I'm sorry. I've apologised a hundred times for being late, I know you wanted to have a quiet drink before everyone gets here, but there was a situation in Oxford and-"

"I don't care." Ginny snapped.

"What?" Harry whispered, wounded.

"I. Don't. Care! Just. We'll talk when we're home."

I bit my inner cheek, I shouldn't be happy they were fighting. That's awful of me.

"Oh." I jumped, suddenly Ginny was in front of me, "Excuse me, are you?"

I nodded at her hand gesture to the door behind me, just realising I was stood in front of the entrance to the ladie's toilets. I walked in and Ginny followed, there were just two stalls, one was out of use, and the other available.

Ginny made a gagging sound and looked hopefully at me and I said she could go first and she shot into the stall, barely closing it as the sounds of her wretching plagued the room. I flinched as she seemed to unload everything she consumed in the last day at least. I offered her a napkin as she emerged with an apologetic look on her face.

"I just got here. What should I avoid?" I asked, playing the part of fellow diner at restaurant.

She thanked me for the napkin and washed her mouth out, "Unprotected sex."

I stood frozen next to her, and she looked at me in the mirror, horrified, "Oh shit, erm. Fuck. I haven't even told my boyfriend, well I would have told him today if he wasn't late. Shit. Why am I talking so much."

"Word vomit." I added dully, surprised I could even fake jokes.

Ginny was pregnant.

Ginny was pregnant with Harry's baby.

"Look, I know you probably know who I am, and who my boyfriend is, so, could you maybe keep this quiet?"

"Of course." I answered automatically, "Anyway, it's your business. You shouldn't have to tell people until you're ready."

She nodded, looking at me with emotional brown eyes that was so unlike Ginny, "Do you have children?"

I nodded, "One. A son, he's seven."

"Wow." She raised her brow surprised, and I just realised that I had plucked the hair from a girl who looked to be in her early twenties…oh well. "Did you tell people right away?"

That was not a simple answer, "I told them when I felt ready to."

She nodded, "Oh shoot, I'm sorry, you need the…" She gestured at the toilet, "Sorry for, oversharing. But thank you for the advice!" She patted my hand and I nodded, disoriented as she left.

I sagged against the wall, and then quickly walked out, making my exit and heading to the floo station at Paddington.

When I arrived back at Malfoy Manor, my feet led me to Bane's bedroom, and I watched as his chest rose softly as he slept.

I covered my mouth as the first sobs came out, and hastened out of the room. My sobbing got louder and I rushed onto the second floor where my bedroom was, not wanting to wake up Scorpius, but then I realised that the sobbing wasn't coming from me at all.

Draco poked his head out, his face bright red from crying and I suddenly remembered that he had buried his spouse today.

And I suddenly felt like I had done the same.

I rushed forward, and he hugged me, consoling me just as much as I was consoling him.

"Drink up." I did as I was told. Coming back to the present. "Don't move for a few minutes, the potion should work on both your foot and your shoulder, they're both fractured."

I nodded, staying put, "How's Scorpius? I'm sorry you said earlier he had a fever."

"Much better. Blaise promises it wasn't his doing, just a lucky coincidence that he managed to use my distraction to take Bane."

"Draco, they have Chloe."

"I know." He bit out, "But, he should have come to me, we would have figured something out." He ran a hand through his hair, "Anyway, that's not important." He pulled Bane's tiny armchair, and lowered into it, "How are you?"

"Everything and nothing."

He nodded, understanding that I was feeling just that. He rubbed my knee in comfort, and I placed my hand on his. He opened his mouth, glanced at the door, and then dropped his eyes to my knees again.

"What?" I straightened my back, sensing his hesitancy in sharing his thoughts, "Is it about Bane?"

"Shhh, no no." He glanced at the door again, and then muttered a muffliato spell, and leaned forward, "It's nothing about that. I shouldn't be telling you this, but, well…"

"What?"

"Ginny Weasley's pregnant." I nodded, that not being news to me, I've known for four weeks. "And Clearwater wasn't around on Friday during the day, she had a family emergency so I had to help her case load. And Ginny came in."

"For her check up? You're like, her healer?"

He shook his head, "No, that's not how it works. We have specialist midwives who do the prenatal checks. But, if any potions need to be given, the Healer in the maternity ward usually signs off on that."

"So you had to sign for a potion for Ginny?"

He nodded, and a grave look sat on his face, "It was a potion to terminate."

"What?" I stood up, in shock. "No!"

"Shhh." He stood too, "I shouldn't be telling you this." He looked uncertainly at the door, "I just, I don't know. Does Potter know?"

I shook my head. Harry didn't know, I was sure of that when he kept assuming Ginny was drunk at the Bachelorette party when I knew she hadn't a drop of alcohol, she was emotional alright but that was purely because of the situation she was in.

He let out a frustrated huff, "I thought as much. It's not fair of her to make this decision by herself."

I cocked a brow and crossed my arms, "It's her body. Harry doesn't have to push a watermelon out of his penis, when he does, then he gets a say."

He raised his brows right back at me, "You don't think Potter has a right to know, and have input on this decision?"

"Of course I do." I glanced around annoyed, "Input, yes. But Ginny's the one that has to have a baby. Carry a baby. Fuck. And her boyfriend has spent the last few days with his…me. Oh Godric."

"It's why I thought I'd tell you. It's clearly a very stressful situation, and I don't think anybody should be making rash decisions right now."

"I agree. Do you think she's taken the potion."

He shook his head, "I doubt it. You need to rest for two days afterwards, and she must have known she couldn't do so this weekend. But she is running out of time, she'll have to take it within the next week."

I ran a hand through my hair, grabbing pins on the way down and pulling it out of the style the hairdresser spent a good hour working on. "Okay, leave it with me."

He nodded and we both made for the door, I grabbed his hand and he looked down at me, "Thank you, for telling me. I know Harry isn't your favourite person."

He gave me a weak smile, glancing at Bane's empty bed, "They really change the way you see the world, for good, don't they?"

-x-x-x-

"Found what you were looking for?" Draco drawled as Harry and Theseus entered the living room. He and I had joined Ron, Mi and Rolf a few minutes ago.

Harry didn't respond, except for a surly glance in the blond's direction. I don't know what they had been in search for, Draco would never do anything that would harm Bane, he had been surprisingly good with him from the time they met a month ago.

Weak rays of sunshine was filtering through the large green drapes, and I don't know how any of us were still awake at this point.

"Any news?"

Harry shook his head in the negative, "I'd tell you as soon as I hear anything new."

I nodded, looking back at the parchment I had been working on. Harry slid into the seat next to me, observing my notes over my shoulder. I had been trying to make a timeline of events to try and figure out who was behind everything.

"I've had guest bedrooms made up. You're all more than welcome to stay here, there's plenty of space."

"Draco, we couldn't-"

He leaned forward and clasped my hand, "I want you to have your support system near. I know everyone would want to stay close at hand, please, let me do this for you."

I nodded, touched that Draco would offer such a thing. I turned to Mi, who had raised brows. I doubt she had it in her Bingo cards that she'd be spending her honeymoon at Malfoy Manor of all places.

"You don't have to, you probably have honeymoon plans."

"They can wait." Ron and Mi said together, and I smiled at them in gratitude, "Though, I could do with some sleep. You'll wake us if you hear anything at all, right?"

I nodded, and just then a baby began to cry and Draco glanced up, "I'll show you to your rooms on my way to Scorpius."

They walked out of the room as Rolf snored quietly in his armchair. Theseus was awake, but he had also been scribbling notes and texting on his phone, standing at the corner of the room by the window as I knew it was the only place with mobile reception.

I pulled Harry's hand towards me, and looked at his ring hopefully. I let his hand fall in my lap, keeping it hostage there.

"How…how would he know how to work it?" I looked at him, confused, "The ring. Even if you slipped it on him, he wouldn't know about how to make it work?"

I looked down at Harry's shiny black shoes, "I told him if he was ever in trouble, that he should get a wand on my ring, or try to focus his magic on it, and help would come." I looked up at him, "Right?"

He nodded, "I wouldn't have thought twice." I closed my eyes, enjoying the reliability that was Harry. "He called you his mother. When Zabini was threatening him at the wedding, does he know about Snape?"

I sighed, a small smile on my face, "I tried explaining it to him. I told him about Sev and Maria, but he just kept calling me mama, and then mummy, and then mum." I groaned, "Not a fan of mum, he's too little. I should be mummy." I caught a stunned look on Harry's face, and I blushed, suddenly growing self conscious. Being a mum wasn't sexy, far from it. Here was Harry with his auror life, his body that just got better with age, his tidy London penthouse apartment, his brunches with friends, and quidditch on Saturdays.

I bit my lip, my tummy turning, and I placed a hand on it, trying to centre myself. Crying isn't going to help, guilt wouldn't fix anything. "Ky?"

"It's all my fault. I left him this weekend, seven years and I've not spent a weekend away from him." I felt hot tears on my face, "And I was jealous. Of your life." I crumpled up, "I was pretending like I didn't have a child and now I don't."

"Oh. Oh, Ky." I didn't let him hold me, choosing to cry into my lap instead. "Hey…look, I saw the kid for like five seconds and he tried fighting a full grown wizard because he didn't like the tone he was using on you. He loves you. How could he not? Oh man, you must be the best mum."

"She is." Theseus chirped from his place at the window, "Sorry." He apologised for eavesdropping, "But you know you are. He's well behaved. Smart. Funny. And he's kind. When I have shitty days at work, I pretend like I need advice from you, but really, I'm there to see Bane. He's really into magic. As in muggle magic." Theseus laughed, and I let out a chuckle. "He does these tricks, and gets really annoyed when his actual powers gets in the way of the reveal."

"He is such a weirdo." I wiped at my face, "I'm so sorry."

I rubbed at Harry's arm, "What for?"

"That you don't know him. That I ran away."

He stayed silent for moments, "Was it… did you not want to… do it together?"

"What?" I was confused.

"Did you not want me to help raise him?"

I gasped, "Oh Godric, Harry it was nothing to do with that." I grabbed his face and made him look me in the eyes, "I promise you, you are the first person I'd want to do that with. You're going to be a great dad." His eyes narrowed at the sentence, and I realised I might have said too much, it wasn't my place to tell him about Ginny, "Some day."

His face was soft, and I realised he had loosened up, spending most of the day on high alert. I crawled into his lap, yawning, suddenly exhausted and wanting nothing more than to be in his arms.

I felt his lips on my forehead just before sleep claimed me completely.

A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed that - feedback will be appreciated greatly.

Kalina