Goodnight Sweet Girl

Fourteen: An Unannounced Visit...or Two

It had been a strange day. Harry and Draco had actually skipped all of their classes and lunch, just enjoying each other's company by the lake, talking, and neither were disturbed by students or teachers. When the sun had set and darkness began to descend over the grounds Draco's stomach gave a rumbling growl in demand of food.

Harry looked at Draco, an odd smile on his face and then he let out a laugh. "Sounds like you're hungry. It should be about time for dinner. Let's get back to the castle and go to Great Hall, of course if we've missed dinner I know a few house elves down in the kitchen."

Draco's eyes widened. "Potter! You do realize that I've missed an entire day of classes because of you!"

"But was it so bad?" Harry grinned.

Draco slowly let out a breath and shook his head while rolling his eyes dramatically. "Insufferable git, and a bad influence. Just what have I gone and decided to marry?"

Harry's face was again alight with a silly grin and then he stood up, took Draco's hand and pulled the blonde girl up, kissed that dainty nose he loved so much, and then those pale lips he could never get enough of and said, "So, this mean you will have me?"

"As much as I am certain to regret it later, yes," Draco sighed dramatically and then swatted the dark haired boy on the arm.

Harry laughed and then hook his arm around the girl's waist and the two of them set off for the castle together, every now and then the girl lifted her left hand and those gray eyes sparkled at the small token of love present on the ring finger of that particular hand. That was how the two of them walked into Great Hall together.

Sensing something was different silence fell heavy upon all those present in Great Hall as they turned and saw Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy enter together. The headmaster had a particular twinkle in his eye, and a certain Potions professor was glaring daggers. Harry and Draco then walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat in their usual places, with Draco sitting between Hermione and Harry and Ron across from Hermione, the conversation once again picked up. Unfortunately the gossip queens were right next to Ron in discussion over some Ravenclaw scandal.

Trouble began ofcourse when Draco reached for the lambchops and Lavender Brown noticed the glint from the ring on Draco's hand. She squealed and jumped up in her seat, then snatched Draco's hand to get a better inspection of the ring.

"Oh! It's gorgeous! Wherever did you get it?" she said gushing and then snatched his hand further to show Parvati, which almost resulted in Draco's face colliding with his plate.

Draco snatched his hand back and glared at the two gossips, and snapped, "Kindly control yourselves and never partake in grabbing and manhandling any part of me ever again!"

Lavender rolled her eyes and then Parvati repeated her friend's question. "Well! Wherever did you get it?"

"From me," Harry answered, and the two gossips shared a look.

"I see," said Lavender and then a smile tugged at her lips. "That looks most suspiciously like some sort of engagement ring..."

"It is," Harry replied and then after receiving a sharp elbow in the ribs from Draco, he continued, "And it belonged to my mother. Now it belongs to Draco."

"Oh!" Parvati squealed. "So when is the wedding?!"

At this loudly spoken question the entire Gryffindor table grew silent and all eyes turned to Harry and Draco. Harry was scarlet and Draco was glaring at him. Everyone seemed to be awaiting an answer and Ron and Hermione stared at Harry with opened mouths of disbelief, and Ron just happened to look most unnattractive at the moment with his mouth hanging open as it was filled with half-chewed chicken.

"We h-ha-haven't d-decided o-o-on a d-d-date, yet," Harry managed to stutter out.

Before anymore questions could be asked the double doors of Great Hall were thrown open and there stood the proud and obviously angry Lucius Malfoy dressed in elegantly cut black robes trimmed in silver. His snake head topped cane clutched firmly in his hands as he regally walked into the room. He glared at the headmaster and then surveyed the room as if looking for someone. His gaze stopped on the beautiful silvery blonde fair skinned girl sitting next to Harry Potter.

Lucius approached the Gryffindor table, disgust obvious in his every gracious movement as he stopped and looked down at the girl that was now turned and looking up at him.

"Well, boy, what have you to say for yourself?" the man spoke, the icy chill of the North wind in his voice.

Draco looked up at the man defiantly. "Why nothing, father. I thought this was over that night when I left the manor."

"You are still my..." Lucius' eyebrow rose as he sneered in disgust at the girl that his son had become. "...child. And as such I believe I am entitled to receive the utmost respect from you."

"You deserve nothing from me, not after what happened," Draco hissed and then noticed that several teachers including Snape were approaching. Draco turned to them and held his hand up to them. The teachers froze and looked at the girl in confusion. Obviously they couldn't move.

Lucius looked at the girl that was his son and then at the hand, the left hand that was keeping the teachers from approaching. Lucius' cold gray eyes met Draco's silvery gray and then strayed to the black haired boy beside Draco.

"I see, Draco," Lucius said. "You've gotten your precious little Potter. Is there some scandal involved in your engagement or is this from the bottom of his noble Gryffindor heart? And that ring... I've seen it before. Why it couldn't be the ring that Potter the elder gave his precious mudblood?"

Harry stood up then. "Don't you ever speak of my mother like that!"

Lucius almost gave a retort when he noticed the murderous gaze he was receiving from a red haired boy sitting across from the mudblood. "Ah, a Weasley, and where might that little minx of a sister of yours be?"

Ron jumped up and nearly jumped over the table to get to Lucius, but Harry managed to grab him before he could reach the man.

"Let me go, Harry! I could rip him apart!" the redhead bellowed.

Lucius smirked. "You in your little hand me down robes and Weasley temper? That's almost laughable."

"Ron, you can't take him on! He's a fully grown man and he knows the Dark Arts! Be sensible!" Hermione hissed.

"But he hurt Ginny! He's! Oh Merlin," Ron said and then he broke down.

This peaked Lucius Malfoy's interest. "I'm what, Weasley?"

"Father, leave this place before I allow the teachers to move once again," Draco warned.

"Silence, disgrace. How dare you even speak to me after promising yourself to a Potter. Tainting the Malfoy name and blood with a Potter," Lucius said and then once again he turned his attention to Ron Weasley. "Now what do you mean by saying that I've hurt this Ginny? You don't mean that little redhead sister of yours... What's her name... Virginia?"

Ron glared up into those cold gray eyes of Lucius Malfoy. "You know what you did to my sister! You should never have been allowed the ability to have children! You bastard! How could you? She was innocent! Now she will suffer for the rest of her life with a..." Harry covered his friend's mouth before the boy could reveal too much.

"With a what?" Malfoy the elder asked suspiciously.

"Leave now, Father," Draco warned again.

"Not before I know what this little commoner disgrace of purebloods is implying."

Minerva McGonagall struggled against the invisible force that kept her immobile as she realized exactly what Ronald Weasley was implying. Her voice raised across Great Hall as she said, "How dare you come to this place! Leave at once."

"Minerva, leave it. We can do nothing until Draco removes this spell," Albus said tightly.

Lucius then leaned closer until his face was bare inches from Ron's and hissed, "Is your sister with child, boy?"

Ron's blue eyes met hatefully with gray. Lucius snatched Harry's hand away from Ron's mouth and then Ron spat in Lucius' face. The blond wizard reeled back and kicked the redhead. "That, boy, was for your impertinence, now answer my question."

Ron looked defiantly into the face that represented evil to him. "Yes."

Luicius gave a sharp nod and then turned to Draco. "Well boy, this presents a most interesting turn in events. I may have to make new arrangements concerning the affairs of my estate in the event of my permanent departure. Oh, and Draco, your mother has been rather distraught at the news that has been reported in the tabloids. Honestly, you should send her an owl, if only for courtousy."

Lucius then turned and briskly walked out of the Great Hall. Draco waited for five minutes giving the man time to leave the grounds, reach the gate, and Apparate as far from Hogwarts as he could manage. Then Draco lowered his hand and the teachers approached the scene at the Gryffindor table.

All of the other house tables filled with students watched in stunned silence, still reeling from the events of moments before. And one thing was on everyone's mind. How had Draco Malfoy kept the teachers from approaching without the use of a wand?

"Well, Malfoy, would you care to explain how on earth you kept us from coming to your aid?" Professor Minerva McGonagall asked, her voice hard edged and angry, as a few of the other teachers decided to check the grounds to make sure that Lucius Malfoy really was gone.

"I..." Draco paused and swallowed thickly. He'd never been too comfortable around the Transfiguation teacher. "I am not certain."

"Maybe I should question him...her...Draco," Snape said in frustration.

"Very well," McGonagall snapped in irritation.

The headmaster looked at the young blonde woman and the dark haired young man at her side with his arms wrapped around the blonde's delicate waist and his twinkle brightened. In light of those most shocking events of previous moments past, happiness was still possible. There was such great hope in the young.

"Potter, Malfoy, Weasley, come with me," Snape said and he began to walk out of Great Hall and turned toward the passage that led to the dungeons.

Harry, Draco, and Ron had no choice but to follow, and as they were leaving Great Hall they heard Dumbledore announce, "All of you return to your common rooms. Your dinners shall be continued there, but only this once due to the circumstances."

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The three Gryffindors followed Professor Snape into the dungeons and then he stopped before a blank wall at the end of a corridor. He tapped several bricks in an odd sequence, muttered something and then a doorway appeared leading into an astonishingly elegant set of rooms that were decorated in black, dark greens, and silver.

The three followed the professor into the rooms and the doorway prompty closed behind them. They were in the main room where a large fireplace was against a wall lined with shelves upon shelves of various books ranging from Muggle poetry to Dark Arts and Arithmancy. Ron and Harry looked around the room in stunned silence, ofcourse Draco was already familiar with the rooms.

Snape approached the fireplace and pointed his hand toward the hearth. "Incendio!"

Draco looked at Snape in confusion and then realization dawned on his face. "Where are we going Uncle Sev?"

"To the Weasleys, and don't call me that," he snapped.

Ron and Harry looked at each other and then to Snape, before they asked in unison, "Why?"

Snape rolled his eyes. "How do you think the Weasleys are going to respond when Lucius Malfoy decides to pay them a visit and claim the child? Draco has disgarced and betrayed him and although this new child is illigitimate, it is still a pawn that he can use. Mr. Weasley, your parents need to be told now, because this will most certainly become common knowledge and soon."

"And we're all going?" Ron asked nervously.

"Students are not to leave Hogwarts grounds during the school year unless accompanied by Hogwarts staff or their parents or guardians," Snape said in a long suffering manner.

Ron nodded and within a few moments everyone had taken a pinch of floo powder from a metal tin box situated above the fireplace and soon found themselves in at the Burrow much to the astonishment of Molly, Arthur, and Ginny Weasley who had been in the kitchen eating dinner.

The three rushed out and were surprised to see Professor Snape, Ron, Harry, and a strange fair skinned blonde haired girl in their living room. Molly approached first and by the look on her face she was wondering if Ron and Harry had finally done something to get them expelled. She was about to speak when Snape held up his hand and shook his head.

"Please Mrs. Weasley. This is not about your son," Snape said. "This is about your daughter."

Molly Weasley turned to her very pregnant little girl who was due in a couple of months. She took a deep breath and invited everyone to sit, but then she caught sight of a very familiar ring on the blonde girl's finger.

"Oh, Harry, dear, when were you going to tell us you were engaged? And just who is this lovely young lady?" Molly asked, in a motherly tone.

Harry's face burned scarlet. "I asked him just this morning..."

"Him?" Arthur and Molly said together in shock.

The girl smiled faintly and looked at the two Weasley parents. "I am Draco Malfoy."

The color in Ginny Weasley's face drained and she stared at the blonde girl and then clutched protectively at her stomach backing away slowly. "Y-you, you st-stay a-a-away from me! I want nothing from you. I mean it!"

"Virginia Weasley! What has gotten into you?" Molly scolded and then she noticed her daughter holding her bulging stomach and looking in terror at the girl that had introduced herself as Draco Malfoy.

Molly went to her daughter and tried to calm her as well as shield her from view, and then Arthur Weasley spoke up, "What is this about?"

"Well, Mr. Weasley, I am engaged to Draco Malfoy. There was an incident and he was transformed into a girl and it is permanent. And we also know who the father of Ginny's baby is..." Harry trailed, unable to continue.

Arthur Weasley looked at the panicked state of his daughter and then to the blonde girl who was clutching Harry's hand in a death grip. "Who was it? It wasn't Malfoy?"

"Actually Dad," Ron said and then looked down. "It was."

Arthur looked murderous as he approached the blonde girl. However Snape stepped in his path and spoke in his deep voice, "It was not this Malfoy. The father of your daughter's child is Lucius."

Arthur collapsed to his knees and both Ginny and Molly let out a sob. Molly clutched her daughter to her and Ron knelt by his dad putting his hand on the older man's shoulder. Then Harry headed toward Molly, Draco clinging to his hand followed. Harry looked at Draco, and the blonde released his hand, then Harry wrapped his arms around the two sobbing Weasley woman and was smothered in a group hug as Molly clung to him as well as her daughter. Draco stood there unsure of what to do, and then turned to Snape who looked just as uncomfortable.

When the Weasley's finally regained control of their emotions they all looked at Draco. Harry noticed the looks they were giving him and then put his arm around Draco's shoulder. Harry was about to speak, but Draco pressed his index finger to Harry's lips and shook his head, then Draco opened his mouth.

"I am truly sorry for the things that my father has done to you over the years and for this. The reason we came tonight was to warn you that my father might have plans for the child. I was subjected to eighteen years of my father, and I don't want to think of another child being put through that. I can understand if you never like me, or want me in your home again, but I would like to know about my little brother or sister from time to time, and don't shut Harry out because of me. You're the only family he's ever known, and he needs you."

Molly had tears in her eyes and she walked over to the blonde and threw her arms around him in a crushing embrace. "Don't be silly! If Harry is going to marry you then you're practically family, and you're not to blame for the sins of your father. It's best we know the truth, however hard it may be."

Arthur Weasley slowly got to his feet and approached his daughter. He looked down at her, tears filling his eyes once more. She looked up at him, her bottom lip trembled, tears threatening to appear on her face once more.

"Daddy, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. One minute I was walking into Flourish and Blotts with Ron and the next I was stunned. When I was revived... I couldn't tell you. How could I tell you?" she sobbed.

He wrapped his arms tightly around his daughter. "Oh, Ginny, this is not your fault. You're such a brave girl. After everything you've been through to keep the baby. Oh, my brave little girl. You've nothing to worry about. I'll bring charges against him at the ministry. We won't let him harm you again. I promise."

Draco approached the father and daughter holding each other and then he put a hand on the girl's shoulder. She turned sharply and looked at him. "I'm sorry for what the bastard did to you. I hope you won't hold it against me. I would really like to be a part of the baby's life. I've never had a real family before and maybe now I can. If you would let me."

Ginny Weasley broke away from her father's embrace and turned to the beautiful girl that was Draco Malfoy. She looked into the silvery gray eyes and was surprised to find warmth in their depths, then like her mother she flung her arms around the pale girl and awkwardly hugged Draco.

"I never thought I would say this to a Malfoy, but..." Ginny paused and managed a faint smile as she sniffled. "Welcome to the family."

Draco hugged her back and then smiled. Suddenly Ginny pushed him back and snatched up his hand, pressing it to her womb. Draco looked at her puzzled and then felt the movements of the baby. That was his little brother or sister. He smiled in wonder and looked at the redheaded girl, admiring her bravery.

"Thank you, G-Ginny," He stumbled awkwardly over her name as it was unfamiliar on his lips.

He then felt an arm across his shoulder and looked sideways to catch a misty eyed Harry smiling at him. Then they all turned to see a very fidgety and uncomfortable Professor Snape standing in the middle of the Weasley's lving room with his arms crossed over his chest. They all burst out laughing at the sight of him, because they all needed to laugh at something after the tension they had all just gone through. Who would have ever thought that Professor Snape and a Malfoy would be welcome in the Weasley household?