Goodnight Sweet Girl

Nineteen: New Beginnings

Feeling was the first thing to return. Draco shifted slightly and moaned, and that was when he noticed a pair of arms tighten around him and felt a smooth hard chest pressed against his back, then he noticed the hands resting on his flat abdomen. Slowly Draco rolled over and then opened his eyes, and gazed into the bright green eyes of Harry, and that was when Harry gasped.

"Draco, you're awake!" he said, and then pulled the blonde against him tight, as though he would never let go, and then he loosened his hold and smiled at the blonde, until something flickered in his eyes. "Draco? Your eyes, they're different. They aren't grey, they're mismatched."

"What?" Draco rasped, to which Harry reached for a glass of water, and helped Draco, as the blonde took a sip.

"Your right one is a nice shade of purple and the left one is bright green. I must admit it's rather fetching, but will still take some getting used to. I will certainly miss your old eyes, but the world we've woken up to is full of new beginnings, why should we be any different?" And with that Harry leaned down and rested his head gently against Draco's abdomen. Draco sighed and ran his fingers through Harry's messy black hair and then something occurred to him, causing him to sit bolt upright.

"How do you know?" Draco asked and then felt something cool and metallic in his left hand.

Harry smiled and said, "I asked Madam Pomfrey about your condition and was pleasantly surprised." Harry noticed Draco's left hand was closed around something and asked, "Hey, what have you got there?"

Draco sighed. "It's a present from Morgana to us."

Draco then opened his hand and revealed the two rings. Harry let out a breath and his eyes widened. He picked up the larger of the two and was about to try it on when Draco stopped him.

"No, love, not until the handfasting. These rings are special, and made just for us," the blonde said and then tilted the ring so Harry could read the inscription. "As we say our vows we end them with this inscription, then we exchange rings, and we are bound. You see, once these rings are in place and we have said our vows, they can never be removed."

"They are beautiful," Harry said in awe as he examined the rings more closely.

"Yes, and they crafted by the fae. We are lucky, Harry," Draco said and then wondered what else was new about the world. "How long have I been asleep?"

"A little over a week," Harry answered. "I woke up only yesterday, and you would be amazed at all of the changes."

"Oh really?" Draco commented with a raised eyebrow.

Harry nodded. "Snape for one, He's looks like he's in his midtwenties and his hair actually looks healthy, and you would have to see him to believe it. Ginny is doing well. Arthur and Molly were found in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor, but they were rescued before they were tortured, thankfully. And the strangest thing was found at Malfoy Manor..."

"Oh?" Draco said, his curiousity peaked. "Well, are you going to tell me?"

Harry swallowed thickly. "All of the Death Eaters, save one were found dead, as though they'd all been victims of the killing curse. Voldemort's corpse was found severely disfigured, and most of your home was destroyed."

"Who was the surviving Death Eater?" Draco asked.

Harry swallowed thickly. "Your father..." he paused and upon seeing Draco's face knew that he could continue. "When they found him, he was in your room, it was one of the few rooms left standing in the whole house. He was babbling about some sort of ghostly dragon with mismatched eyes. He said the dragon destroyed his home and killed everyone. The aurors found the Weasleys in the dungeons below the manor, and your father was taken to St. Mungos."

"So Lucius lives, that doesn't surprise me. He will not be invited to our handfasting."

"Agreed," Harry said and then a thought occurred to him. "You know, that dragon he described..."

"Yes?" Draco asked curiously.

"It could have been a patronus," Harry replied.

Draco smiled, "Now that theory is an interesting one..."

The two continued to talk until Madam Pomfrey realized that Draco was indeed awake. Then the mediwitch was bustling around Draco, checking out the fair skinned girl, and deciding on what sort of meal to prepare for her. Once the mediwitch was out of sight, Harry pulled Draco down beside him and wrapped himself around Draco's slight body.

Then he mumbled, "I love you," into the blonde's soft pale neck.

The blonde smiled and sighed, and then the moment was interrupted by a disturbance that could only be caused by the Weasley twins.

"Say, Harry!," one of them, Fred began, and then George pulled back the screen and saw the scene that lay before him, Harry wrapped around a beautiful fair skinned girl with long platinum hair and mismatched eyes.

"Wow! Wherever did you find this one?" George asked and soon Fred popped up behind him and his jaw dropped.

Draco raised an eybrow in their direction and the twins shivered. "Looks a bit like Malfoy when she does that, doesn't she. Oh, shouldn't speak ill of the dead."

Draco's eyes widened and he turned to Harry. "You mean they don't know? I thought they were related to Ron."

Harry sighed. "Considering all that's happened everyone was a bit preoccupied to be concerned with the full story of us."

"Oi, Harry, we're right here, care to tell us, mate?" they asked in unison.

Draco turned to them and smirked. "I am Draco Malfoy you twats. I went through a change over Christmas holiday and it's a bit permanent."

"What?" Fred said, and George's mouth just hung open.

Harry nodded. "And Draco and I are getting married, very soon, and we already have a family on the way," Harry said and rubbed Draco's abdomen.

"That can't be Malfoy! Malfoy's dead, it was in all the papers!" George said.

Draco rolled his eyes and looked at the two and snapped, "Silly gits! Ask Dumbledore or Uncle Sevvie, they will tell you! Of course it will be in all the papers soon enough."

"Uncle Sevvie?" the twins mouthed and looked at each other with wicked grins and then Fred asked, "Uncle Sevvie wouldn't be Snape would it?"

Draco nodded and then grinned. "I'm the only one allowed to call him that, you know."

"But how can you be that little snot Draco? You're a girl and a very beautiful one at that, and you're, wait, did you say family on the way?"

Draco looked at Harry in a world weary manner. "I thought they were the smart Weasleys. They don't seem to be catching on quickly at all."

A few minutes later Ron came up behind the twins and gave an excited shout when he saw Harry and Draco up and about. But that quickly ended when Fred clasped Ron about the shoulders and George said, "Hey, Ronniekins, Harry here, expects us to believe that beautiful bonnie lass he's in bed with is none other than Draco Malfoy, and they are going to get married, and she's pregnant."

Ron's face drained of color as he looked from Harry to Draco and then back to Harry. "Draco's pregnant?" he managed to say and then promptly fainted.

The twins, needless to say, were convinced by their brother's reaction, and began to throw questions left and right at the couple. Until finally Madam Pomfrey grew tired of them pestering her patients and sent them out by their ears. Ron, however, occupied a bed because of his fainting spell. He had several relapses once he recalled the news of Draco's condition.

Of course, once the Weasley twins had left the hospital wing news of Draco's awakening and rumors of Draco's condition spread throughout the school like a highly contagious illness. Even the newspapers wanted in on the story, knowing that the demise of Voldemort (whom they still referred to as "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named") was somehow connected to Harry Potter's hospitalization. Also the rumors of Harry Potter's mysterious fiancée ws simply too much to be ignored.

One magazine, The Witch Weekly, had gone as far as reporting that Harry Potter was going to marry Virginia Weasley, who was in a delicate condition. Of course the editor released a formal apology in the very next issue after receiving a rather unpleasant howler from a severely enraged Molly Weasley.

When Molly Weasley heard that both Harry and Draco were awake she was the next to visit, accompanied by Ginny, Arthur, and Hermione. Ron, of course, was already in the hospital wing as he kept having relapses of unconsciousness and Madam Pomfrey had given up all hope of keeping him conscious for longer than five minutes at a time.

Molly managed to convince Madam Pomfrey to allow Harry and Draco visitors, although the twins were restricted for obvious reasons. Molly agreed to the conditions and soon she, Ginny, Arthur, and Hermione were allowed behind the screens where Draco and Harry were resting in bed. Molly pulled out a handkerchief as soon as she laid eyes on the young couple. Every now and then she dabbed her eyes or blew her nose, and sighed at how Harry held Draco. Arthur simply looked at the couple in a bit of shock, still he was coming to terms with Harry marrying a Malfoy, as that Malfoy was not so bad. Hermione's mind was reeling over the fact that Draco was pregnant. Although she'd known it had been possible, it still sent her mind into overload.

Ginny was the one that approached the bed. Draco looked at her with a smile softening his feminine features, and together both Draco and Harry sat up, Harry still keeping his arms around Draco. Draco leaned into Harry's back and looked at their visitors, unsure of what to say. What could he say to the Weasleys?

"Draco, I owe you my life, as well as the life of my child, and from what I've heard I owe you the life of my parents as well," Ginny spoke softly, her voice almost a whisper. She leaned toward the fair skinned blonde girl in the arms of Harry Potter and gently kissed the girl's cheeks. "Thank you."

This of course stunned Draco beyond words, and he looked from Ginny to Molly, Arthur, and a deep in thought Hermione. Molly then stepped forward, "It seems that we owe you a great deal, Draco. Arthur and I were certain that we would never see our family again, and we had no idea what they had planned for Ginny or her child..." Molly paused and looked at Draco, squinting and then she gasped. "Your eyes, they are the eyes of a changeling!"

"What?" Arthur said, finally roused from his stupor by his wife's exclamation. "A changeling? Draco is a changeling?"

Harry smiled at them and his arms tightened around the fair skinned platinum haired girl. "Draco isn't a changling, he is just a descendant of Morgan Le Faye. His eyes are the way hers once were. Uh... Draco and I have been talking and we have something we'd like to ask you."

He then turned to Draco, hesitantly and Draco picked up where Harry left off. "As you know Harry and I are engaged, and after all that has happened we see no point in delaying our joining. I was wondering... Well, we wanted you Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to stand as Patron and Matron in our handfasting."

The two elder Weasleys looked stunned. Arthur began to sputter, "You would have me stand as patron?"

Draco sighed, "Well, that is Harry's decision, I would have chosen Severus as he is my godfather, but Harry is the groom so to speak."

Molly then spoke up, "But what about your mother?"

"I severed those ties too long ago, and they will never be mended. My mother was a Black before she married my father. She would never forgive me," Draco answered.

Molly Weasley looked at the girl in sympathy. "Oh, you poor dear, I would be honored to stand for you. I'm just surprised that you would ask me."

Finally Hermione came out of her thought filled daze and looked directly at Draco. "Is it true?"

Draco looked at her in confusion. "Is what true?"

"Are you," the girl began to ask and blushed as she finished, "really pregnant?"

Everyone looked at Draco expectantly, their eyes demanding an answer. Finally Draco sighed and turned his head to look at Harry. Harry had a big grin on his face and Draco rolled his eyes, wondering how he could still think like a man, when physically he was a woman. He then thought to the child that was taking form in his body and he couldn't help the smile that played across his lips.

He looked at the small gathering, and a wicked grin replaced the serene smile as he said, "I wonder how Uncle Sevvie will take the news... Harry I think we should name him godfather. I'm sure he would love being a godfather to another Potter hellion. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Will it mean I can call him Uncle Sevvie to his face?" Harry asked mischievously.

"It most certainly will not!" Snape's baritone filled the air as he entered the screen off section of the hospital wing, and looked disapprovingly at the couple on the bed. He scowled and then asked, "Why would Potter ask such a ludicrous thing?"

"Well," Draco said with a smile, as he noticed how changed the Potions Master was in appearance, he really did look younger and healthier, and his hair actually looked washed and cared for. "We were going to ask if you would like to be the godfather of the newest edition to the Potter family?"

"What?!" Snape roared and looked at Potter as though he were going to strangle him. "You... Oh, bloody hell! Did he... Oh, Gods! Draco Lucius Malfoy! Are you out of your mind?!"

The scolding continued for sometime much to everyone's amusement. Snape was acting as though he were Draco's father. Finally the Potion Master wore himself down and fell back, exhausted into a chair by the bed. Of course no one had noticed when the headmaster had entered the screened off area, but it had been some time during Snape's rant when it was at the teenage hormone phase.

Dumbledore cleared his throat to make his presence known. "Ah, I see that everyone is here. Good, good. And everyone knows of the joyous news, how delightful..." Dumbledore paused as Snape snorted. "Now, Severus, a child is a truly miraculous gift to the world."

To which Snape retorted, "I've had to change a Malfoy's diaper before, I don't even want to think of the things that could go wrong when changing the nappy of a Potter!"

The room broke out into laughter, all except Draco, who looked mortified. He glared at Snape as Dumbledore continued, "Well, in concern with out young Draco, it has come to my attention that his records, or should I now refer to you in feminine context?" Dumbledore looked over his half moon spectacles, his eyes twinkling as Draco shrugged a response. "Well, I suppose I will continue. As I was saying, his records have been altered, and I have no idea how it could have been done, but according to his records, there was never a Draco Lucius Malfoy, but a Draco Lucius Le Faye. It would appear that the last living Malfoy has taken up residence at St. Mungo's, as he has been declared unfit to stand trial for his crimes."

Draco's eyes widened. "You mean she gave me her name?"

"Well, it would appear so," Dumbledore said and then asked, "If you don't mind my asking, Draco, how was it that you knew of your condition upon waking?"

Draco smiled. "After Harry left a strange woman in a glowing gold boat came to the shore of the lake and took me down a stream the flowed with blood. She told me of my condition first, and then Morgana confirmed it."

"This woman, do you know who she was?" Hermione asked, her eagerness for knowledge making an appearance.

Draco nodded, "She called herself the Lady of Shalot."

All those present looked at Draco in shock, even Dumbledore looked somewhat surprised, all those with the exception of Harry, who wore the same expression of bewilderment as Draco.

"The Lady of Shalot?" Hermione asked and Draco nodded again.

"But she was... She was the toll bearer for the dead knights and kings bound for the lands of Avalon, and she took you there?" Hermione asked incredulously.

Draco nodded. "Yes, and it was there that I met Morgana. There was supposed to be a celebration, but I was not allowed to enter, Morgana said they were not ready for me."

"I would think not!" Snape snapped, "Especially after you've spent eighteen years as a male. Have you any idea what happens to men that enter the halls of Avalon? They never return!"

"I am safely back among you, so I assume that I was an exception. Now Harry and I would like to discuss something that we hold near and dear to our hearts..." Draco began and then rolled one of the posey rings up and down the length of his thumb using his forefinger, and this caught everyone's attention. "Harry and I would like to go through with our handfasting as soon as possible."

Molly spoke up, "June is only a couple of months away and you can be joined on the Solstice. It would be a great honor to the fae folk to be joined on such a day."

Draco looked at Harry and the couple smiled at each other. To be joined on the Solstice was a wonderful idea. It would do honor to Morgana, her people, and their rings were crafted by the fae. Hermione, ever the aggressor in the gaining of knowledge then asked where the rings had come from. Draco explained how Morgana had given him the rings, and it was Snape who realized the rings for what they were.

"These were crafted by the fae, and the metal appears to contain the properties of fae and unicorn blood!" he said in awe.

Draco nodded, and everyone, including Harry stared at him, wondering just what effect such rings would have on he and Harry. Draco simply smirked and told them they could wait until the handfasting that would occur on the night of the Solstice.