Someone to Watch Over Me

Someone to Watch Over Me

Chapter 9: Cold Showers and a Bridal Shower

Ginny stepped back to study herself in the mirror with a critical eye. Her auburn hair was swept up in an elegant French twist and the emerald green dress robes, which had once belonged to Narcissa Malfoy, made her look elegant. She looked like the fiancé of Draco Malfoy.

She couldn't believe that August was almost over. It seemed like only yesterday that Professor Dumbledore had called her to his office and requested that she marry the Malfoy heir.

She looked down at the rather large diamond on her hand, remembering the night he gave it to her. She really wished they could do that night over. They could've stayed at Hogwarts, away from the prying eyes of reporters and their cameras. They could have had a nice romantic dinner, then he could've proposed, and they could have jumped in bed. But no. They had to get caught by a reporter, then have Draco down a love potion, rush to her family's house and break the news. Then her brothers had to make Draco take an oath not to have sex with her 'til after they were married.

At first, it hadn't been so bad. Draco, under the influence of the love potion, had been very romantic and attentive to her needs, ignoring his own. After the potion wore off, however, things had changed. He wanted her so badly. They would barely start to kiss before he had to run away, or he'd break his oath. They'd sit down to dinner, and halfway through, he'd just get up and leave. The first time he did this, she'd followed him. He'd gone straight to his room, stripped and jumped in the shower. A very cold shower. The whole time muttering, "I will not touch Ginny 'til after the wedding."

Ginny had thought it was cute, at first. However, she barely got to spend any time with him anymore. This had left her to handle almost all of the wedding arrangements alone.

Hermione started snoring from her place on Ginny's bed.

Well, maybe not alone.

After graduation, Ginny and Hermione had moved into Malfoy Manor with Draco. Snape had moved in as well, but was rarely there. They also had rooms for all of Ginny's family and friends, and a few friends of Draco's.

Draco had commented the other day about how odd it was for the manor to be so full of happy people. That had made Ginny feel sorry for him and the childhood he must have had.

Hermione murmured something and rolled over.

Ginny was worried about her. She'd had some kind of virus that had lasted for several weeks. Running to the bathroom at odd times to throw up, and then falling asleep almost anytime she got still. She'd wore herself out helping Ginny to get ready for the shower tonight, and Ginny had decided to just let her sleep.

Hearing a war cry outside, she walked out onto her balcony to see what was going on.

Like usual, there was a Quidditch game going on the backyard. It was Death Eaters vs. the Weasley brothers and Harry. Again, like usual. They could get pretty vicious, but always stayed within the rules of the game. But after weeks of playing Quidditch with each other almost everyday, odd friendships were beginning to form between the two groups.

She watched as Draco leaned over and said something to Harry, and the two of them nearly fell of their brooms laughing. Then Blaise Zabini and Charley Weasley nodded at each other then started chasing the two seekers and the game came to a halt. Slowly, everyone came to the ground, and they all shook hands. She could hear them laughing and cursing each other as they made their way back to the Manor.

Funny, how Quidditch could bring sworn enemies together.

Blaise crept up behind Harry and dumped a bottle of water over his head.

"Hey Potter, why are you all wet?" he teased, making the others laugh.

"C'mon guys, we've only got half an hour before the party," Draco reminded them, tossing Harry a towel.

They parted company at the top of the stairs, each person heading to their own room. Malfoy Manor was huge.

The cold water actually felt good this time as Draco stepped into the shower. He had to take a whole lot of cold showers because of that stupid oath. He firmly pushed Ginny and the Weasleys out of his mind and concentrated on his efforts for the Order.

Draco was sure he could convince Blaise to join their side when the time came. The key to doing this would be through his wife, Joyce. Blaise adored her, and would do anything to keep her safe. Joyce Zabini was actually the one who would be hosting Ginny's shower tonight. They would all meet for dinner at the Zabini Mansion, and then the men would take Draco out to a bar, while the women had their fun. Draco knew that Joyce would not allow anyone to mess with Ginny, and had been relieved when she offered to host.

He had encouraged Ginny to try and make friends with her, find out how she really felt about Voldemort. Joyce seemed like such a sweet and caring person, surely she'd want to be involved with the good guys.

The others, Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott, he wasn't as sure of. Crabbe and Goyle had done everything he told them to since they were three years old. Hopefully old habits would be too hard to break, and they'd stand up for him automatically. He couldn't count on that though. Nott was another story. He only tolerated Potter and the Weasleys because of Draco's upcoming marriage. He had gone to Voldemort asking to use the advantage of being close to Potter to go ahead and kill him. Voldemort had adamantly refused.

"If anyone's going to kill Potter, it will be me. Besides, Ginevera might change her mind about marrying Draco if we killed him. I promised Lucius that I would be sure that Draco would continue the Malfoy line with a pureblood wife. And I fear that if he is forced to marry Miss Parkinson that I might lose him. The Malfoy's have always been an important part of my plan, and I'll not allow the likes of you to alienate the last one!"

Nott had then been subjected to the Cruciatus.

Draco had witnessed all of this in shock. At least now he understood why the Dark Lord had been so enthusiastic about Ginny and the wedding.

Voldemort had questioned him extensively as to what Ginny would like for her shower. Draco had been able to convince him to only put the wives and girlfriends of the younger Death Eaters on the guest list. Ginny would not enjoy having any contact with Bellatrix LeStrange!

After the cold shower, he quickly got dressed and went to find Ginny.

She was in her room talking with Hermione.

Draco tapped on the opened door and walked in.

Ginny looked stunning, as usual. He felt a burning in his throat when he recognized his mother's favorite dress.

"Is it all right, Draco? If you'd rather I wear something else..."

"No. It looks lovely," he reassured her, pulling her into a hug.

Hermione sighed wistfully.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"You look like you're feeling better," he commented.

"I am, a little."

Ginny turned and gave the girl a good long look.

"He's right, Hermione. You're practically glowing."

Hermione put a hand to her cheek.

"I am?" her face fell.

"Not literally," Draco said, not understanding why she was upset.

You had to be careful around Granger these days. The littlest things would send her flying off the handle. He assumed that it had something to do with her virus. She'd been to see a healer a couple of weeks ago. All she'd told them was that it wasn't contagious, and had to run its course.

"Are you sure you don't want to come tonight?" Ginny asked, more to change the subject than anything else.

Hermione shook her head.

"Severus will be coming by soon. We have a few things to discuss."

Assuming she meant Order business, they didn't press her.

"We should be going," Draco said to Ginny.

Hermione gave Ginny a hug.

"Have a good time, and try not to worry."

Ginny nodded, and the three left the room.

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Joyce Zabini greeted them at the door when they arrived. It was the first time Ginny had ever seen her, and this was not what she had expected.

Blaise Zabini was a tall, thin man. He had dark hair and eyes, and a very reserved personality. At least around Ginny. He was very handsome, and Ginny had pictured him having a tall, thin, gorgeous wife. Joyce was none of those things.

Short, a little plain looking, with her shoulder length brown hair. She was also pleasantly plump.

Upon being introduced, Ginny was pulled into a hug that reminded her so much of Molly. She couldn't help but like the woman.

"Congratulations! You must be so excited!"

Ginny stared at her eyes. Small, blue, and twinkling. They looked oddly familiar.

"Yes, thank you."

"How long until the wedding?"

"Thirteen days, seventeen hours, twenty-nine minutes, and eight seconds," Draco answered.

Joyce raised her eyebrows at Ginny.

He excused himself and went to find Blaise as Ginny began telling Joyce of the oath.

Joyce seemed to have so much energy, bustling around making sure everyone had anything they could possibly need. She could also talk anyone to death, but had an uncanny ability to listen when it was needed.

She'd be a great asset if they could get her on their side.

Ginny knew that Blaise and Joyce were married. Draco had even told her about how in love they were, but it was still almost shocking to see the tall Slytherin come up behind her, and drop a kiss onto her neck.

Joyce looked up at him with a smile.

It was almost too sweet for her to watch as they just stood there, gazing adoringly into each other's eyes.

Deciding to give them a minute, Ginny wandered off to find Draco.

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Hermione paced the kitchen nervously. He'd be here any minute, and she'd have to tell him.

The thought of what he might say made her recent dinner threaten to make an encore presentation.

She caught sight of her reflection in a hanging pan. She wasn't glowing anymore. In fact, she looked green, and could feel that almost constant exhaustion returning. The thought of going back to bed was very appealing, but she couldn't. She had to tell him tonight!

There was a pop as he apparated into the parlor.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione left the kitchen.

Severus looked her up and down as she entered the room.

"Are you sick?"

She glared at him.

"Sit down. We need to talk."

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The wives and girlfriends of all the Death Eaters were on their best behavior. Except for Pansy Parkinson. She'd quickly gotten drunk, and, after the men left, had begun trying to fight Ginny.

Joyce had quickly slipped the woman a sleeping potion, and Pansy was now laid out in a guest bedroom, snoring like a saw.

The other women were very curious about Ginny. None of them really knew much about her. They'd started asking questions about her and Draco. Ginny had made a lot of things up, and only hoped that she wouldn't be caught in a lie.

They wanted to know how Draco was in bed, and Ginny blushed.

Joyce had proceeded to tell them about the oath amid gales of laughter.

The wine had loosened Ginny's tongue, and she told them of the romantic bath and massage he'd given her.

All of them had envy in their eyes.

"I don't think Vincent knows that women have orgasms too," Crabbe's girlfriend Melissa Young muttered.

Everyone stared at her in shock, before making the appropriate sympathetic noises.

"Draco was great, that night. Now he can't even touch me without having to run and take a cold shower!" she groused.

"I think it's great that you have a family that cares so much for you."

Ginny looked over at Nott's fiancé, Elenora, and instantly felt guilty. She was small, thin, and meek. She'd tried to cover up a bruised jaw with make up, and Ginny had seen her wince when Joyce had hugged her earlier.

Joyce graciously changed the subject, and everyone relaxed once again.

All in all, it had been a rather pleasant evening.

"Joyce, you'll have to come by the Manor next week and help me with some wedding arrangements," Ginny said, later that evening.

"My friend Hermione has been helping me, but she's been sick, and I hate having to stress her any more than necessary," she explained.

Blaise and Draco were in the study having a drink and talking while Joyce and Ginny straightened up the parlor after everyone else had left.

"Oh, has she been sick for a while?"

"Yes, it's been about six weeks. She's always so tired, and can barely eat without throwing it up."

"Has she been to a healer?"

"Yes, but Hermione said it was just some flu bug."

"Sounds like the Egyptian flu to me," Joyce said, smirking.

"Egyptian flu?"

"Yes, if you catch that then nine months later you become a mummy!"

Ginny looked at her in confusion.

"What?"

"It sounds to me like your friend is pregnant."

"Oh."

"I'd love to help you out. Just send me an owl."

Ginny nodded absently, her mind spinning.

Hermione had a lot of explaining to do.

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"I've got ... news, I guess you could say."

Hermione began twirling a strand of hair.

"Well?" he demanded when she didn't say anything.

She took a deep breath.

"I've debated for a couple of weeks now whether or not to tell you this. But I can't see any way around it in the end, being as how this is not something I plan to hide. And since you're bound to figure it out eventually, I've decided you might as well know sooner as later. You can start getting used to it. You can start figuring out how you plan to deal with it- because, one way or another, you are going to be dealing with it!"

"Spit it out," he commanded, dangerously.

"I'm pregnant, Severus Snape. Almost two months along. Sometime next March, you're going to be a dad."

End Chapter 9