Sometimes It Be That Way

The Evil Plan, Part II

*

DEAN: Rory.

RORY: Well, Lorelai technically.

DEAN: Lorelai. I like that.

RORY: It's my mother's name, too. She named me after herself. She was lying in the hospital thinking about how men name boys after themselves all the time, you know, so why couldn't women? She says her feminism just kind of took over. Though personally I think a lot of Demerol also went into that decision. (Gilmore Girls: Pilot)
*

After that little tidbit of information in the corridor outside the hospital wing, Pansy did everything she could to get more. She followed Ginny almost everywhere and listened in on the girl's conversations. She wanted more proof of a pregnancy than a simple statement about going to have a girl. She pulled all of the stops short of giving Draco a lapdance for information or using Veritaserum on Ginny.

The proof that she found was a diary: Ginny's diary. After reading her mother's diary about her experience of having Bill in her last year at Hogwarts, Ginny decided that she should keep her own diary of her experiences having her first child. She never really used it before until her fight with the Trio and until Madam Pomfrey suggested that it might be good for stress release. After checking the diary out to make sure that she wouldn't a Tom Riddle repeat, she began using it. And it seemed to work.

Ginny took it with her wherever she went, just in case there was something she felt she needed to say that could not be repeated later on. She always kept it in her back pack, but today she was carrying it in her arms with her schoolbooks to her next class, which she was already late for.

She hurried down the hall, careful not to slip on the floor, when she turned a corner and there was Pansy, with her own books in hand. They slammed right into each other and books went flying.

Ginny mentally cursed and bent down to gather her books. Pansy did the same, all the while muttering under her breath about what a freak show Ginny was. Ginny ignored her and took her books in one arm and promptly stalked off, leaving Pansy, who was still collecting her own books.

"Freak," Pansy heckled purposefully, watching the back of Ginny walk away. She left her books as a pile on the floor though and waited until Ginny had already turned another corner. The last of Ginny's footsteps died away and only then did Pansy feel safe to do what she did next.

Under the pile of schoolbooks lying on the floor was a diary, carefully hidden in case Ginny realized it was missing right away and came back looking for it. It was a small book with a burgundy cover and could easily be told apart from the Hogwarts textbooks.

Feeling relief flood into her from finally finding her proof, Pansy put her books into a neat pile and walked away with them in her arms, the diary tucked into her schoolbag. She skipped the class she was supposed to be in and ran off to the Slytherin dormitories where she laid on her bed and began to read.

After she had read the whole diary through, she looked up, briefly wondering what she should do. She could almost see the faces of that Weasley girl and of Draco's when she would announce that Weasley was pregnant, and the thought made her smirk.

She got up and began to plan.

*

Later that night, Ginny was cudled up on the couch in the Astronomy Tower, underneath a blanket and reading a book. She tried to ignore the ominous feeling beginning to pool in the bottom of her stomach and tried to concentrate on the words on the page, but they just seemed like a pool of ink she couldn't absorb.

She sighed in frustration, and snapped the book shut. Her eyes fell on the cover where a beautiful design in dark greens surrounded a handsome man whose eyes glowed garnet red. She suddenly realized that this had been given to her by Hermione. She then remembered that Hermione still wasn't talking to her and on impulse threw the book across the room where it landed by the door.

The door opened, emitting Draco through. He looked down as he nearly stepped on the book and bent down to retrieve it.

"No," Ginny called to him. He looked up expectantly. "Leave it there."

His eyebrows shot up, but he didn't ask her any questions and stepped over the book to join her on the couch. They kissed, and Ginny was thankful that they had found each other. She knew it was corny, but she needed him, she needed him more than she could say.

"Nice to see you, stranger," she greeted, forcing her lips to turn into a sweet smile that she knew he couldn't resist.

"Yeah, it's nice to be seen by you," Draco replied back to her, pulling her towards him. He looked back to the book. "I assume you're angry at the book?"

"No, just at--" she paused, thinking at what she should say. Draco didn't know that she was still on bad terms with Hermione and the others and she didn't know what he would say. So, instead, she finished, "Mood swings. Besides, the book was a little too mushy for me anyways."

Draco smiled, a charming smile that warmed her to her toes. They kissed again, holding on for minutes, before Ginny decided to pull back.

"So, I went to the nurse's the other day," she told him, giving him an excited grin.

Draco looked at her curiously, a grin turning the corners of his own mouth as she practically bounced in her spot for joy. "What did she say?"

"I'm going to have a girl!" she exclaimed. Draco looked surprised, and she scowled at him. "Don't tell me you were expecting a boy?"

"Well, Potter seems like the type to have a boy," Draco told her defensively. "Plus, you have so many brothers..."

"I take offence to that," she said, pouting. "I wanted a girl anyways, so your opinion doesn't matter at this point." Draco snorted. "But I wanted to ask you for a different opinion: what do you think I should name her?"

Draco leaned back, and looked at her. He seemed to become very serious when he replied. "I'm not the father, Gin," he told her. "I don't exactly get a say in the matter."

"Then, pretend you're the father and tell me what you think," Ginny persisted, trying not to let the fact that he was right get her down.

"Gin, come on," he said, his grey eyes boring into her eyes. "Potter should be the one picking out baby names with you, not me. Ask him."

At that, her smile faltered. She looked down at her hands and quietly said, "I can't."

Draco looked shocked. "Why not? I thought... I thought you had talked to Potter since that incident at Christmas."

She got up, suddenly feeling agitated. She had the urge to scream at the top of her lungs, but she didn't think that would go well with Draco in the room. Instead, she yelled, "Of course I haven't talked to Harry since Christmas!"

Draco watched her intently as she began to pace around the room, nearly wringing her hands in frustration. His expression became a mask she couldn't read, so instead she turned away from him and kept walking.

Suddenly, he got up and caught her in mid-pace, holding her tightly. She looked up, surprised. Then, he said, "Chloe. Chloe's a good name."

She smiled, happiness filling her once again. She said it out loud to test the feel of the name on her tongue. "Chloe... I like it."

She smiled broadly, and he smiled back before pulling her in for a kiss.