Consequences

AN - I really thought the muse had given up on this one, but apparently she\'s back.



**********



The next few days passed relatively quietly. Early Thursday evening, Gregory Goyle shocked their group by asking if he could join them as they sat around in the common room studying. Everyone had looked to Draco, and he\'d told his former bodyguard to have a seat.



Goyle had asked Neville for help with his Herbology homework, and the most unlikely friendship in the history of Hogwarts was soon born. By the end of the night the two were bent over a book about the magical properties of venomous tentacula, laughing and chatting about a wide variety of topics...even Quidditch. It was somewhat surreal.



Ginny had succumbed to a skull splitting headache (presumably unrelated to this sudden social development) and had gone to bed early. Draco had convinced her that sex was supposed to help relieve headache pain, but despite an impressive effort on his part, it seemed that nothing was going to put a dent in this pain.



Friday morning, she woke up after only an hour or so of sleep to find Draco frowning worriedly at her. "Any better?" he asked softly.



Ginny winced as his voice sliced through her head despite his considerately low volume. "No," she whimpered pathetically.



"That\'s it...I\'m taking you to the infirmary..." He growled quietly.



"I don\'t wanna go," Ginny whined childishly, rolling over and covering her head with a pillow.



"Are you going to class then?" He asked, his voice laced with irritation and concern.



"No," Ginny sighed, bracing herself for his inevitable reaction.



Sure enough..."Then you\'re coming with me to see Madam Pomfrey."



"Noooo," Ginny protested.



To her surprise, he said nothing, simply turning away and walking out the door. His confusing behaviour was explained when he returned a few minutes later with Ron in tow.



"Alright, Ginerva," her older brother said firmly. "You don\'t have to get dressed, just put your school robes on over your pjs; but you\'re coming to the infirmary or I\'m owling mum."



"Sod off, Ron," Ginny clung weakly to the blankets as the two boys pulled them away from her.



"Do you really want to deal with a Molly Weasley Special Mamabear Edition Howler right now, luv?" Draco asked, pulling her upright.



That did it. She grudgingly let them slide her arms into the sleeves of her robes and put her loafers on her feet.



"Can you walk?" Ron asked anxiously when she swayed upon standing.



Draco didn\'t even wait for a response, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her quickly through the crowded hallways. Several people shot him dirty and/or suspicious looks, but Ron stared them all down and they arrived at the infirmary without trouble.



Madam Pomfrey rushed from her office when she heard the door swing shut behind them. The sound felt like the Hogwarts Express was running over Ginny\'s skull, and she cried out weakly, clutching her head as Draco gently deposited her on the nearest bed.



"What\'s wrong?" Madam Pomfrey asked quietly, bending over her and pressing a cool hand to her forehead.



"She\'s been getting these awful headaches all summer," Rom explained, his voice softer than Ginny would have thought him capable of.



"She\'s had this one since after supper last night," Draco added. "She was tossing and turning all night."



There was a brief pause after this revelation, and Ginny could just imagine the expression on the healer\'s face. "I see. Well, let me run a few tests and see if I can determine what\'s causing it so I can make her more comfortable."



Ginny just laid still and let the nurse wave her wand back and forth around her head. Then the three of them moved a short distance away, speaking in hushed tones. "Have these headaches been this severe all summer? Why didn\'t your parents take her to a healer sooner?" Madam Pomfrey murmured, her tone somewhat disapproving.



"They weren\'t so bad at first," Ron replied defensively. "I\'ve had them too, but they didn\'t get really bad until we got back to school."



Ginny suddenly remembered that her brother had missed his morning classes the day before, and added guilt to her current miseries.



"You\'ve had them too?" Madam Pomfrey asked sharply. "Has anyone else in your family experienced them, Mister Weasley?"



"No, just Gin and I," Ron murmured.



"Well, I can\'t find any obvious causes. It might be something environmental at your home, but that doesn\'t explain why they would worsen now that you\'re back at Hogwarts." Madam Pomfrey mused aloud. "I\'m going to give her a strong pain potion so she can get some rest and keep her here until the headache goes away. If you get another headache like this yourself, please come see me, Mister Weasley."



"Is she going to be alright?" Draco asked anxiously.



"I think she\'s going to be fine. Like I said, I can\'t find any obvious physical problems," Madam Pomfrey replied. "Has she been under a lot of stress?"



"Who hasn\'t?" Draco asked dryly.



"Well, maybe once she gets settled in with her classes they\'ll go away," Madam Pomfrey suggested hopefully. "For now, the best thing to do is let her sleep, so you should both run along and have breakfast."



"Can\'t I stay with her?" Draco asked pleadingly.



"You\'d do her more good collecting her assignments and taking notes, Mister Malfoy." Madam Pomfrey said gently. "I\'ll send for you if anything changes."



"Come on Dray...you heard her," Ron urged quietly. "We can\'t do anything here. Let\'s go get you some coffee, at least...you look exhausted."



Ginny felt the side of her bed sink and warm, dry lips pressed against her temple. "I\'ve gotta go, luv, but I\'ll come check on you at lunch. Feel better," Draco whispered quietly before he rose and walked away.



After she heard the two boys footsteps move away, followed by the opening and closing of the door, Madam Pomfrey approached. "Erm, Miss Weasley, before I give you this potion, I need to ask if there\'s any chance you might be pregnant?"



"Ummmmm," Ginny tried to remember if she\'d noticed Draco cast a contraception charm either of the two times they\'d been together. And then wondered disgustedly why she hadn\'t done it herself. "Shit."



"Hmmmm," Madam Pomfrey murmured disapprovingly. Ginny heard her set something down on the table beside her bed and murmur an incantation. She held her breath for what seemed like an eternity and let it out in a rush when the older witch muttered, "Well, you\'ve been lucky so far, but unless you want to deliver a baby at graduation, you need to be more careful. I\'ll give you a monthly contraceptive potion before you leave."



"Thank you," Ginny mumbled embarrassedly, accepting the bright blue pain potion the healer handed her. Soon after taking it, her headache finally began to ease, and she drifted off into the most restful sleep she\'d experienced in ages.



***



She awoke what felt like hours later. The infirmary was now lit by a few torches and a dim, rosy glow from the small temporary windows. Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen, but Draco was asleep on an uncomfortable looking wooden chair beside her bed, with his head resting on his arms on the edge of her mattress. "Draco?" Ginny nudged him gently, but he didn\'t respond. Her head still felt light and \'medicine-y\' as she rubbed her eyes and tried to wake up completely. At least her headache was gone.



Suddenly, she let out an ear-splitting scream when Narcissa Malfoy\'s face appeared directly in front of her. She had no body. Not even a head...just her pale face, eyes wide, hovering in mid air. She appeared to be shouting something, but no sound came from her mouth. Ginny scrambled back toward the flimsy headboard of the bed, falling on the floor beside Draco\'s chair in her rush to get away from the disturbing apparition. She cowered fearfully as the woman\'s face swooped toward her and promptly disappeared.



"Ginny?! Honey, what\'s wrong?" Draco was shaking her frantically, his voice panicked as he knelt on the floor beside her.



Ginny sobbed and flung her arms around his neck. "I saw her! I saw your mother!"



His face drained completely of color and he stared at her in horror. "You\'re sure? In a mirror or something?" He asked anxiously, looking around the room.



"No...just...right in front of me!" Ginny gestured to the spot she\'d first seen the vision or apparition...whatever it was.



"Did she look like-" Draco stopped and swallowed thickly. Trying again he reluctantly asked, "Did she look like a ghost?"



"Not really, no, but she was just a face," Ginny mumbled. "She wasn\'t see through, and her skin wasn\'t silvery at all. But she was just a face."



"What\'s going on out here?" Madam Pomfrey demanded, storming out of her office just then, hands on her hips. "And what are you doing on the floor?!"



"I had a nightmare and fell off the bed," Ginny lied quickly. Draco stood up and helped her to her feet. "I\'m sorry."



"Oh," Madam Pomfrey\'s anger waned rapidly as she looked back and forth between them. Ginny knew if she looked half as terrified as her boyfriend, it must be blatantly obvious that they hadn\'t been up to any funny business. "How is your head?"



"Much better now, thank you," Ginny smiled meekly at the older witch.



Madam Pomfrey frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then said, "Well, supper will be over in half an hour, so I\'ll let you go and grab something while you can. But if you get another headache like that, come see me. There\'s no reason to try to suffer through it."



"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Ginny murmured gratefully.



"Oh, and here\'s that potion I promised you," Madam Pomfrey muttered, pulling something from her pocket. "Take it before you go to bed tonight. It might make you a little queasy. You can come back in a month for another one, if necessary." She shot a brief, meaningful look at Draco, who fortunately had his back turned, still searching the room.



"Thanks," Ginny accepted the vial of pink liquid, blushing furiously. "Good-bye." She slipped it in her pocket and Madam Pomfrey began stripping the bed as she and Draco began walking away.



"Oops! Wait!" Madam Pomfrey called as they reached the door. She rushed after them, her hand extended. "You forgot your necklace!"



Ginny exchanged a wary look with Draco and held out her hand. Somehow she wasn\'t surprised when the healer dropped a chain with a very familiar little gold hourglass into her palm. She said nothing until Madam Pomfrey walked away, then met Draco\'s horrified eyes. "I think we need to talk to Remus again. Maybe try Kingsley again."



"No kidding," Draco mumbled flatly.