St. Mungo’s Hospital was bustling, a large sea of commotion. Throughout, witches and wizards dressed in lime green robes hurried around, tending to patients. It was busy now, and I would have hated to see this place on the busiest days of the war. I am sure the upper floors of the hospital had been packed during those times, and I feel a stab of guilt that I, in part at least, had been a participant in that carnage. That, and the fact that I haven’t visited my father in ages. Lucius Malfoy is a permanent resident of the Janus Thickey Ward, or Ward 49, where patients who have their brains damaged for good by magic stayed. Ironically, Lucius is only a few beds down from Frank and Alice Longbottom. The thought makes me laugh very quietly, but the noise quickly caught in my throat. I’m not here to see my father. No, I’m here for something much more serious, someone I care about so much more than I had ever cared about my father.

This was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life. It isn’t. Today, Cassandra was supposed to be born. Cassandra Amaryllis Malfoy, my daughter. But, something’s wrong. Ginny isn’t doing well; there are…“complications” as the healers put it. I don’t know what is wrong, and, apparently, neither do they, which is what is making this entire thing so frustrating for me. I want to be in the room with her, to hold her hand, to stroke her hair, but the fact of the matter is…I am afraid. Scared to death would be more accurate, really.

The wind whips up my blond hair a little as I stand near that open window, facing the city of London. It’s the dead of night and reasonably quiet around St. Mungo’s for the moment. I kept my hair shorter now. She had always said that she liked it longer; she said that she could run her fingers through it. I keep it cut short to look professional for my job. I work as an Auror now, and was something of a poster-boy for the Order. Me, along with Potter, and Weasley, and Weasley’s wife, the one I had once called “Mudblood”. I wish I had kept it longer now, for her. God, I would do anything right now if it meant she would be alright. I would go through all the torture my father endured fifty times over…no, infinity times over if it meant she would be safe.

“Any minute now, my ship is coming in,” I whisper, “I’ll keep checking the horizon.” I feel a breeze whip up a little again as I lean harder into the window sill, whispering a song I heard a long time ago. “I’ll stand on the bow, and feel the waves come crashing, come crashing down, down, down on me…” I sang the song to her once before, when I thought that I was dying. It wasn’t here; it was at a field hospital. I’d taken a rather nasty spell to the side, I still don’t really know what it was, but the healers had needed to act fast to save me. It left a nasty scar in my left side, though Ginny always said it looked sexy. I laugh softly at that thought as moisture starts forming in my eyes. Wiping it away harshly, I know that I can’t worry about myself right now. She needs all of my support.

“Mr. Malfoy?” A voice, tense and quiet behind me steals my attention. Taking a deep breath to clear my emotions, I slowly turn around.

“Yes?”

“She’s calling for you, sir.” The healer didn’t have to say anymore. I race past him and back into her room. Three healers stand around her bed, running tests, trying to figure out what is wrong with my love.

I have no clue where her family is at the moment, including those five brothers of hers. Yes, against all odds, every member of her family survived. That made all of this just that much more unfair. She opens her eyes slowly and looks over at me, a faint smile spreading across her lips.

“Draco,” she whispers, her lips barely moving. It’s horrible of me to say this, but even as I saw her laying there, her face pale as death, sweat beading on her brow, and her flaming red hair spread haphazardly over the pillow, she still was the most beautiful creature I had ever laid my eyes upon. I knew if I told her that, she’d hit me… hard. Or at least give me this look that said I was bloody insane; which I’ve seen countless times when I told her that she looked beautiful first thing in the morning, before she had her first cup of coffee.

“I’m here, love,” I say, kneeling down next to her bed and clasping her cold hand in mine. She only smiles and closes her eyes again. My heart feels as if it’s being torn out. I look up at one of the healers, praying to whatever gods there may be for a drop of good news. A saddened frown and a shake of the head tell me that there isn’t any, and probably won’t be.

I lean down to kiss her hand, trying to warm it the best I can. I can feel the moisture rising in my eyes again as I look up at her. I open my mouth to speak again, barely managing a whisper with my voice cracking all over the place like it is.

“And you say, be still my love. Open up your heart, let the light shine in.” My voice is in terrible shape, most likely from the fact that I think I’ve cried more today than I have in my entire life previously, but I try to manage to half whisper, half sing the song to her. I hear her draw in a sharp breath and I look up, worried that I might have exacerbated the problem, when her lips slowly part and her voice whispers softly.

“But don’t you understand, I already have a plan,” she manages to whisper out before coughing slightly, taking another haggard breath before continuing. “I’m waiting for my real life to begin.” I clutch her hand slightly tighter, suddenly oblivious to the healers around us, watching this intimate scene between two young lovers.

“When I awoke today, suddenly nothing happened.” My voice gets slightly stronger as I move closer to her, my angel. Maybe this song, the one that I sang when I ended up surviving, will be able to save her as well.

“But in my dreams,” she whispers out, coughing again, “I slew the dragon.”

“And down this beaten path, and up this cobbled lane,” I stand up a little as I continue singing to her, looking into her eyes, praying that she will open them once again so I can gaze into her bright brown eyes. “I’m walking in my old footsteps, once again. And you say, just be here now.”

“Forget about the past, your mask is wearing thin.” Her voice sounds slightly stronger now as her eyelids slowly part, her nearly hazel orbs staring back up at me, a sad smile crossing her face. “Let me throw one more dice.”

“I know that I can win. I’m waiting for my real life to begin.” As I finish, she smiles again and I lean down and kiss her on the lips. That same fire from the first time we kissed is still there, and I swear that I could feel her hand warm in mine. As the kiss broke, I look down at her again, a smile parting my lips as she opened hers again.

“Any minute now, my ship is coming in. I’ll keep checking that horizon…” She broke down into a fit of coughing, her eyes shutting themselves as she half rolled over onto her side. The healers were at her side in half an instant, shoving me out of the way and starting to mutter minor spells and incantations to try and ease her pain. But they could do nothing to ease the pain I felt as I was pushed away from her bed and out of the room, the door closing quickly in my face. I just stood there, numb. I didn’t want to acknowledge it, but I knew in my heart that my love was dying and that there was nothing anyone could do to save her. Without my brain making any conscious decision to do so, I found myself right back at the same window again, tears streaming freely down my face this time.

“And I’ll keep checking my machine, there’s sure to be that call. It’s gonna happen soon, soon, oh so very soon…” I whisper as I look out over the cityscape, at the Muggles below who were oblivious of my presence. Swallowing hard, I look up at the full moon high in the sky, croaking out the last words to the verse. “It’s just that times are lean.” I close my eyes and lower my head as that same, slight breeze picked up again.

“Mr. Malfoy?” It was that same voice again too. I could only hope and pray that the last few minutes had been a dream, that I had dreamt Ginny dying, and that they were going to tell me that she was fine. However, as I turn, the tears streaking my face tell me that those past few minutes have been nothing but the coldest and cruelest of realities. “Mr. Malfoy, we lost her. She’s gone.” I say nothing. I am frozen in place, looking at him as if expecting him to suddenly tell me it was all a joke, much like Ginny’s older brothers, Fred and George, do all the time. But he wasn’t joking, and I know that as I swallow and open my mouth to speak, my voice cracking so horribly I had to start over.

“And Cassandra?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Malfoy. There was nothing that we could do.” Biting my lip, I nod slightly. Trying to blink away tears, I brush past him quickly as I stand in the doorway of Ginny’s room. The healers were gone now, and the lights were off. The only illumination came from a window and the full moon outside, which lit her face perfectly and made her look even more like an angel.

“And you say, be still my love,” I manage to choke out, tears flooding down my cheeks now. I’m actually surprised that I’m still able to talk at all, but I take an extremely shaky breath and continue. “Open up your heart and let the light shine in.” At this point, I just can’t take it anymore. With a choked sob, I turn from the room and stumble towards the stairs.

Within moments, my legs have carried me out of St. Mungo’s and out onto the streets of London. I collapse next to a phone booth, my legs no longer able to support my weight. I let out wail after wail of anguish, my body physically shaking from the force of them. I look up and catch the moon out of the corner of my eye, my grief and anger suddenly all directed at that one, bright object.

“Don’t you fucking understand?” I scream at it, my voice cracking again for the umpteenth time that night, but I don’t care. It hurt, and pain was keeping me grounded right now. “I already had a fucking plan. My real life had already begun, and now she’s gone.” I turn and punch the phone booth beside me, the glass shattering and cutting my hand. Cursing again, I wrap my hand in a handkerchief I had in pocket, watching my blood start to stain it red. The color vaguely reminds me of her hair.

Ignoring the pain, I stand and raise a hand to hail a taxi. I needed to be as far away from here as possible. A taxi pulls up beside me and I open the door, looking up at the moon one more time.

“They’re both gone. My real life is gone.”