Chasing Dreams {Book 2: Chasing Butterflies}

Chapter 25: You Got Me

"I think I'm okay. Just tired," she eventually answered him.

Draco gave her a stern look, proceeding to finish the cutting Audrey hadn't quite finished. "Just tired? Are you sure that's all? You've been kind of off the past week or so. Sure you're not coming down with something?"

"I dunno," Audrey sighed. "I'm tired, I'm still nauseous for no reason, I'm irritable, and I want chocolate really bad."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you should see Madame Pomfrey."

Audrey frowned. She really didn't want to, but she was beginning to wonder if that was the only option she had left. "Maybe..."

"Well if you're not feeling well, it probably won't be a good idea for you to play in the Quidditch game," Draco retorted, finally finishing his touch up on the ingredients and dumping them into the cauldron.

That caught Audrey's interest- something that both excited and worried her at the same time. She hadn't played Quidditch since the beginning of summer, but she certainly didn't want to play on the Slytherin team again. Besides, Crabbe had died anyways, so they would be missing a player, at best. "Quidditch? I was unaware we were playing."

"Sort of," Draco admitted. "It was mostly just going to be a 'for fun' game between us and a couple others- Ron, Nicole, Ginny, some other blokes- but if you're not feeling well, you should probably sit out."

Audrey frowned. She certainly didn't want to sit out a game of Quidditch, especially when it was just her friends playing. "I feel fine!" she insisted.

"How about this? We finish this class, and then we go see Madame Pomfrey. If she says you're fine, you can play," Draco bargained. "If not you get the rest that I know you need."

Audrey was afraid he was going to say something like that. She sighed. What did she have to lose, after all? "Fine. I'll go to the Hospital Wing after class, but I swear I'm fine."

Draco smirked. "We'll let Pomfrey be the judge of that."

Audrey rolled her eyes, although a smile was plastered on her face. The two of them rapidly went through the rest of the potion making process. Naturally, between the two of them, they had managed to brew a potion of exceptional quality. As class dismissed, Audrey gathered her books, stowing them in her shoulder bag, Draco hovering over her.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

Audrey nodded, hardly excited to be going to the Hospital Wing. It had been a long time since she had been down there, and it certainly wasn't for a little nausea. Admittedly, the girl was nervous about going. What if there was something wrong with her? What if she had been walking around spreading an illness unknowingly? Almost immediately, Audrey disregarded that; some of these students deserved to get sick.

Draco opened the door to the Hospital Wing, gesturing for Audrey to enter first. She entered the room, glancing around as Draco stepped in behind her. For once, the wing was empty. All the beds were neatly made, and no one was sick. It was really weird; Audrey had never seen it empty. Audrey scanned the room for Madame Pomfrey. Sure enough, she spotted the elderly woman standing over by a cabinet, placing some vials on a shelf.

Draco cleared his throat, causing the woman to turn around. Upon noticing them, she hustled over to them. She cut right to the chase. "What seems to be the problem?"

Once again, Draco took the lead, something Audrey was getting all too used to. "Well, Madame Pomfrey, a few students and myself were going to have a competition-free Quidditch match. And Audrey wants to play, but to be quite frank with you, I don't think it would be best for her well-being."

Madame Pomfrey raised an eyebrow, giving Draco a questionable look. "Why don't you let the girl speak for herself?" she asked. She took Audrey by the arm, sitting her down on the nearest bed. "So what seems to be the problem?"

Audrey debated in her head for a moment how to answer her. "Err... mostly I've been feeling nauseous a lot recently."

"What's recently?" the woman inquired.

"For about a week and a half now," Audrey admitted, unsurely. "And at all sorts of times during the day too."

Madame Pomfrey thought about it for a moment. "Unfortunately that leaves too many possibilities. I can't treat broad range things. You have to be more specific; is there anything else bugging you?"

Audrey thought about it for a few more minutes. "I've been really tired too. I mean, I sleep all the time now, even after I get plenty of sleep."

Madame Pomfrey nodded, obviously deep in contemplation. Audrey was unsure of what the Healer was thinking, and it was that that worried her the most. She watched Draco lean against the wall in front of them.

"Anything else?" Pomfrey continued.

"I've been really irritable, and I've wanted to eat a lot of odd food recently and at random times," Audrey revealed. "Like the other day I had the sudden urge to eat a peanut butter sandwich, and I hate sandwiches! But I did eat a whole jar of peanut butter that day..."

Madame Pomfrey squinted her eyes, something that scared Audrey. She had a feeling Pomfrey knew what was wrong, and was just waiting for Audrey to say the wrong thing to reveal it. "Are you by any chance on your menstrual cycle?" the Healer inquired, eyes still fixed on Audrey.

Audrey thought about it for a minute. Was it near that time of the month? And then it hit her. That was supposed to be two weeks ago. Her eyes widened as everything started to make sense in her head. "No," she breathed. "I'm not. I'm... late."

"Then you have no business playing Quidditch," Pomfrey announced, turning away from Audrey and moving back to the cabinet where she began rifling through it aimlessly.

"And why's that?" Draco asked, the whole conversation going over his head.

After grabbing a bottle of what appeared to be pills, Madame Pomfrey walked back over to the couple. "Because," she stated, thrusting the bottle into Audrey's hands, "I'm fairly certain that what she's experiencing are the early signs of pregnancy, perhaps not even a month or so in."

Audrey watched as Draco's eyes widened- she assumed out of fear. She looked away from him, feeling herself beginning to panic. The girl felt her own heartbeat increase, silently freaking out over the possibility of being a mother already. For a moment, Audrey thought she was dreaming, that this wasn't real. This couldn't be happening, could it?

Before she could get lost in her own thoughts, Pomfrey interrupted them again. "I assume you know who the father is?" she questioned.

Audrey nodded. "Of course I do." She glanced up from the bottle in her hands to Draco. "Not a doubt in my mind."

"Good," Madame Pomfrey answered. "Now those pills are vitamins. Take them every morning after breakfast. If you need anything you come back here, okay?"

"Yes ma'am," Audrey said unsurely.

"Congrats." Madame Pomfrey went about her business, leaving Audrey and Draco there alone. Draco sighed, pushing himself off the wall, and taking a seat next to Audrey on the bed. "So... we're having a baby," he said uncertainly.

"Yea, I guess so," Audrey said back quietly, looking at her feet and certainly not feeling like 'congrats' was the right term for this moment.

Draco put his arm around her, pulling her close to him. "It's going to be okay."

Audrey didn't buy that. She didn't know what to do, what to expect. She was admittedly very frightened. "I'm scared Draco..."

"Me too," he admitted. "But I promise that everything is going to be okay. One way or another." Audrey still wasn't convinced. She felt a single tear run down her face. She didn't want this to happen until after they were done with school. Somehow she thought Draco must've been able to tell how she was feeling. "Just relax, and don't worry. You got me, and together I know we can get through this."

Audrey rested her head on his shoulder as she pulled him into a hug. Right now, that's all she could do to cope with the fact that her life was all about to drastically change.