Hey, I wish I had the ingredients to do the Polijuice Potion, to make myself look like J.K Rowling, but I would still lack the writing talent, so stick with me…
I do not own Harry Potter… And, I'm really sad that I don't own Draco Malfoy (*sobs*). Oh well, life goes on!
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Last chapter:
"I should know better than to trust a Malfoy…" she mumbled to herself, rolling her eyes. "Fine, what do you want from this Weasel?"
`I don't think you would like to hear everything I want from you…' he thought, smiling inwardly. "I have a proposal to make you…"
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Chapter 7 - A new start
"I'm not interested in marrying you, Ferret-boy!" Ginny laughed.
"Aren't you funny?" he replied sarcastically. "I would never propose marriage to a Weasley!"
"So, what is it that you want to propose?" she asked, curious.
"I want you to work for me… Moretti signed your dismissal letter last night, as soon as you broke up with Carlo, and I need a Healer with your qualifications." He said, showing her a few papers signed by Carlo's father, saying she was dismissed from her functions at Moretti Clinic.
"Yes, I was expecting that already… But why do you need a Healer?" she asked, giving him the papers back. "As far as I can tell you look perfectly healthy."
"Why thank you, Weasley! I didn't know you liked my appearance, that much…" he sneered. "That boy you saw last night, he's paraplegic. He can't move from his waist down…"
So, the child she had seen the night before, was paraplegic… A small child already suffering handicaps, wasn't it terribly sad?
Draco had just said the magical words, actually. Whenever someone talked about handicapped children, Ginny would melt like butter and do whatever was necessary to help the kids. This time, she knew she couldn't refuse the job, because she had already seen the little boy, and already cared about him.
Such a cute little boy, surrounded by mystery, living in Malfoy's house and having such similar physical appearance with Draco… She needed to accept the job both for curiosity about the boy's past and concern for the boy's future.
While she seemed lost in her thoughts, Draco Malfoy watched the young woman in front of him and admired her beauty, once again. The soft trail of freckles that lined her nose would look ridiculous in anyone else, but on her, they looked just right… How could he ever made fun of those freckles?
`Well, they look awful on her brothers, that's why…' he sneered, watching as she bit her bottom lip in deep thought. `If she weren't a Weasley, she might have had a chance with me…'
Ginny woke up from her reveries and saw Draco watching her every move. In his hand he held her dismissal papers. That's when the information downed on her…
"Hey, why are you the one to give me those papers? What do you have to do with the Moretti Clinic?" she asked, furiously.
"I'm Moretti's partner… I run the Clinic in Paris, while he runs the Clinic in London." He replied with a sneer, enjoying her surprised face. "So, do you accept to help the boy?"
"Who is that boy, Malfoy? Where is his mother? Why are you hiding your own son?" she asked, confused and curious.
"That boy is not my son, he's under my care, and I'm not hiding him… Stop making up stories, Weasley!" Draco replied, coldly. "Listen, I don't have to tell you my entire life to get you to work with the boy, do I?"
Ginny realised he was right… She wasn't supposed to ask these things, as a Healer. But as an old victim of Malfoy's nasty words, she found herself trying to protect the young child.
"I'm sorry…" she admitted, playing with her hands. "I don't like saying such words to you, after all you've done to me and my family, but I admit I went a little over the line…"
Draco just stared at her in amazement. How could someone be so gentle hearted to be able to forgive an old enemy?
"You would work from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m., your pay check would be the same you were getting in the clinic, and you'd be working here, in the Manor…" Draco said, trying to make her accept the job.
"I love children, but I'm an Healer, not a nanny!" she replied, surprised with the working schedule. "And why ME? Why aren't you searching for a great Neuro-Healer?"
"Listen, that boy has been in every single Healer there is in England and France, for the last 3 years! I even took him to Muggle doctors and they all said it was impossible to heal him… He was submitted to painful surgeries to his spine, and nothing worked…" Draco said, in pure anger, as he paced the room, back and forth. "You are my last hope, ok? Just try to help him, and if you think it isn't worth your time, I'll let you drop the job…"
Wow, he really seemed concerned about the boy… Once again, she wondered about their similarity, but kept her mouth shut.
Well, Ginny was unemployed, so, why not give it a try? She was extremely interested in this case…
"Fine, I accept… I'll be here starting tomorrow, but first I need to see the boy and try to understand what's going on." She replied, seriously. "Can I see him now?"
"Tabby will take you to Thomas' room…" he sneered, calling the said house-elf. "You can ask her whatever you need to know. She's Thomas' caretaker…"
"An house elf? You have an house-elf educating a young boy?" Ginny gasped, standing up from the armchair. "Does he have a teacher?"
"Not since we've returned to England, two months ago…" Draco explained, sitting behind his desk, once again. "Now, go…"
Making a huge effort to keep her mouth shut, Ginny followed Tabby out of the office and through the house's hallways.
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Merlin, I've never felt such relief before… I have this strange feeling in my gut that she'll be the one to save Thomas…
I probably should tell her the whole story, about the boy, but I better not. I don't have enough trust in her, and I don't think I ever will, for that fact… She's just a Weasel! I shouldn't even be hiring her to work under my roof, but, at the same time, I feel like she is a wonderful, caring person, and the motherly figure that Thomas desperately needs.
Maybe then he'll forget what happened… I sure hope so, because having Virginia go around my house, acting all motherly like, will be enough to make me want to get married and have a ton of noisy kids, with freckled faces and silver eyes.
And we don't want a Malfoy falling for a Weasley, do we?
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How weird was her life?
She had finally broke up with her snob and cold boyfriend, she had been dismissed from the Clinic, and had found a small child in the Manor of the sexiest man alive…
And to top it all, here she was, back at his Manor, being hired to help the small boy she had been so curious about, last night.
`Draco really confuses me, you know? One moment he's a total git, being nasty and unbearable, and the next he's delivering roses, saying gentle words and smiling warmly.' Ginny thought, still walking behind Tabby, through the house's corridors. `I think he has a serious problem of double personality…'
Tabby came to a halt, in front of the bedroom door; Ginny had entered last night, and motioned for Ginny to walk in.
Outside was a wonderful sunny day, and still Thomas' room was extremely dark and silent.
With quick steps, Ginny walked to the large windows and opened the heavy curtains, allowing the bright light to enter the room, illuminating the pale walls, and the large bed in the centre of the room.
With the daylight, Ginny was able to see how big the room really was. On the right bed side there was a wheelchair that she hadn't seen last night's darkness. The bed was large, although the boy was small, and on one corner of the room there was a very low table with toys, but it had no chairs.
"Tabby, what's his routine?" Ginny asked, sitting on the bed.
"Me don't wake up Master Thomas… He screams for Tabby when he wakes and he eats." The house elf explained in her bad English. "Master Thomas takes nap, calls dinner and sleeps again."
Ginny was shocked, for the thousandth time that day. They were keeping the boy locked inside of that bedroom, without even taking him out of the bed?
"Does he ever leave this bedroom?" she asked, growing furious.
"No miss…"
"Are you all stupid or what? Thomas should be out of this house, learning everything about the world and learning how to live in it, despite his handicap…" Ginny mumbled sadly, reaching for the bed covers, and removing them from the boy's upper body.
The small blond boy immediately opened his eyes, and closed them again firmly.
"Close the light!" he groaned, placing an arm over his brown eyes.
"No! It's a beautiful day outside and I want us to take a walk in the garden…" Ginny smiled sweetly, removing his arm to look him in the eye.
"I don't want to! Who are YOU?" he replied coldly, piercing her with his eyes.
"I'm a new friend, and you'll go out with me today… Let's give you a bath." She replied, picking him up in her arms, taking him to the bathroom, despite his growls of fury and anger.
"LET ME GO! NOW! TABBY, TABBY!" he screamed, hitting Ginny with his closed fists, trying to hurt her.
"STOP, Thomas!" she commanded firmly, placing him inside of the empty tub and started to fill it in with hot water, as she removed his black pyjama. He smelled awfully!
"NO! NO!" Thomas yelled and yelled, splashing water all over the bathroom and Ginny.
Having had enough, she placed the Full Body Bind on him and gently bathed him.
"I'm here to help you, you silly boy… I know you're not used to anyone, except for Tabby, but from now on I'll be here every day to help you become a normal boy!" Ginny explained, washing his blond hair. "You need to get out of that bedroom, see the world outside, see a Quidditch game, eat an ice-cream! There's so much to see, Thomas… Don't you want me to show it to you?"
The boy's eyes watched her attentively, and there was a small spark of interest.
Ginny finished bathing him, put him on a pair of denim shorts, a t-shirt, and put him a pair of shoes. She combed his soft hair, and a weird feeling spread through her.
`It's as if I was combing Draco's hair… Would it feel as soft?' she thought. `Oh Merlin, the guy is destroying this boy's childhood and I'm wondering how is hair feels like!'
When she placed Thomas on his wheelchair, Ginny finally removed the body bind spell from him, allowing Thomas to move and talk again.
"You're ready for our walk…" she smiled at the scowling boy.
"I don't want to go out!" he replied, coldly, folding his arms in front of his chest.
Ginny didn't reply and pushed his chair along the corridor and out of the house, to the huge garden. The air was warm and the sun felt wonderful on their skins.
Along the walk, Ginny asked dozens of questions to Tabby, and the elf answered the best way she could.
According to Tabby, Thomas had no last name, he was orphan, paralysed since he was 4 y-old and he had been submitted to several surgeries, but none helped. As to why he was at Malfoy Manor, Tabby had no idea…
Thomas spent his days in bed and only saw Tabby at meal times. Draco never visited the boy, which was strange…
`Who are you, Thomas? What are you doing here, in Malfoy Manor, if you are not related to Draco? Why did you suddenly stop walking at the age of four?' Ginny thought, sadly, still pushing the chair around the garden.
Behind one of the house's windows, a tall figure watched the young redheaded beauty pushing the blond boy in the wheelchair.
`I've made the right choice… Only a Weasley, used to brats like her brothers, can help that boy… I'm sure she'll succeed in winning Thomas' trust.' He thought, watching as she ran a hand through her ling hair, to remove it from her smiling face. "And maybe she'll be able to win more than one heart in this house…"
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Hello everyone…
Yes, I know that I have not updated for an extremely long time, and believe me, not having time for my Fanfiction and for my readers is breaking my heart!
I hate not having time to write my Fanfictions and to post them on the web, but my studies come first, and I hope you all understand that.
My exams start in the 20th of June and finish on the 15th of July. Then I'm going on vacation to Algarve and I'll only come back home in the beginning of August.
But I promise, soon I'll post more and more frequently. Believe me, because I never break promises, ok?
Thank you so much for reading and supporting me, and I hope you all keep on reading this story, ok?
Until I post again, lots of love,
Carina