A/N: Okay, everyone. Here is the second chapter. I know this has taken forever to get out, and I'm really very sorry, but thank you so much for sticking with me. Here's what happened: first, I had to start writing it three times because I couldn't get everyone's reactions the way I wanted them; second, I finally get sixteen pages written, and the chapter is almost finished, and my computer crashes. The only thing I lost was the second chapter. I had to rewrite the whole damn thing. So, I'm really really sorry that it took so long (and the original was better, so try not to be too harsh in your REVIEW!). Anyway, I've already started working on the third chapter, so hopefully I'll get that up soon. ENJOY!
Oh! And thanks to my wicked betas, Laura and Tara. You guys are awesome!
Disclaimer: None of it's mine, standard disclaimer applies. Let's all worship JKR.
My Life as I Don't Know It
Chapter Two - Lost
"Ben has run away."
Mrs. Weasley gasped and collapsed into a vacant chair. Mr. Weasley slowly and carefully put his mug onto the table. Ginny felt her throat constrict and her stomach drop. She closed her eyes and all she could hear for what seemed like an eternity was the echo of her heartbeat. Slowly, she opened her eyes again as normal sounds flooded her senses. Her mother was addressing Draco in a shaky voice.
"Maybe he went to a friend's house and forgot to tell you," Mrs. Weasley suggested shakily. Draco shook his head.
"His Hogwarts trunk, robes, and books are gone."
Ginny turned to Draco suspiciously. "He just … ran away?" she exclaimed frantically flinging her hands around her head.
"We just have to find him," Mrs. Weasley stated matter-of-factly.
"Brilliant idea, Mum," Ginny muttered. "How do we even know where he went? He could have used the Floo Network, the Knight Bus, or, Merlin forbid, Muggle transportation. We'd be better off if we waited until he contacted us."
"I certainly will not wait around for him to contact us, Ginevra!"
"He won't contact us," Draco interrupted. "He's too proud to admit that he made a mistake."
Ginny let out a slightly hysterical chuckle. "Whoever said that Malfoy and Weasley was a good mix was off their rocker." Everyone ignored her.
"Of all the times," exploded Mrs. Weasley after a few minutes of silence. "His family needs him now and he was to run away. His mother has amnesia, for Merlin's sake!"
"That's probably why he ran away," Ginny said, getting more hysterical by the second. "His mother can't stand his father, doesn't remember him at all, and thinks she's sixteen! Why wouldn't he run away? I would if were him." She put her face in her hands. "I've made my child run away from home," she moaned dramatically.
"Not everything is about you, Ginevra," snapped her mother. Ginny opened her mouth to snap back, but Mr. Weasley interrupted, cutting off a potentially dangerous situation at the knees.
"Molly dear," he said cautiously. "Perhaps we should ask Draco if there is anything we can do to help?"
"Of course," Mrs. Weasley said huffily.
"Actually, there is. Do you have any pictures of Ben at his birthday party? The Magical Law Enforcement Patrol needs a picture in order to find him. Usually they wait twenty-four hours to find a missing person, but dropping the family name still has the desired effect," Draco said pompously.
"They are in the living room. Follow me, dear," Mrs. Weasley said as she led the way into the living room, followed closely by Draco.
"Who does he think he is?" Ginny exploded as soon as she was alone with her father. "'Dropping the family name still has the desired effect,'" she mimicked rather accurately. "Who says that?"
Mrs. Weasley chuckled. "Malfoys say it far too often," he responded, picking up the Daily Prophet.
Ginny blew a strand of hair out of her face and slumped onto the table in front of her. "What a pompous git," she muttered.
"Don't be too hard on him, Ginny. He's changed quite a bit since you last remember him."
"He's still a Malfoy, and that's all that matters," she stated vehemently.
Mr. Weasley carefully folded his newspaper and laid it down on the table before turning his full attention to his daughter.
"Ginny, Draco is a good man. He is a Malfoy, but that's part of the reason that you fell in love with him in the first place. Don't judge him too harshly. He's under a lot of strain and pressure right now. You may not believe me, but Draco has changed. If I told you everything that has happened, you wouldn't believe me, and it's not my place to tell you. But I will tell you this: Draco loves you and Ben more than his life. He would gladly give up all the wealth and prestige that comes with being a Malfoy as long as his wife and son were safe, happy, and still in his life. Remember that," he said as he stood up and followed Mrs. Weasley and Draco into the living room.
After sitting alone in the kitchen for several minutes, pondering her father's words, Ginny left the table and crept up the stairs to the bathroom, avoiding everyone's notice. After she was safely inside, she leaned against the bathroom door and sighed heavily before turning the water on to an exceptionally hot temperature. After attending to her shower, she began to undress, but stopped when she caught sight of her face in the mirror. She moved closer to the mirror in order to study her reflection.
It was very similar to the face that she remembered, but there were definite differences. The face had small wrinkles at the corners of its eyes from smiling and laughing too much. The mouth was more firmly set and the eyes had lost much, if not all, of their innocence. It seemed more somber and responsible than Ginny could ever remember feeling. She sighed and took her hair down from the ponytail she had put it in before bed the previous night. Her hair was not as dark as she remembered it. There seemed to be more light red highlights, which gave her a more adult look. However, it still fell to the bottom of her shoulder blades and was as wild she remembered, which, rather than it being annoying like it used to be, was comforting in its familiarity. She sighed, and as the mirror completely fogged over, finished undressing and stepped into the shower.
After basking in the glorious heat that was her shower for what seemed like a decade, Ginny found herself wrapped in a towel and standing in front of her closet, completely at a loss of what to wear. Her closet was littered with skirts and tops that were a tad too grown up for Ginny's tastes. However, after pushing these "adult clothes" out of the way, Ginny found "normal people clothes".
After finding the perfect pair of jeans and a comfortable t-shirt, Ginny looked around the room for the final touch to her outfit. Shoes. It was then that she discovered the only perk of being a Malfoy. Stacked neatly in row upon endless row in the bottom of her closet was the largest collection of shoes she had ever seen. Ginny had not always been the most fashion literate at Hogwarts, but she had always had a special fondness and weakness for shoes. It seemed that being a Malfoy had given her a budget that could exhaust even Ginny's love of shoe shopping. Sighing happily for the first time since she woke up in Malfoy Manor, Ginny began to sift through the rows of shoes to find the perfect flip-flops to accompany her outfit.
Fifteen minutes later, Ginny was ready to re-enter the real world and the first floor of the Burrow. Draco was sitting on the couch, reading the Daily Prophet with his feet propped up on the coffee table. Ginny plopped down on a worn armchair, and drew her knees to her chest.
"Enjoy your shower?" Draco asked impassively.
"Yes, I did," Ginny responded haughtily.
"I'm glad you were able to enjoy yourself while the rest of us were down here worrying about your son."
"Well excuse me if I don't think sulking around the living room is going to help find him," Ginny snapped back. "And while it's sad that he ran away, I don't even remember the damn boy."
"He's your son, dammit," Draco said angrily, tossing the Daily Prophet aside. "You cannot honestly say that you feel no connection with him."
She honestly couldn't say that she didn't feel a connection with Ben. If truth be told, she did feel something, and she was more worried about Ben than she would let on. Not that she was about to admit this to Draco Malfoy.
"No," she said defiantly. "I don't."
Draco studied her face carefully for a moment, then reached to pick up his newspaper again. "Liar," he said simply. "We have been married for sixteen years, and have been together for eighteen. I can tell when you're lying."
Ginny glared at him. "You pompous, over-bearing, egotistical wan-"
"Lunch is ready!" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen. With a smirk, Draco walked into the kitchen.
"I'm not finished with you," she said angrily as she entered the kitchen. However, at that moment, two tiny human beings flew across the kitchen and rammed into Ginny, who was knocked into the wall due to the force.
"Aunt Ginny! Aunt Ginny!" the two little girls shrieked as they hugged her tightly.
"Who are they?" Ginny mouthed to her mother.
"Selma, Kate," Mrs. Weasley said sternly. "Let go of Aunt Ginny and come with me to the bathroom to wash up before lunch."
"Yes, Grams," they said and dutifully followed Mrs. Weasley to the bathroom.
"Who are they?" Ginny asked, still slightly shaken by the encounter.
"Percy's kids. Selma is five and Kate is four," Draco responded, grabbing a sandwich from the plate.
"Percy?" Ginny asked incredulously. "As in the son who ostracized himself from the family?"
"Right in one," Draco said, taking a large bite from his sandwich. "He redeemed himself though." Draco tossed his sandwich onto his plate and began opening the cupboards. "Isn't there anything stronger than butterbeer in this house?"
"We try not to flaunt it in front of the children," Mrs. Weasley said, leading Selma and Kate into the room, a freshly cleaned hand grasped in each of her own. When they saw Ginny, they broke free from their grandmother's grasp and attached themselves to her.
"Come sit," Selma said imperiously as she dragged Ginny over to the table. Ginny sat down on a chair, and immediately jumped up upon hearing Kate's shriek.
"You don't sit there!" exclaimed Kate, her forehead wrinkled in confusion. "That's my seat, Aunt Ginny," she explained, completely at a lost as to why her Aunt Ginny didn't remember.
"Oh, right," Ginny responded, looking the chairs in confusion. She turned back to her nieces with a smile on her face. "And do you two remember where I sit?"
They both rolled their eyes. "You sit here," Selma said, pointing a finger in the chair next to the one in which Ginny had just sat.
"I know that. I just wanted to make sure you two remembered," Ginny said, taking the seat Selma had indicated.
"Help yourself, Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said as she served Selma and Kate. Ginny eagerly dug into the sandwiches, which tasted just as fabulous as she remembered.
After lunch, Ginny was ordered to oversee the washing of Selma and Kate's hands, while Draco oversaw the washing of the dishes, much to his bitter disappointment. Ginny left Draco to the useless argument with her mother while she thoroughly washed and dried her niece hands. As they returned to the kitchen, Ginny heard an unfamiliar voice float out from the kitchen.
"Draco, I am so sorry about everything. It must be terrible. I'm sure you will find Ben and Ginny will get her memory back soon."
"I hope so, Celeste."
"I don't know what I would do if-" She broke off as Ginny entered the kitchen, two pudgy fists clutched in each of her own.
"Ginny," Draco said, taking charge of the situation. "This is Celeste, Percy's wife."
"Hello, Ginny," Celeste said warmly. Celeste was about as tall as Draco, and looked like the type of woman a Malfoy would want to marry. She was thin and, in a word, gorgeous. Her black hair was pulled into a tight French twist, that instead of making her look severe, enhanced her natural elegance. She wore a black knee-length skirt and a royal blue blouse that matched her eyes perfectly. A black robe was clasped at her neck, and fell elegantly down to her feet, which were covered in, Ginny noticed, expensive looking black boots that extended to her mid-calf. Ginny felt exceedingly frumpy and plain standing in front of this beautiful woman.
"And how are my girls?" Celeste asked, kneeling down to envelope her daughters in a tight hug.
Someday, Ginny thought wistfully. I want to have children who I can play with and love. Suddenly, it hit her. She had a son who she played with and loved; she just couldn't remember it happening. Draco noticed Ginny bite her bottom lip and practically felt the tears come to her eyes. He cleared his throat and laid a reassuring hand on Ginny's shoulder, who did not shrug it off.
"We should be going," Celeste said, standing up and holding her children's hands. "Draco, Ginny, I'm sure everything will turn out okay. You'll let us know as soon as you hear anything?"
"Of course, Celeste," Draco responded. "Thank you."
She nodded and the small family waved cheery goodbyes as they stepped into the fire and disappeared into the green flames.
Draco removed his hand from Ginny's shoulder and the smile from his face. He ran a hand through his hair agitatedly. He looked more worried than he had all morning, and there was a lingering depression that seemed to surround him. It lasted only a second, and later, Ginny wouldn't be able to say whether or not she had imagined it. He turned to Mrs. Weasley, who appeared worn and tired.
"I should return to the Manor," he said tiredly. "I have work that I need to take care of today." Mrs. Weasley nodded.
"You're welcome to take the photo albums with you," Mrs. Weasley said. "In case the Patrol needs more pictures," she added hurriedly, sensing that Draco would want to look at pictures of his son, and knowing him well enough that she had to give him a reason to take the photographs home, or his pride would cause him to refuse.
"I think I will, thank you," Draco said.
He sounds distracted, Ginny thought, looking back and forth between her mother and Draco. She knows
something. It's odd that my mother knows by husband better than I do.
Draco turned and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room without another word. Ginny stared after him while
Mrs. Weasley watched as the plates began to restack themselves on the shelves.
"I think you should go with him," she said quietly, her back to Ginny.
"What?" said a scandalized Ginny. "You're joking, right? I don't want to spend any time with him. In fact," Ginny started to rant. "As soon as everything with Ben is worked out, I'm going to file for a divorce!"
Mrs. Weasley turned around and stared at a spot behind Ginny's head, appalled, and scared look on her face.
"I believe that's my cue to leave," Draco said quietly, his voice lined with cold fury. He brushed past Ginny, a box in his arms, and headed to the fireplace. "Thank you for your help, Molly."
"He's my grandson. It's the least I could do," she all but whispered.
He nodded once and stepped into the fireplace. "Malfoy Manor," he said clearly and was whipped from their sight. Mrs. Weasley whirled on Ginny.
"GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLY MALFOY!" she yelled furiously. "What do you think you're doing? This poor boy has been terrified, worried, angry, horrified, and yes, Ginny, scared. You are not going to avoid him any longer and you are certainly not going to divorce him. You are going home and you are going to sit with your husband, try to be pleasant, and wait for news of your son. Am I making myself perfectly clear?"
Ginny cowered in front of her mother, who was a good five inches shorter than she was. She nodded her head dejectedly and moved towards the fireplace.
"My clothes…" Ginny began pathetically.
"Send a house-elf," she fumed.
She nodded again, grabbed Floo Powder from the flowerpot, threw it into the flames, and with a yell of "Malfoy Manor!" she disappeared in a whirl of green flames.
When the spinning stopped, Ginny fell to her knees on a thick, soft carpet. "Remind me never to eat and Floo," she said woozily as she struggled to her feet.
"Point taken," said a dry voice from above her. Draco was standing in front of her, and he looked disdainfully down at her. In one hand he held a photograph, and in the other, a glass of some clear liquid.
"Do you ever do anything besides drink?" Ginny asked as she glared at him.
"My wife almost died, she has amnesia, my son hates me, he ran away and I have no idea where he is, and to top it all off, my wife, who I thought I was happily married to for sixteen years, wants a divorce. So I think I have every right to drink myself into oblivion." He turned around and walked back to the couch, leaving a stunned Ginny behind him.
"Malfoy," Ginny started pleadingly.
"What are you doing here, Ginny?" he asked tiredly, his back still to her.
Ginny thought for a moment and decided that the truth was the best course of action, considering Draco seemed to know her better than she knew herself. "My mother yelled at me and kicked me out," she said quietly, her face burning as she admitted that although she was thirty-five years old, her mother still ruled her life with an iron fist.
Draco turned around and stared at her. "Dammit, Ginny, stop acting like you're sixteen. I know that's all you can remember, but you're a married woman and the mother to a sixteen-year-old boy who is missing. You are responsible for another human being, now. Stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about your son. Your life is shit right now, I understand that. Nevertheless, you have to try to pull yourself together. I am more than willing to help you, but you have to let me. Stand up to your mother and grow a spine, for Merlin's sake!" Draco fumed quietly.
"It's not my fault," she began weakly, seeing the truth in his words, but refusing to give in.
"I feel bad enough about this whole ordeal without you blaming me as well."
"I'm not blaming you!" Ginny exclaimed hurriedly. Something in her was reluctant to let him believe it was his fault. "I don't even know you!"
Draco smirked." It's about time you realized that." He said, sitting down on the couch. Ginny stared at him, but after a few seconds, he looked back down at the photograph in his hand.
After a silent battle within herself, her curiosity won and she moved over to the couch and sat down next to him.
"What are you looking at?" she asked. Draco studied her, then handed the photograph to her.
Ginny murmured her thanks, before she set about studying the photo of a man, a woman, and a baby. Upon closer inspection, Ginny noticed that the woman looked exactly as she remembered herself, albeit a few years older. She was beaming and her smile seemed to light up the entire study in which the current Ginny was sitting. Next to Ginny, with an arm around her waist, was a much younger Draco. He too looked only a few years older than she remembered him, but he was smiling. No, not smiling, she thought to herself, a small smile coming to her face. Grinning. He looked happier than she could ever imagine him being. In Ginny's arms was the tiniest baby she had ever seen. His eyes were closed and he had soft, light fuzz on top of his head. His tiny fist was wrapped around one of Draco's fingers, who held both Ginny and the baby protectively.
Ginny looked up and smiled. "When was this?"
Draco looked down at the picture, a happy reminiscent smile on his face. "The day after Ben was born. 18 June," he clarified before Ginny could ask.
"We look too young to be parents. How old were we when we got married?" she asked, running her finger over Ben's face. "I assume we were married when we had Ben."
"To assume makes an ass of you and me," Draco said in a singsong voice that was very un-Malfoyish. "But yes, we were married. You were nineteen and I was twenty." Ginny nodded. Draco braced himself, waiting for her response.
"But, if Ben is sixteen now, and I'm thirty-five now, and I was nineteen when we got married, then…" she trailed off, refusing to meet Draco's eyes. "Oh," she said quietly. "I see. We were dating; you got me pregnant, and then married me. How responsible of you, Malfoy," she said as she stood up.
"No," Draco said firmly, grabbing her arm and pulling her back down onto the couch. "No," he repeated. "You are going to sit here like a good little girl and let me explain."
"Let go, Malfoy," Ginny said as she tried to break free.
"No, Ginny." After seeing the look in his eyes, Ginny's vain struggles for freedom ceased.
"After the Second War, you and I bumped into each other a few times in Diagon Alley. We became casual acquaintances, so it wasn't awkward when we saw each other anymore. After awhile, we became friends, and we became even closer . Soon, we were spending more time with each other than I have ever spent with anyone before."
Ginny smiled at the thought of such a good friend. She was almost able to forget that she was talking to Draco Malfoy. Almost.
"One day, you were seventeen, you asked me out seconds before I was planning to ask you out. I believe your exact words were 'Hey, Malfoy, wanna buy me dinner on Friday?'"
Ginny laughed. "I said that?"
Draco smiled at the memory and nodded. "We started dating and by the time you were eighteen, we were living together."
"Living together?" Ginny asked suspiciously.
"Technically, you had a flat in Diagon Alley, and I lived here, but I moved most of my belongings to your flat, and I rarely came back here. Anyway, by this time I had decided that you were the only girl who was good enough to become a Malfoy."
"Typical," Ginny snorted.
[Flashback]
Ginny and Draco sat on the couch in the living room of Ginny's apartment. Her legs were on his lap and they were both reading; Draco had paperwork from the office, and Ginny had the latest Witch Weekly. Both seemed preoccupied.
Ginny glanced up from her magazine to look at Draco. He felt her eyes on him, and looked up just in time to see her dive back into her magazine, the tips of her ears turning pink.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"No," she said quickly.
"If you're sure," he said, and when she didn't respond, he returned to his paperwork. Minutes later, he looked up from his reading to glance at Ginny, whose ears were still slightly pink. She caught him looking at her and smiled innocently.
"Something wrong?" she asked casually.
"No," he responded, just as quickly as she had before.
"If you're sure," she said and they both returned to their reading. The comfortable silence that had permeated in the room before had been replaced by awkward tension. Neither could stand it for long.
"We need to talk," they said at the same time.
"You go first," Draco said, laying his papers on the coffee table.
"No," Ginny insisted as she tossed her magazine to the floor. "You go first."
Draco nodded and took a deep breath. "I've been thinking about us a lot lately, and I think that it's time for a change in our relationship."
"Are you breaking up with me, Draco Malfoy?" Ginny hissed indignantly as she withdrew her legs from his lap. Draco grabbed her legs and prevented further movement.
"No," he said, slightly shocked at the idea. "Of course not."
"Oh," she said sheepishly.
He began again, this time, more confidently. "I love you more than anything and I can't imagine my life without you." He stood up and knelt in front of her. "Ginny, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" he asked as he pulled a small velvet box from his pocket and opened it to show her the ring that was hidden inside. Ginny stared dumbstruck from the ring to Draco. A smile soon replaced the dumbstruck expression.
"Yes!" she shrieked as she threw herself at him. Her momentum caused him to fall onto his back with her on top and she began to cover his face with kisses.
"Do you want the damn ring or not?" asked in a mock-stern voice, trying to conceal his laughter.
"Ooh!" She pulled herself off him and sat on the couch in front of him, holding her left hand out. "Put it on me," she demanded. Draco laughed and slid the elegant ring onto her finger. She smiled down at the ring. Then she looked at him, a sweet smile on her face. "Dance with me?" she asked shyly. Draco pulled his wand from his pocket, and with a small wave, soft music infiltrated the room. He offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet. Slowly, they began to sway to the music, Ginny's head resting on his shoulder.
After awhile, Ginny broke the comfortable silence.
"Draco?" she murmured, her breath stirring the hairs on his neck.
"Mhmm?"
"I'm pregnant"
[End Flashback]
"And then I passed out," Draco finished, a happy smile on his face. Ginny stared at him. Then her face hardened.
"You can tell me the truth, Malfoy. I can take it. We had a one-night stand and in order to save both our reputations, we decided to get married. Admit it," she insisted, scooting away from him on the couch.
Draco shook his head. "I'm telling the truth, Ginny. One thing you'll learn about me, hopefully sooner rather than later, is that I never lie."
Ginny regarded him suspiciously. "I don't believe you."
"Would you like me to take Veritaserum?" he asked dryly. She looked at him for a minute, then shook her head.
"If a Malfoy is willing to take Veritaserum and expose himself to the truth of all kinds, then I suppose said Malfoy is telling the truth."
"Glad to know you have such faith in me."
"Happy I could help," she said airily. Draco laughed.
"Would you like to see more pictures?" Ginny nodded enthusiastically and Draco Accioed one of the photo albums to them, which he handed to Ginny.
Ginny opened the cover and was greeted with a small replica of Draco, less pale, with rounder cheeks and a toothless grin, who was covered with cake and icing.
"That's Ben on his second birthday. He refused to share his cake with anyone." Draco paused before saying proudly, "A true Malfoy."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Please tell me Ben isn't a spoiled brat."
Draco opened his mouth to respond, but promptly closed it and stood up. Ginny turned to look where he was looking, shrieked, tossed the photo album into the air, and began apologizing profusely to the man she had hit in the head with the photo album.
"Ginny," Draco said, successfully hiding his smile. "I'd like you to meet Agent Collins, who is heading the search for Ben."
"How do you do, Mrs. Malfoy," said the head from the fire.
"Fine, thanks. I'm really sorry about the album."
"It's quite alright, ma'am."
"May I help you, Agent Collins?" Draco interrupted impatiently.
"You requested that you be alerted as soon as there was a development-"
"Yes, yes. What is it?" Draco interrupted again, this time more impatiently.
"A Miss Scarlet Hension has come forward, Mr. Malfoy. Do you know her?"
"Do I know her," he muttered as he summoned his cloak. "Do I bloody know her?!" He repeated as he donned his cloak, grabbed Ginny, and Disapparted with a pop.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ginny snapped as she pulled away from Draco, who ignored her and began down the corridor to the left, following a tall middle-aged man.
"Hey," she called after them nervously. "Wait for me!" Forgetting her anger at Draco for not warning her before Disapparating, she hurried down the corridor after them.
They finally came to a halt in front of an iron door with the number six painted on the front. Ginny stood beside Draco, looking from the door to his impassive face, and back again.
"Who are we here to see again?" Ginny asked, trying to coax information from a seemingly unwilling Draco.
"Scarlet Hension," he said. Her silence prompted a further explanation from Draco. "Ben's girlfriend."
Ginny stared at him in shock. "Ben has a girlfriend?" she exclaimed. "He's too young to have a girlfriend! He-" She broke off when she saw the smile on his face. "And what exactly is so funny, Malfoy?"
Draco forced the smile from his face, and cocked his head slightly to look at her. "May I remind you that you were on your second boyfriend by the time you were sixteen, and you started dating the man you were going to marry when you were eighteen. And," he looked at the door again, a small smile on his face. "You sound like your mother."
"Why you little-" But Draco pushed open the door and stepped inside the room. Ginny followed him into the room, and the door shut behind her with a resounding thud. She found herself in a room made entirely of metal. In the center of the room was a metal table with two matching chairs on each of the longer sides. In one chair sat a young girl who was impatiently jangling her foot. Her dark, highly-styled hair framed her face perfectly and fell to her shoulders; her bangs were carefully swept on an angle across her forehead. She wore an impossibly short skirt and a tight halter-top. Her wrists played host to a number of gaudy bangle bracelets. Her nose seemed slightly upturned and her make-up was, to Ginny who had never been a big make-up enthusiast, revolting. Ginny tried to suppress a shudder, then took a seat next to Draco opposite from the girl.
"Hello, Scarlet," Draco said formally.
"Hello, Mr. Malfoy," Scarlet responded, completely ignoring Ginny. "I suppose you want to talk about Ben? Although why I had to be held here is beyond me," she stated, examining her bright pink nails.
"How very astute of you, Scarlet," Draco said coolly, ignoring her last comment and leaning back in his chair. "What can you tell me about Ben's whereabouts?"
She shrugged.
"Scarlet," he said with warning in his voice. "I will ask you one more time. What do you know about the whereabouts of my son?"
"I honestly don't know, Mr. Malfoy," she said, uncrossing her legs and leaning forward. "He came to my house in the middle of the night and asked if I had any money he could borrow. He said something about not wanting to live off the charity of tyrants anymore. I wasn't really paying attention, as I was half-asleep to begin with. He told me that I might not hear from him for a while, but that he would pay me back as soon as he could. Then, he left on the Knight Bus. If it hadn't been for the missing money and the letter from the Ministry, I would have thought it was a dream." She shrugged again. "That's all I know, I swear."
Ginny snuck a look at Draco. She was slowly beginning to understand some of his facial expressions and right now he
looked hurt and, unless Ginny was very much mistaken, guilty.
"Thank you, Scarlet," Draco said tensely. "Tell your mother I said hello." He stood up and began walking towards the door, followed closely by Ginny, leaving Scarlet sitting alone in the middle of the room.
"I really don't like her," Ginny said sharply after the door had closed again. "She seems like a bit of a tramp if you ask me." She looked at him sharply. "Have you had the talk with Ben?"
Draco nodded absentmindedly.
"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" Ginny asked suspiciously, struggling to keep up with his long-legged strides.
Draco nodded.
"I'm a giant pumpkin and I'm secretly dating a squash. We don't have a lot in common, but the sex is great."
Draco stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her. "What?"
Ginny laughed. "Sex really does catch any male's attention."
Draco shook his head and started walking again. "It wasn't the sex as much as the dating a vegetable part. It would be devastating to know that a squash satisfied you better than I did."
"Ah, yes," Ginny agreed sagely. "But you did pick a giant pumpkin to marry after all."
Draco shook his head sadly and continued his furious storm down the hall. Upon reaching the front desk, Draco stormed by Agent Collins without a word. Ginny paused, slightly confused at Draco's abrupt change in disposition from absentminded to completely rude.
"We're leaving, Ginny," he said, barely restraining his resurfacing anger. Slightly scared, Ginny moved towards him.
"And where exactly are we going?" she asked as he grabbed her elbow and pulled her to his side.,
"The Department of Magical Transportation at the Ministry to check the records of the Knight Bus," he responded icily, daring Agent Collins to contradict a Malfoy. Agent Collins obviously did not have much experience dealing with Malfoys.
"With all due respect, Mr. Malfoy," he began. "You cannot barge into the Ministry and demand the Knight Bus records. There is a protocol that must be followed. I am in charge of this investigation -"
"Which was the first and last mistake I will make," Draco thundered. "You have not accomplished anything that I could not have done myself. You interrogated Ben's girlfriend, which I could easily have done in a much more comfortable setting. Are you going to interrogate his friends next? Because that would be pure genius. It has been twelve hours since I reported him missing and you have done nothing but discover that he Flooed to Scarlet Hension's house, then proceeded to take the Knight Bus to an as of yet unknown location. In addition to sitting on your lazy arses all day and not finding my son, you have managed to disgrace and humiliate an honorable name by sending out letters to prominent wizarding families. As if the humiliation of my son running away from home wasn't enough, now, the entire wizarding world knows. Do you have any idea what kind of press control I am going to have to attend to after Ben is found? Now, my wife and I are going to the Ministry to obtain the records of the Knight Bus and I guarantee that I will find my son before your lunch break is over. Do I make myself perfectly clear, Agent Collins?"
By this time, Collins had turned a pasty shade of white. He didn't say anything, but merely nodded. Draco sent one final glare around the room, and Apparated to the Ministry.
***
Ben tossed his bag onto the small bed and shivered. Despite the heat outside, this room was somehow cold. He surveyed his new room with a look of disgust on his face. It was smaller than many of the bathrooms at Malfoy Manor. There was a cot with a small, tatty and grimy blanket laid across the single sheet. The white pillowcase did not appear anything close to white, and Ben was quite sure that at any moment the rats were going to come out of the walls and attack him for invading their domain. He sighed and sat down on the bed. He looked over to the window and immediately wished he had not. The glass was covered with the thickest layer of grime that Ben had ever seen so that seeing the street outside was impossible. The only other pieces of furniture in the room were a waste bin and a closet that Ben was afraid to open. He was sure that was where a dead body hidden.
"I would have been better off hiding in the guest wing," he mumbled dejectedly to himself. "Or riding the Knight Bus for the rest of my life. " He stared moodily into his hands for a minute. "No," he said, his resolve taking over. "I can take of myself. I don't need him." Ben looked around the room again. "Home, sweet home," he muttered before collapsing onto his bed and giving in to sleep.
***
"I want to talk to the person in charge."
"Mr. Malfoy, I'm sorry but that simply cannot be arranged. The records for the Knight Bus are confidential. I am not authorized to hand them out to any person who wants them."
"I am not just any person," Draco snapped, highly insulted that he was grouped with thousands of other people. "I am a Malfoy."
"Malfoy or not," the man behind the desk said tiredly. "I cannot let you see the records."
"My son is missing," Draco said angrily, pounding the desk. "It's not as if I'm stalking random people. I'm trying to find my missing, sixteen-year old son."
The man shook his head again. "If you need the records for an investigation, then you will have to go through the Patrol or the Aurors. I'm sorry, sir,"
"Oh for the love of… Who's your boss?"
"Malfoy," Ginny said tiredly, standing up from her chair. "You have been at this for over an hour. This man is just doing his job and you are harassing him. Don't worry, we'll find Ben, just not with the help of this branch of the government. Let's go," she said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"But," Draco started to say.
"No, Malfoy. Now," she said firmly. She grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him from the office.
"Intimidating last names are obviously not always the answer," Ginny continued, leading a confused and still very angry Draco into a deserted alley in Muggle London. "Sometimes, the best thing is a good, solid head on your shoulders." Carefully checking that there were no Muggles around, Ginny flung out her right arm. With a bang, the large, purple, triple-decker Knight Bus came to a screeching halt in front of them.
A gangly, middle-aged man, who sported a purple uniform and a plaid cabby hat that was propped on incredibly large ears, stepped off the bust and cleared his throat.
"Welcome." He stopped abruptly, took off his hat, and tossed it onto the bus. He smiled and started again. "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor this evening."
Ginny smiled at Stan, who beamed back, while Draco scowled sullenly next to her. "Hello, Stan. Do you mind if we hop on and go for a ride? We don't have an exact destination in mind yet."
"Choo want to do that for?" he asked, the smile sliding easily off his face.
"Listen you-"
"To be perfectly honest," Ginny said over Draco, effectively cutting him off and casting a glare in Draco's direction. "We're looking for someone."
"Get on then. Haven't got all night."
Draco glared at him before following Ginny onto the large purple bus. After boarding the Knight Bus, he had a fleeting image of Ginny sitting on a large four-poster bed, gripping one of the posts, before a loud BANG shattered the silence of the night, and Draco skidded across the floor on his stomach. Stumbling to his feet, he scowled darkly at Ginny and Stan. His hand moved to his head to touch the bump that he could feel forming, but Malfoys aren't weak, and making sure that you are not bleeding is an obvious weakness. He stalked over to Ginny and sat down next to her. The countryside was whipping past them outside, and, even though he would never admit it, it was making him slightly nauseous. He turned away and his gaze rested on Ginny, whose smirk looked eerily familiar.
"Thanks for the warning, darling," Draco drawled sarcastically. Ginny rolled her eyes and did not respond. Stan watched them for a few minutes, but as Draco only alternated glares between Stan and Ginny, and Ginny had fixed her gaze on the far wall, he soon got bored and left to talk to Ernie, who, at age ninety was still driving the Knight Bus, his glasses thicker than ever. As soon as Stan left, Ginny whipped around to face Draco.
"Play along," she whispered earnestly.
"What?" Draco asked, completely off balance. He had no idea what she was talking about.
Ginny sighed in frustration. "Just play along, okay Malf… er, Draco?" Ginny said in exasperation, a slight blush tinting her cheeks pink.
Draco smirked at her. "Whatever you say, Malfoy," he drawled. Ginny glared at him before opening her mouth and speaking in a voice that was much louder than necessary.
"Listen here, Draco," she said, faking her anger very convincingly, or rather, Draco hoped she was faking her anger. "While riding the Knight Bus all evening looking for our son may not be the best idea, it was better than threatening an innocent clerk at the Department of Magical Transportation all evening. In any case, I told you it was a bad idea not to go to the Patrol!"
Draco stared at her in shock for a second before catching on. "If you hadn't interrupted," he said back just as angrily. "I would have been able to get the damn records and we would have found Ben hours ago!"
"Why you stuck-up, little wanker!" Ginny seethed. "I could have gotten the records, without relying on my family's name, if I was willing to use the Unforgivables on anyone that bothered me!"
"What… I would never….what?" he spluttered inelegantly. Did she really think him capable of using the Unforgivables?
He was shaken out of his reverie when he noticed Ginny looking at him imploringly. "Right, well, if we had raised the boy the way I wanted to raise him, we wouldn't be in this predicament to begin with."
"What exactly are you saying, Draco?" Ginny said clearly and with more ice in her voice than on the iceberg that sunk the Titanic.
"I'm saying," he said slowly and carefully as if talking to a child. "That it's your fault that Ben ran away."
SMACK
Ginny's hand connected with Draco's cheek. He stumbled back, caught completely off guard by her attack, as a hand print started to show on his cheek.
"Don't you ever say that to me again," Ginny almost growled. Draco noticed that she was breathing heavily and he started to get worried.
Shit, he thought frantically. Is she really mad at me? I didn't mean it. Ginny is a fantastic mother. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit… The mantra repeated in his head.
"I," he began softly, but was saved from having to answer by Stan's large-eared head appearing by the door through which he had disappeared earlier.
"Choo say you was lookin' for a Ben?"
The parents turned around and stared at him. "Yes," Ginny said shakily. "Have you seen him?"
Stan nodded. "Sure did. Looked like that bloke," he said pointing to Draco, a dark look crossing his face. "Choo want me to teach him some manners, lady?"
"No, thank you," Ginny said hurriedly, not wanting Stan to get hurt because she had no doubt that Draco would win the fight, whether magical or Muggle, if Stan was allowed to challenge him. "But my son. Where did you take him?"
Still glaring at Draco, Stan responded. "The Hog's Head Inn."