My Life As I Don't Know It

Disclaimer: As always, most characters belong to JKR. Also, the chapter title may belong to someone else, but I’m not sure. If you know, please let tell (in a review, hint hint) so I can give credit where credit is due.

My Life As I Don’t Know It

Chapter One - Stranger in a Strange Land

Ginny Weasley was comfortable. In fact, she was more comfortable than she could ever remember being. She certainly didn't remember her four poster in Gryffindor Tower being quite this comfortable, let alone her bed at the Burrow. Cautiously, she cracked one eye open to observe her surroundings, and quickly shut it again, a soft scream emanating from her dry throat. Her eyes still squeezed shut, she pulled herself up to a sitting position and leaned against the ornately carved headboard. She opened her eyes again, her breath coming in short gasps.

She was sitting on a large bed in an elegantly decorated room. The owner of the room obviously had more money than they knew what to do with, but Ginny was disturbed by the fact that the room was decorated to her exact tastes and she felt at home sitting in the big bed. Ginny looked down at herself to see an expensive, yellow nightgown. It was the kind of nightgown Ginny always wanted, but could never afford to buy. She slowly pushed the bed clothes away and put her feet on the warm carpet that covered the floor beneath the bed. She stood up and surveyed the room.

I must be dreaming, she thought distractedly. Or kidnapped. If I could only find my wand.

She looked around the room again, searching for her wand, yet afraid to move. Looking to her left, she saw an end table next to the bed with a pitcher of water, a glass, a lamp, and a long thing box. She reached for the pitcher of water.

They wouldn't put me in an expensive room and nightgown, then poison me with water, she reassured herself as she poured the water into a glass, unsure of who "they" were.

“Here goes nothing,“ she said quietly. “Bottoms up,“ she said before draining the glass. Wiping her mouth on her hand, she turned her attention to the box. Throwing caution to the wind, she moved to pick up the box.

"Mrs. Malfoy!" a voice exclaimed from the doorway.

Ginny jumped up and turned to stare at the short, balding man standing in the doorway.

"You scared the shit out of me!" Ginny gasped angrily, her hand flying to her beating heart. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the man. "Who the hell are you? Why are you keeping me here? Where am I?" Ginny yelled, her voice rising angrily. The man looked shocked.

"Mrs. Malfoy, calm down, please. You're going to over exert yourself. You really shouldn't be out of bed yet. You need to rest and relax."

"What the hell are you talking about!" Ginny yelled at the top of her voice.

"Mrs. Malfoy, please!"

"Why are you calling me that? That‘s not my name," she said, closet to hysterics. Ginny heard hurried footsteps in the hall, but her vision was slowly narrowing to a small point. She felt light headed and she reached for the end table to steady herself, but she missed and crumpled to the floor in a heap.

She regained consciousness almost immediately, and she heard voices talking quietly.

"What happened?" a deep voice asked worriedly. She felt someone scoop her up from the floor and place her gently on the bed. “What is she doing out of bed?”

"I certainly did not authorize it, Mr. Malfoy,“ the voice of the bald man said haughtily, “I came in to check on her, and she was standing up next to the bed. The next thing I knew, she was yelling at me. Then she fainted."

A man sighed. "Will she be okay?" he asked tiredly.

"I -."

Her head was pounding. She groaned, and the voices stopped immediately. She opened her eyes, and promptly screamed before trying to scurry to the other side of the bed. Sitting next to her, and looking down at her with a worried expression on his face, was Draco Malfoy,

"What....what...." Ginny stammered.

"Ginny, calm down. It's me, Draco," Draco said as he stood up and started walking towards her.

"I know who you are, Malfoy," Ginny spat. "What do you want with me?" Even while Ginny was looking for a way to get around the bald man and Draco Malfoy, she recognized her underlying confusion. The Draco Malfoy she knew was seventeen. This man had to be in his mid-thirties. Meanwhile, Draco had stopped moving towards her and had a confused look on his face.

"What are you talking about, Ginny?"

"Mr. Malfoy," the bald man said quietly. Draco turned to look at the bald man. The bald man gave Draco a meaningful look. Draco sighed in annoyance and walked over to him. The bald man stood on his toes to whisper into Draco's ear.

Draco's face fell even further, but he nodded silently. Ginny had backed into a wall and was looking around the room like a caged kneazle.

"Ginny, do you remember who I am?" Draco asked quietly.

"Of course I remember you, ferret-face. If you hurt me, you're going to have seven angry Weasley men after you, not to mention my mother and Harry,” Ginny said with more confidence than she felt.

"Hurt you? Merlin, Ginny, I would never hurt you!"

"Really? Then why can't I have my wand?" Ginny demanded angrily.

"No one said that you couldn't have your wand. Here, I'll even get it for you." Draco walked back to the end table and grabbed the box. He walked back to Ginny, who cowered against the wall, and held out the box to her.

"Take it," he said quietly. She extended her hand slowly and took the box from his extended hand. She looked down at it, then back to Draco, an angry expression on her face.

"This isn't mine."

"Yes, it is, Gin." Ginny shook her head, as if to say "No". "It has your name on it." Draco pointed to the name engraved on the cover of the box.

Ginevra Molly Weasley Malfoy.

"That's not my name," she said quietly.

"Ginny, why don't you sit down, and Healer Mosley and I will explain everything, okay?" Draco suggested as he put his arm around her shoulders and guided her to the window seat. She sat down without saying a word, and continued to stare at the box in her hands. Draco conjured chairs for Healer Mosley and himself.

"Mrs. Malfoy," began Healer Mosley.

"I'm not a Malfoy," Ginny said rather loudly. "I'm a Weasley." Draco and the Healer exchanged looks.

"Miss Weasley," Healer Mosley conceded. "I'm going to ask you a few questions and I need you to be completely honest with me, okay?" Ginny nodded her head. "What is your full name?"

"Ginevra Molly Weasley."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"How many brothers do you have?"

"Six. Seven, if you count Harry."

"How many nieces and nephews do you have?"

"None of my brothers have children." Healer Mosley nodded.

"Who won the Second War?"

"It's not over yet," Ginny said, getting more and more confused.

"What month is it?"

"February."

"What is the last thing you remember doing?"

Ginny thought for a moment. "I was writing an essay for Snape about Truth Potions in the Common Room when I fell asleep. The next thing I remember is being in that bed." Ginny pointed at the bed in which she had awoken.

"You don't remember anything about the rest of your sixth year? Or about your seventh?" Ginny shook her head. Healer Mosley made a few notes on his clipboard.

"That's all," he smiled at Ginny, then turned to Draco. "If I may have a word, Mr. Malfoy?" Draco nodded and stood up. He looked at Ginny for a second before following the Healer out of the room. Ginny watched the two men leave the room. She was more confused now that she had been before. Why had a Healer asked her all those questions about things that hadn't happened yet? And what the hell was she doing with "Malfoy" written after her name?

Ginny looked down at the box in her hands again. She traced her name with her fingertips, admiring the beautiful material. She opened the box and peered inside cautiously. Her wand lay gleaming on a red velvet pillow. She took her wand from the box and moved toward the door. Just as she was about to turn the knob, the door opened and she found herself staring into deep gray eyes.

"I see you found your wand," Draco said, smirking slightly. Ginny took a step back, a scared look in her eyes. Then, she straightened her spine and pointed her wand directly at his face. Draco took a step back, a shocked look on his face.

"Give me a reason to hex you into next week, and I will, Malfoy," Ginny said threateningly.

"Ginny," Draco said calmly, holding up his hands. "Put your wand down and listen to me, okay? I'm not going to hurt you. You are completely safe here. This is your home."

"This is not my home!" Ginny yelled. "I live at the Burrow with Ron and Fred and George and Mum and Dad!"

"You don't live at the goddam Burrow, Ginny!" Draco said, losing his patience. "You live here, at Malfoy Manor, and you've lived here since you were nineteen! Since our wedding!" Draco took a deep breath and tried to control his anger. Ginny stared at him.

"Liar!" she yelled back, after a moments pause. "I'm only sixteen! And I would never marry a Death Eater!"

"Well, you did! Take a look at your fucking finger, Ginny!" Draco said furiously. Ginny looked down at her left hand and saw a gold band that supported a teardrop diamond with a ruby and emerald on each side circling her ring finger.

"I want to talk to my mother. If you're not holding me here against my will, and you don't want to hurt me, then you'll let me talk to my mother," Ginny said calmly.

Draco threw his hands up into the air in defeat. "Fine!" He turned around and walked out the door. Ginny stared after him. "You coming or not?" he yelled to her from the hall. Ginny, her wand still held tightly in her hand, followed him out the door.

Draco led the way through a maze of hallways and rooms. Ginny followed a short distance behind him, her wand at the ready. Draco finally stopped in front of two large oak doors. He tried to open them, but they were locked. He pounded his fist on the door.

"Benjamin! Open the door this instant!" He yelled.

Ginny heard a flutter of activity and moments later a disheveled young man appeared at the door. He looked like the Draco Ginny remembered, only softer, somehow, and right now, he was blushing like a Weasley.

"Hey, Dad," Benjamin said, he smiled sheepishly and his blush increased.

Draco raised an eyebrow at his son's disheveled appearance. "We'll talk later, Ben. Your mother and I need to use the Floo."

Ben looked from Draco to Ginny, then back to Draco. Draco shook his head slightly, and Ben nodded.

"Alright," he said and he moved aside to let Draco and Ginny pass. Ginny immediately moved to the fireplace while Draco closed the door to the room.

"Floo Powder is in the box to the right," he said as he took a seat in one of the large armchairs.

Ginny grabbed some Floo Powder and tossed it into the fire. "The Burrow," she said clearly and shoved her head into the fire. When her head stopped spinning, she was staring into the familiar kitchen of the Burrow. Unfortunately, it was empty.

"Mum!" she screamed as loudly as she could. "Dad! Fred! George! Ron!" She paused for a second. "Anyone home?!"

"Ginny, dear? Is that you?"

"Mum," she said, relief washing over her. Her mother came bustling into the kitchen and Ginny gasped. Molly Weasley's red hair was more than flecked with gray and she had more wrinkles than Ginny remembered. She looked fifteen years older.

"Ginny, how are you feeling? What did the Healer say? Draco said he would get you the best healer money could buy, and I don't doubt he could," Mrs. Weasley said, not noticing Ginny's shock or confusion.

"Mum," Ginny gasped quietly. "What happened to you?"

Mrs. Weasley looked at Ginny worriedly. "What do you mean, what happened to me? Nothing happened to me. You're the one that fell off her broom. Honestly, Ginny, did you really think you could behave like you're sixteen at your age?" Mrs. Weasley huffed.

"I am sixteen," Ginny wailed miserably.

"Ginny, are you quite sure that you're okay? Is Draco there? I'd like to talk to him, please," Mrs. Weasley said without giving Ginny time to answer.

"You want to talk to Malfoy?" Ginny asked, disbelief coloring her voice. Mrs. Weasley looked at her sharply.

"Is there something wrong with me wanting to talk to my son-in-law, Ginevra?"

"Son-in-law?"

"Well, yes," Mrs. Weasley said. At that moment, Draco's head appeared next to Ginny's head.

"Hello, Molly. I thought you might like a word," Draco said pleasantly.

"Molly?" Ginny whispered unbelievingly.

"Hello, Draco dear," Molly said, shooting Ginny a sharp look. Draco gave Mrs. Weasley a meaningful look that Ginny did not see, and a worried look crossed Mrs. Weasley's face.

"Ginny, could you excuse Draco and me? It will only be a moment. Thank you, dear."

"No, I will not excuse you! Mum, he is the son of a Death Eater! His father gave me You-Know-Who's diary. I can't believe you want to talk to the ferret-face!" Ginny said loudly.

Mrs. Weasley turned red. "Ginevra Malfoy! What has gotten into you? You change your attitude this instant or I will wash your mouth out with soap, and don't you think I won't!"

"What has gotten into me?! What has gotten into everyone else! Why are you on first name terms with Draco Malfoy?" Ginny yelled angrily.

Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth to yell back, but Draco had taken that opportunity to pull Ginny out of the fire. When the spinning stopped Ginny found herself kneeling in front of the fire in Malfoy Manor. She jumped to her feet and glared at Draco.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" Ginny spat.

"Ginny, I know you hate me, and I understand that you're angry and confused. But you have to trust me. I need to explain everything to your mother, then I will explain everything to you, okay?"

"No, it's not bloody okay, Malfoy -"

"Ginny! Just shut up and sit down!" Draco yelled. Ginny stopped talking and stared at him. After a second, she perched on the edge of the couch across from the chair Draco had vacated.

"Thank you," Draco said and threw some Floo Powder in the fire. "The Burrow," he said and stepped into the flames.

Ginny waited patiently for Draco to finish talking to her mother. Her head was starting to pound again and she laid it wearily in her hands. After a couple minutes, Draco returned, looking tired and worn. He plopped down on the chair he was sitting in earlier and loosened his tie.

"Sippy!" Draco called. A second later, a house-elf wearing an absurd looking sundress and beret appeared in front of Draco.

"How may Sippy be of service, Master Draco?" Sippy squeaked giving a small curtsy.

"The usual, please, Sippy," Draco said wearily. "And a cup of tea for Mistress Ginny."

"Ginny, are you okay?" Draco said after a couple minutes of silence.

Ginny raised her head from her hands. "No, I'm not, Malfoy. What's going on?"

Draco sighed. He slumped farther back in his chair and squeezed the bridge of his nose, as if in pain. "Yesterday afternoon, we were playing Quidditch on our pitch and-"

"Who's we?" Ginny interrupted curiously.

"You, me, and Ben. Well, we were playing around and -"

"Who's Ben?" Ginny interrupted again.

Draco looked at her sadly. "He's our son," he said quietly.

Ginny stared at him. Then, she smiled widely. "Good one, Malfoy. I almost believed you."

Draco looked down at his hands before looking back at her. "I'm not joking, Ginny."

Draco's comment wiped the smile off Ginny's face. Sippy popped back into the room, a tray in her hands and a tray balanced on top of her head.

"Your drink, Master Draco," Sippy said as she placed a tray on the table next to Draco. She took the tray off her head and placed it on the table in front of Ginny. "Your tea, Mistress Ginny."

"Thank you, Lippy," Ginny said absent-mindedly. The house-elf glared at Ginny for a moment, then disappeared with a loud crack.

Ginny picked up her cup of tea without noticing Sippy's annoyance. "Gin," Draco said gently. "Her name is Sippy."

Ginny looked up from her cup. "That's what I said."

"No, you said 'Lippy'."

"Oh my god," Ginny said as she set her cup down. "I feel horrible."

Draco smiled slightly. "It's okay. I'm sure she'll forgive you."

Ginny shook her head, as if to clear it. "What were you saying, Malfoy?"

"We were playing Quidditch and-"

"Just cut to the chase, Malfoy," Ginny said, her annoyance evident.

"You have amnesia," Draco said bluntly, trying to keep a hold on his anger.

"What?"

"Ginny, yesterday we were playing Quidditch and you fell off your broom. Ben and I tried to catch you, but we didn't make it to you in time. By the time we did get to you, you were already unconscious. We called Healer Mosley, and after an examination, he said you were going to be okay, but he wanted you to rest so he gave you a sleeping potion. When he came by this morning to check on you, you were up, you didn’t remember anything, and frankly, you’ve been giving me a hard time since.”

Draco finished talking and looked at Ginny in silence, waiting for her to take this in.

“So...so,” Ginny stammered. “I married a Malfoy, I have a fifteen year-old son, and I can’t remember anything since my sixth year?”

“He's sixteen, but yes, that about sums it up,” Draco said, taking a sip of his drink. Ginny looked shell-shocked. “I know this is a lot to take in," Draco continued quietly. "But it’s the truth. And I know you don’t trust me right now, but you have to believe that I would rather die than have any harm come to you, and as hard as this is for you, it’s just as hard for me. Knowing that you don’t remember how much I love you is killing me.”

Ginny stood up and began pacing the room. Her face was pale and she looked scared. Draco stood up and walked towards her. He put his hands on her shoulders, but she pulled away. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

“Healer Mosley said that you should be surrounded by familiar things to help get your memory back.”

“Isn’t there -” Ginny began, turning to face him.

“There’s no magical cure,” Draco said. Ginny nodded and sank down to the couch. Draco dropped to his knees in front of her.

“I want to help you through this. I want to be there for you, Ginny,” Draco said, taking her hands in his. “But if you want to go stay with your parents, I’ll understand. After all, I was a complete ass to you for as long as you can remember.” Ginny took a shuddering breath.

“I think I would like to go stay with my mother.” Draco nodded sadly and stood up.

“Do you want to get dressed first? I can have Sippy pack for you and send your stuff later.”

“Okay,” Ginny agreed, not having the energy to do anything else.

“Sippy,” Draco called. Sippy appeared with a pop and obviously avoiding Ginny's gaze. “Sippy, can you pack a bag for Mistress Ginny? She’s going to stay with her parents for a little while.”

Sippy curtsied to Draco before turning to face Ginny, a blush staining her cheeks.

"Sippy is sorry for being angry with Mistress Ginny. Sippy did not know that Mistress Ginny fell off her broom yesterday and couldn't remember anything. Sippy is very, very sorry."

"It's alright, Sippy," Ginny said carefully. "And I'm sorry for forgetting your name. I promise that it will never happen again."

Sippy smiled happily and disappeared with a loud crack.

Ginny turned to Draco with a puzzled look on her face and opened her mouth to say something. She closed it, looking more puzzled, and opened it again to ask Draco a question.

"This is Sippy's first week," Draco explained. "She must have thought that you still thought of house-elves as inferior." Ginny still looked puzzled, so Draco elaborated. "All of our house-elves are free. We pay them and give them one day off a month." Draco chuckled. "They won't accept more, even though you pushed to give them more."

"I did?" Ginny asked.

Draco nodded. "The house-elves helped us in the War. Many witches and wizards were so grateful for the help, that they set their house-elves free. I wasn't going to, but you insisted."

"Oh," was all Ginny said in response. Then, "I should go get dressed." She paused. "How do I get back to my room?"

"Do you still have your wand with you?" Draco asked as he stood up. Ginny pulled it out of her pocket in response. "Lay it across your palm, and say 'Master Bedroom'. It will tug you in the right direction. Hermione thought of it when everyone kept getting lost when they came over. She based it off the charm that points North."

Ginny laid her wand in her hand and said, "Master Bedroom." Her wand made two complete rotations in her hand before starting to tug her towards the door. Draco watched her as she followed her wand out of the room. He waited a minute or so before he moved.

"You can come out now, Ben. How many times have I told you not to eavesdrop on your mother and I using your invisibility cloak?" Draco asked as he sat back down in his chair and finished off his drink. Meanwhile, Ben had pulled the cloak from his body and moved to stand in front of his father.

"Sorry, Dad," he said blushing. "But I wanted to know what was going on. Is Mum going to be okay?"

Draco was silent for a moment . "We hope so," he said finally. "But she doesn't remember anything beyond halfway through her sixth year. Which means that she doesn't remember the War, or our marriage, or you," he finished quietly.

Ben looked down at his hands which were still clutching the cloak. Draco sighed loudly.

"I know this is difficult for you, Ben, but it's difficult for all of us. Your mother is going to stay with your grandparents."

"Why can't she stay here?" Ben blurted out. "I mean, you said she had to be surrounded by familiar things, and what's more familiar than her home and family?"

Draco studied his son, his face impassive. After a while, he said, "Take a seat, Ben." Ben sat down in the spot that his mother had vacated minutes before and looked at his father questioningly. "Ben," Draco started again. "You need to understand something. You've learned about the War in school, right?" Ben nodded. "And you've heard about your grandfather-"

"Mum's dad?" he asked curiously.

"No," Draco said. "My father. Lucius Malfoy." Ben's face paled and he nodded. "Well, in the years leading up to the War, I shared all of his beliefs. And I was horrible to Uncle Harry, Aunt Hermione, and the rest of your mother's family, especially Uncle Ron. And they detested me. I was a complete bastard to them." Draco turned his sharp gaze to his son, and then sighed. "Oh screw it, when I was your age I heard much worse things than 'bastard' and I turned out normal enough. Anyway, your mother and pretty much every single person that is important in your life hated me and I hated them. Later, after the War, your mother and I fell in love and we've all buried the hatchet. However, your mother doesn't remember any of that. She only remembers me as quite a bit of an ass. So, I don't hold it against her that she wants to go to her parents."

"But if she's married to you and you have a son together and everyone keeps telling her that your ... nice-"

"Malfoys are never nice," Draco cut in.

"Then won't she realize that you have changed even if she can't remember it happening?" Ben continued, used to his father cutting in about Malfoy pride and ignoring it. "You can't let her walk out of our lives, Dad! She's part of our family. We can't just give up on her," Ben exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. "Do something, for Merlin's sake!"

"Benjamin Arthur Malfoy," Draco said angrily, also standing and towering over his son. "You will not speak to me that way. I am still your father and master of this house."

"If you concentrated less on being the master and more on being a husband, then maybe you could convince Mum to stay!" Ben yelled angrily.

"One more word out of you, Benjamin, and you will be grounded until you return to Hogwarts and every subsequent visit home. Am I making myself perfectly clear," Draco asked, his voice quiet and deadly. Ben glared at his father.

"Crystal, Father," Ben turned around and walked out of the room. As he walked away, Draco's face fell. He suddenly realized how much of himself was in his son, and how much of Lucius was in himself. He sank back into his chair and put his head in his hands. He sighed, then ran his hand through his hair.

"This is the day from hell," he muttered. Someone coughed and he looked up to see Ginny standing in the doorway. She wore a pair of jeans, one of his Quidditch shirts, and her hair was in a loose ponytail. Draco inhaled sharply. She looked like she was seventeen again, despite the confusion etched into her face and scattering of wrinkles around her mouth and eyes that were barely noticeable.

"It certainly has been," she said coldly. Draco was out of his seat and across the room in seconds. All of his infamous Malfoy control seemed to have vanished. With a wave of his hand, the door slammed shut and he backed Ginny into the nearest wall. He placed his hands on either side of her head and crashed his lips down to hers. She stiffened in surprise, but soon became angry. She pushed at his chest, but he refused to move. Finally, she managed to push him away.

"What the hell..." she started to say, breathing heavily, but she never finished because at that moment, Draco took advantage of her open mouth by crashing his lips back onto hers and pushing his tongue into her mouth. Draco groaned loudly and pushed himself harder against her.

Ginny was shocked. She had never kissed anyone like this before, as far as she could remember anyway, let alone Draco Malfoy. However, kissing Draco seemed to come naturally. She didn't think about it, but rather let her body take control. She knew just where to put her hands and what to do in order to pull a deep, primal groan from Draco's throat. As Draco's hands moved from being tangled in Ginny's hair, which had long since fallen from its ponytail, to the edge of her shirt, which he began to pull up over her head, Ginny panicked. She removed her hands from his arse, she had no idea how they had gotten there, and placed them on his chest. Then she pushed, hard. Draco stumbled back a couple of steps, a slightly dazed look on his face.

"We can't ... I ... we..." Ginny as she blushed furiously, not able to meet Draco's eyes. She came to a stuttering silence, and chanced a look at Draco from beneath lowered lashes. His face was slightly flushed, but it had hardened into a furious, controlled, and blank expression.

"I trust you remember how to use the Floor Network," Draco said in a controlled voice before moving quickly towards the door.

"Malfoy ... Draco!" Ginny called after him. Draco stopped, but didn't turn around. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. Draco didn't respond. Instead, he walked to the door opened it, and closed it quietly behind him. He leaned against the closed door and sighed loudly.

Way to scare her off, Malfoy. Did you really think that kissing her would make her remember? Draco asked himself angrily. He banged his head against the door behind him, reveling in the slight pain it caused because it took his mind off the pain that was tearing him apart inside. Composing himself, he set off down the hall to take care of the matter that was currently at hand, or soon would be.

Meanwhile, inside the room, Ginny stared after Draco alarmed at his sudden shifts in disposition. Shrugging and muttering under her breath about "those damn conceited Malfoys", Ginny made her way to the fireplace. After locating the Floor Powder, throwing it into the fire, and shouting "the Burrow" for the second time that day, Ginny stepped in the flames and was whirled away.

"Mum!" Ginny called stepping out the fireplace and dusting herself off. She took in her surroundings and took comfort in the fact that it looked exactly as she remembered it. She sank into a kitchen chair and laid her head on her folded arms She closed her eyes tiredly. As much as she didn't want to believe that she was thirty-five, married, and had a sixteen-year-old son, all the evidence was starting to convince her.

"Ginny?" Ginny looked up to see her mother's worried figure standing in the doorway.

"Hi, Mum," Ginny said, her voice cracking. Mrs. Weasley took one look at her daughter's pale face and rushed to her. As Mrs. Weasley's arms wrapped around her only daughter, Ginny broke into tears on her mother's shoulder.

After many minutes that consisted of tears and half whispered, half sobbed explanations on Ginny‘s part, Mrs. Weasley was able to calm Ginny down and get her upstairs to her old bedroom, which, thankfully, hadn’t been changed since Ginny moved out. She gave Ginny a calming potion mixed with a sleeping draught and Ginny fell into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning found Ginny sitting at the kitchen table with her Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who continuously exchanged worried glances over their daughters head. Ginny didn’t notice. Mrs. Weasley put bacon, eggs, and toast on Ginny’s plate and gave her a large glass of ice cold pumpkin juice.

“Eat up, dear,” Mrs. Weasley said as cheerily as she could.

Ginny nodded her obedience, yet she gently pushed her food around on her plate instead of eating it. After fifteen minutes of this activity, Ginny pushed her plate away from her and stood up.

“So,” she started, looking back and forth between her parents. “What do I do now?”

They exchanged a worried look, and Ginny fought the urge to roll her eyes.

“Well, dear,” began her father. “You paint.”

Ginny looked at him blankly. “Paint?”

Her father nodded. “You are quite a celebrated artist.”

“I’m a celebrated artist?” Ginny asked incredulity. Then she shrugged. “I suppose it makes as much sense as me marrying a Malfoy. So, where do I do this painting? Do I have a studio in Diagon Alley?”

“Not exactly.” Her parents exchanged looks again. Ginny sighed.

“It’s hard enough not knowing what’s going on without you two acting like I’m about to explode,” she said tersely.

“You have a studio at Malfoy Manor,” said her father gently. “You also have a gallery in Diagon Alley.” Ginny nodded her head in understanding.

“I don’t want you to go to your gallery today, Ginny,” her mother said with worry. “I have to watch Selma and Kate today, and your father has to go into work. I don’t want you wandering around Diagon Alley by yourself.”

“Mum!” exclaimed Ginny. “I’m six-” She stopped talking, to a deep breath, and started again. “I’m thirty-five years old. I’m capable of walking around Diagon Alley by myself.”

“Now, Ginny dear,” began Mr. Weasley.

“I hate to interrupt,” came a voice from the fireplace. The three Weasleys whipped around, Ginny’s wand out and pointed, to see a dusty and dirty Draco standing in front of them, not bothering to wipe the soot from his usually immaculate robes. Ginny replaced her wand in her jean pocket and scowled at the intruder, her husband.

“Ben has run away.”

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.”

A/N: First off, I want to apologize for the exceptionally long wait. I really don’t have any excuse, besides my horrible case of writer’s block and an awful exam schedule. I realized today that I’ve become one of those writers that I despise, you know, the ones that NEVER update. Never fear, however, I will not abandon this fic. Secondly, I want to apologize in advance. Lent begins tomorrow and I have decided, stupidly enough, to give up fanfiction. This means no reading and, unfortunately, no writing. It will, therefore, be a long time until the next chapter is uploaded. I really am truly sorry! I also want to apologize for any mistakes that may be found in this chapter. I finished it yesterday, gave it to my betas this morning, and requested it back. It’s a little rough, especially towards the end, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Don’t forget to REVIEW!

And, as always, thanks to my wicked betas, Laura and Tara.

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies, I’m off to worship JKR.

My Life as I Don’t Know It

Chapter Three - Found

Ginny and Draco stared at him in horror. "The Hog’s Head Inn?" they repeated incredulously, as they exchanged worried glances.

"But, he’s not safe there!" Ginny murmured, mostly to herself. "Anyone could be there and hurt him."

"A Malfoy at the Hog’s Head," Draco muttered as he shook his head. "That boy is going to be the death of the family reputation." Ginny glared at him. Draco shrugged.

"We’d like to go to the Hog’s Head, please, Stan," Ginny said, turning away from Draco and moving to sit on another bed.

"Right away, lady. Ern!" he called as he returned to talk to Ernie. "Hog’s Head."

After he was sure Stan had left for good, Draco walked over to Ginny and sat down next to her. She refused to meet his eyes. "Ginny," he said gently. "Look at me." Ginny raised her tearful eyes to meet Draco’s. "What’s wrong, love?" Instead of responding, she turned her face away and stared out the window at the scenery that was whizzing by.

"Ginny," Draco said quietly, staring intently at the back of her head. "About what I said earlier, I didn’t mean it." Ginny turned and looked at him.

"You didn’t?" she whispered.

Draco smiled and shook his head. "No. Ginny, you are a fantastic mother, and you are the only woman in the world I would want to raise my son. And," Draco said, looking down at his hands. "It’s not your fault Ben ran away."

BANG.

Draco and Ginny, unprepared for the sudden movement of the Knight Bus, were thrown onto the floor. Draco landed on top of Ginny, one of his legs thrust between hers and their faces inches apart. They were both breathing heavily and neither one was able to speak. Draco stared intently into Ginny’s eyes, unable to think about anything except how good she felt pressed against him. He ran his hands up her sides until he found her hands. He entwined their fingers and flipped her arms so they were pressed into the floor above her head. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, and the fact that she was unable to catch her breath had nothing to do with her tumble from the bed.

When Ginny felt him twist her arms above her head, her breath had caught in her throat. All rational thought had flown out the window as soon as she felt his leg pressed between her own. There was something oddly familiar about Draco’s body pressed against hers, but she couldn’t quite place it. It reminded her of the kiss they had shared at Malfoy Manor before Ben had run away. Even though Ginny could never remember being in this type of situation before and would usually have been incredibly embarrassed, she felt completely comfortable. She shivered as Draco leaned closer to her and she felt his hot breath on her lips.

Draco smiled as a small whimper escaped Ginny’s lips as he leaned closer to her. As he lowered his lips to hers, a sharp cry ruined the moment.

"Hog’s Head Inn," Stan cried from the door.

Draco looked down at Ginny ruefully. "I think that’s our cue to leave," he whispered. Ginny, still unable to find her voice, merely nodded. He pulled himself off her and stood up before helping her to her feet. As she came to a standing position, she found herself pressed against his chest. She blushed furiously and looked down. Draco smiled at her reaction and stepped away from her. As he passed Stan, he said, "You may bill the Malfoy Vault at Gringotts," before sweeping off the Bus. Ginny followed closely behind him, whispering a "thank you" to Stan as she passed him. As soon as her feet touched the pavement, the Knight Bus disappeared with its signature BANG.

Ginny turned to Draco and saw a look of disgust on his face, but it was quickly hidden behind his ‘Malfoy Mask’ as Ginny had decided to call it. She turned to look at the object of Draco’s disgust and smiled slightly.

"Well, come on," Ginny said as she led the way to the entrance. Once inside, she marched confidently to the bar and rapped on the counter.

"Excuse me," she said as the bartender came into view. "We’re looking for someone that’s staying here. Would you mind telling us what room he is in?"

The bartender eyed Ginny and Draco, both of whom were very out of place in their expensive robes. "And here I thought this place was beneath the Malfoys, but we’ve had two in one day," he said, staring directly at Draco.

"And the first one is still here, I presume?" Draco inquired as politely as he could. He was having a small amount of trouble hiding his disgust and contempt for the overfed and under washed bartender who was leering at him.

The bartender nodded. "Oh, he is alright. Been in his room all day."

"Would you mind telling us which room he’s in?" Ginny asked impatiently.

"Not at all," the bartender replied with a wicked grin. "But it’s gonna cost ya."

"How much?" Draco asked coldly.

"Shall we say… ten galleons?"

"Done," Draco said promptly. He knew the bartender was looking to haggle, but he just wanted this blasted search to be over with already. "And an extra three if you keep your mouth shut about all this."

The bartender smiled nastily. "All what?" he asked as he swiped the proffered gold from the bar and into his pocket. "Room six."

Draco turned on his heel and swept up the stairs, Ginny close behind.

"Thirteen galleons?" she asked incredulously when she had caught up with him. "I’m sure you could have gotten off for at least half that."

"It’s not like we can’t afford it, Ginny. We’ll just take it out of Ben’s allowance. Ah, here we are," Draco said, stopping in front of a door that seemed like one good shove would cause it to crumble. Draco wrinkled his nose in disgust. "He would have been better off hiding in the guest wing."

***

"Go ‘way," Ben mumbled into his pillow upon hearing a loud knock on his door. The knocking continued unabated. "I said ‘go away’!" he said loudly, covering his head with his pillow in a vain attempt to silence the noise. The knocking turned into insistent pounding and Ben jumped out of bed angrily to storm across the room.

"What the hell do you want?" he said angrily as he swung the door open.

"Nice to see you too, son," Draco said dryly.

"Oh, it’s you," Ben responded coldly as he started to shut the door in his father’s face.

"You’re bloody right it’s me," Draco said angrily as he held the door open with one hand. "Did you think I was going to let my only son run away from home without an explanation? If you have a problem, Benjamin, you talk it out. You don’t run away like a coward."

Ben glared at Draco. "I think you should leave," he said quietly, trying to reign in his temper and beginning to fail. When Draco didn’t move, he tried again. "I said get out!" he yelled as loudly as he could. "Get the fuck out!" he yelled even louder.

"Now that is enough, both of you," Ginny said angrily, stepping between the warring Malfoys. "Ben, let us in this instant, and Draco, if I hear one more snide comment out of you, you will see the sharp end of my wand, is that understood?"

"I’m not letting him in," Ben said stubbornly. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Draco, you stay out here." The look of disgust on Draco’s face made Ginny rethink her edict. "On second thought, you go back to the Manor. I’m sure you have some sort of work to take care of." When Draco didn’t move, she gave him a small push. "Go," she said quietly. Glaring at Ginny, Draco turned on his heel and strode down the hall, his robes billowing behind him. Ginny turned back to Ben. "May I come in, Ben?" she asked quietly. Ben nodded and moved away from the door. Ginny stepped into the room and tried not to appear too disgusted.

"Nice place," she said as kindly as she could.

"It’s alright, Mum," Ben said with a smile. "It’s a crap hole."

"Watch your language," Ginny said sharply.

"Sorry, Mum," Ben responded sheepishly. He sat down on his bed and looked at his hands. He had no intention of starting the conversation he had been dreading since he left Malfoy Manor the previous night.

Ginny wandered aimlessly around the room, unsure of where to take this situation. This was her first test as a mother, and she really didn’t want to mess it up. She turned around to face Ben and cleared her throat.

"Running away was not a good thing to do," she started. "You scared your entire family. Your grandparents were worried sick, and, uh, Percy’s wife, and, well, I was worried." Ben looked up and smirked at her in an incredibly infuriating and Malfoy-like way. Ginny sighed.

"Listen, Ben, I have no idea what I’m doing here, so I’m just going to say this as simply as I can." She took a deep breath and continued. "You scared the crap out of everyone that cares about you. Don’t you dare ever do that again. I don’t care what problems you are having with your father. If you ever pull a stunt like this again, I’ll… ban you from Quidditch," she said, taking a wild guess that he played. The smirk on Ben’s face fell off and he looked down at his hands again. Good one, Ginny! Ginny mentally applauded herself.

"Yes, Mum," he said, completely humbled. Ginny sighed again.

"Ben," she said softly, moving to kneel in front of him. "Can I talk to you honestly for a minute? I have no idea what I’m doing right now," she continued hurriedly, not waiting for a response. "Last thing I remember is being as carefree as you are right now. Imagine suddenly waking up in a strange house, married with a sixteen-year-old son. It’s pretty damn scary. But there is one good thing I can think of right now."

"What?" he asked warily, looking up from his hands.

"Well, hopefully, I’ll be on your side. I mean, you’re sixteen, I think I’m sixteen. It stands to reason that I might be a little bit more understanding than you would normally expect me to be. I know all parents say that they were sixteen once and they understand exactly what’s going on in your life, but I really do understand how hard everything can be. So, I know you might not think I’ll understand why you ran away, but I bet that if you tried me, I might be able to at least get the gist of it."

Ben was silent, refusing to look at his mother and refusing to respond.

"Was it your father?" Ginny prompted. After a second’s pause, Ben nodded his head almost imperceptibly. "Was it me?" she asked quietly. Ben raised his head quickly.

"Of course not!" Ben exclaimed hurriedly, the tips of his ears turning pink.

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Ben," she said gently. "You’re ears are pink." The pink tint of Ben’s ears spread to his face.

"Right," he mumbled and cleared his throat. "Of course," he said loudly, the blush still staining his cheeks.

"Did you get in a fight with your father about me?" Ginny prompted further. Ben nodded again.

I feel like a misbehaved child who hears their parents arguing about them, Ginny thought ruefully.

"Anytime you want to jump in and dominate the conversation is fine with me," Ginny said with a hint of exasperation coloring her voice. Ben almost managed a smile.

"I just," he began, not knowing exactly what to say. "I couldn’t stand being in that house for another minute." Ginny nodded and waited for him to continue. "I mean, I needed to get away. Dad was being so," he paused, looking for the right word.

"Malfoy-like?" Ginny guessed quietly.

"Exactly!" Ben exclaimed. "He seemed so fucking impersonal."

"I may understand what it’s like to be sixteen, Ben, but that does not permit you to use that kind of language," Ginny said sharply. Where the hell did that come from?

"Sorry, Mum." He was silent again.

"What was he being impersonal about?" Ginny asked, attempting to draw him back into the conversation.

"You," Ben said quietly. "Not that he doesn’t love you, because I’m sure he does," he added hurriedly.

"I’m starting to get that feeling myself," she said with a crooked smile, causing Ben to grin.

"Well, that’s an improvement."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked worriedly.

Ben blushed slightly. "That’s kinda what our whole argument was about."

"You were fighting about me not knowing your father loves me?" Ginny squeaked, half in shock and half in embarrassment.

Ben’s blush increased as he nodded. "You were leaving to go to the Burrow, and Dad wasn’t trying to stop you. He gave me this bullshit excuse about you not understanding how he’s changed and that there was nothing he could do about it. He was giving up on you! He didn’t care! It’s his job to keep this family together. Screw the Malfoy reputation and screw the Malfoy pride. Some things are more important than pride," Ben yelled. He was standing now and breathing heavily after his long tirade. Ginny waited a few moments before speaking.

"Are you ready to go home, Ben?" Ginny asked softly. "Because I am." Ben leaned over and grabbed his bag from the floor. He had not unpacked any of his belongings, so there was no need for him to delay their departure any longer.

"Let’s go."

***

Draco paced back in forth in front of his desk. After being kicked out of the Hog’s Head by his wife and son, he had returned to the Manor in a towering rage. The house elves had scattered, not even bothering to take Draco’s traveling cloak or ask if he needed anything. Said cloak was now flung over a chair, and the rational part of Draco was glad the house elves hadn’t bothered him. If they had asked him what he needed, he probably would have commanded another drink, which he knew he shouldn’t have, and then flung it against the wall. Instead, he was forced to pace back and forth in front of his desk and wait for Ginny to return, hopefully with Ben in tow.

How could she kick me out like that? He raged to himself. I’m his father! I have every right to be there.

Ben wouldn’t talk if you were there, said a snide voice in his head. It’s your fault he ran away in the first place. If you weren’t so much like your father…

Draco lost it. "I’m not fucking like him!" he yelled, picking up a paperweight and throwing it across the room. It crashed into the wall and Draco stood still, breathing heavily and staring at the mess of glass on the floor.

"Are you quite finished?" a voice said coldly from the door. Draco turned around and turned his angry glare onto Ginny.

"Are you quite finished excluding me from important family events?"

"Are you quite finished running our children out of our home?" Ginny shot back, equally enraged. Draco’s whole body collapsed, his face paled, and he turned his back to Ginny, his shoulders hunched.

"Did he say it was my fault?" he asked quietly. Ginny felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She walked up behind Draco and gently laid her hand on his shoulder.

"Not in so many words," she said. "But-"

"Where is he?" Draco asked, already striding towards the door.

"His bedroom, but-"

"Don’t worry about it, Ginny. I’ll handle the disciplinary portion of this," he said sternly.

"Malfoy!" Ginny said loudly, finally catching Draco’s attention. Draco turned around and stared at her. He raised an eyebrow in a silent inquiry.

"You cannot go in there in a towering rage and yell at him without expecting him to lash out at you, which will only succeed in making you even more angry, which will make you yell more, which will make him yell more, and ultimately run away again, and I’m really not up for a country-wide search. Take a seat, Malfoy. We need to talk. Then, you can have your man to man chat, okay?" At the look of hesitation on his face, Ginny rolled her eyes. "He’s not going anywhere, Draco. I promise." Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair tiredly.

"Fine, we’ll talk." He gestured imperiously to the couch. Ginny walked over and sat down. She patted the spot next to her, looking imploringly at Draco. Draco stalked over and sat down stiffly next to her.

"You better loosen up, Draco, we’re going to be here until you calm down." Draco sighed and relaxed against the back of the couch.

"Now," Ginny said calmly. "According to Ben, the two of you got in a fight yesterday before I left for the Burrow. Is that right?"

Draco nodded.

"I wanted to return to the Burrow, you were graciously letting me," Ginny said sarcastically, getting a small smile from Draco. "And Ben wanted you to stop me."

Draco nodded again. "He accused you of caring more about your pride then your family," Ginny said quietly.

"I may have insisted that I couldn’t stop you," Draco conceded. "But I didn’t want you to be unhappy. I thought that you’d come around eventually."

Ginny nodded. "He thought I was leaving for good. He didn’t understand that it was just temporary."

A look of understanding graced Draco’s features. "Ah. So when he wanted me to do something, he wanted me to make sure that our family didn’t fall apart. As if I would let that happen," he muttered.

"I think tempers were running rather high yesterday. And all of us are to blame really. I don’t think we should punish Ben anymore than we would punish each other. He made a stupid mistake that was based on all of our uncontrollable tempers, and it should be left at that. Okay?"

Draco nodded. "I still need to talk to him," he said tiredly, running a hand through his hair.

"Just put your wand in your hand and say ‘Ben’s room’. It’ll show you how to get there," Ginny said lightly, standing up. "However, I think you should wait until tomorrow. I think we could all do with a good night’s rest. Which brings me to my next point. What exactly are the sleeping arrangements?" Ginny asked, a blush creeping over her cheeks. Draco grinned at her.

"Well, Ginny. Normally when a man and a woman love each other very much and they get married, they sleep in the same bed," he said cheekily. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"If you think you’re sleeping in my bed, you have another thing coming, Mr. Malfoy," Ginny said as haughtily as she could manage, considering the deep blush now staining her cheeks.

"I figured as much. You take our room, and I’ll have the house elves prepare a guest room for me."

Ginny gave him a soft smile. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Well, goodnight," she said, feeling awkward. How exactly does one say goodnight to ones husband whom one does not remember?

Draco solved her dilemma for her.

He grabbed her hand brought it to his lips. He placed a soft kiss on the back of her hand, and whispered "Goodnight, Ginny" against her skin. Ginny’s blush increased as Draco met her eyes, and she wasn’t quite sure what to do. Finally finding the strength to pull her hand from his grasp, she mumbled another "Goodnight" and exited the room as quickly as she possibly could.

Ginny closed the door behind her and leaned against it, taking a few calming breaths. This has got to stop, she thought tiredly to herself before setting off down the hall in the direction she hoped led to a warm and comfortable bed.

***

Draco sighed contentedly and rolled over on his side in order to bring the still sleeping form of his wife closer to him, a habit he had picked up soon after they had started sleeping together. His eyes snapped open and he sat up worriedly, however, when his arm encountered a cold bed and no wife.

He looked confusedly around the unfamiliar room before the events of the previous two days came crashing down around him. He groaned and flopped onto his back. After a few seconds he pushed the bedclothes back and got up. He took a quick look around the room in order to locate the bathroom, then strode towards it.

After splashing some cold water on his face, Draco made his way to the master bedroom. He cast a silencing charm on his feet and the door, before pushing it open and entering the room. Ginny, who was still asleep, was sprawled over the entire bed, taking up her half as well as Draco’s. Draco shook his head, a small smile on his face. Gently, he untangled her limbs and torso from the bedclothes and pulled them up to cover her. She sighed in her sleep and nestled further into the clothes, a content smile on her face. Unable to stop himself, he leaned in and kissed her softly. Her eyes fluttered, but she did not wake. He watched her for a few seconds before going into the bathroom. Half an hour later, Draco was showered and shaved, and he had returned to the bedroom. Ginny was still asleep, which he thought was probably a good thing, considering he was in her bedroom wearing nothing but a towel. He stood in the doorway, longing to climb in behind her and wrap his arms around her, but fear of what she would do to him combined with the ever increasing need to get to the office stopped him. He sighed, and went into his closet to get dressed. The start of another long day.

***

Draco took off his traveling cloak and hung it on the stand next to the fireplace in his office. He surveyed the room impassively. It was always odd to him that no matter how angrily he had argued with Ginny or what new mischief Ben had gotten himself into, his office was exactly the same, exquisite and impersonal. Pushing all thoughts of Ginny and Ben out of his head as he did every morning, he braced himself for the day from hell that awaited him. Squaring his shoulders, he was already halfway across his office. When he opened the door, he was pleased to see his secretary already waiting at her desk.

Carmen Lopez had started working for Draco when she was 20. With a slender waist and exotic features, it wasn’t long before she was married to a respectable British wizard. She had been happily married for fifteen years, when, unfortunately her marriage fell apart. Their problem was a complete misunderstanding. Carmen didn’t realize that part of being a respectable British wizard was having a few unrespectable British witches as his mistresses. After this gross misunderstanding was corrected, Carmen was left without a husband or a home. Draco had been more than understanding and had given her an immediate pay raise and, knowing that she wouldn’t take any charity, happened to circle a few apartments in a decent part of town and left the Daily Prophet on her desk. In no time, she was out of a hotel and into her own apartment. That had been about a month ago.

"Mr. Malfoy!" Carmen exclaimed, jumping up from her seat. "I wasn’t expecting you so early. How is Mrs. Malfoy doing?"

"Ah, I see you are a bit behind the times." Draco beckoned her into his office. She grabbed some parchment and quill and followed Draco into his office, closing the door quietly behind her. In the past sixteen years, Draco had come to trust her almost as much as he trusted Ginny.

Draco sat down behind his desk and gestured to the chair across from him. Carmen perched on the edge of her chair, her quill poised at the top of a sheet of parchment. She looked at him expectantly and Draco chuckled.

"Put the quill down, Carmen. This doesn’t need to go in a press release or memo to the building. I’m telling you this because I trust you and I’m going to need your help today. I would never tell a secretary this much information normally, but, like I said, I trust you. So, put the quill and parchment away."

Carmen sighed and snapped her fingers, and the parchment and quill disappeared. She settled herself back into the chair, crossed her legs and folded her hands.

"Now, Mr. Malfoy, what’s going on?" Draco gave her a weak smile and opened his mouth to speak.

"As I told you a couple days ago, Ginny fell off her broom and was unconscious for a day or so. She woke up two days ago and could not remember anything beyond her sixth year at Hogwarts. She went to stay with her parents, there was a misunderstanding, and to make a long story short, Ben ran away. I alerted the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol, who, complete wankers that they are, decided that it would be a brilliant idea to alert all the prominent wizarding families that my son had run away. If that was bad enough, they were completely fucking up the job, and I had to find him myself, with the help of my amnesia-stricken wife who thinks she’s sixteen and, consequently, when she’s not afraid of me, is ready to hex my balls off. We finally found Ben at the Hog’s Head around midnight," Draco finished, leaning back in his chair.

"Holy crap," Carmen murmured. "Are you shitting me?" she asked incredulously.

Draco shook his head. "I had to bribe the bartender, and you know what that means."

Carmen nodded furiously as she snapped her fingers and her quill and parchment reappeared. She began to write furiously. "Liability. And major press control. We need to come up with a story, and fill in the Ministry. A sizable donation should make them see our way."

"I was afraid of that," Draco sighed.

"There is another possibility, Mr. Malfoy," Carmen said quietly, knowing he would hate it. Draco quirked an eyebrow, a sign for her to continue. "I believe that Mrs. Malfoy has a certain amount of…persuasion ability with the Minister. Perhaps he could exert a little executive power."

Draco groaned. "Shit, I hate asking Percy for favors. He’s a pompous little arse, Ginny’s brother or not."

"So make the donation and see if that makes a difference before calling in any favors, but you have to keep your options open, Mr. Malfoy, if you want this whole mess to blow over."

"I hate it when you’re right. Alright, what else?"

"Who else knows that he ran away?"

"Every fucking wizarding family." Draco put his head in his hands. "We’re never going to be able to clean up this mess."

"Yes we will, Mr. Malfoy. Now, we need to make up some sort of story. We’ll just alter the truth a little bit. It was a misunderstanding. You got into a little fight with your son; he left to go stay at a friend’s house. When he didn’t come home that night, you were worried and a house elf overheard you talking to your wife. She thought she heard you say that Ben ran away, and alerted the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol."

Draco nodded. "Perfect. And we’ll not release the name of the house elf."

Carmen nodded and made a note on her parchment. "Who else knows that he ran away?"

"Ben’s girlfriend, she won’t talk though, and the night attendants of the Knight Bus, and the bartender at the Hogshead." Carmen looked at him. "I’m going to need to make two more sizable donations, aren’t I?"

"Not necessarily. I might be able to do something with Stan and Ernie. You’ll probably still have to pay off the Hog’s Head, though."

"And how exactly are you going to persuade Stan and Ernie not to tell?" Draco asked suspiciously. Carmen rolled her eyes.

"I’m not going to dirty your reputation anymore by doing anything illegal." Draco glared at her. "I used the Knight Bus quite a bit when I didn’t have a fireplace to Floo."

"Why didn’t you Apparate?"

"Damn Ministry revoked my license after I got divorced. I just recently got it back. Now, I’ll send out donations to the Ministry and the Hog’s Head, in about an hour I would go to the Magical Law Enforcement department and tell them to keep it quiet. I don’t think it will be necessary with the Hog’s Head. I’m sure he’ll have a pretty good idea what you want when he sees whom the money is from. I’ll write a press release for you, it’s better if you end this before it even starts. And then I’ll go talk to Stan and Ernie." Carmen finished making a few notes on her parchment and stood up. "If I may, sir?"

Draco flapped a hand at her. "Yes, go save my ass, Carmen." Carmen flashed him a smile and left, her mind already three steps ahead. Draco sat still for a few moments before he stood up and began going through the owl post.

***

When Ginny woke up, she had a faint memory of a dream in which someone with very soft lips had kissed her. It had been a nice kiss, and Ginny decided that she wouldn‘t turn down a repeat performance. Shoving those thoughts to the side, she climbed out of bed and looked around the room, unsure of what to do next.

"Mistress Ginny?" a small voice squeaked behind her. Ginny spun around, lost her balance, and fell in heap in on the floor. The house elf peered down at her anxiously. "Is Mistress okay?"

Ginny hauled herself off the floor. "Mistress-uh, yeah, I’m fine," she responded distractedly. "What’s up?"

"Sippy is here to help Mistress Ginny, just as Sippy is supposed to help Mistress Ginny every morning."

"Oh, well, thanks, Sippy," Ginny said as she looked around the room, attempting to get her bearings, and rubbing her slightly sore bum. "But I think I can handle the showering and getting dressed on my own, thanks."

Sippy bowed. "As Mistress Ginny wishes." Instead of disappearing like Ginny thought she would, Sippy continued to stand in the middle of the room, looking expectantly at Ginny.

"Was there something else?" Ginny asked politely.

"Mistress Ginny will want to know that Mistress Weasley Flooed last night. Mistress Weasley wanted to know if Mistress Ginny and Master Draco had any news about Master Benjamin."

"Bollocks, I forgot to Floo Mum last night," Ginny said angrily, slapping herself in the forehead with the heal of her palm. "Thank you, Sippy."

Ginny grabbed her wand from the end table and stepped out into the hall, deciding in a split second that she would Floo her mum, then shower. After a second’s hesitation, however, Ginny realized that she had no idea what room the fireplace was in, and since she had no desire to be led to some dangerous area of Malfoy Manor, she enlisted help.

"Sippy, where is the Floo connected?"

"Mistress Ginny should use the fireplace in the sitting room."

"Thanks. Sitting room," she said to her wand, which immediately started tugging her in the right direction.

***

Ben lay on his stomach, his eyes firmly shut to block the bright sunlight streaming into his room despite the heavy hangings around his four poster bed. If he opened his eyes, he would have to acknowledge that he had finally woken up, and that would lead to the inevitable yet dreaded conversation he knew he must have with his father. After lying motionless, unsuccessfully attempting to convince himself that he was still sleeping, the urge to pee overcame his dread and Ben pushed back the hangings surrounding his bed to stumble gracelessly to his adjoining bathroom.

He emerged twenty minutes later, freshly showered with a towel wrapped around his waist. He stared glumly at his freshly made bed. If the house elves had already been in to make his bed, he was sure they would have alerted his father that he was up. He sighed darkly and walked over to his wardrobe. If he wants to yell at me, there is no way in hell that I am going to go downstairs and make this any easier, Ben thought as he pulled on a pair of dark pants. Leaving his towel on the floor, he walked over to his stereo, a Muggle device his mother had shown him after she insisted that the Manor be charmed so electronic devices worked. He switched it on and began blasting his music, in blatant defiance of his father’s rules. If he was going down, he was going to go down for a shitload of things.

***

Draco gracefully collapsed into his chair and leaned back. He had just finished speaking with the press about the events of the previous night. Carmen had showed up five minutes before he went on and told him that things were all squared off with Ernie and Stan, they wouldn’t say a word. He had already spoken to the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol and they had agreed not to say anything about the previous day, including Draco’s multiple outbursts. The press release had gone well, and everyone laughed off Ben’s little adventure as teenage rebellion. Besides being down a few hundred galleons and losing a morning’s worth of work, everything had turned out okay.

Draco looked at the pile of work waiting to be taken care of, then glanced at his clock. Not even noon, he thought tiredly. He sighed, stood up, and crossed his office to the fireplace. Grabbing a handful of Floo Powder, he tossed into the flames and yelled, "Malfoy Manor!"

***

"The Burrow," Ginny stated clearly, pushing her head into the flames. "Mum?" she yelled when the spinning stopped and the kitchen of the Burrow came into focus.

"Oh, Ginny dear!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed anxiously as she bustled into the kitchen, drying her hands on her apron. Ginny could see Mrs. Weasley’s wand sticking out of her apron pocket, just like it always did when Ginny was small. "Any news?"

"Yea, we found him, and he’s home."

"Oh thank heavens!" Mrs. Weasley said, her hand going to her chest in a well-used gesture of relief. With seven children, nine if you count Harry and Hermione, and a husband all active participants in the War, Mrs. Weasley’s gesture of relief was used quite a bit, much to everyone’s appreciation. "And where was he, exactly?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Ginny could tell she was working herself up for a good yell. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of a lecture, even if it wasn’t aimed at her, Ginny interrupted.

"He was at the Hog’s Head, but don’t worry, Mum, he’s fine. Draco and I are going to work everything out."

"I should hope so," Mrs. Weasley puffed indignantly. "And I’ll be having a firm talk with the boy the next time I see him, mark my words." Her expression softened. "And you are quite sure that he is alright?"

"Yes, Mum. In fact he’s still sleeping." Ginny felt a tug on her shoulders. "I have to go. Someone’s trying to Floo in, and it could be Draco."

"Yes, of course, dear. You go on now. I’ll talk to you soon."

"Bye, Mum," Ginny said, already pulling her head out of the fire. Ginny hurriedly stood up and stepped away from the fire. She knew from personal experience that it was not pleasant to have someone Floo in right on top of you. Seconds later, a familiar blond head was poking out from between the flames. Ginny smiled slightly at the sight of the flames licking at his ears.

"Ginny," Draco said. He looked tired and more stressed than Ginny could imagine a Malfoy looking. Apparently he didn’t just sit on his arse all day and have everyone else do everything for him. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yea, I actually just got up."

Draco smiled. "You always did like to sleep in." Ginny smiled back shyly. It was slightly disconcerting that a complete stranger, to her anyway, knew her sleeping habits. "Listen, I usually come home for lunch, but I’m not going to be able to get away today. My morning was packed and I’m just getting started on my regular business. I’ll try not to be home too late, but I have to reschedule all my morning meetings and get through some paperwork."

"What have you been doing all morning?" Ginny asked curiously.

Draco sighed. "Cleaning up Ben’s mess, but everything’s okay now. Have you talked to your mother yet?"

"Yea, I just finished telling her Ben was safe. She looked like she wanted to have a go at him herself, but I told her that right was reserved for you. Draco," Ginny began biting her bottom lip. "I know that you’re very upset with Ben right now, but, please-"

"Ginny," Draco interrupted impatiently. "I really don’t have time for this right now, okay? I’ll deal with Ben when I get home tonight. Tell the house elves not to make lunch for me today. I’ll talk to you later." Before Ginny could say another word, Draco had pulled his head out of the fire and disappeared. She shook her head and turned towards the door. Before her hand reached the handle, however, she heard a small cough and the sound of someone brushing soot off their clothes. She turned around and nearly gasped at the site that met her, although she really shouldn’t have been that shocked.

A young girl stepped out of the fireplace, brushing off her robes contemptuously. Her face was heavily painted with various products, and her stringy, stylized hair looked too natural to actually be natural. If that wasn’t enough to tip Ginny off as to whom it was, the upturned nose and gaudy jewelry was an obvious clue.

"Hello, Scarlet," Ginny said coolly. Scarlet, however, did not respond. Instead she swept past Ginny and headed straight for the door. "Excuse me, Scarlet. I believe I said ‘hello’," Ginny called after her, the distaste in her voice evident. Scarlet turned around, a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Oh, hello, Mrs. Malfoy. I didn’t see you there. How are you doing? I’m just here to say hello to Ben." Her voice was sickly sweet and falsely cheery. Ginny wanted to slap her. Scarlet turned again and exited the room, leaving Ginny staring after her in shock.

"What a rude little bint," Ginny muttered to herself before heading back to her bedroom.

***

Scarlet threw open the door of Ben’s bedroom without bothering to knock. Ben, who was still listening to his very loud and very angry music, did not notice her appearance. She slammed the door shut behind her, causing such a loud slam that Ginny, who was two floors away, jumped at the noise. Ben opened his eyes and finally took notice of the girl standing in his room. Said girl was tapping her foot impatiently and looked very angry with Ben. He searched around the bedclothes to find the remote to his stereo and turned his music down to a conversational level.

"Fancy seeing you here," he said with a smirk.

"You listen to crap," Scarlet responded carelessly, unclasping her traveling cloak and hanging it on the hook near Ben’s door. Only Ben’s stellar Malfoy training allowed him to keep a reign on his reaction to his girlfriend’s clothing. Her impossibly long legs disappeared under her extremely short jean skirt. Ben could have sworn that if she had bent over, he would be able to see everything. Her shirt was nothing more than a piece of dark green material covering her chest with scraps of sheer green material hanging down to cover her stomach and provide straps on her shoulders. Her outfit left absolutely nothing to the imagination, and Ben didn’t need an imagination to know exactly what was under those scraps of fabric that she called clothing. She stood staring at him, one eyebrow raised and a smirk on her lips. Ben swallowed in order to wet his suddenly dry mouth.

"Like what you see?" Scarlet asked smugly.

Ben shrugged casually, pretending indifference. "You know I like it when you dress up for me."

Scarlet rolled her eyes at his casual attitude. Experience had lent her the ability to be able to tell exactly what affect she was having on her boyfriend. She also knew that, given five minutes, his pride would allow him to come around.

"I’m shocked to find you in one piece," Scarlet said after a moment’s silence. "I thought for sure your father would have blasted you to pieces by now."

Ben laughed. "Dad’s all talk. He wouldn’t hurt me," Ben said with more confidence than he actually had. "Besides, he hasn’t even come to talk to me yet. I have another couple hours before anyone will be looking to talk to me," he added suggestively.

"Another couple of hours?" Scarlet replied coyly, looking at him from beneath lowered lashes.

Ben nodded, not wanting to chance his voice, which might not be in perfect working order at the moment.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Scarlet demanded, pouting at him from across the room. In seconds, Ben had crossed the room and pulled Scarlet into a savage kiss. Pulling her tightly against him, they stumbled across the room and collapsed in a heap on his bed. He flipped her over so that her head was on the pillow and he was leaning over her before he attacked her neck. Her hands automatically flew to where his tie would be, but upon encountering no shirt, let alone a tie, they began to caress his shoulders. She ran them down his chest and stomach to the edge of his pants. Seconds later, his pants were unbuttoned and unzipped and he groaned directly into her ear. It was his groan that caught her attention.

"Ben," she said breathlessly. "Ben!" she said more urgently when she got no response.

"What?" he snapped. "Dammit, Scarlet, how do you get this damn thing off!" He had been attempting to remove her shirt, but couldn’t quite figure out how to get it off without ripping it. Normally, this wouldn’t matter because he could simply Reparo it after, but as neither were allowed to use magic during the summer, it presented a bit of a problem.

"Ben, your music." Ben groaned, this time in frustration, and pulled himself off her. He ran an irritated hand through his hair.

"Fine. I’ll turn it off."

"Don’t be stupid," she said irritably. "If you turn it off your mother will hear us. Turn it up, you stupid prat."

Ben smiled at her and obeyed. When he turned back around, he found that Scarlet had removed her shirt for him.

"Now get back here."

***

Ginny stepped out of her bathroom feeling completely refreshed. Her conversation with Draco had left her a little aggravated, and frankly, Scarlet’s sudden appearance had left completely brassed off. She really didn’t like Scarlet; she looked rather like a pug, and she reminded Ginny of someone, although Ginny couldn’t quite put her finger on whom. Frankly, Ginny thought Ben was better off without her, and was disgusted that he would lower himself to the level of that arrogant bint.

Sighing out of frustration, she turned to her wardrobe and began to select an outfit for the day. At first, she began to look for her normal wear of jeans and some sort of oversized shirt that she usually wore while lounging around the house. As she looked through her rather large collection of clothes, however, it became quite apparent that she had much more of a selection than she was used to. Deciding that she wanted to look comfortably nice today, she selected a long white skirt and a blue tank top with a pair of flip-flops that looked comfortable and well worn. As soon as she stepped out of her closet, Sippy appeared in front of her with a loud crack.

"Great Merlin, Sippy!" Ginny exclaimed, her hand over her rapidly beating heart in a gesture that reminded her of her mother. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sippy is sorry, Mistress Ginny! Sippy just wanted to know where Mistress Ginny would like to taker her lunch today with her guest."

"I have a guest?" Ginny asked curiously.

Sippy nodded emphatically. "Yes, Mistress Ginny. Mistress Hermione is here to see you."

"Hermione’s here?" Ginny said excitedly, barely able to control herself from skipping around the room. Sippy nodded again. "Okay," Ginny said, glancing out the window. "Is there somewhere we can eat outside? It’s a beautiful day."

"Sippy will have Mistress Ginny’s lunch sent to the terrace, and Sippy will tell Mistress Hermione to meet Mistress Ginny on the terrace."

"Thank you, Sippy," Ginny said, already thinking about how she couldn’t wait to see Hermione.

Sippy dropped into a low curtsy and disappeared with a crack. Hurrying back into her wardrobe, Ginny grabbed a pair of sunglasses and hurried towards the terrace, following the insistent tugging of her wand.

The terrace was more beautiful than Ginny could have imagined. The flowers were in full bloom and obviously well cared for, and the table was set to perfection. Ginny could barely contain her glee at the delicate place settings that were waiting to be used. Before she could fully appreciate the splendor around her, she heard a squeal and a soft shriek of "Ginny!" Ginny whipped and around as a huge smile broke out on her face.

"Hermione!" Ginny said happily as she rushed towards her friend. She stopped short. "You’re pregnant!" she exclaimed, as if this development was new. Hermione laughed and nodded.

"Have been for seven months now," she said happily, laying a protective hand over her large stomach.

"You look great," Ginny said truthfully, managing to give Hermione a quick hug.

"When are you due?" Ginny asked as they each took a seat at the table.

"17 October. How are you doing, Ginny? Molly told me about what happened. Are you holding up okay?" Hermione asked seriously, laying a soft hand over Ginny’s.

Ginny nodded. "I’m alright. I’m a little confused, but I’m okay," she said quietly. "So," she continued, as they started eating, attempting to lighten the mood. "Finally made Ron settle down?"

An odd look flashed across Hermione’s face. "No, actually. Ron and I dated for a few weeks in seventh year-"

"Oh, yeah!" Ginny interrupted. "You guys got together last week."

"Yes," Hermione said after a moment’s pause. "But we broke it off. We ended up fighting more than we usually did and it wasn’t worth risking our friendship."

"I see, well, Ron always was an insensitive git. I can see how you weren’t quite satisfied with him in the romance department. So who’s the lucky guy?" Hermione had a pained look on her face, but she managed to smile, although it didn’t quite reach her eyes. "Harry."

Ginny dropped her fork. "Harry? As in Harry Potter? As in the Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter?" Hermione nodded happily. "I don’t believe it! Although that does explain why Harry was so sullen when you started dating Ron," Ginny mused thoughtfully. At this, Hermione laughed outright, and they began to eat again. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Hermione spoke again.

"So, you found Ben at the Hog’s Head? Is he okay?"

"He’s fine. Although I’m not sure that Draco is. I have a feeling they might have a bit of a row when he gets home from work."

Hermione nodded. "But that’s to be expected. I mean, Ben did run off and potentially ruined the Malfoy family name."

"Don’t tell me you support this stupid I-am-holier-than-thou Malfoy attitude."

Hermione snorted. "Of course not. I simply understand that Draco does, and I have a feeling Ben is in for it tonight. Anyway, where is the little bugger? I’d like to say a quick hello."

"He’s still sleeping. You know how teenage boys are. I’ve learned not to wake them or they’ll be grumpy all day, and I really don’t want to have to handle that." Ginny paused. "Actually, he should be awake now. His girlfriend came over about an hour ago."

"Is he still dating that Scarlet girl?" Hermione asked curiously.

Ginny nodded. "I hate her," they said in unison, then broke out into gales of laughter.

***

Ben was sitting up in his bed, leaning against a pile of pillows and the headboard. His hair was sticking up in all directions, but he was completely relaxed, a self-satisfied look gracing his features. A sheet was pulled up to his waist, and it was quite obvious that he wasn’t wearing anything underneath it. Similarly, Scarlet was walking around his room, naked except for a blanket wrapped around her, collecting her scattered clothing.

"Sure you can’t stay longer?" he asked from his regal position on the bed. Scarlet straightened up from her crouch on the floor as she retrieved her bra and leveled a glare at him.

"And risk getting caught by your mother or father? No thanks. I’d rather chance a blast-ended skrewt." She bent down to retrieve her knickers. "Next time, do you think you could not throw my clothes everywhere as you rip them off?"

"Glad to know what you truly think of my parents," Ben said, ignoring her last comment as he got out of bed and moved to stand behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against his chest. She sighed, and leaned into him. "And I know you wouldn’t have it any other way." She gave him a vicious jab in the ribs and pulled away.

"At least during the summer, then," she said haughtily as she dropped the blanket to the floor and began to dress again. Ben leaned back against one of the posts on his four-poster bed, his arms crossed in front of his chest, a pleased look on his face. When Scarlet was completely dressed, she turned around to face him, a scowl on her face.

"I’m glad you enjoyed the show. Now if you don’t mind, my mum will be getting worried."

"I don’t mind at all," Ben said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders and moving towards his bathroom. He heard the door open, but didn’t turn around.

"Oh, and Ben, darling," Scarlet said, her sickly sweet voice ringing clearly across the room. Ben stopped and looked over his shoulder. "You owe me ten galleons from the other night." She smirked at him and slammed the door behind her. Ben smiled, shook his head, and turned on the shower.

***

Draco Apparated into the front hall of Malfoy Manor. Surprisingly enough, Draco had managed to squeeze everything that needed to be done into a single afternoon, without a lunch break, and had managed to get at a reasonably decent time, albeit after dinner. The downside, however, was that he was utterly exhausted and all he wanted was to eat a warm dinner and to lie down in his large bed with his wife wrapped securely in his arms. Unfortunately, the closest he would come tonight was a warm, awkward dinner and a cold bed in a little used guestroom, sans Ginny. Draco tossed his traveling cloak to the waiting elf and strode up the front stairs to change. As he reached the landing, he heard a dull throbbing and faint yells. Narrowing his eyes, he started down the hall. With each step he took, the noises got louder and louder until he was standing outside the door to his son’s room, the loud, angry music blasting through the door.

***

Ben was lying on his bed, listening to the same CD he had been listening to when Scarlet had burst into his room earlier that afternoon. Not expecting his father home for another couple of hours, he was slightly shocked to feel the oh-so-familiar feeling of a long-fingered hand tugging his pants in an attempt to get his attention. He opened his eyes to see a terrified house elf looking at him, his large eyes pleading.

"What?" Ben snapped angrily, closing his eyes again, annoyed at having been disturbed.

"Dinky begs Master Benjamin to turn his music down. Master Benjamin will be punished most severely by Master Draco if he does not."

"Go away," Ben commanded in the patented I’m-talking-to-someone-beneath-me-and-it‘s-boring-me-to-the-brink-of-insanity Malfoy tone.

"Dinky begs Master Benjamin to-" But at the sound of angry footsteps in the hall, Dinky gave a squeak of fright and disappeared with a crack that was inaudible over the angry tones issuing from the speakers of Ben’s stereo. Ben, not having ears quite as large as Dinky’s, did not hear the footsteps quickly approaching his room. Later that day, Ben would curse the house elf for not warning him.

The door burst open to reveal a very brassed off Draco Malfoy, his wand raised in front of him. Before Ben had time to react Draco bellowed "Silencio!" and silence permeated the room. The type of silence that is oddly quiet after so much noise. Draco stood in the doorway, his nostrils slightly flared, and a murderous look in his eyes.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he said quietly, his voiced strained in such a way that Ben knew he was about to loose the small amount of control he had left.

"I was just-" Ben began, carefully hiding the tremor in his voice.

"Trying to see how far you could push me before I caused you serious bodily harm?" Draco cut in coldly. "I have told you time and time again, Benjamin, to turn your damn music down. It’s bad enough that you listen to that Muggle crap, but you don’t have to inflict that kind of torture on the rest of the household."

"I’m sorry," Ben said hastily, but stopped when Draco made a gesture that quite plainly meant "Stop making excuses, and shut the hell up if you value your life."

"I don’t want to hear it, Benjamin. I have had quite enough of your teenage rebellion. It stops now. Is that understood?" Ben started to nod, then stopped. He gave Draco a strange look before saying, albeit quietly, "Fuck off."

Draco stared at him for a moment, a shocked expression on his face. "Excuse me," he said, his cold, hard voice holding a warning that Ben did not heed.

"I said," Ben responded equally coldly, his voice louder now. "’Fuck off’."

"You’ve gone too far, Benjamin," Draco said, his voice infused with anger and cold restraint.

"You know what, Dad? I don’t give a flying fuck anymore. I don’t care if your precious pride is bruised or if you have to explain one more thing to the press. As far as I’m concerned, I shouldn’t have come home. I would have been better off holed up in some crap hole that’s not good enough to store my spare boots, than to come back here and deal with your fucking superiority complex. "

"If it weren’t for my precious pride, than you wouldn’t have half the things that you do. You had better be grateful that I had any pride in the Malfoy name. That crap hole that isn’t fit to house your spare boots would be a step up from the shithouse we’d be living in, so don’t you dare comment on my pride. My pride saved this family. And guess what, son," Draco spat angrily, his eyes flashing. "When you’ve gone through hell and survived, you’re allowed to feel superior, especially to your sixteen year-old son. You are damn lucky that the Cruciatus Curse isn’t the normal punishment in this house. By the time I was your age, I was well-versed in the hardships of that particular form of punishment."

"You wouldn’t dream of hurting me," Ben said contemptuously. "Mum wouldn’t stand for it."

"Don’t you drag your mother into this."

"Why not?"

"Because your mother has no place in such a show of disrespect towards your betters."

"Better? You were a fucking Death Eater! At least I know that it’s wrong to kill innocent people," Ben spat. As the words came out of his mouth, he knew he shouldn’t have said them. He tried to stop them, but it was too late. A horrified looked came over his face as Draco’s eyes darkened in anger.

It happened in a flash, so quickly Ben would never be able to recall exactly how it had happened. One minute he was standing face-to-face with his father, each yelling, and the next minute he had stumbled back a few paces, his knees hitting his bed, which caused him to fall with an ungraceful thump, and Draco had his wand out and pointed straight at his heart. Draco’s face was pale, his nostrils flared, and his eyes wide and angrier than Ben had ever seen them. They were even angrier than the time when he had been playing Quidditch outside and a Bludger accidentally went through a window and hit a very important client in the back of the head, giving him a severe concussion and causing Draco to lose a rather large business opportunity. If there had been any doubt that he had gone too far before, his father’s wand tip hovering inches away from his face removed all doubt. He began to pray in earnest that his mother would take this opportunity to step in and stop the yelling, or even worse, the soon-to-be bloodshed.

They made an odd tableau. Two men that were almost identical, save the age difference, locked in this grotesque scene, if only for a second. The older one with his arm outstretched and his hand gripping his wand so tightly that the color of his knuckles almost matched his hair. His face set and eyes that held the power to turn life to stone with one carefully placed glare. The younger one half-reclining on the edge of a large bed, as if he had just fallen. His face held a look of terror and his eyes pleaded in such a way that the older man’s eyes hardened even more. As if responding to the power of those eyes, the younger man sat frozen awaiting his fate. The window behind him admitted sunlight and a glimpse of the clear blue sky that mocked the seriousness of the situation. The setting sun glinted off the hair of both men, making them look like angels; one fallen, and one about to fall.

It took a second for it to register with Draco that he was pointing his wand, with the intent to seriously injure, at his son, and another second for him to react. His anger not at all relieved, Draco turned on his heel, his wand now pointed at Ben’s stereo, and yelled, "Reducto!" Instantly, the entire device burst into a million pieces. Draco, whose anger did not seem at all diminished by his outburst, whipped back around and glared at Ben for a moment, his eyes clearly saying "Next time, that will be you," before stalking out of the room. Ben on the other hand, collapsed onto his bed, suddenly weak from the relief flowing through him. He was damn lucky that he wasn’t on the receiving end of Draco’s wand on this occasion, and he vowed to watch his step from now on so he would never have to worry about ending up like his stereo again. A part of him was angry at his father for making him feel this way, not to mention blowing up his stereo, but he firmly pushed these feelings to the side, and concentrated on the relief and joy that accompanies not being murdered by your own father.

***

Draco stormed into his bedroom in a towering rage. He ripped the tie from around his neck and threw it to the floor. Instead of wanting a warm meal and a comfortable bed, Draco now wanted to break something. He wanted to break something quite badly. Draco didn’t know if he was angry because of the show of complete and utter disrespect Ben had just given him, free of charge, or the fact that he had been willing to force his son into obedience and respect through fear and pain. The snide voice in the back of his head that always appeared when he screwed up as a father, the snide voice that sounded a lot like his own father, and was currently whispering sweet nothings in his ear.

He’s right, you know. You were a Death Eater and you always will be. It doesn’t matter how many charities you give money to, or how many Weasleys you get to fall in love with you. You’re no better than the rest of us. You don’t deserve to be a father.

Draco grabbed the nearest object and hurled it at the opposite wall. It shattered and fell to the floor. Draco stood staring at the mess he had made, breathing heavily. After a few minutes in which Draco forced himself to gather his self-control around him like a cloak, he walked forward to examine the object on which he had chosen to vent his anger. He crouched down on the floor next to the mess, and picked up the remnants of a picture frame. The glass was completely shattered, and the frame was falling apart at the corners. The picture, however, remained entirely intact.

How appropriate, Draco thought ruefully, standing up and pulling his wand from his pocket. It was a picture of Draco and Ben when he was teaching Ben to ride his first broomstick. Before Draco had a chance to clean up the mess he had created, he heard the door open and an angry voice coming from behind him.

"What the hell have you done, Malfoy," Ginny hissed angrily. Draco slowly turned around and faced his irate wife. He really wasn’t up to this argument right now. The sight of the picture that he still held in his hand had drained all his anger from him, and now he was tired again, so very tired.

"What do you mean?" he asked tiredly, swishing his wand towards the pile of glass and muttering "Reparo." The glass flew back into the frame and all the evidence of his outburst disappeared. Well, all the evidence except the mess of Ben’s stereo and their, as of now, fucked up relationship.

"You know perfectly well what I mean," Ginny said as she advanced towards him. "I’m reading quietly in the library when I hear yelling. I’m a little worried, but I imagine that you’ve come home and are probably berating Ben. I’m upset that you didn’t come find me first, but I get over it. Next thing I know, there is absolute silence for a few seconds, then the loudest bang I have ever heard. I get up and start hurrying towards Ben’s room when I hear another loud crash coming from in here. I change route and what do I find?" Ginny gestured at the spot on the floor where the shattered glass had been moments before. "You standing above a pile of glass holding a wand in one hand and a ruined something in the other. Now what exactly is going on?"

Draco sighed and put the picture frame back on the desk and his wand back in his pocket. He sat down on the edge of the bed and Ginny followed. "Ben and I got into a little bit of an argument. I was trying to enforce a well-known house rule, when he blatantly disrespected me. I…well, there really isn’t an excuse for my actions, but I completely lost control. I blew his stereo up and left."

"That’s it?" Ginny asked, her voice carefully impassive.

"Not completely, but that’s all you need to know. The rest is between Ben and myself, I’m afraid," Draco looked down at his hands. For the first time in a very long time, they were shaking; he balled them into fists to prevent further movement.

"And what, exactly, did he do this time, if I may ask?"

"He was blasting his music. I’m actually quite surprised you didn’t hear it."

"I heard it, I just didn’t see fit to ruin my relationship with my son over it." Ginny paused, biting her bottom lip. "Now listen closely, Malfoy, because I’m only going to say this once. I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark here, but I’m going to assume that your father treated you like crap when you were sixteen, am I right?" Draco nodded. "I bet he told you what to do all the time and you had no choice in anything in your life." Draco nodded again. "And I would bet my life that you hated him for it. You resented everything about him because he kept pushing you to be something that you weren’t." Draco nodded a third time. "So don’t you think that it might be a good idea to let Ben make some of his own choices? Give him a little more slack every once and a while. You were sixteen too, once." Ginny stood up and left, leaving Draco to think of the many ways he could fix this.

***

An hour after the Incident, as Ben was calling it in his head, and he was lying in silence on his bed. He was still scared shitless of his father, and he was not about to risk achieving the same fate as his stereo by venturing out of his room or making any noise of any kind.

Five minutes later, Ben heard someone knocking on his door.

Thinking it was a house elf, or worse, his mother, trying to get him to either eat or talk, he didn’t bother to get up. "Go away. I’m not hungry and I don’t want to talk."

"Ben, I’d like to speak to you," Draco said neutrally through the door.

"Shit," Ben muttered, jumping off his bed. His heart was beating a mile a minute and the suddenly nauseous feeling wasn’t helping matters. "Come in," he said with only a slight shake to his voice.

Draco opened Ben’s door and stepped into his room, closing the door quietly behind him.

Ben stood silently in front of his father. His eyes scanned the usual places that Draco kept his wand, and when he didn’t see it, he relaxed slightly.

"Listen, Ben," Draco said tensely. He stopped and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Ben stared at him. Where the hell is this going? he thought nervously. Usually, Draco would call Ben to his office, give him a firm reprimand, threats and curses free of charge, and make Ben’s life miserable for a couple weeks. Ben would then storm up to his room, and hear muffled shouting that was Draco and Ginny arguing about his punishment. Why they couldn’t do that before Ben was punished, he would never understand. Dinner was always a tense affair after that, and Ben quickly learned to avoid these occasions by eating alone in his room. This time, however, Ben had done something far worse than anything he had ever done before, and instead of being verbally beaten, not that Draco had ever actually hurt him, although he had come closer today than he ever had before, Draco was pacing back and forth in his room in a rather nervous fashion.

"Listen, Ben," he said, sitting down on a nearby chair. "I’ve just had a rather harsh awakening, and I need you to bear with me right now. When I was sixteen, I didn’t have a very good relationship with my father. In fact, I didn’t have a relationship with my father at all. I did what he told me to do, when he told me to do it, and I spent most of my time trying to please him, and generally failing, all due to Potter," he added sullenly, childhood rivalry surfacing. He shook his head, as if to clear old memories. "Anyway, I like to think that I’m a much better father to you than my father was to me. In fact, I’m sure that I am or your mother would have left me years ago. The thing is, Ben, sometimes I lose it, and I forget what it was like to be sixteen. So," he said, taking a deep breath. "I’m sorry for my actions earlier this evening."

Ben stared at Draco in shock. Had he actually just apologized? "I’m sorry, what?"

Draco glared at Ben. "You heard me, Benjamin, and I’m not going to repeat myself."

Ben swallowed nervously. "I’m sorry for what I said, too. I had no right to say those things to you and I was completely disrespectful. And I shouldn’t have run away in the first place, but I couldn’t stand how things were going." Draco quirked an eyebrow, encouraging him to continue. "I’m used to you guys arguing and yelling at each other, but no kid wants to see their mother walk out."

Draco sighed. "She wasn’t walking out on me, or us for that matter. She was scared, and she wanted to go stay with her parents. I was going to go see her everyday and let her become accustomed to me again. Your way, however," Draco said with a smirk. "Seems to have worked as well. Your mother has decided not to stay with your grandparents. She will be staying here simply because she‘s afraid of leaving us alone together."

Ben nodded. He was beginning to get worried. The only possible reason for Draco apologizing now would be to soften the punishment he was about to receive. He braced himself for the blow.

"Something still bothering you, Ben?"

"Can you just tell me, already?" Ben burst out. Draco looked alarmed.

"Tell you what?"

"What my punishment is! There is no way that you are going to let me get away with running away from home and ruining the family reputation, and for saying…what I said earlier…without some sort of punishment."

"I’m not going to punish you, Ben."

"What?" Ben asked, somewhat alarmed. He looked at Draco suspiciously. "Is someone dying?"

Draco laughed. "No one’s dying, and you’re not getting punished. We all screwed up yesterday, and if I punished you, then I’d have to punish myself as well, which will not be happening. If you ever run away again, however, I will be forced burn all your belongings and cut you off financially." Ben wasn’t sure if Draco was kidding or not. "As for what you said earlier, you should know that you will never speak to me like that again. You have no idea what I went through or what happened in my past. Some things are better off forgotten. Do you understand?" Ben nodded. "Just because I said…what I said…earlier does not mean that the Malfoy family reputation no longer matters to me. I worked very hard to redeem the family name, and it is not completely unreasonable for me to want to keep it untarnished. Someday-"

"I’m going to be the master of Malfoy Manor, which means that it will be my responsibility to keep the Malfoy name untarnished and pure. Got it, Dad," Ben said with a smile.

"Right, well," Draco said, getting to his feet. "If there aren’t any more outstanding problems between us, I’d better be going. I’ve had an exceptionally long day and I really must get some sleep."

"Yeah, sure," Ben said, watching his father walk to the door. "Hey, Dad?" Ben called after him as Draco was about to exit. "I love you." Draco smiled and said, "I love you too, son" before closing Ben’s door quietly behind him.

***

Draco trudged back to his room, his feet dragging on the ground. Forget dinner, all he wanted was to go to bed right now. When he shoved the door open, he thought he would find the room deserted. Instead, he saw a single light coming from one of the end tables. The light cast a soft glow over a sleeping form. Ginny was curled up under the covers, a book open on her chest. Draco looked down at her and smiled. He quickly changed into his pajamas and moved to leave the room. Once glance back at the large and welcoming bed, however, stopped him. He hesitated for a moment before going back over to Ginny. He took the book off her chest, carefully marked the spot, and, with a wave of his wand, turned out the light. He looked down at Ginny again, a small smile gracing his lips.

Oh, screw it, he thought as he pulled back the bedclothes and climbed in behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him. Still asleep, she snuggled back against him. He smiled into her hair and closed his eyes.

***

Hermione sat up as she heard her bedroom door open. Soft light spilled into the room from the hallway, showing the silhouette of a man.

"Harry?" she whispered. The silhouette moved from the doorway to her side of the bed in a flash. He crouched down beside her.

"Is something wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked nervously. "Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"

Hermione smiled. "The baby and I are fine. I just…I wanted to talk," she said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Okay, let me get changed and we can talk." Hermione nodded and waited for Harry to come back. When he had finished changing, he slipped into bed next to Hermione and wrapped his arms around her.

"Now," he said after rubbing her back soothingly for a few seconds. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I went to see Ginny today. I wanted to make sure she was okay and everything." Harry nodded and continued rubbing her back. He had a feeling he knew where this was going. "And she asked if I was married to Ron," Hermione continued, her voice cracking. Harry pulled her closer. "I couldn’t tell her, Harry. She seemed so happy, I couldn’t do it."

"Shh, it’s okay, Hermione," Harry whispered soothingly. "It’s alright. You didn’t have to tell her."

"I wanted to, I really did, but I knew how close they were, and it didn’t seem right for me to tell her," Hermione whispered as tears ran down her cheeks. "I just…I still can’t believe he’s dead."

***

A/N: PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!

Just for the record, Ben isn’t paying Scarlet for sex. He still owes her for the money she lent him. I didn’t really have time to fix that properly, so forgive me for any misunderstandings. Also, ten galleons equals about fifty dollars.

A/N: Okay, once more, I apologize for the absurdly long time this took to come out. In my defense, so many things have gone wrong since Easter, that I almost considered not posting this at all (you may thank my betas, Laura and Tara, for convincing me, or curse them once you read it). I had written almost the entire chapter when my computer crashed and I lost everything. I had to rewrite the entire damn thing, and that took forever. I know you've it heard this same thing before, but it really did happen again.

Thank you to Laura and Tara for their awesome beta.

As for the chapter, it's very short, I'm not really that happy with it, and it sets the stage for the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it, and even if you don't, that you'll review. Flames will be used to toast marshmallows.

Chapter Four - Just Another Day at the Office

Ginny hugged her stuffed animal closer.

It must be a new one, she thought drowsily. It was quite large and surprisingly warm. Heating charm, she concluded through her drowsiness. But that was odd. One of the stuffed animals' arms was around her shoulders. And was that a kneecap sticking into her leg? And now she could distinctly hear deep breathing.

Uh-oh, her brain said slowly as her eyes snapped open. She screamed. The large, warm stuffed animal was actually a large, sleeping Draco. She scrambled out of bed and across the room before her brain had time to process that she was not, in fact, dreaming.

Upon hearing Ginny's shriek of terror, Draco was instantly wide awake and alert, his hand reaching for his wand, and his eyes scanning the room frantically in the way only a husband and father can. His eyes stopped their panicked scan of the room when he saw Ginny.

“Ginny?” he asked worriedly, the relief evident in his voice, as he got to his feet. “Are you okay? Is everything alright?”

“What the hell are you doing here?” she gasped, still shaking slightly.

“I was sleeping,” he said slowly as if this was completely obvious and gesturing to the bed for emphasis.

“Just sleeping?” she asked suspiciously, eyeing his naked chest pointedly and backing further away.

You're lucky, he thought, smirking slightly. I usually sleep in the nude. Out loud, he laughed at her suspicious expression. “If I had taken advantage of you while you were sleeping,” he said, the self-satisfied smirk becoming more pronounced with each word. “You'd remember.” Ginny scowled angrily at him, unable to control the blush that spread over his face. Half of her wanted to know exactly what she would remember, while the other half screamed that this was a boy.

Draco sobered. After a moment's silence, he said softly, an unbearably dispirited note to his voice, “One of these days, you'll learn to trust me, Ginny. And maybe you'll even remember that you love me.” He crossed to their adjoining bathroom and closed the door quietly behind him. A few minutes later, Ginny heard the shower running.

She sighed and turned away from the door. Things were not going well at all. She was so frustrated that she could pull her hair out and thrust her head through the wall at the same time. Instead, she opted for a hopefully rewarding search for breakfast.

When Draco reentered their bedroom fifteen minutes later, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, he was disappointed to find the room empty. Pulling on a pair of dark pants and toweling his hair dry, he summoned a house elf.

“Dinky is at Master Draco's service,” the small elf said with a bow.

“Where is Mistress Ginny?” Draco asked, tossing his towel on a chair and reaching for his shirt.

“Mistress Ginny is in the dining room, sir,” the elf said with another bow.

“And Master Ben is still sleeping?” Draco asked, reaching for his tie.

“Yes, Master Draco, sir,” the elf said, bowing again.

“Will you stop bowing,” Draco snapped as he charmed his hair completely dry and reached for his work robes.

“Yes, Master Draco, sir.”

“Thank you,” Draco said, his voice calmer now. “I will be down to breakfast momentarily. Please alert the kitchen.”

“Very good, sir,” Dinky said before vanishing, sans bow.

Draco sighed. So far, this was the worst week of his life since the end of his seventh year when the war had been in full swing. At this point, Draco was expecting a players' strike and Carmen's two weeks notice to be waiting for him on his desk when he got to work. He restrained himself from crawling back into his warm and comfortable bed. Instead, he put on his robes and went to join his wife in the dining room.

***

Ginny's search for food had been (Thank Merlin, she thought to herself) a success. She was now seated in what she was told by Sippy the house-elf (her house-elf, she had to keep reminding herself) was her usual seat. Despite the fact that assigned seating seemed rather medieval to Ginny, who had grown up with the “grab-a-seat-and-some-food-before-your-brothers-eat-it-all” method, Ginny had sat down to a full breakfast of all her favorites. It was here that Draco found her when he finally made his way to the dining room after a brief stop at Ben's room to make sure he was okay and still in the Manor.

“I see you found the food,” he said, seating himself at the head of the table.

“Weasleys have a sixth sense about these sorts of things,” Ginny said lightly. Draco laughed.

“You can say that again,” he chuckled while opening the Daily Prophet.

Ginny continued to eat while Draco sipped his morning coffee and read the newspaper. They sat this way in what, Ginny hoped, was a comfortable silence until Draco folded his newspaper neatly and glanced hast his pocket watch.

“I have to go to work,” he announced and Ginny looked up from her plate.

“Oh,” she said, looking back down. She was slightly disappointed. She had been enjoying his company. “What exactly do you do?” she asked curiously after a moment's pause. “Something tells me if might be important for me to know.”

Draco smiled. “I own the Falmouth Falcons.”

Ginny's jaw dropped. “You own a Quidditch team?”

“I don't just own a Quidditch team,” he said smugly. “I own the best goddam team in the league.”

Ginny snorted. “Of course you do,” she said sweetly. “I wouldn't expect anything less from Draco Malfoy.”

“Something tells me I should resent that, but I never have been able to find a fault with the truth.”

“You are such an arrogant prat!”

“But that's why you lo-“ he stopped mid-word and cleared his throat. A few seconds of tense silence passed. “Right, well,” he said finally, trying to cover the awkwardness. “What are your plans for the day?”

“I think I would like to spend some time with Ben today,” she said thoughtfully. “Get to know him again, that sort of thing. Besides that fact that he has your good looks and pride and my temper, not a good combination by the way, I really don't know anything about him.”

“Well,” said Draco thoughtfully. “He has the twins' sense of mischief making and Percy's brain, but I'll let you figure out the rest,” he said with a wink.

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Big help, Draco, thanks,” she said sarcastically. She looked down at her plate, then glanced sideways at him. “So,” she began slowly. “Did you talk to him again last night?” Draco nodded tensely. “And?” Ginny prompted.

“And,” Draco said slowly. “We'll be fine, I think. In fact, I may just have the perfect way to make it up to him.”

“How?” asked Ginny immediately. “Not that I condone buying our son's love with presents.”

Draco ignored her. “It's a surprise,” he said, laughing as she pouted. “Besides, I don't even know if it's going to work out yet.” He looked at his watch again. “Bollocks, I'm late. Carmen is going to have my arse.” He stood up and walked over to Ginny.

“Who's Carmen?” she asked as she stood up as well.

“My secretary.”

“Oh.”

“I'm not having an affair, Ginny,” he said tiredly.

“I never said you were,” she responded peevishly.

Draco leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I love you, Ginny.” She nodded, a lump forming in her throat. “Have a good day,” he said as he pulled away. He sounded defeated.

Draco's last thought before he Disapparated to his office was how he'd give anything to hear her say “I love you, too.”

***

“You're late, Mr. Malfoy,” Carmen said from the chair in front of Draco's desk seconds after he Apparated. She was bent over he clipboard, alternating between flicking through the owl post and scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Can you even read that chicken scratch?” he asked as he hung his traveling cloak by the fire place.

Carmen glared at him and said haughtily, “You hired me for my secretarial skills, not my penmanship.”

“And obviously not for you attitude,” he muttered. She looked at him suspiciously for a moment, then stood up. “Owl post is on your desk,” she said, placing the pile on his desk. “And here is your schedule for the day. As always, it is tentative and there may be causes for changes. If there are any changes, I shall alert you immediately.” Draco nodded, not really listening. After all, she said the same thing every morning.

“Anything else?” he asked, already flipping through the post. She shook her head. “Then could you set up a meeting with the Head of Magical Games and Sports at the Canadian Minsitry?”

“Of course, sir,” she said, jotting id down. “Will there be anything else?”

“No, that will be all. Thank you, Carmen.” He sat down and picked up his quill. Carmen nodded and moved towards the door. When she got there, however, she turned around.

“Now that I thin about it,” she said slowly, tapping her front teeth with her fingernail. “There was one more thing I was supposed to tell you.”

“Yes?” Unfortunately for Draco, he was looking down at the post so he missed the wicked gleam in her eye.

At that moment, a tall, dark man with expensive robes threw open the door to Draco's office and stormed in. Draco looked up, slightly startled.

“Oh, that's right,” Carmen said, a wicked grin on her face. “Mr. Zabini is home from his vacation and he's in a bit of a strop.” She closed the door quietly behind her.

To say that Blaise Zabini, the press secretary for the Falmouth Falcons and Draco's best friend, was in a bit of a strop would be like saying that Hagrid was as tall as Sippy. Blaise Zabini was pissed.

“What the hell do you think you're doing, Malfoy?” Blaise yelled. Draco sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“Hello, Blaise,” Draco said pleasantly. “Did you have a good vacation?”

“I did until I saw this,” he spat, tossing the front of page of the Sports section of the Daily Prophet. The headline read, “Mix-up in Malfoy Manor Causes Problems in Ministry.” Draco raised an eyebrow in a way that said quite clearly: “I am a very busy man, do you have a point?”

“So,” Blaise elaborated indignantly. “You should have Flooed me.”

“You were on your first vacation in months.” It was Blaise's turn to raise an eyebrow. “And, you wouldn't have gotten here in time. I needed this handled as quickly as possibly. Carmen did a fine job.”

“You call this,” Blaise interjected with a gesture at the newspaper. “A fine job?” `Mix-up in Malfoy Manor.' People are going to doubt this establishment fi the owner can't even keep his own goddam son in line.”

“Did you even read the article, Blaise?”

“I don't need to. I-”

“Read the damn thing, then come talk to me if you still think there's a problem.” Blaise knew a dismissal when he heard one. He set his jaw, nodded tightly, and left, the newspaper tucked safely under his arm.

Draco sighed and rubbed his temples slowly, his eyes shut. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and stared at the door. He seemed to come to a decision.

“Carmen!” he bellowed. She appeared in the doorway.

“Yes, Mr. Malfoy?”

“I'm going to need a migraine potion.”

“Yes, sir. The minister is on hold, sir. He wants to talk to you about the front page of the Sports section in today's Prophet.”

Draco groaned. “Make that two migraine potions.”

***

Many hours later, Ben wandered into the library, an apple in his hand, in search of Ginny. He found her curled up on the window seat, enthralled in a well-worn book.

“Hey, Mum,” he said, sitting down at her feet and taking a bite of his apple.

Ginny marked her place in her book and looked up at her son. He was wearing a well-worn, gray Falcons t-shirt and pajama pants. His hair was sticking up in al directions. Just like Draco, Ginny couldn't help to think with a small smile.

“Don't talk with your mouth full, Ben. It's simply unattractive.”

Ben had the decency to look embarrassed. “Sorry, Mum,” he said contritely. He swallowed before continuing. “What're you doing?”

“I'm reading this really good book,” she said eagerly. “It's about this witch-“

“I know, Mum,” Ben interrupted with a smile upon catching sight of the cover.

“Oh. Well, I'm enjoying it anyway.” She paused, thinking, then said slowly,” It's odd though. It's like I know exactly what's going to happened right before it happens. I wonder why that is.”

“Probably because you've read it a million times,” Ben said, taking another bite.

“Thank would make sense,” Ginny responded, and Ben could have sworn he saw disappointment in her eyes. The next moment, however, whatever he though he had seen was gone.

“So,” Ginny said brightly, breaking into his thoughts. “What are your plans for today? Because I was hoping that we could spend some time together.”

Ben smiled. “I'd love that, Mum.” Ginny beamed at him.

They decided that Ben would give Ginny a full tour of the property, just as soon as he got dressed. A little while later found them strolling through one of the many gardens togheter, sometimes talking, and other times simply enjoying each other's company.

“So,” Ginny said much later. “Tell me about Scarlet.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Well,” Ginny said slowly. “What year she is, what house she's in, who her parents are, how long you have been going out, how you met.” She paused for breath. “Everything.”

“Okay, well, she's going to be a sixth-year Slytherin, same as me. You know her parents. Well, her mum anyway.” Ginny waited for him to elaborate. “Pansy Parkinson.”

“I know she looked familiar!” she exclaimed triumphantly. “Same nose,” she hadded as an after thought.

“Yea, Scarlet's thinking about getting it fixed.”

“What?” Ginny said, obviously horrified.

Ben shrugged. “She hates it. Says it makes her look like a pug.”

`Bout time somebody noticed. “But you told her that her nose is fine, right?”

Ben shrugged. Again and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Doesn't matter what I say or think. She's just as headstrong as Mrs. Hension, with the added stubbornness of Mr. Hension. He's from Durmstrang,” he added.

“It's your job as her boyfriend -”

“Mum,” Ben interrupted. Ginny had the distinct feeling that she may have gone too far. “I have been dating Scarlet for a year. I know how to get along with her, okay?” he said tensely. Ginny nodded. “Besides,” he added more to himself than to Ginny. “Her nose does make her look a bit like a pug.”

“Benjamin Malfoy!” Ginny shrieked in indignation. “What exactly are you saying? That she should get a nose job?”

“No,” said Ben slowly, clearly not understanding what he had said wrong. “I'm saying that she would look better with a different nose.”

“Ben!” Ginny said, scandalized. “You're here boyfriend. That means you have to make sure she knows that her imperfectiosn make her more beautiful.”

Ben shrugged. “But they don't,” he said simply. Ginny opened her mouth to respond, but Ben cut her off. “Listen, Mum. She knows I find her attractive or I wouldn't be dating her.”

“First of all, I hope that attractiveness isn't the only thing you look for in a girlfriend. Secondly, a girl likes to hear her bloke say that she's beautiful every once and a while,” she lectured. “You do tell her that she's beautiful, right?”

“Only when she is. You always taught me,” he hurried on before she could interrupt again,” that a good relationship is based on honesty. Scarlet and I are brutally honest with each other. She tells me when I look like crap, and vice versa.” He shrugged again. “If she didn't like it, she would have either hexed me or broken up with me by now.”

“Any girl that tells my son that he's not handsome,” she said, switching seamlessly from offense to defense. “Simply doesn't deserve him.”

“Mum. Let it go,” Ben pleaded.

“Fine, but if I find out that she's broken my little boy's heart, she will have another thing coming.”

Ben groaned.

***

Draco stamped the Malfoy crest on an envelope and paced it in the “Out” tray. He stood up and stretched before glancing at his watch. Noon. Maybe he could go back to the Manor for lunch today. He consulted his schedule.

Perfect, he thought, already walking to the door. I have an hour. I'll just tell Carmen…But before he got to the door, he heard someone knocking.

“Yes?” he asked impatiently.

“Mr. Malfoy?” Carmen asked, opeing the door and stepping into his office. “Mr. Potter is here to see you.”

Inwardly, Draco groaned. While Draco and Harry had long since given up being enemies, they were far from friends. Very far. Right now, Draco wanted nothing more than to go home and see his family. He had had a breakthough with his surprise for Ben and he was anxious to tell him about it, not that Malfoys are ever anxious of course.

Outwardly, he stayed impassive. “Tell him that I've already left an that I'm schedule for the rest of the day. Maybe I can see him tomorrow.” Carmen didn't move. “Carmen, I said to get rid of him.”

“I don't think that's a good idea, sir.”

“Well, I didn't ask you, did I?” Draco snapped. The more he thought about it, the more he realized just how much he didn't like Harry. He was just too…Gryffindor for Draco.

“Normally, I wouldn't insist, sir, but he sounds upset and he said it's very important.”

“Fine, but this better be quick.” Draco stormed back to his desk and sat down. “Send him in,” he said with a careless wave of his hand.

Carmen closed the door behind her and returned moments later, Harry Potter follwing closely behind.

“Potter,” Draco said, not standing up, as Carmen left. “I'd offer you a seat, but I know you won't be staying for long enough to enjoy it.”

“Too true, Malfoy. But neither will you. Come one, we're going out to lunch.”

Playing nice at family gatherings was one thing, but going out to lunch together for not apparent reason was a little too much for Draco. “Are you fucking me?” he asked calmly.

“If I was,” Harry said, smirking lightly. “Your pants would be around your ankles, wouldn't they? Get your damn cloak, Malfoy.”

Draco leaned back in his chair and regarded Harry with cold eyes. “Why?”

“God dammit, Malfoy,” Harry exploded. “Because Ron Weasley is dead and your wife has amnesia.”

Draco paled. “Oh, fuck.”

“Get your damn cloak.”

***

They stared at each other across the table, neither wanting to cave and break the tense silence. They had found a small and forgettable Muggle café down an alley. The prices were cheap, Draco had noted critically upon opening his menu. It wasn't until after they had ordered that Draco decided to get hit nightmare started. He cleared his throat, and Harry responded with a raised eyebrow, clearly an invitation to begin. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Draco finally broke the silence.

“Why lunch?”

“Because that's what normal people do at noon.” Draco didn't respond and the tension began to build again. Harry took a sip of water, a resigned look on his face as he set the glass down again.

“Have you ever talked to Ginny about Ron?”

Draco stared incredulously at Harry. “She's my wife, Potter. I've been married to her for sixteen years. We have son together. But now, her older brother has never come up,” Draco responded sarcastically.

“Then you know that they were close. Very close. They were best friends. Ron's death nearly killed her. Her seventh year…” Harry trailed off. “Well, you know all about that.”

“If you would be so kind as to actually use that thing behind your scar called a brain, you'd remember that Ginny and I didn't know each other during her seventh year. She was safe at Hogwarts while I was holed up in a cell in Azkaban.” Unconsciously, Draco gripped his left forearm, his eyes going dead for a second before flashing brightly, even angrily, and settling back into their usual impassively cold stare. If Harry noticed, he didn't say anything. He knew all to well the horrors of Draco's past and he wouldn't begrudge him the pride he had managed to retain after a year in Azkaban.

“Ginny was in a very bad place during her seventh year. We all were. But Ginny…well, we were worried about her. Mrs. Weasley was terrified for an entire year that she was going to loose another child. Ginny's nightmares returned and - ”

“Nightmares?” Draco interrupted.

Harry gave him a strange look. “Ginny had terrible nightmare the summer after her first year.” Draco nodded, comprehension dawning. “They were practically gone by her seventh year, but after Ron's death, well…they got worse.”

“Oh,” was all Draco could manage.

Harry cleared his throat. “Well, it was really Colin that saved her. His mum had dies before he cam to Hogwarts, and he dealt with it by taking pictures. He told me once that he took so many because he wanted to remember every detail about everything forever.”

“What's this got to do with Ginny?” Draco asked as their waiter brought their food.

Colin suggested that Ginny take up a hobby. Something she could do to express her feelings. That's when she started painting. After that, her nightmares stopped.”

“Well that certainly explains quite a bit,” Draco said thoughtfully.

“Are you tell me,” said Harry slowly. “That you never knew any of this?”

“No, Potter, I didn't. She didn't want to talk about it, and I was never in any place to force her to talk. There are some things that need to be left in the past. I, of all people, know that,” he added darkly. “Everyone deserves to keep their own secrets from the ones they love.”

Harry decided that he didn't want to know what kind of secrets Draco lived with everyday. “We all have things we'd like to forget, Malfoy,” Harry started to say, but Draco cut him off.

“Shove it, Potter,” he said shortly. “ I don't need your bloody sainthood right now.”

Harry took a deep breath. “What the hell is wrong with us?” he muttered.

Draco remained silent, picking at his food. After a few minutes, he pushed back his chair and stood up.

“Listen, Potter. I know this was hard for you.” It was as close as Harry would ever get to a “thank you” from Draco. “I'm not in a habit of carrying Muggle money, but here are some Galleons,” he said, placing the gold on the table. He turned to walk away, but Harry called after him.

“Hey, Draco.” Draco turned around to look at him. “I dunno what I'd do if Hermione couldn't remember anything.” It was Harry's way of saying that Draco was dealing with all this chaos in a good way. Draco nodded and left the restaurant. Somehow, their was an understanding between them.

Harry put his head in his hands. “God dammit, Ron,” he whispered.

-->

*IMPORTANT NOTE* This chapter is un-betaed!!! I’m leaving for France for a month tonight, and I didn’t have time to get it betaed. When I get back, I promise I will make corrections and all the cool stuff. Until then, however, you only get the rough draft. Better than nothing, I suppose. So, read, review, and don’t flame because I will ignore you! And don’t forget to enjoy! Warning: Some major things may change after I have it betaed.

Chapter Five - Repercussions

When Draco arrived back in his office, Blaise was casually leaning against his desk. He was staring at the wall, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Draco sighed silently as he hung up his cloak.

“Do I pay you to do nothing, Blaise? Or is there some purpose that you serve as you wile away the hours in my office?” He crossed the room and collapsed in his chair, eyeing Blaise wearily. He was in no mood to argue about the article right now.

Blaise regarded Draco coolly. Years of dealing with Malfoys had taught him not to reveal anything too quickly. That, and if you push a Malfoy too far, they will kill you. Blaise had become very good at reading Draco over the years, and instinct told him that Draco was on the edge.

“I read the article,” he stated simply, sitting in the chair across from Draco. Draco didn’t respond. Instead, he stared at Blaise, both his glare and any expression, even the guarded one he usually sported at work, strangely absent. He looked - there was no other word for it - lost.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Blaise asked quietly, enough concern in his voice for Draco to know that he was Blaise the Friend, and not Blaise the Employee.

Draco paused, wondering how to possibly explain all the things that were wrong right now. Where could he possibly begin? All the problems in the world seemed to be resting on Draco’s shoulders, and he was slowly but surely collapsing under the combined weight. He cleared his throat. Why not start at the beginning?

“Nineteen years ago,” he began as though introducing a presentation to a committee. “Ron Weasley was killed in the war. Three years later, I married his younger sister. Five days ago, my wife fell off her broom and now, she has amnesia.”

Blaise stared at Draco, his face pale under his tan, not knowing exactly what to say. “Ginny has…amnesia?” He managed to rasp out after a few moments of silence. Draco nodded morosely. “She… she can’t remember anything?”

“That is the defining characteristic of amnesia, Blaise,” Draco responded tiredly. “And now, I have to tell her that her older brother and best friend is dead. Did I mention,” Draco added quietly, having a sudden desire to confess. “That I almost hurt Ben last night?”

“What?” Blaise’s face was a picture of undeniable shock. “You hurt Ben?”

“Almost being the operative word, Blaise. Instead, I blew up his stereo.”

“You turned your wand on him? What exactly where you planning on doing, Draco? Did you loose your fucking mind? What the bloody hell was going through that thick head of yours, eh? ‘You ran away, now pay the consequence: death’? Who do you think you are? Your-”

“Don’t say it,” Draco interrupted coldly. “Don’t you dare say it, Blaise.”

Blaise pressed his lips together as though trying to force the words to stay inside his mouth. He took a deep breath. “So let me get this straight. Ginny has amnesia; Ben ran away from home; you found Ben then…got into a fight.” Draco nodded. “So answer this for me: What the hell are you doing here? Why aren’t you home with your family?”

“The world doesn’t stop simply because I have some personal issues to deal with. The season’s about to start and people are going to try to screw us over. I can’t exactly just pack up and leave.”

“Malfoy, I’m your best friend, right?” Draco nodded. “So you’ll forgive me if I sound too harsh.” Draco nodded again. “Go home, you fucking pillock. You need to patch things up with Ben-”

“I already did that,” Draco interrupted, slightly defensively.

“And you need to tell Ginny about Weasley,” he continued as if Draco had never interrupted. “Because if she hears it from anyone else, she will never forgive you.”

“I didn’t ask for your advice, Blaise.”

“Yet here I am, giving it free of charge.”

Draco glared at him. “I don’t need you to tell me how to deal with my family.”

“Well, someone needs to,” he shot back.

Draco banged his fist on his desk, spending a bottle of ink flying to the floor where it shattered, spattering the desk with black ink. “What am I supposed to do? Go home and say what? ‘Hey, honey, your brother was killed by Death Eaters during the war. When’s dinner?’ She’s just starting to get used to living with me again. She’s still jumpy as hell and things are more awkward than they have ever been between us. I don’t want to ruin what little understanding we have between us,” Draco admitted.

“Draco, you have to tell her.”

Draco put his head in his hands, a sign of defeat. “I know. I just…I need a couple minutes, okay?”

Blaise nodded and settled in the chair across from Draco. Draco sighed deeply, getting his emotions under control before raising his head and leaning back in his chair.

“I’m sorry you came home early for nothing.”

Blaise snorted. “Nothing? You call this whole mess nothing? You should have Flooed me the moment Ginny fell and you know it. Contrary to what you’ve always believed, Draco, you’re not completely independent of everyone else. Even you need help sometimes.”

“How sweet,” Draco said scathingly. “Next thing you know we’ll be blubbering like Hufflepuffs.” Blaise laughed. “So were you with the mystery girl?” Draco asked with a smirk.

Blaise shook his head. “No, actually we…well, I broke it off.” He shrugged. “It was starting to get a little more serious than I wanted it to.”

“Meaning she wanted to progress from shag buddies to friends?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Blaise muttered, the smirk that usually appeared in these types of conversations noticeably absent. “Look, I have to run. Now that I’m back, I might as well start catching up on things, see if I can work on your public image a little more. Not,” he added hastily, “that Carmen didn’t do a fantastic job, but a little more good publicity can never go wrong.”

“Alright. I’m probably going to head home early, so I’ll see you tomorrow,” Draco said, already turning to the pile of papers and documents on his desk.

“Keep me posted,” Blaise said as he pulled open the door. “And, Draco?” Draco looked up. “Good luck, mate.”

Draco smiled faintly and went back to work.

When he finally took a break hours later, the sky had gone completely black and it was well past midnight. He had decided to work well into the night tonight, and take Friday off to give himself a long weekend to deal with Ginny and the repercussions of the past. Needless to say, he was not looking forward to this weekend and he found himself longing for it to be Monday morning.

He sighed and glanced at the clock. A quarter past one. It took him all of two seconds to decide that splinching himself would be just too embarrassing, and that dirty robes were well worth the safety they ensured. Grabbing a handful of Floo powder, Draco managed to get home in one piece. He staggered out of the fireplace, coughing slightly and attempting to get the soot out of his clothes. Giving it up as a lost cause, he carefully made his way to his bedroom, where he didn’t bother to shower and was asleep seconds after his head hit the pillow.

***

“Draco? Draco!” a voice was hissing in his ear.

“Go ‘way,” he muttered angrily. He wanted to sleep, dammit!

“Draco, you’re going to be late for work!” Draco finally managed to crack an eye open. Ginny was leaning over him, peering into his face anxiously. The sun wasn’t even up yet, for Merlin’s sake! Draco groaned and shut his eye again.

“Taking day off…go back to sleep,” he muttered, attempting to burrow into the bedclothes.

“Draco!” Ginny said loudly. “You can’t just skive off work.”

At this, Draco cracked one eye open again and glared at her. “I’m not skiving off. I told them yesterday that I was taking a long weekend to be with my family because things have been quite hellish this week and I own the bloody company and I can do whatever the hell I want, so shut up, and go back to sleep.” He closed his eye again and Ginny could have sworn he was instantly asleep.

“Men,” she muttered to herself as she snuggled in to the bedclothes and fell back to sleep.

Many hours later, Ben was awake and wondering why his house was so silent. He had already been down to the kitchens to get information from the house elves, and he was shocked to find out that neither of his parents had woken up yet. While his mother sometimes slept in, and by slept in, he meant until ten at the latest, his father was always up with the sun, accomplishing a great many things before breakfast. And now, it was nearing one in the afternoon.

Padding silently along the carpeted halls towards his parents bedroom, he stopped when he reached their door and listened carefully. As a young child, he had received more than one lecture from a very angry Draco about knocking and inappropriate timing. It had, naturally, scarred him for life. So when he heard silence coming from the room, he deemed it safe to knock cautiously. When he didn’t get a response, he became worried and pulled out his wand. Slowly, he opened the door and peered into the dark room.

Over the years, Draco had developed reflexes that stemmed more from his nightmares of revenge than his Seeker days. Something had woken Draco up, and he peered cautiously over his bedclothes. He saw a dark shadow in the doorway, wand raised, and did the closet thing a Malfoy ever did to panic. Instinct made him grab his wand and yell, “Expelliarmus!”

Ben’s wand flew the air and Draco caught it neatly. Upon seeing the wand he had caught, Draco looked more closely at the figure in the doorway.

“Either you’re my son, or you’re a bloody good imposter,” Draco said hoarsely as he climbed out of bed and crossed the room. Ben was still standing in the doorway, looking incredibly cross.

“What was that for?” he said angrily, trying to snatch his wand back.

“In the hall,” Draco hissed, pushing Ben into the hall and closing the door behind him. “I didn’t want to wake your mother,” he added by way of an explanation.

Ben snorted. “She sleeps through everything.”

Draco smiled. “Be that as it may…Now what where you doing creeping around the house in the middle of the night with your wand? You’re not supposed to do magic during the summer holidays.”

“I know that,” Ben said crossly. “Do you even know what time it is?” When Draco simply stared at him, Ben sighed impatiently. “It’s half past noon! According to the house elves, you and Mum hadn’t gotten up yet and I was worried.”

Draco laughed and clapped Ben on the shoulder. “Son, you have too much Gryffindor in you for your own good.”

“I resent that,” Ben said haughtily, causing Draco to laugh again. “Anyway, being a Gryffindor isn’t that bad. You married one,” he pointed out.

“Well, you have me there. Now, if I give you your wand back, are you going to go sneaking around the house and scaring the shit out of me again?”

“I suppose not.”

“Good man,” he said as he handed Ben’s wand back to him. “Now, I need to talk to you, so let me get dressed and I’ll meet you in the dining room in half an hour?” Upon seeing Ben’s pale face as he nodded, Draco sighed in exasperation. “You’re not in trouble, Ben. For once,” he muttered under his breath, causing Ben to laugh.

As promised, Draco arrived in the dining room dressed and shaven half an hour later. Ben was sitting in his seat at the table, his bare feet on the table as he listened to music on some sort of Muggle contraption.

“Get your feet off the table, Ben. It’s disgusting,” Draco said as he walked past. Ben turned off his music and sat upright, his feet now on the floor. “My usual,” Draco said to his plate and moments later, food appeared. “Now,” he said, turning to Ben. “I need to talk to you about a couple things actually.”

“What’s up?” Ben asked as he stole a chip off his father’s plate.

“First of all, it’s rude to eat off someone else’s plate-”

“Uncle Fred and Uncle George do,” Ben said with a shrug.

Draco raised an eyebrow at him. “And do you really want to turn out like your uncles?” Ben rolled his eyes. “Secondly, I arranged to have a new stereo delivered here today.”

“Thanks,” Ben said, stealing another chip.

“I also have a surprise for you, but,” Draco said, holding up a hand to stop Ben from interrupting. “It’s not finalized yet, and today is not a good day for celebrations. I just wanted to get your curiosity piqued.”

“What’s wrong with today?” Ben asked warily.

Draco sighed. “Ben, when was the last time I took a day off work for no special reason?”

Ben thought. “Never?”

Draco nodded. “Correct. So that should alert you to the possibility that something is terribly, horribly wrong.”

“So what’s wrong?” Ben asked, suddenly feeling like he had been dropped in a tub of freezing water. “Did someone die?”

“Yes, in a manner of speaking. Would I be correct in assuming that you know about your Uncle Ron?”

“The one who died in the war, right?”

“Yes. Well, to put it plainly, your mother doesn’t know he’s dead. And I’m going to tell her today. When he died, your mother did not handle it very well, and I don’t want you around to see her go to pieces, is that understood?” Ben nodded numbly. The very few times he had heard about Ron from his mother, he always sensed that they were closer than he could ever imagine. “If I gave you an exorbitant amount of money, would it be possible for you to go to Diagon Alley with Scarlet?”

“You don’t have to give me any money, Dad,” Ben said quietly. “I’ll just hang out with Cameron at his flat today. No big deal.”

“Thank you, Ben. I really appreciate it.”

“D’you think Mum’s going to be alright?” Ben asked carefully.

Draco smiled faintly. “This must be very hard for you. She’ll be fine. She just needs to get readjusted. Her memory will come back eventually, and everything will be the same again. This weekend is going to be tough though. For all of us.” Draco’s face darkened slightly and he seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

“Dad?” Ben ventured softly. Draco shook himself and he seemed to be normal again.

“Are you going to tell her about…” he trailed off. “Never mind.”

“About my past?” Draco said carefully. “Yes. I think I should tell her everything at once.”

***

After he had seen Ben off, Draco returned to his bedroom, where he found Ginny still fast asleep. He smiled down at her sleeping form and almost decided not to tell her any of it, to let her live a lie. But thought of what Molly would do to him, not to mention the rest of her family, strengthened his resolve and he gently shook her awake.

“Gin,” he said softly. “It’s time to get up. It’s well past noon.”

Ginny turned onto her back and opened one eye groggily. “How come when I tell you it’s time to get up, you get to go back to sleep, but when you say to get up, I have to?”

Draco laughed softly. “Because you woke me up before the sun had risen, and I’m waking you up at one o’clock in the afternoon.”

“Ah, well,” Ginny said and sat up, cringing at the light streaming from behind the curtains. “Why did you decide to take the day off?” she asked curiously.

“There are some things we need to talk about before you face the world again; things you need to know. I thought we could talk today, get certain facts straightened out, that sort of thing.”

“Oh, alright. Just lemme get dressed. Is there any chance of food? I’m starving!”

“Lunch will be waiting for you.”

“Thanks.”

Ginny’s lunch was indeed waiting for her, but Draco was no where in sight. She ate by herself, wondering where exactly everyone was. When she had finished eating, Sippy delivered a message to her from Draco.

“Master Draco is telling me that he wants Mistress Ginny to meet him in his study.”

“Thanks,” Ginny said, already halfway to the door. After the tour Ben had given her, she felt a lot more confident about finding her way around the Manor. She now knew how to get to the study, the dining room, her room, and Ben’s room without so much as a wrong turn. It was very freeing, being able to walk around her own house without needing directions.

Draco was sitting at his desk, pouring over a pile of parchment. He looked up when Ginny entered the room, made a final note on one of the pieces of parchment. He stood up and glanced at his pocket watch before walking over to the couch and sitting down.

“Have a seat,” he said tensely. Ginny sat down next to him and looked at him curiously. He cleared his throat, and Ginny waited for him to start. “The first Sunday of every month, which would be this Sunday,” he began in a calm voice, “every Weasley who is living in England gets together for a lunch at the Burrow that lasts until dinner.”

“What do you mean ‘every Weasley who’s living in England’? Don’t we all live in England?”

“No, we don’t.” If Ginny thought it was strange that Draco included himself in the category of “Weasley,” she didn’t say anything. “And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. There are more of you then you remember, and they are going to be overbearingly protective of you this Sunday. I want you to be somewhat ready for the onslaught of people who are going to hug you, call you ‘Aunt Ginny,’ and simply confuse you because you have no idea who they are.”

Ginny nodded. “Okay, good idea. Where do we start?”

“You know that Harry and Hermione are married and expecting?” Ginny nodded. “They got married right after the war ended, and immediately started trying to get pregnant, but Hermione took too many curses and hexes to the abdomen during the war and all the Healers said she wouldn’t be able to have children. They had given up hope and were looking into adoption when they found out she was pregnant. Needless to say, he’s been treating her like she’s made of glass, and she’s ready to murder him.” Ginny laughed. That sounded like Hermione, alright.

“Okay, well, I know Mum and Dad are still living together at the Burrow,” Ginny said thoughtfully. “Does Dad still work in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department?”

Draco nodded. “Except now the Minister of Magic notes the importance of the department, and Arthur has a window and a pay raise. And since they no longer have to support their hoard of children, Molly and Arthur can afford to travel like they’ve always wanted to.”

Ginny smiled. “Good,” she said happily. “They deserve it. What about Bill?”

“Bill is married to Fleur Delacour, she decided to keep her maiden name. You remember her, right? Good. They do not have any children, and they have no desire to ever have children. As far as Bill is concerned his brothers can carry on the family name, and Fleur has no desire to be a mother. She does not work, and he has a desk job at Gringotts. They live in France in order to be close to her little sister, but they stay at the Burrow every Christmas. And,” Draco added, “before you can ask, no, Bill has not cut his ponytail, and yes, he still has an earring.”

Ginny laughed. “Leave it to Bill to be forty-five and still have an earring and long hair. I bet Mum hates it.” Draco nodded and Ginny laughed again. “So, what about Charlie?”

“After the war, Charlie went back to working with dragons in Romania where he met Ainsley Holmes. They became best friends, and they have now been dating for about,” Draco paused thoughtfully. “Ten years, I think. They are living together along with Ainsley’s fifteen year-old daughter from a previous marriage named Kayla. They go with where the dragons take them, currently Egypt. Kayla is home schooled by Ainsley and travels with them. Charlie has said over and over that they chances of them getting married are worse than Percy quitting his job and joining the circus.” Ginny laughed and Draco smiled at her. “They also visit every Christmas.”

“Okay, so what about Percy? I know he’s married to Celeste and they have two little girls-”

“Four year-old Selma and three year-old Kate,” Draco added.

“Yes, and that he lives in England. He must have a job in the Ministry, and Celeste seems to have a job as well, but what exactly does he do and how did he redeem himself with the family?”

“I can’t believe you didn’t guess, but Percy is,” Draco paused for dramatic affect, causing Ginny to throw a pillow at him and shriek “Get on with it, you prat!” “He’s the Minister of Magic.”

Ginny’s jaw dropped. “No way,” she said incredulously. “But…but…that was his childhood fantasy! No one achieves their childhood fantasies!”

Draco laughed. “Well, my dear, Percy did. And he’s just as pompous as ever.” Ginny snorted. “And Celeste has a full time job as the wife of the Minster of Magic. Apparently it takes a lot more work than one would think. But she’s used to it.” Ginny came out of her dumbstruck reverie long enough to give him a questioning look. “Before Percy was the Minister, he was an ambassador to Portugal. Celeste’s father was the Portuguese Minister of Magic. From what I hear, it was love at first sight. They did not, however, get married right away. Nor did they have children right after marriage, Percy’s excuse being that he wanted to concentrate on his job. He does love his two little girls, however.”

“And what about how he redeemed himself?”

Draco shrugged. “It was quite simple actually. Once he realized that the Dark Lord had truly risen, he was more than willing to come home and beg for forgiveness. Molly welcomed him back immediately, but the rest of you, including Arthur, were a little reluctant. Over time, he managed to redeem himself as he volunteered for everything he could to make it up to you lot. Which also meant that when I came into the picture, he was less than accepting and has not ceased giving me a hard time.”

“What do you mean?” Ginny asked curiously.

“I-” Draco stopped, not really knowing how to go on. Was now really the right time to tell her? No, it would be best to wait until she knew about Ron, otherwise, she might not let him live long enough to let him tell her about Ron. He cleared his throat, a habit he had when he was nervous, and Ginny wondered what could possibly be making him so nervous. “My background, and my father,” Draco said vaguely. “Wouldn’t you rather hear about the rest of your family?”

“I suppose so,“ Ginny said, not completely placated. “So, who’s next? Fred and George.”

Draco smiled. “Despite Molly’s threats, Fred and George did manage to make a rather successful joke shop. In fact, it’s too successful. They are slowly but surely corrupting our son into being a troublemaker almost as bad as they were. It does not help,” he added darkly. “That Potter thought it appropriate to give Ben his Marauder’s Map for his sixteenth birthday. I shudder to think about the amount of owls we will be receiving from Hogwarts this year.”

“He’s that bad, huh? Well, he is a Weasley. What about wives? Children?”

“Are you ready for the most scandalous part of your family?” Ginny nodded excitedly. If anyone in her family was going to be scandalous, of course it would be Fred and George. “It would appear that they were each dating a girl about eight years ago. As it turns out, however, they were each dating the same girl, and she had no idea they were twins. Bit of an idiotic bint, if you ask me. Of course, they broke up. Nine months later, she turns up at their flat with twin boys. She doesn’t know which one of them is the father, and she doesn’t want anything to do with them or their children. And since they’re twins, it’s impossible to tell who actually is the father. Result? Fred and George are raising Ron and Michael together, with quite a bit of help from you, actually.”

“Me?” Ginny squeaked. Leave it to Fred and George to get themselves into this situation.

“Yes, you. Besides Molly and Celeste, you are the only mother in the family. And as much as they love Celeste, they don’t want their sons raised the be perfect gentlemen. Not,” he added hurriedly. Ginny was already glaring daggers at him. “That you haven’t done an excellent job with Ben. It’s just that you let him go once and a while and don’t have a heart attack when he acts like a teenage boy.”

Ginny nodded. “Okay,” she said slowly. “So I’m the mother to three boys? Only one of which is actually mine? Yeah, no pressure, Ginny.” She shook her head, as though bringing herself back to reality. “So what about Ron?”

Draco sighed. This was it. The moment he had been dreading ever since the dreadful lunch with Potter. Dammit, he had waited too long before responding. Ginny had paled considerably and she was starting to look panicky. Get on with it!

“Ginny,” Draco said slowly and as calmly as he could. He had been less nervous when he asked her to marry him. “Ron was killed during the war.” He waited. Silence. “Ginny?” he asked softly.

“But,” she whispered, the tears already springing to her eyes. “No. He can’t be…no.” She was shaking her head furiously now. “No, I don’t believe you.”

“It’s the truth, Gin. I’m so sorry,” he said, trying to gather her in his arms, anything to make her stop crying. Her tears had always been his undoing, and he felt helpless when he couldn’t do anything to make them stop.

“You’re lying. Ron isn’t dead. Ron can’t be dead!” Ginny yelled as she tried to push him away. “Harry and Hermione would protect him. I would protect him. He’s not stupid enough to get himself killed in the war! He’s smarter than that.”

“It has nothing to do with being smart, Ginny, and you know it. He was a goddamn hero.”

Ginny was crying in earnest now and Draco was ready to make a deal with a demon to bring Ron back. This time, when he went to gather her in his arms, she didn’t resist. “How?” she managed to croak out through her tears.

“You know that Snape was acting as a spy for Dumbledore, right?” Draco began quietly, trying to comfort Ginny as best he could. “Well, the Death Eaters were planning an attack on Hogwarts, and Snape told the Order about their plans. Ron, being Harry Potter’s best friend, was in on the planning. He knew how many members would be there and where they would be, and where Harry and Dumbledore would be, and everything the Dark Lord would want to know. Somehow, and we’re still not sure how, he was captured by the Death Eaters. They tortured him, trying to get information out of him, but he wouldn’t crack. In the end, they killed him, still completely without information about the Order’s defense strategy.

“The Dark Lord was not aware, however, that the Order even knew about the attack, let alone the specific details. When the Death Eaters arrived, they were faced with both students and members of the Order who were prepared to fight. They were completely unprepared and the Order won the battle. It was the pivotal battle in the war. Many of the Death Eaters were killed, wounded, and taken prisoner, and the Order had very few casualties. This battle caused a shift in the war, which led to Potter’s victory over the Dark Lord. If your brother had told the Death Eaters about the Order’s knowledge of the attack, the Dark Lord would have won. Your brother was a hero, and he is remembered as such,” Draco finished softly.

“I don’t want him to be dead,” she said just as quietly, her voice trembling. “I want him to be alive.”

“He saved hundreds of innocent lives, Ginny, and you should be proud of him.”

Ginny nodded. “I know.” Her voice cracked and she dissolved in tears again. Draco could feel them soaking into his shirt, and he held her tighter, trying to make her pain go away. At long last, she cried herself to sleep, her head in Draco’s lap. He conjured a blanket and gently covered her, deciding it would be better not to move her. But when he made to move out from under her, she opened her red-rimmed eyes, still bloodshot from crying.

“Stay with me?” she asked quietly. Draco nodded, simply unable to do anything else and she fell back asleep.

When Ginny woke up hours later, she found herself curled up on the couch in Draco’s study, with Draco’s hands idly playing with her hair. She looked up to see him smiling softly down at her.

“How are you feeling?” he whispered concernedly.

Ginny sat up. “I’m okay, I think,” she responded. “I mean, I don’t know. I just found out my brother’s dead, how do you think I am?” she said, her voice cracking.

Draco sighed. “I know this is hard, Gin, but I’m going to be there to help you whenever you need me, okay? All you have to do is ask.”

“Thanks, Draco,” Ginny said with a small smile, giving his hand a squeeze.

Ginny fell silent, and Draco didn’t disturb her. He knew better than to interrupt her thoughts, especially right now. She needed to sort through all the new information she had been given, and she needed to figure out what she wanted to do next. He would help her in any way he could, but there was only so much he could do. Right now, she just needed to think. So, instead of trying to make her talk, he held her hand, a reassurance that he was still there if she needed him.

After a while, Ginny bit her lip and looked at Draco, a confused expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Draco asked quietly, the concern in his voice evident.

“It’s just…well….”

“Come on. You can ask me anything.”

“What did you do during the war? I mean, obviously you weren’t a Death Eater, otherwise I wouldn’t have married you, but when did you switch? Last thing I remember was you were getting ready to receive the Dark Mark. What made you change your mind?” She said it in a rush, trying to get it all out before she lost her nerve. When she had finished, she stared at him curiously, biting her bottom lip.

Draco released her hands as his stomach dropped to his feet. It was now or never. “During Christmas holidays of my seventh year, I received the Dark Mark.” Ginny went pale. Her mouth opened and closed furiously, as thought trying to say something, but not really knowing what to say. “I became a Death Eater and did the Dark Lord’s bidding,” Draco continued. He looked into the fire, anywhere to avoid looking at her, and he seemed to become transfixed by the flames. “I killed and tortured people because that is what I was told to do. I never gave a thought about right or wrong, only about my loyalty to the Dark Lord and how much I hated Potter. That was my real motivation. To beat Potter. I had never been able to do it at school, but with the Dark Lord on my side…

“I was there when they brought your brother in. My father was in charge of the interrogation. I watched them torture him, and I laughed along with everyone else. I did what I raised to do; what I was taught to do; what was expected of me. I never thought it could be different. After I saw the impact of the battle at Hogwarts on our side, I started to doubt the Dark Lord. If he was the most powerful wizard in the world, why didn’t he see this coming? Why didn’t he prevent the deaths of so many of his followers? I think I started to doubt when I saw Snape’s body. I had always like him, he had always taken care of me both in school and within the ranks of the Death Eaters. When I saw him dead, something in me snapped. I didn’t want to end up like him.

“I remember the first time I thought the Dark Lord was going to lose the war. The next time he called us all together, there were so many holes in the ranks. I couldn’t stand it after that. I knew that if the Dark Lord lost, we would be rounded up and given to the Dementors, and I had no desire to have my soul sucked out. So I did either the bravest thing I’ve ever done, or the most cowardly, it depends on your point of view. I found Dumbledore. With Snape dead, they no longer had a spy, and I offered myself to them. I made a deal with the Ministry. I would turn spy for them, and, if I survived the war, I would spend one year in Azkaban, then I would be set free. Beside ransacking the Manor for Dark Artifacts, my inheritance was to be left alone, and my vaults were not to be touched.

“I survived, both the war and my time in Azkaban. I heard the shouts of the other Death Eaters, of my comrades, in the other cells. By the end of the war, they knew of my betrayal. You see, I had given the Order the Dark Lord’s position. I had fully and completely betrayed my father and my master. But I didn’t care because I was alive and once I was released from Azkaban, I put the entire ordeal behind me, despite the nightmares.

“It wasn’t until I met you though,” Draco said, finally tearing his gaze from the fire and looking at Ginny. “That I began to think that maybe I had done the right thing, not just for myself, but for the entire wizarding world. You made me realize that I didn’t betray my father, I helped save innocent lives. And for that, I owe you quite a bit.” There. He had done it. Now she could take the knowledge and do what she liked with it.

Ginny didn’t know what to think. He had laughed as they tortured her brother? As they killed him? And she had married this man, this Death Eater knowing who he had been and what he done? She couldn‘t believe it. How could she have betrayed her family like that? She scrambled to her feet, not really knowing what she was doing, but knowing that she need to get away from him.

“Ginny?” he asked uncertainly. He stood up and was moved closer to her.

SMACK

She slapped him as hard she could. His cheek was turning bright red, and she staggered backward, trying to get away.

“You bastard,” she hissed angrily. “You lying asshole! You thought you could just tell me about this and I would be fine? How could you? And I thought you were a good person. I thought…I don’t know what I thought. No! Get away from me!” she shouted as he tried to move closer to her. She pulled out her wand. “Stay away from me, Death Eater,” she spat angrily. Her hand wasn’t shaking and Draco knew it was no idle threat.

“Ginny,” he said as calmly as he could. “Put your wand away. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Damn straight you aren’t. Stupefy!” she yelled before running out the room without a glance behind her. She tripped over a footstool, but scrambled to her feet and kept running. She had to find Ben and they had to get out of the house. How could she have married a Death Eater?

“Sippy!” Ginny yelled. She was close to hysterics now. “Where’s Ben?” she asked as soon as the elf had appeared.

“Master Ben went to Cameron Jones’ house for the day. Master Draco told him to go.”

“Is there anywhere I can Floo from besides the study?”

“Mistress can use her private study. It’s just down the hall- ”

But Ginny was already gone. When she reached her study, she threw Floo Powder into the fireplace and disappeared with a whirl of green flame.

She stumbled out of the fireplace at the Burrow, covered in soot and not caring at all. When she caught her breath, she looked into the worried faces of her parents and managed to gasp, “You let me marry a fucking Death Eater?”