AN: So this probably won't become a regular thing, with my luck and everything, but I figure while I can I should give you guys fairly regular updates. You have waited for a long time with this story.
Chapter 30: Birth and Betrayal
Draco lay silently on his bed in number twelve Grimmauld Place looking at his hands, which were raised above his face, examining the gold band perched between his finger tips. His wedding ring. Former wedding ring, he corrected himself, he had to keep reminding himself that he wasn't married anymore. Though the memory of Pauline's death was still fresh in his mind he couldn't hold onto the fact that she was gone. Gone. Never coming back. He'd shared his life with her for seven years, though it hade been grudgingly at first, it was impossible to fathom that he'd never share anything with her again. Never wake up beside her, never hear her laugh, or cry.
Staring up at the ring he realized how much it had changed in the seven years he'd faithfully worn it on his left hand. Minor scratches cross-hatched the band, normal wear and tear for any ring, and there were a fair number of dings. He'd never notice any of the imperfections before, though he recognized at least one of the ding as one he'd put there by pulling the ring from his finger and hurling it across the room in a fit of rage.
That had happened on their honeymoon, and it didn't faze Pauline for a second. She marched across the room, retrieved it, and threw it back at him, telling him that being childish wouldn't change that they were married. It was the first time he'd seen her as more then just the women he had to marry, it was the first time he'd seen her as someone he might like, and he didn't take the ring off again, the entire length of their marriage.
It felt surreal to think of his marriage to Pauline in the past tense. He hadn't wanted to marry her; he only did it to appease his dying mother. Though he did enjoy the company of his new wife he spent the first months of their marriage trying everything he could to get out of it; everything, that is, that wouldn't break his mother's heart of land him in prison. But then Pauline had discovered she was pregnant, another part of his mother's dying wish, to see a grandchild before she was gone, and once there was a child to consider Draco had stopped looking for a way out.
Soon enough he stopped comparing his wife to the woman he'd lost. It didn't matter if she "measured up", he cared for her anyway. He knew he loved her when their daughter was born, but he waited another month to say it, so she would know he meant it. Life had been amazing after that, a picture of domestic bliss he was sure no Malfoy had experienced before.
It's not right that it should be over so quickly, Draco thought to himself, sitting up and slipping the ring back onto his right hand. He couldn't part with it, nor could he return it to its former place on his left hand, neither felt right so he'd settled on moving it to his right hand. That way it was still close, but it no longer symbolized that he was married. Sighing sadly he got to his feet and walked across his room, pulling his dressing gown closed as he went. He wasn't concerned by modesty, the house was empty save for him, but the hallways always felt cold to him so he thought bundling up was a good idea.
Harry had taken Hermione out, in a long overdue celebration of the New Year and sent the twins off to the Burrow. Draco hadn't been in any mood to baby-sit the Potter children and he got the distinct impression that the job would not be offered to him any time soon. Not that he minded; he was finding being alone to be much easier then anything else these days.
Though, as much as he was enjoying the time to himself it felt odd to be completely alone in number twelve. He'd never before been alone in this house, not when he was awake anyway, and he couldn't shake the connection it held to the darker side of his family. He'd only known the house under Harry's ownership, it wasn't as if he'd ever come to visit his mother's aunt when he was a child, but all the same, he knew the house's history. It made him uneasy, but what other option did he have? Stay there and be uneasy about a history he had nothing to do with or return to Malfoy Manor and be haunted by what happened to his wife and child. Wasn't much of a choice really.
Draco started down the stairs, not really sure why he was doing it. He didn't need anything; he just didn't want to stay in his room any longer. He supposed he should go down to the kitchen and get something to eat; he wasn't hungry, but he hadn't eaten in nearly three days.
His bare feet had just hit the ground floor when he heard a loud crashing noise coming from the front door. Draco stopped dead. No one who should be coming to number twelve would ever knock, they would know better. Knocking, especially loud knocking, would draw the attention of the neighbors, who couldn't see number twelve, let alone the door, and that would draw questions.
The banging stopped as suddenly as it had started and Draco thought, hoped, that it had just been his imagination. That his lack of sleep and food had made him think there was someone out there, someone who shouldn't be there. But then he heard a voice calling and he knew it hadn't only been in his head.
"Harry, Hermione, are you there?" The voice, Ginny's voice, asked desperately, "You have to be there, I need you to be there." Draco's heart nearly stopped when he heard her voice. He walked over to the door quickly and pulled it open. There on the doorstep, stood the first women he'd ever loved, with the beginnings of two black eyes and heavily scratched cheeks. She held a three week old baby in her arms and a bag over her shoulder.
"Ginny," he said softly, pulling the door open completely, "What happened to you?"
Ginny paused, looked down to the child in her arms and said, "Inside," and she stepped into the house passed him. He closed the door after her, and turned to look at her, standing silently in the hallway, rocking her baby back and forth.
"Are you all right?" Draco asked, desperate to understand what had happened to her.
"Why are you here? Where's your wife?"
"Dead," Draco answered quickly, somehow admitting the truth to Ginny didn't hurt as much. "She and our daughter, they were killed by Death Eaters."
Ginny gasped, "Death Eaters?"
"Yes, but that's a long story for another time. What's wrong? What happened to you?"
"I -" she started to say, but the baby in her arms started to cry softly and Ginny's attention was pulled to her child, "Oh shh, shh baby," she said, beginning to rock the baby again. It was obvious to Draco that whatever else had happened to Ginny she was stressed and had no idea what her baby needed; he had been like that when Violette was first born.
"Does she need to be changed?" He guessed, looking at the little girl in Ginny's arm, who looked more uncomfortable then hungry.
"Of course," she agreed, shaking her head as if to clear it, "I'm just, just so tired I can't tell anymore."
He nodded, "Let me take your bag for you," he offered, reaching out and grabbing hold of the bag strap before she could reject his offer. She gave him a weak, but grateful smile and let the bag fall off her shoulder and into his hand. "What do you have in this?" He asked, the great weight of the bag pulling his arm down.
"Everything," she answered, "everything I could risk taking."
"What -"
"I don't want to talk about it," she insisted, "I just want to find a place to change my baby so she can go back to sleep."
He nodded, "All right," he said kindly, trying to speak calmly without speaking down to her, Ginny had always hated that, "let's go upstairs, you can set up whatever you need in my room -"
"I don't want to share your room," she said sharply, cutting across him.
"You can set up whatever you need in my room and I'll move my stuff out," he finished, "it's just, the room I've been using is the only spare one that's clean at the moment."
"Fine," she relented as her daughter's fussing grew louder, "lead on."
Draco slung her bag over his shoulder and started upstairs. Something was wrong, that much would be obvious without the scratches on her face. No, he and Ginny hadn't parted well, but she'd never been so short with him. She was hiding something, which worried him, and she was in a terrible state which worried him even more. He didn't want to push, she'd always hated being pushed, but some one had hurt her and he couldn't over look that. He may not be a part of her life anymore, but that didn't stop him from caring about her and wanting to make sure she was out of harms way.
"This was Hermione's room," Ginny said as Draco opened the door for her.
He shrugged, motioning for her to go in first, "I wouldn't know, the lovebirds were already shearing a bed by the time I came here."
"Don't get cynical," she demanded curtly, "it's nice that they're happy." She stepped into the room and he rolled his eyes at her back, this woman knew him too well. He followed her in and felt himself cringe at the disheveled state the room was in.
Dirty clothes were sprinkled here and there all over the floor, his bed was unmade, and the few books he'd borrowed from Hermione, in an effort to keep his mind off his family, were laying in an add assortment of places. It looked like the room of a fifteen-year-old, though he'd never been this messy, even at fifteen. He almost apologized for the mess, out of polite manners, but then realized it didn't matter.
"What do you need out of this?" He asked, pulling the bag off his shoulder and peering into it. He stared into the bag for several moments before he realized what he was seeing. It looked like dollhouse furniture in extreme detail; he could make out a changing table, a wardrobe, a crib, and a rocking chair, among other things. She'd miniaturized her furniture and the baby's furniture and brought them along.
"I'll need the changing table," she said turning back to him.
"Right," he muttered, "obviously." He retrieved the changing table and placed it on the floor in front of him, careful to make sure it was steady before he resized it with a wave of his wand.
Ginny nodded her head in thanks and went about changing her daughter, "When did you get that?" She asked, pointing at the wand he was holding.
"A few days ago," he answered, "Harry took me to Diagon Alley to replace the one the Death Eaters broke." She nodded, disappearing the dirty diaper with a quick flick of her own wand. "What's her name?" He asked as she redressed the small baby in a white sleeper with little pink roses on it.
"Melena," she said adoringly, looking the small baby over with great pride.
He smiled, "It's beautiful, so is she."
"Thank you, not everyone thinks so," she said casually, though he could hear a deeper pain in her voice.
"Ginny, what happened?" He asked, reaching across the changing table to grab her hand. She pulled it away quickly, picking up Melena and stepping back.
She shook her head vigorously and he knew he wasn't going to be getting his answer then, "I need her crib, she'll be back to sleep soon." He fished the crib out of the bag and resized it for her. She was looking away from him, intentionally he was sure, but she thanked him when he set the crib up at the left side of the bed, the side he remembered she preferred to sleep on. Though it had been years since he'd shared a bed with her, her preference may have changed.
When Melena was content again and peacefully asleep Ginny took a blanket from inside a drawer of the changing table, wrapped Melena securely in it, and put the buddle down in the crib. The little girl wiggled momentarily, making herself comfortable, and then settled serenely, the only movement coming from her chest as it rose and fell softly with her breathing.
"Could I ask you to do something for me?" Ginny asked, looking up from her daughter to Draco. He nodded, she could ask him for anything and he would do his best to give it to her. "You remember that old claw-foot tub you used to conjure for me?"
"Of course," he said, waving his wand at the far corner of the room. A cream colored, claw-footed tub appeared in the open space, filling itself with warm water.
"Thank you, I need to clean myself off," she explained, walking over to the tub and testing the water. "Perfect, as always," she mumbled, more to herself then him. He smiled to himself, knowing that he'd gotten it right after all these years. Before she could ask him, he waved his wand again and a screen came up between them.
He heard her making small, pain filled noises, as she pulled off her clothes, and he forced himself to turn away. Her face looked bad enough; he couldn't imagine what state the rest of her was in. Well, he could, he remembered vividly what her body looked like seven years ago, but that wouldn't do him any good at the moment.
"What does that mean - Melena?" Draco asked, looking down into the crib, looking for a distraction. It was the first time he'd been able to take a truly good look at the small girl. She looked very much like Ginny, with her noise and her mouth, though the wisp of hair that wrapped around Melena's head was a darker shade of red then her mother's.
There was a soft splash from the other side of the screen and a relieved sigh as she settled into the bath, "It's Greek," she said splashing softly in the water, "for yellow."
He looked skeptically down at the baby; she certainly didn't look yellow, "as in the color?" He asked, doubting that she meant to call her daughter a cowered; though why calling her a color was any better he didn't know.
"Like a canary," she explained, "I thought it was a beautiful name, than I found out what it meant. I guess I'll just have to dissuade her from ever going to Greece."
"A good thought," he agreed, watching the small child sleep. From what little Harry had told him Melena had arrived earlier, but she was strong, didn't need much help. She certainly looked like a tough little girl, just like her mother.
"She's so wonderful," she said softly, he was sure she was talking to herself, but he couldn't help but hear. "So beautiful; so perfect; how could anyone hate her?
"Hate her?" He questioned straightening up and looking towards the screen, "who hates her?"
"He does," she said, and he heard her voice crake as she began to cry. "I don't understand what went wrong, I don't - don't understand," the rest of her words were lost in a garble of sobs. Not thinking about the fact that she was naked in the bath, or that he wasn't allowed to see her naked anymore, Draco walked around the screen. His only thought was to be near her, to comfort her. He dropped to his knees at the side of the bath reaching out to pull her nearer to him. She moved against him, burying her wet face into his chest, crying uncontrollably.
Her arms came out of the water and wrapped around his back, pulling herself closer to him. "Ginny," he said softly into the top of her head, stroking her hair gently, "tell me what happened, please."
"Daniel," she said suddenly, bringing her face off his chest, "Daniel did this to me."
"Your husband?" Draco asked skeptically.
She nodded, "He, he -" she tried to say, but failed as she started to cry again, her face disappearing into his chest once more.
"You don't have to tell me what happened," he promised her, wrapping his arm around her back and rocking her gently, "we can just sit here and you can cry into my chest."
For a while it seemed she would do just that, her sobs going from loud to quiet and back again as she tried to regain her composure, but eventually the crying stopped all together and she sifted against him. She was moving away, over to the other side of the bath so she could look at him. He let her move away, pulling his arm back so his hands rested on the edge of the tub nearest to him. "Did Hermione or Harry tell you what Daniel did after I gave birth to Melena?" Ginny asked, her bruised eyes, now reddened by her crying, looking up to meet his.
"No," he answered, "they didn't really tell me anything. What did he do?"
"He left," she explained, brushing a stray bit of wet hair off her face, "he wouldn't hold her, he wouldn't even look at her. He disappeared; didn't come back until tonight."
"You've been on your own for three weeks?" He asked unbelieving, before he could stop himself. She nodded solemnly. That explained why Hermione was going to Ginny's so often. Harry had refused to tell Draco when he'd asked; undoubtedly Harry was attempting to keep Draco out of Ginny's life by keeping him in the dark.
"When he came back tonight, he was drunk;" she started, looking down into her hands as if the story was written on them for her to read and relay, "he couldn't walk straight, he reeked of alcohol; it was so obvious. I tried to get him to leave, told him to come back when he sobered up. I didn't want him around Melena when he was drunk, but he wouldn't go," she was shaking slightly as she talked and he could see her reliving it in her mind. He wanted more then anything to pull her into him again and attempt to comfort her, but he knew that was the wrong thing to do.
"He shoved me aside, against a wall, and went into the nursery. I could hear him talking to her; saying that she was wrong, that she was supposed to be a boy. He woke her while he was yelling at her, but once she started to cry he left. I tried to go in and comfort her, but he grabbed hold of me and started yelling at me, hitting me, telling me it was my fault.
"After a while he got tired of hitting me, so he dragged me into the bedroom by my wrists," she held out her arms so he could see her purple forearms. Draco had the distinct and unsettling feeling that he knew where this was going. "He threw me onto the bed and ra-raped me. I tried to fight him off, but I-I couldn't, he tied my arms behind my head and pinned my legs down.
"He kept talking to me," she said, her shaking becoming more violent, "he said I'd get it right this time; that he'd married me because I wasn't supposed to be able to have girls. Over and over he told me things, horrible things.
"Ginny," Draco started to say, but no other words came out. He had no words for this; no way to tell her it would all be all right when he had no way of knowing if it would.
"I passed out, half way through," Ginny continued, when Draco couldn't. "When I came `round he'd passed out and Melena was still crying, she'd gotten louder, more desperate. I went to her, once I saw her face I knew I had to leave; I had to get her away form him. So I packed everything I could and drove here. I shouldn't have driven, I know, but I couldn't risk apparating and I didn't want to floo, Melena is too young for that."
Draco hesitated for a moment before asking the question he had to know the answer to, "Has he ever hit you before?"
Ginny looked up at him, scanning his eyes for something, "You think I would have a child with a man who beats me?" She asked incredulously, infuriated by the insinuation.
"No," he assured her quickly, "but that doesn't mean it wouldn't happen."
She stared at him for a moment, the all too familiar blaze in her eyes challenging the sincerity of his concern for her. When he wouldn't back down, or try to chance topics, she realized he was being honest and said, "Once, when we were first dating. He was drunk -"
"Seems to be a pattern there," he commented, interrupting her.
"Yes," she admitted, "but that time wasn't anywhere near as bad as this time. He only slapped me once, across the face, and then he left. He came to my office the next day, once he'd sobered up and begged me to take him back, saying he's never touch alcohol again. And he didn't, from that day forward, he wouldn't even have a little champagne at our wedding. At least, he didn't until Melena was born.
"How could he hate her?" Ginny asked, desperately, looking to Draco for answers he didn't have, "What did I do wrong? What did I do to deserve this?"
"Oh Ginny," Draco sighed sadly, getting up to his feet. He walked quickly around the bath and got down to his knees again. Careful not to touch a part of her that was bruised, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind and pulled her back until her head once again rested on his chest. "You didn't do anything to deserve this; you don't deserve this, neither does your daughter."
"Then why is it happening to us Draco?" She asked, grabbing hold of the arms that were crossed over her chest and wincing as her damaged wrists brushed against his arms. "Why?"
He shook his head, bringing his head down so he was talking into her wet hair as he admitted, "I don't know, but Ginny," he added, pulling his face up so his chin rested on the top of her head, "you got out. You got away. You and Melena are safe now. He can't hurt you anymore, I won't let him."
"Help me out," she managed to request, her voice filled with the tears she was trying not to shed. Pulling his arms away, Draco kissed Ginny gently on the top of the head and stood up. He walked around the tub once again and held out his arm to her. She took it, attempting to smile politely and let him pull her up. Once she was steady on her feet outside the tub, which took her a few minutes, she let go of him saying, "Look at me."
He stepped back, to take in every inch of her. Normally seeing her naked would excite him; cause him to think on a hedonistic level, but not then. Her body, apart from being changed by her recent pregnancy, was covered in fresh deep purple bruises like the ones on her arms and around her eyes. Most of the bruises were on her stomach and lower abdomen. The inside of her thighs were so badly beaten that they looked black and he could see that at the joining of her legs, there were, what looked like, violent, deep, scratches. She was in worst state then he'd been in after he'd been tortured.
Look at her he could feel his sense of vengeance welling up inside him, like it had when he'd killed the Death Eaters. He wanted to kill this Daniel. Draco wanted to hunt him down and hurt him like he'd hurt Ginny. But he couldn't, it would make Ginny's pain go away, just as it hadn't made his vanish. Pushing his feelings of hate aside he pulled his wand out of his pocket and conjured a plush towel for Ginny.
"Thank you," she said politely, as he passed it to her. It turned out that wrapping the towel around herself wasn't something she could do. Bending her wrists to the angles required caused her to hiss painfully and drop the towel.
"I'm not much use at healing spells, but I could try to mend some of the bruising for you," Draco offered summoning the towel up off the floor and shaking it off.
Ginny shook her head, "No."
"You've suffered enough," he insisted, walking over to her so he could wrap her in the towel himself.
"It's not about the pain," she explained, holding her arms up as he threw the towel around her back and brought it forward to tuck it tight against her body. "I have to take pictures of the bruising before I let anyone heal it."
Draco looked at her skeptically, "What ever for?"
"When we married I made him sign a binding magical contract that said if at anytime during out marriage I could prove he'd hit me I could have the marriage annulled."
"Smart," he praised stepping back from her a bit, though inwardly he was thinking of how dumb it was that she entered into a marriage where she thought she'd need a safeguard like that. He'd never known Ginny to put herself into that kind of situation.
She shook her head, "No it wasn't," she admitted as if she'd been reading his thoughts, carefully crossing her arms over her chest as she looked up at him. "I shouldn't have married him. I shouldn't have taken the chance. But I loved him and he hadn't raised a hand to me since he gave up alcohol."
"You weren't stupid Ginny," he found himself saying. In honesty he thought it was daft, but he didn't want her thinking she was stupid, especially not in the state she was in. "He was -"
"I'm tired of talking about this," Ginny said uncomfortably, cutting across him. She walked quickly around him before he could say anything else and past the screen, leaving Draco quietly in her wake. His sighed heavily, his head hanging down so he was staring at the bath, he wasn't sure when he'd crossed the line, how he'd gone too far, but obviously he had. With a wave of his wand the bath and screen disappeared. He turned around and found Ginny sitting on the bed, looking down at her sleeping daughter.
"Gin, I'm sorry," he apologized walking towards her.
She shook her head, "I'm just tired of talking about it, of thinking about it."
"Then we won't talk about it anymore," Draco promised quickly, "in fact, I'll pack up my things and get out of here." He walked to the wardrobe and opened it, there wasn't much in it; most of his clothing was on the floor waiting to be washed or to be put away after washing. Trying to be as quiet as possible he started pulling clothes out. Having not thought it out well, he didn't have a bag to put them in so he started stacking them on his arms.
"Draco," Ginny whispered over her shoulder when he was about halfway done.
"Nearly done, Gin, just give me a coup -"
"Please don't," she requested quietly.
"Don't what?" He asked, turning to face her, the stack of clothes slightly obscuring his view of her.
"Go," she said, then expanded, "don't go."
"I thought you said you didn't want to share," he started, letting his arm holding the clothing drop a bit so he could see her clearly.
She tried to smile weakly, "Can't a girl change her mind."
"Of course she can," he said, smiling at her despite himself. The fact that Ginny wanted him to stay made him happy, for the first time since Pauline's murder he was properly happy. He shouldn't be happy, he shouldn't be smiling, but he couldn't help it.
"Do you remember that summer we visited the Malfoy Villa in Italy?" She asked out of the blue.
"Yes," he answered quickly, he remembered ever moment he'd ever spent with her, at least he liked to think he did. He certainly remembered much of that summer.
"Why doesn't life stay like that?" She asked sounding far away in thought. Draco shoved the pile of clothes haphazardly back into his wardrobe and walked back towards the bed. He stopped at the end of the bed and looked down at her. Any fleeting happy feeling he'd been having mere seconds earlier vanished as he looked her over. She seemed frail and timid, two words he would never have thought to use in a description of the Ginny Weasley he'd known.
"There is a curious paradox," he began slowly, remembering a quote from his wife's favorite musical that was entirely too fitting to waste. She looked over at him as he sat down on the bed and continued, "that no one can explain. Who understands the secrets of the reaping of the grain? Who understands why Spring is born out of Winter's laboring pains? Or why we all must die a bit before we grow again."
She looked at him silently and he was sure he knew what she was thinking. He could tell by the little furrow of her brow and her fingers twitching at the hem of her towel that she was trying to work something out. Most likely she was trying to deduce if he'd become a poet in the years they were apart or was quoting something. "What's that from?" She finally asked, obviously deciding he had never been a poet and never would be.
"A musical, The Fantasticks, it was Pauline's favorite, insisted we see it every time we were in America. I haven't thought of it in a year, but the speech rings true."
"Yes," she agreed, "very true. I just would have thought I'd done all my growing after -"
"So would I," he admitted, interrupting her before she could finish. He was sure he knew what she was going to say so he didn't need to hear it. She didn't have to say that he'd broken her heart from him to know it was true. "I never meant to hurt you."
"I know that," she said without hesitation, "doesn't mean it didn't hurt." He nodded looking down into his hands, knowing that was true.
It felt to him that he should say something more to her, perhaps apologize for the things that had passed between them, but he couldn't do that. He couldn't apologize for loving his wife. He was genuinely sorry he'd hurt Ginny, but he wouldn't trade his years with Pauline for anything. She'd given him a beautiful daughter and made him happy. And if you'd married Ginny, she'd be dead now, his mind added truthfully. He didn't want to think that, but as much as Pauline's death had hurt him if it was Ginny in her place it would have killed him.
It was an insult to Pauline's memory to admit that, even if it was only to himself, and he felt guilty immediately. But he couldn't change the fact that it was true. Even after his years with Pauline, despite everything she meant to him, he knew that the woman sitting on the bed with him held a bigger part of him. She'd been his first love, would have been his only love if things had been different.
"So how often did you see this musical?" She asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"Six times," he recalled, "including once when it was preformed especially for us, a command performance, so to speak." She was looking at him, clearly intrigued, so he went on, "It's not a large production, it's very small, never been very mainstream. There was no theater putting on a performance anywhere near where we were staying, so I paid for one."
"Why didn't you just apparate somewhere that it was playing?" She asked, clearly glad that they were talking about anything other then what had happened to her.
"We couldn't," he answered simply.
"You couldn't?" She questioned.
"No," he replied shaking his head, "Pauline liked to take `Vacations From Magic', at least that's what she called them. She thought living as a muggle was a terribly grand adventure, insisted we do it at least once a year."
"You lived as a muggle?"
"Yes."
"No magic?"
"That is what that means, yes."
"For how long?"
"Two weeks, maybe three, depending."
"I just don't believe that," she said, shaking her head as a smile spread across her face, she was obviously trying hard not to laugh at him.
He nodded "Honestly, I could tell you didn't." Her resolve evaporated quickly as she dissolved into laughter; that she could laugh, even after what she'd been though amazed him. He hadn't truly laughed since that horrible night in September when he and his family had been taken from their home. But sitting there, next to Ginny, he felt better, happy, and able to laugh. Even though he realized she was laughing at him and by joining in he was laughing at himself.
They laughed together for a few very happy moments until Melena stirred in her crib and they both quieted themselves, but even that little pause from the serious helped. "I haven't laughed in ages," Draco admitted when he could finally catch his breath.
"Neither have I," she said, a smile still lingering on her face.
"I was beginning to think I never would again," he added seriously, smiling over at her.
"Draco," she started, rubbing her hands softly up and down her arms, "can I ask you do another thing for me?"
"Anything," he assured her quickly, his smile slipping slightly, afraid that she might be asking him to leave, despite her earlier request that he stay.
"I need clothes," she said, her smile taking an embarrassed turn, "I'm freezing and I'm afraid if I try to resize my wardrobe I'll risk blowing it up."
"Magic feeling unsteady?" He questioned getting off the bed in search of her bag. It was sitting near the end of the changing table. Picking it up he searched around inside till he found the wardrobe.
"Yes," she answered, watching him walk the miniaturized wardrobe over to the corner of the room where the bath had stood; the only open space in the room. He looked thoughtfully from the wardrobe in his hand to the open area in front of him, and then slowly shook his head as if he had decided something. "What?" she asked.
He turned to her, "Is this the same wardrobe you used to have?" He asked pointing at the small piece of furniture in his hand.
"No," she answered, "It was a wedding gift from my brother Charlie."
"Is it the same size?"
"A bit larger actually, why?"
"It won't fit here," he answered.
Ginny sighed, "Then what am I supposed to -"
"I think," he said, interrupting her because he knew where she was going, "for tonight anyway, I can provide you with something. When Harry and Hermione get back, tomorrow morning most likely, we can sort things out better." He stashed her wardrobe back into her bag on his way across the room, nearly tripping over his own dirty clothes in his rush to get her something to wear.
Of course his own wardrobe was still a mess from earlier, when he'd just piled the clothes back in instead of putting them away properly. But he was able, with out much difficulty, to produce a suitable outfit for her. Consisting of a well worn shirt and a spear pair of pajama pants, it was nothing glamorous, but he was sure it would do.
"Perfect," she appraised as he handed it to her.
"Will you be able to manage?" He asked, thinking of her pained expression when she'd attempted to wrap herself in the towel.
"I'll be fine," she assured him, making sure the shirt was facing the right way and sliding her arms into it, "I think I just turned my wrist wrong before, I'll be more careful this time around." Draco nodded, only slightly reassured and turned away from her, to give her some privacy. He could here her wincing behind him, but she wasn't making any terribly painful noises so he figured she was managing.
"You can turn around now," she informed him a few minutes later.
Draco turned to find her folding up the soft towel. He couldn't help but smile to himself; he'd forgotten how cute she was dressed in his clothes, though her heavily bruised face marred the effect. "Actually Ginny, if there was nothing else you needed, I was thinking of leaving, let you get some sleep."
"I believe, if you'll remember, I asked you to stay," she said quietly.
That took him by surprise. Of course he remembered her asking him to stay, but he hadn't thought she meant over night. When she'd arrived less then two hours ago she'd been short with him, and obviously didn't want him around. Now she wanted him staying with her over night. "I remember," he confirmed, "I just didn't think you meant-" but he was unable to finish his sentence. His voice quickly fading into nothing, betraying him as his mind imagined sleeping next to her again.
"I don't want to be alone," she explained, "I know Daniel won't come here, if he managed to sober up anytime soon he'd be too afraid of what Harry would do, but I don't feel safe on my own."
"I'll stay," he promised as she brought a hand up to her face to cover up a yawn. "Tired?" He questioned, though the answer was obvious.
"Yes," she admitted, looking back at the unmade bed, "you've been a bit sloppy lately, haven't you?"
"I wasn't expecting such refined company," he muttered sarcastically, giving her a small smile.
She smiled back, "Melena and I don't mind, we're not too fussy about mess."
"That's good," Draco assured her as she climbed into the bed and began making herself comfortable, "I don't plan on cleaning." She laughed lightly, knowing full well that wasn't true. He liked having his things in order, he always had; he was compulsive about it really.
Feeling a bit awkward, Draco walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down. His fatigue was catching up to him, he greatly needed the sleep. He was so tired he didn't even remember settling back onto the bed or Ginny quietly wishing him a good night.
The next thing Draco knew was being awoken by the shrill cry of a hungry baby. His first instinct was to see if Pauline was already handling it, but then he remembered where he was and that the baby wasn't his. So instead of looking to Pauline he looked over to Ginny, who was somehow sleeping through her child's cries. Feeling a bit groggy he pushed the covers back and climbed out of the bed.
Melena had wiggled her blanket open and was making all the noise she could, trying to rouse someone who could feed her. "Sorry little girl," Draco said softly, reaching into the crib and gathering her up in his arms, "I'm not exactly who you want, but I think I know who is. You'll have to forgive her," he insisted looking at the small creature in his arms, "she's awfully tired, you see, she's been through quite an ordeal." Melena's cries quieted slightly as she tried to make out whom this new voice belonged to.
He smiled down at her, turning back to the bed. Ginny was lying near the center of the bed, very close to wear Draco himself had just been sleeping, curled up on her side. Making sure he had a good hold on Melena, Draco reached out across the bed and touched Ginny gently on the shoulder. She jerked awake violently, pulling away from his hand. "I'm sorry Ginny," he said apologetically, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "but you're daughter seems to be hungry," he explained.
Ginny groaned, "I'm sorry she woke you, or rather that she didn't wake me," she apologized in turn moving over so she was sitting just behind him.
"I'm a light sleeper anyway," he muttered, twisting back so he could hand Melena to Ginny, who was pulling her shirt off over her head. Once Melena was in her mother's arms Draco turned away to give her privacy.
Ginny gave a little disbelieving laugh and asked, "Since when? A herd of elephants tromping through the bedroom wouldn't wake you most days."
"Since Violette," he explained, "she was such a quiet newborn, it was so odd for her to cry when she was first around that my reaction was always that something must be wrong and I'd jump out of bed."
"That's not Melena," Ginny insisted, "she makes sure she's heard."
"I noticed," he admitted, as his stomach grumbled loudly.
"When was the last time you ate something?" She asked, obviously hearing the rumbling of his stomach.
He shrugged, "A couple days, haven't had much of an appetite."
"Draco," she scolded, "you have to eat," and she pressed a hand firmly into his back, shoving him off the bed. He fell forward onto his knees with a crash and a sharp pain.
"Don't want to loose my girlish figure," he joked, getting to his feet. "Thanks for shoving me out of bed by the way."
"I didn't shove you out, I shoved you off," she corrected.
"Thanks all the same," he said sarcastically stepping across the room, "can I get you anything while I'm down there?" He offered as he pulled the door open.
"No, I'm just going to feed her and go back to sleep, thank you though." He held up his hand, as if to say think nothing of it, and shuffled through the door, closing it behind him.
Draco continued to shuffle as he made his way down the stairs, sleep still clinging to him. He would greatly love to crawl back into bed before he was fully awake, but his stomach wouldn't allow that. Now that he realized how hungry he was he would be able to get back to sleep without eating something. He tried to go quickly, he wanted to get back up to bed before Ginny went to sleep, so he wouldn't wake her, but dragging his feet felt so much easier. So he dragged them all the way down to the kitchen, his energy building as the sleep slowly retreated.
In the kitchen he went straight to the pantry, quickly made himself a sandwich, and sat down at the table to eat it, his mind wondering to Ginny upstairs. She had practically jumped out of her skin when he touched her shoulder. He supposed, with everything she'd gone through, it was probably a very natural reaction, but it still unnerved him. He'd never seen her that scared of anything.
When he'd finished eating Draco started back upstairs. He'd barley been gone fifteen minutes, and if Melena was anything like Violette she'd still be feeding, so with luck Ginny would still be awake. As he was walking up the kitchen stairs the front door opened, hitting the wall with a crash.
"Anxious are we?" Came Harry's voice as he stepped through the door backwards, followed by Hermione. She smirked at him and kissed him, heatedly, nearly knocking him over. Obviously their little date had gone well.
Hermione was just pushing the door closed behind them when Draco made himself seen. He walked up the few remaining stairs and cleared his throat loudly. "Sorry to interrupt," he apologized.
"No, um, that's all right," Hermione said quickly pulling away from Harry, "why are you up so late?"
"It's Ginny, she's in a right state."
AN: I'll say she is. You know I've realized, I'm not often nice to Ginny in Harry/Hermione stories, long chapter ones like this. I've never posted any of the others on portkey `cause they are somewhat dumb, but I did notice that little pattern of mine while I was writing this chapter. But now she has Draco to comfort her so yay!
weirder - excellent, I love having people hooked, and I promise we will get back to Harry and Hermione very soon, just have a couple things to sort out first TephieBird - I think normal is over rated myself, no I'm just kidding, Harry and Hermione will settle into a normal life, though that's more towards the end of this story. Yeah, Draco needed the closure, originally it was going to jump from the chapter where he shows up to this chapter, but I realize that more needed to happen, so chapter 29 was one of the chapters that was added to the outline late in the game, glad you liked it so much h/hr4ever - well he certainly has a heart in my stories, as I have a feeling he does in the books, but that's a whole separate discussion alayeni - like I said good guess, but not quite right. But I needed Melena to be there for both Ginny and Draco, so I figured make the husband a bastard and bring the two together that way harry n hermione - Draco knew Ginny was having a baby, he saw her in Diagon Alley when she was about four months, but I think he lost track of that what with being kidnapped and all lylc - thanks, there were probably still errors, there are just things I just don't see, but thank you for being so nice about it. I was crying writing chapter 29 so it doesn't really surprise me that people got misty-eyed, glad you liked it so much though, that is always great to hear fairyp80 - yeah, it was not at all a good day for Draco, but in the end it was the best thing for him, luckily Harry and Hermione do get some time together, we don't see it, but they had a very nice night out Julie3291 - why thank you, that really nice to hear Mani2191 - yes we would all like it if there were no interruptions, I think Harry especially would like that, but it would be no fun if life were perfect, at least not too perfect anyway xmftf - yes, I am actually a few chapters ahead of the game, I just haven't had anyone to edit them for a while, but my betas are, in theory, back to having somewhat normal schedules so updates won't take so long redblue0115 - yes, there will be a bit of a Ginny and Draco relationship in this story, I've been promising it all along and now we've finally got there hermione4harry - unfortunately there really isn't much Harry and Hermione alone time till Valentine's day, that I describe anyway, but don't worry, we'll get the Ginny/Draco stuff sorted and get back to the main story at hand Natasha - well I never stopped writing this story, well not really anyway, there was just a time when it took a long time to write any chapters, but I've been on a roll for a while now and hopefully will be able to finish the story and get the remaining chapters to my betas with in the next month or so - we are on the homestretch now lzod - I am still amazed when people tell me they've read the whole story in a day, I can't do that, I don't think I can get past chapter 10 before I lose interest, though that probably has something to do with the fact that I wrote the thing so I know what is going to happen. And yes, as it has probably become clear to you in this chapter Ginny was Draco's girlfriend acoustics1220 - no I didn't mean to spell barely barley, it is just one of the mistakes I don't see, when I was younger like and lick got mixed up in my writing all the time, at least I don't do that anymore Harrys girl lol, yeah it has been a while, but I've talked to both of my betas recently so I know they both still have a pulse. Draco is always human in my stories…well for the most part, but I'm very proud of the fact that I can get all these people who hate Draco to feel bad for him, makes me very happy that my writing turned out the way I wanted it to CrimsonTemplar - I were only fooling with the Author's note at the end of the last chapter `cause I knew there would be more interruptions to come. There will be no help needed, Harry finds his quiet moment it just takes a little while. trulyurs14 - : ) Lady Starlight - why would they need to do Side-Along Apparition? tubs - : ) HPottersWoman - : ) Mignight_Witch - well there will be a bit of Draco and Ginny relationship described in this story, but it's only going to touch on the bigger story that's going on between the two of them. I am writing a short little story that is set seven years earlier that explains what happened to them and why Draco had a fall out with everyone, I'm even thinking of writing a second companion piece that tells Draco and Ginny's story after this story, but I haven't decided for sure about that one jhh - : ) GAPA - I won't take a long time to update as long as I have the chapters done, it's when I get stuck or busy that things slow down a bit
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