Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you may recognize from the wonderful world of Harry Potter, they all belong to the revered JK Rowling; I just like to play with them a little.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
HEALING KISSES
Ginny was beside herself. She didn't realize Draco would be here so early. Gods, he'd actually noticed that I was dressed like this, her mind screamed as she raced around her bedroom gathering clothes for the day. I'm so embarrassed. How am I going to face him again?
She made a dash for the bathroom and a hot shower. Once under the water, Ginny tried to settle her emotions. Okay, this isn't the end of the world. So he saw me dressed like a- a- Oh god! I looked like a troll. It is the end of the world. I can't possibly go back downstairs. I'll just stay up here till he leaves.
After taking her time in the bathroom she returned to her bedroom and began to dress, taking extra time on her hair and makeup. When she had finished getting ready, she looked in the mirror. Well, at least I no longer look like a troll, she mused. She walked toward the door, steeling herself, only to hesitate when her hand touched the door handle. No, I can't do this, she thought turning back in the direction of her bed. She sat on the edge trying to talk some sense into herself.
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Draco had been waiting, for what seemed like hours, for Ginny to reappear. Molly was pouring him another fresh cup of tea as he mentally kicked himself for the millionth time. I should've just kept my mouth shut, now she's probably not talking to me, he thought. And if I sit here drinking tea for much longer I'm going to have to find a lavatory - Merlin, Angel, please sit still! Every time Draco had drained his cup, Molly had refilled it just about immediately. He had lost count of exactly how many cups of tea he had now consumed - he was only drinking it to be polite.
"All right, you two upstairs and let's get you dressed," Molly said to the twins.
"Come on, Daddy," Angel said as she jumped down for his lap. "You can help," she continued as she tugged on his arm.
"Maybe your Grandma can help you today and I'll help you another time, okay?" Draco hoped she would accept this, because he had no idea how to dress a child.
"Angel, the sooner you get upstairs and get dressed, the sooner you can come back down to your dad. Come on now," Molly said.
Angel looked disappointed, but she allowed Molly to guide her up the staircase and into the bathroom, where Drake was already busy brushing his teeth.
Draco breathed a sigh of relief for two reasons; one, his daughters weight was no longer resting on his very full bladder and two, the thought of trying to dress her horrified him, he wouldn't know where to start.
A short while later Draco heard Molly and the children coming down the stairs. He stood up quickly, in the hope it would discourage Angel from taking up residence on his lap again. At this point, he felt that any external pressure on his abdomen might result in a somewhat embarrassing situation.
"Draco, you're not going yet, are you?" Molly frowned when she noticed the tall blonde wizard standing uncomfortably in the kitchen.
"Umm - No, no of course not. I was just wondering where the umm- Err- facilities were located," Draco faltered.
"Oh- of course, dear. The lavatory is on the first floor, second door on the right." Molly smiled. He had such refined manners that asking, a lady, directions to the lav was cause for embarrassment, she thought half wishing her boys would display better manners, occasionally.
Draco inclined his head in a silent thank you and walked hurriedly toward the staircase. While he was washing his hands he wondered, not for the first time, just where Ginny was. She had come up here ages ago and he was beginning to think she might never come down.
As he left the bathroom, he looked up and down the hallway. There were a total of five doors leading off the corridor. He stood there trying to decide whether or not to explore a little further, in the hope that he might come across Ginny. He didn't even know if she was on this floor. Just as he decided it would be incredibly rude to venture further into the house, without an invitation, he heard a grunt followed by a familiar female voice cursing, `bloody hell', from behind one of the doors. He walked toward her door with a smirk and cracked it open.
"Is that a new dance?" Draco drawled, amusement written clearly over his face.
Ginny was standing, holding one foot in her hand and trying to maintain her balance at the same time. Her face was contorted in pain and concentration; overall providing a comical view to anyone who may happen upon her.
"Oh." Ginny flushed crimson. "I kicked my toe." Merlin can this day get any worse, she added mentally.
"Well, let me take a look at it," Draco said in a low tone as he entered the small bedroom.
When he reached Ginny, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms, then placed her on the edge of the bed. Not that it was really necessary to carry her, as she was only two paces away from the bed and a stubbed toe isn't exactly a broken leg, but he did it anyway. Draco knelt in front of her and removed her shoe to expose the injured toe. He very gently manipulated her whole foot and each toe in turn. When he was satisfied there was no permanent damage, he placed a kiss on the toe that had bore the brunt of the blow.
"There all better," Draco smirked up at her.
"Thank you," Ginny replied slowly smiling at him. She had noticed that Draco's normally light gray eyes had darkened to slate gray and she knew there were only two moods that made his eyes change color so dramatically - anger and arousal.
"Grandma, why is Daddy kissing Mummy's toes?" Angel said from the doorway.
"Ewww! I wouldn't kiss a witch. They've got witch germs," Drake interjected thoroughly disgusted.
"We do not! You've got wizard germs," Angel countered tossing her nose in the air.
Drake folded his arms across his chest. "Do not!"
"Do so!" Angel placed her hands on her hips.
"There you are. Why don't you two go back down to the kitchen?" Molly said as she walked into the room taking in the scene playing out before her.
"I- umm- I stubbed my toe," Ginny stumbled. Even though they had not been doing anything wrong, she had flushed bright crimson.
"No permanent damage," Draco managed as he dropped her foot back to the floor and rose to his feet.
Ginny busied herself with replacing her shoe; it was an excellent excuse not to look at anyone in the room. Merlin only knew, what her mother might be thinking. With her shoe firmly in place she took a deep breath and rose from the bed. "Why don't we all go back to the kitchen? I could do with a cup of tea."
"Lovely," Molly said smiling broadly as she turned out of the room. It would be nice if Draco and Ginny got together, she thought as she negotiated the stairs. Not only for the benefit of the children but also for Ginny, she hasn't been out for a long time and Draco seems like a nice young man.
As Ginny made her way to the door, she glanced at Draco. He was still standing in the same position, looking at the floor with his arms hanging limply by his side and he showed a light blush over his cheeks.
Draco flicked his eyes up to meet Ginny's. Despite how he felt, he couldn't help the smirk that crept across his mouth, she looked so alluring with her face all flushed and that guilty look her eyes held. Merlin I feel like a naughty school boy who's been caught peeking in the girls dormitory, he mused as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Once settled around the kitchen table, Molly served Ginny's breakfast and more tea for each of the adults.
"Daddy, why did you kiss mummy's toe?" Drake asked, his disgust at the idea evident in his tone.
"Well- err- Mummy hurt her toe." Draco didn't know how to answer this question. He couldn't very well tell him the truth - he was flirting with her - he was far too young.
"Oh, you kissed her toe and made it all better." Angel helped him. "Grandma makes my bumps all better with special healing kisses."
"Yeah, something like that," Draco muttered, he had flushed crimson again and was too busy examining his teacup to see the approving look Molly sent to her daughter.
"But, Daddy, aren't you afraid of witchy germs?" Drake was appalled his father had taken the risk.
Draco's face contorted into one of absolute horror. How on magical earth was he supposed to answer this? However, his facial expression was enough to please Drake.
"It's okay, Daddy. A Scourgify charm should do the trick," Drake said solemnly as he approached his father and stretched up to pat him on the back. Quite relieved his dad had realized his error in time to correct it.
Ginny watched the twins interact with Draco, as she ate her breakfast. She smiled when she realized Draco was in over his head with those two, he quite obviously had no idea what he was doing. Draco looked to her and she very pointedly inclined her head in the direction of his wand, indicating he should withdraw it and perform the charm to keep Drake happy.
The silent message was understood - Draco made a big deal of standing, withdrawing his wand with flair and performing the prescribed cleaning charm, thus making Drake happy.
"Well, what are the four of you up to today?" Molly asked Draco.
"Actually, I hadn't really thought that far ahead. It doesn't really matter to me what we do, I just want to spend some time with these three," Draco answered honestly as he sat back in his chair.
"We could have a picnic," suggested Angel gleefully.
"It's too cold outside for a picnic!" Drake rolled his eyes at his sister.
"We can dress up all warm," Angel argued back.
"How about we go into the front room and talk about it there?" Ginny said from the sink where she was cleaning off her breakfast dishes.
The twins jumped up and ran into the front room well before anyone else could even move. As Draco made to walk out of the room Ginny grabbed his arm.
"What do you want to do today?" she asked in a whisper.
"I really don't care, Gin. I just want to spend some time with the three of you. Get to know the twins, and well - you too," he replied quietly. "There's so much I don't know. I've got a lot of questions so, maybe, we could set aside some time to talk today."
"Okay. With or without the kids?" Ginny asked.
"With, I want to ask them things too."
"Do you want to start with that and then we can just take it from there?"
"Yeah, that'd be great. There's so much I'm dying to know about them."
"You do realize, they'll want to know things about you too and some of their questions will be difficult to answer?" Ginny wanted him to be prepared for anything. Drake was well known for asking the most embarrassing and difficult questions.
"Anything they want to know, I'm an open book," Draco stated. Overjoyed that his children would want to know about him as well.
"Good." Ginny hoped he would not regret that particular remark.
"Umm- Gin, before we go in there, I've got a question for you. If you don't mind?" Draco said hesitantly.
"Of course I don't." Her tone was tainted with worry. Draco probably hundreds of questions for her and, she knew, quite a few of them were going to be difficult.
"Their name - I mean the `Malfoy' part - why?" Draco stumbled through his query.
"Oh, I wanted them to know exactly who they are. It didn't matter that you weren't around. They have so many of your mannerisms, especially Drake. I just wanted them to know."
"Thank you," Draco whispered as he leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead.
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