Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing and much thanks again to my super fantastic beta Sticksrouge11! I hope y'all like this story as much as the first one!
CHAPTER 4
When Ginny stepped through the fireplace in the Burrow, she was nearly smothered by her mother, Bill, Fred, and George.
"Ginny, oh Ginny!" her mother choked. "We thought, we thought for so long, that you, well, you know. Oh Ginny!"
"Mum, give her some room to breathe," Fred said, elbowing Bill out of his way. "What's this Ron's been telling us about you and Malfoy?"
"Already?" Ginny asked, her voice muffled as her mouth was still stuffed into her mother's shoulder. She left St. Mungo's that morning and went back to the Manor to gather her few things. Ron had told her that mum usually came to see him around 10, and went home after lunch, so Ginny planned to go home around 3.
"Hey, hey," Bill spoke up. "We've got plenty of time for that stuff."
"Your father will be home any minute now," her mum said, still squeezing her.
Ginny managed to glance at the clock and noticed her father's picture pointing to work.
"Come, come, sit here." She ushered Ginny to a chair. "When your father gets home, we want to hear everything that happened."
Her mum stepped back and looked at her, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. "You have no idea what it's like to think you have lost your only daughter."
"I wanted to tell you," Ginny said quietly. "I really did. But I knew it wasn't safe."
Mrs. Weasley nodded. "I'll go make us a cup of tea." She wiped her eyes, and quickly leaned down to give Ginny another hug.
When her father arrived home, they went through the same emotionally charged reunion, until they had all settled, and with her mum on one side, and dad on the other, Ginny began to tell her story.
She modified the story a bit, not enough to make Draco seem like a saint, but enough to make it obvious that he had saved her. She told them about Luna, and how Draco had saved her from Marcus Flint, she told them that he allowed her to stay in her room, but swore up and down that nothing happened, she told them about Percy with tears in her eyes, saying she met him in the kitchen and had then begged Draco to look after him, she told them about Pansy Parkinson, how Narcissa came and took Luna with her, and how Draco erased her memories, and how finally he took her to stay with Narcissa at the Manor. The end of her story was met with silence. Her eyes weren't the only eyes wet with tears; it suddenly occurred to her that this was probably the first official time it had been confirmed Percy was truly gone.
"I know he tried to take care of him," she whispered, finally. "I know he did because he was good to me. Better than I could have ever imagined."
"Yes, yes," her mother nodded. "We assumed that he was there. He disappeared from the Ministry, you know. We did hear that Lucius Malfoy had something to do with it."
Memories flooded Ginny's vision and she so vividly recalled Lucius dragging Percy's broken body in the room to be tortured. Phantom pains surged through her thighs and her knees wobbled and she was thankful she was sitting. "He probably did. But Draco is nothing like him."
"If I didn't know better," George commented, his voice forced into false lightness, "I'd think you had a thing for Malfoy."
Ginny met his gaze but said nothing.
"I suppose we should eat," her mother said, wiping her eyes and patting Ginny's leg. "I know I'm hungry."
Her father nodded in agreement and pulled Ginny closer to him. "We've missed you."
"Where is Charlie?" Ginny asked when they were seated at the dinner table.
"I'm not sure," her mother said, looking around. "I told Fred to Floo him this afternoon, when Ron said you were coming."
"I thought you did," Fred told George, his mouth full.
"Don't look at me," George shrugged.
"For Merlin's sake!" her mum exclaimed, dropping her fork. "His sister is back and neither of you told him?"
"I'll do it," Ginny said, jumping up. "Where is he?"
"Still at the Order's house," her father told her.
Ginny hurried into the living room and knelt in front of the fireplace, taking a pinch of Floo powder in her hands. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, sucking in the homey, familiar smell of the Burrow. She had her family back.
***
"Are you ready dear?" Mrs. Weasley stuck her head in Ginny's room.
Ginny nodded and stood up, shaking her head clear and glancing again around her small room. The purple painted shelves that were as old as she was were crammed with old school books, a broken sneak o scope, stuffed dolls, and several pictures of her brothers. Underneath, a desk painted in the same girly shade of purple was piled high with broken quills, empty ink bottles, piles of Muggle makeup, courtesy of Hermione, and books on beauty charms. The clothes she had tried on the night she went to the club were still in a pile on the floor, as was a large array of shoes. "Everything in here is so familiar."
"Well, it should be."
"I know, but . . ."
"But what, dear?" her mother asked, stepping inside the room and pushing the door closed.
"It seems like a different lifetime when I was here last," Ginny admitted.
Her mum engulfed her in a hug. "Oh my little girl. What did you have to go through?"
"Nothing terrible," Ginny whispered. "Nothing like some of the others did."
"We don't have to go if this is too painful for you."
"No, I want to go. It's important."
Her mum nodded. "That's why Dumbledore decided to have the memorials so quickly. To help people heal."
"And you told everyone that we're meeting Narcissa there?" Ginny asked, wiping away her tears.
Her mum nodded.
"What did they say?"
"Well, your brothers and father seem willing to accept that she helped you."
"Okay then." She rose from the bed and followed her mum down to the breakfast table, where the mood was unusually sober. She was momentarily surprised to see Hermione holding Harry's hand, and Hermione's parents sitting beside Bill and Fred.
"Good morning," she said softly, surveying everyone over the mountains of uneaten food.
At the memorial service, Ginny sat between her mum and Narcissa with her entire family crowded into one long pew. The service was in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, which had been magically expanded to accommodate everyone. There wasn't a single wizarding family in all of Great Britain who hadn't been affected by the war.
First Dumbledore spoke, and although he spoke at great length, Ginny hung on to every word. He mentioned several of the bigger battles, the way the war was won, the deaths of some of the communities most prominent witches and wizards, Neville included. "And there are some here today," he finished, "who suffered losses greater than we know, greater than we can understand. There are some who helped our cause in ways we were not aware of. We must unite now, so this will never happen again." Ginny was sure his eyes were focused on Narcissa as he said those words and smiled.
Ginny spotted Luna in the crowd and watched her. Her blond head hung forward and she could see that the girl was crying. A deep twist filled her stomach. Did she remember? How much? After the service, she and Narcissa went to see Luna.
"He was my husband," she said softly as Ginny hugged her.
Ginny nodded weakly. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," Luna tried to brush the tears away. "I remember us being happy, and that's all. I'm luckier than most people because I don't have to remember anything bad."
Ginny had no answer. She felt shallow, wishing for Draco at a time like this, when her family was mourning the loss of Percy, of Neville, of a hundred other witches and wizards, gone. But she missed him. As she watched Hermione hold on to Harry, and then Ron joined them, she missed him even more. She had heard the expression before, as if a piece of her was missing, but that was how she felt. There was a hole, an emptiness in her now and nothing but Draco was going to fill it up. She couldn't stop the tears as they rushed to her eyes. Her brother was gone, her friends were gone, and Draco . . . where was he?
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