a/n: Thanks to fallenwitch for beta reading the fic. You always make me feel like I'm the best writer in this world and I love to bits for that. Thanks for being there.
Thanks to everyone who reads and patiently reviews.
Their five-day trial began the next morning. Both Draco and Ginny sat down for breakfast, awkward. Picking up a copy of The Daily Prophet on the table, Ginny wondered how it had gotten there.
The news on the front page caught her attention. Hermione and Harry had been blessed with a baby boy. Smiling, as the baby in the picture gave her a toothless grin, Ginny muttered, "And it wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for me".
"Did you say something?" asked Draco.
"Harry and Hermione had a son. To think, these two wouldn't have come together if it hadn't been for my intervention on their wedding day," replied Ginny.
"Oh yeah, I heard that. It was right after the Ministry's act about inter-house marriages, right?" asked Draco.
Ginny nodded. The ministry had passed an act stating that an individual had to marry somebody from a different house as soon as they graduated from Hogwarts. It was a poor attempt at dismissing the growing discontent amongst the Wizarding community. "I hated it," said Ginny.
"You think the Ministry's decision wasn't right?" asked Draco Malfoy, as he brushed away a stray lock
of hair that had fallen on his brow.
"Well, no. I mean, who gave the Ministry the right to dictate terms to adult individuals. I mean when they created
this inter-house marriages rule, did they even consider the fact that some people wouldn't be thinking about
marriage so early on in life," huffed Ginny. She noticed the famous, self-satisfied smirk on Draco's face,
which infuriated her further, "I'm not kidding. Can you imagine how Harry tolerated Pansy when they dated each
other because of this stupid act? He used to return with splitting headaches," finished Ginny with a rather red
face.
"Interesting," said Draco, taking a small sip of his morning tea, regarding Ginny with mild interest.
"We had a tough time convincing the Ministry to agree to Harry and Hermione's marriage. But Harry's
influence worked. Then when we announced my engagement to Richard …….." her voice trailed off as she was suddenly
struck by a terrible thought. She had been away from Richard for two days, and she hadn't thought about him even
once. She was supposed to be engaged to him. She guiltily looked over the last 48 hours, trying to recall at least one
incident when she had thought of Richard and tried to talk Draco out of making her stay.
She bit her bottom lip as guilt turned to concern. What if Richard was worried about her? He would have surely figured
out by now that she was missing. Although, judging by the amount of work he had, he might have forgotten. He was under
immense pressure at work, and she wouldn't blame him if he didn't remember to drop by her apartment.
But what if he had? What if he had gone to her apartment and found it empty? What if he had informed the Ministry's
Aurors of her disappearance? Panicked, she didn't notice Draco cutting open a juicy apple and offering a small
piece to her.
Apparently he hadn't heard her last sentence, or he chose to ignore it. "It's not a big surprise you know.
This is Harry Potter we are talking about," said Draco, some of his childhood bitterness still with him.
Returning to the conversation, Ginny said , "It wasn't easy. Pansy turned up at the wedding with a bunch of
Slytherins claiming that she and Harry were perfect examples of a Slytherin -Gryffindor union. She managed to convince
Fudge that they needed to put the wedding on a hold, but everything was sorted out. However, not before Pansy sprouted
at least a dozen pimples, thanks to a rather furious moi," said Ginny, still uncomfortable.
Draco couldn't control the laughter anymore and burst unceremoniously into rather girlish giggles. "Have you
thought about our own situation? If you don't remember, we were the perfect example of a Slytherin-Gryffindor union
too," he said with an amused glint in his eyes. "Thank Merlin the rule was scratched after your attack on
Pansy," he said.
She looked at him in shock, as if the thought had just occurred to her. Her panic intensified as she realized that she
was sitting in a manor far away from London with Draco Malfoy. What had she been thinking? She gaped at him
with her mouth wide open, trying to get a few intelligent words out. Her predicament seemed to amuse him further.
"The youngest and most spirited Weasley at a loss for words. How I wish I had a camera right now," he said as
he gave her a small wink.
His words didn't penetrate through the haze that surrounded Ginny, and she didn't realize that he still had
more to say. He always enjoyed teasing her. "You make a rather attractive Flounder fish, you know?" he
said.
"No one knew I was dating you except Harry, Ron, and Hermione," said Ginny softly.
His expression changed as he realized what she meant. He placed his hand on hers, gently rubbing his thumb over her
already white knuckles. "I think it's time for another visit to my pensive," he said softly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~While looking through the pensive~~~~~~
"Draco," came the soft voice from behind him. A seventeen-year-old Draco Malfoy, who was surrounded by a bunch of Slytherins, turned around. His smile vanished as he saw Ginny standing there. She clutched her small waist as she took trembling steps towards him.
"I'm pregnant," she said softly. He cursed loudly before steering her away from all the prying eyes of
the other Slytherins. A 22-year-old Ginny followed the unlikely pair, unnoticed by those around her who were curiously
whispering.
As the two seventeen-year-olds entered an empty classroom, Draco turned over to her and roughly shoved her onto a
bench.
"What were you saying?" he asked painfully.
"I'm pregnant with your child," she said softly.
"And how am I to know that this is my child?" he asked, acid dripping from his voice. Anger was evident on
the younger Ginny's face as the older one recalled a small itch she had experienced to slap the Slytherin before
her.
"Draco, you know this child is yours, and I know how hard this is for you. I'll just leave you alone. I want you to come to terms with this," she said, as she gently rose to leave the room.
The younger Ginny gave out a soft screech as Draco Malfoy caught hold of her hand and twirled it around.
"Don't go around blaming me for something Thomas is responsible for Weasley," he spat out venomously.
"I don't want anything to do with either you or this child you're carrying", he hissed . The older
Ginny winced as she recalled the impact of the slap she had administered thereafter. The younger one turned on her heel
and left the room.
"That went well," came a menacing voice from deep within the dark shadows that occupied the room. The foreboding figure of Lucius Malfoy step out from the shadows as the older Ginny's hand flew to her mouth.
"I suppose so," said Draco, taking a painful breath. Lucius Malfoy took a few closer steps to his son and
said in a menacing whisper, "You play all you want, but I don't want you associated with her in any way,"
he said, smiling deviously.
The older Ginny understood Draco's predicament as the room disappeared from before her eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She felt the familiar tug of being pulled out of the pensive, and she gave into the temptation and promptly burst into
tears. Gentle hands enveloped her in a hug, as she felt comforting words being muttered in her ear.
So that was the reason for all that hatred then. And all along she had blamed the man she loved for hurting her. As her
sobs finally subsided, Draco stepped away to look deeply into her eyes. "I think you need to be alone for a
while," he said. He turned and left the room.
It was in that moment that she realized that Draco might be sorry for what happened, that he might be able to make her
feel safe, even attractive. But that man could never love her.
a/n: Now review.
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