We Hold These Truths...
"Checkmate," Ron said quietly not believing what was about to happen. Draco let his gaze roam across the board and without a second thought, knocked his King down a split second before the Gryffindor side erupted into cheers. Ron sat there staring at Draco, then felt Harry clap him on the shoulder. Over Harry's head Ron saw Hermione looking at him strangely; then his attention was diverted when Ginny, smiling and not upset in the least, asked Ron what his part of the bet was. Ron turned towards Draco, who was still sitting.
"I have to go tell Dumbledore because I need his help. Hold on," Ron said and with another odd look that only Hermione caught, he made his way through the crowd up to the head table.
He wasn't gone but a few minutes when, along with Harry he made his way back to the table.
"So, what embarrassing idea have you concocted for me?" Draco asked, standing up when he heard an excited murmur run through the crowd. Ginny craned her neck to see what the noise was about.
"Oh, I think you know…," Ron said, and Ginny walked around the table with Draco and they stood next to Ron.
The students parted leaving a pathway towards the front of the room where the heads of houses were staring down at something while Dumbledore stood quietly to the side.
Hermione let out an involuntary gasp when she saw a black, grand piano in the corner, conjured up by Dumbledore. Even Draco paused for a moment, taking in the beauty of the instrument. Ginny grabbed his arm and felt his hand come up and touch hers. She was scared, excited and nervous for him all at once. She turned, stood up and whispered into his ear.
"Good luck," she said. Draco squeezed her hand and made his way to the bench, very calmly, reverting into his controlled self. By now, the Professors had come down to watch, surprise on their face, even on Professor Snape's which Ginny had to admit was amusing to see.
Harry stood next to Hermione to the side of the piano and on the other side of him was Ginny, looking almost terrified for Draco. Ron stood next to her followed by Luna and Neville. Tom, Susan, Blaise and Maggie curved around behind Draco as he sat down. They made up the first row of students who formed a curved line around them, encircling the piano.
Draco turned around and his eyes sought out Hermione's and rested there for a second before moving past Harry to Ginny and he said so softly, "For Ginny," that the row behind Harry started nudging him asking him what Draco had said. Ginny started and roughly grabbed her brother's arm; Draco turned back around and from the first keys his fingers touched, had the entire school watching him in utter silence.
Hermione had never heard Draco play and now realized what Ginny was talking about at Christmas time. He played with so much emotion that Hermione was sure that the real Draco was somewhere else at the moment, probably pointing and rolling around on the floor laughing at this stranger playng the piano.
As the notes slowly built and found their way around the room they caused many people's eyes to widen andtears to appear in Professor McGonagall's eyes.Hermione saw Ginny under her brother's arm, her head leaning against Ron as she watched Draco intently.
Hermione reached for Harry's hand and felt the music enter her heart and she looked up at Harry who was shell shocked as Draco's fingers pounded out the keys, then in one swift movement sent soft notes flying around them.
Harry turned towards Hermione and met her gaze…she smiled at him and he hugged her looking over her head seeing Professor Snape sitting down in a chair his head bent towards Professor McGonagall.
Neville was holding Luna who for once was speechless and was staring straight at Draco's hands moving up and down the key's, the notes getting louder and the tempo increasing as he put his whole body into the song that many people had never heard, save Hermione.
Ginny leaned heavily against Ron as she blocked everything out of her mind, her eyes glued to Draco, tears in the corner but too stunned to even wipe them away. Her heart was in her throat, her legs shaking as she knew what this song meant a gift from him to her; one she would always remember and treasure. Her tears spilled over as she watched his hands, not missing a note.
Suddenly, the tempo changed and became slow, thoughtful and soft again, then the final chord was struck, soft and resonating in the silence of the great hall. Hermione swore she heard sniffs behind her and saw Ginny staring in disbelief as Ron practically held her up.
Shaking, Ginny's clung to her brother, tears in her eyes as people began asking her what song it was. She had no idea and just shook her head at them.
Turning from his seat, the crowd erupted into applause, followed by whistles and shouts. Professor McGonagall had a tissue up to her eyes; Professor Dumbledore looked very proud and was smiling widely. Professor Snape looked as if he had been petrified.
Ginny saw Draco stand up and his eyes met hers. Not breaking his gaze, went straight over to Ginny, pulled her to him and kissed her right there in front of her brother, in front of the entire school. Ginny let out a sob and he drew back, a finger lightly wiping a tear away. She could hear many hollers, yelling, and an occasional, "I told you!" from one student to another.
Draco pulled away from a crying Ginny but kept his arm around her shoulders, as students came up saying how wonderful it was combined with how surprised they were. He shook people's hands and even got a hug from a few girls, which seemed to totally throw him. Ginny excused herself to go visit Moaning Myrtle, not being able to control the tears flowing down her face, reliving that he played that for her and had just kissed her in front of the whole school!
Draco's eyes scanned the room trying to get away from the crowds of students and the strange look Snape was giving him. Spotting Harry and Hermione near the wall, he made his way over there and cleared his throat, interrupting them in the middle of a nice snog.
"Where's Ginny?" Hermione asked, blushing slightly having forgotten they were kissing with the whole school watching.
"Visiting Moaning Myrtle at the moment," Draco had his hands in his pockets and his gaze settled on Harry.
"That was amazing," Harry said not caring that it was Malfoy, a Slytherin he was talking to. "If you had done that last year I would have to make fun of you, but this year...I have to give you credit."
"Thanks, I think," Draco nodded at him and turned to Hermione. He mentally took a deep breath and said softly, "Thanks for the idea Hermione, I think it went over well," and with that he continued down the path between the two tables, still receiving kudos from students of all houses.
"He just called you 'Hermione'," Harry stared in the direction that Draco had been walking.
"Yes, he sure did."
"It was your idea? I don't understand." Harry asked turning to look at Hermione, but she was staring at the piano.
Hermione knew now that Draco lost on purpose. This was his gift to Ginny, and Hermione understood that Ron also knew Draco lost on purpose. She hoped that Ron wouldn't say anything; this would make a great story to surprise Ginny with one day, when the time was right.
"I'll explain it to you later. Right now, I think we should head upstairs and DISCUSS some more plans for the wedding," Hermione said in a low voice and Harry understanding that tone, grabbed her hand and pulled her out and up the stairs.
As Hermione was taking Harry upstairs, Draco managed to untangle himself from some seventh year Hufflepuff who was saying she loved his song and he made it to Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom as Ginny came out.
"You ok?" Draco asked and she smiled up at him, not quite sure what to say never having anyone do anything so much larger than life for her before. Standing there staring at him, Ginny felt warm air rush by her face and noticed someone had opened the window, letting in the warm May breeze. She smelled the sweet aroma of flowers and decided a walk would be nice. She wanted to get away from the students and teachers that would probably come and find them soon.
"Fancy a walk?" Ginny asked quietly and Draco nodded.
Holding the door for her they stepped outside to a full moon illuminating the grounds, making the trees look like three dimensional shadows and causing the lake to shine like a pensieve. Taking her hand, he led her down the stairs and towards the pitch, following the path reflecting the moon's light.
"That was beautiful; I am really speechless," Ginny said shyly, trying to sort out the multitude of feelings that were flying through her. She could feel some thought or feeling emitting from Draco and it was confusing her as to what it was. Draco didn't say anything; he just squeezed her hand as they walked slowly past the changing rooms. (Ginny felt her face turn red as she thought of the fun they had in her changing room awhile back). Letting Draco guide her Ginny followed him into the Pitch and around the corner to one of the stands, where he stopped in the shadows.
"What was the name of that song?" Ginny asked.
"Pachelbel's Canon in D," Draco answered and he turned towards her, taking her other hand.
"Well, I liked it; loved it in fact," Ginny said feeling his hands squeeze hers and she swore she felt a tremor in them. He took a step towards her so they could see each others faces in the moonlight.
"I'm glad you did, because…," he began and paused, trying to calm his nerves and wondered why he was doing this to himself. He now remembered why he didn't like getting emotional because you couldn't control the way it made you feel and react inside. He heard Ginny make a noise urging him to continue and he looked down at her and looked intently into her eyes.
"Because I love you Ginny," he said so earnestly Ginny almost stumbled to the ground right there. She said the first thing that came to her mind as she felt him squeeze her hands hard, as if asking for the courage to continue.
"Whaaat?"
She heard him take a deep breath, "I love you. I have thought about everything we have gone through and realized that this summer and next year will be hard, especially your seventh year and I don't know how to make it any easier on you. There will be times where we won't even get beyond a "Hello" and we will definitely not be able to attend the Yule Ball together and to help you through that I just want you to know that I love you. I have never felt this way for anyone else, ever and I can't imagine me feeling it for anyone but you."
Ginny pulled her hands from his as they flew up to her mouth trying to take in everything he had just said. A few heartbeats later she launched herself at him almost knocking him down and at the same time she reached up and kissed him with a passion she didn't know she had, hands grabbing his sweatshirt and pulling him to her, then cupping his face in her hands she pulled back feeling his hands press into her back so she wouldn't fall over. She removed her hand to wipe the tears that were falling down her face again.
"I'm sorry I'm such a mess; I'm overwhelmed I guess," Ginny wiped her other cheek and felt his hand come up and cup her face.
"We're both a mess…a Weasley and a Malfoy together; who would have thought that would ever happen?" he asked.
"Certainly not me," Ginny gave a small a laugh, "But we are a mess."
"Then, we will just have to untangle the mess and make it work," he said seriously and touched his lips to hers, loving her little gasp and the taste of mint from the candy she had been eating during the match.
"We should probably go back," Ginny said breathlessly as he pulled back to breathe.
"You're right. We should," he sighed in agreement and together they walked up the path, arms wrapped around each other.
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The next day Ginny woke up and stared at her ceiling, Draco's words playing over and over in her head. She had felt like she was falling head over heels in love again, acting shy, not being able to meet his eyes for very long until she started blushing; a whole new level had been reached and she wondered if this is as far as they could go given the circumstances coming their way.
'Of course', she thought staring at the ceiling, 'I could sleep with him; that would bump it up a notch!' But Ginny had made a promise to herself to try and wait until she was 17; Merlin knows she wanted to be 17 now, but that wasn't happening until August 11th, and she and Draco hadn't even really talked about it; each knew the other was a virgin but that was about the extent of the knowledge that had been shared.
'But, if we don't do it now while school is still in session, when will we? I'll be almost 18 by the time we could do anything especially if we have to be careful next year,' sighing Ginny sat up and looked around at her sleeping friends. Susan's bed was empty and she was in the shower.
Realizing she needed to eat before Quidditch practice, she quickly got up, used the bathroom and got dressed for practice, then headed down to the Great Hall.
Her team was huddled together at the Gryffindor Table looking very sleepy; sliding in next to Harry she helped herself to some eggs and bacon.
"You seem very chipper this morning," Harry appraised her, spooning more sugar onto his cornflakes.
"Maybe I am," Ginny said slyly.
"And why would that be? Anything to do with yesterday's piano performance?" Ron asked grumpily clearly not a morning person.
Ginny shrugged and took a bite of her bacon keeping her eyes level with Ron.
"You didn't sleep with him did you?" Ron asked pointedly and Harry's fork clattered to his plate.
"Ron!" Harry reprimanded as Dean and the rest of the team looked up.
"You know what Ron, I would have told you if you didn't automatically jump to that conclusion; now you will never know," Ginny said angrily and looked down at her plate.
Ron glared at her and Ginny angrily moved eggs around on her plate. Harry could feel the anger radiating off Ginny and didn't want her to make a scene with Ron.
"Well," Harry said thinking of something else to talk about, "Hermione and I decided to have Neville and Bill in the wedding, Ginny, with your brother as the best man."
"Who is on Hermione's side besides me and Samantha?" Ginny asked still not looking up.
"Luna, she asked her the other day," Harry said and Ginny nodded.
"Also, that song Draco played last night…," Harry stopped suddenly and stared at Ron who in turn was staring at him.
"Bloody hell Harry," Ron said quietly and Ginny looked up confused.
"I said "Draco" didn't I?" Harry said sounding amused.
"Yes you did," Dean mumbled next to Ron through a mouthful of toast.
"Huh," Harry thought for a moment, then shook his head, "Well anyway, we are using that song he played as our wedding song."
"You'll have to tell him," Ginny said to Harry meeting his eyes.
"I told him I liked it last night; he actually said Hermione's first name last night too," Harry mused and Ginny raised her eyebrows.
"Yea, well, that Chess game was strange," Ron said half to himself letting out a loud burp and then high fiving Dean for it.
"Why?" Ginny asked then kicked herself for asking him; she was supposed to be mad at him.
"I don't know; seems like he wasn't really concentrating," Ron hedged, not really wanting to come right out and say Draco lost on purpose. Harry knew more than Ron did but wasn't going to offer any explanation of the conversation between Hermione and Draco. "I guess now you can snog in public since everyone knows."
"We could have before if we wanted to, Ron. We just don't like to make a spectacle of ourselves," her eyes flicked to Dean thinking of him and Lavender but he was busy eating.
"And snogging in front of the whole school isn't?" Ron asked. Exasperated Ginny stood up, throwing her fork and napkin down and walked out, leaving everyone but Ron staring after her.
Ginny angrily yanked open the door feeling the cool morning air envelop her.
'Why does he have to be such a git,' Ginny thought to herself as she walked quickly down to the pitch, wanting to just fly by herself for a bit. 'I know he doesn't really like him, but to say things like that…what the hell is his problem?' Ginny opened the door to the changing room forcefully and saw Draco inside cleaning up from their early morning practice.
For a moment Ginny just stopped and stared and he looked at her surprised to see her so early. His surprise quickly turned into concern as he saw how angry she was.
"Sorry, I thought you all were done," Ginny said curtly walking in and letting the door close behind her.
"You look really angry," Draco took in her flushed face, her flashing hazel eyes, the set of her jaw and the tension that ran through her body.
"Ron."
"Ahh, I see," Draco put the last trunk of Quidditch balls in the corner with a wave of his wand.
"I mean where does he get off telling me how to run my life?" Ginny grabbed a school broom, forgetting to go back up to her room and get hers.
"I'm going to go fly. I didn't mean to unload on you," Ginny shut the locker that held the brooms, spun around and headed towards the door, but Draco was blocking it.
"You can't go out there angry because then you'll just take it out on him during practice; I'm NOT carrying your brother to the hospital wing," he said wisely. Ginny stopped and rested her forehead on her broom stick.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Do you hate Ron?" Ginny asked softly.
"Hate? I don't think I can say that I do especially since I am going out with his younger sister," Draco said carefully.
"I just wish I could make everyone happy," Ginny thought aloud and felt Draco take her into his arms. She thought about Ron being all mad, how Bill agreed to invite Draco to their wedding as her mother seemed of two minds about it, Pansy was giving her more dark meaningful looks than ever after last night, and try as she might she couldn't get her latest Potion to work either.
"Well, you can't," Draco answered and felt Ginny sigh into his chest. "Why don't you go fly and let off some steam? I need to go shower, study and then head to my mother's for some paperwork."
"Yeah, ok," Ginny said making no move to remove her arms from around his waist.
"Did you want to come with me?"
"Where? Your house?" Ginny asked pulling back and seeing him nod. The thought of seeing where he grew up sounded very exciting to her.
"I think I would if you don't think your mother would mind; I would love to get out of here for awhile," Ginny pulled back, remembering her rule about kissing him before a practice.
"She won't mind at all. I'll meet you by the dungeons before lunch?" He handed her the school broom and she nodded, smiling.
"See you then," she walked outside with him and he squeezed her shoulder and headed up to the castle.
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From Dumbledore's office they side along apparated to Wiltshire, England where The Malfoy's lived.
Malfoy Manor as it turns out was nothing what Ginny expected and it totally blew her mind.
She expected something dark, huge, grey clouds hanging over the manor and inside endless corridors lit by torches.
But what she got was a large house, with a tower on one side both made out of light colored stone, a gorgeous stained glass window of the Slytherin crest above the front double doors. There were trees in the back, a large sloping hill from the road up to the house and down each side. Along the side at the bottom of the hill to the right was a small cemetery surrounded by a wrought iron fence.
Rose bushed adorned the sides of the walkway and scattered in between them were small flowers that Ginny didn't know the names of, but they were lending a sweet smell to the air as she walked up the brick path lagging behind Draco out of both nerves and just generally curious about her surroundings.
He stopped at the front door and turned seeing her looking at the roses.
"Are you going to stop and smell the roses or come in?" he asked a slight smile at his mouth.
Ginny trotted up next to him and felt him take her hand as he led her inside the house. She didn't mean to let the gasp come out, but it did.
Marble floors stretched out ahead, to the left and to the right, stopping at a staircase that curved up to the second level. There were columns on each side of her rising up to the ceiling on either side of the stained glass.
Off to the right was a library and fireplace, she couldn't see what was behind the doors to the left, but straight ahead was a hallway with a large window at the end. She realized the whole first floor of her house could fit into the foyer of black and white marble.
Looking up she saw intricate designs on the ceiling and a gorgeous chandelier with candles, hundreds of them magically lit.
She let him lead her back the hallway, their shoes echoing off the walls. Portraits hailed Draco and called out to him, but he ignored them and Ginny barely got a glimpse of any of them as they walked by. She could hear music coming from the last room on the right and when Draco pushed open the door she was introduced to Narcissa Malfoy playing the piano, then stopping in the middle and looking up.
"Draco! And you brought Ginny, how wonderful," she stood up and seemed to glide over, shaking Ginny's hand warmly and getting a warm but short hug from Draco.
"Hullo, mum. How are you?" Draco asked, noticing she looked a little happier than when he left in January.
"I am wonderful. Just got back the other day from touring Africa. I wanted to see where you would be going with Severus. Dreadfully hot down there I am afraid," Mrs. Malfoy gestured them to the sofa tucked in the corner and Ginny let her gaze run around the room, taken over by a gigantic white grand piano, there were shelves on either side of a window with books and piano music; there was a fireplace opposite from the piano, a few comfortable chairs and an interesting looking rug in the middle…an expensive looking rug as Ginny looked at it, vaguely aware of Draco and his mother talking about the hospital.
"So Ginny, how are the last months of school going?" Mrs. Malfoy pulled Ginny's attention away from the rug.
"It's going well; just studying and getting ready for the last Quidditch match," Ginny replied, clasping her hands between her knees. She still felt nervous around his mother and even more so in this beautiful, rich house…or mansion actually.
"You'll be playing Draco's team then?" here eyes shifted from Draco to Ginny.
"Afraid so," Draco answered, setting his hand on Ginny's knee and watching his mother.
"I'll be chaser though, so I don't see him much. He and Harry can duel it out over the pitch," Ginny said, smiling at him then looked at his mother who had a small smile on her face.
"So, tell me…what do you think of my son teaching next year? You'll be his student after all."
Ginny wasn't sure how to answer and thought for a minute feeling Draco lightly squeeze her knee and she hesitantly placed her hand on his, knowing his mother was watching.
"I know he will be a great Potions teacher; it will be strange to be in his class but I'll also be in Harry's DADA class to, so my year will definitely be interesting," Ginny said carefully.
"I'm sure it won't be easy. Will you still play Quidditch?"
Ginny nodded then realized that they didn't come here to talk about her.
"You two can go ahead and do your paperwork; don't mind me," Ginny removed her hand from Draco's but he left his on her knee, squeezing it so slightly she knew his mother couldn't see but she could sure feel it. She moved her arms, making sure she elbowed him at the same time and he just raised his eyebrows at her. Ginny loved little private, flirty moments like this and committed each one to memory, dreading when they would end next year.
"Let's go get some lunch, then Ginny can wander around while we sign paper after paper," Mrs. Malfoy said, getting up and leading them to the kitchen which was across from the library. A fancy meal was set out on the table, pretty much ensuring that anyone who walked in would find something that they liked in the grouping on the table.
During lunch they made simple conversation, hearing about Narcissa's trip to America and Africa.
She relayed one or two funny stories about Draco from his childhood; the one about Draco waving his wand about when he was a toddler and he accidentally set fire to a bush outside. Ginny laughed and saw Draco roll his eyes, which made her laugh even more…which of course egged his mother on about the time he had a temper tantrum and was so angry he magically moved a vase off the table which, when it smashed, scared him and he started crying, forgetting what he was mad about.
After lunch, Ginny left them to their paper work and wandered freely through the library looking at the many Dark Arts books that lined the walls, the black leather chairs and expensive looking vases and other items that lined the table under the window.
She quietly walked down the hall seeing a dining room, the music room and an office all on the first floor.
Pausing by the beautifully carved staircase, made out of a wood she had never seen she wondered if she should go up; she really wanted to find Draco's room. Thinking maybe she would wait a bit, she walked back down the hall and into the music room taking note of the classical music on the piano and in the shelves.
She ran a finger along some of the titles then let it drop to her side. That unavoidable feeling of wanting to go upstairs and see if she could find his room was heavy in her chest, it was if the room was pulling her to it, so she walked past the kitchen, hearing distant voices talking but not being able to make out the words. Quietly, almost guiltily she climbed up the stairs, staring at the pictures of ancestors that adorned the walls, feeling the smooth polished wood beneath her left hand. Many portraits were napping but some were watching her as she walked by, not saying anything which she was happy about. Pausing at the top of the stairs she couldn't decide whether to go left or right so she picked the one with the least number of doors, the right side and walked down that way where most of the doors stood open, her heart beating fast as if she was doing something wrong and was worried she would get caught.
She had permission to wander around and there weren't any servants in sight so, 'why am I so nervous'? Ginny thought to herself, taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. She stared at a picture next to the first door; a family one with a young, squirming Draco on his mother's lap…he looked about three and was very cute with that familiar intense look. Seeing Lucius standing behind them, she felt a rush of anger towards him and glared at him long and hard until her eyes hurt. Taking another step forward, she slowly peeked in the first room at the top of the stairs.