Lisa David Normal Lisa David 10 7 1999-06-04T22:03:00Z 1999-06-10T22:01:00Z 4 2396 13662 Sunlight 113 27 16777 9.2720
Disclaimer: Only thing that's mine is the plot and anything that isn't from canon.
A/N: Second chapter.
Oops
"Mommy!"
Ginny Weasley looked up from the newspapers she was going through. Her long red hair was being pulled from her face carelessly by a clip, and it made her look quite young, although it did not quite disguise the worries, distress, and anguish bottled inside of her. As she watched her daughter fly down the stairs, she quickly forced her face into a big smile. "What is it, sweetie?"
"Aren't Uncle Harry and Aunt Hermione here yet?" the little girl demanded, childish anger etched all over her face. "I want to play with Lily!"
It always made Ginny have mixed feeling as she stared into the gray eyes of her daughter. Narcissa Molly Weasley looked like a mixture of she and Draco, not like Lily who was the exact feminine version of Harry except for her hair. Narcissa Molly, Molly for short, had beautiful strawberry blonde curls, gray eyes the exact shape as Draco's, Ginny's nose and mouth, but the rest of her face clearly defining her Malfoy heritage. Which was why she always reminded Ginny, however painfully, of that morning when she woke up, sleeping with Draco, and that day a few months later, when she realized that she was pregnant.
Ginny shook herself from the little reverie and tried to hide the newspapers. "I'm sure they'll be here soon," she said soothingly.
The doorbell rang then. Mrs. Hermione Potter was standing outside, holding the hand of Lily Potter, who instantly ran toward Molly and soon the two had dashed upstairs to play. Hermione grinned apologetically at Ginny. "Harry couldn't come," she said. "Things at the Ministry." She looked down at the newspapers Ginny had been trying to hide, and a worried look came over her pretty face. "Still no news?"
"Absolutely nothing," said Ginny, trying not to voice how desperate and helpless she really was. "I've been subscribing to every newspaper in existence in Britain and nothing about Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, or Narcissa Malfoy ever surfaced. It's like they just don't exist anymore."
Hermione nodded understandingly.
The Weasleys had not taken the news of Ginny's unfortunate pregnancy very well. Mrs. Weasley had fainted and promptly refused to talk to her daughter, the same thing Mr. Weasley had done. Percy advised Ginny to abort the baby, the twins promised to help her go after the "fucking bastard", and although Bill and Charlie didn't react as strongly they were too far away to be of much help to Ginny. Only Ron understood when Ginny refused to abort her child, and only Ron tried to argue with his family when Mr. Weasley determinedly threw Ginny out of the house, shouting how she'd disgraced her family.
Ginny couldn't argue with that. She did disgrace her family, if nothing else. Luckily, Harry and Hermione had been nice enough to take her into their house till she could find one of her own, and both, along with Ron and Cho, promised to help her till she find Draco. The only thing holding Ginny up, whenever her owls were returned from the Burrow with no answers or Howlers, or her invitations for her family to come and celebrate Christmas with her rebuffed for the past five years, and the fact that nobody, not even her mother, showed up when she gave birth to Molly, was that when she found Draco Malfoy and made him pay, perhaps her family would accept her again.
For six years, Ginny had subscribed to every newspaper and magazine existing in Britain, Muggle and wizard, and went through every article, every picture, every ad, for a mention of Draco and his whereabouts. But so far she had found nothing. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't find Draco. It was as if he were Unplottable or something. To Molly, she'd always said that her father had gone to a foreign country to buy her lots of presents, but she wasn't sure just how long would Molly keep on buying that tale. She always saw longing, however innocent and childish, whenever Lily Potter ran to Harry, and always the wistful look as Ron and Cho came with their newborn son, Arnold. And Molly had never known her grandparents either, the poor girl…
"Earth to Ginny," called Hermione teasingly. "What are you thinking about?"
Ginny heaved a sigh. "Just how hopeless the whole situation looks," she muttered, picking at her sofa like she was trying to murder it. "It's been six years, and I know all of us, you, Harry, Ron, Cho, and I, all of us tried everything we could to find that idiot, and even with all of us, we don't even have a fucking clue where he might be." She couldn't care less at her choice of language. "Oh God…if only I weren't so stupid…if only I weren't so naïve…jealous of you and Harry…none of these would've happened…what if we never find him? What would I tell my daughter? Your mother got drunk and got raped? Is that what I should tell her?"
"No! Ginny, don't say that!" cried Hermione. "Don't give up hope."
"Why shouldn't I? Malfoy doesn't even know that he's got a daughter, and he probably never will. He's probably married with a loving family, having no idea how he's ruined my entire life. My whole family excommunicated me, for Merlin's sake!"
"Mommy!"
Molly came running down to Ginny, hugging Ginny tightly. "Mommy, don't cry!" Molly said. "You always told me that crying is no good."
Hermione laughed. "That's right, Gin," she said. "Listen to the wisdom of your daughter. We all believe in you, and there's no reason for you to lose faith."
Ginny wiped her tears and tried to grin. I shouldn't have lost control in front of Molly, she thought, regaining her composure. "I guess even Mommy has to eat her own words sometimes," she said ruefully. "Herm, you're probably right. I shouldn't lose faith; I suppose everything just seemed so hopeless before and I just broke down."
The doorbell rang again. "Dad!" Lily shouted joyfully as the door opened to reveal Harry.
"I thought you had something to do at the Ministry," said Hermione, surprised, as she hugged Harry. "What's with that big, enigmatic smile on your face?"
Ginny looked at Harry closely as she hugged him. Indeed, something was twinkling in Harry's green eyes. "I did have something to do at the Ministry, ladies," Harry said, taking something from his pocket. "Ginny, I think I have something you might like. I found Draco."
~*~
Draco Augustus leaned back in the armchair of his office and sighed contentedly. It was a beautiful spring day and soon Colette was coming so they would go out to a diner. He smiled slightly as he thought of his elegant, French fiancée. Colette had aristocratic blood in her. She had long, light brown hair and pale blue eyes, with the carriage of a queen. Not to mention that she was quite rich…Draco mused, as he looked at the business papers in front of him. He and Colette had been engaged for a week now, and the wedding was next month.
It's been six years since he and his family had run to France to hide. His father was captured still by a French Auror, but his mother and him were spared. Still, he took his mother's maiden name just to be safe, and hardly ever associated himself with any mentions of Malfoy. His mother died a few years ago, and that was all anyone had heard of the name Malfoy. Draco had no idea of what exactly happened to the Malfoy Manor, but he really couldn't care less. He had a much better life in France.
Draco smirked. The bank he owned was one of the most renown ones in France. Hundreds of people came to deposit their moneys here, and it didn't take Draco long to squeeze out all of his competitors, thus monopolizing the financial world of the French wizarding world. That was how he'd met Colette. She was a French witch, very haughty, and he clearly remembered the day when she came with the most Galleons he'd ever seen at one setting. It had only taken a few weeks for his Malfoy charm to work.
There was only one thing that Draco was worried about. He'd kept his bank totally within France, so nobody from other countries could come and deposit. His bank was not like Gringotts, a branch in every city in existence, except for Paris, of course. Why? He didn't want to be recognized. He knew how reporters like Rita Skeeter were. If he were to make it onto her headlines, then she'd have every single detail of his background dug up, and it wouldn't take long for someone as nosy as Skeeter to figure out that he was none other than Draco Malfoy, thought to have disappeared a while ago. Draco wasn't afraid that he'd end up in Azkaban; he was not a Death Eater, and his father was too dead to frame him, but now that he was engaged to an aristocratic French lady and had established a life of his own, he had no intention of changing that.
Draco looked at the copy of the Daily Prophet in front of him with disgust. He had never allowed a picture of himself to be taken for a British newspaper, lest anyone should find him out, but there he was, waving and smiling as he toasted to his fiancée. He remembered the time and setting perfectly. It was only yesterday, at the dinner party Colette threw for her engagement. There were so many reporters and flashes and Draco was too drunk to worry which newspapers those reporters worked for. He'd bet a thousand Galleons that Rita Skeeter was one of them. He sighed and shredded the picture of him. Whatever, he thought. The newspaper was published yesterday and so far I haven't gotten any Howlers. Nobody would link Draco Augustus with Draco Malfoy, now would they? He shrugged. Why worry himself when he didn't need to?
~*~
"I didn't think it was the Draco at first," Harry explained, as he handed the article to Ginny, who was staring at it with wide eyes. "I thought it was just a coincidence when my coworkers mentioned some lavishly luxurious dinner party in France held by Draco Augustus. But then they showed me this article and its picture, and there's no mistaking in that famous Malfoy smirk of our dear friend's."
Ginny held the newspaper with trembling hands, watching the pale man with the blonde hair as he raised a wineglass incessantly up to toast to a beautiful brunette next to him. No doubt his fiancée, she thought darkly as she read the caption of the photograph, informing her that Draco was the president of the Augustus Bank of France, filthily rich just like he was back in Britain, and about to marry to Colette Atort, another wealthy witch, descendant of Marie Antoinette's relatives supposedly.
"No wonder we couldn't find him," she heard herself saying in a hollow tone. "He's in France, flourishing away." After a moment, she felt she might as well add it, since she knew everybody else was adding it in his or her heads. "And yes, he's engaged. About to be married!"
Harry looked at the girls who were listening attentively. "Let me take you ladies out," he said to the girls.
"You aren't going to let him go that easily, are you?" Hermione whispered when Harry took the two girls outside for ice cream. "You aren't going to let him enjoy a restful life while you're here, bearing the name of a dishonored daughter and raising Molly all by yourself."
"I'm strong. I can do it."
"You can't. I know you're strong, Ginny, but you need support just like everyone else," said Hermione. "You've tried to find him for six years just so that he would continue leading a fulfilled life? You should at least get him to pay, for goodness' sakes! Why should you alone bear that name while it's his fault just as much as yours? Take Molly to him and that snobby girlfriend of his, and let's see his reaction."
Ginny felt her grip on the newspaper tighten. "What would I say? What would I do? What if I end up humiliating myself in France instead of getting what I want?" She paused. "What do I want?"
Hermione looked at the grinning man in the newspaper. "Well…" she said, musing. "You don't have to say anything. Just show him Molly. Anyone with half a brain could see a feminine Draco in Molly. How is that going to embarrass you?"
"He may turn the tables!" Ginny said. "You know him back in Hogwarts…you know what kind of an asshole our dear Draco was. He may just say that I raped him. He may just get international articles about how I'm some whore, some slut, and-"
"You want your family to forgive you, Ginny," Hermione reminded her. "And now you finally got a chance to. I have a suggestion. You must get Draco to marry you, not that stupid French woman who looks like she's been painted with makeup ever since birth."
"Marry him?"
Hermione shook her head and grinned. "First marry him and get your share of his property," she said, her eyes sparkling with mirth. "And then, well…simple, divorce him. Publicize it. Make sure that everyone knows that the head of the oh-wonderful bank has been dumped by his wife. That'll sure make the headlines, and since that makes Molly a legitimate child and earned you a fortune, I'm sure your family won't stay mad at you." She saw Ginny's look of surprise. "I guess I'm a bit wild," she said with a grin. "I've been reading too much of the Death Eaters' confessions and plans when Harry was still an Auror, and what do you know? They rubbed in. It is a bit mean, but considering how Draco never bothered to look into how you're doing, I say it's only suitable."
"Hermione, that's brilliant!" Ginny cried, hugging her friend. "You are absolutely brilliant. Is international Apparition allowed? I'm Apparating to that bank of his with Molly immediately."
"If you get a license," replied Hermione. "Cho can get one for you. By this evening, you will be in Draco's office, giving him a shock he'll never forget."
"And he better not," Ginny said, a rare look of cold determination settling in her usually warm brown eyes. "Draco Augustus Malfoy, it's payback time."
~*~
Kissing Colette had never been as satisfying as Draco would like. For some reason, he felt that he was merely attracted to the immense wealth of Colette Atort, and not really her beauty. Oh sure, she was drop-dead beautiful, but she was cold as an ice cube, and very demanding. Draco supposed the only reason he gave her the emerald ring was because of the fact that she had immense influence in France, and could end his career if she even cocks her pinky.
"Cheri, what are you thinking?" said Colette, her slender arms wrapped around Draco.
Draco groaned internally; though he did not dislike or hate her, he definitely did not love her to the point when she could demand everything from him, like she was about to now.
"You, of course," said Draco.
"I'm thinking about our wedding, mon cheri," Colette said. "I don't think that the platinum jewelry set you gave me is quite enough. You know the golden jewelry set we saw quand nous étions en train de magasiner? I think those look a bit more exquisite and will go well with the wedding gown my mother gave me for my birthday." She smiled at Draco seductively. "Est-ce que je peux?"
God! Doesn't she think that those platinum necklaces and rings cost enough? Draco thought with great annoyance. Sometimes, underneath that beautiful mask of a face, he was sure that a serpent lay dormant, ready to spring. "Of course, sweetie; tomorrow," he said, disentangling from her, which was rather fortunate, for the door opened just then.
His butler came into the office, looking a bit scared as Colette fixed him with her piercing glare. "I'm sorry to intrude, Master," he said, trembling, "but a young lady is demanding to see you. I tried to stop her, but she won't be placated…"
Draco didn't have time to respond that no, he didn't want to see anyone, and couldn't the butler see that Colette was trying to seduce him again (to no avail, of course), and throw the girl out if he had to, when a slim figure entered, holding the hand of a little girl. Looking down, Draco was immediately drawn to the eyes of the girl, being exactly like his, and her beautiful features, resembling him to an uncanny extent.
Then he looked up into the face of the young woman, surveying his surprise with triumph. His memory was immediately jolted by the necklace around her neck, the long flaming waves pulled back from her face, the face he'd seen that day six years ago…that face that had been so twisted with fear and confusion…
"Virginia Weasley."
French translations:
quand nous étions en train de magasiner-when we're shopping
est-ce que je peux-is that I can?
If it's wrong…*runs*