It's Never That Simple
Chapter Five
"Gin Gin?" Harry called as he brushed soot off his robes. "Where are you?" When Ginny didn't respond, Harry - ever the cautious, adventure-loving Gryffindor - pulled out his wand. After a quick yet thorough sweep of the living room and kitchen, Harry made his way down the hall. When he finally reached Ginny's bedroom, he opened the door cautiously and immediately lowered his wand, feeling only a mite foolish. Ginny was sitting in the middle of her bed, clutching her favorite pillow and sobbing.
"Ginny?" Harry asked quietly as he moved to sit on the bed next to her. "What's wrong? Did something happen to Annabelle? Your parents? Ron?" he asked worriedly.
Unable to stop crying long enough to form words, Ginny shook her head furiously. Harry sighed and gathered her into his arms. He had never been good with girls and their emotions, but many years of being Ginny's best friend had taught him a few helpful things. Right now, he rubbed her back soothingly and waited for the tears to stop. Finally, Ginny pulled away and wiped her streaming eyes, sniffling heavily.
"I didn't realize the prospect of having lunch with me was so horrible," Harry said lightly, trying to make Ginny smile as he conjured a handkerchief and handed it to her.
"It's not that," Ginny said stuffily, gratefully accepting the handkerchief.
"Did Steve say something?" Harry asked suddenly, his face darkening. "Because I swear to God, if that bastard -"
"No, Harry," Ginny interrupted. "When I dropped Annabelle off at the hotel this morning he was a perfect gentleman. Please don't start harassing the father of my child."
"He'd deserve it," Harry mumbled darkly, earning a watery laugh from Ginny. "So what's wrong?" Harry asked quietly.
"Nothing," Ginny said immediately, then laughed at the look on Harry's face.
"I wasn't born yesterday, Gin Gin," he chided gently. "What's wrong?" When Ginny didn't respond or meet his eyes, Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Listen, Gin, d'you want me to get Malfoy? Maybe he could…" Harry trailed off at the look of terror on Ginny's face. "What?" he asked slowly. Ginny shook her head furiously and looked away.
"I'm fine, Harry," Ginny said, her voice several octaves higher than normal. "I just need a minute to freshen up."
"Oh my God," Harry breathed in astonishment, "it's Malfoy, isn't it?"
Ginny looked at him sharply. She began to shake her head then stopped. "Yes," she said quietly, suddenly finding her pillow very interesting as tears welled up in her eyes again.
"What happened? Did he break up with you?" Harry asked as gently as he could. He could practically hear Ginny's voice in his head telling him that now was not the time for a showcase of his overbearing, protective side. I can kill Malfoy later, Harry thought, attempting to placate himself. It didn't work very well.
"No," Ginny said miserably. "He proposed." And with that she broke out into tears again. When she stopped crying this time - which took considerably less time - Harry pulled away and stared her straight in the eye.
"He proposed? And this is sad, how?" Ginny mumbled something that Harry didn't quite catch. "I'm sorry?"
"I said 'no,'" Ginny said loudly, before breaking away from Harry and wrapping her arms around herself miserably.
"You said 'no,'" Harry repeated slowly. "You said 'no?'"
Ginny nodded miserably. "And then he said we were over and didn't even give me time to explain-"
Harry held up his hand to stop her. "Don't try to play the victim here, Ginny," he said sternly. "Malfoy has waited for you for six bloody years. Six years, Ginny! You've loved each other since you were sixteen and now, after you've been happily dating him for a year, you suddenly decided that you don't want to marry him?"
"I never said that I wanted to marry him in the first place," Ginny shot back angrily.
"Give us all a break, Ginny," Harry snapped angrily. "Of course you want to marry him." Harry paused and gave her a hard look. "You're scared," he said quietly.
"I'm not scared," Ginny scoffed at him.
"Then why the hell aren't you marrying him? I see the way you look when you talk about him, Ginny. You told your parents about him. Hell, you told Ron about him. If it hadn't been for Annabelle, you would never have married Steve because of him. You're scared because for the first time things are working out with him and you love him more than you've ever loved anyone else, except Annabelle. And you're happy and you're afraid something is going to go wrong. You're afraid that he's going to get bored of you and have an affair."
"So what if I am?" Ginny shot back, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. "My last relationship didn't turn out very well-"
"Don't use Steve as an excuse," Harry interrupted in an exasperated voice. "I don't agree with what Steve did - in fact, I would kill him for it if it weren't for Annabelle - but you brought that on yourself. You never should have married him in the first place, and you know it."
"I'm not using him as an excuse," Ginny said, her voice small, choosing to ignore the rest of his rather astute assessment.
"Do you love him, Ginny?" Harry asked quietly. "Can you even imagine your life without him?"
Ginny shook her head sadly. "No," she mumbled, more to herself than to Harry. "I can't."
"Then tell him."
***
Draco reread the sentence for the fifty-seventh time. Still not taking in a word that it said, he sighed and rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. It had been a week since he had last seen Ginny and he had not slept once.
He got up from his desk - abandoning his work for the millionth time that evening - and stretched languidly, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was only seven o'clock. Draco sighed again and sat down in his chair. He picked up the memo and started reading.
***
Ginny inhaled deeply, a feeble attempt to calm her nerves, and tucked an errant curl behind her ear. Bracing herself for the worst, Ginny knocked confidently on the front door of Malfoy Manor.
A small, dirty house elf answered the door almost immediately and a look of relief washed over his face.
"Mistress Ginny is back!" Dinky squeaked. "Master does not sleep anymore and he yells at poor Dinky and Tally. But I tells Tally that Mistress will make everything better and here you is!"
"Er, may I come in?" Ginny asked uncertainly. No matter how much time she spent at Malfoy Manor, she had never truly been able to become accustomed to house elves.
Dinky shook his head sadly. "Master says no visitors allowed. He is doing important business and he is not wanting to be disturbed. But if you was to come inside and Dinky is not knowing…"
Ginny smiled brightly. "Thanks!"
***
"I thought I said that I didn't want to be interrupted," Draco snapped coldly without looking up from his papers when he heard the door to his study open quietly.
"I thought you said I was always welcome to interrupt your work because you didn't like it all that much anyway," Ginny responded lightly as she stepped into the room and closed the door quietly behind her. Draco's shoulders tightened but he did not look up.
"I thought I said that when I walked out your door we were finished," he responded tensely.
"I thought you said that you would always love me."
"I thought I said….screw this," he muttered angrily, standing up and glaring at Ginny from behind his desk. "What the hell are you doing here, Ginny?"
"I love you," Ginny said quietly, suddenly overcome by nerves. Perhaps it would have been better to simply let this entire situation go. She could survive without Draco. I don't want to survive without Draco, she thought fiercely and her resolve hardened.
"I don't fucking care, Ginny," Draco said angrily. "At the risk of sounding like a girl, you broke my bloody heart. You let me walk out that door and you didn't come after me."
"I'm coming after you now," Ginny shot back desperately. She couldn't lose him, not again.
"Too late," Draco snarled.
"No," Ginny said firmly, "you are going to shut up and fucking listen to me, Draco."
"Get out," Draco said coldly. "I have work to do."
"If you don't do as you're told, you're going to feel the sharp end of my wand, Draco Malfoy," Ginny said in her best imitation of her mother. It always worked on Annabelle.
Shockingly, it seemed to work on Draco too. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. "Talk," he snapped irritably.
Ginny took a deep breath and began to explain. "I was scared," she said simply. "Every time things were going well with you - at least when I thought things are going well - something happened to completely screw it up…you were an arrogant arse, I was pregnant. I was afraid that something was going to go wrong-"
"What could possibly go wrong?" Draco asked incredulously.
"Well, I don't know! You could be eaten by a giant squid or we could all get attacked by dragons or-"
"The possibility of me getting eaten by a giant squid or Britain getting attack by dragons is shockingly low."
"I never said I was being rational!" Ginny exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "The point is that I was scared I was going to lose you again and it was going to break my heart. So I pushed you away. And now I know that I did lose you, but it was because of my own stupid…stupidity." Draco snorted in a decidedly un-Malfoy way and Ginny glared at him.
"I can live without you, Draco," she said quietly after a short pause. "But I don't want to. So," she said with a small smile as she dropped down on one knee in front of him, "will you please do me the honor of marrying me?"
Draco stared at her for a moment, a calculating look in his eyes, before he scowled and hauled her roughly to her feet.
"Malfoys don't beg," he said firmly, a twinkle in his eye.
"Well, excuse me for…" Ginny began huffily before trailing off. "Malfoys don't beg?" she repeated and Draco nodded. "Does that mean 'yes'?" she asked hopefully.
"I'll need an heir," Draco answered haughtily, examining his cufflinks.
"Prat," Ginny said with a laugh as she smacked him playfully on the chest. Draco caught her hand and pulled her against his chest.
"I love you, Ginny girl," he murmured against her lips, "but if you ever doing anything that stupid again -"
"Shut up and kiss me," Ginny interrupted, a large grin on her face.
"Your wish is my command."
***
Ginny looked down at her left hand, a sappy yet genuine smile on her face. She knew she was acting like the type of girl she usually mocked with Harry, but she couldn't help herself. She was sure she hadn't been this happy when she got engaged to Steve, so this must be a good sign…at least, she hoped it was.
Almost immediately after Draco had accepted her proposal, he had led her through a series of little used corridors and abandoned rooms until that reached a heavily warded vault. Once the wards have been removed, the door swung open to reveal mountains of priceless Malfoy heirlooms.
Upon seeing her shocked expression, Draco had shrugged nonchalantly. "Malfoys don't place a lot of trust in other people. All our gold is in Gringotts, but we keep our valuables here."
"Oh, yes," Ginny had responded sarcastically, "all that useless gold. Who cares if it gets stolen. It's only money, after all."
Draco had chuckled and muttered "ever a Weasley" under his breath as he led her to a large display case filled with jewelry. He told her that every ring a Malfoy woman had ever worn was in this case and she could have her choice.
Now, Ginny moved her hand so that the ring caught the late afternoon sunlight. It was simple, yet elegant and had belonged to Draco's grandmother. It was perfect.
Knock. Knock.
Ginny got up from the couch and opened the door to find a sleeping Annabelle in Steve's arms.
"Hey," she said quietly. "Come in."
"Thanks," he whispered in response. Ginny led the way to Annabelle's room and quickly dressed Annabelle in her pajamas. Steve leaned down to kiss Annabelle on the forehead. Ginny paused as a similar scene replayed itself in her head, and she smiled slightly.
"Thanks for letting me take Annabelle today," Steve said once they were back in the living room and Annabelle's door was safely closed. "You have no idea how much I miss her."
Ginny smiled. "She misses you too, Steve." Pause. "Would you like a cup of tea?"
Steve shook his head. "No, thanks. I should probably be getting back to my hotel."
"I insist," Ginny said firmly, taking his arm and guiding him into the kitchen. When they were each seated at the table, a mug of steaming tea clasped firmly in their hands, Ginny decided that it was now or never.
"I have something I need to tell you," she said, forcing her voice to remain even.
"I thought you might. Alright, let's hear it," Steve said with a small smile.
"I wanted to tell you before you hear it from anyone else," Ginny began nervously.
"You're engaged to Draco Malfoy," Steve interrupted, taking a sip of tea.
Ginny stared at him in shock. "How the bloody hell did you know?"
"You're acting more bizarrely than usual," Steve said, beginning to tick the reasons off on his fingers. "You want to tell me something before I hear from anyone else - probably Annabelle - because you're afraid it might hurt me. Annabelle had quite a bit to say about her Mummy's male friend that's always taking you two out to dinner. Oh, and you're wearing an engagement ring."
Ginny blushed furiously. "Steve-"
"I know you're not trying to hurt me, Ginny," Steve interrupted. "It does hurt a little, but I know that he makes you happy and that he'll take care of you and Annabelle. If you were ever going to remarry, I suppose Malfoy is the best choice. I know you don't need it, but you have my blessing," Steve concluded, giving her hand a tight squeeze.
"Now, I really do have to be getting back to my hotel. Early flight tomorrow," he said, standing up and walking to the door.
Ginny stood up and followed him to the door. "I'll see you next month for Annabelle's birthday?" she asked as she held the door open for him.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Ginny smiled and closed the door behind him. She stood staring at it for a few seconds before wrenching it open and dashing down the hall after Steve. He was already inside the elevator when she caught up with him.
"You were wrong before, Steve," she said slightly breathlessly. "I've always loved you."
He smiled. "I know."
***
"Do I have to do this?" Draco whined in Ginny's ear. Draco was attending his first ever Weasley Clan Gathering and, so far, Ginny's brothers were treating Draco with respect, with the proper encouragement from Harry. At least, they weren't treating him with open hostility.
"Yes," Ginny hissed back. "It's tradition!"
Draco sighed and stood up. Immediately the eyes of the entire Weasley Clan were fixed on Draco. He cleared his throat and glanced down at Ginny who smiled encouragingly. "They can't hurt me if I'm holding Annabelle," he muttered so that only Ginny could hear him and scooped Annabelle up into his arms. Ginny stifled a giggle.
"I have an announcement to make," Draco said loudly. "Ginny-"
"Mummy and Draco are getting married!" Annabelle squealed, unable to keep this exciting news to herself any longer. "And I get to wear a pretty dreth!"
Ginny and Draco took one look at each other before bursting out into laughter.
***
Ginny smoothed the imaginary wrinkles from her dress as she stared at herself in the mirror. So what if she had already been married once? She was still nervous. Well, maybe excited was more accurate. After all, she had no doubts about marrying Draco. He was exactly what she wanted in life and, finally, she was going to get it.
"You look beautiful, darling," Mr. Weasley said quietly as he stepped into the room. "They're ready for you."
Ginny turned around and smiled at him. "I know you've already given me away once," she said quietly, "but I'll always be your little girl."
Mr. Weasley smiled and kissed her forehead. "Of course you will be. Now, we don't want to keep Draco waiting."
No, I've already kept him waiting long enough, Ginny said to herself as she took her father's arm and let him lead her from the room.
***
"Draco," Ginny said loudly, poking him in the side. "Are you asleep?"
"Not anymore," he groaned as he rolled over and stared up at her groggily. "Gin, it's three o'clock in the morning and I have an early meeting tomorrow."
"Never mind, you can go back to sleep," Ginny said and lay down on her side with her back to her husband. She smirked as she heard Draco sigh and mumble something about insane witches before sitting up against the headboard.
"I'm awake now," he said tiredly. "What did you want to talk about?"
Ginny rolled over and smiled up at him. "Are you planning on naming your heir something outrageously pretentious and Malfoy-esque? Because that really doesn't work for me."
"I don't know," Draco snapped irritably. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Is that why you woke me up?"
Ginny smiled secretively. "We're there," she said quietly.
"Where?" Draco asked confusedly.
"The bridge," Ginny said, her smiling growing.
"What bri…" Draco trailed off as realization dawned on him. "You're pregnant!" Draco whispered in disbelief.
Ginny nodded happily. "And we're not naming him Octavius," she added firmly.
"I don't know," Draco mused. "Octavius Malfoy does have a certain ring to it."
***
"How's Mum?" Annabelle asked as she accepted the steaming cup of tea from Draco.
"She's doing fine. It'll be another couple of hours before the baby's born if you want to take a nap."
Annabelle shook her head. "I'm alright," she said quietly.
"Are you?" Draco asked, taking the seat next to her. "Because you haven't seemed alright lately."
"I'm fine," Annabelle snapped. "Sorry, Da," she said after a short pause.
"Why don't you just tell me what's on your mind?"
"It's stupid," Annabelle mumbled and took a large gulp of tea.
"Malfoys are never stupid."
"I'm not a Malfoy," Annabelle responded despondently.
"Just because we don't share the same genes doesn't mean you aren't my daughter," Draco responded firmly. "And that makes you a Malfoy."
Annabelle sighed. "I'm starting Hogwarts in a month and you and Mum are going to have the new baby and you're going to forget about me," she said quickly, the Weasley blush staining her cheeks.
"Your Mum could never forget about you," Draco began but Annabelle cut him off before he could finish.
"Of course Mum won't forget about me," Annabelle responded as if that was the most absurd idea in the world.
"Ah," Draco said as realization dawned and he leaned back in his chair.
"Did I ever tell you about my father?" Draco asked after a few moment's of silence. Annabelle shook her head. "He was incredibly busy as I was growing up so I didn't spend a lot of time with him. The only thing he taught me was that being a Malfoy meant that we didn't bow down to anyone.
"During my first year at Hogwarts, your Uncle Harry made the Gryffindor Quidditch team and your Aunt Hermione was the top of our year. My father was so angry that I hadn't made the Slytherin team and that a Muggleborn witch had beat me in every exam. I distinctly remember the look in his eyes that blatantly said that I had disgraced him. So, I worked harder to prove myself worthy of bearing the Malfoy surname and while I rarely received praise, I didn't get reprimanded quite as often.
"After the Dark Lord returned at the end of my fourth year, my father didn't even have time to reprimand me any more. He was absorbed in doing the Dark Lord's bidding. I was no longer important in his life. At the end of my fifth year, he was convicted of being a Death Eater and sent to Azkaban. That was when I vowed that I would never be like my father. I didn't want to be like the man that vowed his life to a creature not fit to walk this earth. And I certainly didn't want to be like the man who didn't know the first thing about being a father, the man who ignored his son."
"Just because I'm about to have another child, doesn't mean I'll forget about you." Draco stood up and stretched. "I'm going to see how your Mum is doing. Take a nap, we'll probably be here for a while yet."
"Hey, Da," Annabelle called after him as he reached the door to the waiting. "I love you."
Draco smiled. "I love you too, Squirt."
***
"Annabelle," Ginny said quietly, "I want you to meet your baby brother."
"He's adorable," Annabelle responded excitedly. Draco and Ginny beamed. "Can I hold him?"
"Of course," Ginny said before showing her the proper way to hold a baby.
"What're you going to name him?" Annabelle asked quietly, unable to tear her eyes away from her little brother.
"Tristan Harry Malfoy."
"Harry?" Annabelle repeated, choking back a laugh and looking up at Draco. "After Uncle Harry?" Draco's jaw tightened and he nodded.
"If it weren't for Harry, we never would have gotten together," Ginny reminded him.
"Which time?" Annabelle asked with a laugh that earned a chuckle from Draco.
"He may have helped a bit," he conceded, "but I still don't like the smarmy git."
"Draco!" Ginny exclaimed, slapping his arm. "That's my best friend you're talking about."
Draco shrugged casually, but there was a twinkle in his eye.
And they lived happily ever after. Sometimes, it really was that simple.