Chapter 4: Leaving Town Alive
Fourth chapter! I just want to thank everyone that's reviewed so far, both on Fanfiction.net and Portkey.org (A prologue, three chapters, and over 100 reviews between the two places!). Your support is incredible. I didn't really think this story would be received well, because not many people like stories that involve offspring (I'm one at times myself). As for Draco and Blaise's chat in the past chapter about what happened five years ago, you'll find out eventually. I'm purposely dancing around the subject, yes. It's a secret. Shh! -sticks tongue out-
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"Are you sure this will work?"
"Positive."
"I just…"
"What?"
"I thought the wardrobe was meant to be… sexy."
"Then it's too obvious."
Ginny rolled her eyes with a huff, she'd spent the last two days listening to Joy's cryptic crap ever since she spat out her plan for Ginny to make Draco regret the moment he shut the door on her. "Oi! Enough with the cryptic, short sentences, Joy. Just spit out what you mean."
"Touché. You want to look great. Not sexy. If you look sexy, it'll be obvious that you're trying to get under his skin. You want to look subtle. This looks perfect for you. Trust me. If I were a man, or swung the female persuasion, I'd jump you right here." Joy said, looking over Ginny's shoulder into the mirrors of the dressing room, to stare at Ginny's reflection.
Ginny smoothed her hands over nonexistent wrinkles, worrying her lower lip with her teeth as she tried to decide whether or not she could even pull off subtle-sexy. Full out sexy was a larger issue that she'd been worried about while going off very few details regarding the plan Joy had come up with. "It's the middle of winter though. I can't wear this." Though she knew she could always wear it inside at the restaurant. It was a simple white dress with an intricate flower pattern across the whole dress. The bodice was fitting, while it flowed freely from the waist down. Cap sleeves came from the square neckline, which was low enough to show a bit of cleavage, that it teased without being slutty. She wasn't exactly happy with her body. Even after five years, she was still conscious that she had the post-birth shape, having flared out everywhere during and after her pregnancy. She often got complimented by men on her curves, but she wasn't so sure she liked them. Sometimes she wished she was a size 2, but knew that was unrealistic. Plus, she knew if she were that size, Joy would tie her to a chair and wheel her under an ice cream dispenser.
"Stop it." Joy reprimanded as if she could read Ginny's thoughts.
Ginny looked down at her in surprise, shaking her head. It was like her mother was standing next to her sometimes, not Joy… except Ginny liked this mother version at the moment, versus her real mother. Her mood darkened at the thought of her mother, someone she hadn't thought of in awhile. She stepped angrily off the platform from which she stood to look at herself in the mirrors, and shook her head fast to jar her thoughts around. "I don't think I can do this, Joy."
"C'mon, Gin. It's perfect."
"Except for the fact that he gets to be around Silas." Ginny grumbled, her mood darkening once more.
Joy watched her with a devilish, albeit secretive, smile. When she noticed Ginny reaching around for the zipper of the dress, she jumped in, "Don't bother. I've already bought everything you've tried on, and then some, while you were mulling over trying that on in the dressing room." She smiled sweetly, "And don't say that I shouldn't have. It was mostly your money I used anyways from when I babysat Silas last and you thought I deserved compensation for emotional damages. I also won a bet at my sister's wedding that left my pockets a little heavier."
"Evil. Positively evil." Ginny muttered about her friend, with a small smile. "But that doesn't erase the fact that I don't know if I can do this. Not only am I'm not that vindictive anymore," she chose to ignore the snort that came from across the room behind her, "But I can't bring him purposely into Silas's life and then yank him back out. That's not fair to either of them… especially my son."
"Who said he'll leave?" Joy thought as she folded a shirt together, "You're not going to do it forever. And I'm sure for the most part that we can keep Silas out of this… it's probably best we keep him out of the restaurant period, by the way. It was a close call with the dishes and the sauce. He could've got hurt."
"Yeah, I know. Plus, that silly boy of mine makes too many messes in the kitchen, trying to get into the chocolate." Ginny said dryly, smiling despite herself as she thought of her little boy trying to get into all sorts of concoctions in the kitchen with that innocent but curious look on his face.
"Believe me, I know." Joy said with a wry grin, shaking her head, "C'mon. Let's go drop this mass off at your apartment and you can still spend the day with your little demon."
"Joy!" Ginny shouted, "Demon is hardly an appropriate label for my son."
"You're right." Joy admitted, "After all, he is your son." She paused briefly, "Satan's more like it." Then she chose to run as Ginny came at her brandishing a pillow from the couch in the corner of the fitting room lobby.
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"Here you go." Ginny said with a smile three days later as she dropped a plate off for one of her customers. She brushed her hands off, smiling down at the seven year old boy that immediately dug into his burger, pulling out what he didn't like, and grabbing the ketchup. "Have a nice meal. I'll be back to check if you need anything else." She was turning to walk away when the little boy squirted ketchup all down the front of her outfit. She froze, trying really hard not to reach out and put the nozzle down the boy's throat and squeeze. The mother apologized profusely immediately, "It's alright ma'am. I have a boy myself. They're little trouble makers." Ginny said through a tight smile, adding in her thoughts, "Though you better leave a big tip." She let out a breath, turning to walk away.
"That's a right mess," came a voice from the door, originating from Blaise Zabini. He walked in with his charming smile on his face and his hands in the pockets of his pinstripe pants. He wore a dark purple business shirt, the color complimenting his tan skin. His dark brown hair was loose, unlike the day they'd met in the office where he'd had it slicked back against his skull.
Ginny's tight smile was still in place as she muttered through clenched teeth, "I've had worse happen… doesn't mean I still don't wanna shove the bottle down his throat." She walked to the counter where she rounded it and grabbed a towel, "What can I do for you Mister Zabini?"
Blaise smiled softly, "Ginny, it's okay to call me that at my office, but business isn't being conducted here. Not really, at least. I am here to test out the food to make sure Malfoy's not a complete moron…" Off Ginny's angered expression, he added, "Well… in this instance at least. Point is, just call me Blaise."
"Aright, Blaise… what can I get for you, if you're here to test the food. We have everything from pasta to burgers to desserts." Ginny said as she scrubbed some of the ketchup off the apron, thankful that she had left it on.
"Have any cheesecake?" He asked with a grin, drumming his fingers lightly against the counter.
"I have a cheesecake brownie. Its half brownie, half cheesecake with chocolate drizzled on top. Very strong, only served in small slivers and with a glass of milk to wash it down." Ginny herself had constantly made that during her pregnancy and would scarf it down morning, noon, and night until one morning she woke up and her stomach began craving salty versus sweet. At Blaise's nod, she walked to the other half of the counter that faced the window display. It was made of glass, housing all the desserts next to the cash register. She slid back the panel and pulled out the cheesecake brownie, taking it back over to Blaise. "I just pulled this out of the fridge before you came in, so it's nice and fresh." She said distractedly as she cut him a sliver, putting it on a plate that she'd grabbed from beneath the counter. "So, are you here on your own accord or spying?" She asked as she placed the plate in front of him, and stepped further to the left to grab a glass, and reached into the mini-fridge beneath the glasses and pulled out the milk. After pouring him a glass, she placed it in front of him.
Blaise eyed the cheesecake concoction. It looked rather delicious, even though he rarely ate chocolate. He supposed it wouldn't hurt right now though; he needed to try their food to make sure that their funding would be well worth it. Even though he knew there was no way to back out of it now. He dug his fork in, and broke off a piece, "Draco doesn't know I'm here." He said before he put the fork in his mouth and began to chew the cheesecake with brownie. "This is really great." He said before swallowing and taking more.
Ginny sighed tiredly, "Blaise… this is really a pickle." Her hands scrubbed her face before she took another deep breath, "I guess… I just have to deal, yeah? So… he might as well come around occasionally. But I don't want him around my son without my permission, alright? You go back to him and when you tell him in great detail what happened while you were here, make sure you get that point across, or so help me Gods I learned that there are ways to make certain things look like accidents after working in a kitchen, and growing up with Fred and George."
Blaise nodded, though he wasn't really listening as he finished the cheesecake, "Can I have another piece?"
Ginny smiled softly before she nodded, cutting another piece for him.
"Ginny! You're the kitchen expert. I ruin cereal for crying out loud." Joy said as she exited the kitchen holding a steaming plate of cheese fries, the cheese a little darkened on top. She let out a small squeak when she saw Blaise, and dropped the plate of fries. Cheers and claps came from the patrons of the restaurant as Joy blushed deeply, immediately bending to clean up the mess, muttering about how they weren't in a Greek restaurant and clapping wasn't appropriate for broken dishes in her establishment.
Ginny tried to hold in a laugh as she looked at Joy cleaning up the fries on the floor. She seemed to get skittish around Blaise. It was rather adorable in a funny way. She'd never seen Joy like that around a guy. She was usually very confident about herself and took what she wanted and released when she was bored. She looked at Blaise, who seemed to be amused with a small smile curving his handsome features. Studying him closely, Ginny could understand why Joy was flabbergasted around the man. He was rather gorgeous, and had a remarkable smile. With her own smile, conspiratorially however, Ginny spoke up, "Joy, you remember Blaise Zabini. Blaise, this is the woman that's kept this place afloat. She handles all the financials and technical stuff. I just cook."
Joy muttered a hello to him as she continued to clean up, her head ducked from embarrassment as she threw the ruined food and broken glass into a bucket. She finished and stood hastily, making a quick exit to the kitchen without making eye contact with anyone.
"She's not normally like that." Ginny said in way of apology in case Blaise thought Joy's behavior was odd and or rude.
"It's quite alright. And I don't suppose you have a whole cheesecake for sale, do you?" Blaise asked after finishing off his second piece. "I usually don't eat chocolate, but this is bloody amazing."
Ginny beamed at the compliment, and held a finger up to indicate one minute, before she went into the kitchen. She walked to the fridge, seeing no sign of Joy and figuring she'd gone upstairs, she decided to talk to her friend about her behavior later as she grabbed out a full cheesecake. She turned from the fridge and saw the female that was in her thoughts, leaning against the wall by the swinging door that led between the kitchen and the main restaurant. "Everything alright Joy?"
A squeak came out from Joy as she nodded, "Go on, before that gets cold… warm rather. I meant warm. It's already cold, isn't it!" She let out an embarrassed chuckle before hurrying past Ginny with a grimace on her face because of her stupidity.
Joy watched her friend head for the stairs with a bemused look on her face. Shaking her head, she went back into the restaurant with a smirk on her face, heading for Blaise, who was now standing at the register. She placed the cheesecake on the counter, "On the house, considering all things." Ginny told him when she noticed his coin purse. When he opened it regardless, Ginny placed her hand on his, "Repay me with information. Is Draco seeing anyone? I won't have him bringing some tart around my son. He's never met any of the men I've seen, and I don't intend for him to be introduced to a step-Mummy only looking to further her financial and societal standings."
Blaise stared at Ginny thoughtfully, wondering about other ulterior motives she might have. He'd known her at Hogwarts, knew there was always most likely more than one reason behind her line of questioning. But then he decided that that'd been five years ago, and people change. Not to mention, her son was the single most important person to her on this Earth, he could tell with a single look from the mention of him. "No. Draco hasn't seen anyone. Not steadily. Last girl he was with was months ago. I doubt he'd bring one of them around his son anyways." He made sure to say 'his son' for good measure. Part of him was infuriated that Draco had been shut out of his son's life, but the other part of him that knew Draco, and knew where he came from, could understand Ginny's decision. He smiled tightly, and turned to leave. He paused thoughtfully, turning back after a moment, "You should see him. Hash everything out before he comes around so that your anger at each other doesn't reflect onto Silas."
Ginny stared after him, even after he'd left, biting her lower lip painfully between her teeth. She couldn't help but admit that his words rang true, despite whatever it had to do with her and Joy's hair-brained scheme. If she and Draco still were pent up with anger when he came around, Silas would pick up on that, and it'd be unhealthy for him. She took a deep breath and released it with a sigh, unwilling to give up the hope that this was still a nightmare and she was just in a coma or something… unable to wake up. She jumped slightly when a loud crash came from the kitchen, followed by Joy screaming her name.
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Draco was working late that night in his office, going over various papers as he swilled a glass of scotch. At least, he'd been attempting to go over the papers. He could get Ginny off his mind. Or more importantly, their son. The thought still blew him away. He didn't know how to properly react to it all. There was an internal war raging inside of him as he tried to come to grips with the latest revelation. He wanted to run to them, be a family. Create the perfect one he'd never had. But he didn't love Ginny, and she didn't love him. Not anymore, at least. The other part of him terrified him, because it was so like his father. A person he'd sworn never to become. He wanted to take Silas away from Ginny. Cause her the pain she'd caused him. After leaving her flat, he'd immediately felt the weight of five years hit him. Five years without his son. Missing every important milestone in his life. His first steps, his first tooth, his first sneeze, his first loose tooth, and his first words which should have been Da.
He slammed his glass down on the desk in frustration, sighing audibly and raking his hands through his hair. He felt the overwhelming urge to see Silas every second of the day now. But he knew there was no way in hell that Ginny would let him near the little boy. She didn't trust him, not that he could blame her. And all his useless friend had told him after coming back from the restaurant was that he needed to get in check if he expected so much as an acknowledgement. His words supposedly, not Ginny's. He didn't know what he meant by 'in check'. He was always in check. What was that supposed to mean? Immediately turn on his parental instincts so that Ginny saw he was ready for that commitment? He didn't even know if he bloody was! He didn't in know if he had parental instincts. How do you have instincts for a person you've only met 48 hours prior? It was different when you've had nine months of preparation as you watch the mother of your child's stomach grow as said child prepares his or her self for life. Those instincts are already there by the time you're holding your newborn in your arms. It's completely different when you blindly walk into a restaurant thinking how shabby it looks, but holds secret potential, never expecting her to come from the kitchen. Never expecting to see her with a little boy. Never expecting that unknown feeling of irritation to spread through you as she protectively held the little boy in her arms, and then have him call her his mother. Never expecting to see eyes mirroring his own on the little one. Never expecting anything at all other than bland food and having to file their investment claim as a negative.
He'd already gotten past trying to deny that Silas was his flesh and blood. After all, it was obvious to anyone that had half a brain that the little boy was a Malfoy. His eye color, his blonde highlighted hair. Then the way he felt that gut-twisting, heart-wrenching pain when he'd looked into Silas's eyes as he exclaimed that they had the same eyes after calling Ginny his Mummy. It was obvious that Silas was his son. It was also painfully obvious that the only way he was Silas's father was that he'd had a bit of rough and tumble fun in the sack with his mother without a contraceptive spell afterwards or condom before. And he had to begrudgingly admit that he couldn't fully blame that on Ginny. By not being around Silas, he was probably a better father to him than he could've been actually with him.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he never heard the door to his office open gently or close just as gently. Nor did he sense the additional presence to the room, or the tension that flowed in waves off the person. He did however hear the soft voice speak the eight words he least expected.
"I want my son to know his father."
Draco's head snapped up violently, staring up at Ginny with a mixture of shock and anger on his face as he tried to process the words she said, trying to determine whether or not this was a game to her.
"I made mistakes, Draco. I know. Big ones. But I shouldn't punish Silas anymore than I already have by keeping you out of his life." Ginny said as she stepped closer to his desk, each step tensing her body up with more apprehension. "But." She said forcefully, pausing briefly, "There's rules, Draco. You don't see him when I'm not around, alright? Don't bring other women around him. Don't ever think that it's okay for you to take him without my knowledge or consent. I will not hesitate to call Aurors on you for kidnapping charges, do you understand me?" She paused again, taking his silence as an agreement, "You can stop by the restaurant whenever you want during business hours. But only then. No dropping by my flat randomly. No following us to the park or running into us in Diagon Alley, alright? Nothing. It's at the restaurant, or it's nowhere." There was a long lapse in silence in which Ginny felt was hours, but must have been no longer than a couple minutes. She turned half towards the door; stiff backed, and said, "I'll leave you then." Her hand was on the doorknob when his chilling voice reached her ears.
"How dare you."
Ginny wasn't quite sure he'd actually spoken to her, so she turned slowly, inquiring, "I'm sorry?"
"For what, exactly?" Draco asked, his hands tightening around the edge of his desk painfully as he tried to remain as calm as humanly possible. "Your farce blowing up in your face? For being found out? Or all of it?"
Ginny felt her gut twist painfully, anger roiling through her immediately, "I don't regret anything. I love my son. You gave him to me, yes. Not my ideal candidate, nor were the circumstances particularly pleasant, but he's my son. And I'd die for him. I'm not sorry that I have him."
"You're just sorry that I gave him to you."
"I loved you, Draco." Ginny said firmly, watching as his eyes became even more guarded through her statement, "There was a time where I'd been happy to be more than a girl between the sheets for you. There were times when I felt like I was. And for me, that's enough to say that my son came from a place of meaning, and not a one-night stand with a man that hates me."
"I never hated you." He muttered quietly.
She let out a hollow laugh void of anything but anger and bitterness, "That's why you slammed the door in my face repeatedly as I tried to tell you I was pregnant. That's why you gave me a sock like a house elf. That's why you gave me money like a whore. You never hated me. Right." Her face clouded over with anger as she walked further into the room, "Come off it, Draco. We're adults now. Stop being some playboy teenager spouting lies to your conquests so that they come back day after day. I'm not here to be lied to. I'm not here to ravish you on your desk. I'm here to allow you to see your son. But if you're still that teenager, I don't want you anywhere near him. I need someone responsible. Not someone that thinks south of his border."
Up until then, he'd been able to keep his anger in check. But reliving his "glory days", and the days the led to and followed when he threw Ginny out of his life like she were nothing, was not something he was ready to face yet again. He'd heard it from her now repeatedly, heard it from Blaise, heard it from himself… he didn't need it anymore. His right hand came up sharply and his fist slammed into his desk, the trinkets and supplies rattling from the force. When he spoke, his voice was gravelly through clenched teeth, "You don't know the first thing about what happened. I had my reasons, Ginevra. Don't you dare think that I wanted you to go. If I had known you were pregnant, I would've done things differently. But we can't go back now. Stop living in the fucking past and live in the damned present!"
"It's a little hard to when that day completely reconstructed my life! I went through my pregnancy alone! I had to deal with the sighs and disappointment from my family for nine months. The only people that showed up for Silas's birth were Charlie and Fleur! The rest of my family was too busy watching Ronald lose horribly in a Quidditch match. I had to tell the medi-witches that there wasn't going to be a name on the birth certificate for the father. I had to deal with the looks that my son got unjustly for my stupidity by getting involved with you. I had to raise him on my own after my mother made in blatantly clear that my son and I weren't welcome in her home forever. I had to scrape tooth and nail to pay bills to make sure my baby had a roof over his head. At least when Joy came into my life I wasn't so alone anymore, and she helped with him."
"I would've fucking helped too!" Draco shouted, his cool demeanor out the window as he picked up the glass from his desk that he'd been drinking from, and threw it at the wall to his right. As the glass shattered loudly, scratching the wall and staining it with remnants of his alcohol, he'd hoped that it'd dissipate some of his anger, but it fueled it on. "You didn't give me the bloody chance to help! You just gave up. I would've been there every step of the way. If we're good for one thing, it's that Malfoy's don't abandon their responsibilities."
Ginny had recoiled from his outburst, her heart beating rapidly in her throat after he threw the glass. She'd expected him to yell, but hadn't expected a physical outburst. It wasn't like him. He was always calm and collected physically when they used to fight. And they'd fought a lot… it usually turned physical, but in a different sort of way. She stared at him with wide eyes from brief shock, before snapping back into the foray, "That's exactly my point. You can't think as a Malfoy. You can't see him as just a responsibility, Draco. He's your son. Not a piece of property. Not something that you can just acknowledge at the dinner table until you send him off to Hogwarts like your father. It was you who chose to end it like you did! I was the last to know. You knew exactly what you would do, and don't say you simply lost your way, or that there were other things at play. It's bullshit." She screamed the last word at him, spittle flying from her mouth, though she didn't seem to care.
Draco stalked around the desk, eyes blazing with fury as he stomped towards Ginny. He didn't really know what he was doing as his hands tightened around her upper arms, walked her backwards, and slammed her into the wall roughly, "You have no idea what you're talking about. Don't ever mention my father." He growled out, enunciating each word, shaking her furiously a few times as his eyes bore into hers. His grey eyes dark from his rage, her amber ones clouded with stubborn determination and a hint of fear as his hands tightened around her arms more.
"Let me go, Malfoy. Or I'll take Silas and go somewhere far, far away and you'll never even hear his name again." Ginny growled, hands rising to press against his chest, nails digging into his flesh through the shirt he wore.
Draco seemed to snap out of his haze, and he let Ginny go slowly with a surprised and slack expression, "I…" He couldn't find the words to explain his sudden outburst. He'd never been physically violent towards her unless she asked for rough sex. This was different. This was something ebbing away in the back of his head that he didn't like.
"For your sake, Malfoy. I'm going to ignore the violence you've shown here tonight, seeing as I deserve it. But I swear to the Gods, you so much as swear at my son, I will castrate you so fast you won't know what happened until you're shopping for skirts, you got me?"
Draco closed his jaw, nodding without a word as he tried to not laugh at the absurdity that she was threatening, not to mention the absurd fact that he knew she wasn't joking.
"We're done here." Ginny told him with a note of finality clear in her voice before she threw him a disgusted glare, and turned to the door. She walked out, slamming it behind her loudly with such force that the paintings on the wall shook, and the wizards and witches depicted yelled at her. She walked to the end of the hall where the Apparation point was, and immediately Apparated to her flat. She barely got her coat off before she was heading for her bathroom, violently retching into her toilet bowl, completely unaware of the pair of eyes that watched from the doorway, having just put Silas to bed.
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The last place she expected to find herself was outside a flat building. Yes, it was mighty lavish with its own doorman, and front desk clerks sitting in bright lighting with a smile permanently stuck to their face as they greeted the building patrons, but it wasn't what she expected from a millionaire. She smiled kindly at the doorman when he opened the door for her with a curt nod of his head and tip of his hat, before she made her way to the elevators immediately. Once inside the contraption, she looked into her reflection and straightened her outfit, fluffed her hair, and trailed the side of her pinkie underneath her lip to smooth the line of her lip-gloss as she waited impatiently for the doors to open at the appropriate floor.
Once they did, she stepped out and immediately sought out the number that was scribbled on the sheet of paper in her hand. Turned out there were only four doors on the floor, so that was a lot easier. She walked to the second one on the right and knocked. It took a few minutes, and a few annoyed curses from her before the door opened. She took in the man's disheveled appearance, and he toned bare torso. It took her a moment to collect herself and remember that she was here on business, and unfortunately not pleasure. "They'll never get anywhere unless we help them, you know." She stated, immediately getting to the point, eyes taking in his face to judge his reaction. It was the one she'd been hoping for as the sleep faded from his eyes and a conspiratorial smirk lifted the corner of his lips.
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The end… of this chapter, at least.
First things first. The line "It was you who chose to end it like you did! I was the last to know. You knew exactly what you would do, and don't say you simply lost your way" NOT MINE. It's from Kelly Clarkson's new song Never Again. I'm listening to the remix that was leaked, on repeat right now, and I love it. I thought that line first appropriately well for that fight scene, which took a different turn than I wanted it to. I wanted it to be REALLY angry, but it only turned out moderately angry. I just can't be angry today, because it's my boyfriend's birthday, so I'm a happy camper.
Thanks for all the well wishes, y'all! I truly appreciate them. And I also completely appreciate each and everyone that reviews like I said at the beginning of the chapter. I'm always so shocked to get positive feedback for things that I do (fan-fics, graphics, et cetera). I tried to make this longer for you, for that reason, and I got over 5,000 words, so hopefully that's long enough for now. AND! BONUS! It didn't take two months. Didn't even take two weeks. Didn't even take one week. Aren't y'all happy? Hehe.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Review please!
--- Ashley aka your fabulous author.