Thank you for the reviews. I enjoy the comments. And I hope you all enjoy the quick update. I'm trying to get out new chapters as soon as possible.
Disclaimer: All things from the Potter Universe belong to J.K Rowling, Warner Brothers, Scholastic etc. I am not earning any money from writing this story. I just like messing with the characters.
Ginny froze, grey eyes piercing her very soul. She had never thought this day would come. The thought of seeing him walk into her little bakery had never crossed her mind. She had seen English wizards come here before and order cakes and such. Her confectionary goods had become quite known across the world, a little thought that made her happy. But she never thought that Draco Malfoy would be standing in the doorway of her bakery.
"Draco, what is the hold up?" Narcissa shoved her son, lightly, through the door. "Serena very nearly hurt herself running into you."
"Father, what's wrong?"
Narcissa followed her son's eyes sight, a gasp escaping her. "Merlin, she's-"
"You filthy little wen-"
"Draco," Narcissa admonished. "Serena is right here."
Ginny looked from mother to son, gaze finally landing on the little girl. The first thing she noticed was the little girl's soft grey eyes, the eyes which reminded Ginny of her father. The next thing was the red hair, light blonde highlights spread throughout. Ginny gasped, her mind thrown into overdrive. This little child was the perfect mix of Draco and her. This child looked like her. Her baby wasn't dead.
"Oh dear, she's going over," Narcissa exclaimed. She slapped her son's arm. "Draco."
Draco watched her fall back onto the floor. "What? It's nothing she doesn't deserve."
"Father, who is she?" Serena hugged her father's leg, fear in her eyes. "Is she dead?"
"Draco, you're frightening the living daylights of your daughter." Narcissa gathered the young girl in her arms. "Serena and I are going to explore this little town. I garner we should make a reservation at the local inn."
"We're leaving, Mother." Draco shook his head. "We're not staying here."
"Draco, she fainted," Narcissa whispered. "I think you're missing something."
"She's good at acting," Draco replied. In that moment, he saw his daughter's scared face. "Serena, are you alright?"
Serena broke down in tears. "That's my mum. Isn't it?"
"Serena," Draco said, pained. "It's not as simple as that."
"You killed her!"
Draco stiffened; the hatred lacing his daughter's voice hurt him worse than the Cruciatus curse. The way she turned to his mother for comfort rather than him was worse than death itself. He closed his eyes, keeping his breathing as calm as possible. He had to find out the truth behind it all. Not for his sake but for his daughter's.
"Mother, I will meet you two at the Manor tonight." Draco placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead. "I'm going to have a chat with her, Serena. She isn't dead."
Serena sniffled, opening one eye. "She isn't?"
"No," Draco said. "She was overwhelmed at seeing you. She hasn't seen you since birth. She must have fainted when she realized who you were."
"Will she be okay?"
"She'll be fine."
"But why did you tell me she was dead?" asked Serena.
"I'll explain later, Serena." Draco stepped over Ginny's still form, nicking a cupcake from the glass display. He walked back to Serena, handing her the cupcake. "Here you are."
Serena smiled, happily. "Thank you, Father."
"Go with your grandmother." Draco ruffled her hair. "We'll have this all sorted out by dinner time."
Draco sat in a chair, observing the mother of his child as the door to the bakery closed. She had changed. Her red hair had been shorter when he had last seen her. Now, it was long to her waist, soft and wavy. Her face was fuller as was her body. He could see a few of her curves through her coat. Her legs were definitely still as long and attractive as he had remembered them.
He stood from the chair, crouching over her, his wand at the ready. "Ennervate."
Ginny groaned, hands flying to the back of her head as she sat up. But her memory flew back to her in that moment, her eyes popping open. Once again, she found herself face to face with Draco Malfoy. His eyes showed fury, which Ginny found to be peculiar. She was the one who should be furious. He had her baby. He had stolen her child from her.
"You're really a git, Malfoy." Ginny stood, bending over as her vision swam.
"I wouldn't move so fast if I were you." Draco got to his feet, shaking his head. "That's a nasty little bump you had. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a concussion."
Ginny held onto the table for support, the room spinning around her. "You took my baby from me. How could you? And then you have the nerve to come in here, pretending that everything is alright?"
The shouting had made her head pound more than it had originally. She held a hand to her forehead as if touching her forehead would stop the drummers from playing inside her head. Unfortunately, it did not. Instead, she collapsed in the closest seat. A frustrated groan left her lips, thoughts of this being both embarrassing and a hindrance, flittering through her head.
"Me? I took your child from you?" Draco's face contorted into anger, rapidly. "You really are filth. Like I would sink to the level of taking a little girl from her mother? I, unlike you, have moral ethics."
"That's great," Ginny yelled, eyes meeting his once more. "A Malfoy is talking to me about moral ethics. It's snowing in hell."
"I should have left you unconscious on the floor." Draco sneered. "What kind of person leaves their child outside in the middle of the night? What person lets their daughter and friends think their dead? It's a good thing you're not a mother."
"I'm not a mother because you stole my child." Ginny paused, her eyes falling to the wooden floors. "Wait. What are you talking about? I never let anyone think I'm dead. You're the one who must have blackmailed my family to tell me it was a stillbirth."
"Me, blackmail your family?" Draco scoffed. "Think before you speak, Weasley. Your family could have had me in Azkaban in minutes if I even tried. My family wasn't exactly trustworthy at the time."
"So, you didn't steal her?" Ginny was confused. Her head was pounding. The room was spinning. Her daughter was alive. None of it made sense. "I don't feel so good."
Draco wrinkled his nose in disgust as Ginny turned away to retch on the floor. He was having a hard time wrapping his head around what Ginny was telling him. However, he had the decency to keep his stomach contents in his stomach rather than spewing it all over the floor. Then again, it was her floor. She would have to clean it.
"Sorry." Ginny flicked her wand at the mess, casting a freshening charm on her mouth. "It's all a bit much to take in. My baby is alive. My little girl is turning six. And you didn't steal her. So, why did Mum tell me it was a stillbirth?"
"Weasley, I don't have the time to solve your family problems," Draco spat. "Unlike you, I have a little girl to take care of."
"Wait!" Ginny began panicking. "What do you mean unlike me? You're not going to let me see her?"
"I can't risk having my daughter in a family like yours, Weasley," Draco said flatly. "Your family was willing to leave a baby to face the dangers of a rainy night. I can't have her anywhere near that kind of environment."
"But she's my baby," Ginny cried. "You can't keep her from me."
"I'm a father, Weasley. I do what's best for my daughter."
Ginny sobbed. "My family has kept me from my daughter for six years. Don't let them keep me from her again. I've been living my life these past few years, feeling empty. I was devastated for two years after her birth. I thought she was dead. Every little girl that walks through that door stabs a knife in my heart. I wouldn't be able to go on living knowing she's out there."
"Listen-"
"Please, Draco. Don't let my family tear away the most important thing in my life."
Draco was shocked that she had used his first name. It was the first time she had used his name since the night they had conceived Serena. That alone caught his attention. Her words lingered in his head. It would be cruel of him to take Serena out of her life again, especially when she had nothing to do with the abandonment in the first place. However, he couldn't stand to see this woman come into Serena's life and hurt her.
"Weasley, I get it. Really, I do." Draco talked in soft tones as if speaking to Serena. "I don't think I'm cruel enough to take her out of your life. And I certainly cannot deny Serena her mother when she's seen you."
Ginny bit her lip, a smile appearing on her face. "Ginny. Please. Call me Ginny."
"Serena is one of the most important things in my life," Draco admitted. "I can't have you hurting her."
Ginny threw herself at him, squeezing tight. "Thank you so much. I won't hurt her. I can't hurt her. I appreciate this chance you're giving me."
If Malfoys blushed, Draco would be pink. "Let me go, Weasley."
"Call me Ginny," Ginny said, stepping back. "We have a daughter."
"We do."
Ginny looked at the clock, hanging on the wall behind the counter. "Listen. It's lunchtime. I don't know about you. But all this talk and fainting made me quite hungry."
"Did you have somewhere in mind?"
"It's right around the corner." Ginny grabbed her handbag from the floor. "It'll be my treat."
"It would be bad manners for me to allow you to pay," Draco said haughtily.
Ginny opened the door to the bakery as she flipped the open sign to close. "Well, I'm guessing you have no American money. So, you have no choice."
Draco said nothing. Instead, he followed her down the street, which looked nothing like Diagon Alley. There was a road, muggle cars driving along. If he hadn't seen a witch performing a spell on herself, Draco would have assumed they were in a muggle neighbourhood. America was nothing like England.
"I've gotten used to it." Ginny broke through his thoughts. "I couldn't imagine why wizards and witches would use cars instead of Apparating or using the Floo network."
"Did you ever find out why?"
"No," Ginny said, shaking her head. "But after spending six years here, I've grown accustomed to it. I think America is more modernized than home."
Ginny stopped outside a small cafe, thanking the man who held the door open for her as he walked out. It wasn't a fancy place by any means. It was more like the Leaky Cauldron than anything else. There were booths all around the room, small tables set up in the centre. There was no hostess. So, Ginny and Draco chose a booth in the back, welcoming the privacy.
"Lou, can I get two orders of fish and chips?"
The man behind the counter winked at Ginny. "Bringing dates here to make me jealous?"
"Are you the jealous type, Lou?"
"Nah," Lou said. "What do you want to drink?"
Ginny stared at Draco. "What would you like?"
"Alcohol," Draco muttered.
"I will have a glass of red wine. He will have your best bottle of Firewhisky."
"Coming right up," Lou said.
Ginny clasped her hands together, awkward silence washing over Draco and her. There were too many things to say. She had so many things going on in her head. Her mother and father had lied to her. She began to wonder if her whole family was in on the ridiculous plan. The thought got her blood boiling, her fingers biting into her skin as she clenched her fists.
"Serena looks like that when she gets mad." Draco settled back in his seat, a glass of Firewhisky finding its way to the table. "She bites her lip too."
Ginny toyed with the stem of her wine glass. "I can't believe my mum would do this to me. When I was pregnant, she was so attentive. She told me I could keep the baby. She had me decorate a nursery, my brother's old room. Why would she lie to me?"
"I don't know." Draco shrugged. He smirked. "All those years at Hogwarts, you and your brothers thought you were so much better than me and my family. Yet, my mother would never do something like that to me."
Ginny sighed. "You could call my mum and dad the most deceitful people on earth. I couldn't disagree with you."
"What are you going to do?"
"Who knows?" Ginny observed the small cafe they were in. "Pennsylvania has become my home. But I would do anything to be close to my daughter."
"I was talking about your family," Draco said, agitated. He wanted to throttle Molly and Arthur Weasley. "I could kill them for doing what they did to Serena. We found Serena that night by chance. Father had an argument with Mother. She went running out in the rain. And she heard crying."
"She could have caught pneumonia or died!" Ginny held her hand to her chest, eyes brimming with tears. "How could Mum do something like that?"
"Sometimes, a family member will do even the craziest of things to protect their family." Draco spun his glass around on the table. "I wouldn't consider what your family did an act of protection though."
"Neither would I," Ginny said. She eased her elbows off the table as Lou put down the two plates of food. "Thanks, Lou."
"No problem, Ginny."
Ginny stared at her food, a puzzled expression on her face. "Why did you think I was dead?"
"They left a letter with Serena. It said that you had died during the birth." Draco remembered that night clearly. He had felt guilt upon hearing that Ginny had died. Anger and frustration had soon followed. "They left me with the day she was born. That was it."
"Does everyone think I'm dead?"
"Blaise and Luna think you're dead. So, does my father," Draco said. "I always found it odd that there was nothing in the Daily Prophet about your death. And Luna was depressed when she found out she couldn't go to your funeral."
"They told Luna I was dead?"
"She went to your house," Draco said. "Your mother was apparently a good actor. Because Luna said she cried throughout the entire tale of you giving birth."
Ginny avoided answering by biting into a piece of her fish. She would make sure that the Weasley family paid for everything they did. If it was the last thing she did, she would make sure they suffered. The Weasleys may have forgotten about her temper. But she would be more than happy to remind them. In minutes, plans began formulating in her head.
"Serena does that face when she is up to something naughty." Draco sipped his Firewhisky. "I suppose revenge is on your mind."
"Yes." Ginny tilted her head to the side. "What's she like?"
"Serena?"
"No, your mother," Ginny said, wryly.
"Cunning and manipulative," Draco said, chuckling. "She has everyone around her wrapped around her finger. Anything she wants, she gets."
"She sounds like a terror," Ginny exclaimed.
"Not at all," Draco said, swirling the contents in his glass. "She's well-mannered, a trait she received from my mother. She's bossy. I think she gets that from you. You should see the way she commands the Falcons."
"I read somewhere that you were coaching them," Ginny said.
"A benefit of buying the team," Draco said, smirking. "Serena certainly loves being out on the Quidditch field."
"Does she?"
"My players are scared of her. She stomps, yells, and throws things whenever she comes to the practices." Draco's eyes lit up as he talked of his little girl. "I had to punish her a little while ago for almost causing a catastrophic accident. I like to believe she gets her troublemaking gene from you."
"You were just as troublesome as me, if not more, when we were at Hogwart's. I heard about the little stunts you used to pull on Harry and Ron." Ginny sat back in the booth. "Let's not forget the ones you used to pull on me."
"You hexed me," Draco said.
"This is a bad road to go down." Ginny sighed. "I don't want to bring up anything too, sensitive."
"You're right."
"When can I meet her?"
Draco stiffened. "I don't want to rush things. I'd rather explain it to her first."
Ginny paused before speaking. "You're a good father, Draco."
"I don't have a choice," Draco said, solemnly.
With the solemn mood that had fallen, Ginny felt it was time to go. She withdrew the right amount of money from her bag. Draco watched her curiously as she dropped the money on the table. He had never seen money in paper form before. It was a strange revelation.
Ginny walked outside, stopping to stare at the cars passing. "I'm going to come home. I have to deal with my family. I don't even know if I can call them family."
Draco stuffed his hands in his pocket. "I'll talk to Serena. If she wants to meet with you, I'll owl you."
"I'll be staying at the Leaky Cauldron." Her thoughts shifted to her bakery. "Do you think a bakery would do well in Diagon Alley?"
"I wouldn't know."
"That's that then." Ginny crossed her arms, the corners of her mouth turning up. "I feel like a broken record, thanking you. But I know that you could have kept Serena from me. And I'm glad you didn't. So, thank you."
"Bye, Ginny."
It had taken her a day to get her things together. She had closed the bakery down without much trouble. She went into the bakery late at night, clearing the place out. They would read the little letter she left on the door. She was the only one working at the bakery. So, there was no one to fire. She would go back and take care of things at home. In the meantime, a real estate agent would be working on selling the little shop. She had thought of selling the cottage as well. But she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Over the years, she had fixed the little place, making it liveable and beautiful. There was a flower garden, vines running up the cottage walls and no cracks in the windows. She had worked for weeks trying to fix the place up alone. It would be her little gem. If she needed a place to hide in the future, she could always come back.
Ginny closed the last box, placing it on top of a stack of boxes. Her cottage was all packed up. She had left all the furniture. The only things she had packed up were her clothes and memorabilia. Pictures and tokens she had collected while living in Pennsylvania were neatly packed away in boxes. Her new life had been packed in boxes, waiting to be brought to a new home.
She put her hands on her hips. "It's time to take care of business."
The last bit of her Floo powder was resting on top of the mantle. She pocketed the suitcases, which had the clothes she would need. She had decided to bring only the necessities at first. She would get the rest of the things at a later time. For now, all she needed was clothes. She had owled Tom, the barkeep, about getting a room for two weeks.
Tossing the Floo powder in the fireplace, she yelled, "The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole."