An idea I've been toying with for awhile, which I'm really excited about. If I'm right, this should be quite a lengthy fic, so this is just the beginning! It's set about seven years after the trio leaves Hogwarts. As before, I don't own anything from the Potterverse, I just love the characters more than most real people. No infringement and all of that.
I think I've finally finished adding things, off to start the next chapter. Review if you like it?
Enjoy!
Hermione, Luna, and Ginny were gathered in the kitchen of the small cottage Ron and Hermione had built in the hills near the Burrow. The home constituted a compromise between Ron and his mother: Mrs. Weasley had tried insisting that the newly married couple live with her, while Ron had wanted to move somewhere like Bulgaria or at least Romania. Now, almost five years later, their home was entirely different from the Burrow's cramped and eclectic interior, though cozy in a similar way; the rooms were airy and the woods pale. The couple had spent several months finding pieces of furniture from flea markets and fabrics that Hermione adored to magick them together which made everything come together wonderfully.
Earlier that day, Luna and Hermione had been shopping in Diagon Alley and had stopped over in the Bakery which Ginny had started with money that George had given her as start up. Nowadays, The Enchanted Cupcake was making a modest income-by no means near as successful as Weasley's Wizard Wheezes had been its first couple years, but making enough that Ginny had been able to pay more than half of the start up money back to the remaining twin. Upon showing their purchases to a slightly alarmed-looking Ginny, they'd noticed the engagement ring glittering on her finger and dragged her out the door, calling to her assistant, Louisa, that Ginny was taking a long lunch break.
Louisa merely smiled and waved after the group, laughing softly and shaking her head.
The girls bombarded their friend with a hundred questions as soon as they'd reached Hermione's home.
"I met him a while ago. I wasn't really even looking, not after the end of Harry and I..." Ginny's voice trailed off. The way they had ended still weighed on her heavily. The things both of them had said, they people they'd become. Despicable. All of it.
Hermione patted the younger woman on the back consolingly while Luna, true to form stayed stationary, elbows propped on the table and head cupped in her pale hands, staring dreamily into space. Ginny tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and the new engagement ring on her finger flashed in the sun filtering through the window.
"Forget about Harry, I never liked you two together anyways. Who's the new guy?" Luna asked, her voice popping through the mist of Ginny's old memories. She shook her head to free herself from them.
"Yeah," Hermione chimed in, smiling, in an attempt to distract her friend, "do we know him?"
"You never liked me and Harry together? You never told me before today, miss," Ginny said with a smile, pushing the memories of the previous relationship to the back of her mind to tease her friend.
"Oh, she's only saying that because she fancies him," said Hermione with a laugh and wave of her hand. Then, realizing what she'd said, the brunette yelped and clapped her hands over her mouth, having turned bright red, her eyes wide. "Oh, I know I wasn't to say anything and Luna, I'm so sorry."
"You and Harry?" Ginny asked, with a small smile, "That might just work. You and he were always a bit more connected than he was to everyone else. The thestrals and all that. You understand him a bit more."
A small voice in the back of her mind whimpered, but Ginny ignored it.
Luna, oblivious to Ginny's inner thoughts, squealed and then said, "Well, it's nothing big yet, we've just been on a few dates. But, that's not important. We're here today because you are engaged to someone you've never introduced us to, which is just completely unacceptable, so. Do we know him?"
Ginny's smile faded; she bit her lip and fidgeted with the blue gingham tablecloth and ventured, "You definitely know him."
"We went to school with him, then, I'd guess," Luna said, cocking her head, as if remembering something she wasn't quite sure of. Ginny merely nodded, now picking at the chipping purple nail polish on her left thumbnail.
Hermione squinted slightly and pursed her lips, "If you're ashamed of him, why did you agree to marry him? We're going to have to meet him sometime, I mean-"
She was cut off abruptly by Ginny bursting, "I'm not ashamed of him, not in the slightest. I love him for fuck's sake! He's a wonderful man and he's kind to me and provides for me and knows just what to say-"
"Sounds like a Slytherin," Luna joked. Hermione let out a laugh and began to say that Ginny would never, but then saw how pale the red-haired girl had turned.
There was a long pause before Ginny spoke up, her voice defiant but soft, "And if he is?" She didn't look either of her friends in the eye, her cheeks flushed and the polish on her left hand almost completely gone.
"I, for one, would denounce her," Luna said, completely deadpan. Hermione abruptly laughed and then looked to Luna to make sure she'd been joking. The pale girl's face was broken in a wide grin.
Hermione crossed to Ginny's side of the table and hugged her tightly. She spoke softly, "We can't help who we fall in love with, Sweetheart. It doesn't matter now and it wouldn't have mattered before. We'll support you no matter what. Though, it's easier to support you if you tell us who exactly we're supporting next to you..." she teased lightly.
And Ginny said his name so softly that Hermione wasn't sure that she'd heard her friend correctly. "Excuse me?" Piped Luna from her spot across the table.
Ginny took a deep breath and looked up with a smile slowly spreading across her face at the formation of his name, "Draco Malfoy."
The name hung in the air for a long moment until Luna gasped in a rush, "Oh, he was so attractive at Hogwarts, I bet he's a total babe now!"
"Oh, he's so attractive, you don't even know," Ginny said with a relieved laugh.
"And, how is he? I'll bet he's tremendous in the sack! A body like that..."
Ginny laughed and turned to Hermione, Ginny's face falling as she saw that the brunette was looking rather worse for wear. "Hermione?" Ginny asked softly, placing her hand on her friend's arm, "Are you alright?"
"I was just..." Hermione trailed off and then said quickly, "Just think of how the boys will take it, Ginny, they used to be such rivals and now... Ron'll kill him! Ron'll outright kill him! He will!" She realized how hysterical she sounded and then took a deep breath and spoke slowly, choosing her words very carefully, "I support you, I think, it's just... think of all the history we have against him. We only know the version of him who terrorized us during Hogwarts and I think it will take a lot for us to change our opinion of him... I am willing to try and forget, or even possibly attempt to start afresh, but it has to be you who tells Ron and Harry," Ginny looked alarmed but Hermione pressed on, "yes, you even have to tell Harry. It takes more than a minute to get over hurt, love. Likely, it'll take more than a year."
Ginny had realized that the boys would need to know at some point and had mostly toyed with the idea of a sort of blurted announcement of her intention to marry Draco Malfoy at a busy family dinner and then just sort of run until the lot of them simmered down. Or perhaps just bringing him along for one. They were a strong family, no one got kicked out for long. Hell, the lot of them were even talking Percy again after he'd given them up for the Ministry all those years ago. Everyone used it against him in arguments, but still. Draco was a person for fuck's sake.
The little voice in the back of her mind whispered that a person might be worse.
She hadn't thought of telling Harry, though. Well, that was wrong. She'd thought about telling him often, but never considered that she would be the one to actually go about telling him. She hadn't been around him much since their falling out. Sure, she saw them at gatherings of friends, but they rarely spoke and when they were forced to it was merely pleasantries. Nothing solid or of substance. They'd never really connected, she and Harry, they had so little in common and he never had as much time for her as he'd had for saving the world or even Ron and Hermione. But she always got a little fluttery feeling behind her navel when she thought of him. Telling him about her new fiance was almost as terrifying as the prospect of actually marrying Draco Malfoy.
She still found it incredible that he could be interested in her. That she, Ginerva Weasley could be the object of Draco Malfoy's affection. This terror wasn't embarrassing or scary, but more of awe. And a bit of nervousness, as if it might end at any second.
Ginny checked her watch and saw that it was time she got back to The Enchanted Cupcake. She hugged Luna first and then Hermione, and when they'd broken apart, she held her friend at arm's length and asked softly, "Do you still support me?"
Hermione took a deep breath and then, after a moment, nodded, "I support you fully, dear, but I can't say that I accept him. Will you bring him around sometime?"
Ginny laughed and hugged her tightly, "Yes! Next week? Saturday morning?"
Hermione smiled and nodded, "Saturday morning, but you'll need to tell Ron beforehand."
"Oh, I can probably do that," said Ginny with a smile, and she walked to the edge of the yard and apparated with a pop.
When she returned to The Enchanted Cupcake, Louisa was completely covered in flour and there was a line of seven witches and wizards behind the counter, each waiting to order something from her. Ginny shooed Louisa to the back to finish whatever had coated her in flour and expertly took over, charging a grumpy old wizard extra on his coffee and three muffins and giving the five-year-old daughter of a regular client a free frosted cookie.
"Aye, I'm sorry Miss Ginny," called Louisa from the back as Ginny handed over the cookie to the little girl.
"Oh, it's not your fault, I didn't realize how long I'd be gone. I hadn't realized I'd be leaving at all actually. So, you needn't be sorry. I'm rather sorry, in fact," replied Ginny, half listening to herself ramble and half plating a piece of red velvet cake for the little girl's mother. She poured a glass of milk and set them both on the counter. To the woman, she said, "One galleon, eight sickles, and three knuts." The woman smiled and placed a handful of coins on the counter and left with her food. The duo sat at a small table in the corner of the bakery, the daughter's legs dangling from the chair as she was far too short to reach the floor.
"What'd your friends take you for anyway?" asked Louisa, peeking around the door, relatively cleaner but flour now-or still-on her nose.
"They came in to show me what they'd bought and saw the ring."
"It's from Mr. Malfoy, innit?" Louisa's voice sounded every so slightly on edge, as if she were disgruntled about something.
Ginny didn't notice and smiled to herself, admiring the ring in the lights adorning the counter. The silver band wrapped around her finger intricately, crisscrossing and weaving among itself. Beneath, small diamonds and emeralds peeked out, almost as if they were hiding within the ring. And then, in the center was a large diamond, the silver metal wrapping ever so slightly against it and around it. It was beautiful and, according to Draco, ancient, handed down from his grandmother from a great great great somebody or other who was unfortunate enough to have a goblin fall in love with them. "That it is," Ginny responded to Louisa.
"Din't he used to be one of them death eaters?" asked Louisa. Ginny stiffened and turned towards the door where the girl stood, she quickly ducked out of the room and called softly, "I was just askin'."
After a long moment, Ginny responded, "A lot of us did things we weren't proud of while we were teenagers. I understand if you don't understand that, as you're still a teenager yourself," the emphasis was hard and meant to reprimand Louisa, who, sure enough, blurted back that she wasn't so young but Ginny cut her off, "I'm not finished yet. I've been through a lot more than you, you weren't even at Hogwarts during the war. I fought in it. I lost a brother during it. I made decisions I wasn't old enough to make and did things that I regret. I've lived a lot more than you, even if I'm not that much older than you. Trust me to make my own decisions." She paused for a moment and then ended with, "you weren't just asking."
Louisa was silent for a long time until she said, "I apologize. I didn't realize how offensive my question was. I just... I don't want to see you hurt," and then, as an afterthought almost, she added softly, "You're kind."
Ginny smiled slightly and then said, "You're still a brat."
Louisa smiled as she put the bread she'd been making in the oven and replied, "I know, I practice."
At four thirty, they shooed the last of the customers out the door, turned the sign on the door to closed, and Ginny locked up. She walked to the end of the street and apparated home, anxious to see her boyfriend.
No, her fiance.