Disclaimer: The wonderful world of harry potter and those in it belong to JKR, only the plot and paths are mine,
Once again I'm still reaching out of my comfort zone while writing... I've never been a fan of writing stories outside of Hogwarts, but I gave it a shot! Many loads of thanks to my Beta laugh-out-loud-27 ! : D ... without them you'd all be reading horrible grammatically incorrect stories :O Anyways this story is dedicated to DSRaven, Enjoy, Please Leave A Review :)
who never fails to leave me wonderfully encouraging reviews and funny little comments, thank you sooo much :)
"Isn't it hard Ginny, pretending like this, handing away your freedom, your life?" Hermione asked as she entered the drawing room of her friend's mansion.
"It isn't hard to live like this," Ginny replied as she stared out the window, not bothering to turn to face her friend, knowing the conversation that was to follow.
"You can't possibly call this living Ginny," Hermione snapped, never once growing tired of this argument, even when Ron and Harry had.
"Hermione, please don't lecture me on things you know nothing about," Ginny said impatiently. Hermione may not have grown tired of these arguments but Ginny had.
"Ginny, I know a lot more than you do. I know that Draco would have been sent to Azkaban if he did not have a respectable wizarding family to vouch for him. That if he did not stay in line, find someone willing to marry him his father would have cast him onto the street without a cent of the Malfoy wealth left to claim." Hermione said in a matter of fact tone.
"Hermione I could have picked up any tabloid in the wizarding world and found out that information myself.
"Ginny, what's he got on you? You can't possibly say you like being locked up here," Hermione returned.
"I'm not locked up anywhere, Hermione," Ginny sighed as she stared at the grey silk curtains pulled to the side, making a mental not to replace them with someone more uplifting.
"Then why don't you ever leave the mansion? Why won't you see your family?" Hermione said, her voice getting more desperate and accusing as she spoke.
"Why should I? When the whole wizarding world along with my family and friends, think they know the reasons for the things I've done? Why should I walk out onto the streets of London, to have the whispers and stares follow me? Why should I visit a family who has told me to no longer visit or write? Why should I try to live outside of my home if no one will believe me anyways?" Ginny said her voice rising slightly.
No matter how many times Hermione came to visit her when Draco was out, no matter how many times she came in shouting accusation after accusation at her, Ginny had promised herself she wouldn't be like that, she wouldn't give in and yell to make the point that no one believed anyways. Why should she have to explain herself to anyone?
"Ginny, you know that's not true, you're family loves you, I love you. We just want to help you, they'll forgive you. You know that right? You just have to come home." Hermione said sympathetically as she placed a hand lightly on Ginny's shoulder.
Ginny could no longer take it, she turned around then, cold furry visible in her chocolate brown eyes and turned to face Hermione.
"If they loved me-if you loved me, then you would know. You would understand that I did this-I married Draco because I love him. It doesn't matter what people say, it doesn't matter his reasons, all that matters is that I love him, and I'm happy. If you can't accept that then you need to leave. You need to leave now, and I'll tell Draco to change the wards as to no longer let you in." Ginny said breathing heavily feeling the heat on her face.
Hermione stood there, shocked for a moment, before she composed her face and spoke, "You can't mean that Malfoy knows I come to see you? I wait until he leaves for work; I've done the necessary precauti-."
"Granger,do you really think I wouldn't know who was coming and going from my own house?" Draco asked as he stood by the doorway his hands crossed over his chest his face a blank mask, but the cold fury that went with his words gave away his feelings, even if his face didn't.
Hermione stood frozen to her spot looking from Draco to Ginny, stunned.
"Hermione I think it's time you left, you can pass along the message," Ginny said, no longer masking her fury as she glared at Hermione.
Hermione looked at Ginny for a few short seconds hoping that she would change her mind, when Ginny's expression didn't change she turned on her heals and left the room without saying a word.
Ginny turned back to the window then as the hot tears fell silently from her eyes and ran down her face. She waited to hear Draco's retreating footsteps but instead she heard him cross the room and sit on the couch beside her.
"Is this why she comes here?" Draco asked quietly after a few minutes of silence.
"How much did you hear?" Ginny asked ignoring his question.
"I was walking up the stairs when I heard her accuse you of not living," Draco said with a small smile as Ginny peered out of the corner of her eye to see his reaction. "Is this why she came? Why Potter and your brother stopped coming, why your family never visits?" Draco asked as he reached across to tilt Ginny's face towards his.
Ginny just nodded as she closed her eyes willing the tears to stop.
"I am so sorry Ginny." Draco said as he brushed the tears off of her cheeks lightly with his thumb.
"You have nothing to apologize for," Ginny said as she opened her eyes to gaze at Draco's face searching for the emotions he always kept hidden from the rest of the world. She saw hurt, flash across his face as he gazed at her, dragging his finger across her jaw line.
"But I do- all of this, your pain, your tears is because of me. If this is the price for me loving you, then it's not worth it. It's not worth your tears and your suffering Ginny," Draco said.
"Draco you don't have to-"Ginny protested as she pried her face away.
"Ginny do you really not know? Do you not know that I love you?" Draco said with a small chuckle.
Ginny opened her mouth to reply but Draco shook his head and continued on.
"Do you remember back in your fourth year, when I had met you in the astronomy tower? You were crying and I sat beside you-I thought you were beautiful even if I wouldn't admit it to anyone at the time. You trusted me even then,-being the big bad Slytherin that I was. You poured your heart out to me, you told me how you loved Harry and about how hurt you were to learn he was dating Cho Chang. After that we starting meeting every night, you told me things you never told anyone, about your family, about yourself, about Tom." Draco paused to look up and hold Ginny's gaze before he continued. "I told you everything, I've never opened up to anyone like I did you, not even Blaise knew most of the things I told you...you were my secret best friend." Draco smiled at his words, a smile he never showed anyone but Ginny, he stared down at his hands taking in his gold wedding ring before he spoke again softer this time. "It wasn't untill your fifth year I introduced you to Blaise, and when I realised that I was in love with you," Draco said looking up to meet Ginny's confused eyes. "I never told you," Draco smirked slightly. "Blaise encouraged me to -but I didn't want to ruin what we had, when I knew you were mad over Potter. I would have rather been friends with you -then have you leave. Then in the end you did. You started dating Potter, and soon you stopped talking to me all together, it was almost as if you forgot," Draco said as his voice quivered. "I was so lost and vulnerable when the dark lord assigned me the task of killing Dumbledore, when I needed you the most you weren't there-and even then I loved you. It wasn't untill after the war when I saw you again, you and Potter had broken up and news of what the Malfoy name meant was all over the paper, and yet there you were on my door step telling my father you would marry me," Draco finished his eyes still glued to Ginny's.
"Draco I-"Ginny began with tear filled eyes.
"And even then I loved you, even when I knew you came only because Potter no longer wanted you. My father said I was a fool -and Blaise told me my family money wasn't worth the heartache of living with someone who would never return my feelings. I thought they were wrong, just seeing you everyday smiling was worth it. If I am the reason you don't go out, the reason your friends and family abandoned you then maybe they were right." Draco said looking down at his hands.
"And for that Ginny I do need to apologize for being selfish."Draco finished looking up to meet her eyes, shaking his head at his own stupidity.
Ginny could no longer take it, with the discovery of Draco's feelings towards her, hearing things she had only hoped and dreamed of hearing, and seeing how much it hurt Draco.
"Draco it was may have been Harry at first-but then I- I just never thought you felt the same- I thought I was dumb and naive-I-I didn't want to be hurt, I realised I never really loved Harry, it was always you." Ginny stumbled over her words trying to explain to Draco that she had felt the same all along.
Then Ginny did the thing that she had been longing to do since she realised she fell in love with him in her fourth year. She leaned forward and kissed him. She tasted the salt from her own tears, she felt his warm and soft lips responding to hers at first hesitantly then with a warm loving wave that threatened to explode in her chest. If it were not for the couch Ginny was sure she would have fell, as she felt his arm slink around her waist and pull her closer so that she could feel the chiselled warmth of his chest.
When they pulled away, breathing heavily, both of their lips were red and swollen.
Draco smiled the smile only Ginny saw, knowing the kiss said everything Ginny had held in since she met him, knowing that it was never really Potter.
Ginny proved that when she accompanied her husband to the ministry ball that night, making the front page of every news paper and wizarding magazine, because there wasn't a single person at the ball who did not believe that Draco Malfoy cared for Ginny Malfoy, there was not a single person who did not miss the loving looks they past to each other or the never before seen smile that adorned Draco's face since he walked in and apparated his wife home.
There was not a single person who doubted their love.
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