The grounds were as beautiful as the manor itself, Ginny discovered as Scorpius gave her a tour. The weather was near perfect as they walked down the dirt path. There were a couple of what looked like rain clouds in the distance, but for now Ginny could do nothing but enjoy the rare feel of sunshine on her face. Around her, brilliantly white peacocks sauntered lazily through tall grasses ranging from emerald to golden brown, occasionally fluttering up to one of the low cherry trees that dotted the property. On her left she saw something that may have once been a rose garden but now the wildflowers were slowly winning the battle against the once manicured roses. On her right, in the distance, she saw what might have been a stable or possibly just a smaller version of the manor itself, guest quarters or the like. She thought she saw the green tint of ivy creeping up the side of the structure, though from this distance she could not be sure. Indeed, everywhere she looked gave the impression of once perfect grandeur slowly being overtaken by the untamed force of nature itself. Though perhaps ill-maintained, she considered the grounds simply breathtaking. The wildflowers that poked through various hedges and pushes were as brightly colored as any flower intentionally planted, creating a lively palette of gold, lilac, and scattered traces of white against the background of deep green.
"—isn't it?" The end of Scorpius's question jolted Ginny out of her reverie.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
His mouth went into a small smile. "It's gorgeous, isn't it?"
Ginny laughed outright. To try to sum up this landscape in just a word seemed to cheapen the whole experience. No, this was more than gorgeous.
"It's beyond words," Ginny replied.
"It was my grandmother's vision, truly," Scorpius continued as they continued down the dirt path into a small gazebo surrounded by tall grass waving languidly in the sun. Once they had sat down, Scorpius continued his story "She loved it out here, so much that she even wanted to do everything by hand. Grandmother had all sorts of spells placed on this area behind the house so no magic could be performed here. It was her retreat from everything. After she passed on, well," his had swept lazily across the landscape.
"Why didn't Mal—your father just hire someone to maintain it?"
Scorpius sighed. "He certainly could if he wanted to. I believe he just prefers it this way."
Ginny, though she hated admitting it, agreed with Draco. She had always preferred to see nature the way it was intended instead of tortured and sculpted into what was considered beautiful by those living in it. She smiled as she observed the panoramic views, simply overwhelmed by the sheer magnificence of the place.
Watching from the large second floor windows in the library, Draco raised his eyebrow in curiosity. His son had brought the Weasley back again. It was strange seeing her in the gardens. She was so happy, smiling and laughing freely, her fiery red hair dancing in the wind. Draco couldn't recall seeing behave similarly at Hogwarts. True, it was rare that he saw her at all in that vast castle but the infrequent times that he did, she was normally either working on her studies or mooning over Potter. He snarled slightly at the thought of his old classmate. He was civil to the man for one reason and one reason alone, blood debt. Everything about Potter grated on his every nerve and nothing bothered him more than the complete adoration lavished upon the Boy who Lived by the wizarding community. Dear little Ginny had always been the president of his fan club.
But was she anymore? Draco couldn't tell. There was something different about her that was for sure. He remembered seeing her years ago in Kings Cross. She had been clinging to Potter, obviously as infatuated with him as ever as their children ran to catch the Hogwarts Express. When he saw her at the Dwarf, however, she had lost some of that glow and youthfulness. Well, he mentally amended, they all had but she was different. Her shoulders had slumped slightly, seemingly defeated and those eyes. Dark circles had rimmed her eyes that seemed to have unending depths of anger and hurt. He recognized that look.
Now she was no longer living with famous Potter, Scorpius had told him that much. She currently had a room at the Dwarf. Had she finally opened her eyes to realize what a worthless git her husband was? Draco hoped so. Fame and fortune could only buy happiness for so long.
Suddenly, Draco slammed his fist on the window pane, causing it to tremble in its frame. Why did he care? It felt like she was all he could think about anymore. Since he saw her at that pub, he couldn't stop thinking about what she was doing and why she was so damn sad. She had nothing to be sad about! Her life was full of rainbows and roses according to every press article he had ever seen about the famous family. She may have had a spat with her husband. So what? That didn't change the fact that she was nothing more than an annoying Weasley who was once again on the property, his property.
With silent resolve, Draco stormed out of the library, fully prepared to force the red head off of the grounds and out of his mind for good.
"Oh damn," Scorpius said, looking somewhere over Ginny's shoulder. Shifting on her seat, Ginny saw a fast approaching figure sweeping up the dirt path towards, blond hair shining silver in the sun.
"Scorpius, you liar!" Ginny sputtered, leaping to her feet, pointing a finger in Scorpius's face. He glanced up at her, looking exactly like the guilty child caught riding his broomstick too fast after dark.
"I'll sort this out, just sit here a moment."
With that, he strutted off to meet what looked like a very angry Draco Malfoy leaving Ginny with nothing to do but vainly try to listen to the conversation, which was near impossible with the wind picking up.
Perfect timing for a storm, Ginny thought angrily, as the oncoming thunderheads blocked the sun's rays. Scorpius and his father looked as though they were arguing about her being there, as occasionally Draco would jab a finger in the air towards the direction of the gazebo in which she sat. Ginny briefly thought to just Apparate back to her little dingy room at the inn but with a groan remembered what Scorpius said about the enchantments. Looking up, however, she saw the argument between father and son abruptly ending with Scorpius saying one final statement to his father before storming back to the mansion. Ginny thought she saw Draco's shoulders slump briefly as he placed a hand to his forehead before making his way to the gazebo.
"Mrs. Potter," he said formally, "How nice it is to see you again." His voice dripped with barely contained sarcasm.
"Please don't call me that," Ginny said through gritted teeth. The last thing she wanted to be doing right now was to even think about Harry. She thought she saw something like triumph flash across his face but it was only for a brief second so she couldn't be sure. None-the-less, it made her mood darken even more. "Scorpius told me that you rarely come outside. To what do I owe this rare and momentous occasion?"
"I did not realize I had a guest again," he said, smirking slightly.
Ginny couldn't decide what to say to the man in front of her so she sat down on the nearest bench in the gazebo and hope that ignoring him would make him go away.
"My son tells me that you have been dining together often." Draco started somewhat awkwardly. Ginny suddenly had the strong suspicion that Scorpius had made his father promise to be nice. She almost laughed at the thought of Draco Malfoy being forced to be kind and courteous to a Weasley. "He seems to feel quite comfortable with you."
"Well, I really just answered his questions."
Ginny heard the first raindrops on the roof of the gazebo. Draco stepped inside and gracefully sat on the bench farthest from her. Ginny felt awkward being this close to him, especially since Draco was simply staring out at the field in front of them. This close, she could notice the delicately etched lines across his face, the hardness of his eyes, and the particular way the wind caught his hair and made it dance across his forehead.
"My son doesn't have many friends," he said blankly. "He never did."
Perhaps you scared them off, Ginny said mentally but she contained herself and let Draco continue.
"Since his mother left, he has become even more of a recluse than he used to be. He will occasionally lock himself up in his room for days on end, barely eating what the elves bring to him." Draco's brows had tensed, the worry on his face making him seem almost human, Ginny thought.
"But since he started talking to you more, he doesn't seem as depressed. It is for that reason and that reason alone," he stressed, "that you are allowed to have these visits."
"Oh well thank you so much," Ginny said as sarcastically as she could.
Draco ignored her and instead chose to look out at the field again. A loud crack of nearby thunder nearly made Ginny jump out of her seat. Draco immediately looked at her, as if he had briefly forgotten she was there.
"You can leave now if you wish, my son will likely be in his room for the remainder of the day," Draco stated, without malice or sarcasm, as blankly as if he had just informed her that it was raining. "You can Apparate in the front of the house and here," he shrugged off the light jacked he was wearing, "I would be setting a bad example for my son if I let you leave in this downpour without it."
Ginny was surprised into silence as he handed her the jacket. Where had this sudden display of chivalry come from? Trying to mask the stunned look she was almost certainly wearing, Ginny gratefully took the jacket and pulled it over her shoulders. It was big on her, but at least it would keep her dry.
"Erm, thanks," she said dully. "I'll get this back to you-"
Draco cut her off. "My son will undoubtedly be dragging you back here again soon. Return it then."
Ginny rose and turned to exit the gazebo.
"Tell your son I say bye," Ginny paused, "and thank you again. For the jacket." With that, she turned and ran out into the storm, the now-mud path making a mess of her shoes and jeans up to the knee. Soon, she reached the large black gates that stood at the entrance to the manor.
Just after a blinding bolt of lightning flashed in her eyes temporarily blinding her, she Apparated back to the warmth and dryness of the Dwarf's small room.
Author's Note: First of all, I'd just like to give a quick thanks to TuesdayNovember for leaving such a kind and encouraging review. It's really because of you that I tried to get another chapter up so quickly. Secondly, I just got a beta reader who will be going through these chapters and looking over them for me so I'll be editing the previous chapters (content and plot will not change, just the grammatical errors). And lastly, I know the story so far has been a lot of set up. Sorry about that. If the next chapter works out as planned, it is going to be really exciting. :)
Please review! As you can tell, the encouragement helps me get chapters up faster! ;) -SD