Note: Thanks to everybody for your patience and continued enthusiasm! My cross country move was successful, and I am delighted to finally post again!
Chapter 9
It was a full hour later when Lily and Ginny, flushed and oddly nervous, finally reappeared at Malfoy Un-manor. She had not meant to take quite so long, but Lily had been wearing some particularly ratty play clothes, and Ginny decided to floo home first.
Coincidentally, this also had the added advantage of avoiding any explanation to her mother about why they were eating dinner with Draco Malfoy.
As Lily was gathering up her things, Molly commented, "Your cheeks look rosier than usual tonight, Ginny. You look well."
"I do?" Ginny blushed for some reason.
"Golly, thanks, Mum. I've been really busy doing interviews this week. I suppose working agrees with me."
"It certainly does," Mrs. Weasley confirmed with genuine pleasure. But she also gave Ginny a shrewd look as she motioned toward the table. "Aren't you staying for dinner tonight? I made stew."
"Oh, sorry, Mum. I can't tonight. Too much going on right now. Thanks anyway!" And she had bundled Lily into the fireplace before they had time to answer any more questions.
That accounted for only about a half hour of the delay. Once home, she told Lily to change into a presentable dress because they were going to have dinner with some friends. But then suddenly Ginny felt ridiculous wearing her business robes to dinner. It shouldn't have mattered in the least, but she found herself panicking as she looked through her sparse wardrobe. Finally she picked out something that seemed less formal, but still elegant. There was a cream colored knit blouse that had a boat neck and showed off her collar bones, and she found a breezy skirt with a little flair at the knee, maybe a little chilly, but she would bring her warmer things with her to wear over it. As an afterthought, she threw on a long-forgotten string of amber beads. Ginny smiled at herself in the mirror.
And what had Draco and Scorpius been doing all this time? They were in the kitchen. Draco was adamant that he wanted to live with as little contact with the other Malfoys as possible, but he daily regretted the loss of their house elf. His laments on the subject ranged from the merely melodramatic, for instance when he was tidying the sitting room, to the truly overpowering, as on nights like tonight. How easy it had been to casually throw out the invitation: "Yes, stay to dinner. We're having rosemary chicken!" But what in Merlin's name had he been thinking? Clearly, he had lost his bloody mind. What did one do if the chicken was still raw on the inside but beginning to burn on the outside, and the guests could be back any second? Draco sent Scorpius off to set the table, (which was a sign of his desperation, because Scorpius liked nothing better than to practice wingardium leviosa on the good china,) while he tried to rescue the dinner. Draco cast a muffling charm as soon as Scorpius was out of the room and let forth a string of profanities hot enough to cook anything that he hadn't already burned. He poked and prodded the chicken, adjusted the temperature, added more sauce. The rice was scorched, too, he noted, but at least it was finally soft now.
By the end of the hour, he had succeeded in making the food at least look presentable. Scorpius, meanwhile, was all smiles. He had damaged a few plates, it was true, but Draco had hurriedly repaired the chips with only a brief reprimand. Best of all, his dad had not yet noticed that one eyebrow was singed off, and Scorpius, chuckling to himself, decided not to tell him.
Finally the bell sounded to alert them that guests were coming through by floo, and Ginny and Lily stepped into the Malfoy sitting room. Lily was the type of naturally shy child who, nevertheless, will make an effort to be friendly because she knows she is someone important and ultimately cannot go wrong. (Being Harry Potter's only daughter was, in fact, a status not so dissimilar from royalty.) So after Draco had welcomed them both and introduced her to Scorpius, Lily was brave enough to answer, "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," and then more confidently, to Scorpius, "Is it true you're Albus's best friend? Do you know how to fly a broom yet?"
"Of course! I've been flying for ages. Do you want to see?" It was clear the evening would go just fine.
"Well, if you're not too hungry, shall we let them play outside a bit first? There's still a little daylight left," Draco said to Ginny.
Ginny smiled and nodded. "Yes, why not? Lily, leave on your outdoor robes and scarf." Her heart had been beating out of her chest when they first stepped out of the chimney, but Draco put her at ease again.
They went out through French doors onto a patio that was furnished for comfortable entertaining, only it had clearly remained untouched for the last fifty years. The children ran off into the yard to get Scorpius's broom from the shed.
"Hm, oh dear," Draco suddenly realized how much rust there was on his iron chairs. He cast several cleaning spells which improved them very slightly.
Ginny laughed lightly. "Oh don't give it another thought! This is nothing. Please let me-oxidatius evanesco!— a specialty of mine." And the chairs were suddenly rust-free. Draco was duly impressed. Not to be completely outdone by a guest, he followed up by conjuring several large cushions. They sat down comfortably in two chairs next to each other facing toward the yard. Scorpius had found the broom by now and was flying zig zags while Lily chased him from the ground. They were making lots of happy noise.
"I have to say, Ginny, since we've moved out of Malfoy Manor, I've finally come to appreciate the advantage of learning all the housekeeping spells. I'll have to remember that one. Well done, indeed! I suppose I should warn you that I'm also a terrible chef. Vastly improved, certainly- it's all edible now—but, well, you'll see for yourself shortly. We do everything without a house elf now. Oh, how the mighty have fallen..." he added with a hint of bitterness.
"I can still boast, however, that I set one of the most elegant tables anywhere. The first week in this house, as I recall, we ate nothing but toast. But at least we ate it in style!"
Ginny didn't know what to say, so she just laughed. "Eating toast in style… You are so very changed, Draco! I hadn't thought of that—you learning to manage without a house elf—it must be a big adjustment, I think. Scorpius said rosemary chicken, didn't he? That is quite a step up from toast. I'm very impressed with you."
"You are? Because—" But Ginny cut him off.
"Yes, Draco, I am," she said firmly, smiling at him.
Something about the way she said it had completely interrupted his train of thought. As Draco looked back at Ginny in surprise, his eyes widened. Who was this amazing woman? How was it that she was here and talking so nicely to him? It felt like there was a sleeping and ravenous dragon inside him that had suddenly popped its eyes open to look around. Draco had the ridiculous fleeting thought that she had known about cleaning iron because she was made of iron herself. That red hair of hers...
Suddenly she burst into a giggle. "Draco, what on earth have you done to your eyebrow?" she said.
"What?" Draco was caught off guard. He picked up his wand, intending to say, "Accio mirror,"
"This one," Ginny said, leaning over and tracing the spot with her finger, "It looks like you burnt it off in the kitchen."
Instead of casting the spell, Draco reached up very naturally and put his own hand over Ginny's. She stopped giggling, surprised. He was looking at her in such a way! The kids were off in the far part of the yard by the garden shed, out of sight. Ginny found herself unable to look away. She held Draco's piercing gaze and let her fingers trail down his cheek. It was a caress. Draco could think of nothing, nothing else in the world, and he began to lean toward Ginny, closing the gap between them. Ginny's pulse was pounding in her ears. What was happening? She wanted this, she realized. She wanted this very much. Their faces were only inches apart. Her eyes darted for an instant down to Draco's lips. And then a second later he was kissing her, kissing in a way she had not known was possible. In awe, she sensed this dragon that was now roaring to life inside him. His kiss spoke to her of desire, a vast desire that took her breath away, but she responded in kind. Ginny had her own starved dragon.
"Crash!" There was a very loud noise inside the shed. Ginny and Draco broke apart and turned toward the sound. "Owwww!" Lily began to wail. Ginny and Draco ran over to see what had happened. Lily was sitting on the ground holding her knee. There were several paint cans and a shovel and a rake scattered across the floor of the shed next to her. Scorpius looked very embarrassed.
"What on earth happened?" Draco demanded.
"Let me see your knee," Ginny prodded her daughter.
"I was only trying to get the spare broom down for Lily," Scorpius began.
"It's a big bruise, that's all," pronounced Ginny. She said a spell to stop the swelling and dull the pain. "Better?" Lily nodded and wiped her tears off.
"You were trying to get the broom down with a wingardium spell?"
"Sorry, dad."
"You're lucky the paint cans didn't hit either of you on the head! You both could have been seriously hurt! Have you apologized to Lily yet?"
"Sorry, Lily. I really didn't mean to."
"That's ok," she said and wiped her nose.
"For goodness sake, be more careful in the future! Accio would have worked just fine. Or you could have come and asked for help from me."
Scorpius hung his head. Draco took several deep breaths. "I suppose this is my fault, too," he continued in a gentler tone. Scorpius looked up. "This broom shed is a disaster waiting to happen." Draco held up his wand and vanished all the paint cans in one swift motion. "Evanesco!" Then he hung the rake and shovel back up on their pegs, but conjured a new safety lock to hold them in place.
"Alright, son, you can fly just a bit more now. Stay in the yard, though, and no higher than my head this time, got it?"
"Yes, sir," Scorpius answered.
Ginny looked stern. "Lily that goes doubly for you. This is an unfamiliar broom. Keep low to the ground, and it's only for a few minutes."
"Alright, mum."
The children were fine. They mounted their brooms and were off again in a twinkling. Draco and Ginny looked at each other. He exhaled loudly and began to chuckle, a low throaty laugh. Ginny dropped her shoulders and smiled. Then she began to laugh too. They walked slowly around the yard, keeping the children in view this time.
"Ginny, Ginny, Ginny... Virginia?" She made a face. "Genevieve?" She laughed harder. "Guinevere?" she shook her head again. Draco's blank look of consternation was priceless.
"Rumplestiltskin," she offered helpfully.
"What?!"
"Oh, never mind. Ginevra. It's Ginevra."
"Ginevra?" he raised an eyebrow.
Ginny gave him a mock look-of-death. "Draco..."
He laughed again, then became serious. "Ginny, I—Will you come to see me again? I want to take you out somewhere. Maybe a concert? Or you can come here. I have to see you again."
"Yes." It was all she could answer. Her heart was beating too fast.
"Oh good. Merlin, this is crazy, " he said running his fingers through his hair. "I feel just like a nervous teenager again asking you."
Ginny nodded. "It is! I think my heart rate just doubled when you asked. And me, a mother of three. So ridiculous! It was never quite like this with Harry."
"Good!" Draco answered more confidently. "He and I are very different."
"Oh, really, Malfoy?" she teased. "In what way?"
"In many ways that would interest a beautiful witch."
Ginny blushed. Draco noticed and grinned. "A very beautiful and talented witch," he added. Well, what do you think? Have the kids flown around long enough to work up an appetite?"
"Oh yes, let's have dinner. I'm eager to see England's most stylish dinner table."
"Well, perhaps not exactly the most stylish, but it does measure up to traditional Malfoy family standards."
"So very modest of you."
"I don't want to give you false expectations."
"If there are more than two forks, I may need you to remind me where to start. I haven't eaten at a really formal dinner since...James was born, I think."
"Really? We should do something about that! But no need to worry. We aren't having a seven course meal this time. (Wouldn't I love to serve you a proper seven-course dinner, though?) How do people manage Christmas without elves, anyway?"
"Where are Scorpius and Lily?" Ginny interrupted.
"Erm...There they are! Scorpius, Lily, come in to supper now."
Soon everyone was inside and taking off their winter outer cloaks. As Draco helped Ginny with hers, his eyes were drawn to the sight of so much skin under her wide collar. But then he noticed the amber necklace. It was like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over his head. She saw him visibly stiffen.
"Draco, is everything alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine."
But Scorpius was looking at her too. "You have a necklace just like Mummy's," he volunteered. "Where did you get it? Can I look at it?"
"Amber was her favorite, too." Draco added, trying to sound nonchalant. His mouth had gone dry.
"I had no idea," Ginny mumbled. "Oh goodness, Scorpius, I've had it for ages. Present from one of my brothers, I think."
Ginny changed the subject quickly. She admired the table setting, which really was lovely. Platinum-edged chargers under the plates, green cloth napkins, real silver and etched crystal. Everything was laid out just so.
Finally, everyone sat down to dinner. They spoke about the weather, Hogwarts, and the difficulty in procuring real wizarding silver. Ginny tried not to choke on her food. The chicken was edible, but it was some of the worst rice she had ever tasted. Crunchy in places and lumpy in others. Draco had also forgotten to add any salt at all.
Lily didn't want to eat it, but remembered enough manners to have a few bites before shoving the rest around on her plate to look as though she had made a significant effort to plow through an unusually large helping. Scorpius, on the other hand, made no pretense of eating the rice. He ate a bite of chicken and then folded his hands in his lap, perhaps waiting for better luck with dessert. Draco seemed distracted and slightly irritable.
"Scorpius, have some more," he said in clipped tones.
Ginny suddenly had a brainwave. What about Kreecher? Harry was very attached to the ancient elf, but he made Ginny uncomfortable, and over the years they had sent for him less and less often. But what if she found a way to have him help Draco and Scorpius a bit? She would have to ask Harry about it. That might be rather awkward, but Ginny made a note to herself to give it more thought.
After another minute, she decided they had stayed as long as was polite, and excused herself and Lily without waiting to see if there would be dessert.
Draco was disappointed but also relieved to see them go. He hugged Scorpius, and sent him to get ready for bed. Then put his head in his hands and began to shake with the silent sobs he had been holding in all through dinner.
