Ginny changed into a dress, and she and Lucius walked down to where Andromeda was waiting for them. Putting on a big, fake smile, Ginny wrapped Andromeda into a tight hug.
"It's been too long, Andy! Tell me, how is Teddy?"
It was obvious that Andromeda was seeing right through this performance, but she swallowed hard and answered anyway.
"Teddy? Same as always, I suppose. Desperately excited to go to Hogwarts, no matter how many times I tell him that two years is a lot longer to wait than he thinks. He misses his Aunt Gin- "
But Lucius cut her off there, ushering them onto the terrace, where a table for three was set.
"Make the girls some drinks, why don't you Lucius?" Andromeda said, still holding Ginny's arm from the hug. "Nothing like those awful, sweet things you used to make at school, though."
"I trust you know that I've matured since then, Andromeda," he said, even as he obliged and went back into the house. Watching for a moment to make sure he'd gone, Andromeda dragged Ginny down the steps into the garden.
"What has he done to you, silly girl?" she asked in a harsh whisper as they walked, far too quickly for Ginny's liking, away from the house.
"Done?" asked Ginny, wresting her arm away and wincing as she massaged it.
"The Ginny Weasley I know would certainly not lie to her family to run away to Malfoy Manor and have an affair with a married man, particularly not this married man. So tell me how you've got here, and I'll help you."
"Andromeda, you're out of line. Although I may appear to you a foolish little girl, I'm completely aware of what I'm doing here, thank you. If you don't want to accept this, don't, but I don't need saving."
For a moment, Andromeda stood still and looked as if she had been physically struck, but she recovered fairly quickly, and the two continued their walk at a slower pace.
"Let me tell you why I came, and maybe you'll understand. I never got better after the diary; when it died, it was as if my soul went with it. No one else I know has ever given themselves so fully to a mere thing. And sometimes people would talk to me about it, but eventually they all stopped, as if they couldn't imagine that it had really hurt that badly. Fred and George were best, they would listen to me as much as I needed, but then they got busy with the store and then…"
Ginny trailed off, thinking of George, now as broken as she, and Fred, who would certainly never have let her end up on the steps of Malfoy Manor if he could have stopped it.
Up on the terrace, Lucius had come back out with the drinks, and although they were far from him, he watched as intently as if they were all conversing together. The women stopped walking, finding themselves at the pond with the jumping fish. They watched them dance for a while, and then, in perfect sync, turned to walk back to the house.
"Teddy really does miss you, you know. Whenever Harry comes over, he asks where Aunt Ginny is."
"And what do you tell him?"
"We say that Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry are having a bit of an argument."
"Two years having a bit of an argument, a thing like that," Ginny scoffed.
"Harry misses you desperately, too. He won't see anyone else, won't have anyone else. If you come back, everything can be forgotten, even this."
"This is a very big thing to forget, Andy. Bigger than you may realize."
"If you saw him, you would know. He's reaching desperation."
"So am I."
They all tried to have companionable dinner conversation, avoiding topics of Narcissa, and Harry, and Lucius and Ginny's life together. They talked more about Teddy, who was apparently becoming somewhat of a handful with all his burgeoning magic, and of the upcoming Quidditch World Cup. Time passed faster than they had all thought, and by sunset they were finished with dessert.
"Maybe I'll leave you two to catch up, and go check on Narcissa."
"Maybe you should," said Andromeda, taking a large sip of wine and glaring at him. Small talk and pleasantries could only take her so far, it appeared.
Lucius made a small bow to them and went inside, disappearing quickly into the dark of the house.
"So how did you make your way here?" Andromeda asked, wasting no time getting back to her goal.
"I thought Lucius would have told you that. When he poured all his troubles out to you."
Andromeda laughed, and it reminded Ginny eerily of Bellatrix.
"Is that what he told you? That he made some great confession to me? No, darling, Narcissa told me you were here. She was mumbling about some girl who looked just like our old schoolmate Molly Weasley wandering about the house, and Lucius only confirmed it once I pestered him."
Andromeda took in Ginny's face, but did not speak on. Ginny, hurt at Lucius's lie, managed to stay calm and move forward.
"Well, I heard that Lucius would be here – Ron said something about him being a recluse. And I've always been…I've always wanted to know more from him. Something inside me snapped, and I found myself on his doorstep. It was like he'd been waiting for me when I arrived; I stayed."
Ginny said it all simply, as if there could be no debate about these facts.
"Sometimes," she finished, "when you don't know what to do, all you can do is stay."