Chapter 10

Arthur Manoeuvres the Ducks on his Pond

Draco's POV

I didn't know what to do. The very idea of Ginny with some guy makes my blood boil. Deep down, I knew why; just like I knew why I kissed her that morning. Ginny is my world. When I kissed her, when I left, I was not sure why then. But now, months later, I do know. The best few minutes of my whole week are from the second I see a letter from her to the second I read her name at the end of her notes. But at the same time I know she has some stuff to work through. I think she needs to recover and start to heal before starting anything.

I have made her mad in the past, but it was easier when we were face to face to fix it.

Ginny February 10

Please forgive me.

Draco

Dear Ginny, February 21

I made a big mistake. You're right; I don't have any right. No one should ever tell you who you can and can't date.

Draco

On March 10, I still hadn't heard from Ginny. I was really worried about her, which is why I went to the office for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. "Thank you for agreeing to see me, Mr. Weasley," I greeted upon entering his office.

"Draco, what can I do for you?" Ginny's father asked from behind his desk.

I shifted slightly uncomfortably. "I'm not here on official Ministry business." I paused, "Are you aware I spent a year living as a Muggle?"

He gave me almost a smile, "I am, just as I am aware that you and Ginny got to know each other."

"You knew that?" I was a little surprised.

He gave me a comforting smile. "Draco, understand something; your father might think I am a nobody here, but I am very well connected. I know far more than many would think. For example, the guest who has been in your family home since the end of the war."

I was shocked! No one knew Severus Snape was there.

"I saw your psychological profile. When it became clear Ginny needed a break from here, as a father I couldn't send her somewhere where there was no one to keep an eye on her. So I took a chance on you. And from what Ginny has said, I would think my guess was right about you. Once you saw her there, the parts of you that are like your father got the better of you. You had to know why. You also couldn't pass up the chance to have someone magical to spend time with.

"My Ginny might be stronger than I care to admit, but any time she has been left on her own, she ends up nearly destroyed. I knew with your respect of Purebloods and your protective tendencies, you would keep an eye on her. She was pushing all of us away, so someone she never expected to be there was my only hope to protect her. I used you. I was the one who planted the idea of the same city, even the same store you shopped at for her to end up at."

I was blown away. Arthur Weasley wanted a Malfoy close to his daughter!

"I know your father will be shocked to hear this when you tell him, but it's because of how much you are like him that you were the perfect choice. Maybe not for reasons I personally agree with..."

I was so shocked, my guard came down. "Those are the very reasons I am here. Ginny is mad at me for something I said in a letter."

He laughed. "I like to call it 'pissed off.' Molly, Mrs Weasley, gets like that too. What did you say?"

"She is dating a Muggle. I reacted..."

"Sounding something like your father? She told me."

"So you knew why I was here before I started?"

"Draco, understand, I know you were willing to kill Dumbledore to keep your mother safe. I needed someone like that to protect Ginny," Mr. Weasley explained.

"But how did you know I would have anything to do with her?" I asked.

"She's very attractive and a Pureblood in a place where you were surrounded by Muggles."

"So what do I do?" I asked.

He looked at me with a hard eye for a long moment. "Are you in love with her?" he finally asked.

I haven't even told her that. "Ginny is like a flight on a calm morning when the whole world is calm and still, and then like the fiercest Quidditch game. She's so beautiful when angry. She's my world." Ginny will be the first to hear that I love her, but I could tell by the look on Mr. Weasley's face that he knew.

"She will be arriving home next Friday, but she will be busy with the wedding."

"That houseguest you mentioned, he used to help people on my family's side of the war deal with stuff like what Ginny has been dealing with. He is willing to help her."

"He can't bear the idea that others know, right?"

"I don't know, sir. I have only spoken to him a couple of times."

"But he will help her," he stated confidently, then paused. "He was always more fair to her as a student than with my other children. I think he has a soft spot for her. Draco, I don't know what's going to happen when she first comes home. Allow her a couple of days before pushing anything on her."

"I need to talk to her."

"I'm not saying you can't; I just mean let's see where she's at. You haven't seen her in months and she might be better than you recall. But if you show up at the house when Ron, Hermione, and Harry are there, it could cause an uproar. Send a letter to the house and I will owl up when it would be good for you to see her, if she is being stubborn."

Ginny's POV

I couldn't believe Draco! How dare he think he has the right to have a say in who I'm dating! Never mind his thoughts about Muggles! I thought this year over here had changed him. I guess I was wrong to think someone could change. It hurt me so deeply.

I'm going home. At first, I was planning to just visit; then while out with Mark one night he asked me to move in with him and buy a house. I knew for Muggles this was a precursor for marriage. I had no problem with marriage, but I couldn't. Dating was one thing. It was not that Mark was a Muggle. It was that, Mark was not the one. After that, I gave my notice to the store that I would be leaving. Mark was hurt, but I knew it was better in the long run.

I couldn't get over Draco's reaction to me dating a muggle. A guy who was a Pureblood supremacist was able to get into my head. A guy whom I knew there was no future with.

I wasn't sure about being home, but I had been away for too long. I missed my family. I stood just down the way from the Burrow looking at my childhood home. As I looked at it, I thought back to how bad things were when I left. The continual bad dreams and not being able to function. I said a little prayer that the time away was enough that I would be able to make it through the wedding. I took a huge breath before making my way down the road to the house.

At the gate, I saw Dad coming out of the house towards me with a huge smile on his face. I never questioned missing him, so the fact that I started crying is no surprise to me. I knew they were happy tears. The next thing I knew, Daddy had me in a big bear hug.

"Ginbug!" is all he said. After all, we are British.

"Daddy!" I whispered, not fully trusting my voice.

"Let me have a look at you!" He pulled back and looked me over. "You look like a very stylish Muggle, Ginny."

"Ginevra!" Mum exclaimed from behind Dad and got her hug next.

"Mum! I missed you," I replied, sniffling rather loudly.

"Come on in to the house! I made your favourite; raspberry cheesecake. We can have some tea and you can tell your father all about living as a Muggle."

"Can I have coffee instead?" I asked.

Mum looked surprised. "I don't know if I even have any."

"I brought some back with me. It's a national obsession over there."

"I would love some," Dad stated.

Mum smiled, wrapped her arm around me and we all started to walk down the path to the house. "It's good you're home."

Once in the house, I pulled the Tim Horton's coffee out of my bag and handed it to Mum. "A couple of boxes will arrive later this week. It took me forever to figure out what to bring back for you, Dad."

"What did you bring?" he asked eagerly, not hiding his interest at all.

"Tons, Daddy! Tons."

Mum pretended not to hear what we were talking about. "So, I told everyone you were arriving tomorrow. I wanted to give you time to adjust before being pulled in ten different directions. Ron is staying with Harry in Grimmauld Place," she informed me.

"We didn't want you overwhelmed," Dad explained.

I was okay with this; some time with just Mum and Dad actually sounded amazing! I spent the rest of the day just talking with them. Mum was more interested in how Muggles lived than I ever would have guessed. I was surprised that with a wedding only a few days away Mum had time to sit and visit. Hermione's parents were handling the Muggle wedding themselves, but hey had hired professionals to do the real, wizard wedding, which was going to be a grand affair in a fancy hotel.

Dad, of course, had a million questions for me. When I told him about Google and how you could put in any question and get the answer to it, his eyes glazed over. "You once asked about the function of a rubber duck, Well, I checked it out before returning. The exact function of a rubber duckis recreation. It's a child's bath toy," I informed him about the item that has plagued my father for most of my life.

It must have been anticlimactic to hear this as he looked a bit deflated at the answer.

The rest of the evening was one of the more relaxing evenings I have had in a long time. Dad was calm, really calm. Mum was a bit on edge, but considering the upcoming wedding of her son in a couple of days and here she was just sitting at home, it stood to reason. McCoy was more relaxed than I had ever seen her. She, I had always thought, was a low-key, loving cat who enjoyed being with me, but tonight she was so playful. She really was like a kitten again. Mum's knitting needles had to be moved twice and the dishrag was attacked when Mum set it to wash the dishes! To be fair to McCoy, this was the most magic she had ever seen at once.

A/N- I must admit I am saddened at the number of reviews this story is receiving. I found myself re-reading reviews of another one of my stories in hopes of somehow inspiring myself. Sadly it did not work and instead it made me spend time, I could have spent writing, reading one of my own stories. Trust me, I don't get a lot of time to write. You don't want me wasting the time I get reading instead of writing!