The Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shackelbolt, paced his office as thought about what he was about to do. He was about to arrest a woman he had known since she was a teenager, a woman who was the daughter of two of his dearest friends.
First thing on Monday morning Kingsley had received a visitor who claimed to have information regarding the whereabouts of Ginny Weasley. The informant explained they hadn't wanted to go directly to the Auror's as they didn't want to put Harry and Ron in an awkward position. The informant then explained that Ginny was back in the country and had a son named Thomas, they wouldn't say how they knew this but they swore it was true.
With the information sitting in his lap Kingsley had little choice but to investigate. First he pulled two Auror's into his office and swore them to secrecy before telling them what was going to happen. Kingsley gave the two Auror's all the information regarding Ginny's original case and the new information they had, ordering them to find out all they could.
It had only taken a couple of days to locate Ginny's son and begin an investigation into her life. Kingsley had wanted to be sure he had the right person before he arrested Ginny but in the end there was no way to be certain until an arrest took place and the woman's magic was tested. Despite the last remaining shards of doubt over Ginny's identity Kingsley was confident enough with his Auror's work to determine that Sara DuPlessis was really Ginny Weasley.
When the two Auror's made an appearance in his office Kingsley grabbed his cloak and the trio made their way out of the building. Kingsley knew that even if anyone saw him with the two Auror's they wouldn't think it was odd, he often used Auror's as protective agents as he went about his duties as Minister for Magic.
By the time Kingsley and the two Auror's arrived at Ginny's large home, he just wished the entire ordeal could be over. Walking up to the front door Kingsley knocked on the door and stood back to wait for an answer. The door opened to reveal the man Kingsley knew was Jacques DuPlessis.
"Mr DuPlessis, I'm Kingsley Shackelbolt, the Minister for Magic. We'd like to speak to your wife, please."
"I'm afraid Sara's busy." Jacques replied, looking very pale and nervous.
"It's important. I'm afraid I'll have to insist." Kingsley said.
Jacques looked as though he was going to argue for a minute but he moved back and gestured for Kingsley and the Auror's to enter the house. The second Kingsley entered the house he heard the sound of a woman shouting, closely followed by the angry voice of a boy. When a third voice, that Kingsley knew belonged to Draco Malfoy, entered the fray he knew he had been right, they had found Ginny.
Jacques turned round and took a deep breath before he walked the few steps to the front room and opened the door. The timing of the Auror's couldn't have been worse as Thomas had just returned home with Draco after leaving the house without permission earlier in the afternoon. When Thomas had returned a frantic Ginny had laid into her son and Thomas had retaliated with some pretty hurtful comments, Jacques was actually worried that their relationship was becoming unfixable.
When Jacques entered the room he went straight over to his wife and reassured her he would protect her and fight for her. Ginny had initially been confused but then she spotted Kingsley entering the room and her entire world shattered.
"Hello, Ginny." Kingsley greeted quietly. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to come with us."
"Oh god." Ginny slumped against Jacques and held onto her husband.
"I'm coming with her." Jacques said, taking control of the situation. He knew if she was left alone his wife would crumble and make things worse for herself.
"Of course." Kingsley nodded.
"Is there any way we can do this so no-one knows what's going on?" Jacques asked. "Our son doesn't deserve to be put through the torment of facing the press."
"I've arranged for us to apparate straight into my office." Kingsley explained. "At the minute we're the only people that know about what going on. I'm quite prepared to deal with this matter as privately as possible."
"Thank you." Jacques nodded at Kingsley before suddenly realising something he should have asked right away. "How did you find us?" Turning to Draco he glared at the man he had taken a dislike to. "Did you do this? Did you tell?"
"Of course I didn't." Draco exclaimed. "I promised I wouldn't do anything to hurt Thomas and that includes having his mother arrested."
"Draco wasn't how we found Ginny." Kingsley interrupted, sensing the two men could quite easily get into an argument. "I can't reveal my sources but I can assure you it wasn't Draco who gave us the lead."
Jacques didn't look totally convinced as he turned back to his wife. Ginny was still slumped against her husband and had yet to say a word. Jacques quietly whispered a few words of reassurance before he turned back to Draco.
"Could you take Thomas? We'll come for him as soon as we can."
"Of course." Draco nodded. "Let me know if I can do anything to help."
Jacques thanked Draco and was just about to take Ginny with Kingsley and the Auror's when Thomas left his place at Draco's side and ran to his mother.
"I'm sorry, Mum. I didn't mean it, I don't hate you." Thomas sobbed. While he was angry at what Ginny had done knowing he could potentially lose her had made him realise that no matter what she'd done she was still his mother and he loved her.
"I know, darling." Ginny whispered, tears falling from her own eyes as she hugged her son for what could be the last time in a long time. "Hopefully, I'll see you soon."
"We need to go." Kingsley announced quietly.
Ginny gave Thomas a final kiss before releasing her son and once again slumping against her husband. With Jacques supporting her a sobbing Ginny was escorted from her home and into the Ministry where she would finally face questioning over the murder she had committed years earlier.
...
Late Saturday afternoon a tired and worried Jacques apparated to the Malfoy's house and knocked on the front door. It wasn't until he was thinking about Thomas that Jacques realised that he had no idea where Draco lived, luckily Draco had thought of that and had left his address on the mantelpiece for Jacques to find when he needed it.
When the door was opened by Hermione the witch ushered Jacques into the kitchen and offered him a drink. Jacques gladly accepted the hospitality and agreed to have a coffee. As Hermione was pouring the drinks Draco appeared and sat down at the table with Jacques.
"I want to thank you both for having Thomas." Jacques said to the couple. "Was he alright?"
"He was a bit quiet at first, but Scorpius soon got him talking." Hermione smiled as she remembered how excited Scorpius had been to have an uncle to play with.
"Where is he?" Jacques asked.
"He's in the back garden with Lyra and Scorpius." Draco replied. "I can go and get him if you want."
"Let him play for a few more minutes." Jacques said, taking a drink of his coffee.
"How's things with Ginny?" Hermione asked as she took a seat next to her husband.
Jacques sighed deeply before filling Draco and Hermione in on what had been happening over the last twenty four hours.
Jacques had initially stopped Ginny from speaking until his lawyer from Cape Town arrived. When his lawyer arrived a few hours later Ginny told both him and Jacques that the time had come for her to face up to what she had done. Ginny had then made a full confession and been questioned for hours regarding Lucius's murder.
In the early hours of the morning questioning had been suspended and Jacques had returned home for a few hours while Ginny was held at the Ministry. Bright and early the next morning Jacques and his lawyer returned to the Ministry as discussions got under way as to what was going to happen next. Jacques had immediately known that Kingsley wasn't the type of man to accept a bribe so he had tried hard not to appear as though he was demanding leniency for Ginny because he was rich and powerful.
While there were still plenty of discussions still to take place Kingsley had agreed that if at all possible the entire thing could be handled as privately as possible, there was no need for it to become public knowledge that Ginny was back in the country. Kingsley also agreed to release Ginny on house arrest while the matter was being fixed and an appropriate punishment found.
"What sort of punishment are they talking about?" Hermione asked when Jacques paused in his explanation of what had been happening.
"I'm not sure yet. My lawyer thinks that because she's pleaded guilty that will help lower her sentence. He also suggested that any statement Draco could give in regards to not wanting to see her punished too harshly would be a big help."
"I'll go and see Kingsley on Monday and see what I can do." Draco said.
"Thank you." Jacques smiled at the younger wizard, for once not resenting him for being in their lives. "There's also something. Sara, sorry Ginny, wants to see her family. She was hoping you could approach them and ask them to visit tomorrow afternoon."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Draco asked. "Telling so many people could lead to everyone finding out."
"I'm not exactly crazy about it but it's what she wants. Now she's facing up to her past she wants to make amends with her family." Jacques replied. "She also wants to know if you can get in contact with Blaise Zabini for her."
"She wants to see Blaise?" Hermione questioned. She could understand Ginny wanting to see her family but she was shocked that she would want to see her ex-boyfriend who she cheated on and left to serve a jail sentence on her behalf.
"She wants to apologise for the way she treated him and thank him for everything he did for her." Jacques explained.
"We'll see what we can do." Hermione said. "I'll pop over to The Burrow tonight and ask Molly to gather the family so we can talk."
"I'll also go and see Blaise tonight." Draco added. "Although I can't promise he'll want to speak with Ginny, he's moved on and left that part of his life behind him."
"We understand, but Ginny feels she has to at least try and make amends for the past." Jacques said. He knew there was a chance that his wife could end up hurt by people refusing to see her but it was what she wanted to do so he would be there to support her.
Jacques, Hermione and Draco were still discussing whether they thought Ginny's family would be accepting of her when the back door slammed open and Scorpius ran into the room laughing. Thomas ran in after Scorpius, also laughing, when he saw his father however he turned serious as he made his way over to the adults.
"Where's Mum?" He whispered quietly.
"At home, waiting for you." Jacques smiled at his son.
"Is she staying with us?" Thomas asked.
"For the time being." Jacques sighed, not knowing how they were going to broach the subject of a potential prison sentence to Thomas. "Why don't we go home and we can discuss everything with your mother."
Thomas nodded, eager to return home and find out how much longer he would have his mother with him.
Before he left with Jacques, Thomas thanked Hermione and Draco for having him and he promised Scorpius that he would visit as often as he could. Scorpius was upset over Thomas leaving so soon but he cheered up with his uncle's promise of more visits and his father's reassurance that Thomas was part of the family and wasn't going anywhere.