Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series. I did however finally get to see Harry Potter 7 part 2! I saw it on Monday actually I just hadn't updated since then. IT WAS AMAZING! If you haven't already seen it, do so! It is … *speechless*
First, I want to wish my friend, Sam, a very happy birthday!
Second, I would have had this chapter up last night but my internet kind of died out and wouldn't work. I use a free WIFI my town provides and too many people get on at night so it doesn't work after about 10 o'clock. Sorry for the wait but I posted as soon as I could!
Well, I know many of you got used to the everyday updates and I'm sorry for the week of no updates. I had a serious case of writers block and I'd hoped actually seeing the last movie (*sob*) would help get rid of it but I think it made it worse. This chapter turned out to be not what I expected but it's good either way. I hope you all enjoy it! I made it long to make up for the wait!
Well, I have to say, I'm overwhelmed with the number of reviews I got for the last chapter. Seriously guys 42 reviews for one chapter? I'm so touched! You guys rock! Each of you deserve your Malfoy Manor I promised you could share with your Tom Felton clones. *hands out house keys to every review* Enjoy ;D
Thank you again for all the reviews and keep them up! Well, I'll let you get to the story now.
Without further ado…
Chapter 12
Draco POV
The week leading up to the impending dinner at the Weasley's was the most confusing of my life. I surprised even myself when I came to the decision to give Ginny an engagement ring. In another spur of the moment decision, I asked Blaise to find out where she worked. I knew she had a job but it wasn't until then that I realized I knew nothing about it.
While I was waiting for Blaise to get back to me, I was able to deduce some things about where she worked. First off, wherever she worked, she worked a lot. So that meant either she made very little money or she put money back from each pay check. I guessed it was the first if the fact she'd worried about paying the bills after Luna moved out was any indication. So that meant it was just a mediocre job.
Another fact I was able to deduce was that either it was a muggle establishment near her flat, as she had no visible means of muggle transportation, or a magical place she could apparate to. The more likely was the muggle establishment since she said she was in school. Many jobs, like those at the Ministry, one doesn't go into without making a career out of it unless you're a paper pusher.
So, my best guess was that she worked at a mediocre muggle job within walking distance of her flat. That didn't get me much closer to finding out where. There were a lot of horrible jobs in muggle London. Eventually, I just got back to work rather than pondering a useless question that would soon be answered anyway.
My guess was right, I soon found out. Blaise told me that she was a waitress at a small restaurant, the Caddy Corner Café, just three blocks from her flat. The only thing he didn't tell me was when she got off. I wanted to surprise her at work just to see how she'd react to me. With that though in mind, I'd headed out to the small café propose to my future wife. I figured she'd get a chuckle out of it.
When I got there, she hadn't seemed too happy to see me. In fact, she tried to hide back in what I assumed was the kitchen the moment she saw me in the doorway. So I waited, knowing she couldn't hide for long. To make sure of it, I asked her over eager coworker to get her for me. When she finally made her appearance she wasn't happy to see me. It was easy to guess why after only a few seconds. Every single one of the employees of the small establishment watched on eagerly.
Just to mess with her, I offered to take her to eat something and stayed there. I actually had a good time joking with her and teasing her. It was all in good fun for once and not in insult passed my lips. By the time I actually got around to proposing to her, her mood had improved greatly and she was smiling and joking with me. It was right after she told me about the family dinner I was expected to go to that I asked her to marry me.
Neither of us could stop laughing after I slipped the ring onto her finger. Her few coworkers were obviously confused at our behavior. That made us laugh even harder and even after eating, we were laughing as we walked out the door. I didn't know the little joke would have the power to reduce us into tears of laugher.
I escorted her back to her flat after she pointed out that she had school in less than an hour. After a quick goodbye, I returned home with plans to see her again very soon. I was constantly surprised at how easy it had become to be around her. I hadn't had to consciously try to not insult her that day. I hadn't even had to think about it. Without consciously realizing it, I was opening up to my childhood enemy.
The next day I waited to visit her until I knew she'd be out of class. Madam Padwan had contacted me earlier that day and said that Ginny's wardrobe was finished earlier than expected. It didn't surprise me though. I had offered her a bonus if she put my order above all others. She fulfilled my wishes and put all her efforts into Ginny's new clothes.
When I had arrived at Ginny's flat, she called from somewhere in the house for me just to come in. Surprised, I let myself it. Just moments later, she appeared in the doorway from the hall in nothing but a towel. Her wet hair was a much darker shade of red and, at its longest point was down to her lower back.
"Oh," she said when she spotted me, a blush creeping up her cheeks as she tugged at the towel. "I thought you were one of the girls. Sorry I'm indecent." She looked down at her bare feet to avoid my gaze.
"It's alright," I said casually, acting as if she wasn't nearly naked, a difficult task indeed as my male instincts were wanting to kick in. "Just get dressed. Penelope Padwan has your clothes done. We need to go pick them up."
Nodding, she didn't waste a second to get out of my sight. After a few minutes she reappeared fully dressed with dry hair up in a messy bun. I was happy to see that she was wearing some of the clothes I'd already gotten her. I was glad she was accepting them easily. She'd fought about it in the beginning.
When we got to the small shop she looked overwhelmed at the piles of clothes all bagged up. After I paid the bill, making sure she didn't see how much I'd spent as I was sure she'd go into sticker shock, I turned to see her staring at the bags dumbfounded. "I don't have room for all of this," she told me, not looking away from the sacks of clothes.
"That's okay," I said with a shrug, not surprised in the least. "I'll send the summer clothes and formal wear to the Manor. They'll be put into your closet there."
She looked over at me surprised and nodded her consent. "Okay, that'll work nicely. I think I'll be able to fit the winter clothes," she said, looking down in one of the bags to find out what was in it.
While she was looking through her new clothes to figure out what she wanted to take, I called one of my house elves to my side with a snap of my fingers. The small creature appeared instantly with a loud crack, drawing Ginny's attention. "Take whatever bags Ginny tells you to and put them in her closet," I told the small elf.
She nodded quickly and walked over to her waiting mistress. All the house elves, even those who hadn't glimpsed her at the Manor the other day, were already referring to her as such. They knew she'd be living with us soon and were working tirelessly on getting her rooms ready. They already adored her. They'd gotten so used to having a woman to wait on that when my mother moved out and into the ancient Black Manor, being the rightful owner of it seeing as her older sisters were dead or disowned, they'd been lost.
The eager elf who had once cowered at the feet of my father, was smiling up at Ginny, clearly taken with her. Ginny was smiling back and talking to the small elf, acting as if she were no different than anyone else. That was my first glance at her kind heart and I found myself smiling. She was going to make a great mother to my children.
After another few moments, and the help of Madam Padwan in sorting out the clothes, the elf disappeared back to the Manor with many bags in tow. Ginny picked up several remaining bags and walked over to where I was waiting. We apparated right back to her flat and I waited patiently as she put her new clothes away.
When she returned to the living room, I offered to take her out to dinner. "Where would you like to go?" I asked, picking my jacket up off the side of the sofa where Ginny had put it upon arriving.
She gave me a smile and took the jacket from my hand. "Nowhere," she answered, setting the jacket back down. "I have a better idea than going out."
I frowned, confused at her actions. The best I could figure was that she was going to cook dinner. When I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant to do, she silenced me with a look. Walking over to the wall, she picked up the receiver to a muggle telephone. I wasn't too surprised she had one, seeing as she worked at a muggle place and they had to be able to get ahold of her somehow.
What did surprise me was when she started ordering food that sounded completely unfamiliar. After she hung up, she turned back to me with a huge smile. "Chinese food," she said simply. "It's my favorite."
And so she introduced me to another kind of food I'd never had before. I was raised on food either cooked by the house elves, fancy restaurants, or whatever Hogwarts offered. I'd never tried the takeout food that Ginny so raved about. It didn't take me long to realize what I'd been missing out on. I ate more than I probably should have.
As we ate and afterwards when we were relaxing on the sofa, too full to move much, we talked. I told her a lot about myself that I normally didn't disclose. Not only did I tell her about my company and the idea's I'd had for it but I told her more personal things. The thing she seemed to find most funny was my favorite color. I couldn't really understand why she found the fact I liked the color blue so hilarious. But she sure did.
I told her many things but I also learned much about my future wife that I didn't know. She told me all about her family and what it was like growing up with so many others. I found myself kind of envying her way of life. I'd always wished for siblings when I was young. I soon realized that I would never get my wish though. Father had gotten his heir and that's all he wanted.
I listened to her talk with a smile as I imagined her as a little girl with so many older brothers. When she mentioned the fact they could have made their own Quidditch team, I couldn't help but laugh. That didn't surprise me at all. All but one of her brothers had been on the team in school and I bet they would make a pretty good team.
She seemed to draw into herself a bit when she talked about her brother that had died during the final battle. She told me about him with a sad smile, the pain of his death obviously still hard to deal with. I hadn't lost anyone important to me during the war since I really wasn't close to anyone. Blaise was really my only friend and he'd stayed out of the fighting, out of the war. I couldn't imagine what she was feeling.
She changed the subject quickly and started onto a different topic. She started telling me about her Mum and Dad. Again I found myself wishing I could have had the kind of life she described. She told me about her Dad, kind of crazy but the most loving man anyone could know. She told me that he was the easier going one of her parents but the worst to have mad at you.
Her mum on the other hand had a temper to match her flaming red hair. I silently realized that was where Ginny got her own temper that I'd seen many times in my life. Her mum got mad more easily and could yell for hours if she got into her mind to. Her many children knew to not mess with her. She was also a loving mother with an open heart. According to Ginny, she was already trying to accept me into their family even though many of her family hated me.
We talked well into the evening and it was nearly eleven when I finally realized I needed to leave. I had to actually go into the office tomorrow and needed to be up early. Not only that, I knew Ginny had work in the morning. I wasn't sure what time she'd have to be up, but I didn't want to be the reason she was tired in the morning.
I surprised Ginny with a soft kiss and, after whispering goodnight, I left and returned home. I spent much of the night thinking about Ginny instead of sleeping like I should have. I couldn't get her out of my mind. In the last few days I'd begun to see a side of her I'd never seen before. She was much different than I could have ever imagined less than two weeks ago. I wouldn't have given myself the chance.
But now here I was, unable to sleep for the simple fact I couldn't get her out of my head. I'd opened my heart to her like I'd never done with any other woman. No other woman I'd ever been with had I opened up to. The only person in my life that really knew me was Blaise and that was simply because of his annoyingly perky insistence that was hard to ignore.
He'd been my friend since our earliest days. He'd had a hard life too but not in the way I had. He'd grown up with a different man marrying his mother every few years. Every new man would last a while and, just after he'd begun to form a small attachment, they would die a mysterious death. Nobody could figure out what was happening but the answer was obvious. With every death Blaise's mother began to acquire more and more money. Then she'd go off and marry another rich man. After seven husbands, no man is his right mind went near her.
With my lunatic father and his no father, we gravitated to each other when we were young. In a way we could relate. Both of us wished for a new father, a good father. He helped me though some of the hardest times in my life. Anytime Father beat me when I was young, I'd gone to him. We'd run off into the woods behind his home and hide in the trees, pretending we had different lives.
Without Blaise's constant friendship I had few doubts that I'd have ended up like my father. Thinking back now, I liked to think I could have been a decent human being even without Blaise but it was him that taught me that emotions were okay. Instead of pushing all emotion away like my father, I simply hid them around everyone but Blaise. I'd gotten used to hiding myself from people behind the mask that had been the only barrier between me and my father's hatred. On the outside I became the son he'd always wanted but on the inside, I hated him.
Now that mask, the careful façade that I'd perfected over my life, was begging to slip because of Ginny. Though I would admit it to no one, it scared me. I even found myself smiling even when I was alone, just because of the thought of her. Even Blaise had noticed the difference when I'd seen him just the day before, after I proposed to Ginny. He pointed it out but thought it was a good thing. "Your father's dead," he told me. "It's time to be who you truly are."
As I lay in bed, I pondered again what he'd told me. I was so comfortable with the front I provided to the world that I didn't know how to be myself with other people. Ginny seemed to like me when all my barriers were down but with her it was easy to do. Would I be able to do that to the rest of the world?
My first true test of being the kind gentleman I knew I could be instead of the arrogant jerk I'd grown up as would this Sunday at the first Weasley family dinner I'd attend. Maybe if it had just been a few people, just Ginny and I and her parents, I had no doubt I could manage to not put my shields up. But with everyone, all her brothers, Harry and Pansy, I didn't know if I could do it. It was so easy to slip into the role I'd grown up playing.
I wondered if I'd be able to keep my cool with all the insults and hateful looks that would likely be thrown at me. I knew I could probably handle Potter, even after intentionally making him mad the other day at the Ministry. Pansy, though I truly detested her, I could deal with. I'd grown used to ignoring her during our many years of school. Hopefully now that she was married, she'd stop trying to seduce me.
It was Ginny's brothers that I worried about. These were truly the people I had to win over if I was going to have any kind of peaceful life with Ginny. According to Ginny, most of her brothers would be willing to accept me when they realized I wasn't as bad as people thought. Her only worry was about the youngest of her brothers, Ron. He'd likely hate me no matter what.
As the next few days passed I continued to worry over this impending dinner. I talked to Blaise about it over lunch on Friday and he assured me that he'd be by my side the entire time. If things got out of hand, I knew I could count him. That helped a bit and I began to just wish the entire thing was over with already.
I didn't get to see Ginny the rest of the week as my workload grew exponentially. With the new Marriage Law, we began to get swamped with all kinds of clients wanting us to find a way out of it. I had to deal with everything from couples that already had their heir they needed that couldn't risk having another child that could upset their carefully laid plans to parents furious that the law surpassed all contracts that already betrothed their children.
One thing I found out because of my line of work was how the law would continue to affect people over the years to come. Until the Ministry deemed the population stable, once a year, the law would come back in full force and match those who had turned seventeen since the last matching. No marriages would be allowed in the time in between with those not yet matched unless approved by the ministry. Anyone who tried to go around it would have the marriage annulled and both would be matched with their most compatible match immediately.
I agreed with many of my clients that the law was, in many ways, very stupid. But sadly, there was nothing I could do about it. The law, I soon found out, was as solid as it could be. The only kind of loop holes there were weren't of much help. So long as the couple produced children, they didn't have to live together. That was about as good as it got though.
Even with all my work to keep me occupied the time leading up to the dinner on Sunday drug by. I was almost relived when Sunday final arrived. After finishing up some paperwork that needed to be done before the start of work tomorrow, I got read for the evening ahead. I dressed in a nice black dress shirt and my usual black slacks. After slipping my nice dress shoes on I grabbed my cloak and made my way downstairs.
When I entered the main hall though, I was surprised to see Ginny stepping from the fireplace on the other side of the stares. Anyone who tried to floo into the manor was directed to the front entrance fireplace. "What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised as I descended the last few stairs.
She looked up at me as she banished the soot from her clothes with a flick of her wand. She was wearing a pair of jeans I knew I'd gotten for her but she was wearing an old worn sweater instead of a nice shirt under her cloak. On her feet was a pair of worn sneakers. My brows furrowed as I wondered why she wasn't wearing clothes I knew she liked very much.
It was then I realized she was looking at me with much the same look. "I came to see if you were ready to go to dinner," she said in answer of my question. "And what are you wearing?"
I looked down at my nice clothes, confused. "What's wrong with theses?" I asked back, more confused than defensive.
She laughed and shook her head. "Nothing if you're going to a funeral," she said, giggling. "You just look too dressy and proper. Besides, do you own any clothes that aren't black?"
I frowned, thinking to my mostly dark wardrobe. "Yes," I answered, wondering what she thought wrong with black. "Why?"
She just shook her head and grabbed my arm, heading towards the stairs. "You need to change," she said matter-of-factly as she started up the stairs with me being drug after her. At the top of the stairs she didn't let go but stopped leading me. "Now where is your room?"
I rolled my eyes but led the way to my chambers. She seemed a little overwhelmed as I led the way through the many halls. Just to mess with her, I took the long way around to get there. She looked confused by the time we finally reached my door. "I'll get lost in this place," she said with a shake of her head.
"A house elf will be on hand to guide you until you get the lay of the Manor," I said as I opened the door to my room, holding it open for her to enter. The centerpiece of the room was the king sized bed with dark blue bedding that adorned one wall. Her eyes were drawn to that first and I had to smirk at the look on her face.
Slowly, she began to look around the rest of the room. I could tell the elegant room wasn't at all what she'd expected. She'd probably pictured stone walls and green everything, like the Slytherin dormitory was. The elegant, mostly blue room was a contradiction to what most people would think. She was the first girl to see this room too. No woman I ever brought home actually set foot in my personal chambers. I'd had a separate room set aside for that, one that more aptly reflected what people would expect.
"Didn't you want me to change?" I asked after a moment of her silence.
She jumped at the sound of my voice, obviously having forgotten all about me being in the room with her. "Oh yeah," she said, shaking her head slightly and a small smile forming on her lips. "You know, this room is at all what I'd expected."
I nodded, knowing that she'd have thought that. "Yes, well, I'm full of contradictions," I said with a smile of my own.
"Anyway, is that your closet?" she asked, pointing towards the only door in the room other than the one we came in that wasn't double. The glass doors led to the balcony and the double wood doors led to the bathroom.
I nodded and led her over to it, opening the door for her. I smiled again as she looked at the closet in front of her. "It's bigger than my bedroom," she said simply, shaking her head.
I let out a laugh and wondered how anyone could live in a room this small. "Well, go ahead and look around. Find whatever you deem appropriate to wear," I told her, stepping out of the way so she could look around the closet.
She frowned as she looked around, obviously not happy with the lack of color choices. Most everything in here was black. Finally, she seemed to find something she liked. "Here," she said, pulling jeans of a hanger and tossing them to me. "Put those on while I look for a shirt. Do you have anything causal?"
"Try the dresser," I said as I unbuttoned my shirt.
Seeing I was meaning to change in front of her, she rushed from the closet with a nod. After discarding the black shirt and slacks and putting my shoes back where they belonged, I pulled the jeans I seldom wore on and walked from the closet.
She was rummaging through my dresser drawers. Two of them were already open and ruffled, testament that she'd already gone through them. She was looking through another one. Upon realizing she'd come across one of my underwear drawers, she quickly shut it and moved on to the next. It was endearing to see how obviously shy she was. Finally she found a drawer with sweaters. "Finally," she said, looking through them. She pulled one out and turned to face me.
She looked shocked to see me standing not a foot behind her and shirtless. Her gaze was centered on my chest for a moment or two before, blushing, she tore her gaze away and thrust the shirt at me. "I'll find shoes," she said quickly, darting back to the closet.
I smirked and pulled the blue sweater on followed Ginny to the closet, making sure to give her time to overcome her fluster. "And what shoes will I be wearing dear," I asked jokingly as I leaned against the doorway watching her look through my shoes.
She laughed, looking over at me to roll her eyes. Looking back at the shoes, she shook her head. "I've never know a man with more shoes than me," she said with a giggle. Finally deciding, she picked up a pair of black sneakers that still looked quite new from not being worn but twice. "Here, theses should work."
I nodded, taking them from her and slipping them on. "How do I look?" I asked, looking down at myself.
"Better," she said with a laugh, grabbing my hand and pulling me from the closet. "You'll not look as out of place in this outfit. Mind you, blond hair amongst all the red is bound to stand out no matter what."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," I said, rolling my eyes as she pulled me back out into the hallway before stopping.
She looked up at me sheepishly and said, "Okay, now you can lead the way back down to the main hall. I'm lost."
I laughed and nodded, keeping her small hand in mine as I led the way to the stairs. This time I took the short way and she seemed to catch on to my trick when she saw the stairs after just a few turns. "You were trying to make me get lost weren't you?" she asked, not as shocked as she was tickled.
"Maybe," I said with a chuckle as I led her down the stairs. "Now should we apparate or take the floo?" I asked, stopping in the main entrance hall.
"Mum prefers if we floor," she said, making her way to the fireplace. "I'll go first. I don't know if all my brothers know I'm matched with you and you'd likely get attacked if you went through first."
"Gee, that's so comforting," I said sarcastically, grinning despite myself.
She rolled her eyes and turned back to the fireplace. Taking a small handful of powder from the bowl on the mantle, she tossed it into the fire. Immediately the flames turned green and cool, accepting her to step into them. "The Burrow," she said as soon as she was in. I watched as the flames whisked her away before turning back to their normal color.
"Well, here goes nothing," I muttered to myself as I too grabbed a handful of the powder. Tossing it into the flames, I stepped into the fireplace. "The Burrow."
Well, how was it? I normal don't do recap chapters, you know with his POV overlapping what happened in Ginny's POV last chapter, but I felt I could add a lot to the story if I did. I needed Draco's POV on their time together. Was that okay?
Well, now that all of you reviewers have your Tom clones and Malfoy Manors, there's not much else I can give you except *drum roll* LIMOS! Yes, review for this chapter and you can get your very own limo to ride around with your Tom in once you finally *ahem* make it out of your house.
Well, BJ is was very well fed from that last chapter and I hope you all keep it up. Your reviews for that last chapter surpassed the number I got for any single chapter on my other story, Set in Stone. I'm amazed and so is BJ. Keep 'em coming!
And remember, a happy author writes better and faster! So review and make me happy!
