Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the fabulous world of Harry Potter

Chapter 14: Moving In to the Manor

Bright and early Saturday morning there was a pop just outside Ginny's bedroom door followed by a small knock. Ginny, who had surprisingly been awake for hours doing various things, dragged herself out of bed yet again and opened the door.

"Good morning Miss. I was being sent by Mistress Narcissa to be helping you move your things to the Manor." The elf Blinky said as he peered around her to get a better look into Ginny's room. "Is you having a lot of stuff?" he asked unabashedly.

Ginny couldn't help but smile as the elf's big eyes got even wider while he surveyed the disaster zone that lay before him. He was the strangest elf she had ever met and she absolutely adored him already. "No Blinky, I actually have most of my stuff packed that I am going to take. I will come back after the wedding and clean this mess up."

His eyes lit up at her saying his name. He seemed surprised that a witch of her standard would remember the name of a house elf. "No, no, no! Blinky will help Miss Weasley clean it!"

"Oh you don't have to do that." she assured him. "I can clean it later, really."

"No." he said as he pushed his small body past her into the room. "I is a house elf. I can be doing it much faster and much better than you. You finish getting what you need and getting dressed and I be done." He then began to snap his fingers as things flew back into place.

"Wow," Ginny said. This really was the strangest elf in the world. He was completely ordering her around. "If you say so." She decided it would be best to do as the elf said

Ginny went back into the room to gather her various toiletries and clothing for the day before being shooed out of the room by the over eager little house elf. Fifteen minutes Ginny was completely finished with her morning routine and slowly walked back down the hall to her room. She was trying to give him as much time as possible without her hovering. Finally she reached her door and quietly swung it open.

He jaw dropped open in surprise at the scene before her. Her room was perfect, the cleanest it had ever been. There was nothing on the floor or bulging out of the closet. All four of her alarm clocks were stacked side by side on the table next to her bed which was actually made up for once.

"Wow Blinky!" Ginny exclaimed. "How could you have possibly done all this in that span of time?" She was flabbergasted by the speed and accuracy with which the elf had performed the daunting task that she herself barely ever attempted.

"Like I is saying I is a house elf Miss." Blinky beamed up at her in pride. "Is this all that you is taking?" he asked gesturing to a relatively small pile of boxes that had previously been scattered around the room but were now perfectly stacked and waiting to be shrunk.

"Yeah, I guess that is it." She pulled out her wand and quickly made the entire pile into a pocket sized load. Scooping it up she handed it to Blinky who willingly disapperated with the pile and instructions not to unpack anything without Ginny present.

After sending the little elf on his way Ginny exited the room and headed down the hall to Hallie's room. She knew her roommate would not yet be up but wanted to say goodbye anyway. She just felt she had to because for some reason she had this little feeling gnawing at her that after today she and her best friend would never again live together under the same roof. She knew this whole idea was preposterous, it was only a year after all, but still the feeling persisted.

Quietly opening Hallie's door she snuck into the familiar room and crossed it to stand alongside the bed. Bending down, Ginny softly kissed Hallie on the forehead.

Out in the kitchen she scribbled a note to her friend telling her that she had gone to the Manor and to owl her later. She left the note on the counter and exited the flat that she loved so much.

Draco stood awkwardly in the doorway between Ginny's room and the bathroom. He was very uncomfortable with the thought that there was somewhere in the Manor that he could not willingly enter especially considering the fact that it was the blank room that he had played in all his life. Now he stood taking in the white and blue décor that, although it did fit Ginny perfectly, seemed out of place in his haven.

"Weasley?" He called into the room. The little redhead was nowhere in sight but the large bangs and pops that had been occurring in the last few minutes assured him that she had to be in here somewhere.

"Come on in." A muffled voice called from the direction of the closet.

Draco stepped through the ward and meandered over to the source of the disembodied voice. He crossed the large room and cautiously stepped into the walk in closet to find Ginny straining on her tiptoes trying to place a large box on a shelf that was far too high for her small stature to reach.

He watched her struggle for a moment more chuckling before walking up behind her and snatching the box from her grasp. He then easily popped the box on to the shelf and then looked down into his fiancé's exasperated face.

"Jerk." She said and punched him in the stomach.

He did nothing but laugh at her. "You're welcome."

She left the closet and headed back into the main room to continue unpacking.

Draco followed her. "You didn't bring much."

Ginny glanced up in annoyance.

Draco caught the look and held his hands up in surrender. "Ok fine, I can take a hint. I'm not wanted." He began to turn to leave but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

Ginny had reached out and grabbed a hold of Draco before he could get very far. "I'm sorry Draco. I didn't get much sleep and I'm taking my bad mood out on you."

Draco studied her for a moment before grabbing one of the other boxes that Ginny had re-enlarged and laid on the bed. He opened the flaps and tried to riffle through the contents. "What's in here?"

Ginny sighed and smacked his hand before he could get too far into the box. "That's mine. I thought you said you would help me not riffle through all of my things."

"I will help. What do you want me to do madam?" he gave her a flourishing bow which made her smile.

"How about you take those three boxes there and put them next to the other one." She gestured to a stack and Draco dutifully did as he was asked.

A few hours later Draco and Ginny both exited her room and headed down to dinner. They met up with Narcissa in the main sitting room along the way and she informed them that Abraxas and Salvia were out for the evening. The trio continued on to the dining room together.

"Ginny dear, so I was thinking," Narcissa said linking arms with Ginny as they walked. "I know we were supposed to go and look at locations for the wedding on Tuesday, but what if we just had it here at the Manor? It's not as if we can't accommodate the amount of people we've invited, actually it is significantly less than the Halloween Ball in two weeks."

Ginny contemplated for a moment and said, "I actually think that is a fantastic idea Cissa. The Manor is beautiful and would be perfect."

Ginny saw Narcissa's eyes light up at her words. She could tell that the other woman was greatly enjoying the whole wedding planning process. "I was thinking that maybe the East garden would be perfect. It is large enough to handle the 72 guests but also very intimate. Oh and we could put up a lace canopy over the whole group and the ceremony can take place under an arbor decorated in the flowers we chose!"

They entered the large room and Ginny was surprised to see another person at the far end of the table. She had thought that Abraxas and Salvia would be out for the entire evening. She noticed though that at the sight of the man Draco's demeanor changed slightly. He went from his normal arrogant, confident self to a slightly diminished version of him that had she not been looking at him she might have missed. Only one person could cause Draco to lose his edge, Lucius Malfoy.

Immediately Ginny braced herself for what lay ahead. Lucius Malfoy was probably the only man she actually feared more so than even Voldemort himself. After the incident her first year at Hogwarts involving Tom Riddle's diary which Lucius had slipped into her cauldron visions of this cold calculating man had haunted her dreams.

As they approached Ginny took in the appearance and compared it with the one from her memory. He was about the same height as Draco with the same bleach blond hair and piercing silver eyes that so characterized the men of the Malfoy family. She imagined that if he were not so evil to her he might have even been handsome. Somehow this Lucius was not nearly as scary as the one in her dreams.

As they drew closer he walked up to meet them.

"Hello darling, Draco." he said in a monotone voice that sent a slight shiver down Ginny's spine. "And this must be the Miss Weasley that everyone has been up in arms about."

Surprisingly, as if he could sense her tension, Draco placed his hand on the small of her back and softly rubbed the area in support. He was well aware of how much she feared his father from their numerous conversations back in school and he desperately wanted her to make a good impression. Living with Lucius was hard enough when he did tolerate you.

Feeling Draco's silent encouragement caused Ginny to relax some. She drew on all her acting skills that she had acquired at her work and smiled up at the man. "Hello Mr. Malfoy, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

He gave her a tight smile. "Yes, my apologies for the lateness of our meeting. I have unfortunately been out of the country most of the last month. I'm appalled that I couldn't manage meet my son's first wife before she actually moved into the Manor."

"So am I." Narcissa cut in. "As I have been stressing to him for weeks."

The whole party chuckled and then the worst was over. They all sat down and had a fairly civil dinner.

Thursday night Draco returned from the gallery and trudged through the Manor up to his room. It seemed as if the last five days had absolutely flown by. What with work and being forced to participate in the wedding preparations he felt as if he was being pulled in all directions. He shrugged out of his robes and loosened his bloody tie. He really needed to change the dress code considering it was his own bloody building and he was tired of wearing such formal clothes every day.

Draco entered the bathroom and knocked on the door that led into Ginny's room. He waited for a response. When none came he swung open the door and peered in. "Weasley." He called out into the room.

Just then a bright red flash pushed past him into the bathroom and headed straight over to the counter.

"What are you doing?"

Ginny looked up briefly at him. "Oh, hi Drae. Sorry I'm just late. I'm supposed to be at my flat in ten minutes for girl's night in and I had to stay late to finish some spare paperwork. They're all going to kill me if I'm too late because tonight is my bachelorette party of sorts."

Draco was slightly stunned at the pace at which the tiny woman was speaking as she poked and prodded at her voluminous russet curls to try to force them to behave. "What are you even talking about?"

Ginny sighed in exasperation and spun to face him. "Well I suppose if we're going to be married I should actually tell you this. Thursday nights some of my friends and I get together to… well basically drink and complain about our various significant others or lack thereof. And tonight is all about you and me." She returned her attention to the mirror to do her makeup.

"Oh," was Draco's eloquent response. "I guess I will be eating alone then tonight. The rest of the family is out." He sighed and headed towards his end of the bathroom.

Ginny stood there watching him retreat and felt a pang in her chest. He actually looked genuinely upset that he would be all alone and now she felt horrible about it. "Draco wait," she hurried over to him. She couldn't believe what she was about to do it's just, he looked so pathetic, like a little lost puppy. "Would you like to come?"

"To your girls' night?" he asked. His eyes lit up slightly at the prospect.

"Yes, I mean it will be all women and we will all get very drunk but it might at least be somewhat entertaining."

"Well I don't want to intrude."

Ginny shook her head fervently. "You can't intrude somewhere you have been invited silly. Please come."

"Oh alright." He conceded although she could tell he was slightly excited.

Even though he would never admit it, Draco had always been curious about what had gone on in these little secret girls' only meetings that Ginny used to disappear off too. Now he would be the first and only male to witness their proceedings.

Draco woke up in unfamiliar surroundings. He was in a white room that was decorated entirely in purple. He was surprised to find that he was curled around a very soft, warm form that smelled absolutely fantastic.

He really wasn't sure what had happened the night before which meant he had probably gotten extremely intoxicated somehow. This was not the first time that this type of thing had happened to Draco in the last few years, usually he just waited for the headache to pass or the woman to wake up to find out exactly what had transpired.

He rolled over onto his back away from the tiny form in order to stretch out his long limbs. It was then that he noticed he was still entirely dressed. That was odd. Normally in these situations he woke up completely starkers.

The form whimpered slightly with the subtraction of his body from her own and followed the heat trying to snuggle closer to him and whispering his name softly. Well at least she actually knew who he was so that was a plus for once. Rolling back towards her he finally noticed the vibrant red curls that lay spread across her pillow and everything came crashing back.

Last night he had made the mistake of weaseling his way into joining Ginny and then proceeded to spend the entire night listening to the latest gossip about everyone they had ever known. At first all the girls had found his presence awkward. They were not used to having to censor what they said for sensitive male ears but then after the first two bottles of wine were gone it got worse because they began to treat him like one of the girls and to make matters worse he was drinking and enjoying himself just as much as they were. The evening had ended with an exceptionally intoxicated Ginny and Draco trying to floo back the Malfoy Manor with no success before giving up and just collapsing in her bed at the apartment.

He quickly separated his body from hers and jumped out of the bed. That was a mistake. He found he had a throbbing headache and the whole world began to spin before him in his hangover daze. "Bloody hell." He said a little louder than he intended. He sat back down on the edge of the bed and tried to steady himself.

"Well that was stupid." Said a voice from behind him and it was quickly followed by a giggle. "Come on Drae I'm sure you of all people should know how to handle a hangover."

Draco grimaced. She was right he should have known better than to try and stand that quickly just after waking up. That was why he normally lay in bed after nights like those but the shock of finding himself so close to her had disturbed his normal routine.

He listened as she giggle again and slowly rose from the bed, taking her time to make sure that she herself was steady. Then she crossed around to the other side of the bed and stood looking down at him. Ginny held out her hand and waited for him to take it.

Draco examined it contemplatively for a minute before deciding to just go with it. He grasped her hand and allowed her to help him slowly to his feet. They leaned on each other in order to garner more support and slowly made their way out to the kitchen to search for something to relieve their symptoms.

"Ugh," Ginny groaned as she dug through a cabinet. "There's only one vial again and I just brewed a whole new batch less than two weeks ago. We go through hangover draught faster than anything else. I guess we have to share." She uncorked the bottle and took a swig from it downing half the contents. She then replaced the cork and tossed it over to Draco at the kitchen table who finished the contents gladly.

"Where's Hallie?" he asked curiously once the edge had worn off.

Ginny walked out of the kitchen with two steaming mugs of coffee, one of which she handed to a grateful Draco. "She had to be at work early this morning but she's only working a half day because your mother has a plethora of festivities for Hal, Luna and I to partake in this afternoon."

Draco took a long drink from his steaming mug. "You don't have work?"

"Nope, I took today, Monday and Tuesday off because of the wedding so I'm a free agent for the whole morning." She smiled at him.

He nodded in understanding and then the pair fell into a companionable silence. After a few minutes Draco broke it by saying, "Would you like to go get some breakfast with me?"

Ginny was slightly stunned at the invitation. The last twenty-four hours Draco had been so out of character with the self that she had become accustomed to that he was seriously throwing her for a loop. She wasn't sure how much she actually trusted this behavior but she decided that it was probably best just to go with it and hope that this was the man that she would be living with for the next year and not the prat from two weeks ago. "Alright."

They both made their way back to Ginny's room to try and make themselves look at least semi presentable before exiting out into the world. Fifteen minutes later the pair made their way downstairs and to the apperating pad.

Ginny silently walked beside him not knowing at all where they were going but content not to ask he stoic companion. They had apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and then exited not into Diagon Alley but muggle London. They had been walking down Charing Cross Road for about ten minutes now.

Suddenly she saw a familiar building and knew exactly where he was taking her. Café Rouge.

Ginny was dragged out of sleep by a tapping on her bed room window. Who in the god's name would be trying to contact her at… she glanced at the clock, 2:30 in the morning? The bird persistently kept tapping. She sighed and unwillingly slunk out of bed to let the sleek black owl in.

She discovered he had nothing secured to his leg but simply a small scrap of paper in his beak which he dropped into her palm before soaring back out of the window. Ginny unfolded the scrap and read the words.

Red, meet me at 1500 Charing Cross Road Saturday at 10 A.M. – D

She stared at the words perplexed. Draco wanted her to meet in two days. It was definitely different from the norm but she would do as he asked

Ginny walked up to a beautiful brick building that bore the address Draco had written just a few blocks down from the Leaky Cauldron. The Café Rouge. She carefully opened the door and stepped inside.

The interior was chic and done all in black and red with a plethora of booths in rows that provided parties with some degree of privacy.

"Hello Miss," a voice said to her right. She turned to face a mousy man of medium height and build who had just spoken to her. "May I help you?"

Ginny smiled at him. "Yes I think you can. I'm looking for a tall blond man about my age, I'm supposed to be meeting him here."

The man nodded and gestured for her to follow him and then lead the way over to a booth in the far corner of the shop where Draco sat waiting for her. he then left the young couple alone.

Draco stood and gave Ginny a big hug before she sat down. A waitress promptly came over and took her order. After her food arrived and they were blissfully left alone she finally was able to turn on her boyfriend.

"Alright Drae, what is all this about?"

He gave her a sly smile. "What can't a bloke want to celebrate with his girlfriend?"

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him. "Alright, I'll bite. What pray tell are we celebrating sir?"

"You madam are looking at Hogwarts' newest head boy."

Ginny squealed in excitement and leaned across the table to hug Draco. "Oh my gods! Congratulations! I'm so proud of you."

He smiled at her again. "Why thank you. I wanted you to be the first one to know that's why I asked you to have breakfast with me here. You are the most important person in my life and I wanted to share my news with you before anyone else knew."

They settled into a booth at the back and five minutes later had both ordered. A slightly awkward silence descended upon them which forced Ginny to resist the urge to squirm.

"So…" she finally said lamely.

Draco smirked at her pathetic attempt to make small talk. "Do you remember the last time we were here together?"

Ginny sighed. "Yeah I do actually. This is the place we had breakfast when you found out you had made head boy."

"Mhm. The year I lived in muggle London I came here all the time. I was still broken up about how we… ended." He cleared his throat a little and took a sip of his coffee. He was visibly uncomfortable with where that conversation had the potential to go and Ginny didn't blame him.

She didn't really understand why Draco kept dragging her to places that would remind her of the way they used to be. First there was the walk to the rose garden and now the café where they had met, it didn't make sense.

Was he feeling oddly nostalgic now that she was back in his life? She doubted it. She had tried to reenter his life once before and that had not gone well at all. No, he was probably just trying to torture her with memories so that maybe she would back out of the bargain and leave him be.

All too soon Saturday was upon them. Less than an hour before the ceremony began Ginny sat in her room in nothing but her corset and panties staring at the beautiful gown. It truly was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen; it was a shame that she was wearing it to get married to Draco Malfoy rather than someone who she was in love with. No matter what Hallie and Luna believed, the breakfast the day before had reinforced what she believed. They were entirely wrong for each other in every way, that ship had sailed and she was glad about that.

She sighed and turned back to her reflection. She looked truly beautiful. Smokey makeup brought out the gold flecks in her brown eyes perfectly and somehow dampened the striking freckles that dusted her nose and cheekbones. Her curls were swept up into a loose style that hung at the base of her head with several curling fiery tendrils falling down to frame her heart shaped face.

She was still musing about what this day would mean for the rest of her life when her two best friends and bridesmaids burst through the door. They were both already dressed in their deep purple dresses and looked stunning.

"Ginny!" Luna said in a panicked voice when she saw the bride did not have her dress on yet. "The ceremony start in half an hour, we need to get you dressed."

"I know Looney, calm down it will all be fine. You are freaking out more than me and I am the bride. I'm not sure if I should ask you be a bridesmaid for my real wedding." Ginny joked as she stood up.

Luna just glared at her. "I have been following Narcissa around all morning and she is stressed so I am stressed. Put your damn dress on."

"Yes ma'am" Ginny said giving her a little salute as she stood up and walked over to the dress. Hallie held it out for her while she stepped into the yards of silky satin. Once it was in place Hallie and Luna both worked to fasten her in and straighten her out.

"Wow Gin, you look amazing." Hallie breathed while Luna bobbed her head in agreement.

The dress was a halter style that did up all the way along her back with a long series of buttons. The bodice was a sweet heart top with dropped waist and a line of jewels that glittered and drew the eye down to the fabric of the bodice that swept across her body to a jeweled star burst on her left hip. The ball gown length skirt then folded in on its self and gathered at the same location on her hip.

Ginny spun around to look in the mirror. Even she had to admit that the dress was absolutely perfect. "Wow."

"Wow is right. Malfoy would have to be an exceptionally pious monk to not react to you in that dress." Hallie smirked.

"Hallie, stop it." Luna scolded in a joking manor. "It has nothing to do with the dress and everything thing to do with the girl in the dress."

"Either way I don't particularly envy him tonight."

They both laughed but were quickly shushed by Ginny.

"You are both absurd. Don't you have something to be doing before we get this whole show on the road?"

"Probably."

Luna and Hallie then left the room to find something useful to do. They wanted to give Ginny a few minutes alone to collect herself before the ceremony began. Both women could tell that their friend was on edge about what she was about to do.

Ginny was putting the finishing touches on her hair when she heard a small knock on the door that leads to the bathroom. It had to be Draco; he was the only one who would try to come in that way. She contemplated for a moment telling him to go away, that it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, and then she remembered it wasn't a real wedding and decided who cares. "Come in."

"Hey," he said quietly as he entered the room. When he saw her it was all he could do to remember how to breathe. She looked amazing, more beautiful than he had ever seen her before. Her dress clung to her body in all the right places giving Ginny an hour glass figure. Her hair was swept up to reveal the creamy curve of her neck. He absolutely refused to let his eyes travel any lower otherwise he would spend the entire ceremony being more than a little uncomfortable.

She looked up and gave him a small smile. "Hi." She stood up and swirled around to show off the entire dress. "So what do you think? Fit for a Malfoy?"

Draco chuckled and shook his head. "Yes, a perfect fit for a Malfoy bride."

"Thank you, thank you." She curtseyed. "And you are looking rather dashing yourself Mr. Malfoy."

Draco was dressed in his newly tailored black dress robes. He looked more than dashing, he looked drop dead gorgeous not that Ginny was about to admit that.

"Oh and I wanted to officially apologize for the other day." He lowered his eyes and fiddled with the edge of his robes. "I don't think we should get married on any bad or strained terms, this year is going to be hard enough, so… I'm sorry for insulting you."

Ginny leaned back against the vanity and raised one eyebrow in response. "Come again?"

"Oh Weasley don't make me say it again, it hurt enough the first time."

Ginny cracked a small smile. "Oh alright. And I guess I'm sorry for smacking you although you did deserve it."

He smirked at her with an uncharacteristic twinkle in his eye. "I usually do though, don't I?"

"Yes you do."

"So are you ready to get married?

"Yes sir." She giggled. "How about you?"

"Not sure I have much choice at this point so yeah, what the hell, let's do this."

Ginny smiled at him before sitting back down at her vanity for one final check. Draco just stood there leaning against the bed watching her. His presence made her slightly nervous, the way he just stood there staring and Ginny had no idea what was going through his head. She decided she had to say something to shake up the electric charge that had settled in the room. "So thank you by the way."

"For what?" he asked.

"For the ring, you saved me a lot of time it fulfilled three out of my four bride requirements."

He stared at her obviously confused. Of course he wouldn't know all the wedding traditions, especially considering this one was usually just a muggle thing.

"Brides are supposed to carry specific things on their wedding day. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. The ring is old, borrowed and blue and not to mention amazing." She smiled.

"Well your welcome. So what is your something new?"

Ginny blushed and dropped her eyes from his. "Well something new is kind of predetermined as the lingerie required for the dress."

Draco didn't say anything but smirked and raised his eyebrows in an amused fashion.

"Shut up." Ginny said.

He raised his hands in submission. "I didn't say anything Red."

She spun around and pointed her finger at him. "I could hear you think it and don't call me Red."

"Whatever you say Ms. Weasley."

"Only for another half an hour or so." She smiled at him.

Just then there was a small pop that signaled the arrival of a house elf. "Oh shit." Draco said.

"What?"

"Draco Lucius Malfoy!" a high squeaky voice screamed as an adorable little elf in a yellow frock came stomping into her room. "What is you doing in here? I left you in your room to be getting ready and you sneaks over in here to see the beautiful bride? That is bad luck sir!"

"I'm sorry Lily! I just had to tell Ginny something."

The elf squinted her eyes in suspicion at him.

Draco sighed and rubbed his temples. "I apologized for being an arse."

"Likes you usually is!"

Draco just snickered and shook his head.

"Wait," Ginny interrupted the elf's rant. "Are you Draco's Lilith?"

"Yes Miss I is being Master Draco the idiot's personal house elf. It is very nice to meet you and you look very pretty."

"Why thank you." Ginny blushed a bit at the elf's blatant compliment.

"Yes, yes." She said as she stomped across the room and began physically pushing Draco out, her small hands shoving the back of his thighs. "Well we will be seeing you in just a few minutes."

Draco held up his hands in surrender once again and gave in to the little elf. He willingly crossed the room towards the bathroom before pausing and glancing back at Ginny and smiling at her. "I'll see you soon."

He disappeared into the bathroom leaving Ginny alone once again. She turned back to her mirror and sighed. She picked up the net birdcage veil and secured it secured it with pins and finished off with a jeweled starburst pin on the right side identical to the one adorning her left hip. She was ready.

Here's chapter 14. Little choppy but still decent, what do you all think?

Thanks to all the amazing ppl who reviewed both 12 and 13! Keep it up!

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