The Sacred 28

by petthekat

In a dwindling postwar society, pure-blood prisoners are being released into the care of Death Eaters for "rehabilitation." And because life is quite unfair, Draco Malfoy has been entrusted with one very angry, very vengeful Ginny Weasley. [AU of a Voldemort victory]

21. Chapter 21

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for hanging with me through this rollercoaster of a story! This chapter contains some M rated content of various subjects…

Also – if anyone is interested, I have a separate fic of "missing moments" canon to this story which has started with Blaise and Gabrielle's first meeting. Head on over and take a read!

Anyway… Here is your last chapter…

Right?

---

Harry Potter was escaping.

Harry Potter was escaping, and it was all Draco's fault for his hesitation. The Manor was in chaos. Bellatrix was shrieking. The Dark Lord hadn't arrived yet, and everything was going to hell. All because of Draco. Why had he lied?

Why had he fucking lied? It was a question that would circle Draco's mind like a vulture for months afterwards.

That was when Harry Potter leapt at him, making a reach for Draco's wand. For a split-second, Draco failed to react. Then he yanked his arm back and shoved at stupid Potter with all of his strength.

Potter's hand missed Draco's wand, and he tumbled to the floor. However, the Gryffindor managed to snatch up a different fallen wand, and that seemed good enough for him.

And seconds later, Harry Potter was gone.

---

When Draco awoke the next morning, the first thing he did was reach over to feel for Ginny's side of the bed.

His wandering arm found her immediately, curled up in the blankets and still fast asleep at his side. Draco exhaled, his entire body relaxing back into the bed. Waking up without Ginny for the last two days had been wounding in a way Draco couldn't have foreseen.

Things were still up in the air; not about his and Ginny's relationship necessarily, but about what their lives would be like. A heavy cloud of uncertainty hovered over the Malfoy home, one which seeped into corners and inside shadows. The deceptively beautiful morning seemed to act as its own form of procrastination. Darker thoughts – anxieties, terrors, and all the rest – remained, but it was terrifyingly easy to push them away in favor of the bold sunshine.

Besides, Ginny was at his side again, and Draco could not bring himself to succumb to his fears at that moment. She didn't hate him, even though she hated what he did, and that alone was enough to strike Draco as something amazing.

Shifting in the bed, Draco looked over her sleeping face, which was so far from elegant that it made him chuckle. Ginny was nothing if not entertainment value, he thought wryly, even as his heart swelled with adoration.

Draco's thoughts returned to the night before.

Ginny clearly despised the Muggleborn Registration position he'd been forced to take, and she no doubt felt angry and hurt at what Draco was doing. She didn't understand his lifestyle, and often, his motivations were unclear and senseless to her. After all, Draco was not the heroic figure that Harry Potter had been. He wasn't known for acting selflessly – not now, not ever – and Draco doubted he would ever become the altruistic do-gooder that Gryffindors traditionally aspired to be.

But Merlin, could he love.

And Ginny, with her peculiar ability to see people, seemed aware of that. But Draco also knew that Ginny's decision not to hold his work against him was not because of Draco's great qualities, but because of her own. As emotionally volatile as Ginny was, she had a great depth of understanding for other people. She was empathetic without being condescending. She understood practicality over rashness, something few of her fellow Gryffindors shared. She wasn't all that patient, but Merlin, she was smart and frighteningly powerful.

Draco loved her. He realized this at that very moment, looking over at her strewn hair and sun-kissed face as they lay in bed together. And the reason he knew it was true was because the tangle of misery in his chest finally unraveled, and he felt as if he could see it, floating right in front of him, now several individual pieces that slowly but surely fell away.

They didn't vanish – misery was, unfortunately, a part of life - but Draco hadn't had the strength to pull them apart, not on his own, and only with Ginny's hands had the web finally broken. Draco didn't expect things would get easier for either of them from this point on. If anything, their work was only just beginning.

But to know he had Ginny with him, even when she so vehemently disagreed with his decisions, was the most remarkable and uplifting feeling Draco Lucius Malfoy had ever known. How could he deserve such a companion? And how he could make himself as valuable to her as she was to him?

Months ago, that question would have filled Draco with fear. Now, however, he felt only determination.

Tap tap tap.

Draco glanced up to see an owl at the window, and not just any owl – the eagle owl he'd sent off. Draco's eyes widened, and he hurriedly looked to Ginny, who was snoring into her pillow and dead to the world. Carefully, Draco extracted himself from her and went to the window, where he let in the owl and took the package in shaking hands. The owl nipped crossly at Draco before taking back off for its spot in the owlery, and Draco took the small wrapped box. After one last glance at Ginny, Draco slipped into her old room, out of sight.

There, he tugged on the brown string and unwrapped the box. Inside was an overly long note from the jeweler espousing the virtues of the Malfoy house, and Draco tossed it aside. Then he pulled out the ring box, paused to suck in a breath and opened it.

He immediately shut it again.

It was … perfect.

Swallowing, Draco opened the box again and observed the ring. Each jewel had been finely polished, detailed and reset in exactly the manner Draco had requested. It was finer than any ring Draco had ever seen, but more importantly, it was far more suited to Ginny.

Heart pounding, Draco closed the box and curled it in his fingers.

In just a few days, he promised himself. He needed time to plan. This wasn't going to be an "agreement" like Blaise and Gabrielle's wedding, or an arrangement like Charlie and Fleur's. No, this was going to be a proper proposal. And he'd need a few days for that.

Also, Draco might have been procrastinating out of nerves just a little.

Besides, today was Blaise and Gabrielle's wedding today, and it wouldn't have been proper for him to give Ginny an engagement ring on that day anyway. Just letting those words run through his head was enough to make Draco feel like flinging himself out of a window rather than dealing with the anxiety it brought. Ignoring anything even mildly bothersome was basically Draco's Modus Operandi at this point in his life.

But he would do it, for Ginny. Just not right this second.

Sneaking back into the bedroom, Draco locked up the ring. Then he wandered back to the bed and kissed the top of Ginny's head. She wouldn't be awake for a while, as it was quite early, and he was content to let her sleep. However, he had no hope of returning to sleep himself, so Draco took a seat in his chair, ready to read, until he spotted something near the Christmas tree.

Oh, right. The alchemy set Ginny had given him for Christmas. Draco's lips quirked.

You should do more things that make you happy.

If Ginny believed in Draco enough to be with him, even when the outside world had gone to hell, then Draco would do as she asked. Their lives could be okay. They could be happy. They would be. Draco was determined.

And so, an hour later when Ginny finally rose from bed and shuffled across the room on bare feet, it was in her old bedroom that she found Draco, working studiously over his alchemical ingredients, a book in hand.

Draco didn't notice her at first; he wasn't working so much as organizing. He'd put on an undershirt, but he was still wearing pajamas, and his hands constantly swept over the various ingredients and chemicals, little bottles filled with purple liquid and others filled with what appeared to be smoke. A few loose plants dotted the edges of the impressive stone table, and Draco's wand occasionally flicked at a different book propped up nearby, which turned page after page of complicated equations and symbols. Every few minutes, Draco would pick up a quill and jot a few notes, his gaze thoughtful and focused.

Ginny leaned against the door and watched him, her arms crossed loosely and her legs bare.

If Draco had bothered to look, he might have seen the look on her face, the one which confirmed that his value to Ginny was in no way less than her own.

Still, even though Draco didn't spot Ginny's soft appreciative smile, he couldn't miss the arms which appeared from behind him while his mind was distracted. Small hands moved down Draco's bare arms, fingers spread, until they reached his own larger digits, and Draco turned just enough to see Ginny at his shoulder, her lips quirked.

"Good morning," he said, features relaxing into a smile. Ginny's hands on his arms created an altogether more powerful reaction than anything Draco could hope to create with potions and herbs.

"Am I bothering you?" asked Ginny, her voice still a little hoarse with sleep. "I can leave you to work."

But Draco shook his head, turning slowly in her grip and pulling his arms around her torso so that his clasped hands sat at the base of her spine. "Just getting to know my new tools," he said, even as Ginny placed her chin on his chest and blinked up at him with hazel eyes.

"Good," she said lightly, before shifting her head down. Even through the soft material of his undershirt, Ginny's lips at the center of his chest felt delightfully thrilling. It must have shown briefly on Draco's face, because Ginny's eyes twinkled before she shifted her head further down and she kissed him again, as if the shirt was no impediment at all.

Of course, it was only a few seconds into Ginny's seemingly innocent kisses that Draco felt himself grow very hard, something his pajamas did a rather poor job of hiding. And when Ginny lifted the bottom of Draco's shirt and placed a kiss on his bare stomach, Draco sucked in a deep breath. Merlin could only hope Ginny never did this and then asked him for something important, because she would get whatever the hell she wanted, Draco knew that much.

"Are you sure I'm not bothering you?" she asked again, nearly on her knees, her fingers gripping at his waist. "Because I can leave."

Before Draco could even properly reply, Ginny did something she had never done before, and pulled down the waistband of his pajamas to take him into her mouth.

"Fu – uck," Draco exhaled in surprise, his lips parted.

If Bleaker popped in here and ruined this, Draco would literally kill him on the spot. Fortunately, the house-elf didn't appear, and instead it was Ginny who enjoyed Draco's full and undivided attention, though it was very clear she was the one in control. Tilting back his head, Draco closed his eyes and reached forward, touching Ginny's bright red hair as she coaxed noises out of him that he'd never made before in his life.

Then she pulled away, taking all of Draco's energy with her until she appeared in front of him and pulled his lips to hers. "Sorry, but I need you," she murmured breathlessly, and Draco quickly turned her in his arms, pulling her up onto the edge of the alchemy table, which was thankfully free of any ingredients or cumbersome objects, because he would have flung it all to the floor anyway.

"No apologies necessary," he murmured, pushing up Ginny's sleep shirt so he could take her hips and pull away any remaining fabric, anything that stood in the way of feeling Ginny in his hands. Their mouths crashed together again and Ginny' fingers curled at Draco's shoulders, her legs wrapping tightly around his waist and urging him with every movement of her body, every desperate and breathless noise.

Merlin, she felt so amazing beneath his hands, like fire personified. It was in her movements, too, which could go from slow and gentle to heated and explosive in mere seconds. With one movement of his hips, Draco pressed into Ginny just as he moved an open-mouthed kiss to her neck and then further, down the slope of her chest and between her breasts, all the while moving in and out of her at a pace that made them both verge on delirious.

There was never a doubt in Draco's mind that Ginny was as wild about their union as he was. Every lurch of her body against his, every gasp, every grip of her hands was just as hungry as his own, as wanton and loving and desirous.

Draco wrapped his arms fully around Ginny and, just towards the end, slowed each thrust so that it was deep and drawn out, tantalizing but almost unbearable in its pleasure. It was then that Ginny's muscles clenched around him, and Draco was forced to grip the table, his knuckles turning even whiter than usual as he followed suit.

Together, they rode out the waves of pleasure until it finally subsided, with Ginny's breathing hard against Draco's shoulders.

After several moments of silence, she pressed her cheek against his shoulder and said, "Not exactly what I had planned for this table… but I have to say," she glanced down at it. "Sturdy."

"Says you," Draco smirked. "It's definitely what I had planned for this table."

Ginny grinned, letting Draco pull her down on wobbly legs before a voice sounded from their bedroom. "Uh, Master Malfoy? Missus Weasley?"

Fortunately, Bleaker couldn't see them. But he no doubt would before long.

"Breakfast?" asked Ginny, giving Draco one last soft kiss.

He nodded, and so they did. But rather than eating in the bedroom, as they often did, Ginny and Draco dressed and went to the dining room to eat breakfast with Narcissa, who raised a brow at their smiles but said nothing, obviously deciding she'd rather not have any sordid details.

Ginny took a seat, though Draco paused. He eyed the many chairs and the long dining table. After a few moments of deliberation, he sat at the very head of the table. Ginny's lips hinted at a smile, as did Narcissa's. However, when the food appeared on the table, Narcissa's placid expression instantly became aghast.

"What in the name of Merlin is this?" Narcissa shrieked, sounding more emotive than Ginny had heard from her in days. Draco looked equally baffled, and Ginny's lips parted – before she cringed and shot them both a sheepish smile.

"Uhhh…"

The 'breakfast' looked more like a dessert table – cakes and sweets and candies and some things that vaguely resembled breakfast, but with a lot more whip cream and chocolate than normal. There was a pile of lemon tarts stacked high and a frosted donut cake, plus a blueberry cream cheese muffin pyramid and a bowl of accompanying sprinkles, waffles piled on top of sweets and more syrup than pumpkin juice. Strawberry stuffed French toast, peanut butter chocolate chip pancakes, and blueberry scones also made the occasional appearance.

"I'm sorry, okay!" Ginny burst out. "The elves kept coming to me and asking me questions, and I didn't know! I panicked! So, you know, I just thought – " She gestured lamely. "… Comfort foods, right?"

At the head of the table, Draco pressed a hand over his face to stifle his laughter. Before he could say anything, though, Narcissa made an indignant noise – and then reached forward, taking a pile of chocolate-chip pancakes and putting them on her plate.

Ginny and Draco stared.

"What?" the pristine woman asked after taking a bit. She couldn't quite hide her smile. "I haven't had these since I was a child."

Then she proceeded to eat a full meal for the first time in days, and Draco and Ginny exchanged grins before picking out their own food from the dessert-breakfast-monstrosity and enjoying their meal quite a bit.

---

The day passed on, and sooner than Ginny would have liked, it was time to prepare for Blaise and Gabrielle's wedding. Narcissa was attending too, of course, and she helped Ginny get dressed in the new robes she'd gotten for Christmas. The robes paired beautifully with Ginny's new necklace, and Narcissa looked over her with a pleased nod before sending her away to finish getting ready.

Ginny went back to the suite she shared with Draco, her fingers brushing on the necklace. The one Percy had given her was still locked away, but she felt a tremendous amount of guilt at leaving it off. Biting her lip, Ginny went and got out the necklace, holding it in the palm of her hand.

It wasn't Percy's fault that Damien had used this necklace against her. She shouldn't be so wary of it. Sighing, Ginny ended up tucking the necklace into her pocket. Maybe she wouldn't wear it, not today, but she'd keep it with her. That should be good enough for now. It wasn't forgotten, and as soon as the wedding was over, she'd wear it again.

Draco appeared then, looking dashing in his dress robes once more.

"Look at you," remarked Ginny, reaching over to touch his front. "I always knew you were handsome, you know. Now I just don't feel like a prat for admitting it."

Draco rolled his eyes at her and gave her a soft lingering kiss. "Am I as handsome as Blaise, though?"

"Oh, Merlin," Ginny made an exasperated noise as Draco snickered. "I was just trying to make Gabrielle feel better!"

"Well, what you should have told her is that Blaise's boyfriend thinks he's quite handsome, too. And also that Blaise has been irreparably damaged by all the women in his life and is therefore going to make a terrible husband."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll figure that much out," said Ginny, linking arms with Draco. "But who knows? Maybe they'll be happy."

Draco looked over Ginny's freshly cleaned face, played up a little with hints of makeup applied by Narcissa. "That's true," he conceded. "You never know who will prove to be the most remarkable parts of your life."

Flushing, Ginny curled her fingers in his. "That almost sounded optimistic. I'm proud of you."

"Well, good, because I'm done with it for now," he informed her stoically, making Ginny snicker. Together, they collected Narcissa and then departed the manor.

---

Blaise and Gabrielle's wedding, as it turned out, was quite the affair.

Housed in a luxurious sweeping country estate, the magical venue was a great cluster of activity, with every major British magical house in attendance in some form, as well as some French. The sprawling grounds were nearly on the level of the Malfoy Manor in terms of opulence, and although it was styled differently, it contained the same standoffishness that Ginny found so unlikable about the mansion. As strikingly beautiful as the grounds were, there was nothing inviting about them.

In fact, the whole thing seemed outrageously impersonal for a wedding in Ginny's opinion. There were so many guests, and even more servants, from house-elves to paid witches and wizards. The ceremony was to take place inside, but the outside was landscaped to every detail, with perfectly placed flowers that seemed artificial in their perfection.

Draco, Ginny and Narcissa passed through the foyer, where they were forced to surrender their detailed invitations. Without them, one was not admitted, as this was for only the finest of the wizarding world. As Narcissa had told Ginny more than once, this was yet another opportunity for the magical elite to outdo one another, and it was evident in the robes they wore, the gifts they brought, and the guests they walked with.

The event itself, of course, was even more of a statement. The Zabinis were a very prominent family, and Blaise was the only son. This was to be the grandest affair of the year, and Blaise's mother seemed intent on making certain every person in attendance was aware of the great honor being bestowed upon this French witch, who was to receive her son as a husband.

Ginny wasn't sure of Blaise's mother's name, and she had never seen her before, but upon spotting her, Ginny had no doubt as to who she was. Stunningly beautiful, and wearing silk robes like Ginny had never seen, Blaise's mother moved in and out of the crowds with all the grace and haughtiness of a queen surveying her kingdom. She was certainly in her fifties, given the age of Blaise's oldest sister, but she looked not a day more than thirty, and her newest husband was only a few years older than Blaise.

"Poor bloke," Draco muttered to Ginny as they looked at the couple. "He better watch what he drinks around that woman."

Ginny snorted. "Seriously, mate, read a book. Or the newspaper. You are not Lucky Husband Number Six."

"Both of you stop gossiping," snipped Naricssa from behind, subtly fixing Draco's sleeves before pressing a wrinkle out of Ginny's collar, much to both of their annoyances. "Ginny – "

The redhead snapped to attention, a bit distracted by the fact that she wasn't sure if Narcissa had ever addressed her by her name.

"Chew with your mouth closed."

Ginny scowled.

"And Draco," Narcissa said, her gaze shifting. "Remember… this is your first public event since your father. You're in charge now." She pressed a hand lightly to his front. "Show them," she said with meaning.

Draco paused before giving a firm nod. "I understand," he told his mother. Then he turned and offered Ginny his arm. Narcissa walked on his other side, and together they entered the banquet hall, where the guests were gathered. The chilling atmosphere swept over Ginny immediately – it did not feel like a wedding to her. In fact, it had the same aura the funeral had. This was not a time to celebrate or mourn, but to network and preen. Perhaps even more disturbing was how the entire affair was more than a pompous show of wealth and prestige; it was, in every sense, a massive chessboard.

Focus. Not just on your pieces, but on the whole board.

Ginny and Draco looked at each other, and with newly renewed confidence, they entered the room together. People greeted them with various reactions – some were surprised, as they hadn't even known Ginny was with the Malfoys, much less than she would be walking amicably on Draco Malfoy's arm. Others were polite enough, while still more began the conversation by rudely ignoring Ginny – and sometimes even Draco, if they were feeling brave.

After all, there were those who had envied Lucius' wealth and position for decades. To see him gone, only to now be faced with his offspring, was an opportunity to take advantage.

As Ginny watched, though, many seemed to sense rather quickly that Draco was not the pushover they had hoped for.

"I heard Damien has taken over the governorship from you father," said one smug wizard. "Such a shame. Lucius' holdings certainly seemed to dwindle substantially just before his death."

"I've taken the governorship back," replied Draco smoothly. "Damien held it for mere moments, while I was distracted with arrangements for my father's funeral. But I can assure you, that title – and many others – are rightfully mine." He cocked a brow, looking so much like he had in school that Ginny couldn't help but stare. "And now that it's resolved, Damien can return to being a … what was it? A school teacher?"

Draco smirked, and the smug man actually laughed, crossing over to Draco's side in an instant. How fickle these people were, thought Ginny.

"True enough," the other wizard agreed. A much older wizard joined them and nodded heartily.

"I knew Abraxas in school, young Malfoy, and you are him, through and through!" he exclaimed, and Draco squared his shoulders.

"Of course," Draco said, "After all, I am his only heir. And I have no intentions of losing anything my beloved grandfather left to me." He paused. "Not to anyone," he added with a flash of his grey eyes, and Ginny fought a mixture of pride at Draco's confidence and fear at how easy it was for him to assume this role.

Still, she would support him here, for now, even as scummy as it made her feel to smile and wave at these people. To combat her feelings, she reminded herself of people like Astoria, who was in attendance with her sister and was very kind, as well as others, those who had been forced to go along and get along, but were not malicious.

And of course, Draco was not malicious either, though Ginny quickly saw how very excellent he was at pretending to be. Each time they moved on to a different conversation, the beginning interactions inevitably shifted from uncertain and sometimes outright rude to more considerate and respectful, even though sometimes it seemed to Ginny to be a reluctant shift. It did not take long for the aristocratic witches and wizards to determine that staying in Draco's good favor would benefit them.

If people were expecting Draco to lie down and disappear after Lucius' death, they were quite wrong.

Still, Ginny couldn't help but feel annoyed that her main role in this was pure, unadulterated acquiescence. It helped Draco tremendously for Ginny to appear demure and reticent, neither of which she was in the slightest, so she did her best. Even pretending was hard though, and so she often looked to Narcissa, who had already taught her so much about subtlety and elegance.

Fortunately, Narcissa was, in truth, no more of a pushover than Draco was, and Ginny felt real excitement when a forward French wizard brought up Narcissa's newly single status to her. "I hear," said the Frenchman, leaning close to Narcissa, "zat you are now in ze market for a husband. I must say, zat is most excellent news for me – "

"I don't speak French," Narcissa interrupted with elegant disregard. She wasn't even looking in his direction.

The wizard balked. "Well, zat is fine – because I speak English – "

"And your country is terrible."

Ginny bit her lip to keep from laughing.

The wizard started to speak again, growing purple in the face, but apparently determined to put all his pride on display for Narcissa to ruthlessly consume. "You will have to submit to a new husband eventually, just like any other witch – or you'll have a hefty fine to pay!"

At this, Narcissa turned in the French wizard's direction and set a withering glare on him so decidedly that the man instantly deflated, as if he were a freshly pricked balloon.

"I am a Malfoy," said Narcissa in deceptively calm tones, her eyes flashing. "I will gladly pay that fine. Then I will take my considerable gold and I will purchase your childhood home, which I will then raze to the ground and replace with a nunnery, where I will gladly commit myself for the rest of my years before condescending to marry a nobody such as you."

Then she turned back, and Draco and Ginny stood with their lips pursed tightly until the man made a distraught noise like a whine and then hurried off. Narcissa stared on, and Ginny made a few mental notes before they all took their seats.

The ceremony began a few minutes later.

It was lovely, truly it was, but Ginny couldn't help but feel like the entire thing was a very expensive but utterly impassionate play. A few aisles down, Ginny spotted Jean, sitting in his fine robes and looking positively miserable as he watched the ceremony alone. Ginny felt very sorry for him, and she wished they had sat next to him so he wasn't by himself.

When Blaise appeared at the front, he appeared rather calm, but Draco murmured that he seemed more uncomfortable than Draco had ever seen him. And Ginny knew why.

Every Death Eater was in attendance, and although Voldemort himself was not present – certainly funerals were more his preferred environment – his presence was everywhere. The Death Eaters even wore their regalia, and Ginny was silently grateful Draco had managed to get out of having to do so as well. To see him stand at the front of a wedding ceremony, which was meant to be beautiful and loving, wearing that horrible mask – Ginny shuddered at the thought.

It was terrible enough that Blaise stood there, looking stiff and uninterested as the Death Eaters aligned at the front like a human barrier. Their black sweeping robes seemed so out of place against the lovely and elegant backdrop, but there they were, a constant reminder of the penalty of disobedience.

This was not a union between two people who loved one another; Voldemort and the Ministry had effectively crushed that. No, it was yet another demonstration of the pervasion wrought by Voldemort's never ending vigilance. The message was clear – everything that had once been personal or heartfelt was now nothing more than a demonstration of Voldemort's supremacy. Fleur and Charlie's wedding had been professional and quick. They were not important enough to merit a public viewing.

But this was exactly what Voldemort wanted – a carefully constructed union between those of pure blood. Ginny was again reminded of the chessboard.

Voldemort loomed over them all, manipulating each and every player to his satisfaction. The main difference was that he had no real opponent. Instead, he was able to move and create and destroy as he wished.

For now, thought Ginny, as Gabrielle appeared at the end of the aisle.

The sweet French bride looked absolutely beautiful, as one might expect, but Ginny's heart sank as she thought to how young she looked as well. True, Gabby was only just younger than Ginny, but it was the terror in her face that gave her every appearance of a child. Sure, Gabrielle had been excited about the prospect of marrying, but it was likely she hadn't envisioned this, coming down the aisle on the arm of her father as a line of Death Eaters stood on each side of her very unfamiliar husband, who appeared not at all excited or happy to see her, even as lovely as she was.

Fleur was doing her best not to cry. Unlike many other weddings, they were not tears of happiness she stifled. Charlie comforted her with a hand to her arm.

Ginny reached for Draco's hand, only to find that he'd already reached for her, too. Their fingers clasped. "No one should look that scared on their wedding day," she whispered to Draco, feeling her throat tighten.

"She's just afraid of the Death Eaters," Draco whispered back. "Blaise won't hurt her."

Still, he squeezed Ginny's fingers.

Gabrielle came to a stop in front of Blaise, and the two turned to one another as their stiff vows were read by someone else in white robes. Ginny chanced a glance at Jean again, and saw that he could not even bear to look at the proceedings. His head was bowed and he worked his hands over one another, shoulders slumped.

At the front of the massive room, where candles hovered in the air and elegant tapestries layered every available surface, two young people who scarcely knew one another exchange rings and a light kiss. The applause that followed was stilted, and the departing couple took hands without looking at each other and moved down the aisle, disappearing out of the door without so much as a glance at anyone else.

---

The ceremony seemed to drag on forever, but finally, Blaise and Gabrielle retreated from the front and the guests were adjourned to the banquet hall for food and drinks. Ginny and Draco sat with Narcissa, as well as Fleur and Charlie. Together, their table watched – with the whole of the guests – as Blaise and Gabrielle shared a formal dance, during which neither of them smiled or spoke. Then the air became slightly less rigid, and people were allowed to disperse and talk and eat. A mountain of gifts sat nearby on a table, and Ginny could see Blaise's mother, looking more smug than anyone Ginny had ever seen, sitting at a table surrounded by her daughters and their husbands.

"Come on," said Draco after they'd eaten. He tugged Ginny up to dance, and Ginny was selfishly glad to get away from the table. Fleur was doing her best not to show how distraught she was, but there was no comforting her. Ginny wanted to help, but nothing anyone said could lift the French witch's spirits.

Pulling her into his arms, Draco paused for just a moment to lean his forehead against Ginny's, hoping for a small smile. It worked, and Ginny relaxed a little, finding comfort in his touch as they moved around the dance floor.

After a long pause, Ginny leaned her head against his shoulder. "Do all weddings have to be like this now?" she asked, not looking at him. "I mean… the important ones?"

She would not let herself think on why she cared.

Draco took a moment to answer, as if he, too, were caught up in all the unspoken questions which hovered around this one. "It's supposed to be this way now, yes," he admitted quietly, drawing circles on her lower back as they danced. "But… " Ginny's eyes flickered up to his face as he dropped his voice. "But I hate it, too," he whispered. "And I wouldn't want it for myself."

Piano music guided them in their dance. Ginny didn't respond, except to pull herself tighter in his grip.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the Ministry job," said Draco after a few minutes of dancing. "I should have. You deserve to know."

Ginny thought about it. "Some part of me wants to say it would've been easier for me not to know," she admitted, frowning. "But I don't want to be like that. I never want to shut my eyes to what's going on around me, even when it hurts. Not because I'm – special or strong or whatever. I just don't want to be unaware. That seems… " she paused " … more frightening, than seeing the scary truth." Her eyes flickered up to his. "And that's what Voldemort wants, you know. He wants people to become so afraid, so tired of fighting that they just shut off all the horrible things so it's all easier to accept. And I don't blame people for doing that. It's so much easier."

Draco listened thoughtfully as Ginny continued.

"And people look for ways to justify it, you know. Maybe – maybe what Voldemort is doing has been done before, or the anti-Muggleborn sentiment isn't entirely new. Maybe people, even non pure-bloods, think that it'll all just… blow over. So they try to wait it out, rather than fighting it. And I get that. It gets exhausting, fighting all the time," Ginny said, her unfocused gaze on Draco's front.

"So how do you manage it?" Draco asked, smiling a little as if he were teasing her. In truth, though, he wanted to know. Because he'd knew he could give up a thousand times in the instant it took Ginny to persevere.

Ginny made a small motion like a smile, though there was little humor in it. "I don't know," she admitted. "Probably I just don't like losing." She shifted to cock a brow at Draco. "I can be a little vindictive when the situation calls for it, in case you haven't noticed."

"You tried to crush me with a bookshelf," Draco reminded her. "I noticed."

At this, Ginny grinned fully.

The two continued to dance, and after a while, Draco looked up and seemed to spot something. "Ah," he said looking amused, "exactly as I thought." Ginny looked up to follow his gaze, and saw he was watching Blaise make the slightest nod to Draco and then disappear with Gabrielle through a door towards the back of the banquet hall.

"Is he ditching his own wedding party?" asked Ginny in a whisper.

"Of course he is," remarked Draco. "Come on, let's go." Together, they moved to follow Blaise and Gabrielle out of the stuffy banquet hall. They also paused to grab their wedding gift, though they got stopped by some old Ministry dignitaries on the way out and were forced to make conversation for over twenty excruciating minutes before they could duck out.

By the time Draco and Ginny finally got away and made it to the door, it took some searching before they found where Blaise and the others had slipped off to. At last, Draco came upon a door and tapped on it three times. Loud music pulsed on the other side, and Ginny snorted when Blaise threw open the door to unveil what was clearly a raucous party going on behind him.

It was also pretty obvious he was already drunk.

"There you two are!" Blaise said grandly, waving an arm. "Do come in, come in…"

Ginny and Draco exchanged amused glances before they entered, finding quickly that everyone else of their own age or close to it was already there. Blaise lingered near the door with them. "Where's Gabrielle?" asked Ginny, and Blaise turned and looked over his own shoulder, to where Gabrielle and Jean were sitting on a couch together, laughing and speaking rapidly to each other in French.

"They have now officially met," said Blaise, slurring a little. "And honestly, I think they like each other better than they like me."

"Who could blame them?" asked Ginny just as Draco said wryly, "What a shock."

Blaise made a face at them. "Oh, you two are just a pair, aren't you? Just a couple of – bitter, angry – pasty – "

Draco held up his gift of very fine liquor.

" – friends of mine, who I do so appreciate," finished Blaise, taking the expensive bottle with a greatly appreciative stare. "Oh, yes. This will do very well." He poured some into three glasses with remarkable accuracy considering his state, and he gave the other two to Ginny and Draco.

"Cheers," he said as their glasses clinked. They all tossed back their drinks and then Blaise picked up the bottle, carrying it and his empty glass with a great deal of swagger as he went back over to the couch and plopped between Jean and Gabrielle. "Here you go, loves," he said, giving them some drinks. "Cheers to my lovely French pair!"

"Oh good lord," Ginny muttered, slapping a hand over her face as Draco fought the urge to laugh uncontrollably.

"You lot are all mad," Ginny told Draco, pointing with the fingertip not wrapped around a glass. "Just a bunch of wasteful rich kids, you know that?"

"So?" Draco asked, getting some Firewhiskey and then placing a glass in Ginny's hands with a smirk. Grinning, Ginny shook her head at him and they fell into the throes of the party, which was a hundred times livelier than the celebration up front. Ginny relaxed a little when it became apparent that Gabrielle was feeling much better than before, and the group of twenty or thirty teens played cards, ate sweets, danced and drank to their heart's desire.

"Your mum is gonna kill us if we're too drunk to Apparate," Ginny told Draco, blinking against dizziness sometime in the second hour of the party.

"We can stay here," Draco told her from his spot on the couch. "There's rooms – or something – beds somewhere, I'm sure – "

"Yes!" boasted Blaise, now more than reasonably drunk. "Sleep here, trash it – fuck it, I don't care – " Jean slammed down a card onto the table to win the whole lot and deafening cheers rang out. Theo, meanwhile, leaped up from his spot at the table when he saw Marcus Flint cornering Lavender.

"Aw, come on, Brown. You can just… come on home with me – "

"Really, Flint, just leave me alone," said Lavender, a bit sauced and unable to get away from the leering Slytherin.

Flint opened his mouth to speak further but Theo kicked him in the back of his right knee and then shoved him into what turned out to be a dumbwaiter shaft. Flint crashed after not too long a time, so it probably hadn't been that deep of a shaft. Theo shut the door then, as if nothing had happened, and returned to his seat. "My turn?" he asked, picking up his cards.

Ginny and Draco laughed uproariously at this, and Jean stacked the cards with a grin. "Not fixing that one," he muttered, knocking the cards on the table. Then he turned and, together with Blaise, they instructed Gabrielle on how to play cards, too. Ginny and Draco joined in, and the game continued for another hour.

It was the most fun Ginny had had in a while, much like the Christmas party but even wilder. At one point after the card game, Ginny and Draco spotted Blaise leaving the room with both Jean and Gabrielle, all of them looking very drunk and very … handsy with one another. Ginny's bleary mind registered some amusement at that, and she stumbled away from Draco to go to the bathroom.

"Drink some water," he instructed from where he'd turned to fall onto the couch. Many others around them had dropped, too, with only a few actually making it to beds or couches.

"Okay, shut up, okay," Ginny grumbled, finding the bathroom at last. To her surprise, a cup of water was already waiting for her there. Had she been in her sober mind, she would have never drank something just sitting out at a wild party, but her drunken mind thought nothing of it, and she immediately drank it down to the bottom.

All at once, Ginny was sober.

"Whoa," she said, reaching a hand up to her head. Blinking rapidly, Ginny looked down at the water, her brows furrowed. Her head had cleared instantly, and she wasn't even the slightest bit drunk. She inspected the cup but found nothing strange.

Something told her she was being watched, and Ginny turned, squinting down the elegant hallway.

There, just beyond the arched doorway, stood Percy.

Ginny's eyes widened. Looking back down at her cup again, Ginny tossed it aside and then moved down the hallway with quick short steps. She hadn't even realized Percy was at the wedding, though it made sense that he would be. Still, he hadn't appeared to her or spoken so far, and yet there he was, waiting for her away from everyone else.

Ginny ducked in and out of shadows and left the remaining noises of the party behind. Turning one corner after another, Ginny finally came to an empty hallway, where Percy stood directly in the center.

"There you are," he said, relieved. "I was worried the potion didn't work."

"Did you do that?" asked Ginny, approaching.

"Of course I did," said her brother, frowning deeply. "What sort of fool would let herself get so carelessly drunk in the middle of a bunch of Death Eaters? Honestly, Ginny!"

Ginny flushed. "I – I was fine, Percy. I mean, those were just other kids – "

"Oh, you mean like Draco Malfoy?" he asked, folding his arms. Ginny shifted her eyes to the side, lips pressed, and said nothing. Then Percy spoke again, sounding panicked. "Where is your necklace, Ginny?"

Ginny's head snapped up. "Oh, I – I have it right here, Percy. Honest." She pulled it out and showed it to him in the palm of her hand. "It just – well, it didn't look – right, with these robes – "

"I told you," he said, advancing on her with wild alarm, "I told you to keep it on at all times!"

"I'm sorry!" Ginny yelped. "Look, I'll put it on right now! Alright?"

"Yes, do it," Percy commanded, looking all around, as if he expected that they were being watched. "Hurry, fast! We don't have much time!" Ginny paused her motion of looping the necklace around her neck. At Percy's beckoning, she fastened it quickly and let the small golden 'W' drop.

"Honestly," Percy breathed out a sigh. "I gave you that for a purpose, Ginny. And you forfeited it for what – some Malfoy trinket?"

"It was a Christmas present," Ginny muttered, burning with shame. "I wasn't trying to – "

"Just forget it," said Percy, taking her arms in his hands. "Listen to me, I gave you that necklace for a very important reason. And now is the moment that you use it." Leaning in to Ginny, he spoke in quick, rushed tones. "Ginny, tonight is it."

Her brother looked to her, eyes wide. "Tonight is the night I free you."

Explosive fear burst into Ginny's chest. "Wh – What?"

"All you have to do," said Percy excitedly, gesturing to the necklace, "is Disapparate from here. You don't have to envision anything, and you don't have to strain very hard. That's what the necklace will do. It will allow you to be transported instantly to a very specific location, a safehouse." Percy glanced up at the ceiling. "I couldn't manage it from the Malfoy Manor, too many barriers, but from here, a public place, you can bypass any wards and go directly to them."

"To who?" questioned Ginny in a hoarse whisper. "Where – Where am I going?"

Percy smiled. "To the Order, Ginny. The Order of the Phoenix. They're waiting for you."

All of the air left Ginny's body. Her heart pounding painfully, and she felt her rib cage as if it were moving in towards her heart.

"I – I don't understand," she said, tears burgeoning. "Who is in the Order? How could anyone still be alive?"

"We're here, aren't we?" asked Percy. "Ginny, there are others. Many others. And maybe Potter's still gone, but we still have a chance. Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix, even some help from outside of England. They're all there. They know you're coming tonight, and they're waiting for you."

Ginny swallowed tightly. "So I – I leave now? I just – disappear?"

"Exactly," said Percy, smiling at her again. "You can finally be free of the Malfoys. And you won't have to do that terrible marriage tax or anything. We're fighting it. All of it."

Shakily, Ginny looked back at the hallway. "And – and what about Draco? What happens to him if I vanish?"

Percy's brows furrowed. "What? Ginny, I don't – I don't know, does it matter?"

"I – Yes," Ginny said, looking back to Percy. "If I go, Voldemort will kill him for losing me."

Percy stared at her as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Ginny," he said slowly, looking as severe as she'd ever seen him, "Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater. He let those monsters into our school, the very same ones who killed our mother and father and brothers."

"I know," Ginny murmured, trembling.

"And his bloody father nearly killed you in your second year, not to mention all of the other horrible things he's done. Draco Malfoy is a coward and a snake, and he's nothing but your keeper, Ginny!" Her brother shook her a little. "Whatever happens to him, it's his own bringing. It has nothing to do with you. He chose to side with a maniac, not you. Please, Ginny. Just go already before it's too late!"

Tears spilled down Ginny's cheeks. "Percy, I – I just – Let me talk to him – "

"He is your enemy!" Percy exploded. "He is a murderer and a liar! Whatever you think he's giving to you, you're wrong! He is keeping you as his prisoner, and anything you think he's told you or felt for you – it's all for You-Know-Who!" Ginny shrank back from the volume of his voice, but Percy pulled it back, his eyes shining with desperation as he shifted in front of Ginny's view and pleaded with her.

"Ginny, please, I may never be able to put you in this position again. The Order of the Phoenix is waiting to keep you safe, so we can fight against all of this again! Please! If you do this, I'll be able to get the others, too, and we'll all be together again!" Percy's head dropped, and he angrily pushed away his own tears.

"I just want you to be safe," he whispered, and Ginny's heart splintered.

"Percy," she said, moving to hug him tightly. "I'm sorry, I – Yes, alright. I'll do it."

Her brother looked up and his tears dried instantly. He backed away from her. "Just… don't focus on any specific place. The necklace will guide you. Hurry."

Ginny did as she was told, taking a step back and swallowing a deep breath. Safe. She'd be safe, with the Order. It's what she had wanted, hoped for, fantasized about. Biting her lip, Ginny closed her eyes and concentrated.

But just before it happened, she heard laughter down the hall – Draco's laughter. He was teasing Theo about something.

And Ginny's resolve broke. "I'm sorry," she said, exhaling and opening her eyes. She tugged off the necklace, unable to look at Percy's shocked face. "I can't leave Draco, Voldemort will kill him – "

"Ginny, please," croaked Percy. "Forget Malfoy – "

"I can't," she told Percy, holding the necklace tightly in her fist. "Maybe – if I knew he was safe… if I knew I could get back to him – but he would be tortured and killed. And I can't do that." Another tear dropped down the slope of Ginny's cheek. "I can't, Percy. I… I care for him too much."

Stunning, Percy could only stare as Ginny coiled up the necklace and offered it to him. He refused to accept it, though, his jaw locked and his eyes finally moving to the floor. After a few moments, Ginny turned stiffly and placed the necklace on a side table holding some flowers. The small chain coiled around the W like a resting serpent.

"I'm sorry, Percy. I love you," she told her brother. "But I've lost too many people I love to Voldemort. And I am not giving him one more."

"You will never be able to undo this," managed Percy through gritted teeth. "And I may never get you out of here." He looked around. "But I guess that's just fine with you, huh? I guess you're suited to it now, the life of the aristocracy. You enjoy it too much to give it up."

"It's not like that," argued Ginny through hot tears. "I don't give a damn about the gold or any of it – "

"You should be ashamed," Percy told her. "Mother and Father – they would be sick to see you right now."

This pierced Ginny anew, but she only shook her head. "You're wrong," she told Percy, even as her confidence waned. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, though. Truly."

Percy moved to loom over her. "You have one more chance, Ginny. Pick up the necklace and leave here." But Ginny shook her head, stepping back away from him and turning.

"I'm sorry, Percy," she said again, but she had stopped looking at him. "I'm not going anywhere."

Then, with footsteps as heavy as her stone heart, Ginny left the corridor and Percy behind.

---

When Ginny found Draco again, he was asleep in a chair, limbs mangled in the sort of awkward positions that would certainly produce stiff joints in the morning. It was such a ridiculous image, especially considering the heaviness of Ginny's mind, that she let out a little incredulous laugh.

It didn't reach her heart, nor did it dry her tear-stained cheeks, but it did help a little.

Unable to think beyond what was right in front of her for fear she might collapse, Ginny tugged Draco up from the chair and reached in his pocket, taking out his wand. Then she used a combination of magic and sheer strength to get Draco to a bed, where he sleepily thanked her and curled her up in his arms as soon as she was within reach.

Another teary chuckle as Ginny tugged off his shoes and then her own before flopping back into the bed, fully clothed, unable to comprehend how her life was to continue. It all felt so outrageous and terrifying that a hysteria threatened to take over Ginny completely.

But the sprawling estate was finally quiet, and Draco was safe at her side, so Ginny slowly let herself relax into sleep, partly because she feared what she might do if she stayed awake.

---

Ginny awoke early the next morning, at nearly the same moment Draco was pulling himself up out of the bed with a groan. Some thoughtful servant had placed hangover potions and waters in all the guest rooms, so the pair leaned heavily on each other and drank them.

Ginny didn't have a hangover because of the potion Percy had given her, but she was nauseous all the same. Besides, Draco didn't know about the incident with Percy, she drank the potion rather than explain. Ginny didn't know when – or if – she was going to tell him. An uncomfortable feeling welled in her chest, and for the first few minutes she was awake in the cold and unfamiliar room, windowless and bereft of warmth, Ginny felt unmistakable misery.

It was not remorse, but it hurt just as much.

Then Draco returned from the washroom, drying his face with a towel and still wearing his rumpled dress robes from the night before. He sat down next to Ginny, and seemed to take her drawn and weary features as an symptom of a long night of partying. Then he shifted to face her, his grey eyes light.

"Look what I found," he said, holding up the necklace Narcissa had given her for Christmas. "You must've taken it off before bed last night." Ginny's eyes moved to the necklace, and for a moment, her vision centered around it, surreal and blinding. Then, just beyond that strained focus, she saw Draco's face, looking over her with the gentle expression he reserved specifically for her.

The world sharpened into clarity once more, and Ginny's lips quirked. "I did, yeah. Thanks." She took the necklace and clasped it around her neck again, content to leave it there.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked, reaching up a hand and sweeping a thumb over her cheek. "We can go back home and rest." He paused. "Naked, even. If you prefer."

A real smile threatened on Ginny's dour features, though it worked against a considerable weight. "That sounds nice, but… let's not go back to the Manor yet. Please. Let's just – get out of here. And go do something, just the two of us." Returning to the Manor felt like torture at that moment, and Ginny wasn't sure if she could handle it.

"In our rumpled dress robes?" Draco asked, laughing. "And what will people say?"

Ginny stood and pulled Draco up with her, wrapping his arms around her waist, which he gladly complied to. "Who gives a damn," she said resolutely. "Come on. Breakfast. A totally unhealthy, Ginny Weasley-esque breakfast. Just you and me. Right now."

Draco smirked. "Alright," he said after a moment.

So they left the venue, where hundreds of other people slept off their physical and mental burdens, and together they absconded to a little Wizarding place in the south of London, hidden between a bakery and a series of flats. The magical café featured a balcony set just on the edge of the River Thames, and at such an early hour, Ginny and Draco were nearly the only two people there, so they sat out there together by the river and watched as the sky shifted with every movement of the morning. They ordered a ton of food and shared with each other, with Draco laughing tremendously at Ginny when she discovered she did not like mushrooms. Though the café balcony shielded from Muggles, they could still see all the Muggle historical landmarks so near them, and together they watched boats moving by, slow and easy in the water as they glided over the glassy surface.

"You know," said Draco, "This reminds me of a place my family has on the coast of Ireland."

"A place?" asked Ginny. "You mean like a rental property?"

"Oh, no. It's another one of our homes, a vacation spot," said Draco, missing Ginny's look of shock. Sure, she knew Draco's family owned multiple rentals, but she hadn't even though they had another home besides the Manor. "It's in Dalkey, a suburb of Dublin. I think loads of Muggles have home there, too, but there's a section hidden away just for us. My parents and I used to visit there often when I was younger, but we haven't been there since I was thirteen or so." He leaned back in his chair and looked out thoughtfully to the river. "I loved it, though. Simple home, but it was enough." Ginny snorted at this. She doubted the home was 'simple' by nearly anyone else's standards.

"And it was right there on the coast," continued Draco. "The home has white walls and beautiful crown molding, and these great pavilions which drop down and down until they reach the water. There are spots for flying and spots for games, gardens like you can't have here in England. And the water is the most beautiful I've ever seen, crystal clear."

Ginny smiled, sitting back in her own chair and watching Draco reminiscence, even as she realized her own heart had lifted considerably.

"That sounds amazing," Ginny admitted. "I've never seen such a thing."

Draco shifted to look at her and, after a moment's pause, he reached over and took her hand on the table. "Then I'll take you there to see it. Next weekend, we'll go." Ginny balked, then laughed, surprised at the sincerity of the sound.

"Really?" she questioned in disbelief. At Draco's nod, she smiled, before clearing her throat and shrugging casually. "I'm not impressed by your fancy beach home."

"Not yet, you aren't," Draco said cockily, making Ginny roll her eyes grandly, just to make sure he saw. "But you will be," he continued, lowering his eyes and looking at their joined hands. "I promise you'll love it. And then you'll want to go there all the time. It'll suit you better than the Manor does, I think."

At Ginny's curious look, Draco lifted his eyes to hers. "It's much more open there, lighter, freer. It's a place that can change in a moment's notice, from peaceful and calm to a raging storm in seconds. And its power is really only half of its beauty…"

"And the rest?" asked Ginny, watching him carefully.

Draco's eyes twinkled. "Guess you'll just have to come and see for yourself."

---

Together, they left the café and wandered around for the rest of the day, managing to waste all the daylight in the most enjoyable of ways. Night had fallen by the time they finally returned to the Manor, hand in hand, still laughing about something ridiculous and silly.

Ginny gasped for air and turned in Draco's grip. "Oh, that was – awful but hilarious, bloody hell – "

"I wonder how Blaise is feeling today," said Draco distractedly, grinning as they entered the foyer and then passed on to the parlor. "I bet he's sick, the idiot – "

Draco and Ginny pressed through the doors and into the Manor's parlor. It was then that they came to a stop, feet instantly still and smiles gone.

Gathered at the center of the parlor, shrouded in shadows, was Voldemort, Bellatrix, and …

Percy.

Ginny froze, her spine painfully straight. Draco's eyes flickered around the room, his hand on Ginny's tightening even as he assumed a confident stance, his expression free of fear as he could manage.

"My lord," Draco said, ignoring the other two and looking to Voldemort. "I wasn't expecting you – "

"No," said Percy, looking directly at Ginny. "You wouldn't have. But of course, he is your lord, and so whatever is yours… is also his."

"Percy, what are you doing here?" asked Ginny, letting go of Draco's hand to take a step forward. "What's going on?" At this, Bellatrix giggled from her spot, crudely loud. Voldemort stepped forward and put a hand on Percy's shoulder. The single movement was enough to pinch Ginny's features with the effort not to cry.

Percy had betrayed them?

"My lord," Draco stepped forward with more authority than before, but Voldemort cut him off.

"There's no need for either of you to worry," the Dark wizard assured them both, and his very words chilled the air, so that a cold sweat broke out on Ginny's skin and drenched her body with liquid fear. "This, dear Draco, is a day to celebrate. For you see…" Voldemort swept close to them both. "You have done so, so well."

Ginny's teary gaze moved to Draco, who looked equally confused.

That was when Percy stepped forward, and Draco and Ginny both shifted to watch him glide in their direction. As he did so, his features began to tremble and move. That was when his noise changed shape, his skin shifted shades, his freckles disappeared and his hair darkened.

Ginny fell back against the wall, her knees buckling. In front of her very eyes, Percy was changing and shifting, until the man who stood before her was not her brother…

…but Damien Black.

He had changed his appearance, not with the help of a potion, but on a mere whim.

Draco's lips parted in a horror that mirrored Ginny's. "You're a metamorphmagus," he managed, to Damien's malicious delight.

"Astute observation," said Damien, taking obvious pleasure in their terror. His grey eyes, darker than Draco's and hollow like the deepest pit, shifted to Ginny's face and drank in her fear. "Useful gift, don't you think? Little sister?"

"Where is Percy?" Ginny managed at last, her hands gripping the wall behind her like a terrified cat. "Where is Percy?" she screamed suddenly, her eyes wild. Damien chuckled darkly.

"Oh, I'm afraid he's quite dead."

Ginny's mouth snapped shut, her eyes wide and shaking.

"You see," said Damien, moving between Draco and Ginny as Voldemort watched on like a proud father. "When my dear cousin sought to gain the freedom of your brothers, we already had your brother Percy in our custody. He was privy to a lot of Ministry secrets we needed, and we'd been working with him for a while. But, shamefully, he was determined to hold onto those secrets, no matter how much we attempted to … persuade him."

Ginny clenched her eyes shut.

"Ultimately, we forcibly extracted his memories and sifted through them for the information we needed. By the time Draco came looking for him, he was already nothing more than an empty shell. But alas, that's the penalty for a lack of cooperation," continued Damien. "Honestly, little sister, you should be proud of him. He held his resolve until the very end, refusing to give us even the slightest bit of help, no matter the incentive offered. He died a true… fool."

At this, Damien flashed his peculiar smile. "And then Draco came looking for him, and so our Dark Lord determined that this was to be the way which both you and Draco were tested. I took the place of your brother from the very beginning, exclusively for the purposes of determining Draco's worthiness… and your willingness to conform."

"This is impossible," Ginny whispered to the ground. "That would mean you were – "

"- in your room with you alone," cut in Damien, delighted. "At your sweet little holiday, holding your precious niece. Oh, yes. I was everywhere you thought Percy was. And you were none the wiser." Damien made a tutting noise. "You thought your brother had gone over to us, didn't you? Shame on you, Weasley. Your brother held out till the very last."

"Why reveal yourself now?" asked Draco finally, his voice low and hoarse. "What purpose does it serve?"

"Damien's purpose," cut in the Dark Lord as he loomed nearby, with Bellatrix leering from behind him, "was to evaluate you, Draco. After all, there have been times when your loyalty has been called into question… your usefulness doubted, particularly after the fiasco of losing Potter during the war." Serpentine eyes narrowed for a moment, before Voldemort showed his teeth in a smile and swept out his arms.

"But even under the guise of conversation with her brother, never once did Weasley indicate that you were anything less than the most … trustworthy of servants to me." Draco shifted his eyes to look over at Ginny, but she was determinedly staring at the ground. Damien, however, seemed briefly irritated, as if Draco's success as a Death Eater was chafing to him.

"And, in addition to that," continued Voldemort, "Damien proved to us all tonight that you have successfully ensnared Ginny Weasley to our cause."

Draco's brows furrowed, and he snapped his head up to look at Ginny, who was still staring at the ground, her shoulders trembling. "For you see, just last night, Ginny Weasley was offered her freedom," continued Voldemort, moving over to Ginny and reaching up a fingertip to draw her chin up. "She could have gone to what she thought was the Order of the Phoenix."

Draco's eyes widened, and his resolve to stay where he was nearly crumbled as he watched Ginny fall to pieces right in front of them. She could barely stand. Meanwhile, Bellatrix laughed loudly.

"But she refused," continued Voldemort. "For love of you, it would seem."

Draco stared from his spot, unshed tears layered over glassy eyes.

"Pity," said Damien after a pause. "Because if she had done as I so desperately asked," he said, laughing a little to himself as he held up the 'W' necklace, "and disapparated while wearing this necklace, it would have splinched her a thousand times… in the most painful and grotesque of ways."

Damien made a slow loop around Ginny and then tucked his head in Draco's direction, leering. "You would have seen her next in a very, very, very small box. Right before we threw her away in the rubbish bin."

"Fortunately, such a thing was not needed," said Voldemort, looking between the pair as if they were not both standing with their heads bowed and their shoulders trembling. "And what a joyous moment that was for me, of course, to know that I have two such faithfully devoted young servants to lead their generation."

The Dark wizard then reached for both Ginny and Draco's hands and brought them together in front of him.

"I've no doubt at all, now, in the two of you. You will remain at my side, as the exemplary pair of pure-bloods. You will lead the others of your age, and you will remain as devoted to me as you are … " he looked between them. " … to each other's safety."

Voldemort looked up to Draco's face. "Isn't that right, young Malfoy?"

Draco fought to keep his head up. "Yes, my lord."

"Good," said Voldemort, with every undercurrent of threat laced in his deceptively light tones. "Because it would be tragic for either of you to lose one another… and I would hate for that to happen."

Then he let go of them and moved away, with Bellatrix pausing only long enough to send them a sickening grin before she turned to follow. Damien remained for a moment, his features twisted into a smirk.

"And if there is any doubt at all of your loyalty," he told them in low tones, grey eyes flashing, "Just remember… I can be anyone, anywhere, at any moment. In mere seconds, I am your mother…" Narcissa appeared in front of them, causing both Ginny and Draco to stagger back. " … or your brother…" Percy appeared again, and then shifted to Charlie effortlessly.

"Anyone I like," said the face of Charlie, before it sank back into Damien's dark features. "And there is nothing you can do about it." His eyes flickered up and down Draco's face; it was clear that Draco's successful "test" did not sit well with him.

"So be on your watch, for you never know," Damien said, turning away, "who may be watching you."

After that, Damien slipped away, and Draco and Ginny were left alone in the parlor. In the distance, a clock chimed. It was eight.

Ginny was too numb to move, but at last, Draco grabbed her and pulled her out of the parlor and into their room, where he shut and locked the door with the most powerful spell he could think of. He stood facing the door for a few minutes longer, though, unable to turn around.

"You thought you had a chance to escape to the Order of the Phoenix?" he asked quietly. "And you didn't?"

Ginny stared at the empty fireplace. "I couldn't leave you." Her words were toneless.

At this, Draco turned and looked at Ginny across the room, stricken by awe and terror and a combination of every other tumultuous emotion it was possible to conjure. For a long moment, nothing was said. Then Ginny spoke again.

"My brother was dead the whole time. I doubted him, and he died while being tortured."

"You couldn't have known that," said Draco, moving cautiously to her.

"Did you know?" Ginny looked up at Draco, and her expression was difficult to believe. "Did you know about any of this?"

Draco moved to stand in front of Ginny and squared his shoulders. "I knew nothing about Damien's ability, Ginny," he said stoically. "I swear on my father's grave. I had no idea what was going on… nor what the Dark Lord apparently aimed to prove."

"This is it," said Ginny, her eyes low and unfocused. "This is exactly what Voldemort wants. He plans to use us just the same way he's used everyone else. He's taking our feelings for each other and using it to hold us both hostage. Just like Charlie said."

Draco didn't embrace her, even as his limbs jumped to do just that. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I had no idea – I – I only knew he meant to make all of the prisoners compliant, I didn't – I didn't know any of this."

"It doesn't matter," said Ginny hollowly. She looked up at Draco. "He's won, now. He knows neither of us are going anywhere. He feels he has your unwavering loyalty, and because of that, he has me, too. So long as he believes you're his, I'm his, too."

"I'm not his, though," said Draco, stepping forward and pressing his hands to her face at last. "I'm yours."

Ginny blinked, and some of the numbness faded away, replaced by searing pain. Ginny wasn't sure which was worse. "But – but Draco are you – are you sure – " Damien's words, disguised as Percy's, haunted her.

"I don't know how to fight this," Draco admitted in a heated whisper, pressing his forehead to hers, "but I know if I had woken up this morning and you were gone – if you'd disappeared or that son of a bitch Damien had managed to - " Draco's face contorted with fury " – I would be dead right now, from misery or foolishness, I'm not sure, but I would be gone from this earth in an instant."

Ginny reached up and covered his hands with hers. More of the numbness faded away and crumbled to ash, more tears welled. Sobs bubbled to the surface of Ginny's chest like a series of disturbances from a crack in the deeply set ocean floor.

"Draco, I – " Ginny succumbed to tears again, horrible sobs. "I couldn't leave you knowing Voldemort would kill you if I was gone, knowing I might not – see you again – and Percy was saying that Mum and Dad would hate me for it, and – " She curled her hand into a fist and pulled away so she could shriek into her closed fists. The room hummed with energy and the fixtures trembled.

"They killed Percy!" burst out Ginny, eyes blazing. "They killed him and dared to impersonate my brother! To use his face against me! To try and get me to kill myself just to prove one more loyal soldier for Voldemort's cause!"

Nearby, chess pieces that had been sitting placidly on the board fell over. A few black pieces rolled off the ends and cracked on the floor.

"Ginny," Draco called to her, but Ginny lashed out her arms and a portrait cracked and fell. Glass began to splinter and crumble. That was when Draco grabbed both of Ginny's hands and pulled them down, his fingers curling over hers and his grey gaze boring into her own.

Ginny's wild gaze met his and calmed, slowly but surely, into a smoldering burn. It would not last forever, Draco knew, that yielding simmer in Ginny's eyes. Soon enough, it would boil over.

But for now, he could only coax her into calming, desperate to keep her there, to keep her from slipping into the never-ending slope of blind rage. It was one he knew quite well. After several seconds of silence, in which Ginny gripped Draco's robes and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, she turned up her head just a little and their trembling mouths pressed together for a brief kiss.

Finally, Draco spoke.

"…They were unwise to provoke you," he told her in an awed whisper.

Ginny's eyes slid open, dark and furious. "Yes," she agreed in a low murmur. "They were."

---

Somehow, despite the tribulations of mortals, time meandered on in its usual impassive way, larger and grander than even the most devout of miseries.

Ginny and Draco went to bed and each lay awake for hours in each other's arms but feeling little comfort. There was too much fear; the Manor no longer felt safe, and each moment shared with others now warranted investigation. Had it been Damien? How much had he seen? The prospect was haunting.

A little after dawn, Ginny drew herself from the bed and padded numbly across the floor. As fearful as she'd been the night before, a lack of sleep had caused her to have no fear of wandering the manor, in a manner much like sleepwalking. She was awake, physically, but every movement was automated and aimless.

Eventually, though, Ginny's mind tuned to the sound of a voice. It was Damien.

Eyes narrowed, Ginny moved silently down the hallway, in the direction of Lucius' old study. Inside, she could hear shuffling in different directions. It was not only Damien who was perusing Lucius' old things.

"What exactly are we lookin' for?" asked one voice, annoyed. Ginny thought it might be the male Carrow, but she wasn't sure. "I don't get this."

"Anything referring to the Elder Wand," came Damien's voice. He paused, and Ginny spotted his shadow looming out of the cracked doorway. "Lucius Malfoy claimed he was in control of it, thanks to some ridiculous fluke…"

Ginny's brows furrowed. Lucius had said what?

"… and so the Dark Lord had no choice but to eliminate him," continued Damien dryly. Ginny's eyes widened, and she nearly fell over in her hiding spot, her lips parted. "However," continued Damien, "although the Dark Lord took him at his word, I have a feeling there is something … more … going on here."

He stood near the door, and Ginny edged away for fear of being caught.

"No," mused Damien, and Ginny could see his sneering face in her mind's eye. "There is something not quite right about Lucius' sudden attack of conscious for his many lies. And I will discover it." He paused, and Ginny pressed flat against the wall to avoid being discovered.

"Even if I have to kill everyone in this monstrosity of a house myself," finished Damien in a hiss. "Now look!"

Her heart pounding, Ginny pulled away from the door and hurried down the hallway, tripping over her own feet as she raced back towards the room. Draco, Draco, Draco. She had to find Draco. She had to tell him –

But when she rounded the corner to the bedroom and pulled open the door, she balked.

Draco was standing in front of his desk, holding a small box in his hand. Ginny couldn't see what was inside it, but she knew instantly what it was. His forlorn expression as he looked over it, features unbearably pained, spoke volumes. As Ginny watched, Draco looked over the box with a sigh and then pressed it closed with a soft snap. His eyes closed as well, head bowed.

Ginny moved at the door, and Draco's eyes snapped up. He instantly shoved away the box, hidden in the pocket of his pajamas. Ginny slipped inside, moving slowly.

"What was that?" she asked softly.

Draco met her gaze with a long, lingering look which Ginny could not define. At last, he worked his features into a painful mockery of a smile. He seemed to decide something, then.

"Nothing," he told her. "Nothing at all."

Ginny waited, but Draco said nothing more, and so she moved further into the room and came to stand in front of him. Together, they stood just in the center of Draco's sunshine warmed window, which sat tall and pointed in the fine walls of Draco's room. The peak of it rose just above their heads, sharp and angular.

"Draco," murmured Ginny, setting her eyes on his and mentally begging him not to look away. "Show me."

For a moment, she thought Draco might refuse. He bit his lip and looked away, perhaps thinking as to what excuse he might make. Then, instead, he reached into his pocket and drew out the lovely box. After a shaky pause, Ginny reached up and pressed her fingers over his. Together, their hands opened the box.

The ring inside was like nothing Ginny had ever seen. The band was white gold and designed to look like slim branches, with fine details marked into it so that each branch twisted around the main stone, a stunning light blue sapphire beset by smaller but no less fine diamonds. Even the texture of the outside of the band was reminiscent of the forest, and Ginny brushed a fingertip over it in wonder.

"The stones came from my grandmother's ring, but I had them reset," Draco whispered, looking at the box and not daring to gaze upon Ginny's face. "You would've hated it before," he finished weakly.

Ginny's eyes moved over the blue stone, set atop the white gold branches, some of which held tiny gold cuts of leaves, which pressed around the center stone in the loveliest manner.

"And how did you come to this?" she managed in a tiny voice, filled with wonder as her fingers grazed the heartbreakingly beautiful blue stone.

Draco managed the tiniest of smiles. "You said you liked seeing things from the sky."

Ginny's eyes lifted to his, and she pulled back her hand. Draco shut the box quickly and lowered his hands, though he kept it in his grip. "Were you planning on giving it to me?" she asked.

Draco fought to meet her gaze. "I – I was, yes, but … but after what happened with your brother, I – " He bit his lip, hand curling tightly over the box, so that his knuckles grew whiter. When he finally managed to speak, his voice cracked.

"I don't want you to feel forced," he whispered. "I don't want you to agree because you're afraid or you think you've no other options. You do, Ginny. I'm not sure what they are, but I'll help you figure it out before I trap you further."

Fresh tears poured down Ginny's cheeks. "I'm not trapped, Draco. I had a chance to leave, and I refused." His grey eyes flickered at this, and Ginny glanced down at the box before looking up at his face again. "If you truly want to prove that I do have options, then… just ask me," she murmured, stepping closer with a determined gaze. "And let me decide."

Draco stared at her, unable to hide his surprise. He looked back down at the box.

"But only do it," said Ginny, "if it's what you want, too."

Draco drew in a shallow breath. "It is the only thing I want," he admitted to her earnestly. At Ginny's soft look, Draco looked back down at the box in his hands and took in a deep breath. As afraid as Ginny had ever seen him, Draco slipped down onto one knee.

"Ginny Weasley," he said, smiling a little now because, even through his fear, they both knew how strange this would have all seemed a year ago, "Will you marry me?"

Ginny paused to take in every feature on Draco's face, every shade of grey in his eyes, every tremble in his fingers. And she knew – despite everything else that seemed so uncertain and unfair and terrible – that her answer was the first in a very long while in which she had no doubt.

"Yes," she said, with a slow tender smile. "I will."

For a moment, neither of them seemed to believe it. Then Draco rose carefully from his spot, slipped the ring onto Ginny's finger and then looked into her eyes. "I am so glad for everything about you," he told her, and this time, Ginny's smile bloomed into a real, true beaming expression, which filled the void between them with a sea of warmth.

Ginny's hands reached up and circled Draco's neck, fingers slipping into his hair. "And my life is better with you in it," she murmured in return, catching his mouth with hers and letting herself fall into the kiss, fully encircled in Draco's arms.

He pressed her close, coiling her tight in his arms. After a moment, Ginny pulled away only a little, and he saw how her features became set and determined. Then she leaned very close and spoke for his ears only.

"Now," she whispered fiercely. "We need to get the hell out of here."

---

On the coast of Ireland, there sat a house with whitewashed walls and beautiful crown molding. Pavilions traveled down the side of the majestic home, dropping from one level to the next, until at last they came level with the ocean as it crashed ashore and grabbed at the landscape, pulling back a little with it each time.

The sky was a lovely shade of blue, with only a hint of clouds to dot it, and the call of birds combined with the roar of the ocean to create a soundtrack unique to nature. This soundtrack, beautiful as it was, had a grander purpose that day, though.

For the crashing of the ocean and the cawing of the birds covered up the hushed words of a certain redhead, who sought to avoid being overheard. Away from all others, cocooned in in the crisp white sheets and surrounded by salty air, Ginny Weasley turned Draco Malfoy, took his hand in hers and then leaned over to whisper in his ear what had been too dangerous to say aloud in illustrious Malfoy Manor.

Beneath the bedroom pavilion, ocean waves continued their onslaught of the shore, and water sprayed the balcony determinedly. However, their impressive onslaught was paltry compared to the cold fury hovering just inside the home so nearby.

Moments later, a pair of bare feet moved out onto the balcony, each step slow and deliberate. When Draco reached the balcony's end, his torso and arms bare and every muscle clenched, he reached out and gripped the railing.

The wood groaned beneath his grip and his skin broke, dotting the beautiful design with speckles of blood. But still his terrifying gaze remained on the horizon.

And behind him, observing from the doorway, Ginny Weasley watched with her chin high and a chess piece dangling in her fingertips.

Game on, Tom. Game on.

---

END

… of Part I.

Well, of course, I couldn't just leave it there, right? Oh, no. This story is only just beginning… Keep an eye out for Part II, coming very soon.

(This will not be a separate story, as I had originally planned, but simply added on to this one.)

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you continue!