Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series. I am determined one day to own my own book though! No doubt it will not be as epic, but I would like to write a book of my own. Would you read it if I did?

Well, I didn't get nearly as many reviews and that surely made me sad, but oh well. I got, though minimal, very good reviews. I love detailed reviews with true feedback, though the short and simple, "I loved it!" kind of reviews make me smile all the same. But, try and review for this one kay? Review good and I might even put another chapter up tomorrow! Sure has been a productive break huh?

Well, I've not got much else to blab about so…

Without further ado…

Chapter 25

Draco POV

Empty. That was how everything felt without Ginny around. I'd not realized how much life she brought to the manor until she was gone. She'd been gone no more than a day and already the stark emptiness was beginning to show. I ate alone during breakfast and realized how she must have felt all those days I left her alone. I was eager to get to work and away from the home she no longer shared with me. Hadn't she shown that same eagerness over the past month? Was this how I made her feel, this aching loneliness, the feeling of being deserted?

What had seemed like a good idea, a sound plan of making her stop loving me and letting things go back to normal, had blown up in my face and gone spiraling down the loo. I'd not thought so much about how she must have felt because for the most part she acted normal. I had begun to think my plan had worked. It was only at night that I saw any difference, noticeably at least. She wouldn't touch me at all, sleeping as far away as the bed would allow. Many times I thought I heard her soft crying.

It was only once she'd fallen asleep that her body would betray her true feelings. She'd unconsciously roll over, seeking my warm embrace. I was always gone before she woke, so she never realized the fact she sought me out in the night. And I never told her, nor did I tell her that I was glad she did.

As much as I had tried, as much as I had wished for it, I had only succeeded in burying my feelings for Ginny under masks and behind walls. Never did they truly go away. When she had run away from me, angry and hurt, I realized that. As much as I had tried to stop it, I still loved my wife. And because of this love, my worst fears were proved true. Love was weakness. She left me and I was hurt worse than ever before. I'd have gladly faced the wrath of my father a thousand times than go through the pain I felt now that Ginny had gone from my life.

I hoped that with time away from her, the pain would dissipate and feeling die off, for both of us. Maybe then we could go back to the way we'd been before. I knew we could not stay separate forever. Like it or not she'd have to come back to me. We were still going to have to have two kids together; there was no way around it. But I would give time for our love to dim before I brought her back to me. It would be better that way.

So it was with this plan in mind that I set off for work. I comforted myself with the thought that, while it might take a few years, the love I felt and the pain that it caused, would go away and Ginny and I could go back to how we'd been before all of this had happened. In a way, it was a good thing she had run away from out life together. She was putting distance between us. Maybe this would help.

"Good morning Mr. Malfoy," greeted my secretary, Linda, as I headed into my office.

I acknowledged her with a nod. "What is on the schedule for today?" I asked, hoping it was going to be a busy day.

"Mr. Jennings requested another meeting first thing this morning," she informed me. Mr. Jennings had been coming in quite often as of lately. As the deadline for his only son's marriage drew nearer, he became more desperate to find a way around it. He wanted his son to marry a woman in social bracket, not the one he was told to who was, as he called her, a pauper who does not deserve a man of such standing. He reminded me much of what my own father would have been like had he been alive when this law was passed. I did not much care for the annoying man.

"Okay," I said. "After today, make sure his reason for making an appointment is not something I've already addressed. What else?"

She nodded, making a quick note before turning back to me. "Mrs. Kenly has an appointment at ten. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson will be here at ten thirty. Mr. Greengrass wishes to discuss which estates will go to which of his daughters. It seems they are fighting over who gets what and he wants your advice. He's coming in at eleven. I didn't book any appointments after than for an hour and a half so you could do what you like for lunch. Would you like me to make you a reservation for you and your wife somewhere?" she asked, picking up a quill and a notebook.

I frowned, realizing I'd not be taking her out to lunch anymore. If she had her way, it would seem I'd never see her again. But, she'd come back to me eventually. We still had to have kids together. "No thank you," I answered my secretary absentmindedly. "Just order me some food to have in my office. I don't care from where. What about this afternoon?"

After writing down something in her notebook, she sat it down. "Can do," she said quickly. "And this afternoon is just as busy as this morning. Mr. Kidd is coming in at one to renew his will as he now has a new grandson that needs to be added in. I figured that might take longer so the next appointment is booked at two and that's Mr. Tanner. He wants you to look over his assets and see which of his children should inherit what. From two thirty to three thirty Mr. Nott will be here to discuss a loophole he thinks he found in the law and how to thus apply said loophole to his son. I worked in a small break for you after that until four but then you've got three more clients before the day is done. Would you like me to make you any dinner reservations or anything?"

"No thank you," I said, feeling relived my day was going to be very busy. "When Mr. Jennings gets here, send him right in."

"Yes sir," she agreed quickly, turning back to her desk.

Taking my leave, I walked back to the door that sported my name on it in gold lettering. Opening the door to the familiar office, I let out a sigh. While my day was going to be busy, I doubted if I'd be able to keep my mind off Ginny for long. One nagging thought kept creeping up, no matter how hard I tried to push my personal life away. I just couldn't put my finger on it though. Brushing it off, I'd not sooner sat down than the door of my office opened.

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Jennings in here to see you," Linda said, standing aside for the rather large man to come in.

"Thank you Linda," I said, standing. I held out my hand to Mr. Jennings who promptly took it. "Good morning," I greeted as kindly as I could manage.

"Yes, yes," he said roughly, skipping formalities. "I need you to tell me how to get my son out of this horrendous law! I just found out last night that the pauper my son is being forced to wed has gotten pregnant out of wedlock while she knew she would have to marry my son. Now, neither she nor my son will tell me who the illegitimate father of the child is but the fact is that she has defiled herself and the family name she is to take."

I let out a sigh and shook my head at the man in front of me. "Faithful to one another or not, the two still have to be wed," I informed him.

"She's pregnant from another man! Make her wed him!" Mr. Jennings nearly screamed at me, standing fuming across the desk.

"Please, have a seat sir," I said, sitting myself and indicating the chair opposite my desk. "And are you sure the baby is from another man? Could you son have simply slept with his fiancée before their wedding?"

"He wouldn't dream of touching a woman like that, not any sooner than he has to! It's bad enough he'll have to eventually," he said, his face red with anger.

But the simple fact was I'd talked to his son the week before, without his father present. I'd learned of the pregnancy myself then. He'd told me it was his and that he wished to keep it from his father because of a reaction like he was getting now. He'd been trying to get me to convince his father to let them wed before the deadline so they could pass of the pregnancy of happening on the wedding night.

"I think it would be best, Mr. Jennings, if you talk calmly to your son and future daughter-in-law about this. You never know what will come out if you're only calm about it," I said logically. "And as for defiling your family name, it does not have to be like that. If they wed now, within the week, the pregnancy could be passed off as happening after they were married. Nobody has to be any the wiser about it. Your family name will stay intact."

After a while of arguing with the stubborn man about it, I finally convinced him to do what his son had wanted. The wedding would be taking place in the next few days. He wasn't very happy about it though because he didn't want that wedding to happen at all. The fact of the matter was there was no way around the law however and what he wanted didn't matter anymore. At least his son loved the woman he was to marry, whether he told his father that or not.

The rest of the morning passed in much the same way. Every man and woman to pass through my office it seemed was unhappy about one thing or another and it was all because of this stupid law. By lunch time I had a splitting headache and wanted nothing more than to lock my office door and keep everyone else out. But I couldn't do that, at least not morally. I had work to do. When Mr. Kidd came in to renew his will I put on the best face I could to bear through the rest of the day.

When three thirty rolled around, I gladly shut and locked my office door, sitting down to do some paperwork while finally free of clients for a while. But it was then that the nagging thought came back and this time I was able to place what had been bothering me. Where would Ginny go? She no longer had a flat with Luna to call her own. No, her home was Malfoy Manor. She'd not be able to get her own place, if she chose to do that, for a few days at least. And something led me to doubt she'd used any money from the Malfoy vault.

That meant she'd been staying with family or friends. I didn't like the idea of her not having a place to stay and call her own. She'd be practically homeless! And no Malfoy should live like that. I felt obliged to care for her and I wasn't doing a good job at it. That was when the idea struck me, the Malfoy Estates. There were a good dozen mansions belonging to the Malfoy family scattered all about Britain, none of them inhabited. They served as vacations homes on occasion but other than that remained untouched. Ginny could stay in one of them.

But would she accept? And if she did, which one should she stay in? I spent the next half hour before any other clients came trying to figure which one would be best. There was an elegant manor near Bristol on a lovely piece of property surrounded by trees. Then there was the mountain retreat I used to go to with my mother when I was little up by Birkdale. I mentally listed off all the others but only one I was sure she would love.

There was a small manor, the smallest off all the Malfoy Estates, on a large bit of seafront property outside of Greenwich. About a third of the size of Malfoy Manor, it was still bigger than most traditional homes. But it was the relatively small size I knew Ginny would enjoy. It was also in one of the most beautiful places one could imagine. From the master bedroom balcony, she'd be able to watch the sunset on the ocean.

My decision made up, I still had to wait until six before I could do anything about it because no sooner had I made up my mind than a knock sounded on the door of the office. After dealing with the final three clients of the day, I was finally able to start my plan into action. Unlike most days in the past month or so, I didn't plan on staying in my office a long time after hours. In fact, I didn't plan on doing any paperwork. Instead I pulled a quill and piece of parchment over to me and quickly wrote a note to Ginny.

After drying the ink with a quick spell, I folded it up and set it aside. Next I called to me one of the house elves that had most often waited on Ginny. With a snap of my fingers, Tilly was standing in front of me waiting for my order. "Tilly," I said, standing up and walking around the desk. "As I'm sure you know your mistress has left Malfoy Manor. But she has nowhere to go and I would like you to take her this note. If she says yes, which I do think she will, escort her to the Malfoy Estate outside of Greenwich."

"Yes master," she said, quickly taking the note and bowing low. "Any other orders before Tilly goes to find mistress?"

"No, just find Ginny and take that to her," I said, dismissing the elf. Ginny would already be off work by now, as she got done at six today much like me, but I did not doubt the elf's ability to track her down, wherever she may be. Next I called three other house elves to me and ordered them to transfer all of Ginny's clothes and belongings to the Malfoy Estate she would, hopefully, be staying at.

Afterwards, when I was sure I'd done all I could to ensure Ginny had a good place to stay and still have all her things, I finally opened my office door and told Linda I'd be leaving earlier today than usual. Then I headed home, back to Malfoy Manor, with a heavy heart for I knew my wife would not be there waiting for me. And then I waited.

It was well after dark when I finally heard the familiar pop of apparition and Tilly appeared before me. "Master, Mistress has accepted the Greenwich Estate." At least I would know where she was now and that she was safe. And it was with that at least semi-comforting thought that I drifted to sleep.

Well, I'd gotten several requests for Draco's POV on this situation and hopefully this worked well. I really tried to work in the idea that he has still got his head up his butt with the whole situation. When will our poor Draco ever see sense and realize it's okay to love Ginny? *sigh* Who knows.

Thanks for the nine of you who reviewed for that last chapter. You made me smile! More of you should review this chapter and make me smile and want to write! Your feedback is my muse. You feed my plot bunnies! Keep the reviews coming!

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