Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series. Nor did I really get a honeymoon like Draco and Ginny are about to have. (If I did own Harry Potter and can guarantee I would have had one!) For those of you married, what did you do for your honeymoon? Those of you not, what do you want to do?

Well, three updates in three days! Have I instilled confidence in you again? I'm sure I've lost it quite some time ago. Sorry again for the long wait guys. Thank you to everyone though for bearing with me. We're on the downhill side of the story. I'm not sure how many chapters will be left, but probably no more than ten or so. It depends on how this goes. I don't have much of a plan at this point.

Stay with me till the end guys! For now though, enjoy this latest chapter.

Without further ado…

Chapter 26

Ginny POV

When the tight, squeezing sensation of apparating disappeared I found myself with Draco on a large stone balcony overlooking the moonlit countryside. The world was alight with so many stars it seemed impossible, they blazed a trail across the sky. The moon shown bright, nearly full in the night's sky. The air was cool, chilly when the wind gusted. Draco was holding me tight, his chin resting on my head as I took it all in.

"Do you know where we are?" he asked quietly after a few minutes.

I looked around, seeing no discernable landmarks and certain I'd never been here before. Shaking my head, I said, "I don't think so."

"Look that way," he said, pointing far back and towards the west. "See it?"

I looked where he pointed, struggling to see what he wanted me to see despite the brightness of the night. All around us was open countryside. Nothing was really of note, until I noticed the glimmer of moonlight reflecting from a distant source of water. "A stream?" I asked, confused. He gave me a second to work it out, and sure enough it dawned on me. "Wait, is this the estate outside of Presteigne?"

"Yes, it is," he affirmed with a chuckle.

I sighed in contentment, already in love with the place. It was where we'd had our first real date, where we'd accidently napped in the sunlight before swimming in the stream that now gleamed in the distance. Looking around, I tried to take it what I could of the estate house. I hadn't gotten to see it before. The outside that I could see was all done in cobblestone, a marker of a bygone era. It had a feeling of serenity about it. And, though bigger than the Burrow by far, it fell short of being the size of Malfoy Manor. It was perfect though and I was glad to get to spend our honeymoon in such a lovely place.

"Come with me, I have something else to show you," Draco said, taking my hand and pulling me inside. The doors from the balcony led into a massive bedroom, much bigger even than the room I'd slept in at the manor the night before. Dominating the room was a huge four-poster bed. Matching sandalwood tables, the same wood as the frame of the bed, adorned either side. A vanity, writing desk and loveseat were strategically placed through the room. The couch rested in front of a massive, already blazing, fireplace.

It was the most beautiful bedroom I'd ever been in. As I took everything in though, I started to notice small details. There were pictures of us with Stella on the mantle of the fireplace, some of my favorite books on the bedside table, even my slippers that I wore on cold nights when checking on Stella were beside the bed. Confused, I looked at Draco.

He was grinning broadly, looking proud of himself. "Welcome home," he said, his words soft.

I froze, unable to comprehend what he was talking about. "But we're moving into the manor," I said slowly, unsure, a question in my voice. "Your parents already moved out."

Pulling me into his arms, Draco kissed me gently. "I wanted you to think we were. You would have been suspicious of me packing otherwise," he explained, smiling happily. "Mother and Father were happy to play along. I knew you didn't want to move into the manor, it doesn't suit you. You worried about raising Stella in such a huge, cold home. I don't blame you. I've been planning on moving us here since before our first date that we came here, though at that point it was just a wishful hope. This place, this beautiful estate, is perfect and it's ours."

"But why? I thought you wanted so badly to raise Stella where you'd grown up, to have her in the room that was yours, for us to live where we got married?" I loved this place, without a doubt, but Draco had been so passionate about moving into the manor.

"Part of me does, very much," he agreed with a shrug. "But you matter to me more than my desire for that. You'll be happier here, I know. And seeing you happy makes me happier than that manor ever could."

"Oh Draco," I whispered, unable to find words

Settling onto the bed, he drew me onto his lap, leaning back against the headboard. "I never told you, but the reason I love this place so much is because this was where my grandmother, on my father's side, lived after Grandfather died. She was the only person in my life that was warm and loving. You remind me a lot of her actually. I came here often as a very young child, but she died when I was six. I never forgot it though." His voice was tinged with melancholy as he talked, but it disappeared as he looked at me. "Now it's our home."

I was moved beyond words, touched to the point of tears. "Oh Draco," I said, my voice thick. "It's perfect."

Wrapping my arms around him, I kissed him with all the love and passion I'd had building for the past year and a half. He kissed me back, responding eagerly. At first it was a slow kiss, firm yet gentle. It shifted though, becoming more urgent as need grew. His fingers laced into my hair, only to be snared by pins. We pulled apart laughing as he detangled his hands.

"Bothersome little things," he said, pulling his wand out once free. With a quick flick, my hair tumbled free down my back. "Now where were we?"

Draco POV

The sun was just beginning to crest the horizon when we finally collapsed, exhausted, to go to sleep. Ginny fell asleep almost instantly, completely spent. Her small, naked body pressed against mine, warm and welcoming. I felt myself stir again and grinned, but let her sleep. She was more beautiful than I'd ever even realized. Never had she looked as perfect as she did in this moment. Her red hair was a mess, splayed across the pillows. Her face was still pink from the warmth that had built up in the room and the blanket lay bunched at her waist.

Though she was not flawless, she was still the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Her breasts were large and sagged a bit. They weren't perky, but they had nourished our daughter through her first year of life. Her stomach was lined with stretch marks and would never be perfectly flat. It was proof she had carried life though, growing a little person from practically nothing. Her hips were wide and her thighs touched. Her skin was covered in freckles. By beauty standards, she was far from perfect, but to me she was. She was Ginny, and all the little imperfections made her so.

Content to hold her in my arms, I finally let myself sleep.

~!~!~

The next week was full of fun and memories. I had no set plan for what we would do, so we made it up as we went along. At first we didn't really leave the bedroom, let alone the estate. Food was delivered by house elves and there really wasn't any reason to get out of bed. After two days of being inside, we decided to head down to the stream back on the property where we'd had our first date. I packed a picnic and we found the same spot we'd used before.

Swimming was out of the question after eating, for the fall weather proved a bit to cool for that. Keeping with tradition though, we dozed in the early afternoon sunlight for a few hours. Upon waking up, we got caught up in ourselves again and it was late evening before we rolled the blanket up and headed back to the house.

The following days were filled with travel. Any place she'd ever wished to visit, we went. We stood atop the Eiffel Tower, walked among the hills of Tuscany, spent an entire day on the beaches of Spain, visited the great pyramids in Egypt, flew over the entire length of the Great Wall of China, and even visited the spot where the very first Quidditch World Cup was held. We found the most wonderful and remote locations to eat meals at, finding quite a few places that we swore to visit again. Every day was filled with new experiences.

Finally, as the week wound down, we spend the last day of our honeymoon once again alone in our new home. As we enjoyed the last hours of peace before we had to face reality again, we planned out where else we would visit when we could. "There are so many places I want Stella to see," Ginny said wistfully as we lazed in bed, covered in nothing but blankets.

"Well take her everywhere," I promised, kissing my wife lightly. "Her and all our children to come."

Ginny smiled back at me, her hand settled over her abdomen lightly, a look of longing on her face. "How many do you want?" she questioned, closing her eyes.

Settling my hand over hers, I thought about it. "Just a few. Maybe two more." I'd grown up as an only child and knew it was a lonely existence. I wanted Stella to have at least a couple of siblings. Hopefully ones with my eyes and Ginny's hair. Though my love for Stella would be no less for any children Ginny had now, I couldn't deny the part of me that wanted to see her carrying my child. She may be, even now. We'd done nothing to prevent it in the last week, and we had certainly been together often enough.

"Two more sounds good," she agreed, a small smiles on her perfect lips. "Stella would be a good big sister."

"That she would," I agreed wholeheartedly. She was enough like her mother that I knew she would be unfailingly loyal to her siblings and treat them with love and compassion. Hopefully she'd have one soon.

Our main goal for now though was to see if we could continue with the legal adoption of Stella. I was determined she have my last name too. We were meeting with my family's lawyer tomorrow to discuss options. One way or another, we would at least explore every avenue. If that didn't pan out, the only way would be for Potter to sign over his rights, a thing which I was certain would never happen.

Though I knew I would never lose Ginny to the man, I wasn't so sure about my daughter. She was still young enough that she was extremely impressionable. As she grew older knowing he was her father, she may drift from me in a desire to know her true father better. The idea of it hurt worse than I was willing to admit. To lose Stella would be like cutting my own wand arm off. Worse, for I'd rather lose the arm than her.

There was no point dwelling on it though, for there was nothing to be done at the moment. Instead we lay in bed, enjoying the feel of each other so close. When the clock struck eight and the sun had sunk nearly all the way, my parents arrived with Stella.

Though it had only been a week, and a busy one at that, I had missed her immensely. As soon as she could, Ginny had taken her and held her tight. Stella was just as thrilled to see us. She babbled on and on, only a handful of her words intelligible. Two words kept repeating: Mama, Dada. We both listened to her intently, giving her our full attention. Within half an hour, she was asleep in Ginny's arms.

Mother and Father didn't stay long, departing before Stella even fell asleep. Before they left, Father duplicated the wards that surrounded the manor so nobody would be able to enter without consent. Only a Malfoy, the family lawyer, Ginny's family, Hermione, Blaise and Luna would be able to come and go freely as if there were no wards. If Potter tried to get in without our consent, he'd be thrown back from the border. There would be no more instances like what happened at the wedding.

As we settled down for the first night all together in our new home, I let the contentment of it all wash over me. Though it wasn't exactly how I'd wished it, for Potter's return had ruined a huge plan of ours, it was still utterly satisfying. We tucked Stella into her crib, the ever present stuffed dragon tight in her clutches, and retired for the night ourselves. Holding Ginny in my arms, her body pressed to mine and her head resting on my chest, I let myself sleep.

Did I surprise you? I had been planning on having them move into the estate house from the first time I mentioned it. I wanted you all to be just as surprised as Ginny was. Did I pull it off? And what did you think of the honeymoon? Too overboard or just about right for being married to a Malfoy?

Let me know what you guys thought and tell me how you think the meeting with Harry will go!

As always, remember that a happy author writes better and faster! So review and me happy!