A/N: Thank you, SometimeSelkie, for the advice on this chapter, especially that one line we both thought was not so great. I hope you approve of what I came up with – you inspired it. :)

And wow! I can't believe how many awesome reviews I have been getting. Thank you so so much! I have replied to all who have logged in and have PM available on their account. Please, keep sending me the love as we head into the next bit of drama.

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The Safe House

Chapter Twenty-Nine


Early the next morning, Draco had crept across the hall and took a quick shower. He carefully packed all of their things that they had used back into the suitcases. Thuban woke up whilst he was busy getting everything ready to leave. He stood and watched his son pulling himself up at the side of the cot. Thuban gave him a sleepy smile, and Draco leaned over and whispered, "Good morning, Snitch," and kissed his head. Thuban yawned and reached his little arms up to his daddy. He picked up the baby and placed him on the bed next to Ginny. It didn't take long for Thuban to wake up his mummy, and Ginny sat on the bed and played with him for the few minutes that it took Draco to finish packing.

She stood up and yawned. "Here, take him so I can get dressed."

Draco sat on the bed, bouncing the baby on his knee. "I think someone else is up now. I would like to leave as soon as possible." He couldn't help but think about his mother finally meeting her grandchild, and he, too, was more than ready to see her.

"Of course, darling. I can't wait to meet her," she said, reading his mind. She leaned over, with her shirt only half on, and kissed them both. "You're going to meet your Grandma Malfoy today." She shrugged her shirt over her head and picked up the baby once again. "All right, Snitch. Let's get some breakfast. Draco, I'll Floo George, and then we can go."

The three made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Molly was already bustling about and preparing breakfast. She turned around and greeted them. "Good morning. I thought I would have some food ready for you. … I see you are already packed." She wiped her hands on a towel, and Ginny thought that she looked nervous.

"Mum, I need to Floo George. Is he still at the same place?"

"Oh, um, yes. You sit down and eat. I will go get him."

"Okay, thanks." She watched her mother hurriedly leave the room and gave Draco a curious look. "I think she's upset that we aren't coming back here."

Draco lifted his brows and bit out, "Why would I ever stay here again? We should still own several properties, Ginevra. And even if we didn't, we would not be staying here."

Ginny was a little surprised at his harsh tone, but she couldn't really blame him for feeling the way he did. She took his hand and started to lean in for a kiss. Thuban decided to leap onto his father when they had bent forwards, and Draco took the boy and held him up in the air, smiling at the wiggling and laughing baby. Ginny relaxed a little at seeing Draco being more himself, and she prepared a couple plates of food at the stove. The three sat down, Thuban in a high chair, and Draco fed the baby from his own plate.

Ginny took a bite of toast, and looked towards the door to the sitting room. "You think she had to go and wake him up?"

"Maybe. It is rather early, but I couldn't sleep any longer." He wiped the baby's mouth before giving himself a bite.

"Fred and George were never morning people. Mum used to have to scream at them to get them out of bed."

Just then, the kitchen door opened and Molly re-entered. She paused and surveyed the little family. "Ginny, is this food okay for the baby? I can get him something else."

"No, Mum, it's fine. He's not fussy at all about what he eats. One of the few things he gets from the Weasleys." She laughed a little and looked to her mother, but she noticed that Molly looked wary. "Mum?"

"I'm sorry, Ginny. It's for your own good." Ginny began to furrow her brows in confusion, but Draco took a deep breath and placed his fork on his plate.

Immediately, Ron and Harry entered the kitchen, wands drawn and pointed at Draco. Harry had come in first and was the first to speak. "Draco Malfoy, you are being taken into custody by the Ministry of Magic for crimes committed in service to Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort. I need you to hand over your wand."

Draco glared at the two men, but his son was starting to cry, and he turned to the baby. Draco pulled Thuban from the high chair and held him close to his chest, soothing him as best as he could. He slowly reached into his pocket and handed the wand to Harry. "Ginevra, go to my mother. She will help you sort this out."

Ginny shot her own mother a murderous look. Draco slowly stood, and he murmured his goodbye into the baby's ear. Ginny jumped from her seat and took the baby into her arms, rocking him slowly. She reached towards Draco, but Harry stepped between them and gave her an icy stare.

"Ginny, please stay away from the suspect. The Ministry will contact you soon."

"You know he was on our side! Dammit, Harry, what are you doing?" She was feeling nauseous with fright, and it was hard trying to not scare the baby whilst she wanted to be screaming at Harry.

Harry simply ignored her, and he turned back to Draco. "Do I need to bind you?"

Draco looked down his nose at the shorter wizard. He sneered at him and then lifted his chin. "Of course not, Potter. I expected no more than this from you." He turned his head to Ginny, and with a soothing voice, he said, "I will be fine. I will see you soon. I love – "

Harry had grabbed Draco and Disapparated them before Draco could finish his sentence.

Ron stood for a moment, glaring at his sister and nephew. He looked to Molly and said, "Hermione will be over shortly, and I will be back. Do I need to do this for you?"

Molly eyed her now crying daughter and grandchild and then nodded to her son. If Ginny had been paying attention, she would have seen Ron coming towards her, and she would have fled to the Floo. But she had bent her head against Thuban and was silently weeping into his hair. Suddenly, Ron grabbed her shoulders and Apparated them back into her room. He used his wand to seal the window, and then he pointed it at Ginny.

She quickly tucked Thuban behind her on the bed, holding him with one arm wrapped behind her back. "What are you doing?"

"You should be used to this. You like being locked up with bastards, right?" He backed out of the room and locked the door from the outside with his wand.

Ginny sat down on the bed, in complete shock over her family's behaviour. She curled into a ball and held Thuban to her chest, whispering, "It's going to fine, Snitch. They won't hurt us. And Daddy will be back to get us as soon as he can."

ooo

An hour passed before Ginny heard the sound of her door being unlocked. Thuban had fallen asleep, but Ginny had not been so lucky. She sat up and placed herself between the baby and the door. She wasn't sure what to expect anymore.

The door opened slowly and revealed a cautious-looking Hermione. "Ginny? May I come in?"

"Does it matter what I think?" She glared at the witch she should have been embracing.

Hermione frowned, and she replied with a kind voice, "Of course it does. That's why we are trying to help you. We need to make sure that you truly are thinking for yourself." She slowly stepped into the room, leaving the door open.

Ginny observed the open door, but she knew that it was just a tactic used to make her feel calmer, to make her more likely to cooperate. She knew that there was also a good chance her brother was waiting in the hallway for her to try and get free. "Have a seat, Hermione. Or maybe you shouldn't, maybe Draco told me to tell you that."

"Ginny, come on. That's not what I meant," Hermione huffed, but she did take the chair that just hours before had been transfigured into a cot. "Can I see him?" She leaned to the right, trying to see the sleeping baby.

"No."

"He looks like Malfoy, doesn't he? I can see that his hair is the same shade." She continued to peer around Ginny, smiling at the sleeping baby.

"Stop talking about my son." Ginny shifted her body to completely block him from view.

Hermione sat back into the chair. "Molly said that you delivered him without any help. Was is very difficult?" She appeared to be concerned, but the redhead was not buying it.

"My husband delivered him."

"I see. When was he born?"

"Hermione, what do you want?"

Again, the older witch blew out an exasperated breath. "Do you even know what Voldemort had planned for you?"

"Yes, Draco told me all about it. He wanted me to have his child so he could be reborn or something like that."

Hermione nodded slowly, thinking over her next words. "Yes. Do you know for sure that this, um, that you being left alone with Malfoy was not part of his plan?"

"What are you trying to say? That my child is the Dark Lord reborn?" She noticed Hermione's eyes widen when she referred to Voldemort as the Dark Lord. She snickered at the other witch. "Really, Hermione, I think I can call him whatever I want."

She responded with an accusatory tone. "You do?" Hermione glanced at Ginny's left arm briefly and then met Ginny's cold stare. She coloured slightly in shame for even considering her sister-in-law to be Marked.

Ginny's voice began to get higher as she was getting more upset. "I fell in love with Draco. We love each other. We are married, and we have a child. That is all you need to know."

Hermione also raised her voice. "Maybe that is all you needed to know, but we have to make sure that it is the truth."

Thuban began to stir and crawled over to Ginny's lap. "Mama." He tugged on her hair and buried his head in her chest, not wanting to look at the newest stranger.

Hermione leaned forward, speaking in an overly sweet voice. "Hi, Thuban. You are such a big boy!"

"Stop it, Hermione. You cannot call him a demon child and then act like that. I want you to leave! Get out!"

"You need to calm down. I didn't say that I believe that, but we don't know if it wasn't his plan. What if you having Malfoy's child was just the first part? How do you know that Malfoy wasn't acting on orders? You have no idea what he is capable of, Ginny."

"Neither do you."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Are you finished?"

"Molly!" Hermione huffed at Ginny and then walked back to the door. Molly entered with the luggage levitating behind her. She placed them on the floor and pointed her wand at the chair, transfiguring it once again to a small cot.

"Mum? Why are you doing this? Can I speak to Dad?" Ginny pleaded.

"Ginny, dear, your father just left for work. You can speak to him this evening." She smiled warmly at Thuban and reached over to stroke his hair, but Ginny pulled him away from her.

"You don't get to touch him." Molly looked surprised and then hurt. She left the room quickly, mumbling to herself.

Hermione came back towards the bed. "We don't want to lock you in your room. If we think you can be trusted, you can come out into the house."

Ginny simply stared past her sister-in-law, a hard mask on her face.

Hermione threw her hands up. "Fine. I'm only trying to help you. I would think that you'd want to do what's best for your child. Raising him with a Death Eater is not being a very good mother!"

Ginny was seeing red. She couldn't believe that Hermione would accuse her of that. "What would you know about being a good mother?"

Hermione slapped Ginny in the face, and the younger witch lunged at her. Before she could reach her, Ron stepped into the room and knocked Ginny back onto the bed with a Blasting Spell.

Ron stood over his cowering sister. "Don't you ever think for one second that I care about you or that Malfoy spawn!"

He stormed from the room, and Hermione followed him to the door. She stopped, turned back to the room, and stared at Ginny. Hermione's face was twisted in anguish, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. Ginny could tell that her former friend was shocked at her own behaviour and was sorry for attacking her. Hermione locked eyes with Ginny briefly before closing and securing the door again.

Apparently, Ginny's attitude had not improved enough throughout the day to let her out of her old bedroom. She refused to allow anyone near Thuban, and she did not speak one word to her family members as they brought food for lunch and periodically checked on her. Her mother said she could watch the baby whilst Ginny used the loo, but Ginny slammed the toilet door in her face. She kept thinking that maybe her father would be more reasonable, and it seemed like the hours would never pass as she waited for him to return from work.

Hermione's words kept replaying in her head. She didn't believe for one second that Draco had tricked her into being with him. There was no way he had lied to her about what was happening. He had almost died, and she knew firsthand that he was not faking his symptoms. She could understand that they would be suspicious, but she could not accept the way they were treating them. It was hard to believe that they had left their home only to be separated and then locked away again. And by her family. If she had thought anyone would have reacted in such a way, it would have been the Malfoys. She sighed. Narcissa probably still believes that Draco is dead, and it's not like anyone will bother to tell her otherwise. Thinking about Draco brought another onslaught of tears, and she tried to distract herself by playing with the baby.

ooo

Around six o'clock that evening, Ginny's door opened once more, but this time it was her father that entered. "Ginny, I'm so sorry. I had no idea what they had planned." Arthur smiled warmly at her as he entered the room and sat next to her on the bed. She started to relax and felt another wave of tears come to her eyes as she sighed in relief. "But they do have a good point. We just need to make sure that what you believe to be true is the truth."

Ginny's face fell. She backed away from him and stared at him, open-mouthed. "How can you think that I don't know what has happened to me? I remember every day of my life with Draco. There was never a time that he ever did anything to even suggest he was working for Voldemort."

"But can you be sure? What if he has Obliviated your memories? Changed them to fit this story? It gives him a great reason to be missing all this time and to keep him from prison."

"Dad, Harry was his contact for the Order. He was our spy. He shouldn't be convicted of anything."

"Did you know that he betrayed the Order?" He turned to face her.

"What?"

Arthur smiled at Ginny, and he reached over and took her hand. "I heard about what happened between you and Hermione. I think you should understand why they, she and Ron, hate him so much. I didn't even know about this until this evening, and neither did your mother, but Draco gave Harry some false information. And it was this information that nearly cost your brother and Hermione their lives."

"What are you talking about? When did this happen?"

"It was a little over a month after you were taken – "

"But he was with me. How could he have done anything to them?" She yanked her hand away from him.

"It was something that he had already set into motion, Ginny. It may be the real reason why he went into hiding. And there's something else. Hermione was pregnant, and she lost the baby when they were attacked. The Healers have told her she is no longer able to have children. They've never been the same since, especially Ron, and I know you noticed that last night."

"Oh God." She sat quietly for a moment, remembering how Hermione had looked so hurt that morning. She thought about what had been said and felt a flood of guilt for her choice of words.

Ginny was feeling lost. How could Draco have done the things they said? How could he have betrayed the Order? It just doesn't make any sense. She looked up and saw her father taking Thuban out of the cot and holding him close. She felt a flash of panic, but she noticed how happy he looked, talking with her son. She crossed to him and placed her hand on Thuban's back.

Arthur spoke in a sweet voice to the baby, but he looked questioningly at Ginny. "Why don't we go downstairs and have some dinner?"

She took a deep breath and answered, "Okay."

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A/N: I know. It's pretty terrible, right? I think my beta said she needed to eat some candy to feel better after reading this chapter. I'm sending you imaginary candy right now. :)

So … what are your thoughts? Did you like the Hermione/ Ginny showdown? And what about what Arthur said? Could he be right?

Thank you for reading and hopefully reviewing, too!