Chapter Fifty One - Epilogue
...
Three months later...
"We are gathered here today to witness these two wizards to be joined in blessed matrimony," George began, his voice clear and ringing out in the hall.
Dennis and Neville stood in front of him, smiling at each other like they had no idea anyone else was in the room with them. Their wedding was a small affair with hardly twenty people in attendance and only one on Dennis' side of the family. Mr. Creevey was already sniffling into a handkerchief that was quite damp from the crying he'd done before the wedding had even started. Ginny wondered if she should offer him a box of magically refilling tissues instead.
Looking at her brother, her friends, and Draco and Blaise who were the best men for both grooms (they'd flipped a Knut to determine who would be the best man for whom, then ended up swapping anyway). Draco was Dennis' best man, and dressed in dress robes of a black raven colour that only showed the blue hues when it hit the light just right. Beside Neville, Blaise was wearing dress robes in a deep and rich red that he swore he hated but they suited his complexion far too well for him to complain for long.
Dennis only had his father in attendance, but Neville only had friends on his side. His Gran had finally snapped on receiving the invitation to his wedding and stated that he was no family of hers, even going so far as to burn his name off the family tree while he'd been standing right there. Dennis had needed to be Stunned and Apparated away before he did something that would result in Azkaban. Neville had requested for his Gran to be protected by making her home Unplottable, which Pansy very reluctantly agreed to. It had been three months, and Ginny was almost certain that Dennis was still plotting his revenge against Augusta. She certainly couldn't blame him.
Neville's parents were unable to attend the wedding itself, but Dennis had organised to go to St. Mungo's to visit them after the wedding. Without any other family in attendance and since Neville's friends were Dennis' friends as well, there were no clear 'sides' to the wedding, and the guests were invited to sit wherever they pleased. Pansy, Daphne, Chance, Morrigan, and Jordan were in the crowd, though Pansy was closer to the back for an easy escape if necessary. Daphne and Chance had taken seats on the other side of the hall to Ginny before they'd realised where she was sitting and it was too late to move. Morrigan and Jordan were a few rows back from Ginny, their own engagement rings shining on their hands.
Harry, Cho, Hermione, and Ron were there, too. Cho's pregnancy was showing clearly, and Harry was hovering around her in a way that was almost comical, especially since they were seated. Hermione and Ron had engagement rings, too, and after their announcement, absolutely no one had been surprised to learn that Hermione had been the one to propose.
Along the row of seats that Ginny was sitting in, Luna and Rolf were watching the ceremony happily enough, Rolf looking as adoring over Luna as he had ever since they'd first met. Further along at the end of the seats, were Marcel and Susan. Somehow, their impromptu makeout session in Avenir's school had left an impression, and they were still together even now that Susan had her memories back and Marcel had started to work for Centaur Liaison Office in the Finance department.
(Arthur had not only removed the Portkey spell on the size 85 cauldron, but he also managed to unlock Susan's memories as well. Pansy had thanked him for his service and contribution, and then promptly Obliviated Arthur so he wouldn't remember what he'd done. His "win" of the Daily Prophet's Grand Prize Galleon Draw for a second time in his life had been met with some scepticism and outright disdain from other wizards. Arthur had been somewhat confused himself, stating that he hadn't subscribed to the Daily Prophet in years. A small compulsion charm had him ignoring the confusion and accepting the prize money without another second of hesitation and he'd whisked Molly away to Egypt for a well-deserved holiday.)
Ginny promised herself to follow up with Susan about how her memories and the associated nightmares were going now that some time had passed. Unfortunately, a lot of Susan's memories after she'd been discovered by a suspicious Jacques were unpleasant to say the least. She had spent a full month with Whisper and Shadow to help her recover from the trauma of what had been done to her, even if it was only in her head now. According to Pansy, there were now rumours of banshees being kept in Training Centre Four, and she was doing absolutely nothing to correct the Cloffice trainees assumptions or their overactive imaginations as a result.
"You may kiss," George said, and Ginny realised she'd missed most of the ceremony, preoccupied as she was with her own thoughts.
You've seen one wedding, you've seen them all. That being said, this was definitely the shortest wedding we've ever seen, Ginevra said, both amused and grateful.
Amelie had disappeared from her mind once her cover had been blown at Avenir, but the same couldn't be said of Ginevra. Ginny didn't truly mind that her former self still commented on her life from time to time, especially since Ginevra's awareness and knowledge had saved her life on different missions since the fall of Avenir. That being said, she couldn't help but be worried about why Ginevra was still hanging around. She thought that she would have disappeared like Amelie now that the Avenir mission was over. Ginevra didn't provide any insight or answers to that question, unfortunately.
"We're all Apparating to the reception, would you like to Side-Apparate with us, Ginny?" Luna offered, smiling at her.
"Thank you for the offer, but I'm going with Blaise and Draco," Ginny said, smiling back at her friend and waving as Luna Apparated away with Mr. Creevey, Rolf, Marcel, and Susan.
"We hoped you hadn't run off yet, love," Blaise said, winding an arm around her waist and kissing her cheek.
"I was waiting to run off with both of you, of course," Ginny said with a laugh, turning in his embrace to kiss him fully. "You looked lovely up there."
"Even in these robes?"
"Even in those robes," she confirmed with a nod. "And blue suits you, Draco. You could wear that colour more often, it's almost black," Ginny cajoled.
"Almost isn't good enough. How soon before we can leave the reception? I want to get out of these robes as soon as humanly possible," Draco groused.
"We have to wait until the food and cake. Marco spent too long organising the catering for us to miss out, and Mrs. Fairley made the cake, so you know you have to stay for that, love," Blaise said, kissing him.
"Fine, but after the food and cake, we're gone, right?"
"Like we were never there to start with," Ginny promised, smiling.
"If Potter tries to talk to me, I'm going to hex him. I'm uncomfortable enough as it is already, I don't want to add idle chit chat and meaningless talk about the weather to it."
"Then talk about Quidditch," Ginny said, kissing him before grabbing his and Blaise's hands to Apparate them to the reception.
...
"I didn't know you'd become a celebrant, George. It was a shock when you walked up there! I swear something had gone wrong," Hermione said with a laugh.
"Believe me, so did a lot of people," George said, grinning. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I see my dear sister has finally arrived," he said, heading over to the Apparation point to join Ginny, Draco, and Blaise. "Did you enjoy the wedding, dearest sister?"
"I did. You did a good job as their celebrant," Ginny said with a smile.
"Oh, I know. I'm looking to get hired by the other couples in the crowd, so put in a good word for me. Come on, aren't you glad I promised not to marry Neville and Dennis off while you weren't in the country? I even made sure you were in the country and attending before I married them," George added, grinning.
"Exceptionally glad, dear brother. Though I seem to recall threatening to make you regret it if you married them when I wasn't here."
"I know, which is why I promptly went out and became a celebrant," he said proudly. "Muggles can learn anything online, and the Ministry of Magic accepted my application for a Sickle. I'm still not sure they actually read it, but I got the official certificate, so I don't care."
"I'm going to find our seats, love," Draco said, kissing Ginny's cheek.
"He's hoping it will make the food appear faster; he skipped breakfast," Blaise explained as Draco left, stalking towards the tables like a wizard on a mission.
"I'm sure Neville and Dennis won't keep the food delayed; they're probably just as hungry as the rest of us. Wait, where are they? Are they still at St. Mungo's?" Ginny asked, looking around and unable to see the grooms.
George grinned at her expression. "They were meant to be back by now, but I received an owl stating they've skipped ahead to their honeymoon early. Marco's under instructions to serve the food when everyone's seated, and Mrs. Fairley's bringing out the cake when the courses are finished. I've been told to save a slice for the grooms to eat later."
Ginny was amused but certainly wasn't surprised. "We'd better get to our seats before Draco hexes everyone."
"Oh, he might still do that anyway," Blaise said lightly, offering his arm to her.
Ginny laughed and took his arm, heading over to the tables. "Well, you both know how to bypass International Apparation laws now, so they'll never find us."
Blaise grinned. "I think Pansy regrets sending us to St. Anne's," he said as he pulled out a chair for Ginny next to Draco.
Seated next to Draco, Pansy raised an eyebrow as she heard Blaise's comment. "I only regret sending you there the second time. The first time you were too worried about Ginevra to do something stupid like actually learn about Apparating laws."
"It's your own fault for thinking we wouldn't do something as stupid as learn," Blaise teased.
George snickered and sat next to Pansy, taking her hand in his and squeezing gently. "Do you want me to hex him for you, dearest Pansy?"
"I can do my own dirty work, thank you, George," she said, her tone cool but directed towards Blaise as a threat.
"All right, I'll be on clean up duty, then," George said cheerfully.
"I've seen the way you clean, dear brother; I wouldn't recommend it, Pansy," Ginny said, laughing at George's scandalised expression.
"Mother taught me all of the cleaning spells she knew before you were even born, sister dear."
More people started to head towards the tables when they saw others seated, and within five minutes, they were all seated and realised that the grooms weren't in attendance. Whispers started as people looked around curiously.
"Are they making an entrance?" Ron asked, his voice louder than expected in the quiet room.
"No, they've gone ahead to their honeymoon. Dennis and Neville express their thanks to everyone for attending their wedding, the gifts have been sent to their home, and they'd like us all to stay, eat, and party as if they were here," George announced.
No one seemed to mind - most weren't even surprised - and on that cue, Marco and a number of waiters brought out the first course for the evening.
...
Soon after the cake arrived, Pansy's wrist lit up in blue. Thanks to Morrigan's work with untraceable Floo powder, she'd managed to create a portable firecall device for Pansy that allowed people to contact her in an emergency, no matter where she was. Morrigan had worked with Moon - one of the Cloffice's recent graduates and a brilliant witch when it came to combining Muggle technology (or similar concepts) into magic and wizarding items - to create the portable and miniature fireplace that she could comfortably carry around her wrist.
A brief flame was all that was required to use the miniature fireplace, and Cooling Charms were inbuilt into the device that activated once the call was accepted, ensuring that Pansy wouldn't burn her wrist as a result. Of course, as it was a miniaturised fireplace, there was no way she could use it to actually Floo anywhere. After a disastrous attempt to enlarge the device and destroying all of the inbuilt charms and spells in the process, both Moon and Morrigan were eagerly working on an updated version for her.
The device was one of the many reasons that Pansy had accepted George's courtship and offer of dates in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds. She had almost relaxed the last time they'd gone bowling, certain that she could be contacted in an emergency, even if she was halfway through a game or kissing George, and he wouldn't mind that she had to leave suddenly. In fact, she had heard that the gift baskets he'd sent to Morrigan and Moon to thank them were too large to fit through their doors. Either way, the portable firecall device ensured she didn't have to stay at home or be stuck at her office in order to be reached by Lin or her agents, just like now.
Stepping away from the table and curious eyes, Pansy headed to a corner, stepping on a small disc on the floor. It activated a privacy charm around her - something Dennis had decided was absolutely necessary at his wedding reception, even if he wasn't going to be there - and she sent a flicker of flame at the device. Lin's head was tiny, but still recognisable, and she knew the witch wouldn't be contacting her today, now, if it wasn't important.
"What's happened?" Pansy asked.
"Whisper and Shadow have the location of La Révolution," Lin replied.
"Claudia finally broke?"
While Jacques had been a cold and unfeeling wizard, that was simply his emotional state rather than a result of training, and he'd broken after a day with Whisper and Shadow. He hadn't had any useful information about La Révolution, just that they'd given him Galleons, ensured he won various Ministry grants for Avenir's research, and encouraged his disdain for and experiments on Muggles and Muggleborns. They were a means to an end for him, and the only reason he put up with the messenger they sent was because Claudia provided him with information about Ginny Weasley's location. In return, she was given full access to Avenir's research and results, but he had no idea what she did with it nor did he care. His confession, combined with Ginevra's evidence and memories from Avenir (both times, in fact), and Marcel's testimony, meant that Jacques was currently residing in Azkaban without a public trial and with no possibility of parole.
Claudia, however, had undergone training at Centaur Liaison Office. Not only that, but she had far more strength than anyone gave her credit for. Claudia had survived Shadow and Whisper's methods far longer than she had lasted in Training Centre Four with William, whose own methods were almost tame in comparison to those two. Pansy knew that underestimating the witch could have resulted in fatalities or things far worse than death, and she was damn grateful that Claudia's true loyalties had been discovered sooner rather than later.
She'd given Whisper and Shadow strict instructions to ensure they got every piece of information from Claudia that they could, especially in regards to what La Révolution wanted from Avenir's research. Morrigan's modified Veritaserum had worked for a time, and they'd found out some truly disturbing things about La Révolution that had even worried Whisper and Shadow. Then Claudia had built up a resistance to the Veritaserum, right before she could give up the location and key members of the organisation.
Pansy had discovered that Claudia had built up a resistance to the potion by keeping some of it in her mouth each time they'd dosed her. She would then swallow it later on when she was alone, allowing her more time to fight against the truth serum's effects both physically and mentally. It was a strategy that both impressed and frustrated Pansy, and it had taken a lot of time and money to grow the necessary ingredients for another batch of modified Veritaserum.
Morrigan's newest batch had only been finalised this week. It was longer-lasting and had side effects of boils and warts that no extra ingredients could remove this time around. Pansy didn't care in this instance since she wouldn't be using it in the field; it didn't matter what Claudia looked like as long as she got the information she needed to bring La Révolution down.
"Claudia broke," Lin confirmed. "She gave more details about other projects, as well as the names of those involved. It confirms what little Avery gave us before he went to Azkaban, too. The Revolution's reach is... it's honestly scary."
Both the thought and admission of Lin being scared by anything sent a cold shiver down Pansy's spine. She looked out at the reception and saw that the dancing had finally started, couples making their way onto the floor, and Ron... must have got into the Firewhisky with moves like that. Pansy had promised George that she'd dance with him at least once tonight, and it looked like she'd be breaking that promise. It wasn't an enjoyable thought, but they both knew her work was the priority.
"I'll be right there, Lin. I'm not sure if Dennis was joking about making an anti-Apparation charm on the room, but I might find a fireplace, just in case."
"They still haven't got the charm working for the one on your wrist?"
"Not yet. There's complications about how I can take the fireplace with me if I'm also trying to use it," Pansy admitted.
"Ah, of course. Is that why Moon is requesting use of the Time Turners that George brought in from Avery's capture?"
"Possibly. Put the request parchment on my desk, I'll sign it before I help Whisper and Shadow."
"All right, I'll do that now and head home now, if you don't mind?"
"Please, go and enjoy the rest of your night. One of us should sleep in a bed tonight," she added with a brief and humourless smile.
The firecall ended and Pansy blew out the blue flame on her end, then stepped off the privacy disc. Music blared at her and she was tempted to step on the disc once more, her head seeming to pulse in time with the sound.
Poor George must be suffering through this with his ear, she mused, heading back to her seat to collect her things and break her promise.
Ginny was talking with Susan and as she approached, Pansy could hear snippets of their conversation over the noise of the music.
" - found families for most of the children. There's only three left now, and Pansy's given me the parchments to help narrow down the potential parents," Susan said, smiling.
"What will you do then? Are you going to return to Cloffice?" Ginny asked, her question just loud enough to be heard by Pansy and certainly not by the rest of the guests.
Pansy stayed back for a moment, curious as to the answer herself. She hadn't wanted to pressure Susan, especially not after seeing some of the things Jacques had done to the poor witch herself, but she didn't blame Susan's indecision or hesitation in the slightest. After all, she knew just how difficult it was to return to a job that couldn't guarantee her safety each and every time she left the country.
"I think I might trade in field work for teaching at one of the Training Centres. I found I really enjoyed being a teacher to the children, and I hear William might be retiring soon."
Ginny blinked. "Really? Training Centre Four?"
"Well, yes. I suppose really going through what I went through made me realise that there's a distinct difference in what we're taught and what can happen at the hands of an enemy. It's not an enviable position, I know, but if I can prepare them for the things they can and might face out in the real world, then it might help someone else in the future. They could escape where I couldn't or survive that second or minute longer until they're rescued."
"You don't agree with the 'every wizard for himself' mentality that Funke promoted?"
Susan smiled sadly at the former - and still lost - Minister of Magic's name, and shook her head. "Definitely not. Besides, as long as Pansy's the Director, there'll always be someone to look out for us. Even months after the trail went cold, she refused to stop looking for me. Dennis told me that he kept looking after she'd told him to stop, but he didn't know that Pansy was following leads of her own. We're never alone in this, even if we do jobs on our own, and there'll always be someone looking out for us. I want to make sure the new recruits know that they'll come home again, no matter what happens to them nor how long it takes."
Ginny leaned forward and hugged Susan firmly, whispering something in her ear that Pansy couldn't hear. She gave them their privacy for a moment longer, then determined that she really had to go, and headed to the table to grab her belongings. As she gathered her dress robes, Pansy realised that George wasn't in his seat nor on the dancefloor.
"Are you leaving already, Pans?" Ginny asked.
"Unfortunately. I've got urgent business to attend to. Is George still here?" she asked.
Ginny nodded, pointing to her own ear. "He had to step out when the music started. Said he'd be back in ten minutes after he'd deafened himself properly. Can you wait a little longer?"
Pansy shook her head. She was already late and while the Veritaserum lasted longer than normal doses, it wasn't infinite. She needed to get to Claudia before it wore off entirely. "I'm sorry, but I've really got to go. Can you say goodbye to him for me? I'll owl or firecall him in the morning."
"All right. I'll make sure he doesn't drown his sorrows in Firewhisky."
"Thanks, Ginevra," Pansy said, hugging her briefly.
Deciding it would take too long to find a fireplace, and Dennis had probably been joking about the anti-Apparating charm since he wouldn't want to restrict his own movements like that, Pansy took a risk and Apparated to her office silently.
Grateful when she arrived in one piece and with no injuries, Pansy carefully placed her dress robes on her desk chair before signing Moon's request for a Time Turner, and then changed into more practical clothes. Unlike the outfit she'd worn to the wedding, the shirt and trousers allowed for blood splatter or other bodily fluids to be cleaned off far more easily, and she was certain she would need that sooner rather than later.
An hour later, Claudia had given up everything she knew about La Révolution, along with several teeth and a femur. She panted, her eyes glazed and pupils dilated, boils still covering her skin, and spat blood on Pansy's shirt.
Pansy glanced down at her shirt, unimpressed, then stood and straightened her shoulders. She looked at Whisper and Shadow. "See if you can squeeze anything else out of her. If she's empty, Obliviate her and send her to La Révolution's doorstop."
Claudia's eyes widened. "No! You can't! They'll kill me!" she said, begging and pleading, and struggling to get out of the binds.
They all knew it was useless for her to try to escape yet again, but that didn't stop her now nor had it stopped her attempts before.
Pansy smiled sharply. "Oh, I know. You think there wouldn't be consequences for the danger you put my agents in? Not to mention the consequences for everything you've done to the Centaur Liaison Office, and potential liabilities you've dragged onto my doorstep? Consider this the last lesson you'll ever learn."
Claudia's cries of desperation were cut off abruptly as the door closed behind Pansy's exit. She exhaled slowly, forcing what felt like every drop of oxygen out of her lungs, then inhaled deeply to refill her lungs once more.
Putting the last hour behind her, Pansy headed through the lower levels to the Training Centre's elevator, and made her way up to her office. Hearing a soft noise of breathing that certainly wasn't her own, Pansy pulled her wand out and stilled, trying to determine where the noise was coming from. Lin's fireplace had died down to embers and there was little natural light coming through the windows, but she didn't want to alert any intruders to her presence.
Maybe someone had come to rescue Claudia after all this time?
"That you, Pans?"
George, she realised, relaxing an iota but not putting her wand away. Not until she knew it was really him.
"Yes. What are you doing here?"
"Ron forgot the only piece of good advice Aunt Muriel ever gave us: don't open a second bottle of Firewhisky. I decided to get out before he made an even bigger spectacle of himself than he already had. Don't worry, Gin's recording it for me to watch later at a lower volume. She said she has first dibs on blackmail material," George added, rubbing his good ear with a wince.
Relaxing now, Pansy unlocked her office door, turning on the lamps before tugging off her shirt to determine if it was worth cleaning. "That still doesn't explain why you're here, George."
George leaned against the door frame, looking her over appreciatively in just a bra and trousers, then grinned. "You promised to dance with me, and I've come to collect."
Pansy glanced over at him, then rolled her eyes, and threw the ruined shirt in the fireplace before tugging her dress robes on over her torso, buttoning it up nimbly. "We're not going back there to dance."
"Oh, believe me, you couldn't pay me enough to go back there," George said with a laugh. "We can dance right here, Pansy love. I've been practising my orchestral charms," he added, flicking his wand with a dramatic flourish.
Suddenly, there was a sweeping sound of strings, woodwind, and brass emitting from his wand and flowing around them gently. Before Pansy could praise his work - orchestral charms were a pain to learn, and required far more concentration than most realised - there was an unexpected gong sound.
George flushed, his cheeks bright red. "I don't know what it is with the gong. I swear, I did it just like Mozart's tutorial instructed."
Pansy couldn't stop the peal of laughter that left her, and she limped over to George to kiss him. "You look adorable when you pout."
George grinned. "Thanks, I try."
"Do you still want that dance?" she asked, wondering if she could gather enough energy to do a proper waltz with her aching leg and general exhaustion.
George curved his arms around her waist and kissed her softly. "This is perfect, Pansy love."
The music continued - gong included - and they swayed together, completely offbeat and with Pansy's head resting on George's shoulder.
"I love you."
George slowed to a stop, and Pansy lifted her head to look at him, hating the fear that filled her just like it had the first time she'd said those words.
"I heard you right, didn't I? I wasn't imagining it?" he asked, rubbing his ear again.
Pansy cupped his cheeks so George would look at her properly. "I love you, George Fabien Weasley."
He smiled, looking delighted and amazed and so utterly in love with her that she could only hope that she would let herself be worthy of his love this time around.
"I love you, too, Pansy," George said, kissing her once before hugging her. "Want to get out of here? I've got a new pack of Exploding Snap to break in."
Pansy laughed. "Of course you do. All right, George; let's go home."
"Excellent idea, Pansy love."
Taking his hand, Pansy pressed a kiss to the back of his palm before she Apparated them to her home. She was glad she'd already put in the request to update her wards.
...
Ginny woke up cocooned between Draco and Blaise's bodies, far too early in the morning for her liking, especially when her head was pounding a steady rhythm without her permission. "Bloody hell, remind me never to drink Firewhisky again."
"Too early. Sleep," Draco mumbled, his face pressed against his pillow.
He blindly reached out for her, tugging Ginny against his body, and wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her there.
Blaise made a soft noise of protest and scooted closer, nuzzling against her shoulder with a stubbled cheek.
"Blaise, that tickles," Ginny cried, trying to get away and pressing her back closer against Draco's chest.
"I'm about to fall off the bed. Move back, love."
"Blaise is tickling me. It's too early for tickling. Also, I've got a bloody hangover."
"After that dance competition with your brother, I'm not surprised."
"Please tell me you destroyed the recording disc?" Ginny groaned.
"Ours, yes. Gabby had her own. As did Luna. In fact, I'm pretty sure some of those so-called privacy discs were actually recording discs, so Neville and Dennis are likely to get a copy, too."
Ginevra snickered. I did tell you it was a bad idea.
I was too drunk to listen, clearly. Next time, no Firewhisky.
If you say so, twinkle toes.
Blaise had moved his nuzzling down from her shoulder to her breasts instead. While the physical sensation was still scratchy and bristly, it certainly evoked very different feelings than ticklish laughter.
"Blaise! You didn't hear the hangover part?" she groaned, tugging at his hair.
Blaise smiled and moved his head onto her pillow instead of her skin. "I thought I could shag it out of you, love."
"Definitely not how it works. Your dick isn't a cure-all," Ginny deadpanned.
Blaise laughed, sounding far too loud and delighted for the time of the morning. Ginny promised herself that next time they went out, she would be the one staying sober to Side Apparate them home.
"Right, if I'm not getting any more sleep, then at least I'm not going to be hungover for this. Accio sobering potions," Draco called, flicking his wand.
There was an unfortunate smash of glass from the bathroom mirror breaking, but the box of potions flew into the bedroom from the ensuite a moment later. Sweeping the glass shards into the box to repair later, Draco handed a potion to Ginny, then took one for himself.
"Feeling better?" Blaise asked, leaning over Ginny to kiss Draco, then moving to kiss her, his body bracketing hers.
"What's got you so riled up this morning, anyway?" Draco muttered, breathless but still annoyed at not getting a longer sleep.
"I'm happy."
"Happy at... six-thirty on a Sunday morning? Who are you and what have you done with Blaise?"
"Oh, sod off, you git. Gin's still with our lousy arses, so I'm allowed to be happy."
Draco was silent for a moment. It wasn't something they'd really talked about since Ginny had returned. Draco had wanted to, but he was terrified of what could happen if they did.
What if it ruined everything? What if Gin realised she'd been wrong to stay with them, and she didn't really love them, and then she left again?
"Good. I'm not going anywhere unless you want me to," Ginny said, with a subtle hint of that overwhelming Weasley stubbornness in her voice.
"You promise?" Draco asked.
The words were out before he'd thought about them or could even try to stop them. Draco wasn't entirely pleased to realise that he recognised the tone in his voice: it was the same fear-ridden and desperate sound his father had made when the Ministry officials had led him to get the Dementor's Kiss.
Weasley stubbornness and Malfoy desperation? What an awful bloody combination.
Turning and burying his head against the pillow so he wouldn't have to look at either of them - they were looking at him with pity, he was sure of it - Draco wished he could fall asleep and avoid this whole conversation.
"Dray? Hey, stop suffocating yourself, you twit. Look at me and breathe. In and out, go on. What the fuck was that about?" Blaise asked, straddling Ginny's legs and yet somehow looking at Draco instead of the gorgeous and wonderful woman beneath him.
Draco concentrated on his breathing and didn't respond. He couldn't say his fears out loud; he hadn't had that kind of courage as a child and he sure as fuck didn't have it now.
"You're scared, aren't you?" Ginny's voice was soft and yet she didn't sound like she pitied him. "Hey, come here. Blaise, get off for a minute, would you?"
Blaise kissed her once, then slipped off. "One minute, I'm timing you."
Ginny ignored him, turning so she was the one straddling Draco this time, tugging him up into a sitting position so she could wrap her arms around him. She hugged him so tightly that the breath he'd just gathered felt like it was punched out of his lungs again. "I'm sorry we didn't talk about this the day I got out of debriefing with Pansy. I'm an idiot, hey?"
"We didn't bring it up, either," Blaise pointed out.
"I didn't... I was scared you'd leave again," Draco admitted, his words quiet and muffled against her shoulder.
"Then we're all idiots. I'm not great with talking about my emotions, but I should do it more often. Practice makes perfect, right? So... I didn't have sex with Jacques."
"What the hell?"
"I'm not finished, hush," Ginny admonished lightly. "I wanted to make sure you both knew that before I went any further. I almost threw up when he kissed me, and I kind of wish I had just to see his response," she said with a snicker. "I love you, Draco. I love Blaise, too," she added before either one could say anything in response. "I love you both and I want to be with you for as long as you'll have me. I'm not saying I have to move in or anything, but I'm not going to leave you again. I promise."
"You could, you know."
Ginny frowned at Blaise. "Could what?"
"Move in with us. Mother's taken over Zabini Manor in an effort to lure in my next stepfather, and Narcissa's decided to take over Malfoy Manor to host more parties - "
"To kick me out, you mean," Draco interjected.
Blaise continued as though he hadn't spoken, "- but we've got holiday houses that are sitting empty across the world, as well as safe houses that not even Pansy knows about. We can move into one of those together, you can Floo or Apparate to The Quibbler every morning and then come home to us at night," he said, moving to kiss the curve of her shoulder.
"Oh, so to the rest of the world, it'll look like I'm the only one working, is that it? Are you sure you can handle the Daily Prophet gossiping about me being the only Galleon winner in our relationship?" Ginny asked, laughing as his fingers and lips traced along her sensitive skin.
Draco grinned. "Blaise enjoys working at the Ministry too much to give it up. No one knows which department we actually work for, only that Blaise always has the best gossip, and no one bats an eye if we just don't show up for a few days when Pansy needs us."
"Draco likes getting blackmail material on people. He got an Invisibility Cloak just so he could wear it at the Ministry."
"I got it for... I have other reasons beyond blackmail," Draco said, not even convincing himself.
Ginny grinned. "Of course you do. Let me think about moving in, yeah? George would be on his own if I moved out."
"You don't think he's going to move in with Pansy? I have it on good authority that she's updated her wards to include George as of yesterday," Blaise said.
"Really? Well, let me check that your gossip's correct first, and then I'll think about it, okay?"
"My gossip's always correct, I'll have you know."
Draco rolled his eyes at Blaise and tugged Ginny down to kiss her. "Take all the time you need, love."
...
Susan sat in Pansy's office, waiting for the last of the Cloffice agents to arrive. Ginevra, Draco, Blaise, George, and Jordan were in the room, and Marcel was sitting beside her. When Neville and Dennis arrived a moment later, both dishevelled and looking tired, Susan realised that this meeting had not only interrupted their honeymoon, but also their sleep. Considering the time zone they'd Apparated from, it was probably the middle of the night for them.
"Thank you everyone for being here so early. Susan, if you can start?"
Susan looked away from the newlyweds and nodded, standing to draw everyone's attention. "As you all know, Avenir kept me at their school monitoring the children's magic. Considering Avenir's main goal was to bring Voldemort back to life, it was assumed the school was set up just as a way of hiding both me and the children away until they'd matured into magically-stable witches and wizards who would go on to join Avenir, Voldemort, or to be used as test subjects again."
No one liked the idea of children being experimented on, it seemed; Ginevra had grabbed Draco and Blaise's hands so tightly their knuckles were white, and Dennis looked even more murderous than usual.
"However, it didn't make logical sense for Avenir to be monitoring children; Voldemort would have little to no use for unstable children in his new world. So I dug deeper into my memories and Marcel looked into the financial data that he'd brought with him, and we discovered that it's not Avenir who was interested in monitoring the children, it was La Révolution.
"They weren't just monitoring the children's magical power and blowouts, they were trying to determine how to cause them. We all remember what it was like as a child when something scared us and we accidentally Apparated or we were so happy that balloons exploded, those magic-fuelled responses to our emotions?" Susan asked, getting nods in return. "Well, La Révolution was trying to find ways to set off children's magic to create explosions. Enough magic pushing at enough accelerants and stimulants, and what started off as a minor tantrum could have resulted in a Muggle skyscraper collapsing."
"Thank you, Susan, I'll take it from here," Pansy said.
Susan nodded and sat once more. Beside her, Marcel took her hand and squeezed gently.
"From the intelligence we've gathered from various sources, including Avery and Claudia, we've concluded that The Revolution are planning a war. Not between us and them, but rather a war between wizards against Muggles. If they'd brought down a building thanks to one child, it would have given Muggles all the excuse they need to label us as dangerous and start a war. In turn, The Revolution would use the war to show how dangerous Muggles are, and they would start indiscriminately killing Muggleborns and Muggles in order to keep them out of the wizarding world and "keep us safe".
"From what we found at Claudia's home in France, there's already propaganda created with these slogans, ready to litter the streets as soon as war was declared. Worse, we've also found there are more schools that have been created where they're monitoring even more orphans.
"The Revolution's reach extends beyond individual elitists like Jacques at Avenir. Intelligence shows that they've convinced, coerced, or bespelled the rich and famous, as well as various Ministry officials across the globe, and we need to stop them from completing their mission," Pansy said firmly, looking at each of them in turn. "From today, your new mission is to bring down The Revolution, and stop the war between Muggles and wizards. You'll each receive an envelope containing the details for the chapter of The Revolution you're to deal with and the international Cloffice branches you'll liaise with.
"Some of these missions require multiple people, others are small enough for an individual witch or wizard to take on. If you have concerns about your mission, please let me know after you've read your parchments," she said, handing out envelopes to each of the agents.
Ginny took hers and started reading the parchments inside, knowing they were spelled so only she and Pansy could read them, just like the others would be. She tried not to let her relief show when she saw that her mission would involve both Draco and Blaise.
"Do you accept your missions?" Pansy asked.
Of course we bloody accept; what else would we do?
"I accept," Ginny said, her words echoed by the others around her.
"Thank you. Now, you have three hours to prepare. Good luck out there, agents."
You know this is the reason I've been hanging around, right? Ginevra asked.
I know that now. Are you ready for this? she asked.
You bet I am. Are you ready?
Born ready, Ginny said, grinning.
...
The end.
...
Author's last note: Thank you to everyone for sticking around for 11 years with this story!
Thank you to those who have favourited and/or left comments, too, I really appreciate them.
I truly hope you enjoyed reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Happy holidays!