Hi, hello, yes it's been forever, glad you're here :)
March, 2005
I need to see her.
Friday, 7p.m.
Ginny sent the owl on Wednesday, after almost four days of dreaming about her daughter. It did reassure her slightly that Draco's reply was almost immediate. Now she is pacing her living room, chewing on her bottom lip as Elara plays quietly in her room.
They arrive as the clock strikes seven, Ginny dashing to the door and pulling it open with a little too much force.
Ginny and Draco stare at each other, neither of them sure what to do or say next.
"Hello. My name is Carina. What's yours?"
Evidentially, they are taking too long, and their daughter is losing patience. Her chin juts out, eyes fixed on Ginny, her right hand reaching for hers.
"I'm Ginny," she finally says and takes the girl's tiny hand. The handshake is firm and brief, Carina clearly having been taught how to greet adults properly. She scolds herself for not teaching Elara any of that. Not that her shy little girl could ever look an adult in the eye the way Carina is doing now.
"We met in Diagon Alley! I remember you!"
"Yes, yes we did," she nods, shocked by her recollection as she ushers them inside and watches Draco help Carina out of her robes.
"You have pretty hair."
"Carina," Draco scolds.
"What? That was a nice thing to say," she crosses her arms and tilts her head, as if challenging Draco.
"You are right, it really was. Thank you," Ginny cuts in before Draco can respond. Carina flashes a smile, one that is the spitting image of a cocky second-year Malfoy in Ginny's opinion, and dashes towards Elara's bedroom. Ginny is about to direct her when she notices her daughter peeking out from the hallway, Carina headed straight to her. Turning back to Draco, she arches an eyebrow in question.
"She told Pansy her nose looked large the other day. She doesn't quite understand what is okay to say and what isn't. And she just says everything as soon as it pops into her head, I swear! I've just been trying to get her to think first." he runs a hand through his hair, chuckling slightly, "Pansy didn't speak to her for two days and went to see a mediwitch about her nose."
Ginny snorts, trying and failing to cover up her laugh, but Draco doesn't seem to mind.
"How is Pansy… With her?"
"Not very involved. Sometimes I feel like a wanker for it," Draco sighs.
"It was the only way to save Elara. You know that."
"I do, of course I do," he pauses, "But it still doesn't seem like a fair draw. Elara got you, and Carina is stuck with a bitch, who doesn't give a rat's arse about her."
"But she has you," she says softly, and squeezes his shoulder.
"How can you be so… okay with it all?"
"I've had time to ponder it. But mostly I try not to think about it too much, but I guess I don't mind Pansy not hanging around Carina much," she shrugs. "Besides, I can't imagine Elara not being here."
They walk to the bedroom, stopping in the doorway to watch their girls play. Elara listens and watches Carina carefully, trying to follow the instructions of the blonde closely. They look perfect together, their similarities emphasized as they sit side by side.
"What's she like?" Draco asks.
"She quiet. Likes to observe everything before she tells you what she thinks. Pretty cautious, but quick to trust people. Sometimes I worry about that."
"Doesn't sound like me at all."
"Definitely a Slytherin though. She works multiple angles until she gets her way. Works with my parents since we don't see them much, but I usually catch on."
"She needs to learn how to do it more subtlety," Draco smirks, and Ginny can see the wheels turning in his head.
"I like my honest and gullible child the way she is, thank you. No need for you to train her," she laughs. "How did you get away with leaving her hair blonde?"
"I charmed it lighter and lighter. Once she showed signs of magic nobody really questioned why she was starting to resemble me over Pansy who she barely saw." Draco shrugs. "Kids will do that sometimes. Change their appearances to look like someone they like."
Ginny nods, thinking about Elara playing dress up and picking dolls with red hair. She wonders what she would look like if she wasn't a squib. Her dark hair was undeniably Pansy's, despite Ron's continued insistence that it looked just like Harry's.
"Besides, who wouldn't want these blond locks?"
"Oh, shut it." She hides a smile. Draco watches her as she stares at the girls.
"It's a bit surreal. To see them together."
"Carina is bossy and impatient," he says quickly, changing the subject, looking away before their eyes could meet. "She gets her way by sheer willpower, because she won't let anything go."
"Sounds like a handful."
"Just like her mother."
Ginny shoves her elbow into Draco's ribcage, and he groans but smiles anyway. They stand in the doorway, watching their girls play together for the first time the rest of the evening.
April, 2005
Friday nights find Draco and Carina with Ginny and Elara most every week. They stay in, or venture to the muggle neighborhood by Ginny's house. Some days, Ginny lets herself imagine that this is real, that she and Draco and their children are just an average family eating ice cream in the park. She watches Draco out of the corner of her eye and wishes things were different. She has no idea how they've made is this long without seeing the girls. Their insane plan seems less insane than the aftermath turned out to be. On bad days, she feels ashamed of herself for ever thinking of him, of all of them in that way, and for forgetting Pansy. Because however uninvolved and cold, Pansy's still the mother of at least one of the girls. Although, if she feels anything like Ginny does, maybe a mother to both. She isn't sure who she would consider to be her daughter at this point and the thought has scary implications, so she tries not to dwell on it too much.
"Oh, are they twins?" A little old lady asks when they walk past a bench she is settled on.
"We aren't even sisters, silly. She's my best friend!" Carina answers before either of the adults could. Ginny's heart aches. Best friends.
"Oh, I'm sorry darling. You guys just have the same nose and chin, you see?" The lady's eyebrows crease as she continues to stare at the girls, but she doesn't say anything else.
Later that evening, she notices the girls examining their bodies, looking for similarities. Elara's knobby elbow doesn't match Carina's round one, but they keep looking relentlessly, their pointy noses scrunched up in concentration. Ginny has to excuse herself.
She is on her second glass of water when Draco finds her in the kitchen.
"You okay?"
"What have we done Draco?"
"Listen to me," he steps closer to her, a hand reaching to rest between her shoulder blades, "They have no idea. And they're both safe. If they ever do figure anything is up, which would be many years from now may I add, we will tell them the truth."
"That Elara's a squib? And your family disapproves of that so much she would have been killed?"
"Ginny for fuck's sake, we knew this wouldn't be easy!"
"Did we? Can you honestly say you thought even this far ahead when you asked me to switch them?"
His hand tightens on her shoulder and Ginny turns to face him.
"I'm sorry. I know this is probably harder for you."
"The more time I spend with Carina the more I notice how much she's like Fred and George were. And the more time the two of them spend together, the worse I feel for pretending they're only children when they don't have to be."
"It isn't perfect. But at least they're both safe."
"I know…" Noticing how close she's gotten to Draco, Ginny lets her head fall forward against his chest. His arms wrap around her, and she can feel his breath on her hair.
"I love them both so much."
"I know Ginny. I do too."