Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything else J. K. Rowling had produced.
A/N: Ah! Thank you for all the reviews! Sorry for all the D/G, Gary Skinner, I can tell you weren't too fond of it. I'm glad you are warming up to it. I guess I'm one of those people that trust Draco isn't evil and will redeem himself. * shrug* . Mike - hey thanks for those reviews, I'm glad you decided to read what I write. See, I don't `suck'. Thank you everyone else for the reviews, too! I love getting reviews, it makes me feel appreciated!
Chapter 3
Hermione grinned broadly as Padma (A/N: ha! I got it right. Sorry. I'm no good with details) and Parvati put down a very cute chocolate cupcake in front of her. It had a little white candle in it, lit happily, and the letter H was on one side of the candle and another H on the other side. Hermione's eyes widened as she said:
" Oh, I couldn't! This is - what - a million calories?"
" It doesn't hurt." Parvati teased. " Now that Harry's not around I thought we'd get some girl talk done."
Hermione fiddled around with the very cold handle of the knife blade in front of her as she cut the cupcake in two. " I gotta save some for Harry. I'd feel bad if I wouldn't." She explained, lopping the cupcake a bit unevenly. The candle tipped over and just before it could burn a hole in the tablecloth Fred Weasley caught it.
" Where'd you come from?" Parvati asked.
Fred patted her head like a little kid's. " Don't you worry." Then he turned to Hermione, hands in his pockets. " Eating cake, I see."
" You didn't!" Hermione cried out.
" No, it's okay, I didn't add anything into your little cupcake." Fred plopped himself down at a chair by a nearby table, but still facing them. " So, what's the occasion? Why won't you wait for Harry?"
" He went out with Ron somewhere." Hermione said. " Really, everyone's wandering around the whole place. Everywhere but where they ought to be, if you ask me." She put her spoon into the cake. It was very sweet and spongy.
" Alright, enough of that." Padma cried out. " Tell us, how's it like, being married?"
Hermione shrugged. " It's like being single, only you have someone to share it with." She shook her head. " I know it makes no sense. I just can't explain it."
" How's Harry?" Parvati questioned. " Is he the do-the-dishes and take out the garbage guy, or does he sit around on the couch all the time?" The two Patil ladies looked at her with wide eyes, waiting on a cliff for the answer.
" I guess he can be a bit of both." Hermione admitted, eating a spoonful of cake. "I don't think he's ever deliberately avoided house work or anything, though. It's split about 50/50 between us."
" Mmm." Padma didn't seem to care much about that. " Where'd you spend your honeymoon?" She asked abruptly.
" In the center of the Earth, visiting the Mole People." Fred joked, and seeing Padma's angry glare, he raised his hands up and added: "Sorry, sorry. Talk about looks that kill." He laughed again and stood up, heading towards George. George was having a great time trying to converse with Crabbe and Goyle.
" Seriously - we spent it abroad." Hermione said. " We visited Italy, and then took a Muggle tour around the various attractions scattered all around the place. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was great! I bought millions of postcards. I guess our owls will be busy now, with all the extra post cards we have."
" Yeah, I guess." Parvati poked at the tablecloth.
" Oh! I couldn't help but overhear your conversation!" Lavender cried out, plopping herself down beside Hermione.
" Is there a conversation that she won't overhear?" George asked.
" You guys!" Padma cried out. " Stop - and I mean stop - bugging into our conversation!" She turned to Parvati. "Just like in Hogwarts. I swear, they didn't change at all."
" Maybe none of us did, really." Hermione said, softly.
" Maybe." Padma didn't sound too interested in philosophical thought. "Hey, did Harry get you a lot of cute outfits? I do believe that a lush cricket green will be great on you."
" Thanks." Hermione didn't know if she ought to say thanks to a remark like that or not, but she said it anyway. " Actually, Harry and I don't really want to invest too much in nice clothing. . ."
" What? Why?" Parvati and Padme both cried out. Being fashion majors in the wizard world, they couldn't possibly understand that.
" Are you poor or something?" Lavender asked. " I mean - with Harry playing for professional Quidditch teams . . ."
Hermione shook her head. " Harry donates a lot of money. To wizard orphanages, and such. He also gave a lot of money to support the building of a new wizard school. Dumbledore is all for this project."
Padme didn't sound too pleased at all as she said: "How sweet of you two."
She and Parvati exchanged looks.
" Will you excuse me for a minute?" Hermione said, softly, standing up.
" Sure!" The Patils exclaimed. Hermione gave them a vague grin and then slowly moved away from the table. Hermione felt rather out of place with these girls. She felt a bit more comfortable with Ginny, since Ginny wasn't all about looking beautiful on the outside and being rich.
Hermione stopped to see if Harry, Ron, Draco, or Ginny was anywhere in the room. She felt that they'd take out the large anniversary cake out, and if they weren't anywhere near, they'd miss the cake. And she'd certainly be cross a bit with Harry if he didn't come for the cake! After all, Hermione did make the cake herself (after two that came out rather horribly messed up). Hermione had never been the greatest in cooking, though she always tried very hard. Some people are simply born good cooks, like grandmothers and such. Hermione was not one of these privileged ones, so she had to learn everything from the ratty cookbook Molly Weasley borrowed her, and from the cooking shows that came in on the fuzzy television.
//\\Flashback//\\
~*~
She remembered how she and Harry had first moved into their house. It had been right after their honeymoon. They hadn't seen their house before then, even (except, of course, for when they checked it out and agreed to buy it). Ron and the other Weasleys had said that they'll fix it up for them, and that was exactly what they did.
Hermione recalled dragging her suitcase into the living room of their home and then dropping it down with a sorrowful thud. Harry walked in after her, with two suitcases, and he said:
" Wow! So we're really here, huh?"
" All ours." Hermione said, joyfully, turning to look at Harry to see if he was as delighted as she were. He was simply radiating.
" I suppose we'll start with the bedroom?" Harry asked.
She punched him in the arm lightly.
" I meant to decorate it!" He grimaced, rubbing his arm, and then turned to glance down the narrow hallway with the furry red carpet with the floral pattern (Molly Weasley-style) and there stood the kitchen. It had a Muggle stove inside of it that the Weasleys charmed a bit to have it cook, bake, and broil food abnormally fast - five to six minutes, at most. In the corner of the room was a stylish refrigerator that was all-white, blending with the white walls, the bland white curtains, the white throw rug, and the white-painted cabinets.
A note flapped in the breeze, stuck square in the middle of one of the cabinets. Harry walked up to it and ripped it off gently, reading it: `Sorry about all the white. The house came like this. - Fred and George'. Fred and George were the ones that helped tile the floor in the kitchen - white with little white flowers in two of the four corners, which Ginny picked.
" It looks like a hospital room." Harry complained.
" It'll do." Hermione came in to the room, thumping a cardboard box filled with kitchen supplies (gifts from their wedding) onto a white marble counter. She grasped a dry sponge from the top and then stuck it under the chrome faucet of the sink, moistening it. She began to wipe the counter free of dust and grime that had settled.
" So, what do I do?" Harry asked.
" I don't know." She put her hands on her hips, thinking. " Maybe - well - let's see." Her eyes grew thin, like little slits, as she pondered it. " Scrub the bathroom clean. I'm not sitting on that toilet seat."
" The bathroom!" Harry leaned back onto the counter.
Hermione gave him an icy glare. " Would you enjoy scrubbing the kitchen? I'm sure there's enough cigarette butts tucked into every corner, from that smoker that had this house, to last you a lifetime of lung cancer."
He laughed. " I'll stick with the bathroom, then." He bent down to pick out some cleaning supplies, then said: " Must we do this the Muggle way?"
" Yes. The neighbors can be over any second. Ginny said they're awful curious - even peeping toms, or something." Hermione dumped a half-empty spray bottle of Windex onto the counter. " If they come by and see the bathroom scrubbing itself, the sponges charmed, who knows what they'll think?"
" The neighbors are always an authority." Harry said. " I remember back at the Dursleys - they worried constantly - what will the neighbors say? What'll anyone say if they learned that Harry's a wizard?"
Hermione smiled. " Well, that's life."
She took an eager swipe at the counter and then lifted the sponge. " Look! Look at all this dust! My parents kept the house clean all the time. If my mom were to see this - she'd scream."
" She's a dentist." Harry said, as if it would explain. " They need to keep clean."
" Same with my father." Hermione brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. " Well? Isn't SOMEONE supposed to clean the bathroom?"
Harry grinned at her. " I wonder who?" He said, sarcastically, and then went to the room next door, which happened to be the bathroom. He knelt down in front of the white toilet and then stared at it. The bowl had yellowed in a few places where it hadn't been washed properly. The toilet seat was black and the dye left black imprints and streaks in a few places.
" We're getting some new things - a new toilet seat, for instance." Harry called out.
" Would you?"
" I said we're. You and me." Harry replied. " I'd rather be seen holding a toilet seat in my hands with you beside me then alone."
" Oh, come on!" Hermione laughed.
Later that evening, after most of the house was cleaned up, mopped up, and shined to a polish, the doorbell had rung. It was Mr. and Mrs. Granger, over to see how everything was going. Hermione had attempted to bake a Brown Betty that evening to greet them with it but when it came out it seemed more like a Black Betty. Not to mention all the smoke . . . Hermione was just not used to using the super-speedy oven.
//\\end flashback//\\
Hermione grinned now. Harry and Hermione had both gone a long way since then. With lots of support and with plenty of love they managed to fix their home up so it wouldn't be too fresh-looking and hollow. They even managed to do a bit of their own home improvement and add a fireplace. Harry and Ron both worked themselves to death trying to build up a little chimney and at the same time trying not to use magic.
" Hermione." Someone touched her arm. She turned and saw her mother. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were also invited, and they had also been sitting at the Weasley table, trying hard to blend in.
" Mother!" She grinned.
" I've been thinking, Hermione." Her mother reached into her purse. " I see how you and Harry - well, there isn't a child, is there?"
" Mother, I . . ." Hermione blushed deep crimson.
Her mother handed her a little card. " You see, my friend knows this nice lady. She's a doctor, she can help with these things. Science can help, you know."
Hermione shook her head. " Please, don't, I want to - - this isn't necessary. Please, don't." She moved backwards and bumped into a table. She didn't take the card, despite the face her mother was holding it out.
" Hermione, be reasonable. I don't want to see you and Harry to ruin your relationship if you're unable to, well . . ." Her mother coughed.
" Mom! Stop it." She shook her head furiously. " I don't need any help. Especially not doctor's help." Hermione then added, very quietly, trying not to gain anyone else's attention: " There won't be - there isn't - a problem. In fact, Mom, can you keep this quiet?"
Her mother nodded slowly.
" Mother, I'm pregnant. Already." Hermione beamed. " We didn't want to tell anyone, but I see that I can't keep anything from you." Hermione meant this in a nice way, of course, since she and her mother were as close as two peas in a pod.
" How long? Oh, Hermione, this is great news!" Her mother crumpled the card in her hand immediately.
" Three months. I know you can't see much - it's a baggy dress and everything . . ." Tears sparkled in her eyes. " I've never been so happy in my life, mother."
" Are you sure?" Her mother asked. " Oh, of course you're sure." Her mother laughed. " This is glorious. Magnificent." Her mother looked ready to cry. " Girl or boy? Wait, you don't know yet. Oh, this is great!" She turned away, suddenly, wiping at her eyes. " I'll be a grandmother!"
Hermione wrapped her arms around her mother. " Mommy." She said, softly. "Please don't tell anyone yet. It's a surprise. Please?"
" Alright." Her mother nodded, gently petting Hermione's hair. " I'm glad for one thing the most, Hermione."
"What's that?" Hermione looked up at her mother.
" I'm glad that it's with Harry."
~*~
Draco jumped up from the couch as if someone had set him on fire. " It's not what you think!" Draco blurted out, looking at Harry nervously. Harry shook his head.
" It's not, is it?" Harry looked at Ginny. Ginny immediately said:
" Harry, it's okay, I . . ."
" Don't worry, Ginny, we'll clear this up." Ron took Ginny and held her protectively, and then he shot Draco an angry look. " You! How could you! And - - and in some dark coat room!"
Draco shook his head, furious. " I didn't do anything! She came onto me!" He cried out. " I didn't even WANT her to!"
Ron didn't believe it. " Ginny . . .?" He looked down at Ginny's frightened face.
" Ron, that's what I've been trying to tell you! Draco didn't do anything to me! It's true." Ginny whispered, shaking out of fright for the situation she had found herself in. " He didn't!"
Ron pulled away from her. " Then what happened? You were crying!"
" Only because I said something mean to him! I felt really bad! Then he came and he actually listened to me!" Ginny shouted. " How could you just barge in like that and accuse him, when you have no proof!"
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, and then looked at Draco. " But - - why?" Harry asked Draco.
" I don't know! She was crying! I thought I hurt her feeling!" Draco crossed his arms. " Here's news for you, Potter. A Malfoy came here to apologize to a Weasley. Not to rape her or something!" Suddenly, he seemed to be enveloped in blinding anger. He pushed Harry and Ron aside and didn't even look at Ginny as he raced from the room. A second later, Draco had burst into the room where the party was held.
He found Crabbe and Goyle arguing over whether four cups of punch was too much to drink or not. His eyes made contact with theirs and they knew that they were going right then and there.
Draco went to his table and pulled on his coat, for it was winter weather outside, after all. Then, he walked over to Hermione, feeling it was befitting to say goodbye to the host or at least to one of them.
" I'm leaving now. Can you get Crabbe and Goyle to their homes? I believe you have some Floor Powder."
" Well, I do, but . . ."
"Good bye." Draco said.
" Wait!" Hermione cried out. " Why now? Won't you wait for the cake?"
" No." He replied, sharply. Then, he stormed from the room. Hermione watched him and then frowned. " What a temper. What in the devil has gotten into him?"
Lavender sighed from the table behind her. " He sure looks great, though, doesn't he?"
~*~
Ginny looked at Ron and Harry, unbelieving. " How could you guys!" She whispered. " He was grieving today - he was afraid to even look at me. It was all my fault!" Her eyes were misted with tears.
" Now, don't say that!" Ron exclaimed.
" Oh, I will say that, whenever I want to! It's my fault! Stop thinking that ever since Jason I'll be some sort of innocent, vulnerable child! It was really my fault, I kept him here. I just wanted someone to listen to me and understand, for once!" Ginny bit her tongue so she wouldn't cry. Once she'd cry then the two would never take her seriously.
" I'm really sorry." Harry said.
" Don't tell that to me!" Ginny grimaced. " I'm not the one who'd been horribly insulted! You know how Malfoys are all about honor and pride!"
" It won't do any good arguing!" Ron burst out. " Let's just go back to the party and enjoy it before Hermione brings out the cake. She'll get mad if we won't be there."
Harry nodded. " That's right, we can't go off chasing after him now. It's his choice to leave."
" You think he left, too?" Ginny crossed her arms. " Well, no matter. I'll go find him."
" Ginny, are you crazy? It's freezing cold outside! You'll get sick!" Ron complained. Ginny turned to give him a sharp look.
" I'll be fine. I'm not a baby anymore, and I know that if I don't apologize now, nobody will. I've had enough of all the mistrust and all the insults I've been showered with. Now that Draco's down anyway, an insult like that could snap him in half." She motioned outside. It was snowing heavily now. " You think he'll go straight home and forget all about it? From what I see, he'll drop his two buddies off and then wander around somewhere."
With that, she turned around and went into the hallway, heading for the room where the party was taking place.
~*~
The blinding whirlwind of snow outside couldn't have wrapped tighter around Draco. It felt as if someone had pulled a blanket out of the freezer and then whipped it across his body. It was simply horrible.
His thick winter coat, lined with sheep's wool all the way from Finland and with polished golden buttons, couldn't buy him the same warmth and comfort that others had with their ratty, normal coats. Blinking away snowflakes, he worked his way down the street. Muggles were nowhere to be seen.
` At least they have enough brain power to stay out of the snow.' Draco thought bitterly. He kicked his way through a snowdrift, his hand swinging out to snap aside tree branches that dared to get in his way.
He saw a park ahead. He figured he could sit down and just cool off a little. Think a little. Then he'd find a fireplace and get the hell out of this place. Away from Potter, the Muggles, away from his problems, and especially away from Ginny. He never wanted to see her again. It was only to her own best - she could do better then him. Besides nobody would ever even accept him. Not the Weasleys, not Potter. He didn't need them anyway.
Draco found himself standing in between two tall stone pillars that were really the sides of a massive iron gate. He pushed it open and then slowly closed it behind him again. The name of the park came in through the blurring vision of the snow - `Haven'. Draco thought it read Heaven at first and almost smiled, then figured Haven meant something similar.
" Damn."
He leaned back so that the iron bars of the gate pressed into his back through the coat he wore. Draco liked that feeling, the painful ache. It took his mind off of the pain in his mind.
He stood there for a moment, eyes closed, snowflakes sticking into his eyelashes, tickling his face. His mind flashed images of his childhood. Once he had been bold enough to have a pillow fight with his two cousins that had slept over. They were dead now, from pneumonia. A lot of people had died in his life. The Malfoys were weak in the body, but sharper then a tack in the mind. Lucius Malfoy always told Draco to keep that at the top of his brain, always.
Anyhow, he had once had a pillow fight with his cousins. Halfway in, he had busted the entire pillow case on the jagged edge of a griffin statue. Feathers had flown everywhere, just like the snowflakes. His room was covered in feathers.
Even after his father's stern and disciplining lecture (and a bit of a tug on his ears, to show him even more of a point), Draco knew he'd never dissapoint his father or the Malfoy line like that again. What an idiot of a child - to play with pillows, like some sort of . . . well, a child. Why hadn't he been studying, or reading all those books on the Dark Arts in the West Wing?
The memory suddenly turned stale. Draco shifted away from the iron gate and then looked around. Everything was covered with snow. He figured he could sit down on some bench if he found one.
The dark mahogany legs of a bench suddenly struck his eyes. There was a thick layer of snow on the bench already but Draco cleared it all off with a single swoop of his hand. Then, he sat down. The freezing cold snow that piled in between the folds of his shirt collar and his neck didn't matter. The fact that his shoes were wet inside didn't really hit him as important.
With a sigh, he wondered why on Earth had Ginny even bothered kissing him. He didn't ask for it. In fact, he practically asked her to keep away from him. Draco shook his head. He could see the pale face of Pansy in front of his eyes.
*Pansies fade, pansies wither
" Mister!" Someone was saying. His eyes shot open and he saw a little boy in front of him. In the thickly falling snow he'd have thought it was himself, as a child, light hair and thin as a `string bean'. Ginny had said that. Forget Ginny!
Draco shook his head again and then saw the boy closer. Now that the child had come closer it looked nothing like him. " What is it?" Draco asked, before realizing this was a Muggle child after all.
The boy grimaced. He spoke again:" Did you see my mommy?"
Draco looked around. He couldn't see anyone anywhere nearby. " No, I haven't." Draco replied.
" Oh, no!" The boy reached his hand up to his face and wiped a tear away.
" Why? What is it?" Draco asked, gently. If there was one thing that bothered him, it was crying. Women, children, didn't matter. He figured it made him feel too awful inside, as if he ought to be crying too. He was taught not to cry. Crying made one weak. `Damn right.' He thought.
" Well, my mommy said she'd meet me here." The boy whispered hoarsely. " She said she'd meet me in the park and take me out for ice cream if my badminton team wins the Regional Cup."
" Ice cream?" Draco sounded disbelieving. " Not in dead winter. Go back home, your mom's probably going out of her mind looking for you."
" Oh, but my mom's not here." The boy replied.
" Where is she, then, on her free time?" Draco asked, exasperated.
The boy pointed upwards. Draco looked up, blinking away snowflakes. His eyes feasted on the sight of millions of white specks flowing downwards towards the earth in a never-ending ribbon, the sky a cloudy grayish-blue color, like his eyes.
Suddenly, Draco felt remorse. " You mean - in Heaven?" Draco questioned.
The boy nodded curtly. " She promised me, in the summer, that she'll meet me in the park. She promised, no matter what!" His lower lip trembled and more tears flowed down his face. " Not even if she leaves."
" Here, tell me where you live, kid, I'll walk you home." Draco felt a bond between himself and this kid. At least they both lost a loved one. Perhaps Muggle kids weren't as horrid as the older members of their society were.
" But Mommy promised!" The boy stamped his foot angrily.
" Then how about I buy you some ice cream instead?" Draco reached into his pocket, his fingers finding a few shillings. He'd taken the care of providing himself some Muggle money before coming out here. " Because sometimes people - when they go to Heaven - they can go with you, to the ice cream parlor or someplace." He paused. " But you don't see them. Your mother will be there, I'm sure."
The boy tried to understand.
" You know. Their spirit." Draco didn't quite know how to explain it, himself. He wasn't a religious person. In fact, he was a far cry from religious, so he knew he'd be better off explaining the Dark Arts then about Heaven and spirits and such delightful things.
The boy reached his hand out. " Then I'm going myself."
Draco put some money into his outstretched hand, then said: " How far to the ice cream parlor?"
" About - well, four or five minutes of walking." The boy replied.
" I'll walk you there." Draco knew the last thing he needed was to feel guilty if the kid was kidnapped or hit by a car or some other atrocity.
The little boy beamed. His eyes traced over Draco's delicate features and his very light hair, face, and white-covered clothing. " I'm Devin. Who're you? An angel?"
Draco laughed. " More like the opposite." Suddenly, he decided not to say his name. Devin didn't ask for his name, though. He simply grinned and then ran up the path. Draco followed him through the blinding snow.
A/N: Well hey! I don't think he'd leave a little kid in a blizzard!
~*~
Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione from behind and then kissed her neck under her ear gently. She blushed and then felt his hand trail to her protruding stomach. Her hands held the cake platter to cover her stomach. Harry and Hermione then split apart and carried the plate over to the nearest table and then set it down. A single candle shone in its center, and two at each side, representing them.
Everyone gathered around. Ginny stood a bit separately. Ron had convinced her to wait through the cake before running off like a fool after Draco. Ginny's eyes studied the way Harry leaned over and kissed Hermione again, over the cake. Then, they turned to the crowd around the table.
" Go on! Blow the candles out!" Seamus cheered.
Mr. Granger and Mr. Weasley raised their wineglasses triumphantly, clinking them. " To the Potters." They murmured.
Harry and Hermione talked amongst each other. " Do we blow them out at once?"
" Maybe you do one side, I do the other."
" But then who does the one in the middle?"
" Just blow!"
They both took deep breaths and then blew the candles out. Hermione grinned as they all were extinguished.
" What'd you wish for, you two? Did it come true?" Parvati cried out.
" How could it? In a second?" Padma said in reply.
" I didn't ask you." Parvati kidded.
Harry brought Hermione close, sweeping her off her feet in a kiss. Hermione nodded and then pulled away. " It came true, alright!" She then suddenly said: "Do we tell them, Harry?"
Harry nodded.
Hermione began: " Well, uh, Oliver, remember the gift you provided?"
" Sure. Don't do any demonstrations, alright?" Oliver shouted out.
Harry turned scarlet. He turned red easily about things. He was one of those shy kind of guys, Ginny decided. Harry said: " There will be a little Potter tyke. Our wish." He put his hand on Hermione's stomach.
" You mean!" Lavender squealed.
Cho Chang rushed forwards immediately, being the sporty one, and then immediately gave Harry and Hermione a tight hug (a bit looser for Hermione in respect for the baby she was now carrying).
" How long?"
" Really?"
" What'd she say?" Neville asked, who had been busy trying to wash sour cream out of his tie.
" Three months." Hermione said, cutting the cake. Harry put it on plates and passed the plates around. Ginny took a plate and ate hurriedly, standing. She watched Hermione closely. Ginny always wondered how it would feel, to have a baby inside oneself. She wondered if one felt heavy, or if the stomach would weigh a woman down a bit so she'd lean backwards to keep in balance?
" And you didn't tell us?" Molly Weasley scolded.
Ron smiled. It appeared Harry had told Ron in secret. After all, Harry and Ron were the closest of friends and only if they both go deaf-mute-blind would they stop communicating every little thing to one another.
Ginny suddenly walked up to Hermione. " I have to be going. I think I ate too much cake, Herm."
Hermione looked concerned right off.
Ginny laughed a fake laugh. " Oh, don't worry about me, I'll walk it off and then come back."
" You tell me if you feel bad. I carry a bit of Madame Pomfrey's Cure-All Flu and Cold Medicine." Hermione said.
" Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Ginny have Hermione an embrace, kissing her cheek lightly. " Thank you for everything, all your advice." Then, she turned to Harry. "See ya, Harry. Remember, you still owe me three Sickles for that poker game!" With that, she left, pulling on her coat, trying to look cheery.
" The young these days." Mrs. Granger said wistfully, her eyes trailing over to Hermione with a smile.
~*~
The ice cream parlor glowed cheerfully as Draco crossed the street, little Devin running alongside him. Devin pointed at the ice cream parlor's window. " Look! They have the controversial slime flavor!"
" Sounds great." Draco said, trying to spare the sarcasm. Then he added: " Do you know your - what's that called?" He thought hard. " Telephone number?"
" Sure do!" Devin cried out and then recited it.
" Great. Well, I want you to buy some ice cream and use the rest of this money to call home. Have your dad or someone else take you by Floo - - car. Take you by car." Draco then pushed a handful of coins into the boy's hand and turned to leave.
" Goodbye, mister!" The boy waved.
~*~
Ginny rushed down the street, her dress rustling like a potato sack being rubbed against the bark of a tree. She wished she hadn't insisted on heels. Oh, how her legs hurt! Oh, oh, oh, ouch!
She stumbled down the street, knowing that Draco wouldn't have walked into the stores for they were Muggle facilities, after all. Ginny was soon out of breath, never being very athletic. Her hand wiped the thin layer of sweat off of her nose as she thought about where Draco could be.
Haven Park was close by, but would Draco go there? In this heavy snow?
It was a possibility, then again. He could be anywhere, after all, and she hadn't the time or the patience to search the corners of the world for him. If she didn't find him soon she'd just have to forget it.
The Iron Gate of Haven Park was shut, and she had to push it open. It was really heavy and rusty and the hinges squeaked so loudly that shivers ran up and down her spine, raising the hair on her neck. She closed it quickly and then walked up the path, the snow wetting her dress so that it flapped wetly against her ankles.
" Oh, please be here. My legs are killing me." Ginny saw that someone had brushed the snow off of the bench she was standing near. It was a long shot, but she decided to follow the half-buried footprints to see if they were his.
Suddenly she noted that the footprints were going along with the steps of a child. Draco didn't have a child as far as she knew! Ginny felt tense all of a sudden, and cold at that. She minded the freezing wet snow, the way it hurt her skin at contact, the way her cheeks felt so frosty and red. Her breath was a silver, icy cloud as she sighed and kept rushing up the path.
Then, she saw a dark shape advancing up the path in front of her. Her hopes high, she began to run. " Draco?" She cried out. " Is that you? I wanted to tell you - - I'm sorry for what I did - - I had no business - - I didn't know Ron and Harry. . ." She couldn't finish any of her sentences, all the words she had planned in an eloquent speech now rushing out in a rambling mess.
There he was - Draco in his sad, kicked-puppy glory, materializing through the snowflakes. " I'm sorry." She gasped out, breathing heavily.
He reached out, taking her freezing fingers into his warm hands. " It's too cold. Look at you, you're all wet, and shivering. Go back." He simply said. And yet, she could see he didn't want her to go back. He kept holding onto her hand, not letting it go, not even realizing he was doing it. His breath was rushed, that of a person on the verge of a breakdown.
Through the silver white cloud his breath was making, she saw he was also soaked.
" You're cold too. Why don't we both go back?" Ginny insisted. " I wanted to get you back. Harry and Ron are really sorry."
" Sorry my ass." Draco said bitterly. He realized the involuntary hold of his hands and he instantly let go of her fingers.
" They are! They'd have attacked Neville or Seamus or Oliver, too, if he were in your place. They're just so protective of me, since I'm the little sister to both of them." Ginny could see that disbelief still lingered on her face. " Come back. We can . . ."
" There's no `we'." Draco said, shortly.
" What?" Ginny whispered.
" I said, there's no `we'. You know as well as I know that if for some oddball reason you'd even consider me as some sort of courtier . . ." He said this in a rushed voice. " . . . Well, nobody would be happy with it. And frankly, you won't be happy with me."
" How do you know?" She demanded.
" Look at me." He held his hands out. " I can't even think about a relationship - I can't - Pansy."
" Well I can also say this: Jason. Do you think I managed to get over him? No! But sometimes it's easier to share the pain instead of . . ."
" It's not the same." Draco said, shaking his head. " I feel as if I'd died inside. You're so alive, and full of life. You won't be happy, not even after a week with me."
" Were you like that with Pansy? She was happy with you, wasn't she?"
" It's not the same."
" Nothing's the same!" Ginny suddenly felt like crawling under a rock. " I thought - I thought you were interested in me."
Draco didn't reply. He didn't know if he was interested in her or not. Nothing made sense to him anymore. Life didn't make sense. He grasped her arms, just below the shoulders, holding her squarely in front of him, madly. His eyes narrowed slightly. "Being accused of what Potter and Weasley accused me of was more then what Malfoy enemies died from before. I don't want to see them anymore."
" I'm telling you - - they're really sorry."
" And I'm sorry for telling you about myself! I'm sorry that you had to meet me! Someone like you ought to keep away from people like me." Draco said. "Do you know what my life is, now?"
She shook her head, frightened.
" Drinking. And wishing I was dead. And being alone. Do you want to join me?" He shook her. "Do you?"
A tear slipped from her eye.
" Listen, I'm saving you from a horrible life. You'll regret it every day, and so would I, if I didn't put a line here. I don't need anybody. You need Potter and the Weasleys, and you need people all around you." He repeated: " I don't need anybody."
" Yes you do!" Ginny shouted. " You're so depressed already! You'll - you'll go crazy!"
" Look, don't make this harder. I do like you, all right? In fact, I might even begin to LOVE you. That's why I want the best for you. Go find yourself someone like Seamus or Oliver or Neville, where you'll never have to worry."
" Draco . . ." She breathed out.
He turned away and then said, avoiding her. " You won't have a perfect life with me. It would take months, years for your family and my family to accept it. Haven't you read Romeo and Juliet?"
She nodded.
" I read it too - it won't work. It'll be completely against the Malfoy honor. With a WEASLEY!" Draco felt weak inside suddenly. " You're shaking. Go. I'll be fine. I'm going to go home right now."
" No you won't! You're coming back to the party, even if I have to drag you." Ginny threatened. " You're so disillusioned! Don't you see? Nobody minds you that much at all! It's your own self that created whatever conflict you see. Harry and Ron are sorry, you know just as well as I do that your parents couldn't give a damn about you now that You-Know-Who's gone and their lives are meaningless. My parents just want me to be happy. And I will be happy." Ginny felt like crying. " When I talked to you, I saw that you needed someone to listen. And I need someone to listen. We can listen together. Please."
Draco saw the tears in her eyes, and knew he had to decide. Should he back out, abandon this all, or could he return to the party, to slowly begin the reshaping, the rebuilding of his life from the tatters it had become?
A/N: I stop here. * looks at reviews * 10? Yay! Come on, do some more now! I appreciate kind criticism but not flames. You see, Draco's just totally fallen apart. He was raised to have a strict, scheduled life. He was never taught how to deal with what life had thrown him. His life is worthless to him lately. He's blunt and honest but at the same time disillusioned. Will Ginny, with her loving heart and kind soul, be the one to guide him back to the world again? (wow I sound like a Harlequin novel perhaps. D/G! Ah to those who dislike it!). What more of Harry and Hermione's perfect relationship? What will Neville spill, destroy, or mutilate next?
A/N: Ah! Thank you for all the reviews! Sorry for all the D/G, Gary Skinner, I can tell you weren't too fond of it. I'm glad you are warming up to it. I guess I'm one of those people that trust Draco isn't evil and will redeem himself. * shrug* . Mike - hey thanks for those reviews, I'm glad you decided to read what I write. See, I don't `suck'. Thank you everyone else for the reviews, too! I love getting reviews, it makes me feel appreciated!
Chapter 3
Hermione grinned broadly as Padma (A/N: ha! I got it right. Sorry. I'm no good with details) and Parvati put down a very cute chocolate cupcake in front of her. It had a little white candle in it, lit happily, and the letter H was on one side of the candle and another H on the other side. Hermione's eyes widened as she said:
" Oh, I couldn't! This is - what - a million calories?"
" It doesn't hurt." Parvati teased. " Now that Harry's not around I thought we'd get some girl talk done."
Hermione fiddled around with the very cold handle of the knife blade in front of her as she cut the cupcake in two. " I gotta save some for Harry. I'd feel bad if I wouldn't." She explained, lopping the cupcake a bit unevenly. The candle tipped over and just before it could burn a hole in the tablecloth Fred Weasley caught it.
" Where'd you come from?" Parvati asked.
Fred patted her head like a little kid's. " Don't you worry." Then he turned to Hermione, hands in his pockets. " Eating cake, I see."
" You didn't!" Hermione cried out.
" No, it's okay, I didn't add anything into your little cupcake." Fred plopped himself down at a chair by a nearby table, but still facing them. " So, what's the occasion? Why won't you wait for Harry?"
" He went out with Ron somewhere." Hermione said. " Really, everyone's wandering around the whole place. Everywhere but where they ought to be, if you ask me." She put her spoon into the cake. It was very sweet and spongy.
" Alright, enough of that." Padma cried out. " Tell us, how's it like, being married?"
Hermione shrugged. " It's like being single, only you have someone to share it with." She shook her head. " I know it makes no sense. I just can't explain it."
" How's Harry?" Parvati questioned. " Is he the do-the-dishes and take out the garbage guy, or does he sit around on the couch all the time?" The two Patil ladies looked at her with wide eyes, waiting on a cliff for the answer.
" I guess he can be a bit of both." Hermione admitted, eating a spoonful of cake. "I don't think he's ever deliberately avoided house work or anything, though. It's split about 50/50 between us."
" Mmm." Padma didn't seem to care much about that. " Where'd you spend your honeymoon?" She asked abruptly.
" In the center of the Earth, visiting the Mole People." Fred joked, and seeing Padma's angry glare, he raised his hands up and added: "Sorry, sorry. Talk about looks that kill." He laughed again and stood up, heading towards George. George was having a great time trying to converse with Crabbe and Goyle.
" Seriously - we spent it abroad." Hermione said. " We visited Italy, and then took a Muggle tour around the various attractions scattered all around the place. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was great! I bought millions of postcards. I guess our owls will be busy now, with all the extra post cards we have."
" Yeah, I guess." Parvati poked at the tablecloth.
" Oh! I couldn't help but overhear your conversation!" Lavender cried out, plopping herself down beside Hermione.
" Is there a conversation that she won't overhear?" George asked.
" You guys!" Padma cried out. " Stop - and I mean stop - bugging into our conversation!" She turned to Parvati. "Just like in Hogwarts. I swear, they didn't change at all."
" Maybe none of us did, really." Hermione said, softly.
" Maybe." Padma didn't sound too interested in philosophical thought. "Hey, did Harry get you a lot of cute outfits? I do believe that a lush cricket green will be great on you."
" Thanks." Hermione didn't know if she ought to say thanks to a remark like that or not, but she said it anyway. " Actually, Harry and I don't really want to invest too much in nice clothing. . ."
" What? Why?" Parvati and Padme both cried out. Being fashion majors in the wizard world, they couldn't possibly understand that.
" Are you poor or something?" Lavender asked. " I mean - with Harry playing for professional Quidditch teams . . ."
Hermione shook her head. " Harry donates a lot of money. To wizard orphanages, and such. He also gave a lot of money to support the building of a new wizard school. Dumbledore is all for this project."
Padme didn't sound too pleased at all as she said: "How sweet of you two."
She and Parvati exchanged looks.
" Will you excuse me for a minute?" Hermione said, softly, standing up.
" Sure!" The Patils exclaimed. Hermione gave them a vague grin and then slowly moved away from the table. Hermione felt rather out of place with these girls. She felt a bit more comfortable with Ginny, since Ginny wasn't all about looking beautiful on the outside and being rich.
Hermione stopped to see if Harry, Ron, Draco, or Ginny was anywhere in the room. She felt that they'd take out the large anniversary cake out, and if they weren't anywhere near, they'd miss the cake. And she'd certainly be cross a bit with Harry if he didn't come for the cake! After all, Hermione did make the cake herself (after two that came out rather horribly messed up). Hermione had never been the greatest in cooking, though she always tried very hard. Some people are simply born good cooks, like grandmothers and such. Hermione was not one of these privileged ones, so she had to learn everything from the ratty cookbook Molly Weasley borrowed her, and from the cooking shows that came in on the fuzzy television.
//\\Flashback//\\
~*~
She remembered how she and Harry had first moved into their house. It had been right after their honeymoon. They hadn't seen their house before then, even (except, of course, for when they checked it out and agreed to buy it). Ron and the other Weasleys had said that they'll fix it up for them, and that was exactly what they did.
Hermione recalled dragging her suitcase into the living room of their home and then dropping it down with a sorrowful thud. Harry walked in after her, with two suitcases, and he said:
" Wow! So we're really here, huh?"
" All ours." Hermione said, joyfully, turning to look at Harry to see if he was as delighted as she were. He was simply radiating.
" I suppose we'll start with the bedroom?" Harry asked.
She punched him in the arm lightly.
" I meant to decorate it!" He grimaced, rubbing his arm, and then turned to glance down the narrow hallway with the furry red carpet with the floral pattern (Molly Weasley-style) and there stood the kitchen. It had a Muggle stove inside of it that the Weasleys charmed a bit to have it cook, bake, and broil food abnormally fast - five to six minutes, at most. In the corner of the room was a stylish refrigerator that was all-white, blending with the white walls, the bland white curtains, the white throw rug, and the white-painted cabinets.
A note flapped in the breeze, stuck square in the middle of one of the cabinets. Harry walked up to it and ripped it off gently, reading it: `Sorry about all the white. The house came like this. - Fred and George'. Fred and George were the ones that helped tile the floor in the kitchen - white with little white flowers in two of the four corners, which Ginny picked.
" It looks like a hospital room." Harry complained.
" It'll do." Hermione came in to the room, thumping a cardboard box filled with kitchen supplies (gifts from their wedding) onto a white marble counter. She grasped a dry sponge from the top and then stuck it under the chrome faucet of the sink, moistening it. She began to wipe the counter free of dust and grime that had settled.
" So, what do I do?" Harry asked.
" I don't know." She put her hands on her hips, thinking. " Maybe - well - let's see." Her eyes grew thin, like little slits, as she pondered it. " Scrub the bathroom clean. I'm not sitting on that toilet seat."
" The bathroom!" Harry leaned back onto the counter.
Hermione gave him an icy glare. " Would you enjoy scrubbing the kitchen? I'm sure there's enough cigarette butts tucked into every corner, from that smoker that had this house, to last you a lifetime of lung cancer."
He laughed. " I'll stick with the bathroom, then." He bent down to pick out some cleaning supplies, then said: " Must we do this the Muggle way?"
" Yes. The neighbors can be over any second. Ginny said they're awful curious - even peeping toms, or something." Hermione dumped a half-empty spray bottle of Windex onto the counter. " If they come by and see the bathroom scrubbing itself, the sponges charmed, who knows what they'll think?"
" The neighbors are always an authority." Harry said. " I remember back at the Dursleys - they worried constantly - what will the neighbors say? What'll anyone say if they learned that Harry's a wizard?"
Hermione smiled. " Well, that's life."
She took an eager swipe at the counter and then lifted the sponge. " Look! Look at all this dust! My parents kept the house clean all the time. If my mom were to see this - she'd scream."
" She's a dentist." Harry said, as if it would explain. " They need to keep clean."
" Same with my father." Hermione brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. " Well? Isn't SOMEONE supposed to clean the bathroom?"
Harry grinned at her. " I wonder who?" He said, sarcastically, and then went to the room next door, which happened to be the bathroom. He knelt down in front of the white toilet and then stared at it. The bowl had yellowed in a few places where it hadn't been washed properly. The toilet seat was black and the dye left black imprints and streaks in a few places.
" We're getting some new things - a new toilet seat, for instance." Harry called out.
" Would you?"
" I said we're. You and me." Harry replied. " I'd rather be seen holding a toilet seat in my hands with you beside me then alone."
" Oh, come on!" Hermione laughed.
Later that evening, after most of the house was cleaned up, mopped up, and shined to a polish, the doorbell had rung. It was Mr. and Mrs. Granger, over to see how everything was going. Hermione had attempted to bake a Brown Betty that evening to greet them with it but when it came out it seemed more like a Black Betty. Not to mention all the smoke . . . Hermione was just not used to using the super-speedy oven.
//\\end flashback//\\
Hermione grinned now. Harry and Hermione had both gone a long way since then. With lots of support and with plenty of love they managed to fix their home up so it wouldn't be too fresh-looking and hollow. They even managed to do a bit of their own home improvement and add a fireplace. Harry and Ron both worked themselves to death trying to build up a little chimney and at the same time trying not to use magic.
" Hermione." Someone touched her arm. She turned and saw her mother. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were also invited, and they had also been sitting at the Weasley table, trying hard to blend in.
" Mother!" She grinned.
" I've been thinking, Hermione." Her mother reached into her purse. " I see how you and Harry - well, there isn't a child, is there?"
" Mother, I . . ." Hermione blushed deep crimson.
Her mother handed her a little card. " You see, my friend knows this nice lady. She's a doctor, she can help with these things. Science can help, you know."
Hermione shook her head. " Please, don't, I want to - - this isn't necessary. Please, don't." She moved backwards and bumped into a table. She didn't take the card, despite the face her mother was holding it out.
" Hermione, be reasonable. I don't want to see you and Harry to ruin your relationship if you're unable to, well . . ." Her mother coughed.
" Mom! Stop it." She shook her head furiously. " I don't need any help. Especially not doctor's help." Hermione then added, very quietly, trying not to gain anyone else's attention: " There won't be - there isn't - a problem. In fact, Mom, can you keep this quiet?"
Her mother nodded slowly.
" Mother, I'm pregnant. Already." Hermione beamed. " We didn't want to tell anyone, but I see that I can't keep anything from you." Hermione meant this in a nice way, of course, since she and her mother were as close as two peas in a pod.
" How long? Oh, Hermione, this is great news!" Her mother crumpled the card in her hand immediately.
" Three months. I know you can't see much - it's a baggy dress and everything . . ." Tears sparkled in her eyes. " I've never been so happy in my life, mother."
" Are you sure?" Her mother asked. " Oh, of course you're sure." Her mother laughed. " This is glorious. Magnificent." Her mother looked ready to cry. " Girl or boy? Wait, you don't know yet. Oh, this is great!" She turned away, suddenly, wiping at her eyes. " I'll be a grandmother!"
Hermione wrapped her arms around her mother. " Mommy." She said, softly. "Please don't tell anyone yet. It's a surprise. Please?"
" Alright." Her mother nodded, gently petting Hermione's hair. " I'm glad for one thing the most, Hermione."
"What's that?" Hermione looked up at her mother.
" I'm glad that it's with Harry."
~*~
Draco jumped up from the couch as if someone had set him on fire. " It's not what you think!" Draco blurted out, looking at Harry nervously. Harry shook his head.
" It's not, is it?" Harry looked at Ginny. Ginny immediately said:
" Harry, it's okay, I . . ."
" Don't worry, Ginny, we'll clear this up." Ron took Ginny and held her protectively, and then he shot Draco an angry look. " You! How could you! And - - and in some dark coat room!"
Draco shook his head, furious. " I didn't do anything! She came onto me!" He cried out. " I didn't even WANT her to!"
Ron didn't believe it. " Ginny . . .?" He looked down at Ginny's frightened face.
" Ron, that's what I've been trying to tell you! Draco didn't do anything to me! It's true." Ginny whispered, shaking out of fright for the situation she had found herself in. " He didn't!"
Ron pulled away from her. " Then what happened? You were crying!"
" Only because I said something mean to him! I felt really bad! Then he came and he actually listened to me!" Ginny shouted. " How could you just barge in like that and accuse him, when you have no proof!"
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, and then looked at Draco. " But - - why?" Harry asked Draco.
" I don't know! She was crying! I thought I hurt her feeling!" Draco crossed his arms. " Here's news for you, Potter. A Malfoy came here to apologize to a Weasley. Not to rape her or something!" Suddenly, he seemed to be enveloped in blinding anger. He pushed Harry and Ron aside and didn't even look at Ginny as he raced from the room. A second later, Draco had burst into the room where the party was held.
He found Crabbe and Goyle arguing over whether four cups of punch was too much to drink or not. His eyes made contact with theirs and they knew that they were going right then and there.
Draco went to his table and pulled on his coat, for it was winter weather outside, after all. Then, he walked over to Hermione, feeling it was befitting to say goodbye to the host or at least to one of them.
" I'm leaving now. Can you get Crabbe and Goyle to their homes? I believe you have some Floor Powder."
" Well, I do, but . . ."
"Good bye." Draco said.
" Wait!" Hermione cried out. " Why now? Won't you wait for the cake?"
" No." He replied, sharply. Then, he stormed from the room. Hermione watched him and then frowned. " What a temper. What in the devil has gotten into him?"
Lavender sighed from the table behind her. " He sure looks great, though, doesn't he?"
~*~
Ginny looked at Ron and Harry, unbelieving. " How could you guys!" She whispered. " He was grieving today - he was afraid to even look at me. It was all my fault!" Her eyes were misted with tears.
" Now, don't say that!" Ron exclaimed.
" Oh, I will say that, whenever I want to! It's my fault! Stop thinking that ever since Jason I'll be some sort of innocent, vulnerable child! It was really my fault, I kept him here. I just wanted someone to listen to me and understand, for once!" Ginny bit her tongue so she wouldn't cry. Once she'd cry then the two would never take her seriously.
" I'm really sorry." Harry said.
" Don't tell that to me!" Ginny grimaced. " I'm not the one who'd been horribly insulted! You know how Malfoys are all about honor and pride!"
" It won't do any good arguing!" Ron burst out. " Let's just go back to the party and enjoy it before Hermione brings out the cake. She'll get mad if we won't be there."
Harry nodded. " That's right, we can't go off chasing after him now. It's his choice to leave."
" You think he left, too?" Ginny crossed her arms. " Well, no matter. I'll go find him."
" Ginny, are you crazy? It's freezing cold outside! You'll get sick!" Ron complained. Ginny turned to give him a sharp look.
" I'll be fine. I'm not a baby anymore, and I know that if I don't apologize now, nobody will. I've had enough of all the mistrust and all the insults I've been showered with. Now that Draco's down anyway, an insult like that could snap him in half." She motioned outside. It was snowing heavily now. " You think he'll go straight home and forget all about it? From what I see, he'll drop his two buddies off and then wander around somewhere."
With that, she turned around and went into the hallway, heading for the room where the party was taking place.
~*~
The blinding whirlwind of snow outside couldn't have wrapped tighter around Draco. It felt as if someone had pulled a blanket out of the freezer and then whipped it across his body. It was simply horrible.
His thick winter coat, lined with sheep's wool all the way from Finland and with polished golden buttons, couldn't buy him the same warmth and comfort that others had with their ratty, normal coats. Blinking away snowflakes, he worked his way down the street. Muggles were nowhere to be seen.
` At least they have enough brain power to stay out of the snow.' Draco thought bitterly. He kicked his way through a snowdrift, his hand swinging out to snap aside tree branches that dared to get in his way.
He saw a park ahead. He figured he could sit down and just cool off a little. Think a little. Then he'd find a fireplace and get the hell out of this place. Away from Potter, the Muggles, away from his problems, and especially away from Ginny. He never wanted to see her again. It was only to her own best - she could do better then him. Besides nobody would ever even accept him. Not the Weasleys, not Potter. He didn't need them anyway.
Draco found himself standing in between two tall stone pillars that were really the sides of a massive iron gate. He pushed it open and then slowly closed it behind him again. The name of the park came in through the blurring vision of the snow - `Haven'. Draco thought it read Heaven at first and almost smiled, then figured Haven meant something similar.
" Damn."
He leaned back so that the iron bars of the gate pressed into his back through the coat he wore. Draco liked that feeling, the painful ache. It took his mind off of the pain in his mind.
He stood there for a moment, eyes closed, snowflakes sticking into his eyelashes, tickling his face. His mind flashed images of his childhood. Once he had been bold enough to have a pillow fight with his two cousins that had slept over. They were dead now, from pneumonia. A lot of people had died in his life. The Malfoys were weak in the body, but sharper then a tack in the mind. Lucius Malfoy always told Draco to keep that at the top of his brain, always.
Anyhow, he had once had a pillow fight with his cousins. Halfway in, he had busted the entire pillow case on the jagged edge of a griffin statue. Feathers had flown everywhere, just like the snowflakes. His room was covered in feathers.
Even after his father's stern and disciplining lecture (and a bit of a tug on his ears, to show him even more of a point), Draco knew he'd never dissapoint his father or the Malfoy line like that again. What an idiot of a child - to play with pillows, like some sort of . . . well, a child. Why hadn't he been studying, or reading all those books on the Dark Arts in the West Wing?
The memory suddenly turned stale. Draco shifted away from the iron gate and then looked around. Everything was covered with snow. He figured he could sit down on some bench if he found one.
The dark mahogany legs of a bench suddenly struck his eyes. There was a thick layer of snow on the bench already but Draco cleared it all off with a single swoop of his hand. Then, he sat down. The freezing cold snow that piled in between the folds of his shirt collar and his neck didn't matter. The fact that his shoes were wet inside didn't really hit him as important.
With a sigh, he wondered why on Earth had Ginny even bothered kissing him. He didn't ask for it. In fact, he practically asked her to keep away from him. Draco shook his head. He could see the pale face of Pansy in front of his eyes.
*Pansies fade, pansies wither
" Mister!" Someone was saying. His eyes shot open and he saw a little boy in front of him. In the thickly falling snow he'd have thought it was himself, as a child, light hair and thin as a `string bean'. Ginny had said that. Forget Ginny!
Draco shook his head again and then saw the boy closer. Now that the child had come closer it looked nothing like him. " What is it?" Draco asked, before realizing this was a Muggle child after all.
The boy grimaced. He spoke again:" Did you see my mommy?"
Draco looked around. He couldn't see anyone anywhere nearby. " No, I haven't." Draco replied.
" Oh, no!" The boy reached his hand up to his face and wiped a tear away.
" Why? What is it?" Draco asked, gently. If there was one thing that bothered him, it was crying. Women, children, didn't matter. He figured it made him feel too awful inside, as if he ought to be crying too. He was taught not to cry. Crying made one weak. `Damn right.' He thought.
" Well, my mommy said she'd meet me here." The boy whispered hoarsely. " She said she'd meet me in the park and take me out for ice cream if my badminton team wins the Regional Cup."
" Ice cream?" Draco sounded disbelieving. " Not in dead winter. Go back home, your mom's probably going out of her mind looking for you."
" Oh, but my mom's not here." The boy replied.
" Where is she, then, on her free time?" Draco asked, exasperated.
The boy pointed upwards. Draco looked up, blinking away snowflakes. His eyes feasted on the sight of millions of white specks flowing downwards towards the earth in a never-ending ribbon, the sky a cloudy grayish-blue color, like his eyes.
Suddenly, Draco felt remorse. " You mean - in Heaven?" Draco questioned.
The boy nodded curtly. " She promised me, in the summer, that she'll meet me in the park. She promised, no matter what!" His lower lip trembled and more tears flowed down his face. " Not even if she leaves."
" Here, tell me where you live, kid, I'll walk you home." Draco felt a bond between himself and this kid. At least they both lost a loved one. Perhaps Muggle kids weren't as horrid as the older members of their society were.
" But Mommy promised!" The boy stamped his foot angrily.
" Then how about I buy you some ice cream instead?" Draco reached into his pocket, his fingers finding a few shillings. He'd taken the care of providing himself some Muggle money before coming out here. " Because sometimes people - when they go to Heaven - they can go with you, to the ice cream parlor or someplace." He paused. " But you don't see them. Your mother will be there, I'm sure."
The boy tried to understand.
" You know. Their spirit." Draco didn't quite know how to explain it, himself. He wasn't a religious person. In fact, he was a far cry from religious, so he knew he'd be better off explaining the Dark Arts then about Heaven and spirits and such delightful things.
The boy reached his hand out. " Then I'm going myself."
Draco put some money into his outstretched hand, then said: " How far to the ice cream parlor?"
" About - well, four or five minutes of walking." The boy replied.
" I'll walk you there." Draco knew the last thing he needed was to feel guilty if the kid was kidnapped or hit by a car or some other atrocity.
The little boy beamed. His eyes traced over Draco's delicate features and his very light hair, face, and white-covered clothing. " I'm Devin. Who're you? An angel?"
Draco laughed. " More like the opposite." Suddenly, he decided not to say his name. Devin didn't ask for his name, though. He simply grinned and then ran up the path. Draco followed him through the blinding snow.
A/N: Well hey! I don't think he'd leave a little kid in a blizzard!
~*~
Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione from behind and then kissed her neck under her ear gently. She blushed and then felt his hand trail to her protruding stomach. Her hands held the cake platter to cover her stomach. Harry and Hermione then split apart and carried the plate over to the nearest table and then set it down. A single candle shone in its center, and two at each side, representing them.
Everyone gathered around. Ginny stood a bit separately. Ron had convinced her to wait through the cake before running off like a fool after Draco. Ginny's eyes studied the way Harry leaned over and kissed Hermione again, over the cake. Then, they turned to the crowd around the table.
" Go on! Blow the candles out!" Seamus cheered.
Mr. Granger and Mr. Weasley raised their wineglasses triumphantly, clinking them. " To the Potters." They murmured.
Harry and Hermione talked amongst each other. " Do we blow them out at once?"
" Maybe you do one side, I do the other."
" But then who does the one in the middle?"
" Just blow!"
They both took deep breaths and then blew the candles out. Hermione grinned as they all were extinguished.
" What'd you wish for, you two? Did it come true?" Parvati cried out.
" How could it? In a second?" Padma said in reply.
" I didn't ask you." Parvati kidded.
Harry brought Hermione close, sweeping her off her feet in a kiss. Hermione nodded and then pulled away. " It came true, alright!" She then suddenly said: "Do we tell them, Harry?"
Harry nodded.
Hermione began: " Well, uh, Oliver, remember the gift you provided?"
" Sure. Don't do any demonstrations, alright?" Oliver shouted out.
Harry turned scarlet. He turned red easily about things. He was one of those shy kind of guys, Ginny decided. Harry said: " There will be a little Potter tyke. Our wish." He put his hand on Hermione's stomach.
" You mean!" Lavender squealed.
Cho Chang rushed forwards immediately, being the sporty one, and then immediately gave Harry and Hermione a tight hug (a bit looser for Hermione in respect for the baby she was now carrying).
" How long?"
" Really?"
" What'd she say?" Neville asked, who had been busy trying to wash sour cream out of his tie.
" Three months." Hermione said, cutting the cake. Harry put it on plates and passed the plates around. Ginny took a plate and ate hurriedly, standing. She watched Hermione closely. Ginny always wondered how it would feel, to have a baby inside oneself. She wondered if one felt heavy, or if the stomach would weigh a woman down a bit so she'd lean backwards to keep in balance?
" And you didn't tell us?" Molly Weasley scolded.
Ron smiled. It appeared Harry had told Ron in secret. After all, Harry and Ron were the closest of friends and only if they both go deaf-mute-blind would they stop communicating every little thing to one another.
Ginny suddenly walked up to Hermione. " I have to be going. I think I ate too much cake, Herm."
Hermione looked concerned right off.
Ginny laughed a fake laugh. " Oh, don't worry about me, I'll walk it off and then come back."
" You tell me if you feel bad. I carry a bit of Madame Pomfrey's Cure-All Flu and Cold Medicine." Hermione said.
" Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Ginny have Hermione an embrace, kissing her cheek lightly. " Thank you for everything, all your advice." Then, she turned to Harry. "See ya, Harry. Remember, you still owe me three Sickles for that poker game!" With that, she left, pulling on her coat, trying to look cheery.
" The young these days." Mrs. Granger said wistfully, her eyes trailing over to Hermione with a smile.
~*~
The ice cream parlor glowed cheerfully as Draco crossed the street, little Devin running alongside him. Devin pointed at the ice cream parlor's window. " Look! They have the controversial slime flavor!"
" Sounds great." Draco said, trying to spare the sarcasm. Then he added: " Do you know your - what's that called?" He thought hard. " Telephone number?"
" Sure do!" Devin cried out and then recited it.
" Great. Well, I want you to buy some ice cream and use the rest of this money to call home. Have your dad or someone else take you by Floo - - car. Take you by car." Draco then pushed a handful of coins into the boy's hand and turned to leave.
" Goodbye, mister!" The boy waved.
~*~
Ginny rushed down the street, her dress rustling like a potato sack being rubbed against the bark of a tree. She wished she hadn't insisted on heels. Oh, how her legs hurt! Oh, oh, oh, ouch!
She stumbled down the street, knowing that Draco wouldn't have walked into the stores for they were Muggle facilities, after all. Ginny was soon out of breath, never being very athletic. Her hand wiped the thin layer of sweat off of her nose as she thought about where Draco could be.
Haven Park was close by, but would Draco go there? In this heavy snow?
It was a possibility, then again. He could be anywhere, after all, and she hadn't the time or the patience to search the corners of the world for him. If she didn't find him soon she'd just have to forget it.
The Iron Gate of Haven Park was shut, and she had to push it open. It was really heavy and rusty and the hinges squeaked so loudly that shivers ran up and down her spine, raising the hair on her neck. She closed it quickly and then walked up the path, the snow wetting her dress so that it flapped wetly against her ankles.
" Oh, please be here. My legs are killing me." Ginny saw that someone had brushed the snow off of the bench she was standing near. It was a long shot, but she decided to follow the half-buried footprints to see if they were his.
Suddenly she noted that the footprints were going along with the steps of a child. Draco didn't have a child as far as she knew! Ginny felt tense all of a sudden, and cold at that. She minded the freezing wet snow, the way it hurt her skin at contact, the way her cheeks felt so frosty and red. Her breath was a silver, icy cloud as she sighed and kept rushing up the path.
Then, she saw a dark shape advancing up the path in front of her. Her hopes high, she began to run. " Draco?" She cried out. " Is that you? I wanted to tell you - - I'm sorry for what I did - - I had no business - - I didn't know Ron and Harry. . ." She couldn't finish any of her sentences, all the words she had planned in an eloquent speech now rushing out in a rambling mess.
There he was - Draco in his sad, kicked-puppy glory, materializing through the snowflakes. " I'm sorry." She gasped out, breathing heavily.
He reached out, taking her freezing fingers into his warm hands. " It's too cold. Look at you, you're all wet, and shivering. Go back." He simply said. And yet, she could see he didn't want her to go back. He kept holding onto her hand, not letting it go, not even realizing he was doing it. His breath was rushed, that of a person on the verge of a breakdown.
Through the silver white cloud his breath was making, she saw he was also soaked.
" You're cold too. Why don't we both go back?" Ginny insisted. " I wanted to get you back. Harry and Ron are really sorry."
" Sorry my ass." Draco said bitterly. He realized the involuntary hold of his hands and he instantly let go of her fingers.
" They are! They'd have attacked Neville or Seamus or Oliver, too, if he were in your place. They're just so protective of me, since I'm the little sister to both of them." Ginny could see that disbelief still lingered on her face. " Come back. We can . . ."
" There's no `we'." Draco said, shortly.
" What?" Ginny whispered.
" I said, there's no `we'. You know as well as I know that if for some oddball reason you'd even consider me as some sort of courtier . . ." He said this in a rushed voice. " . . . Well, nobody would be happy with it. And frankly, you won't be happy with me."
" How do you know?" She demanded.
" Look at me." He held his hands out. " I can't even think about a relationship - I can't - Pansy."
" Well I can also say this: Jason. Do you think I managed to get over him? No! But sometimes it's easier to share the pain instead of . . ."
" It's not the same." Draco said, shaking his head. " I feel as if I'd died inside. You're so alive, and full of life. You won't be happy, not even after a week with me."
" Were you like that with Pansy? She was happy with you, wasn't she?"
" It's not the same."
" Nothing's the same!" Ginny suddenly felt like crawling under a rock. " I thought - I thought you were interested in me."
Draco didn't reply. He didn't know if he was interested in her or not. Nothing made sense to him anymore. Life didn't make sense. He grasped her arms, just below the shoulders, holding her squarely in front of him, madly. His eyes narrowed slightly. "Being accused of what Potter and Weasley accused me of was more then what Malfoy enemies died from before. I don't want to see them anymore."
" I'm telling you - - they're really sorry."
" And I'm sorry for telling you about myself! I'm sorry that you had to meet me! Someone like you ought to keep away from people like me." Draco said. "Do you know what my life is, now?"
She shook her head, frightened.
" Drinking. And wishing I was dead. And being alone. Do you want to join me?" He shook her. "Do you?"
A tear slipped from her eye.
" Listen, I'm saving you from a horrible life. You'll regret it every day, and so would I, if I didn't put a line here. I don't need anybody. You need Potter and the Weasleys, and you need people all around you." He repeated: " I don't need anybody."
" Yes you do!" Ginny shouted. " You're so depressed already! You'll - you'll go crazy!"
" Look, don't make this harder. I do like you, all right? In fact, I might even begin to LOVE you. That's why I want the best for you. Go find yourself someone like Seamus or Oliver or Neville, where you'll never have to worry."
" Draco . . ." She breathed out.
He turned away and then said, avoiding her. " You won't have a perfect life with me. It would take months, years for your family and my family to accept it. Haven't you read Romeo and Juliet?"
She nodded.
" I read it too - it won't work. It'll be completely against the Malfoy honor. With a WEASLEY!" Draco felt weak inside suddenly. " You're shaking. Go. I'll be fine. I'm going to go home right now."
" No you won't! You're coming back to the party, even if I have to drag you." Ginny threatened. " You're so disillusioned! Don't you see? Nobody minds you that much at all! It's your own self that created whatever conflict you see. Harry and Ron are sorry, you know just as well as I do that your parents couldn't give a damn about you now that You-Know-Who's gone and their lives are meaningless. My parents just want me to be happy. And I will be happy." Ginny felt like crying. " When I talked to you, I saw that you needed someone to listen. And I need someone to listen. We can listen together. Please."
Draco saw the tears in her eyes, and knew he had to decide. Should he back out, abandon this all, or could he return to the party, to slowly begin the reshaping, the rebuilding of his life from the tatters it had become?
A/N: I stop here. * looks at reviews * 10? Yay! Come on, do some more now! I appreciate kind criticism but not flames. You see, Draco's just totally fallen apart. He was raised to have a strict, scheduled life. He was never taught how to deal with what life had thrown him. His life is worthless to him lately. He's blunt and honest but at the same time disillusioned. Will Ginny, with her loving heart and kind soul, be the one to guide him back to the world again? (wow I sound like a Harlequin novel perhaps. D/G! Ah to those who dislike it!). What more of Harry and Hermione's perfect relationship? What will Neville spill, destroy, or mutilate next?