Author's Note: This chapter is upon Gary Skinner's request! Thank you for your support! Reading your reviews made me feel like I owe it to people to add some more! Here it goes…

~* Chapter 6 *~

A year later

Draco stopped in front of a store. It was average for a store, but it looked lost in all the other wonderful stores in Diagon Alley. While the others consisted of blinking lights, flashing displays, moving windows, sliding curtains, and many other wonderful things, this one was plain as a plank and had an old wooden sign that read: 'Weasley's Joke Shop'. Beneath it, in very messy handwriting that seemed to be nearly illegible, was: 'Family owned'.

He almost felt sick.

So here was a link to the Weasleys. After all this time!

His hand reached out, slightly brushing the wooden entrance, wondering heavily if he ought to walk inside or not. Gently he pushed it open, finally, and the door swung inwards so hard it must have dented the wall. He winced at the loud whacking sound.

If he wanted to walk in with some sort of entrance, he just messed it up for himself. A nervous feeling crossed his body and his palms felt sweaty; his face seemed to heat up unusually.

There was nobody at the counter, so he figured he shouldn't worry about having a Weasley see him until a bit later on. With a more assured range of body movements, Draco strolled around inside the shop, examining a couple various things. There were all sorts of childish pranks hanging on the walls, lined up on the floor, scattered on tables, and even suspended from the ceiling. He wouldn't have been surprised if the candles in the ancient chandelier hanging above were fake, made of rubber or some other junk.

Most of the store's contents looked like junk.

Though someone kept it clean, with the dust wiped down to minimum, and the floor was polished nicely, the products didn't seem too appealing.

He held up a little rubber circle. He squeezed it. The circle went right through his palm and then disappeared. Wondering if he'd end up paying for it, Draco looked around for this rubber circle. He found it, finally, in his coat pocket. He read the paper attached to it:

Amazing disappearing disc. Good to use on old folks to make them think they are losing their memory. More on back.

Draco flipped it around. Dozens of ideas of pranks to be performed with just this little disc were written there. He shuddered and then put the disc away quickly.

There was, by far, the most ugliest hat in the universe lying on the counter of the store. It was black, somewhat a fedora hat, but there was this awful rim around it that made it look like the center of the hat was glued to an upside-down cymbal. Then, there was the feathered plume sticking from the hat. It was hideous, scragglier then the bare tree branches outside. The inside of the hat was straw, lots of it.

Draco put the hat on his head, wondering what it did. He looked down at himself to see that his clothing changed. He was wearing the tackiest, most tasteless clothing that he had ever seen.

The tag on the hat said:

Genuine Fashion Distorter. Hat will adapt to whatever the owner feels is the most tacky outfit. Good to give as a joke gift.

He laughed softly.

Just then, the doorbells clanged noisily as someone else walked through. The soft creaking sound of a baby carriage rattled in the air. Then, voices.

" Should we find Ron?"

" I'll leave James here."

Footsteps left the room. Only two people remained in the room – a woman and a baby. Draco kept the hat firm on his head, his back turned to the people. He was worried about whom it was. He didn't want to be banished from the store or anything if they recognized him.

Draco pretended to be very busy in sorting through various souvenir key-chains. The problem was, even the souvenirs were pranks. When you tried to latch the key-chain's ring on something, it would literally slide off, as if the ring was made of water and not metal.

" Bwa!" The baby squealed loudly.

" Wait until Daddy gets back." The mother was scolding. The baby had obviously tried to yank something off of a shelf and she didn't want to buy it without the father's O.K.

Draco waited for the couple to leave with their baby.

Suddenly, Ron barged into the room, his footsteps distinguishable from the other adults since he still walked like a child, hurriedly, and talking loudly the whole time, his breath in beat to the steps. " I'm so glad you came. How's James? I haven't seen the baby for a few days now."

Draco watched from the corner of his eye at the couple. He could recognize them now. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, both dressed nicely in outfits good enough for some sort of grand festival. The baby had a striking resemblance to Harry, but the hair was Hermione's. Draco wondered how the kid would ever get a brush through hair that thick.

Draco tilted the hat down on his head to cover his face more. If anything, he was still the badly-dressed gentleman; they could not know he was there. Once the Potters were gone, he'd ask Ron or someone if he can go see Ginny, very quickly, of course. He had to apologize once and for all.

" James had a bit of a fever yesterday." Hermione said, concerned. " I gave him some of that Muggle medicine – I guess I'm just used to my mother's old fashioned cures for things."

Draco winced at the idea. Being a respectable witch and being dependent on Muggle things is just painful to know.

Ron held the child up, smiling. " My little godson."

They all talked for a while, and Draco felt himself grow very impatient. Why don't they get going, little baby and all? He huddled closer into the collar of his tacky coat, wishing that if anything, he'd yank his hat off before they find him dressed like this.

Hermione finally said: " Well, we gotta get James to bed, it's almost his naptime."

" Mine, too." Harry said, exasperated.

" Quidditch still breaking your back, huh, Harry?" Ron said, shaking his head. " How in all hell do you manage it?" Ron had his sleeves rolled up, and his arms were also covered with freckles, and dusted with rust-colored hair.

" I manage somehow." Harry replied, and then turned to Hermione. "Do you want to talk to Ginny while we're here?"

Ginny! Perhaps he'd get to see her? Draco felt his heartbeat in his ears, which was either the most annoying feeling in the world or the most pleasant. The answer was a mystery.

" She's stopping by this evening with Sam." Hermione said.

Sam?

Draco felt his stomach drop suddenly. So! Ginny had found himself someone else, while he had wallowed in a pit of self-misery, not just from Pansy but from Ginny as well. Now the pit swelled even larger. He was drowning in it, he could feel it, his breath suddenly catching in his throat.

" Sam?" He heard Harry ask.

Harry didn't seem to be aware of who this man was, either. This made Draco feel a lot more relieved.

" You know, Samantha? Her adopted daughter?"

Adopted daughter!

Then, either Ginny married and didn't feel like making her own kids, or she was still unmarried and chose to have her own kid. Draco hoped it was the latter, in fact, he WISHED it was the latter, but if wishes came true then Pansy would have still been alive.

" She chose a name already. That's great." Harry put his hands in his pockets.

" Is Ginny here?" Hermione asked.

" Yeah. Out in back." Ron motioned to the back of the store.

" This place is a regular family business, isn't it?" Harry commented, looking around. " Looks great."

" For a junk heap." Ron commented. Ron was blunt, but at least he was honest. " Ginny keeps insisting that we need to keep it how it is. She's not much of a neat-freak, if you ask me."

" She never was." Hermione said, and then sighed as James began to cry loudly again. " Oh, Jamie, not now…"

James threw his little fists into the air, his body shaking. " Is he okay? Maybe he's still sick." Harry knelt down by the stroller, for James was returned to the stroller from Ron's arms already.

Ron asked: " Should I bring some water or food for him?"

" Everyone, calm down." Hermione laughed. " He's not going to explode."

Draco had to admit that he, himself, felt his entire body go into goose bumps when the baby began to cry. Perhaps it was just the baby's horribly shrill voice, though. Hermione pulled out a bottle from somewhere (she was carrying about three bags with her of things), and then she administered the nipple of the bottle to the baby.

Harry looked content for now. " I don't know what to do with him, sometimes."

" I don't blame you." Ron looked scared out of his mind, as if he had seen the gates of Heaven flash before him. He wasn't used to babies crying.

Draco watched as Harry and Hermione said their good-byes. Then, the doorbells rang again as they left. Draco felt a weight lift from his chest. He watched Ron go back to wherever he came from, and with a satisfied smile, he yanked the hat back off.

His clothing slowly returned to normal, and he began to look through things again. He found a few other oddities, but his mind was not with his body but with Ginny. He wondered how Sam looked like. He almost wondered if Sam would ever be his own daughter as well.

It felt stupid, to even think that.

For all he knew, Ginny might hate him. She might have some sort of punching bag with his face painted on it. She might… she might…

He sighed.

She might be married.

He turned to the counter. Perhaps the easiest way to handle things was to buy something and see where things go from there. He grabbed the goofy hat, for it had been of service to him, and he resolutely pressed the hat down onto the counter. He didn't notice it, but the counter was activated to sound a beep when something was laid on it.

People rushed from the backroom to greet their customer. Freckled, red-haired faces piled before him. Fred and George took a look at him, and they fell silent. Ron, standing in back, pushed by, saying: "What's the holdup? Serve the customer!"

He pushed the two twins apart, and he caught sight of the customer.

" Oh." Ron swallowed. The Adam's Apple in his throat bobbed. The ticking of the clock hanging on the wall (shaped like a cat swinging its tail) filled the room noisily.

" Well? What do I have to do for service?" Draco asked, finally.

" Yes, yes, of course. Sorry." Ron took the hat and then rang the price up on the ancient-looking price register. From the drawers popped a rubber snake. It fell with a hollow thud to the floor. More silence followed.

" Sorry about that, Ron. Kind of a joke…" Fred said, finally.

George shuffled on his feet, then murmured: "I have some things to - - to sort through." He went back into the old storerooms. Draco waited patiently as Ron put his hat into the cash register, then realized what he was doing and shoved the hat into a bag. He pulled it out again, saying: " You want it shrunk so it can fit in your pocket or in a bag? Maybe gift-wrapped?"

Draco shrugged.

Ron took the easy way out and handed him the bag and the hat, too startled to bag the hat again. He put his hands on his hips and then said: "Well, enjoy. Um, long time no see."

Draco nodded.

" How's it going?" Ron asked.

" Fine." Draco replied. He traced his finger on the rim of the hat. Then, he said: " Hey, your sister. Is she here?"

" Why do you want to know?" Ron frowned.

" I gotta apologize to her." Draco said, stiffly. " Not your business, kid."

Ron seemed to turn a shade of red matching his hair. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but no sound came out. He closed his mouth again, the frown stretching weakly into a lop-sided smile. " I'll go get her." He turned to the storeroom and said, on the top of his lungs: "Ginny, someone here for you!"

" Who?" Ginny's voice called back.

Draco felt sick for a minute.

Ron didn't get to reply, though, since Ginny was suddenly standing before Draco, examining him in surprise with her eyes. "What… what are you doing here?" She asked, finally.

Draco felt his hands shake as he took hers.

Ron slowly backed out of the room, knowing quite well that he had worn out his welcome.

" I'm so sorry." Draco said, finally. " Remember, a year ago…?"

Ginny didn't say anything.

" I came back. I swear I did. I came all the way back, I walked a good thirty or forty blocks, and I took flowers and everything." He stopped. " I'm sorry." He repeated. " I was wrong. I … I mean…" He looked away. " That's all I wanted to tell you. Sorry."

" Oh." She finally spoke, directly to him. Her eyes looked up at his. She was crying.

" No, no, stop, don't cry." He felt awful just then. " Yeah, I know, I shouldn't have come back. I'm sorry for making your day bad, or something. I'll go, if you want. I just had to tell you I was sorry, and you were right." Draco couldn't say anymore.

Ginny hugged him close, pressing her eyes down into his chest. " You idiot! Don't say you're sorry! You're so stupid, you know that?" She began to cry harder. " I'm not mad! I wasn't mad at all! I was mad at myself…" She began to laugh.

Draco felt very uncomfortable. He didn't know how to react.

" I can't believe you came back. I thought - - I thought I was stupid to force myself on you. I disrespected how Pansy died, and, and…" She couldn't say anything more. They were both lost at words.

Draco wrapped his arms around her.

" I'm sorry." He said, once again.

" I'm sorry." She said, at the same time. " For leaving."

She said, suddenly:

" A lot has happened, though. I got myself a little home, and I have Sam, she's my adopted daughter – from China – oh, and then there's Harry and Hermione's baby, James… we have to tell each other sometime."

Draco smiled. " Does tomorrow sound okay? Noon? We can go for butter beer."

She smiled back. "We can start all over again."

~*~

A/N: Ah! I worked fluff and joy into the ending! Do you want more, Gary Skinner? I can write more. I'm so glad you like my writing so much.

Plus, whoever else read this all, thanks. I would appreciate reviews/comments.