A/N: All right, you know what I'm like… love to try different techniques, so this is me doing just that at the beginning of this chapter. It's time to slip back into the past… Like I'm gonna tell you what happens at the door straight away, yeah right! Hee hee!

Oh yeah, for those of you who are having trouble remembering, I present this to you, H's Guide to Who that Child Belongs too.

Rick – Bill & Lana's son, aged 10.

Jasmine – Bill & Lana's daughter, aged 7.

Crystal – Charlie & Millie's daughter, aged 4.

Poppy – Colin & Ginny's daughter, aged 3.

Jack – Harry & Cho's son, aged 2.

Tammy – Dennis and Eleanor's daughter, aged 18 months.

OK I think that's it, can I carry on with the story now? Yes? Good then here we go, chapter 3! Oh, and no there won't be any H/Hr in this story… how can you even suggest that to me? *Sigh* *tear* for I am a devoted R/Hr shipper, although I am being a little more lenient with this story than my usual ones… *Whispers* between you and me though, I did consider originally to have H/Hr casually dating but decided against it in the end, using Cho instead.

Right I am shutting up now, go and read!

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Chapter 3

I Promised

If I could fall into the sky

Do you think time would pass me by?

'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles

If I could just see you... tonight

It's always times like these

When I think of you

And I wonder if you ever think of me

'Cause everything's so wrong

And I don't belong

Living in your precious memory

'Cause I need you

And I miss you

~ Vanessa Carlton, A Thousand Miles

Delving into the past for a moment or two, there are a few things you need to know about. The first being June of 1998, the year Draco, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of their year left Hogwarts. It was an interesting year to say the least, yeah you know all about Draco and Ginny's so called fling, and how sad it was when it ended! Or do you…? I to beg to differ…

June 1998

'I can't do this anymore! I can't pretend I don't love you!' Ginny Weasley's voice echoed down the abandoned hallway as Draco retreated up the stairway and towards the Astronomy Tower. She presumed he wanted her to follow, but she wasn't going to give in that easily. 'Malfoy!' she screamed, and her voice finally cracked. She didn't move as her voice bounced around on the walls, making her shiver.

Ginny had been waiting, and waiting a little bit more. It was killing her. Everyday she saw him in the Great Hall, sitting there with Crabbe and Goyle pretending that nothing was going on, pretending that his life was as normal. She'd see him on the Quidditch pitch competing against Harry in ferocious races to catch the Golden Snitch. She'd pass him in the halls and feel her heart sink every time he gave her a cold, rejecting look. Was he really rejecting her? Or was it all just for show? She often wished she could get inside his mind, inside his heart, and find out what he truly felt.

Draco was stubborn though, he'd told her it was over, he'd told her they'd have to wait, and he'd meant it. No matter how hard she tired to get him to succumb to her again, he'd resist her, push her away. Usually he'd look her in the eyes and whisper, 'I love you… but we can't', that had been his favourite line for around a month. He later replaced it with two simple words, 'I promised', but Ginny had tired of hearing it.

Time for a reappraisal, Ginny thought and dashed for the staircase, hot on Draco's tail. As she skidded to halt at the top she looked firstly to her left, and then to her right. No sign of him. She started down the cold, dark, and very damp hallway keeping her eyes straight ahead of her, searching for any signs of tall, skinny, blonde boys. Still nothing. Where had he gone? 'Draco?' she whispered into the emptiness. 'Malfoy? Where are you?'

'Hold it Little Missy.'

Ginny stopped dead at the voice and spun on the spot. The hallway was still empty, only herself, and… Trevor? She raised an eyebrow and took a step back in the direction of which she'd come. 'What are you doing here? Following me?' Slowly she crouched down and brought her hand out to pick up the frog.

'I said hold it, Missy.'

Again Ginny froze and glanced over her shoulder, she shrugged, picked up Trevor and put him away in her robes, before coming to standing once more. The hallway was silent except for occasional whisper from the paintings, students' voices in the far off distance, and the very, very quiet sound of Draco's footfalls on a nearby set of stairs. She nibbled her lip slightly as she listened, hoping for the voice to sound again.

The silence continued.

She advanced down the hallway heading for the stairs at the very end of it, when she spotted something, Sir Cadogan's portrait hanging on the right-hand side of the damp walls. That was obviously who had been talking to her. As she passed by Ginny smiled brightly and he saluted her, his very fat pony neighing loudly in greeting.

'Stand down, Sir,' she giggled to him, and Sir Cadogan dropped his hand, nodding at her instead. For a moment he looked as though he wanted to start up a conversation with her, but she quickly cut him off. 'I can't talk, I'm in a hurry… but I'll stop by before the end of the year.'

Sir Cadogan smiled brightly. 'Then off with you,' he demanded, 'continue with your quest, my courage is with you.' He saluted once more then slapped his pony's side, riding out of the painting. Ginny watched as he continued across several painting's and then disappeared.

With a giggle she ran down the remainder of the hallway and then up the staircase. As she reached to top step she walked straight into a huge oak door, she was almost in the Astronomy Tower. Had Draco wanted to lead her up here purposely? She blinked a few times and pushed the door open, and stepped into the room. Closing it behind her with a heavy thud she turned around to face the room. And there sat Draco. A breath caught in her throat and she felt her eyes well with tears.

'It hurts waiting,' Draco said softly, motioning for her to sit beside him on the couch. She accepted his invitation and walked over cautiously, slowly lowering herself to sit next to him, her hands resting neatly on her legs. She felt nervous. She'd never felt like this around him. 'I know we have to, and I know I was the one that said that… but… the craving's growing.' He glanced down and then took her hand unexpectedly. 'To put this simply, it's getting really difficult to not just walk over to you in the Great Hall, throw you on the table and—'

'Stop!' Ginny interrupted as she felt her cheeks burning.

He raised his eyebrows, laughing gently, as he slid his arm around her waist. 'No, definitely not stop… do a lot more than stop actually.' Draco grinned and kissed her tenderly.

And this kept happening until Draco took his leave at the end of the month. The two thought it was end and that the real waiting had begun, they were mistaken…

December 1998

Only two weeks before the Christmas holidays, they were upon Hogwarts at last, and the older students were paying their final visit to Hogsmeade within that calendar year. Ginny, who was now a 7th Year, trudged along one of the cobbled streets with Colin Creevey in tow. Snow was falling lightly around them painting the town of Hogsmeade like a Christmas card, with a soft layer of white covering every surface. She brought her hands up to her moth and blew into them, a small attempt to warm herself. It was so cold.

The plan was to pay a visit to Honeydukes to collect mass supplies of sugar quills, and then to head into the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer, or maybe even two. It would probably be crowded of course; it always was in the winter months, hardly ever a table to spare. Ginny sped up her pace and pulled Colin into Honeydukes now desperate to get to her butterbeer. She waited quietly as he looked around and grabbed what he wanted. She'd drop by later herself if she decided to get anything.

Five minutes later they were heading back down the street and Colin was musing over a new wizard card from inside a chocolate frog. Ginny just nodded and smiled at regular intervals, she wasn't particularly interested at that moment, and all she wanted to do was get warm.

Arriving outside the Three Broomsticks she pulled him inside, and into the warmth and friendly atmosphere. Madam Rosmerta was leaning against the bar holding a conversation with a group of young wizards, batting her long, black eyelashes, and pouting occasionally. Ginny stifled a laugh and tugged Colin over to one of the few empty tables. They both sat down slowly engaging in a conversation about a Potions essay before she sent him off to get drinks, butterbeer all around.

Sitting quietly, it gave Ginny a few moments to reflect on how her life had changed. Being a 7th Year was definitely different to how she had expected, for a start classes were more difficult, Snape was getting stricter, and earning points was becoming more difficult. Even Professor McGonagall had stopped giving out idle points to Gryffindor. After that there was the whole not having the Trio around situation, it was strange really, she felt like she was the last one at Hogwarts. Technically she was though. The final Weasley to leave… until, of course, one of her brothers' children or her one came. That was a long way off, thinking about children at seventeen was despicable.

She sighed and rested her arm on her table, leaning against her hand and staring around at all the occupants of the Three Broomsticks on such a cold, snowy day. Mostly students from Hogwarts, a few of the villagers of the wizarding town itself, and a few people she didn't recognise. Slowly she looked down at the table and started trailing her index finger along the knots in the wood with her spare hand. She was slipping into a daydream there was no denying.

Ginny felt her chin fall off her hand and she shook her head quickly to wake herself up, glancing around a moment she frowned, where was Colin? Rising gradually from her seat she felt someone's arm snake around her waist, she opened her mouth to shout out but a hand clamped over it suddenly, and then she was pulled into one of the back rooms.

Darkness surrounded her.

The room was cold and very dark, and as Ginny felt her captor release their hands, she brought her own up towards her face. She couldn't see anything. Of course she would have screamed, but there was something about being in a very dark room where you couldn't see with someone that had just… abducted you so to speak, put her off. One false move and all that.

It was a long time before she heard anymore signs that she wasn't alone, she guessed that her captor had moved, because when they spoke she found their voice in front of her instead.

'How are you?' asked the voice, male, husky, and rather shaky.

Ginny blinked and wrapped her arms around herself, she knew the voice all to well, but did she dare venture to ask? She had to ask though, she needed to, and she needed confirmation. 'Draco?' she questioned, gently and hopeful.

Again there was silence, around two minutes later the male spoke. 'It's me,' he said bluntly.

Her heart leapt; it was the only was to describe it, her whole being jumped to an almighty high. The problem was that she didn't know how to handle herself, what to say, what to ask, what to do. Stepping forward she heard Draco's footfalls as he stepped from her. 'Is everything…?' began Ginny.

'No.'

It was blunt, straight to the point, no messing about, no emotion, no… anything. She tried again.

'Is it over?'

'Not yet.'

'When?'

Silence. A silence longer than she'd ever heard followed that. Ginny shivered, she didn't like it. She wanted to see him, to talk to him properly, to touch him again. Why wouldn't he let her? Maybe she'd need to ask to get more out of him. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes, locking her jaw before asking, 'Can we have some light, please? I want to see you…'

The deadly hush that followed unnerved her completely and she subconsciously grabbed for her wand, whispering, 'Lumos!' A crackle of light danced on the end of her wand and she brought her eyes to look at him.

Ginny's heart skipped a beat and she wished she hadn't done that. Never before had she seen Draco look so rough, so unkempt, so… in pain. His eyes were glued to the floor giving her a perfect view of the large cut that ran across his forehead and into his left eyebrow, she lowered her gaze a little taking in his hallow cheeks, and the tiny scar that sat just upon his bottom lip. Taking a cautious step forward, she smiled when he didn't back off.

She came to stop only a meter or so in front of him and for the first time he looked up into her eyes. Ginny wrapped her arms around herself a little tighter and studied his clothes, he was wearing a black Muggle shirt, which was ripped in various places, especially a very large rip in one of the sleeves. There was a wizarding cloak lying over his shoulders loosely, not done up, and he was wearing a pair of black trousers.

'What happened?' demanded Ginny, keeping her voice as steady as possible. 'I want you to tell me everything.'

'There's not much to tell,' he answered her passively. 'So let's just move on.'

'No!' She stomped her foot a little, then cringed inwardly for acting immature. Ignoring her own behaviour she stepped forward again, dropping her arms to her sides. Draco turned his body to face her a little more, a scowl etched into his features. She bit her lip and then reached her right hand up to his cheek, grazing the skin with her fingertips. He flinched and it hurt her. 'You can't do this…' she whispered, 'you can't pull me into a room away from my… away from my friend, and then act so distant with me, you have to talk to me.'

'What if I told you that I can't, that it's all too complicated, too detailed, too…' Biting his lip Draco looked up to the ceiling.

Ginny let her fingers linger against his cheek for a moment or two, until she tightened her grip and pulled his head down so she could look him in the eyes again. 'Why are you here now? Why didn't you wait…?'

He shrugged his shoulders a little. 'Try living my life and you'd understand,' said Draco. Almost immediately there was a change in him, he grabbed hold of her hand and snatched it from his face, pulling her against him tightly. 'I have to go… I don't have much time.' Then he kissed her lips firmly, his grip tightening on her waist.

Ginny let out a little moan of pain as his fingers dug into her skin; she dropped her wand to the floor and wrapped her arms around his neck, urging him to come closer to her. He did as she wanted, leant down further into the kiss, let his hands come to an abrupt stop at her hips, and then he picked her up off the floor.

Reacting to his actions she wrapped her legs around his waist, softening the kiss a little, and trailing her hands up into his hair. It wasn't exactly oblivious as to where this was going, and as soon as she felt his fingers fumbling around with her robes, searching for anything at all that would remove them, Ginny got her confirmation. She pulled from the kiss, breathing heavily, and her lips burning.

'No,' she panted, 'we can't do this now, we just can't. It's not right…' Opening her mouth to say something else it just came out in a soft and quiet moan, as he pressed his lips against her neck showering her with a trail of small tender kisses. 'OK maybe we can…' started Ginny again, but she quickly cut that trail of thought off jumping down and landing on the floor. 'No… I won't let it happen.'

His eyebrows rose simultaneously, and he stared at her with a longing, his hand running up and down the length of her arm. 'Are you sure?' asked Draco, keeping his voice to hushed levels. 'Can't I tempt you?'

Ginny snatched her arm away from him stepping back, her eyes travelling over his body, taking in the rips in his clothes, and the… strange marking on his arm? Blinking she pointed over. 'What's that?'

Mouth dropping open Draco quickly held his arm to himself covering up the mark with his hand. 'Nothing.' He lowered his eyes and stayed silent, clutching at his arm tightly.

'Is that the – the…' She couldn't say it, she couldn't bring herself to find the words. Taking a deep breath Ginny stepped forward, and forced him to meet her gaze. 'Is that the Dark Mark? I thought you said you'd fight it? Draco, you promised me… you said you'd never—' A tiny sob cut her off and she brought her hand up to her mouth. 'Never, you told me never…'

Draco's eyes seemed to falter and his gaze softened as he watched her crying. 'I didn't ask for it…' he began, bringing Ginny's attention back to him with the gentleness of his speech. 'After I left Hogwarts… I tried talking to my father, told him everything, that I'd fallen in love, that I couldn't do what he wanted, that I couldn't be true to… to Lord Voldemort.' Pausing Draco stepped closer; Ginny folded her arms across her chest, looking at the floor. 'He said that when the time came I would be faithful, wouldn't be able to resist the power of the dark magic's, that I'd get drawn in just like everyone else always did… Back in September my father took me to a gathering, and that was when it happened… time to bring the new generation into play, that's what Voldemort said—'

Ginny's eyes shot up and she stared at him. 'You've met him?'

'Had to,' was the reply, 'he was the one that gave me this after all… In October, late one night, I ran away… my mother helped me, she's scared of my father. She stood up to him and it gave me the chance to get out. I haven't been back since, I don't really have anywhere to go, and now I have this… I'm stuck.'

'I can help you,' said Ginny quickly, advancing on him, her fingers grazing his cheek once again. 'I want to help.'

He stepped back. 'And I don't want you to, you have to wait, I want you safe! I told you this!'

Tears spilled down Ginny's cheeks and for a second it felt as though her heart would break, but she had to fight it, she had to be strong. 'I know,' she whispered. Bringing her spare hand up she wiped away her tears, taking in a shaky breath. 'I love you…'

Draco dropped his arms, his defensive stance lifted, and he wrapped his arms around her bringing her close. 'I love you too, and I'll come back to you… I promised.'

'When? When will you come back to me?'

August 2006

Draco was about to smile at the vision of beauty that Ginny Weasley had grown into when he saw her knees weaken, and her eyes roll back a little. On instinct he jumped forward and caught her limp form in his arms, holding her tightly. He shifted her weight a little in his arms so he could free one hand and brush the hair from her face. She hadn't changed a lot if truth were told, yes her face had aged, and her bone structure had shifted slightly through a growth spurt by the looks of things. Her red hair was now in spirally curls and fell neatly.

Smiling he fought his urge to touch her, instead putting his arm under her legs and lifting her from the ground, starting into the house slowly. It was strange being in the place she lived now; he'd never even once seen her out of Hogwarts before. Not bad, he thought, as he shut the door behind himself with his foot, not bad at all. Coming to halt in the living room he almost stood on a chess set, so pushed it aside with his foot.

'Anyone home…?' called Draco, quietly. He assumed she shared with someone, as far as he knew Ginny had never been interested in chess, that was always her brother. Oh yes, Ron the chess player. Slowly he lowered Ginny down onto the couch and he brushed the hair from her face. 'That was a good welcome home,' he teased softly.

Getting back to his feet he spun around to look for the kitchen, water would be handy about now, but he ended up coming face-to-face with a girl. She stood around eight inches shorter than he was, had long blonde braided hair, a bit of meat on her really. Draco sneered a little but changed it into a smile for civil purposes. 'She fainted,' he told the girl, who persisted to stare at him. He rolled his eyes and arched an eyebrow in her direction. 'You know, I could get paid for this kind of ogling.'

The blonde girl blinked, and then smiled sheepishly, a pink blush creeping across her cheeks. 'Sorry,' she said, ' just wondered if I knew you.'

'Probably not,' he answered quickly, moving to crouch down beside Ginny again. 'Think you could get some water sunshine? She needs waking up.' Draco looked at the girl from the corner of her eye, and she started twiddling her braids around her fingers playfully, and chewing on her bottom lip. 'Now'd be good darlin',' he added, just for good measure.

The blonde jumped and grinned brightly, before dashing off and into the kitchen. There was a lot of clattering and banging that followed, presumable the blonde didn't get much practice in that kitchen, especially not enough to find a glass. Chuckling to himself Draco ran his fingers across Ginny's lips gently until he heard movement nearby. He darted back and smiled at the other girl as she reappeared handing a glass over to him.

'I'm presuming that Virginia knows you then,' she said, 'I don't mean to pry though, obviously it's none of my business, but as I've never seen you here before… I just wanted to ask.' She moved and positioned herself in the armchair beside the couch. 'Don't believe she's mentioned you before, Mr… umm… what's your name?'

Draco almost dropped the glass at that question, he was still unsure as to whether to tell people he'd never met his real name or not, probably not the best idea. 'David…' he blurted, 'David Martin.' He raised an eyebrow as he placed his hand on Ginny's forehead. 'And you are?'

The blonde grinned ecstatically and bounced in her seat slightly. Draco got the impression she was easy excitable, couldn't say it wasn't obvious though. 'Eleanor Branstone,' she told him, 'Hufflepuff House, 1994 to 2001, prefect for—'

'Didn't ask for a life story!' Draco said cutting Eleanor off. 'By the way, loving the braids, very un-Hufflepuff, suits you.' He smiled again and then splashed some water onto Ginny's face. There was no reaction; he tried again, still nothing. 'Think she's knocked herself for six here.' He laughed lightly, and turned back to Eleanor. 'How do you know her?'

'Oh Virginia and I know each other through our other halves,' said Eleanor, nodding and smiling. 'With Dennis and Colin being brothers and all that, we're very close actually, although I do think I can annoy her sometimes. She tends to give me that impression… I mean I don't know really…'

Draco stopped listening eventually, well pretty much after the words "other halves" had been mentioned. She had a boyfriend? That had been unexpected… but could easily be sorted out. With a little sigh he looked back at her face and traced a finger across her cheek. 'Come on Gin, wake up, it's me…' Ginny didn't move. He shrugged and let his finger trail down her arm slowly, until he reached her hand, he turned it over and moved to lace his fingers with hers. Something stopped him though and he dropped her hand, there sitting neatly on her ring finger was a wedding band and a small diamond ring. Married? he thought, feeling his heart begin to quicken. 'She's married?' he asked harshly, looking seriously at Eleanor. 'When did that happen?'

With her mouth agape Eleanor twiddled one single braid around her finger in thought. 'About four years ago… how come you didn't know? I though you said you knew her…?'

'I did.'

She bit her lip and lowered her eyes, getting up from the armchair. 'Excuse me a moment, I need to check on the kids.' Then with that Eleanor disappeared into the kitchen again.

He was alone with his thoughts and his feelings, and the knowledge that the woman he still wanted was unattainable. Glancing at her face he took in the way her lips were curled into a sort of nervous smile, as his eyes travelled downward he noticed how her chest fell evenly with each breath she took. At least she was alive, and at least she was safe.

Draco rose to his feet, picked up Ginny's hand and kissed the back of it lightly. 'Until next time,' he whispered, making a beeline for the front door before Eleanor came back into the living room. Reaching the door he pulled it open, stepped back out into the cold, and slammed it behind him.

'Interesting,' he whispered, taking a deep breath, 'Very interesting.'

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More A/N: Well that was chapter 3, like it? Don't worry, I do have plans to explain what happened to Draco over the years he was gone… so sooner or later you'll find out. But for now, I'm gonna leave it there. GO REVIEW!