Snape found Ginny in a mess. She was lying on her bed, sobbing wildly while Kerra sat on the floor beside her idly. Snape had just come back from burying Draco's body at Hogwarts as Ginny had instructed.
"He's gone, Severus! He's all gone!" cried Ginny as she hopped to her feet and embraced her old Professor. "Why did he go?" she cried. "Why? Why?"Snape tried to console her, but he was of no use.
"Ginny, control yourself. You may grieve, but not this much!" Snape cried as Ginny walked dazedly around her room, crying nonstop, grabbing onto objects so as not to fall, and acting as if she was drunk with grief.
"It's not fair! How am I supposed to live? How am I supposed to raise Kerra? Oh, Severus no! Why Draco? Why! God why!" Ginny wept."Why?" her voice was a mere whisper now, a hoarse whisper. Her energy had died down. She slumped to the floor and leaned on her bed grabbing the sheets and holding them close to her. Kerra waddled her way over to Ginny and sat in Ginny's lap, hugging her mother.
"Oh, Kerra. My poor baby! How am I supposed to raise you fatherless? How? Oh god Draco! Why! Whhhyyy!" cried Ginny as she hung on to her daughter and wept onto the sheets once again regaining her drunken grief.
"Miss Malfoy ple-" Snape began.
"Miss Malfoy? He's gone! Draco's gone! I'm Ginny now. No more Draco! Draccoo!" Ginny screeched through her tears. Snape sighed and shook his head.
"Ginny, please control yourself! You're a mess!" Snape pleaded.
"Draco is all gone, Severus. All gone," Ginny said slowly as she looked up at Snape. "He's gone off somewhere. AND I WANT TO JOIN HIM!" Ginny cried as she flung her daughter to the floor and raced out the room and into the kitchen. Snape picked up Kerra and raced after her.
"God, I wasn't made to chase after kids," Snape mumbled as he opened the kitchen door to find Ginny playing with a knife.
"Put that down, Ginny. You don't want to do this," Snape said.
"Why not? Draco's gone! He's all gone! There's nothing else to live for!" Ginny cried as she looked at the shiny tapering knife.
"What about Kerra, Ginny? What about her?" Snape asked as he placed Kerra carefully in Ginny's lap. Kerra looked up at her mum with her unfaltering baby smile.
"K-kerra," Ginny whispered hoarsely.
"Yes, Kerra. You can't leave her alone, Ginny, you can't. What about all your friends?"
"I have no friends!" Ginny sobbed.
"No! You do! Colin Creevey! And Luna Lovegood! What about them? What about your family? Molly and Bill and Fred and George and Ron," Snape counted out. "What about them? Do you want to leave everyone, Ginny? Draco wouldn't want you to do that. He would've wanted you to go on taking care of Kerra and raising her up to be a wonderful little girl," Snape said. It seemed his heart had softened a lot over the years for him to be here telling a Gryffindor that people cared for her.
"My fri-friends and my f-f-family. And K-K-kerra," Ginny said dazedly. "Th-they care? D-do y-you c-care about m-me?" Ginny asked Kerra. Kerra nodded happily.
"D-do y-you c-care about m-me, S-severus?" asked Ginny as she looked up at Snape. He was taken aback by the question, not suspecting it to arrive in the conversation.
"Of c-course, Ginny. Why else would I be here?" He heard himself saying. 'What has gotten into me? I've softened up so much!' he thought to himself.
Ginny slowly stopped crying and stared directly in front of her out the window and into the garden. The smell of the roses and the May breeze wafted into the room and Ginny heaved a sigh. She looked at her professor with her puffy, red eyes into his fathomless, black eyes and smiled slowly.
"Thanks professor," she whispered hoarsely. Snape held out his hand to help Ginny to her feet. She laid her slender hand in his which reminded her of the wedding. She felt the tears gathering up ready for another go at the slide down her cheeks, but stopped herself. Snape helped her up to her feet and up to her room where Ginny laid Kerra in the nursery with her pacifier and stuffed baby monkey to sleep.
"Your welcome, Ginny," Snape found himself saying to her as they walked to her bedroom and shut the door.
"Are you going to stay with me?" asked Ginny sadly as she plumped down on her bed and hugged her blue pillow to her chest.
"Unfortunately I won't be able to spend tomorrow with you but I may stay for the night," Snape replied."Excellent. You can have the guest bedroom D-d-Draco built right across mine," Ginny said, tears racing down her cheeks again.
"Thank you," Snape said. Ginny looked out the window and the room sat in silence for what seemed like numerous hours.
"I'm acting like such a child," Ginny said as she turned around and looked at her professor.
"No, you're just grieving. I understand that you and Draco had a very profound relationship and I know how it feels to lose someone close," Snape said, his voice wobbly now.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot about your wife and daughter. That was such a sad tale. I'm so sorry," Ginny apologized.
"It's okay. It's the past now. One must learn not to dwell on those memories, they can only cause aching," Snape advised.
"You're sounding like Dumbledore," Ginny giggled.
"I've been around him for god knows how many years. I'm surprised I haven't grown a beard, gotten silver half-moon glasses, and started having a twinkle in my eye," Snape added humorously. Ginny smiled.
"Oh, but you do have the twinkle," Ginny said.
"Great. Might as well call me Dumbledore Jr.," Snape said trying to get Ginny to laugh or smile a bit more. It worked, Ginny's mouth slowly curled up into a smile.
"Severus, why didn't Draco transfer some of the pain to me by using that snake thing on our arms?" Ginny asked.
"Maybe he didn't have enough time, or maybe he forgot. I told you it's quite a difficult thing to transfer the Killing Curse's pain," Snape said.
"Oh yeah. But still, I could've helped. He could've been here, right by, his breath tickling my neck, his eyes twinkling with depth, his blond hair so soft and silky between my slender white fingers," Ginny murmured as if in a trance. She imagined Draco besides her doing all those things. She sighed.
They stayed up for numerous hours until the night squeaked into the sky and drowned the city in darkness. They both said their good-nights and headed to sleep.
The next morning Snape woke up and walked over to Ginny's room to find it empty. He headed inside Kerra's room and found Ginny sleeping in a rocking chair with baby Kerra in her arms wide awake. Snape walked over to Ginny ands hook her slightly. Ginny's eyes fluttered open and she sat up straight, gazing around the room and taking in her surroundings. When her eyes fell upon her daughter, she remembered yesterday and she began to cry.
"Dra-dra-dra-Draco!" she sobbed. "He's gone!"
"Ginny, you cried your heart out yesterday. And there's no way I'm going to allow you to do it again today," Snape snapped, getting back to his usual grumpy self
"Now get up. We have to talk about the funeral and who's going to take care of you and Kerra while I'm busy at Hogwarts," Snape said as he pulled Ginny to her feet.
"O-o-okay," Ginny choked back her tears. "Just let me dress Kerra and myself up and we'll be down in the kitchen in a second." Snape nodded and walked out of the room shutting the door behind him.
"N-now what to d-dress you up in," Ginny said as she picked out a lilac dress with little daisies on it and a purple ribbon. Wizarding babies grew in size quite quickly for Kerra already resembled a one year old. But when she would soon stop growing and continue growing again at around the age of 2 or 3 at a normal rate. Ginny dressed Kerra in her little lilac dress and tied her soft, silky, oh so much like Draco's white blonde hair with the purple ribbon in a fountain like hairstyle. Ginny pulled on khaki pants and a ruby red tank top that said paws off and walked downstairs with gurgling Kerra in her arms.
"Severus?" she said as she walked into the kitchen. Snape raised his head inquiringly.
"Is it okay if I don't have a funeral?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, of course. But are you sure that's what you want?" asked Snape.
"Yes, I'm positive. Now who's going to take care of me?" asked Ginny.
"I don't know. I was hoping you had someone in mind," Snape said.
At that moment there was a pop in the room and a blond haired boy dashed up to Ginny, hugging her.
"Gin! It's been such a long time!" cried Colin. (Did anyone think Draco had come back to life?)
"Colin! What are you doing here?" Ginny asked.
"I just wanted to check up on you. So, where's Draco. And what's Snape doing here?" Colin said as he eyed Snape suspiciously.
"Colin, Draco is dead," Ginny said, biting her lower lip so as not to cry.
"What? How?" asked Colin worriedly.
"Oh, Colin, it was horrible!" Ginny sobbed. Colin embraced Ginny and patted her back.
"Its okay, it's okay. Everything's going to be alright," Colin reassured her.
Snape had taken Kerra from Ginny so she wouldn't get smushed in all the hugs.
"Is that Kerra? She's adorable," Colin said as he released Ginny and tried to change the subject. "Hey, Kerra. How are you doing?" cooed Colin as he tickled Kerra's tummy getting Kerra all bouncy and giggly in Snape's arms. Snape was about to puke from the cuteness of it all.
"I got an idea, Ginny," Snape began. "How about Mr. Creevey can take care of you while I'm at Hogwarts. I'll explain what he should do and what happened. Mr. Creevey if you'd please step outside with me. Ginny, take your child," Snape said as he handed Ginny little Kerra (or not so little now) and walked outside with Colin.
"Come on, Kerra. What will it be today? How about strawberries and a warm bottle of milk!" Ginny said as she blinked back tears and started heating Kerra's milk.
! Outside !
"I can't believe he's dead," Colin said as he sat down on the couch.
"Yes, the news came as a shock to her, too. You should've seen her. Crying hysterically, flinging Kerra to the floor. She was about to kill herself, too. She had a strong bond with Draco. Such a sad event. He was such a good student and, from her reaction to his death, a wonderful husband," Snape explained as he remained standing.
"H-how did he c-come to die?" Colin asked, sorrow washing over him.
"In a duel with his father. It seems that Lucius found Ginny and Kerra at the park and was about to attack them. Draco sensing something wrong, came immeadietly. He bid Ginny to hide herself and Kerra and dueled with his father. Even though Draco was young and light on his feet, his worries for Ginny's safety must've weighed him down. But Lucius, having been trained longer in the Dark Arts, was able to kill Draco with the killing curse. He was about to go for Ginny and the child when I killed him," Snape told.
"Wow, poor Ginny. Poor Draco! He died to save Ginny. He must've really loved her," Colin said, bowing his head a little and shaking it. "But, but, you saved Ginny. You killed Malfoy so he wouldn't get to Ginny. Why?"
Snape sighed. He knew this question was to come up someday.
"In those months that you, Harry, Draco, and Ginny were under my watch I learned many things. One is that things aren't always as they seem. Ginny and Draco seemed to have a perfect life, but I figured out that it was actually worse than I had expected. Another thing I learned was to not judge people by their houses or their appearances. Since Ginny had been placed in Gryffindor with the rest of her brothers, I thought she was going to be a nuisance. But she proved to be quite strong in potions and very likable. And the same with Harry and you. I guess I was holding out all those grudges from James against his son. I hope he forgave me," Snape sighed.
"I cannot believe I just told you all of that. I must be getting softer than I thought," Snape said.
"You seem like a very likable person, too, professor," Colin said.
"I am no longer your professor. Call me Severus," Snape said. Colin nodded.
"I have a favor to ask of you," Snape said.
"Ask away, Ginny savior," Colin said with a touch of humor.
Snape growled. "Ginny is in need of someone taking care of her and Kerra. I am afraid that I cannot, having classes about to start in a month. I wonder if you can take care of her until she's ready to be on her own. Her family seems to be busy. Molly with Ron, the twins with their shop, and Bill with his job, so you are the only one available. Will you take it up?"
"Of course! I'd love to! Is Kerra the baby's name?" asked Colin, having not been there when the baby was named for he left after the baby was born.
"Kerra-Chanelle Aphrodite Malfoy I believe is her name. Quite long, but it does have a lovely ring to it," Snape said. He didn't like to think of babies, it reminded him of his dearest daughter, Roxanne, the one that threw herself off the balcony after her mother's death.
"I shall be leaving now to inform the Weasley family of the loss. There shall be no funeral since Ginny did not want one. Good day," Snape said as he was gone with a 'pop'.
Colin sighed and walked back into the kitchen.
"Where's Snape?" she asked, holding the bottle to Kerra's mouth.
"He left. He asked me to stay here with you, is that alright?" asked Colin.
"I suppose so. Did he tell you what happened?" Ginny said, her voice cracking a bit.
"Yes, he did," Colin said.
"Oh, this is Kerra-Chanelle," Ginny introduced, raising her knee where the baby's head lay so he could get a better view of her.
"Lovely child," Colin commented.
"Oh! I forgot to ask Severus something!" Ginny said as she jumped to her feet, cradling Kerra.
"He's gone now, I don't know where he is," Colin said.
"Aw shoot," Ginny said. "I've got to get a hold of him."
"Why don't you owl him?"
"Good idea!" Ginny cried. "Here, hold Kerra!" She nestled Kerra in his arms and fled to Draco's owl's room. She fed the owl and cooed it to come with her to the kitchen. She took out a fountain pen and began to scribble away.
Dear Severus,
I forgot to tell you of an odd event the day of Draco's leaving. Before he died, Kerra began to speak. She said: "Bye bye, daddy, bye bye." And when I told her that he was still alive she shook her head and continued to repeat the phrase. A few moments later, Draco died. I'm quite mystified by this and I was wondering if you could clear that up for me.
Yours Truly,
Ginny Weasley-Malfoy
"There, all done!" Ginny exclaimed.
"She had actually done that?" Colin asked as Kerra tugged at his golden hair.
"Yes, it was quite odd," Ginny said as she rolled up the letter and tied it to Draco's owl's foot.
"Send this to Severus, Darren," Ginny said as she pet the owl and opened up the window. She watched it fly away into the distance before walking over to Colin.
"So, I guess I'll have to show you your bedroom and the house. Come with me," Ginny said as she walked out of the room, Colin following her with Kerra gazing up at him in his arms.
After a tour of the huge house, Colin dropped down on his bed in his room.
"So, what are your plans? Do you work?" asked Colin.
"Yeah, at St. Mungo's. I come back early at around noon so I can be with Kerra. When I'm out I usually place Kerra with mum but now that you're here, you can take care of her. Unless you work of course," Ginny said.
"Actually I do. I'm an Auror. But they've given me a break for a while so I can stay with Kerra, if that's alright with you," Colin said.
"Sure that's fine," Ginny agreed. "Tomorrow I'll go back to St. Mungo's and you'll stay with Kerra. Perfect. Well, somewhat. I still can't grasp the fact that I'll wake up tomorrow to a lonely bed and Kerra will be raised fatherless." Colin watches as Ginny's eyes tear up and some roll their way down her pale cheeks.
"Aw, come on, Gin! He died to save you! You should be proud of him! Now stop this nonsense crying! He would want you to be brave and raise Kerra! Come on now, let's go play with Kerra at the park," Colin quickly regretted mentioning the park.
"Park! That's where he died! I don't want to ever go there again!" she cried as she rushed up to her bedroom. Colin sighed, looked at Kerra in his arms, and went after her."I'm s-so s-sorry, C-Colin," she mumbled. "So s-sorry." Colin had placed Kerra in the crib and Ginny embraced him.
"It's okay, it's okay. Shhh," Colin comforted her, rubbing her back rhythmically and soothingly.
! Two Days Later !
An owl fluttered into the window in the evening and landed on Ginny's shoulder.
"Darren! Is it from Severus?" Ginny asked, hope glimmering in her eyes. Darren nodded.
"Colin! Severus has sent me a message!" Ginny cried. Colin came through the kitchen, a pacifier in Kerra's mouth and a banana in his hand.
"Well, go ahead, read it!" Colin said as he sat down beside her.
"It reads:
Dear Ginny,
I have spoken to Albus about this and we have come up with the only conclusion possible: Kerra is a Seer. Usually the ability to predict things and see visions skips a few years and we traced Draco's and your ancestry and found that Draco's great-great grandfather was a Seer, and a very good one at that. Albus and I shall visit you in perhaps an hour from when you receive this owl and we shall perform several tests to figure out if Kerra is indeed a Seer. Until then
Yours Truly,
Severus Snape."
"Wow, so you're new baby could be a Seer? How cool is that?" Colin said as he looked at Kerra. "So, Kerra, can you tell me if I'll be rich and married to a hot babe?" he asked the baby.
Kerra blinked and wrinkled her nose, then cracked a butter smile.
"I'll take that as a yes!" Colin cried. "Hmm…do you mind if I interrogate your child about my future?" Colin asked. Ginny giggled.
"No, Colin, I don't. But I wonder if I could've prevented his death had I known Kerra was a Seer," Ginny pondered.
"Come on, Gin. Fate has its own way and gets its way," Colin said.
"You sound like Dumbledore," Ginny giggled.
"Great!" Colin groaned. "Now, getting back to the little one. So, what does my future have in store for me? Any kids of my own?" he asked.
Kerra gazed up at the ceiling then back at Colin. Colin took it as a nod.
"I'll take that as a yes! Boy or girl?" he asked. "Am I going to die soon? If I wear the purple socks will my mother get mad at me? If I throw away my black suit will dad get mad?" he asked."Colin, give Kerra a break! I don't even think she understands you!" Ginny said as she took Kerra into her arms and cradled her.
"Fine. I'll have a chat with you later, okay?" he whispered into the baby's ear.
"Colin!" Ginny snapped.
"Calm down, Gin!" Colin said. Then whispered into the baby's ear. "I'll even offer you money! Now how does that sound?"
Ginny swatted Colin on the arm playfully and they both chuckled happily, awaiting Severus and Albus.
An hour later, as was stated, two 'pops' invaded the silence and both awaited men were there.
"Ah, Mr. Creevey, Mrs. Malfoy," Dumbledore acknowledged. Ginny bit her quavering lip at the mention of Malfoy.
"So sorry to hear about your loss. But I'm sure you'll get on with life. He was a good lad," Dumbledore said. Ginny nodded gloomily.
"So, if you don't mind we'd like to use the Potions Lab," Snape said. Ginny agreed, not finding any point to argue, and all five of them made their way into the lab.
"Wow, this place is wicked!" Colin said.
"Thanks. Draco wanted it built. He always loved being down here and messing around with the potions. Once he found one that allowed him to conjure up strawberries dipped in chocolate whenever he wanted. So he surprised me with a bunch of them. They tasted delectable!" Ginny remembered.
"Okay. The only way to test it is using this potion," Snape said. He pulled out a potion from his pocket. "You can give it to Kerra. Then, she should give us some prophecy, whether it is a small or big revelation," Snape explained.
"Then why don't we give this to all the Seers so they can all predict something and we can try to fix stuff up here?" Ginny asked.
"Because it only works when it's the first time testing someone to see whether they're a Seer or not," Snape explained.
"Oh," Ginny said. She took the bottle into her quivering hand and slowly got Kerra to drink it down. Kerra swallowed and looked up at Ginny with big cream blue/silvery eyes. Ginny felt her heart melt. Her daughter looks so angelic!
A few seconds later Kerra started to gurgle. Then her gurgling rolled into words. And that soon rolled into a prophecy.
"What a small one brings in
A big one can take out
What is an end to one
Is the beginning to another"
Everyone looked quizzically at Kerra. What kind of a prophecy was that?
"Well, for one thing, she is a Seer. As for the prophecy, that might take a while to figure out," Snape said.
"Now I know why this potion is only given once. It isn't worth using it so many times if the prophecies don't make sense!" Ginny snapped angrily.
"Now, Mrs. Malfoy, patience is they key! Maybe more clues will come our way soon and we will unravel this little four lined prophecy of Kerra's. For now, get some rest," Dumbledore said as he tickled Kerra and give her a kiss on the forehead. "What a sweet, beautiful, little baby. I'm sure she'll bring joy to all of us."
And with that Snape and Dumbledore were gone.
Lucius's body had been buried in a graveyard and Snape had not been charged for his murder because he was only protecting Ginny and Kerra and avenging Draco's death.
Molly, Fred and George, Ron, and Bill came over to mourn for Draco. It lasted for a few hours. Ron was even slightly remorseful. Molly wept over her lost son-in-law and the twins and Bill were just silent and grave.
! A few months later !
So that's how it was for a while. Ginny worked and Colin watched over Kerra until noon, feeding her, playing with her, changing her, and hoping for a less riddled prophecy to pop out of her mouth.
Soon, Colin had to go back to work as Death Eater attacks were spotted and Ginny stayed home with Kerra for a while until noon when Colin would come back.
Kerra was growing up quickly, being a wizarding child. Her blond locks full in lustrous curls to her pale shoulders and her and cinnamon sprinkles decked her cheeks and nose delicately.
She soon began to walk and Ginny and Colin's rushing footsteps raced their way through the house in what seemed to be an endless search for Ginny's toddler. Soon, Kerra lost her drive to race around the house, and became a much more quiet and observant child.
Months rolled into a birthday for Kerra. All the Weasleys were present along with Snape and Dumbledore. Confetti, a screaming child (not including Ron), and lots of deserts made a wonderfully joyful day! There was great gaiety and festivity that day. All sorrow was forgotten for one day. At the age of a year and a half not only was she walking, but she was talking, too. They were baby sentences like 'where you going?' and the famous 'can me have cookie?'
Colin had been a great help. Ginny and Colin began sharing a room when Ginny found herself in a watery mess because of her tears that seemed to never run out. She would lay in her bed, her milky, moon white finger tracing the outline of Draco's body in the moving picture on her nightstand. Colin would come comfort her and she would find herself waking up in the morning in Colin's warm arms. Colin had changed a lot over a year. His hair was longer, almost to his shoulders, and his blue eyes were electrified with life and depth. He reminded her so much of Draco as did Kerra.
He reminded her so much of Draco.
Maybe enough to partially take Draco's place, for no one could wholly take Draco's place, in Ginny's heart? But could Colin possibly partially take Draco's place?
A/N-So, do you guys think he could take his place? You'll figure out in the next chapter! I hope you liked the chapter! 15 pages! That's pretty long! Please review!
Thank yous:
1. Smileyface1314-Kerra is a few days old.She's a wizarding baby. Lol, evil? Lol, thanks for the review!
2.ILUVRONWEASLEY-Lol, Draco had to leave. Thanks for the review! Have fun in France.
3. BlueAngel90-Well, I was going to save him but I needed him to die! Lol, thanks for the review!
4. Sara- That wasn't the end though! The end is going to be a bit happier hopefully! Thanks for the review!
Thanks for the reviews everyone! Keep them coming for enthusiasm! You all rock! Thankies!
Btw FF won't let me do little borders between things so I'm sorry if that confuses you or anything. If anyone knows a solution, please tell! Thanks!