A/N: As always I don't own any of the characters besides Tab
O.K so the end of this chapter was kind of emotional to write but it was still quite fun!
Thanks once again to everyone who reviews you guys are the best mwuah
This is the second chapter in one day I've put up and since I have nothing to do but avoid an annoying family, I'm off to begin the next one, R&R please ppl, I beg of u! enjoy =) cheers babes xx
The lyrics at the beginning are from 'Bring It All to Me' by Blaque
Chapter Nine – Meet The Parents
There's not a single question
That we can't make this right
Cause it's you I need every day and night
"Malfoy?!"
Hermione gasped, staring at Ginny as though she was insane.
"Of all people Ginny?"
She sighed, jumping to her feet and pacing backwards and forwards in front of the couch.
"Please Hermione; I need you on my side for when I tell Ron."
Ginny pleaded, grabbing Hermione's hand as she passed and pulling her back down onto the couch besides her.
"How are you going to tell him?"
Hermione asked, glancing at Fred and George who were still staring at Ginny.
"Mom's going to tell him."
Hermione raised a sceptical eyebrow at Ginny who shrugged defensively.
"I've already told everyone else in the family besides Harry and Ron because they're still at training."
Bill coughed from his position leaning against the fireplace and they all turned to look at him.
"How bad is Ron going to be? I mean ... never mind."
He trailed off at the looks on everyone's faces. Fred and George sighed, looking at each other over Angelina's head.
"He won't hurt Ginny but I think you might be in some serious danger."
Fred said, looking over at Draco who was sat next to Ginny on the couch, for once not saying anything.
"Well, there's nothing we can do until Ron gets back so I say we eat."
Charlie said from where he was sprawled on the floor before the fireplace. Everyone immediately leapt into action, leaving the room to help set the table and cook. Ginny turned to look at Draco when they were the only ones left in the room and he expelled the breath he hadn't known he was holding.
"Fred was right, the first thing Ron's going to do is accuse you of putting me under a spell and then he'll try to kill you."
Draco shrugged, looking a lot calmer than he felt.
"It'll be alright."
He said, lifting Ginny's hand to his lips and gently kissing her knuckles. The front door banged open and Ron and Harry spilled into the hallway laughing and joking, fresh from practise.
"You better go hide upstairs."
Ginny warned Draco in an urgent whisper as the two boys entered the kitchen and the faint rumbling of voices told them that Mrs Weasley's was telling them. Ginny clutched Draco's hand and dragged him up the spiralling the stairs, shoving him protesting into her room.
"YOU WHAT?!"
The explosion from downstairs told her that Ron knew and she dashed to the balcony to watch Ron racing out of the kitchen and thundering around the house looking for him. Glancing up he saw Ginny dangling over the edge of the balcony and he marched up the stairs.
"Ron! Please calm down!"
Hermione followed him out of the kitchen, the rest of the Weasley's close on her heels.
"Where the fuck is he?"
Ron snarled at Ginny, shrugging Harry's restraining hand off his shoulder.
"I'm not telling you."
Ginny replied stubbornly. Ron narrowed his eyes and spun on his heel, banging open Draco's door and from the sounds issuing from it, tearing the room apart. Ginny pulled open her door and dashed inside.
"Quick! When he comes out of your room run through the adjoining door into it and then down the stairs so I can calm him down."
Ginny hissed, pointing at the door half hidden by a white curtain next to her bathroom.
"Hey, I didn't know we had adjoining doors."
Draco said with a wicked grin lighting up his face.
"Draco!"
She growled, shoving him towards the door. When she heard Ron banging down the hallway towards them she quickly opened the door and shoved him through.
"WHERE IS HE?"
Ron bellowed, resisting all Hermione's attempts at calming him down.
"Obviously he isn't here."
Ginny replied, looking perfectly calm as though her brother turned into a raving lunatic all the time, but the angry fire in her eyes was already making Harry nervous.
Ron turned around and marched into Tab's room, finding nothing he retreated back down the stairs and into the kitchen, Ginny racing after him. Draco was standing behind the breakfast bar with Mrs Weasley stood between him and the door.
"Don't you hide from me you little ferret!"
Ron roared making Bill and Charlie wince from their seats at the dining table. They stood up and poked their head through the archway to get a better view.
"Calming him down, huh?"
He muttered, raising an eyebrow at Ginny who shot him a dirty look.
"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO MY LITTLE SISTER?"
Ron made a dive at Draco but Harry, Fred and George grabbed the back of his robes just in time, holding him back.
"GET OFF ME I'LL KILL HIM!"
Ron howled, struggling desperately to get at Draco who was looking very amused for someone only just being protected from an overprotective older brother.
"Look, we don't like it any more then you do, but Ginny loves him."
Hermione pleaded, tears filling her eyes as Bill and Charlie physically lifted Ron into a seat besides his mother.
"You love me?"
Draco asked Ginny, his eyes widening as she nodded shyly. The whole room fell silent as she crossed the floor to get to him, turning so her back was pressed against him. His hands rested on her stomach and she coiled her fingers into his.
"Right, I know you don't like him but its tough shit really."
She blushed as her mother shot her a reproachful look but she bravely ploughed on, Draco's warm body against her giving her strength.
"I love him, and I don't know how it happened but it did, so GET OVER IT."
She hissed as Ron began struggling once more. She eyed him nervously when he collapsed back into the chair, his head in his hands.
"Ron?"
She said gently, kneeling down in front of him and pulling his hands into hers.
"I can't help what happened any more than you can, so please, just give him a chance. We're not in Hogwarts any more, we're adults, I mean look at you and Hermione; you're engaged with a baby on the way. We're hardly still the same naïve teenagers we were to start off with any more."
Hermione moved over to stand next to Ron and he pressed his head against her stomach, her hand running through his hair lightly. Harry moved forward and put a hand on Ginny's shoulder.
"Come on Ron, none of us are happy about it but its Ginny we should be thinking of. She's right; she's old enough to make her own decisions."
Everyone stared anxiously at Ron until he glared up at Draco who had wandered over and was now standing next to Ginny with her hand in his, the tender look on his face making Ron's eyes soften slightly.
"Fine."
The room cheered as Ginny flung her arms around her brother, kissing him on the cheek before jumping on Draco.
"But I'm warning you Mal... Draco; if you hurt her I will make sure you beg for death before long."
Ron warned, standing up so he was half a head taller than Draco who stared back at him.
"I'm not going to hurt her Weasley, erm... Ron."
Draco hastily replied after a nudge in the ribs from Ginny at saying the wrong name.
"Well the warning goes for all us brothers too."
Fred butted in, waving an arm around to indicate the room.
"And me."
Harry chipped in, nodding at Draco who rolled his eyes.
"Of course you, Harry. You were already mentioned."
Harry raised an eyebrow at George who pointed at Fred.
"You're as much of a brother to Ginny as any of my sons; it just took us longer to find you, dear."
Mrs Weasley interjected kindly, making Harry blush and the Weasley's beam at him.
"Yeah, you can have Percy's place."
George said cheerfully, ignoring the look his mother sent him.
"Wait a minute that means you're older than us!"
Fred argued, thumping Harry on the shoulder.
"Tell you what, we'll compromise. We'll move up one and you can take our place."
Bill, Charlie, Draco, Ginny, Hermione and Ron had been watching them all in amusement but at this sentence Ron broke in angrily;
"Now wait one damn second! That means he's older than me!"
He moaned, shooting his twin brother's dirty looks.
"Well as you like being the youngest we thought we'd leave it that way so we don't confuse you."
Fred replied, grinning evilly at Ron who flushed.
"Bloody brothers..."
His mutterings filled the silent room for about a minute until Ginny broke away from Draco's lips and arms where she had been locked since Ron had agreed not to murder Draco for the time being.
"I don't know what you're complaining about you bloody great... prune."
She finished when Mrs Weasley's gave her yet another sharp look about her language from behind the oven where she was using her wand to control four steaming pans and three knives chopping up different vegetables.
"What?"
Ron asked, startled as he turned to look at his sister.
"You're not even the youngest! I am."
Ginny replied triumphantly, raising an eyebrow when Ron continued his mutterings but this time including cheeky sisters in the mix.
"Does he do that in bed, Hermione?"
George asked loudly, making Bill and Charlie, who had dug some Butterbeers out of the fridge and had been about to swallow their mouthfuls, snort into their bottles and spray it all over their chins. Draco buried his face in Ginny's shoulder but couldn't disguise the fact his shoulders were shaking with laughter and Ron glared around the room, his face now resembling a ripe tomato.
"George."
Mrs Weasley reproved, adding the chopped vegetables into a pan and waving her wand at the knives and chopping boards which soared over their heads into the sink. Mrs Weasley didn't approve of dishwashers; she didn't trust any muggle invention unless it was proved to be useful and not just a way out of doing things.
"I meant in his sleep of course."
George replied innocently, winking at Hermione who shot him a dirty look, her hand sneaking into her fiancé's to squeeze it comfortingly.
"You know what, I never thought I'd say this but I actually do like your family a lot."
Draco whispered into Ginny's ear as they all wandered into the dining room carrying their various bottles and glasses. She beamed up at him and stared around the table at her family proudly.
"But don't tell anyone I said that, I have a reputation to keep."
He murmured, his hand creeping up her thigh and under the skirt of her midnight-blue mini-dress under the table. She swallowed hard as his fingers went even higher and Charlie looked at her curiously as he handed her a bowl of peas to pass round.
"Alright, Gin?"
He asked and she nodded, making a faint squeaking nose and grabbing Draco's hand from under the table, bring it back into his lap and giving him a stern look.
"Afternoon."
Mr Weasley Apparated into the living room and wandered into the dining room shortly followed by Angelina. He stopped dead when he saw Draco sat with his family, chattering away to Ginny.
"This is Ginny's new boyfriend, Arthur. Draco Malfoy."
Mrs Weasley said quickly, kissing her husband and handing him a plate.
"Hello Angelina, how was flying."
Angelina shrugged and yawned, collapsing into a seat next to Fred and piling some food onto her plate.
"Better than it has been lately thanks, Molly. I was thinking about the new Griffindor team and I think we've got just the right mix this year to pull it off."
She beamed at Mrs Weasley, her hand disappearing under the table and reappearing with Fred's trapped in her grip. Fred glanced up at Draco and they grinned knowingly at each other.
"Are you sure we have to do this?"
Ginny whined, digging her heels into the gravely drive as Draco tugged her up the sloping drive, her hands clasped in his.
"Yes!"
Draco grunted, giving up pulling her and circling around to pick her up and carry her to Malfoy Manor. Outside the huge black wooden doors decorated with mean looking metal studs he put a hand on the centre of the door, just beneath a large wrought iron door-knocker shaped as a serpents snarling head. The snake head's eyes flickered open and Draco stared directly into them for a few seconds until the door swung open.
"My son?"
Ginny raised her eyes to see the figure that had haunted her nightmares for years, the tall, lean body, the long white-blond hair and the cruel calculating eyes taking her in before narrowing with disgust as he surveyed them from the top of the wide marble stairs.
"Why have you brought a Weasley to my home?"
Lucius Malfoy sneered, nodding his head in Ginny's direction and she glared at him, fear prickling up her spine despite Draco's hand gripping hers tightly.
"I've come to introduce you to my girlfriend."
Draco emphasised the last two words and Lucius's eyes widened in shock, he slowly descended the stairs, his long black cloak billowing out behind him.
"Have you lost your mind boy?!"
He growled, grabbing Draco's arm and shaking him with such force that Ginny was shaken too.
"Not at all, Father."
Draco replied coolly, yanking his arm out of his father's iron grip, his face impassive but Ginny could feel his hold tighten unbearably on her hand and she fought against the urge to wince.
"Very well, you've introduced me to her."
Lucius spat, sneering as he glanced at Ginny. She glared right back, images of the Chamber flashing before her eyes and Tom Riddle's voice in her head.
"Where's Mother?"
Draco asked, noticing the look in Ginny's eyes and pulling her closer to him.
"In her study."
His father replied curtly before spinning on his heel and stalking into a room to the left, slamming the door behind him. Draco led Ginny down endless dark panelled corridors and winding passages until they paused outside a black forbidding door.
"Is this it?"
Ginny asked when Draco stared blankly at the door, he nodded slowly and knocked.
"She's probably busy drinking herself into a coma."
He said bitterly when no one answered his knock. He pushed open the door and walked in, tugging Ginny along with him.
"Mother."
He said, nodding at the poker straight back of a tall, regal woman clad in expensive black robes, intricately embroidered with silver thread making all sorts of beautiful designs. Her long hair was twisted up in an elegant twist at the back of her head, exposing her long pale neck and white shoulders.
"Draco."
She replied, turning around slightly. Ginny could see the glass tumbler in her hand half filled with a clear liquid that looked like vodka and only a few cubes of ice. The woman's cool, appraising eyes were squinting slightly and there was an unnatural flush in her cheeks that told Ginny she was very clearly drunk. She swayed slightly as she took a step towards them, her eyes trying to focus on Ginny.
"Whoossis?"
She slurred, bringing the glass to her lips and taking a huge gulp.
"This is my new girlfriend; Ginerva Weasley."
Draco informed her, watching her nervously; he never knew what she might do or say anymore, not since her drinking habit had gotten so much worse. It was ten o'clock in the morning and the woman was drunk already.
"Girrend?"
She repeated, giving up trying to walk towards them and slumping into the big oak chair behind her desk.
"Yes, Mother. We have to go into Diagon Alley so we'll be leaving now."
Draco was talking loudly and clearly, his eyes never leaving his mother's face. Ginny felt a sudden pinprick of pity for the woman standing before her, to have to live with such a man must be awful, no wonder it had driven her to drink.
"Let's go."
Draco said, turning and pulling Ginny out of the room and back down to the hallway they were first in.
"You're leaving then?"
Lucius's cold voice rang out through the cavernous room and Draco turned to face him.
"Yes."
He said stiffly, waiting for his father to say something to hurt Ginny, he wasn't disappointed.
"It won't last you know, and you'll come crawling back to us in the end."
Draco let out a loud mirthless laugh and shook his head, letting go of Ginny's hand.
"I'll never come back, not the way you want me to. This isn't my home anymore."
He replied, ushering Ginny towards the door.
"Your whore can't save you any more than you could have saved your mother."
Ginny felt the temperature in the room plummet to a coldness along the lines a Dementor brings and she turned around to see Draco striding over to his father.
"You destroyed my mother."
He hissed, his face expressionless but his eyes giving away the blind anger as they tossed silver sparks out of their depths.
"Don't you ever call Ginny a whore again."
Ginny was about to call out to Draco to tell him it didn't matter to her what his father thought of her when he swung his fist upwards into his father's face, sending him sprawling against the wall. He glared up at his son with blood pouring from the gash across his left eyebrow and dripping down from his mouth where he had bitten his lip on impact.
Ginny screamed when Lucius pulled out his wand but Draco kicked it out of his hand and stalked out of the house, catching Ginny's hand in his as he passed her and dragging her out of the house.
He finally stopped for breath about a mile away from the Manor, collapsing under an old oak tree at the top of a grassy hill, dropping his head into his hands. Ginny knelt down before him and gently eased his hands away from his face in time to see a single tear roll down his pale cheek.
"I'm sorry."
She said softly, his metallic grey eyes glistening with unshed tears meeting her concerned brown ones.
"What for?"
He asked, letting her cradle his hands in her lap.
"If you hadn't taken me there, none of that would have happened."
He snorted and stared bitterly down at his fast bruising hand, a trickle of blood running from his knuckle to his fingernail.
"Yes it would, like I said before, my father destroyed my mother. His constant use of dark magic made him power crazed and he beat us both if things went bad. Eventually my mother turned to drink and she hasn't stopped since."
Ginny didn't say anything; she let him continue in his own time, her fingertip gently stroking his palm.
"And he was right; I should have taken my mother away from him years ago. If I'd gotten her away from him maybe she'd still have some hope in her life, other than her next drink."
He ripped some blades of grass out of the ground and tossed them savagely into the wind so they whipped down the hill.
"Draco, Draco look at me."
Ginny said urgently, gazing at him with such tenderness on her face he nearly broke down in tears again.
"There's no way you could have saved your mother from him. She didn't want to be saved, trust me; there was nothing you could have done."
He stared at her in silence for a long time before capturing her lips with his.
"Come on, we're going to be late."
She said, pulling him grumbling to his feet and Apparating with a loud crack into Fred and George's store. Draco stared at the space she had been standing in for a few moments before turning to look at the imposing hulk of Malfoy Manor perched at the top of a hill and sighing. His hand gently ran over the bump the necklace Ginny gave him underneath his top made and he turned his back on the Manor before Apparating to the shop.
O.K so the end of this chapter was kind of emotional to write but it was still quite fun!
Thanks once again to everyone who reviews you guys are the best mwuah
This is the second chapter in one day I've put up and since I have nothing to do but avoid an annoying family, I'm off to begin the next one, R&R please ppl, I beg of u! enjoy =) cheers babes xx
The lyrics at the beginning are from 'Bring It All to Me' by Blaque
Chapter Nine – Meet The Parents
There's not a single question
That we can't make this right
Cause it's you I need every day and night
"Malfoy?!"
Hermione gasped, staring at Ginny as though she was insane.
"Of all people Ginny?"
She sighed, jumping to her feet and pacing backwards and forwards in front of the couch.
"Please Hermione; I need you on my side for when I tell Ron."
Ginny pleaded, grabbing Hermione's hand as she passed and pulling her back down onto the couch besides her.
"How are you going to tell him?"
Hermione asked, glancing at Fred and George who were still staring at Ginny.
"Mom's going to tell him."
Hermione raised a sceptical eyebrow at Ginny who shrugged defensively.
"I've already told everyone else in the family besides Harry and Ron because they're still at training."
Bill coughed from his position leaning against the fireplace and they all turned to look at him.
"How bad is Ron going to be? I mean ... never mind."
He trailed off at the looks on everyone's faces. Fred and George sighed, looking at each other over Angelina's head.
"He won't hurt Ginny but I think you might be in some serious danger."
Fred said, looking over at Draco who was sat next to Ginny on the couch, for once not saying anything.
"Well, there's nothing we can do until Ron gets back so I say we eat."
Charlie said from where he was sprawled on the floor before the fireplace. Everyone immediately leapt into action, leaving the room to help set the table and cook. Ginny turned to look at Draco when they were the only ones left in the room and he expelled the breath he hadn't known he was holding.
"Fred was right, the first thing Ron's going to do is accuse you of putting me under a spell and then he'll try to kill you."
Draco shrugged, looking a lot calmer than he felt.
"It'll be alright."
He said, lifting Ginny's hand to his lips and gently kissing her knuckles. The front door banged open and Ron and Harry spilled into the hallway laughing and joking, fresh from practise.
"You better go hide upstairs."
Ginny warned Draco in an urgent whisper as the two boys entered the kitchen and the faint rumbling of voices told them that Mrs Weasley's was telling them. Ginny clutched Draco's hand and dragged him up the spiralling the stairs, shoving him protesting into her room.
"YOU WHAT?!"
The explosion from downstairs told her that Ron knew and she dashed to the balcony to watch Ron racing out of the kitchen and thundering around the house looking for him. Glancing up he saw Ginny dangling over the edge of the balcony and he marched up the stairs.
"Ron! Please calm down!"
Hermione followed him out of the kitchen, the rest of the Weasley's close on her heels.
"Where the fuck is he?"
Ron snarled at Ginny, shrugging Harry's restraining hand off his shoulder.
"I'm not telling you."
Ginny replied stubbornly. Ron narrowed his eyes and spun on his heel, banging open Draco's door and from the sounds issuing from it, tearing the room apart. Ginny pulled open her door and dashed inside.
"Quick! When he comes out of your room run through the adjoining door into it and then down the stairs so I can calm him down."
Ginny hissed, pointing at the door half hidden by a white curtain next to her bathroom.
"Hey, I didn't know we had adjoining doors."
Draco said with a wicked grin lighting up his face.
"Draco!"
She growled, shoving him towards the door. When she heard Ron banging down the hallway towards them she quickly opened the door and shoved him through.
"WHERE IS HE?"
Ron bellowed, resisting all Hermione's attempts at calming him down.
"Obviously he isn't here."
Ginny replied, looking perfectly calm as though her brother turned into a raving lunatic all the time, but the angry fire in her eyes was already making Harry nervous.
Ron turned around and marched into Tab's room, finding nothing he retreated back down the stairs and into the kitchen, Ginny racing after him. Draco was standing behind the breakfast bar with Mrs Weasley stood between him and the door.
"Don't you hide from me you little ferret!"
Ron roared making Bill and Charlie wince from their seats at the dining table. They stood up and poked their head through the archway to get a better view.
"Calming him down, huh?"
He muttered, raising an eyebrow at Ginny who shot him a dirty look.
"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO MY LITTLE SISTER?"
Ron made a dive at Draco but Harry, Fred and George grabbed the back of his robes just in time, holding him back.
"GET OFF ME I'LL KILL HIM!"
Ron howled, struggling desperately to get at Draco who was looking very amused for someone only just being protected from an overprotective older brother.
"Look, we don't like it any more then you do, but Ginny loves him."
Hermione pleaded, tears filling her eyes as Bill and Charlie physically lifted Ron into a seat besides his mother.
"You love me?"
Draco asked Ginny, his eyes widening as she nodded shyly. The whole room fell silent as she crossed the floor to get to him, turning so her back was pressed against him. His hands rested on her stomach and she coiled her fingers into his.
"Right, I know you don't like him but its tough shit really."
She blushed as her mother shot her a reproachful look but she bravely ploughed on, Draco's warm body against her giving her strength.
"I love him, and I don't know how it happened but it did, so GET OVER IT."
She hissed as Ron began struggling once more. She eyed him nervously when he collapsed back into the chair, his head in his hands.
"Ron?"
She said gently, kneeling down in front of him and pulling his hands into hers.
"I can't help what happened any more than you can, so please, just give him a chance. We're not in Hogwarts any more, we're adults, I mean look at you and Hermione; you're engaged with a baby on the way. We're hardly still the same naïve teenagers we were to start off with any more."
Hermione moved over to stand next to Ron and he pressed his head against her stomach, her hand running through his hair lightly. Harry moved forward and put a hand on Ginny's shoulder.
"Come on Ron, none of us are happy about it but its Ginny we should be thinking of. She's right; she's old enough to make her own decisions."
Everyone stared anxiously at Ron until he glared up at Draco who had wandered over and was now standing next to Ginny with her hand in his, the tender look on his face making Ron's eyes soften slightly.
"Fine."
The room cheered as Ginny flung her arms around her brother, kissing him on the cheek before jumping on Draco.
"But I'm warning you Mal... Draco; if you hurt her I will make sure you beg for death before long."
Ron warned, standing up so he was half a head taller than Draco who stared back at him.
"I'm not going to hurt her Weasley, erm... Ron."
Draco hastily replied after a nudge in the ribs from Ginny at saying the wrong name.
"Well the warning goes for all us brothers too."
Fred butted in, waving an arm around to indicate the room.
"And me."
Harry chipped in, nodding at Draco who rolled his eyes.
"Of course you, Harry. You were already mentioned."
Harry raised an eyebrow at George who pointed at Fred.
"You're as much of a brother to Ginny as any of my sons; it just took us longer to find you, dear."
Mrs Weasley interjected kindly, making Harry blush and the Weasley's beam at him.
"Yeah, you can have Percy's place."
George said cheerfully, ignoring the look his mother sent him.
"Wait a minute that means you're older than us!"
Fred argued, thumping Harry on the shoulder.
"Tell you what, we'll compromise. We'll move up one and you can take our place."
Bill, Charlie, Draco, Ginny, Hermione and Ron had been watching them all in amusement but at this sentence Ron broke in angrily;
"Now wait one damn second! That means he's older than me!"
He moaned, shooting his twin brother's dirty looks.
"Well as you like being the youngest we thought we'd leave it that way so we don't confuse you."
Fred replied, grinning evilly at Ron who flushed.
"Bloody brothers..."
His mutterings filled the silent room for about a minute until Ginny broke away from Draco's lips and arms where she had been locked since Ron had agreed not to murder Draco for the time being.
"I don't know what you're complaining about you bloody great... prune."
She finished when Mrs Weasley's gave her yet another sharp look about her language from behind the oven where she was using her wand to control four steaming pans and three knives chopping up different vegetables.
"What?"
Ron asked, startled as he turned to look at his sister.
"You're not even the youngest! I am."
Ginny replied triumphantly, raising an eyebrow when Ron continued his mutterings but this time including cheeky sisters in the mix.
"Does he do that in bed, Hermione?"
George asked loudly, making Bill and Charlie, who had dug some Butterbeers out of the fridge and had been about to swallow their mouthfuls, snort into their bottles and spray it all over their chins. Draco buried his face in Ginny's shoulder but couldn't disguise the fact his shoulders were shaking with laughter and Ron glared around the room, his face now resembling a ripe tomato.
"George."
Mrs Weasley reproved, adding the chopped vegetables into a pan and waving her wand at the knives and chopping boards which soared over their heads into the sink. Mrs Weasley didn't approve of dishwashers; she didn't trust any muggle invention unless it was proved to be useful and not just a way out of doing things.
"I meant in his sleep of course."
George replied innocently, winking at Hermione who shot him a dirty look, her hand sneaking into her fiancé's to squeeze it comfortingly.
"You know what, I never thought I'd say this but I actually do like your family a lot."
Draco whispered into Ginny's ear as they all wandered into the dining room carrying their various bottles and glasses. She beamed up at him and stared around the table at her family proudly.
"But don't tell anyone I said that, I have a reputation to keep."
He murmured, his hand creeping up her thigh and under the skirt of her midnight-blue mini-dress under the table. She swallowed hard as his fingers went even higher and Charlie looked at her curiously as he handed her a bowl of peas to pass round.
"Alright, Gin?"
He asked and she nodded, making a faint squeaking nose and grabbing Draco's hand from under the table, bring it back into his lap and giving him a stern look.
"Afternoon."
Mr Weasley Apparated into the living room and wandered into the dining room shortly followed by Angelina. He stopped dead when he saw Draco sat with his family, chattering away to Ginny.
"This is Ginny's new boyfriend, Arthur. Draco Malfoy."
Mrs Weasley said quickly, kissing her husband and handing him a plate.
"Hello Angelina, how was flying."
Angelina shrugged and yawned, collapsing into a seat next to Fred and piling some food onto her plate.
"Better than it has been lately thanks, Molly. I was thinking about the new Griffindor team and I think we've got just the right mix this year to pull it off."
She beamed at Mrs Weasley, her hand disappearing under the table and reappearing with Fred's trapped in her grip. Fred glanced up at Draco and they grinned knowingly at each other.
"Are you sure we have to do this?"
Ginny whined, digging her heels into the gravely drive as Draco tugged her up the sloping drive, her hands clasped in his.
"Yes!"
Draco grunted, giving up pulling her and circling around to pick her up and carry her to Malfoy Manor. Outside the huge black wooden doors decorated with mean looking metal studs he put a hand on the centre of the door, just beneath a large wrought iron door-knocker shaped as a serpents snarling head. The snake head's eyes flickered open and Draco stared directly into them for a few seconds until the door swung open.
"My son?"
Ginny raised her eyes to see the figure that had haunted her nightmares for years, the tall, lean body, the long white-blond hair and the cruel calculating eyes taking her in before narrowing with disgust as he surveyed them from the top of the wide marble stairs.
"Why have you brought a Weasley to my home?"
Lucius Malfoy sneered, nodding his head in Ginny's direction and she glared at him, fear prickling up her spine despite Draco's hand gripping hers tightly.
"I've come to introduce you to my girlfriend."
Draco emphasised the last two words and Lucius's eyes widened in shock, he slowly descended the stairs, his long black cloak billowing out behind him.
"Have you lost your mind boy?!"
He growled, grabbing Draco's arm and shaking him with such force that Ginny was shaken too.
"Not at all, Father."
Draco replied coolly, yanking his arm out of his father's iron grip, his face impassive but Ginny could feel his hold tighten unbearably on her hand and she fought against the urge to wince.
"Very well, you've introduced me to her."
Lucius spat, sneering as he glanced at Ginny. She glared right back, images of the Chamber flashing before her eyes and Tom Riddle's voice in her head.
"Where's Mother?"
Draco asked, noticing the look in Ginny's eyes and pulling her closer to him.
"In her study."
His father replied curtly before spinning on his heel and stalking into a room to the left, slamming the door behind him. Draco led Ginny down endless dark panelled corridors and winding passages until they paused outside a black forbidding door.
"Is this it?"
Ginny asked when Draco stared blankly at the door, he nodded slowly and knocked.
"She's probably busy drinking herself into a coma."
He said bitterly when no one answered his knock. He pushed open the door and walked in, tugging Ginny along with him.
"Mother."
He said, nodding at the poker straight back of a tall, regal woman clad in expensive black robes, intricately embroidered with silver thread making all sorts of beautiful designs. Her long hair was twisted up in an elegant twist at the back of her head, exposing her long pale neck and white shoulders.
"Draco."
She replied, turning around slightly. Ginny could see the glass tumbler in her hand half filled with a clear liquid that looked like vodka and only a few cubes of ice. The woman's cool, appraising eyes were squinting slightly and there was an unnatural flush in her cheeks that told Ginny she was very clearly drunk. She swayed slightly as she took a step towards them, her eyes trying to focus on Ginny.
"Whoossis?"
She slurred, bringing the glass to her lips and taking a huge gulp.
"This is my new girlfriend; Ginerva Weasley."
Draco informed her, watching her nervously; he never knew what she might do or say anymore, not since her drinking habit had gotten so much worse. It was ten o'clock in the morning and the woman was drunk already.
"Girrend?"
She repeated, giving up trying to walk towards them and slumping into the big oak chair behind her desk.
"Yes, Mother. We have to go into Diagon Alley so we'll be leaving now."
Draco was talking loudly and clearly, his eyes never leaving his mother's face. Ginny felt a sudden pinprick of pity for the woman standing before her, to have to live with such a man must be awful, no wonder it had driven her to drink.
"Let's go."
Draco said, turning and pulling Ginny out of the room and back down to the hallway they were first in.
"You're leaving then?"
Lucius's cold voice rang out through the cavernous room and Draco turned to face him.
"Yes."
He said stiffly, waiting for his father to say something to hurt Ginny, he wasn't disappointed.
"It won't last you know, and you'll come crawling back to us in the end."
Draco let out a loud mirthless laugh and shook his head, letting go of Ginny's hand.
"I'll never come back, not the way you want me to. This isn't my home anymore."
He replied, ushering Ginny towards the door.
"Your whore can't save you any more than you could have saved your mother."
Ginny felt the temperature in the room plummet to a coldness along the lines a Dementor brings and she turned around to see Draco striding over to his father.
"You destroyed my mother."
He hissed, his face expressionless but his eyes giving away the blind anger as they tossed silver sparks out of their depths.
"Don't you ever call Ginny a whore again."
Ginny was about to call out to Draco to tell him it didn't matter to her what his father thought of her when he swung his fist upwards into his father's face, sending him sprawling against the wall. He glared up at his son with blood pouring from the gash across his left eyebrow and dripping down from his mouth where he had bitten his lip on impact.
Ginny screamed when Lucius pulled out his wand but Draco kicked it out of his hand and stalked out of the house, catching Ginny's hand in his as he passed her and dragging her out of the house.
He finally stopped for breath about a mile away from the Manor, collapsing under an old oak tree at the top of a grassy hill, dropping his head into his hands. Ginny knelt down before him and gently eased his hands away from his face in time to see a single tear roll down his pale cheek.
"I'm sorry."
She said softly, his metallic grey eyes glistening with unshed tears meeting her concerned brown ones.
"What for?"
He asked, letting her cradle his hands in her lap.
"If you hadn't taken me there, none of that would have happened."
He snorted and stared bitterly down at his fast bruising hand, a trickle of blood running from his knuckle to his fingernail.
"Yes it would, like I said before, my father destroyed my mother. His constant use of dark magic made him power crazed and he beat us both if things went bad. Eventually my mother turned to drink and she hasn't stopped since."
Ginny didn't say anything; she let him continue in his own time, her fingertip gently stroking his palm.
"And he was right; I should have taken my mother away from him years ago. If I'd gotten her away from him maybe she'd still have some hope in her life, other than her next drink."
He ripped some blades of grass out of the ground and tossed them savagely into the wind so they whipped down the hill.
"Draco, Draco look at me."
Ginny said urgently, gazing at him with such tenderness on her face he nearly broke down in tears again.
"There's no way you could have saved your mother from him. She didn't want to be saved, trust me; there was nothing you could have done."
He stared at her in silence for a long time before capturing her lips with his.
"Come on, we're going to be late."
She said, pulling him grumbling to his feet and Apparating with a loud crack into Fred and George's store. Draco stared at the space she had been standing in for a few moments before turning to look at the imposing hulk of Malfoy Manor perched at the top of a hill and sighing. His hand gently ran over the bump the necklace Ginny gave him underneath his top made and he turned his back on the Manor before Apparating to the shop.