Disclaimer: Nothing's mine!

A/N: Mwahahahahahahahaha! What's going to happen now, eh? R&R!

Memory – A Blessing

And the World Falls

Arthur stormed through the building, knocking over any people and objects in his way. Inside, his mind and heart were in shock. He was back. That worthless creature, Malfoy, was back, so cleverly posing with the name of Tom. And he had just been with Ginny, kissing her, his hands all over her.

Was that where she had been all this day and last night? He could hardly bear to think about it. And how – how could she have broken through that Memory Charm he had placed? It was painful to think about. She had broken through the cause of so much of his pain and regret in the last few years.

Suddenly, Arthur paused, a mountain of files in front of him. Merlin, what was Ginny thinking of him now? He couldn't deny the fact that if it were him, he would feel terribly betrayed. But at the time, he had had no other choice. He simple couldn't bear to see Ginny with somebody like that.

And he knew that it was lucky he had found her with that simple locater spell and seen them, really. It would be best, in the long run. As he flicked through files upon files of information, he smiled grimly. At least this way Ginny wouldn't be hurt any further.

She fell in love with him, Arthur. Again. Think about it.

He paused, frowning. Where had that thought come from? But it was shaken away as if it was simply a persistent fly as a piece of old parchment caught his eye.

There.

At long last, Arthur pulled the document he had been searching for out of the filing cabinet, a sense of calm spreading through him. Sitting down, he hastily scribbled a letter and sent it off, with the document, with the first owl he found.

Then Arthur sank his head into his hands and waited. Since the death of all his family except his dear Ginny, his one task in life had been to find the remaining followers of Voldemort and bring them to justice. He would not feel uneasy about this conviction. After all, it had never officially been proved that the Malfoy boy had been under the Imperius Curse. And, looking at the family's background, it was more likely than not that he had been guilty of cold-blooded murder. He wasn't about to let Ginny have a relationship with somebody like that, no matter how much she thought he had changed. Arthur knew that people like that never changed.

--------------------------

Draco kept his eyes on the beautiful sleeping woman beside him. Her hair was loose, fanned out across the pillow like fire. She was covered by the sheets but wearing only the green pendant he had bought for her, and he felt the blood rush to his face at the memory of what they had just done.

"I love you, Ginny," he whispered. "I've seen things, done things, that you couldn't imagine, I let hate corrupt me into something foul. But I love you so much, and it scares me."

"You're not foul, stupid," Ginny said, her eyes still closed, grinning slightly. "And stop being so soppy, it's quite scary."

Draco felt as though he had been electrocuted. His heart thumped wildly, and he unconsciously clenched his jaw. But Ginny opened her eyes and smiled at him gently, taking his slightly shaking hand, here eyes bright.

"I told you, Draco. I remember everything now. And I love you more than anything I've ever loved."

His heart swelling, singing, he finally said what he had wanted to say for almost seven years.

"Marry me, Ginny."

She blinked, thinking that she had misheard him. Panicking, Draco ran a hand through his hair sheepishly.

"Well, ok, I don't actually have a ring or anything yet, but..." He cleared his throat and tried again. "Ginevra Weasley, will you marry me?"

Her eyes lit up. Her smile widened, and they both knew what she would say.

She never had the chance to give her answer.

A loud crack sounded downstairs, followed by another, and a third.

Ginny sat bold upright and pulled on her bath robe. Draco looked at her, and she shrugged. She left the bedroom and pattered quietly down the stairs, half-sleepily wondering what had broken. She was halfway across the room when the light came on. As she winced and blinked rapidly, a voice spoke from behind her.

"Don't move, Ginny."

Her head whipped around and she stared at the doorway in silence, an icy feeling of anger and something else, something like dread, spreading through her.

Arthur was standing there, but how? How had he known that she was here? Why was he here? How?

Then Ginny saw the other two men who had come with her father. She saw their cloaks, their uniform, and the truth hit her. The unbelievable, grotesque, terrible truth. A heartbeat later, as loud as she could, she screamed,

"RUN!"

It had been a heartbeat too late. Draco had already come down the stairs.

Ginny turned, and everything seemed to be in slow motion. She saw the horror in his face as the truth dawned on him too, saw the concentration in his face as he tried to Disapparate, heard the spell, saw him freeze ... The Ministry officials were binding him to the spot... Ginny turned again, and her head felt as though it was moving through water... Then she too felt like stone as she was bound by the same spell... She looked at her father in shock, desperate...

Arthur, who had pulled his wand out and bound her to the spot, shot Ginny a look of mingled anger, sorrow, and pity. One of the Ministry officials stepped forward, his face strained as he held his wand out at Draco.

"Draco Malfoy, you have been proved guilty of conscious murder, committed in Trafalgar Square, London, seven years ago. You are sentenced without trial to life imprisonment in Azkaban."

There was total silence.

It had all happened so fast. Just like that, the world had fallen.

A/N: No, this isn't the end yet...