CHAPTER 2

Gin was sound asleep in her bed the next morning, when she heard the familiar cooing of her pet owl, Edwina. "Five more minutes." Gin grumbled. With that Edwina began nudging her owner with her beak. "Ok, I'm up! I'm up!"

Gin threw off the covers and stood up which immediately made her feel nauseous. "Edwina," she complained, "I think I had a few too many Dragontini's last night. I'd better go whip up some hangover potion."

After Gin drank her horrible tasting potion she felt better. She took a nice long shower, ate some breakfast and then finished packing. The only good thing about being on assignment in London was she had an excuse to bring some of her fabulous clothes and shoes that would normally be lost on everyone at The Burrow.

Two hours later Gin left her loft and made her way down the street. Because of international regulations you could only travel overseas by portkey, so Gin had to lug all of her things plus Edwina four blocks. Finally Gin arrived at the portkey disguised as a park bench. She piled on all of her things and then sat down. As was standard with international portkey travel, Gin had to tap her wand on the bench twice and recite a quick spell.

"Bonko Burrow Bolom Boo." Gin said. Gin felt like she was floating through a tunnel. She looked around and saw that all her things were floating next to her. An instant later she hit the ground softly. She looked up to see the front door of The Burrow in front of her. Gin opened the door and walked into the house where she'd spent her childhood.

"Mum? Dad?" she called.

Her mother came running out of the kitchen and threw her arms around her youngest child. "Oh my little Ginny. It's so good to have you home. You're late is everything all right?"

"Mum I'm only 15 minutes late."

"Well I sent your father on ahead. Let's go put your things in your room and we can go over to see the baby."

Half an hour later they arrived at Ron's house and rang the bell. Ron answered the door and grabbed Gin in a huge bear hug. "It's so good to see you. I can't believe you've missed the first two weeks of your new nephew's life."

"I can't believe it either. Now will you let me through the door so I can see him" Gin exclaimed.

Ron laughed and led his mother and sister to the living room. "Gin!" came a familiar voice. Hermione came running at Gin and gave her a huge hug. "Oh I'm so excited you're here! Come meet the baby."

Hermione led Gin to the nursery and over to a crib in the corner. "Virginia Weasley, meet Kyle Harry Weasley."

Gin looked down into the crib and fell instantly in love. "He's the most perfect thing ever" she said, tearing up. The tiny newborn had Hermione's intense brown eyes and button nose, but also had the Weasley red hair. Gin reached down and picked him up. "Hello, Kyle," she introduced herself, "I'm your Aunt Gin. I'm going to spoil you rotten and I'm going to be your favorite Aunt I guarantee!"

"Not to be nit picky Gin," Hermione feigned seriousness, "but, as I'm an only child and you're Ron's only sister, you're actually Kyle's only Aunt unless you count Bill, Charlie and Percy's wives."

"Ok fine I didn't want to say it, but you've forced me." Gin began speaking to the baby in her arms, "Kyle I'm going to be your favorite relative. Now I know that's a bold statement, seeing as we have such a large family, but trust me, to know me is to adore me. And I want to make this promise to you, my sweet Kyle, whenever your mother and father are being horrible to you, just owl me and I'll come get you and take you away to New York."

Gin and Hermione looked at each other and burst out laughing. They laughed so hard tears started coming down there cheeks. "Nice to know what you think of my mothering skills Gin" Hermione tried to sound angry, but the laughter overcame her. "Now, let me put my baby down for his nap and we'll go have a cup of tea."

The next morning Gin woke up late, all the traveling and visiting had left her exhausted. Wonderful odors of coffee and home mad cinnamon buns wafted up from the kitchen. Gin had to admit, no matter how much time she spent out on her own, she'd always miss her mothers cooking. Gin put on her slippers and headed down stairs.

"Good morning" she greeted her mother and father.

"Good morning darling" her father kissed her forehead. "Sleep well?"

"Very well, thank you. I have to admit it's nice to have some time to relax."

"Don't relax too long" Her mother said just as she was biting into her cinnamon roll, "Everyone will be here in a couple of hours."

"Everyone?"

"Ginny, I owled you about this last week. Everyone is coming over for lunch today. It'll be the first time we're all together with the baby."

"Oh yes mum I just forgot for a minute." Gin lied. She'd never read the last page of her mother's last owl. She just figured that her mother wanted to remind her, for the thousandth time, to bring a sweater. The delicious coffee and roll were eaten quickly and Gin headed back upstairs to get ready.

After Gin had showered, she set out to find something to wear. This was not the easiest thing. No one at The Burrow exactly understood high fashion. She rifled through her things, finally selecting a pair of low slung dark denim Diesel jeans and a fitted black Polo Pink Pony t-shirt. After doing her hair and putting on the little makeup she wore, she gave herself a final look in the mirror. She decided she looked perfectly fine considering she'd only be seeing her family and close friends.

Gin heard the doorbell ring and assumed people had begun arriving. She made her way downstairs and was instantly greeted by Bill and Charlie. Her two oldest brothers swooped her off the ground and instantly started teasing her. "Now I finally feel like I'm home" she laughed. She was also greeted by Bill's wife Estella and their three children John, Jenny, and Jillian. Charlie's wife, Drea was there as well with their five year old twins, Daniel and Rupert. Gin was nearly smothered with hugs and kisses from her beloved nieces and nephews.

Five minutes later Percy arrived with his wife Anna and their two year old daughter Gemma. Ten minutes after that Fred and George arrived with their girlfriends, Sandy and Mandy, who were also twins. A moment later Harry walked in with his wife Giselle. Soon, more guests arrived and the house was filled with family and close friends.

An hour later Gin was talking to her oldest friend, Luna Lovegood, while her niece Jillian sat contentedly in her lap. She was lost in conversation and didn't know anyone else had arrived until she heard her mother's voice. "Draco darling" her mother exclaimed. Gin instantly forgot what she was doing and whirled her head around. Draco's eyes met hers and she felt her stomach lurch. She turned back to Luna quickly. Luna was the only person in London that knew about her affair with Draco.

"Gin," Luna started nervously, "I was going to owl you about this, but I thought maybe I should tell you in person"

"Is this about Draco being engaged?" Gin cut her friend off.

"You know?"

"It was in the paper and someone mentioned it to me."

"Are you ok?"

Gin laughed and hoped it sounded natural. "Luna really! Why would it bother me? That all happened years ago. Besides, it was nothing."

"Hello Ginny"

Gin whirled around to see who had spoken. Draco Malfoy was standing over her looking as sexy as ever. Gin felt as if the wind was knocked out of her, she stared up into Draco's beautiful gray eyes and realized she still hadn't said anything. "Hello Draco. Good to see you."

This time it was Draco who seemed to have lost his voice. "um hmm" Gin heard someone behind Draco clear their throat loudly. This seemed to snap Draco out of his trance. "Oh yes, Ginny I'd like you to meet Olivia DeLaurene, my uh my fiancé."

Draco stepped to the side as Gin got her first glance at Draco's soon to be wife. Much to Gin's dismay, the woman in front of her was very attractive. She was petite, probably only about 5' tall. Her body was small and slim, but shapely. Golden blond ringlets cascaded to her shoulders, framing her heart shaped face.

"It's so nice to meet you." Olivia said

"Yes," Gin replied, trying to sound sincere "It's nice to meet you to."

"I'm familiar with your work. A cousin of mine lives in New York. You must know her, Athena DeLaurene?"

"No, that name doesn't ring a bell." Gin answered honestly.

"Oh I'm surprised. She's very important in the New York wizarding social scene."

"Well, it's a big city" Gin laughed, making a feeble attempt at humor.

"Yes it is. Not my kind of place really I don't understand why anyone lives there. I much prefer London. I've read your little column though when I visited her."

"Really? Someone so important in the New York wizarding social scene has time to read my 'little' column." Gin said, not even trying to hide the anger in her voice.

"Oh I think it was laying around on a park bench or something. What's it called again? How to Live The Good Life."

"Actually, it's Called The Fabulous Life"

Draco figured this is was a good time to step in. "Ginny is a really talented writer. Even back at Hogwarts she was great."

"Yes I'm sure she was." Olivia said dismissively. She bent down slightly, finally noticing the child sitting in Gin's lap. "Hello Gemma. Remember me?"

"Yes, but I'm Jillian. That's Gemma." Bill's feisty daughter pointed and climbed off of her aunt's lap.

Draco knew he'd better act fast. "Olivia I'm starved. Let's go get some food." He grabbed his fiancé's hand and led her to the kitchen.

Luna looked at Gin who was still steamed. "Lovely isn't she?" Luna asked sarcastically.

"I wish you'd have warned me about her."

"Honestly, I've never warmed up to her. I've always found her to be very snobby, but I've met her several times and I've never seen her be that out and out mean to anyone before."

"Lucky Me" Gin seethed.

Gin woke the next morning still irritated. She tried very hard to put her encounter with Olivia behind her. The rest of the day had been wonderful. She'd had a great time catching up with everyone; she hadn't seen any of them since Christmas. So, why was Olivia still bothering her? "It's just that I thought Draco had better judgment then that" she thought to herself. She tried again to put it out of her mind and went to get ready for her day.

Meanwhile, at Malfoy Manor, Draco was having a bad morning himself. He'd barely been able to sleep the night before. After he and Olivia had left The Burrow they'd argued about her behavior. She claimed that Ginny had been nasty to her, which was ridiculous. Ginny would never be nasty to someone unless provoked, so he couldn't understand why Olivia had been so rude.

Most of the night, though, he hadn't thought about his fight with Olivia, he hadn't thought about Olivia at all actually. All he seemed to be able to think about was Ginny. It had been nearly a year since he'd seen her, but every time he saw her she was more beautiful. "Why can't I stop thinking about her?" Malfoy thought, "That all happened ages ago." The truth was though, no woman since Ginny had touched him the way she did. It was clear to Draco however, that Gin didn't feel the same way about him. "At least she's only here for two weeks," he thought, "I'm sure I won't see her again before she goes back to New York."

"I can't believe we have you for six weeks Gin" Hermione said over a cup of tea.

"Yes, but after my two week holiday I have to spend the rest of the time working." Gin answered.

"What will you be writing about?"

"Lena wants a 'Fabulous Life on the road' piece. So, I'm supposed to be going to 'all the hottest places for young, single witches in London"

"Sounds like a fun way to make a living."

"You know how much I love my job. I just wish Lena hadn't sprung this on me so suddenly. I've had no time to prepare."

Just then Mrs. Weasley came out of the kitchen. "Ginny dear I have a wonderful idea. I'll ask Ron to ask Draco to take you to some places in London. He'll know all the 'hip' places for young people."

"No Mum don't do that" Gin tried to sound casual, "I don't want to trouble Ron or Draco."

"Don't be silly dear," her mother said, "Ron sees him every day at the office and I'm sure Draco would be delighted to do it." And with that her mother returned to the kitchen.

"Just bloody wonderful" Gin said out loud before she thought.

"Gin," Hermione began, "I've seen you around Draco and I can tell he's not your favorite person, but I really think you should give him another chance. He's not that same selfish, awful boy we knew at Hogwarts. Now, his fiancé she's a whole different story."

This peeked Gin's interest. "Oh you don't like her?"

"Ron says I'm being too judgmental, but I think she just wants Draco for his money and position. She's always been nice to me, but she's so fake. Every time she's with us or at The Burrow I can tell she wants to be somewhere else."

"But Draco is happy." Gin tried to sound casual.

"Honestly, I think he's just sick of dating and wants to settle down. I've never seen him really seem happy with anyone he's dating. Oh and here's an interesting piece of gossip," Gin's ears perked up when Hermione said this, "Gisele was telling me that yesterday she saw the two of them in the kitchen arguing."

"Did she say what they were fighting about?"

"All she heard was Draco saying 'she's a really great girl and you had no right to act like that', but Gisele and I can't figure out who 'she' is."