Chapter Thirty Four
Ginny awoke to the sound of an owl banging on her window. She stumbled out of bed and opened the window, wincing as the icy air hit her full force. The honey colored bird dropped an envelope on the floor, then turned to leave without waiting for a response. Ginny frowned at it, then shut the window.
"Bloody bird," she mumbled groggily. She picked up the envelope and turned it over, frowning when she recognized Hermione's neat script. She started to open the envelope when she became aware of the ring on her finger, and she stopped and held her hand up. The ring truly was beautiful. She wondered when Draco had had time to buy it, and how he'd known what size to get her. She resolved to ask him at some point in the near future, and tore the envelope open.
Ginny,
I know that you're angry with me, so I'll understand if you don't answer this letter. I just wanted to tell you that no matter what happens, I'll always be your friend, and I'll always be here for you. I don't know what's happened to all of us – one minute, we're all together and happy, and the next minute, you've disappeared and Ron follows behind you. I want to be happy for you, to think that you're as happy as I was before Ron ended our engagement, but I don't know how to be. Please, Ginny, if you were ever really my friend, can you explain to me how this all happened? I promise to listen, if you'll just tell me what led you to be with Malfoy, and to try to understand. You were always my only female friend, and I want to be your friend still, even if I may not get to be your sister. If you can find it in your heart to speak to me again, I'd like to invite you to lunch at my flat today. Please owl me back if you accept. If I don't hear from you, I'll know your answer.
Always,
Hermione
Ginny sighed and folded the letter up, and then stashed it deep inside her top dresser drawer. She knew that Hermione had been happy and that she had loved Ron, but she wasn't so sure that Ron reciprocated. While she was sure that Ron had harbored deep feelings for Hermione, she'd never believed him to be truly in love with her, and she was afraid that that was what Hermione really wanted to talk about – her failed relationship with her brother. That was what had constituted the majority of their friendship; either Hermione gushing about Ron, or Ginny gushing about Harry. When Ginny's fixation on Harry had ended, so had her conversations with Hermione come to a screeching halt.
She moved to the closet and selected an outfit as she considered the invitation. Hermione had asked for her to help her understand her relationship with Draco, but would she really understand if Ginny told her about it? She smiled softly to herself as she pulled on a pair of slacks and a soft, fuzzy sweater. How could she explain to Hermione the feelings that flooded her every time he was near?
She picked up her brush and sat down on her bed, staring out the window as she brushed her hair. Perhaps she should accept Hermione's invitation after all – she could share the news of her engagement, and try to make peace with her. In the process of sharing her good news, perhaps she could find out why Harry seemed so intent on destroying her fragile happiness. She frowned as she replaced the brush on her nightstand and stood. Yes, if anyone would know why Harry did what he did, it was Hermione.
She left her room and headed towards the dining room, hearing voices raised as she neared. She stopped in the doorway when she saw Draco and Ron having a heated conversation, their voices now hushed as they spoke. She frowned. Their faces were red, and she knew they had been arguing. After a moment, Ron looked up and saw her. He cleared his throat, and Draco looked up immediately.
"Ah, good morning, sweet," he said, his expression changing to happiness. Her frown melted and she smiled.
"Good morning. Is everything all right?" she asked, glancing at her brother. Ron's ears turned red, and Draco grinned as he guided her to the seat beside his.
"Everything is fine. Your brother and I were just discussing the whole idea of getting protective orders against Potter." Ginny turned in her seat to look at Ron.
"Were you able to convince Padma to do it, then?" He nodded.
"You were right," he said, pulling a sheet of parchment out of his pocket. "She was mad enough at Harry that she was more than willing to sign a statement. Turns out that Harry's been following Malfoy and me," he said, his jaw clenching. Draco arched an eyebrow at him, then turned to Ginny.
"We're going to use her statement as a basis for obtaining protective orders for all of us - your brother, Pansy, you, and myself. The only problem is that in order for you to get one, you have to fill out the paperwork and sign it."
"I can fill out the paperwork," she said, looking between them. "What's the problem?"
"I just didn't know if you'd want to fill it out and get an order against Harry," Ron explained. "I mean, I know why Malfoy and Pansy would want to, and I know why I want to – but Harry really hasn't been keeping tabs on you the way he apparently has with the three of us."
"You don't understand," she said, shaking her head. "He's accosted me at least twice now, trying to talk to me when all I wanted was for him to leave me alone. Draco was even there once when he did it."
"Then I suppose Malfoy could be your witness, and give a written statement for you," Ron said, looking at Draco.
"I'll be more than happy to do it, if that's what Ginny wants."
"Why wouldn't I?" she asked, confused. "Draco and I are going to be together eventually, and then who's to say that Harry wouldn't harass me? If he wants to get to Draco badly enough, you know he'll come after me."
"Especially when he finds out that you two are going to be married," Ron nodded. Draco's expression softened, and he reached for Ginny's hand. When he caught hold of it, he squeezed gently. She smiled at him. Ron rolled his eyes. "Come on, guys! Do I have to see this stuff?"
"You'd better get used to it," Draco said, his eyes still on his fiancée. She blushed, and then turned to look at Ron.
"Speaking of displays of affection," she began. "Where's Pansy this morning?" Ron's ears turned crimson and he averted his eyes. Draco raised his eyebrows and Ginny's jaw dropped.
"She's at my flat," he said quietly. "She's still in bed. I didn't want to wake her."
"Ron!" Ginny gasped, and Draco paled considerably. Ginny broke into a fit of giggles. "So I take it that dinner went well last night?" He gave her a sheepish grin.
"Something like that."
"Your parents accepted her, then?" Draco asked curiously. Ron nodded and looked relieved to be steering away from the reasons why Pansy was still in his bed.
"They did. They were uncomfortable about it at first, and then things sort of settled down. Mum and Pansy started talking cooking and recipes, and I think that sort of convinced Mum. She asked Pansy if she wanted a family, and when Pansy said she wanted a house full of kids, Mum was over the moon."
Ginny giggled. "And Dad? What did he think?"
"I think that when Dad saw Mum so happy, he decided that Pansy couldn't be all that bad, and he acted like he was more comfortable. It turned out to be a pretty good night, except for the half hour that I lost my date to my mother." Draco grinned and shook his head.
"I'm happy for the both of you. I'm glad things went well with your parents – especially since they didn't go well with hers." Ron frowned.
"Yeah, I said something to her about that. How are we going to be together if her parents don't approve?"
"I say sod her parents," Draco said. Ginny and Ron looked at him in surprise. "Well, do you have feelings for the woman or not?"
"Of course I do," Ron said, nodding. "She's amazing."
"Then who cares what her parents think? It's her happiness that matters, and she has feelings for you, too."
"As evidenced last night," Ginny teased. Ron blushed and looked down.
"We'll discuss that more later," Draco promised Ron, frowning as he did.
"Brat," Ron mumbled to Ginny, stifling a laugh.
"Besides, her parents are no-good traitors, anyway," Draco sniffed. Before he could say anything further, his parents walked in and took their usual seats.
"Good morning," Narcissa said, smiling brightly. "It's nice to see you here, Ron. Will you be having breakfast with us this morning?"
"Yes, he will," Draco answered for him. He rose and pecked his mother lightly on the cheek, and then sat back down. "You're looking well this morning, Mother."
"She slept like a baby last night," Lucius said, grinning at his wife. Narcissa blushed delicately. "After she cried for an hour straight over the fact that her baby is all grown up and going to get married." Draco grinned at both of them, and Ginny smiled.
"Have you made any plans? Set a date, or anything?" Narcissa asked. Draco laughed.
"Mother, we just got engaged last night. We haven't had time enough to discuss the details yet."
"I just thought that perhaps you had a date in mind already," she said, shrugging as she sipped her warm tea.
"Not yet, but maybe Ginny would like to go over some things with you later," Draco suggested, glancing at Ginny. She nodded.
"Oh, yes. I don't know the first thing about weddings." Narcissa smiled.
"Are you boys planning on going somewhere today?" Lucius asked curiously, his eyes falling on the papers that Ron was holding. Draco nodded and cleared his throat.
"We're going to go to the Ministry and file for a protection order against Potter." Lucius arched an eyebrow in question. "Turns out that not only has he been following me, he's been having Pansy and Ron and Ginny followed, as well."
"What kind of threat does either of them pose to him?" Narcissa asked, gesturing slightly towards Ron and Ginny.
"We've both been privy to top secret meetings that have taken place, and we both know loads of stuff that I'm sure he thinks we're blabbing to everyone about." Ron's face hardened as he became angry.
"Well, I think it's in poor taste," Narcissa said, shaking her head. "I mean, Ginny has barely left the Manor all week, so he's had no reason to have her followed. It seems to me that if she had intentions of telling anyone anything, she would have done it by now, and he couldn't have stopped her, as he's not allowed onto the grounds here."
"I think you'll find that Harry is sort of hot-headed and doesn't always think everything through entirely," Ron said dryly. Draco raised his eyebrows at him in surprise. "What?"
"I just thought that you worshipped Potter. Why else would you have spent all of your time at Hogwarts around him?"
"He was my friend. There was never a dull moment when he was around, either. We were always getting into things together. Besides, my family loved him." He gave Ginny a pointed look, and she nearly choked on the mouthful of muffin she'd just bitten off.
"Ron," she said, after she had composed herself. "I was never in love with Harry. Just because I had a stupid little schoolgirl's crush doesn't mean anything."
"He never paid you the slightest attention – except for the whole Chamber incident." Ron's face went red, and he refused to look at Lucius. Ginny averted her eyes as well, and Draco noticed that Lucius' cheeks turned red. Narcissa frowned.
"What happened that's made you all so quiet?" Lucius cleared his throat and met his wife's eyes.
"I believe that they are being very polite in not telling anyone that I managed to give Ginny a certain magical item that got her into somewhat of a perilous situation at one time." Draco's eyes widened, and he looked at Ginny, who was staring hard at her food. Ron refused to meet Draco's eyes.
"What did you give her?" Draco asked. Lucius sighed.
"A magical diary of sorts," he said, frowning. "She's been very gracious not to have mentioned it to you up until this point, although seeing as how it almost got her killed, I don't understand why she hasn't told you."
"You almost got her killed?" Draco asked, disbelief etched on his face.
"It's in the past, and none of us got along then," Ginny said quietly, glancing up at Draco. "And it wasn't all bad." Lucius eyed her thoughtfully as she spoke.
"Why would you continue to pine for him if he never showed you any attention?" Narcissa asked, changing the subject. Ginny avoided Draco's questioning gaze and focused her attention on his mother instead.
"I don't know. I suppose it was an exaggerated case of hero worship," she said honestly. "I thought at the time that I loved him, and with that in mind it just seemed natural for me to ignore every other boy. Then someone asked me out, and it woke me up, so to speak. I realized that Harry would never notice me in that way. I dealt with it and moved on."
"Well, I can't say that I'm sorry about that," Narcissa said, smiling warmly at Ginny. Ginny returned the smile and began eating again. Ron cleared his throat.
"Before we can file those papers for you, you have to fill them out and sign them, Gin." She nodded and wiped her fingertips on a napkin, then took the papers from him. She glanced over them quickly.
"They don't ask for very much information," she said, surprised.
"Do you think they want your whole life's story?" Ron teased. She rolled her eyes.
"I just meant that it's surprisingly little information, considering that a protective order lasts for several years." Ron blinked at her.
"How do you know that?"
"I'm not stupid, Ronald. You ought to take a lesson away from this. Just because someone doesn't speak a lot doesn't mean that they don't listen a lot."
"Well spoken," Lucius agreed, nodding. He sipped at his coffee.
"Do you want me to do this now?" she asked, turning to Draco.
"You should finish your breakfast first," he said, shaking his head. "I don't want to interrupt your meal."
"I'm finished," she said, pushing her plate away. "I'm going to go to the library and fill it out there, if that's all right."
"Perfectly. As a matter of fact, I think I'll follow you down there. Are you coming, Ron?" Draco asked, rising from his chair. Ron gave a start, then stood. It was going to take some getting used to; Draco referring to him as something other than "Weasel."
When they reached the library, Ginny sat down at the desk and reached for a quill. Draco watched as she scribbled madly on the parchment, admiring the diamond ring that graced her finger. It really was beautiful on her, and it was even more so considering the meaning behind it. He'd found someone who accepted him the way he was, and she had agreed to become his wife. His stomach lurched pleasantly, and he resolved to ask his father what sort of binding spells had been performed at his parents' wedding.
"If you have any trouble, let me know," Ron said, sitting down. She stopped filling the form out, her quill poised just above the paper, and then she turned to look at him.
"What do you mean, trouble?"
"I mean, the applications are charmed with spells to make sure that no one falsifies information," he said, shrugging. She shot an amused glance at Draco, who looked as bewildered as she felt.
"And assuming that I was going to falsify information – which I'm not, by the way – how would you be able to help?"
"Why do you always assume I'm stupid?" Ron asked, screwing his face up. "I offered help because I know how to get around the charms." Ginny snorted and shook her head before turning back around and continuing her work on the form. Draco looked interested.
"And how would you come to know something like that?"
"Fred and George figured it out, really," he said. "They filed to get an order of protection against Colin Creevey."
"What?" Ginny laughed, turning around to look at him again.
"Remember he kept going into their shop and trying to sneak pictures while they were testing new things? They had to file for an order to keep him away. He would have ruined their business if he'd gotten pictures and spread them around."
"So how did that teach you to break the charms?"
"They couldn't file based only on his spying tactics, so they had to concoct a story about him threatening their lives. Then they had to befuddle the form to accept it as truth."
"And it worked?"
"It worked," Ron said, nodding. "They got the protective order. It was right funny, too, to watch Creevey the next time he tried to go into the shop. He couldn't even touch the door."
"Why not?" Ginny asked.
"When they put a protective order on someone, it creates a sort of barrier. If they try to get too close to you, they get a series of shocks that get worse the harder they try to get at you."
"So if Harry tried to follow the two of you after the order is in place-"
"He'd be fine, as long as he stays a certain amount of space away from us," Ron finished for her.
"Who determines the distance they have to keep away?"
"It all depends on how serious the reason is for wanting the order."
"How long did Fred and George get for a supposed death threat?"
"Five years. They have to go back and petition for it to be reinstated when it expires." Draco gave a low whistle.
"That's a long time," he said. "Impressive. Are these the same brothers who managed to slip Snape a candy that turned him into a bird?" Ginny and Ron exchanged glances, then burst into laughter.
"I thought I would die!" Ginny cackled gleefully. "I snuck out of my Charms class to watch it happen, and McGonagall caught me in the corridor. She would have given me detention if she hadn't been laughing so hard!"
"Me and Harry helped them sneak it into his classroom," Ron said proudly, a broad grin on his face. "And Hermione didn't speak to us for a whole week after she found out."
"Oh, those were great times," Ginny said, her voice turning wistful. "I really miss Fred and George, don't you, Ron?"
"More than I thought I would." Ginny cleared her throat, then went back to filling out the form. The three of them sat in silence, and the only sound in the room was the scratching of the quill against parchment. When Ginny had finished with the form, she handed it to Draco.
"All done." He bent over and dropped a quick kiss on her cheek and smiled at her.
"Thank you. We'll be back as soon as we're finished. Ready, Ron?" Ron nodded and stood. He gave Ginny a wink and a nod before heading into the hallway behind Draco. Ginny stood and went back to her room, pulling Hermione's letter out to examine it again. She dropped the parchment on the bed and sat down at the desk to scribble a quick note.
Hermione,
If you still want to meet, I can make it for tea. Let me know.
Ginny
She rolled up the parchment and pulled her cloak on before heading out to the stables where the owls were kept. She chose a small black owl and tied the parchment to its leg, then told it where to go. She let it loose and watched it as it took off.
"It was very kind of you not to tell anyone about the diary." She whirled around to face Lucius.
"It hadn't really even crossed my mind," she admitted. "I was worried when Draco introduced us, but when you didn't say anything about it, I forgot it."
"That's very noble of you. I wanted to ask you something, though." She watched as he walked towards the only cage in the room. It contained a single charcoal colored bird. "You said that what came from the diary wasn't all bad. What did you mean by that?"
"I didn't think that everything that happened to me was horrible," she said, watching him open the cage and stroke the bird gently. "I learned a lot from him while I was down there."
"You learned a lot from who?" Lucius asked cautiously.
"From Tom Riddle," she said. Lucius turned to stare at her.
"You did?"
"Yes," she said, nodding. "He's the one who taught me the beginnings of my Ceromancy. He helped me practice, and after Harry came and got me, I continued practicing on my own." Lucius closed the cage and eyed her carefully.
"Came and got you? Why, you don't sound at all as though you wanted to leave. Didn't he rescue you?"
"I'm sure he thinks so," she said, shrugging.
"Everyone else certainly thought so."
"The thing about it is that no one ever asked me if I wanted to leave," she said. "Everyone just assumed that he forced me to go down there, and that he was forcing me to stay down there."
"Didn't he?"
"No, he didn't. The only thing he ever forced me to do was write on the walls," she said.
"Interesting."
"It is, isn't it?" She opened her mouth to say more when the owl she'd sent out returned with a letter for her. She pulled the parchment off of the bird's leg and unrolled it.
Ginny,
Tea would be lovely! I'll have it ready by ten o'clock. I can't wait to see you!
Hermione
She stuffed the parchment into her pocket and turned to face Lucius. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have to go." She started to walk past him, when he called out to her.
"Ginny," he said, jogging to catch up to her. "Do you, by any chance, know how to read Latin?"
"Yes," she said. He stared at her.
"You do?"
"Yes."
"I have something that needs translating. Would you mind looking at it for me when you return?" She gave him a warm smile.
"Of course not; I'd be happy to." She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. "Thank you."
"For what?" he asked, bemused.
"For being so good to me and my brother." With that, she turned and sprinted back towards the Manor, leaving him staring after her in amazement.