Chapter Forty Two

Draco woke to sunlight streaming through the windows in Ginny's room. He stretched languidly, trying not to wake Ginny as he did so. When he turned to look at her, he was met with bright brown eyes watching him. He smiled softly at her.

"Good morning." He was rewarded with a gentle smile that made butterflies erupt in his stomach.

"Morning," she croaked softly. His smile widened.

"Feeling better?"

"Much."

"Hungry?"

"A little," she said, wincing slightly. "My throat still feels sore, so I'm not sure I could swallow much of anything."

"Broth, maybe?" he suggested. She nodded and tucked her hands beneath her cheek as she lay there.

"Thank you."

"It's nothing," he said dismissively. "I don't actually have to get it, anyway – the house elves will do it. That's their job."

"I meant for staying with me." He fought to control the blush that rose in his cheeks.

"Oh," he said. "Well, what else was I going to do?"

"You didn't have to stay with me," she pointed out, staring intently at him. "Your Mother and Ron and Pansy all volunteered to do it."

"You heard all of that?"

"I heard everything," she said, nodding. "I even heard Hermione when she tried to cast a spell on me." Draco's countenance darkened.

"It backfired on her."

"I remember you saying that. I feel sorry for her in a way." He stared at her.

"In a way?" he echoed flatly. "I don't feel sorry for her at all – she got what she deserved."

"She only did it to be with Ron again," she said reasonably. "Try to put yourself in her shoes for a minute. Don't get me wrong, I am angry with her – unbelievably so – but she had to have known the risk involved before she did it, and she did it anyway."

"Did she talk to you before she did it?" he asked curiously.

"She told me while I was incapacitated that if she didn't do that, then Harry would do something worse, and she wouldn't be able to stop him."

"I'm going to wring his neck with my bare hands when I see him," Draco growled. "I knew he had something to do with it." She watched him wordlessly, her eyes roaming over his face. He moved so close to her that their noses were almost touching. "Have you given the wedding much thought?"

"Not really," she admitted sheepishly, a blush creeping into her cheeks. "Until you mentioned it to me yesterday."

"I want to marry you as soon as possible."

"Why the hurry?"

"For one, if we're married, I can sign legal documents for you – and I intend to get a protective order on Potter again, if it kills me."

"He'll get rid of every one we get."

"Then we'll have to find a way around him."

"What's the next reason?"

"What?" he asked, looking confused. "What other reason?"

"You said 'first' a minute ago, which implies that you had more than one reason. To marry me so soon, I mean."

"I just want to be with you," he murmured. Her mouth slowly curved into a smile.

"Wouldn't your parents balk at the idea of doing it so quickly? There wouldn't be time to invite all of the guests."

"I don't think they much care, in light of recent events," he said pointedly. "Plus, when we get married, we can have some binding spells performed." Her eyes widened slightly.

"Binding spells? As in the binding spells that were done away with ten years ago?"

"Is there a problem with that?" he asked, frowning.

"No, it's just that I hadn't really thought you'd want to do something so... permanent. Even if we got divorced, we'd still be tied to each other until one of us dies."

"We're not even married yet, and you're already thinking of divorcing me?" he teased, his eyes sparkling. She laughed softly.

"I didn't mean it that way, and you know it."

"Malfoys do not divorce. If you marry me, you're stuck with me for life."

"That's a scary thought," she teased back. He grinned.

"Seriously, though. I'd like us to have the binding spells done. I'd feel a lot safer knowing you had one."

"If you really want to, then I will." His heart swelled and he planted a soft kiss on her lips.

"Why don't we get married this weekend?" he suggested. Her eyes flew open and she stared at him.

"Today is only Monday, isn't it?"

"Tuesday."

"You want to marry me in four days?"

"I do," he said quietly, his expression devoid of humor. She swallowed with some difficulty and tried to ignore the fluttering sensation that was spreading through her stomach. "Will you agree to it?"

"Would anyone else be there? Where would we do it? Who would perform it? Where would we live afterwards?" The questions tumbled from her lips, and he chuckled softly.

"You can have your parents and your brother there. I intend to have my parents and Pansy there. As far as where we'd do it – here, of course. And we'd live here afterwards as well." Ginny turned this over in her head for a few minutes.

"I still don't understand why you're so anxious to be tied down to me." He met her eyes and his expression was solemn as he spoke.

"I don't want a repeat of the last few days' events," he said softly. "Once we've been married and have had the binding spells performed, it won't even be a remote possibility for someone to attack you without my knowledge. I'll be able to protect you better this way." She exhaled silently, trying to mask her disappointment. She had no qualms with marrying him that very moment if he wanted to – she'd just been hoping for a declaration of feelings of some sort. She forced a smile.

"Saturday, then?" His face brightened and he gathered her close.

"Absolutely! You and Pansy and Mother will have to go shopping and buy your dress, and of course you'll want to contact your parents, and –"his voice died. "Parents! We have to tell my parents!" He disengaged himself from her and rose from the bed, muttering under his breath as he left the room. She lay beneath the coverlet and stared at the wall.

He wanted to marry her, and he wanted to do it in four days. That was enough to make her heart start fluttering wildly. She knew that he cared for her a great deal, and she knew that he was willing to marry her early in order to keep her safe. She had just been hoping for something more – she wanted to hear him say the words.

She stretched slowly before rising from her bed. She went into the adjoining bathroom and went about her usual morning routine. Just as she was stepping out of the shower, she realized that she hadn't yet told Draco how she felt about him, either. She remembered him teasing her about being besotted with him, and she knew that his mother and best friend knew how she felt. Was it possible that he just hadn't said the words to her because she hadn't said them to him?

She puzzled over this as she dried off and began dressing. When she had finished slipping into her slacks and silk blouse, she sat down on the bed and began brushing her hair. She loved him; she had no doubt about that now. Acknowledging her feelings to herself was one thing, though; saying it aloud to him was quite another. Her heart jumped into her throat at the idea of it.

She stood and replaced her brush on the dresser, and then moved in front of the full-length mirror that was fastened to the wall. She squared her shoulders resolutely and looked her reflection in the eye. She took a deep breath and nodded to herself.

"I love you," she said softly. She screwed her face up. She didn't remember ever sounding so timid before in her life! This was not a moment to waste on timidity – this was a moment wherein she had to be bold and assertive! She cleared her throat and shook her head slightly, trying to loosen up a bit.

"I love you!" She winced. It had come out too forcefully that time – she was going to have to curb her enthusiasm just a little bit.

Unbeknownst to her, Draco was in the hallway, peering through the crack of the barely open door. His heart began doing somersaults when he heard her speaking the words aloud. He'd been on his way back to fetch her for breakfast when he'd heard her say it the first time. Unable to resist his curiosity, he'd peeked inside. He watched as she told her reflection the words over and over, changing each time the way the words were delivered.

He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, taking a deep, steadying breath. He ached to hear those words directed at him; oh, how he wanted to hear them! He refused to tell her until she told him – he would not be made a fool of! After all, what happened if he told her he loved her, and then she didn't return the sentiment? He would be nothing less than crushed. He cared for her more than anything, and he tried to show her however he could – without actually saying the words.

He turned and peered into her room again, and was startled to find the door being pulled open. For a moment, both he and a very surprised Ginny simply stared at each other. Slowly a blush crept into her cheeks, and she looked down.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were out here."

"I just got here," he said quickly. "I was coming to see if you were going to eat with us this morning."

"Oh," she breathed, nodding. "Yes, I was just on my way to the dining room. I hope I haven't kept anyone waiting." He watched as she stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her.

"No. Mother is still in bed because she has a migraine, and Father is in the library doing research – again." She smiled at him, and his heart leapt into his throat. They began walking towards the dining room together, standing closely but not touching.

"So I've kept you waiting, then," she said, keeping her eyes focused straight ahead.

"Not really," he admitted, shrugging. "I was rather hoping that they'd be at breakfast, though, so we could tell them about Saturday." She chanced a quick glance in his direction, flushing when she caught him looking at her.

"It's strange, isn't it?"

"What's that?" They stepped into the dining room and headed towards the table.

"Just thinking about how we'll be married by Saturday evening," she mused, pulling her chair out and sitting down.

"What's so strange about it?" he asked, reaching for his glass of juice.

"I didn't mean strange in a bad way," she added quickly. "I just meant that it feels odd to think about the fact that after going without a relationship for so long, suddenly I'm going to be married." He nodded slowly.

"Yes, I believe I understand that." He bit off a piece of toast and chewed thoughtfully. When she had drained her coffee, he turned to her. "Perhaps we shouldn't get married on Saturday."

"What?" she asked, her eyes widening in surprise. Her heart began to speed up. Did he not want to marry her now?

"Maybe Saturday is a bad idea. Four days is a long time for me to wait," he deliberated aloud.

"To wait for what?"

"Marriage," he said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. She just nodded and waited for him to continue. "Anything could happen in the next four days."

"So, what are you saying, exactly?"

"I'm saying that I think we should get married sooner than Saturday."

"How much sooner?"

"Four days sooner." She stared at him.

"Today?"

"Yes, today. We could go right now and have all of the proper forms filled out at the Ministry, and someone can wed us there in private."

"What happened to having our families there?"

"It's not being done out of spite; it's being done out of necessity. My parents will understand."

"Oh," she said, her brow creasing as she considered his words. He was right; in light of recent events, four days felt like a lifetime. What if Harry decided to make a move on them during that time? She might never get to marry Draco, if that was the case. And he had mentioned something about binding spells... well, if they went ahead and got married today, she would have a link to him, to make sure that he was always all right. She nodded curtly before looking up at him.

"Well?" he asked, trying to mask his anticipation.

"Let's do it."

Two and half hours later found Ginny and Draco standing in front of a Ministry official in a small, sparsely decorated room. He was wearing his best dress robes, and she was wearing the dress that she'd worn to the wedding the weekend before.

"Before I begin, I want to make sure that this is what you both want," the man said, giving Draco a pointed look. Draco nodded, and Ginny did the same. The man took a deep breath. "And the two of you are sure that you want this binding spell performed? It's not something to enter into lightly – once performed, it's virtually irreversible."

"We're sure." Draco sounded confident, and Ginny's heart swelled as she looked at him. He glanced at her and caught her watching him, and he gave her a soft smile. The man's expression softened, and he withdrew his wand from his pocket.

"Right, then. The spell isn't painful, but I understand that the sensation isn't exactly pleasant, either. I must impress upon you the importance of what it is that you're doing. When this spell is complete, you will be bound to each other for as long as you both live. Each of you will be more attuned to the other. When you have finished here today, a piece of your spouse will reside in you." Ginny's stomach did a nervous flip at the word "spouse." Draco reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as he shot her a reassuring smile.

"Before I begin the marriage and binding spell, I'd like to let you both have an opportunity to speak, if you wish. Is there anything either of you would like to say to the other?" Draco shook his head. He was about to tell the man to continue when Ginny spoke up.

"Yes," she breathed. She turned to face Draco and lifted her eyes slowly to meet his. "Draco, before we go through with this, there's something I have to tell you."