The baby was born on the second of the month following the wedding. She looked up at the little girl sitting on the green velvet couch, with green eyes and red hair like hers, with rosy cheeks and a gray flower petal design in each of her eyes. She'd kept up the masquerade for almost a year and a half before she'd found out she was pregnant, and the baby was overdue.
"Mallory Potter. Look at you, you look so much like your father!"
But that statement could go both ways. In one respect, she had Harry's eyes. That was the only way they could have been green, unless Tom had left something inside her. She had Harry's nose, too.
On the other hand, she had her biological father's complexion and his smile. Sometimes Mallory would be sitting in her highchair and Ginny swore that she was perfecting the Malfoy smirk.
Yes, her biological father was Malfoy.
Ginerva Potter. Mallory Potter. It took some time to get used to the names, but it had very slowly became bearable to answer to 'Mrs. Potter, there's an owl for you" instead of "Ms. Weasley, a cup of coffee, black, two cubes".
She'd became Harry's at-home assistant after a few months, because he needed to have someone take the owls the Ministry was sending to him about his newest missions. Sometimes Ginny hated having an Auror for a husband, but she loved the way he looked at her over dinner, with a little bit of split peas on his glasses.
Sometimes his scar would hurt at night, and he'd scream at Neville to get out of the way, and she just needed to hold him for a few minutes and he'd quiet down.
Yes, Ginny'd come to love him.
Mallory needed him, after all.
It was Christmas time, and the little munchkin was just watching her wrap Harry's presents, sometimes looking at the lighted candles on the tree (charmed to not hurt or catch anything on fire), and sometimes watching the little white and black cat they'd gotten from Hermione, one of Crookshank's offspring he'd brought home.
Ginny grinned at Mallory, who smirked at her. Tears came to her eyes and she had to look away, remembering the Christmas she'd spent with Malfoy almost ten years ago.
"Mommy, why are you crying?" asked Mallory. Ginny shook her head.
"Some cat hair got into my eyes."
"Okay." There was a pause. Ginny knew the girl didn't believe her. "Mommy?"
"Yes, baby?"
"Who's Draco Malfoy?"
December.