DISCLAIMER: Nothing is mine; all this fantastic universe and characters belong to the amazing J.K. Rowling
CHAPTER 10: AT THE MANOR.
Draco and Ginny made their way to Dumbledore's office in silence; they were both completely exhausted due to the events of the day and had no energy left, even for small talk, so they walked through the corridors of Hogwarts without acknowledging each other's presence, Ginny's hand still in Draco's own. Things had turned out to be almost satisfying for Draco: Voldemort was finally dead, his father was not sent to Azkaban and surely his mother was not going to indulge herself into madness once she gets the assurance that Lucius was safe. The only issue that kept bothering Draco was his future wedding to the woman whose hand he held. Lucius's words still resonated in his head: 'don't make her hate you' and Draco desired just for a brief moment that he could forgive her, forget what had happened between he and Ginny and marry her without concerns about their future, living happily ever after. But it was simply not possible. Their situation was not that easy to solve. He still wanted to make her pay for what she did to him, he wanted her to experience the same agony Draco knew when she left him, he wanted her to be as miserable as he once was... but then Ginny would hate him forever, and Lucius had warned him of how intolerable their marriage would be, hating each other for their whole life and Draco didn't want to spend his entire life being unhappy.
He looked at Ginny who was walking almost like a zombie, her eyes red from crying, her body shouting her tiredness and still her face struggling to look impassive. How could Draco want to make her suffer when it was clear that the woman was already in pain? And still she had gone to the bloody press conference and had defended him and their fake marriage and love like a lioness, when he had promised her to make her life miserable she made sure to convince the Wizarding World that she loved him and that she was happy, only because Draco accepted Dumbledore's farce to get his father's freedom. And through the process Ginny never questioned him, never refused to play her part in the farce, never asked him what he was going to gain from it. She just accepted his words and did more than simply cooperate with the plan. Draco couldn't stop himself from feeling a little ashamed of his behavior, but his pride would never let him tell Ginny that he was sorry. Definitely they needed to talk about their situation, but that should wait till tomorrow, right know it would be pointless.
When they arrived at Dumbledore's office, the door was again open, as if the Headmaster was expecting them. Inside Dumbledore, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter, were talking animatedly and Draco wasn't able to suppress a growl at the prospect of another confrontation, however he was surprised to hear Ginny do the same.
"Please, come in Mr. Malfoy and Miss Weasley. We were expecting you" Dumbledore greeted them. It took almost all Draco's energy to look his usual cold and composed self and not letting go Ginny's hand he entered the room, drawing all the attention immediately. He just wanted to leave Hogwarts as soon as possible and leave all this mess behind, so he went right to business.
"Thank you Headmaster, I was hoping you would be so kind as to let me use your fireplace to floo to the Manor, we are really tired." Draco said, blatantly ignoring the rest of the people gathered there.
"But of course Mr. Malfoy, be my guest" Draco was going directly to the fire place, his intention to disappear as soon as possible evident, but Ronald Weasley blocked his path and Draco would have been more than glad to throw him away when he realized that Ronald Weasley was not looking at him for once, he was looking at Ginny who apparently had noticed that herself as she held Draco's hand tighter.
"You didn't want to talk to me Gin" Ron's voice was hoarse and his gaze was almost hurt "Did you want to leave without saying goodbye to any of us? Your own family?"
Draco was seriously annoyed. The nerve of the Weasel! Apparently he was not satisfied with the fight he had earlier with Ginny, it seemed that he wanted to get punched by Draco himself.
"Not again weasel!" Draco's voice was almost a hiss "I told you that I didn't want to see you bothering my fiancée again. Was I not clear enough?"
Ron just flinched a little bit, and it was evident that he was trying to control his temper and ignoring Draco's remark he kept his attention focused in his sister.
"I just wanted to apologize Ginny. I'm really sorry for all the awful things I said to you earlier. I was not fair and I know it. I just want to say that I'm really sorry, I never meant to upset you Gin, you're my only sister and I love you and I want you to know that no matter what, I'll always be there for you" Ron's voice was full of sincere regret and Ginny just had to smile. She knew his older brother; she knew that when Ron was upset he would say mean things, even when he didn't feel that way. But in the end Ginny knew that Ron really cared for her, it was just that he wasn't perfect.
"It's okay Ron, I understand" Ginny whispered, tiredly but sincerely, she was about to say something else when Ron interrupted her.
"No Ginny, it's not okay. It's not okay that we shout at you then come to apologize and you forgive us so easily. It's not okay because you are so selfless that you let us go our ways with you and you don't say a bloody thing about it. It's not okay because somehow I'm to blame for your unhappiness, because I'm so selfish, myself, that I never wanted to notice that you were suffering when you left the ferret." Draco winced imperceptibly at the surname and Ron seemed to consider his last sentence and rephrased it "No, when we made you leave the ferret. I'm sorry Gin; I'm never going to forgive myself for what we did to you. I just hope that someday you will be able to forgive me" the last part of his speech was almost a whisper.
Draco didn't know if he should be grateful at not having another fight with the weasel or if he should be more angered at his apologies. It seemed to Draco that now that he was going to marry Ginevra, everybody wanted to take the blame for their break-up form her, as if she was not responsible in any way of her actions, and he was almost sick of it.
"How touching Weasel! Really! But we need to go and hopefully, after the wedding I will never see your face again!" Draco barked, his silver eyes glowing with anger.
Everyone in the room were speechless, even Ron, who was processing the implications of Malfoy's threat, meaning that he would never be able to see his sister again. Harry seemed ready to murder Malfoy and even the Headmaster was utterly shocked. Draco expected another outburst from his little fiancée as she was always overprotective of her family and was more than ready to go at Draco's throat in the past for remarks like those. However, Ginny just managed to smile, ignoring Draco's remark and focusing her attention in Ron, who was gaping.
"It's alright Ron, really. It isn't as if I didn't have any option in the matter, after all, I decided to leave Draco and no one forced me to do it. You pressured me to do it, that's true and maybe I will not be able to forget that fact, but at the end I agreed with your reasoning and in doing so, I sealed my fate didn't I? But you don't have to blame yourself for that Ron, it was my choice." Ginny's voice was full of sadness but there was some kind of serenity in it as well. She looked at Harry, who looked pretty uncomfortable with the conversation, after all, The-Boy-Who-Lived always thought that Ginny had left Draco because she realized that Harry was her true love, he never contemplated the possibility that half the Order of the Phoenix had nagged her to become his girlfriend and that knowledge was bothering him a great deal. Ginny's voice interrupted suddenly his thoughts "I'll always love you Harry, as another brother." She looked at her parents "Mum, Dad, you don't have to worry about me, I wasn't planning to disappear from the Earth, you'll always be my family and we will be seeing each other no matter that I will be a married woman, and I know that we really have to talk, but right now, as Draco said we must leave, we are really tired and I don't want nothing but to sleep." Ginny disentangled her hand from Draco's and quickly hugged her family returning to Draco's side as soon as she finished. "I'll owl you soon".
Draco decided to keep quiet, he was certainly angry but he didn't want to make another scene, he knew that the night was not over yet, at least not for him; he still had to talk to Narcissa. He took Ginny's hand again and went to the fireplace taking some floo powder in his hand, he hesitated if he should go first to wait Ginny's arrival, but considering her family's mood it could be possible that they didn't let her go and he would have to return to Hogwarts to reclaim his bride-to-be, so he decided that Ginny would go first and handed her the floo powder. "You go first little one. You know where we're going. Wait for me in the library." Ginny nodded once and a second later she was shouting "Malfoy Manor!" quickly followed by Draco, who didn't want to spend another second in her family's presence, and followed her in a rush.
Seconds later, Draco was in the fireplace of his library, quickly cleaning his clothes from the dust of the travel. Ginny was looking intently at him and he didn't like it in the least.
"We really need to talk about all this Draco, there are so many explanations to give..."
"I don't have any explanation to give to you and certainly, I'm not interested in hearing yours" Draco snarled.
Ginny flinched imperceptibly at Draco's interruption, but she knew him enough to realize that all he wanted to do was provoke her and make her lose her temper, so Ginny gathered her remaining strength and tried to look as indifferent as she could. One thing Ginny learned while she was with Draco was that showing emotions was to give your opponent an advantage.
"Well then, if you don't want to hear my explanations then at least we need to reach an agreement to make this marriage bearable. I know you expect to make my life miserable, but I also know that you won't be able to divorce me and I don't think that you'll enjoy me making your life miserable as well."
"Are you threatening me Weasley?" Draco's voice was menacingly soft.
"No, of course not. But remember Draco, two can play the same game." Ginny smirked involuntarily. "Now, as I said before, I'm really tired so I guess we can wait 'till tomorrow for this talk, don't you agree Draco?" She couldn't guess what Draco was thinking and decided to retire "Besides I think you will have to explain the situation to your mother. I hope I'll be excused to see her." Ginny's voice was irritated and Draco was able to sense her discomfort as well as her fatigue, but at the same time he could sense the challenge in her words.
"Reba will show you to your room" Draco said at the same time that he clapped his hands, and a small house elf appeared in the middle of the library.
"Master called?"
"Yes Reba, take Miss Weasley to the guest's room that's closest to mine. She will be occupying that room for two weeks, make sure that she's comfortable." The elf house nodded and waited for Draco to dismiss her "Where's my mother Reba?"
"Mrs. Malfoy is in her room, master"
Draco nodded and looked at Ginny without really doing it. "Reba will show you to your room, in case you need anything just clap your hands and she will appear, she'll be at your service. Rest well Weasley, tomorrow we will have your desired talk and you will be introduced to my mother. Welcome to Malfoy Manor. And remember darling, this is not over...yet. Tomorrow you will start learning the rules... tomorrow." he said in a monotone voice, then looking at the house elf who was still waiting her dismissal, Draco sigh exasperated and tried to keep his voice cool. "You may go now Reba."
The little house elf nodded eagerly and walked towards the door. "This way missus". Ginny started to walk and just murmured "Good Night Draco."
He only nodded, but once that she closed the door, he murmured "Good night, little one." He shook his head angrily and went to Narcissa's chambers, he knew that the night was not over for him, and resigned to his fate he began walking.
Meanwhile, Ginny followed Reba through the intricate passageways of the Manor. The house was more than huge and Ginny didn't doubt she could be easily lost. The house itself was really breathtaking, the floors where all white marble and the ceiling of the living room was enchanted, very much like the Great Hall in Hogwarts, but the Manor's ceiling was enchanted to look always like a night's sky, full of stars. The house's decoration was definitively male, the imprint of generation after generation of Malfoy men palpable in almost every detail.
But right now all the details of the Manor were too much for her, she was tired and all she wanted to do was sleep, maybe tomorrow she would be able to appreciate the Manor's beauty in al its splendor, maybe she could wander the enormous mansion that Draco called 'home'. But she didn't want to think about Draco right now, or Harry or her family or her incredible bad luck, she just wanted to sleep and forget the mess she was in. Suddenly the little elf stopped in front of a door and opened it. The sight that welcomed Ginny was more than she could ever had imagined, the room was just enormous, maybe twice the size of the living hall of The Burrow, exquisitely decorated in a feminine way, maybe the only room so far that didn't look masculine so Ginny assumed that the bedroom was intended for female visitors. The bed was bigger than any other bed that Ginny have slept in, but it looked terribly comfortable with its pale blue bedcover matching perfectly the predominant blue decoration in the room. All looked perfect in that bedroom... too perfect to be true.
"Missus needs anything else?" the little elf named Reba asked in a soft tone and Ginny couldn't stop herself of thinking about Dobby, who once served in that same house. She looked at the elf intently trying to figure if Rebas's life had been as miserable as Dobby's, but she couldn't concentrate in that thought long enough without her mind imagining Draco again and Ginny decided that this was not the better time to finding out Rebas's conditions.
"Where are Draco's bedroom, Reba?"
"The master's personal chamber is right in front of yours missus" the elf answered and she just stood there waiting for her dismissal.
"That will be all Reba, thank you very much. In case I need you I'll clap my hands just as Draco said. Is there anything else?" Ginny desperately tried to keep her voice steady, but all she wanted to do was cry as a little girl.
"Tomorrow Reba comes to show you to breakfast missus"
"All right. You can leave"
The little elf disappeared almost without a sound and Ginny was all alone again since the press conference. She had million of things to think about, million of things to figure out and most important of all, she got a plan to elaborate in order to get Draco back, but in reality, the only coherent thought in her mind was to sleep; she was so tired. She opened the dresser expecting to find some bed robes or something similar for her to wear and she was surprised to find that there were a lot of beautiful night robes that fitted her perfectly. She took a white one and prepared herself to sleep. As soon as her head touched the pillow, Ginny was fast asleep and her dreams were full of storms and gray eyes.
Ginny woke up the next morning a little disoriented; clearly this was not her small room at the Burrow, this chamber was larger and magnificently decorated, the dim light of the early morning was filtering through the curtains that remained shut, barely illuminating the room but Ginny noticed the soft carpets, the glass French doors that opened onto a small balcony. Suddenly the events of the previous day came rushing into her head: the defeat of the Dark Lord at Harry's and Draco's hands, their strange agreement with the mysterious Sarah, the deal Harry and Draco made with this stranger in exchange of the help she provided that sealed her fate, her engagement with a bitter Draco Malfoy, the press conference, and above everything else, Draco's disdain for her. Ginny remembered clearly everything that happened and where she was at the moment and for a second the pain was unbearable, she was engaged with a man who loathed her and with fair reasons to do it, but Ginny also remembered her vow to get Draco back and that she got a plan to work on. She was more determined than ever to make Draco forgive her, especially after remembering Lucius's words. It was not going to be easy in any way, but it was worth the effort, she loved Draco more than anything and she was going to be his wife, even if it was against his will.
She heard a polite knocking in her door and Ginny expected to see Reba, as she remembered the elf's promise to take her to the dining room, but instead she heard Draco's unique voice.
"Ginevra? Are you awake?"
For a second Ginny hesitated before answering.
"Come in"
She was not expecting to see Draco so early and certainly she was not expecting to see him in her bedroom. The door opened slowly revealing Draco's tall form, all dressed in black as it was his habit, coldly examining Ginny with emotionless eyes.
"I was expecting to find you already up Ginevra, not still in bed. Get dressed, I need to talk to you and mother will be expecting us for breakfast in one hour" Draco's voice was commanding and Ginny nodded at the same time she started to raise from the bed looking for her robes, just to find out that they were not where she left them.
Draco sighed exasperatedly, he had ordered Ginny to get dressed because she was so bloody distracting laying in bed with only her plain white nightgown and it would be impossible for him to concentrate on what he needed to say, but seeing her standing without sheets to cover her petite frame was more than he could bear, too many memories to deal with at the mere sight of Ginny standing in the middle of the room looking for her robes and not paying any attention to Draco looking as lovely as ever. He clapped his hands once attracting Ginny's attention and at the same time Reba appeared with a small sound.
"The lady's robes Reba" The little house elf nodded eagerly and produced one of the most beautiful and fine robes that Ginny had ever seen and handed them to Ginny.
"Master needs anything else sir?"
"No, you can leave, just make sure that breakfast is ready in one hour. Leave" the house elf disappeared and Draco centered his attention on Ginny again "What, are you waiting to get dressed Weasley?"
She was tempted to answer back but something in Draco's attitude told Ginny that he was in a foul mood and she decided to leave him alone, not without glaring at him. She looked for the bathroom and attempted to open a door just to be stopped by Draco's cynical voice.
"Honestly weasel, do you expect to get dressed in that little closet? I know that you are used to...small places to say the least, but let me inform you that this house has proper bathrooms, in case you haven't noticed" Draco let out a predatory smile.
"Well ferret boy, if you would have been so kind as to show me the house instead of just dumping me in this room, I would have known where the bathroom is" Ginny answered as her temper began to rise.
Draco looked down on her smirking but decided not to start a fight when he really needed to talk to this woman, they eyed each other for a moment "The bathroom is over there" he said pointing out another door. Ginny walked indignantly to said door purposefully ignoring Draco. After some minutes she reappeared only to find the curtains open and Draco standing in the small balcony. She made a small noise in order to get Draco's attention.
"I'm already dressed and I think you wanted to talk to me before breakfast"
"Have a seat" Draco answered pointing towards a rocking chair that was in the balcony, Ginny did as she was told and she couldn't help but admire the view that was in front of her. The Manor's gardens perfectly taken care of with hundred or roses blooming, Narcissa's pride Ginny assumed, because only a woman could be as thoughtful with a garden. Draco's velvet voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Last night I spoke with mother about the events that took place yesterday. I informed her of what happened and told her about our wedding taking place in two weeks. She kindly agreed to teach you everything you need to know in becoming a Malfoy, the mistress of this Manor as she put it, and I expect you'll appreciate her efforts. I also expect that you will act in accordance to your new status as my wife." Draco said almost lazily. Ginny nodded expecting him to continue. "She knows exactly why we are getting married and even if she doesn't approve, she will be as supportive as she is able to. She asked me to tell you that you won't need to worry with the wedding's arrangements, she will gladly take care of the engagement's party details and the wedding itself. Of course mother insisted that you will have the final say in the wedding's preparations as it's going to be your wedding after all, so feel free to make any suggestion you want"
"What about your suggestions?" Ginny asked matching his cold tone.
"If you haven't already noticed little one, I couldn't care less about this wedding. Of course I want it to be as perfect as this undesirable event could be, but I'm confident that mother will take care of that, being the perfectionist she is, so I don't see the point in involving myself with insignificant details. And it would be wise for you to follow my example, as you will be really busy with your lessons" his tone was completely businesslike and Ginny was starting to get annoyed, but determined not to show it.
"Very practical of you Draco, thank you" she said sarcastically.
"Listen Weasley, I'm just trying to make this easier for you. Merlin knows that I'm not looking forward to have you as my wife, so there's no need for your sarcasm" Draco snapped.
"Well, I'm not looking forward to be your wife either but I didn't have a say in the little bargain you and Harry made..."
"I'm sure you would have preferred to marry Potter, and to be totally honest Ginevra, I would have preferred that option myself. Do you think I'm glad with this situation? Do you really think that this was my idea? Well, let me tell you this, I don't want to marry a woman who have betrayed me once and who would probably do it again" Draco barked, his gray eyes getting darker and colder with every word he uttered, he was closed lo lose his temper and Ginny recognized the signs, but for once she was angry too and didn't try to placate Draco, instead she shouted at him.
"I'm sick of this Malfoy, if you haven't noticed yet, thanks to you and to Harry, we will be getting married in two weeks like it or not, and all I've heard so far is how disgusted you are with this marriage. Well let me tell you something: I'm as disgusted as you, I don't want to marry you! And the only thing you do is keep rambling on about how I betrayed you, how I preferred Harry over you, how I lied to you, how..."
"Just don't speak of things you don't understand Weasley, and stop shouting I hear you clearly" Draco interrupted her, his voice soft and full of menace, it was obvious to Ginny that he was trying to control his temper and for a second she considered backing off, but it was too late.
"For once you're going to listen to me Draco Malfoy. I won't give you any explanations of what happened because you don't deserve them, all I'll say to that matter is that maybe I was wrong in imagining that you loved me as much as I did..."
"You know nothing of what I felt for you Ginevra!" Draco finally lost his cool demeanor and shouted openly at Ginny, he was breathing hard and his silver eyes were glowing with fury, he was clenching his fists and his knuckles were white from the effort. Draco Malfoy was the image of fury himself.
"And you know nothing of why I did what I did!" Ginny challenged him. For a brief moment they stayed in silence, measuring each other until Draco advanced menacingly towards her and grabbed her wrist.
"The hell I don't know" his eyes were stormy and dangerous, turning hard as a rock. Ginny became frightened.
"Let me go" she shouted.
"Have you forgotten that you decided to leave because 'Potter needed you'?" Draco said mockingly "I know, and I know for certain that you left me because you never loved me! I trusted you, I loved you, I believed you when you told me that you loved me too, and suddenly you decided that I wasn't good enough for you and willingly you fled to Potter bloody arms! So don't tell me that I don't know your reasons for leaving me!" Draco's grip tightened.
"Draco let me go! You're hurting me!" Ginny shrieked, tears in her eyes both from Draco's grip on her wrist and from his words, she was really frightened and Draco didn't show any sign of letting her go. Suddenly another voice fill the room.
"Draco Malfoy you let her go right this moment!"
Draco and Ginny directed their attention towards the door and saw a very angry Narcissa Malfoy standing there.
A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay. I hope you like this chapter and I hope to have the next one soon. Special thanks to LovesFantasy, LittleLovelyGirl and Mo the Deatheater (thanks for your words and here's your chapter), and thanks to VAB my incredibly fast beta.