Chapter Twenty Three: Who Knew?
Dray walked over to his son and took him from Snape. "There there, papa's got you now, shhhhhhhhh." He began talking to Dart, completely ignoring everyone else in the room who had almost gone back into shock at his paternal actions.
Dare stepped up from the wall he had been leaning against. "I guess we'd be the ones to answer that?" he asked Snape. Snape nodded.
Dare began, "Nevra was never a true death eater, neither was Dray, they were both sleepers, waiting for, well, waiting for today. They are the ones that made this battle possible. Without them you never would have made it through the outer defenses of the manor."
"It was imperative that no, and I mean no one, knew the truth. It would have changed the reaction she solicited from you all and that could have blown her cover." Snape continued.
"I wasn't supposed to know, but there was no way I could not. I knew Nevra too well. I knew what she went through in order to achieve her ideals. I knew the lengths she went to forgive Dray and give him a chance to choose his own life while the rest of us gave him no option but to follow his father. I knew that after all of that there was no way she would turn. I knew what had to be the truth."
"But she killed our father!" Ron's voice was a strange mix of anger, regret, and hope.
"She had to." Snape was the one who answered. "The Dark Lord adopted her as his daughter and required that she demonstrate her loyalty and love for him by proving her birth father meant nothing to her. If she had not, she would have been killed herself, for nothing."
"He understood. They locked eyes before she killed him. He recognized her, and he understood." Dare added, hoping it would be of some comfort.
"How can you know?" Molly asked, daring to hope it was true, daring to hope that her husband had not died believing the worst of their daughter.
"I saw him nod to her before she cast the spell." Molly lowered her head. It was good enough for her.
There was silence while everyone let this explanation sink in. Finally Bill spoke. "The baby? Is it hers?"
Snape looked over at Dart who was now fast asleep in his father's arms. Dray was steadfastly ignoring the conversation. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what the reaction was going to be when it came.
Snape answered, "Yes. In order to spare Draco's life she claimed...to be in love with him." The way he hesitated everyone knew it wasn't quite the truth, but it was close enough, and it was polite. "The Dark Lord married them in a most, interesting, ceremony. Again, to keep appearances and remain alive they had to live the part. A month later she conceived. His name is Darien Arthur. We call him Dart."
A sharp intake was heard from Molly when she heard the name. Dare just smiled, he had already known, but he was still flattered. "You mean, I have a grandson?" Molly looked at Neville and back to Snape. They both nodded.
She made her way quietly over to Draco. "May I hold him?" She whispered. Draco looked up at her. She could swear his eyes were moist. He nodded and handed her her grandchild before slipping into the darkest corner of the room.
Tonks joined Molly, so did Hermione, and they admired the sleeping infant.
The shock was slowly wearing off the others. Bill was muttering to himself and smiling. "I knew it! I knew it!" And, to his credit, he had suspected as much all along. Remus had reacted much the same way, having felt much the same way since the wedding.
Hermione, Molly, and Tonks, for their part, as they watched Dart sigh in his sleep, were all very relieved. They all felt ashamed of ever doubting the girl, but there would be enough time for apologies and guilt later, right now they were looking at the most beautiful child they had ever seen.
Harry was still in shock. That was all there was to it. Ginny was with Malfoy. Contrary to Malfoy's fears, annulment was the furthest thing from Harry's mind. All he could think was that he had gotten Ginny back just to learn that she was with Malfoy!
Ron was suffering extreme guilt. He was reliving everything she had ever said about his not really knowing her, about his quickness to doubt her, and about his neglect of her. He honestly felt his betrayal of her was worse than hers would have been had it been real. He was the only one who remembered she might be dieing. Well, the only one who had not known the truth.
Dare had taken up the pacing Dray had left off. Remus was talking to Snape, getting details of what had happened from beginning to end in a very clever way of distracting the man. Dray was still in the corner, trying not to be noticed. He was glad they had so readily accepted the truth, but he was still worried about their reaction to the marriage, more importantly though, her reaction to the marriage, and most importantly, HER.
Finally a healer entered the room and everyone froze, suddenly brought back to the reality that Ginny might be dead or dieing. "She is alive. That is all we can say at this time. She was hit with Avada Kedavra, but it seems as though the one who had cast the spell tried to stop it for some reason, significantly weakening the spell. We have never seen anything like this before. The killing curse takes true hate and desire to see someone die in order to work, and it is obvious whoever cast the spell did not want her to die. I assume she dove in front of the curse?" Dare nodded. So did the healer. "Like I said, we have never seen anything like this. We have seen those hit by insincere unforgivables, and they have recovered, so there is hope. However, I must warn you, this was a full strength curse that was merely held back a little too late, we do not know if she will ever wake up, even if she lives." He looked around the room and sighed. "I would prefer to keep her room clear for at least a day so that we may have unobstructed observation. Feel free to live in this room, transfigure and conjure anything you wish. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to let us know. We have freed another room for casualty arrivals, this is all yours. I will need one of you to come with me. I need to hear the details of what happened, so will the ministry."
Snape stepped forward. "I'll go."
Harry surprised everyone. "I'll go as well. I was there in the room when she was hit. Besides, there are other things the ministry will need to know and the sooner we get this whole business taken care of, the sooner we can put it behind us."
Lupin nodded. "I should go as well, that will cover all angles and get the entire story of the war out faster. One from the undercover death eaters, Harry Potter, and one from the Order." Everyone nodded.
As they were leaving Fred, George, Charlie, and Percy burst into the room. "They just told us!" "What's going on?" "Where's Ginny?" "What happened?" Could all be heard at once. Bill explained this time, letting Dare sit with his head in his hands.
Soon they were all crowded around the still sleeping Dart doing their best not to worry about the girl downstairs. It wasn't long, though, before they couldn't help it. Fred and George conjured up a few overstuffed sofas for everyone to sit on. Dare remained in his seat by the wall and Dray stayed in the corner. Luna eventually showed up and sat next to Dare.
The Weasley family, Tonks, and Hermione talked for hours about everything. Eventually Dare and Luna joined them and he filled them in on her cutting and everything he knew about what had happened that last year in school. They talked about how bad they felt for ever doubting Ginny. They talked about how guilty they felt for not noticing what she was going through. They talked about how brave she had been. They talked about what they would have felt like if they had been in her place. They talked about how good it was to know the truth. They talked about how good it would be to have her back. They talked about how afraid they were they might lose her.
Dray could only take so much. When they had begun musing what they would have felt like in her shoes he began to fidget in his corner. When they talked about the relief of knowing the truth he stood and started pacing short distances, not wanting to leave the shadows. When they talked about the possibility of losing her he moved to the door as quietly as he could. This was their grief, their concern, she was their family, daughter, sister, friend. He had no right to be here.
Dare stood abruptly, startling everyone else. "Where are you going Dray?"
"A walk." Dray didn't look at Dare.
"Want me to come with?" Dare was concerned, he thought he knew why Dray was leaving. Luna squeezed Dare's hand.
"No." Dray's answer was short and he began walking again.
Dare turned to Molly and whispered, "He doesn't think he belongs here."
Molly nodded and stood. "Dr...Dray?" she wasn't sure what to call him. "Please stay. You, you should be with family now."
He had stopped at her words. Tears were forming in his eyes. His voice was rough. "It was an act. A part she needed to play. She won't want me here when she wakes up."
Molly's face hardened. "You listen here! You are my grandson's father and if my daughter wants you in her life for no other reason she will want you here for him! And after what you have been through, after what Nev...Dare has told us, it sounds as though you are very important her! I may not know if she loves you as a husband, and I admit that I may not know her well at all, but I do know that she loves you as a friend!" She hadn't yelled, but she had used a tone of voice you don't argue with. Everything about her softened. "If you need to go for a walk, please do, but just know that I cannot express how grateful I am to you for looking after my little girl. We all owe you a debt we can never repay. After the way we treated Gin...Nevra I cannot blame you for wanting nothing to do with us, but if you will forgive us, you will always have a place, a home, you will always be a part of our family."
Dray just sank to his knees. He had felt tears before but he had never cried. He cried now. Molly moved over to him and embraced him a motherly hug, something he had never experienced before. She whispered in his ear, "It'll be all right, shhhh, she'll be all right." She gently guided him back to the couch. Everyone just watched in silence, in awe, as the formidible Draco Malfoy cried in their mother's arms.
When he had stopped crying he took his son back from Hermione and the conversation slowly picked up again. Eventually Fluer found her way to her husband's side and Snape, Harry, and Remus returned. Dare repeated the story of Nevra's battle within herself and last year at school for the four who had not heard it. Dray, who had been silently holding his son for dear life and sanity until now finally spoke. He told them the rest of the story, that which Dare could not. He told them about the tower, about the Room of Requirement, and about saving Nevra's life. He figured she might be mad at him later but they should know everything now.
Once they got him talking he relaxed a little. He let Fluer, who was pregnant, hold Dart. He stopped avoiding everyone's gaze and started looking in people's faces. Dare realized this and decided it would be best to keep him talking, so he asked for details about their attack on her reputation. He couldn't help but laugh at times during that tale. Harry, Granger, and Ron all surprised him by proving Molly's words. They chimed in, sharing their reactions to various incidents as he related the truth behind the rumors, even laughing at themselves. Ron's laughter was straned, though, he still felt as though he had betrayed her the worst of anyone.
Eventually Tonks and Fluer went to get everyone food, even though almost everyone, including Ron, said they had no apetite. After that Bill and Charlie conjured beds up everywhere and they all pretended to sleep.