The Heart's Future

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

A/N: My Draco trilogy is finally finished. I hoped you all haven't given up on it, and I hope you enjoy the final part.

He stared hesitantly at the steps that led to the modest porch that was attached to the modest house. He knew why he was there; it was one year to the day that he'd left… her, the children, his entire life. It had been long enough, he'd decided. He'd punished himself for three hundred and sixty-five days, and he'd finally realized that nothing would assuage his guilt. He loved the woman whose husband he'd cost the life of.

He sighed as he trudged up the steps, shivering slightly in the cool, crisp October air. His back crackled, and he grimaced at the sound. He'd forgotten to take his pain potion that morning, but he'd not forgotten the brilliant red roses now clutched nervously in his hand.

He knocked, and for a moment, he thought about simply leaving the flowers and Disapparating, but no. He'd come too far to turn back now. Besides, perhaps she wasn't home.

His hope betrayed him as he heard footsteps approaching, and he cleared his throat nervously as the door swung open, seemingly in slow motion. She stared at him with those big, brown eyes that once had held love and adoration for him but now held only hurt and disillusionment. Her hair, still vibrantly red, was pulled back into a single braid, and he resisted the urge to tuck that one, stray strand behind her ear.

"Mrs. Lupin," he said with a slight bow of the head. He silently handed her the flowers, and she took them without thanks.

"You," she said simply. "You're here."

He took her words for relief and gladness; his face broke into a broad smile. "Yes, I'm back," he said excitedly. "I've missed you, Ginny."

He stepped forward to take her into his arms, but she stepped back and watched his face fall.

"Have you?" she asked indignantly. "Really, I wouldn't have known, what with the good-bye letter you left me and the no contact for a year. Tell me, Draco. What was I supposed to think? 'I love you, Ginny, but I can't be with you right now. It isn't right. I'm sorry.' I believe that's verbatim what your letter said."

Draco sighed in order to steady his voice. "Can I come in, please, so we can talk?"

"No," Ginny said firmly. "The children are inside with George and Hermione. I don't want to upset them."

"Can we talk out here, then?" he asked, his eyes imploring her to be patient.

"Fine," she stated simply. She set the roses on the table just inside the door, pulled it shut behind her and stood just outside of it, hands on her hips. "Talk."

Draco opened his mouth to speak, but Ginny interrupted him, her face flushing red. Her eyes filled with angry tears, and her lower lip quivered.

"You know, those kids were heartbroken when you left," she began quietly. "I had to come up with something to tell them. They though they'd made you angry or upset you. I had to explain to them that it wasn't their fault, that you just had to take care of some things." Her voice began to rise, but she managed to hold it steady. "Had I known it was going to be a year before I laid eyes on you again, I probably wouldn't have been so accommodating with my children."

"Ginny, I didn't mean to hurt Andrew and Abby," Draco insisted. "I love them as if they were my own."

"But they're not your own, are they?" Ginny berated, pointing him in the chest with her finger. "They're mine; mine and Remus'. They've already had to deal with losing one father, and when you left, it was like when Remus died all over again."

Draco ran his hand through his chin-length blond hair and gazed into Ginny's hurt eyes. He reached for her hand, but she pulled away, almost on instinct.

"Do you think I wanted that, Ginny?" he asked. "Of course not, but I did what I thought was best. I could never be the man that Remus was, and I felt like I was dishonoring him by taking his place."

He paused, hoping her face would soften. It did, slightly, and he continued.

"Do you know what I've spent the last year doing?" he asked rhetorically. "I've gone all over Europe trying to do good wherever I could. I helped build houses that still hadn't been rebuilt since the War; I worked in a hospital that treated people with dragon burns; I gave almost all my money away. I'm sure my father cursed me from hell for it, too."

Ginny almost smiled at the last remark, but she restrained herself. "Almost all your money?" she asked instead.

"I kept some in an interest-bearing account for Andrew's and Abby's educations," he explained. He took a deep breath and confessed, "I love you, Ginny, but I didn't think I had the right to.

"Remus Lupin is legendary among your friends and family," he continued. "I just didn't see where I fit into your world."

Ginny's expression softened a bit, and she took a seat on the top step. She laid her head on her knees, and she didn't look up when he sat down next to her.

"But you did fit in, Draco," she said in a muffled tone. "My family was starting to enjoy your company; the children loved you; I loved you."

She raised her head to look him directly in the face, and he could see the tears falling down her cheeks. He reached over to brush one away, and she allowed his touch.

"You act as if Remus is enshrined in bronze in my living room," she said sadly. "You act as though there's a great shadow he still casts."

Draco sighed and answered, "He does still cast a shadow, Ginny, even if you don't realize it. Every time I look into your eyes when we make love, I wonder if you're missing him or wishing he were there instead of me. Whenever I look at Andrew and Abby, they look just like him. And my heart breaks, Ginny. It breaks every time there's a full moon."

"And it breaks their hearts, too, Draco, when they wake from the full moon and you aren't here anymore," she retorted. "At least when Remus left, he did it heroically. But not you. You skulked out like a coward in the night."

Her words stung him, as she meant them to. She stared at him, her eyes blazing into his, willing them to look away.

"You still know how to hurt me, Ginny," he said simply, breaking her gaze. "But I know I hurt you. I just needed to figure out who I was before I made any sort of real commitment."

Ginny blinked once, and, for a moment, appeared puzzled.

"Commitment?" she asked, standing. "Do you even know what that word means, Draco? I thought that's what we had. I wanted to marry you, make all of us a family with you. But not anymore. You have no place here, you bastard. Leave. Now."

Her voice was stern, and he knew her well enough to know that he shouldn't argue with her. But that didn't stop him.

"I won't," he said petulantly. "I'm not leaving. Not until you hear me out."

"You'll have to shout it through the door, then," she said, stepping back into the house.

Draco didn't hear the incantation, but he was sure that she'd cast a strong Silencing Charm around the door. No matter how loud he shouted, she wouldn't hear him. But he spoke to her through the door anyway.

"Ginny, I love you," he insisted. "I need you. I can't live without you."

He sighed and thought back to the lonely year he'd spent. "I did manual labor, Ginny, for the first time in my life. I broke my back in Germany. They said I shouldn't build houses anymore, that it was too hard on my spine, but I did it anyway. I needed to do something good, so I could somehow feel worthy of you. I have to take something for the pain every day, but all it does is numb my back. It does nothing for the pain in my heart. That won't go away. It's horrible, and the only way to fix it is to be near you again.

"I thought about you every day," he continued. "Did you know that I wanted to propose to you at Christmas last year? I had the ring and everything. But when we went to your parents' for dinner, and I saw your wedding picture with Remus… It was too much. You both looked so happy, and your mum almost cried looking at the picture and then looking at me. I knew there was no way I could come close to him.

"I know now that you've always loved me for me, and I didn't need to prove myself to you. But I needed to prove something to myself. And you know what I found out, Ginny?" he asked.

Suddenly, the door whipped open, and Ginny stood before him again, tears in her eyes.

"What?" she questioned. "What did you find out?"

Draco gulped and tried to steady his voice. "I discovered that nothing made me good, nothing except you. No matter what I do, how much money I give away… it's all worthless because you're not there. You are what makes me worth something, you and the children."

He reached up to her face and tucked the stray strand of red hair behind her ear. "I need you, Ginny, and I've never needed a soul in my life. But without you, I just can't make it." He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her waist. He rested his forehead to her abdomen and cried.

"I beg you, Ginny, don't turn me away. I know you probably don't love me anymore, but can you try to again? Please?"

Ginny listened to his cries and stroked his hair. She'd never seen Draco like this before, and she knew that no one else had either. She knew that he loved her, but he had to get past her dead husband. Remus, though she would always love him, was never coming back, and Draco did come back.

"Draco," she said, her voice catching in her throat. "I never stopped loving Remus, even when I was with you."

He looked up at her, disappointed, but she continued. "And I never stopped loving you when you left. Just because you were gone didn't mean the love stopped. I love you both. Remus is my past, but you are my future."

"Oh, Ginny," he cried as he stood. He cupped her face in his hands and bent to kiss her. "I love you," he said when they broke apart. "I'm going to love you so much."

"I love you, too," she replied. "Just don't ever leave me again."

"I promise, I never will," he assured her.

They stepped into the house together, knowing that when they closed the door behind them, they would shut out the ghosts of the past.