Disclaimer: Once again, unfortunatley Harry Potter is not mine
Hiding
Chapter Three
I stand out in the rain so nobody sees the tears running down my face...
Ginny had packed all of her belongings, shrunk them and was currently standing in the middle of her flat. She had managed to sell it the day before, taking the money and placing it in her vault at Gringotts. Now she had nothing stopping her from apparating to the Malfoy manor. Ginny took one last look around her flat before taking a deep breath and apparating to the manor.
When Ginny opened her eyes she looked at the massive house in front of her. It was more of a castle than anything else. She had seen it before, but it never ceased to amaze her how beautiful it was. Ginny took another deep breath as she lifted her hand and knocked on the front doors. Slowly they opened and Ginny looked down into the eyes of a house elf.
"Yes miss?" it asked her, clearly surprised to see her.
"Um, I was invited by Mr Malfoy, I believe he may have been expecting me" she answered, unsure of what to say.
"Well, open the door Millie let the woman in" she heard a woman's voice calling from behind the door somewhere.
"Yes Mistress" the house elf said, pulling the large doors open and gesturing for Ginny to enter.
"Ah, you must be the woman that Draco told me about" Narcissa said, walking over to Ginny.
"Um yes Mrs Malfoy, I'm Ginevra Weasley. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Weasley? Well this is a surprise, I take it your family does not know that you have returned yet?" she said, smiling down at the obviously uncomfortable girl.
"No Mrs Malfoy and if it isn't too rude of me to ask, could you please not notify anyone of my return either?" she asked.
"Of course not dear and please do call me Narcissa" she said, taking Ginny's arm. "Now, come with me, we have a room prepared for you, I do hope that you like it." She said enthusiastically.
"Thank you Narcissa I am sure that I will" she said, following the older woman's guidance.
Ginny gasped as she entered the room. It was the most beautiful room that she had ever seen.
"It is absolutely beautiful" Ginny said, turning to Narcissa and hugging her.
"Thank you, I decorated it myself" the older woman said, laughing at the delight evident on Ginny's face. "Well I will let you get settled. If you wish to come down for dinner just call Millie and she will show you down. If you wish to sleep that is perfectly understandable" she added, walking out of the room.
Ginny smiled as she unshrunk her belongings and placed them into the cupboard in the room. She slowly got changed and walked over to the bed, collapsing onto it and falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Draco headed to his mother's study once he was home. He had felt Weasley apparate to the manor at the beginning of the day but had not gotten the chance to leave work without Harry and Ron asking questions.
"Ah Draco, how was your day at work?" Narcissa question her son, kissing him on the cheek.
"The same as always mother"
"I take it you know that Ginevra has arrived"
"Yes mother I sensed that, where is she?" he asked, curious as to why she would not be in the study with his mother.
"She is in her room asleep Draco. You need to understand that what she has done today has taken a lot of courage. It would not have been an easy decision to make" she said "Draco you also need to understand that it has been a long time since she has been around so much magic, it may be overwhelming for her. You cannot rush her into seeing her family, it will come when she is ready for it" she finished up, looking at Draco sitting across from her.
"I understand that mother. Now if you don't mind I think I will head off to bed, not to mention that its about time you did the same" he said, kissing his mother goodnight.
"Yes I think I will head off to bed" she said as Draco headed out to his room.
Ginny woke up to the sound of rain on the Manors windows. She got out of bed and pulled a cloak around her shoulders, heading to the window. She sat on the window sill and looked out to the land around the manor. Getting up she headed downstairs, to the side door and headed outside into the rain.
Draco walked over to his window, about to pull the curtains closed when he saw a figure walking down to the lake. Looking closer he noticed it was Weasley. He sighed as he pulled on a cloak and grabbed his wand before heading outside.
It was pouring rain outside and he quickly walked towards the lake where Ginny was.
Once he was a metre behind Ginny he heard her call out.
"What do you want Malfoy?"
Draco ignored her as he sat down beside her, leaning back up against the tree she was leaning on. "Well it's not every day that you see someone walking out in the rain at one o'clock in the morning." He answered, looking at Ginny, noticing that underneath the rain she was crying.
"What's the matter?" he asked
"Nothing" Ginny said, not wanting to discuss it with him.
"Oh come on Weasley, I am the only person, other than my mother that currently knows that you are back. Who else are you going to talk to?" he asked.
"I don't know. I guess I never realised how much I missed being around magic, how it makes me feel. How much I have missed my family. What a selfish bitch I have been all these years. That my family have every right to hate me, to disown me, never talk to me again. And if I were them I would do exactly that. It's all I deserve." She said, crying harder now.
Draco shook his head, placing his arm around the crying woman. "Don't think like that. They love you no matter what you do, they will never abandon you."
"I abandoned them" she said, sobbing.
"They know that you love them Ginny, and that you didn't mean to hurt them. You needed time to yourself" Draco said, noticing it was the first time he had called her Ginny.
Ginny didn't respond, carrying on crying into him broad chest. Slowly she began to stop and Draco soon realised that she had fallen asleep on him.
He sighed as he picked her up and carried her back to her room. Magically changing her clothes, making sure she wouldn't catch a cold, before placing her under the covers of the bed and heading to his room across the hall.
Draco changed out of his wet clothes into some warmer ones and got into his bed. He could not believe that he had just comforted Weasley, and even called her Ginny. What had gotten into him lately, doing so much for someone he didn't even know?
Ginny woke in the morning, remembering the events of last night. She couldn't believe that she had cried in front of Malfoy of all people. She hardly even let her brothers see her cry. And now she was letting someone who she had hated for so long, no matter how much they had changed see her cry. What had gotten into her. And had he called her Ginny? Surely he hadn't?
Ginny shook her head as she placed on some shorts and a small tank top. She headed downstairs to the kitchen to get some breakfast. She didn't know what time breakfast was served in this house so thought it would be safer if she just went to the kitchens herself.
Ginny knocked on the door lightly before entering, surprising herself when she saw Draco sitting at the table in just shorts eating toast.
"Oh sorry, I thought I was the only one up" she said, not noticing that she had been staring at his chest the whole time. She had never noticed what a good body he had. Clearly from working out … a lot.
"It's alright, I'm usually up this early. Have to get into work early if I don't want to get an earful from Potter." Draco said, not noticing Ginny not looking at his face because he was too busy looking her up and down. How had he not noticed what a great body she had. Sure she was gorgeous but he had definitely not expected a body to go with it. Shit did I just say she was gorgeous? Fuck! I need to get out more. Draco said, mentally slapping himself, both of them looking away from the other and around the room at the same time.
"Well seeing as though you are here and all I though you might want to know that I have decided that I am going to see my family tomorrow" she said quietly.
Draco's head snapped up and he looked at her, "Do you want me to come with you?" he asked, sensing how hard this decision had been for her.
"Um, you'll have work so don't worry about it"
"Don't be ridiculous it's Saturday tomorrow we don't work tomorrow."
"Are you sure you want to?" she asked, wondering why he would want to come.
"I'm positive. And you do know that you can stay here until you find a place of your own, right? " He said, standing up and walking towards the door. "I'll see you tonight" he said, not turning around, but stopping at the door before continuing on.
"See you tonight Draco" Ginny said, not sure that he had heard.
Draco smiled to himself as he heard Ginny's response, it was the first time she had ever used his name and he couldn't help but like the way she said it. Draco shook his head as he realise what he was saying and walked up to his room to get dressed.
"You know Draco you're awfully preoccupied" Ron said, wondering why the man had been quiet since he had arrived at work that morning.
"Sorry, just had something on my mind" he said, snapping out of it
"Right" Ron said, turning back to his work, knowing full well that Draco wouldn't tell him unless he had sorted the thing out in his mind first.
"Ron, I was wondering if you could organise for all of your family to be at the burrow tomorrow?" Draco asked
"Sure, it's about time we all got together anyway. Care to tell me why you want us all there?" he asked, baffled by Draco's strange request.
"Not really, you'll find out tomorrow. Harry could you make it as well?" he asked, turning to the other man in the room.
"Sure" Harry said, shooting Ron a glance, the other man just shrugging.
"Thanks. I'll see you guys tomorrow then" Draco said, quickly getting up and leaving before the two men could question him.
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