A/N-Whew! You guys are a tough crowd! Another short but sweet chapter!
Chapter 40
Draco stood and muttered a spell under his breath to open the door since both his hands were full of babies. He saw Ginny still unconscious and laid the boys down in their separate cribs. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. Had he just imagined it? Was he that desperate for her to wake that he was now hallucinating? He shook his head and gritted his teeth. No, he was certain she had thought those words.
He began to stroke her hand softly and stared hard at her face. "Ginny, I love you."
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A few minutes passed. "Ginny, I know you can here me. I can feel it. I love you Ginny. Our boys love you. Please wake up. "
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"Ginny?" Draco began to sob. He felt it in the pit of his stomach. Ginny had said she loved him.
One of his boys began to stir and cry softly. The other joined in and cried as well. Normally Draco would tend to them immediately but he just couldn't let go of Ginny's hand. He needed her so much at that very moment. He needed to know she would be okay. "I need you Ginny."
"Would you pick them up already?"
Draco's head shot up with a look of shock as he choked back his tears. He picked up both boys quickly and brought them over to her. "Ginny open your eyes. Open your eyes and look at your sons."
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"Ginny?"
"I'm so tired."
"Oh God Ginny! I love you so much! Please wake up Ginny! We need you!"
"Why am I so tired?"
"Ginny open your eyes. You can do it Ginny! Look at your son's!"
For the first time in weeks, Ginny sighed heavily in her sleep and moved her head slightly. "That's it Ginny! Your boys want to see you. They want you to hold them."
"I love you Draco."
"Ginny? Ginny?"
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Ginny's eyes fluttered rapidly and she moved again. Draco was about to jump out of his skin. "Open your eyes Ginny. Hermione and Ron are getting married right now. You don't want to miss it do you?"
Ginny sighed more deeply and her eyes trembled yet again. Draco didn't say anything and just watched her with the largest smile he had ever had. "Look at your mummy boys. She's trying to look at you." He finally whispered through his grin.
Ginny shifted her head to the sound of his voice. "That's right Ginny. I'm here. The boys and I are here." She smiled and then finally opened her eyes. When Draco finally came into focus she noticed how handsome he looked in his tux. "You're at the Burrow Ginny. There's a wedding going on outside. These are your boys." Draco held them up for her to see and she smiled again. Draco placed the boys on either side of her and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I've missed you Red. You'll never know how much I've missed you."
Ginny whispered. "I'm feeling better."
Draco smiled. "That's good Ginny. That's so good to hear." He wiped his eyes.
"They look just like you." She whispered again happily.
"That's what everyone says. Would you like to go outside and watch the wedding?" Draco dared to ask as he knew Ginny would regret missing it. "It's probably almost over."
"If I know Hermione, we've got hours. She probably prepared a ten page list of vows." She whispered as Draco laughed softly.
"Well I can get the boys to sleep if you want to go out there." Draco said hopefully.
Ginny nodded and he placed the boys back in their beds and soothed them to sleep. He turned around and saw the shocked look on Ginny's face. "What? I know what I'm doing."
She just smiled curiously as he scooped her up into his arms. He kissed her deeply and shook his head in shock. It felt so good to hold her. It felt wonderful to have her eyes on him again. He carried her outside as they quietly sat in the back. A few people looked their way including Ron who stopped in the middle of his vows and whispered. "Ginny." Everyone looked at her and applauded. She smiled and gestured for Ron to continue not wanting to disrupt the ceremony.
Ron cleared his throat and continued. "Hermione, you're the reason….." Ron said his vows as Hermione smiled and cried along with most of the guests. Hermione said her vows and to Ginny's amazement, they were probably only about five pages long. Draco squeezed Ginny's hand and pulled her closer. He didn't want to let go of her. He was terrified of that empty feeling he had experienced the past couple of weeks.
When the ceremony ended, Ron and Hermione ran over to Ginny completing forgetting that they were the guests of honor. Ron hugged her. "Ginny! It's so good to have you back." Hermione hugged her as well but then got pulled away by some guests along with Ron. The other Weasley's came up to hug her but Ginny quickly shooed them away.
"I'm fine now. This is Ron's day remember? We'll talk later." She whispered to her family. "Draco, I'd like to change."
He nodded and carried her back inside. The reception was also outside so the house was empty except for the baby twins. Ginny smiled at them as Draco carried her upstairs. She couldn't believe how precious they were. She changed into the gown Hermione had picked out and tried standing on her own. "I think I can do it Draco. It'll just take some getting used to." She said confidently.
They slowly walked down the stairs together and sat down next to the boys. Ginny picked them up one at a time carefully examining them with a grin. "They're just beautiful. I can't believe how much they look like you! I thought for sure they would have the Weasley hair. What did you name them?"
Draco shrugged nervously. "I didn't….I was waiting for you."
Ginny's jaw dropped. "What? You can't be serious! Draco, how could you not name them? Uh!" She smiled at his look of shame. "Oh alright, I understand. Let's see. I think this one with the serious face is Warren…..And this one with the dimple is Jeffrey. Is that alright with you?"
Draco smiled widely. "That's perfect. I never really noticed though."
"Noticed what?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Warren does seem to always have a serious face….Like he's thinking really hard or planning something. Jeffrey's probably going to be the mischievous one with that dimple." Draco said as he looked at his boys proudly. He led her and their twins back outside to the reception. It was a wonderful affair. Ginny was even able to dance one slow song with Draco as her parents held the babies.
She looked into his eyes and noticed how tired he looked. "Draco, haven't you slept at all?"
Draco just shrugged as he danced slowly and held her tight. "I slept but just not that well. Our boys kept me going though."
Ginny whispered to herself. "Our boys. Warren and Jeffrey. I'm so happy Draco."
"Me too Red….Me too." He whispered back.
The reception ended after a few hours and Ron and Hermione were off for a short honeymoon in America. Ginny and Draco walked upstairs to her room with the twins and quickly rearranged the room. They summoned the cribs up and placed one on each side of the bed. Warren's was green. Jeffrey's was blue. They changed out of their clothes and put on pajamas.
Ginny lay down as Draco brought both boys to lie in between them. The babies looked back and forth at each other and their parents. Ginny yawned and caressed her boy's hands and feet. She laughed softly at their movements and facial expressions. Draco was mesmerized by the moment. For the first time, he felt like he truly belonged to a family. This was his family that he and Ginny created together. "Nothing else matters in the world to me except you three." Draco whispered and kissed her gently. "I could just lie in this bed and stare at you forever.
Ginny smiled and drifted off to sleep. Draco panicked for only a moment wondering if she would be able to wake again but then realized something. He knew deep in his heart that Ginny was strong and determined. Now that she had finally seen her boys, nothing was going to keep her from them.
Another two months passed by and they were beginning to feel extremely cramped at the Burrow. Draco was surprised at how long he had lasted but all he cared about was having Ginny back. He didn't care where they were as long as it was together. Ginny finally cracked one morning. "That's it! We need to get out of here!"
Draco laughed loudly. "Alright, alright Red. No need to get hostile. We can look today if you want."
Ginny sighed. "Thanks goodness. I'll have my mum watch the boys."
Mrs. Weasley gladly accepted later that morning and Ginny and Draco were off. He brought Ginny to a small café in Hogsmeade. "Draco, why are we here?"
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Well, I thought it would be good for me to work close to home."
Ginny flung her arms around his neck. "So you're going to take it?" Draco nodded. "And when does Snape leave for Durmstrang?"
"Two weeks. Dumbledore wants me to start after Christmas break." Draco said as he wiped his mouth.
Ginny was ecstatic. "Draco that's wonderful. Hang on. I'll be back then too."
Draco sat back and crossed his arms with an evil smile. "Yes, I realize that."
Ginny leaned in close to him. "You must be mental if you think I am going to take lessons from the likes of you."
Draco laughed and held her hand with a more menacing smile. "You don't really have a choice now do you Red? Don't make me take points away from your house for disobeying me."
Ginny's jaw dropped. "Why you little-"
He interrupted. "Now Miss Weasley, I'll be forced to give you detention if you finish that sentence."
Ginny sat back and crossed her arms but in more of a sulky way. Draco just winked at her and enjoyed the moment.
He changed the subject quickly as he could tell she was actually taking him seriously. "Okay, so what are we looking for exactly?"
Ginny shrugged. "I don't know really. Something simple. We don't really need more than three bedrooms. When the boys get older they probably won't want to share so yes I think three bedrooms is enough."
Draco looked appallingly at her. "Ginny, I'm sorry but this is one time that I'm going to have to put my foot down. Three isn't enough. As a mater of fact, six wouldn't even be enough. We are looking for the house we are going to spend the rest of our lives in. It needs to be perfect. Why with all the children-"
"All the children?" Ginny asked with a raised eyebrow.
Draco spoke nervously. "Well yes….I just thought…"
"How many children are you expecting Draco?" Ginny said trying to sound angry but her small grin wasn't very convincing.
Draco blushed at the question. "Oh, I don't know…How many did your parents have again?"
Ginny smacked him hard on the arm. "Seven! And if you even think you're going to get that many out of me you've got another thing coming Malfoy!"
Draco laughed. "Well I guess seven would be a bit much….Five's a good round number isn't it?"
Ginny just smiled and shook her head at him. "Look, I'll go along with this perfect house bit but I won't commit to the number of children we will have. Besides, we need to be careful anyways. We're purebloods remember? We could conceive every time we do it."
"Everytime? Now that would be a lot of little Malfoy's running around wouldn't it?" Draco said jokingly. Ginny just shook her head again as Draco paid for their lunch.
He had arranged for them to look at several houses. Ginny was extremely tired of walking around for several hours. After a while, they all seemed to look the same to her. Same color, same size, same floor plan. Draco was getting frustrated at her lack of interest and constant shrugging so he assumed that it would take several more days of looking to find the perfect house. Ginny was aware of his frustration but she knew how important this decision was going to be. She wasn't about to make it a hasty one.
Finally, as they approached the last house from the driveway Ginny stopped quickly and her mouth dropped. She whispered. "This is it."