ACK! I'm so sorry this took so long, I'm having a serious case of writers block and confusion. thanks for bearing with me, lol. Look for the next update in a few days - things are SUPER busy right now, and I'm just trying to keep up.

oh, I also realized that I picture Emma as a very Dakota-Fanning-type girl, with blue eyes...I never looked at her eyes, are they blue? Anyway, that small and skinny and confident, lol. Just thought you'd like to know.

Chapter Eleven, Staying Starry-Eyed

"How can anyone stay starry-eyed,
when it's raining cats and dogs outside,
and the rain is saying,
'now you're on your own'?" -'Once Upon a Time in New York City'

It took Ginny a few days to recuperate from her visit to Azkaban. Stefanie thought it would be best if Ginny showed up at the trial and stood by Draco, but she just couldn't at the moment. She felt awfully responsible for everything that had happened, and didn't want to be there when that came out. But more importantly, this incredible situation had overshadowed her kids - Mia and Mike had decided to stick around for awhile, but Ginny needed her kids, and vice versa. So she stayed in her house, not going out for anything that wasn't absolutely necessary, for days.

She would take them down to the playground, out on walks, but mostly they just stayed at their house. Stefanie had given Ginny a ring and Draco's Gringott's Key (apparently he'd left them in his dresser drawer), but Ginny had put them right back where they'd been found.

The afternoon the trial was set to begin, Ginny was sitting in her living room doing arts and crafts with Julia and Izzy when Stefanie waltzed into the house as if it were her own.

"Hello!" She sang cheerfully, "Hello, hello. How was everyone's morning? As good as mine, I hope?" Ginny really didn't feel like hearing about the trial, but was curious, in a sense.

"Hi," she said with a small smile. "So it went well?"

"Well?" Stefanie questioned, "it was magnificent! The whole courtroom on the edge of their seats! The show was wonderful! Lights low, audience entranced, Prosecution terrible." She sighed wistfully, "I do love the theatre of it all." Ginny had to giggle at the drama. It was a murder trial, for crying out loud.

"Prosecution? So I assume that means they got themselves some sort of lawyer, too, then?" She asked.

"Oh yes, of course - oh hello there!" Stefanie greeted Mia as she walked in. Mia smiled and sat down next to Julia, who was having a tough time keeping the crayons on the paper. "Anyway," Stefanie continued. "Draco's not too happy about it, but things really are going our way."

"Not too happy about what?" Mia inquired.

"The Prosecution's lawyer. Apparently it's your brother." Stefanie said matter-of-factly. If Ginny hadn't been sitting down, she would've fallen over. What moron would let Ron do that? They were obviously out of their minds. Either that, or the entire universe was one big conspiracy against her.

"My what?" She asked in dibelief.

"Which one?" Mia asked, "I hope it's not the jerk one."

"There's more than one?" Stefanie asked, "oh. Well then...I think his name is Percy. Real uptight, not at all an actor. Or lawyer. Very close professions." She added. Ginny heaved a huge sigh of relief that it wasn't Ron, but then realized that it being Percy was just as bad. At least she'd left on good terms with Ron. She hadn't spoken to Percy in months before she left - he'd denounced their family and chosen the Ministry, and she'd never really forgiven him for that.

Stefanie chatted with Mia for a few minutes about the morning and the trial, and then Stefanie stood up to leave.

"Well, I'd best be off." She sighed with a smile at the kids. "Have to go see the old Uncle Lucius." Ginny's heart stopped beating for a second at that moment, she wasn't sure how to react.

"Alright," Mia smiled, "well, I suppose we'll see you later? Maybe for dinner?" Stefanie smiled back at her - no one seemed to notice Ginny, sitting on the floor, frozen in shock. She had kind of hoped never to run into Lucius Malfoy again.

Mia walked Stefanie out, and Ginny tried to just focus on her daughters.

"Strangers at twelve o'clock!" Mia called from the front door. Ginny got up curiously and went to her to see who had come. When she got there, she saw her mother and Hermione walking timidly up the walkway. When they got to the porch, all four women just sort of stood there, unsure of what to do or say.

"Hi." Ginny said flatly. Mia looked around from woman to woman, confused. Ginny noticed and introduced her briefly, at which point Mia understood the unhidden bitterness in her tone.

"Can we come in for a moment?" Hermione asked. Ginny was about to say that she was busy watering plants or something, but Mia gave her a look and pushed her out of the way, opening the door wide enough to let them in. As they walked into the living room, Ginny glared at her friend, who just gave her a "It was for your own good" look. Mothers. Mothers can always do that. All too well.

As the four women sat there in awkward silence, desperately trying (and failing) to make small talk, the conversation turned to Hogwarts. It began to flow a little easier with talk of the old school and the "good ol' days".

They explained to Mia the Houses, and how things worked in the magical world - she took in every little detail as a fascinating new piece of information, from House colors to the curriculum. It was then that Ginny realized she was a textbook Ravenclaw. As things got easier to talk about, mostly because of Mia's enthusiasm, talk turned to Ginny and Draco.

"So, if you two were in rival Houses," Mia began, "how'd you get together?" She asked curiously. Ginny blushed, knowing that no one really knew that but her and Draco.

"That's a good question," Hermione echoed.

"I don't know," Ginny shied away from the question. "It just sort of happened."

"Don't know how..." her mum muttered.

"Oh, I know how." Mia said knowingly, "I just...you know...don't know how. If that makes any sense." Ginny giggled.

"It doesn't." She watched Izzy look around at the newcomers and smile shyly, scurrying out of the room once her picture was finished.

"I mean, I can see why you two are together - you're like...the perfect couple. I just don't know the logistics of it...or something." Mia clarified.

"The perfect couple?" Hermione asked with a hint of disgust.

"A Slytherin and a Gryffindor?" Molly said at the same time.

"Well, have you ever thought about what happens when a Slytherin and a Gryffindor get together?" Mia interrupted.

"What?" Ginny and Hermione asked in unison.

"Ever really thought about it? About what happens?" Mia continued excitedly. They shook their heads confusedly and Mia grinned. "Christmas!" She exclaimed. Hermione looked at her as though she were crazy, but Ginny just laughed.

"What?" Mia continued. "Didn't you just say Slytherins and Gryffindors were green and red? Complete opposites on the color wheel, that you'd think would look horrible together, but when you put them together - Christmas! A time of love, hope and charity. ...C'mon. Christmas!" She finished, giggling. Ginny was still laughing, realizing where Mia's mind had gone - as it always did. Seeing the confused looks on her family's faces just made the moment better. At least she and Draco weren't the only ones confused about the connections Mia's mind made sometimes.

"Christmas?" Hermione repeated skeptically. "I think that's a bit different..."

"It is not!" Mia defended. "Things were really bad in the world, and then green and red got together, and now they're better. It's not hard."

"It's different because they were on different sides of a war," Hermione clarified. "The largest power struggle in the history of the Wizarding World. He was a murderer, and she was a Healer."

"See? Opposites!" Mia exclaimed again, pointing this time at Hermione.

"I don't think you understand this war," Hermione said seriously. Ginny's mood had sobered considerably when Hermione had begun to argue with Mia.

"Mione, I think it's you who doesn't understand." She said fairly. "It's meaningless. The entire history of the world is power struggles, this one just happened to have good guys and bad guys. I'm sure another one's already started, and I'm sure Harry's towards the center of it. That's never going to change or end, why don't you see that?"

"Whoa, Marx, slow down there." Mia interrupted. "I don't think that's exactly on the nose..."

"It is!" Ginny said, "It is on the nose. Power struggles are constant - people always want more than what they have, it's just how things are. So does it even matter who's side you're on?"

"Ginny!" Her mum exclaimed.

"No! Really, does it matter? I'm not saying I wanted to run off and become a Death Eater or anything, because I didn't, but in every day...as long as he's with me, does it matter what side he's on? I'm sick of all this 'it's either them or us' rubbish, because he's my husband and I love him! And it's rubbish!" Ginny was getting passionate about her arguement - she'd been thinking about it a lot lately.

"Alright, Karl! We get it! No need to rally the proletariats." Mia said quickly.

"What?" Hermione asked. Mia looked at her quizzically.

"The Communist Manifesto? Karl Marx? Really, it's called reading. You should try it sometime." She finished before looking back at Ginny. That one shot at Hermione broke all tension in the room, and Ginny couldn't help but giggle - someone was telling Hermione she needed to read more. She supposed there was a first for everything. Hermione looked dumbstruck, unable to speak, and her mum looked about the same - they didn't know who this stranger was or why she felt so comfortable being so bold.

"Ginny, please, just come back to the Burrow with us. You can stay there until this is all sorted out." Molly finally broke the silence with a hopeful look. "Maybe even after, if you don't want to come back here."

"Mum," Ginny couldn't believe she had to say this. "I'm not going. I'm staying here, because this is where I live, with my family. Things may not be perfect at the moment, but frankly, things were never perfect."

"But you could stay at the Burrow, we could...catch up, and get to know the kids...you could see everyone..." She pleaded as they stood up to leave.

"Mum..."

"Mrs. Weasley, I hate to say it...well...no I don't...but you know what they say: there's more than one answer to these questions, pointing me in a crooked line." Mia finished seriously.

"Who says that?" She asked.

"The Indigo Girls."

"Who?" Molly asked. Mia just looked around like she'd just met an alien.

"Music...Music group." Molly nodded, but still seemed confused. "It just means that there's more than one way to do this, and you have to let Ginny find her own answers." She took a deep breath, but nodded and bid them goodbye.

When Ginny got back to the living room, she practically fell on the couch from exhaustion.

"Can you watch the kids?" She asked Mia with her eyes closed.

"Sure, why?"

"Because I have to make a trip to Azkaban."

Ginny arrived at Azkaban an hour later, flooing from home. She walked every step reluctantly, thinking about other ways to go about this. She wished she hadn't stormed out the last time she'd been here, and she hoped Draco was alright.

When he finally got to the room she'd been sent to, he looked weaker and sicker than she ever thought he could. His eyes had dark circles around them, and his entire posture was deflated. He looked utterly defeated. When he saw Ginny, though, he almost smiled. A sort of hollow, half-smile, that almost looked like a memory, filtered through fog and mirrors.

She hugged him tight, and he seemed to be thinner than she remembered. His face and clothes were dirty, and his hair was unkempt. The Draco she knew never would have stood for such things, even back in the days when the money in their pocket was all they had to live on.

He held onto her tightly, whispering apologies into her ear hopefully. She didn't say anything - she didn't know what to say. When they broke apart he ran his hand across her cheek and smiled, a little more this time.

"I'm sorry," he said again, softly. "I didn't have a choice. I'm sorry..." She sniffed, but didn't nod. She couldn't condone his actions. She just...couldn't. "I'm glad you came back," he said. She looked up at him and smiled a bit - she was, too. She didn't realize until she saw him how much she missed him, how weird it was to wake up alone, go to bed alone, eat dinner with the kids, alone. But her own words this afternoon had struck her hard - it really didn't matter whose side she was on, so long as she was on his side. That was way too cheesy for her to say out loud, so she just went to visit him. She hugged him a few times, not wanting to leave again after realizing how lonely she'd been, but she didn't have much to say.

"I hear the trial's going well," She said conversationally. Draco's face fell a bit, and he shrugged.

"So she says." He replied flatly.

"I heard about your father." She whispered. He looked away, knowing full well what she was talking about, and took a deep breath.

"Yeah." Was all he said. She looked at him pointedly. It washis father. Shouldn't Draco have known something like that? Why would his father do that? Ginny realized she had so many questions, and that Draco probably knew the answers to half of them. "What?" He asked, finally seeing her looking up at him. "Don't look at me, I was kind of hoping he was dead."

"Draco!" She chided.

"What?" He asked innocently. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Where is he? Do you know? Does he know you're back?"

"Red, everyone knows I'm back. And you're back. And we're back. Haven't you been reading the Daily Prophet?"

"What? No, of course not. I stopped reading that load of garbage when I was fourteen." She said with disgust. Draco smirked - Ginny could see him slowly returning to himself before her eyes. She smiled at the thought.

"The poor, abused boy from the rich yet neglectfulfamily is the talk of the town." He said amusedly. Her jaw dropped just a little before she caught it and just rolled her eyes.

"You're kidding." She said, but he shook his head. She rolled her eyes again, realizing she really should be keeping up on that, even if it was a load of garbage.

"I'm not sure if Rita Skeeter called Stefanie or vice versa, but they're talking." He told her.

"Ugh, must they? That women doesn't ever get a story right."

"She will when it's this big of a deal to Stefanie. She prints one libellous word about any of us and she's out of work for the rest of her life. Stefanie's always been a force to be reckoned with. Apparently now she's got connections - you should hear her." Ginny smiled as he rambled. He usually didn't do that, but she could understand how the circumstances would change some things.

"So...you haven't talked to your father?" She steered the conversation back to where she'd planned for it to go. His face fell, but he shook his head.

"I didn't know he was alive until this morning." He admitted.

"Where is he?" She pressed.

"I don't know,"

"What's he doing? And your mother?" She kept going - she had a million questions. Finally, he put his hand on her arm to get her attention.

"Red, I don't know. I haven't been tapping into the grape vine in here - I'm not exactly popular." He said flatly, not looking at her. There was a hint of something in his voice, something she figured she didn't want to know about, so she didn't ask. She just muttered an apology and laid her head on his shoulder. Being in his arms again felt like home, she just closed her eyes. No matter how long they'd been apart, how far away he'd been or what had happened in between, being with him was just the way things were supposed to be.

The way things were supposed to be. This was certainly not the way things were supposed to be, but they were strangely right. She couldn't help but think that things were exactly the way they were really meant to be. Had she known her fate as a star-struck eleven year old, she might've committed suicide. But knowing now what she didn't know then made her comfortable and content.

She realized that he was going to be in there for a long time, maybe even forever. They might even give him the Kiss. She tried not to imagine life without him, but couldn't help it - Damon and Emma graduating from Hogwarts without him, Emma walking down the isle without him, having kids and grandkids without him...living daily life without him...she nearly cried as she felt her entire body get weaker. Had she not been so close to Draco, she wouldn't have felt him waiver and fall over, nearly taking her with him.

He groaned and yelled, his eyes shut tight. She was terrified - she didn't know who he was yelling at or why, it was just a bunch of garbled sounds. As he began to thrash and roll around, and she began to cry, the door opened and two dementors glided in. Ginny watched them drag Draco out, and she nearly fell to her knees in anguish.

A small voice in the back of her head told her she was stronger than that, and that crying wouldn't do any good. As she stood there, weak in the knees and ready to break down, the voice got stronger, and started yelling at her.

After a few moments she began to realize that she really was stronger than that. Crying was going to get her nowhere. She took a deep breath and stared at the door - Draco would be fine. He was strong, determined, and he had purpose. He needed to get out of jail because he needed to take care of his family, and because she needed to take care of him. Fate had always been on their side, and it would be on their side this time, too. It would never have brought them this far if it was supposed to end like this. She knew she couldn't be held responsible for the murders he'd committed so long ago, and that, on most occasions, neither could he. She decided that she wouldn't be held responsible, she had to stop feeling so guilty for things that were so far out of her control. Was it her fault she was stubborn? That her family wanted to protect her so much they smothered her? That Draco cared about her so much he...

"Everything's ok in the end." Ginny muttered determinedly to herself. "If it's not ok, it's not the end." She took another, deep and calming breath as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of chocolate, popping in her mouth, kicking herself for not giving it to Draco. Next time.

She walked out of the prison and flooed home to see everyone had already eaten dinner. She decided that the world, fate and everything else that needed her could wait until tomorrow, because tonight she had other priorities, and she needed them just as much as they needed her.