Song: Could've Been
Artist: Mandy Moore
The flowers you gave me
Are just about to die
When I think about what could've been
It makes me want to cry
The sweet words you whispered
Didn't mean a thing
I guess our song is over
As we begin to sing
Could've been so beautiful
Could've been so right
Could've been my lover
Everyday day of my life
Could've been so beautiful
Could've been so right
I'll never hold what could've been
On a cold and lonley night
Chapter Five: Coming Back to the Past
Eleven Years Later
Ginny entered the restaurant with Harry Potter. The war was finally over. The final battle had been in Hogwarts. Voldemort was preparing an attack to the school but one of the spies from the Order had warned Dumbledore. No one but Dumbledore knew who he or she was but if it wasn't for that spy Harry Potter would have never make it in time to save the school and destroy the Dark Lord.
'Our table is ready Gin!' Harry told her waking her from her deep thoughts. They walked to a table near the window. Though they were in Diagon-Alley the view was tropical. The windows had been magically made so that it showed a pleasant sea view.
'Just perfect! Ferret for lunch!' Harry sneered.
'What?' Ginny asked confused.
'Malfoy is over there with a woman!' Ginny felt her heart shrink. It had been eleven years since she had last seen Draco but she could never forget him or what he had done to her. 'He probably returned from the place he was hiding! He should be sent to Azkabban! Can't figure out why Dumbledore trusts him!'
'You are right! I know he was a Death Eater, I saw his Dark Mark!' she commented remembering that painful moment. She hadn't had the courage to look at him yet.
'Dumbledore has is reasons even if he doesn't tell anyone! He also trusts Snape and he proved to be worthy of that trust!' Harry simply said.'But lets not talk about someone who does not deserve our attention!'
Draco looked to the door and he almost threw up his heart. Ginny had just came in with Potter. She looked more beautiful than he remembered. She had grown up to be an astonishing woman.
Draco had returned from Italy a week before. He had been living there since the war was over. He could still remember the night he had to get away from England. Voldemort was preparing the final battle. That night they were suppose to attack Hogwarts. Draco knew and so did a few other Slytherins. Voldemort was so mad about the fact that Ginny had escaped, he could not wait anymore and decided to attack Hogwarts. Draco was suppose to stand by Dumbledore's side, pretending he wasn't a Death Eater because Voldemort needed someone close to the enemy but the events of that day made Draco turn his back to everything and just go away. Get away from everything. Blaise Zabini had done the same thing and so had Gregory Goyle. Draco had heard later that Vincent Crabbe staid by Voldemort's side and that he had been murdered by Neville Longbottom. Draco had been the first to leave Hogwarts a few minutes before the attack, advised by Professor Snape that only knew about what would happen when Draco told him. Goyle had waited for Voldemort but the minute he noticed the Ministry had sent Aurors and all the Order of the Phoenix was there, he followed Draco and Zabini. Smart choice because in that night, The-Boy-Who-Lived had defeated Voldemort. What happened after, Draco wasn't sure.
Now, eleven years later, everything was not too different from what Draco remembered. People had grown, got married, had kids, but basically the world of Magic was exactly the same. Diagon-Alley was just has he remembered it. The Leaky Cauldron, Florish and Blotts, Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlor, Madam Malkin's, Ollivanders, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Gringotts only Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop had fallen into bankruptcy due to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Now it was another joke shop from the Weasley Brothers.
It had been so long since the last time he had been this near to Ginny. For the past eleven years she had been haunting his dreams, but the person lying next to him was never her. Every time he closed his eyes she was the one he would see but when he opened them the woman in front of him was someone else.
He looked at her more closely. She had changed. She was more confident, more secure of herself but something in her eyes was gone. A sparkle he was used to see in her eyes seemed to have disappeared.
He too was different. Time, lies and pain had made him more cruel, colder and more arrogant. He wouldn't care about anyone else but him. He had turned his heart to ice, he found out coldness could ease the pain.
'Draco, are you listening?' the beautiful brunette with deep blue eyes sitting in front of Draco asked with a french accent. Draco cursed Francine for not having red hair and hazel eyes.
'Of course I am!' he answered. He had the intention of taking Francine to a nice Hotel after lunch and have a good afternoon of lust but seeing Ginny had made him change is mind. The distance had made it easy for him to move from woman to woman without caring who he hurt. But Ginny was there now, so close but yet so far. The closeness that he felt now made him uncomfortable.
'I'm going to the toilet! Excuse me, Harry!' Ginny stood up and made her way to the toilet. She wasn't ready to face Draco but that was what happened. For two endless seconds their eyes met. She saw his eyes were colder and haunted by a dark shadow. In her eyes he found hatred and determination. She turned her eyes towards the toilet door because she couldn't handle the amount of different feelings that had just awaken inside her. The strongest and the scariest was the urge to kiss him. He was a bit taller, his body seemed stronger. He was now a true man, not a young man.
"Control yourself Weasley! You are no longer the stupid and defenseless teenager you once were! So control those damn hormones!"
Draco turned his eyes towards Francine who seemed to be angry with him. He hated when women did that kind of jealous scene.
Ginny looked herself in the mirror trying to find any sign of what she had felt reflected in the mirror and she sigh in relief when she noticed her face was blank. She was no more the little girl that would break down when facing an uncomfortable situation.
She lowered her face to wash it. The cold water touched her warm skin and she took a deep breath. She lifted her head to look in the mirror once again. What happened next was so unexpected that she froze for several seconds. Someone covered her mouth just in time to keep her from screaming. A person dressed in black with a white mask over it's face was just behind her pointing a wand to her head with one hand and keeping her from screaming with the other.
'Hello Weasley!' the person whispered. Ginny could not tell if it was a man or a woman. Her brain stopped momentarily but she soon recovered and bit her almost kidnapper's hand. The (probably) Death Eater got distracted and Ginny took the chance to get out and ran towards the salon. But other three people dressed as Death Eaters too were blocking the way. She took her wand of her robes.
'Petrificus tottalus!' she said and so did other two people behind her opponents. The three Death Eaters got out of the way just in time to avoid the spells.
'We'll meet again Weasley!' one of them said before the four of them disappear. This time Ginny could swear it was a man.
'Ginny! Are you OK?' Harry asked running to her. But Ginny did not notice. She was looking at the silver blond man leaving the restaurant accompanied by a beautiful brunette. Ginny felt her heart sank for the second time that day.
Harry looked at Ginny with concern. She was standing by the window, looking at something outside.
'I'm sorry I took this long! I just received the news! I as dealing with some problems with goblins!' Penelope Clearwater, the Minister of Magic came inside her office. She sat on her chair behind the desk and Harry and Ginny sat in front of it. 'As I said, I just heard about the attack Ginny! Do you have any idea who could want to kidnap you?'
'I...' Ginny started saying.
'Death Eaters!' Harry cut her of.
'Death Eaters?' Penelope said surprised and alarmed. Voldemort had been defeated eleven years ago. Harry had done it and since then there had been no sign of Death Eaters. But now they suddenly appeared in Diagon-Alley trying to kidnap the last person they had tried to kill before the final battle.' Are you sure they were Death Eaters? You could have mistaken them, I mean, with all those people there and the confusion!'
'I'm an auror for ten years now, I can assure you they were Death Eaters!'
'OK! Alright! I'm sorry I doubted you Harry, but you must understand my position!'
'I do! I know it's alarming! No one was expecting Death Eaters to come out, not now nor ever! Everyone was convinced they were all hidden for ever! But they're here again and I don't believe they're going to quit!'
'What do you think they want with Ginny?'
'I don't know but I'm not willing to take the risk! Ginny needs protection! I could be her guard but...'
'I can take care of myself!' Ginny interrupted. They were talking about her as if she wasn't there and her Weasley temper just rose. 'I'm 27 years old, I think I'm perfectly capable of watching my back!'
'Ginny it's not the time to be stubborn! You need to hide! They are dangerous, you know it! They had eleven years to plan whatever it is they want to do! And you seem to be important to them, you need to hide!'
Ginny was about to say something when someone knocked on the door.
'Come in!' Penelope said. Albus Dumbledore came in.
'Good afternoon! I believe you are discussing the events of this afternoon!' Dumbledore said making his way towards the desk, leaving the door open.
'We were trying to find a way to protect Ginny!'
'I hope none of you mind, but I have taken care of that!'
'You have?' Harry and Penelope said. Not at all surprised because Dumbledore had the gift to be always one step ahead.
'Yes! I found the perfect hiding to Ms Weasley!'
'With all respect Sir but I already told Harry and Penelope and now I tell you sir, I can take care of myself!'
'Keep telling you that Weasley, maybe one day it will become true!'
'What's he doing here?' Harry said getting up so fast the chair fell. He looked furious. Draco Malfoy had just came in and was now standing by Dumbledore's side.
'Calm down Harry! Draco is with me!' Dumbledore said.
'Yeah Potter, calm down! Looks like that annoying Weasley's temper is contagious! I'd be careful if I were you!'
'You're the one who should be careful Malfoy! I've got you under my watch!'
'Really? I always thought you were madly in love with the Chang girl! Turned gay Potter?'
Harry's face was as scarlet as a Weasley's hair and his eyes showed so much hatred, Ginny had only seen him look at someone like that when Voldemort had killed Luna in front of them. Draco, on the other side, was blank, but somewhere in his eyes Ginny could see a sparkle of amusement.
She was feeling uncomfortable. She had been eleven years without seeing him and now that was the second time in less than 24 hours.
'Gentlemen behave! This is not the time for old quarrels! Ms Weasley is in danger!'
'I'm sorry Sir! You're right! Ginny needs to hide!'
'Yes Harry, and please call me Albus! Ginny needs protection! That's exactly why Draco is here! My suggestion was to hide Ginny in Malfoy Manor! It is the only place she can be safe in this moment!' Dumbledore said carefully.
'What?' Ron, Fred and George came inside the office. Ron looked like someone had just punched him. 'Why not? No, wait! I have a better idea, lets just give her to the Death Eaters! Forget it, you are already doing that!' Ron said in a very sharp voice.
Ginny looked at Draco. The amusement was gone from his eyes. It seemed to have been replaced by something else. Regret? Sadness? Discomfort? She stared at him. Whatever it was that he felt made her heart sink. He suddenly looked in her direction and she looked at something else.
'Mr Weasley I can assure you Mr Malfoy is as much as a Death Eater as I am!'
'You expect me to believe it? He returns to London and suddenly someone is trying to kidnap my little sister! What do you expect me to think? Of course he has something to do with it!' Ron argued.
'Once again I assure you Mr Weasley, I give you my word Mr Malfoy is not a Death Eater!' Dumbledore said as if he was explaining it to a three years old child.
Ron muttered something that sounded to Ginny like "Naive old man!" but no one else seemed to have heard it.
'I understand your childhood disagreements aren't over yet and that it is hard for a Gryffindor to trust a Slytherin' Dumbledore gave Ginny a weird look and continued ' but there are times when we have to swallow our pride in the name of safety! Virginia needs protection and in this moment Mr Malfoy is the better person to do that!'
'I'm an Auror! I can protect Ginny!' Harry protested.
'Harry! Being with you would be just as bad as leaving her alone!' Harry opened his mouth to speak but Dumbledore made a hand movement and Harry closed his mouth without a word. 'Because catching you would probably be just as good as catching Virginia! Getting bought of you together would be perfect for them!'
'Then why didn't they try to catch me?'
'They probably would! They just weren't expecting someone else to be there!'
'Fine! But I'm an Auror too and my fiancee is the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures! We can take care of her!'
'I believe you and Ms Granger could take care of her but that would be predictable! Besides, Malfoy Manor in the most powerful protected building in all Europe!' Fred opened his mouth to argue but Dumbledore cut him of 'More than Hogwarts!'
That seemed to make the point. Nobody spoke for several minutes. Harry, Ron and the twins were looking at Malfoy with a furious expression. Malfoy, on the other side, seemed to be enjoying their anger. The sparkle of amusement was back to is eyes and Ginny saw his famous smirk once again after eleven years.
That was how Ginny ended up living with Malfoy. She hadn't even had the chance to argue. No one had let her and she wasn't sure for how long she had to stay with Malfoy. Or what to expect from that situation.
Ginny took a deep breath to calm down. On one side she was mad at her family for treating her like a little girl who could not take care of herself. She was already a grown up woman, she was an Unspeakable and she had been living alone for six years. On the other side she was nervous. Living alone with Draco Malfoy, the man who had broken her heart eleven years before, the ice king was something she had never thought about. But the worse was that he was not the problem. She was. She and all the feeling that had been asleep for the past eleven years.
She looked at the Manor one more time before ringing the bell. The big silver snake that served has a locker to the gate moved and looked at her.
'What is your business here?' the snake asked in a hissing voice.
'Mr. Malfoy offered me protection!' she said uncertainly.
'I presume you are Ms Weasley!'
'Yes!'
'What does my Master call you?'
'Weasel!' she said uncertainly.
'Very well! You may come inside! Tikky, the house elf will be waiting for you by the door!'
The snake froze and the gate opened splitting it in two. Ginny steeped in. The path leading to the Manor was surrounded by enormous trees, making it dark even if it was day time. It looked like Draco had a small forest inside the Manor's grounds.
When she reached the big entrance door, a tiny house elf was standing there, waiting for her.
'Me Tikky , Miss! Master Malfoy asked me to receive Miss and show Miss' room! The house elf said in a sharper voice than male house elves had. Ginny smiled at the female elf. Tikky took the bag from Ginny's hands gently and got inside the mansion. 'Follow me Miss!'
'You can call me Ginny!' she said, steeping inside, the house elf looked at her as if she had said something offensive but said nothing. The decoration made her remember Grimmauld Place when she first entered it, but darker and at the same time more sophisticated. The entrance hall was decorated with shades of wine color and black. Soon Ginny noticed that was probably the only place in the house with a color different from black, green or silver.
"Typical Slytherin!" she thought. Through the corridors she saw paintings of wizards (generally with silver blond hair). "I'll probably need a map if I don't want to get lost inside this place!" she concluded after feeling her head spinning around with the lefts turns and right turns and stairs she had to go up. The worse was that it seemed all the same.
'This is your room Miss! Master's room is just next to yours! That one over there!' the elf pointed to a large black door a few feet after the white in front of Ginny. The closeness of their rooms was not something that pleased her but maybe it was for the best, that way he could easily protect her. But who would protect her from him? Or from herself?
Tikky got inside the room and Ginny followed. It was a large bedroom. Probably bigger than her own apartment. It was decorated all in shades of white and gold, it looked like a piece of heaven. Ginny held her breath, amazed with the beauty of the room. She felt like a princess in one of those muggle fairy tales her father used to tell her when she was little.
'That door leads to your private toilet Miss! I have already prepared you a bath! I will go down to the kitchens! If Miss need anything call Tikky!' Ginny heard the sharp voice of the house elf saying and after Tikky dropped her bag in the floor she disappeared.
Ginny looked around at the room. By her left was a large wardrobe. In front of her was a large white sofa next to big window with a beautiful view over the amazing garden, that, opposite to the one in front of the house, was full with flowers of all colors and kinds, all organized making a thousand different patterns.. Far away, after the garden she could see the entrance of a forest.
By her right was the bed were she was going to sleep. It was large and full of white and golden pillows. A white see-through veil was all around the bed. In the walls were several paintings. Ginny's eyes got caught in two in particularly. One had sparkling fairies flying around in the night sky and the other one was, for her surprise, what muggles called a baby angel sleeping peacefully in a white cloud. A very strange painting to find in the Malfoy Manor.
Ginny headed then to the bathroom. It was all made of marble only the taps were made of pure gold. The bath towels were all white and she had a very comfy robe waiting for her after she took a bath.
After spending the rest of the afternoon unpacking her things she felt exhausted.
'Dinner is ready Miss!' Tikky appeared in the room a few minutes after she had finished putting her books over a desk by the door. 'Master tell me to apologize for him! Master has business tonight!' the house elf said.
Ginny was upset but glad at the same time. Upset because Malfoy was so keen to make her go to his house but would not even be home to receive her. But glad because she wouldn't have to face him yet. She was afraid of that moment but the anticipation was killing her. The entire afternoon she had been jumpy, expecting him to get inside her room at any moment.
She ate dinner alone, in the most creepy dinning room she had ever been in. It was all covered in dark blue and black. The chairs were lined in black velvet, the walls were painted in black, the fire place was made of basalt. Eating alone, in the big, long table and in that dark room took her appetite away.
When Tikky took her back to her room she was tired and feeling depressed. She had spent the afternoon and night without a human company and the house was so big and dark and lonely it seamed like it was haunted with something dark, and she would bet it was, being the house that once belong to a man that almost caused her death.
Her room seemed to be the only place in that house, even if she had only been there and the kitchen, where she felt good. Even though she had some trouble to fall asleep. It was a different room, the bed was too comfortable, so different from her own. The sheets were made of silk, the pillow was fluffy. But in a few minutes she adjusted her body to all the comfort and fell asleep. She had a very peaceful night. She only awoke with the noise of her book falling on the floor. She had probably knocked him of the bed, were she had left it before falling asleep. She picked it up and was about to close her eyes when she saw, through the veil, the baby angel in the picture looking at her with a sweet smile. Se smiled back, feeling like that angel was her guardian and fell asleep once again.
Draco had spent the afternoon and night with Dumbledore, Snape, the three youngest Wesley men and Potter. The Weasleys and Potter were still trying to persuade Dumbledore to find some other place to hide Ginny but Draco knew Dumbledore would not change his mind. Dumbledore trusted him and knew Draco was the best option not only to protect Ginny but to find who was trying to kidnap her. The problem was who was going to protect him from her and from himself?And her from him?
He got home tired and sleepy. He looked at the big clock standing in his office in the Manor, were he had just apparated. It was already three thirty in the morning. He took of his cloak and sat in the chair behind his desk. The room was only lighten by the moonlight. The house was silent. He had had hopes of having dinner with Ginny or at least of talking to her before she went to sleep but her brothers kept him. Only when her older brother Bill arrived and put some sense in the other Weasleys, telling them they should trust Dumbledore, that they had let him come home.
He got up and walked towards the window. The flower fairies that his mother bought to put in the garden sparkled flying around the flowers. He liked that garden, it reminded him of his mother but it made him a bit jealous because Narcissa had never paid him the attention she paid to the garden. Returning back to that house, to that country made him realize, no matter where he went or what he did he'd always be Draco Malfoy, the Death Eater who ran away, the son of Lucius Malfoy who killed, tortured and manipulated hundreds of Muggles and wizards. People were afraid of him when he passed them on the street others would give him disapproving looks. He was hoping that after eleven years no one would remember him but it seemed that the Wizarding World had stooped in time for eleven years. Everyone remembered everything. The past had staid there, waiting for him until he return. And now he was there and had to face everything he had ran away from. And that house, were he had lived for seventeen years, did not bring him the best memories. All he could remember was the fights with his father, the disregard from his mother, the lonely days he spent wandering around the dark and cold manor. He could understand why Malfoys could be so cold, dangerous and dark. The Manor itself was like that. So cold, lonely, dangerous and dark it could drive someone who was not used to that insane. That was why he wanted to be there when Ginny arrived. He had to show her where she could or couldn't go. There were traps all over the Manor that could get her killed.
He was bounded to that Manor, even if he didn't want to. It was protected against apparating but being him a Malfoy, he was capable of apparating inside the grounds of the manor. Only him and the house elf could do it.
Not resisting anymore the urge to see Ginny he apparated in her bedroom. He saw her sleeping peacefully through the veil. He chose that room for her because it was special. It had belonged to his grandmother, the only Malfoy he ever knew that was kind and happy. Unfortunately she had died when he was only three years old with a strange illness.
The room was special not just because of that but because the picture of the baby angel was a guardian. No one but the owner of the manor, the house elf or the person the owner allowed, could get inside that room and if someone actually got inside, something Draco doubted due the powerful spell protecting it, the baby angel would form a shield over the bed. And Draco would also be warned. He would know it, he didn't understood exactly how or why, he knew nothing about that spell but he trusted his ancestors.
He walked towards the left side of the bed and moved the veil away. He wanted to touch her pale and smooth face, her silky red hair but he restrained himself and turned around dropping the book that was over the bed. She moved slowly and he disapparated before she could see him.
Song: Here Without You
Band: Three Doors Down
A hundred days have made me older
Since the last time that I saw your pretty face
A thousand lies have made me colder
And I don't think I can look at this the same
But all the miles that separated
They disappear now when I'm dreamin' on your face
I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And I dream about you all the time
I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
Sorry it took me so long to write this chapter, but school started and test just arrived. I had not much time to write but here it is. Hope you like it. The next chapter will be short but it will explain somethings this one didn't.
Kisses and please review.
(¨·.·¨) Shadow's fairy (¨·.·¨)
