A/N- Kay I know it's been forever, as Callidora-Malfoy ( please send me a private message) reminded me. This story I had and still do have many plans for, I think I scared myself with it. I may have even been wanting to put enough stuff in for two or three stories. But I'm making a vow to you reader I will get one chapter up per month of this from now on!

The Cruelty of the Past

Chapter 20

Slow Acceptance

As the weeks passed, Ginny was slowly fitting together. School was fine, as long as she could avoid Harry. Life at the Manor was nice, now that Lucius didn't treat her like a child regularly. However, he did slip at times, like tonight. They were fighting. "You will go to your room!" he yelled.

"Excuse me?" Ginny questioned.

"I have had enough of your impertinence! Go to bed now!"

"The last time I checked, I was not a child whom you could send to bed without dessert!"

He was on her in a second, holding her upper arms in his iron tight grip. He had a deadly look on his face. Ginny hated the fact that he took her by surprise; the quickness of his advance caused her to tremble. He rose an eyebrow. "If you're not a child, then why are you shaking like a leaf?"

"You don't scare me!" she swore to him while trying to calm herself.

"Really?" He pushed her back against his desk and ripped her shirt open. He had in the past always been gentle about sex, so truth be told he was scaring her now, but she would never admit it. She was fighting back, and she was lucky enough to knee him in the balls. He doubled over in pain, and Ginny took the opportunity to jump up and run for the door. She stopped before leaving. "If I knew someone was going to try to force themselves on me, I would have guessed it to be Harry, not my husband!" She then bolted for the Rose room. Once there, she gathered her things and returned to Hogwarts.

The thing was, she wasn't really mad. She guessed that some part of Lucius enjoyed seeing people fear him. The two of them had been fighting, and he wanted to win. He couldn't use magic against her, and he didn't hit her as she had feared. A part of Ginny kind of liked the idea of him taking total control. Under the right circumstances, she thought she might enjoy it, a lot. But she wasn't going to let him think he was winning a battle that way!

Lucius couldn't believe the gall of his wife! He admitted to himself he wanted to scare her; he was sure this would. However, he didn't miss the spark in her eyes when she fought back. This was most definitely something they would have to investigate at a later date.

Before Ginny knew it, December had arrived and Lucius' social calendar was very full. She was spending at least two extra nights at the Manor each week, and her schoolwork was suffering as a result. But she was doing her best to keep her grades up.

Tonight was the Ministry's Snowflake Ball; it was always a big fundraiser for St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Ginny was rather nervous as Hermione had told her that Harry and a number of her family members would be attending, them being war heroes and all. She had not, as of yet, seen any of her family since marrying Lucius.

She was wearing a forest green, opulent, one shoulder dress that had a Roman goddess feel to it. It had gold embellishments at the waist and some draping coming down from that. She wore a diamond choker with long baguette diamonds within it's slim design and she had matching earrings. Her hair was mostly up in curls that had been charmed into place.

Lucius had been rather insistent that she look perfect for this event. He realized this evening might be very hard on Ginny. She might not tell him much, but he had his ways of knowing that her family had not talked with her. He didn't care for the Weasleys, so yes, he was relieved that Ginny wasn't wanting to have them at the Manor all the time. Their desertion of her only made his feelings against them clearer. If the tables had been turned and she was his daughter who had married one of them, he would have been there for her to help with this difficult time.

When she came down the stairs, Lucius was pleased with how she looked. She was amazing, and he knew she was comfortable with her new style. The etiquette lessons she had been taking had paid off nicely, for she took to them rather unexpectedly, yet naturally. Lucius had expected her to fight against taking them. Instead, she embraced them, and now his wife didn't seem out of place anywhere he had taken her, unless one looked at how young she was.

"Ginevra, you look stunning this evening," he complimented.

She raised an eyebrow, but replied simply, "Thank you."

He offered her his arm as he explained, "I will Apparate us there tonight when you're ready."

"I'm about as ready- Lucius, you- you won't have any issues with any of my family, will you?"

He sighed. "Ginevra, have they reached out to you since we got married?"

She looked down. He knew she was hurt by their non-actions. "I won't cause a scene," he vowed. He had to admit he was starting to like Ginny. Her work ethic was excellent, she was strong and smart, but also seemed to understand that she didn't need to let everyone know how smart. In some ways, it was better to have people underestimate her. They were very much alike in some ways.

"Thank you." Ginny was still trying to figure out this man. He was very private, and proud. He treated her as if she was the only woman he wanted to have on his arm each time they went out, but she knew he had to be missing Narcissa. He had spent over twenty years with the woman; she couldn't imagine how he must be feeling each time he had to introduce her as his wife! How his heart must ache that she isn't Narcissa. Ginny had seen pictures of her, and had even met the woman a couple of times. Narcissa was meant to be the lady of this Manor, and she was exactly the type of wife Lucius needed.

Ginny, on the other hand, knew her own faults. She was young; yes, men like youth for sex, but little else. She didn't view things as he did, and truth be told, that scared her. She worried about how mixed up their child would be, being told two very different sets of beliefs, so she was doing her best so that Lucius wouldn't resent her.

"I thought Draco was going tonight," she stated, making conversation.

"He is, but he had a date to pick up."

"Right. Well, let's get this over with," she said with a slightly forced smile.

When they arrived, the ballroom was filled with a rainbow of color from the women's dresses. Lucius led Ginny over to a group of business associates. She spotted her parents across the room, and she had decided she wasn't the person in the wrong. She wasn't going to beg them for forgiveness. If they came over to her, she would willingly speak to them.

"This is my wife, Ginevra. Ginevra, this is Paul Hand and Alvin Remmler." Paul was a short, balding man with dark hair, what was left of it. Alvin was a man of average height and weight with sandy brown hair.

She smiled at the men and offered her hand. As she nodded, she spoke, "Gentlemen, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Ginevra, you are a lovely young woman," Mr. Hand said.

"Come Ginevra, there are others I want you to meet." Lucius spent the next hour putting Ginny on display. While Ginny knew what was going on, it didn't bother her. She knew what she was doing in the way of restoring some respect to the Malfoy name. It would be the name her child would bear.

She did notice that her family members who were there didn't even try to come over to speak to her. It left her feeling hurt.

When Harry arrived, he had a date with him. She was a brunette who was very attractive. However, Harry's eyes never left Ginny.

After returning from the ball, she headed to the Manor's library to work on a paper.

"Ginny, what in hell are you doing up at this hour?" Draco asked after he returned himself, at three in the morning.

She glanced up at him from her paper. "I have a Potions essay due the day after tomorrow."

He strolled into the room and sat on the table near her books, facing her. "You need a break: you've been going like this for how long now?"

Ginny leaned back in her chair. "It's not the first time I've burned the candle at both ends."

Draco had reached over, picked up her paper, and started reading it over, but paused and looked up for a second. "Yes, you did become an issue yourself last year."

She smiled at the memory. "It was my duty to speak for those who did not dare."

He glanced up from her paper. "You have no idea of the risk you place yourself in," he cautioned.

"I'd do it all again, if I had to." She and Draco had reached a plateau of sorts; they wouldn't call each other 'friend', but they had become very comfortable with each other.

He lowered the paper and looked at her. "You should be thankful Snape wouldn't permit students to leave the grounds. Carrow and a few of his buddies had their own ideas of how to deal with you."

He expected her to flinch; instead, she looked at him and smiled. "And you know this how?"

He wasn't sure how she would react to this. "I was asked if I wanted to join them."

She again surprised him. "Couldn't lower yourself to a Weasley, huh?" She gave him a smile.

He smirked at her. "Wouldn't lower myself to rape. Besides, looking back now, had things not worked out the way they did, we most likely would have been married." He handed her back the paper, walked over to a shelf of books, pulled one down and then returned to her as he flipped thought the book. Finally handing her the open book, he said, "You'll find what you need here."

She took the book from him and smiled. "Thanks, Draco," she finished with a yawn.

He looked down at her. "You said this was due the day after tomorrow, so why don't you head up to bed and finish it tomorrow?" He asked with concern.

"I have a Transfiguration essay I have to work on tomorrow."

"I'm sure you could get an extension or something," he suggested.

"I don't want others saying I'm getting special treatment," she declared.

"Then tell Lucius you need a break."

She yawned again. "Draco, I'm lucky he's allowing me to finish school. When we agreed to get married, he made things very clear as to the expectations he had."

"You don't want to disappoint him," Draco guessed.

"NO! No, I gave my word and I have to stick to that."

"You're going to wear yourself out. If you want to finish both, I'll help you tomorrow if you go to bed now. You need sleep; even a Malfoy needs their beauty rest."

"What are you saying? That I look ghastly?"

"I didn't say that, but you don't want to start looking like you did in your first year. Hell, I even stopped picking on you because I thought you were terminally ill or something."