The Cruelty of the Past

Chapter 21

The Breaks

The following morning, Draco met Lucius in the dining room at breakfast. Ginny hadn't come down yet. "Morning, Father."

"Good morning, Draco. How did your date go last night?" Lucius asked, glancing up from the paper he was reading.

"Fine. Has Ginny come down at all?"

"Not as of yet."

Draco took a moment to think, then asked, "Father, do you remember your last year at Hogwarts?"

"That was a stressful time," Lucius said, nose back down in his paper. "Both academically and otherwise."

"Yes, but you didn't take the mark until you finished, right?" Draco confirmed.

"Correct." Lucius set the paper down and took a sip of tea.

"Father, I arrived home after three am last night and noticed a light on in the library. Ginny was in there working on a paper. I've gotten to know her, both here and from observing her when I attend Hogwarts, and I have to say she is very proud and stubborn. Father, she's burning the candle at both ends, probably out of fear that if she tells you she needs a break, you'll make her quit school."

Lucius sighed. Deep down, he knew of this now that Draco had brought it up. He could no longer pretend the issue didn't exist. "I have plans to take her to Russia for New Years," he offered.

Draco smiled. "I think she'll like that, but she has a number of tests upcoming and papers due."

"Draco, you know I can't get out of many of the commitments I have."

Draco got up and poured himself a glass of orange juice. "She needs a break."

"And I need to have her with me. I haven't said anything to her, but she is quickly becoming an asset."

"I'm sure she is, but Father, did you notice that none of her family spoke to her last night? There wasn't even a polite nod of a head. She got permission to drop Defence Against the Dark Arts because Potter was harassing her. She is under a lot of stress and she clearly doesn't want to bring shame to the Malfoy name."

"She dropped Defence? She told you this?" Lucius asked, clearly surprised.

"Not really. There are a few people at the school who still speak to me. I heard that Potter was picking on her, and then she was no longer in his class. I asked her about it and she said he was having issues with the fact she is married and that she'll still have to take the final at the end of the year."

"I knew he gave her a hard time about the Unforgivables, but she never said anything more to me." Lucius rose and headed to the doorway. "I'll make sure I don't keep her out so late."

As the Christmas holiday grew closer, Ginny hadn't heard anything from her family. It hurt her that they didn't seem to care. She knew there were some plans happening at the Burrow for Hermione would leave the room if Ginny was there and talk of the holidays came up.

Both Neville and Luna had invited Ginny to their homes for Christmas Dinner. In the end, Ginny decided to spend the holidays at the Manor. Lucius and Draco were both quite reasonable to be around, and Draco was even fun to argue with. Besides, to be around other families would only remind her of what she was missing.

Before Ginny knew what happened, Christmas Eve had arrived. She had returned to the Manor two days before, but time became a blur. Lucius had promised to take her to Russia for New Years! She was very excited about the trip and looked forward to seeing the Russian Palaces. Any time she had seen images of them, they always seemed so much more ornate than English castles.

For seven days, they played tourist. By day, they would go sightseeing and shopping; for in the wizarding world, Russia was a fashion headquarters. Lucius never said it, but he enjoyed spoiling Ginny. She, unlike Narcissa, never expected to have the things she wanted. He would watch her from the minute they entered a store; she looked at the merchandise, both with her eyes and her hands, touching them, feeling them, and if she truly liked something she would steal a look at the price tag. But she never asked for anything. Lucius knew this was because she grew up in a home where money was very tight. A part of him wondered if she had ever had anything that was new.

And each night, Lucius took his young bride to his bed. He was very pleased with how he had taught her to enjoy sex. He had convinced her to never be ashamed of her sexuality and to be free and open with her mind and body. He wished that she could be as free with him outside of the bedroom.

Months into their marriage, she had shown she could only do good things for the Malfoy name and would never bring shame to it! At the same time, Lucius was sure that when alone with her friends, she could still be a silly young girl, but she knew what was expected of her as his wife.

He did notice that over Christmas she had never even hinted about heading over to her family home to visit. Lucius couldn't for the life of him understand how her family could just turn their backs on her over something that she had no real choice in! Why couldn't they see that she was doing this for them? When he really thought about it, it was his mother-in-law that pissed him off most. He heard how she had killed Bellatrix during the final battle to protect Ginny, who by all accounts had been holding her own fighting Bellatrix. He guessed, now that it was official, that the Mudblood Granger would be part of the Weasley family and that they might feel they no longer needed their daughter.

He never told Ginny, but on Christmas Eve he had run into Arthur Weasley at the Ministry. It was no different than any other time the two men had met, but the pleasantries they exchanged were due to his belief that Ginny had plans to go and visit her family.

On the night before they would return to London, Ginny was in their suite packing to go home. "I don't think, even with all the packing and shrinking charms in the world, that I have room for all the stuff you bought!" Ginny exclaimed to Lucius.

He raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "Most of the stuff I bought was for you," he pointed out.

She then got an offended look on her face and her hands were on her hips as she spoke, "I never asked for anything!"

Lucius smirked; this was true. However, in the four months she had been Mrs Malfoy, she had spent about the same amount Narcissa would have at one afternoon tea with her friends.

"As my wife, you are required to wear the latest fashions," he simply explained.

She rolled her eyes. "Ninety percent of the time I'm in my school uniform!"

"At school, yes, but at the Manor-"

"Who really cares at the Manor? I don't understand why I can't wear jeans and a jumper."

"Because, my darling wife," He used the term to remind her she was a Malfoy. "you have yet to be subject to a raid on our home."

It was true; she hadn't. She stopped and looked at him. "Is it true they will even go through my underwear?"

"They have already." As soon as he said it, she turned bright red with embarrassment.

"But why? I've never done anything wrong!" she fired back.

He sighed heavily; he knew she wouldn't react well to this. "Ginevra, some might say that because of me, you played with a horcrux and that now living with me, as my wife, there could be no limits to what you might do." He could see her becoming madder with each word.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! Neville and I led the fight against the Death Eaters at Hogwarts!"

Her words were true; Lucius had heard of the trouble Dumbledore's Army had caused, and each and every time the Carrows had complained about them, Lucius had to smile, for these were the same people who commented about him being beaten by a group of teens.

"Yes, Ginevra, you did and that is part of the issue; you have shown what you can do, so they worry that you will turn sides. Don't be offended! Take it as a compliment. Fear is anyone's strongest ally."

She looked over at him. His words were true, but she didn't reply to them.

"Think about it, Ginevra. Look at what you did out of fear; you married me out of the fear of what would happen to your family."

"But my underwear drawer? Really! What could they ever think they might find there?"

"Women seem to think that that's the one place a man would never look for something."

Ginny stopped and thought about it. Yes, thinking back she could remember Molly hiding things there from Arthur.

"You must be looking forward to getting back to school," Lucius changed the subject.

She gave a small frown, then lit up with excitement. "School, I guess. Quidditch, I can't wait! We have a big game next Saturday."

"You truly enjoy the game, don't you?" he asked.

Ginny finally closed her trunk and looked at him. "There's no greater feeling for me than taking off of the pitch at the start of the game! I kind of dread the Snitch being caught because then the game is over."

Lucius gave her a real smile. "That's because you love the game, not winning."

She smiled back at him. "I do." She paused, "Lucius, thank you for this trip! It has meant a lot to me."

"Perhaps in the summer we could go camping in the Canadian Rockies," he offered.

"You camp?"

He again smiled at her. "One can only take seeing so many ballets before one would want to Avada Kedavra himself."

When Ginny woke the following Saturday morning, she immediately checked the weather. It had stormed the night before, but when she checked out the window, all was calm. The grounds looked like something out of a storybook. There was a thick, fluffy blanket of snow covering everything, but it was calm, a perfect day for a match! Ginny turned her attention to showering and getting ready for the game that was two hours away.

When she left her room, she was greeted by Oliver Wood.

"Good morning, Mrs Malfoy," he gently teased.

"Professor," she greeted formally in return.

"Ideal conditions this morning."

"Yes, it should be a great day for a match."

"I just hope the team got enough sleep," Ginny commented. Being in the Head Girl's room made it hard to know if her team got to bed on time!

He grinned at her. "I checked. All team members were in their beds at ten-thirty."

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, looking at him sideways. "Last year, Neville, Luna, and I could make it look like we were in bed for bed checks!"

"Positive! On my honor as a fellow Quidditch captain!" he vowed. They had reached the dining hall. "See you on the pitch!" he called to her.

"Thank you!" She smiled and headed to her table.

Four hours later, Ginny was hovering over the pitch watching for any sign of the Snitch. It was freezing out; so cold that Ginny sort of wished they weren't playing on brooms and that her team had to run around like Muggles! That way, they would stay warmer. Gryffindor was leading, but only by twenty points. "Where the bloody hell is the Snitch!" she muttered to herself. She might love the game, but she was convinced her toes had frozen off already. Ginny was thankful this game was against Ravenclaw; they at least played clean.

Ten minutes later, Ginny finally caught sight of the Snitch and went soaring after it. The Ravenclaw Seeker was almost neck and neck with her as they weaved in and out of players from both teams. They flew in front of the Ravenclaw goal when Ginny heard a loud crack! and her broom started spiraling down to the ground! She could hear the student body gasp, and she fought as much as possible with half of her broom dangling down, but she couldn't regain any control of it. As soon as she knew it was hopeless, she fought her instincts and let her body go limp before hitting the ground.

By the time Oliver, Harry, and the rest of the teaching staff got to her, the snow under her body was a bright crimson.

A/N Sorry its been so long I finally said okay speed up whats happening so here you are. Please leave a review.