Chapter 16: Into the Light
The weeks following the trial were very tiresome for the group that defeated Harry Potter. Reporters hounded them day and night, waiting outside Malfoy Manor. The Manor in France was their only refuge, so they found themselves back there often. The most difficult day came a
week after the trial had ended, when Uriel finally got around to arranging a funeral for her parents. Blaise, Draco, and Ginny had all done everything they could to help her, but they all still knew it was going to be difficult to say goodbye. Ginny had only met them once and her heart ached thinking that she would never get to know them better.
The morning of the funeral dawned, grey and dreary in Marseille; Uri, Ginny, and the boys had stayed at the Van Alan house the night before the funeral. Uri had been receiving a lot of people the night before; her parent's friends and relatives, along with her own friends and co workers. Narcissa had opted to stay home, which Uriel had said she was alright with, but really Draco could see how much his sister wanted her to be there.
"Well I guess it's time to go," Uri came down the stairs in a simple black dress, and took Blaise's hand.
Before any of them could move however, there was a knock at the door.
"Probably a last minute guest," Draco stood. "I'll take care of it."
Draco answered the door and was surprised to see his mother standing there.
"I'm not too late am I?" she asked, smoothing down her dress.
Draco pulled his mother in for a hug. "Of course not mother, I think she was trying to delay as much as possible, she wanted you to be here."
Draco led Narcissa into the room, where Narcissa was almost plowed over by her daughter.
"Mother, I'm so sorry," Uriel stepped back and let Narcissa go. "I didn't mean to…I'm just so surprised that you're here."
"I couldn't let you go through this without me," Narcissa assured her daughter, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Andromeda took Emily and Teddy to breakfast and told me to go so here I am."
The family got in Uriel's car, which was odd for both Blaise and Narcissa, and drove to where the funeral was to take place. Uriel took her place in the front with the rest of her adopted family, Blaise at her side, Draco, Ginny and Narcissa behind them. Ginny, to her surprise, saw Fleur and Bill enter and take a seat right as the funeral began. It went on rather slowly, as things that are unpleasant tend to do, and soon it was time for Uriel to get up and speak.
"Claude and Anette Van Alan will be remembered by everyone in this room weather you knew them well or not. They were my parents and I say that with as much pride as I can muster in my voice on today of all days. I was just a lonely little girl in an orphanage when they found me. I had been abandoned by my father and taken away from my real family. The Van Alan's found me, took me home, and changed my life. They had so much love in them, they poured it all into me and still had enough left for each other, for the rest of our family, and all their friends. Then when I turned eleven and I got my letter from Beauxbatons, they sent me away to school to learn and still while I was away I could feel their love in every letter, every time I would talk to them. Then after I graduated I started to work and made new friends, and even found my birth mother and brother and gained an even bigger family. My parents told me that they loved me every day; they welcomed my brother into their lives, and their hearts and did so much for me. They were such a blessing, more than I should have received and they certainly didn't deserve the fate that befell them. They were murdered by someone who was seeking revenge on me, it is my fault that my parents are dead, but I'm sure that they would say it was worth the cost. My parents were willing to give everything up for me and for that I will honor them every day of my life by loving everyone and everything just as much as they did. I would like to thank you all for coming, and for the kind words, and thoughts you have left me with, please take comfort in the fact that my parents have always and will always love us all."
Uriel got down and went back to her seat next to Blaise. The rest of the ceremony went by in a blur and soon they were at the cemetery. Blaise, Draco, Ginny and Narcissa stood side by side with Uriel as final words and prayers were said and her parents were lowered into the ground. Many of the guests came up to Uriel and expressed their condolences but Uriel didn't move. The other members of her family, her Aunt and Uncle went back to the house; they knew that Uriel needed time. Narcissa even volunteered to go and help them with the food, and the hosting duties, much to Draco's surprise. After everyone else was gone Uri was still just standing there at her parents graves, arms crossed looking off at the horizon where the clouds were starting to gather.
"Uri," Ginny tried to snap her friend out of her stupor. "It looks like rain."
The older women didn't even give Ginny any indication that she had heard her.
"Angel?" Blaise put his hand on her cheek. "We should go soon."
"I thought I would still be in extreme pain," her voice was slightly dead and hollow. "But I feel nothing."
She turned to face her brother, her future sister, and her boyfriend. "I didn't want this to jade me but now that the trial is over and Harry Potter won't bother us again I don't know how to feel, I don't know what to do."
She sunk to her knees and burst into tears for the first time all day. "It's as if now I have finally realized they are dead and they won't be coming back to me. Now that the dust has settled so to speak there is nothing to distract me from this hole in my heart and the fact that two of the most important people in my life were ripped away from me too early."
Blaise sunk down next to her and cradled her in his arms. "I know that this is going to be hard for you, but you won't have a hole in your heart forever. We are here for you, and after some time, some mourning, and a lot of support the hole will go away, it will be filled with more love, with different kinds of love, and will only be a dull burn."
"I don't know how long it will take," she admitted leaning into Blaise.
"We're not going anywhere," Ginny assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Draco did the same. "Yes, we're a family."
That thought alone gave them each a great amount of comfort.
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Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and every day, just like they promised, Uriel felt the hole less and less. They were a very happy family; Emily had her own room because Draco and Ginny had been staying together in his, Narcissa was staying in the Manor in Champagne-Ardenne to give them some space, and Blaise had moved into another guest room in the Manor to be closer to Uriel.
Pretty soon a very important day was upon the Manor; Emily's sixth birthday. Narcissa, and Uriel had gone all out, with help from Molly Weasley to make this birthday the best Emily ever had. Ginny was pretty sure there would be no contest on those grounds, but she knew that Emily had never really had a big party just for her.
The little girls birthday fell on a beautiful spring day, the garden's of the Manor were decorated with every possible spring flower, and different animal topiaries that were charmed to move and act like the animals they were shaped as. The entire Weasley family was there, including the ever growing amount of Weasley children. Andromeda and Teddy came as well, after Teddy's memory had finally been modified and he spent some time alone with his grandmother so she could explain why Harry Potter would no longer be in his life, it was nice for them to be around family again.
Emily came into the garden in pale blue dress fit for a princess; the little girl couldn't stop smiling as her families took turns hugging her and telling her how wonderful she was, and what a grownup she was becoming. After lunch and some games Emily began to tear open her presents, and she squealed with delight at each one. A new broom from Blaise, state of the art Quidditch gear from Charlie, some beautiful new outfits from Bill and Fleur's holiday in Italy, her favorite Homemade treats and a Weasley jumper from her grandparents, her own owl from Ron and Hermione, and a basket full of WWW treats from George. Percy had been at a loss for what to get his niece so he just gave her money as did Narcissa, claiming that she could make better use of money in the future, and then it was time for Uriel's present.
"Well," she began getting up from where she was seated with Blaise. "If you are going to be part of this family, you will have to be treated like a princess, act like a princess, and look like a princess."
The young women waved her wand and galloping out from the far end of the garden game a beautiful pure white pony. Emily squealed with delight as the pony came right up to her and started to nuzzle her.
"Now I have a pony like a princess," the little girl clapped.
"I think there is another present in the pony's saddle for you precious," Uriel told her.
Emily reached in and found a small box which she proceeded to open. In it was a sparkling tiara.
"That was a present my parents gave to me on the first birthday I spent with them after they adopted me, and now I want you to have it," Uriel said walking over to the little girl and placing the tiara on her head.
Ginny smiled at her friend, she knew how much that must have meant to Uriel, and Ginny was sure that her daughter would cherish it until she could pass it on to her kids.
Then it was finally time for Draco and Ginny to give Emily their gift. They also handed her a small box. In it was a heart necklace half of it was made of emeralds, half of rubies, representing the houses of her mother and Draco.
"It's a special necklace sweetie," Ginny explained. "The necklace has a charm on it that warms whenever either Draco or I are thinking about you."
"Also," Draco added. "When you need either of us just touch it and we'll know and be able to come to you."
Draco got up and placed the necklace around the little girl's neck.
"I love it," Emily threw her arms around Draco and then her mother.
After the gifts Emily rode her new pony until dusk started to set in. The fairy lights that were set up around the grounds began to wink as the family had dinner, which was followed by dancing. The evening only ended when Emily started to fall asleep in Blaise's arms when they had been dancing together. Blaise and Uri took Emily to bed as the rest of the Malfoy's bid the Weasley clan goodnight. After everyone was gone the gardens were clean with a few flicks of a wand. After everything was clean Narcissa took her leave back to France and Draco and Ginny retired back to their room. When they were lying in bed together Ginny turned to Draco.
"I have a present for you too," Ginny smiled at him.
"Why? It isn't my birthday," Draco was a little surprised.
Ginny handed him an envelope. "The paper work just came or I would have given it to you sooner. The ministry helped me take care of something that I knew we would have to face in the future."
Draco opened the envelope and was speechless when he found adoption papers within.
"These papers make it so that the moment we're married, once you and I sign these papers Emily's last name will change with mine. This way we don't have to go through the messy process of a public adoption, Kingsley helped me with it."
"Gin," Draco tried to find his voice. "I don't know what to say."
"This is what you wanted right?" Ginny asked him.
"Of course it is, but I just didn't want to push the issue."
"Emily is just looking for a reason to call you daddy," Ginny informed him. "And then one day in the future we'll have kids of our own."
Draco felt his heart warm. "I've always wanted to have a family. I'm just so grateful that you want your daughter to legally be my daughter as well."
Ginny kissed him. "You should have been her father; it shouldn't have been Harry."
Draco kissed her back and all talking after that stopped.
DGDGDGDGDGDGDGDGDG
Ginny put a hand to her head. "I can't breathe."
Uriel came up behind the redhead. "Relax, you look amazing, Draco won't know what hit him."
"Yea Mommy, you look pretty," Emily smiled.
Ginny looked at herself in the mirror again and smoothed down her dress.
Narcissa opened the door. "Come on girls, Ginny can't be late."
Ginny walked down into the main hall of Malfoy Manor with Uriel and Emily. They arrived at the doors to the conservatory that were already thrown open for the women. The Weasley family as well as a few of Draco and Ginny's other friends were assembled in the bright room that was decorated for this day of all days. Draco was waiting under an archway near the dais where they had their first "date" Blaise was beside his best friend and Kingsley was behind them.
Ginny felt her breath leave her body for a moment or two.
Uriel hurried Emily into the room. "Ginny…it's time."
"I know," Ginny responded. "I just don't know why in the world I am doing this again so soon…I am going to seem like a horrible person."
"First of all," Uri put her hands gently on the younger girl's shoulders. "This is not soon, you and Draco have been in love for years, second of all you two love each other and damn what anyone else thinks, and lastly no one in the world could ever think you're a horrible person, and if they do I will make sure they die a slow and painful death."
Ginny nodded and hugged Uri to her.
"Deep breaths," Uriel broke apart from her. "I need to go now, count to ten and follow me."
With those words Uri began her slow graceful walk down the aisle, following Emily who had been scattering flowers as she walked down. Ginny counted just like she was told and then followed Uri, listening as everyone remarked about how beautiful she looked. As soon as she reached the end of the aisle and her hand was in Draco's all of her fears and nervousness was gone. Kingsley spoke all the words that Ginny had heard before but this time it was different, this time her marriage meant something and this time it would last forever.
The words were said, the rings were exchanged, the ceremony was sealed with a kiss and then after all of that Draco and Ginny both signed Emily's adoption papers and turned back to the crowd.
"May I present," Kingsley addressed the crowd. "For the first time, Mr and Mrs. Draco Malfoy and Emily Malfoy."
Everyone was on their feet clapping as the happy family stood before their friends and family. Narcissa and Molly were both crying, Uri couldn't stop smiling, nor could any of the Weasley wives. The Weasley men were happy that Ginny was happy but they were still a little cautious. Ginny had been drowning in the darkness and now she had been welcomed back into the light. Nothing anyone could have said at that moment could have quelled the happiness Ginny felt, and as Draco turned her two him for another kiss she couldn't help but think that this was her happy ending. This was just the life she had always imagined, for her and Emily.
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So my faithful friends and readers we have reached the end of Me and Emily. Be sure to read my Me and Emily Ficlet to Love An Angel. Let me just thank all my wonderful readers once again for sticking with me through this entire story. This is kind of a big deal for me, this is the first story I have ever completed and while it may not be that big of a deal to anyone, for me it is huge. Big hugs and kisses to you all and look out for the sequel to Me and Emily. I love you all for your love and support I have the best readers in the world.