Chapter 18

"God, Ginny, he's beautiful," Luna cradled the baby in her arms.

"Thanks," Ginny said, sleepily. "Have you see James and Harry?"

"Yeah, they're on their way up," Luna stroked Ginny's hair gently. "They ran into Ron and Hermione on their way out."

"Hm," Ginny moaned quietly, "Can you tell them I love them? I need to go to sleep."

"Ok," Luna smiled and Ginny closed her eyes to drift off to sleep.

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She slowly aroused from sleep and groaned before rolling over. It took a moment for her to realize what she was looking at, but when it hit her she sat up and mumbled, "Draco?" He was asleep in the chair next to her bed, slumped down with his hair hanging over his eyes. After clearing her throat she repeated, "Draco?"

He started awake and grunted, "Ginny?"

"Yeah," she leaned over and touched his hand gently, "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're ok," he said sleepily.

"I'm doing fine, love," Ginny smiled, "You didn't have to come."

"Of course I had to come," Draco yawned, "I was worried. After all, the last woman I knew who gave birth, died."

"Oh, yeah," Ginny said sheepishly, "I forgot."

"So you're ok?" he asked, sitting up straighter and combing his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him, "Don't worry."

"And the baby?" he asked.

"He's fine too," she smiled. He yawned again and she squeezed his hand, "You should go home, you need to get some sleep."

"Right," he stood up. He started to leave the room, but then hesitated before saying, "Let me know when you have some free time, ok? I'd," he paused, "I'd like to see you."

"Ok," Ginny nodded in agreement. Draco gave her a soft smile and left with a flick of his cloak. He always knew how to make dramatic exits. Ginny rested her head back on her pillow and closed her eyes. She wasn't able to go to sleep because suddenly the door opened. Thinking it was Draco again she asked, "Back so soon?"

"Well, I haven't been to see you since this morning," Harry said sheepishly from the door.

"Oh, Harry," Ginny opened her eyes and sat up, "What are you doing here?"

"I missed you," he kissed her gently and then sat down in the chair that Draco had occupied just moments before, "Our bed isn't the same when you're not in it." Ginny smiled and Harry added, "And I wanted to bring you these." He held out a large bag of Molly Weasley's chocolate chip cookies.

"Thanks!" Ginny eagerly took them from him and wasted no time in putting one in her mouth. The food at St. Mungo's was horrible.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she repeated for the third time that evening, "How are you? How's James?"

"I'm ok," Harry shrugged, "You know how life is. Things get stressful." He sighed, "James is fine. I dropped him at your mum's house on my way here. I didn't think he would enjoy the hospital very much."

"You're right," Ginny smiled. "Have the nurses said when I can leave?"

"Yeah," Harry said, "They've said we can take you home tomorrow afternoon."

"Great," Ginny sighed and leaned over to kiss him gently, "In that case I'm going to get some sleep, ok?"

"Right," he kissed her again, "I'll be back in the morning."

"Ok," Ginny smiled and rolled over before drifting back into sleep.

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Ginny had forgotten how hard the first few months of a baby's life were. James had quickly grown out of his baby stage, whereas Albus would cry for hours, keeping Ginny and Harry up. Harry was, of course, busy working most of the time, so Ginny, who had taken two months off of work, was stuck with the boys. Luna and Hermione would visit occasionally, but they were both busy with their own lives and didn't have much time to help Ginny with hers.

Because of her lack of time, she hadn't been able to owl Draco. She hadn't seen him nor heard from him since that night in the hospital and now that she was going to start work again, she was positive that she wouldn't see him for months.

Her first day back at work was hectic, as usual, but everyone seemed to be acting strangely towards her. It took hours of prodding her assistant, Julie, for information, for her to finally understand what was going on.

Pushing the door to her boss's office open, Ginny stepped in, not bothering to stop the door from slamming open. "Why are you giving the head of department position to Lagger?"

"Because he's good at his job," Mr. Young said quietly.

"But I'm great at my job," Ginny snapped, "And I've been working for years to get this position! You know I've been working hard, so why did you just give it away?"

"Ginny," Mr. Young sighed, "Look, I know you're great at your job, but you have two kids now. How do you expect to keep up on all your work with your kids? You should stay at home more and take care of them."

"Excuse me?" Ginny asked, shocked. "You think I should quit my job and take care of my kids?"

"No, of course not," Mr. Young smiled, "But as a woman, don't you think it would be more fulfilling to spend more time with your kids?"

Ginny gaped at the man, but didn't say anything, just turned and walked out of the office. Before she knew what she was doing she walked to the flooing stations and in an instant found herself in Draco's office.

He was sitting at his desk, scanning through files when she arrived. Surprised, he looked up and asked, "Is everything ok?"

"I need your help," Ginny said. He gestured for her to sit down and she explained the situation. After she finished she added, "I can't represent myself in a trial against him and no one in the department is going to take their boss to trial. Is there anybody at Malfoy Industries who can help?"

"I'll do it," Draco said, stacking his files into a pile, "But honestly, Ginny, I don't think there's any need to take him all the way to court. If we have a few," he paused, "polite words with him, I'm sure he'll change his mind."

"If you really think that would help," she said quietly, "I'm willing to try."

"I'll meet you at your office at 8:30 tomorrow morning, ok?" he said.

She nodded and said, "Thanks Draco, I really appreciate it."

"Anytime," he smiled at her softly and she smiled back before quickly flooing away.

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Draco arrived at her office promptly at 8:30. "Are you ready to do this?" he asked. She nodded and he said, "Ok, let's go." She followed him out of her office and down the hall to Mr. Young's office. Draco knocked softly and said, "Mr. Young, this is Draco Malfoy, may I have a word?" Sounds of frantic bustling came from behind the door and then Mr. Young yanked the door open.

"Mr. Malfoy!" he said, surprised, "It's great to see you. Please, come in!"Draco stepped aside to let Ginny walk in before him and Mr. Young's face dropped as he dully added, "Oh, Ginny, what a pleasant surprise."

"Mr. Young," Draco said, as Ginny sat down, "I'm here on behalf of Ms. Weasley."

"Don't you mean Mrs. Potter?" the other man asked.

"Yes," Draco paused and then said painfully, "Mrs. Potter." He put his hand on Ginny's shoulder and said, "Yesterday Ginny felt as if you were treating her unfairly because she's a woman and I hope you realize that we find this completely unacceptable."

"Of course Mr. Malfoy," Mr. Young said quickly, "I never treated her unfairly. I just felt that she shouldn't be stressing herself out with work when she could spend more time with her children."

"I'm sorry Mr. Young, but both Ginny and myself feel that her personal life is none of your business," Draco stated, "We also feel that it is very unprofessional for you to give the position of Office Head to someone else because you think she should spend more time with her children." Mr. Young tried to say something but Draco continued, "Furthermore, we would hate to have to take you to court and sue you for sexual harassment." He leaned down over Mr. Young's desk and added, "We also wouldn't want your family and their business to lose their connection with Malfoy Industries now, would we?"

"Of course not," Mr. Young said, obviously defeated, "Mrs. Potter, I do apologize for how I acted early. The position is, respectfully, yours. You deserve it."

"Thank you Mr. Young," Ginny said, smiling, "We will truly miss you in the office."

"Thank you," Mr. Young said, smiling weakly.

"I'm glad we've come to an understanding," Draco said. He offered his hand to Mr. Young who shook it. "It was nice to see you again John."

Mr. Young nodded and Draco escorted Ginny out into the hall. She held in her excitement until they got to her office and then she squealed and said, "Oh my gosh, Draco, thank you!" She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, "I can't believe that actually worked!"

He smiled and said, "Well, congratulations, you deserve the position."

"Thanks," she smiled up at him and glanced at her clock before asking, "Can I buy you a cup of coffee?"

"That would be great," he followed her out and listened to her chatter about how well he'd stood up for her.

When they finally go to the small café they sat down and had started sipping tea when Ginny cleared her throat and said hesitantly, "Draco, we still need to talk about the other day." He nodded, giving her silent consent to continue. She took a deep breath, "I think we both want to be," Ginny paused, looking for the right words, "We want to be what we used to be." Draco nodded again and Ginny touched his hand gently, "But we can't," Ginny's voice cracked, but she continued, "Draco, honestly, I do still love you, I'll always love you, but I'm married now. I have kids now. We can't go back to what we used to be."

"I know," he whispered. He squeezed her hand, "I know we can't be that, but Ginny, you have no idea how much I love seeing you again. I can't lose you again."

"I know," Ginny said, "I don't want to lose you either. So, I was thinking, we could try and be friends."

"Friends?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes," she said, "Friends."

"I-I," he stuttered. After a pause he said, "I don't know if I can be just your friend, Ginny."

Ginny looked down at where their hands were linked and she said, "I know Draco. I know exactly how you feel. Every time I'm within ten meters of you I just want to jump you."

"But," Draco took a deep breath, "I'd like to try to be your friend."

"Really?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Yes," Draco smiled, "Being your friend. I think I'd like that."

Ginny smiled and nodded, "Me too."

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A/N: Review please!!