A/N: Another short-ish chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. This story is starting to wrap up, please review!

Chapter 27

Years passed, and, oddly enough, they were good years. Her conversation with Harry early that morning was simple. She didn't love him, she never had. He had been honest with her: he didn't know if he really loved her, marrying her just seemed what everyone expected, so he'd proposed. They stayed married, it seemed the only option. They both wanted their children to be happy and the thought of a divorce seemed to be an invitation to rip their children's hearts apart.

James graduated and eventually Albus did too. Ginny was surprised to see Draco and his wife Astoria Greengrass, at Albus' graduation. 'Maybe,' Ginny thought carefully, 'this time he finally found the woman he was meant to be with.' Scorpius had grown considerably and now towered over most of the other students. He was easily as tall as Draco, if not taller.

It wasn't until Ginny was forty that she decided to move out and get her own apartment. Harry was devastated and tried to stop her, but Ginny insisted and left early one Sunday morning. It was that which brought Lily over that afternoon.

"Mum?" fourteen year old Lily's voice rang through the practically empty apartment, startling Ginny. Ginny jumped in surprise, and, sadly, she wacked her head on the underside of the kitchen sink.

"Shit," Ginny mumbled, carefully pulling out of the cabinet and sitting on the kitchen floor. She rubbed her head gingerly feeling a goose egg starting to form.

"What are you doing down there?" Lily asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Trying to fix the damn sink," Ginny said, grumbling.

Lily carefully turned one of the knobs on and water easily flowed into the sink and down the pipes, "Seems to be working fine."

"Yeah, it works fine now that I slammed my head against the pipe," Ginny growled. Lily laughed and grabbed a grocery bag off the counter before dumping ice from the freezer into it. She tied the ends and held it gently to Ginny's head. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Lily kneeled down and helped her mother up off the floor. "Would you like me to make you some tea?"

"Yeah," Ginny rolled her eyes, "but I don't have any."

"God Mum, it's like you've never lived on your own," Lily said, chuckling.

"I've never lived on my own," Ginny said pointedly.

"Really?" Lily's eyes bugged out. "You've always lived with Dad?"

"No, I lived with my parents until I graduated and then," Ginny paused and said hesitantly, "I shared an apartment for a few years before I married your father."

"Well," Lily bit her lip nervously, "Speaking of Dad. He really misses you Mum. He really wants you to come back home. This morning he was wreck."

"What, he couldn't figure out how to work the toaster?" Ginny asked sarcastically.

"No," Lily insisted, "Listen, we all know that things have been hard for you two, but he loves you and you love him."

"I really don't want to talk about this Lily," Ginny walked into the living room and started unpacking her few boxes, still holding the ice bag tightly against her head.

"But Mum!" Lily protested.

"I said no, Lily," Ginny said roughly. "Now, either help me unpack or just sit down and be quiet."

Lily sighed and said, "Fine. I'm going back home with Dad. I hope you realize that he's the father of your children. He's the man you've loved your entire life. How can you just give that up?"

"You really don't understand what you're talking about!" Ginny said, turning to face Lily.

"Yes, I do understand!" Lily yelled back. "Dad is the man of your dreams, and he's my father, why can't you get of f your high horse and go back to him!?"

"He's not your father Lily!" Ginny yelled and immediately she regretted it. The horrified look on Lily's face made Ginny groan and mutter, "Oh shit."

"W-what are you talking about?" Lily stuttered. "Of course he's my father. H-he raised me. James and Albus are my brothers. He's my dad!"

"Yes, he's your dad," Ginny reached out to Lily, but the girl pulled away from her. "Lily, forget I said anything. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Who is it?!" Lily yelled.

"Please, forget I mentioned it," Ginny moved closer to Lily, but Lily stepped away.

"Who is it?!?" Lily screamed, "Tell me who my father is!"

"It's Draco Malfoy," Ginny muttered. "Listen, Lily, you have to understand-,"

Lily interrupted her, "I don't have to understand anything! You've lied to me my whole life!!! No wonder I don't look like dad or the boys. I'm not a Potter! I'm a Malfoy!" Sobs shook her body and Ginny tried to touch her, but Lily smacked her hands away. "I hate you! I hate you!" She turned and flooed away, leaving Ginny alone.

Cursing, Ginny grabbed some floo powder and quickly flooed to the house she had shared with Harry. Harry sat quietly on the couch, flipping through a newspaper, but Ginny's sudden appearance made him jump and rip the paper. "Where's Lily?!" Ginny asked frantically.

"She went to see you," Harry said, confused.

"Yeah, and she ran away from my house. I have no idea where she is," Ginny said, tears pooling in her eyes.

"Maybe she's at the Burrow," Harry suggested. Ginny grabbed onto his arm and he apparated them to the Burrow. No one was there. A panicked expression crossed Ginny's face and Harry said, "Don't worry, we'll check at all your brothers' houses, I'm sure we'll find her soon. We can even check James and Albus' apartment."

Ginny nodded and they apparated away again.

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"Where could she be?!" Ginny sobbed. Hours later, after they had visited all their relatives, friends and Lily's friends houses, they hadn't found her, and now they both sat at the dining room table in, what was now only Harry's house.

"She'll turn up," Harry said gently. "Don't worry." They sat quietly together, only Ginny's sobs breaking the silence until Harry asked hesitantly, "What did you say to make her run away?"

Ginny took a deep breath and said, "I don't want to tell you Harry, I don't want to hurt you."

"Well, you already moved out today and made our daughter run away," Harry pointed out, "You might as well just get it all out."

Ginny sighed, "Ok." It took her a moment to work up the courage before she said, "Lily isn't your daughter."

She expected Harry to jump up and shout and freak out, or at least yell at her, but instead he nodded and said quietly, "I know."

"What?!" Ginny asked, shocked. "You know?"

"Yeah," Harry shrugged. "I always knew you were having an affair Ginny. That's one of the reasons I pulled away from you. I could barely look at you without wanting to curse you." He sighed, "After Lily was born, I saw her eyes and I knew she couldn't be mine. So, a few months later I did a paternity test, and it came up negative. I've known since she was born Ginny. The only thing I don't know is who her real father is."

"Draco Malfoy," Ginny said quietly.

Now the explosion came. "What?!" Harry yelled, standing up. His chair flew out from beneath him and smashed against the cabinet door. "Draco fucking Malfoy! Are you fucking kidding me?!" He slammed his mug of tea down on the table and it smashed, sending the tea splashing across the room. "You let that bastard touch you?! How could you Ginny?!"

"Harry, I was with him before I was ever with you!" Ginny yelled back. "He loved me before you did! He's loved me since my fifth year!"

"So?" Harry screamed, "I've supported you, raised our children with you and loved you every day since my sixth year!"

"I know, and I'm really grateful for that, but Draco is the love of my life!"

"Too bad he's married again," Harry said cruelly.

Ginny rolled her eyes and said quietly, "Yeah, you're probably ecstatic that I don't have my happy ending." She turned to the fireplace and said, "Let me know if you hear from Lily."

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Dear Mrs. Potter,

I'm writing to let you know that your daughter, Lily, is here at my house and is planning on staying for a while. She would not tell me if you knew of her location, but I feel that it is important for me to write you and tell you she is ok. She seems very upset and would like to have some time to herself. I hope you're doing well.

-Draco Malfoy.

Ginny could see where he had accidentally written 'Weasley' and erased it before writing 'Potter.' She tossed the letter aside and grabbed her jacket before flooing to the village near to Draco's house. Within an hour she was pounding on the front door.

A house elf opened it and Ginny pushed past him asking, "Where is he?"

"Master Malfoy?" the house elf squeaked.

"Yeah, where is he?"

"In the downstairs study," the elf said, shock still crossing his face.

Ginny practically ran to the study and slammed the doors open, startling Draco who sat regally at his overlarge desk. "What-," Draco started, but Ginny interrupted him.

"Where is my daughter, Malfoy?!" she walked over to the desk, joined him behind it and stuck her face in his to glare at him. He leaned back in his chair to get away from her, but she only moved closer, "Where the fuck is she?"

"She's on an outing with my mother and Scorpius," Draco said calmly.

"She's been gone for days!!" Ginny screeched. "Why didn't you owl me immediately and tell me where she was?! I've been worried sick!"

"She asked me not to," Draco said, shrugging.

"She's fourteen!!!" Ginny shrieked. "She's not old enough to make decisions like that!"

"Will you calm down?" Draco asked. He stood up, bringing his face closer to hers. "You know where she is now; you know that she's safe. You can stop panicking."

She found herself lost in his eyes. He was so close to her; she could feel his shirt brushing innocently against her chest and she could smell the wonderful scent of his cologne. As if stepping out of a trance she moved away from him and said firmly, "You have no right to expect me to be calm. She's my only daughter and I thought I had lost her."

"Well she's my only daughter too," he said. Her heart jumped and he added, "I just wanted to have a little time to get to know her."

"You can have as much time as you want with her!" Ginny said, "But you have to let me know where she is! Harry and I have been worried sick!"

"Potter has no reason to be worried sick," Draco snapped, "She's not his daughter."

"Maybe not, but he raised her. He loves her," Ginny protested.

"Like he loves you?" Draco hissed.

"Fuck you Malfoy," Ginny whispered. "You have no right to talk to me like that."

Draco rolled his eyes and walked away from her, "Weasley, you left me for Potter. Don't expect me to be happy to see you. Now, if you would please leave. I'd like to get ready for dinner."

Ginny's eyes widened at his pertinence, but she turned on her heel and left.

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