Chapter 3
"My Great aunt Florencia was beautiful and brilliant, but didn't have much of a magical touch. She was practically a squib. It was pretty rare that a pureblood family like the Malfoy's would produce a squib so the family covered it up with stories about how she was too powerful, and that she only did wandless magic. Eventually they sent her out of country to an estate they had purchased in Italy. The story was that she was studying advanced magic in a foreign school. While she was in Italy she met my Great uncle Mortimer. He was an American muggle stationed in Italy for some muggle war. I guess she was bored or something, but never-the-less, they met and ended up getting married. They never had kids, but made gobs of money somehow. Not sure exactly how they did it, but I guess it's not really that important."
Ginny couldn't move. She was shocked that Malfoy was talking this much. Not only talking, but talking nicely. Not only talking nicely, but about personal and potentially embarrassing family secrets. She didn't want to move for fear that he would stop telling this story.
Draco continued, "Aunt Flor never told Uncle Mort about the world she grew up in, and they lived a happy for many years. When the Dark Lord vanished after trying to kill Potter, a bunch of the Malfoy's fled England to escape questioning. A lot of us ended up in Italy. I was only a baby and don't remember much of the 'vacation', but my mother fell in love with Italy and Aunt Flor. Obviously, Uncle Mort became aware of his wife's special history and became enamored with the magical world. He learned everything he could about the legends and myths that connected the muggle and magical world. He questioned and later tested whether it was possible for a muggle to become magical later in life.
I can't explain why my father, grandfather and other family members accepted Uncle Mort, but they did. It's not like they were friends or anything, but they didn't kill him, which was something unique. Anyway, after the coast was clear back in Britain we all went back to our homes. But my mother insisted on returning every summer. Aunt Flor and Uncle Mort were more like Grandparents to me than my own grandparents.
It took me a long while to realize that they weren't magical. I just assumed they were. It wasn't until my third or fourth year in Hogwarts that I finally asked Uncle Mort outright if he was a muggle. He laughed and asked if it was really that important to know. Looking back I guess they had to of known what our war was all about, and the danger they were really in. Maybe he didn't want my opinion of them to change. I don't know, but from that moment I knew they were muggles. I denied it for a long time. I hated muggles, but I loved Aunt Flor and Uncle Mort, I couldn't make it make sense. So instead I ignored the whole irony."
Draco took a deep breath and flicked his blue-grey eyes up at Ginny who was staring at him with a wide and intense stare. Lowering his eyes, he quickly continued.
"After getting tangled up with the Dark Lord's plan for Dumbeldore, and trying to "out" Snape as a spy, my life was pretty much in pieces. I hated who I had become, and I hated everything about my family and what they represented. So I ran away. I ran away to Italy and to Aunt Flor and Uncle Mort. They were pretty old so I spent most of my time taking care of them. I read about the final battle and the fall of Voldermort in the newspaper and figured my life in Britain was over. I was content to live with my Aunt and Uncle and just forget everything. But life is a funny thing. I received word from the ministry that all charges against me had been dropped on the basis that I never actually accomplished anything for the Dark Lord. So my failure on the one hand saved my ass on the other.
My mother wrote me as well telling me about my father's conviction and that she was fine and living in France for awhile. She basically said not to come find her as I was a disgrace to the Malfoy name and that I could dig myself out of my own mess. Not that I really blame her of course, I'm sure she was just doing what my father told her to do. That's the way it was with us. He commanded and we complied."
Draco was quiet for a moment and seemed to be composing himself. Ginny again sat as still as she could and waited for him to continue. Draco took a deep breath and gave his head a small shake.
"Just after I got the letters my Aunt Flor died. Not two weeks later my Uncle Mort followed. They went peacefully and were happy until the end. The remaining family came to burry them and pay their last respects, but nobody said anything about their estate. About a month ago I was contacted by a representative of the Malfoy family saying that everything they owned and had accumulated over their lives had been left to me. Including that silver beauty over there.
The only catch was that they had been living on a Malfoy family estate, which did not technically belong to them. Ownership was turned over to a relative I'd never met and he didn't want me staying there any longer. So I packed up all my newly inherited things and moved back to England. I just bought a place not too far from here and have been in that car driving all over the place to sign papers and transfer ownership of property and other official, time consuming things.
I've pretty much taken about as much as I can stand, so here I am swimming in the pond and talking to the first non-official person I've seen in months." Draco finished with a trademark smirk and let his eyes focus on Ginny's expression.
Here dark brown eyes were wide and compassionate. There was no hint of malice, judgment, contempt or humor. He wasn't sure why he had dumped all that on her, but he felt lighter and far more free.
Ginny was silent for a long time, and just when the silence began to become uncomfortable, she spoke very softly. "I'm so sorry about your aunt and uncle, I know how hard it is to lose people you trust."
Draco was struck at her choice of words. She didn't say "people you love, or people you were close to", she had said "people you trust". And that was just it…she had nailed it right on the head. Draco realized there wasn't another soul on the planet that he could trust. A dark mood descended over him and the familiar feelings of being alone, unloved and in trouble came back with full force.
With the sun well into it's journey toward the horizon, Ginny watched the once cheerful man before her darken and scowl at the grass. Knowing that something she said had changed his mood, she tried to lighten the situation with a story of her own.
"This one time George and Fred found one of my dad's muggle toys. It was a toy car that you could move with something called a remote. Anyway, they convinced Ron that it could only be operated by a special spell. We were both so young we really didn't know any better. Ron practically went insane trying to get this stupid toy car to move. Anytime Fred would say the "spell", George would use the remote and get the car to move. They went back and forth for an afternoon and almost had us convinced we were squibs." Ginny smiled softly remembering the much simpler time.
Draco raised his eyebrow at the completely unrelated and seemingly obtuse story. It occurred to him she was trying to lighten his dark mood and was silently grateful. He was surprised to find that he wanted to know more about this compassionate redhead. Leaning back on his hands and lifting his chin in the sun he asked, "So Weasley, now that you know where I've been hiding, what have you been up to?"
Ginny let out a frustrated grunt, and rolled her eyes. "Let's see…after a miserable last year at Hogwarts, I've spent the last two months wasting my time taking pictures and painting. In the meantime, living with my parents has been absolute hell. They are still so…I don't know…raw? They can't get through a meal with out crying or getting angry. And everybody is tapping their feet at me, waiting to see if poor little Ginny can get her shit together and figure out what she wants to do with her life." The blade of grass Ginny had been picking apart was thrown to the ground in frustration.
Flushed and obviously worked up, Ginny froze when she realized she had practically yelled at Malfoy. Immediately locking eyes with him she quickly apologized, "I'm sorry Malfoy. I know that's more than you wanted to know, and I shouldn't have shouted at you."
Draco was more surprised at the quick apology than he was at her original outburst. "You don't have to apologize. I understand what that kind of pressure feels like…why do you think I ran away?" he said with a sad smile.
But Draco was intrigued by something else, "You don't seem too interested in my involvement with the Dark Lord, or the fact that I tried to kill the headmaster. I would have thought someone like you would try to skin me alive if they ever got this close." As he was spoke, Draco unconsciously traced the dark mark on his right forearm with a finger, unaware of the pained look on his face or the eyes that observed his subtle movement.
Ginny chuckled, "You missed all the publicity surrounding the trials of the remaining death eaters, and of course Snape's testimony before the Wizengmount."
"Why, what does that have to do with me?" Draco asked with wide eyes and a tense posture.
"Snape told everybody that you were basically blackmailed into participating with the Death Eaters, that they threatened you with the deaths of your mother and other family members." Suddenly Ginny gasped, "Your aunt and uncle…Voldermort threatened to kill them didn't he?"
Draco's eyes darkened and he slowly nodded, but said nothing.
Ginny continued, "The investigations were very thorough. Each Death Eater caught went through days of interrogation. They were asked questions about all their own involvement as well as a list of other names. Yours was on that list. There wasn't one Death Eater that identified you as a willing participant in any activity. With Snape's testimony your name was cleared."
Draco swallowed hard and asked, "Do people think I wanted to be a Death Eater?" Ginny flicked her eyes up at Draco and saw him looking intently at the ground, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"Some people think you would have eventually sworn allegiance to Voldermort. Others think you might have remained neutral. Now, most people just wonder what is going to happen with all of the Malfoy money and property." Ginny though honesty would be best.
Malfoy smirked at the ground and was momentarily sad that nobody thought he might have turned out to be on the good side. He was about to ask another question when Ginny started to speak again.
"If anyone would have asked me, I could have told them you were as much of a pawn as the rest of us. You never had a chance did you? If I had been born in your position they would have said the very same thing about me." Ginny didn't know what possessed her to say that but she hoped he knew she was sincere.
Malfoy stared in the deep brown eyes of his former adversary and found deep emotions starting to stir within him. Ginny held his gaze and broke out in goose bumps. They were silent for a few minutes, occasionally looking at one another, neither knowing what to say.
Malfoy suddenly stood and moved toward the water. "What do you say Weasley…you up for a race?"
Ginny grinned and follow him into the water. "You don't know what you're asking Malfoy. There isn't anybody around here who can beat me across this pond."
"Considering there isn't anybody else around here that isn't really saying much now is it." Draco said with a laugh.
"Across the pond, and no cheating…that means no dunking, no foot pulling, no bumping and no intentional kicking in the face." Ginny rattled off the rules while pulling her long red hair into a bun. Draco stared at the beautiful vision before him and lost his train of thought for a long moment. He could feel that familiar discomfort returning and quickly moved so the water covered him to his waist.
The way she moved and the way she held her head entranced Draco. He had never met anybody with the same mixture of confidence, insecurity, sadness, and unabashed honesty. She was magnetically attractive inside and out.
"Draco! Are you even listening to me…this was your idea pal." Ginny's voice snapped him back to reality. "Eat my wake little girl!" Draco smiled.
"Ready…GO!" Ginny and Draco flailed and flapped to gain their momentum in the water. Not more than 10 seconds into the mad flight a wild, flailing foot smacked Draco right in the jaw. He cried out and grabbed the offending foot.
"Arghhh…let go of me…you cheat!" Ginny hollered.
"Weasley, you kicked me right in the face…you cheat!" Draco cried holding his jaw in one hand, and Ginny's foot in the other.
Both struggling to stay above water, Ginny wrenched her foot away from Draco. "Fine, but see if you can catch me now!"
Draco took off after Ginny rapidly gaining on the spunky redhead. They both reached the shore at roughly the same time and spun around to see where the other was. "I Win" they both cried in unison.
Ginny laughed, and Draco splashed some water at her. They both sat in the shallow water, catching their breath, listening to the gentle sounds of summer and enjoying the warm sun on their skin.
The sun was quite low in the sky now and the childlike moment seemed to fade. Ginny looked at Draco and couldn't help but notice the sad, lonely look in his eyes.
"Malfoy…it's getting kind of late…and I know you're probably wouldn't want to…but are you hungry? Ginny hadn't been sure exactly what she wanted to ask him and panicked realizing it sounded like she was asking him out.
Draco raised an eyebrow at her, not quite believing she would invite him out for dinner. "What did you have in mind Weasley?" he responded carefully.
"Oh, nothing really…I just thought since you were new to the area you might want to meet some of your neighbors…well just us really, and you've really already met most of us, so I guess…never mind. I'm sorry, I just…I don' know Malfoy, this is really weird isn't it." Ginny sighed in frustration.
Draco smiled and nodded trying not to look at the blushing girl. Ginny stammered on, "It's been awhile since I've talked to anybody besides my parents, so maybe I'm just starved for some normal interaction. Or maybe it's the fact that you seem so bloody normal now and I can't quite figure it out. Maybe I just feel sorry for you and I don't want you to spend the whole evening by yourself, pouring over some cold and boring documents." Ginny finished with a flailing hand and a splash.
Draco's eyes widened at the blunt confession of motivation. "Weasley…you're such a sweet talker," he said with a smirk, "but I don't have any plans and would appreciate the company."
Ginny smiled and started to move out of the water. She found her towel and quickly wrapped her it around her chest, tucking in the end so it wouldn't fall down. She pulled on her shorts under the towel and then her tee shirt over the towel. With one swift movement she pulled the towel out and started looking for her sandals.
Draco watched Ginny out of the corner of his eye after locating his own pile of discarded clothing. Pulling out his wand he dried his boxers and pulled on his shorts and shirt. Draco smiled to himself at Ginny's modesty, they way she was trying to hide behind the towel. For some reason this modesty seemed more alluring that a girl who flaunted her body without shame. Draco shook his head, trying to rid thoughts of a forbidden liaison he was now so keenly interested in with this girl.
"Ready?" Ginny asked. Draco nodded and they started to walk to his car and the little lane it was parked on. Ginny walked past the silver car, looked back at a confused Draco and smiled. "Around here we walk." She said with a laugh.
Draco nodded and cast a concealment charm over the roadster and jogged to catch up with Ginny. "So Weasley, are your parents going to freak out if I just show up in their house?" Draco wasn't really nervous, but he didn't like the idea of surprising unsuspecting wizards or witches, especially when his character was still in debate.
Ginny casually said, "No, they are even home now. My dad had some event he had to attend in London, so they aren't coming back until tomorrow afternoon." Ginny thought about what she had said and realized the potential danger she might be putting herself in.
Suddenly stopping, Ginny looked up at a confused Draco. "You aren't going to try anything funny are you?" she said with narrowed eyes. "I mean, funny dangerous or funny perverted…take your pick."
Draco raised an eyebrow at her with a smirk on his face. "Weasley calm down. I'm not that person you knew in school. I don't think I have it in me to fight or harm anything anymore." Shame crossed his features, then was quickly replaced with the same confident smirk Ginny had come to detest. "But I'm flattered you would think of me in such a way."
Ginny rolled her eyes and resumed walking down the lane. "Don't flatter yourself Malfoy."