Chapter 2

Ginny rolled out of bed at the constant rapping on her apartment door. Who the bloody hell is bothering me already this morning? She walked to the door, dragging her feet. She swung the door open, "What the hell do you-"

Harry was standing at her door, the smile on his face fading.

"Oh, hello Harry." she said, "What are you doing here?"

He shifted uncomfortably where he stood. "I, er, I wanted to check on you."

"Check on me?"

"Yeah," he continued, "I've got the day off and since I need some new clothes, I thought I'd go to Diagon Alley today."

Ginny looked quizzically at him. "Well that's good but what are you doing here?"

"Well I thought, maybe, you wouldn't mind going shopping with me. You know how terrible I am with picking out clothes."

"It's awful early for shopping, isn't it?" Ginny asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Early? It's nearly noon Gin."

That woke her up. "Noon?" The last week had been torture for her. She had hardly been able to sleep at all.

Harry nodded. "Anyways, I thought we could get Teddy and take him with us. He misses you. Been saying your name all week according to Tonks' mum."

She smiled thinking of little Teddy. If anything could clear her mind, it was Teddy. "Sure," Ginny agreed, "Just let me toss something on and we can be off."

Harry grinned and followed her inside. "Bit of a mess in here Gin." he noted, looking around at the unusually messy room. "You've never been one for messes."

"Just been a crazy week, Harry." she answered. "I won't be long."

Ginny walked down the street, Teddy's hand grasped firmly in hers. His hair had changed to match hers the moment she walked through the door. Now, he was walking along beside her, rambling on about everything he and his grandma had done over the week. And she couldn't be happier listening to it.

"Thanks for coming out with me, Gin." Harry said suddenly.

"Sure, Harry." Ginny replied. It was uncomfortable being around him again but seeing Teddy made the trip worth it. "So what kind of stuff did you need to get?"

He shrugged, "It's not important right now. How about we get some ice cream? I bet Teddy would love that."

Uh-oh, said the voice in her head, he's going to try and make this an all day event. "Harry," she said, "I'd rather we get this done as soon as possible. I've got a lot to do today." But by this time Teddy was focused on the words ice cream.

"You don't have time for one small cone?" He asked, and Teddy grabbed her arm begging with him.

She never could say no to that little boy. "Oh alright. One small cone. That's it. Then we're getting your shopping done and I've got to go. I need to clean my apartment today."

Harry grinned foolishly back at her and ruffled Teddy's hair. "See buddy, girls love you." Teddy made a sour looking face and started to pull them towards the ice cream shop.

After they finished their ice cream and shopping, Ginny kissed Teddy on the cheek and said goodbye to them both.

Finally, she was back in her apartment. Looking around, she realized just how much of a mess it was. How could I not have noticed this? She asked herself. Her apartment was never this horrid. But she only sighed and walked into her room.

She knew exactly how it go that bad. She had spent the whole week fretting over Draco and what she would tell her family. She was sitting on her bed, head in her hands, when she heard a pecking at the window. Turning to look, she saw Draco's owl holding a letter. Ginny went to the window and let the bird in. It dropped the letter on the bed before landing on the bottom post of the bed.

Ginny opened the letter and read it. Draco wanted to see her tomorrow for lunch. She smiled as she walked over to the small desk and scribbled out a quick note. She told him that she would love to see him and that she would cook them a nice lunch at noon.

Sealing the letter, she handed it back to the owl, along with a nice plump mouse. The owl gulped up the mouse and flew out the window with her reply clasped in its claw.

Now, Ginny thought, I have a reason to get this place cleaned up. The rest of the night, Ginny cleaned her apartment. It was nearly three in the morning when she finally got to bed. So it was with great anger that she realized someone was knocking on her door at seven the next morning.

Why the bloody hell won't anyone let me sleep? She thought, grudgingly walking to the door and flinging it open.

Draco stood in her doorway. And he didn't look happy to see her.

"What are you doing here already?" she asked, suddenly aware of how she looked.

He pushed past her, into the kitchen, and tossed a paper on the table. "Want to explain what in hell that is all about?" he asked angrily, turning on her.

Ginny walked over to the table and picked up the paper. On the cover was a picture of her with Harry and Teddy eating ice cream. It was taken yesterday. The headline of the article read "Rekindled Love for the Chosen One?" in bold letters. She tossed the paper down on the table.

"I knew this would happen." she said angrily. "I knew no good would come from agreeing to go with him yesterday. Now everyone is going to think we're back together. Merlin, what have I done?"

"I'd like to know the answer to that too, Ginevra."

"Oh shut it, Draco." Ginny growled. "Not a damn thing happened."

Draco sneered and stepped closer to her. "Don't you tell me to shut it. That bloody paper has a picture of my fiance with another man. I'll be as mad as I want to be."

Ginny glared at him for a moment longer before sighing. "Nothing happened, Draco. I promise you."

"Then what is the meaning of that picture?"

"Look, Harry came over yesterday and asked if I would go shopping with him, to help him pick out some new clothes."

"And you went?" he cut in.

"I wasn't going to." she defended, "but he said he was going to bring Teddy. And I've missed Teddy. I haven't seen him since the day I saw you in Diagon Alley and found out you were back."

"But you still went with him." Draco growled.

"Yes but-"

"I don't want pictures of my fiance with another man all over the Prophet." Draco told her firmly. "Do you have any idea how it felt to see that picture?"

She looked away. "I'm sorry Draco." she said and looked up at him. "But Harry is part of my life. He's my brother's best friend. He'll always be around."

The fire in Draco's eyes was startling. "And if I don't like that?" he growled.

"Then that's too damn bad Malfoy! I can no more get rid of Harry that I could my own brother. And you bloody well know it."

"Then tell them." He started.

"I'm not having this conversation again. It's the 4th time in a week! I can't just tell them! They'll go mental."

"So what, you're just going to hide it? Being engaged? Being married? How do you expect to hide it when we have a child? Not going to introduce him to the family?" He argued. "I won't have it Ginevra. You don't know how it is to grow up alone. If you think for a minute that it's better than your family knowing about us, then you're the one who's gone mental."

Ginny watched his chest heaving with anger. "I just need time," she pleaded, "to get them used to-".

A sudden knock at the door killed their conversation. She looked around, panicked. "Go! Go hide in my room!" She said frantically pushing him towards the hall.

Draco stopped, standing his ground as he came to a sudden decision. "No." he said.

She froze, locking eyes with him. "W-what?" There was another knock.

"I'm not hiding like some common rat. Open the door Ginevra."

"Are you crazy?!" she exclaimed.

"No, I can assure you that I am not. And if you won't open it, I will." he said, stepping around her.

Ginny braced herself as Draco opened the door of her apartment.