Chapter 13
After many goodbyes to the small Weasley family in Egypt, Draco and Ginny embarked on a boat. They still technically had one day left in Egypt, but the boat would taking them on a tour of the Nile and then to their final destination. Both were immensely relieved about this as they had grown quite tired of taking International Portkeys.
"This is really rather lovely," Ginny said with a lazy smile spreading across her face.
Draco was inclined to agree with her. After spending the day on a river, they had finally arrived at the Mediterranean Sea just in time for sunset. The small boat they had set out in had expanded into a good sized yacht as soon as they reached the deeper waters of the sea. The colors of the sunset on the water were truly nothing short of spectacular. He had every plan to stay up all night to stare at the sky, which was magnificent at sea where there was no light pollution from the Muggle streetlights.
"So, where do you think we're going?" Ginny asked, breaking the pleasant silence once again.
Draco pulled out his wand and laid it flat on his palm. It spun around in a circle before finally pointing off in one direction. "Ah, it would appear Mother's sending us off to the Greek island." He thought for a moment and frowned. "Of course, that's going to be nearly as bad as Newport: it's a small island and there'll be no one there except for us and the servants."
"Fleur knew and she wouldn't tell me a peep," Ginny said, making a face.
"What did she tell you?" Draco asked with great interest.
"Oh, just that there would be private beaches involved, which, I guess, is very true if you own the whole island."
"Oh," was all Draco could say. "Why in the world would she be concerned about private beaches?" he finally asked in utter bewilderment.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Something about only having this body for a couple more months or some such nonsense. You would not believe the number of bikinis she talked me into buying."
Draco choked on the breath of air he had just taken. "She what?" he asked through hacking coughs.
"Not only that," she added, scowling, "she strong-armed me into making an Unbreakable Vow that I'd wear a different one every day for at least three hours. And I must spend the majority of those three hours on the beach."
Draco made a face. While he would someday like to have some semblance of a normal relationship with his wife, he had no desire for that someday to be anytime soon. "Please let me know when these three hours will be so I can be on the other side of the island," he said in the coldest voice that he could muster. While he hadn't had to summon up that voice in a few years, it still left quite an impression.
"Not a problem," Ginny answered with a shiver, completely ignoring his frosty response. She wrapped her arms around herself against the ever deepening evening chill. "I'm going to go back to the cabin to warm up a bit," she told him before departing.
Draco sighed and pinched his nose quite viciously as soon as she was out of sight. This witch confused him to no end. He had a bit of a reputation as a philanderer in his school days, which really wasn't true because Pansy made sure no other females would even dream of coming near him. After the war his parents were always after him to keep his nose clean, help run the family business, and uphold the family name, leaving him little time for female companionship. His mother had pestered him briefly when he was younger about settling down but then seized the opportunity to have this blasted law pushed through the Ministry so she could help him choose some hapless victim for a wife.
The only problem was that his wife wasn't exactly a hapless victim.
She wasn't intimidated by him in the least, and she clearly had as many brains as he did. He had expected the littlest Weasley to be as classless and hot-headed like her older brother and she proved to be neither of those things, at least on the surface. For ten years she had had decorum drilled into her head, giving her a refined grace that he hadn't noticed any of her brothers possessing. As his mother was sure to point out to his father, she really was of equal status to them: perhaps her family was monetarily poor, but their heritage was nearly as rich and pure as theirs.
He sighed. Ginny really was a conundrum to him. They could get along beautifully, she could even make him be nice, which was practically unheard of, and then they'd start squabbling over every little thing.
Sitting down in a lounge chair, he laid back to watch the stars twinkle like diamonds in the sky.
Draco awoke the next morning to someone prodding his arm. Cracking an eye open he saw a sleek mane of red hair and a concerned face.
"What do you want?" he grumbled, squeezing his eye shut again after he was nearly blinded by the bright sunlight.
"I just wanted to tell you that breakfast is ready," the voice came through uncertainly. "Did you really sleep out here all night?"
He cracked his eye open again, a bit more this time, and realized that he had fallen asleep in the lounge chair while he was watching the stars and his back was aching horribly. "Urgh," he proclaimed, quite ungracefully, as his stomach rolled unpleasantly.
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, the concerned note in her voice doubling.
"Just – blargh," he proclaimed again, inelegantly before twisting to the side of the chair and retching. He was quite surprised moments later when he heard another retching noise.
"Blech," Ginny said before leaning down and retching again. A house-elf appeared, thoughtfully vanishing the mess and placing a large barrel in front of the sick couple.
"I think I need a sea-sickness remedy," Draco grimaced, retching again.
"You," retch, "could have," retch, "told me you", retch retch, "weren't feeling well," Ginny gasped out, before finally slumping down next to the barrel looking pale and spent.
"How was I supposed to do that?" he snapped, although it lacked its usual bite and he was looking every bit as pale as his wife. "ELF!" he hollered. "Get me two sea-sickness potions now!"
"I don't get sea-sick," Ginny reminded him glumly.
"You just started getting sick out of thin air then," he stated incredulously. "You're sea-sick, face it."
Ginny scowled at him. "It's morning sickness, you idiot," she snapped. "I've been feeling horribly queasy the past two mornings and your display threw me over the edge."
Draco paled even further at this revelation and retched into the barrel yet again. "I was trying to forget about that," he moaned.
"I'd hit you for that if I knew it wouldn't hurt me so badly," Ginny said, her voice deadly calm. "This isn't something that's just going to go away so you damn well better get used to it."
He responded by merely slumping back into the lounge chair and throwing an arm over his eyes. An elf chose that moment to pop back and handed Draco a small vial of a sludgy, green potion.
"For sea-sickness," it squeaked. "Is there anything else Missy can do for Master?"
"No," he snapped, downing the potion with a grimace. "Ah, that's much better."
"Missy?" Ginny called out, just as the elf was about to pop back down to wherever the elves were staying on board. "Could you please bring me a pot of peppermint tea?"
"Of course, Mistress," Missy responded, popping back below deck. A few moments later a steaming pot of tea and two fragile china cups appeared on a small table in between two lounge chairs.
Ginny wasted no time in vanishing the contents of the barrel and levitating it in front of the table. Sitting down in one of the lounge chairs, she poured two cups of tea and beckoned Draco to join her.
"Peppermint is good for stomach ailments," she said simply at his bewildered expression.
They sat in silence, sipping on the tea. After an hour or so, the house-elf, Missy, returned, scraping her nose against the polished boards of the ship.
"Breakfast is ready if Master and Mistress would be wanting it," she squeaked.
"We would," Draco responded quickly. She quickly bowed and popped back out of sight as the two made their way to the dining room.
Breakfast was a simple affair, but Draco breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed it was "normal" food as opposed to all the unusual food they had been served the past week while they were staying with the Weasleys. There were two steaming dishes of porridge and a variety of fruits to accompany it. He sat down, placing his napkin on his lap, and began slicing a banana over the porridge.
Ginny simply began stirring her porridge absentmindedly before picking up a bowl of blueberries and stirring them in. The two continued their awkward silence until another, considerably older, house-elf popped into the room.
"We have arrived, Master," he said in the lowest voice Draco had ever heard from a house-elf. Draco placed his napkin on the table and pushed his chair back.
"Very good. We will be ready to disembark momentarily."
"That was awfully fast," Ginny said, her eyes wide in amazement.
"Magic," Draco smirked at her.
She swatted him lightly on the arm. "I swear I will never get used to that," she grimaced, rubbing her sore arm.
"Maybe if you didn't have so many violent tendencies it wouldn't be a problem."
She scowled at him but followed him out onto the deck.
Draco sighed in contentment at the sight that greeted them. He had decided years ago that the green, rocky island with white sand surrounded by blue waters was quite possibly one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen. Bathed in the bright mid-morning sunlight, he found that he could disagree with that sentiment: it was the most beautiful sight in the world - and it was all his. A set of beautifully carved wooden stairs appeared next to the ship as a highly polished dock came into view.
"Impressive," Ginny murmured next to him. He set off down the stairs and onto the dock before taking out his wand and concentrating on the wards. Moments later a beautiful, sparkling white mansion came into view. He smirked and looked at Ginny whose eyes were as wide as saucers.
The front of the mansion had six Corinthian columns stretching three stories high to hold up the roof. A large entryway graced the center of the structure, unusual in that it was simply that: an entryway lacking a door. Golden sunlight streamed through the entryway, which clearly lead to an inner courtyard. They walked up the well cut, rough stone steps and they reached the entryway. Inside was even more beautiful: the courtyard was filled with flowers and golden sunlight. Small balconies popped up on the second and third stories of the courtyard.
"There are no doors here, is the weather always this beautiful?" Ginny asked as she took in her surroundings.
Draco laughed. "Oh no," he assured her. "Mother, however, felt that the place felt too stuffy, even with glass doors, so Father ordered they all be removed and Imperturbable charms be placed over the whole place. Even the dock has them so the elves don't even have to bother scraping off barnacles and other sea grime."
Ginny then bent down to examine a flower and grimaced. "Er – Draco? Do you know where our trunks are? Only we're both still in our night clothes…"
"We're on a private island," he responded grandly. "If I wish to stay in my night clothes all day, no one can stop me!"
"Just so long as you don't run around starkers," Ginny mumbled.
"You're going to be doing nearly that running around in your swimsuits!" he shot back.
"Alright, so long as you don't run around stalkers in front of me," she clarified.
"I thought you told your brother, rather proudly, that as my wife you had seen me naked," he said, leering at her slightly.
"Ugh, you're insufferable! Missy, show me to my room!"
Missy popped into the courtyard, her nose scraping the gravel. "As Mistress wishes," she squeaked.
The house-elf led her across the courtyard and over to an entryway covered by a sheer white curtain. Draco harrumphed and sat down on one of the ornate stone benches that were littered throughout the large courtyard.
Ginny was frankly amazed at the whole mansion as they climbed the three flights of stairs to the master suite. She was then even more surprised to find a rather simple white door in front of her, which Missy silently pushed open, revealing a sitting room done in royal blues and whites. It really was very simple and elegant, everything she had come to expect from Narcissa Malfoy.
Missy then led her to yet another set of doors, which revealed the master bedroom. This too was done in royal blues and whites and clearly was on a corner of the house as two walls were covered in windows. In the corner opposite the windows were two entryways leading to the largest balcony in the courtyard, which contained a small table and two chairs. Another two doors were on opposite sides of the enormous bed. She first tried the one on the right, which proved to be a beautifully proportioned bathroom with a shower and an enormous tub. She splashed some water on her face and set off to examine the second door in the bedroom.
The second door, on the left side of the bed, turned out to be the closet she was searching for. All of her robes had been removed from her trunk, as had Draco's, and they had already been hung and pressed. Choosing a pale yellow robe, she set out back into the bedroom to stare out at the beautiful scenery. After a few minutes, she determinedly returned to the closet, pulled out a swim suit and headed off to the nearby beach.
Draco sat flummoxed in the courtyard before finally standing up and heading off to the library to read his favorite book, Famous Wizards of the Ages. The library was quite possibly one of the grandest rooms in this building. It encompassed both sides of the front entryway and was connected by the third floor. Windows dotted the walls, as did thousands of books, and comfortable chairs were littered all around. Two beautifully carved spiral staircases led to the third floor, but seeing as how that was where the books on the Dark Arts were house, he preferred to simply cross the entryway and stay on the first floor. Climbing a nearby ladder that was charmed to glide smoothly at the slightest touch and also such that its occupant could not fall to the ground, he retrieved his thick book.
An hour later, he snapped the book shut, unable to concentrate any longer. His thoughts had been full of the young redheaded witch, who had driving him quite batty the whole morning. Running a hand through his now longish hair, he decided that a nice dip in the sea would be perfect for freeing his mind. Making his way to the master suite, he pulled out the one Muggle-inspired item that he owned: a pair of swim trunks. Grabbing a towel, he headed down to the beach.
When Draco arrived there, he groaned. Off in the distance, in the waves, was a redheaded woman wearing tiny scraps of green fabric. He thought about leaving to go to another beach, but resolutely decided that it was his beach and no one else was going to keep him from going to go there. He kept walking to the beach, eventually wading into the warm, clear waters. Moments later, Ginny looked up at him in alarm.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, wading into waist deep waters and hugging her chest protectively.
"This is my beach, why shouldn't I be here?" he asked arrogantly.
"Er – I suppose I'll move off then," Ginny said, her face bright red as she began wading away.
Draco smirked proudly, but he couldn't stop the small sinking feeling in his gut as she disappeared from view.
Ginny had managed to find a tiny little beach, surrounded by rocks, that seemed to be the perfect place to be alone. It was only comfortable to approach the beach by water so for the first several days she waded out to it, although one of the house-elves finally pulled her aside and showed her a small boat house which contained several row boats, charmed to row themselves. After she found the library on the third day, she loaded several interesting looking novels and a picnic basket into the boat, only after liberally applying sun potions to protect her fair skin. She had neglected these potions the first two days and after being burned to a crisp the ever helpful house-elf had also shown her a stockroom of healing potions.
On the fifth day she had done this, she let out a groan as she saw a swimmer coming towards her. The island was well hidden with extensive wards, so the only possible person this could be was Draco.
"I see you've found the hiding place," he smirked as he stepped out of the water.
Ginny steadfastly ignored him, resisting the urge to wrap herself in her towel. Her nose remained buried in her novel, which today was The Hounds of the Morigann, a Wizarding novel of such acclaim it had supposedly made its way into the Muggle world.
Draco frowned at being ignored, so he conjured a towel and opened the picnic basket. This got Ginny's attention.
"That's my lunch!" she hissed.
"Surely there's enough to share," he said, pleased to have gotten a reaction out of her.
She frowned and peered into the basket. It contained a small jug of milk, a single sandwich, an apple, and two cookies.
"Alright, maybe there isn't," Draco grudgingly admitted as he examined the contents of the basket. "Tipsy!"
A house-elf popped in front of them. "What can Tipsy do for Master Draco?" she asked from a deep bow.
"I need another picnic basket," he ordered. "Preferably something a bit more substantial than my wife's."
Tipsy popped out again and returned several minutes later. This time his mouth watered. His basket contained a thick club sandwich, two bottles of butterbeer, a smaller basket of chips, and a pear.
"Is Master Draco pleased with his basket?" Tipsy squeaked.
Draco gave a brief nod and waved his hand before digging into the basket.
"So, about next week," he began after he had finished half his sandwich. Ginny's eyes snapped up from her book.
"What about it?" she asked warily.
"Well, we'll be moving into the hunting lodge," he said with a frown on his face. "I suppose you'll have to redo some of the décor, the elves keep immaculately clean, but there's no accounting for my great-great-grandfather's sense of style."
Ginny grimaced. "How bad?"
"Pretty awful," Draco admitted. "Mother flat out refuses to go there and I've only been a few times with Father, but – let's just say it's not the nicest of places."
"Remind me of why you want to live there again?" Ginny asked wearily.
"Because it's the only free property in the British isles. I don't quite feel like taking two International Portkeys every day just to get to work."
"Fair enough," Ginny sighed. "What's my redecorating budget?"
"That will be determined when we get there and assess what needs to be done."
"Alright. Let's hope it's not as bad as your memories."
Author's Note:
I'm really sorry about the delay in this update, my boyfriend of five years recently broke up with me, making it a tad difficult to write. :( I've never actually been pregnant so I'm using my mom as an example, who claimed that she always got morning sickness before she even knew she was pregnant (and then it lasted for the next seven months). The Hounds of the Morrigan is an actual real, excellent book, heavy in Irish mythology. Soon enough the story's going to pick up the pace a bit, it's not going to go week by week by week, although the jumps won't be as drastic as when Ginny was in school. Hope you all enjoyed this!