After seeing the picture and accompanying article in the paper about Ginny, Molly Weasley was stunned into speechlessness for one of the few times in her life.
Arthur regarded his wife carefully, waiting for inevitable blowup. In all the years of their marriage, he'd not seen her rendered speechless but a handful of times and the end results of such incidents never boded well for those involved.
He didn't have long to wait for her reaction.
"Lucius Malfoy!" Molly thundered. "He did this!"
"Lucius Malfoy?" Arthur repeated, raising one eyebrow in scepticism.
"Yes!" Molly exclaimed. "Harry is using his lawyer, which Malfoy no doubt arranged. I'm sure the lawyer is engaging in dirty tricks to make sure Harry comes out on top in the divorce, just like how he kept Malfoy from going to Azkaban like he should have. He probably hired a photographer to follow Ginny around!"
Arthur rolled his eyes heavenward. "I wouldn't put it past Malfoy to hire someone to follow Ginny around taking pictures," he conceded. "But he's been in America for several weeks, so I doubt if it's him." Sighing loudly, he added, "And Ginny did what she did on her own. There's no way they could have staged a picture like that."
"Ginny wouldn't carry on like that with a...woman!" Molly insisted. "She had plenty of boyfriends in school!"
"I'm just as puzzled by this as you are," Arthur admitted wearily. "But it's not something that we should air in public or in the courtroom. Nor is it something to argue about with the likes of Lucius Malfoy. You don't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing you upset again."
"I can't just let this go by not calling him on it," Molly insisted in frustration.
"Yes, you can," Arthur told her gently, but firmly. "And you will. Ginny and Harry have enough to deal with in getting a divorce; they don't need any added drama."
"Malfoy started it," Molly pointed out. "And I intend to finish it."
"That may well be," Arthur conceded. "But it isn't your fight. It's up to Ginny and Harry to handle things now. All you can do is be there for Ginny if she needs to talk or if she needs a shoulder to cry on." Smiling down at her, he said, "You've been a big comfort to everyone in the family for years. It's what you do best."
"I just feel so helpless," she said. "It's hard for me to just stand by when I see a problem that needs fixing."
"Sometimes the best help is simply minding your own business," Arthur told her quietly. "Let Ginny know that you'll be there for her, then step back. I can assure you that she'll respect you for that."
"I'm going to go down to her new flat right away to see what this is all about," Molly decided. "I need to find out why she's acting is such a shameful manner. We didn't raise her to have sex with other women! It's disgusting and unnatural."
Arthur heaved a loud, gusty sigh of frustration. "Albus was gay," he said quietly. "Did you know that? Do you think he was disgusting?"
"Surely not," Molly said in disbelief. "He simply never found the right woman."
"Oh, Molly, you can be so naive at times," Arthur said rolling his eyes. Changing the subject, he suggested, "Why don't you just sit down and write Ginny a letter inviting her to dinner on Sunday and send it by owl. If she's ready to talk, she'll show up. If not, then you'll just have to wait until she's ready."
"I'll do it," she conceded, grumbling. "But I won't say that I like it."
"That's my girl," Arthur said, giving her an encouraging smile as he patted her on the arm. "It will work out all right, you'll see."
"I hope you're right," she said, still grumbling. "It goes against my better instincts to just sit here and do nothing."
Pointing his wand at the desk in the corner, Arthur accio'd a quill and parchment for his wife. "Here, why don't you write her a note inviting her to dinner now. You'll feel better once you do it." After a pause, he added, "You could invite her...ah, err...friend as well. That might cause Ginny to confide in you."
"No!" Molly exclaimed. "I'll back off from confronting Lucius Malfoy and I'll give Ginny some space, but I draw the line there."
"All right, Molly," Arthur conceded. "But if there's really something between the two of them, you'll have to get over it and meet her some time."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Molly said firmly. "And not a moment before."
---
"I think I'd better go see if Harry is all right," Arabella said to Lucius and Hermione after Harry had not returned after a rather long interval.
"Go ahead," Hermione acknowledged with an encouraging smile. "We'll be right here."
No sooner had Arabella left the room than Lucius turned to Hermione and observed, "You don't seem to be shocked about Ginevra's taste in lovers."
"I'm not," she admitted slowly. "I've always suspected she was bisexual, even when we were in school."
"Oh?" Lucius quirked one eyebrow up in surprise, then leaned forward. "Do tell."
"Well, I can't quite put a finger on it, but there were a few times when I'd go into the Gryffindor girl's bathroom and I'd find her there with another girl and they'd both hurry out as soon as I came in, acting as if they'd been caught doing something they shouldn't," Hermione explained. "I never actually discovered her doing anything, mind you, but after having found her like this several times, I began to wonder."
Silent for a long moment, she added, "And there was the way she sometimes looked at other girls; like how most other girls looked at the blokes we fancied. It was never anything concrete or definitive, but just a general impression I got from her."
"I...see," Lucius said, smirking audibly.
"It's not funny!" she admonished, but could not help but allow a few giggles to escape.
"Oh, yes it is," Lucius said, nearly shaking with barely suppressed laughter. "I can just see Molly Weasley's face now. I'll bet she's purple with rage."
Collecting himself, now serious once more, Lucius asked, "Why didn't you share your suspicions with Mr Potter when you know he was getting serious about her? You could have saved him a lot of trouble."
"You know how it is," Hermione shrugged. "Love is blind and Harry wouldn't have listened to me. It really wasn't any of my business, anyway and I didn't want to risk losing his friendship over something I wasn't entirely sure of."
"I suppose you're right," Lucius conceded.
"And then there was the little matter of being on the run from Voldemort," she reminded him. "We had more important things to worry about at the time than the precise nature of Ginny's sexual preferences."
Giving Lucius a hard look, Hermione asked quietly, "Did you have anything to do with this picture and article?"
"Not directly, no," the blond wizard told her. "Before we left, I told Rosier to do whatever was necessary to ensure a favourable outcome for Mr Potter's divorce. I would imagine he hired someone to follow Mrs Potter around on the odd chance she'd do something incriminating." Chuckling again, he added, "I'll certainly have to send a Rosier a fat bonus check. I couldn't have planned a better outcome myself."
"Some people might consider that unethical," Hermione pointed out.
"Hardly," Lucius said. "No one forced her to act in an extremely indiscreet manner in public. All's fair in love and war, my dear. If she wanted to protect her reputation in light of a coming divorce hearing, she should have been more circumspect."
"I have to wonder whether she did this on purpose," Hermione considered. "Ginny's never been able to stand up directly to her mother's meddling. She's always resorted to passive-aggressive means to get her points across to her mother. I'd not be surprised if she did this quite purposely to get her mother to butt out of her business."
"You know her better than I do," Lucius replied, shrugging. "If this is so, then it's too bad she chose to publicly embarrass Mr Potter in an effort to make a point to her mother."
"Ginny has never been one to consider the consequences of her actions or to think ahead," Hermione told him.
"A typical Gryffindor, then," Lucius said, sneering.
Hermione opened her voice to protest, but then shut it again. She remembered many of her housemates acting precisely in this fashion.
"Poor Harry," she said, realizing that he and Arabella had not yet returned. "He must be devastated."
"I'm surprised he didn't know," Lucius said. "Surely, he had some inkling."
"People see what they want to see," Hermione pointed out. "I know I did with Ron." Looking anxiously toward the door, she said, "I wonder what's keeping Harry? Maybe I should go check on him."
"I think not," Lucius said firmly. "Let Arabella tend to him for now." After a moment, he called, "Breezy!"
The big-eyed elf appeared immediately. "Master Lucius called Breezy?"
"Yes. Please check to see where our guests are," he told her. "And don't disturb them while doing so."
"Yes, Master," she said, disapparating with a loud crack.
A moment later, Breezy reappeared. "Master Lucius' guests are in the guest bedroom."
After the elf had resumed her duties, Lucius said, "There, you see? Arabella is comforting Harry in the best way a woman can comfort a man." Giving her a wicked grin, he drawled, "I think I could do with a bit of comforting just now, myself."
"A fine idea," Hermione murmured, as he followed him out of the room.
---
Thanks once again to the loyal readers and reviewers of this story. Thanks for sticking with me!
Next chapter as yet unnamed.