Ginny Weasley was quite irritated.
She had been cheated out of seeing Draco at King’s Cross – she hadn’t understood the look of warning on his face at first, but then she had seen the silver hair of Lucius Malfoy coming through the crowd.
She had a short letter that she had planned to give Draco, and now she would not be able to. Sending an owl to Malfoy Manor was out of the question.
She couldn’t believe that she would have to go the whole summer without talking with Draco.
The thing about having a couple of brothers like Fred and George, you start thinking that anything is possible.
There just had to be a way to communicate with Draco. She couldn’t go three months without any contact.
She was still pondering this problem when she went into her bedroom. She was amazed to see a package and an envelope on her bed.
Unfortunately, before she could investigate, her brother interrupted.
“Gin, mum says – hey, what’s that?”
Ginny shrugged. “I don’t know. It was here when I got home.”
“No fair. I didn’t have any presents.” Ron darted towards the package quickly, before his sister could stop him.
“RON! It’s MINE! Go away!”
Ron, however, had no problem identifying the elegant script on the envelope.
“Bloody hell. How did the Ferret beat you here?”
“It’s from Draco?”
Ron’s ears were already turning red. He grudgingly, slowly, was tolerating the fact that his sister was dating Draco Malfoy. But...
“WHAT WAS HE DOING IN OUR HOUSE WHEN NO ONE WAS HOME?”
“Ron! Don’t be a prat! What about the time you snuck flowers into Hermione’s bed? “That’s different! Her parents invited me! I just showed up early!”
“Yes, twelve hours early.” Ginny was so tired of her brother’s hypocrisy.
Ron’s voice was low, and his ears were no longer red – but Ginny could still tell he was angry.
“Ginny, I can handle you dating the junior Death Eater, as you keep saying, you’re your own person. But when that little prick-“
“RON!”
Ron repeated his last two words in a shout, overpowering Ginny’s protests. “LITTLE PRICK breaks into OUR FAMILY’S house, it becomes a matter for the whole family...”
“Ron, please.”
“You leave me no choice. DAD!”
Arthur Weasley had obviously been on the staircase – he was in Ginny’s room in a second. His eyes darted to the package and letter on the bed.
“Ron? Ginny? What is the problem?”
“Ginny seems to think that it’s acceptable for her little Junior Voldemort to break into our house and leave her love letters.”
Arthur’s warm eyes grew cold.
“Ginny? Is this true? Did you have any advance knowledge of this?”
Ginny didn’t respond.
Arthur closed his eyes. “Ginevra...”
Ginny looked at her father. “NO! I didn’t know Draco was planning this. And I think it’s romantic and sweet.”
Arthur took his glasses off and pinched the top of his nose.
“Ginny...baby...it’s just not right. We haven’t even been properly introduced to the boy...and his father, the things he’s done...it’s just not right for him to enter our house. It’s very serious indeed.”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Here we go again. Draco is not his father.”
Ron, unwisely, decided to make a comment.
“Yeah, Draco just snuck in like a common thief. Lucius Malfoy would have blasted the door off the hinges and cast Unforgivables on everyone.”
Ginny reached for her wand, and Arthur realized that he was about to witness the Bat-Bogey hex being cast on his son.
“ENOUGH! Ron, please, be quiet, you are not helping. Ginny, just let me talk.”
Ginny spun around, refusing to look at her father and her brother.
“Now. We need to get this sorted out before your mother gets home. What’s in the package?”
Ginny didn’t turn around. “I don’t know. Ron came in before I could open it.”
Arthur tried to lift the package, and failed.
“That’s odd...”
He withdrew his wand and cast a charm to lighten the package, but he still could not budge it.
Ginny had turned around, and was watching her father with a curious look on her face.
Ron just shook his head. He had withdrawn his wand, and was holding it limply at his side. It was obvious he was just waiting for the package to explode, or turn into a pack of rabid ferrets, or some other unspeakable act.
“Dark Magic, I tell you.”
Arthur ignored his son. He reached for the envelope, and read the inscription.
To Whom It May Concern
He glanced back at the package. Unlike the envelope, the package had an addressee who was quite specific indeed.
Ginny
Arthur muttered, “I really shouldn’t open this,” even as he ripped open the envelope.
He withdrew a blank parchment. He stared at it, confused, before words began to appear.
My Dear Arthur,
The package is meant for Ginny, and no one else, for reasons you will soon understand.
However, in the past ten years, I have learned much. I have watched your family, and I have learned that nothing can impact the closeness you have. I envy that, more than you can ever know.
Of course, there are unfortunate side-effects of this closeness. I know that privacy at the Burrow is a rare commodity, and the odds of someone interrupting Ginny – and trying to stop her from opening my final gift to her – are just too great. Since you are reading this, I see that my fears were justified.
I’m so glad it was you who opened this letter. I wrote several letters – the one to Ron was the hardest, for I know how much the Ron of this era distrusts me – but it makes it so much easier, knowing that it is you who is reading this words.
Easier, for you are in the chain of command.
Arthur took a deep breath, he really didn’t want to know what was coming next – although he had a pretty good idea.
You’ve probably guessed already, Arthur. A temporal event has occurred– with the full knowledge and authority of the government.
I am Draco Malfoy, I am twenty-seven years old, and with the authority invested in me by the Ministry of Magic, I hereby invoke the Doctrine of Temporal Integrity, specifically paragraph 7a, Management of Unprecedented Magical Catastrophes.
Go ahead, Arthur, cast the proper spells on the parchment to determine that these words are truthful. After you’re done with that, remember paragraph 7a, especially the bit of Supremacy of Future Governmental Authorities.
Do you remember that? Dumbledore helped write it. It’s the part that says in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the Government of the future shall be presumed to be benevolent, and that orders from that government are binding.
Arthur bowed his head. “Ron, leave the room, now, and close the door.”
“Dad...”
“Now. Please.”
Ron glared once at Ginny, and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
“Dad...”
Arthur cast a Silencing Charm on the room; no one outside the room would be able to hear anything that was said.
“What’s going on, Dad?” Ginny’s voice was hesitant.
“I may have underestimated your young man, princess.”
Ginny’s eyes widened. She was grateful that her father had never quite objected to her relationship with Draco Malfoy – unlike her mother, who had gone on at great length about how the apple can’t fall far from the tree. Arthur Weasley, other than warnings of concern, had never criticized the boy directly. This, however, was the first sign of praise any member of her family had ever expressed for a Malfoy.
Her father had laid the letter on a dresser, and was casting strange spells she had never heard, shaking his head when the parchment would glow different colors.
A strange voice suddenly filled the bedroom. It spoke two words.
“Ministry key.”
Arthur looked at the parchment with sadness, and spoke to it.
“Arthur Weasley, Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, red William ensure.”
The same voice spoke again.
“Accepted. Red William ensure, baker proclamation requiem.”
Ginny was quite baffled.
“Dad...”
“It’s a code, to decipher and authenticate Ministry communications. At a certain level, personnel of the Ministry are given word keys – only the Ministry can encode a message with the Ministry key, and if the specified recipient provides their key, the message unlocks itself, and gives a code that identifies the message as valid.”
“I don’t understand. Why is Draco sending messages from the Ministry?”
Arthur sighed. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.”
Arthur continued reading.
By now, I’m sure you’ve run your revelation spells. I can’t tell you much. Mucking about with the timeline is a serious business, and I don’t want to tell you more than I have to.
Strictly speaking, I don’t HAVE to tell you anything – but I owe you, and I also know that without proof of good intentions you would never let your daughter open that package.
Arthur gave a weak smile at that. “Smart lad.”
You must know by now that it’s vital that she – and only she – open that package. The contents are for her eyes only. I won’t lie to you. It is a terrible, terrible burden. I wish there was another way, but there’s not. You may think this letter, complete with Ministry encoding, is overkill – but I cannot take the chance that suspicion and distrust could interfere with Ginny opening that package.
I also have a personal reason for this letter. This will be my only communication with you. Horrible events have been set into motion, for the greater good of the world. The seventeen-year-old Draco Malfoy that you are familiar with is going to have to take a rough and futile road. You must never trust him, from this moment onwards.
Arthur, I’ve set events in motion that will quite likely condemn my soul to hell. I want you to know that it had to be this way, and that you were the best father-in-law I could have ever asked for.
Arthur put the paper down, and stared at the wall. Ginny tried to look at the paper, but he took it away from her, and shook his head before resuming reading.
There are choices that have to be made. Are you familiar with the Bible, Arthur? So many wizards aren’t. I confess I wasn’t, either, until things got so bad that I would take comfort anywhere I could find it. There is a bit in there – what profit a man if he gain the whole world, yet sacrifice his soul?
Well, this is the reverse. I am sacrificing my soul, for the benefit of the world. Draco will no longer be seeing your daughter – she will never become my wife, never bear my children – your grandchildren. I have obliterated my children from existence, and condemned my younger self to a life of evil and agony – all because the alternative leads to a future that is horrible beyond my ability to describe in the time I have.
My one attempt to describe it will be for Ginny.
I’m so sorry, Arthur. I wish it could be different. I grew to love you as a second father – even after years of marriage to your daughter, I never told you that while you were alive although I like to think you knew it. Now, I know that life is too short, and pride and decorum be damned.
I have seen the future, and I now realize that when you love someone, you need to tell them right away, for they may not be around to hear it later.
You are one of the finest men I have ever known, Arthur. I was proud to be a member of your family. I wish to God there was a way for it to happen again, but it can’t.
Ginny will know why, and understand, once she opens the package. My commands to you are simple:
1. Tell no one – with the exception of Ginny – what is in this letter.
2. Love your family. I know you don’t need me to tell you this, but it needs to be said.
3. Should you ever find yourself in battle with Draco Malfoy, show no mercy. He won’t. The die is cast; events are in motion, and cannot be taken back.
4. The same goes for my father, Lucius Malfoy – would it surprise you to know that there was once a future where Lucius Malfoy was forced to fight alongside Harry Potter? For a few brief months, my father was on the side of the Light – you hopefully will never see a future where that becomes necessary, but I ask you to show respect for my mother – if Lucius and Draco fall, she will have no one in the world. I ask that should peace come, you look out for her interests, for she is guilty of nothing other than loving her husband and her son.
5. Should Ginny need strength, be there for her. I am about to burden her with knowledge she cannot share with anyone save you. Despite her temper, which I know too well, she has an unfortunate habit of not speaking when she is troubled – much like Harry and I. Don’t push her, but be there if she needs to talk – and makes sure she knows it.
6. In 2002, tell Ron not to bet too heavily on the Cannons taking the cup. It’s a lost cause – but then, I’m sure everyone will know that already.
So, in short, love your family, let Ginny open the package, don’t let your guard down around the Draco of your era, and never doubt that you are truly one of the finest men I have ever known.
There is much more to say, but I find it is too painful to go on.
Goodbye,
Draco Malfoy.
Arthur looked down at his daughter, and she was amazed – and a bit scared – to see a tear forming in his eye. He pulled her into an embrace, and kissed her gently on the forehead.
“My little girl...”
“Dad?”
“Only you can open that package. If you need to talk about what’s inside, I’m here. Just remember that, ok?”
“Dad? Something really bad happened, didn’t it?”
Arthur pondered that. “I don’t know what to call it. Just...put this letter with the package, and keep it in a safe place.”
“It IS from Draco, right?”
Arthur nodded. “Yes, in a manner of speaking. Not quite the Draco you know. You’ll understand when you read it.”
Arthur walked out of the room, leaving his daughter alone with a package from a future that would never be.
She had been cheated out of seeing Draco at King’s Cross – she hadn’t understood the look of warning on his face at first, but then she had seen the silver hair of Lucius Malfoy coming through the crowd.
She had a short letter that she had planned to give Draco, and now she would not be able to. Sending an owl to Malfoy Manor was out of the question.
She couldn’t believe that she would have to go the whole summer without talking with Draco.
The thing about having a couple of brothers like Fred and George, you start thinking that anything is possible.
There just had to be a way to communicate with Draco. She couldn’t go three months without any contact.
She was still pondering this problem when she went into her bedroom. She was amazed to see a package and an envelope on her bed.
Unfortunately, before she could investigate, her brother interrupted.
“Gin, mum says – hey, what’s that?”
Ginny shrugged. “I don’t know. It was here when I got home.”
“No fair. I didn’t have any presents.” Ron darted towards the package quickly, before his sister could stop him.
“RON! It’s MINE! Go away!”
Ron, however, had no problem identifying the elegant script on the envelope.
“Bloody hell. How did the Ferret beat you here?”
“It’s from Draco?”
Ron’s ears were already turning red. He grudgingly, slowly, was tolerating the fact that his sister was dating Draco Malfoy. But...
“WHAT WAS HE DOING IN OUR HOUSE WHEN NO ONE WAS HOME?”
“Ron! Don’t be a prat! What about the time you snuck flowers into Hermione’s bed? “That’s different! Her parents invited me! I just showed up early!”
“Yes, twelve hours early.” Ginny was so tired of her brother’s hypocrisy.
Ron’s voice was low, and his ears were no longer red – but Ginny could still tell he was angry.
“Ginny, I can handle you dating the junior Death Eater, as you keep saying, you’re your own person. But when that little prick-“
“RON!”
Ron repeated his last two words in a shout, overpowering Ginny’s protests. “LITTLE PRICK breaks into OUR FAMILY’S house, it becomes a matter for the whole family...”
“Ron, please.”
“You leave me no choice. DAD!”
Arthur Weasley had obviously been on the staircase – he was in Ginny’s room in a second. His eyes darted to the package and letter on the bed.
“Ron? Ginny? What is the problem?”
“Ginny seems to think that it’s acceptable for her little Junior Voldemort to break into our house and leave her love letters.”
Arthur’s warm eyes grew cold.
“Ginny? Is this true? Did you have any advance knowledge of this?”
Ginny didn’t respond.
Arthur closed his eyes. “Ginevra...”
Ginny looked at her father. “NO! I didn’t know Draco was planning this. And I think it’s romantic and sweet.”
Arthur took his glasses off and pinched the top of his nose.
“Ginny...baby...it’s just not right. We haven’t even been properly introduced to the boy...and his father, the things he’s done...it’s just not right for him to enter our house. It’s very serious indeed.”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Here we go again. Draco is not his father.”
Ron, unwisely, decided to make a comment.
“Yeah, Draco just snuck in like a common thief. Lucius Malfoy would have blasted the door off the hinges and cast Unforgivables on everyone.”
Ginny reached for her wand, and Arthur realized that he was about to witness the Bat-Bogey hex being cast on his son.
“ENOUGH! Ron, please, be quiet, you are not helping. Ginny, just let me talk.”
Ginny spun around, refusing to look at her father and her brother.
“Now. We need to get this sorted out before your mother gets home. What’s in the package?”
Ginny didn’t turn around. “I don’t know. Ron came in before I could open it.”
Arthur tried to lift the package, and failed.
“That’s odd...”
He withdrew his wand and cast a charm to lighten the package, but he still could not budge it.
Ginny had turned around, and was watching her father with a curious look on her face.
Ron just shook his head. He had withdrawn his wand, and was holding it limply at his side. It was obvious he was just waiting for the package to explode, or turn into a pack of rabid ferrets, or some other unspeakable act.
“Dark Magic, I tell you.”
Arthur ignored his son. He reached for the envelope, and read the inscription.
To Whom It May Concern
He glanced back at the package. Unlike the envelope, the package had an addressee who was quite specific indeed.
Ginny
Arthur muttered, “I really shouldn’t open this,” even as he ripped open the envelope.
He withdrew a blank parchment. He stared at it, confused, before words began to appear.
My Dear Arthur,
The package is meant for Ginny, and no one else, for reasons you will soon understand.
However, in the past ten years, I have learned much. I have watched your family, and I have learned that nothing can impact the closeness you have. I envy that, more than you can ever know.
Of course, there are unfortunate side-effects of this closeness. I know that privacy at the Burrow is a rare commodity, and the odds of someone interrupting Ginny – and trying to stop her from opening my final gift to her – are just too great. Since you are reading this, I see that my fears were justified.
I’m so glad it was you who opened this letter. I wrote several letters – the one to Ron was the hardest, for I know how much the Ron of this era distrusts me – but it makes it so much easier, knowing that it is you who is reading this words.
Easier, for you are in the chain of command.
Arthur took a deep breath, he really didn’t want to know what was coming next – although he had a pretty good idea.
You’ve probably guessed already, Arthur. A temporal event has occurred– with the full knowledge and authority of the government.
I am Draco Malfoy, I am twenty-seven years old, and with the authority invested in me by the Ministry of Magic, I hereby invoke the Doctrine of Temporal Integrity, specifically paragraph 7a, Management of Unprecedented Magical Catastrophes.
Go ahead, Arthur, cast the proper spells on the parchment to determine that these words are truthful. After you’re done with that, remember paragraph 7a, especially the bit of Supremacy of Future Governmental Authorities.
Do you remember that? Dumbledore helped write it. It’s the part that says in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the Government of the future shall be presumed to be benevolent, and that orders from that government are binding.
Arthur bowed his head. “Ron, leave the room, now, and close the door.”
“Dad...”
“Now. Please.”
Ron glared once at Ginny, and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
“Dad...”
Arthur cast a Silencing Charm on the room; no one outside the room would be able to hear anything that was said.
“What’s going on, Dad?” Ginny’s voice was hesitant.
“I may have underestimated your young man, princess.”
Ginny’s eyes widened. She was grateful that her father had never quite objected to her relationship with Draco Malfoy – unlike her mother, who had gone on at great length about how the apple can’t fall far from the tree. Arthur Weasley, other than warnings of concern, had never criticized the boy directly. This, however, was the first sign of praise any member of her family had ever expressed for a Malfoy.
Her father had laid the letter on a dresser, and was casting strange spells she had never heard, shaking his head when the parchment would glow different colors.
A strange voice suddenly filled the bedroom. It spoke two words.
“Ministry key.”
Arthur looked at the parchment with sadness, and spoke to it.
“Arthur Weasley, Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, red William ensure.”
The same voice spoke again.
“Accepted. Red William ensure, baker proclamation requiem.”
Ginny was quite baffled.
“Dad...”
“It’s a code, to decipher and authenticate Ministry communications. At a certain level, personnel of the Ministry are given word keys – only the Ministry can encode a message with the Ministry key, and if the specified recipient provides their key, the message unlocks itself, and gives a code that identifies the message as valid.”
“I don’t understand. Why is Draco sending messages from the Ministry?”
Arthur sighed. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.”
Arthur continued reading.
By now, I’m sure you’ve run your revelation spells. I can’t tell you much. Mucking about with the timeline is a serious business, and I don’t want to tell you more than I have to.
Strictly speaking, I don’t HAVE to tell you anything – but I owe you, and I also know that without proof of good intentions you would never let your daughter open that package.
Arthur gave a weak smile at that. “Smart lad.”
You must know by now that it’s vital that she – and only she – open that package. The contents are for her eyes only. I won’t lie to you. It is a terrible, terrible burden. I wish there was another way, but there’s not. You may think this letter, complete with Ministry encoding, is overkill – but I cannot take the chance that suspicion and distrust could interfere with Ginny opening that package.
I also have a personal reason for this letter. This will be my only communication with you. Horrible events have been set into motion, for the greater good of the world. The seventeen-year-old Draco Malfoy that you are familiar with is going to have to take a rough and futile road. You must never trust him, from this moment onwards.
Arthur, I’ve set events in motion that will quite likely condemn my soul to hell. I want you to know that it had to be this way, and that you were the best father-in-law I could have ever asked for.
Arthur put the paper down, and stared at the wall. Ginny tried to look at the paper, but he took it away from her, and shook his head before resuming reading.
There are choices that have to be made. Are you familiar with the Bible, Arthur? So many wizards aren’t. I confess I wasn’t, either, until things got so bad that I would take comfort anywhere I could find it. There is a bit in there – what profit a man if he gain the whole world, yet sacrifice his soul?
Well, this is the reverse. I am sacrificing my soul, for the benefit of the world. Draco will no longer be seeing your daughter – she will never become my wife, never bear my children – your grandchildren. I have obliterated my children from existence, and condemned my younger self to a life of evil and agony – all because the alternative leads to a future that is horrible beyond my ability to describe in the time I have.
My one attempt to describe it will be for Ginny.
I’m so sorry, Arthur. I wish it could be different. I grew to love you as a second father – even after years of marriage to your daughter, I never told you that while you were alive although I like to think you knew it. Now, I know that life is too short, and pride and decorum be damned.
I have seen the future, and I now realize that when you love someone, you need to tell them right away, for they may not be around to hear it later.
You are one of the finest men I have ever known, Arthur. I was proud to be a member of your family. I wish to God there was a way for it to happen again, but it can’t.
Ginny will know why, and understand, once she opens the package. My commands to you are simple:
1. Tell no one – with the exception of Ginny – what is in this letter.
2. Love your family. I know you don’t need me to tell you this, but it needs to be said.
3. Should you ever find yourself in battle with Draco Malfoy, show no mercy. He won’t. The die is cast; events are in motion, and cannot be taken back.
4. The same goes for my father, Lucius Malfoy – would it surprise you to know that there was once a future where Lucius Malfoy was forced to fight alongside Harry Potter? For a few brief months, my father was on the side of the Light – you hopefully will never see a future where that becomes necessary, but I ask you to show respect for my mother – if Lucius and Draco fall, she will have no one in the world. I ask that should peace come, you look out for her interests, for she is guilty of nothing other than loving her husband and her son.
5. Should Ginny need strength, be there for her. I am about to burden her with knowledge she cannot share with anyone save you. Despite her temper, which I know too well, she has an unfortunate habit of not speaking when she is troubled – much like Harry and I. Don’t push her, but be there if she needs to talk – and makes sure she knows it.
6. In 2002, tell Ron not to bet too heavily on the Cannons taking the cup. It’s a lost cause – but then, I’m sure everyone will know that already.
So, in short, love your family, let Ginny open the package, don’t let your guard down around the Draco of your era, and never doubt that you are truly one of the finest men I have ever known.
There is much more to say, but I find it is too painful to go on.
Goodbye,
Draco Malfoy.
Arthur looked down at his daughter, and she was amazed – and a bit scared – to see a tear forming in his eye. He pulled her into an embrace, and kissed her gently on the forehead.
“My little girl...”
“Dad?”
“Only you can open that package. If you need to talk about what’s inside, I’m here. Just remember that, ok?”
“Dad? Something really bad happened, didn’t it?”
Arthur pondered that. “I don’t know what to call it. Just...put this letter with the package, and keep it in a safe place.”
“It IS from Draco, right?”
Arthur nodded. “Yes, in a manner of speaking. Not quite the Draco you know. You’ll understand when you read it.”
Arthur walked out of the room, leaving his daughter alone with a package from a future that would never be.
To Be Continued.
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