Ginny felt Draco step behind her immediately, his hand coming to rest on her right hip. Her back was now against his chest, her hair brushing against his face. This was not what she needed.
"What're you doing here?" she asked Blaise. "Aren't you supposed to be in America?"
"I got back last night." Blaise's eyes shifted from Ginny to Draco. "Hello."
Draco extended the hand that wasn't resting on her hip towards his childhood friend. "I've heard a lot about you."
"I'm sure you have." He didn't take the outstretched hand and after a moment Draco let his drop to his side.
Ginny looked down at her son and tried to smile. "Are you ready to go?" She knew that if she didn't get Draco and the twins out of there soon, Blaise would make trouble. Trouble that she didn't want. "Where's Cera?"
"In the kitchen with Nana. I don't wanna leave yet," the child told her. "Uncle Blaise just got here."
The redhead felt her husband flinch behind her. "Seth, we're having dinner out tonight with your father. Remember? We told you this morning."
"I wanna spend time with Uncle Blaise!"
"Seth–"
"I'll talk to him, Virginia." Draco released his wife, holding his hand out to his son. "Will you show me the backyard, Seth? And the swing your sister was talking about this morning?"
The little boy looked from his mother and his Uncle Blaise. While he wanted to spend time with the other man, Seth couldn't hurt his mother. He didn't want to go against what she wanted, and he knew she wanted him to give his father a chance. He placed his much smaller hand in his father's. "Let's go."
Ginny smiled at Seth. "Thank you." Her gaze swung up to Draco's. "I'll be in the kitchen with my mum."
When the father and son had disappeared around the side of the Burrow, Ginny looked back to Blaise. She found she had nothing left to say to him. "If you'll excuse me."
"I missed you, Gin." He made no move to get out of her path.
"That's nice," was her terse reply. When it became obvious he wasn't going to move, she crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you want?"
"What happened to us?"
"There is no us, Blaise. There never was. I thought you were my friend."
"I never wanted to be your friend," the other man admitted. "Since the very first moment you slipped your hand into mine, I knew I'd need your touch—"
Ginny covered her ears with her hands. "Please stop."
"Why?" he questioned. "Does the truth hurt?"
She looked up, meeting his gaze. "I honestly don't understand, Blaise. You and I— for seven years, you stood by and watched as I mourned my husband. You were content to be my friend then. But suddenly, now that Draco has returned, you're not longer happy with the way things are. What changed?"
"Nothing, Ginny. That's the problem. Nothing changed. I've wanted you since Hogwarts. It didn't matter if you loved Draco. At least not to me."
"He was like your brother."
"His father is probably the one who killed mine, Gin. They were Death Eaters - Lucius Malfoy most likely had something to do with his death—"
"So this is about revenge?" she interrupted. "I won't be some kind of pawn in your desire to punish Draco for something he had nothing to do with."
"No, this isn't about revenge." Blaise closed his eyes, sighing heavily. "I love you, Virginia Weasley. I love every little thing about you, and I always have. I love your children like they were my own, I love your freckles, I even love the Weasley temper."
"I've told you already," she began. Her voice was soft, but firm. "I love Draco. And I will for the rest of my life. If there was anything I could give to you, Blaise, I would. You've been my dearest friend, my rock, and someone I couldn't have lived without. You were there for me when I didn't know my own name and I'll always be grateful. I won't, however, confuse gratitude with love. I care for you, yes, but it'll never be the all consuming, all-powerful love I feel for Draco. I'm as much in love with him as I was at seventeen."
"So that's it, then?"
Ginny nodded. When he started to walk away, she called out his name.
"Yeah?"
"You are my friend. You're a part of my life. I won't stop you from seeing Seth and Cera, neither will Draco, but he is their father. He is my husband."
Blaise frowned. "If that last part is true, why aren't you wearing his ring?"
"It's a long story."
He nodded. "I'm sure it is. I'll make my apologies to Molly, but I must be going. Tell Seth I had to leave." Blaise instead of walking away came towards her. "Virginia, promise me one thing?"
"I can't."
Blaise held up his hand. "Just hear me out. I need you to be happy. With Draco or without Draco, just find what makes you happy. Once you find it, don't ever let go."
The redhead nodded. "I'll try."
"Okay." He gently kissed her cheek. "Goodbye, Virginia."
***
When Fred and George were just boys, they'd talked Arthur Weasley into building a tree house in the backyard, that was where Ginny found Seth and Draco. It was a popular spot with the Weasley grandchildren. Seth was climbing up the rope ladder while Draco stood at the bottom, prepared to catch his son should he slip.
"Hi," she said.
"You okay?"
She nodded. "How are things with Seth?"
"He talked about Uncle Blaise for a full ten minutes after we got out here." Draco looked back to the tree where his son was now playing. "But, he's stopped now. Said there was something up there he wanted me to see."
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" Draco questioned. "You haven't done anything wrong."
"Blaise," she told him. "I'm sorry your son thinks Blaise—"
"He called me Dad, Virginia. Seth loves Blaise and from what I witnessed before, Blaise loves Seth. But he also knows I'm his father."
"Draco," she sighed. Even though the news warmed her heart, it would only complicate things in the long run. Ginny wanted Seth and Cera to embrace Draco, but at the same time – his life was in New York. And he'd return there some time soon. "I'm happy for you."
"But you're not happy, are you?" He studied her silently. "What's wrong, Virginia?"
Ginny shrugged. "It's nothing."
"It's something." He took her hand in his. "Why did you take off your ring?"
"Draco, can we talk about this at home?"
"I'm not giving you a divorce," Draco told her firmly.
"This isn't your life, Draco. This isn't who you are."
"Virginia," he began.
"You're Nathan Hall, Draco. That's who you are, what you know. And I can't expect you to uproot your life in New York because you suddenly have a wife and two kids. It's not fair to you."
"It is," Draco insisted. "I choose this, Virginia. I choose you."
"I can't do this," she said. "I can't… I can't look at you, I can't see you and know that you don't love me. That you don't remember me. Just… go back to New York, Draco."
"No."
"I release you, Draco." She pulled her hand from his, turning to walk away.
"Virginia."
She continued to walk.
"Virginia!"
Before he could get Seth out of the tree, she'd already Apparated away.
***
Ginny knew she'd be getting a Howler once her Mum found out what she'd done, but she didn't care. She'd explain later. Right now, she just needed to get Draco out of the Manor and back to New York.
Not fifteen minutes after she'd arrived, Ginny heard the sound of someone else Apparating. It was Draco. That was the only person it could be. He found her in the bedroom, putting his things in a bag.
"What're you doing?"
"How'd you Apparate?"
"You're father," he answered. "He told me the spell and hoped I wouldn't splinch myself."
"I see you didn't." She continued to pack. "Where are the children?"
"With your parents. Virginia, look at me."
"No," she told him. "I'd prefer if you'd leave me alone."
"You don't mean that."
"I do." She closed one bag and reached for the second. "We were fine, Draco, until you showed up. Seth and Cera… they understood. They understood you weren't there."
"You can't take my family away from me, Virginia. You can't take my life."
She didn't want to listen to his pleading. "What about my life?" Ginny asked. "What about what I had before you disrupted my life? Before you ruined–"
"You don't mean that."
Ginny looked at him then. "I do. I hate you, Draco."
He sucked in a sharp breath. "What?"
"I hate you," she repeated. "And I hate myself because I love you so much. "
"Virginia… Ginny," he said softly. "Please don't do this."
She continued folding his clothes and placing them inside the bag. "I hate that you look at me and can't remember Draco. I hate that I have all of these feelings, but you don't have any. Why can't you remember me? Why can't you remember us? Why'd you have to go to your father, Draco? Why?" Ginny stuffed the last sweater in the bag and closed it. She was finished. "Why don't you love me anymore?"
"But I do," Draco told her. "I love you."
The tears were starting to roll down her cheeks now. "You're just saying that." She wiped at her face with the back of her hand. "You think I need to hear it, so you're just saying it."
"Virginia—"
"Go back to New York, Draco. Go back to Richard Worth and Nathan Hall. That's your life, not this."
"You, Seth and Cera are my life," he insisted. "Magic is my life. I'm not… I'm not empty anymore, Virginia, and that's because of you. At Potter's you said you missed the color I brought into your life. I didn't even know life had color until I saw you.
"I fell so helplessly in love with you the first time I kissed you in this bedroom. I knew I'd need you every day for the rest of my life."
"You need to leave."
Draco shook his head. "I'm right where I need to be."
"Get out."
"No! Not until you listen to me."
"You're just saying these things because you think I want to hear them. Except I don't, Draco. I just want you to be honest with me." She brushed more tears away with her fingertips. "We… we were fine until you came back. Seth and Cera were okay. I was okay. Yes, I missed you, but…"
"Don't do this," he pleaded. "Don't make me leave."
She took her wand from her robe pocket. "I'm leaving, Draco. When I return with the children, I don't expect you to be here. Goodbye."
"Virginia–"
"Go to New York," she told him. "Go home Draco. Go be Nathan Hall."
"I want to stay."
Ginny shook her head. "You can't. We both know that. You have your own life."
"Ginny."
"Virginia," she told him. Closing her eyes, she thought clearly of Harry and Hermione's flat. They'd let her stay there for a few hours. She'd pick the children up later and take them home.
"Goodbye."
He watched in horror, his last second grasp at her was no good, she disappeared into thin air. At his feet, she'd left the ring she was wearing earlier. Bending, Draco picked it up.
She was gone. Virginia was gone, leaving him all alone. Again.
"Virginia, I love you."
He tucked the ring in his pocket, before taking a black leather case in each hand, Draco walked out of his wife's bedroom. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was time for him to go home.
New York was exactly what he needed to forget about her.
"What're you doing here?" she asked Blaise. "Aren't you supposed to be in America?"
"I got back last night." Blaise's eyes shifted from Ginny to Draco. "Hello."
Draco extended the hand that wasn't resting on her hip towards his childhood friend. "I've heard a lot about you."
"I'm sure you have." He didn't take the outstretched hand and after a moment Draco let his drop to his side.
Ginny looked down at her son and tried to smile. "Are you ready to go?" She knew that if she didn't get Draco and the twins out of there soon, Blaise would make trouble. Trouble that she didn't want. "Where's Cera?"
"In the kitchen with Nana. I don't wanna leave yet," the child told her. "Uncle Blaise just got here."
The redhead felt her husband flinch behind her. "Seth, we're having dinner out tonight with your father. Remember? We told you this morning."
"I wanna spend time with Uncle Blaise!"
"Seth–"
"I'll talk to him, Virginia." Draco released his wife, holding his hand out to his son. "Will you show me the backyard, Seth? And the swing your sister was talking about this morning?"
The little boy looked from his mother and his Uncle Blaise. While he wanted to spend time with the other man, Seth couldn't hurt his mother. He didn't want to go against what she wanted, and he knew she wanted him to give his father a chance. He placed his much smaller hand in his father's. "Let's go."
Ginny smiled at Seth. "Thank you." Her gaze swung up to Draco's. "I'll be in the kitchen with my mum."
When the father and son had disappeared around the side of the Burrow, Ginny looked back to Blaise. She found she had nothing left to say to him. "If you'll excuse me."
"I missed you, Gin." He made no move to get out of her path.
"That's nice," was her terse reply. When it became obvious he wasn't going to move, she crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you want?"
"What happened to us?"
"There is no us, Blaise. There never was. I thought you were my friend."
"I never wanted to be your friend," the other man admitted. "Since the very first moment you slipped your hand into mine, I knew I'd need your touch—"
Ginny covered her ears with her hands. "Please stop."
"Why?" he questioned. "Does the truth hurt?"
She looked up, meeting his gaze. "I honestly don't understand, Blaise. You and I— for seven years, you stood by and watched as I mourned my husband. You were content to be my friend then. But suddenly, now that Draco has returned, you're not longer happy with the way things are. What changed?"
"Nothing, Ginny. That's the problem. Nothing changed. I've wanted you since Hogwarts. It didn't matter if you loved Draco. At least not to me."
"He was like your brother."
"His father is probably the one who killed mine, Gin. They were Death Eaters - Lucius Malfoy most likely had something to do with his death—"
"So this is about revenge?" she interrupted. "I won't be some kind of pawn in your desire to punish Draco for something he had nothing to do with."
"No, this isn't about revenge." Blaise closed his eyes, sighing heavily. "I love you, Virginia Weasley. I love every little thing about you, and I always have. I love your children like they were my own, I love your freckles, I even love the Weasley temper."
"I've told you already," she began. Her voice was soft, but firm. "I love Draco. And I will for the rest of my life. If there was anything I could give to you, Blaise, I would. You've been my dearest friend, my rock, and someone I couldn't have lived without. You were there for me when I didn't know my own name and I'll always be grateful. I won't, however, confuse gratitude with love. I care for you, yes, but it'll never be the all consuming, all-powerful love I feel for Draco. I'm as much in love with him as I was at seventeen."
"So that's it, then?"
Ginny nodded. When he started to walk away, she called out his name.
"Yeah?"
"You are my friend. You're a part of my life. I won't stop you from seeing Seth and Cera, neither will Draco, but he is their father. He is my husband."
Blaise frowned. "If that last part is true, why aren't you wearing his ring?"
"It's a long story."
He nodded. "I'm sure it is. I'll make my apologies to Molly, but I must be going. Tell Seth I had to leave." Blaise instead of walking away came towards her. "Virginia, promise me one thing?"
"I can't."
Blaise held up his hand. "Just hear me out. I need you to be happy. With Draco or without Draco, just find what makes you happy. Once you find it, don't ever let go."
The redhead nodded. "I'll try."
"Okay." He gently kissed her cheek. "Goodbye, Virginia."
When Fred and George were just boys, they'd talked Arthur Weasley into building a tree house in the backyard, that was where Ginny found Seth and Draco. It was a popular spot with the Weasley grandchildren. Seth was climbing up the rope ladder while Draco stood at the bottom, prepared to catch his son should he slip.
"Hi," she said.
"You okay?"
She nodded. "How are things with Seth?"
"He talked about Uncle Blaise for a full ten minutes after we got out here." Draco looked back to the tree where his son was now playing. "But, he's stopped now. Said there was something up there he wanted me to see."
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" Draco questioned. "You haven't done anything wrong."
"Blaise," she told him. "I'm sorry your son thinks Blaise—"
"He called me Dad, Virginia. Seth loves Blaise and from what I witnessed before, Blaise loves Seth. But he also knows I'm his father."
"Draco," she sighed. Even though the news warmed her heart, it would only complicate things in the long run. Ginny wanted Seth and Cera to embrace Draco, but at the same time – his life was in New York. And he'd return there some time soon. "I'm happy for you."
"But you're not happy, are you?" He studied her silently. "What's wrong, Virginia?"
Ginny shrugged. "It's nothing."
"It's something." He took her hand in his. "Why did you take off your ring?"
"Draco, can we talk about this at home?"
"I'm not giving you a divorce," Draco told her firmly.
"This isn't your life, Draco. This isn't who you are."
"Virginia," he began.
"You're Nathan Hall, Draco. That's who you are, what you know. And I can't expect you to uproot your life in New York because you suddenly have a wife and two kids. It's not fair to you."
"It is," Draco insisted. "I choose this, Virginia. I choose you."
"I can't do this," she said. "I can't… I can't look at you, I can't see you and know that you don't love me. That you don't remember me. Just… go back to New York, Draco."
"No."
"I release you, Draco." She pulled her hand from his, turning to walk away.
"Virginia."
She continued to walk.
"Virginia!"
Before he could get Seth out of the tree, she'd already Apparated away.
Ginny knew she'd be getting a Howler once her Mum found out what she'd done, but she didn't care. She'd explain later. Right now, she just needed to get Draco out of the Manor and back to New York.
Not fifteen minutes after she'd arrived, Ginny heard the sound of someone else Apparating. It was Draco. That was the only person it could be. He found her in the bedroom, putting his things in a bag.
"What're you doing?"
"How'd you Apparate?"
"You're father," he answered. "He told me the spell and hoped I wouldn't splinch myself."
"I see you didn't." She continued to pack. "Where are the children?"
"With your parents. Virginia, look at me."
"No," she told him. "I'd prefer if you'd leave me alone."
"You don't mean that."
"I do." She closed one bag and reached for the second. "We were fine, Draco, until you showed up. Seth and Cera… they understood. They understood you weren't there."
"You can't take my family away from me, Virginia. You can't take my life."
She didn't want to listen to his pleading. "What about my life?" Ginny asked. "What about what I had before you disrupted my life? Before you ruined–"
"You don't mean that."
Ginny looked at him then. "I do. I hate you, Draco."
He sucked in a sharp breath. "What?"
"I hate you," she repeated. "And I hate myself because I love you so much. "
"Virginia… Ginny," he said softly. "Please don't do this."
She continued folding his clothes and placing them inside the bag. "I hate that you look at me and can't remember Draco. I hate that I have all of these feelings, but you don't have any. Why can't you remember me? Why can't you remember us? Why'd you have to go to your father, Draco? Why?" Ginny stuffed the last sweater in the bag and closed it. She was finished. "Why don't you love me anymore?"
"But I do," Draco told her. "I love you."
The tears were starting to roll down her cheeks now. "You're just saying that." She wiped at her face with the back of her hand. "You think I need to hear it, so you're just saying it."
"Virginia—"
"Go back to New York, Draco. Go back to Richard Worth and Nathan Hall. That's your life, not this."
"You, Seth and Cera are my life," he insisted. "Magic is my life. I'm not… I'm not empty anymore, Virginia, and that's because of you. At Potter's you said you missed the color I brought into your life. I didn't even know life had color until I saw you.
"I fell so helplessly in love with you the first time I kissed you in this bedroom. I knew I'd need you every day for the rest of my life."
"You need to leave."
Draco shook his head. "I'm right where I need to be."
"Get out."
"No! Not until you listen to me."
"You're just saying these things because you think I want to hear them. Except I don't, Draco. I just want you to be honest with me." She brushed more tears away with her fingertips. "We… we were fine until you came back. Seth and Cera were okay. I was okay. Yes, I missed you, but…"
"Don't do this," he pleaded. "Don't make me leave."
She took her wand from her robe pocket. "I'm leaving, Draco. When I return with the children, I don't expect you to be here. Goodbye."
"Virginia–"
"Go to New York," she told him. "Go home Draco. Go be Nathan Hall."
"I want to stay."
Ginny shook her head. "You can't. We both know that. You have your own life."
"Ginny."
"Virginia," she told him. Closing her eyes, she thought clearly of Harry and Hermione's flat. They'd let her stay there for a few hours. She'd pick the children up later and take them home.
"Goodbye."
He watched in horror, his last second grasp at her was no good, she disappeared into thin air. At his feet, she'd left the ring she was wearing earlier. Bending, Draco picked it up.
She was gone. Virginia was gone, leaving him all alone. Again.
"Virginia, I love you."
He tucked the ring in his pocket, before taking a black leather case in each hand, Draco walked out of his wife's bedroom. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was time for him to go home.
New York was exactly what he needed to forget about her.
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