*~*~*~*~*
"Women are meant to be loved, not understood."
*~*~*~*~*
"You know, something just occurred to me." Alison said loudly... as her grandmother was still snogging Sirius Black like it was going out of style. "Mozart didn't compose Moonlight Sonata. I believe Beethoven did."
Everyone looked at her like she was insane.
"No, really. I do believe it was Beethoven."
Still staring... and kissing.
"Yeah. It was. There was that muggle movie... with... oh what was his name.... Gary Oldman. Yes. He played Beethoven. Yeah. He was the deaf one because Oldman had that part with the piano on the floor and he put his ear up to it while he played... Moonlight Sonata. Yep Beethoven. Beethoven composed Moonlight." She looked at Wolfgang. "So you could have been named Ludwig. Then we could call you Wiggy."
Wolf snarled at her. It was rather menacing. Arabella slapped him up the back of his head. Remus gave him a serene look that clearly said he was to behave while here and the snarling had not fallen into that category.
"Mother... please..." Draco said in a harsh whisper.
Narcissa leaned away from Sirius licking her lips as if he were the sweetest candy. "I should hate you... but Merlin, man, you gave me my life back. No more pretend. No more doll parts."
"I didn't-"
She hugged him then and rubbed her cheek against his chest. "Oh but you did. I have been trying to figure out a way to meet with you without drawing suspicion. You know how people will talk. And then Severus showed up telling me I had a granddaughter. Alison's Draco's and Ginny's. I had to see her, of course. I never thought of being a grandmother. I'm too young. Still am. I didn't think Draco cared for anyone... like me. But he is like me. I always loved my child, despite what I let his father do."
"Mother..."
She stepped back and looked at Draco. "So I'm a little unhinged."
"Oh that's all right." Sirius said. "I talk to myself sometimes. Leftovers from Azkaban. I rarely had visitors. Had to make my own fun, you know."
Molly sniffed and covered her mouth. Remus looked at Sirius as if he were seriously considering carting his old friend off to St. Mungo's.
"There are many prisons. An already strong soul can be made stronger. Despite all that befalls him, all that he has to pretend."
"Or her."
Narcissa and Sirius were staring at one another. Remus and Arabella exchanged a look.
"Well." Molly said, breaking the awkward and heated staring. "Everyone have a seat. Alison, dearest, perhaps you should go get dressed. Draco and Ginny, you two as well. We have guests."
Alison giggled as Sirius and Snape dropped on to the sofa, not realizing at first that they had sat next to one another. When they did realize, both were too 'polite' to move... though each looked like they had just sat next to a pus-dripping wildebeest.
"Grandpa Snape?"
He glared at her.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She wriggled her eyebrows at him.
He actually smirked at her. Alison grinned... evilly and ran up the stairs. Draco and Ginny followed at a slower pace. The parents moved in silence as they watched Ali's red hair swish with her hippogriff-like stampeding to her room. Draco smiled. Her energy was boundless. You had to love someone like that.
"This is... odd." Ginny said as they entered the room the three of them had slept in the night before.
"I'll say. I mean, I haven't given you much REAL thought, and they expect plans?"
"What? You haven't thought about me? But I-"
"Real thought. I thought about you all the time. I just never imagined a reality of us."
Ginny smiled.
"I don't want any of this to seem weird, but-"
"Too late."
He chuckled. "What ARE we going to do?"
"I-"
"What do you want, Ginny?"
She sighed. No one ever asked her that question, and now faced with it, she didn't really know the answer. Well, not really. Her heart had quite a few suggestions that her mind was telling her not to go with.
But she'd gone with her mind last time.
"You."
Draco blinked.
"Maybe it wasn't always you, but it is now. I want you. I want us. I want a family of you and me and Ali. I want our life. Every bit of it."
"All right." Draco said, trying to keep his body from exploding. "I suppose we should get married then?"
"Was that a proposal? Because it sucked."
Draco dropped suddenly before her and grabbed her hips. He rested his chin on her abdomen and looked up at her. "How do you feel about forever?"
Her breath caught in her throat.
"Will you have me? I'm offering. So will you take me?"
Ginny flipped some hair from his forehead in a daze. "Yes."
He shot to his feet, pulling her off of hers with a searing kiss. Ginny pulled back several seconds later, breathless.
"I am going to hold you to this, Gin."
"I sincerely hope so."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Narcissa pulled her son aside and handed him a small box. A ring-sized box. Draco looked at her oddly.
"I know you, boy. Perhaps better than you know yourself. When you ask a woman to be your wife, there should be a ring."
"Mother-"
"You've never done anything the proper way."
Draco sighed.
"I always loved that about you."
He stared at her in shock. Who was this woman?
"I think it's high time I said this, boy."
"Said what?"
"You make me proud. Ever so. Every day. I would scavenge for any crumb of information of you from the Ministry. My son, the auror. Who has given us a Malfoy with such fire in her veins. She's going to be more trouble than you ever were."
Narcissa leaned up and kissed his cheek.
"Mother-"
"Now go give that box to its new owner. It was mine. Once. It should be hers, and I want you to tell her that she has to give it to Alison one day. Though your Virginia is the type I won't have to tell that to."
"You don't mind..."
"That's she's a Weasley?" Narcissa snorted. "Not in the least. She's yours, dearest. Naturally I adore her. She's you, and in being you, she's me as well. Because you are me. Masters of disguise, excellent at hiding, both of us. The time to hesitate is through, darling. You and I can love people now. It's safe for us to."
"Us?"
"I am a young woman still." She smiled deviously. "And Sirius Black is a handsome man... still."
"Mother..."
"Draco..."
"You just met him."
"Tsk, tsk, darling. Trust mummy to know her own heart."
"But-"
"How long did it take you to realize you were just mad about your Ginny?"
Draco just stared at her. One night. One night was all that it had taken to know that he wanted Ginny Weasley. Hell, she'd given herself to him.
"Like I said..." Narcissa said with a devious smile. "You ARE me. You and I know instantly if we mesh well with another."
"And father?"
"Oh I loved him.... in the beginning, but sometimes people change, Draco, and sometimes, even worse still, you think you can change people. It's just not so in most cases. And even more horrifying is the sad fact that you truly can not choose who you love. If that were so, I would have fallen for Severus years ago."
Draco made a strangled sound.
"Darling, he's perfect for me. Droll, sarcastic, slightly a bit of the dark sinister. Like me. It's likely why we make such handsome friends."
"So Snape is your best mate then?"
"Naturally."
"And you fancy yourself falling in love with Sirius Black."
"Perhaps."
"Oh bloody hell."
*~*~*~*~*
Someone kicked her under the table.
Alison's eyes narrowed. She was fairly certain it had not been Remus Lupin. The only other choice was Wolf. He really irritated her. He was only a year older. He acted like it was ten. Alison ground her teeth. She was certain a muscle in her jaw twitched. She leveled her gaze across the table at the boy with his shaggy brown hair and huge blue eyes. Her eyes stayed on him as she brushed her knife onto the floor.
"Ooops."
Alison darted under the table and punched Wolf so hard in the thigh, she was fairly certain he was having that charlie horse sensation. There would definitely be a bruise later. A big one. Alison grinned to herself before snatching her knife from the floor.
Wolf bit his lip to keep from crying out. Damn, Ali Weasley was as vicious as a pit viper. That's why he liked taunting her so much. She gave as good as she got. He'd grown up knowing Ali all his life. She didn't cry like a lot of girls did. She struck back. Sometimes literally.
Ali popped back into her chair with a wry smile. Wolf decided to end her happy mood.
"So we're moving back here, and I'm transferring from Beauxbatons to Hogwarts."
Ali had just been taking a sip of her tea. She spit it all over Wolf and Remus. Hermione coughed into her napkin. Harry was more than certain she was hiding giggles. He exchanged a look with Ron, who was smirking.
"Alison!" Ginny snapped.
She ignored her mother entirely. "You're what?!"
Arabella was snickering and wiping her husband off. Alison and Wolfgang always amused her. There was such a Lily and James-ness about them. It was like watching a roaring fire gut a house. You wanted to get the hose and try to put it out, but it was too out of control for you to even make a dent. She loved it. It reminded her of being at Hogwarts again. It made all those years of wearing that aging charm and watching out for Harry worth it. Old Mrs. Figg. Crazy cat lady. Crazy cat lady who'd landed herself the wolf she'd always been after. Just a decade and some change after she expected to land him.
"You can't do this to me." Alison hissed.
"Alison..." Draco started.
"Like I have a choice, carrothead. Still a minor here." Wolf snapped.
Alison opened her mouth.
"This is a discussion for another time." Molly said calmly.
"But-"
"Ali, you heard your grandmother." Draco said in a voice like silk. "Please save it for later."
Alison glared at Wolfgang. He smirked at her. Yep, after Christmas break at Hogwarts was going to be VERY interesting.
Molly was smiling at Draco. Ron was looking a bit horrified. Snape was shifting uncomfortably in his chair.
"So... Professor Snape..." Arthur Weasley said. "Still teaching potions?"
Everyone looked at him.
*~*~*~*~*
They were all sitting in the living room after lunch... waiting for the others to show.
Molly and Fleur were knitting... as was Narcissa much to everyone's shock. She was fairly decent at it too. Arabella was sitting with them doing a muggle crossword puzzle. She didn't knit. Hermione and Ron were whispering to one another. Ron was rubbing a hand across her pregnant belly. Harry and Bill were playing chess. Arthur, Sirius, Remus, and Snape were all talking near the fire. Alison was curled up on the floor with a hefty potions text. Wolf was trying to distract her from her reading, so she kept punching him in the arm quite hard.
Draco and Ginny were sitting alone.
"I have something for you."
"Oh? If it's a severed head I'm going to be very upset."
Draco's eyes went wide in alarm. "What? No."
"That was a joke, by the way."
"I knew that." He said rather quickly.
Ginny gave his leg an affectionate pat. "Sure you did, sweetheart."
Draco placed his hand over hers on his leg to hold it there.
"Not appropriate."
"Not caring."
"Draco..."
"Here." He held the black velvet box out to her.
"What's this?" Ginny said with wide eyes.
"It was Mother's. She brought it. She wants you to have it with the understanding that Alison will get it one day."
"Well... of course." Ginny said with a waver in her voice.
This was real. It was really real. Narcissa Malfoy was passing on jewelry. That made it very real. Ginny's hands started shaking. Draco opened the box for her. It was an onyx set in silver filigree. Very Slytherin.
"May I?" He whispered in her ear.
"Yes please."
Draco slid the ring on her finger. Ginny's hands were small and delicate like his mother's, so it was a perfect fit.
Wolf was kicking Ali's foot. She wasn't looking at him. She wasn't even noticing him. Wolf followed her line of vision to her mother and apparent father. Then he looked back at her. In all the years he'd known Ali, he'd never seen this look on her face.
It was like pure bliss.
"What are you two doing so secretly over there?" Molly asked loudly.
"Planning a wedding." Draco said with a smirk.
Ron jerked as if he'd been struck. "What? No!"
He jumped to his feet, nearly knocking Hermione off the chair they'd been sharing and stalked across the room to stand before Malfoy and his sister. Harry jumped up, ready to keep Ron from doing anything foolish.
"Ron!" Ginny snapped.
"No, he doesn't get to knock you up, skip all the hard stuff, then come back and take up as if it's all ok."
Draco stood slowly. "I'm doing right by her. If I had known, I would have been here with this about sixteen years ago."
"Oh right."
"Weasley, I knew from the second I touched her."
"Well, don't expect me to accept this."
"Ron..." Ginny said.
Molly took off her shoe and threw it at him. Ron tossed up his arms to keep the impromptu missile from doing any damage. It bounced off his arm and Harry caught it before it hit the floor.
"Mum!" Ron said with wide eyes.
"Apologize to your sister."
"Like hell. I don't want some ruddy bouncing ferret in my family."
Ginny stood and punched him. Hard.
Chaos was what ensued.
"Women are meant to be loved, not understood."
*~*~*~*~*
"You know, something just occurred to me." Alison said loudly... as her grandmother was still snogging Sirius Black like it was going out of style. "Mozart didn't compose Moonlight Sonata. I believe Beethoven did."
Everyone looked at her like she was insane.
"No, really. I do believe it was Beethoven."
Still staring... and kissing.
"Yeah. It was. There was that muggle movie... with... oh what was his name.... Gary Oldman. Yes. He played Beethoven. Yeah. He was the deaf one because Oldman had that part with the piano on the floor and he put his ear up to it while he played... Moonlight Sonata. Yep Beethoven. Beethoven composed Moonlight." She looked at Wolfgang. "So you could have been named Ludwig. Then we could call you Wiggy."
Wolf snarled at her. It was rather menacing. Arabella slapped him up the back of his head. Remus gave him a serene look that clearly said he was to behave while here and the snarling had not fallen into that category.
"Mother... please..." Draco said in a harsh whisper.
Narcissa leaned away from Sirius licking her lips as if he were the sweetest candy. "I should hate you... but Merlin, man, you gave me my life back. No more pretend. No more doll parts."
"I didn't-"
She hugged him then and rubbed her cheek against his chest. "Oh but you did. I have been trying to figure out a way to meet with you without drawing suspicion. You know how people will talk. And then Severus showed up telling me I had a granddaughter. Alison's Draco's and Ginny's. I had to see her, of course. I never thought of being a grandmother. I'm too young. Still am. I didn't think Draco cared for anyone... like me. But he is like me. I always loved my child, despite what I let his father do."
"Mother..."
She stepped back and looked at Draco. "So I'm a little unhinged."
"Oh that's all right." Sirius said. "I talk to myself sometimes. Leftovers from Azkaban. I rarely had visitors. Had to make my own fun, you know."
Molly sniffed and covered her mouth. Remus looked at Sirius as if he were seriously considering carting his old friend off to St. Mungo's.
"There are many prisons. An already strong soul can be made stronger. Despite all that befalls him, all that he has to pretend."
"Or her."
Narcissa and Sirius were staring at one another. Remus and Arabella exchanged a look.
"Well." Molly said, breaking the awkward and heated staring. "Everyone have a seat. Alison, dearest, perhaps you should go get dressed. Draco and Ginny, you two as well. We have guests."
Alison giggled as Sirius and Snape dropped on to the sofa, not realizing at first that they had sat next to one another. When they did realize, both were too 'polite' to move... though each looked like they had just sat next to a pus-dripping wildebeest.
"Grandpa Snape?"
He glared at her.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She wriggled her eyebrows at him.
He actually smirked at her. Alison grinned... evilly and ran up the stairs. Draco and Ginny followed at a slower pace. The parents moved in silence as they watched Ali's red hair swish with her hippogriff-like stampeding to her room. Draco smiled. Her energy was boundless. You had to love someone like that.
"This is... odd." Ginny said as they entered the room the three of them had slept in the night before.
"I'll say. I mean, I haven't given you much REAL thought, and they expect plans?"
"What? You haven't thought about me? But I-"
"Real thought. I thought about you all the time. I just never imagined a reality of us."
Ginny smiled.
"I don't want any of this to seem weird, but-"
"Too late."
He chuckled. "What ARE we going to do?"
"I-"
"What do you want, Ginny?"
She sighed. No one ever asked her that question, and now faced with it, she didn't really know the answer. Well, not really. Her heart had quite a few suggestions that her mind was telling her not to go with.
But she'd gone with her mind last time.
"You."
Draco blinked.
"Maybe it wasn't always you, but it is now. I want you. I want us. I want a family of you and me and Ali. I want our life. Every bit of it."
"All right." Draco said, trying to keep his body from exploding. "I suppose we should get married then?"
"Was that a proposal? Because it sucked."
Draco dropped suddenly before her and grabbed her hips. He rested his chin on her abdomen and looked up at her. "How do you feel about forever?"
Her breath caught in her throat.
"Will you have me? I'm offering. So will you take me?"
Ginny flipped some hair from his forehead in a daze. "Yes."
He shot to his feet, pulling her off of hers with a searing kiss. Ginny pulled back several seconds later, breathless.
"I am going to hold you to this, Gin."
"I sincerely hope so."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Narcissa pulled her son aside and handed him a small box. A ring-sized box. Draco looked at her oddly.
"I know you, boy. Perhaps better than you know yourself. When you ask a woman to be your wife, there should be a ring."
"Mother-"
"You've never done anything the proper way."
Draco sighed.
"I always loved that about you."
He stared at her in shock. Who was this woman?
"I think it's high time I said this, boy."
"Said what?"
"You make me proud. Ever so. Every day. I would scavenge for any crumb of information of you from the Ministry. My son, the auror. Who has given us a Malfoy with such fire in her veins. She's going to be more trouble than you ever were."
Narcissa leaned up and kissed his cheek.
"Mother-"
"Now go give that box to its new owner. It was mine. Once. It should be hers, and I want you to tell her that she has to give it to Alison one day. Though your Virginia is the type I won't have to tell that to."
"You don't mind..."
"That's she's a Weasley?" Narcissa snorted. "Not in the least. She's yours, dearest. Naturally I adore her. She's you, and in being you, she's me as well. Because you are me. Masters of disguise, excellent at hiding, both of us. The time to hesitate is through, darling. You and I can love people now. It's safe for us to."
"Us?"
"I am a young woman still." She smiled deviously. "And Sirius Black is a handsome man... still."
"Mother..."
"Draco..."
"You just met him."
"Tsk, tsk, darling. Trust mummy to know her own heart."
"But-"
"How long did it take you to realize you were just mad about your Ginny?"
Draco just stared at her. One night. One night was all that it had taken to know that he wanted Ginny Weasley. Hell, she'd given herself to him.
"Like I said..." Narcissa said with a devious smile. "You ARE me. You and I know instantly if we mesh well with another."
"And father?"
"Oh I loved him.... in the beginning, but sometimes people change, Draco, and sometimes, even worse still, you think you can change people. It's just not so in most cases. And even more horrifying is the sad fact that you truly can not choose who you love. If that were so, I would have fallen for Severus years ago."
Draco made a strangled sound.
"Darling, he's perfect for me. Droll, sarcastic, slightly a bit of the dark sinister. Like me. It's likely why we make such handsome friends."
"So Snape is your best mate then?"
"Naturally."
"And you fancy yourself falling in love with Sirius Black."
"Perhaps."
"Oh bloody hell."
*~*~*~*~*
Someone kicked her under the table.
Alison's eyes narrowed. She was fairly certain it had not been Remus Lupin. The only other choice was Wolf. He really irritated her. He was only a year older. He acted like it was ten. Alison ground her teeth. She was certain a muscle in her jaw twitched. She leveled her gaze across the table at the boy with his shaggy brown hair and huge blue eyes. Her eyes stayed on him as she brushed her knife onto the floor.
"Ooops."
Alison darted under the table and punched Wolf so hard in the thigh, she was fairly certain he was having that charlie horse sensation. There would definitely be a bruise later. A big one. Alison grinned to herself before snatching her knife from the floor.
Wolf bit his lip to keep from crying out. Damn, Ali Weasley was as vicious as a pit viper. That's why he liked taunting her so much. She gave as good as she got. He'd grown up knowing Ali all his life. She didn't cry like a lot of girls did. She struck back. Sometimes literally.
Ali popped back into her chair with a wry smile. Wolf decided to end her happy mood.
"So we're moving back here, and I'm transferring from Beauxbatons to Hogwarts."
Ali had just been taking a sip of her tea. She spit it all over Wolf and Remus. Hermione coughed into her napkin. Harry was more than certain she was hiding giggles. He exchanged a look with Ron, who was smirking.
"Alison!" Ginny snapped.
She ignored her mother entirely. "You're what?!"
Arabella was snickering and wiping her husband off. Alison and Wolfgang always amused her. There was such a Lily and James-ness about them. It was like watching a roaring fire gut a house. You wanted to get the hose and try to put it out, but it was too out of control for you to even make a dent. She loved it. It reminded her of being at Hogwarts again. It made all those years of wearing that aging charm and watching out for Harry worth it. Old Mrs. Figg. Crazy cat lady. Crazy cat lady who'd landed herself the wolf she'd always been after. Just a decade and some change after she expected to land him.
"You can't do this to me." Alison hissed.
"Alison..." Draco started.
"Like I have a choice, carrothead. Still a minor here." Wolf snapped.
Alison opened her mouth.
"This is a discussion for another time." Molly said calmly.
"But-"
"Ali, you heard your grandmother." Draco said in a voice like silk. "Please save it for later."
Alison glared at Wolfgang. He smirked at her. Yep, after Christmas break at Hogwarts was going to be VERY interesting.
Molly was smiling at Draco. Ron was looking a bit horrified. Snape was shifting uncomfortably in his chair.
"So... Professor Snape..." Arthur Weasley said. "Still teaching potions?"
Everyone looked at him.
*~*~*~*~*
They were all sitting in the living room after lunch... waiting for the others to show.
Molly and Fleur were knitting... as was Narcissa much to everyone's shock. She was fairly decent at it too. Arabella was sitting with them doing a muggle crossword puzzle. She didn't knit. Hermione and Ron were whispering to one another. Ron was rubbing a hand across her pregnant belly. Harry and Bill were playing chess. Arthur, Sirius, Remus, and Snape were all talking near the fire. Alison was curled up on the floor with a hefty potions text. Wolf was trying to distract her from her reading, so she kept punching him in the arm quite hard.
Draco and Ginny were sitting alone.
"I have something for you."
"Oh? If it's a severed head I'm going to be very upset."
Draco's eyes went wide in alarm. "What? No."
"That was a joke, by the way."
"I knew that." He said rather quickly.
Ginny gave his leg an affectionate pat. "Sure you did, sweetheart."
Draco placed his hand over hers on his leg to hold it there.
"Not appropriate."
"Not caring."
"Draco..."
"Here." He held the black velvet box out to her.
"What's this?" Ginny said with wide eyes.
"It was Mother's. She brought it. She wants you to have it with the understanding that Alison will get it one day."
"Well... of course." Ginny said with a waver in her voice.
This was real. It was really real. Narcissa Malfoy was passing on jewelry. That made it very real. Ginny's hands started shaking. Draco opened the box for her. It was an onyx set in silver filigree. Very Slytherin.
"May I?" He whispered in her ear.
"Yes please."
Draco slid the ring on her finger. Ginny's hands were small and delicate like his mother's, so it was a perfect fit.
Wolf was kicking Ali's foot. She wasn't looking at him. She wasn't even noticing him. Wolf followed her line of vision to her mother and apparent father. Then he looked back at her. In all the years he'd known Ali, he'd never seen this look on her face.
It was like pure bliss.
"What are you two doing so secretly over there?" Molly asked loudly.
"Planning a wedding." Draco said with a smirk.
Ron jerked as if he'd been struck. "What? No!"
He jumped to his feet, nearly knocking Hermione off the chair they'd been sharing and stalked across the room to stand before Malfoy and his sister. Harry jumped up, ready to keep Ron from doing anything foolish.
"Ron!" Ginny snapped.
"No, he doesn't get to knock you up, skip all the hard stuff, then come back and take up as if it's all ok."
Draco stood slowly. "I'm doing right by her. If I had known, I would have been here with this about sixteen years ago."
"Oh right."
"Weasley, I knew from the second I touched her."
"Well, don't expect me to accept this."
"Ron..." Ginny said.
Molly took off her shoe and threw it at him. Ron tossed up his arms to keep the impromptu missile from doing any damage. It bounced off his arm and Harry caught it before it hit the floor.
"Mum!" Ron said with wide eyes.
"Apologize to your sister."
"Like hell. I don't want some ruddy bouncing ferret in my family."
Ginny stood and punched him. Hard.
Chaos was what ensued.
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