DISCLAIMER: I disclaim! I totally disclaim!
NOTES: This chapter kicked my ass. It took well over a month to write, not to mention the trouble we had getting it beta read. It was rather like a sitcom. I was this close to pulling a, “There is no chapter six. Skip ahead to chapter seven.” ‘Course then things wouldn’t have made much since so I forced my way through. If anyone doesn’t like it, you’re not alone. I don’t like it so much either. Bastard.
The last three times I tried to upload a new chapter to fanfiction.net, the site went down. So just for future reference all the parts of this story can be found at http://www.geocities.com/dracoginny I’m dedicating this chapter to the posters at the review board there because they put up with all my posts about writer’s block and kept me from flinging myself into the ocean. I also forgot to mention in the last story that I wanted to wish Fearthainn a Happy Birthday. So this will be her birthday chapter even though it’s late. :-)
* * *
Draco was never able to recall very well what happened in the next few minutes. His brain went numb as soon as Ginny said the Death Eaters were coming. All he could manage to remember was her throwing open the door to the hotel room, which had been their home for the last few days so violently that the doorknob made a hole in the wall. He stood dumbly in the doorway, his daughter still in his arms, as Ginny grabbed everything they owned and stuffed it into just three bags. He marveled at the speed in which she could move.
“Ready?” she asked him as she handed him his own bag to carry in his free hand.
Draco nodded. “Yeah,” he croaked. He wasn’t sure if there was a way he could ever be ‘ready’ for this. Prepared, maybe, but he’d never come to accept it as a normal occurrence. He knew he’d never get used to a life on the run or the fear that went along with it. Fear wasn’t something he ever wanted to get used to. Then it would start to control his life. But he, like Ginny and Cassie, didn’t have any better options. At the moment, running was all they could do.
And just like that, without a second thought, they were ready to leave and never come back. It took less than five minutes.
Ginny walked briskly ahead of Draco and Cassie with Cassie’s bag slung over her shoulder so she could keep her wand out. She checked both ways at every corner before letting Draco know it was all right to come forward with Cassie. The little girl hugged Draco tightly, burying her head into his shoulder in a frightened sort of way.
“It’s all right,” he whispered to her, kissing the top of her head. “Mummy and I will protect you.”
“Come on!” Ginny cried, motioning them closer. “We’ll take the lift,” she said. She pointed toward an elevator at the end of the hallway. It’s shiny silver doors seemed so far away to Draco, at least 100 meters farther than it had been any other time he had used it.
They broke into a run, as if someone was going to jump out from the rooms that lined the hallway. No one did. Draco breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the elevator. Ginny impatiently pushed the button several times. The dull sound of grinding metal told them that it was on its way, but that wasn‘t good enough for Ginny. “Hurry up!” she groaned, jamming her finger against the button again.
“Ack!” Cassie suddenly shrieked so that Draco‘s stomach jumped in fear that she had seen something they hadn’t. She began to wiggle in his arms trying to escape.
“Cass? What is it?” he asked worriedly, trying to maintain hold on her. She was small and quick, so it was a tough job.
“I forgot my blankie!” she wailed hysterically though it was the most important thing in the world. “I left... it under... my pillow... so I’d have it to... protect us...from... the ... monsters!” she said through large sobs.
“We can get you another one,” Ginny said desperately. The elevator bell rang behind her, signaling its arrival.
“It’s special!” Cassie cried. “Please, Daddy,” she whined, turning her face up to his imploringly. “Please.”
Draco felt his heart and his resolve melt. He looked into Ginny’s wary eyes and sighed. “It’ll only take a minute,” he begged. She put her hands on her hips, beseeching him to change his mind.
“We have to go now,” she said firmly. “They could be here already!”
He looked from Cassie to Ginny, feeling very much like he had a few days earlier when Cassie hadn’t wanted to take a bath only this time the situation was far more dire which only served to add to the pressure. He felt that his decision could change everything. There was a war raging inside him. He wanted to keep Cassie safe, first and foremost, but he also wanted to see her happy. They didn’t know for sure that the Death Eaters were already there. Cassie’s vision hadn’t been that specific, for all she knew, they might not show up for another couple of days.
Finally, he produced his wand from his pocket, trying to prove that he could look after Cassie. Ginny glared at it disapprovingly. “It’ll only take a minute,” he said, trying to convey with his eyes why he had to pick this road.
“I’ll hold the elevator,” she said in a detached tone, refusing to look him in the eye. He wasn’t sure what this reaction meant. She was so hard to read. He felt that she still needed convincing.
“Even if they are here, I can hold them off,” he announced surely. She still avoided his gaze.
“Just go,” she said impatiently. “You’re wasting time.”
“I can do the Killing Curse,” he said quietly, not sure why he was telling her. He had never told anyone that he had mastered Avada Kedavra, especially not his Father, who would, no doubt, be very pleased with his son. Draco just wanted Ginny to know that he would do anything to make sure that Cassie, and she, made it out of there alive.
He only waited moments for a response that never came. She was right, he was wasting time. When he was a little way down the hall, he thought he heard her say, “That doesn’t make me feel better at all.” But he couldn’t have been sure.
“Alohomora,” Draco hissed, making the door swing wide open. The room was as they had left it. Everything was in a state of disarray. Their things were all gone. Only faint traces, like the things archeologists found when they were sifting through the sands, revealed that they had ever existed there.
The blanket was exactly where Cassie said it would be; under her pillow, folded neatly for the next night. She hugged it to her happily when he produced it. “Yay!” Cassie squealed in delight. She proceeded to promise the blanket, as if it could talk back, that she would never leave it again and that she’d be more careful in the future. In spite of the danger they were in and the anger he should feel because she had been so careless, Draco smiled at her.
As they left the room, Draco took hurried steps back in Ginny’s direction. He knew every moment she was waiting for them was probably torture for her. Her eyes lit up when she saw them at the end of the hallway. “Hurry!” she cried, bouncing impatiently the way Cassie did whenever...well, just whenever. He smiled at her, to assure her that everything was all right and that they were all going to get out of there unscathed.
It was that moment that there was tiny, almost insignificant, “pop” just a few feet in front of Draco. The form of a man wearing black, hooded robes appeared a few meters in front of Draco, blocking the space that had been previously unoccupied. Behind the man, Draco saw Ginny go white with fear as her hand flew to her to cover her gasp. Draco stopped dead in his tracks as he looked at the Death Eater.
That’s Malcolm Braddock, he thought lazily since his brain didn’t appear to comprehend the gravity of the situation. He was three years below me at Hogwarts. Nasty kid, he was. Malcolm sneered at Draco. Hey! That’s my sneer! Draco thought indignantly. Bastard.
Draco didn’t even realize that he wasn’t behaving in proper crisis mode. And he didn’t notice Malcolm draw his wand until he heard Ginny’s scream. “INCENDIO!” Large flames sprung up around Malcolm’s ankles, singeing his clean, black robes before he danced away from Draco in the most ridiculous manner. Draco looked up at her. Something about the expression she wore made him understand why people said not to mess with a mother protecting her young.
And then he remembered that he was supposed to be protecting his young as well, and he felt very foolish. “Go!” he shouted to Ginny while Malcolm struggled to put out the fire. The Death Eater still blocked them from meeting up and Draco knew it would be no use to fight him, because the longer they waited, the more Death Eaters would arrive. “I’ll meet you where I first saw you,” he called, hoping she’d know that he meant the park bench in the square.
Ginny nodded. She pressed a button inside the lift and was gone. Suddenly, Draco felt very alone.
He ran in the opposite direction, holding his daughter tightly to him, swinging around corners and hoping that Malcolm, or anyone else, wasn’t behind him. He found himself at the top of a rusty, old stairwell. Many of the concrete steps were cracking or had large chucks already taken out of them. He started to carefully descend when Cassie said forcefully, “Not that way.” The level of confidence in her voice made him recoil instantly as if bitten. Before he even knew what he was doing, he was climbing up the stairs.
The stairs led to a small door that opened onto the rooftop. You idiot! The rooftop! he mentally berated himself. It was more than just a little shocking that he found himself running to the roof like every stupid, simpering hero-figure. The kind he had always made bitter sport of. How the heck was he supposed to escape from the roof? The Death Eaters were at the ground floor of the building and coming upwards. He had only managed to prolong the inevitable; to paint himself into an infuriating corner. Now, they were trapped.
Gotta get out of here, his mind whirled inside his skull. Every possible means of escape, no matter how foolish, danced in his head. He wanted to kick himself. What kind of Slytherin was he? He couldn’t come up with a simple plan to weasel his way out of trouble? No, that wouldn’t do. He was not going to get caught up on this rooftop like some poof cowering in fear.
Then, it struck him. His Nimbus 2001! He still had it inside his bag. He really hadn’t had any use for it after he had fled Malfoy Manor but it was really his only link to the life he had once led, and he had decided against just tossing it in the dust bin. He remembered thinking to himself that he might want to fly out of another window sometime.
We’re not stupid. We’re Draco Malfoy, his brain sang happily. The only problem was that he had done a Shrinking potion on it to get it to fit in his suitcase. He could undo it, but it would take precious time that he didn’t really have.
With shaking hands, he set Cassie down on the ground so he could find the broomstick. “Stay close to me,” he instructed. The fear on her face made it clear that she wouldn’t dare move an inch.
As Draco leafed through his bag, he heard the distinctive pop of a wizard apparating onto the roof behind him. His body tensed at the sound as a familiar sensation washed over him. It was the same one he got when he had been in trouble as a boy and knew he was about to be punished. He didn’t bother to look up right away. Even without the telltale swish of his cloak or snake-like way he walked, Draco had been expecting his arrival for some time now. In fact, he would’ve been disappointed had it been anyone else.
“Hello, Father,” he drawled.
Lucius didn’t return his greeting.
When Draco finally did look up, he saw his own face, just a bit older, staring down at him. Lucius was so handsome you could easily pretend that he was good. He was so pale it was like he was bathed in pure, white light. Something that heavenly just couldn’t be sent from the Devil. Draco knew all too well that was what made it so simple, almost natural, for his father to convince people he wasn’t the blackened soul he was. He could get whatever he wanted without even trying. Why bother doing it the hard way? It was easy for Lucius to do bad things because it was easy to get out of it. Draco knew all this because he looked an awful lot like his father.
There was, however, a very large difference between Draco and Lucius Malfoy. It was obvious when Cassie squealed and clutched her father‘s leg. Draco put his arms around her again and tried to calm her. She could see past Lucius’ exterior. Not fooled by his appearance, instinctively she was trying to get away from her grandfather.
For a brief moment, no one spoke and the world stood still. They stayed on their respective sides of the roof, with the wind whipping around their heads and tousling their blond hair, eyeing one another coolly. It was Lucius who eventually broke the silence.
“I didn’t think you’d sink so low,” he hissed, his eyes distant. “I’m disappointed in you, Draco.”
Draco found this highly amusing. After all, he thought Lucius was the disappointment. He didn’t relay this to his father though. He had been taught never to speak back to the man; to always show him respect. Lucius had already begun to speak again when he realized he wasn’t a boy anymore and that there were people far more worthy of his respect.
“Give me the girl,” he ordered, fully expecting Draco to obey.
Cassie squirmed even more frantically in her father’s arms. “Shh,” Draco whispered as he defiantly stood up so he’d be at his father’s eye level. “She doesn’t want to go with you. She doesn’t belong with Voldemort. Look! She’s scared. I won’t let you take her,” he said dramatically.
Lucius began to laugh. It sounded more like Voldemort’s laugh that Draco remembered. “Look at yourself, boy. Who do you think you are, high on this rooftop, posing heroically.” He smiled wryly. “You’ve been spending too much time with that silly Gryffindor.”
Draco narrowed his eyes to slits. He was used to Lucius taunting him, it was the crack about Ginny that made him feel as though he had been struck. Cassie stopped wriggling to give Lucius that, “Don’t talk about my Mummy,” look.
Not seeing, or not caring about, their anger, Lucius continued. “I doubt you’ll be so brave when the Dark Lord gets his hands on you. You betrayed him. No one betrays him.”
A thick silence fell. He tried hard to mask it with threatening tones, but Draco heard fear in his father’s voice. Draco had never heard it before and could barely recognize it. He knew Lucius didn’t harbor any caring for him. Or, if he did, he wouldn’t dare show it. No, his voice betrayed not fear for his son but fear for himself. He had seen the things the Dark Lord could do up close and personal. Everything that had gone wrong and it had been on his watch. His plans of greatness along side the Dark Lord were slowly slipping out of his grasp.
“It’s your fault,” Draco said pointedly. He held his father’s eyes as he spoke, making sure all of his words were heard. “All of this. It’s your fault. You were the one who chose to become a Death Eater. You dragged us all into it.” He looked sadly down at his daughter. “You gave her this cursed life. You were the one who introduced Ginny to Voldemort. You gave her that diary. You offered your own son up to him.” His voice cracked as he thought about what Cassie had told him earlier about his Mother. “Mum told me once you thought this was the best path for us. You thought it’d bring you and our family power. But all you’ve brought us is pain. Mum and I were the only people who ever gave a damn about you and you’ve tortured us in return. It’s all on your head.”
The muscles in Lucius’ jaw contracted sharply. “Don’t bring your mother into this,” he said angrily.
“I didn’t,” Draco growled.
“You should see the shape you left her in. She doesn’t even get out of bed anymore but she doesn’t sleep. She doesn’t eat. The doctors can’t find anything wrong with her. They can’t find a cause. But I know. I know that it’s because of you. When you left she broke. She loves you.” There was a pregnant pause before he added, “I don’t know why.”
Draco shook his head. “I wouldn’t have had to leave if you hadn’t --”
“You didn’t have to leave, boy! If you had just did what you were told, none of this would have happened!” Lucius all but shouted the words.
“Sorry I didn’t follow your plan,” Draco whispered sarcastically. “But nothing ever goes according to plan, father. You can’t pull my strings anymore.” As if he had said the magic words, Draco suddenly felt free. He could feel the wind around him once more and he felt like he could touch the sky above him.
He also felt very dumb for staying and having it out with his father. He had wasted precious time. It was over now though. He was getting out of there, fast. There would be action now, no more words.
In an instant, Lucius’ wand was out. He pointed it at his son. Draco remembered that look on his face from the first time his father had pulled his wand on him. But now with his daughter in his arms he didn’t feel afraid; he couldn’t afford to. He had to protect her. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but his wand was drawn too. The two Malfoys stood on opposite sides of the roof, wands outstretched, in dueling position.
“I only wanted what was best for you, Draco,” his father said in an unfamiliar tone that probably signaled that he was telling the truth, “and this is for the best.” Lucius opened his mouth to hurl a curse at his son. His set brow indicated that he was perfectly content to hit Draco so hard he would never wake up. The first syllable of his curse rang out in an assured and commanding voice. He wasn’t pulling any punches.
Then Cassie screamed. She dove for cover in her father’s arm, trying to shield herself from what she knew was coming. Lucius was surprised to hear her scream and saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. He gazed at her in wonderment. Draco was right; she was afraid of him. His granddaughter feared him. His son hated him. And his wife wouldn’t speak to him. He didn’t have any family left to alienate. Just for a split second: he stopped as this new information sunk in.
But Draco didn’t hesitate. “STUPEFY!” he shouted so loudly that the word echoed off the building. Red light flew from his wand and hit his father right between the eyes. The older man was swept off his feet by the force of the spell. He landed near the edge of the rooftop, dangerously close to falling to the busy street below.
Draco set Cassie down cautiously. He took a step toward where his father lay. The spell had done its duty. He was out cold, as cold as Draco felt. For once in his life, Lucius Malfoy looked peaceful. His wand sat forgotten where he had been standing a few seconds earlier. There was no use for wands when one was unconscious. Draco stopped a few steps in front of it. He didn’t dare get close. It was like the wand was a poisonous snake that he couldn’t touch.
He thought about all the things that wand had done, not just to him but to so many other people. He thought of the faceless Muggles, the countless wizards that he had tortured. Those, he couldn’t fix. He couldn’t waste his time on them. It was when he thought of Ginny that anger grabbed hold of him. Seized with a fit of rebellion, Draco lunged forward and snatched the wand off the ground. In one swift motion he snapped into two pieces. He stared at the pieces in his hand.
This is what they do when you’re expelled or before you’re imprisoned in Azkaban, he thought. The snake wasn’t so poisonous now.
Lucius didn’t stir. He slept silently while Draco hurried back his bag to produce his broom and the antidote to the Shrinking potion. Cassie made no sound. She had enough presence of mind to let him work without interruption. There would be more Death Eaters when Lucius didn’t return to them. They had to act quickly. When everything was in order, Draco turned to his daughter. The relief that Lucius wouldn’t be handing her over to Voldemort had worn off and was now mixing with fear. Her large eyes were wide with fear.
“What’s wrong?” Draco asked gently.
She shifted, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment. “Scared to fly,” she said almost in audibly like she was afraid to admit her weakness to him.
Draco smiled. “I won’t let you fall,” he assured her. Cassie hugged him tightly as they flew off into the sky.
* * *
The broomstick climbed higher and higher. Draco tried to keep an eye on the ground so he could tell where he was supposed to land, but that rational thought conflicted with the urgent notion that he had to get higher and go faster. He had to get away. He should’ve been worried about being seen by Muggles, or worse the Death Eaters, but rules had never mattered that much to him and they certainly didn’t matter now.
Cassie kept her hands firmly over her eyes the entire time. Draco worried that she’d fall off the thin wood so he had to hold her extra close. “Are we there yet?” she asked fearfully.
“Almost,” he assured her, trying to sound positive. “Just a little bit further.”
The truth was that he was starting to worry. He searched the landscape everywhere but he didn’t seen Ginny’s fiery, red hair anywhere. It had only just then occurred to him that she might not be there; that she might not have made it out of the hotel. He had been so busy worrying about himself and Cassie, he had just assumed that Ginny was fine.
What if Ginny wasn’t all right? He shuddered involuntarily. It was a sobering thought. It made him colder than a freezing spell in his pants. He loved Cassie. He would do anything for her, But could he possibly raise her without Ginny? Ginny, who had been Cassie’s only parent until a few weeks ago. Ginny, who understood Cassie better than anyone. Ginny, who knew what a family should be like. She, after all, hadn’t been raised by a Death Eater.
Cassie opened one eye behind her hand, looking for her Mum. Draco knew she wouldn’t ever be the same if Ginny didn’t appear soon. He wished she’d come running over the horizon and yell at him for being late. There wasn’t a cell in his body unaware of the simple truth: he couldn’t be a single father. He couldn’t do this without Ginny. It wasn’t even an option. He needed her. Either Ginny suddenly turned up, or everything went to hell in a hand basket.
He held his breath, hoping, but there was no sound. He landed the broom, gently in the middle of the green lawn. He turned to Cassie prepared to tell her that Mummy wasn’t there and they’d go look for her.
Draco was nearly scared to death when he heard a terrified, tear stained voice cry, “CASSIE!” He whirled around. It was like a miracle. He hadn’t seen or heard her approach but there she was, running towards them with their bags swinging back and forth in her arms.
As Ginny got closer, he could see the worry that marred her pale skin. Again, he opened his mouth to speak. Ginny wasn’t listening, she dumped the bags on the ground like they were garbage and pulled Cassie to her chest. He got the feeling that Ginny didn’t plan on ever releasing the girl.
“Mummy!” Cassie shrieked, wrapping her tiny arms around her Mother’s neck. “We were so worried about you!” Ginny managed to chuckle at the irony of that through her choked sobs.
Draco stood back and watched them embrace. He felt sort of out of place, like it was a private moment between the two girls. At the same time, he was seized with some maudlin emotion that made it impossible for him to tear his eyes away. He thought about where he had just come from in relation to where he stood now. His father had never hugged him like that, even when he was a very little boy. It was odd for him to watch, almost uncomfortable. He didn’t think they should be carrying on that way in a public forum.
But then again, he was struck by the rightness of it all. He knew he’d never be able to do that, to be like Ginny, but he certainly couldn’t go back to the rooftop and tell Lucius he was sorry and he wanted to be a family again. Because he wasn’t sorry and he didn’t want to be a family with Lucius, if you could even call it that.
Ginny squeezed Cassie tightly for what seemed like hours. All the while only one thought flickered through Draco’s brain: this was what a family was supposed to be like.
“Mummy...” Cassie said tentatively after a few moments. “Mummy, you can let go now...” She was clearly finished hugging, but Ginny wasn’t. If anything, Ginny was hugging her closer now. “MUMMY, LET GO!” Ginny’s only response was to kiss her all over. “Eww!” Cassie said as she tried to wipe it off. “Ewwww...”
* * *
Lucius Malfoy stalked down the hall of Malfoy Manor. The Death Eaters were all down in his study, trying to figure out why they failed. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to tell them that he had the child within his grasp. It was embarrassing enough that he had let her slip through his fingers, let alone that his only son had cursed him. His son, whom he had taught to duel, had bested him. He couldn’t believe it.
“Sir, sir,” sniveled the House Elf trying to tell him about something or other. “Sir, you is going too fast, sir,” the elf squeaked, desperately trying to keep up with Lucius’ long strides with it’s tiny, elf-sized legs.
“You’re going too slow,” he snarled, almost without thinking about it. He had to take his anger out on someone, and it was usually the house elves that filled that position. “What do you want?” He stopped abruptly to glare at the elf, who cowered under his gaze.
“Sir,” the elf whimpered apologetically, “we is wondering if we is to make dinner. If you is not wanting it then there is no reason...”
Lucius’ face darkened instantly. The elf squeaked. Fearing he had said something wrong, he began to beat his head against the wall. “Where’s Mrs. Malfoy?” he demanded.
“She is -” BANG!, “in her -” BANG!, “room, sir,” the elf said through loud smacks of his head against the wall. “She is -” BANG!, “sick again-” BANG! Lucius tore down the hallway, leaving the confused elf to his self-inflicted punishment.
His wife’s room was dark and Narcissa was in bed as usual. Heavy, velvet curtains shielded her from the light so she could sleep all day round. A single candle on the opposite side of the room provided the only light source. The room had the air of death to it. Still, Lucius threw the door open without concern for her.
“Get out of bed!” he all but shouted at her.
Startled, Narcissa wearily climbed into an upright position, though it seemed a difficult task for her. She pulled the curtains back to look curiously at her husband, but remained in bed. “Lucius, what is going on?” she asked sticking her nose up in the air with distaste.
“Get out of bed,” he said forcefully. “This has gone on long enough. Stop moping about.”
Narcissa stared at him aghast. “Our son --” she began her often-repeated reasoning for her present state, only to be violently cut of by Lucius.
“Has turned against us!” he roared. She only blinked bewilderedly. What was he going on about? “He’s helping the girl,” he seethed, quieter but more dangerously. “He’s protecting her from us. From me.”
She gasped. “You’ve seen Draco?” she asked hopefully, obviously not catching, or not caring about his anger. Did that mean he was all right? That he wasn’t hurt? Oh, she felt like she could sing, except her husband probably wouldn’t have appreciated that so she kept it to herself.
“He stunned me!” Lucius advanced closer to the bed, pointing his finger at her like it was a weapon. “He broke my wand. Me! His own father.”
Narcissa scoffed. She began to say, “You attacked him first, Lucius,” in a reasonable, lofty tone but decided against it.
“Sir?” called a timid voice from the doorway. “Ma’am?” It as the house elf; he had finally caught up to Lucius. “Sir,” he said in a very fearful voice, “The Dark Lord is wanting to see you, sir.”
Lucius paled. Under Narcissa’s watchful gaze, he struggled to regain his composure. “We’ll discuss this later,” he snarled at her as he strode out of the room. She nodded mutely, knowing that he wouldn’t give up and neither would she. The house elf made sputtering noises and hurried away, obviously trying to be as far from the Dark Lord as humanly possible.
He shut the door behind him with a loud snap. Narcissa stared at her single candle as it burned lower and lower. There were many thoughts dancing in her head now.
* * *
The young family decided to hop the first train out of town. It wasn’t as nice as the Hogwarts Express, but it got them gone and that what was important. It was hard not to wish that it was going to Hogwarts, to Dumbledore and to safety. Instead they were going to yet another Muggle town that would be about as safe as the last place they had been.
The train shook violently as Draco ambled back to their seats. It was hard to be graceful when the damn thing was shaking so. He could see Ginny wringing her hands a few aisles ahead. She had a look on her face that he couldn’t quite place. He wondered if she would rather have stayed to fight the Death Eaters, like foolish Gryffindors would. She probably hated running more than he did. It made him feel a bit better to know he wasn’t the only one unhappy with this situation.
Draco plopped back down into his seat just as the train jerked so that another man who was standing was thrown halfway across the train. Draco smirked at him in a superior sort of way. Ginny elbowed him and shook her head. She would tell him off, but was trying to be quiet. Cassie was sleeping. Her tiny body took up two seats, well two and a half, since her head was rested in her mother’s lap. Draco didn’t know how the awkward position could possibly be comfortable but he kept quiet. It was just a good thing no one had purchased the seats next to them.
“Finally out?” he asked in hushed tones. Ginny nodded her assent. “Thank god.” He sighed and looked down at the steaming, hot chocolate he had been so careful not to spill on the way back. He had gone to get it for her. “Guess she doesn’t want this.”
He felt soft fingers wrap around his. He looked up to see Ginny taking the cup into her own hands. Her eyes were twinkling. “You want some?” she whispered as she took a sip.
He shook his head. “All yours.”
She eyed him mysteriously through the rising steam from the mug. She had rather large eyes. They were the deepest shade of brown, like coffee with spots that shown like gold in the light. He could almost see the thoughts that were dancing behind them but he couldn’t get a grasp on what they were. He wondered why he had never noticed before.
“What?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly, but earnestly.
Puzzled, Draco cocked his head to one side. What did she have to be sorry for? “Sorry?”
“I doubted you.” She grinned enigmatically. “So I’m sorry.” She took another slow sip of her hot chocolate, forcing Draco to wait for her to explain. “I thought you would’ve gotten bored with us and left by now. When I said you could stay, I never thought you would.”
“I wouldn’t,” he said automatically, stunned that she had thought this. “Leave, I mean. I’d never leave.”
Ginny curled up in her seat, still being careful not to jostle Cassie’s head. She pulled her legs up and leaned against the back of the seat so she was facing him. It was as close to the fetal position as one could get with a child on your lap. Draco was struck by how childlike she looked herself. Sometimes, when Cassie was awake and Ginny was acting all motherly, it was easy to forget how young she was. She wasn’t even 25, younger than Draco.
“Good,” she said, not louder than a breath. “You can’t leave now because you’re starting to grow on me.”
Draco grinned. He knew that she meant that she liked not being alone; she liked having someone to talk to. It really didn’t matter that it was him just that he was a person, but he’d didn’t want to think of it like that. “Guess we’re stuck with each other, huh?”
She responded only by smiling as she took another sip.
“I missed so much,” he said suddenly, leaning back and looking at the ceiling. “I don’t want to miss anymore.”
He could feel her eyes on him, those big, brown eyes. Ginny could see how guilty he felt for not being around when Cassie was a baby. She could see it whenever Cassie said something and he didn’t know what she was talking about. It was like he had a sharp pain in his stomach. She knew he wanted to get that time back, but couldn’t. “You didn’t miss that much,” she lied through a few rapid mouthfuls of hot chocolate.
He chuckled wearily. “I missed her as a baby...”
“All you missed was smelly diapers and spitting up. All she did was shit and eat. It wasn’t that exciting. And we didn’t have enough money for real diapers so I had to cut up my robes...” her voice trailed off like she didn‘t want to think about it. “It was nasty.”
This didn’t make him feel any better. He could’ve helped. Still, rather than dwell on it he‘d rather play her game. “When her first teeth came in,” he pointed out.
Ginny made a face indicating that hadn’t been a pleasant time either. “She cried so loudly and so often, the Death Eaters nearly found us.”
“Her first words.”
She giggled. “That wasn’t so bad. I finally had someone to talk to.” She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.
He shook his head. He couldn’t believe she could make light of this. “What about her first steps?”
“Ah, the day that will live in infamy,” she said sagely. Ginny nearly spilled the entire cup of steaming, hot chocolate on Cassie’s head as she laughed at Draco’s confused face.
“Why do you call it that?”
She grinned knowingly. “You don’t want to know.”
“It must have been hard,” he said mournfully, killing her giggly mood. “Doing all of that by yourself.”
Ginny didn’t want to lie to him again. He seemed to know the truth already anyway. “Yeah, it was,” she agreed. “I had my days when I just wanted to give up. But there were days that were some of my happiest. You take the good with the bad.” She looked down at her nearly empty mug. “I try not to over think it, just keep going.“ He could tell that was the end of their conversation. She was trying to politely tell him to sod off.
“Well now you have me,” he added after a moment’s silence. “Doesn’t that make you feel all warm and squishy inside?” he asked wryly.
She didn’t miss a beat. “Not in the least. But at least you fetch hot cocoa.”
* * *
Lucius Malfoy cautiously opened the door to his study. The Death Eaters had long since fled to the safety of their own homes. Unfortunately for Lucius, his own home was where the danger was. The Dark Lord stood by the fire, watching the flames reduce a large log to ashes.
“Lucius...” he hissed when Lucius had barely set foot in the room. “Do you have anything to tell me?”
He thought back to the scene on the rooftop: Draco and him fighting, the girl screaming and then Draco stunning him. He had faltered. There was no way around it. They had escaped and it had been his fault. He couldn‘t tell the Dark Lord this. “No, sir,” he said stiffly.
“Any sniveling excuses you care to make?” Voldemort still hadn’t turned to look at him. It gave Lucius a sinking feeling in his stomach. Surely he would acknowledge the presence of his most trusted Death Eater.
“No, sir.”
“How did she escape this time?”
Lucius paused. He wasn’t sure if Voldemort meant the heir or Ginny Weasley. It didn’t really matter. “Draco is helping her.” He said his son’s name purposefully, making it known he had not referred to him as ‘Draco Malfoy’ or ‘my son’ for a specific reason.
“He’ll be dealt with,” Voldemort said airily. Draco was no challenge or matter to him. Finally, he turned to face Lucius. He was pale and menacing looking. “You saw the girl.” It wasn’t a question. The Dark Lord knew Lucius had come face-to-face with them. How much he knew was the variable. And that would decide whether Lucius lived or died.
“Yes.” There was no point in denying it.
“And she still got away?”
Lucius swallowed hard. This was the turning point. He had to answer this question in just the right words or Voldemort would surely kill him. He had spent the better part of his lifetime snaking out of tight spots. There was one sure way to talk you way out: play into his vanity.
“Yes,” Lucius said. Voldemort’s bright, red eyes got brighter in anticipation of his explanation. He didn’t know it would all be a lie. “The girl has power. She used it to stun me.”
If Voldemort was the type to dance, he would have. Of course the girl had power! She was truly his heir. Before he had doubts. He thought maybe his bumbling Death Eaters had botched the spell. But Lucius said she had power; power that rivaled Voldemort himself.
And if she was as powerful as him, then there was good reason his Death Eaters had always failed to capture her. After all, he was smarted and more powerful than all of them. There was only one thing left to do. “You can leave now, Lucius,” The Dark Lord instructed. “You’ll need to see Snape about the attack on the Ministry. Don’t bother planning anymore captures of my heir.”
Lucius swallowed his tongue. He wanted this job. He had been in charge of it, now the Dark Lord was taking away his power. Perhaps he hadn’t said the right thing after all. The Dark Lord didn’t appear to notice, he continued speaking with words that chilled Lucius to the core.
“If you want something done right, you do it yourself.”
* * *
NOTES: This chapter kicked my ass. It took well over a month to write, not to mention the trouble we had getting it beta read. It was rather like a sitcom. I was this close to pulling a, “There is no chapter six. Skip ahead to chapter seven.” ‘Course then things wouldn’t have made much since so I forced my way through. If anyone doesn’t like it, you’re not alone. I don’t like it so much either. Bastard.
The last three times I tried to upload a new chapter to fanfiction.net, the site went down. So just for future reference all the parts of this story can be found at http://www.geocities.com/dracoginny I’m dedicating this chapter to the posters at the review board there because they put up with all my posts about writer’s block and kept me from flinging myself into the ocean. I also forgot to mention in the last story that I wanted to wish Fearthainn a Happy Birthday. So this will be her birthday chapter even though it’s late. :-)
* * *
Draco was never able to recall very well what happened in the next few minutes. His brain went numb as soon as Ginny said the Death Eaters were coming. All he could manage to remember was her throwing open the door to the hotel room, which had been their home for the last few days so violently that the doorknob made a hole in the wall. He stood dumbly in the doorway, his daughter still in his arms, as Ginny grabbed everything they owned and stuffed it into just three bags. He marveled at the speed in which she could move.
“Ready?” she asked him as she handed him his own bag to carry in his free hand.
Draco nodded. “Yeah,” he croaked. He wasn’t sure if there was a way he could ever be ‘ready’ for this. Prepared, maybe, but he’d never come to accept it as a normal occurrence. He knew he’d never get used to a life on the run or the fear that went along with it. Fear wasn’t something he ever wanted to get used to. Then it would start to control his life. But he, like Ginny and Cassie, didn’t have any better options. At the moment, running was all they could do.
And just like that, without a second thought, they were ready to leave and never come back. It took less than five minutes.
Ginny walked briskly ahead of Draco and Cassie with Cassie’s bag slung over her shoulder so she could keep her wand out. She checked both ways at every corner before letting Draco know it was all right to come forward with Cassie. The little girl hugged Draco tightly, burying her head into his shoulder in a frightened sort of way.
“It’s all right,” he whispered to her, kissing the top of her head. “Mummy and I will protect you.”
“Come on!” Ginny cried, motioning them closer. “We’ll take the lift,” she said. She pointed toward an elevator at the end of the hallway. It’s shiny silver doors seemed so far away to Draco, at least 100 meters farther than it had been any other time he had used it.
They broke into a run, as if someone was going to jump out from the rooms that lined the hallway. No one did. Draco breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the elevator. Ginny impatiently pushed the button several times. The dull sound of grinding metal told them that it was on its way, but that wasn‘t good enough for Ginny. “Hurry up!” she groaned, jamming her finger against the button again.
“Ack!” Cassie suddenly shrieked so that Draco‘s stomach jumped in fear that she had seen something they hadn’t. She began to wiggle in his arms trying to escape.
“Cass? What is it?” he asked worriedly, trying to maintain hold on her. She was small and quick, so it was a tough job.
“I forgot my blankie!” she wailed hysterically though it was the most important thing in the world. “I left... it under... my pillow... so I’d have it to... protect us...from... the ... monsters!” she said through large sobs.
“We can get you another one,” Ginny said desperately. The elevator bell rang behind her, signaling its arrival.
“It’s special!” Cassie cried. “Please, Daddy,” she whined, turning her face up to his imploringly. “Please.”
Draco felt his heart and his resolve melt. He looked into Ginny’s wary eyes and sighed. “It’ll only take a minute,” he begged. She put her hands on her hips, beseeching him to change his mind.
“We have to go now,” she said firmly. “They could be here already!”
He looked from Cassie to Ginny, feeling very much like he had a few days earlier when Cassie hadn’t wanted to take a bath only this time the situation was far more dire which only served to add to the pressure. He felt that his decision could change everything. There was a war raging inside him. He wanted to keep Cassie safe, first and foremost, but he also wanted to see her happy. They didn’t know for sure that the Death Eaters were already there. Cassie’s vision hadn’t been that specific, for all she knew, they might not show up for another couple of days.
Finally, he produced his wand from his pocket, trying to prove that he could look after Cassie. Ginny glared at it disapprovingly. “It’ll only take a minute,” he said, trying to convey with his eyes why he had to pick this road.
“I’ll hold the elevator,” she said in a detached tone, refusing to look him in the eye. He wasn’t sure what this reaction meant. She was so hard to read. He felt that she still needed convincing.
“Even if they are here, I can hold them off,” he announced surely. She still avoided his gaze.
“Just go,” she said impatiently. “You’re wasting time.”
“I can do the Killing Curse,” he said quietly, not sure why he was telling her. He had never told anyone that he had mastered Avada Kedavra, especially not his Father, who would, no doubt, be very pleased with his son. Draco just wanted Ginny to know that he would do anything to make sure that Cassie, and she, made it out of there alive.
He only waited moments for a response that never came. She was right, he was wasting time. When he was a little way down the hall, he thought he heard her say, “That doesn’t make me feel better at all.” But he couldn’t have been sure.
“Alohomora,” Draco hissed, making the door swing wide open. The room was as they had left it. Everything was in a state of disarray. Their things were all gone. Only faint traces, like the things archeologists found when they were sifting through the sands, revealed that they had ever existed there.
The blanket was exactly where Cassie said it would be; under her pillow, folded neatly for the next night. She hugged it to her happily when he produced it. “Yay!” Cassie squealed in delight. She proceeded to promise the blanket, as if it could talk back, that she would never leave it again and that she’d be more careful in the future. In spite of the danger they were in and the anger he should feel because she had been so careless, Draco smiled at her.
As they left the room, Draco took hurried steps back in Ginny’s direction. He knew every moment she was waiting for them was probably torture for her. Her eyes lit up when she saw them at the end of the hallway. “Hurry!” she cried, bouncing impatiently the way Cassie did whenever...well, just whenever. He smiled at her, to assure her that everything was all right and that they were all going to get out of there unscathed.
It was that moment that there was tiny, almost insignificant, “pop” just a few feet in front of Draco. The form of a man wearing black, hooded robes appeared a few meters in front of Draco, blocking the space that had been previously unoccupied. Behind the man, Draco saw Ginny go white with fear as her hand flew to her to cover her gasp. Draco stopped dead in his tracks as he looked at the Death Eater.
That’s Malcolm Braddock, he thought lazily since his brain didn’t appear to comprehend the gravity of the situation. He was three years below me at Hogwarts. Nasty kid, he was. Malcolm sneered at Draco. Hey! That’s my sneer! Draco thought indignantly. Bastard.
Draco didn’t even realize that he wasn’t behaving in proper crisis mode. And he didn’t notice Malcolm draw his wand until he heard Ginny’s scream. “INCENDIO!” Large flames sprung up around Malcolm’s ankles, singeing his clean, black robes before he danced away from Draco in the most ridiculous manner. Draco looked up at her. Something about the expression she wore made him understand why people said not to mess with a mother protecting her young.
And then he remembered that he was supposed to be protecting his young as well, and he felt very foolish. “Go!” he shouted to Ginny while Malcolm struggled to put out the fire. The Death Eater still blocked them from meeting up and Draco knew it would be no use to fight him, because the longer they waited, the more Death Eaters would arrive. “I’ll meet you where I first saw you,” he called, hoping she’d know that he meant the park bench in the square.
Ginny nodded. She pressed a button inside the lift and was gone. Suddenly, Draco felt very alone.
He ran in the opposite direction, holding his daughter tightly to him, swinging around corners and hoping that Malcolm, or anyone else, wasn’t behind him. He found himself at the top of a rusty, old stairwell. Many of the concrete steps were cracking or had large chucks already taken out of them. He started to carefully descend when Cassie said forcefully, “Not that way.” The level of confidence in her voice made him recoil instantly as if bitten. Before he even knew what he was doing, he was climbing up the stairs.
The stairs led to a small door that opened onto the rooftop. You idiot! The rooftop! he mentally berated himself. It was more than just a little shocking that he found himself running to the roof like every stupid, simpering hero-figure. The kind he had always made bitter sport of. How the heck was he supposed to escape from the roof? The Death Eaters were at the ground floor of the building and coming upwards. He had only managed to prolong the inevitable; to paint himself into an infuriating corner. Now, they were trapped.
Gotta get out of here, his mind whirled inside his skull. Every possible means of escape, no matter how foolish, danced in his head. He wanted to kick himself. What kind of Slytherin was he? He couldn’t come up with a simple plan to weasel his way out of trouble? No, that wouldn’t do. He was not going to get caught up on this rooftop like some poof cowering in fear.
Then, it struck him. His Nimbus 2001! He still had it inside his bag. He really hadn’t had any use for it after he had fled Malfoy Manor but it was really his only link to the life he had once led, and he had decided against just tossing it in the dust bin. He remembered thinking to himself that he might want to fly out of another window sometime.
We’re not stupid. We’re Draco Malfoy, his brain sang happily. The only problem was that he had done a Shrinking potion on it to get it to fit in his suitcase. He could undo it, but it would take precious time that he didn’t really have.
With shaking hands, he set Cassie down on the ground so he could find the broomstick. “Stay close to me,” he instructed. The fear on her face made it clear that she wouldn’t dare move an inch.
As Draco leafed through his bag, he heard the distinctive pop of a wizard apparating onto the roof behind him. His body tensed at the sound as a familiar sensation washed over him. It was the same one he got when he had been in trouble as a boy and knew he was about to be punished. He didn’t bother to look up right away. Even without the telltale swish of his cloak or snake-like way he walked, Draco had been expecting his arrival for some time now. In fact, he would’ve been disappointed had it been anyone else.
“Hello, Father,” he drawled.
Lucius didn’t return his greeting.
When Draco finally did look up, he saw his own face, just a bit older, staring down at him. Lucius was so handsome you could easily pretend that he was good. He was so pale it was like he was bathed in pure, white light. Something that heavenly just couldn’t be sent from the Devil. Draco knew all too well that was what made it so simple, almost natural, for his father to convince people he wasn’t the blackened soul he was. He could get whatever he wanted without even trying. Why bother doing it the hard way? It was easy for Lucius to do bad things because it was easy to get out of it. Draco knew all this because he looked an awful lot like his father.
There was, however, a very large difference between Draco and Lucius Malfoy. It was obvious when Cassie squealed and clutched her father‘s leg. Draco put his arms around her again and tried to calm her. She could see past Lucius’ exterior. Not fooled by his appearance, instinctively she was trying to get away from her grandfather.
For a brief moment, no one spoke and the world stood still. They stayed on their respective sides of the roof, with the wind whipping around their heads and tousling their blond hair, eyeing one another coolly. It was Lucius who eventually broke the silence.
“I didn’t think you’d sink so low,” he hissed, his eyes distant. “I’m disappointed in you, Draco.”
Draco found this highly amusing. After all, he thought Lucius was the disappointment. He didn’t relay this to his father though. He had been taught never to speak back to the man; to always show him respect. Lucius had already begun to speak again when he realized he wasn’t a boy anymore and that there were people far more worthy of his respect.
“Give me the girl,” he ordered, fully expecting Draco to obey.
Cassie squirmed even more frantically in her father’s arms. “Shh,” Draco whispered as he defiantly stood up so he’d be at his father’s eye level. “She doesn’t want to go with you. She doesn’t belong with Voldemort. Look! She’s scared. I won’t let you take her,” he said dramatically.
Lucius began to laugh. It sounded more like Voldemort’s laugh that Draco remembered. “Look at yourself, boy. Who do you think you are, high on this rooftop, posing heroically.” He smiled wryly. “You’ve been spending too much time with that silly Gryffindor.”
Draco narrowed his eyes to slits. He was used to Lucius taunting him, it was the crack about Ginny that made him feel as though he had been struck. Cassie stopped wriggling to give Lucius that, “Don’t talk about my Mummy,” look.
Not seeing, or not caring about, their anger, Lucius continued. “I doubt you’ll be so brave when the Dark Lord gets his hands on you. You betrayed him. No one betrays him.”
A thick silence fell. He tried hard to mask it with threatening tones, but Draco heard fear in his father’s voice. Draco had never heard it before and could barely recognize it. He knew Lucius didn’t harbor any caring for him. Or, if he did, he wouldn’t dare show it. No, his voice betrayed not fear for his son but fear for himself. He had seen the things the Dark Lord could do up close and personal. Everything that had gone wrong and it had been on his watch. His plans of greatness along side the Dark Lord were slowly slipping out of his grasp.
“It’s your fault,” Draco said pointedly. He held his father’s eyes as he spoke, making sure all of his words were heard. “All of this. It’s your fault. You were the one who chose to become a Death Eater. You dragged us all into it.” He looked sadly down at his daughter. “You gave her this cursed life. You were the one who introduced Ginny to Voldemort. You gave her that diary. You offered your own son up to him.” His voice cracked as he thought about what Cassie had told him earlier about his Mother. “Mum told me once you thought this was the best path for us. You thought it’d bring you and our family power. But all you’ve brought us is pain. Mum and I were the only people who ever gave a damn about you and you’ve tortured us in return. It’s all on your head.”
The muscles in Lucius’ jaw contracted sharply. “Don’t bring your mother into this,” he said angrily.
“I didn’t,” Draco growled.
“You should see the shape you left her in. She doesn’t even get out of bed anymore but she doesn’t sleep. She doesn’t eat. The doctors can’t find anything wrong with her. They can’t find a cause. But I know. I know that it’s because of you. When you left she broke. She loves you.” There was a pregnant pause before he added, “I don’t know why.”
Draco shook his head. “I wouldn’t have had to leave if you hadn’t --”
“You didn’t have to leave, boy! If you had just did what you were told, none of this would have happened!” Lucius all but shouted the words.
“Sorry I didn’t follow your plan,” Draco whispered sarcastically. “But nothing ever goes according to plan, father. You can’t pull my strings anymore.” As if he had said the magic words, Draco suddenly felt free. He could feel the wind around him once more and he felt like he could touch the sky above him.
He also felt very dumb for staying and having it out with his father. He had wasted precious time. It was over now though. He was getting out of there, fast. There would be action now, no more words.
In an instant, Lucius’ wand was out. He pointed it at his son. Draco remembered that look on his face from the first time his father had pulled his wand on him. But now with his daughter in his arms he didn’t feel afraid; he couldn’t afford to. He had to protect her. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but his wand was drawn too. The two Malfoys stood on opposite sides of the roof, wands outstretched, in dueling position.
“I only wanted what was best for you, Draco,” his father said in an unfamiliar tone that probably signaled that he was telling the truth, “and this is for the best.” Lucius opened his mouth to hurl a curse at his son. His set brow indicated that he was perfectly content to hit Draco so hard he would never wake up. The first syllable of his curse rang out in an assured and commanding voice. He wasn’t pulling any punches.
Then Cassie screamed. She dove for cover in her father’s arm, trying to shield herself from what she knew was coming. Lucius was surprised to hear her scream and saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. He gazed at her in wonderment. Draco was right; she was afraid of him. His granddaughter feared him. His son hated him. And his wife wouldn’t speak to him. He didn’t have any family left to alienate. Just for a split second: he stopped as this new information sunk in.
But Draco didn’t hesitate. “STUPEFY!” he shouted so loudly that the word echoed off the building. Red light flew from his wand and hit his father right between the eyes. The older man was swept off his feet by the force of the spell. He landed near the edge of the rooftop, dangerously close to falling to the busy street below.
Draco set Cassie down cautiously. He took a step toward where his father lay. The spell had done its duty. He was out cold, as cold as Draco felt. For once in his life, Lucius Malfoy looked peaceful. His wand sat forgotten where he had been standing a few seconds earlier. There was no use for wands when one was unconscious. Draco stopped a few steps in front of it. He didn’t dare get close. It was like the wand was a poisonous snake that he couldn’t touch.
He thought about all the things that wand had done, not just to him but to so many other people. He thought of the faceless Muggles, the countless wizards that he had tortured. Those, he couldn’t fix. He couldn’t waste his time on them. It was when he thought of Ginny that anger grabbed hold of him. Seized with a fit of rebellion, Draco lunged forward and snatched the wand off the ground. In one swift motion he snapped into two pieces. He stared at the pieces in his hand.
This is what they do when you’re expelled or before you’re imprisoned in Azkaban, he thought. The snake wasn’t so poisonous now.
Lucius didn’t stir. He slept silently while Draco hurried back his bag to produce his broom and the antidote to the Shrinking potion. Cassie made no sound. She had enough presence of mind to let him work without interruption. There would be more Death Eaters when Lucius didn’t return to them. They had to act quickly. When everything was in order, Draco turned to his daughter. The relief that Lucius wouldn’t be handing her over to Voldemort had worn off and was now mixing with fear. Her large eyes were wide with fear.
“What’s wrong?” Draco asked gently.
She shifted, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment. “Scared to fly,” she said almost in audibly like she was afraid to admit her weakness to him.
Draco smiled. “I won’t let you fall,” he assured her. Cassie hugged him tightly as they flew off into the sky.
* * *
The broomstick climbed higher and higher. Draco tried to keep an eye on the ground so he could tell where he was supposed to land, but that rational thought conflicted with the urgent notion that he had to get higher and go faster. He had to get away. He should’ve been worried about being seen by Muggles, or worse the Death Eaters, but rules had never mattered that much to him and they certainly didn’t matter now.
Cassie kept her hands firmly over her eyes the entire time. Draco worried that she’d fall off the thin wood so he had to hold her extra close. “Are we there yet?” she asked fearfully.
“Almost,” he assured her, trying to sound positive. “Just a little bit further.”
The truth was that he was starting to worry. He searched the landscape everywhere but he didn’t seen Ginny’s fiery, red hair anywhere. It had only just then occurred to him that she might not be there; that she might not have made it out of the hotel. He had been so busy worrying about himself and Cassie, he had just assumed that Ginny was fine.
What if Ginny wasn’t all right? He shuddered involuntarily. It was a sobering thought. It made him colder than a freezing spell in his pants. He loved Cassie. He would do anything for her, But could he possibly raise her without Ginny? Ginny, who had been Cassie’s only parent until a few weeks ago. Ginny, who understood Cassie better than anyone. Ginny, who knew what a family should be like. She, after all, hadn’t been raised by a Death Eater.
Cassie opened one eye behind her hand, looking for her Mum. Draco knew she wouldn’t ever be the same if Ginny didn’t appear soon. He wished she’d come running over the horizon and yell at him for being late. There wasn’t a cell in his body unaware of the simple truth: he couldn’t be a single father. He couldn’t do this without Ginny. It wasn’t even an option. He needed her. Either Ginny suddenly turned up, or everything went to hell in a hand basket.
He held his breath, hoping, but there was no sound. He landed the broom, gently in the middle of the green lawn. He turned to Cassie prepared to tell her that Mummy wasn’t there and they’d go look for her.
Draco was nearly scared to death when he heard a terrified, tear stained voice cry, “CASSIE!” He whirled around. It was like a miracle. He hadn’t seen or heard her approach but there she was, running towards them with their bags swinging back and forth in her arms.
As Ginny got closer, he could see the worry that marred her pale skin. Again, he opened his mouth to speak. Ginny wasn’t listening, she dumped the bags on the ground like they were garbage and pulled Cassie to her chest. He got the feeling that Ginny didn’t plan on ever releasing the girl.
“Mummy!” Cassie shrieked, wrapping her tiny arms around her Mother’s neck. “We were so worried about you!” Ginny managed to chuckle at the irony of that through her choked sobs.
Draco stood back and watched them embrace. He felt sort of out of place, like it was a private moment between the two girls. At the same time, he was seized with some maudlin emotion that made it impossible for him to tear his eyes away. He thought about where he had just come from in relation to where he stood now. His father had never hugged him like that, even when he was a very little boy. It was odd for him to watch, almost uncomfortable. He didn’t think they should be carrying on that way in a public forum.
But then again, he was struck by the rightness of it all. He knew he’d never be able to do that, to be like Ginny, but he certainly couldn’t go back to the rooftop and tell Lucius he was sorry and he wanted to be a family again. Because he wasn’t sorry and he didn’t want to be a family with Lucius, if you could even call it that.
Ginny squeezed Cassie tightly for what seemed like hours. All the while only one thought flickered through Draco’s brain: this was what a family was supposed to be like.
“Mummy...” Cassie said tentatively after a few moments. “Mummy, you can let go now...” She was clearly finished hugging, but Ginny wasn’t. If anything, Ginny was hugging her closer now. “MUMMY, LET GO!” Ginny’s only response was to kiss her all over. “Eww!” Cassie said as she tried to wipe it off. “Ewwww...”
* * *
Lucius Malfoy stalked down the hall of Malfoy Manor. The Death Eaters were all down in his study, trying to figure out why they failed. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to tell them that he had the child within his grasp. It was embarrassing enough that he had let her slip through his fingers, let alone that his only son had cursed him. His son, whom he had taught to duel, had bested him. He couldn’t believe it.
“Sir, sir,” sniveled the House Elf trying to tell him about something or other. “Sir, you is going too fast, sir,” the elf squeaked, desperately trying to keep up with Lucius’ long strides with it’s tiny, elf-sized legs.
“You’re going too slow,” he snarled, almost without thinking about it. He had to take his anger out on someone, and it was usually the house elves that filled that position. “What do you want?” He stopped abruptly to glare at the elf, who cowered under his gaze.
“Sir,” the elf whimpered apologetically, “we is wondering if we is to make dinner. If you is not wanting it then there is no reason...”
Lucius’ face darkened instantly. The elf squeaked. Fearing he had said something wrong, he began to beat his head against the wall. “Where’s Mrs. Malfoy?” he demanded.
“She is -” BANG!, “in her -” BANG!, “room, sir,” the elf said through loud smacks of his head against the wall. “She is -” BANG!, “sick again-” BANG! Lucius tore down the hallway, leaving the confused elf to his self-inflicted punishment.
His wife’s room was dark and Narcissa was in bed as usual. Heavy, velvet curtains shielded her from the light so she could sleep all day round. A single candle on the opposite side of the room provided the only light source. The room had the air of death to it. Still, Lucius threw the door open without concern for her.
“Get out of bed!” he all but shouted at her.
Startled, Narcissa wearily climbed into an upright position, though it seemed a difficult task for her. She pulled the curtains back to look curiously at her husband, but remained in bed. “Lucius, what is going on?” she asked sticking her nose up in the air with distaste.
“Get out of bed,” he said forcefully. “This has gone on long enough. Stop moping about.”
Narcissa stared at him aghast. “Our son --” she began her often-repeated reasoning for her present state, only to be violently cut of by Lucius.
“Has turned against us!” he roared. She only blinked bewilderedly. What was he going on about? “He’s helping the girl,” he seethed, quieter but more dangerously. “He’s protecting her from us. From me.”
She gasped. “You’ve seen Draco?” she asked hopefully, obviously not catching, or not caring about his anger. Did that mean he was all right? That he wasn’t hurt? Oh, she felt like she could sing, except her husband probably wouldn’t have appreciated that so she kept it to herself.
“He stunned me!” Lucius advanced closer to the bed, pointing his finger at her like it was a weapon. “He broke my wand. Me! His own father.”
Narcissa scoffed. She began to say, “You attacked him first, Lucius,” in a reasonable, lofty tone but decided against it.
“Sir?” called a timid voice from the doorway. “Ma’am?” It as the house elf; he had finally caught up to Lucius. “Sir,” he said in a very fearful voice, “The Dark Lord is wanting to see you, sir.”
Lucius paled. Under Narcissa’s watchful gaze, he struggled to regain his composure. “We’ll discuss this later,” he snarled at her as he strode out of the room. She nodded mutely, knowing that he wouldn’t give up and neither would she. The house elf made sputtering noises and hurried away, obviously trying to be as far from the Dark Lord as humanly possible.
He shut the door behind him with a loud snap. Narcissa stared at her single candle as it burned lower and lower. There were many thoughts dancing in her head now.
* * *
The young family decided to hop the first train out of town. It wasn’t as nice as the Hogwarts Express, but it got them gone and that what was important. It was hard not to wish that it was going to Hogwarts, to Dumbledore and to safety. Instead they were going to yet another Muggle town that would be about as safe as the last place they had been.
The train shook violently as Draco ambled back to their seats. It was hard to be graceful when the damn thing was shaking so. He could see Ginny wringing her hands a few aisles ahead. She had a look on her face that he couldn’t quite place. He wondered if she would rather have stayed to fight the Death Eaters, like foolish Gryffindors would. She probably hated running more than he did. It made him feel a bit better to know he wasn’t the only one unhappy with this situation.
Draco plopped back down into his seat just as the train jerked so that another man who was standing was thrown halfway across the train. Draco smirked at him in a superior sort of way. Ginny elbowed him and shook her head. She would tell him off, but was trying to be quiet. Cassie was sleeping. Her tiny body took up two seats, well two and a half, since her head was rested in her mother’s lap. Draco didn’t know how the awkward position could possibly be comfortable but he kept quiet. It was just a good thing no one had purchased the seats next to them.
“Finally out?” he asked in hushed tones. Ginny nodded her assent. “Thank god.” He sighed and looked down at the steaming, hot chocolate he had been so careful not to spill on the way back. He had gone to get it for her. “Guess she doesn’t want this.”
He felt soft fingers wrap around his. He looked up to see Ginny taking the cup into her own hands. Her eyes were twinkling. “You want some?” she whispered as she took a sip.
He shook his head. “All yours.”
She eyed him mysteriously through the rising steam from the mug. She had rather large eyes. They were the deepest shade of brown, like coffee with spots that shown like gold in the light. He could almost see the thoughts that were dancing behind them but he couldn’t get a grasp on what they were. He wondered why he had never noticed before.
“What?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly, but earnestly.
Puzzled, Draco cocked his head to one side. What did she have to be sorry for? “Sorry?”
“I doubted you.” She grinned enigmatically. “So I’m sorry.” She took another slow sip of her hot chocolate, forcing Draco to wait for her to explain. “I thought you would’ve gotten bored with us and left by now. When I said you could stay, I never thought you would.”
“I wouldn’t,” he said automatically, stunned that she had thought this. “Leave, I mean. I’d never leave.”
Ginny curled up in her seat, still being careful not to jostle Cassie’s head. She pulled her legs up and leaned against the back of the seat so she was facing him. It was as close to the fetal position as one could get with a child on your lap. Draco was struck by how childlike she looked herself. Sometimes, when Cassie was awake and Ginny was acting all motherly, it was easy to forget how young she was. She wasn’t even 25, younger than Draco.
“Good,” she said, not louder than a breath. “You can’t leave now because you’re starting to grow on me.”
Draco grinned. He knew that she meant that she liked not being alone; she liked having someone to talk to. It really didn’t matter that it was him just that he was a person, but he’d didn’t want to think of it like that. “Guess we’re stuck with each other, huh?”
She responded only by smiling as she took another sip.
“I missed so much,” he said suddenly, leaning back and looking at the ceiling. “I don’t want to miss anymore.”
He could feel her eyes on him, those big, brown eyes. Ginny could see how guilty he felt for not being around when Cassie was a baby. She could see it whenever Cassie said something and he didn’t know what she was talking about. It was like he had a sharp pain in his stomach. She knew he wanted to get that time back, but couldn’t. “You didn’t miss that much,” she lied through a few rapid mouthfuls of hot chocolate.
He chuckled wearily. “I missed her as a baby...”
“All you missed was smelly diapers and spitting up. All she did was shit and eat. It wasn’t that exciting. And we didn’t have enough money for real diapers so I had to cut up my robes...” her voice trailed off like she didn‘t want to think about it. “It was nasty.”
This didn’t make him feel any better. He could’ve helped. Still, rather than dwell on it he‘d rather play her game. “When her first teeth came in,” he pointed out.
Ginny made a face indicating that hadn’t been a pleasant time either. “She cried so loudly and so often, the Death Eaters nearly found us.”
“Her first words.”
She giggled. “That wasn’t so bad. I finally had someone to talk to.” She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.
He shook his head. He couldn’t believe she could make light of this. “What about her first steps?”
“Ah, the day that will live in infamy,” she said sagely. Ginny nearly spilled the entire cup of steaming, hot chocolate on Cassie’s head as she laughed at Draco’s confused face.
“Why do you call it that?”
She grinned knowingly. “You don’t want to know.”
“It must have been hard,” he said mournfully, killing her giggly mood. “Doing all of that by yourself.”
Ginny didn’t want to lie to him again. He seemed to know the truth already anyway. “Yeah, it was,” she agreed. “I had my days when I just wanted to give up. But there were days that were some of my happiest. You take the good with the bad.” She looked down at her nearly empty mug. “I try not to over think it, just keep going.“ He could tell that was the end of their conversation. She was trying to politely tell him to sod off.
“Well now you have me,” he added after a moment’s silence. “Doesn’t that make you feel all warm and squishy inside?” he asked wryly.
She didn’t miss a beat. “Not in the least. But at least you fetch hot cocoa.”
* * *
Lucius Malfoy cautiously opened the door to his study. The Death Eaters had long since fled to the safety of their own homes. Unfortunately for Lucius, his own home was where the danger was. The Dark Lord stood by the fire, watching the flames reduce a large log to ashes.
“Lucius...” he hissed when Lucius had barely set foot in the room. “Do you have anything to tell me?”
He thought back to the scene on the rooftop: Draco and him fighting, the girl screaming and then Draco stunning him. He had faltered. There was no way around it. They had escaped and it had been his fault. He couldn‘t tell the Dark Lord this. “No, sir,” he said stiffly.
“Any sniveling excuses you care to make?” Voldemort still hadn’t turned to look at him. It gave Lucius a sinking feeling in his stomach. Surely he would acknowledge the presence of his most trusted Death Eater.
“No, sir.”
“How did she escape this time?”
Lucius paused. He wasn’t sure if Voldemort meant the heir or Ginny Weasley. It didn’t really matter. “Draco is helping her.” He said his son’s name purposefully, making it known he had not referred to him as ‘Draco Malfoy’ or ‘my son’ for a specific reason.
“He’ll be dealt with,” Voldemort said airily. Draco was no challenge or matter to him. Finally, he turned to face Lucius. He was pale and menacing looking. “You saw the girl.” It wasn’t a question. The Dark Lord knew Lucius had come face-to-face with them. How much he knew was the variable. And that would decide whether Lucius lived or died.
“Yes.” There was no point in denying it.
“And she still got away?”
Lucius swallowed hard. This was the turning point. He had to answer this question in just the right words or Voldemort would surely kill him. He had spent the better part of his lifetime snaking out of tight spots. There was one sure way to talk you way out: play into his vanity.
“Yes,” Lucius said. Voldemort’s bright, red eyes got brighter in anticipation of his explanation. He didn’t know it would all be a lie. “The girl has power. She used it to stun me.”
If Voldemort was the type to dance, he would have. Of course the girl had power! She was truly his heir. Before he had doubts. He thought maybe his bumbling Death Eaters had botched the spell. But Lucius said she had power; power that rivaled Voldemort himself.
And if she was as powerful as him, then there was good reason his Death Eaters had always failed to capture her. After all, he was smarted and more powerful than all of them. There was only one thing left to do. “You can leave now, Lucius,” The Dark Lord instructed. “You’ll need to see Snape about the attack on the Ministry. Don’t bother planning anymore captures of my heir.”
Lucius swallowed his tongue. He wanted this job. He had been in charge of it, now the Dark Lord was taking away his power. Perhaps he hadn’t said the right thing after all. The Dark Lord didn’t appear to notice, he continued speaking with words that chilled Lucius to the core.
“If you want something done right, you do it yourself.”
* * *
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