Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

A/N: Here is the last chapter. Enjoy!

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Unexpected Consequences

Part III: June

For a few months, my plan worked splendidly.

I was rather annoyed at first when Ginevra insisted that only her parents and I attend the wedding. I had envisioned a major society event similar to my own wedding, if perhaps a bit less elegant, complete with full press coverage. But the more I thought about it, the more I appreciated her choice. What if we had thrown a gala and nobody had come? Besides, the discreet notice in the Daily Prophet generated enough publicity and speculation on its own—perhaps even more than a gala would have done. Even the most seasoned Slytherin battleaxes, the old ladies who could sniff out a plot a mile away, were uncertain what to think of it. Surely if Draco had married Ginevra to bolster his reputation, he would have drawn more attention to the occasion. Perhaps the couple was in love after all.

When Draco and Ginevra returned from two weeks on the Amalfi Coast, they appeared quite comfortable with each other. Apparently they had made good use of the time they had there to get to know one another. And I was not the only one to notice their newfound rapport. The way they danced together during their first public outing raised more than a few eyebrows… including all three of Hilda Goyle’s.

I began to receive the occasional invitation for tea. Draco spent shorter hours at the office. Ginevra now worked in the state-of-the-art breeding facilities that I had built in the Manor’s old stables. It would be unseemly for a Malfoy wife to work in rented stables, as she had before, but I thought it wiser not to tell Ginevra so.

Meanwhile, Draco and Ginevra grew even closer. They would occasionally walk together in the gardens if it was warm enough, or sit together in their private drawing room. Draco even allowed himself to get dirty once, helping Ginevra deliver a litter of Crups. They tended to reach for the butter at the same time, or stand just a little closer than necessary. I would smile at these small excuses they found to touch one another; producing an heir would be no great burden for either of them.

But then one day I returned home from tea at Adele Avery’s only to find the house-elves in an uproar, Draco barricaded in his study, and Ginevra—along with all of her personal belongings—gone.

***

It took some of my worst glares and threats, but the whole family eventually grudgingly agreed to support Ginny’s decision to marry Draco Malfoy, or at least to keep quiet about it. Ron and Harry took it the hardest, which isn’t surprising. They never did get along with Draco, and Harry was still carrying a torch for Ginny. The poor boy moped for weeks after I broke the news.

But as time passed, Ginny seemed happier than she had been in years. This was enough to make me accept the situation, even if I wasn’t thrilled with it. Ron grumbled that she was only happy because her new facility at the Manor allowed her to breed species she hadn’t had room for before. But I was sure that Ron must be mistaken because Ginny seemed to smile more often when Draco was nearby.

So I was all the more surprised one afternoon when Ginny came tumbling out of the kitchen fireplace, followed by her trunk. She collapsed into a chair and burst into tears.

I rushed to embrace her. She cried on my shoulder as she hadn’t done since before she left for Hogwarts all those years ago. Just like I did when she skinned her knee as a child, I smoothed her hair back soothingly and let her cry herself out. When her sobs had stopped and her breathing evened out, I asked softly, “What happened?”

“He… He called me a whore,” she said, trying to hold back more tears. “He said he should have known better than to marry me because I am a worthless whore and always have been.”

“Draco said that?” I asked, incensed. Ginny sat up and nodded as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “How dare he? How could he say such a thing?”

Ginny stared at her hands, twisted in her lap. “Well…,” she said hesitantly. “I got a pair of Occamies a couple of weeks ago. I’ve never had them before and I was having some trouble getting them settled. They just didn’t trust me. So I asked Harry to come talk to them in Parseltongue. He’s been coming every day—he seems to have made friends with them. And they have been much more docile. But today Draco came home and found Harry in the stables with me. He didn’t even wait to hear the explanation. He just said…” At this Ginny burst into tears yet again. I handed her a handkerchief and rubbed her back.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” she said after a while.

“Of course not!” I said indignantly. “No man should say such things about his wife!”

“That’s not what I meant, Mum,” Ginny said quietly. “I meant… He wasn’t supposed to be able to hurt me. I didn’t even like him. How could he hurt me? But then I stupidly…” She stopped abruptly, realizing what she was about to confess. She paused for a moment, not looking me in the eye.

“Can I stay here for a while? I can’t go back there now. I just can’t.”

“You’re always welcome here, Ginny, you know that. Why don’t you go take a nice bath before dinner. That will make you feel better.”

Ginny nodded and made her way up the stairs. She had just left the room when Narcissa Malfoy’s head appeared in the fire.

***

This was a disaster. If Ginevra left Draco permanently, we would be worse off than if he hadn’t married her in the first place. I needed to remedy the situation, but before I could do that, I needed to know exactly what the situation was. But despite my most persuasive cajoling, my threats to Transfigure all of his clothing to pink, and finally, my angriest scolding, Draco steadfastly refused to come out of his study or to give me even the slightest hint at what had driven Ginevra away. I gritted my teeth and Flooed the Burrow.

Molly Weasley was irate. “You! How dare you show your face here after what your son has done? Did you never teach him proper respect? None of my boys would ever say such a thing to their wives!” She was whispering furiously. Clearly Ginevra was nearby and Molly did not want her to hear.

I was confused. Ever since they returned from their honeymoon, I had never seen Draco treat Ginevra with anything less than the utmost respect. “What did he say?” I asked.

“He called her a whore!” Molly spat out.

“He would never say such a thing!” I was indignant. I certainly had raised Draco better than that. Molly must be mistaken.

“Well, he did,” she said angrily. “And just because Harry was helping her with her Occamies!”

“Harry? Occamies? Oh!” I said, sighing with relief. “That explains it then.” Molly looked even angrier, and I hastened to explain. “Draco has always been prone to jumping to conclusions when it comes to Harry Potter. I am sure that I can smooth things over if I explain the situation to Ginevra.”

“I’m not sure I want things smoothed over if that son of yours says such things to her!”

I sighed. “Draco will apologize and he will promise not to say such things again,” I said in my most soothing voice. “Once he has done so, do you think Ginevra would return to the Manor?”

Molly considered this, apparently a bit calmer. “I should think not. She is stubborn and he hurt her pretty badly. I haven’t seen her cry so much for years.” She paused, then added thoughtfully, “But…”

“But what?” I asked hopefully.

Just then there was a noise from behind Molly. Startled, she looked over her shoulder, then turned back to me.

“You need to go now—Ginny is coming,” she whispered frantically. I quickly ducked back out of the fireplace. It would certainly be best if Ginevra did not see me just now.

I sat in front of the fire, contemplating what to do next. The first step towards fixing the fiasco was clearly to convince Draco to apologize to Ginevra. Unfortunately, he is stubborn and unaccustomed to admitting when he is in the wrong. And he clearly felt threatened by the Potter boy’s presence at the Manor. He would need some sort of assurance that Ginevra was not having an affair.

Ginevra, on the other hand, would not make the first overture towards Draco. Apparently she had been extremely upset, and rightfully so if what Molly told me was true. And she could be just as stubborn as Draco. Just leaving the two of them in the same room at the same time would not be enough—it would only result in an uncomfortable silence and likely even more resentment. It would take something else, some sort of catalyst to get them talking. I needed to find something—or someone—to help things along.

I smiled as a daring idea began to form in my mind. It would be a gamble, but no riskier than the gamble I took in arranging Draco and Ginevra’s marriage in the first place. But I would need Molly Weasley’s help.

***

I want my children to be happy, but… conspiring with Narcissa Malfoy of all people? After what her son did to my daughter? But Ginny was moping about the house all day, clearly miserable, so I eventually gave in. I had gotten used to seeing Ginny happy. And if Draco Malfoy was the cause of that happiness, who was I to stand in the way?

Narcissa invited me for tea in the Malfoy Manor rose garden so we could discuss her idea. Once she had explained, I asked, “Doesn’t it leave just a little too much to chance?”

“Perhaps,” she answered. “But I am afraid that pushing them too hard might backfire.”

I shuddered, thinking of what happened when I pushed Ginny too hard towards Harry. “All right, then,” I agreed. “I’ll help.”

Once we had ironed out the details, Narcissa asked, “Would you like a second piece of cake?”

“That would be lovely,” I answered, cutting myself a large slice. It was nearly as good as my own chocolate cake. “Though I probably won’t be able to fit into my robes in the morning.”

“Speaking of robes,” Narcissa asked, eyebrows raised, “have you seen what Madame Malkin has on display?”

“Those horribly short ones? They’re hardly more than bathing costumes!”

“I agree that they are scandalous. But I am told that they are all the rage among the girls at Hogwarts.”

“Minerva allows that?”

I was glad that I had prepared dinner ahead of time, as the pleasant afternoon passed more quickly than I had expected. But it wouldn’t do to make Ginny suspicious, so when the sky started to turn pink, I set out for home.

I found Ginny where I had left her, sitting and staring glumly out her bedroom window. “How are you doing, dear?” I asked with concern. She just shrugged.

“It would do you good to get out of the house for a bit, don’t you think? I ran into Mabel Diggory last week and she told me that a lovely new robes shop just opened in Salisbury. Maybe we should go see it for ourselves tomorrow, have lunch there, and make a bit of a day of it. It’s awfully close to Wimbourne too. Maybe Ron could come over and join us for lunch. How does that sound?”

“Sure, Mum,” Ginny said, making a sorry attempt at a smile. “That sounds nice.”

“Wonderful!” I said enthusiastically. “We’ll have a lovely time!” My first task had gone according to plan. Now I had to send an owl to Ron and trust that he would be concerned enough to come see Ginny. Surely Harry had told him about what had happened.

The next morning, Ginny and I Flooed to Salisbury’s tiny wizarding district. Rhoda’s Robes was just as nice as Mabel had said. Ginny, however, just ran her hand listlessly over the beautiful robes and refused to try any of them on. I kept up a cheerful stream of conversation, but she didn’t seem to pay any attention to what I said. I was exhausted by lunchtime, but I was excited too. Now I would see if Narcissa had done her part.

Shortly after one o’clock, we arrived at the Fuzzy Kneazle. As Narcissa had said, the pub was the perfect setting. It was dark and the booths had high backs, so someone sitting in one couldn’t see who was seated at the next table. According to Narcissa, unless Draco was entertaining a client, he ate lunch here every workday, arriving at five minutes past one and sitting in the very last booth. I steered Ginny towards the second booth from the back. While she sat down, I excused myself. I was relieved to catch a glimpse of white blond hair as I passed the back table. Draco was there.

I slipped behind the curtain that led to the corridor containing the loo, and found Narcissa waiting anxiously for me. “I am glad you made it,” she whispered, pulling me further behind the curtain. “I had to cast three Repelling Spells to keep other people away from that table.”

“Now we just have to hope Ron comes,” I said, peeking out from behind the curtain. I had a good view of both Draco and Ginny, who were unknowingly sitting back to back.

After a moment, Ron burst into the pub in a flourish of yellow and black robes. “Ginny!” he said, spotting her. I saw Draco stiffen.

“How are you?” Ron asked, hugging Ginny and sitting down opposite her. “I heard what happened with Malfoy, the sod.” Now it was Ginny’s turn to freeze. Ron didn’t seem to notice and continued speaking. “Does this mean you’re going to come back home? You can divorce Malfoy and marry Harry instead!”

“I have no interest in marrying Harry,” Ginny said firmly.

“What?” Ron asked, his jaw dropping. “But I thought…”

“Actually, Ron,” Ginny continued, “it has been years since I had any interest in marrying Harry. I thought you would have figured that out when I married Draco instead!”

Unbeknownst to Ginny and Ron, Draco, Narcissa, and I were all listening avidly to their conversation. Draco seemed to sit up a little straighter after Ginny’s last comment.

“Speaking of that,” Ron asked, “why did you marry the bastard?”

Ginny looked down at the table, and quietly said, “He’s not so bad.”

“What was that?” Ron asked, aghast. “Did you say he’s not so bad? Ginny, he was a Death Eater. He’s evil!”

“Draco may be a bit of a prat sometimes, but he’s not evil,” Ginny said, looking Ron in the eye.

“Are you really defending him? After what he said to you? There’s no excuse for that!”

Ginny turned red and averted her eyes from Ron. Once, many years ago, she had borrowed Ron’s Chudley Cannons action figure without his permission. Now, the two of them were acting exactly the same way they did when Ron found his toy with a broken broom. I was so caught up in watching my children that I didn’t notice Draco stand up and approach them until he spoke. “He’s right, you know. There is no excuse for what I said.”

Ginny’s head snapped up so quickly that my own neck twinged in sympathy. “Draco?” she asked uncertainly.

Draco looked at her and then away. “My mother told me why Potter was there. I should never have said what I did, and I… I’m sorry.” I could barely hear his last word, but Ginny surely did; she looked as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Draco shot a look at Ron, who was watching the couple in shock, then turned back to Ginny. “Will you come back home?”

“No!” Ron said, coming to his senses. “You think you can accuse her of… of being a… a painted lady, and she’ll come running back to you just because you apologize?” Ginny looked at Ron, then back at Draco.

“Why did you say it?” Ginny asked quietly. I could see that she was still worried, afraid that he would hurt her again.

Draco looked down at his shoes then up at Ginny. “Because… Because I was…”

“Because you were a right prat?” Ron supplied.

“Let him finish, Ron,” Ginny snapped, “or I’ll tell Hermione not to make any ginger biscuits for a month!” I had to clasp a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud, but Ginny’s threat was certainly effective in shutting Ron up. Ginny turned back to Draco. “Because you were…?” she prompted.

Draco crouched down so he was looking Ginny in the eye. “I said it because I was jealous. I thought I was going to lose you.” He took her hand in his. “I don’t think I could bear it if I did.”

“What are you saying?” Ginny asked cautiously, but I could see that her eyes were wide. Ron had turned an unpleasant shade of red. I grasped Narcissa’s arm in anticipation. I could hardly breathe as I waited to hear what Draco would say.

“I guess… Well… Well, I never meant to do it—our marriage was supposed to be just another business contract—but sometime during the past few months, I… I think I fell in love with you.”

Narcissa gasped slightly as Ginny threw herself into Draco’s arms. I thought I heard Ginny say, “I love you too,” but her voice was muffled by his chest.

“Shall we go home?” Draco asked, smiling. Ginny looked up at him and nodded.

“Bugger!” Ron said, just as Draco and Ginny Apparated away. He sat for a few moments, glaring at the empty booth. Then he stalked out of the pub, muttering under his breath the whole way.

As Narcissa and I left our hiding place, I finally shed tears of joy for Ginny. I had been so worried about her for so long, but now everything was falling into place. And I had been right all along. Ginny just needed to marry a nice wizard and settle down.

***

I handed Molly a handkerchief. Once she had dried her tears, I said, “Well, that wasn’t quite what I expected, but it seems to have ended well.”

“Oh, yes!” she said, more tears welling up in her eyes. “But I never thought…”

Molly had undoubtedly been astonished that her daughter could fall in love with my son. But I was no less surprised that he could fall in love with her, or anyone for that matter. The possibility had never even crossed my mind. But I had never seen Draco smile as widely as he did just before he and Ginevra left the pub. This new development could only be good for all of us.

“Indeed,” I said. “Thank you for your help.”

“No, thank you for insisting that we needed to intervene. I was a little nervous considering that the last time I tried that, Ginny offered herself as a mail-order bride to spite me.” We smiled at each other.

“Would you like to come to back to the Manor for luncheon?” I asked.

“That would be lovely, Narcissa,” Molly said, using my given name for the first time. “Maybe you can help me figure out how to solve Harry’s problems next.”

“I’d be happy to, Molly,” I said. “Then perhaps we can decide which suite would be most appropriate as a nursery when the time comes. After all, it looks like we will be grandmothers sooner rather than later.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Molly said with a sigh.

As we Apparated back to the Manor, I realized that when Molly and I interfered in Draco and Ginevra’s lives, nothing went quite as either of us expected it to. But perhaps the most unpredictable consequence of all was that the two of us just might become friends. Lucius would undoubtedly frown on the association, but I believe the past few months have shown that his opinions on such matters have become quite out of date. After all, Ginevra has proved to be a worthy Malfoy bride. And the way Molly plotted with me was almost… Slytherin.