In My Life

Chapter 3

On Wednesday, Draco sauntered into the drawing room after breakfast, as usual. When he came to his favorite seat, however, he stopped short—Ginny was sitting there already. He hadn’t even known that she had decided to move in. He just stood where he was, staring at her.

Ginny looked up and saw Draco. Without thinking, he blurted out, “You moved in.”

“As you see,” Ginny said, amusement dancing in her eyes.

Draco continued to stand there, slightly embarrassed. His mind was moving incredibly slowly—or was it racing instead?—so he was having trouble forming a single coherent thought.

After a moment of silence, Ginny frowned slightly. “Are you well? Would you care to sit down, perhaps?” she asked, her voice laced with concern.

“You’re in my seat,” Draco said accusingly, again without thinking about his words before speaking.

“Am I?”

“Yes,” he said firmly, fixing his most commanding gaze upon the interloper. “I always sit there at this time of day.”

Ginny smiled. “Ah, still the same spoiled brat I knew at Hogwarts!” she said cheerfully. “I was here first, Malfoy, and I have no intention of relinquishing my chair to you, no matter how fiercely you glare at me!”

“And you’re just as stubborn as you were at Hogwarts, I see!”

“Yes, indeed,” Ginny responded placidly, “but I prefer ‘determined’ to ‘stubborn’.” She returned her attention to the knitting in her lap.

Draco sighed. He should go, he knew, and find a place in one of the other rooms, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to walk away.

Ginny looked pointedly at him, then at the chair opposite hers. “See, it’s not so bad,” she said as Draco sank slowly into the seat. “It’s exactly the same as this one.”

“It’s not at all the same!” Draco responded petulantly. “It’s much too soft. I’ll never be able to get back out of it. I’ll be stuck here until the middle of the night when the house-elves come to clean.”

“Oh, there’s no need to worry that you’ll be here quite so long,” Ginny said evenly. “I’ll certainly tell someone to rescue you before I go to bed, at the very latest.”

“And the view’s not nearly as nice,” Draco continued, as if Ginny had not spoken. “From that seat, you can see a bit of the pond, but from here you can only see the forest and the drive.”

Ginny looked out the window as if to confirm his words. “You’re right,” she agreed happily. “Yes, I agree. This is a lovely view.”

Draco couldn’t decide whether to be annoyed or amused by Ginny. No one besides Scorpius dared to tease him the way she was doing, but he had been acting daftly all morning, so he almost felt as if he deserved it. And he was still extremely curious about why she was at Notting Park at all. Testing the waters, Draco asked, “So why aren’t you participating in this morning’s activities like everyone else?”

“As much fun as a Go Fish Tournament sounds, I’m not sure my old heart could handle all the excitement,” Ginny answered.

Her voice was totally even, so it took Draco a moment to recognize her sarcasm, but when he did, he burst into laughter. “Yes,” he said once he had recovered, “you certainly wouldn’t want to keel over on your very first morning here. If you did, you would never discover the true joy that comes with having Fanny Marshall as a housemate.”

Ginny winced, then laughed. “I take it you have met her, then?” Draco asked.

“Yes, I have had that privilege, both the day I toured the house and at breakfast this morning. She seems to be very… enthusiastic.”

“That would be a definite understatement,” Draco said with a grimace.

“I didn’t see you at breakfast.”

“No you didn’t,” Draco said evasively. He refused to answer Ginny’s implied question unless she asked outright.

“Ah, I see,” Ginny said with a smile. “I suppose the house-elves bring you a tray because you’re so spoiled that you have to have breakfast in bed every day.”

“I do not!” Draco said indignantly, then immediately regretted it. Well, he might as well be hanged for a dragon as an egg. “I’ll have you know that I only eat breakfast in bed on the days when my rheumatism is particularly bad. Most days, I am awake for an hour or more before Addie comes with my tray. I just can’t handle some of the residents’ cheerfulness so early in the morning.”

Ginny’s grin widened at his response. “The truth comes out!” she said. “Maybe you aren’t actually spoiled, just condescending!”

“I prefer ‘particular’ to ‘condescending’, thank you very much,” Draco said in his snootiest voice.

Ginny hooted with laughter, and Draco smiled in satisfaction. Maybe—after nearly ten years as an outsider at Notting Park—just maybe he had found someone he could actually talk to.

Draco and Ginny chatted together on and off throughout the morning, speaking of the comforts of Notting Park, a novel both of them had recently read, and the jumble of discordant sound that passed for modern popular music. Draco laughed more often than he had in years—since Lyra had been a young girl, probably.

When it was time for lunch, Ginny stood first, and extended her hand to Draco. “What?” he asked.

“I just thought you would need a hand, what with all of your complaining earlier.”

Draco smirked at her, then stood on his own. “That won’t be necessary,” he said. “But I will remember your generosity on the off-chance that you find yourself in that chair in the future.”

“Is that a threat, Malfoy?” Ginny asked, laughing.

“Not at all,” Draco said with a smirk. “Consider it a challenge.” With any luck, he would have Ginny’s company again the next day. Summoning his cane with a flourish, he asked, “Well, are you coming?”

Together, they began the slow walk to the dining room.

***

As Ginny made her way to dinner that evening, she reflected on her first day at Notting Park. She had arrived late the evening before, since Ellen and Dietrich had insisted on taking her out for dinner. They had accompanied her to her new home afterwards, to make sure she settled in properly, but their efforts, while appreciated, were hardly necessary.

Ginny’s suite was even more comfortable than she had anticipated—the kitchenette held a supply of all of her favorite treats, the bed was the softest she had ever slept in, and the luxurious bath had a device that could magically lower her into the water and raise her out when she was finished, so she wouldn’t fall and hurt herself. And, best of all, there were house-elves on call at all hours if she should need anything at all.

Before the move, Ginny had been a little worried about whether or not she would get along with the other residents, but they had all made an effort to welcome her at breakfast that morning. Indeed, a few of them had almost been too welcoming, showering her with attention.

Ginny was a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of people, after having spent her days mostly alone for years. She had slipped away to the drawing room with her knitting for some peace and quiet after breakfast. She had been surprised when Draco approached her, and even more so when he had stayed to talk to her, seemingly willing to leave their past conflict in the past. But surprise soon faded into enjoyment—she had felt almost immediately comfortable in his presence. They hadn’t talked of anything of real consequence, but Draco had displayed a sharp intelligence she hadn’t expected, and a dry sense of humor. Ginny had even used sarcasm for the first time in ages, because she knew instinctively that Draco would appreciate it. She was out of practice, however, because Harry had had absolutely no ability to distinguish between when she was being serious and when she was joking—years of nauseatingly cutesy bric-a-brac and hideously gaudy jewelry fitted with color changing charms she had sarcastically commented on had taught her that much. It felt good to allow herself free rein once again.

Ginny hoped that she could sit next to Draco at dinner that night, but Fanny Marshall had other plans. Having been denied her company most of the day (Ginny had spent a very pleasant afternoon walking in the garden with Susan Bones, who was an avid gardener and knew just about everything about the plants there), Fanny Marshall and one of her friends, who Ginny thought might be called Violet, had decided they wouldn’t allow that to happen at dinner. They were waiting for Ginny at the door to the dining room, and each taking one of her elbows, they steered her towards a chair immediately between their own. Resigned to her fate for the evening, Ginny took her assigned seat.

The interrogation began immediately. Fanny and the other witch wanted to know everything about her, it seemed—her favorite foods and colors, her interests and hobbies, how she had spent her days before moving to Notting Park, what she thought of the current Minister of Magic, whether or not she thought it would rain the next day, and more questions that Ginny couldn’t keep track of. Ginny tried to answer as politely as possible without revealing anything too personal. At one point, while the pair was quizzing her on the names, appearances, and professions of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, Ginny looked up and caught Draco looking at her. He rolled his eyes dramatically and gave her a small smile before turning back to his plate. Somehow, this helped Ginny endure the endless string of questions, especially once the pair started asking her about Harry.

After dessert, the whole group moved into the drawing room. Ginny tried to escape from Fanny and Violet, but they followed her to the chairs in front of the fire to continue their inquisition. In desperation, Ginny resorted to the extremely rude step of opening a book and pretending to read. Finally, the two witches wandered off to join the game of Exploding Snap in one corner of the room.

Once they were gone, Ginny looked around her. In addition to the Exploding Snap players, Draco and Susan were playing a game of wizard’s chess, some of the residents were reading, some were talking quietly with one another, and a few women were knitting. The Wizarding Wireless was tuned to a station that played the old music—music that was popular when she was in school and just after the war ended. Someone yelled, “You’re crazy if you think the Wasps can beat the Magpies without cheating!”

It was exactly like a Hogwarts common room.

Ginny smiled and looked at Draco. He looked up and raised an eyebrow at her, but she just smiled more widely and opened her book—in earnest this time.