In My Life

Chapter 8

The next afternoon found Draco and Ginny in the music room once more. He was playing light, happy pieces on the piano, while she sat in one of the armchairs, listening, knitting, and thinking.

Ginny was amazed by how quickly her relationship with Draco had progressed. Two days earlier, she had felt as if they had made their first breakthrough in their developing friendship, and now they were engaged. Thinking about it that way made it seem ridiculous, but Ginny had never felt so certain as she did now. She knew in her bones that her marriage to Draco would be the best decision she ever made in her life—an even better choice than her marriage to Harry had been. She had always suspected that Harry hadn’t loved her nearly as much as she loved him, but now she realized that she hadn’t loved him as much as he deserved either. There had been something missing that she hadn’t even known to look for before. The time she had with Draco had certainly been short, but she felt so much more alive now. Her previous life paled in comparison.

Ginny had Flooed to the Burrow that morning to share her news and her sense of giddiness with the only other person she thought would understand. Ellen was predictably thrilled for her, and they had spent a happy half hour talking about their fiancés.

“You’re just like me and Dad,” Ellen had teased, “falling in love at the drop of a hat. We must have inherited it from you.”

Ginny had paused at that. “Hm,” she had said. “You may be right. It was the same way with Harry.”

“Maybe if you had seen Draco first,” Ellen had responded, “you would have fallen in love with him to begin with, and would have married him all those years ago.”

“No,” Ginny had said. “That never could have happened then. We never even could have had a real conversation. We’ve both grown a lot since then. Plus, I think I might have been a little in love with the idea of Harry even before I saw him the first time.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Ellen had said, “but I’m glad you and Draco managed to find each other now.”

Ellen had agreed to let Ginny and Draco announce their engagement at her reception the next day, because it would be easier than Flooing everyone individually. Ginny also hoped that if anyone was unhappy with her choice, they would be less likely to say so for fear of ruining Ellen’s day.

Draco had also Flooed Scorpius and Lyra. He wanted to tell them personally, knowing that after they made the announcement to Ginny’s family, the news would spread immediately. Draco had told her that his children had been happy for them, but Ginny was still nervous. How would they treat her? Would she really be welcome in their family, or would she be another Justine?

Ginny was startled out of her thoughts when the door flew open, banging against the wall beside it. A man stepped into the room, his step light and quick. He looked so much like Draco—though with bluer eyes and more hair—that she knew immediately he must be Scorpius.

Scorpius stopped short when he saw Ginny, then approached her in a slow, deliberate way that reminded Ginny of a cat. “Ah,” he said once he reached her chair. “You must be Mrs. Potter.”

“Please call me Ginny,” she said, extending her hand to shake his. “And you must be Scorpius.”

“Guilty as charged,” he said, taking her hand and kissing the back of it, causing Ginny to blush. “I’m thrilled to finally meet you. Father talks about you continuously.”

“He does?” Ginny asked, surprised.

“Well, in truth, he has only mentioned you a few times, but for him, that’s continuously!”

Ginny laughed. “By those standards, he talks about you continuously as well.”

“But of course!” Scorpius responded. “How could he not talk about someone as splendid as I am?” Ginny laughed. When she finished, Scorpius continued earnestly, “In all seriousness, though, I’m sure you will be a very welcome addition to our family.”

“Thank you,” Ginny said with a warm smile. “I’m glad you aren’t upset.”

“Not at all,” Scorpius responded. “I’m sure you’ll be good for Father.”

Scorpius turned then to Draco, who had risen to his feet. “Congratulations, Father,” he said heartily, engulfing him in a hug. Ginny smiled as Draco patted his son awkwardly on the back, clearly uncomfortable.

Scorpius pulled away, then grinned at Ginny. “Alas,” he said dramatically, “Father has never liked displays of affection.”

“Is that so?” Ginny asked, amused by the way Scorpius teased Draco. “That’s funny. He didn’t seem to mind it so much last night, or this morning, or after lunch either, for that matter.”

Scorpius stared wide-eyed at Ginny for a moment, then burst into laughter. “Why, you old dog!” he said, clapping a red-faced Draco on the back. To Ginny, he added, “Now I know why he likes you so much!”

Draco managed to distract Scorpius by suggesting that they order tea.

“Oh, yes! That sounds heavenly,” Scorpius said. “Justine still has us eating cow food.”

After they were settled around the table, Scorpius told Draco, “I Flooed Lyra after talking to you this morning. She thinks she can make the trip to England in two or three weeks. Do you think you two can wait that long to get married?”

“It will be terribly difficult,” Ginny said, her voice laced with sarcasm, “but I’m sure we’ll endure somehow, won’t we, Draco?”

“If we must,” he replied drily, shaking his head. “The price we pay for our children!”

Scorpius laughed at their exchange. “Oh yes, you’ll be good for each other,” he said. He took a large bite of scone and clotted cream, then added, “I’m afraid that Justine walked in while I was talking to Lyra. She was probably afraid I would spill Floo powder on the rug. Anyway, she heard us talking, so she knows about your engagement already.”

Draco groaned. “What did she say?”

“Oh, I wish you could have seen her face!” Scorpius said. “Her first question was what would happen to her child if the two of you were to reproduce. Would he still inherit, or would your child usurp his rightful place?”

Ginny giggled at the thought of having another child at her age. “Did you set her mind to rest?” she asked.

“I tried,” Scorpius said with a sigh. “But I’m afraid I just made matters worse. She never did listen to me properly, so she might have gotten the impression that you are thirty-nine years old rather than ninety-three.”

“You didn’t!” Draco said.

“It was fully unintentional, I assure you,” Scorpius said in a tone that was anything but reassuring. “On the plus side, she is so mortified at the thought of your marriage that she’s unlikely to tell anyone about it, so she shouldn’t ruin your big announcement tomorrow.”

***

As soon as he and Ginny stepped into the Burrow’s garden, Draco began to regret agreeing to attend Ellen and Dietrich’s wedding. It was immediately clear that he had completely misunderstood Ellen’s comment that “only family” would be attending. Draco had pictured a simple but elegant intimate backyard wedding. He had forgotten that Ellen’s family included four generations of Weasleys, and the yard was teeming with them. As he and Ginny made their way to the tent where the ceremony was to take place, Draco could feel eye on him. He was used to being noticed, but most people were circumspect about watching him. Not so the Weasleys. Conversations stopped mid-sentence, heads turned, and mouths gaped as he passed with Ginny on his arm.

“I shouldn’t be here,” Draco said under his breath.

Ginny squeezed his arm. “They’ll get over it,” she replied quietly. “They’re just surprised. But can you really blame them?”

Draco looked down at Ginny, who was smiling up at him. Only a few weeks earlier she had been nothing more to him than an old school acquaintance, and now he couldn’t imagine his life without her. It even surprised him sometimes. “No,” he said with a smile of his own. “I really can’t.”

The tent was quiet and cool in contrast to the busy, sunlit garden, and Draco sank with relief into his seat in the first row. Ginny disappeared through a flap in the tent to find Ellen for a few private minutes before the ceremony, and Draco took the opportunity to collect himself. He took a few deep breaths and made his face as impassive as he could. When people began to trickle into the tent a few moments later, he was ready for their scrutiny, but it seemed that Ginny had been right. Although Draco could still feel many eyes on him, the glances were much more surreptitious than they had been before. He pored over the program until Ginny returned. She took his hand, and he was surprised by how much her small gesture helped him relax.

The ceremony was much like any other wedding, and as he had only met Ellen once, and had never met Dietrich, Draco wasn’t terribly interested. Ginny, on the other hand, clutched his hand tightly the entire time, and smiled widely through the tears that streamed down her face. Draco hoped that he offered the same comfort to her to her as she had given him earlier. At the end of the ceremony, Draco thought that the enthusiasm with which Dietrich kissed Ellen was somewhat unseemly, but then he glanced at Ginny and thought of their own upcoming wedding, and reconsidered. Relenting, he applauded with the rest of the onlookers.

At dinner, Ginny and Draco were seated at a table with Ellen’s maternal grandparents, Dietrich’s three living grandparents, and his great-grandmother Schwarz. Draco was grateful. None of them had any preconceptions about him, and the conversation was extremely pleasant. He spent most of the meal talking to the ancient Frau Schwarz, who he found was actually his second cousin twice removed. She even remembered meeting Narcissa once, many, many years earlier, when the Blacks had visited Germany. “Solch ein lieblich Kind,” the old woman said nostalgically. “So hübsch mit allem das schönes Goldhaar, und so artig!”

After dinner came the toasts, and after the toasts, Ellen surprised almost everybody in the room by standing to speak. “Dietrich and I would like to thank each and every one of you for coming tonight,” she began. “I cannot express how happy we are that you have been here to share our joy with us. However, our marriage is not the only thing to bring us joy tonight.”

Ellen paused. Draco drew a deep breath and held it. Ginny took his hand beneath the table, and a quick glance at her convinced him that she had done the same.

“It is my great pleasure to announce that our family will soon have another wedding to celebrate.” Draco heard murmurs all around as the crowd tried to guess who Ellen might be talking about. He saw them eying an awkward-looking red-haired young man two tables away, and supposed he must be one of Ellen’s Weasley cousins who was still unmarried.

After a moment, Ellen cut through the chatter, saying firmly and clearly, “I am thrilled that my grandmother Ginny Potter has found love again at the age of ninety-three, and she is to be married within a few weeks to Draco Malfoy.”

Total silence fell among the assembled guests, and Draco gripped Ginny’s hand more tightly. Whether or not Ellen noticed, she turned to Draco and Ginny and raised her glass of champagne.

“To Draco and Ginny!” Ellen said, then drank. One by one, the rest of the guests drank as well.

Draco didn’t have a chance to watch Ellen and Dietrich dance their first dance as a married couple. As soon as Ellen turned away, he and Ginny were deluged with people offering congratulations.

Fleur Weasley was the first to welcome Draco to the family. “Come visit me soon, no?” she offered. “I will tell you everything you need to know about the Weasleys. I was the first to marry into the family, you see, and I have always made sure the new ones understood. There may not be so many of them left now, and even my Bill has been gone these ten years, but I still know them best.” Draco was eagerly accepted her offer. He was sure he could use the advice, especially considering the long line of family members waiting to meet him.

Percy was next, with his wife Audrey. This did not surprise Draco, as he knew Percy reasonably well already; he had worked closely with him when Percy had been head of the Department of International Cooperation and Draco had been working to extend the Malfoys’ overseas holdings.

After Fleur and Percy, none of the others were familiar to Draco, and they seemed to blend together in his mind. Besides Percy, however, neither of Ginny’s two other living brothers approached them, and he remembered meeting Lily Potter Macmillan, but not her brother Albus. These omissions bothered Draco, but he was reluctant to mention them to Ginny. She glowed with happiness as she thanked all of her family for their congratulations, even when they were obviously insincere, and he didn’t want to disturb her.

Finally, the line of well-wishers dwindled away, and Ginny and Draco were more than willing to sit quietly together for a few minutes.

“Thank you for putting up with all that,” Ginny said with a smile.

“For you, anything,” Draco said gallantly, hoping that his smile looked genuine. “Would you care for something to drink, m’lady?”

“I would, indeed” Ginny responded. “I’m parched after all that talking. But I’ll go get the drinks. It will be easier for me to carry them.” Draco would have protested, claiming he could use a simple Hovering Charm, but his knee twinged then, so he let her go.

Draco watched Ginny cross the dance floor with a small smile on his face before he realized he wasn’t alone at the table anymore. Ginny’s brothers had finally decided to approach, sitting down on either side of him, once he was totally alone. Draco gave them credit for the tactic, even as he evaluated his very few exit strategies.

“So,” Charlie said from Draco’s right. “You think you’re going to marry our little sister, do you?”

“Yes,” Draco said evenly, successfully hiding his nerves.

“Do you really think we’re going to let you do that without a fight?” George asked from his left.

Draco raised an eyebrow and looked each brother in the eye before responding. “You both know Ginny,” he said. “Do you really think you have any say in the matter?”

Charlie paused for a moment, before laughing heartily. “You’ll do,” he said, clapping Draco on the shoulder. “That was a much better answer than Harry’s!”

Draco sighed inwardly with relief, but George frowned. “What are you doing, Charlie?” he asked. “We haven’t even threatened the slimy git yet!”

“Don’t you see?” Charlie asked. “We don’t need to. Slimy git or not, he knows exactly what he’s getting into!”

“No threats are necessary, I should think,” Draco said dryly. “I have been on the other end of her Bat-Bogey Hex, you know.” Then, against his own better judgment, he asked, “What did Potter say?”

“Oh, he went on and on about how much he loved her, and how he would never hurt her, and other idealistic rubbish like that,” George said. “It was a total bore, but it was fun to watch him squirm.”

“It was even more fun to hold his promises over his head whenever Ginny got upset—especially when she was pregnant,” Charlie added. “Her emotions went so haywire then that it was child’s play to find her just after she had been crying and then blame Harry for it. Drove him crazy.” He sighed. “I don’t suppose that would work with you though.”

“No,” Draco said. “Considering it has probably been forty years since Ginny has even been capable of bearing children, that’s likely futile.”

“Still, you understand what we mean, right?” George asked.

“Of course!” Draco said. “I have a daughter. The grilling I put her husband through makes this look like a couple of boys shoving each other at recess.”

“The grilling we put Harry though does that as well,” Charlie answered. “Of course, we were all much younger then, and Ginny was much more innocent.”

“Innocent!” George spluttered. “You obviously never saw her wield her wand during the war! She was a force to be reckoned with!”

“She still is,” Draco said with a grin. “But I’m willing to risk it.”

George looked at Draco, then held out his hand. “Yes, I do believe you’ll do,” he said.

***

Ginny walked slowly back to the table where she had left Draco, being careful not to spill any of the crimson punch on her pale blue robes. It was taking much longer than she had expected, as every few paces, someone else would stop to ask her about Draco. How had they met? How long had they been dating? How did he propose? Was he really as rich as they had heard? Ginny was thrilled that everyone seemed to be taking the announcement well, and to be genuinely happy for her, but all of the attention was exhausting. She just wanted to get back to Draco, and be able to sit for a while.

When she caught sight of their table, however, she saw that Draco wasn’t alone, but flanked by George and Charlie. She increased her pace immediately, hoping to quickly undo whatever damage her brothers might have done.

“What do you two think you are doing?” Ginny demanded. “You haven’t been putting Draco through the wringer, have you?”

“Of course not!” Charlie said indignantly.

“Would we ever do such a thing?” George asked with his best look of false innocence.

Ginny gave each of them a hard look, while Draco watched in amusement. George relented first. “All right,” he said guiltily. “We did try to. But we didn’t get very far.”

“No,” Charlie added. “Your fiancé here refused to cooperate. He seemed to think you are more frightening than we are!”

Ginny looked questioningly at Draco. He just shrugged and said, “It’s true.”

“I can’t say I understand what you see in him, Ginny,” Charlie said, “but the bloke sure understands you better than Harry ever did, even after years of marriage!”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t have any trouble keeping him in line if you threaten to hex him!” George added.

“Hey!” Draco interjected. “I thought you decided you approved.”

“We do!” George and Charlie said simultaneously. Charlie added, “But we have to find some way to see you squirm!”

Ginny laughed at the slightly pinched look on Draco’s face. “I’m not going to hex you,” she said reassuringly once she had regained her composure, and he relaxed slightly. She had never hexed Harry, as tempted as she had been some times, and she wasn’t likely to start hexing her husband now. “However, I just might hex these two!”

George and Charlie held their hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, we’ll stop,” George said. “Just don’t take out your wand!”

They all laughed then, even Draco. Ginny was wiping the tears from her eyes when she looked up and froze. Albus was standing about four feet from their table, glaring fiercely at her.

****************************

Translation Note: “Solch ein lieblich Kind! So hübsch mit allem das schönes Goldhaar, und so artig!” is a rough translation of “Such a lovely child! So pretty with all that beautiful golden hair, and so well-behaved!” I’m afraid that my German was never very good to begin with, and it has been years and years since I studied it, so I apologize if this translation is totally wrong!