Chapter Twenty-eight: Sabotage, Payback, and More

Ginny stood in front of the mirror, staring back at her reflection. Her hair was being difficult she decided. She knew perfectly well how good she could make it look, especially in a chignon, for Hermione and Ron’s dinner, but she also knew how much she’d rather have it all down, hiding her face from view. Hermione had been absolutely impossible since that day in the hospital wing at Hogwarts and Ginny knew, she simply knew that Hermione would try and punish her for it tonight and couldn’t help but muttering curse words under her breath about the other woman.

“Well, best to face a confrontation head on,” she murmured to herself, taking out her wand and styling her hair up, out of her eyes and yet purposefully messy just because she knew Hermione was neurotic about these things and would hate it, though Ginny liked it well enough. Ginny paused, glancing up to meet her reflection in the mirror. “Hermione would hate it,” she murmured to herself, as if seeing how the idea felt. Ginny chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip, glancing over her shoulder to the small black dress hanging by her closet, the dress she had been intending to wear. The four of them had made it a priority to take a night for themselves as couples every month or so over the past few years, and Hermione had come up with the idea of it being a dressed up affair. Ginny eyed her black dress. It was a nice dress, she thought to herself, which was precisely why she no longer had any intention of wearing it. If Hermione was going to punish her, then she was going to punish Hermione.

Ten minutes later, Ginny was putting on her make-up; after all looking underdressed was no reason to look as if she’d forgot to dress. The devil was in the details she thought to herself. Just then Albus came into the room, a look of disgruntlement and determination on his face in equal part. “Mum, did you know Rose has got herself a new boyfriend?” he demanded scathingly.

Ginny looked up in surprise, wand in hand as she curled her lashes. “Hadn’t the foggiest,” she replied, finally turning to her son. “Do you know him?”

“Travis Bletchley,” Albus spat. “Slytherin.”

Ginny smirked at that, returning to her make-up charms. “Well good for Rose.”

“No, mum, not good. What is it with all the women in this family falling for bleeding Slytherins?”

“Isn’t that the truth?” Ginny mused to herself, Albus not quite hearing her.

“Mum, can you believe this?” he exclaimed.

“Albus, honey, why are you so worked up about this?” she asked, glancing back to her son, her eyebrows suddenly rising. “Why on earth have you got your broom out?” she asked incredulously.

“Because that bloody boyfriend of hers came over earlier to make nice. Rose wanted to introduce me to him. Ha! As if I didn’t know who he is already! He’s practically best mates with that sodding Malfoy!”

Ginny nodded. “And the broom?”

“He wants me to play him in Quidditch. Tonight at five till six.”

“Well that will be fun, honey.”

“Yeah, beating him into the dirt will be,” Albus muttered under his breath, his eyes flashing with excitement nonetheless.

“Well have fun, dear,” Ginny smiled, reaching out to ruffle her son’s hair but he was tall enough now to evade her and she rolled her eyes instead. “Where are you meeting him?”

“The old field where James and I used to play. He’s invited a few of those Slytherin bastards…”

Ginny directed her son with a pointed look and he relented, albeit reluctantly, “Slytherin… idiots…” he amended. Ginny nodded and he continued. “Anyway, I called up James and he and Uncle George are going to join us. Angelina promised to watch the shop so they could come.”

“Sounds like fun,” Ginny smiled.

“No, sounds like payback,” Albus corrected her. He then told her to have fun at her dinner and swept out of the room with a purpose, no doubt plotting to beat the other boy to a pulp if given the chance.

Ginny watched him leave; privately thinking it was a very good night for payback all around.

Lily glanced up from where she sat on the floor of her room as her brother rushed past and hurtled himself down the stairs, her eyebrows flitting up in surprise. She had abandoned packing her things once her family came home, but if her parents and Albus would both be gone… Her eyes drifted to her bed, conscious of the suitcase hidden underneath and contemplating. She could finish packing tonight, be completely done… The thought made her dizzy for a moment, but she knew that she was far behind in packing and this would be her last chance before leaving with Scorpius in the morning from the border apparition point in London. Checking her clock, Lily bit her lip, only a quarter till six. Soon everyone would be gone.

Ginny had just finished the final touches on her make-up, when Harry walked into the bedroom, slipping out of his auror robes and reaching to undo his tie. “G-Ginny, what are you doing? We leave in ten minutes,” he spluttered.

“Hmm? Oh, this? I don’t know; I just felt like something more… simple tonight,” Ginny replied, putting her small earrings in place. Harry took in her black long-sleeved jumper, the only evidence of attempting to dress up being a simple necklace and her earrings. It wouldn’t have been bad except for the very obvious muggle jeans Ginny wore, their dark wash not concealing what they were.

“Uh, Ginny, did Hermione say tonight was casual?”

“Nope, but I just really wanted to wear this tonight. Much more comfortable. You ought to wear something comfortable too,” she said, patting his arm.

Harry looked down in surprise, one eyebrow lifting. His wife had not voluntarily touched him in days…

She gave him a small smile and started slipping on her shoes.

“Okay…” Harry said slowly. He shook his head to himself, going into the other room and changing. He came out a moment later, wearing something in between the usual nice outfit he’d wear to their dinners, and the casual garb Ginny was trying to convince him to wear.

Ginny raised an eyebrow at his slacks, rolling her eyes. “Chicken.”

“It’s still casual,” Harry defended. “Besides I don’t want to bring on the wrath of Hermione.”

Ginny turned on him, suddenly quite serious. “Harry, who are you more afraid of, Hermione or me?”

“I guess I’ll go change,” Harry muttered in defeat as he headed back to his closet with Ginny smirking to herself behind him.

Only a minute later, she was standing at the foot of the stairs, ready to disapparate. “Lily, your father and I are leaving!” she called.

“Okay, have a good night!”

Ginny rolled her eyes to her husband, reaching for her purse. “She’s been in that room all day. I’ve hardly seen her at all.”

Harry simply ignored her though, preoccupied with his thoughts. “Are you sure we want to encounter a very brassed off Hermione tonight?” he asked seriously. “Things between you both have been tense enough lately…”

“You’re right,” Ginny nodded, still smirking somewhat. “Which is why I thought it’d be best if everyone loosened up, wore something comfortable. You’re comfortable aren’t you, Harry?”

Harry sighed deeply, his shoulders falling. “Let’s just get this over with.”

*

Lily was in her room when she heard her parents leaving, the front door closing behind them. Taking in a sharp breath, she reached under her bed and pulled out her barely filled suitcase, staring down at it in dismay. She had a lot of work to do.

Just then she heard the front door open again, and her eyes widened in surprise. She hurriedly shoved the suitcase back under the bed and peeked out of her door, seeing not her mother at the foot of the stairs but Rose, talking quietly to a tall blond man. The man looked up upon hearing Lily on the landing and her mouth fell open in shock.

“Mr. Malfoy?”

Face contorting in anger, Lily stamped down the stairs, turning on her cousin in fury. “What is he doing here? Did you actually let him in?”

“I did,” Rose said calmly, her hands clasped in front of her.

“This isn’t your house, Rose! You can’t go inviting him in! How did you even get here?” she demanded.

“Unlocking charm.”

“So what? You waited out in the bushes?”

“No, I disapparated from my house once your parents showed up at the door. Scorpius’ dad agreed to meet me here.”

“WHY?” Lily shouted, turning on the older man, unable to constrain her anger. “Why are you here?”

“Because I am apparently financing a trip of yours for an undetermined period of time and I think you’ve lost your senses,” Draco drawled.

Lily’s jaw fell in surprise, mouthing wordlessly. “How did you know…? Rose!”

Rose glanced down at her shoes but then back up, forcing herself to hold her cousin’s gaze.

Lily sneered. “Let me guess, you’re not apologizing.”

“Well now that we’ve gone through introductions and explanations, perhaps we can have an adult conversation?” Draco asked mockingly.

“Get out of my house!” Lily shouted, gesturing to the door. Realizing neither Rose nor Draco was going to move, she stamped her foot in anger and raced up the stairs, slamming her door behind her but there was a sudden pop and an arm reached out of nowhere and stopped the door from slamming shut. Lily jumped back in fright, seeing Draco on the other side of her doorway. He lazily twirled his wand through his fingers, having just Apparated.

“Get OUT!” she screamed at him.

“SIT DOWN,” he barked.

Lily’s eyes widened in shock and she unconsciously took a few steps back, plopping down in her desk chair. “I don’t want to talk to you,” she insisted, still quailing somewhat under his presence.

“Not your decision,” Draco snapped, calling loudly over his shoulder. “If you’d be so kind as to wait downstairs, Miss Weasley?”

There was an answer back from Rose and Draco nodded, his eyes sweeping over Lily and taking in her room. “Where’s the suitcase?” he asked interestedly.

Lily’s eyes flitted to the bed without her meaning to and Draco smirked, giving his wand a small flick. Her mostly empty suitcase shot out from under the bed, landing with a thunk at the older man’s feet.

“Ah,” he exclaimed, bending down and holding up a pair of socks. “Definitely necessary… shirts, shoes, pair of Muggle jeans…”

“And why are you going through my things exactly?” Lily demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Uh uh uh… I didn’t say you could speak,” he reprimanded, waving his finger at her in disapproval.

“Excuse me?” she snapped, building up steam. “This is my room! You can’t just order me around!”

“Silence!”

Lily flinched, immediately falling silent.

“You can’t talk to me like that,” she quietly complained.

“Sure I can,” Draco drawled. “Now tell me, how long do you think these clothes will last you? The summer in comfort; a few months more, they’d get tiring, same thing every week… Theoretically they could last you for years if you were willing to wear them till they were rags on your back,” he raised his eyebrows in question but Lily remained silent.

“Naturally you’d want to buy some new clothes, but where to pack them when you do? It would depend on if you stayed in one place or kept moving regularly, of course. But the money you do bring, that would be needed for food not clothes. How long do you suppose the money would last, hmm? Astoria and I are only providing Scorpius with enough to be comfortable for the summer, but if he’s splitting it with you…” he gestured, “money runs out twice as fast.”

“I’d bring my own money!” Lily sneered. “I wouldn’t just use Scorpius like that!”

“You mean your parents’ money.”

Lily blinked, at a loss for words. Draco finally leaned against her bureau, arms crossed over his chest. “Did you really think your father wouldn’t find you? Wouldn’t have the entire Auror’s squad searching over all of Europe for you?” Lily’s face fell. Draco leaned forward, continuing. “Forget about accessing your parents’ money without their noticing. There would be posters of you up everywhere. You’d be in custody of an international Auror in less than twenty four hours. Unless you managed to hide very, very well, which would be some holiday, you can count on that,” he said sarcastically.

“You’re saying it’s useless. Running away,” Lily summarized.

Draco nodded but didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to.

Laughing humorlessly, Lily stared down at the floor. “And what if I don’t care that it’s pointless?”

“And why’s that?”

Lily looked up at him, her green eyes angry and Draco was struck by how much she looked like Ginny, all but those damn eyes of Potter’s. “I don’t want to be here,” she bit out, “when everything between you and my mum comes to light,” she snapped. “Running away is worth it, even if it’s impossible, just to get away from you.”

Draco chuckled to himself and Lily burned with anger at him. “WHY are you SMILING?” she yelled.

“So you think you know everything, don’t you?” Draco laughed to himself, looking up at the ceiling. “All the details of my sordid affair with your mother.”

Suddenly she snapped and Lily was launching herself at Draco, trying her level best to hit him. “How dare you! She is my mother!” she cried, hot angry tears streaking down her face. Draco caught her wrists in both his hands, stopping her small fists before she could attack him any further. Sucking in shuddering sobs, Lily stopped fighting, her shoulders heaving as she continued to cry. “You’re ruining my family! I hate you! I hate you and I hate her!”

“Don’t hate your mother,” Draco whispered, still holding the younger girl’s wrists but gently.

“W-why n-not?” she cried, choking back as many tears as she could. “She did all of this… She said she l-loves you!”

Lily continued to cry, not noticing how Draco’s eyes fell closed, his jaw tightening.

“Your mother and I are not seeing each other,” he assured her. “I swear on my son’s life, Lily.”

“That’s n-not p-possible... I know she was t-there, at your off-office…”

“Why does everyone seem to know that?” Draco asked aloud, shaking his head. “Ah… my secretary…”

“D-don’t go f-firing her for telling us the truth!” she cried, Draco finally releasing her so she could wipe her eyes.

“You don’t even recognize what the truth is,” Draco told her with a sigh. “How many times must I or your mother or your cousin tell you that there is no affair?”

Lily stiffened, but quickly tried to argue her way past him, not caring what she said, only that she didn’t let him convince her, didn’t let it all go away because it couldn’t go away. It couldn’t just all disappear like nothing had ever happened. So what if the affair wasn’t real? The feelings behind it were, weren’t they?

“She said she loved you,” Lily said with quiet finality. “What does anything else matter?”

“What matters is that you are purposefully ignoring everything I’m telling you, what really happened! Which was nothing,” he finished disheartened, his grey eyes full of nothingness.

Lily stared up at him, swallowing painfully. “Then why aren’t my parents the same? Why is everything so tense and falling apart? My dad, he doesn’t trust her anymore. My mum, I heard her over Easter holidays, after she saw you, she wouldn’t stop crying.” Draco’s jaw tightened but he did not look away and Lily felt her voice waver. “I saw her in the hospital wing. She was horrified that I found out.”

“And why do you think that was? Hmm? Look me in the eye and tell me why she was so devastated that you said anything.”

Raising her head, Lily stared up at him, meeting his flat grey eyes but there was something there, some unnamed emotion and it made her uncomfortable. It made her want to cry all over again. She quickly looked away but couldn’t get the image of such deadness in Draco Malfoy’s eyes out of her head.

“Why, Lily? Why did it hurt her?” he asked gently.

“B-because it’s painful.”

“Sit.” It was the same word he’d ordered her to do before, only now it was gentle, like a father trying to talk to his daughter and Lily supposed that was some of what this was, a father talking to a daughter, related only by bitter circumstances frustrating them both. She sat on the corner of her bed and Draco Malfoy bent so that he was eye level with her, those same dead eyes meeting hers.

“It is painful, Lily, and I imagine that’s why your mum felt safe telling your cousin Rose about what happened, because your cousin was in pain then and needing someone to talk to. It was a relief to your mum, talking about it, but it was also painful. And it was painful to see me and for me to see her. And it was like a freshly cut wound that day in the hospital wing. Can you imagine it from her eyes? Seeing her daughter and her niece fighting, hating each other over a secret that she let out? The mistakes she made in her past were causing you pain, you her daughter.”

Lily sniffled, wiping at her eyes, her tears still falling down her cheeks. “There really was no affair?”

“No,” he smiled, though there was no feeling in it. “She may have admitted to loving me, and I her, but she loves you infinitely more than that and would have never done that to you, not after everything that happened.”

“Maybe beforehand though?” Lily sniffed. “If it hadn’t got out? If you two had just ran into each other again, and no one knew? Would she have gone back to you then?”

Draco lips thinned, eyes distant. “That’s not what happened. You can’t know that which never happened.”

“Do you wish it had?” Lily whispered, tears shining in her eyes. She wasn’t sure what she was hoping for from this man, but she morbidly awaited his answer.

“I love your mother,” he said, his voice gruff and dry, his own eyes now bright. “But I love my son as much as Ginny loves you and I pray I would never do that.”

“But you still love her.”

He nodded. “And miss her.”

“And it’s still painful?”

“God, yes. That’s why I’m begging you, Lily. Don’t do this to her. Don’t put her through this. You will only add to her guilt. She’ll think it’s all because of her. What happened between us is painful now because of how it ended then,” he said, his voice now raw and aching.

“What do you mean?”

Draco’s expression tightened and Lily let out a soft gasp, seeing that he was genuinely in very real pain, the kind she could never describe to anyone afterwards, even if she wanted to.

“What happened?” she asked, a hitch in her voice.

“This is not a conversation we should be having,” he bit out.

But that pain was still there and it was only getting worse and Lily wanted him to say what it was, just to take that secret away from him, it looked so awful.

“Please? Please tell me what happened.”

Draco closed his eyes and stood up, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to breathe. Why had he agreed to do this? It wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth it. All the memories came flooding back. Ginny, sixteen and smiling up at him in the kitchen of their flat, her warm brown eyes encouraging him, telling him it would all be okay. Her gentle touch as she fixed his tie and smoothed the front of his robes. Her smile was the worst; it filled him with a sharp pain unlike any other because it was a smile that took over her whole face, making her bright and beautiful, all the more so because he knew she had been his.

Until she wasn’t. Until she was gone.

He could destroy this girl here and now. He could tell Ginny’s daughter exactly what had happened, what her father had done but he thought of Ginny and how she had cried in the hospital wing, losing her ability to hold herself up, distraught over her daughter and blaming herself.

And he couldn’t do it. He had to lie to the girl, no matter how much the words were like poison in his mouth. “She chose your father,” he whispered, his voice barely audible.

Lily watched him closely, a single tear sliding down her face. She saw past his words and to the truth, not knowing what it was but recognizing it as something much, much uglier. She saw his rigid stance, the clenched fists as his side. She saw the hatred in his eyes, whether he hated himself or someone else, Lily didn’t know. But she knew she would get no further answer from him and she told herself she didn’t need one.

She wiped away the last of her tears and breathed in. “Do you know a quick charm to help me unpack?” she smiled weakly up at him.

Draco met her eyes and his lips curved up a fraction of an inch. “Was it the emotions that got you?” he asked dully but with a wry smile. “Your mum always fell for the sob stories.”

Lily shook her head with a small upturn of her lips. “Seriously now, about that charm…”

With a roll of his shoulders, Draco flicked his wand and all her things went soaring back to their places, drawers opening to collect their missing collections and shutting right afterward, the entire room put back to rights.

“Thank you,” Lily dipped her head towards her empty suitcase but she meant more than that.

Draco nodded and looked up. “Well, I suppose it’s time I left now, isn’t it?”

“I’ll walk you to the door…”

“That won’t be necessary but thank you,” Draco assured her. Lily nodded and watched as the tall man left her room, hearing his footsteps as he descended the staircase.

Rose stood up from her place sitting at the foot of the stairs, a hopeful expression on her face. Draco nodded curtly to her and she sighed in relief, giving her cousin a weak smile where Lily stood on the landing, watching Draco Malfoy’s retreating back. He was just on the last stair when the front door swung open, Lily’s parents arguing as they walked inside and freezing in their tracks.

“Draco…” Ginny breathed, her purse suddenly falling from her slack hands, her husband standing furiously next to her.

“Hello, Ginny…”

*

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