The group made their way to the entrance of the Ministry. Lucius got into the car, pouting like a dignified five year old, while Narcissa and Draco waited outside for Ginny and the Weasley's to say their goodbyes. Molly instantly started sobbing and clung to Ginny so closely, the poor girl's face was almost crushed by her chest.
"Mum...can't breathe." wrote the quill. Molly sniffled as she relaxed her hold.
Draco stood against the Ministry car and rolled his eyes. He hated drawn out tearful goodbyes. What was the use of them?
Molly then turned to Narcissa, her eyes red and glistening with the water that was continuing to build up in them. "Please..." was all that she could get out, but Narcissa understood and nodded.
"I assure you, under my roof your daughter will be fine." she said, putting a reassuring hand on Molly's shoulder, trying her best to bring some kind of comfort.
Arthur hugged and kissed Ginny through the tears rolling down his cheeks. He then took Molly into his arms and walked over to the car that they had arrived in.
Ginny's quill moved with lightning speed while she and Ron hugged. Ron stared Draco down as he embraced his sister.
"If anything happens to my sister Malfoy, I'll kill you." said Ron. "I don't give a damn about that old prick in there. I. Will. Kill. You."
Draco looked back at Ron, unphased by the threat. Narcissa had wanted to intervene, however, she knew that as Ginny's older brother, he was bound to be protective.
Ginny tore the piece of parchment that had just been written on, folded it up, and stuck it in Ron's jacket pocket.
"Dont read this until after everything happens tomorrow, promise?" the quill wrote on a clean sheet.
Ron nodded, trying his best not to cry in front of the Malfoys. He didn't want to show any sign of weakness to Draco. He wanted to make sure Draco knew he meant what he said.
"I'll send Pig with your wand, yeah?" said Ron hugging Ginny one last time as she nodded. He then watched as Narcissa, Draco, and Ginny entered the car. He stood there stone faced and watched the car drive off into the distance.
The car ride started out as quiet as a tomb. Ginny sat across from Draco, observing him as he looked out the window at nothing in particular.
She never really had the opportunity to sit and look at him in school with everything going on, but now that she had the chance, she couldn't help but be captivated by his actual beauty. The thought of herself being attracted to Draco Malfoy disgusted her, however she couldn't deny that Draco was a very wonderful specimen to observe.
Draco no longer wore his hair in that stuck up gelled back hairstyle like he used to in his younger days. His well styled hair was now a bit longer in the front than it was the back, with a few delicate tendrils hanging in his face. His skin was no longer that sickly color it was during his sixth and most of his seventh year. It looked healthier, smoother, more like an 18 year old should look. His eyes, though bored looking at the moment, were like storm clouds that wouldn't dare unleash the rain within them. She had never noticed that his eyes were actually gray and not the pale blue she thought she had seen in passing.
His lips weren't thin as he pushed them in and out absentmindedly. They were full and a pale pink that went well with his skin. As she looked at him in even more detail, she noticed by the fit of his shirt that he had enough muscle to accommodate his not too lanky frame. '
'He would be the perfect man, if he wasn't such a prat.' Ginny said to herself.
"I hope you will come to like it at our home." said Narcissa, pulling Ginny out of her thoughts. Ginny nodded slowly, as she prepared from what she felt would be an attempt at a conversation.
"You're a Malfoy now. So everything that is ours is now yours." said Narcissa sweetly. "You are allowed free reign of the manor, with the exception of mine and Mr. Malfoy's private quarters and the dungeons. You will have your own room, however, as Draco and you are married, it's customary that you two share a room, be it Draco's or yours."
"Yes, Mrs. Malfoy." the quill wrote slowly.
Narcissa smiled. "No need for the formalities. After all, I am your mother-in-law. You may call me Narcissa or Cissy, if you prefer."
Ginny forced a small smile. She could tell that Narcissa was trying despite her husband sitting beside her looking less than thrilled over the situation and her.
"Ginny." wrote the quill. "You can call me Ginny."
Narcissa smiled, nodding at the young girl. She could tell that she was going to be rather fond of Ginny. She had always wanted a daughter, and though circumstances actually forced one up in her, she was going to make the best of it and hoped that Ginny would allow her to.
Lucius scoffed at the conversation. He wanted nothing to do with the redheaded urchin of his nemesis. Her attire alone was enough to make him want to vomit. Her parents knew she was stepping into the higher end of pureblood society, and they weren't even decent enough to give her a proper dress? He had to admit however, that at least the Weasley girl was attractive enough. The children she were to spawn would at least not look like grindylows.
The car finally arrived at Malfoy Manor. Ginny was the last to get out of the car and she couldn't help but be positively awestruck.
The manor was massive to say the least. Though the outside was all black, it didn't seem ominous or uninviting. The pebbled walkway was lined with walls made of weaved vines. There were fountains on either side of the walkway that seemed to resemble the ones that Ginny had seen in her Muggle Studies book on the chapter about Greek Mythology.
She walked slowly behind the rest, looking around, taking in her surroundings. Narcissa looked back at the girl and couldn't help but smile. That's how she looked when she saw the manor for the first time herself.
When they got into the manor, Ginny found herself once again blown away.
The entranceway itself was could more than likely fit her house into it. The floor was made of pure snow white marble that Ginny knew the sounds of footsteps against it would drive her mother insane. The walls were a deep mahogany color, draped with paintings of what looked like old relatives. Most of the paintings sneered generously at Ginny, while a couple of them actually smiled and greeted her warmly, much to Lucius's annoyance. He summoned a house elf to take his cloak and cane and screamed how he wanted a hard brandy, and walked off, intending on not seeing anyone else for the rest of the night.
Ginny stood awkwardly in the middle of the entrance way beside her trunk that had been magically grown back to its normal size after she took it out of her pocket. Draco looked at the tattered and beat up hand me down that had the initials 'P.W.' on it. He almost commented on its appearance until he realized that the initials stood for the brother that she had lost. It must have belonged to him once before.
"I'll have an elf vanish that to your extra room if that's okay with you dear." said Narcissa. Immediately, a house elf popped out of nowhere, touched the trunk, and disappeared with it.
"Draco will show you around before taking you to his room. There are night clothes in there for you already, as well as something for tomorrow. I had planned on us going out tomorrow to get you a new wardrobe."
Ginny shook her head. "No, that's not necessary." the quill wrote. "I wouldn't be able to pay you back for any of it."
Narcissa smiled kindly and put her hand on Ginny's shoulder. "You are a Malfoy now. Our money is just as much yours as it is Draco's and you are free to spend it on whatever you choose. Clothing included." she said with a wink.
Ginny nodded contently. She felt herself developing a bit of a soft spot for Narcissa.
"It looks as if we won't be formally dining tonight so if you want something, simply summon an elf and it will be brought to you. I'll leave you two to get to know each other yes?" said Narcissa. "Draco, remember what I told you."
"Yes mother." said Draco in a voice that said he was clearly over it. Narcissa gave her son one more look of warning, and then walked off.
Draco looked at Ginny and sighed. 'The Gods better have a special place reserved for me in the afterlife for what I have to endure today and for the rest of my bloody fucking life with this Weasley girl.' he said to himself.
Come on Weasley, follow me." he said, annoyed. Ginny looked at Draco, eyes shrinking in irritation.
"Don't you think that using my first name would be proper, husband?" the quill wrote.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Fine. Ginevra."
"Ginny." wrote the quill.
"Whatever. Just come on" said Draco holding out his arm for Ginny to take.
Ginny gave his arm a suspicious look before taking it. They then set off on a tour as Draco gave a brief description of rooms that they passed and portraits that were hanging.
He showed her a grand ballroom that rivaled the great hall at Hogwarts. The room was white with yellow accents on the walls and high windows that let the light in perfectly. There was a huge grand piano along with other musical instruments. A couple guitars, drums, a huge cello, a couple of flutes, a violin, and the most beautiful golden harp Ginny had ever seen.
Ginny loved music, especially the harp. Her brother Charlie had one made for her for her 10th birthday made of the dragon heartstring of a Chinese Fireball that had died. She had taught herself to play with the help of Charlie and Percy, as they couldn't afford any real music tutors. Over the years, she had gotten extremely good at playing it.
Draco watched her closely as Ginny lightly touched the harp, gently strumming the strings as if it was as fragile as a newborn baby. He couldn't help but admire the way she took the harp in. As if it was precious to her already.
"You play?" he asked as he watched Ginny continue to inspect the harp.
Ginny looked at Draco shyly. She almost didn't want to say anything, but he had asked. "Since I was a kid." wrote the quill. "Never on anything this gorgeous before."
Draco nodded. "It's rather old actually. My grandmum used to play. I don't remember a lot of her playing, but Mother used to tell me stories about how the only way to get me to sleep sometimes when I was a baby, was for my grandmum to play on this harp." he said, the corners of his mouth daring to twitch.
Ginny was shocked that Draco had opened up and shared such a personal memory with her. She then took his arm once again and walked with him. Soon they were swapping stories about their childhood. Ginny learned that his grandmum had died when he was about five, with his grandfather following her in death a year later. He told her about him running around playing with the house elves as he had very few friends besides Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini over. They compared being an only child to being the youngest of seven, with Ginny making Draco actually laugh at some of the stories about the twins and Ron that she shared, them being the closest to her.
Draco led her outside to the back gardens. Ginny felt as if she had died and gone to some wonderful paradise as she gazed upon the fields of flowers, some she would see in an everyday garden, and some were so rare she wondered where exactly were they from and how did they get them.
"This is absolutely gorgeous, Draco." the quill wrote as Ginny walked with Draco, wonder struck with her surroundings. Draco smiled a genuine, satisfied smile as he watched Ginny become enamored with the beauty that was his mother's gardens.
After summoning an elf and eating outside, they went back in where Draco showed her his private library. Though Ginny wasn't as big a reader as Hermione, she couldn't help but be amazed at how many books were in the room.
By the time they had reached Draco's part of the house, night was beginning to fall. Draco opened the doors to his room hesitantly and let Ginny in.
She thought she would see a dark room filled with green and silver and the sense of depression and evil. True, the room was green and silver, but it was bright and vibrant. The room itself was as big as the sixth year dorm in Gryffindor, huge sliding glass doors led out to a balcony that sat facing the gardens and the endless night sky. His bed was massive and inviting; her whole family could probably sleep comfortably in it. There was a huge wardrobe in the corner, as well as a big part of one of his walls being dedicated to a mirror.
She walked over to the bed where she seen the night clothes that Narcissa had mentioned. She picked them up and went to change in the loo that Draco had pointed out to her.
If Draco's bedroom was the size of her dorm, then his loo could very well fit her and Ron's bedrooms in it. The bathtub alone was the size of Ginny's full sized bed with its different taps that dispelled different soaps, scents, and bubbles, just like the prefects loo at school. She decided she would enjoy it some other time and just took a quick shower. She then changed into her night clothes. The material felt glorious to her skin, it had to be made of the finest silk, however, she was more content in sleeping in pajama shorts and a tank. She added that to the list of clothes in her head to purchase tomorrow.
She came out of the loo and gasped at the sight of Draco looking through her notebook. Even though the words that she wrote would fade so she wouldn't run out of parchment, she did have some pages of drawings that she had that stayed permanent. And Draco was now looking at a very private one that she had drawn of Harry's face.
She snatched the notebook quickly out of Draco's hands. "What the hell were you doing?!" the quill wrote angrily.
Draco shrugged. 'You're really asking me that as if I can't look through your things. You are after all, my wife now. So I'm at liberty to look at whatever I please of yours." said Draco smugly.
"Except this you bloody prat! These are private!" the quill wrote as Ginny glared harshly at Draco.
Draco couldn't help but grin. "You know, you're rather cute when you're angry." he said antagonizing her more by touching the edge of the notebook.
"And you're rather ugly when you're acting like a bloody prick!" yelled Ginny in a hoarse but loud voice, surprisingly both herself as well as Draco.
"Ah, so she does speak!" said Draco, amused. "I thought you were a bloody mute or some shit and I would have to read your nagging for the rest of my life."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yes you idiot, I can talk." she said, her voice already tired from not being used since May.
"Then why haven't you been talking before? Who is more of the idiot? You for not talking when you can, or me getting you to actually speak and not write shit in your bloody journal."
"I...I just don't have a lot to say to anyone after..." whispered Ginny, unable to finish her sentence. She looked down at the floor and clutched her notebook to her chest closely.
Draco looked at her and decided not to press the issue any further. "Look, I won't look in your book anymore alright? And...if you don't feel like talking, you don't have to. It'll save me from hearing your annoying voice anyways."
Ginny sighed. If this was as close to being sincere as she could get Draco to be, then she would take it.
"Thank you" the quill wrote after she let her notebook go.
Draco shrugged as he got up and approached his bed. Ginny began to feel extremely scared. She had totally forgotten about the 48 hour rule, and she was not prepared at all for what had to happen.
Draco sensed her hesitation. "You're a virgin." he said as a statement more than a question.
"No shit, how did you guess?" the quill wrote sarcastically.
"Well actually with your popularity with blokes in school, especially since you dated that wanker Thomas, us Slytherins thought you had opened your legs in your 4th year. Well, that's what Zabini had said anyways." said Draco, smirking.
Ginny laughed. "No wonder he tried to get with me after Michael Corner." the quill wrote. "You'll let him down about it gently of course."
"So not even you and Potter?"
Ginny's face went from amusement to annoyance in a matter of seconds. "No. And from now on, please don't bring up Harry." wrote the quill.
"But what if I-"
"I mean it Draco. I don't want to...I just can't talk about him okay? Especially not with you.” said Ginny, looking away.
Draco sighed and nodded. He would let the matter go for now.
"Tomorrow, I guess." he said.
"I'm sorry?" wrote the quill.
"Tomorrow we will do what we have to, alright? Frankly, I’m not in the mood to have an empty, unnecessary, and totally forced upon shag. You don't seem it either."
Ginny shook her head.
"Okay then. So are you getting in bed or not?" asked Draco.
"In your bed? I thought you was going to show me to my room and I'll sleep in there.” wrote the quill while Ginny looked rather stunned at Draco.
"I don't feel like walking anymore. I'll show you tomorrow. Besides, I have to get used to your ass in my bed sometimes anyways, don't I?" he smirked.
Ginny rolled her eyes and shrugged as she went on the other side of Draco's bed and climbed in, under the covers. She couldn't help but melt as she laid on the softest bed her back had eyed touched. The sheets smelled crisp and clean with a nice hint of the cologne that Draco would normally wear. She felt a bit bad about herself for liking the way Draco smelled.
Draco waved his hand and the lights dimmed to a tiny glow. He turned away from Ginny and tried to get comfortable and not think about the fact that there was a hot girl (even if she was a hot girl that he hated) in his bed just inches away.
Ginny laid there for what seemed like hours and reflected. She had lost Harry, she had lost her family, and she had lost her last name within a mere few months. She didn't know if her heart could take any more loss and heartbreak.
After a while, Ginny fell asleep. Draco, who was wide awake the entire time, turned back over and faced her sleeping form. He couldn't help but smile as he looked at a venerable, more softer side of Ginny that he could tell only presented itself in slumber. He felt an unfamiliar tug at his insides. He scrunched up his nose and made himself comfortable.
He would deal with this woman. He would fuck her because he had to, speak to her because she was there, and try to get along with her for his sanity's sake.
But he promised himself right then and there as that pull nagged him, that he wouldn't fall for her. That would indeed never happen.