Search:

SIYE Time:14:18 on 28th March 2024
SIYE Login: no


The Price of Victory
By potterfan2008

- Text Size +

Category: Alternate Universe, Post-Hogwarts
Characters:Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Sirius Black
Genres: Angst, Drama
Warnings: Disturbing Imagery, Rape, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence
Story is Complete
Rating: R
Reviews: 70
Summary: The Price of Victory – Almost eight years after Voldemort’s defeat, some of those who fought to defeat him were still paying the price. Ginny Weasley had been sacrificed to the son of a Death Eater to pay her family’s debts. Now she was trying to save her children from becoming like their father. Will end up H/G, but does not start that way. *Trigger warnings – non-consensual sex, Domestic Violence*
Hitcount: Story Total: 19073; Chapter Total: 2460





Author's Notes:
Thanks to my wonderful beta, Arnel and Brit picker, Mark!




ChapterPrinter
StoryPrinter


Ginny woke with a gasp of pain. The events of the previous evening returned to her. Draco was furious. Potter had underwritten the entire cost of the ward Draco had hoped to use as leverage with Madam Bones. Ginny was thankful that Draco was simply furious with the situation and hadn’t even considered that she may have pointed Harry in the right direction.

Dragging herself out of bed, she gingerly wrapped an arm around her abdomen. She was pretty sure she had some broken ribs. After her shower and downing the potions left for her, Tinks, Narcissa’s elf, came and wrapped her ribs.

“Thank you,” Ginny said gratefully.

Tinks nodded silently. Ginny imagined the elf had quite a bit of experience healing injuries.
After checking her appearance in the mirror, Ginny made her way downstairs. Narcissa and Draco were already at breakfast and to her dismay Ginny noticed Ted Nott and Blaise Zabini had joined them.
Narcissa was the only one to greet her. Ginny took some toast from the sideboard and quietly sat down.

“Do you have any idea how Potter learned about my plan?” Draco was asking.

“I don’t know, could that Bones girl have told him?” Ted asked.

“No, Susan and Astoria were both outraged on my behalf,” Draco smirked.

“As far as I can tell he visited Shacklebolt who was happy to spill what he knew,” Blaise said. He shook his head. “A blood traitor shouldn’t be in such a position within the Ministry. We’ve been trying to put
pressure on Bones to get rid of Shacklebolt, but she’s been holding firm on that point.”

“Do you know that healer had the audacity to return the money I’d already given him?”

“Where the hell did Potter come up with three million Galleons?” Ted asked.

“The Potter fortune was vast even before he defeated the Dark Lord,” Narcissa sniffed. “He was rewarded for his luck and my degenerate cousin has helped him increase his fortune.”

Draco suddenly seemed to realize Ginny had joined them. “Your brother knows him, right? I noticed him talking to Bill. Find some reason to arrange an introduction. I need to know if this was his end game or if he’s coming after me.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind bedding her,” Ted laughed as he looked her up and down. “If she’s nice enough to him, he’ll be sure to talk to her.”

“Ginevra is a Malfoy now, she will not be put out like a common whore,” Narcissa said sharply. Looking over Ginny as though assessing her, she said, “Potter’s godson is related to your children. Contact Potter or Black and see if you can arrange a get together. It would be more appropriate for you to contact Black; he is the head of the House of Black. See what you can discover about Potter’s plans.”

Ginny looked between the four of them. “How will I discover his plans? Surely you don’t think he’ll share them with me.”

“No, but he’s a man. They like bragging,” Narcissa said dismissively. “Flirt with him, allow him to believe you are interested in him. If you need to you could go to dinner with him. He will probably want to rub it in that he stole our moment of glory.”




“Mummy!”

A wave of relief swept over her as her children rushed over to hug her. “Hello, my loves.”

Perseus and Orion hugged her tightly. Ginny barely managed to stifle a moan of pain.

“Are you okay, Mummy?” Perseus asked in concern. Ginny flushed, she realized he could probably see the tell-tale signs of Draco’s abuse.

“I’m fine, love. I’m so happy to see all of you. I’ve missed you so much!”

Titania wrapped her chubby little arms around Ginny’s neck. “I wiked the pretty picture, Mummy. You wooked so beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Ginny hugged her tightly kissing her on top of the head. Standing, she led the children into the house. “I have some very exciting news. We’re going to London for a week.”

Apprehensive silence followed this announcement. Ginny hurried to explain. “Your father is going on a trip so we will be staying in the townhouse in London. We are also going to see Grandma and Grandpa Weasley while we are traveling.”

After exchanging a look with his younger brother, Perseus asked carefully, “Father won’t be there?”

“No, love. Father won’t be there, but your Grandmother Narcissa will be there some of the time.”

“Okay,” Perseus brightened. While Narcissa wasn’t the warmest person in the world, she wasn’t as scary as their father.




Ginny exited the car that Lord Black had sent for her and her children. Grimmauld square was rather run down and scary looking, but before she could worry about it the front door to Number twelve, Grimmauld Place opened.

“Mrs Malfoy, welcome to Grimmauld Place.”

“Thank you, Lord Black,” Ginny replied formally.

His eyes twinkling, Sirius bent over her hand before turning to the children. He held out his hand to Perseus. “Master Malfoy, it is an honour to meet you.”

Straightening up proudly, Perseus shook the older wizard’s hand as he’d been taught. “Thank you, sir. May I present my brother, Orion, and my sister, Titania?”

Sirius shook Orion’s hand as well and kissed Titania’s hand. Titania giggled and Sirius winked at her. “Welcome to my family home.”

Harry and Sirius instantly put the children at ease. The children were soon laughing and playing a noisy game of Exploding Snap. Ginny sat on a couch and watched them. It was sad how well and easily the men had connected to the children with just a bit of effort on their part. Draco had never shown the slightest interest in getting to know his own children. While she was grateful for his lack of interest, she wished they had a positive male role model to look up to.

A snowy white owl swooped into the room and Titania squealed. “Birdy, pretty birdy!”

Harry smiled down at her and knelt next to her holding out his arm. The owl landed gracefully on his arm. “This is Hedwig.”

Titania tentatively reached out a hand to the owl. Harry nodded and showed her how to gently pet the owl. Ginny was quite impressed with the owl’s patience. After a moment, Harry said, “She needs to go sleep now.”

“Night, night birdy,” Titania said sweetly.

The owl hooted softly as if responding to her before heading upstairs.

Sirius glanced over at his godson for a moment before nodding to some unspoken communication. Looking over at Perseus, he said, “I can do a really cool trick. Do you want to see?”

The boy nodded eagerly. As the children watched, Sirius transformed into a large black dog. Titania’s eyes went wide while the boys gasped. After a moment, he changed back into himself. “That is Padfoot, my Animagus form. Do you know what an Animagus is?”

“It’s a person who can turn into an animal!” Perseus shouted excitedly. “That is so cool!”

“Thank you,” Sirius replied laughingly. “How would you kids like to go out back with me and play with Padfoot?”

Titania was too overwhelmed to say anything, but two pairs of pleading eyes looked over at Ginny beseechingly. “Please, Mummy! May we?”

Ginny laughed. “Of course. Please behave and remember, he is still Lord Black.”

Once Sirius had shepherded the children outside, Harry sat down in the chair near Ginny. His eyes roamed over her face and Ginny could feel her face heat up as he catalogued the bruises she’d so carefully hidden.

“I am so sorry that he took my actions out on you.”

Ginny shrugged with a slight smile. “Draco is always looking for any provocation. I was glad you were able to foil his plans.”

“What does he believe you are going to do here?” Harry asked carefully.

Settling back into the chair, Ginny replied, “He wants to know what your plans are as far as he is concerned. He doesn’t know if this was a one-time thing or if you are going to go after his business. His friend, Blaise Zabini, is his contact at the Ministry and he wasn’t able to discover anything.”

Dropping her gaze, Ginny blushed. “Narcissa had the idea to contact Lord Black and try to connect with your godson. Draco told me he doesn’t care if I have to seduce you; he wants to know what is happening.”

Harry’s eyes flickered over her and Ginny’s breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t deny she found the man incredibly attractive, but she wouldn’t break her marriage vows. While Draco had given his permission, she was certain he wouldn’t hesitate to use it against her if she did.

“I surmised as much from the letter you sent to Sirius,” Harry admitted. “We will spend a few days together. Teddy is coming over tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind, but his grandmother, Andromeda, would like to meet you and the children. As you probably know she was disowned when she married Ted Tonks because he was a Muggle-born.”

Ginny smiled. “Based on the few disparaging comments my mother-in-law has made, I believe I would enjoy meeting her.”

Harry laughed. “Andromeda and I thought perhaps going to the aquatic centre would be fun. Teddy has been taking swimming lessons recently. I wasn’t sure if your children knew how to swim.”

“They do. My parents have a swimming hole on their property and I taught them to swim last summer. Titania has some work to do, but she won’t be left behind.”

“Brilliant,” Harry smiled. “I will let Andromeda know.”

“Will Mr Lupin be there?” Ginny asked. “I met him briefly, but my father and oldest brother, Bill, always speak highly of him.”

“I’m not certain,” Harry admitted with a slight frown. “Remus leaves a lot of Teddy’s day to day care up to Andromeda. Of course, Sirius consulted him when we received your letter and he agreed that Teddy
could meet your children.”

“Did you grow up here?” Ginny asked looking around.

Harry laughed. “After Sirius rescued me from my rotten relatives, I spent most of my childhood in Scotland. My grandparents had a cottage in the highlands and that is where Sirius and I lived. When the war started heating up and Dumbledore reformed the Order of the Phoenix, he asked Sirius to reopen this house. It was a disaster when we first arrived. Sirius had to hire a Magical Abatement company. Once his parents died, the house fell into disrepair. There was an awful house-elf who honestly had gone round the twist. He hadn’t cleaned in years.”

“Sounds awful.”

“It was,” Harry laughed. “I was very busy training and studying so Sirius wouldn’t let me come down until it had been decontaminated. Once I arrived, the elf helped Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius get a hold of me. Sirius rescued me, but it took him several days to find me.” He shivered with the memory. “Because he betrayed Sirius’ heir, the elf killed himself. We hired two new elves and they were more than happy to help us clean out the house and restore the House of Black to full glory.”

Ginny started when he mentioned his captivity. She’d forgotten for a moment who she was talking to and what he’d been through. He’d defeated the Dark Lord a month shy of his eighteenth birthday. The differences between him and her husband couldn’t have been more startling.

“It’s lovely,” Ginny said with a shy smile. “I grew up in Devon in a ramshackle old house that looks like it’s held up with magic. The heart of the house is my mum’s huge kitchen. I always think of her in the kitchen, she is one of the best cooks in the world. The house looks crazy, there are different levels and I think my parents simply added a new room on with every child. My youngest brother, Ron, ended up with the room near the attic. I was always glad I didn’t have to climb all those stairs.”

“That sounds great,” Harry said with a smile. “I’ve had some of your Mum’s cooking. She would always send a huge basket with your father or brothers when they came to an Order meeting. I remember her divine treacle tart. I’ve still not found one as good as hers.”

Ginny laughed. “She would be thrilled that she made such an impression on you.”

“I have to say I’m a bit jealous that you went to Hogwarts. Sirius always told such amazing stories about the school and the friends he made there.”

“Why didn’t you attend?”

Harry shrugged. “Sirius and Professor Dumbledore decided it was too dangerous. There had been several threats against me and there was an attempt to kidnap me when I visited Diagon Alley, so I was educated at home.”

“That’s too bad. One of my first memories is going to King’s Cross to see my brothers off to school.” Her smile faltered. “Unfortunately, Hogwarts did not live up to my expectations. My first year…my first year was awful. I had four older brothers at school and they didn’t want anything to do with me. All year I heard ‘Go away, Ginny.’ I had trouble making friends — I was very shy and my roommates made fun of my cast offs. I withdrew. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Lucius Malfoy had slipped an enchanted diary into my cauldron. As the year went on I lost more and more time, I would wake up and not know what happened for the past day.

“That was scary enough, but then some of my schoolmates ended up Petrified. The Chamber of Secrets had been reopened. There was talk of closing the school. Professor Dumbledore was even removed as Headmaster for a period of time. My illustrious father-in-law was behind that idea.

“Finally, I was able to resist the diary long enough to go to Professor McGonagall. I couldn’t actually tell her much, but she somehow broke the enchantment. Those who had been Petrified recovered and Professor Dumbledore was returned to the school, but I felt so tainted. Professor Dumbledore explained that I was enchanted to do the bidding of Tom Riddle, but he didn’t explain anything else. I discovered years later who Tom Riddle actually was.”

“Lord Voldemort,” Harry said softly.

She nodded. “My father-in-law was happy to share that with me after I moved into their townhouse. I felt so betrayed. Professor Dumbledore should have told me.”

“He really should have told you. I didn’t realize it was you who received the diary.”

“You knew about the diary?”

“Dumbledore came to see us once he was removed as Headmaster. He told us about the Chamber of Secrets and we realized the rumoured creature in the Chamber of Secrets was a Basilisk.”

“A Basilisk?” Ginny started. “I thought it was a nightmare. I remember the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk, but when I told my parents they told me it was a nightmare.”

Harry frowned. “I know Professor Dumbledore told them. I don’t know why your parents would have said that.”

“My mum was always trying to shelter us. She never really accepted that we were growing up. I imagine she thought it would be best if I didn’t know,” Ginny said bitterly. “I was totally unprepared when Lucius told me I’d done his master’s bidding. I felt as though I deserved to be paired with Draco.”

“You didn’t,” Harry said firmly. “It was Lucius and Voldemort, not you. The fact that you were able to break its hold on you and go to Professor McGonagall shows how strong you were.”

“That’s what my brother, Bill, told me,” Ginny admitted. “He was the only one who actually talked to me about what happened. My mother told me to forget about it and even when I confronted her once I knew the truth, she said I didn’t need to worry about it.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry offered. “I know what it’s like to have information kept from you. Professor Dumbledore, while I greatly admired the man, he kept a lot of information from me growing up.”

“Did he leave the Basilisk there?”

Harry shook his head. “I discovered that I am actually a Parselmouth — a gift from Voldemort. After that school year, Sirius and I went to the school and we found the Chamber of Secrets. I’m still a bit suspicious of the circumstances, but somehow I ended up facing the Basilisk alone. Sirius was injured when one of the tunnels collapsed, so I ended up down there alone. Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix, brought me the Sorting Hat and I found Gryffindor’s sword. I used that to kill it.

“Sirius was furious. He thinks Dumbledore was testing me and somehow arranged the tunnel collapse. The fact that Fawkes brought me the Sorting Hat was rather suspicious. Sirius thinks he sent the phoenix to help me.”

“I can’t believe he sent you down there.” She sighed. “My mother thinks Dumbledore hung the moon, but I…the fact that he couldn’t save me always made me wonder.”

Harry nodded. “Thank you for sharing that with me. I can’t imagine it was easy.”

“No, but I didn’t want you to hear about it later and wonder. My husband thinks it is something to be proud of — the fact that I opened the Chamber of Secrets. He brags about it to his Death Eater pals. I know he promotes it like the Dark Lord chose me rather than his father was petty and targeted a little girl in order to try and kill my father’s bill.”

“That does not surprise me at all,” Harry said. Standing, he said, “Let’s see what your children are getting up to out there. I’m rather sure they are better behaved than my godfather.”

Following Harry out the kitchen door, Ginny was happy to see her children playing happily with the big black dog. Titania had found some flowers and was making the dog flower chains while Perseus and Orion were throwing a ball for Padfoot to catch. Harry laughed and jumped right in. He led the boys in a game of keep away with Padfoot jumping in the middle and playfully barking. Ginny smiled at the way he and Sirius both played so naturally with them.

Making her way over to a stone bench, Ginny reflected that she would have preferred to play with the children, but after years of being reprimanded for being too informal she didn’t feel comfortable doing so in front of others. Merlin knew that if her husband found out that she played with the children where others could see she would certainly be punished.

Titania came over and climbed on her lap. “This is fun, Mummy.”

Kissing her daughter on top of the head, she had to agree. After the boys tired of playing with the dog, Padfoot changed back into Sirius. At a word from him a tiny house-elf brought out a tray of with tall glasses of lemonade and six individual berry Pavlovas. The children swarmed around the tray helping themselves. Harry and Sirius flopped onto the grass and watched them with a smile.

As Harry watched, Titania lost her grip on her Pavlova and dropped the cut crystal cup on the ground shattering it. Perseus’ reaction was instantaneous; he jumped up in front of his little sister who had started crying. “It was an accident, she didn’t mean to break it.”

Harry stood up. “It’s okay, Titania.” With a wave of his wand, Harry repaired the glass. Ginny was drying her daughter’s tears while Perseus had not relaxed his protective stance.

Kneeling in front of Perseus, Harry looked him straight in the eyes. “Perseus, we don’t punish people for accidents in this house.”

The young wizard searched Harry’s gaze before nodded. Orion who had tensed at the potential confrontation seemed to relax. The same elf came and retrieved the empty glasses.

Harry watched as Perseus stalked over to the tallest tree in the garden and rested against it. Casually Harry glanced over at his godfather and wandered over to the tree. He didn’t say anything, but simply waited. It didn’t take the younger wizard long to start talking.

“Did you mean what you said?” Perseus demanded.

Harry nodded. “When I was just a baby my parents were killed and I went to live with my aunt and uncle. They weren’t very nice and they didn’t like me very much. I used to get punished for all sorts of things that weren’t my fault. When Sirius came and rescued me he promised me that he would never punish me for an accident and he kept his word. I did get punished a time or two when I misbehaved, but he never hit me or let anyone else hit me.”

“That’s what my mum is like,” Perseus said after a minute. “She’s the best. She loves us a lot. My father…he’s not very nice. I really don’t know if he likes us or not, but there are a lot of rules if he visits. We can’t laugh or smile, we can’t touch him, and we can’t talk to him unless he asks us a question. I hate when he visits.”

“That’s rough,” Harry said sympathetically. “My uncle had lots of rules as well.”

“What happened to them?”

Harry shrugged. “I’m not really sure. I haven’t seen them in years.”

“That would be nice, not having to see my father.” After a pause, he added, “He hits my mummy. I wish he wouldn’t do that.”

“Me, too,” Harry said. “It’s not right.”

“I know he made her marry him. I don’t know exactly why, but I heard my grandmother talking about it.”

“Have you ever asked your mum about it?”

Perseus shook his head. “I don’t want to make her cry. Father does that enough.”

“You’re a brave boy,” Harry said. “You looked after your sister and you try to look after your mother.”

“Thank you,” Perseus said softly.

“I don’t know if I can change anything, but I will be happy to listen to you if it will help.”

“Thank you.”

Harry dropped a hand onto the boy’s shoulder and squeezed gently. He drifted back over towards his godfather and he saw Ginny walk over to her son. He watched as she enfolded him in a big hug. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but from the way Perseus reacted, he imagined she was telling him how proud she was of him.

“This is an awful situation,” Sirius said quietly.

Harry nodded. “I wish we could do something for them.”

“If you can get enough to arrest Malfoy that will do a lot for them.”




Ginny followed the directions to the aquatic centre the next day. Sirius was waiting out front and helped Ginny with her bag and helped wrangle the children. Leading the way inside, he pointed out the women’s locker room to Ginny and led Perseus and Orion into the men’s locker room.

“Is Harry here?” Perseus asked.

“He’s waiting for us by the pool,” Sirius replied as he patiently helped the two little boys into their swimming trunks.

“Unca Sirius, Mummy said we are going to meet a cousin today,” Orion said shyly.

Sirius nodded, pleased at the title Orion had used.

“Is he nice like you and Harry or mean like Father?”

“He’s very nice,” Sirius hastened to reassure him. “His name is Teddy and he’s a year old than Perseus. His grandmother, Andromeda, will be with him. She is also nice.”

Orion seemed reassured. “Okay.”

Once the boys were ready, Sirius placed their clothes in a locker and led them out into the pool area. It was mid-morning, so it wasn’t as crowded as it could be. Sirius easily spotted Andromeda, Harry, and Teddy.

Harry hoisted himself out of the pool to greet the new arrivals. “Hello, Perseus. Hello, Orion.”

Gesturing to the boy in the water, he said, “This is my godson and your cousin, Teddy.”

Teddy piped up. “Hello! Can you swim? Why don’t you come in the water?”

Harry helped them into the water, but soon the three boys were playing happily. Glancing up, Harry felt his breath taken away when he saw Ginny approaching with Titania. Ginny was wearing a deceptively respectable one piece dark green bathing suit that showcased her curves. She was gorgeous. Titania looked adorable in her bright pink swimming costume.

Sirius smiled at the pair. “Titania, would you like to come swimming with me?”

“Pease, Mummy?”

“Of course, darling,” Ginny said kissing her daughter on the side of the head.

Once the little girl was safely in the water with Sirius, Ginny glanced up at the tall wizard in front of her. It crossed her mind again how attractive he was. He was over six feet and well built; he was tanned and looked good. There were a number of scars littering his body, but they did nothing to detract from his appeal. Ginny wasn’t totally surprised to see he had a few tattoos as well. There was a stag and doe on his chest and a little chameleon on his arm. From the look of it, Ginny thought it might be magical.

“It’s for Teddy,” Harry said, answering her unasked question.

“I like it,” She replied with a smile. “What about the deer?”

“My dad’s Animagus form was a stag and my mum’s Patronus was a doe,” he explained. “I had them done when I was sixteen.”

Lightly touching her arm, Harry steered her towards a table. From the intake of breath, he knew she’d seen her. “She only looks like Bellatrix. Honestly, she’s nothing like her.”

“Sorry,” Ginny blushed. “I didn’t realize the resemblance was so strong.”

When they arrived at the small poolside table, Andromeda stood up. Harry smiled at her. “Andromeda, I would like to introduce Mrs Ginevra Malfoy. Mrs Malfoy, this is Mrs Andromeda Tonks.”

Ginny automatically reached out and shook hand with the older witch. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mrs Tonks.”

“Please, call me Andromeda.”

Nodded, Ginny said, “Please call me Ginny. Only my husband and his mother call me Ginevra.”

“That sounds like my sister,” Andromeda said as she looked over the young woman who had the misfortune to be her niece by marriage. “I was very sorry to hear what my horrible brother-in-law managed to do to you. Come tell me about yourself.”

Harry headed back towards the water while Ginny sat down with Andromeda. She found herself talking about her family and her childhood. Andromeda shared some stories of her daughter, but not surprisingly she didn’t seem to have many fond memories of her childhood.

“How did you manage to escape?” Ginny asked quietly.

“It was difficult,” Andromeda said after a moment. “My whole family had been in Slytherin and of course we were all a Pureblood family should be. I didn’t really question my family’s beliefs until I started Hogwarts and met all sorts of children my family would have thought unsuitable, but I thought were nice. I think a defining moment came for me when I saw my big sister, Bellatrix, who I’d always looked up to, tormenting a first year Hufflepuff simply because she was Muggle-born. I looked at the girl and she wasn’t any different from me. She was a first year trying to learn magic and be on time to class.

“It was a bit of a revelation to me. I had to hide my growing distance from my family’s ideals. My father wouldn’t have hesitated to beat me into submission. Narcissa fell right in line with the rest of the family. I met Ted during my sixth year. Luckily, Bellatrix had already left school. I don’t think we could have hidden our relationship from her as we did from Narcissa.”

Andromeda shook her head. “Narcissa was madly in love with Lucius Malfoy and spent her time with him. Ted and I made plans to elope as soon as school ended. We left straight from the train. I was afraid if I went home I wouldn’t be able to leave. My father had made noises about betrothing me to another rabid blood purist. I was immediately disowned.”

Looking over at the younger witch, she asked, “What does my sister think you are doing now?”

Blushing, Ginny admitted she was supposed to be finding out if Harry was going after Draco or if the hospital ward was a one-time thing. “Narcissa seems to judge all men by her husband and assumes that Harry will be bragging about his one-upping Draco. Draco…he claims he doesn’t care if I have to seduce him. I wouldn’t even know how to go about doing such a thing, but I’m sure Draco would use it against me if I even flirted with Harry.”

“Narcissa always had a blind spot when it came to that husband of hers. She seemed to think him the epitome of a gentleman.”

Ginny shuddered. “He was a pig. I am very glad he is no longer around.”

“He wanted Draco to share?”

“Once I provided an heir, of course.”

“Narcissa would simply look the other way,” Andromeda snorted in disgust. “I don’t understand the women either of my sisters turned into. I don’t know exactly what Harry plans to do to help you, but I sincerely hope he succeeds.”

Ginny paled slightly. “Draco told me I served my purpose in our marriage and he could get rid of me without any questions being asked.”

Reaching across the table, Andromeda grabbed her hand. “Harry won’t let that happen. I know you don’t know him well, but if he’d known what was happening all those years ago you would never have been married to my nephew. Sirius was furious when he found out what happened.”

“I love my parents, but I have to admit there are times I am furious with them. When Draco threatened my life…I couldn’t think of what to do at first. I couldn’t go to my family — they couldn’t stand up to Draco eight years ago, so I couldn’t expect them to now. I trust Harry.”

“He’s a good man. When Dora and Remus first told me they were making him Teddy’s godfather I thought they were crazy. He was only seventeen, how could he know what to do? But he’s been amazing. He visits and writes from all of his trips. One of the first places he visits when he comes back to England is our home. Harry and Remus have a strained relationship, but Harry and Teddy…you can see how well they get along.”

Following the older woman’s gaze, Ginny saw the boys were swarming around Harry. They were all laughing. Titania was jumping from the edge into Sirius’ waiting arms and laughing before doing it all over again.

“It’s so nice to see them playing,” Ginny commented. “They don’t get much of an opportunity to play with other children.”




Ginny smiled as she watched Titania baking rock cakes with her grandma. One of her first memories was of making cakes in the kitchen with her mum. Titania was standing on one of the kitchen chairs with an apron wrapped around her. Ginny loved seeing the way her eyes were shining.

While Draco had arranged this trip for his own selfish purposes, she couldn’t help but think it was beneficial for the children. The boys had become fast friends with Teddy Lupin and obviously adored both Harry and Sirius. Titania was having so much fun playing with everyone and getting to know her cousins Victoire and Dominique who were five and three respectively.

A knock sounded at the door. Ginny opened it to find Harry on the other side. Her heart sped up, even as she willed it not to. She wished with all her heart that she’d met him before she’d married Draco. Andromeda was right; Harry would not have let her be married against her will if he could help it.

“Hello.”

“Hi,” she replied a bit breathlessly. “Welcome to The Burrow.”

“Thank you.”

Stepping back, she welcomed him in. “This is my mother, Molly Weasley. Mum, this is Harry Potter.”
Harry stepped closer to the counter. “Please don’t let me interrupt. It looks like the pair of you are having
a lot of fun.”

“It is an honour to meet you,” Mrs Weasley said.

“Thank you, I was telling your daughter the other day that I’ve never found a treacle tart to equal the ones you used to send with your husband to our meetings.”

Mrs Weasley blushed. “I’m glad you enjoyed them. Perhaps Titania and I can whip one up this afternoon.”

“That would be lovely,” Harry said with a smile. Looking at Titania, he said, “Hello, beautiful. Are you having fun?”

She broke into a wide grin. “Yes, I wove baking wif Granny.”

Another knock sounded at the kitchen door. Turning, Ginny smiled in surprise. “Luna!”

Harry watched with interest as a slim, pretty blonde with a slightly dreamy expression hurried over and hugged Ginny. The newcomer gave off a bit of a dotty air, but she seemed quite happy to see Ginny.
“Ginny, it is so nice to see you.”

“Luna, I’ve missed you,” Ginny said. “How are you doing? I’ve been reading the Quibbler and you are doing a wonderful job.”

“Thank you,” Luna said with a smile. “I wish I could have been of more help to you.”

“Luna, I would like you to meet Harry Potter,” Ginny said gesturing to Harry. “Harry, this is one of my best friends from childhood, Luna Lovegood.”

Luna’s pale grey eyes protruded slightly, but held an intelligence Harry hadn’t expected. “Harry Potter, it is an honour to meet you. Kingsley Shacklebolt has many good things to say about you.”

“Thank you, Miss Lovegood,” Harry said. “Kingsley mentioned that you have interviewed him several times. He was quite impressed with your writing.”

Luna’s gaze turned speculative. “Would you be interested in sitting for an interview? You’ve not given an interview since the summer after you defeated You-Know-Who.”

“Voldemort,” Harry said forcefully. He wasn’t surprised when Mrs Weasley squeaked, but he was happy to note that Ginny didn’t react. Nor did Luna.

“I’ve observed that most people are uncomfortable with that name,” Luna said.

“It’s a name he made up to make himself sound more important,” Harry scoffed. “His real name was Tom Marvolo Riddle. He was a half-blood whose mother was an incompetent witch who used a love potion to ensnare a local Muggle on whom she had a crush. Riddle was furious that he’d been abandoned as an infant and used that as justification for his Pureblood agenda.”

Luna arched an eyebrow. “I would be very interested in talking to you.”

“Would you be interested in joining me and my godfather for dinner tonight?” Harry smiled charmingly. “I
can guarantee some intriguing stories.”

“That sounds lovely,” Luna said.

Ginny called on the years of hiding her emotion to mask her reaction. She could tell Luna was interested
in Harry. It shook her out of the bubble in which she’d lived the past week. Harry wasn’t courting her, she was already married. The unfairness of it all washed over her. Why couldn’t she have met him when she was sixteen?

“Mrs Malfoy, may I speak to you for a moment?” Harry asked.

Nodding, Ginny led him into the sitting room. Harry smiled. “I understand that your children are going over to the Lupin’s tomorrow to play.”

“Yes, they are quite looking forward to it,” Ginny forced a smile onto her face.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked gazing down at her.

“Of course,” Ginny replied smiling more naturally this time. “It’s been a busy time with the children.”

“I have a proposition for you,” Harry said. “I would like to invite you out to lunch tomorrow. There is a restaurant near the Ministry that is very popular with Ministry workers. It is very likely we would be seen and it be reported back to your husband. I will ‘let slip’ that I’ve been assigned to investigate the political unrest in Thailand to see if there are any Dark wizards behind it.”

Ginny took a deep breath. “So Draco will believe you aren’t watching him carefully?”

“I don’t want to put you in the position of being accused of being unfaithful to Draco. You are a very beautiful woman and he wouldn’t be surprised that I was bragging to try and impress you with my importance,” Harry said with a self-deprecating smile.

“He would certainly believe that,” Ginny said as she flushed with pleasure at the compliment.

“I am going to do my best to arrest your husband. I’m sure that can’t be much of a consolation, but at least he wouldn’t be able to hurt you anymore.”

“Thank you,” Ginny said honestly.

“Ginny — I’m sorry, Mrs Malfoy — “

“Please, call me Ginny. We are family of a sort,” she said.

“Ginny, I will do my best to protect you.”
Reviews 70
ChapterPrinter
StoryPrinter




../back
‘! Go To Top ‘!

Sink Into Your Eyes is hosted by Grey Media Internet Services. HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related characters are trademarks of Warner Bros. TM & © 2001-2006. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions on this site are those made by the owners. All stories(fanfiction) are owned by the author and are subject to copyright law under transformative use. Authors on this site take no compensation for their works. This site © 2003-2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Special thanks to: Aredhel, Kaz, Michelle, and Jeco for all the hard work on SIYE 1.0 and to Marta for the wonderful artwork.
Featured Artwork © 2003-2006 by Yethro.
Design and code © 2006 by SteveD3(AdminQ)
Additional coding © 2008 by melkior and Bear