Pulling her scratchy wool cloak tighter around her neck, Ginny hurried through the fog toward the park at the far end of Diagon Alley. She’d lost track of time at work and was running late, which was something that normally drove Draco mad. Ginny decided he’d just have to live with it, since it was partially his fault anyway. He was the one who’d encouraged her to join the Ministry and he was the only one who really knew how important her contribution to the war effort was, so he’d just have to forgive her for being fifteen minutes late for their rendezvous.
Keeping Ministry secrets and stealthily carrying out espionage abroad seemed like child’s play after years of keeping her relationship with Draco a secret from her family. After all, it was hardly just her top-notch Arithmancy marks that had gotten Ginny her position at the Ministry. The hyper-secret Conflict Intelligence and Deciphering Bureau was under direct control of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Ginny was the assistant to the Director and was basically the second in command despite her young age. She was good at her job and a lot of that had to do with Draco.
Before becoming involved with him, Ginny had been a headstrong and fiery fifteen-year-old used to getting her own way or letting everyone else know when she didn’t. She’d been quick to anger, and short-tempered. Her love life had been a complete mess. She’d flit from boy to boy, never getting very serious with any of them and never staying with any one particular boy for very long. Even then, she’d known she was searching for something that always seemed just out of her grasp. She had no idea what it was, but until she’d found it she’d decided that she wasn’t going to settle for anything less.
Unfortunately, no one else seemed to notice that there was a method to her madness. Her mother was sending her worried letters and her older brothers gave her grief every time they saw her. Even Ginny’s grades were suffering, something she had to hear about constantly from her teachers. Evidently everything in her life seemed touched by her reach for something intangible that she couldn’t describe.
The afternoon Ginny sent her final boyfriend packing had been a bad day. It had been a nasty affair, with screaming and name-calling on both the part of the dumped Ravenclaw and Ginny’s mortified brother, Ron. In order to get away from the death glares and the snide comments, Ginny took refuge in the far end of the library.
She’d been sitting there, leaning her head against the wall reading a book when who should storm in through the library doors but Draco Malfoy. The blond Slytherin looked peaked, and while he never really seemed happy with her brother, he had hardly spoken two words to her in two years, so she was a little taken aback when he’d rushed to her table and gave her a curt nod before he began pacing furiously before her.
His hair, usually short and charmed back so as not to fall in his eyes, was ruffled. It was almost as if he’d ran his hands through it one too many times after it had dried. Even his cheeks, normally quite pale, were uncommonly white. Something maddening must driven him into the library.
Ginny leaned toward him silently. She couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows at him. His behaviour was baffling. “Is there something I can help you with, Malfoy?” she asked.
He obviously didn’t appreciate her question. He tried to summon up enough ire to command a sneer before sitting on her table and leaning across it menacingly. “You do realise, Weasley, that dating you has become some kind of sick initiation among the blokes around here, right? It’s a game for them.”
Ginny just stared at him blankly. She had no clue where this was coming from.
“The most interesting question is just how far you’re letting them get before you chuck them. The rumour is that you’re quite a tart!” He was trying to look disdainful, but his grimace seemed more a cross between hurt and pain rather than anger.
Ginny knew she should have come back with a smart reply commenting on how he’d always called her a tart, but she was in complete shock at his words. She had no idea why it mattered so much to him how many boyfriends she’d had or how far into her knickers she’d let them get, but she could tell by his face that it did indeed matter to him a great deal. The question was why. They’d never really gotten along, but that was mainly their families’ doing. Their parents hated each other and had done quite a good job teaching their children that same contempt. He’d been a pain to her brother and friends. However, if she wanted to be honest with herself, she could see how they had, as often as not, been the cause of the quarrels themselves. She knew she should hate him, but there was something wriggling at the back of her mind that made her want to continue the conversation, something that made her want to know more than just what her parents and brothers had told her about Draco Malfoy.
Ginny spoke softly but firmly so as not to be misunderstood. “I have never done what you’re alluding to, Malfoy, nor will I until I am with the one I will spend forever with. Be that as it may, whatever my reputation, be it good or bad, it is of no concern to you. Until this moment you’ve never shown any interest in me other than disdain; why should I give a damn what you think? I’m just Weasley filth, remember? I’m nothing to you, right, Malfoy?”
Draco winced as if she’d struck him. Ginny had a hot feeling pool in her stomach as she watched his face betray hidden depths of sudden emotions before wiping clean, being replaced by another patented Malfoy sneer.
“You’ve become a joke, Weasley. In every Quidditch locker room, in every boys’ dormitory, they’re all wondering who will be the one to ‘take’ the littlest Weasley. Who will get her further than anyone else has been able to.” He shook his head, his face softening as he turned away from her. He continued quietly, “It doesn’t matter that you’ve never actually done what they say or that you’d never go as far as they want you to. They don’t care about your lofty vision and your desperate search for something grand. They just want in your knickers. Can’t you see that?”
Stunned at his quiet words and his suddenly civil manner, Ginny tried to decipher the meaning behind what he was saying. He knew about her search. He was the first person who’d recognized that she wasn’t just being fickle. And it mattered to him somehow. She had to know why.
“Why does it matter so much to you, Malfoy?”
Draco turned to her, trying to hide his emotions and failing miserably. “It doesn’t. I don’t care.”
“How did you know I was looking for something?” she asked quietly, leaning forward toward him, reaching her hand to touch his elbow. “And why does it matter to you, Draco?”
He started a little at her use of his first name. Looking down at her hand, he spoke not much louder than a whisper. “I listen, Weasley. I listen and I don’t know why it matters to me; it just does.” He glanced quickly up at her face.
Ginny’s eyes widened. She could tell he was both horrified and relieved to admit what he had. She didn’t know what to say.
“How will you know when you find what you’re searching for?” he asked, never taking his eyes from hers. There was a fear there that was so uncharacteristic that Ginny almost wanted to shake her head out of this dream.
She hadn’t known what possessed her, but she leaned into him further and just before touching her lips to his she’d whispered, “I’ll just know.”
And she had known as soon as she’d leaned into kiss him and saw him close his eyes and sigh, not pulling away. Once she’d started kissing him, she couldn’t stop because his hands were in her hair and her heart had begun beating so loudly that she could almost taste it pounding in her head as he breathed into her mouth. She’d inhaled the soft cedar and spice that lingered as he pulled her closer and she’d known then that he was her ‘something grand’. That was the day Ginny Weasley ended her search and stopped dating all the other boys at Hogwarts.
Ginny smiled at the memory. In the six years they’d been together they had been through a lot. She knew they were stronger for it, but she couldn’t help wishing that things had turned out differently for them.
At first, she’d agreed that keeping their relationship quiet was a good idea. They both hated the lying and the sneaking, but they were able to make it through his last two years at Hogwarts without ‘coming out’ to their families by being incredibly sneaky and having the support of several friends from both their respective houses.
Now, five years later, they should have been able to move forward. They had hopes and dreams for the future, things that included marriage and children and a happy life together, but those plans had been derailed when a madman decided to take over the world.
Grindelwald used Muggles like puppets and created chaos in both their world and the magical one. Hitler’s bombs hit wizarding houses just as easily as they hit Muggle ones, and with the tumult that fighting him and his master had caused their parents, both Draco and Ginny had decided to put off adding to the stress by telling them about each other.
The war seemed to never end. It kept dragging on year after year, so once she was out of school Ginny went directly to the Cipher Bureau and Draco joined the Fifth Squadron of the Air Wizards. He’d risen in the ranks and become Broom Commander over his entire flight group. Ginny used her stealth and arithmetical abilities and Draco was a hotshot pilot, but they were no closer to the happy ending that they both wanted.
Ginny mused on this with a slight frown. She wanted that future and she wanted it now… it wasn’t like she was getting any younger, and looking at Susan with little Jamie had made her realise just what kind of joy having a baby with Draco would be.
She entered the park and made her way toward their favourite hawthorn tree. She leaned against the tree and wondered what could be keeping Draco. Scanning the lawns and hedges nearby, she still couldn’t see him. It wasn’t as if the colour of his hair didn’t stand out or anything since he flat-out refused to wear the hat she’d bought him. She’d hoped it would help him blend in with the Muggle men in London, but he’d said that ‘fedora’ was Italian for ‘hat which caused hair to thin’ and just kissed her before shrinking it and putting it in his pocket rather than on his head.
Though the fog was thick, it was starting to lift and Ginny began to worry. He was never late. ‘Punctual to a fault,’ she’d said often enough. His meeting with Hermione Granger in the Muggle Liaison Office should have been over an hour before her own with Dumbledore and Minister Flume had even begun, yet he wasn’t there.
Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep breath, counting to ten in Latin just as Draco had taught her to do before panicking. She was prone to worry, at least lately, and he’d teased her that by the time she remembered how to piece together the language, whatever was bothering her would turn out all right and she wouldn’t have to worry any longer.
Almost at once, his soft arms pulled her close and held her tightly in an embrace. Ginny smiled, taking in another deep breath. She inhaled his familiar cedar scent and didn’t pull away when her captor kissed her neck just below her ear.
Ginny opened her eyes and slowly turned toward her boyfriend. He was wearing his hat and smiling cheekily at her. “I know I said I’d never wear it, but it was worth it today to see you so worked up over me.”
“I was worried, Draco.” She tried to keep the smile off her face. She really had been quite troubled.
He laughed and leaned his forehead against hers. “I was here. You were late, Weasley.”
Pulling back to look him in the eye, Ginny whispered, “I was with Dumbledore and Flume. They think this message is the key to finding Ron and Harry and the rest of the Ground Aurors that have been captured.” Ginny didn’t want to sound too hopeful, but it was hard not letting it creep into her voice.
“How close are you to cracking it?”
“I think it’s only a matter of days. The whole team is working on it.” She smiled up at him.
“That’s brilliant, Gin!” He kissed her quickly before grabbing her hand to run with him toward the park bench. He knew that she should be back at work and that he was being selfish, but their brief moments together seemed to move faster and faster lately and he wanted to take advantage of this break from the world. They were both so busy, but they revelled in the stolen time they made for one another.
Sitting down, Ginny laid her head against his warm shoulder. “Did your meeting with Hermione go well?” she asked as she quirked a smile at his split-second grimace.
“Granger was fine. She was longwinded but fine. Afterwards, she pulled me aside to ask me to tell you that she’d be at your parents’ tonight for the naming ceremony.” His brow furrowed for a moment and Ginny sighed.
She could imagine what was going through his head. “I wish you could be there too, Draco.” Her arms tightened around his middle as he pulled her closer to him. “It doesn’t seem fair that we have to keep such a wonderful thing a secret.”
“I know, love. It won’t be long now. Once the war-”
“I know, I know. Once the bloody war ends we’ll finally get to be together the way we should be. It’s just so hard to wait.”
He lifted her chin and kissed her softly. “We will be together, Weasley. We’ve just got to get through today.”
She wiped the small tears threatening with the handkerchief he’d handed to her. “I know, Draco.” Sniff. “What did Hermione say about the Muggles, anyway?”
Grateful for the change in topic, even if it was just back to the grim developments in the war, Draco gave her a small, but comforting,smile. “It seems that Granger met the Muggle Prime Minister herself the other day. Churchill’s his name. They discussed the finer points of strategy, trying to get Hitler on all three fronts- East, West, and Magical, but he’s still struggling with the idea that Hitler is just a puppet of a much greater threat. It seems that Churchill can’t wrap his head around the kind of evil Grindelwald represents. One good thing is that there is a joint offensive planned, with help from Canada and the United States. Then we’ll attack on the Magical front at the same time and perhaps we can end this thing.”
“That’s wonderful news, Draco.” Ginny brushed his cheek with the back of her hand. “I guess having Hermione as the Muggle Liaison was a good idea. I can’t imagine anyone else doing so well with this Churchill fellow.”
Draco only nodded and pulled her close again to kiss her temple. “It’s about that time, Weasley,” he whispered.
Ginny sighed, “Is it?”
He nodded solemnly. “It is, Gin.”
Standing together, they entwined their fingers as they walked.
“What are your plans for tonight then?” she asked.
“Oh, probably an earful from Mother about settling down, criticism from Father about joining the Fifth and then a Floo call to my secret girlfriend before heading to bed. You?”
Ginny smiled gently. “Dinner with my barmy family and then little Jamie’s naming ceremony. Though the promise of a Floo call will make them both feel like an eternity.”
“It won’t be long now, Weasley,” he said. Ginny knew he wasn’t just referring to the waiting time for their call. She kissed him softly and played with the short hair at his neck before nodding.
They walked to the park entrance hand in hand, but once they reached the stone gates they knew they couldn’t be seen together. Just before stepping out, Draco pulled her toward him and held her a little longer than he really needed to. They said a quick goodbye and left the park, walking their separate ways.
***
Ginny closed the door behind her as she entered the small, but cozy, kitchen of her childhood home. The room was alive with activity and the soft rumbling of voices all speaking at the same time, and it made her smile. She hung up her cloak and walked toward her mother at the stove.
“Hiya, Mum.” She kissed her before taking the apron her mother held out to her.
“We’ve been waiting for you, Ginny, dear. How was work today?”
Ginny sighed. Her mother knew she was working, despite not being very happy about it, but she thought she was just a personal secretary in the Department of Magical Transportation. While her father and a few of her brothers knew vaguely of her involvement with the war department, none of them knew of how deeply she was involved and they’d all agreed to keep quiet in order to keep Molly happy. She was already worried enough with every one of her sons being elbow deep in war.
“It was long, Mum, but productive. How was home?”
Molly smiled tiredly. “As people have come ‘round it’s been hectic, but earlier in the day Penny and I were able to get quite a lot done.”
Ginny nodded as she took over setting the table from her mother.
“We were able to get the latest batch of donations sent off to the Magical Woman’s Volunteering Services and then we wrote some letters to the other families in the neighbourhood to see if any of them could take in some of the wizarding children affected by the bombings in London. I was going to just Floo them, but Penny suggested we’d get more volunteers if we didn’t put people on the spot like that, gave them some time to think it over. I hope she’s right.” Molly looked thoughtful as she put her oven mitts back on the rack beside the stove.
Ginny smiled. She wasn’t the least bit surprised that it had been Penny’s suggestion. Generally, Molly got on well with all of her daughters-in-law, but Percy’s Penelope had become her close confident and particular friend. It was much more likely that Molly would heed advice from Penny than from almost anyone else.
Ginny knew it was her mother’s dedication to those children who’d lost family in the war that had brought the two women closer. Before moving home to Ottery St. Catchpole, Percy and Penelope had let a flat in London. Their building had been hit during the Blitz. Luckily, neither they nor their small children had been harmed, but the sweet elderly woman who’d lived downstairs had been killed. She’d watched Perseus and Avery the day before the bombing while Penelope had gone to visit Percy at the Propaganda office, so it had been quite the shock to the little family. The tragedy had prompted their move to the country and also her ardent participation in the MWVS with her mother-in-law.
“Tomorrow we begin organizing the injury and fatality list for the county. It’s not something I’m looking forward to, I must say. All those boys…” Molly’s brow furrowed and her voice began to crack. “We’ve been asked to identify the wizarding boys from the Muggles on the official lists. I just don’t know what I’ll do if Harry or-”
“We’ll find them, Mum.” Ginny put her arm around her mother as Molly wiped her tears with the corner of her apron.
“I’m just so glad that you’re not involved in this, Ginny. With all the boys…”
“I know, Mum.” Ginny sighed. She hated lying to her mum.
Molly hugged her daughter. “Though with the amount of work being heaped on Penny and me, we could certainly use more help. It seems that every week the war drags on there is more and more work for us to do.”
“I wonder if it’s ever occurred to the Magical Woman’s Volunteering Services that even their Devonshire Corps Leader may have to deal with other things besides calming everyone else’s fears by giving comfort to the whole county,” a stern, but loving, voice from the kitchen doorway intoned.
Ginny turned to see her father. He looked exhausted. She knew he was working long hours dealing mainly with complaints over the new rationing legislation, but he was doing the best he could with what Flume had decided was necessary. Molly gave him a brief kiss and waved him out to wash up before telling Ginny to call everyone into the kitchen. Dinner was almost ready and there was the naming ceremony to take care of before that.
Arthur returned to the kitchen filled with nearly all of his family and a small satisfied smile spread across his face. Ginny looked around the room. Despite the desperate times there was happiness here; She could feel it radiating off her family.
Bill had just returned from his latest assignment. He and Fleur weren’t saying much, just cuddling up together, happy to finally have a moment to rest. She was glowing. Their first child was due any time now and after Harry went missing, she’d been so worried that Bill wouldn’t make it back in time. Instead, he'd surprised her by bringing her baby sister safely out of occupied France.
Gabrielle sat cheerfully speaking broken English to Charlie’s fiancée Anna. Anna had moved into the Burrow just before Charlie had left for his second stint in Romania. He was working with one of the many branches of the Soviet Ministry for Magic and was finding his experiences with the local wizarding community useful. For some reason, the Romanian wizarding community had embraced the redheaded dragon tamer as one of their own. In a matter of months Anna planned on joining him there, though she’d only told Ginny. Since it was obvious that Ginny was able to keep a secret, the rest of the family had no idea.
Hermione snuck into the kitchen quietly and stood near Percy and Penny. Arthur smiled at her as he bent down to catch one of his twin grandsons who had escaped Fred’s grasp and run towards his Papa. That made his brother Simon struggle against his Uncle George so he could sit with Grandpa too. George made the little boy giggle before finally settling him down so they could listen to the important things Arthur was about to say.
Ginny could see what a good father George would be someday. He was just waiting for Alicia to come home to prove it. Her parents had sent her to America for the duration of the war, but every time he looked at Katie and Fred with their little boys, Ginny could tell how much he missed her and longed for what he couldn’t have yet. Ginny knew exactly how he felt. She sighed, thinking of how much she wanted a hand to hold right now.
As if she could sense that Ginny needed someone, Susan came up behind her and put her arm around her shoulder. “Hiya, Gin,” she whispered with a soft smile.
Ginny was grateful for Susan’s blessed intuition. She always knew when Ginny needed comfort.
“He misses you as much as you do him, you know,” Susan said softly.
Blinking back tears, Ginny reached up and squeezed her roommate’s hand and nodded silently. She’d been staying at Susan and Harry’s home since he and Ron had left on their last mission. Harry hadn’t wanted to leave his very pregnant wife alone, and Ginny was happy to move out of her parents’ house. It meant that late night Floo calls from her ‘secret’ boyfriend didn’t have to be so secret. Not living at home made having a secret job where she occasionally had to leave the country a little easier to carry off as well.
Susan had always been wonderful about her relationship with Draco, even back when they were still at school when she had worried over Ginny’s former infatuation with Harry. They had become friends, the best of friends even. It had been hard, especially after Luna had moved to Ireland when Blaise was stationed there, but Ginny and Susan had gotten quite close and both were happier for it.
Harry was supposed to be home before the baby was born, but here it was, two months later, and little Jamie’s naming ceremony was about to begin.
Arthur looked around at his large family and, as head of an ever-growing clan, began to speak. “It’s a wonderful thing that we can all be here together as a family. In these dark times when some of those we love-” Molly began sniffling but Arthur continued, “-when some of those we love are not here with us, we must come ever closer together, relying on one another, and we will be all the stronger for it when we see them again.”
Ginny could see everyone looking at one another and could tell their thoughts were turning to the same two men who should have been there with them. They were missing, and it wasn’t because they’d been called away as Charlie had. It was because they had been captured behind enemy lines and had been reported Missing in Action nearly three weeks before.
Harry, Ron, and the rest of their company had been deployed because the Ministry was itching to end the war. Dumbledore hadn’t worked out Grindelwald’s location and the War Department was getting antsy. With intelligence they’d gleaned from the French equivalent of Ginny’s own department head, Harry and his group of ‘Special Aurors’ were sent to infiltrate what was reported as Grindelwald’s base of operations. Even thinking about it made Ginny cringe. Five days after they’d landed in Germany, the French agent was found to be a double that had knowingly sent them into a trap. If only the Ministry had let her do her job and listened to Dumbledore urging patience.
‘Ah well,’ Ginny thought, ‘I’ll get them back. I know I will.’ The coded message consuming almost all of her time would see to that. Ginny was sure of it. She turned her attention back to her father.
“We’ve been so blessed to have Susan join our family and now we have another wonderful thing to gather together to celebrate- the birth of little Jamie.” He scanned the room briefly as he handed Nigel to his mother. “Hermione, can you join Sue and me over here, please?”
The three of them formed a small circle before the rest of the family.
“We’ve come here tonight among family to bestow a name upon this child. James Ronald Potter is the name that you will be known as throughout the entirety of your life, whether it be known for good or evil among those you associate with. Jamie, we stand here as people who love you and who will support you. Your mother and godmother stand together as well as your father and godfather who are here in our thoughts and our hearts.”
Arthur pulled his wand and placed it on little Jamie’s head and motioned that Susan and Hermione should do the same. “Arthur Weasley,” he intoned lightly. A blue glow emerged from the tip of his wand and circled the baby’s head.
“Harry and Susan Potter.” A red glow erupted as Susan spoke softly.
“Hermione Granger and… Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley,” Hermione choked out. A gold glow entwined itself with the others and showered light over the giggling child.
The room fell silent for a moment after the magic dissipated. It was a special moment for the whole family, though Perseus decided that the silence meant that it was his turn to voice that he was hungry, and couldn’t Grandma tell everyone that it was time to eat.
Ginny spent the evening quietly smiling, trying not to be melancholy for her family and for Sue. She loved visiting and eating surrounded by the people she loved, but she couldn’t help but miss the most important person that she loved. Ginny hadn’t really taken a break from working since she had retrieved the coded message her office was working on from Amsterdam the week before, so she tried to enjoy herself. And she did. She hadn’t even noticed the time fly until Susan touched her arm. “We should get going soon, Gin. Didn’t you have a Floo call to make?” she whispered.
Ginny looked down at her watch and smiled. “You’re right, Sue.” She kissed her nephews before grabbing her and Susan’s cloaks from the cupboard in the hall.
Molly found them getting ready to leave and pulled them both into a large hug.
“You girls, all on your own. I do wish you had come to live with us here, Susan, instead of staying at Whiteacre on your own.”
“Mum, she’s not-“
“Yes, yes. She’s got you. I didn’t forget. Now, you take care of one another, all right, and that precious baby too.”
“We will, Molly.” Susan smiled as she lifted her sleeping child. “We’ll see you later in the week, yes?”
At Molly’s nod, Susan Apparated, leaving Ginny to promise she’d come home for lunch sometime soon before she could join Susan in the front hall at Whiteacre Landing.
***
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