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Scorpius Malfoy stepped off the Hogwarts Express and into the fray of families and friends standing on the platform. Craning his neck above the crowd, he searched for his father, when suddenly a crashing blow to the backs of his legs knocked him to the ground.
"Oops, sorry, Scorpius," drawled the voice of Albus Potter from above him. "Did I trip you?"
"Shut it, Potter," snapped Scorpius from the ground as he gathered his scattered belongings.
"What are you going to do, Malfoy?" asked Potter. "Run to your mummy? Oh wait, she up and left you, didn't she? For some young, fit cabana boy or something, yeah?"
"I said shut it, Potter," snarled Scorpius, standing up and staring the dark haired boy in the face. "My mother had her own reasons for leaving. But at least she would never be mental enough to marry your complete git of a father."
"You leave my parents out of this, Malfoy." Potter narrowed his eyes. Scorpius ignored him.
"And if that doesn't prove your mum daft, she kept an ugly little bastard like you when she should have drowned you the moment she saw your face. Would have saved us all a lot of trouble."
"Stop it, Malfoy," said Potter through gritted teeth.
"No, I don't think I will," said Scorpius nastily, on a roll now. "If your mum had any sense, she would have left you and your horrid family ages ago. Obviously she doesn't, or else she's some sort of masochist, to remain part of any family that has you in it."
It appeared as though Scorpius had hit a sore spot, for Potter, by now very red in the face, lunged forward and tackled Scorpius to the ground. The two teenage boys rolled about on the cobblestone platform, throwing punches like one would sweets in a parade.
"I'll kill you!" cried Albus Potter, pinning his blond nemesis to the ground and pummeling him over and over with his fists. "I'll kill you for talking about my mum like that! You don't know anything. She didn't leave us because of me! She didn't!" By now the boy was sobbing, although Scorpius, bruised and bloody underneath him, was only confused. He hadn't known that Mrs. Potter had left her famous husband. But he had no time to think about it, as her son was currently transforming his face into a bloody pulp.
"You. Don't. Know. What. You're. Talking. About," said Potter, punctuating each word with a punch. "My. Mum. Is—"
"ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER." Both boys looked up at the furious redhead who had just fought her way to the inner circle of their spectators. "WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
"Well, evidently, your mum is here," said Scorpius faintly, finishing Potter's earlier sentence. "And really hacked off at you, from the looks of it."
"Scorpius." His father was suddenly there, standing tall and regal as always, in complete contrast to Potter's red-faced and livid mother standing beside him.
"Hello, Father," said Scorpius sheepishly, standing up and brushing off his robes, ignoring the river of blood pouring from his nose and the aching pain of what would surely become a black eye.
"Just what is going on here?" asked Draco Malfoy coldly to his son.
"Erm," said Scorpius.
"Well this is just bloody wonderful!" cried Mrs. Potter, throwing her arms up in the air. She turned to the horde of spectators that had gathered around them. "All of you, shoo! Mind your own bloody business!"
The crowd dispersed immediately, for Mrs. Potter's temper was famous. Scorpius, who prided himself on being fearless and snooty, couldn't even bring himself to make eye contact with her, let alone give her his patented haughty glare.
"Albus," said Mrs. Potter sternly to her son, "Your father is over there with your siblings. He's got all your trunks and belongings on the trolley by now. I expect he'll want to speak to you about this. I know I certainly will when I see you next."
Potter, who also didn't seem to be able to meet his mother's eyes, nodded and walked glumly towards his famous father. Scorpius followed him with his eyes to the bespectacled man with messy dark hair standing off to the side with his other offspring. He glanced at his own father hesitantly, expecting a glare, but was surprised to see him still standing awfully close to Potter's mum.
"It's alright, Gin," he was saying softly. "They're teenage boys, they had a spat. It doesn't mean that—"
"Yes, it does though!" she interjected, not letting him finish. "This is just going to be one of many. I told you it wasn't..."
But Scorpius had stopped listening. He was focused much more on something else.
"Dad?" he asked, interrupting the two adults. "Why are you and Mrs. Potter holding hands?"
~*~*~*~
The journey back to Malfoy Manor was silent. Scorpius sat opposite Draco and Ginny, who were no longer touching in any way. It was almost worse than before, thought Scorpius, watching them from the corner of his now bruised eye. Potter's mum was sitting on her hands, as though to physically restrain herself from touching his father, who maintained a calm façade but for his eyes, which kept darting back to the woman beside him. When the carriage pulled to a stop outside the front steps of the manor, he jumped out and all but ran through the door, not stopping until he had reached his own chambers.
Scorpius slammed the door shut behind him and strode immediately toward his bed, ignoring the familiar surroundings he hadn't seen in months. He threw himself onto the soft mattress, pushing aside Smokey, the stuffed dragon that had been with him since he was an infant. Even he couldn't calm Scorpius now.
"How could he?" raved Scorpius. "She's a bloody Potter! And even worse, she's a Weasley, too!"
He scooped Smokey up off the floor and set him on top of a pillow.
"Don't you look at me like that!" he yelled at the toy. "She gave birth to that complete git, Potter! The one who's been an absolute bastard to me from the moment I laid eyes on him! How could he possibly expect me to accept the fact that he's dating that bint?!"
"Well, I expect he expects you to give "that bint" a chance," came the serious voice of Draco Malfoy from the doorway. Scorpius whirled around, furious and embarrassed at having been caught venting to his childhood plaything. He tried to subtly push Smokey out of view, but Draco saw him.
"Don't be upset at poor Smokey," said his dad amusedly. "He didn't give you away, I could hear you from downstairs."
"Oh," said Scorpius miserably.
"Ginny could hear you too," he added quietly. Scorpius scoffed angrily.
"So? I don't care what she hears. She's a stupid bitch."
"A stupid bitch? Scorpius, you haven't even properly met the woman."
"Dad, you saw her at King's Cross! She's starkers! She was ready to Avada me for hitting her precious little Albus!"
Draco looked incredulously at his son.
"Scorpius, I don't know what platform you were on and what woman you happened to see, but Ginny was a little too busy wanting to Avada her precious little Albus to even give you a second thought. She was mortified that her son would behave in such a way. And I was too. You should know better, Scorpius."
"Dad, you didn't hear the things he was saying to me," pouted Scorpius. "He was... he was saying things about Mum."
Draco's face turned to stone. Obviously, having a new girlfriend didn't mean he'd forgotten about his former wife.
"Doesn't mean you should retaliate," said Draco tiredly, sitting on the bed with his son. "You're above that, Scorpius. Even if he was saying things about your mother, you need to remember you're a Malfoy. You're expected to—"
"Uphold the family honor, behave well at all times, yeah Dad, I know. It's just, I don't know. He makes me so angry, all the time. Like no one else can. I try to ignore him, but I can't. Not him. How can you be dating his mum, Dad? How could you?"
Draco sighed.
"I'm not."
"Right, Dad. You hold hands with every woman you happen to meet at a train station. Nice way of behaving like a Malfoy, upholding family honor and all that, yeah?"
"Scorpius..."
"No Dad, I'm serious. If she's not your girlfriend, then what is she? Just some whore to make you forget 'bout Mum for awhile? I didn't know you liked to flaunt those around to the entire wizarding world, Dad. I didn't know you—"
"Stop it," said Draco through gritted teeth. He was angry now, Scorpius could tell. "Don't you say one more word, young man. You have no idea what you're talking about. None at all. Now, if I say Ginny and I are not dating, then we are not dating. She is my friend, and she is in need, and if I hear you say one more nasty thing against her, I shall be very angry with you."
Scorpius stared defiantly at his father, grey eyes narrowed at the man who was so much like him, although Scorpius was loathe to admit it.
"If she's just a friend, then why's she staying here?" he asked hatefully.
"She's got nowhere else to go. I wasn't about to make her stay at that dump, The Leaky Cauldron, or at that even bigger dump, her parents' house. She's sleeping in the guest suite down the hall from my rooms."
"Why were you holding hands?"
Draco sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair.
"That's complicated. I don't know that you'd understand if I tried to explain it to you. I guess all I can say is that sometimes when two people are friends, they lend each other comfort that way. She was seeing her husband for the first time since she left him, and it was very hard for her. I was giving her the support she needed. I know what it looked like, and I'm sorry for putting you on the spot, Scorpius. But I need you to understand that she's just a friend, nothing more."
"Why'd she leave Mr. Potter?" Scorpius tried to take the spite out of his voice, because he truly wanted to know.
"I don't know, Scorpius. She wasn't happy. I don't know the specifics. All that matters is that she felt she needed to leave, and that she did. Nothing else is really relevant unless she wants to tell me, which she doesn't. I'm going to ask you not to ask her."
"Will that pra—will her children be staying here too?"
"They're with their father for two weeks before he begins training with Puddlemere for the playoffs, but then, yes, they will be staying with us. I expect you to behave yourself, Scorpius, and if you feel you cannot, I expect you to remove yourself from the situation. Ginny and I do not need you and her children having little spats like the one you had today. It's highly inappropriate."
"Dad, I already told you! I can't help it when he's involved. He just makes me so mad! He—"
"Yes, yes, so you've said. Regardless, I'd like you to make an effort please. If not for Ginny, then for me."
Scorpius was silent.
"Did you hear me?"
"Yeah, I heard you."
"Will you make an effort to be civil?"
"Maybe."
"Scorpius..."
"Fine. I'll try to be civil to your friend and her spawn."
Draco raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He stood up and strode to the door.
"Thank you, Scorpius," he said quietly, closing the door behind him. Scorpius fell back on his bed with an exasperated sigh. This was going to be one interesting summer.
~*~*~*~
Ginny Weasley (Oh, how good it felt to call herself a Weasley again!) had been through quite a lot in the past three months. As she stepped out of the unnecessarily large bathtub, she allowed herself to think about her life for a moment.
She had left the most famous man in the wizarding world, only to be living with a man he hated, a man who she now regarded as one of her best friends. He'd taken her in when she'd been too ashamed to go home to Mum and Dad, he'd let her cry on his shoulder more than once, and he hadn't asked questions when she didn't want to answer them. No one was more shocked than her, but Draco Malfoy was actually a decent man.
Ginny wrapped a robe around herself and left the bathroom, her bare feet padding across the soft carpet of the room she had come to call her own. She remembered the first time she slept in here, the night she told Draco she was thinking of leaving Harry. They'd been casual friends for a few months by then, and she'd been over at the Manor for dinner. By the end of the night, they were both very drunk and very talkative. Ginny remembered the way the words slipped out of her mouth, actualizing thoughts she hadn't actually known she was having.
But as soon as she'd said it, the tears had started coming, as tears are so apt to do. Draco had held her, listened to her cry and work out what was going on in her befuddled mind, and when she was done, he picked her up and carried her to this room, where he tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead and told her to have sweet dreams.
She smiled, brushing out her hair and thinking of Draco. He was such a good friend to her. Sure, he was sarcastic and bitter and sometimes downright mean, but she knew how to read him now. She knew how to look past his seemingly cruel words to the teasing glint in his beautiful grey eyes, she knew that he believed sarcasm was one of the highest forms of humor, and no longer allowed herself to feel hurt at what he said. He'd gone above and beyond, letting her stay here, letting her children stay here, especially after Albus' embarrassing display with his own son today...
Ginny thought about Scorpius. He seemed so put off by her presence, and it made her nervous. She desperately wanted Draco's son to like her, but judging by what she'd seen today, Albus had taken care of that for her. All the same, she felt determined to win him over. Perhaps she'd take him to lunch, or try to spend some time with him while she was here.
"Gin?" Draco opened the door slowly, peeking in as he always did, as if he was afraid she might be angry with him for intruding.
"Oh hey," she said brightly. "How did it go?"
"Well, I think," he said, entering the room and sitting on her bed. "It's going to be another story entirely when your children come, but for now, I think he's alright with it, although I think he thinks we're seeing each other."
Ginny laughed, ignoring the twinge his words sent to her belly, and sat next to him on the bed.
"Draco, I just want to say thank you again for letting me be here. You really didn't have to—"
"You're right. I didn't. Get out."
Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Seriously, Draco."
"Nonsense, Ginny, what else would I do with all these extra rooms? It's not as if I have any use for them. You and yours are welcome to stay here as long as you'd like."
"Thanks," she whispered, laying her head on his shoulder. She loved that they could do this. She didn't miss Harry one bit, but it was nice to be able to act like this with someone. She knew Draco felt the same way. Until his friendship with Ginny, he hadn't been near another woman since Astoria left. He was jumpy and awkward at first, unused to her touchy-feely ways, but soon he warmed up to the fact that she liked to hold hands and give hugs platonically, and quickly grew to welcome her "Gryffindor behavior," as he called it. She sometimes found herself imagining it wasn't so platonic, but always banished those thoughts quickly. It would do no good to make things awkward between her and the man who was currently acting as her savior.
"No problem," he replied softly, resting his head atop hers. "All the same though, I'd watch out for him, if I were you. He can be a bit... difficult... when he wants to be, and it looks as though he and your son get along about as well as I did with your ex husband when we were their age. He might be holding a grudge against you for that."
"Draco," said Ginny seriously, lifting her head to look him in the eye. "I've met Voldemort, and more than once. I've faced Death Eaters more times than I can count, and I fought in the Battle of Hogwarts. I think I can handle a fourteen-year-old boy."
"Ah, but Ginny," said Draco, just as seriously. "This is my fourteen-year-old boy we're talking about."
~*~*~*~
Scorpius came late to breakfast the next morning. Ginny and Draco were nearly finished eating, and Draco had his nose buried in The Daily Prophet. Ginny looked up at the blond boy who had just entered the dining room, and smiled cheerfully.
"Good morning, Scorpius," she said brightly. She had decided that the "kill him with kindness" tactic was in order here, and remained determined to make the boy like her. She expected a cold or sarcastic answer, she expected him to ignore her completely, but what she did not expect was his response.
"Good morning, Ginny," he replied, just as cheerfully. "Did you sleep well last night?"
"Why yes, I did," she responded, beaming at him. This would be easy as cake. "And yourself? How did it feel to be back in your own bed?"
"Oh, it was wonderful," said Scorpius enthusiastically. "The beds at Hogwarts just don't do it for me, you know?"
"Yes, I remember."
They continued to chat together all through breakfast. Draco even put down his newspaper to stare bewilderedly at the pair, who appeared to be getting on famously.
"Well, I've got to get to work," he said cautiously, still watching both Ginny and Scorpius closely. "You two have fun today." He strode away towards the giant fireplace at the end of the room, looking back over his shoulder every few steps to be sure he wasn't imagining things. He disappeared in a rush of green flames, leaving Ginny and Scorpius alone at the table.
"Well," said Ginny. "I've got to go get dressed for the day. I'm off to run some errands in Diagon Alley today. Would you care to join me, Scorpius?"
"Why, that would be just lovely," said Scorpius with a smile. "I can't wait."
Ginny left the dining room with a grin plastered onto her features. She could just tell this was shaping up to be a wonderful relationship with her best friend's son, and she was so glad. She'd really thought he would give her a much harder time, but was grateful she didn't have to put up with anything unpleasant from him.
She hummed a tune to herself as she opened the door to her bedroom, a tune that stopped immediately as soon as she set eyes on what lay inside.
~*~*~*~
Scorpius waited down the hall, peeking around the corner and straining his ears to hear the inevitable scream. He knew the damage that one niffler could do to a room, but hadn't allowed himself to check on the progress of what five of them had done to Ginny's suite.
When he didn't hear screaming or cursing, Scorpius was confused. He straightened up and walked casually towards the open door. As he walked passed it, he stopped and feigned surprise.
"Why, Ginny!" he exclaimed. "What happened in here?"
He mentally patted himself on the back for a job well done. The nifflers had done their part, wreaking complete havoc on her room. Feathers from destroyed pillows littered the air and the ground, as did what looked like every single one of Ginny's personal belongings. Blouses, dresses, jewelry, shoes, books... everything was strewn about everywhere, much of it completely destroyed. He spotted one of the five fuzzy creatures sniffing around the floor, a small scrap of lavender silk draped over its head.
"Looks like some nifflers got in and made a right mess of the place," said Scorpius sorrowfully. Ginny whirled around and stared hard at him, realization dawning in her brown eyes. She knew. Good, thought Scorpius. He waited for the yelling to start, the wild rampage like the one he'd heard at King's Cross yesterday.
"Yes," said Ginny calmly. "How peculiar though, that these wild animals got into the manor and seemed only to want the things in my room. And a group of five of them, too! That's quite the herd for an animal that's supposed to be so solitary."
Scorpius was shocked. Where was the anger? Why wasn't she yelling at him? The niffler he had seen before stopped at his feet, and Scorpius idly bent down to pick up the fabric still clinging to its head. When he noticed that it was actually a lacy thong, he blanched and flung it as far away from him as possible.
"Well," he said as calmly as he could. "This is quite the shame. But I'm afraid I must be going. Good luck cleaning all this up."
"Yes," said Ginny through narrowed eyes. Scorpius stopped at the door.
"Oh, and Ginny? Let me know if you'd still like to go to Diagon Alley."
~*~*~*~
As soon as Scorpius closed the door, Ginny sank to the floor and started to cry. That wretched little boy! she thought angrily, looking at the mess all around her. All her things, destroyed. She mentally chastised herself for not expecting this. She had been a trusting fool, and the child had tricked her.
"So this is how it's going to be, then," she said to herself, standing up and preparing to clean up the colossal mess. "But I'm not going down that easily, Scorpius. Oh no. I grew up with Fred and George, for Circe's sake. It's going to take a lot more than a few nifflers to break me."
~*~*~*~
"Gin, what happened to your shirt?" asked Draco at dinner. Scorpius looked pointedly at his plate. He knew that Ginny was wearing one of the very few salvageable pieces of clothing she had left, and he also knew that salvageable was a very loose term. He prepared to hear her snitch on him, but was surprised once again.
"Oh, I was just clumsy," she laughed. "You know me. Always running into things, ripping my clothes. I'm very destructive. Kind of like a niffler in that way."
"It's true. And you do love shiny things," said Draco, deadpan. They both laughed, and the subject moved on. She managed to avoid looking at Scorpius at all while speaking to his father, and he breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't going to tell on him. She was still trying to gain his trust. Foolish of her, but he would take advantage of that. He'd show her.
~*~*~*~
Draco knew there was something Ginny wasn't telling him. He usually visited her in her rooms before bed, but tonight she insisted on coming to his room, and when she did, she was still wearing that awful ripped shirt. But awful as it was, he couldn't help noticing as he let her in the door that the tear on the navy blue blouse revealed a small part of her bra, as well as a patch of the creamy skin under her shirt. As she collapsed contentedly on his bed, vibrant red hair fanning out around her and a contented smile on her face, he had a brief mental image of what it would be like to crawl on top of her and fuck her silly.
He shook himself mentally. Get a grip, he told himself. She's your best friend. But as he moved closer, and sat down next to her, Draco found he couldn't banish those thoughts tonight. It had been happening more and more often lately. He would look at her and suddenly think to himself how beautiful she was, or become overwhelmed with the urge to kiss her soundly. At first, he'd just laughed it off, telling himself it had been far too long since he'd gotten laid, but now it was happening more and more often, and the thought were getting harder and harder to chase away. Draco loved his friendship with Ginny, and was afraid these thoughts would ruin it. She could never know.
"Hey you," she said suddenly, poking him in the chest. He jerked out of his reverie. "You're very quiet tonight. What are you thinking about?"
Draco laughed nervously. "I'm trying to figure out what you're not telling me," he said. "I mean, I know you Weasleys are known for being poor as dirt and all, but really, Ginny, you're taking it a bit far. That shirt is hideous."
She laughed.
"Really though, Gin, what happened?"
She sobered immediately.
"Nothing. I already told you, it was my own clumsiness. Nothing more!"
He watched her through narrowed eyes. She was lying, he was sure of it.
"You're a terrible liar, Weasley," he said, his voice low. "I'll figure it out, you know."
"Nothing to figure out!" she said, her voice just a bit too cheerful. "It really was my own fault."
Draco didn't push the subject any further, he knew she wouldn't answer him if he tried to force it out of her. He'd find out somehow.
~*~*~*~
Ginny came back from Diagon Alley the next day, arms full of bags containing her brand new wardrobe, only to find that all the furniture had been moved out of her room. It took her the rest of the day to find all her things, as they'd been strategically scattered into different rooms at opposite ends of the giant manor.
The day after that, she woke up to find that she had, sometime over the course of the night, turned green. It clashed horribly with her hair, and eventually she had to Floo George and ask him how to change herself back. She told him the story of her ongoing "battle" with Scorpius, and he laughed at her for being ridiculous. By the time he found something to fix her, and she left the shop, she could see the cogs turning in his head. It was obvious to Ginny that some sort of color-changing Weasley product would soon become widely available to the wizarding world.
Over the next week and a half, Ginny endured theft, rearranged furniture, an army of toads, doors booby-trapped to drop mud and other nasties on her head, and far more of her brothers' products than she ever wanted to come into contact with. He slipped canary creams into her lunch, left fake wands where hers should be, and even put up a portable swamp just inside the door to her room.
But still Ginny would not tell Draco what was wrong, although it was becoming increasingly obvious to him that something was definitely out of the ordinary. Ginny was still convinced that she could win Scorpius' favor and trust by keeping quiet about all this, and not antagonizing him. She was passive to all of his pranks, and did not retaliate or speak to him about them once. She repeated her mantra, "Kill him with kindness," over and over in her head when she felt like killing him in a more violent manner. Her mother always told her to ignore her brothers, and they would grow tired of teasing her and go away. She was hoping against hope that it would work now.
~*~*~*~
Scorpius didn't know what else to do. Ginny was being no fun at all, and he was running out of ideas. He was getting frustrated.
"Why won't you let me hate you?" he asked to himself, watching her out his bedroom window. She was wandering the gardens, and had stopped to smell some flower or other. Her children were coming to the manor in a few days, and Scorpius didn't know what he would do then. His plan had been to run Ginny out before now, so that he would never have to say he had lived with Albus bloody Potter for any amount of time, but this outcome was looking less and less likely.
Scorpius watched as his father joined Ginny in the gardens. He'd just come home from work, and she turned around to greet him with a hug and a smile on her face. Scorpius scoffed. Friends, he thought bitterly. Just friends, my arse.
It had become increasingly obvious to Scorpius over the last week that his father did not think of Ginny as simply a friend. He had lost count of how many times he'd caught Draco staring at Ginny when she wasn't looking. His father followed her around like a puppy dog, and it made Scorpius sick. He was a bloody Malfoy! He shouldn't be acting this way, as if he were nothing but a lovesick Hufflepuff, or worse, a Gryffindor.
If anything, Draco's actions just made Scorpius that much more determined to hate Ginny. He didn't want his father to be with anyone but his mum. And true, she was gone, and true, he hadn't seen her in over a year, but he still held out hope that she would come back to them. Ginny was no replacement for his mum, his beautiful mum who loved him very much and had probably stopped writing only because she had broken both her hands and could no longer hold a quill. No, Ginny had garish red hair and freckles. She wasn't beautiful, she was actually rather plain. And she was blackmailing him! Scorpius knew this was the reason why she didn't tell Draco any of the pranks he'd pulled. She was holding it against him until she needed something, and then she would threaten to tell his father!
Scorpius fumed from his place at the window. He watched Ginny walk with his father, and he plotted. He wasn't going to let her steal his dad away. Oh no. He would come up with a plan to get rid of her once and for all.
~*~*~*~
Ginny pushed away her plate and let out a happy sigh. Food at Malfoy Manor was excellent, and although she sometimes missed her mother's home cooked meals, these ones never failed to satisfy her.
"Excuse me, Masters and Miss Ginny," came the tiny voice of Toddy, the house elf. "But Toddy has made a lovely dessert for the Masters and Miss Ginny. If the Masters and Miss Ginny would like to eat some, Toddy has made a delicious chocolate cake. Would the Masters and Miss Ginny care for a piece?"
Although very repetitive and annoying, Toddy was an excellent cook, and Ginny nodded enthusiastically.
"I'd love some cake, Toddy," she said politely.
Toddy left for a moment and reappeared with the most delicious looking chocolate cake Ginny had seen in years. She sliced a piece and handed it to Draco, who winked at Ginny before taking a bite.
"This is delicious," he said teasingly. "Perhaps I'll eat the whole thing myself. You didn't want any, did you, Gin?"
She snorted.
"Oh, none at all. I'm not a big fan of chocolate anyway. Go ahead, Draco. Enjoy your cake. Just don't expect me to take care of you when you get sick."
Draco appeared contemplative.
"Ah, I suppose you're right. Being sick is never fun, and besides," Draco flexed an arm. "I can't let a body like this go to waste."
Ginny chuckled.
Toddy sliced two more pieces of cake, and Scorpius handed her one. She dug in, and found to her delight that it tasted just as wonderful as it looked. She gobbled the whole thing down, feeling very contented.
"Oh, that was so wonderf—" Ginny cut herself off to put a hand over her mouth. "Oh Merlin," she murmured, before leaning over and vomiting all over the pristine Persian rug.
~*~*~*~
Draco stood up immediately and moved to Ginny's side.
"Hey," he said softly to her. "You said I was the one who would get sick, remember?"
Ginny laughed weakly, then bent over to vomit again. With a sigh, Draco scooped her up into his arms and carried her out of the dining room. She managed not to be sick again until they reached her room, and he rushed her to the toilet just in time. She retched a few times into the porcelain bowl, several strands of hair sticking to her now sweaty face. Draco reached over to pull her hair back for her, and his hand brushed against her skin.
"Merlin, Ginny!" he cried. "You're burning up!"
She simply groaned and threw up once more.
Draco took Ginny into his arms and stroked her hair, holding it back behind her head whenever she leaned over to the toilet. He loved her hair. On the male Weasleys it looked garish and too bright, and even when she was younger, she looked as though her hair had been colored in by an orange felt tip marker, but she had grown into it. She'd always kept it long, and he fingered the soft auburn strands carefully, lovingly.
He took this opportunity to study her, as he had been so apt to do lately. Even sweaty and feverish, while puking into a toilet, he thought she was beautiful. Her brown eyes closed tiredly as she leaned into his chest. He held her close, and kissed the top of her head. He knew she thought these little kisses were just a sign of close friendship, but Draco used them to imagine that they were more. Even now, when he should have been worried for his friend's health, he found himself smiling, because she was with him and in his arms.
His fellow Slytherins would have shunned him, had they seen him now, thought Draco. For he was far from the man he was so many years ago. If any of his old crowd could see him now, mooning over a Weasley, accepting friendship with the woman when he really wanted much more, they would have laughed until they cried. But he could no longer bring himself to care. The only people he really cared about now were right here in the manor with him. He stroked Ginny's hair as she retched again, and thought about how far he'd come, and how he didn't mind that at all.
"Oh look," said Ginny suddenly, drawing his attention away from his thoughts. "It's turned all purpley!" She giggled and stared at the contents of the toilet for a moment. "Purple..." she said quietly to herself, as though trying to figure out something extremely important. Draco felt her forehead again. It was even hotter than before.
"You know," said Ginny matter-of-factly. "I used to play Quidditch."
"I know, Gin," replied Draco.
"I used to play Quidditch for real. I was in the league and everything!"
"I know, Gin. For the Harpies. I remember."
"Oh no, no, no! I played for the mighty and wonderful team of Chudley!"
"You played for the Cannons, Gin?"
"No, silly, Ron did. And then Hermione won the cup. She was always such a good Quidditch player."
"Gin, love, I think you're a little bit sick. You might be delirious."
"Dee-lirious? That sounds dee-lightful!" She giggled again, and Draco picked her up and carried her to bed. She seemed to be finished throwing up.
"Draco, my darlingest darling," she said, looking up at him. He glanced at her, and noticed the blotchy pink spots high on her cheeks.
"Yes, Ginny?" he responded, beginning to grow worried. Where had this illness come from?
"Would you like to know what else is dee-lightful?"
"What else is delightful, Gin?" responded Draco distractedly, tucking her into her bed. He noticed several changes throughout the room and several items missing, and wondered absently when she had done these things.
"PONIES are dee-lightful. And so is Quidditch. And chocolate cake!"
Draco jerked his head up. Chocolate cake. That was it! She had gotten sick right after eating... would he and Scorpius get sick, too? Did Toddy use some bad ingredients? Was Ginny allergic to something in the cake? This had to be it. He looked back at Ginny, who was still reciting everything she found to be delightful.
"And Charms are dee-lightful, and blueberry scones, and little baby kittens. My children are sometimes dee-lightful, but they argue with each other a lot."
"Ginny," said Draco impatiently, trying to figure out what could be wrong with her.
"Would you like to know a secret?" she whispered to him, her voice now weaker. She was beginning to fall asleep, or faint, or possibly both.
"Gin, not now, we need to figure out what's making you sick so I can make it better."
"I will tell you a secret first."
"Ginny, are you allergic to anything?"
"Draco, it's a really important secret."
"Ginny, I promise I will listen to your secret later, but right now I need to find out why you got sick so quickly."
"It was purple."
"Gin, this isn't helping. I need—"
"No, ask George. He knows. He knows about Scorpius, and he can fix it. Tell him it was a purple one."
Now Draco was listening.
"Ginny, what about Scorpius?"
"Last time, I was green. He knows, Draco. Just get him to fix it."
"Who, Scorpius?"
"No, no, no, George. Scorpius will only give me more."
"More what?"
"Snackbox..." Ginny fell promptly asleep, and Draco, at a loss for what else to do, Flooed her older brother.
He walked into the shop to find a very blue George Weasley standing behind the counter, his orange hair looking absolutely ridiculous with his new skin tone.
"Why, Malfoy!" he cried exuberantly. "Like our new product? It hasn't got a name yet, I'm only testing it out today. I'll give you a free one, if you'd like, seeing as it was inspired by your son's work and all. Hey, speaking of, if he ever shows an interest in my line of work, I'm not going to last forever, you know, and from what Ginny's been telling me, it sounds like he'd be perfect to someday take over the old business here. Quite the little prankster you've got."
The events of the past two weeks were locking into place now. Ginny's haggard and frazzled appearance, Scorpius' guilty glances, the things she hadn't been telling him... but he had no time to think about it now. Ginny was sick.
"Listen, Weasley, I've got a problem. Your sister is really sick. Fever, puking, the whole nine yards. She's convinced you can help her out."
George looked surprised.
"Malfoy, I run a joke shop. I'm not a Healer..."
"I know, I know, but she thinks you can help her out. She says to tell you it's purple."
"Erm, what is?"
"If I bloody well knew that, I wouldn't be here," Draco snarled. "All she said was "purple," and that Scorpius did it, and, erm, something else. Oh yes, "snackbox," I think. But she was delirious, so this could all mean nothing. She was insisting on telling me a--"
"Malfoy," said George impatiently. "Shut up. I know what's wrong with her."
"You do?" Draco was elated. "Well, fix it!"
"I will as soon as you stop talking."
George grabbed a box off of a shelf and handed it to Draco. Skiving Snackboxes, said the print on the box.
"Give her the orange half of the puking pastilles, and the red half of the fever fudge. She should be right as rain within an hour or two."
Draco clapped a hand on the blue skinned man's shoulder.
"Thank you," he said, truly grateful. George nodded with a grin.
"You're welcome. And seriously, Malfoy, tell your son he could have a bright future ahead of him in the joke shop business..."
Draco Flooed back to Ginny immediately, and forced her to eat the antidote to each of the candies his son had slipped her. She fell asleep soon after, and he stayed rooted to the armchair next to her bed, refusing to leave her side.
She woke up the next morning, feeling much better, and Draco beamed happily at her, relieved she was okay. He got up quickly to leave the room, and found Scorpius sitting on the floor outside Ginny's room, looking guilty.
"I think you should go in and talk to her," he said quietly, touching his son on the shoulder. "She's awake, and feeling a lot better, but no thanks to you."
Scorpius nodded, not looking his father in the eye.
"You and I will talk later," promised Draco.
~*~*~*~
Ginny was sitting up in bed, and she looked over at the door when Scorpius came in with a surprised expression on her face. She must have been expecting Draco again.
"Hi," said Scorpius quietly.
"Hello," said Ginny, her expression guarded.
"I'm sorry I made you sick," he said quickly, not looking at her. When he did sneak a glance, her eyes were narrowed.
"No, you're not," said Ginny bluntly. "You're sorry your father finally caught you."
Scorpius didn't answer.
"You do know that the different kinds of Skiving Snackboxes aren't meant to be eaten together, yes?"
Scorpius shrugged.
"So you do know that by giving me two of them and having no intention of giving me the antidote, I could have died, yes?"
Scorpius looked at her, wide eyed.
"I—I didn’t mean to—"
"Yes, well, you almost did, Scorpius. If your father hadn't brought me the antidote when he did, I would probably not be here talking to you right now."
Her voice was stern, and Scorpius stared at her, his jaw dropping. He hadn't wanted to kill her! He just wanted to embarrass her in front of his father. This wasn't even the final step in his master plan to get Ginny out of his life, but it could have been. She could have died, and it would have been his fault. He would have been a murderer... they could have locked him up in Azkaban for it. Scorpius tried to imagine life in Azkaban and failed.
"It—it was just a joke," he stammered. "I didn't mean anything by it, it was just another prank."
"Yeah, well your prank almost cost me my life."
Scorpius bit his lip and looked down at the ground. He could feel tears coming on, but he didn't care.
"I'm so, so sorry," he said quietly. He glanced tearfully up at Ginny and was surprised to see the look of amusement in her eyes. When she saw him looking at her, she let out the laugh she'd been holding in. She laughed loud and long, clutching her stomach as though trying to hold herself together.
"Merlin, Scorpius," she said in between laughs. "I can't believe you fell for that!"
Scorpius looked at her confusedly.
"As if my idiot brothers could come up with anything that was actually lethal!" cried Ginny gleefully.
It was starting to come together now.
"You—you weren't dying," said Scorpius slowly.
"Not even close," Ginny replied. "I felt sick, that's for sure, and the delirium was real enough, but I never would have died from a Skiving Snackbox."
"Then you tricked me," said Scorpius, surprised.
"Scorpius, two can play at your little game."
"But I—"
"You've been awfully mean to me, these past few weeks, you know," said Ginny. "And I've been growing very tired of killing you with kindness. I just had to get you back."
Scorpius sighed.
"I was only being mean because—"
"Because what?"
Scorpius shrugged.
"Because, I don’t know. I don't want you to be my mother. I've already got a mum, and I don't need you mucking that up by trying to fit yourself in."
Ginny bit her lip.
"Scorpius," she said, patting the bed next to her. He sat, cautiously looking at her as though she might trick him again. "I don't want to be your mother. I know that I'm not, and I have no intention of trying to be. Where did you get that idea?"
"Because my dad's in love with you," said Scorpius. "He'll want to marry you eventually, I expect, and that'd make you my mum. And your stupid son would be my brother, and I don't want to be at all near him, let alone related to him."
"Scorpius, your father and I are just good friends. Didn't he have this talk with you?"
"Yeah, he did, but I can tell he's lying. You can't tell me you haven't noticed the way he looks at you? It's disgusting, all moon eyes and puppy dogs and whatnot."
Ginny laughed nervously.
"Scorpius, he's my friend. He's been very kind to me, and I think you're reading a little too far into it."
"He's my dad, I know him better than anyone. He looks at you like he used to look at Mum."
Ginny frowned, obviously thinking about this.
"Oh," was all she said.
"Ginny?" asked Scorpius suddenly.
"Yes?" she responded, her mind obviously still elsewhere.
"Do you love my dad?"
"Well, I— I don't know," she said, her voice an octave higher than usual. "I certainly like him very much, and we've become very close, but I—"
She cut herself off, lost in thought. Scorpius stood up, preparing to leave. He sighed, knowing what the outcome of her thoughts would undoubtedly be and resigning himself to it.
"You know what, Ginny?" he said to her. She looked at him, eyes wide. "You're alright, I suppose. For a Weasley, anyway."
She smiled warmly at him.
"And you're alright, Scorpius," she replied. "For a Malfoy, that is."
"Take care of my dad, alright?"
Ginny snorted.
"Yeah, Scorpius. I will."
Scorpius left the room with a small smile on his face. He'd meant what he said. She was alright. She hadn't snitched on him when he'd been so mean to her, and he was grateful for that, as well as a little bit ashamed of himself. He was so busy trying to get her out of his life, he didn't think about the fact that there were good parts about having her in it. She really was a nice woman, and she had a prankster streak herself, which he admired. She was patient and forgiving and extremely kind to him, and she was obviously someone he could trust if he needed to. And besides, he hadn't seen his father this happy in years.
~*~*~*~
Draco entered Ginny's room as soon as his son left it. She was sitting in bed, looking thoughtful, and barely glanced up at him when he sat down next to her.
"You two okay now?"
Ginny nodded.
"I think so. He says I'm "alright," and I'm assuming that's Scorpius speak for "I will no longer wreak havoc on your life.""
"Pretty much," agreed Draco with a chuckle. He smiled at her. "I'm glad you two are okay with each other now."
"Me too."
They sat together in silence, Ginny biting her lip and trying to sort out her feelings for this man, and Draco squeezing his eyes shut, trying to block out images of what he would rather be doing with Ginny in this bed.
"Draco?" asked Ginny suddenly, breaking the silence. "Do you remember when I said I had to tell you a secret?"
"Yeah," he replied. "You were pretty out of it. Telling me all sorts of "dee-lightful" stories, as I recall. Why, what was it?"
"Well, it was one more thing I thought would be dee-lightful, actually."
"That one thing being...?"
Ginny took a deep breath. It was now or never. Scorpius could have been lying to her, it could have been just one more trick, but this was the only way to find out.
"This," she said, leaning up and kissing him full on the mouth.
~*~*~*~
Draco was too shocked to respond. As soon as his lips realized what was currently pressed up against them, he swore he could feel every drop of blood in his body rush towards his groin. But before he could kiss her back, she pulled away, looking embarrassed.
"I'm sorry," she said shyly. "I just, I needed to know what—"
He didn't let her finish, having already pulled her head back towards his for another kiss. She squealed quietly in surprise when their lips met, and this time, they wasted no time. Her mouth opened automatically under his, and his tongue swept through her mouth hungrily, as if he was trying to learn and memorize the inside of it. Her arms came up to wrap around his neck and she kissed him as passionately as if her life depended on it.
Kisses with Harry had never been like this. Kisses with Harry had been sweet, fun, but a bit tiresome after awhile. But kissing Draco was intoxicating. She wanted to devour him, she couldn't get enough. Her conversation with Scorpius had made her realize that her idle musings about being with this man in other ways than friendship hadn't been so idle after all, and as his nimble fingers unbuttoned her blouse, she realized just how often she had had those kinds of thoughts. Far too often for her to brush them aside the way she did.
Draco divested Ginny of her shirt and bra quickly, his mouth never leaving hers. She tasted like the mint toothpaste she had just used, and he didn't want to stop kissing her, for fear that he would wake up and they would still be just friends. He'd wanted this for so long, and now that it was happening he could hardly believe it was real.
"Ginny," he murmured, hands caressing her face, her hair, her neck. "Oh gods, Ginny, I've wanted you for so long."
She smiled against his mouth, her hands wandering down his body, lifting the hem of his shirt up and over his head.
"Me too, Draco," she said, suddenly sure of herself. "Me too."
He reached down to unbutton her trousers, and could hardly contain himself. She was so beautiful, and he wanted her so badly. He couldn't wait any longer. There'd be time for foreplay next time, and he knew she felt the same.
"Oh Gin," he whispered. "I—"
"Master Draco! Miss Ginny!" came the high pitched and embarrassed voice of Toddy from the door. The tiny elf had her hands over her eyes, and the two lovers looked up to stare at her. "We has visitors here at the manor. They is children, Master Draco."
Ginny sat up, wrapping a sheet around her naked torso.
"My children! They're coming today! Oh, how could I forget?" she fretted. "Toddy, tell them I'll be right down."
"Yes, Miss Ginny," said Toddy obediently. "Toddy will show them to the parlor to wait for you, Miss Ginny." The elf disappeared with a soft pop.
"How could I have forgotten they were coming today?" Ginny cried, throwing her clothing back on. "My own children!" She flew to the mirror to check her reflection, fixing her hair so she looked as though she hadn't been doing what she'd just been doing. Draco was suddenly behind her, holding onto her shoulders and spinning her to face him.
"Ginny," he said. "Calm down. Just breathe a moment." He pulled her to him and held her tight against his bare chest.
"Oh Draco," she sighed. "Why are you so good to me?"
"Probably because I'm in love with you," he replied, his tone casual although his heart was beating at the speed of light. Her head jerked up to look at him, and he shrugged. "I know that's a bit fast, Gin, and I'm sorry if it makes you feel—"
"Draco."
"Yes?"
"I love you too."
They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Ginny finally wiped the goofy smile off Draco's face with another kiss.
~*~*~*~
Scorpius wandered through the manor, idly thinking about Ginny and his father. Oh, he could imagine what they were doing right about now, although he didn't want to. And he knew that, in part, it was because of him.
Scorpius' ears perked up at the sound of voices from the parlor. He stood outside the door, listening to the voices inside. In just an instant, he recognized the whiny voice of Albus Potter. Scorpius grinned to himself. So it was that day, the day when the Potter children moved into Malfoy Manor for the summer.
He strode purposefully into the parlor, and feigned surprise at seeing his enemy sitting on the sofa.
"Why, Albus!" he cried. "What a surprise! What might you be doing in my house?"
"Malfoy," snarled Albus.
"Yes, you're correct. That is my name." Scorpius struggled to keep his voice even and not snap at the stupid git.
"What do you want?" said Albus nastily.
"Well, I heard voices and decided I would come check it out. Now that I see it's you, I'd just like to take this opportunity to welcome you to my home." Scorpius managed somehow to refrain from laughing as he watched Potter's face turn to a particularly interesting shade of puce.
"What are you playing at, Malfoy?" Albus asked menacingly.
"Why, nothing at all, my dear friend. I'm truly happy to see you here. I think this summer is going to be extremely fun."
As he watched Potter's face run a length of emotions ranging from surprise to anger to possible constipation, Scorpius laughed mentally. What was it Ginny had said? Kill him with kindness? It was already making him crazy, and Scorpius couldn't wait to see how else to make the boy tick. Oh yes, though Scorpius to himself. This is going to be one fun summer, indeed.
"Oops, sorry, Scorpius," drawled the voice of Albus Potter from above him. "Did I trip you?"
"Shut it, Potter," snapped Scorpius from the ground as he gathered his scattered belongings.
"What are you going to do, Malfoy?" asked Potter. "Run to your mummy? Oh wait, she up and left you, didn't she? For some young, fit cabana boy or something, yeah?"
"I said shut it, Potter," snarled Scorpius, standing up and staring the dark haired boy in the face. "My mother had her own reasons for leaving. But at least she would never be mental enough to marry your complete git of a father."
"You leave my parents out of this, Malfoy." Potter narrowed his eyes. Scorpius ignored him.
"And if that doesn't prove your mum daft, she kept an ugly little bastard like you when she should have drowned you the moment she saw your face. Would have saved us all a lot of trouble."
"Stop it, Malfoy," said Potter through gritted teeth.
"No, I don't think I will," said Scorpius nastily, on a roll now. "If your mum had any sense, she would have left you and your horrid family ages ago. Obviously she doesn't, or else she's some sort of masochist, to remain part of any family that has you in it."
It appeared as though Scorpius had hit a sore spot, for Potter, by now very red in the face, lunged forward and tackled Scorpius to the ground. The two teenage boys rolled about on the cobblestone platform, throwing punches like one would sweets in a parade.
"I'll kill you!" cried Albus Potter, pinning his blond nemesis to the ground and pummeling him over and over with his fists. "I'll kill you for talking about my mum like that! You don't know anything. She didn't leave us because of me! She didn't!" By now the boy was sobbing, although Scorpius, bruised and bloody underneath him, was only confused. He hadn't known that Mrs. Potter had left her famous husband. But he had no time to think about it, as her son was currently transforming his face into a bloody pulp.
"You. Don't. Know. What. You're. Talking. About," said Potter, punctuating each word with a punch. "My. Mum. Is—"
"ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER." Both boys looked up at the furious redhead who had just fought her way to the inner circle of their spectators. "WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
"Well, evidently, your mum is here," said Scorpius faintly, finishing Potter's earlier sentence. "And really hacked off at you, from the looks of it."
"Scorpius." His father was suddenly there, standing tall and regal as always, in complete contrast to Potter's red-faced and livid mother standing beside him.
"Hello, Father," said Scorpius sheepishly, standing up and brushing off his robes, ignoring the river of blood pouring from his nose and the aching pain of what would surely become a black eye.
"Just what is going on here?" asked Draco Malfoy coldly to his son.
"Erm," said Scorpius.
"Well this is just bloody wonderful!" cried Mrs. Potter, throwing her arms up in the air. She turned to the horde of spectators that had gathered around them. "All of you, shoo! Mind your own bloody business!"
The crowd dispersed immediately, for Mrs. Potter's temper was famous. Scorpius, who prided himself on being fearless and snooty, couldn't even bring himself to make eye contact with her, let alone give her his patented haughty glare.
"Albus," said Mrs. Potter sternly to her son, "Your father is over there with your siblings. He's got all your trunks and belongings on the trolley by now. I expect he'll want to speak to you about this. I know I certainly will when I see you next."
Potter, who also didn't seem to be able to meet his mother's eyes, nodded and walked glumly towards his famous father. Scorpius followed him with his eyes to the bespectacled man with messy dark hair standing off to the side with his other offspring. He glanced at his own father hesitantly, expecting a glare, but was surprised to see him still standing awfully close to Potter's mum.
"It's alright, Gin," he was saying softly. "They're teenage boys, they had a spat. It doesn't mean that—"
"Yes, it does though!" she interjected, not letting him finish. "This is just going to be one of many. I told you it wasn't..."
But Scorpius had stopped listening. He was focused much more on something else.
"Dad?" he asked, interrupting the two adults. "Why are you and Mrs. Potter holding hands?"
~*~*~*~
The journey back to Malfoy Manor was silent. Scorpius sat opposite Draco and Ginny, who were no longer touching in any way. It was almost worse than before, thought Scorpius, watching them from the corner of his now bruised eye. Potter's mum was sitting on her hands, as though to physically restrain herself from touching his father, who maintained a calm façade but for his eyes, which kept darting back to the woman beside him. When the carriage pulled to a stop outside the front steps of the manor, he jumped out and all but ran through the door, not stopping until he had reached his own chambers.
Scorpius slammed the door shut behind him and strode immediately toward his bed, ignoring the familiar surroundings he hadn't seen in months. He threw himself onto the soft mattress, pushing aside Smokey, the stuffed dragon that had been with him since he was an infant. Even he couldn't calm Scorpius now.
"How could he?" raved Scorpius. "She's a bloody Potter! And even worse, she's a Weasley, too!"
He scooped Smokey up off the floor and set him on top of a pillow.
"Don't you look at me like that!" he yelled at the toy. "She gave birth to that complete git, Potter! The one who's been an absolute bastard to me from the moment I laid eyes on him! How could he possibly expect me to accept the fact that he's dating that bint?!"
"Well, I expect he expects you to give "that bint" a chance," came the serious voice of Draco Malfoy from the doorway. Scorpius whirled around, furious and embarrassed at having been caught venting to his childhood plaything. He tried to subtly push Smokey out of view, but Draco saw him.
"Don't be upset at poor Smokey," said his dad amusedly. "He didn't give you away, I could hear you from downstairs."
"Oh," said Scorpius miserably.
"Ginny could hear you too," he added quietly. Scorpius scoffed angrily.
"So? I don't care what she hears. She's a stupid bitch."
"A stupid bitch? Scorpius, you haven't even properly met the woman."
"Dad, you saw her at King's Cross! She's starkers! She was ready to Avada me for hitting her precious little Albus!"
Draco looked incredulously at his son.
"Scorpius, I don't know what platform you were on and what woman you happened to see, but Ginny was a little too busy wanting to Avada her precious little Albus to even give you a second thought. She was mortified that her son would behave in such a way. And I was too. You should know better, Scorpius."
"Dad, you didn't hear the things he was saying to me," pouted Scorpius. "He was... he was saying things about Mum."
Draco's face turned to stone. Obviously, having a new girlfriend didn't mean he'd forgotten about his former wife.
"Doesn't mean you should retaliate," said Draco tiredly, sitting on the bed with his son. "You're above that, Scorpius. Even if he was saying things about your mother, you need to remember you're a Malfoy. You're expected to—"
"Uphold the family honor, behave well at all times, yeah Dad, I know. It's just, I don't know. He makes me so angry, all the time. Like no one else can. I try to ignore him, but I can't. Not him. How can you be dating his mum, Dad? How could you?"
Draco sighed.
"I'm not."
"Right, Dad. You hold hands with every woman you happen to meet at a train station. Nice way of behaving like a Malfoy, upholding family honor and all that, yeah?"
"Scorpius..."
"No Dad, I'm serious. If she's not your girlfriend, then what is she? Just some whore to make you forget 'bout Mum for awhile? I didn't know you liked to flaunt those around to the entire wizarding world, Dad. I didn't know you—"
"Stop it," said Draco through gritted teeth. He was angry now, Scorpius could tell. "Don't you say one more word, young man. You have no idea what you're talking about. None at all. Now, if I say Ginny and I are not dating, then we are not dating. She is my friend, and she is in need, and if I hear you say one more nasty thing against her, I shall be very angry with you."
Scorpius stared defiantly at his father, grey eyes narrowed at the man who was so much like him, although Scorpius was loathe to admit it.
"If she's just a friend, then why's she staying here?" he asked hatefully.
"She's got nowhere else to go. I wasn't about to make her stay at that dump, The Leaky Cauldron, or at that even bigger dump, her parents' house. She's sleeping in the guest suite down the hall from my rooms."
"Why were you holding hands?"
Draco sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair.
"That's complicated. I don't know that you'd understand if I tried to explain it to you. I guess all I can say is that sometimes when two people are friends, they lend each other comfort that way. She was seeing her husband for the first time since she left him, and it was very hard for her. I was giving her the support she needed. I know what it looked like, and I'm sorry for putting you on the spot, Scorpius. But I need you to understand that she's just a friend, nothing more."
"Why'd she leave Mr. Potter?" Scorpius tried to take the spite out of his voice, because he truly wanted to know.
"I don't know, Scorpius. She wasn't happy. I don't know the specifics. All that matters is that she felt she needed to leave, and that she did. Nothing else is really relevant unless she wants to tell me, which she doesn't. I'm going to ask you not to ask her."
"Will that pra—will her children be staying here too?"
"They're with their father for two weeks before he begins training with Puddlemere for the playoffs, but then, yes, they will be staying with us. I expect you to behave yourself, Scorpius, and if you feel you cannot, I expect you to remove yourself from the situation. Ginny and I do not need you and her children having little spats like the one you had today. It's highly inappropriate."
"Dad, I already told you! I can't help it when he's involved. He just makes me so mad! He—"
"Yes, yes, so you've said. Regardless, I'd like you to make an effort please. If not for Ginny, then for me."
Scorpius was silent.
"Did you hear me?"
"Yeah, I heard you."
"Will you make an effort to be civil?"
"Maybe."
"Scorpius..."
"Fine. I'll try to be civil to your friend and her spawn."
Draco raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He stood up and strode to the door.
"Thank you, Scorpius," he said quietly, closing the door behind him. Scorpius fell back on his bed with an exasperated sigh. This was going to be one interesting summer.
~*~*~*~
Ginny Weasley (Oh, how good it felt to call herself a Weasley again!) had been through quite a lot in the past three months. As she stepped out of the unnecessarily large bathtub, she allowed herself to think about her life for a moment.
She had left the most famous man in the wizarding world, only to be living with a man he hated, a man who she now regarded as one of her best friends. He'd taken her in when she'd been too ashamed to go home to Mum and Dad, he'd let her cry on his shoulder more than once, and he hadn't asked questions when she didn't want to answer them. No one was more shocked than her, but Draco Malfoy was actually a decent man.
Ginny wrapped a robe around herself and left the bathroom, her bare feet padding across the soft carpet of the room she had come to call her own. She remembered the first time she slept in here, the night she told Draco she was thinking of leaving Harry. They'd been casual friends for a few months by then, and she'd been over at the Manor for dinner. By the end of the night, they were both very drunk and very talkative. Ginny remembered the way the words slipped out of her mouth, actualizing thoughts she hadn't actually known she was having.
But as soon as she'd said it, the tears had started coming, as tears are so apt to do. Draco had held her, listened to her cry and work out what was going on in her befuddled mind, and when she was done, he picked her up and carried her to this room, where he tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead and told her to have sweet dreams.
She smiled, brushing out her hair and thinking of Draco. He was such a good friend to her. Sure, he was sarcastic and bitter and sometimes downright mean, but she knew how to read him now. She knew how to look past his seemingly cruel words to the teasing glint in his beautiful grey eyes, she knew that he believed sarcasm was one of the highest forms of humor, and no longer allowed herself to feel hurt at what he said. He'd gone above and beyond, letting her stay here, letting her children stay here, especially after Albus' embarrassing display with his own son today...
Ginny thought about Scorpius. He seemed so put off by her presence, and it made her nervous. She desperately wanted Draco's son to like her, but judging by what she'd seen today, Albus had taken care of that for her. All the same, she felt determined to win him over. Perhaps she'd take him to lunch, or try to spend some time with him while she was here.
"Gin?" Draco opened the door slowly, peeking in as he always did, as if he was afraid she might be angry with him for intruding.
"Oh hey," she said brightly. "How did it go?"
"Well, I think," he said, entering the room and sitting on her bed. "It's going to be another story entirely when your children come, but for now, I think he's alright with it, although I think he thinks we're seeing each other."
Ginny laughed, ignoring the twinge his words sent to her belly, and sat next to him on the bed.
"Draco, I just want to say thank you again for letting me be here. You really didn't have to—"
"You're right. I didn't. Get out."
Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Seriously, Draco."
"Nonsense, Ginny, what else would I do with all these extra rooms? It's not as if I have any use for them. You and yours are welcome to stay here as long as you'd like."
"Thanks," she whispered, laying her head on his shoulder. She loved that they could do this. She didn't miss Harry one bit, but it was nice to be able to act like this with someone. She knew Draco felt the same way. Until his friendship with Ginny, he hadn't been near another woman since Astoria left. He was jumpy and awkward at first, unused to her touchy-feely ways, but soon he warmed up to the fact that she liked to hold hands and give hugs platonically, and quickly grew to welcome her "Gryffindor behavior," as he called it. She sometimes found herself imagining it wasn't so platonic, but always banished those thoughts quickly. It would do no good to make things awkward between her and the man who was currently acting as her savior.
"No problem," he replied softly, resting his head atop hers. "All the same though, I'd watch out for him, if I were you. He can be a bit... difficult... when he wants to be, and it looks as though he and your son get along about as well as I did with your ex husband when we were their age. He might be holding a grudge against you for that."
"Draco," said Ginny seriously, lifting her head to look him in the eye. "I've met Voldemort, and more than once. I've faced Death Eaters more times than I can count, and I fought in the Battle of Hogwarts. I think I can handle a fourteen-year-old boy."
"Ah, but Ginny," said Draco, just as seriously. "This is my fourteen-year-old boy we're talking about."
~*~*~*~
Scorpius came late to breakfast the next morning. Ginny and Draco were nearly finished eating, and Draco had his nose buried in The Daily Prophet. Ginny looked up at the blond boy who had just entered the dining room, and smiled cheerfully.
"Good morning, Scorpius," she said brightly. She had decided that the "kill him with kindness" tactic was in order here, and remained determined to make the boy like her. She expected a cold or sarcastic answer, she expected him to ignore her completely, but what she did not expect was his response.
"Good morning, Ginny," he replied, just as cheerfully. "Did you sleep well last night?"
"Why yes, I did," she responded, beaming at him. This would be easy as cake. "And yourself? How did it feel to be back in your own bed?"
"Oh, it was wonderful," said Scorpius enthusiastically. "The beds at Hogwarts just don't do it for me, you know?"
"Yes, I remember."
They continued to chat together all through breakfast. Draco even put down his newspaper to stare bewilderedly at the pair, who appeared to be getting on famously.
"Well, I've got to get to work," he said cautiously, still watching both Ginny and Scorpius closely. "You two have fun today." He strode away towards the giant fireplace at the end of the room, looking back over his shoulder every few steps to be sure he wasn't imagining things. He disappeared in a rush of green flames, leaving Ginny and Scorpius alone at the table.
"Well," said Ginny. "I've got to go get dressed for the day. I'm off to run some errands in Diagon Alley today. Would you care to join me, Scorpius?"
"Why, that would be just lovely," said Scorpius with a smile. "I can't wait."
Ginny left the dining room with a grin plastered onto her features. She could just tell this was shaping up to be a wonderful relationship with her best friend's son, and she was so glad. She'd really thought he would give her a much harder time, but was grateful she didn't have to put up with anything unpleasant from him.
She hummed a tune to herself as she opened the door to her bedroom, a tune that stopped immediately as soon as she set eyes on what lay inside.
~*~*~*~
Scorpius waited down the hall, peeking around the corner and straining his ears to hear the inevitable scream. He knew the damage that one niffler could do to a room, but hadn't allowed himself to check on the progress of what five of them had done to Ginny's suite.
When he didn't hear screaming or cursing, Scorpius was confused. He straightened up and walked casually towards the open door. As he walked passed it, he stopped and feigned surprise.
"Why, Ginny!" he exclaimed. "What happened in here?"
He mentally patted himself on the back for a job well done. The nifflers had done their part, wreaking complete havoc on her room. Feathers from destroyed pillows littered the air and the ground, as did what looked like every single one of Ginny's personal belongings. Blouses, dresses, jewelry, shoes, books... everything was strewn about everywhere, much of it completely destroyed. He spotted one of the five fuzzy creatures sniffing around the floor, a small scrap of lavender silk draped over its head.
"Looks like some nifflers got in and made a right mess of the place," said Scorpius sorrowfully. Ginny whirled around and stared hard at him, realization dawning in her brown eyes. She knew. Good, thought Scorpius. He waited for the yelling to start, the wild rampage like the one he'd heard at King's Cross yesterday.
"Yes," said Ginny calmly. "How peculiar though, that these wild animals got into the manor and seemed only to want the things in my room. And a group of five of them, too! That's quite the herd for an animal that's supposed to be so solitary."
Scorpius was shocked. Where was the anger? Why wasn't she yelling at him? The niffler he had seen before stopped at his feet, and Scorpius idly bent down to pick up the fabric still clinging to its head. When he noticed that it was actually a lacy thong, he blanched and flung it as far away from him as possible.
"Well," he said as calmly as he could. "This is quite the shame. But I'm afraid I must be going. Good luck cleaning all this up."
"Yes," said Ginny through narrowed eyes. Scorpius stopped at the door.
"Oh, and Ginny? Let me know if you'd still like to go to Diagon Alley."
~*~*~*~
As soon as Scorpius closed the door, Ginny sank to the floor and started to cry. That wretched little boy! she thought angrily, looking at the mess all around her. All her things, destroyed. She mentally chastised herself for not expecting this. She had been a trusting fool, and the child had tricked her.
"So this is how it's going to be, then," she said to herself, standing up and preparing to clean up the colossal mess. "But I'm not going down that easily, Scorpius. Oh no. I grew up with Fred and George, for Circe's sake. It's going to take a lot more than a few nifflers to break me."
~*~*~*~
"Gin, what happened to your shirt?" asked Draco at dinner. Scorpius looked pointedly at his plate. He knew that Ginny was wearing one of the very few salvageable pieces of clothing she had left, and he also knew that salvageable was a very loose term. He prepared to hear her snitch on him, but was surprised once again.
"Oh, I was just clumsy," she laughed. "You know me. Always running into things, ripping my clothes. I'm very destructive. Kind of like a niffler in that way."
"It's true. And you do love shiny things," said Draco, deadpan. They both laughed, and the subject moved on. She managed to avoid looking at Scorpius at all while speaking to his father, and he breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't going to tell on him. She was still trying to gain his trust. Foolish of her, but he would take advantage of that. He'd show her.
~*~*~*~
Draco knew there was something Ginny wasn't telling him. He usually visited her in her rooms before bed, but tonight she insisted on coming to his room, and when she did, she was still wearing that awful ripped shirt. But awful as it was, he couldn't help noticing as he let her in the door that the tear on the navy blue blouse revealed a small part of her bra, as well as a patch of the creamy skin under her shirt. As she collapsed contentedly on his bed, vibrant red hair fanning out around her and a contented smile on her face, he had a brief mental image of what it would be like to crawl on top of her and fuck her silly.
He shook himself mentally. Get a grip, he told himself. She's your best friend. But as he moved closer, and sat down next to her, Draco found he couldn't banish those thoughts tonight. It had been happening more and more often lately. He would look at her and suddenly think to himself how beautiful she was, or become overwhelmed with the urge to kiss her soundly. At first, he'd just laughed it off, telling himself it had been far too long since he'd gotten laid, but now it was happening more and more often, and the thought were getting harder and harder to chase away. Draco loved his friendship with Ginny, and was afraid these thoughts would ruin it. She could never know.
"Hey you," she said suddenly, poking him in the chest. He jerked out of his reverie. "You're very quiet tonight. What are you thinking about?"
Draco laughed nervously. "I'm trying to figure out what you're not telling me," he said. "I mean, I know you Weasleys are known for being poor as dirt and all, but really, Ginny, you're taking it a bit far. That shirt is hideous."
She laughed.
"Really though, Gin, what happened?"
She sobered immediately.
"Nothing. I already told you, it was my own clumsiness. Nothing more!"
He watched her through narrowed eyes. She was lying, he was sure of it.
"You're a terrible liar, Weasley," he said, his voice low. "I'll figure it out, you know."
"Nothing to figure out!" she said, her voice just a bit too cheerful. "It really was my own fault."
Draco didn't push the subject any further, he knew she wouldn't answer him if he tried to force it out of her. He'd find out somehow.
~*~*~*~
Ginny came back from Diagon Alley the next day, arms full of bags containing her brand new wardrobe, only to find that all the furniture had been moved out of her room. It took her the rest of the day to find all her things, as they'd been strategically scattered into different rooms at opposite ends of the giant manor.
The day after that, she woke up to find that she had, sometime over the course of the night, turned green. It clashed horribly with her hair, and eventually she had to Floo George and ask him how to change herself back. She told him the story of her ongoing "battle" with Scorpius, and he laughed at her for being ridiculous. By the time he found something to fix her, and she left the shop, she could see the cogs turning in his head. It was obvious to Ginny that some sort of color-changing Weasley product would soon become widely available to the wizarding world.
Over the next week and a half, Ginny endured theft, rearranged furniture, an army of toads, doors booby-trapped to drop mud and other nasties on her head, and far more of her brothers' products than she ever wanted to come into contact with. He slipped canary creams into her lunch, left fake wands where hers should be, and even put up a portable swamp just inside the door to her room.
But still Ginny would not tell Draco what was wrong, although it was becoming increasingly obvious to him that something was definitely out of the ordinary. Ginny was still convinced that she could win Scorpius' favor and trust by keeping quiet about all this, and not antagonizing him. She was passive to all of his pranks, and did not retaliate or speak to him about them once. She repeated her mantra, "Kill him with kindness," over and over in her head when she felt like killing him in a more violent manner. Her mother always told her to ignore her brothers, and they would grow tired of teasing her and go away. She was hoping against hope that it would work now.
~*~*~*~
Scorpius didn't know what else to do. Ginny was being no fun at all, and he was running out of ideas. He was getting frustrated.
"Why won't you let me hate you?" he asked to himself, watching her out his bedroom window. She was wandering the gardens, and had stopped to smell some flower or other. Her children were coming to the manor in a few days, and Scorpius didn't know what he would do then. His plan had been to run Ginny out before now, so that he would never have to say he had lived with Albus bloody Potter for any amount of time, but this outcome was looking less and less likely.
Scorpius watched as his father joined Ginny in the gardens. He'd just come home from work, and she turned around to greet him with a hug and a smile on her face. Scorpius scoffed. Friends, he thought bitterly. Just friends, my arse.
It had become increasingly obvious to Scorpius over the last week that his father did not think of Ginny as simply a friend. He had lost count of how many times he'd caught Draco staring at Ginny when she wasn't looking. His father followed her around like a puppy dog, and it made Scorpius sick. He was a bloody Malfoy! He shouldn't be acting this way, as if he were nothing but a lovesick Hufflepuff, or worse, a Gryffindor.
If anything, Draco's actions just made Scorpius that much more determined to hate Ginny. He didn't want his father to be with anyone but his mum. And true, she was gone, and true, he hadn't seen her in over a year, but he still held out hope that she would come back to them. Ginny was no replacement for his mum, his beautiful mum who loved him very much and had probably stopped writing only because she had broken both her hands and could no longer hold a quill. No, Ginny had garish red hair and freckles. She wasn't beautiful, she was actually rather plain. And she was blackmailing him! Scorpius knew this was the reason why she didn't tell Draco any of the pranks he'd pulled. She was holding it against him until she needed something, and then she would threaten to tell his father!
Scorpius fumed from his place at the window. He watched Ginny walk with his father, and he plotted. He wasn't going to let her steal his dad away. Oh no. He would come up with a plan to get rid of her once and for all.
~*~*~*~
Ginny pushed away her plate and let out a happy sigh. Food at Malfoy Manor was excellent, and although she sometimes missed her mother's home cooked meals, these ones never failed to satisfy her.
"Excuse me, Masters and Miss Ginny," came the tiny voice of Toddy, the house elf. "But Toddy has made a lovely dessert for the Masters and Miss Ginny. If the Masters and Miss Ginny would like to eat some, Toddy has made a delicious chocolate cake. Would the Masters and Miss Ginny care for a piece?"
Although very repetitive and annoying, Toddy was an excellent cook, and Ginny nodded enthusiastically.
"I'd love some cake, Toddy," she said politely.
Toddy left for a moment and reappeared with the most delicious looking chocolate cake Ginny had seen in years. She sliced a piece and handed it to Draco, who winked at Ginny before taking a bite.
"This is delicious," he said teasingly. "Perhaps I'll eat the whole thing myself. You didn't want any, did you, Gin?"
She snorted.
"Oh, none at all. I'm not a big fan of chocolate anyway. Go ahead, Draco. Enjoy your cake. Just don't expect me to take care of you when you get sick."
Draco appeared contemplative.
"Ah, I suppose you're right. Being sick is never fun, and besides," Draco flexed an arm. "I can't let a body like this go to waste."
Ginny chuckled.
Toddy sliced two more pieces of cake, and Scorpius handed her one. She dug in, and found to her delight that it tasted just as wonderful as it looked. She gobbled the whole thing down, feeling very contented.
"Oh, that was so wonderf—" Ginny cut herself off to put a hand over her mouth. "Oh Merlin," she murmured, before leaning over and vomiting all over the pristine Persian rug.
~*~*~*~
Draco stood up immediately and moved to Ginny's side.
"Hey," he said softly to her. "You said I was the one who would get sick, remember?"
Ginny laughed weakly, then bent over to vomit again. With a sigh, Draco scooped her up into his arms and carried her out of the dining room. She managed not to be sick again until they reached her room, and he rushed her to the toilet just in time. She retched a few times into the porcelain bowl, several strands of hair sticking to her now sweaty face. Draco reached over to pull her hair back for her, and his hand brushed against her skin.
"Merlin, Ginny!" he cried. "You're burning up!"
She simply groaned and threw up once more.
Draco took Ginny into his arms and stroked her hair, holding it back behind her head whenever she leaned over to the toilet. He loved her hair. On the male Weasleys it looked garish and too bright, and even when she was younger, she looked as though her hair had been colored in by an orange felt tip marker, but she had grown into it. She'd always kept it long, and he fingered the soft auburn strands carefully, lovingly.
He took this opportunity to study her, as he had been so apt to do lately. Even sweaty and feverish, while puking into a toilet, he thought she was beautiful. Her brown eyes closed tiredly as she leaned into his chest. He held her close, and kissed the top of her head. He knew she thought these little kisses were just a sign of close friendship, but Draco used them to imagine that they were more. Even now, when he should have been worried for his friend's health, he found himself smiling, because she was with him and in his arms.
His fellow Slytherins would have shunned him, had they seen him now, thought Draco. For he was far from the man he was so many years ago. If any of his old crowd could see him now, mooning over a Weasley, accepting friendship with the woman when he really wanted much more, they would have laughed until they cried. But he could no longer bring himself to care. The only people he really cared about now were right here in the manor with him. He stroked Ginny's hair as she retched again, and thought about how far he'd come, and how he didn't mind that at all.
"Oh look," said Ginny suddenly, drawing his attention away from his thoughts. "It's turned all purpley!" She giggled and stared at the contents of the toilet for a moment. "Purple..." she said quietly to herself, as though trying to figure out something extremely important. Draco felt her forehead again. It was even hotter than before.
"You know," said Ginny matter-of-factly. "I used to play Quidditch."
"I know, Gin," replied Draco.
"I used to play Quidditch for real. I was in the league and everything!"
"I know, Gin. For the Harpies. I remember."
"Oh no, no, no! I played for the mighty and wonderful team of Chudley!"
"You played for the Cannons, Gin?"
"No, silly, Ron did. And then Hermione won the cup. She was always such a good Quidditch player."
"Gin, love, I think you're a little bit sick. You might be delirious."
"Dee-lirious? That sounds dee-lightful!" She giggled again, and Draco picked her up and carried her to bed. She seemed to be finished throwing up.
"Draco, my darlingest darling," she said, looking up at him. He glanced at her, and noticed the blotchy pink spots high on her cheeks.
"Yes, Ginny?" he responded, beginning to grow worried. Where had this illness come from?
"Would you like to know what else is dee-lightful?"
"What else is delightful, Gin?" responded Draco distractedly, tucking her into her bed. He noticed several changes throughout the room and several items missing, and wondered absently when she had done these things.
"PONIES are dee-lightful. And so is Quidditch. And chocolate cake!"
Draco jerked his head up. Chocolate cake. That was it! She had gotten sick right after eating... would he and Scorpius get sick, too? Did Toddy use some bad ingredients? Was Ginny allergic to something in the cake? This had to be it. He looked back at Ginny, who was still reciting everything she found to be delightful.
"And Charms are dee-lightful, and blueberry scones, and little baby kittens. My children are sometimes dee-lightful, but they argue with each other a lot."
"Ginny," said Draco impatiently, trying to figure out what could be wrong with her.
"Would you like to know a secret?" she whispered to him, her voice now weaker. She was beginning to fall asleep, or faint, or possibly both.
"Gin, not now, we need to figure out what's making you sick so I can make it better."
"I will tell you a secret first."
"Ginny, are you allergic to anything?"
"Draco, it's a really important secret."
"Ginny, I promise I will listen to your secret later, but right now I need to find out why you got sick so quickly."
"It was purple."
"Gin, this isn't helping. I need—"
"No, ask George. He knows. He knows about Scorpius, and he can fix it. Tell him it was a purple one."
Now Draco was listening.
"Ginny, what about Scorpius?"
"Last time, I was green. He knows, Draco. Just get him to fix it."
"Who, Scorpius?"
"No, no, no, George. Scorpius will only give me more."
"More what?"
"Snackbox..." Ginny fell promptly asleep, and Draco, at a loss for what else to do, Flooed her older brother.
He walked into the shop to find a very blue George Weasley standing behind the counter, his orange hair looking absolutely ridiculous with his new skin tone.
"Why, Malfoy!" he cried exuberantly. "Like our new product? It hasn't got a name yet, I'm only testing it out today. I'll give you a free one, if you'd like, seeing as it was inspired by your son's work and all. Hey, speaking of, if he ever shows an interest in my line of work, I'm not going to last forever, you know, and from what Ginny's been telling me, it sounds like he'd be perfect to someday take over the old business here. Quite the little prankster you've got."
The events of the past two weeks were locking into place now. Ginny's haggard and frazzled appearance, Scorpius' guilty glances, the things she hadn't been telling him... but he had no time to think about it now. Ginny was sick.
"Listen, Weasley, I've got a problem. Your sister is really sick. Fever, puking, the whole nine yards. She's convinced you can help her out."
George looked surprised.
"Malfoy, I run a joke shop. I'm not a Healer..."
"I know, I know, but she thinks you can help her out. She says to tell you it's purple."
"Erm, what is?"
"If I bloody well knew that, I wouldn't be here," Draco snarled. "All she said was "purple," and that Scorpius did it, and, erm, something else. Oh yes, "snackbox," I think. But she was delirious, so this could all mean nothing. She was insisting on telling me a--"
"Malfoy," said George impatiently. "Shut up. I know what's wrong with her."
"You do?" Draco was elated. "Well, fix it!"
"I will as soon as you stop talking."
George grabbed a box off of a shelf and handed it to Draco. Skiving Snackboxes, said the print on the box.
"Give her the orange half of the puking pastilles, and the red half of the fever fudge. She should be right as rain within an hour or two."
Draco clapped a hand on the blue skinned man's shoulder.
"Thank you," he said, truly grateful. George nodded with a grin.
"You're welcome. And seriously, Malfoy, tell your son he could have a bright future ahead of him in the joke shop business..."
Draco Flooed back to Ginny immediately, and forced her to eat the antidote to each of the candies his son had slipped her. She fell asleep soon after, and he stayed rooted to the armchair next to her bed, refusing to leave her side.
She woke up the next morning, feeling much better, and Draco beamed happily at her, relieved she was okay. He got up quickly to leave the room, and found Scorpius sitting on the floor outside Ginny's room, looking guilty.
"I think you should go in and talk to her," he said quietly, touching his son on the shoulder. "She's awake, and feeling a lot better, but no thanks to you."
Scorpius nodded, not looking his father in the eye.
"You and I will talk later," promised Draco.
~*~*~*~
Ginny was sitting up in bed, and she looked over at the door when Scorpius came in with a surprised expression on her face. She must have been expecting Draco again.
"Hi," said Scorpius quietly.
"Hello," said Ginny, her expression guarded.
"I'm sorry I made you sick," he said quickly, not looking at her. When he did sneak a glance, her eyes were narrowed.
"No, you're not," said Ginny bluntly. "You're sorry your father finally caught you."
Scorpius didn't answer.
"You do know that the different kinds of Skiving Snackboxes aren't meant to be eaten together, yes?"
Scorpius shrugged.
"So you do know that by giving me two of them and having no intention of giving me the antidote, I could have died, yes?"
Scorpius looked at her, wide eyed.
"I—I didn’t mean to—"
"Yes, well, you almost did, Scorpius. If your father hadn't brought me the antidote when he did, I would probably not be here talking to you right now."
Her voice was stern, and Scorpius stared at her, his jaw dropping. He hadn't wanted to kill her! He just wanted to embarrass her in front of his father. This wasn't even the final step in his master plan to get Ginny out of his life, but it could have been. She could have died, and it would have been his fault. He would have been a murderer... they could have locked him up in Azkaban for it. Scorpius tried to imagine life in Azkaban and failed.
"It—it was just a joke," he stammered. "I didn't mean anything by it, it was just another prank."
"Yeah, well your prank almost cost me my life."
Scorpius bit his lip and looked down at the ground. He could feel tears coming on, but he didn't care.
"I'm so, so sorry," he said quietly. He glanced tearfully up at Ginny and was surprised to see the look of amusement in her eyes. When she saw him looking at her, she let out the laugh she'd been holding in. She laughed loud and long, clutching her stomach as though trying to hold herself together.
"Merlin, Scorpius," she said in between laughs. "I can't believe you fell for that!"
Scorpius looked at her confusedly.
"As if my idiot brothers could come up with anything that was actually lethal!" cried Ginny gleefully.
It was starting to come together now.
"You—you weren't dying," said Scorpius slowly.
"Not even close," Ginny replied. "I felt sick, that's for sure, and the delirium was real enough, but I never would have died from a Skiving Snackbox."
"Then you tricked me," said Scorpius, surprised.
"Scorpius, two can play at your little game."
"But I—"
"You've been awfully mean to me, these past few weeks, you know," said Ginny. "And I've been growing very tired of killing you with kindness. I just had to get you back."
Scorpius sighed.
"I was only being mean because—"
"Because what?"
Scorpius shrugged.
"Because, I don’t know. I don't want you to be my mother. I've already got a mum, and I don't need you mucking that up by trying to fit yourself in."
Ginny bit her lip.
"Scorpius," she said, patting the bed next to her. He sat, cautiously looking at her as though she might trick him again. "I don't want to be your mother. I know that I'm not, and I have no intention of trying to be. Where did you get that idea?"
"Because my dad's in love with you," said Scorpius. "He'll want to marry you eventually, I expect, and that'd make you my mum. And your stupid son would be my brother, and I don't want to be at all near him, let alone related to him."
"Scorpius, your father and I are just good friends. Didn't he have this talk with you?"
"Yeah, he did, but I can tell he's lying. You can't tell me you haven't noticed the way he looks at you? It's disgusting, all moon eyes and puppy dogs and whatnot."
Ginny laughed nervously.
"Scorpius, he's my friend. He's been very kind to me, and I think you're reading a little too far into it."
"He's my dad, I know him better than anyone. He looks at you like he used to look at Mum."
Ginny frowned, obviously thinking about this.
"Oh," was all she said.
"Ginny?" asked Scorpius suddenly.
"Yes?" she responded, her mind obviously still elsewhere.
"Do you love my dad?"
"Well, I— I don't know," she said, her voice an octave higher than usual. "I certainly like him very much, and we've become very close, but I—"
She cut herself off, lost in thought. Scorpius stood up, preparing to leave. He sighed, knowing what the outcome of her thoughts would undoubtedly be and resigning himself to it.
"You know what, Ginny?" he said to her. She looked at him, eyes wide. "You're alright, I suppose. For a Weasley, anyway."
She smiled warmly at him.
"And you're alright, Scorpius," she replied. "For a Malfoy, that is."
"Take care of my dad, alright?"
Ginny snorted.
"Yeah, Scorpius. I will."
Scorpius left the room with a small smile on his face. He'd meant what he said. She was alright. She hadn't snitched on him when he'd been so mean to her, and he was grateful for that, as well as a little bit ashamed of himself. He was so busy trying to get her out of his life, he didn't think about the fact that there were good parts about having her in it. She really was a nice woman, and she had a prankster streak herself, which he admired. She was patient and forgiving and extremely kind to him, and she was obviously someone he could trust if he needed to. And besides, he hadn't seen his father this happy in years.
~*~*~*~
Draco entered Ginny's room as soon as his son left it. She was sitting in bed, looking thoughtful, and barely glanced up at him when he sat down next to her.
"You two okay now?"
Ginny nodded.
"I think so. He says I'm "alright," and I'm assuming that's Scorpius speak for "I will no longer wreak havoc on your life.""
"Pretty much," agreed Draco with a chuckle. He smiled at her. "I'm glad you two are okay with each other now."
"Me too."
They sat together in silence, Ginny biting her lip and trying to sort out her feelings for this man, and Draco squeezing his eyes shut, trying to block out images of what he would rather be doing with Ginny in this bed.
"Draco?" asked Ginny suddenly, breaking the silence. "Do you remember when I said I had to tell you a secret?"
"Yeah," he replied. "You were pretty out of it. Telling me all sorts of "dee-lightful" stories, as I recall. Why, what was it?"
"Well, it was one more thing I thought would be dee-lightful, actually."
"That one thing being...?"
Ginny took a deep breath. It was now or never. Scorpius could have been lying to her, it could have been just one more trick, but this was the only way to find out.
"This," she said, leaning up and kissing him full on the mouth.
~*~*~*~
Draco was too shocked to respond. As soon as his lips realized what was currently pressed up against them, he swore he could feel every drop of blood in his body rush towards his groin. But before he could kiss her back, she pulled away, looking embarrassed.
"I'm sorry," she said shyly. "I just, I needed to know what—"
He didn't let her finish, having already pulled her head back towards his for another kiss. She squealed quietly in surprise when their lips met, and this time, they wasted no time. Her mouth opened automatically under his, and his tongue swept through her mouth hungrily, as if he was trying to learn and memorize the inside of it. Her arms came up to wrap around his neck and she kissed him as passionately as if her life depended on it.
Kisses with Harry had never been like this. Kisses with Harry had been sweet, fun, but a bit tiresome after awhile. But kissing Draco was intoxicating. She wanted to devour him, she couldn't get enough. Her conversation with Scorpius had made her realize that her idle musings about being with this man in other ways than friendship hadn't been so idle after all, and as his nimble fingers unbuttoned her blouse, she realized just how often she had had those kinds of thoughts. Far too often for her to brush them aside the way she did.
Draco divested Ginny of her shirt and bra quickly, his mouth never leaving hers. She tasted like the mint toothpaste she had just used, and he didn't want to stop kissing her, for fear that he would wake up and they would still be just friends. He'd wanted this for so long, and now that it was happening he could hardly believe it was real.
"Ginny," he murmured, hands caressing her face, her hair, her neck. "Oh gods, Ginny, I've wanted you for so long."
She smiled against his mouth, her hands wandering down his body, lifting the hem of his shirt up and over his head.
"Me too, Draco," she said, suddenly sure of herself. "Me too."
He reached down to unbutton her trousers, and could hardly contain himself. She was so beautiful, and he wanted her so badly. He couldn't wait any longer. There'd be time for foreplay next time, and he knew she felt the same.
"Oh Gin," he whispered. "I—"
"Master Draco! Miss Ginny!" came the high pitched and embarrassed voice of Toddy from the door. The tiny elf had her hands over her eyes, and the two lovers looked up to stare at her. "We has visitors here at the manor. They is children, Master Draco."
Ginny sat up, wrapping a sheet around her naked torso.
"My children! They're coming today! Oh, how could I forget?" she fretted. "Toddy, tell them I'll be right down."
"Yes, Miss Ginny," said Toddy obediently. "Toddy will show them to the parlor to wait for you, Miss Ginny." The elf disappeared with a soft pop.
"How could I have forgotten they were coming today?" Ginny cried, throwing her clothing back on. "My own children!" She flew to the mirror to check her reflection, fixing her hair so she looked as though she hadn't been doing what she'd just been doing. Draco was suddenly behind her, holding onto her shoulders and spinning her to face him.
"Ginny," he said. "Calm down. Just breathe a moment." He pulled her to him and held her tight against his bare chest.
"Oh Draco," she sighed. "Why are you so good to me?"
"Probably because I'm in love with you," he replied, his tone casual although his heart was beating at the speed of light. Her head jerked up to look at him, and he shrugged. "I know that's a bit fast, Gin, and I'm sorry if it makes you feel—"
"Draco."
"Yes?"
"I love you too."
They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Ginny finally wiped the goofy smile off Draco's face with another kiss.
~*~*~*~
Scorpius wandered through the manor, idly thinking about Ginny and his father. Oh, he could imagine what they were doing right about now, although he didn't want to. And he knew that, in part, it was because of him.
Scorpius' ears perked up at the sound of voices from the parlor. He stood outside the door, listening to the voices inside. In just an instant, he recognized the whiny voice of Albus Potter. Scorpius grinned to himself. So it was that day, the day when the Potter children moved into Malfoy Manor for the summer.
He strode purposefully into the parlor, and feigned surprise at seeing his enemy sitting on the sofa.
"Why, Albus!" he cried. "What a surprise! What might you be doing in my house?"
"Malfoy," snarled Albus.
"Yes, you're correct. That is my name." Scorpius struggled to keep his voice even and not snap at the stupid git.
"What do you want?" said Albus nastily.
"Well, I heard voices and decided I would come check it out. Now that I see it's you, I'd just like to take this opportunity to welcome you to my home." Scorpius managed somehow to refrain from laughing as he watched Potter's face turn to a particularly interesting shade of puce.
"What are you playing at, Malfoy?" Albus asked menacingly.
"Why, nothing at all, my dear friend. I'm truly happy to see you here. I think this summer is going to be extremely fun."
As he watched Potter's face run a length of emotions ranging from surprise to anger to possible constipation, Scorpius laughed mentally. What was it Ginny had said? Kill him with kindness? It was already making him crazy, and Scorpius couldn't wait to see how else to make the boy tick. Oh yes, though Scorpius to himself. This is going to be one fun summer, indeed.
Author notes: ORIGINAL REQUEST:
Briefly describe what you'd like to receive in your fic
I would like so see a post-Hogwarts DG where both of them are divorced from Astoria and Harry and are merging their two families together.
The tone/mood of the fic: humourous/angsty
An element/line of dialogue/object you would specifically like in your fic: I would love to see a conflicted relationship between Ginny and Scorpius.
Preferred rating of the the fic you want: PG-13 or above.
Canon or AU? either.
Deal Breakers (anything you don't want?): I don't want a Harry/Ginny relationship. Just leave it in the past.
....aaaand, because so many requested for it, I've got a possible sequel in the works. We shall see!
The End.
shmeilia is the author of 3 other stories.
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This story is a favorite of 18 members. Members who liked Killing Him With Kindness also liked 1257 other stories.
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