sekkoon

CHAPTER 21

Tangled

“Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”

Ginny burst through the door to the guest room and collapsed against the perfectly made bed in an uncontrollable flood of tears. She gripped the pillow tight, fighting against the suffocating strain in her throat, and tried hard to smother the heart-wrenching sobs threatening to break free from her mouth.

What a fool she had been. What a complete and utter fool.

“I was practically begging him to have sex with me,” Ginny whispered to herself in pained embarrassment; ashamed at how desperate she had made herself to appear.

Never did she think she could want a man so much as she had in that moment. It had all been so strange and wonderful, so divinely intoxicating. She’d never felt such deep passion for anyone in her life, and even now her body seemed to tingle with the heady pleasure his caressing hands had inspired inside her.

A rosy blush stole to her cheeks at the thought. There had well and truly been nothing innocent about the way he had touched her. For a man who was supposedly so modest and chaste, he had certainly not held back from having his full of her. Of course she had not minded at the time, but that was before she had known he was going to abruptly stop and leave her in this horribly frustrating state of desperate longing and sexual need.

She understood why he had done it, of course, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. He had rejected her when she had practically been offering herself to him on bended knee—as embarrassing and shameful as that was to admit. It was rather hard to appreciate the reasons behind the rejection when he had made her feel so utterly ridiculous.

Still, Ginny was not an unreasonable girl. She knew very well that he had been right in saying that she had been completely and utterly lost in the moment. He had also been right in assuming that she had not really known what she was saying when he had pulled away from her—she having been too distressed in having her desires thwarted to really consider what words were coming out of her mouth. However, he had been unforgivably wrong in thinking that she had wanted him only out of lust, and it was frankly insulting that he should assume so.

Just what kind of woman did he think she was? Perhaps he had given in to his hormones, but she certainly had not. At least, she didn’t think she had.

Yes, she knew she was attracted to him, and it was also true that there had been moments when she had felt a powerful and very physical pull towards him, but the thought that she had acted tonight only out of something so base as lust just didn’t sit right with her.

There had to be more to it than that. She just couldn’t believe that she would throw in the towel so easily after so many weeks of keeping her distance simply because her hormones had gotten the better of her; though there was no denying that her physical desires had certainly played an important part in all of this.

In any case, whether she had acted out of uncontrollable lust or from something substantially deeper, it was true that she now found herself in a very uncomfortable position.

Tomorrow, whether she liked it or not, she would have to face him again. He was her husband and he would always be there. Even if the subject never came up again, she would always be aware that for one night they had crossed into those dangerous waters of passion and pleasure that they had agreed never to enter into—not out of duty to his parents, like she thought eventually would be the case, but because they had both undeniably wanted it.

It was a foolish, foolish mistake, and perhaps he had been right to stop them when he had, but she couldn’t help but wish that he hadn’t. For one thing she would not be feeling so stupid and ashamed right now. However, even worse was the fact that she now found herself feeling so curious about what it would be like to take that final plunge into the forbidden, and having such positively sinful thoughts about the man she called husband, that it was enough to drive any normally virtuous woman insane.

She just didn’t know how she would ever be able to face him again. How could she when she could recall very vividly what they had done together? Suffering the embarrassment of being rejected was bad enough, but she knew she would get over that eventually; this, however, was impossible to forget.

Undoubtedly she regretted it—it was only natural that she should after being so painfully rejected—but that regret still didn’t stop her from wishing that he had not pulled away when he had. She figured that if she was going to regret something anyway from this night it had might as well have been the whole works rather than this tantalising taster that taunted her with how close she had been. It was hard to forget how good it had all felt, and equally hard not to secretly want more.

Ginny let out a frustrated groan. Why did everything have to get so complicated? How could a simple kiss change so much? That one action, that one seemingly innocent and harmless action, had truly changed everything. There was no way she could ever look at Draco in the same way again. He could never be just her friend and husband; he would now always be irreversibly transformed in her eyes as something infinitely more tempting and desirable.

If only there was someone she could turn to for advice on what to do.

She had admitted no one into her confidence about the truth of her marriage, but now she felt the need of a friend’s advice all too well. She just didn’t know anyone, or at least no one whom she could trust. They all believed her to be happily married to Draco, and for good reason too, but she needed another person’s perspective right now. She just didn’t know whose.

There was Kitty, of course, but as much as Ginny liked Kitty, she just didn’t know if she could share this with her friend. Kitty had lived in Pureblood society her whole life—there were certain things that she just would not understand—and nor did Ginny feel comfortable at the thought of going to a girl whom her husband’s best friend was hoping to marry. It was all just a little awkward.

No, what Ginny needed was someone who she could trust, someone who would understand. She needed—

“Hermione!” Ginny called out, bursting through the fireplace some seconds later, after speedily travelling by floo to her friend’s flat. “Hermione, I need your help!”

Two people who had been locked in a most passionate embrace abruptly broke apart and glanced towards Ginny with identical alarmed and very embarrassed expressions on their faces. The female, a young woman with bushy brown hair, a pair of intelligent brown eyes, and a somewhat stern mouth, blushed terribly upon finding herself caught out, and quickly stepped away from her lover—an equally young man who Ginny likewise had no trouble in recognising from his familiar messy black hair, emerald green eyes, and iconic lightening bolt scar.

“Uh…should I come back later?” asked Ginny, feeling just a little awkward. She had not expected to be greeted by her two friends kissing fervently upon arrival. It was all very uncomfortable.

“N-no, it’s fine,” said Harry, recovering from his initial shock. “I was just leaving anyway.”

“Oh.”

He leaned down and whispered something in Hermione’s ear, nodded in a friendly way to Ginny, and then took his leave much in the manner of one fleeing with his tail between his legs. It was clear that he had no wish to be bombarded with searching questions on why he had been kissing his best friend of nearly ten years.

Ginny raised a quizzical eyebrow at her friend. “And how long has that been going on, hmm?”

Hermione had the grace to blush. “Not long now, but enough of that. You didn’t come here to discuss my relationship with Harry. What’s happened? You look like you’ve been crying.”

“I have,” sighed Ginny, remembering the unhappy reason why she had been forced to intrude so rudely upon her friend’s hospitality. She went to sit down on the bed and then paused, giving a quick glance at her host. “You and Harry haven’t been, you know…”

“What? Oh no,” Hermione hastily denied, a fierce blush warming her cheeks. “We haven’t—I mean it’s only been a few days now, and I—”

“Spare me the details. I’ll trust your word for it,” said Ginny with a laugh, and took a seat on the bed, now assured that it was perfectly safe.

Hermione sat down next to her, hands neatly folded on her lap, and stared at Ginny with all her usual business-like abruptness. “So what did happen? I can tell by your apparel that it must have been something to do with that good-for-nothing husband of yours.”

Ginny glanced down at herself and realised she was still wearing the skimpy nightdress. She almost felt like laughing, but instead an odd sort of hiccup escaped her throat and a few tears burned at her eyes.

“I—I kissed him, Hermione.”

“Well that’s nothing to cry about. He is your husband; I suppose it’s only natural you should kiss him.”

“No it’s not,” said Ginny seriously. “Our marriage is not exactly what people have been led to believe.”

“What do you mean?”

Ginny took a deep breath. “Well, you see, it all started when Draco was asked by his parents to find a wife…”

For almost half an hour Ginny unburdened her soul; explaining how and why she and Draco had come to be married; how they had battled it out day after day until they had finally come to a truce; how things between them had slowly progressed to the point where she had begun to see him as one of her closest friends; and then finally she confessed what had happened that very night.

“So now you see the predicament I’m in,” sighed Ginny, once she had finished her long and somewhat involved recital.

“Well I can understand how this would make things very awkward for the both of you,” mused Hermione in a thoughtful voice, “but don’t you think that you should be happy he did stop? If it’s true what you say then you should be thankful that he still respects your wish to not be intimate with him until you’re ready, and I must admit,” she added in some reluctance, “I never thought he would be so thoughtful.”

“He’s always thoughtful!” retorted Ginny defensively. “I know he’s not like those other men who like to flaunt their niceness in front of everyone, but even if Draco is not necessarily the most nicest guy in the world, at least I know he’s always genuine! He may bumble through his words when trying to comfort me, and he may not have a clue when it comes to giving people hugs, but he’s cared for me in his own way, and I could not have asked for anything more than that!”

Hermione closed her mouth—having been quite stunned by this angry, impassioned defence of a man she had long considered a heartless brat—and leaned forward to peer into Ginny’s face searchingly. “You aren’t in love with him, are you?”

Ginny was all ready to disclaim such an absurd suggestion, when she suddenly paused and thought about the grey-eyed man that was her husband. “I—I think I am,” she confessed in considerable confusion.

As this pronouncement was just as astonishing to the speaker as it was to the listener, both girls were silent for a moment as they tried to digest just what this meant.

For Ginny it was all rather overwhelming, and yet she knew that she had been telling the truth. Somewhere, somehow, she had fallen in love with the one man she had never dreamed she would, and it had taken someone actually asking her that forbidden question for her to realise that she had. The words had just instinctively slipped out of her mouth.

“Are you sure?” Hermione couldn’t help but ask, once she had regained use of her tongue again; her dismayed expression leaving no doubt that she was hoping her friend might be lying.

Ginny was not offended by this open disbelief. If anything she was amused, knowing that her own reaction would have been much the same had she not been so certain she was right.

Draco Malfoy was not the kind of man one fell in love with. He was rude, cynical, useless with women, and far too arrogant for his own good. There was nothing sweet about him, and even his icy good looks were more in par with the handsome villain than the noble, romantic hero. He would never be that fairytale prince she had so often dreamed about—and whom Julian encapsulated so perfectly—and yet for all his faults and failings she knew that this was love. This was real, irrevocable love.

“I know it sounds crazy,” Ginny exclaimed with a rueful smile; “I would have thought it ridiculous myself before tonight, but I really do think that I’m in love with him. I know he’s not perfect and I know he never will be, but I’ve realised now that I don’t need and never wanted perfection. I just want him; all of him—even the annoying habits that make me want to box his ears.”

Hermione’s eyes goggled in open astonishment.

“Honestly, Hermione,” continued Ginny with a laugh, unable to stop the fond smile that spread across her lips, “If you could know how much I have wanted to hit him over these past few months! He can be so arrogant, so unfeeling, and it just about drives me insane! But then I remember those moments where he was kind to me (even when most of the time I gave him no reason to); I remember the awkward words of comfort he gave me when I was upset; I remember all the times he protected me and stood up for me against his friends and family—I remember everything, and then my anger fades away and I realise just how lucky I am to have a husband like him.”

She turned her gaze back on her speechless companion and met her friend’s dark brown eyes frankly with her own. “So yes, Hermione, I’m sure that I do love him, because even though I know he may not be everything I could have ever dreamed of, like all those silly romance novels always say your true love should be, I do know that he is enough for me. I know I can trust him, and I know that I love him, and in the end that is all that matters.”

“When did this happen?” asked Hermione rather faintly, looking just a little overwhelmed by Ginny’s very honest confession.

“I don’t know really,” admitted Ginny quite truthfully. “It’s all been coming on so gradually that I don’t think there ever was a time when I suddenly loved him. It was only when you asked me that I actually realised for myself how I truly felt about him, but it’s possible I’ve been in love with him long before then. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that I have. I’ve been so blind; so wrong about so many things. I suppose I almost deserve to have him see me only as a friend after all the stupid things I have said and done.”

“You don’t think he loves you?”

Ginny shrugged sadly. “I don’t know. I want to believe that he does, but he’s never really given me any hints that he might. He’s quite reserved, not to mention terrible at expressing his feelings, but I do know at least that he cares about me. He wouldn’t have stopped us tonight if he didn’t, let alone have done half the things he has done for me over these past few months.”

Hermione frowned thoughtfully to herself. “This is more complicated than I thought.”

“Tell me about it!” said Ginny feelingly.

“I don’t think that you should be beating yourself up over tonight, though.”

“It’s a bit hard not to. I feel like a complete idiot.”

“Naturally,” replied the Job’s comforter, “he did reject you, but perhaps this wasn’t such a bad thing, after all.”

“How so?”

Hermione stood up from the bed and started pacing up and down, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Just how eager was he to respond when you started kissing him?”

Ginny blushed faintly. “Um, well he didn’t exactly kiss me straight away…”

“Then that means he must have felt some hesitation right from the start.”

“What difference does it make?” grumbled Ginny, half suppressing a sigh. “He rejected me in the end anyway.”

Hermione laughed at that. “Silly goose, it makes all the difference in the world. If he was hesitating right from the beginning it means that he was fully aware of what he was doing when he finally did kiss you.”

“I don’t see how that makes my being rejected any better,” muttered Ginny grumpily. “If anything that makes it worse.”

“Don’t you see?” exclaimed Hermione in some impatience. “It means that he wanted to be with you! He wanted you.”

“I still don’t—”

“Merlin, Ginny, you’re married to Malfoy and know him much better than I do but you can’t figure this one out?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Malfoy is not the kind of man to lose control of his emotions. Sure the rein he has over his temper isn’t the greatest, but I think I am right in saying that when it comes to things like this he can show the emotion of a robot if he really wanted to.”

“What’s a robot?” asked Ginny, momentarily diverted.

“Never mind,” said Hermione hastily. “I forgot I was talking to a Pureblood witch for a minute. In any case, the point is that he wanted to kiss you back, and I don’t think it was just because he’s a guy and it’s only natural that he should find it hard to resist a pretty woman who’s all too willing to be with him. You can’t tell me that he’s never had a beautiful woman throw herself at him before.”

Ginny knew this to be true. Alexia—who was perhaps the most beautiful woman she had ever set eyes on—had been one of those women. That Alexia had not succeeded in seducing her cousin spoke volumes for Draco’s self-control.

“Fine, I see your point,” she conceded, “but why did he reject me then?”

“Now that I don’t know,” admitted Hermione regretfully. “He obviously wanted you, so it seems that something must have stopped him from going through with it. From what you’ve said it sounds like he might have been feeling guilty at the thought of taking advantage of you when you were, to him at least, so lost in the moment. Then again, I could be completely wrong.”

“Well, let’s say you’re right and he did want me; that still doesn’t help me figure out what I should do now.”

“Do you want my advice?”

Ginny nodded.

“I don’t think you should do anything. Let him make the next move. You’ve given him more than enough encouragement tonight for him to see that you’re not so against being intimate with him as you were, and if he’s fool enough to waste it then I guess you can always resort to plan B.

“Which is?”

“Get him in a situation that he cannot resist. I’m sure his hormones will do the rest.”

Ginny blushed. “I don’t think that will work. I don’t know how to seduce anyone.”

Hermione smiled slightly to herself. If she knew anything about her friend, it was more likely that Ginny had been unwittingly seducing her husband this whole time. Really it was amazing that Draco had lasted this long.

“I don’t think it will come to that anyway,” said Hermione with a shrug. “He’s bound to do something, and then you’ll be able to tell how he truly feels about you. Just be patient and I’m sure something will work out.”

“It’s going to be very awkward,” Ginny said with a sigh. “I don’t even know how I’m going to speak to him again without feeling uncomfortable, and that’s not even adding into the equation that I’m in love with him.”

“It is a lot to take in at first,” mused Hermione with a thoughtful frown. “I’ll tell you what; why don’t you stay here tonight? It’ll give you some time to cool your emotions down and then tomorrow you can face him again with a bit more composure.”

“Maybe that’s for the best,” agreed Ginny, grateful for the offer. “I really don’t want to see him right now, and I’m kind of worried that if I go back he might come looking for me and try apologise again. I did just walk out on him.”

“Then it’s settled.”

Ginny nodded, though she couldn’t help but hope that tomorrow she would wake up and find that it was all just a dream. This was not how she had expected things to turn out at all, and she was not looking forward to the awkward conversations that would arise because of it.

OOOO

The next day Draco found himself waking up to an empty bed. For a moment he just stared at the empty space where Ginny normally slept, a heavy feeling clenching at his heart. He had been expecting it, of course, but that had not stopped him from hoping all the same that he would wake up to find her beside him.

After Ginny had left the room the previous night he had spent the next fifteen minutes debating over whether he should go after her and apologise. In the end he had decided to do just that, but he had not found her anywhere. He had looked in every room, even summoned Tooky to ask if she had any idea where his wife had disappeared to, but Tooky had just as little clue as to where his wife’s whereabouts as he did.

His wife had simply vanished.

Draco was intelligent enough to know that it had been because of him. He may be just a man and not at all good with emotions, but he was no fool. He knew that he had hurt Ginny, apparently more than he had at first realised, and it was obvious to him that she now had no desire to speak to him. The guilt was inescapable, just as it was inevitable that he should worry.

He had been married to her for several weeks, and in that time it had become a natural instinct to protect her and make sure that she was happy. Having her so far away from him was troubling, but he knew that there was nothing he could do for her now. He had been the one to drive her away, after all, and so he could only hope that she had gone to someone who would give her the comfort she needed.

Draco stared once more at the empty space next to him. How often he had woken in the night at a sudden noise, thinking that it was Ginny coming back to him, only to find that it was nothing more than the usual noises of the night playing tricks on his mind. The disappointment had been crushing, just as it crushed him now to stare at the unoccupied space where her familiar face should have been.

He couldn’t take this. Not knowing where she was; not knowing if she was safe or happy—it was driving him insane. He needed to know she was all right; he needed to see her face again; he just needed her.

She had become so much a part of his life that even one night without her was enough to make him feel utterly lost. She was just too precious to him; too much a part of his heart. It just didn’t seem right to wake up and not see her smiling brown eyes meet his from across the bed, nor be greeted by her sleepy good morning that she wished him without fail every morning. It just didn’t seem right at all, and though he tried hard to deny it, he found himself missing her terribly.

Draco laughed softly to himself. “One night from her and I’m already losing it. Since when did she become so important to me?”

Something stirred in the house. He heard a door close and footsteps shuffling down the hallway.

Without even stopping to consider what he was doing, Draco was suddenly thrusting the covers off him and running out of the room, his eyes wild with hope, and his heart racing uncontrollably in his chest.

He skidded to a halt, his heart still beating furiously, but instead of being greeted by his wife’s youthful face, he saw the tiny elfish features of their house elf, Tooky; her big bulbous green eyes staring up at him in some consternation.

“Is the Master alright?” asked Tooky in her squeaky voice. “Master looks upset.”

Draco ran a hand through his hair, letting out a shaky breath as he did so. He was going mad; she was driving him mad. How else could he explain his erratic behaviour?

“I-I’m fine, Tooky,” he muttered somewhat self-consciously, knowing how ridiculous he must have looked sprinting out of his bedroom in only his pyjama bottoms. “My wife hasn’t come back yet, has she?”

“No, Master, but this letter came for you just now,” said Tooky, pulling out a folded piece of parchment from the spacious pocket of her outfit. “Tooky was just coming to give it to you.”

With trembling fingers Draco took the letter from the elf’s outstretched hand. He had a feeling he knew whom this letter was from, and one glance at the familiar writing was enough to concrete his suspicions.

Dismissing the elf with a curt nod, Draco walked back into this bedroom and sat down on the bed, already unfolding the parchment as he did so. He grimly began to read.

Draco,

I’m sorry for running out on you last night. I just couldn’t bring myself to stay after what we did; I hope you understand. I’m staying with a friend right now, so you don’t need to worry about me. I will be back later tonight.

Ginny.

A sigh escaped his lips, and silently he folded the letter up again and stared hard at the wall. For a moment he just sat there, a heavy frown on his lips, and then angrily he crushed the letter in his hands and abruptly left the room.

OOOO

“Wait a minute,” interrupted Armande, staring at his cousin in stunned incredulity. “Are you actually telling me that Ginny was practically throwing herself at you and you said no?”

“Yes,” sighed Draco, while staring absently at the drink in his hands.

“Did you chicken out or something?”

“No! It wasn’t like that at all! I just—I just couldn’t do that to her.”

“Do what?”

“I couldn’t sleep with her when I thought she would regret it the next day; I care about her too much to do that to her.”

Armande let out a low whistle. “Merlin’s pants, you’ve got it bad, don’t you?”

Draco took a long swig of his drink, which was answer enough to that question.

“That’s not alcohol, is it?” demanded Armande, suspiciously, “Because I know for a fact that Ginny will murder me with her bare hands if I let you get drunk out of your mind again.”

“It’s butterbeer,” retorted Draco, rolling his eyes. “I don’t think I’m going to get drunk from that.”

“It certainly looks like you’re trying to.”

Draco only rolled his eyes again and took another swig of his drink.

“Alright then, so you two got a little frisky in the night and almost lost your virgin petals, but, you know,” said Armande with a frown, “that doesn’t really tell me why you’re trying to drown yourself in butterbeer.”

“I think I made the wrong choice.”

“What?”

Draco sighed and frowned down at the bottle in his hand. “I mean I think I was wrong to stop things from going any further. My parents have been nagging at me for weeks to get her pregnant, and now I’ve completely blown the only opportunity I’ve ever been given.”

He glanced back up at his cousin, frustration etched into his brow. “She would not have stopped me last night, Armande. She was willing, but now she’s too upset to even talk to me! I’ve ruined everything, and yet there I was thinking that I was stopping us for our own good. I thought I was protecting her, but in the end I’ve only hurt her more than what I would have done if I had just gone through with it; not to mention effectively destroyed any hope my parents might have had. Ginny will never let me be that close to her again.”

“You don’t know that. If she was really as willing as you say she was, then I’m sure you could get her to be just as receptive another time. She’s already proven that she’s hot for you. It’s only a matter of using the right persuasion.”

“Are you suggesting that I seduce my wife?”

“Why not?”

Draco shook his head. “Maybe if I knew why she had kissed me last night I would try, but I don’t want to take advantage of her like that. It just seems wrong…”

Armande started chuckling uncontrollably.

Draco glowered at him. “What on earth is so funny?”

“You’re an old woman, that’s what!”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. I’ve never met such a sorry excuse for a man. What the hell is wrong with you, Draco? A beautiful woman has practically screamed at you that she wants you, and all you can do is fret over why she feels that way. Most guys wouldn’t stop to ask questions; they’d just take the offer and worry about the details later.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Clearly,” retorted Armande without sympathy. “You’re acting like a fool, and if I were you I’d stop trying to be so damn noble (it doesn’t suit you, you know?) and just give your wife what you know you both want.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Sure it is. She’s already proven that she wants you. I bet you anything that the only reason why she doesn’t want to talk to you right now is because she’s embarrassed. You have to admit that you did use her most shamefully when you rejected her.”

“Well let’s say you’re right and that she does want me. Do you really think I can just go up to her now and expect her to have sex with me? I rejected her, Armande; I don’t think she’s going to be too eager to jump in the sack with me anytime soon.”

“Like I said,” explained his cousin with a sly smile, “if you use the right persuasion I think you could get her to do anything.”

Draco sighed. “You make it sound so easy, but I just can’t do that to her. Maybe last night I might have been able to if I knew what I did now, but I just can’t take advantage of her in that way.”

“I don’t see how today differs from last night.”

“Well, for one thing, my mind tends to think a bit more objectively when I’m not confronted with a beautiful, skimpily clad woman, who’s all too willing to have sex with me.”

“Naturally,” agreed his cousin, “but I still don’t see what the problem is. You care about her, don’t you?”

“Of course I care about her,” exclaimed Draco heatedly.

“Then I really don’t see why this is such a big deal to you,” responded Armande frankly. “If you care about her, then it’s not really taking advantage of her, now is it? It’s not like you’re going to have sex with her and then leave her. You’re married to her, for Merlin’s sake; you’re going to have your children with her. Don’t you see, Draco, you have every right to seduce her if that is what it will take!”

“It’s not the same! Our marriage isn’t like others. Maybe if I knew how she really felt about me it might change things, but at the moment I know nothing.”

“Can I offer some advice?”

“What?” Draco muttered, scowling down at his drink.

“Stop worrying about how she feels and start listening to that damn beating organ in your chest. You think too much, Draco—that’s your problem. Try listening to your heart a bit more; I think you’ll find it does wonders for letting you know what you should really be doing.”

“That’s a bit corny, don’t you think?”

“Corny? That’s some damn good advice there! You’re never going to get anywhere if you just sit here brooding to yourself, and I’ll be damned if I listen to your pitiful excuses any longer. You’re a fool, Draco. Stop worrying about the problem and start thinking of the solution.”

“I suppose you think you’re very wise right now,” remarked Draco dryly.

Armande suddenly gave a cheeky grin. “Well I’m a darn lot wiser than you when it comes to matters of the heart, and I’m younger than you.”

“Fine, oh wise one, what do you suggest I do?”

“I suggest you stop fretting over inconsequential things and start acting like a real husband to your wife. Ginny has given you an opening here, even if you made a mull of it the first time. You’d be an idiot if you waste this opportunity.”

“But I—”

Armande leaned forward and grimly met his cousin’s eyes. “Listen to me, Draco. You’re not going to get a chance like this again. Whether you like it or not, you know that you need to have a child with her—that is why you married her in the first place, after all. I think it’s time you put your scruples behind you and just do what you need to do while your wife is still willing. You can worry about love afterwards. You are going to have nine months before the baby comes, after all.”

“Maybe you’re right,” acquiesced Draco with a sigh. “I have to think of my father as well.”

“Yes you do. You said yourself that your marriage is different to others, and that also means that the two of you do not have the luxury of taking things slow. You don’t know if she loves you, I doubt you even know if you love her yourself, but there is attraction between you, and that should be enough to ensure her willingness to be intimate with you. Either way your father’s time is running out, and so now you must decide which is most important: waiting until you know she loves you, or letting your father see his grandchild before he dies.”

“You really are a true Malfoy, you know that?” observed Draco with a twisted smile.

“How so?”

“Because you’re just as manipulative as the rest of us.”

Armande seemed to take that as a compliment and merely smiled amiably at his cousin.

“Very well,” Draco said calmly. “I’ll do it. I think it’s impossible not to when you put it that way.”

“Good,” responded his cousin briskly. “Then I expect to hear tomorrow that you have at least made a push to get things moving with your wife.”

Draco nodded silently, though he still felt a little reluctant to go through with this. He just didn’t want her to regret anything, but he knew that Armande was right. He could not put this off any longer. Whether Ginny loved about him or not, he had to have a child with her.

It was time he fulfilled his duty.

OOOO

As Draco knew that Ginny was not going to return home until much later that night, he decided to pass the time by going to Diagon Alley and looking in at the shops. It was perhaps not the most exciting pastime he could think of, but staying at home in the empty house was only depressing him. The house seemed so silent when Ginny was not there, and that only made him edgy.

He lazily made his way down the crowded streets of Diagon Ally, not really paying attention to anything much in particular, when an unwelcome sight suddenly registered to his vision.

There was his wife, and attached to her arm, looking as bold as he pleased, was Blaise Zabini. Judging by the somewhat amused smile on her lips, he was keeping her well entertained as well.

Draco’s eyes narrowed. His first thought was to go over there and rant at the both of them, but he had already discovered from experience how that tended to turn out, and right now he had no desire to get into an argument with his wife again. He could not be certain what he would do to her when he was feeling so angry—his temper never have being the best—and he did not want to hurt her, no matter how much she may have hurt him just now.

It was time to use his head and check his impulsiveness.

With considerable restraint he waited until Ginny had said goodbye to the handsome dark man by her side and had continued on her way through the crowd. Once she was a safe distance, Draco quickly made his way over to where his old school companion still stood; noting with building rage the small, sly smile playing on that hateful mouth.

It had only taken that stupid smile to set Draco off into an uncontrollable passion of jealous fury. His wife had said to him that she had been staying with a friend; he had not thought that she had meant Blaise Zabini, and though at first he had been inclined to give her the benefit of doubt, that disgusting smile was enough to confirm his suspicions.

“Zabini!” Draco roared, his hands clenching into ready fists.

Blaise turned at the sound of his own name and seemed a little surprised—and alarmed—to see Draco advancing purposely towards him.

“Draco, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

Draco did not hesitate. Without a word he pulled back his arm and let his knuckles crack into the haughty, perfect nose of the other gentleman’s face with all the force he could muster. Blaise let out cry of pain and stumbled backwards, clutching at his face where blood was already beginning to gush out down his hands in a pool of crimson.

“Are you out of your mind, Malfoy?” demanded Blaise angrily, though still feeling rather shaken from the sudden attack. He was no fighter, and his head felt terribly jolted from Draco’s very violent attack—not to mention the excruciating pain of having his nose broken—but his very understandable rage was almost making him forget how much he detested violence.

Indeed, that haughty young man was almost considering trying his hand at drawing the claret of the steely-eyed man before him, but then his eyes once again fell to the brutal fist that had made quick and bloody work of his face, and he decided that perhaps it was better if he didn’t. Who knew how Draco would react, after all?

“Stay away from my wife, Zabini!” growled Draco threateningly. “I know your games, and I know that you’ve got your eyes on her, but if you even think of putting a finger on my wife, I will personally make sure that you can never enjoy the pleasures of a woman again!”

Blaise swallowed hard. Draco looked very angry right now, and though the threat was rather absurd, there was something in those furious grey eyes that made him almost believe that Draco was telling the truth.

It was time to tread carefully.

“I was merely talking to her,” said Blaise in his most winning voice. “You can’t fault me for that. You must know Draco, as your friend, that I would never do anything to your wife.”

“You’re not my friend,” retorted Draco shortly, “And I certainly wouldn’t trust your word on anything. You’re a lying little sneak, and I don’t want you talking to my wife, or even breathing the same air as my wife! I don’t know why she came to you last night—and you can be sure that I’ll be dealing with her about that later—but if I find that you’ve touched her, I’ll—” Draco clenched his fists, suddenly overcome by his feelings, and glared insidiously at the man before him. “Let’s just say you’d better hope you haven’t laid so much as a finger on her.”

Blaise blinked in surprise. He was not sure what had happened last night, but he was not the kind of man to miss an opportunity to stir trouble. If Draco wanted to believe that his pretty little wife had run to him, then Blaise was more than happy to let the steely-eyed man believe that. In fact, it suited his revenge quite nicely. He was already feeling rather humiliated and angry, and this was the perfect way to punish the impudent Malfoy.

“I would have thought that it was obvious why she came to me,” said Blaise with spiteful relish. “She knew that I could satisfy her where you could not.”

“If you dared—” snarled Draco, grabbing a fistful of Blaise’s robes threateningly.

Blaise smiled maliciously. “Oh, did I hit a sensitive spot? Tell me, Draco, did you ever end up taming the tigress? I am curious, you know—only think how amusing it would be if I have gotten there before you did yourself.”

Three seconds later Blaise was on the ground and groaning in considerable pain, an ugly bruise already beginning to form around his eye. Draco flexed his fingers slightly with a small wince, but all and all looked grimly satisfied with himself.

“You’d best hope we don’t see each other again, Zabini,” Draco said coldly, his eyes glaring darkly down at the crumpled figure on the ground. “You have no idea how much I would like to kill you right now.”

“It was worth it,” Blaise gritted out, spiteful to the very last. “If only to have heard your wife moan my name on her pretty lips.”

Draco’s eyes flashed, but by this point the crowd of people surrounding them had gathered what was going on between the two men, and a very large and burly gentleman came rushing over and pulled Draco away before he could do anymore damage to the already bloody and disfigured gentleman lying on the ground.

“Let go of me!” Draco shouted, trying to break free from the ridiculously large man. “I’m going to kill him!”

“That’s why I ain’t letting you go, sonny. You need to cool down before you do something foolish.”

Draco watched furiously as Blaise disapparated away, feeling even more enraged that the licentious little rat had managed to escape his wrath.

The large gentleman abruptly released him, but Draco spared him no thanks. He merely fixed up his robe, gave an angry glare at his helper, and then stormed off down the street in a cloud of dark rage.

He couldn’t believe that Ginny would do this to him! He just couldn’t believe it! So much for her innocent airs and shy blushes; she was nothing but a conniving vixen!

To think that she had left him last night to go to the bed of that—that man-whore! And he—Merlin, he had spent half the night fretting about her and wondering if she was okay, when in that very moment she had probably been sinfully enclosed in the arms of Blaise Zabini, a man he absolutely detested!

He was furious with her: furious and bitter and upset, and not at all ready to forgive her. How could she do this to him? Didn’t he mean anything to her at all? Didn’t she care that she had just ripped out his heart and crushed it with her thoughtless, lustful behaviour?

What a fool he had been to worry about her. Yes, and now he felt even more humiliated knowing that tonight he had been planning to apologise her and start afresh with their relationship. There was no question of doing that now—the very thought of being with her in such a way made him sick.

He would never forgive her for this, but he was going to get an explanation. She at least owed him that.

OOOO

By the time Ginny returned home that night Draco had calmed down considerably, though his temper was still very much frayed. He swore to himself that he would not hurt her though, and he planned to stick by that no matter what happened. He was not that deranged to physically cause her pain, though there was no denying that she had driven him insane with jealousy and bitterness.

Draco stiffened as he heard her voice mumble something to Tooky from outside the room, and then listened intently as her soft tread came closer to the door of their bedroom. The door opened, and Ginny slowly walked into the room, her body practically screaming her nervousness with the way her hands kept agitatedly rubbing against her arms.

“Hello,” she said quietly, not quite meeting his eyes.

Draco stared at her in stony silence.

Looking very uncomfortable, Ginny quickly made her way over to her dressing room and was about to open the door when Draco finally spoke.

“Whose robe is that?”

Ginny paused, her hand resting on the door handle, and turned to stare at her husband in some surprise. “My friend lent it to me. You could hardly expect me to wander around in that nightdress all day.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t have minded,” Draco muttered before he could stop himself.

“He?” Ginny’s brows drew together in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

Draco slammed his fist on the bed, his eyes flashing dangerously. “Don’t play innocent with me! You know just as well I do what you did!”

Ginny could only shake her head in increasing bewilderment.

“How could you do it, Ginny?” he demanded, his choked voice clearly betraying his hurt. “Why him?”

“Do what? What are you talking about?”

“I know you were with Zabini last night!”

“Zabini?” Ginny laughed, somewhat relieved it was only that, and stared at him in frank amusement. “What on earth has Zabini to do with anything? I wouldn’t go to him even if he paid me a million galleons.”

“No? Then why did I see you walking with him in town today?”

Ginny sighed in exasperation. “Not this again. Merlin, Draco! How many times do I have to tell you that Zabini means nothing to me? I just happened to bang into him in town and he demanded—yes demanded—that I should allow him to walk me down the street. I only managed to get rid of him when I said I was going home.”

“Dammit, Ginny, do you take me for a fool?” exploded Draco, standing up abruptly from the bed. “He told me what you two did last night! He told me everything!”

“What?”

“You look surprised,” observed her husband dryly. “I suppose you never thought I’d find out about it, did you? I probably wouldn’t have either if Zabini hadn’t been able to resist boasting to me of his conquest. You should have known that he wouldn’t keep it secret. He hates me too much to do that, and knowing him he probably didn’t use protection either just so I would have to suffer you having some bastard brat with him.”

“What?” shrieked Ginny, her hands clenching tightly into admirable little fists. “How dare he say that about me! Oh, when I get my hands on him—”

“Like I said, you should have known he would not have been able to resist boasting of his conquest,” cut in Draco coldly. “It’s a game with Blaise to have sex with other men’s wives.”

Ginny’s eyes snapped furiously on his. “You actually think this is true then?”

“How can it not be?”

“How can it not b—Merlin, Draco, you make me want to box your ears! How can you be so stupid as to think that I would actually want to have sex with that—that sleazebag!?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time Zabini has seduced someone else’s wife, and I already knew he had his eye on you.”

“I don’t believe this,” Ginny cried almost tearfully. “You would believe his word over mine? You would believe his spiteful little lies when you know he hates you and wants to hurt you? Don’t you see, Draco, he’s just lying to you! You must know I would never do that to you! Never!”

“Where were you last night if you were not with him?”

“I was with Hermione! You can even ask her if I was there!”

Draco stared at her in frustrated confusion, torn between what and who to believe. He wanted to believe her; he almost did believe her, but at the same time the odds were all against her.

Why hadn’t she told him in the letter that she was staying with Hermione? Why had she been so careful to use the vague description of ‘friend’? Even more damning was the fact that he had seen her strolling arm-in-arm with the sneak, and she had been smiling very much at her pleasure while doing so. Add into the equation that Blaise had been a little too gleeful to disclose that he had slept with Ginny for it to be lie, and Draco knew his mind was set.

She had to be lying.

“How can I believe you, Ginny?” he asked more quietly, his rage now giving way to weary resignation. “For all I know you could have already arranged for her to say that you were there.”

Tears welled up in Ginny’s brown eyes and slid down her cheeks. “Do you really have so little faith in me?” she asked in a pitifully small voice. “Have I done anything to deserve such distrust from you? Have I?”

Draco looked away, feeling suddenly ashamed by her tears and her pitiful cry. What if he had been wrong? It wouldn’t be the first time.

She walked forward and grasped his face in her hands, forcing him to meet her glistening eyes that pleaded with his so desperately. “Please, Draco,” she begged earnestly, “you have to believe me when I say that I did not sleep with Blaise Zabini, and nor will I ever do so with any man besides yourself. I am your wife; my body belongs to you, and you only. I would never let another man touch what is rightfully yours.”

He clasped his hands around her wrists, his eyes gazing searchingly into hers. The truth stared back at him as clearly as the tears slipping one-by-one down her pale cheeks, and suddenly a new emotion swept through him; crushing his heart in a painful grip of remorse.

Draco broke away from her, stumbling slightly in the dizzy rush of emotions overwhelming his body. “I’m such a fool!” he groaned, placing his hands over his eyes. “My god, Ginny, how can I ever expect you to forgive me after this? I should have known right from the beginning that you would not play me like that, and I did know it too! I was just so angry, and when I saw you with him I couldn’t think, I just—”

He broke off and walked back to her, gripping her shoulders tightly, and gazing down into her eyes with the desperation of a man knowing he now had once chance to attain forgiveness.

“I’m sorry, Ginny! I’m so, so sorry! Please tell me how I can make it up to you!”

Ginny silently leaned her face against his wildly beating heart and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You don’t have to do anything. Knowing you believe me is more than enough, just please don’t do it again. It hurts me to have you question my loyalty.”

Draco closed his eyes and buried his face into her hair, pulling her close against him. “I will never doubt you again. I promise.”