chapter 8
Draco returned from Paris, and went into the library, looking for his father. He was in his study beyond, looking over some paperwork, but rose and smiled when his son came in the room.
"Three weeks to go," he said. "Did you find a good place?"
"I did indeed. It's a pity our house in Paris isn't near the Sorbonne, but I found a good flat. I furnished it from the town house's attics, as you suggested, but moved my own bed over."
"I'm glad. Do you want one of the elves from the town house, too? No one's in residence there, and I should think one is enough."
"Yes, I think so. I don't want to do my own cooking after I come home from working with various potions all day."
He handed his father a card with the address on it, and his father nodded and laid it on the desk.
"I'll see that taken care of. A letter came for you today," he mentioned. "It's on the table in the library."
Draco looked at his father. There was something in the way he'd said it...."What?" he asked him, curious.
"I was just wondering how Miss Weasley was doing," his father said.
"I...." Draco shook his head, flushing, and his father smiled.
"Did you think I'd be upset, Draco?"
"I wasn't sure. I know you had plans...."
"Plans which have changed in the last two years," Lucius said. "The changes have affected many things, not least who we were considering suitable for introductions to you."
Draco bit his lip, and thought.
"I'm going to change," he said, and went upstairs, snagging his letter along the way.
He read it in the bathtub, smiling at her account of her older brother's birthday party. It was much easier to appreciate the twins' jokes if they weren't aimed his way, and imagining bookish Percy's wand turning into a fish when he picked it up to cast a casual spell (the twins having unobtrusively substituted a fake one for his)was enough to make him snicker aloud. But what he read next bothered him. Oh, did it ever. Not that he didn't know where her heart lay....but....
I wanted to tell you this, before you heard it and thought the wrong thing. I had to spend some time being nice to Alexander Ludsthorp at that last reception at the Ministry. He has since sent flowers and gifts, several of which I've had to return as I don't think a ruby bracelet is quite an appropriate gift from him to me. Especially since he said it had been in his family for generations. He has been a perfect gentleman...but mum likes him. A lot. I am going back to Hogwarts to finish, I made that clear to her, but....we're going to need to talk. I feel like I'm being herded, and you know my reaction to that...mules have nothing on it. But it's probably nothing to worry about. I just didn't want you to hear a rumor and wonder.
How did your flat hunting go? I hope you could find something that wasn't totally extortionate. As you always say, look after the Knuts and the Galleons tend to look after themselves. I'm finding that to be right. I need to go down to Diagon Alley next week. I was thinking of asking one of the Aurors to accompany me. If I've got a draft, I can get my own money out of Gringotts, and the Auror I'm thinking of believes that everyone has a right to see who they like. So we might be able to have lunch together or something. Of course, considering you and me, perhaps we'd do better to get a room and takeaway.
I'm being called for dinner. I love you...if you're free tomorrow night, I am, and I'll come over around ten unless you write and say not to. There's a lot I have to say to you, but I'd rather say it in person.
Ever yours, Ginny
He was startled by the surge of pure possessiveness that hit him. He got out and dressed, and went downstairs, looking for a book in the library. It lay out on the table, "Grymbald's Annals of Magical Society", the genealogical book of the wizarding world, and that startled him. Of course, Father's been looking her up too. What he found surprised him.
Molly Weasley had been a Skerne before she married, and both the Skernes and the Weasleys showed totally pure blood. True, in some cases the wizarding families named had been true for three generations only when they married in, but that was enough. And it was good blood. The Skernes had been rich, three hundred years back, but had lost it when one member was accused of murdering a ministry official to prevent going to trial for something or other, and had slid into genteel poverty. And the Weasleys...good blood, but always more interested in fixing other people's problems than getting rich themselves. They kept going into the ministry and trying to make that ancient ship run right.
But considering that Arthur Weasley was now Minister of Magic, and unlikely to be deposed for a long time, well, things were different. A possibility slid across Draco's mind, and he heard again the earlier conversation. Plans had changed in the last two years. Was it possible that he was free to offer....Certainly in many ways he was a better catch than Ludsthorp, he knew that. And she loved him, she said she did. And he....oh, gods. Was this love or just the potion working in him? He had taken the counterpotion religiously day and night, and so he didn't know. But he knew he wanted this to not be just a summer love. There was potential here, so much potential.
He needed time. But if her mother favored Ludsthorp, Ludsthorp would be encouraged, and offer this winter. Or maybe sooner. Draco bowed his head in thought, and came to a decision.
That night, he did not take the potion. Any potion. And he lay down to sleep with the air of someone going into battle.
next chapter
previous chapter
back to Harry Potter fanfiction
back home