Draco Malfoy and the Power of Love

day_tripper77

Story Summary:
Draco Malfoy is returning from the war, contemplating his life and how he got into this mess! AU fic. OOC!Draco. D/G. Just a bit of fluff.

Posted:
09/25/2005
Hits:
3,051
Author's Note:
My first fic. Just a little something I wrote one night when depressed.


Draco Malfoy and the power of Love

With a sigh Draco looked at the stairs in front of him and began to climb them. He felt weary. He had been away from home for over six months, and had not rested properly during that time.

All of wizarding world had been thrust into the midst of a bloody war after Voldemort's return had become public knowledge. Draco, alongside with Harry and Ron, had been made one the troop leaders in Dumbledore's army. Draco had been devastated to leave behind Ginny and their son, but he knew that if the Dark Lord was not defeated, a much worse fate could befall on all of them.

He had been comforted by the fact that his wife was not all alone during his absence, since his mother and his two younger half siblings lived in the manor with them. His stepfather, Sirius, had been made Dumbledore's second in command, so he was also in the battlefield.

Everything had been bearable at first. He knew he was fighting the good fight. He and Ginny wrote to each other as often as possible, but owls were hard to come by, since so many of them were in the use of the resistance, and consequentially many owls were the target of Death Eaters traps. They were shot out of the sky, muggle style, poisoned with tampered rodents, and hawks trained to bring owls down. So, letters were sent through someone who came back home, an injured witch or wizard, who had been sent back, or an official messenger often brought back letters from the front, and then took them back again.

About two months after he had left home, he received news that Ginny was pregnant again. That gave him an even bigger reason to finish Voldemort once and for all. He had so much to lose, and he was desperate to go home to his ever-growing family. "That Weasley fertility," he mused to Harry. "It's a damn good that I'm devastatingly wealthy. Otherwise I might be in trouble." Harry laughed and congratulated him.

It was rather amazing how close he had become to his stepbrother. Once arch enemies, the two young men had been inseparable since their last year at Hogwarts. Draco had said goodbye to his Dark Arts heritage, and his old friends along with it, and after the death of his father, Lucius, his new life had truly been able to begin.

Ginny and he had been brought together by complicated turn of events, and they almost hadn't, but they had been married for about a year when the war began and Draco had had to go to war.

Draco had never been happier. That is why when the rumours began to circulate he had been all the more devastated. Harry told him to disregard the gossip. "There is no way Ginny has been having an affair," he had said to the glum blonde boy he thought his brother, "she loves you too much. Besides, she is not the cheating type. Come now, think clearly."

"It's easy for you to say," Draco had grumbled. "Your wife has been in love with you since the day you two met, and everyone knows it. Besides, you're Harry Potter. No one would even dare try to have it off with Hermione."

"Draco!" Ron had interjected. "Ginny has not been seeing Seamus Finnigan behind your back. You're being completely paranoid. She only went out with him for a month, and that was when she was sixteen! She chose you! She married you. And now she is having your daughter," Ron finished his rant. "I know my baby sister."

But Draco had not been convinced. To this day he did not know why he had allowed himself become obsessed by those destructive thoughts. It drove him crazy. Unreasonable thoughts filled his head: Ginny was so certain they were having a baby girl, and Ron, a Diviner, had confirmed it. There was just one but; Malfoys only had sons. There had not been a Malfoy daughter in six centuries, and that had been born to a Succubus, so Draco assumed it didn't really count. There was a nagging voice in his head, which told him he had been had. The baby must not be his.

Finally he couldn't stand it anymore.

So he had sat down to write a letter to Ginny. As the words poured out, he seemed to lose his mind, and ended up writing a much harshly worded letter than he'd intended. Before he could regret it, he found a messenger and sent it off.

Once that had been done, Draco threw himself in the campaign. He was ruthless against the enemy; not that he hadn't been before, but now he seemed to be more venomous than usual. He almost resembled his old self, back in the day when he had been the Slytherin Prince.

At last, after weeks of agonising wait, a reply had arrived from Ginny.

Draco's hand trembled, as he had unsealed the parchment.

Draco.

How dare you! I assure you that none of what you relied to me is true. How could it be? How can you even ask me that? Do you not trust me? I have never given you any reason not to, have I, you hypocritical bastard. I have always been nothing but faithful to you. This baby I am carrying, was conceived a whole two months before you shipped off to fight Voldemort, I just wasn't aware of it.

Your distrust in me has made me very sad. I told you once that I could never love another man, and that still stands, but it doesn't mean I can't fall out of love with you. Your accusations have hurt me deeply and I am not sure how I feel about you right now. Just thinking about this makes me so angry I want to break something. Preferably your spine.

If you really think that I could do this to you, to us, to our family, and then lie about it to your face, then you do not truly know me at all.

I refuse to let you upset me any more, I have a baby to think about, and this stress is not good for her, or for me. I have a family to think about.

If you truly think that I had an affair with Seamus Finnigan, then let me know, so that arrangements to dissolve our marriage can be made.

Ginny Weasley Malfoy.

Draco was stunned. She said it wasn't true. So it must have been just malicious gossip. And yet...

That voice in his head did not leave him alone. He became a haunted man. He fought the war like he had done, but his brain did not register any of it. Ginny's words kept going around in his mind... arrangements to dissolve our marriage... I have always been nothing but faithful to you... what had he done? And yet still he could not bring himself to reply to Ginny.

Months went by. They were winning the war. Most of Voldemort's Death Eaters had been killed or captured. Only the Dark Lord himself eluded his enemies.

Draco kept on going like he was in a dream. He missed his life so much, but everything was falling down on him, so that all of the good things he had had with Ginny and his family seemed like a mere fantasy to him. Surely he had made it all up. Draco began to lose weight. He did not sleep and hardly ate. Harry and Ron did their best to talk sense into him, but he was far beyond their reach.

Then one day, it was gone. That feeling, those nagging voices, which had been driving him insane. People everywhere, shouting: "He is dead! The evil Lord is dead! The war is over!"

And just like that, Draco felt like himself again. Only... Ginny. He didn't know what had happened. He saw Harry approach.

"So, you did it then, brother," he had said to Harry, "it was you, wasn't it? It was your destiny."

"I like to think of it as dues." Harry beamed at him. "Listen, Draco, I need to speak to you... "

And Harry explained. Turned out that Voldemort had managed to create a curse so powerful, that it affected most of the resistance. The spell made you believe your worst nightmares to be true. Of course, Harry had not been affected, and neither had Ron or Dumbledore, for that matter, but many had been driven just as miserable as Draco. Voldemort had created the curse to bring down the morale of Dumbledore's troops. But, naturally, being something beyond humanity, Voldemort had not realised the strength of character these men had. As horrible as they had felt, as wretched and miserable, they still did not leave and abandon the cause. So when Harry had thrust his sword and decapitated the Dark Lord, the spell had been lifted.

Draco was stunned. It made sense. Why would Ginny all of a sudden become something she wasn't? He was mortified. With dread he packed up and prepared for the journey home.

It didn't take long. Now that there was no danger, he could easily Apparate to the gates of Malfoy Manor.

And so he did, saying goodbye to Harry and Ron, and with Sirius next to him he vanished with a faint 'pop', and reappeared outside the Cold Christmas Inn.

Draco was at two minds. One the one hand he was dying to see his family, but on the other he dreaded what he would find when he got home. Would Ginny even still be there?

"Come on then, son," Sirius said, aware of the situation. "I am sure Narcissa would have told me if Ginny had left. I only spoke to her this morning. The Floo network is safe again."

Draco looked at Sirius, who had been more of a father to him than Lucius ever had. "I just can't believe that after everything we've been through I would treat her this way. I promised never to hurt her again, Sirius, I gave her my word, and Malfoys never break their word," he blurted unhappily.

"I am sure it will be alright, Ginny is a very reasonable woman," Sirius comforted, "for a Weasley, anyway, he grinned.

Draco looked at him darkly. He was not amused.

So, there he now was, at the bottom of the stairs, fearing that every step he took would lead him closer to his worst nightmare, losing his family.

Then suddenly he heard a sound. A baby crying! Ginny must have had it early. Without a second thought, Draco climbed the stairs three at a time, running towards the rooms he shared with Ginny and their son.

Once on the third floor, he stopped to listen. The crying had stopped. Which meant Ginny must be awake. Draco took a deep breath, and entered the room, which was used as a nursery.

It had been redecorated since he had seen it last. Gone were the pale blue paint and the very masculine toys that had dominated the room before; instead there was a pale dusky pink paint covering the walls, accessorised with more feminine things.

And by the window, on a soft-looking chair sat his Ginny, rocking a small bundle in her arms. A pink bundle. As he closed the door, she looked up at him. Draco swallowed once, and approached his wife, who was wearing a very unreadable expression on her face.

"So," Ginny said, startling Draco, "you have returned. I did wonder how long it would be until you dared to show your face," she continued, and fixed her eyes on her husband, who stood in front of her, looking daunted. "Did you want to see your daughter?"

And at that she handed the pink bundle to Draco, and vacated the chair, going through the door leading to their adjacent bedroom.

Draco looked down at the quietened baby. She was the tiniest thing he had ever seen! She had the Weasley red hair, although there wasn't much of it to see, and Draco could see that she would grow to be a beauty, just like her mother was. And her father, of course, Draco thought to himself. A Malfoy is nothing if not vain.

Gently Draco lifted the baby up a bit, and planted a soft kiss on her forehead, muttering ancient blessings as he did so. Then the baby did something, which startled Draco, she smiled a little, and then opened her eyes. She fixed her gaze on to Draco's, one pair of silver grey eyes locked on another, these tinged with a shade of blue, the kind which every infant is born with, but which vanishes within a few months. Typical, Draco then thought. Weasley hair and Malfoy eyes, how fitting...

Draco put his daughter back into her cot, for she was now fast asleep. He stood there looking at his peaceful offspring for a moment, and then turned towards his bedroom.

Ginny sat on an armchair by the fire, her back towards him.

With long strides Draco reached the fireplace, and looked at his wife. She had been crying.

This proved too much for Draco, who sank down to his knees in front of her chair. "Ginny," he began, barely finding his voice, "Ginny, please look at me!" Slowly she turned her face towards his, and their eyes locked. "Dearest," Draco said, pleading at her with his gaze, "please can you forgive me? I wasn't myself, if I had been I never would have thought about you in such a way. I... " he trailed off, discouraged by her unrelenting gaze. "I love you, Ginny, and I swore never to hurt you again, and now I have done just that, and I know it is not an excuse, but Voldemort... " he was forced to stop speaking, for Ginny had moved fast and covered his mouth with her hand.

"If I remove my hand will you be quiet?" she asked him. All Draco could do was nod. "Good." She reclaimed her hand and put it in her cloak pocket. "This arrived a week ago." It was a letter. "It's from Ron," she continued, "he explained everything. He Saw it. He says it wasn't your fault. It was the spell."

Draco was stunned. Funny that Weasley had neglected to inform me about that particular vision, he thought bitingly. "Does that mean I am forgiven, then?" he asked hopefully, only now beginning to feel like he had come home.

"Oh, Draco, I have seldom been as livid as I was the day I got your letter," Ginny said, and turned her eyes to the fire, "and when I received no reply to mine, I must admit, I did think of leaving. But," she added, seeing Draco's stricken face, "I realised that I was not about to be driven out of my home. My son's birthright. I also thought about hexing you the moment you got home, but Ron's letter made such an impact on me, that our daughter decided to come out and see for herself what was upsetting me so. So here we still are, if you'll have us," she finished, glancing back at Draco.

Draco could not utter a word. He just looked at her, and then with a sigh he buried his head on her lap, and whispered:

"You and the children are all I could ever want. Everything I need is right here," he continued, "well, except I think I could do with a bath. I reek.

At that, Ginny burst into pearls of laughter, causing Draco to lift up his head. She was crying again. Draco captured her face with his hands and lifted himself until he could reach her lips, and then he kissed her. That kiss included months of loneliness, self-doubt and longing, and Draco could taste the salty tears, as they ran down both their faces. "I love you, Mr. Malfoy," she whispered against his lips.

"And I love you, Mrs. Malfoy," Draco murmured, before enveloping her in a tight embrace.

The End