Dragon and Angel

CHAPTER FORTY SIX

I DID IT

Millie, the house elf, had delivered Ginny's morning tea earlier and she was now reclining in Draco's arms, sipping the hot brew slowly.

"I'm glad you decided to stay the night," he whispered into her ear.

"So am I." A sigh of contentment escaped her.

Ginny and the children had arrived at the Manor the evening before. With Narcissa and Lucius available to baby sit, Draco took Ginny out to dinner and even though he insisted they return early -- so Ginny wouldn't get overly tired -- they spent the remainder of the night wrapped in each other. Draco had preplanned the entire evening. When they returned to his private sitting room, the house elves had left a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne, chilling in an ice bucket, along with fresh strawberries and dipping chocolate. After feeding each other the fruit and making jokes over the vintage of the fake champagne, they retired to the bedchamber -- making love until the wee hours of the morning.

"Is the tea still helping?"

"Yes, it's amazing. If I don't have it, before I get out of bed, I'm so sick, but when I do I don't feel nauseous at all."

Draco had, at Molly's request, informed Narcissa that sending a servant with the remedy every morning was unnecessary. However, on Tuesday morning, with no peppermint tea available, Ginny was ill for several hours.

"Good. We'll have to make sure you get your tea every morning before your feet touch the floor then." He wasn't happy that she had been so ill the morning before, especially when it was preventable. If Molly hadn't been so adamant about not wanting house elves delivering a single cup of tea then Ginny wouldn't have suffered. "Even if it means I have to deliver it myself -- until you move in here, that is."

"It's all--" Ginny paused as the bedchamber door creaked open and a little strawberry blonde head peaked through the opening.

Draco and Ginny watched as their daughter turned and whispered over her shoulder to someone unseen on the other side of the door.

"They're awake."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! They're sitting up and cuddling."

"Ewwww!"

Angel rolled her eyes and her impatient tone was comical. "Drake."

"You go in first," Drake urged as he gave his sister a sharp push in the back.

Angel stumbled through the door, inelegantly, and landed on her face.

"Angel!" Draco gasped as she hit the floor.

Ginny leant back into him and whispered urgently, "Don't make a fuss, she's not hurt."

"How do you know?"

"She'd be screaming by now if she were--"

It was too late, however, as Angel picked herself up, her bottom lip began to quiver and she looked at Draco. "Daddy -- Drake pushed me over-- and--and my--" The rest of her words were lost among her tears as they flowed down her cheeks.

Drake stuck his head around the door at the sound of his sister's weeping, but pulled back as soon as she mentioned his crime.

"Come over here, sweetheart." Draco held his arm out welcoming her onto the bed.

"For Merlin's sake, she's not hurt," Ginny hissed at him as she sat forward, releasing Draco's other arm.

The whimpering little girl climbed up onto the bed and crawled into her father's arms, sobbing into his chest. Draco's arms came around her and he began to soothe her quietly, rubbing his hands up and down her back.

"Shh-- shh-- Where does it hurt, princess?"

"M-- my-- knee--"

"Your knee? Let me have a look--" Draco turned her over and examined both knees. "Is it this one?"

Angel sniffed and nodded.

Draco leant forward and kissed her knee tenderly. "There all better now." He smiled and winked at her.

"A-- an-- and-- my-- elbow--" She held up her right arm for Draco's examination.

"We'll make that feel all better, too." He placed a kiss on the tip of her elbow. "Any more injuries?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. Angel had her father's measure perfectly and she was milking him for all it was worth.

Angel held both her hands out, her breath hitching as she turned her brimming big gray eyes on Draco.

"Your hands too?" Draco looked as though his heart might break as he took each of her, apparently, wounded hands in his and placed a kiss on each palm.

"Oh sweet Merlin! Come in sucker--" Ginny muttered disgustedly, unable to restrain herself any longer.

"And my nose hurts, Daddy!" Angel sobbed as the tears continued to flow.

Draco placed delicate kiss on his daughter's nose and held her closely. "There all better now." He leaned back into the pillows, taking Angel with him and continued to hold her, rubbing her back until her sobs turned hiccups.

"I think we should all get dressed and go down for breakfast," Ginny suggested with barely concealed impatience.

Draco frowned at her before turning his attention back to Angel. "Are you feeling better now, princess?"

"I hurt, Daddy," Angel whimpered, renewing the fountain of tears.

"Shh-- Come on, stop crying, sweetheart. Why don't we see what the servants have made for breakfast?"

Angel sniveled and lifted her head a little. "I want pancakes."

"Pancakes it is then!"

"Now?"

"Okay, you go wait in the sitting room while I get dressed."

"Okay, Daddy." Angel's bright smile shone through her residual tears.

"Close the door, princess," Draco called as she left the room.

As soon as the door shut Ginny threw the bed covers off and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"What?" Draco asked innocently.

"You do realize, your five year old daughter has just made a fool of you. Don't you?"

"No she hasn't. She was hurt. I comforted her."

Ginny sighed. "She wasn't hurt. If she'd hurt herself you wouldn't have been able to hear yourself think for her screaming."

"She was hurt!" Draco's insistent tone was almost more than Ginny could take.

She reached across the bed and patted his leg. "Okay, if you insist. She was hurt, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"About?"

"Draco, every time she stubs a toe you're going to get the full water works--"

"Stubbing a toe hurts."

"You're impossible!"

"But you love me--" he growled as he crawled across the bed and wrapped his arms around her middle, gently pulling her backwards so he could cover her mouth with his.

Draco could taste light peppermint on her lips, as he ran his tongue over them seeking permission to deepen their union. She sighed into his mouth as his tongue glided over hers and her hand drifted up to tangle in his hair.

"Daddy, are you coming? I'm hungry!" Angel stood in the doorway, hands on hips and tapping one foot, impatiently.

"Yes, sweetheart. I'm coming right now--"

Ginny smirked at him. Angel was going to extract as much attention as she could from her father, until he put a stop to it. Ginny had seen her do it to just about every male of the family. They'd all fallen hopelessly under her spell at one time or another and she made them into her personal servants for as long as she could.

Draco kissed Ginny's nose. "I'd better get dressed."

"Yes, you do that."

"Are you coming down for breakfast?"

"Yes, I'm feeling a little empty."

"Do you want to use the bathroom first?"

"No, you go ahead."

While Ginny dressed for the day, Draco disappeared into the bathroom. He appeared only minutes later, perfectly groomed and quickly proceeded to dress.

"I'll wait in the sitting room for you, Gin."

"Okay, I won't be long," she replied as she crossed the room and disappeared into the bathroom.

He quirked his eyebrows cheekily at her. "Sure."

Angel smiled brightly when Draco entered the sitting room. "Are you ready, Daddy?"

"We'll just wait for Mummy then we can go down."

"But she'll be ages--"

"I told her we'd wait, so we will wait."

Drake wandered into the sitting room, he hesitated when he saw Draco standing talking to Angel. It was apparent by his clothing, that he had dressed himself.

"Drake." Draco saw him stiffen. "Come in."

"Yes, Daddy?"

"Why did you push Angel over?"

"I--" The little boy's eyes filled with tears and he swallowed hard. "I didn't mean to, Daddy. She just fell over--"

"After you pushed her through the door."

"I didn't mean for her to fall--"

"But you pushed her."

"I didn't want to make her cry," Drake burst into loud racking sobs.

"Then why did you push her?"

"I-- I-- just-- Mummy--" Drake ran past Draco and into Ginny's waiting arms.

Draco watched as Ginny comforted her son and at the same time shot him a hard reproachful look.

"He just started crying." Draco held his hands up in a show of innocence.

Ginny turned her attention to her distraught son. "Drake? Shh-- come on baby, stop crying and tell Mummy what happened."

Drake took several heaving breaths and let them out unsteadily. "I only wanted Angel to go in first. I didn't mean for her to fall over--" He broke down into racking sobs again on Ginny's shoulder.

"Of course, you didn't mean for her to fall over. It's all right, she's fine. You didn't really hurt her."

While Ginny was calming Drake, Draco took Angel to get dressed -- much to the little girls disgust, she had planned to have breakfast first.

Fifteen minutes later the family made their way down stairs. Lucius and Narcissa were just sitting down to breakfast when the family entered the dining room.

Lucius frowned when he noticed that both children had blood-shot, puffy eyes. "Was there a problem this morning?"

"All sorted. Thank you, Father."

"Daddy, you said I could have pancakes!" Angel was looking at the kippers on her plate with disgust.

"And so you shall." Draco summoned a house elf and ordered fresh pancakes be brought immediately for Angel.

"Is there a problem with kippers?" Lucius questioned, looking curiously at his granddaughter.

"I promised her pancakes for breakfast," Draco informed him lightly.

"Oh?"

Angel watched the interaction between the two men carefully and when her father didn't inform her grandfather immediately of the tragedy that had befallen her that morning, her chin began to quiver. "Drake pushed me over," she sobbed as fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Did he now?" Lucius rose from his seat and rounded the table to take the little witch into his arms.

"A--an--and-- he hurt my knee and-- my elbow--" She paused to sniff. "And-- my hands and m--my nose."

Lucius rubbed her back and held her tight as she sobbed onto his shoulder, making a large sodden mark on his business robes. "There, there -- what can we do to make your pain go away?"

Ginny sat staring wide-eyed at Lucius. She couldn't quite believe her eyes -- her five-year-old daughter had the men in this family completely hoodwinked. Angel was playing them all for fools, she wasn't hurt at all in the fall, but they kept laying on the sympathy and she kept lapping it up.

Narcissa leaned across the table and touched Ginny's arm lightly to gain her attention. "Is she truly injured?"

"No. She's just putting it on to get attention."

"Well, she's certainly succeeding."

Lucius had a whispered conversation with his granddaughter before putting her back on her chair just as her pancakes arrived. Angel beamed around the table before announcing, "Grandfather is taking me riding this afternoon."

"Is he now?" Ginny looked to Lucius questioning.

"It will take her mind off of her injuries -- surely a walk around the yard on her mount won't hurt her further?"

"No, it won't, considering she's not hurt," Ginny muttered under her breath. The way the men were falling over themselves to appease Angel was pathetic. She could understand Draco's reaction, to a point, but Lucius was quite another matter -- the man had a reputation for being one of the toughest businessmen in the wizarding world, not to mention he was an ex-Death Eater.

"Drake? What do you have to say for yourself?" Lucius' tone was almost casual, but all at the table interpreted the underlying message.

Drake's chin began to tremble again. "I--"

"It was an accident, Lucius. He didn't mean to push Angel over and she wasn't hurt. I think we can leave the matter there," Ginny defended her son strongly. She could envisage Draco and Lucius taking Drake to task harshly over this and she wasn't going to stand by and let them do that over an accident.

"Angelique told me of her injuries herself."

"Yes, I heard her. She's very good at extracting sympathy for minor or non-existent injuries."

"Nonsense, Angelique has no reason to exaggerate her pain."

"Doesn't she?" Ginny quirked an eyebrow at her future father in-law. "This morning she's managed to extract pancakes for breakfast from Draco and a promise from you to take her riding this afternoon just by shedding a few tears."

"Angelique certainly has not, as you put it, extracted anything from me. I had planned to leave the office early today and take the children riding this afternoon. Her tears didn't have anything to do with the plans I had already made."

"Really?" Ginny couldn't help the smirk that crept across her face at the indignant expression on Lucius' face.

Narcissa sensed her husband's ire was beginning to rise and quickly changed the subject. "The south wing has been opened. I had the servants clean all the rooms thoroughly."

"Thank you, Mother," Draco replied absently. He was watching the silent battle going on between Ginny and Lucius.

"I have a wonderful morning planned," Narcissa continued, still hoping to avert a scene.

"I'm sure the children will have fun with whatever you have planned," Draco had cut her off. "Father, didn't you have a rather early meeting this morning?"

"Yes, I should get to the office." Lucius rose and turned his attention to Narcissa. "I should be home by lunch."

"Wonderful, dearest."

"Grandfather, don't forget about riding."

"We will go directly following lunch, Angelique." The smug look he gave Ginny as he left the room was answered with a disdainful glare from the fiery redhead.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Remember, you're free to change whatever you wish."

"I know, you've told me how many times?"

"Loads, I know but I want you to create a home for us. Somewhere you'll be comfortable."

Draco and Ginny had wandered through the many rooms of the south wing where they would live. Ginny had made very few changes thus far. With the exception of the twins private chambers and the room that would be transformed into a nursery, she had left the rest of the rooms as they were presented.

"But--"

"But what?"

"I don't feel comfortable changing the parlors. They've been like that for how many generations?"

"Too many."

"It still doesn't feel right."

"If I may make a suggestion." Neither Draco nor Ginny had noticed Narcissa approaching.

"Narcissa." Ginny's tone was tight and uncomfortable. She could only imagine what Narcissa thought of Draco encouraging her to redecorate rooms that had stood as they were for centuries.

"Mother, where are the children?"

"They're having a snack. Millie is with them." She smiled indulgently at Ginny. "Lucius took me on a similar tour of the north wing once we were married and instructed me to do much as Draco is instructing you now. I was just as worried about changing rooms that had been like that for what seemed centuries -- so I started small. I began with our chambers then moved on to a parlor for the family, somewhere we could relax. Of course, with the changing seasons, one parlor soon became two and so on."

Ginny stared at her, wide-eyed and disbelieving. The parlors Narcissa affectionately referred to as 'for the family' looked to have been decorated several centuries ago and were, by no stretch of the imagination, comfortable.

"Of course, your taste will differ from mine. As mine differed from Lucius' mother but you must make yourself at home. Create some space to call your own."

"Thank you."

"Well -- which parlor are we going to destroy first then?" Draco grinned cheekily at her.

"I don't know--"

"The formal areas should be kept to the front so you don't have guests wandering through private family areas--" Narcissa offered.

"How about the large parlor facing the lake?"

"Refresh my memory, Draco."

"Right this way, ladies." Draco made a grand gesture with his arm. He had been in an exceptional mood since beginning this tour with Ginny. She would be moving in soon with the children and looking at the wing was a step in the right direction toward making this happen, sooner rather than later. Plus his mother was being as helpful as she could, without being overbearing.

As they followed Draco through the corridors to the parlor he had in mind, Narcissa chattered to Ginny, telling her about the changes she had made to the manor over the years and what living with Lucius' parents had been like. She had grown fond of Ginny over the last few months and recognized her to be the exact type of woman Draco needed -- one who was not afraid to tell him off.

Draco stopped in the doorway to a large sitting room. The furniture scattered throughout the room was all antique rosewood and the objects d'art were obviously priceless heirlooms.

"This is the one!"

"Draco, this room is enormous!" Ginny looked around the room, it had potential, but it was so large that it could never be cozy.

"We need room for our growing family." His arms wove around her waist, settling his hands on her still flat abdomen. "We'll get some comfortable couches, a Wizard's Wireless -- so I can listen to the Quidditch on WWN, a small table to put my feet on and a servant permanently stationed in that corner."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "A servant?"

"Someone's got to keep me from dehydrating while I'm listening to the game. Mead doesn't walk in on it's own, you know."

"No -- neither do you after a few," Narcissa added with a hint of disgust in her tone.

"Mother, are you implying something?"

"Not at all, dear. Do you have a guilty conscience?"

"Of course not. I never drink too much--"

"If you say so, dear," Narcissa's condescending tone was clear. She could tell any number of tales concerning Draco's indulgence in alcohol from time to time. She turned to Ginny with a fiendish smile. "The last time Draco didn't drink too much he accused Lucius of charming the staircase -- it seemed the steps kept moving on him every time he tried to walk up them."

Both women laughed. The imagery Narcissa's story brought to Ginny's mind only served to further her humor. Draco was staring incredulously at both women. He was not pleased with his mother's tale-telling and knew very well she could tell many more drunken tales about him. He was about to defend his drunken appearance following Blaise Zabini's buck's night when Angel's distressed cries came echoing through the room.

They followed the sound of Angel's wails at a furious pace. Narcissa muttered all the way about the drastically shortened life span of a particular servant should anything have happened to Angelique. Ginny was pale and tight lipped, almost running as the volume of her daughters weeping increased with every step she took. Draco tried to walk with some decorum, assuring himself constantly that she was fine, but after a particularly anguished howl he broke into a run, desperate to reach his little girl.

Draco burst through the doorway of his grandmother's favorite parlor and relief flooded through him as Lucius came into view.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lucius Apparated into the foyer of the Manor shortly before lunch. His ears were immediately assaulted with childish squeals coming from one of the formal parlors. It sounded as though the twins were playing in the room and by the sounds, it was an activity he was certain would be best suited to the outdoors. Not bothering to remove his cloak, Lucius strode purposely toward the noise. He was only meters from the doorway of his mother's favorite parlor when a loud crash rung out followed by the sound of shattering china -- the playful squeals had ceased.

His heart leapt into his throat and the few seconds it took Lucius to move to the doorway seemed like an eternity. He stood just inside the door surveying the situation swiftly and discerning what had happened for himself.

A house elf was moving across the room, muttering loudly to herself about children being where they oughtn't be and not listening to those who know better. Millie had taken care of Draco when he was a child, so she had ample experience with mischievous children. The incident didn't faze her, even though she could be punished for not ensuring the children were behaving in an acceptable manner.

Drake was on the far side of the room staring open mouthed at his sister in horror. A small occasional table was now lying on its side surrounded by shards of china -- the remnants of what was once an antique vase worth thousands of Galleons. Angelique stood close to the overturned table, encircled by the broken vase, trembling as tears welled in her eyes.

"What is going on in here?" As he spoke Lucius' eyes scanned Angel for any sign of blood. "Are you all right?"

Both children stared at their grandfather, neither offering an explanation.

Lucius presumed Angelique wasn't injured -- she wasn't screaming and he took that as a positive sign. "Angelique, did you knock the table over and cause the vase to shatter?"

Angel began to whimper as fat tears rolled down her face. She offered no verbal response, but didn't take her eyes from Lucius.

"Well, I'm sure I have a fair idea what happened here. You were both playing in a room you have no right being in, without supervision -- perhaps you were running? Then Angelique ran into the table, knocking it over and destroying a priceless heirloom in the process. Is that how it happened?"

Lucius regarded both children carefully. Drake merely looked horrified, but Angelique was terrified -- of this he was certain. Still, the children maintained their silence.

"Angelique, perhaps you and I should have a private chat concerning your unladylike behavior?"

As Lucius took a step toward his granddaughter she let out a loud wail. He paused momentarily. It disturbed him a little that Angelique now appeared to be afraid of him. Her wailing increased, both in volume and ferocity, with each step he took toward her. By the time he reached to take her hand, intent on leading her out of the room -- and out of danger -- her volume had reached a deafening pitch.

"Come along, I simply wish to discuss your behavior, so there are no more incidents such as this."

While Lucius had been intent on watching Angelique, he failed to notice Drake moving slowly, but purposely closer. With Angel's hand now firmly clasped in his, Lucius turned to lead her out and started a little when he found Drake standing not two feet in front of him.

"Drake, go and find you grandmother. Tell her Angelique and I will be detained for a short time -- if she could hold lunch for us, it would be appreciated."

The oddest expression came over Drake's face and while Lucius was sure he'd seen the look before, he couldn't pinpoint when or what the expression indicated. Drake didn't move to follow the instructions he had issued. Instead, Drake seemed to draw himself up, as if in an effort to appear taller and as Lucius moved to walk around the small boy his expression hardened.

Lucius prided himself on his ability to read most people from their facial expressions and body language. To find himself at a complete loss, when faced with his own five-year-old grandson, was most perturbing.

"Drake, run along and find your grandmother."

"No! I did it! I broke the vase!"

Lucius raised an eyebrow at the small boy. "Did you now? Tell me, just how did you manage to break the vase from the other side of the room?"

"I-- I-- I ran away."

"You ran away from the wreckage, did you? Well, do you know what I think?" Lucius paused for effect - he knew Drake was lying. "I think Angelique broke the vase and you're trying to protect her."

It dawned on Lucius what the odd expression on Drake's face meant. The last time he had seen this look, on his grandson, he had earned himself a bruised shin from the little boy. This was his protective expression.

"Father! What on magical earth is going on?"

Lucius glanced up to see Draco standing in the doorway, a worried frown creasing his brow. Within moments Narcissa and Ginny had joined him, both looking a little beleaguered and more than a little concerned.

"Angelique has broken my mother's favorite vase. I was going to have a talk to her regarding appropriate indoor behavior when Drake stepped forward, claiming he was the culprit."

"Drake, why would you take the blame for something you didn't do?" Draco was flabbergasted. Most children would do all they could to wriggle out of trouble, but his son had placed himself right in the thick of it -- it didn't make sense to him at all.

"I knocked the table over -- I did!"

"Lucius, are you positive it was Angelique? Drake seems so adamant." Narcissa didn't want to see either child get punished, but it seemed extraordinarily unfair, to her at least, if Lucius was mistaken and Drake was guilty.

"Dearest, I was in here before the dust had settled, so to speak."

"I see," Narcissa muttered absently. If Lucius were on the scene as it happened, then he would know for certain who was responsible.

Draco crossed the room to stand next to Drake. "Father, I'll have a word with Drake and try to figure out what's going on. You have your chat with Angel -- we can talk later."

"No! Daddy, I did it -- I did it."

"Drake, I know you didn't do it," Lucius told him firmly. "Wanting to protect your sister is admirable, but entirely unnecessary in the instance."

"I! Did! It!" Drake looked almost panicked when Lucius began to move toward the door taking the still howling Angel with him. "Daddy, she can't go down there. The dungeon will scare her--"

Ginny's eyes opened wide. "What?"

"Dungeon?" A frown crossed Narcissa's face.

"Lucius, what is Drake on about?" It took all Ginny had in self-control to keep her tone even.

"I assure you, Ginevra, I haven't the faintest idea what the boy is on about."

"The dungeon! You took me to the dungeon when I ran away from Grandmother."

"What? You took him to a dungeon?" Ginny's tenuous hold on her self-control slipped away.

"Gin, calm down--"

"I will not calm down, Draco! I want to know exactly what happened -- NOW!"

"Love, it's not good for you to get so worked up. Calm down and we'll talk about this." Draco was desperate. This was the one incident he never wanted Ginny to find out about. This incident could destroy his relationship with her.

"Ginevra, Draco's right. You should calm yourself." Narcissa forced herself to speak evenly. She knew nothing of a dungeon involved in Drake's punishment for wandering away from her in Diagon Alley. Lucius had told her that he had spoken to the boy, but there was never any mention of a dungeon. She would be interested in hearing her husband's explanation for this obvious untruth by omission. "Perhaps, we should return to the family parlor for some tea. Millie can see to the children's lunch and we can discuss these -- revelations."

Lucius sighed mentally. The look Narcissa had just given him was harsh, to say the least. It was going to be a difficult afternoon, not only for him, but Draco as well, for he was guilty by association.

"Come -- Drake, Angelique. We'll see to your lunch. Draco, perhaps you could arrange some tea for Ginevra -- she looks a little peaked. Lucius, I trust you can supervise the cleanup in here." Narcissa, having issued her orders, took the children by their hands and led them out of the room.

Draco took Ginny's arm and attempted to lead her from the room, but her gaze was firmly fixed on Lucius. To say her glare was unfriendly would have been an understatement -- it was dangerous.

"Gin, come on. I'll get you some tea and we'll talk."

"I don't want tea! I want to know what the hell happened!"

Draco stepped in front of her, effectively blocking her line of vision. He met her icy glare with his own worried orbs. He had never seen her eyes look so icy and it was then cold tendrils of fear began to trickle down his spine. "Ginny. Now." He fought to keep his voice firm and in control.

Draco turned Ginny to face the door and slowly guided her out of the room, not allowing her to make eye contact with Lucius again. She was trembling -- whether it was from fear or anger, he didn't know, but when he tried to slip an arm around her shoulders she shrugged him off.

By the time they reached the family parlor, a servant was setting a tea tray for four on a small side table. Draco thanked his mother silently as he sat Ginny on a small love seat near the window and poured her a cup of tea, himself --much to the astonishment of the attending servant. Before passing the steaming brew to Ginny, Draco dismissed the house elf. He needed some time alone with her.

"Gin?" Draco's hand was shaking just enough to make the china tinkle as he passed her the tea. "It'll make you feel better."

Ginny accepted the tea, immediately bringing the cup to her lips and taking a deep sip. Draco sat next to her, he wanted to reach out and take her hand or touch her in some way, but because she had shrugged off his contact before, he kept his distance.

They sat in silence, Ginny sipping her tea and Draco watching her closely, until Narcissa glided into the room. It wasn't often Narcissa's expression radiated such gravity and Draco felt his heart tighten when she glanced over him -- there would be trouble this afternoon, of that he was certain. He knew she hadn't been told of the dungeon incident, if she had Lucius would've been sleeping in his study until hell froze over.

Narcissa perched herself on the other side of Ginny. She picked up Ginny's free hand and held it gently. "The children are eating lunch. Millie will care for them until we have this mess sorted out. She's very experienced and you're not to worry."

"Thank you," Ginny's replied in an uneven whisper.

"We will get to the bottom of this. I promise." Narcissa gave her hand a small squeeze.

Draco could do nothing more than watch the two women. His mother had never been overly demonstrative with those outside the immediate family, so this small gesture of holding his fiancée's hand was a significant show of solidarity. While he hadn't been implicated by Drake's statement, he knew, once the truth came out, he would bare the brunt of Ginny's anger, along with his father. Even though his reasons were valid, he doubted Ginny would see his point of view. He was guilty of concealing the whole truth.

Lucius entered the parlor moments later. He looked tense, to the trained eye. "Well, shall we get this over with?"

Ginny shot him a look of pure loathing and opened her mouth to say something, but Narcissa cut her off swiftly.

"Perhaps you can begin with explaining why Drake would claim you took him into a dungeon?"

"I did take him down to the dungeon at the office."

Ginny lurched forward and would have stood to face Lucius, if Narcissa hadn't had a firm grip on her hand. "How dare you!"

"Excuse me?"

"How dare you take my son to such a barbaric place--"

"If you calm yourself, Ginevra, I will explain my motives."

Narcissa squeezed Ginny's hand. "Even the guilty are afforded a chance to explain themselves."

"No reason could possibly be--"

"Nevertheless, we will hear him out. Lucius, continue."

"If I may begin by reminding everyone of the crime he committed." Lucius paused as Ginny seemed ready to interrupt, but another squeeze of her hand from Narcissa silenced her. "Drake wandered away from Narcissa in Diagon Alley -- something he's done many times to you, Ginevra -- I found him in Borgin and Burkes--"

Both Ginny and Narcissa inhaled sharply. This was new information for both women. Neither had been told the full story at the time of the incident, purely to save them further distress but now, with the discovery of his method of punishment, Lucius felt it pertinent to reveal all the facts.

"I trust you are aware of their location?"

Ginny felt as though all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. The idea of her son being in Knockturn Alley made her blood run cold.

"Given their locality, I was determined to impress upon Drake the error of his ways and perhaps circumvent further breaches of trust. I felt -- at the time and given his age -- the most effective way to emphasize the danger of what he did would be to scare him, so as he would have no desire to repeat his offence, due to fear of punishment."

"Draco said you only wanted to talk to him." Ginny met his cold gray eyes with a fierce glare.

"And I did talk to him. I took him to the dungeon at the office. I showed him how the stocks worked and while he was in them, I showed him one of the whips in the room--"

"You what?"

"I assure you, Ginevra, he was not harmed in any way -- frightened yes, but not harmed. I wouldn't -- couldn't do that to my grandson. Before releasing him from the stock, I did promise that if he repeated his foolish wandering my whip wouldn't miss his bottom next time."

Ginny wrenched her hand from Narcissa's grasp and stood in front of Lucius. She was angry beyond comprehension -- to the point where her thoughts were becoming confused. "You took my son to a dungeon, locked him stocks then showed him a whip? You are despicable! I thought you'd changed! You haven't. You're still the same -- disgusting -- Death Eater who tried to kill me!"

"Gin, enough. Calm down." Draco tried to put his arm around her shoulders but she stepped away.

"You knew about this! You knew and you didn't tell me!"

"Draco only discovered what I had done afterwards. He knew nothing of what I had planned beforehand."

"Gin, I didn't say anything because Drake was fine. He and father were firm friends again by the end of the day--"

"I don't believe this -- you're protecting him!"

"No! There's no one to protect. Drake did wrong and he was punished. I expressed my displeasure to Father as soon as I found out how he was punished, but I didn't think it would achieve anything by telling you."

"Ginevra, are you all right? You don't look very well." Narcissa had come to stand next to Lucius. She was gazing at the other witch with deep concern etched into her porcelain features.

"I'm fine!" Ginny snapped. Even though she felt light headed, her eyes still blazed with ferocity.

"Perhaps you should sit down--"

"I said I'm fine."

"Ginny, let it go. Drake wasn't hurt. Far worse could have happened if Father hadn't found him and if the punishment he received stops him wandering ever again, then good because-- Gin, are you sure you're all right?"

Ginny had a distinctly odd expression on her face and looked decidedly unsteady on her feet.

"I'm fi--"

Draco instinctively reached out as she pitched forward -- catching her before she hit the floor. He knelt to the floor with her limp body lying in his arms and looked desperately to his mother for an explanation.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*