A World Without You

A World Without You 3: BRAND NEW DAY

He walked up the stairs slowly, not completely sure of what he was doing. He wanted to make things right with Ginny, but he was unsure of what the problem was to start with. Somehow the two of them were drifting apart and he had no idea as to the cause of it.

When they had first gotten together six years ago they had been nearly attached at the hip. She would come to all his games, he would help her with her studying for her exams by helping her get the information she needed in the text books, and then later by watching Damien so she could work in peace. The people on his team (excluding Ron) used to tease him about her regular attendance to the games. She even teased him about it, calling herself his personal cheerleader.

When Damien was born, it started to change. She stayed home more often then not to take care of Damien. She spent a lot of time trying to get her degree in medical magic so spent a lot of time in school. Perhaps that was the problem. They spent less time together. Granted, it was not all Ginny's fault. He was constantly away on Quiddich business. Sometimes it was a game he had to play, but often it was some sort of promotional event that he was asked to attend since he was the number one seeker in the League now.

Harry would have been had he actually been interested as a Quiddich player. He liked Quiddich but not enough to make it his profession. He worked as an Auror in a new division devoted to the Dark Arts actions taken by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. They were the ones who ran the cases against Death Eaters. Harry had personally seen to it that Draco's father was put in Azkaban for good.

Harry had been married a few years ago to a girl named Nicole Blair whom he had met at a cafe in New York. The American Muggle was fascinated with the wizarding world and often asked Harry questions. And often those questions were thrown in the direction of Ron, Ginny and Draco. How Draco and Harry had actually gotten to be friends no one knew, not even them. Somehow they had though Even Ron and Draco got along...sometimes.

Ron had married Kelly Fatal shortly after Hogwarts. She happened to be a top model for Jessica Zabini's fashion line and was very popular. They had been married for nine years now and despite their busy careers, they still were quite happy and had a small family of their own. They had twin boys (both looking like their father even at four) and a little girl who was one year old.

Hermione had surprised them all and had gotten together with Severus Snape. Oddly enough, the pair was happy together. Draco assumed this was because their very different personalities balanced each other out. The couple had yet to announce it, but Draco knew that they would soon they would tell everyone about their engagement. He had helped Severus choose a ring to give to Hermione. He wanted to get her something "Muggle-like" to make it more special and had asked for Draco's assistance along with that of their cousin Blaise Zabini.

However, thinking on how everyone else was happy was not helping him a bit. He now stood before the door to his bedroom, not sure what to do. He wanted things to get better between Ginny and him, but he had no clue as to where to start. He opened the door slowly. Ginny was sitting on the window seat, watching as rain poured down on the windows. She had not noticed him entering into the room. He closed the door silent and walked up to her and stood behind her. For a moment or two he just watched her.

"Are you going to say anything Drake?" Ginny surprised him by breaking the silence. She turned to him. There were tears glistening on her cheeks and the pain he was feeling increased. He could never stand her crying. He walked over to her and sat next to her. He wanted to hug her and find some way to take away her tears.

"Happy Anniversary, Virginia." She looked at him for a second.

"Weren't you supposed to be at a Quiddich event?"

"No." She looked at him confused.

"But you said you were."

"I know. I wanted to have what I planned a surprise." He looked out onto the bedroom and she followed his gaze. Her eyes widened when she saw it. She hadn't noticed that the room had been decorated with rose petals spread across the bed and some of the floor around it. There were candles in various places, melted to a point where she knew they had been lit for some time. Off to the side was a table set for two, although nothing was on it. She was shocked.

"I thought you forgot about it." She loved the fact that he didn't forget but at the same time she still had her earlier doubts.

"No, I just wanted to surprise you." He continued to watch her. "What's happening, Gin?"

"What do you mean?"

"What is happening to us?" Ginny turned to him and looked him in the eye. Draco's eyes were very expressive when you knew him well. She was surprised to find the same hurt in his eyes that she was feeling. Something was happening to them and she had no idea what it was.

"I don't know." She stood up and walked over to the table. "I thought you forgot our anniversary. I guess I was wrong." Turning to face him, she remained silent for awhile before turning back to facing the other way. "I keep thinking that you had forgotten because you wanted to, because you had all those beautiful women flocking around you. What am I compared to them?"

"Perfect." Ginny was surprised when Draco's arms encircled her waist. She hadn't heard him move from the window. "They aren't you Gin. You're the one that I married, that I love, not them. I wish you would have more faith in my fidelity."

"It's not really about trusting you Drake. It's more about my own insecurities. I do not feel like I could even compete with those girls and when they surround you like that it would be easy to forget me."

"I never could." Draco held up his ring. "Besides one of the spells on our bands is an anti-infidelity charm. If one of the spouses is unfaithful, their ring will change color and glow. Traditional Malfoy charm, remember? Dad had one placed on Mom's ring when they got married. It was what kept Mom and my stepfather Nick from being together while Dad was alive. Blaise refused to put the charm on his rings when he and Jess got married last year because of that. I really didn't like it, but its tradition so I put it on both of our rings. It would be obvious if either of us was unfaithful, and as our rings are still their original silver we can place that issue behind us."

Relieved of that burden, Ginny walked out of his arms and sat in the chair closest to her. Now she just had to get though the next issue that seemed to be pulling her apart: her baby." She looked up to see Draco looking at her pensively, and she knew that he knew that something was wrong, but like as always usual he wasn't going to pressure her into saying anything. Looking back down, she took a deep breath and decided that she should just say it and get it over with.

"I'm pregnant." There, she had said it. She looked up again and saw Draco still looking at her, not angry at all. It was mainly shock that was shown in his eyes, but he was smiling.

Maybe there was hope for them after all. But then his face changed to something different. He sat on the other chair.

"What did the doctor say about it? They told us before not to try to have another baby after Dae. Are you going to be ok? " She sighed in relief. He was worried about her. Not quite as bad as she had thought.

"He says I need to come in often so he can keep track of my progress, but I should do alright. After all I did wait five years and the pregnancy hasn't had a problem so far. But he doesn't want us to push our luck." She sighed. "He told me no unnecessary working." She glared at him. "That doesn't mean you can coddle me Draco. I am not invalid; I just have to tone it down a bit. I'm already on maternity leave." He smiled at her warning knowing full well he most likely would do just that despite her warnings. As would her brothers, father, Harry, Neville Longbottom and Blaise. She had eleven overprotective men in her life, she would have to get used to it.

And she knew it too.