In Seven Days

Chapter Two

In Seven Days

Rude Awakenings

Day One

Friday December 20^th 1997

What would have happened:

He was getting on the train back to the platform in London. She had stared at him since they had all reached to go home for the summer. As he put one foot on the bottom step to a compartment, he looked at her in a way that made her feel like falling to her knees. She almost did.

She turned away and could feel him smile sadly at her. When she glanced around, as he must have known she would, he was gone. She turned away again. Harry was talking to Ron and ignoring her completely. Since Christmas holidays had ended, he hadn't spent much time with her at all. He was always preoccupied with something, like Quidditch or helping Hermione with her schoolbooks, typical hero business.

She had wondered why he had told her he loved her in the first place, she was sure he had done it to keep her brother happy. But he was good to her and he had promised her that he would never hurt her. His promises meant something, he kept them.

Draco was just unpredictable. He was unjustifiably rude and vindictive; at times she wandered if he had manners at all. He was well known for his cruelty and his malicious behaviour and he gave absolutely no regard to anything he didn't care about.

But he did care about her. He had driven it into her head numerous times. He was unpredictable, that was the beauty of him. You didn't know what to do around him at times and she had often taken great pleasure in working out his moods until she had mastered them. He was the one who had finally convinced her that she was beautiful. He was different and yet the same. He was... hers, he wouldn't change for anybody and she loved him.

She loved him. It was as simple as that.

As she stepped up onto the bottom step of the compartment Hermione had chosen, her foot slipped and went straight to the ground again at the same time Hermione dropped the mass of books she was carrying inside. As she straightened herself up she looked to her side. Draco was watching her. Though his face was that of stone, she new that glint of concern in his eye.

"You okay, Ginny?" Harry said above her, he was about to climb in around her to help Hermione out. Ginny flushed with a little anger, she had obviously expected Harry to help her and felt a little embarrassed that he hadn't helped her instead. Especially in front of Draco watching them with a mild interest. She wanted to prove to herself she had made the right choice but he hadn't given her any reasons whatsoever. She suddenly had the urge to frown. She grabbed him as he climbed in and turned him around.

"Harry, what do you think of me?"

He frowned, what had brought that on? 'Pardon?" He suddenly looked left to Draco who had taken to leaning against one side of the compartment doors, his interest increasing and obviously listening to their conversation.

"What do you think of me, who am I to you?" Her stern words made him look at her, really look at her.

"I think you're great, you're... you're my girlfriend," he said almost painfully.

She nodded slowly. "And?" she prompted raising an eyebrow. She almost laughed at him for trying so hard to keep her away from Draco.

"And... what? What else is there?" he asked.

That did it.

She nodded again. "Right." She looked to her left and smiled. "Harry, this isn't going to work, I'm sorry." She left him then and began to walk away from him and towards the right decision. She walked slowly until she saw him step down from the compartment step. She had almost broken out into a run by the time she reached him.

He smiled as her arms went around his neck and squeezed tight. He lifted her and spun her around.

"I'm so sorry. I'll never listen to them again," she said into his shoulder.

He just laughed. "What took you so long?" She climbed inside of his compartment and sat down.

Day one:

Saturday December 19^th 2009

Ginny opened her eyes to a dimly lit room that she didn't recognize. She sat up abruptly and scanned it for any evidence of her knowing it. Perhaps she was at a friend's house. She thought back to last night coming to one conclusion.

Did I go home with someone? She found this strange considering the last place she remembered was a grocery store.

There was the sound of water to her right, she leaned forward cautiously to see what it was that could cause a sound like that and saw a door opened ajar to a room with blue tiles. She sat back. It was a shower, and someone was in it. Probably the someone she had gone home with. Why didn't she remember this?

She didn't want to hang around so she got up and ran across the room before she could meet them. As she passed a mirror, she caught herself and moved back again. She saw her face, it looked... different somehow and what she was wearing, she skimmed her hands down the material. A silk slip? Where could I get a silk slip?

She spun around wildly. What the hell is going on?

She looked around the room for her clothes. She had been wearing clothes last night, she remembered that much. She turned to see an open closet door with a top that resembled something she owned. She went to pick it up hurriedly and looked at it. Was I wearing this last night? She slipped it on and looked for her trousers. She opened the closet door to see if anything else she owned had been thrown in there. When she opened it, she came into contact with more clothes, hanging neatly in the cupboard. She spotted her pair of trousers on the ground and slipped them on. When she stepped back she realised it had come from a woman's closet as most of them were women's clothes.

'Did I go home with a woman last night?' she wondered worried. She raised an eyebrow at this sudden turn of event wondering just how drunk she had been.

She took a step forward to inspect it and saw a top that she knew she had seen before. It was green with a light green lace lining along the hem and the straps. Then it clicked, she had seen it two days ago when she was with Harry. She scowled at his name. She had seen it in a shop window on a model. It had looked gorgeous then and it looked even better now. She hated whoever she had gone home with for taking it from her. She was going to buy it when she had enough money for it because Harry said he wouldn't, now it was too late. She shoved it back inside. Merlin she hated that man.

She took one last look at the dream of a wardrobe and was about to sneak out of the room and out of the house when the room suddenly got brighter with the presence of the sun outside and she looked around. It was a pastel blue, she loved pastel blue. She smiled and spun, suddenly feeling the urge for it. As she did, her eyes settled once again on the wardrobe and a certain coat that she knew. She was wearing that coat last night when she stormed out on Harry. It was suede, the most expensive thing she owned that she had bought for herself. She had treasured it since Hogwarts. She wondered what was it doing hanging in the wardrobe.

What could I have been doing here to have time to put everything away?

She got curious and proceeded to peering through the rest of it. As she did, she saw more clothes that she recognized but only clothes that she had bought for herself. They were all hers and they were next to this other woman's clothes, hanging neatly. All of them, which was strange because she wasn't particularly known for it. She looked up at a shelf above her head. There was a small package on it in purple wrapping paper. She took it down and looked at the small card on the top. It said:

Happy anniversary to the only one I love. To my husband.

What had she gotten herself into? Whoever she had gone home with was married, no matter what sex they were. As she inspected them, the water was shut off in the bathroom. She hadn't heard it though.

She suddenly felt arms come around her middle and she jumped dropping the gift on the floor. They withdrew a little and turned her around.

"Did I startle you? Sorry." It was a man. A very nice looking man.

A very familiar man.

"Erm..." she stumbled. What could she say, 'Last night was great though I don't remember anything but I have to go now. Sorry for any misunderstandings?' Not likely. She knew one thing though. She had indeed gone home with a man after all.

"No matter, I'll make it up to you later. I have to go to work now." He kissed her forehead and then kissed her mouth.

She kept her eyes open in shock, not touching him and not knowing what to do. What is he telling me that for? When she wouldn't respond he pulled back and looked at her. "So?" she said.

He frowned. "Have I done something wrong? Is it one of the kids?" he asked.

"Kids? You have children?" What the hell have I gotten myself into?

His frown increased. "Gin, are you okay? You look... different. Are you feeling sick?"

Ginny's mouth was trying to form words, really it was, but her mind had so many questions that her mouth didn't know where to start. Wait, did he call me gin? No one but my family calls me gin. "Don't call me Gin, I hardly know you." She pulled away from him and walked out of the room coming into contact with a corridor that stretched in both directions. What is this, a maze? God I hate Harry so much right now. She turned to face him. "How do I get out of here? I need to get home to kill my boyfriend." She noticed he was suddenly fully dressed, in a dark suit with matching tie. She focused on the task at hand.

"Boyfriend?" he asked.

"Yes, not that it's any of your business."

He began to laugh. "That's very funny, Ginny. Boyfriend, you almost had me convinced." He turned to pick up a case on the ground by the bed and walked out to turn left. "Just don't tell Cadence or Sebastian about it, you'll upset them," he said mockingly.

Who are Cadence and Sebastian? "Why would I care what Cadence and Sebastian think?" she said to him. She followed him guessing that he was leaving the house as he was obviously going to work.

He stopped and turned to her, his face incredulous. "What?" he said in part shock and part anger.

She raised an eyebrow irritated; her temper was getting the better of her. "Look, just tell me the way out so I can get home."

His look increased. "Ginny, what the hell are you going on about, you are home. Stop it now; you're beginning to scare me." He turned to the stairs and proceeded down them.

I am home? What? She ran after him following him into a kitchen where a child ran to her. She wrapped her arms around her and yelled, "Mum!" Ginny froze, not moving incase she attacked her.

"Erm..." She looked at the man. "Can you remove your child from me so that I can leave?" The girl let go of her and looked at her and then at her father.

"Ginny, I mean it now." He took her arm and led her to the living room. When he was sure the child was out of earshot he began to speak to her. "Enough. Whatever I've done I'll pay you back for it when I get home, just don't do this in front of her." He then kissed her and apparated.

Ginny stood in the living room without moving. She didn't know if it was shock or anger of such an impertinent man. She wasn't sure how long she was standing there but when she came out of her daze, there was a small person watching her. She looked down at her.

What the hell is she staring at? The little girl looked oddly familiar to her.

"Mum, are you going to make breakfast?" she said.

"Why do you keep calling me your mum?" she asked irritated.

The girl raised an eyebrow at her. "Erm... because you are?" she said slowly as if she was crazy. If she was in another of her moods, this was going to be a long day.

"What?" She looked up and around for a possible exit. She contemplated the fireplace. It looked descent enough. The floo powder was right there next to the family portrait if she could just... She did a double take and looked at the picture again. Her face contorted through many levels of confusion.

She was in it.

"What the..."

"Erm, Mum, I think you should go back to bed." She didn't answer.

What the hell is going on? She looked at herself and two children as they sat next to that man... that man, she knew that man. That face, that hair. That... kiss. She brought her hand to her mouth, it was trembling. She dropped the picture and it fell to the floor shattering the glass within.

She had to get out of there.

She scrambled up and reached for the floo powder, stood in the fireplace and said two simple words.

"Harry Potter!"

The child went after the floo powder her mother had left on the floor and instantly called for her father. She found him in his office. He looked up at the sudden change in the fire and saw his daughter watching him with a worried face.

"Cadence? What are you doing, why are you making fire calls." He noted her face. "Where's your mother?" he asked.

"She went by Uncle Harry." He swallowed hard. "Dad, I think there's something wrong with her."

Instantly there was a loud crack, Draco had apparated home.

***

Ginny fell out of the fireplace in an apartment that she recognized instantly. She got up and looked around as she dusted the soot off her clothes. There was a scuffle from the bedroom. She turned to it and narrowed her eyes, suddenly retrieving her mood from last night, and stormed toward it conjuring her wand. The bastard was still with her.

Suddenly, Harry came out of the bedroom in a less than modest, i.e. a sheet, attire. Ginny screwed up her face in horror. He actually had the nerve to brandish it in front of her.

"What the hell are you doing, Harry?" she screamed at him.

Harry looked confused. "Well, Good morning to you too, Ginny. Let me guess, marital bliss getting you down? What is it now, has Malfoy gone and used your soap again?" he laughed as he made his way to the kitchen. He tied the sheet around himself like a towel so he could use his hands.

Ginny stood in the living room, their living room, in shock. "Malfoy?" she said quietly. "I'm married to him."

Harry looked around a cupboard. "Yes," he said slowly not knowing where this was going, "for almost seven years now. Is there something bothering you because Hermione and I were-."

"Hermione?" She knew he had someone else but he had no idea it was-.

"Yes, Hermione - Ginny, are you feeling okay?"

"Funny, I was about to ask the same question." Ginny spun around to see Malfoy walking through the fire into their living room. She was now stuck between two men. She all of a sudden had an image of Hogwarts twelve years ago. Merlin is it really twelve years? She shook it off and back to the situation at hand. "I'm sorry, Potter, can you excuse us a second?"

"It's my house."

"Yes and she's my wife, you'll get her back in a minute."

"Wife?" she said a little too loud.

Draco looked at her like he had in the bedroom. Harry sighed loudly. "Are you two having a fight because, if you are, could you not break anything this time? I don't know why you have to come here every time something goes wrong." He kept muttering until he closed the door to his bedroom.

Draco stepped forward. As he did, Ginny mimicked his actions and moved away. She didn't know what was going on and she didn't like it. "Gin." He moved again.

"Don't!" she said moving back again, "Don't come near me. I don't know what tricks you guys are playing but it's not funny, stop it." She moved back again. "And don't call me Gin."

Draco, who up to this point had been angry at her for leaving their child in the house alone, suddenly felt concerned about her. She was acting as if she really believed she didn't know him.

She began to ramble incoherently. "Last night, last night I was here and I walked in on Harry..." She went teary again. "I went to a bar and this guy he-." She struggled to remember. "He said he could help me. He said everything would be right as rain." Her gaze snapped up to Draco again. "I have to find him."

Draco had been listening. "Ginny, you didn't go anywhere last night, you were with me. I don't know what's wrong with you but I need to get you home."

"I am home!" she screamed and disapparated.

***

The morning air was even worse than it was last night. She wandered the streets of London trying to remember where the bar was that she went to the night before. It was well after midday when she found it. She went inside and recognition came over her. She remembered this place but it looked... different, like everything else, like she was seeing it again for the first time.

The barman, he was there again. She rushed to him and grabbed for his sleeve to get him to look at her. "Tell me that you know who I am." He frowned at her.

His face relaxed as understanding spread and replaced his frown. He had seen this mood before, on many witches and wizards who had made a choice some time in their lives. "Janos. The bastard. He found you, didn't he?"

Ginny felt relieved. She sighed heavily. "You remember me?" she said with hope.

He shook his head, "No I don't. Did Janos find you?"

She thought for a while, he must mean the guy that had tracked her to the store. "Yes, I think he did, after I ran out."

He leaned across the bar top to talk to her more quietly. "Where did he find you, after you ran out where did he find you?"

"In a grocery store I think." She sat down.

He grabbed her arm and maneuvered her to stand again. "Go to it."

She relented after a brief moment of struggle. "What?"

He walked with her around the bar. "Go to wherever he tracked you to. It's the only place you'll be able to find him after he casts it. After that, he'll find you."

"Cast what?" She broke free of his grasp and glared at him. She wanted answers and she wanted them now. "What is going on?"

"He'll explain it to you, just go." He pushed her through the door and closed them behind her.

She left the bar and wandered down the road to the grocery store she had entered the night before. When she went inside, she saw him stacking shelves in aisle four. She approached him cautiously, not knowing what to say to him. He worked in the same grocery store. Here she was thinking he was a powerful wizard or something. The store was really full of people, maybe she shouldn't be disturbing him at work. But then, she did want to find out what the hell was going on.

"Back so soon?" he said without turning around. "Has something gone wrong?" When she didn't answer, he turned around to face her from his position at the bottom shelf.

She looked at him. "My whole life has changed."

He made a compromising face and then turned back to the shelves. "For better or worse?" He suddenly stood with a can in his hand.

"I-."

"Never mind." He got up and put an arm around her shoulder giving the last can in his hand to a passerby with a label on his shirt that said, 'Manager,' as he left the store. Ginny looked back into the busy store full of customers. No one even noticed he had left.

They walked for a while in silence, the questions still streaming through Ginny's mind. When they crossed the last road into Regent's park, they continued along the concrete pathway.

"What's going on?" she asked him.

He rested his arm on her shoulder. "It's what you asked for."

She broke away causing him to stumble a little. "What? I didn't ask for this!"

He nodded slowly as if she had said something that didn't make sense but was agreeing anyway. "Yes, yes you did. You said you wished you hadn't chosen him, you said in that wish that you wanted to find out what it would have been like if you had chosen, 'Draco,' instead." He shrugged. "Whoever that is." He turned to her. "You did, however, describe him to me as the love of your life. It wasn't much to work with but I found it." He sat down on a nearby bench.

Ginny slowly followed suit. "I - I asked for that?"

"Yes, you wanted to know what it would feel like if only for a day or a week. I," he said pointing gloatingly to himself, "have given you a week." She just looked at him. "Seven days to see how different your life would be if you had gone to him that day at Hogsmeade station, if you had turned your currently, soon to be ex, boyfriend down and run to him instead. You only have six left now, most people waste the first day tracking me down. Some are too overwhelmed with joy to leave," he said more to himself with a smile.

Ginny's eyes opened wide. The day she had let him go? "But, I don't even remember any of it. I have children that I don't remember having and, I'm married. I would like to remember my wedding at least!"

"I'm sorry, those are the rules. You get a peek for the time you requested. You learn what the effects of your choices were and in the end it returns to normal."

"So, I just have to ride this out for a week and then I get to go back and murder Harry?"

He laughed. "Yeah. If you still need to."

She nodded with a deep breath. "Okay, I can do that. Only six days left after today, not that bad. How hard could it be?"

He looked at her with a knowing face. "That's what they all say." He stood up from the bench. "This is a journey of self discovery, Ginevra. Whatever you do or say will not be remembered by them, only you. I'm telling you this because many people who have taken this same journey have come to me not wanting to go back to how things were before. They fall in love with their alternate life. They fall in love with what could have been... as you will too."

She scoffed. She had already been driven up the wall by him, six days more of it would not make all the difference in her opinion. "I doubt that."

He smiled knowingly and walked away. "They always do," he said quietly as he left Ginny on the bench by herself.

***

Ginny apparated back to Malfoy's late in the evening. She had tried to come up with a probable story. If she remembered anything about Draco he didn't like to be out of the loop, no matter how indifferent he acted. He was waiting for her in the living room and called to her the second he heard her return.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Ginny?" he said angrily. "Why are you acting like this? Something is wrong I know it, just tell me what it is."

"Malfoy, nothing is wrong."

"Malfoy? Its Malfoy now is it?" He gave an empty laugh. "Okay then, fine. Go ahead." He sat down and waited for her to speak.

She just shook her head. He was annoying her already. Why were men so annoying?

"I'm going to bed."

"What?"

"You heard me. I don't think I have any need to repeat myself. With that, she retraced her steps of this morning and made her way upstairs.