[HP] Three thousand days of innocence

Draco's file almost doubled overnight, as Ginny filled many pages with her theories and explanations for John's mysterious parting words.From the precious information he revealed to her, she can basically discover these four important things:

One was that Draco had cast uncontrolled magic.His powers didn't die by being unused or suppressed; he was still a wizard.

The second was that Draco, as she suspected, had lost his memory and really had no idea who she was.

Three was that she was finally going to figure out how Draco had come from Hogwarts to London, from a famous pure-blood wizard to an insignificant Muggle without anyone finding him.

Four is that John Palmer probably knew she was a witch.

The last one made her blame herself repeatedly.She managed to bring up the topic that night when Percy came to ask her for a birthday gift for his girlfriend Tricia.

"Seriously, Kim?" said Percy, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. "Tony Blair was the Muggle Prime Minister, who took office shortly before Dumbledore's death. I met him a few times, at dinner with the Minister for Magic, and he was a very nice fellow - you really Don't know who he is?"

"Sorry, but we never talked about that," Ginny retorted, but she knew she'd screwed up.

John Palmer was either a wizard or had some connection to the wizarding world.This point is very clear.Ginny admits she hasn't paid much attention to him since being introduced to him at O'Neill's bar - like Draco, his other roommate Simon Kincaid's antics often make him seem less conspicuous .He could easily use a little magic in front of her and she wouldn't notice because she was obsessed with Simon's humor and Draco's... well, Draco.At this rate, she wouldn't be surprised if Simon was also a wizard; it would at least explain why Draco was comfortable with the two of them.However, that's the last thing she needs right now, as the case is spiraling out of control.

So John knew she was a witch, and she hadn't been able to complete her quest, only got the damn West Ham stats, and learned some important things about Muggles.Did he tell on her?Would Draco call her anytime and say she was weird?Why were they going to Brighton when Draco would tell her his story?What's wrong there?Or is there someone there?John's uncle had something to do with it too, but Ginny didn't know what was going on—

She lay prone on the table, complaining angrily.Low priority shit, she thought.In Harry's Auror taxonomy, low priority means that anyone can finish the case at any time, and it's easy to solve.From what she had learned last night, the case had turned into a total disaster.This case should have been done by three Aurors, not one Auror who didn't even like the head of the department.

Still, if Harry wasn't going to let her handle the case, he'd give her other jobs, too.Ginny immediately decided that, at the moment when the case was getting more serious than anyone had imagined, she was going to pretend everything was fine and carry on with business as usual.Even if she wasn't pretending, Harry probably wouldn't notice because Romilda had already asked him out and their relationship wasn't the same these days.Plus, the more she learned about Draco, the better her profile would be when he appeared in court.

Right?

After what happened to John, she decided to spend more time at work so she could avoid him as much as possible until she figured out where she stood.The first day she walked into the Auror's office, Harry took her by the arm and led her to his private office, locking the door behind him.

"Oh, you're talking to me again?" Ginny said gently.

"You've been invited to Malfoy Manor," he said flatly.

"I think Narcissa saw the article in the Daily Prophet. You know, there's very little I can tell her, she may have read it. We all hate Skeeter, but she was in the last story Li really got all the facts right."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Then help me, Ginny, if you don't have any news about their son to tell them—"

"Wait, 'they'?" Ginny said, a sudden fear running down her spine. "But I only saw Narcissa in June."

"Lucius will be here this time, too." Harry sank into the chair behind the desk. "As far as I know, Narcissa is now too weak to leave their house and he has been by her side."

Ginny visibly shivered. "Lucius Malfoy gave me seven years of nightmares about Tom Riddle," she said. "I won't see him."

"I've taken care of it," said Harry. "Hermione made you a special tranquilizer and told you to take it before going to Malfoy Manor." Seeing that she seemed to argue, he waved his hand. "Donate, Ginny. The Ministry needs money. You've got to at least do it, because you haven't caught Draco yet."

Ginny glared at him angrily. "I've been trying desperately to find him," she cried, "and if you can't—"

"I have a meeting with the Director of Sports in five minutes." Harry ignored her and stood up again. "Oliver Wood's favorite fan is back and I have to go."

Ginny crossed her arms across her chest. "I thought dating Romilda Whan would change you, but you're still as stubborn as ever."

He narrowed his eyes. "My private life has nothing to do with you, remember? You made that very clear."

"Merlin, I'm so glad I broke up with you bastard in time. I couldn't be happier." Ginny left his office without waiting for a rebuttal.

Fortunately, Narcissa had invited Ginny to lunch on Friday, so there was no timing conflict with her and Draco's trip to Brighton.She went despite her misgivings about seeing Lucius Malfoy again, but pocketed Hermione's tranquilizer and drank it as soon as she entered the gates of Malfoy Manor.The white peacock stared at her intently as she passed.

The little house-elf she'd seen on her previous visit had greeted her at the door, but this time, they went upstairs, past displeased portraits of Malfoy's ancestors and famous wizards.The whole manor was silent and empty, except for Ginny and her guide, there seemed to be no living things or movements.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Mistress and master are having lunch in the mistress' room," said the house-elf in a thin voice. "The mistress is very ill."

They came at last to a tall, richly carved white double door; vines and leaves framing the top and sides were delicate and lifelike.The house-elf knocked on the door, and a deep male voice came from inside.The house-elf opened the door, bowed, and Ginny worked up her courage and entered the room.

Neither the Malfoys were standing at the door.Narcissa sat in a soft armchair with numerous blankets covering her legs, and beside her sat Lucius in a matching chair, clad in black, holding her tightly in a white hand hand.His eyes, as indifferent as Draco's, looked at Ginny almost defiantly.The bedroom was as opulent as any other part of the estate she had seen, and was decorated in a deep, soft violet.

"Ah, Miss Weasley." Narcissa's voice was as restrained and polite as ever, but it could be heard hoarse and weak. "We are delighted that you are joining us for lunch this afternoon."

"Thank you for having me," Ginny said.At least the tranquilizers are working.

She probably never had a lunch like this.The house-elves brought them food and trays, and as they began to eat Lucius would neither look nor speak to Ginny, while Narcissa kept up the small talk.Their conversations made no sense: the weather, the recent wedding, Narcissa's charity work with the War Orphans Foundation.Ginny felt as if time had stopped in this room, and she casually wondered if Lucius was filtering Narcissa's emails and sources.

After their plates had been cleared by more house-elves, and some color returned to Narcissa's exceptionally pale face, they got down to business. "I've been reading the paper, Miss Weasley," said Narcissa, folding her hands in her lap. "It says Draco has been found."

Ginny's heart was beating violently in her chest. "Yes," she said. "I know where he is."

Lucius closed his eyes, looked down, and turned to his wife; Ginny saw him shake her hand.A smile appeared on Narcissa's thin face. "This is the best news," she said softly. "And I'm afraid it's just another nasty rumor that Skeeter likes to post—"

"She'd lose her job if I had my way," Lucius snapped. "What she wrote about Draco—"

"Calm down, dear." Narcissa reassured him. "This is something to celebrate, not despair. What do you know, Miss Weasley?"

"I've seen him many times—"

"How does he look?" Narcissa pressed, for the first time there was a hint of anxiety in her voice.

Ginny's throat choked. "Excellent," she said softly. "He's healthy and well cared for."

Lucius brought Narcissa's hand to his lips and kissed it hard, and she let out a weary laugh. "Did you hear that, dear?" she said to him, with tears in her eyes. "Our little boy is safe. He's doing great."

"We know he's fine," murmured Lucius.Ginny knew she was intruding on a deeply private moment, and she squirmed restlessly in her seat.

"Where did you see him? Where is he?" Narcissa asked when they calmed down.

"I have reason to believe he's in London," said Ginny. "Most sightings happen there. I haven't had contact with him yet because he's rarely alone, but—"

"Rarely alone?" Lucius frowned. "Who is he with?"

Ginny hesitated. "Muggles," she said softly, flinching at the disgusted expressions on Narcissa's and Lucius' faces. "Actually, I'm not sure—I might have reason to believe that one of them was a wizard, but I don't know—"

"When will he come back to us?" Narcissa asked her. "I want to see him. How soon can you bring him back?"

"I—I don't know," said Ginny, wringing her hands. "The Ministry of Magic has many statutes in criminal matters—"

"You're going to bring him to see us, Miss Weasley." Narcissa nodded. "Once you catch him, arrest him, whatever you're going to do—" her tone indicated how she felt about Draco's criminal charges "—you're going to bring him here, we're going to see him. Lou Hughes needs to talk to you about how to handle Draco's defense, we have a family lawyer, we've had him before."

Ginny nodded. "I'll get him as soon as possible," she said.

"Is the case against him?" Lucius asked. "Do you think he will be sentenced?"

Ginny opened her mouth to answer truthfully—tell them that Percy thought Draco was going to Azkaban, regardless of what he did—but, she happened to meet Lucius' look.He raised his eyebrows and shook his head slightly.The gesture reminded her of Draco, and she swallowed what she wanted to say. "I can't predict it," she said. "Everything should be fairly straightforward, Mrs. Malfoy. No problem at all."

Ginny didn't tell him the truth until she said goodbye to Narcissa and Lucius offered to send her out. "Ten to fifteen years in Azkaban," she said flatly. "The public will treat him as a family scapegoat and have no mercy for him."

"You can't tell Narcissa that," Lucius said. "She can't be bothered with things that are too nerve-wracking."

"Okay." Ginny agreed.

He opened the front door for her himself and walked down the wide path leading to the gate.

"Bring our son back," he said, sounding like he was giving her an order.

Ginny walked out of the graveyard into the sunlight, and he closed the door behind her.