[HP translation] Hope

For the next two months, Ginny was perplexed.Malfoy was always in and out of the estate for one reason or another, mostly to meet with the bankers who helped keep his vast fortune and investments, but on a few occasions, she had found him deeply mysterious.She never knew if he was the good Malfoy who was sarcastic but bearable, or the bad Malfoy who would do his best to insult her.After not seeing him for several days, she went downstairs to breakfast one morning to find him sitting at the table drinking tea and toast.Seeing her come in, he stood up immediately, which startled her.

"Well..." she thought, yes.

"Good morning, Weasley," he said.Using her last name was his only concession to that old Malfoy. "What do you want to eat?"

She sat down and found that he didn't sit down again until she was comfortable. "Well, the tea will be nice."

"anything else?"

"Hot oatmeal with bananas?" He raised an eyebrow at the house-elf standing in the corner—she didn't even notice it was there—and Alekta apparated into the kitchen to get Ginny's breakfast.

"Pinch told me you didn't do anything when I left," he said, folding the Mercury Herald neatly and setting it aside.

"I didn't realize there was anything I was supposed to be doing."

"I mean, you're not a prisoner," he said, staring at her firmly. "I found you hit it off with Rose Kundlen at last week's party; you could invite her over for tea today."

Alekta came back with Ginny's breakfast, and after adding honey to the tea and stirring it, she replied noncommittally, "I think she's all right."

"Or go shopping. There are plenty of shops in Arrow Lane."

"I told you, I have no money."

"I told you, too, I pay for it." They watched each other, engaging in a silent battle of wills, until Ginny looked away and started putting bananas into the oatmeal.

It was like a stun spell had hit her: he was only being nice to her to get her out of the way.He was doing something he didn't want me to see, Ginny thought, when Malfoy gave up the conversation and started reading the paper again.I bet he didn't really talk to the banker, but someone else.Maybe it's here: he doesn't want me poking around his estate, because there's something hiding there.

She was even more certain when she could hear him talking to someone that afternoon as she passed a closed door.Ginny stopped and tiptoed to the door as lightly as possible, pressing her ear to the smooth wood.

"...the next shipment?" Malfoy's voice was barely audible.

The other party answered.Ginny thought he must have been talking to the other party via the Floo.

Malfoy cursed under his breath. "You told me . . . the safest place in England—"

"Bad things happen sometimes, Draco."

"Not to me. Damn Jeffords." It sounded like he'd just punched something. "Well, I just spoke to Melvin Winkler... Voldemort is more interested..."

Ginny walked away, her heart beating a little faster than usual.goods.Safety.Voldemort.Oh my god.She turned and ran to the small living room she had discovered a few days earlier, trying to forget what she had just heard.If she pretended not to know what was going on, maybe Malfoy would give in and she could find out what he was up to.She was sure that the goods must be something illegal.

In this way, the incident a month ago was even stranger, when Ginny thought it was hot outside and she could go swimming in a small shallow bay in front of the manor.During a previous shopping spree, she had bought a new swimsuit, which she changed into, grabbed a towel and sandals, and headed out.

It was a wonderful day, with barely a cloud in the sky and a light breeze that made the heat bearable.She took out her wand, cast a sun protection spell on her fair skin, placed it next to her towel and sandals, and walked out to the bay.Taking a deep breath, she jumped into the clear water.

How long has she been swimming?As she lazily backstrokes in the bay, she thinks back to summer days at The Burrow, when her brothers taught her to swim in the pond outside.She couldn't wear her brothers' second-hand bathing suits, so Molly bought her a new pink one-piece, and Fred and George teased her for hours.Percy was content to be a lifeguard, buried in You Think You're Preparing for a Government Job, and Ron was happy to be able to zip around the pond and splash them all in the face.Then she thought of the last summer, the summer when Bill and Fleur were married, and she, Harry, and Ron took turns diving underwater to pinch Fleur's knee until the French witch believed there was Grindylow.

Even after four years, it still hurts her to think about them.She remembered Fleur's bewildered expression causing Hermione to cover her giggling mouth, and Bill looking ready to strangle the twins, believing them to be the real culprits.Harry had been looking at her tenderly at the wedding, dancing with her in his lovely, clumsy way at the party, standing together under the big willow tree as the sun set, fireworks making his green eyes sparkle like emeralds, and they Kiss, that's not clumsy at all.

Thinking of Harry put her in a better mood, and she fondly recalled their moments alone. Ten minutes later, Ginny started shaking and decided she was going for a swim.She swam to the shore where her towel and wand lay, and emerged from the water.

"Weasley?"

She looked up to see Malfoy coming down the path leading to the house.He seemed surprised to find her here, but when his gaze fell below her face, she realized that she was standing in front of him in nothing but a revealing black bikini, her wet hair hanging over her neck and shoulders .She shivered, but not because of the cold, she grabbed the towel and wrapped her body, hiding her body.

"I like swimming," she said, lifting her chin.She didn't allow him to pinch her around. "That's allowed, isn't it?"

"I didn't—" His voice was hoarse, and he tried to hide it with a cough.He frowned at her, as if she had made a mistake. "I thought you were one of the Muggles on the mainland who sometimes sneak over for a swim. I don't allow intruders."

"Oh, you say so," she said, pulling on her sandals and picking up her wand. "I thought you just wanted to see me in a bikini."

"I--"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you're human," she teased, patting him on the shoulder as she walked past him.

He grabbed her hand and turned her to face him. "Weasley."

"Please, Malfoy." She rolled her eyes. "My name is Ginny, remember? Weasley is your name Ron." He stared at her, and he must have seen her face sink and tears well up in her eyes.She couldn't bear to show her pain in front of him. "I bet you wish you were the one who killed him, right?" she said, trying to hide her grief. "It's a pity your father killed him first?"

He shook off her hand. "Don't think you know me, Weasley," he hissed, fisting his hands.

"Oh, isn't it? And you deny that you hated Ron at Hogwarts? You're good friends, aren't you?"

"Do you know what your problem is?" Malfoy said. "All of you Gryffindors can only see black and white, good and bad. Like you said, if I don't hate Weasley, then I must get along with him. No compromise?"

"Speak like a real Slytherin," Ginny called back, drawing back. "When people are dying, you don't see ashes, Malfoy. There is no compromise between life and death, only one."

He paused, his breathing changed slightly. "I'm not talking about life and death."

Always comes back to war.Even when surrounded by such beauty and ease, she couldn't think of anything else.She couldn't explain to anyone how strong this feeling was, that life and death were everything.So, she walks away.

Malfoy, however, refused to let go of the subject. "Funny, but you're the one saying there's no compromise between life and death."

"Why?" said Ginny angrily, striding towards the house.

"George."

She stopped immediately, allowing him to run into her; when she turned, she had to take a step back. "How do you know George? Who told you? What do you know?"

"The Daily Prophet was delivered the first six months I was here," he said, "until Rodolph Sleistledge and his mates took control of the papers. I read that George Weasley was Hit by a strange spell that nobody could identify...he was in St Mungo's permanent spell damage ward."

"Some kind of sleep spell or curse," she muttered.

"Hephaestus Sumner likes that kind of stuff," Malfoy said almost wistfully.He turned and looked at Puget Sound with his hands on his hips.He creates a charming image, his long hair blowing in the wind. "He liked the idea of ​​someone sleeping for years and waking up to find their whole world changed."

Ginny's eyes widened.They never found out who cast the spell. "Does that—does that mean George will wake up?"

"I don't doubt it," he said, turning to her.

"But it's been four years—"

"He's not dead," said Malfoy, crossing his arms across his chest and giving her a smug look. "He fell asleep. Wandering between life and death."

She recalled what Fred had said in her dream: Not dead, but not alive either.She couldn't understand that neither dead nor alive, nor after Cassiopeia's therapist had explained it to her over and over again, and now, she realized, what Malfoy said was true: there is no such thing as black and white. Case.There are good people, like Harry and her family, and bad people, like Voldemort, but there are also people like Mundungus Fletcher and Draco Malfoy who sit out and wait for the outcome.

"Weasley's dead, then," he said firmly. "Ron."

"They're all dead," she said.She wrapped the towel tightly and continued walking towards the house.

What bothered her most was his behavior, she didn't know how to treat him.When he said nasty things—much less now than at Hogwarts—she could reply with nasty things, but in less than 5 minutes he would ask her if the bedroom was comfortable enough, or if she Would you like to visit his library.

"what?"

"You look bored, so I thought maybe you'd like to read."

"I suspect you don't have the kind of books I like to read," said Ginny coldly, continuing to leaf through the monthly The Fine Wizard's Guide, a catalog of high-end clothing.

"What kind of books do you like to read?"

"Not a book detailing how to disembowel your enemy in three moves."

He raised his eyebrows and seemed to be trying to hold back a smile. "Death Eater for a day, Death Eater for life, huh?"

"I'm just extrapolating what's happening now from past observations."

He strode over and rolled up his sleeves, startling her. "I'm not," he said.Unable to take her eyes away, she gazed at his flawless ivory skin. "I didn't take the Dark Mark. Just thought you should know."

She looked up at him. "But Harry said—"

"How would Harry know? He wasn't there when the Dark Lord thought I was worthless after I failed to kill Dumbledore, did he?"

Ginny stood up defiantly. "Since only the Death Eaters call him the Dark Lord, sometimes you don't need an obvious sign of what order you belong to." She picked up the catalog and went to another room.

After eight weeks here, Ginny found herself falling in love with the estate.She found a greenhouse in the woods behind his property, and after asking the house-elves she began helping them plant flowers and water them.Here is everything a wizard needs: some basic potion ingredients, especially those that can be used to brew health potions, plants with their own healing properties, and a large number of beautiful flowers that Ginny has seen.It must be the fresh lilies and daffodils that Malfoy insisted on displaying in the dining room and lobby every day.

As the summer wore on, Ginny was swimming in the bay more and more often, a place she considered her own.Malfoy didn't come to the coast after that day, but sometimes, she thought she saw him watching her from the window of the house.One day, she chanced upon a brand new piano in a room full of music books at the manor.Ginny didn't know how to play, and she couldn't read notation, but she still played her mother's favorite Celestina Warbeck song for hours, humming the words softly, note by note. groping.

He approached her one day as she was sitting at the piano. "You like music, don't you?" he asked, leaning against the open door frame.

Ginny shrugged and ran her fingers lightly across the keyboard. "I think it's as good as anyone." When he didn't speak, she continued to play. "A cauldron of fiery love," she crooned.

"Have you been to the theater?"

He had entered the room now, standing with his feet spread apart, his hands in the pockets of his tailored gray trousers.He was imposing in this way, strikingly similar to his father.

"Poor, remember?" said Ginny dryly. "We can't even afford restaurants."

"That means I haven't been there."

"I haven't been to a capitalized one."

"do you want to go?"

Her fingers rested on the keyboard.Merlin, she thought, is he asking me out?

"Seattle has a great theater company," he said, as if what he was doing was normal. "My friend Will Starling told me that Camelot, a musical, is playing right now. If you want to go, I can get tickets."

She turned on the piano bench and stared at him cautiously. "What's in it for you?" Ginny asked.

"Working every day is driving me crazy," he said lightly. "I want to take a break."

If truth be told, Ginny was really dying to get out, too.She hadn't left his estate since the day after she'd been here, when she had gone shopping with Pinch. "So... when are we going?"

He smirked. "That's a promise, Weasley?"

"Let me check my busy schedule and get back to you," she replied.

"Tomorrow night. Dinner first, then the show, and then something to drink." He turned to leave, and Ginny resumed her original position. "Weasley?"

"Malfoy?"

He stuck his head into the room. "Wear the Muggle evening clothes I bought you, because we're going downtown."

Ginny opened her mouth to ask him which one to wear, since he had six on the list, but he had already left.

That night, she dreamed about Harry for the first time since she decided to become a mail-order bride.They stood on the astronomy tower at Hogwarts, but the astronomy tower had collapsed during the war.The stars twinkled above their heads, and Harry held her hand.

"We're always with you, Kim," he said sincerely. "You are never alone."

"Look after George, will you?" she said. "I worry about him."

He laughed. "Fred was with him all the time," he said. "Even death could not separate them."

"What about us?"

His smile disappeared and he put his arms around her, holding her in his arms. "We're not meant to be together, Kim," he said. "You have to let go."

"What am I destined to do?"

"Happy," he said. "Promise me you'll be happy."

Ginny nodded on his chest, hugged his body with all her strength, and then both he and the Astronomy Tower turned into darkness under her eyes.