The cleaners

Ginny was still standing by the window. As Draco spoke, she looked out on the grounds on which you could already see the autumn was coming. It became cooler every day now, and the trees and the grass were loosing their luster slowly, slowly. Somewhere near the lake she could discern three figures, two small and one bigger. She hated to having to leave her children without her during the days, even though she knew they loved their nanny. A small smile appeared on her lips as she remembered how proud Molly had been over her light blue jacket they'd bought just before their arrival to Hogwarts, It matched those strawberry curls perfectly. And Lucas, he'd insisted to have a gray one, even though shed tried to speak him into choosing another one with more colours. They had both inherited her stubbornness.

She noticed that Draco'd lapsed into silence and drew a breath of air. "For several months, we just traveled around in Europe, eventually reaching Asia. In Japan we decided to go back to the continent and to go with the trans-Siberian railroad. Its 60 miles long, and would take us from Vladivostok to Moscow in 16 days. But we never got to Moscow.

"What happened then?" Harry asked. He and Arthur were the only ones giving Ginny a chance to tell.

"I can tell you what happened," Hermione said and leaned back, looking disgusted at Ginny. Draco couldn't believe that she was the kind, clever girl Ginny had spoken so warmly about. "I think our little Ginny over there got lost in her own self-absurdness. Did you forget all about us when you once had lost yourself in the arms of Draco Malfoy?"

"Why are you so bitter?" Ginny exclaimed and took a few steps towards the sofa."Why can't you just listen to me, and believe me!"

"Because I don't buy this! You don't care about anyone but yourself!" Hermione answered and stood up, at the same time as Draco furiously left the room with fire in his eyes. "I guess the war showed what kind of person you really are. A traitor. I can't believe you're married to him."

"How can you say that? I was the one who cleaned up everything for you when the war was over! ..Hermione Granger, it might be difficult for you to believe, but I guess you have to face the truth. I realize it'll take some time, maybe even years, but you'll just have to. Did you know how long it took before I could fully trust him? Two years. It maybe doesn't sound long in your ears, but to me it was. Imagine, I was spending almost every hour with this man, that I loathed from the beginning."

"And then what? You just changed?" Ron asked, and something in his voice told Ginny that he really was curious.

"No, I think I just had to believe in him, at the beginning, and follow him. Something in his manners made me realize he maybe was right, maybe I actually were in a great danger as he said. Why would he otherwise be so keen of keeping an eye of me all the time? And when we had been in a fight, it happened often, and I just wanted to leave him, why would he make me stay if he didn't know something I didn't? But I was always on my watch, I didn't want him to be near me. I wouldn't let him, and I don't think he wanted to either. But then something happened, after two years, that made me change my thoughts about him. And slowly but surely I began to fall for him."

"And you married, just like that?"

"No, It wasn't like that. We married because we had to. I've never understood completely but it had something to do with-"

She trailed off as Draco stormed into the room with two huge boxes in his arms, which he fiercely put down on the table His eyes landed on Hermione as he opened the first box. "You call her self-centered, but then you have no idea what she's been doing every spare minute," he hissed as he brought up a pack of letters. "She's even saved them, for every one of you to have if we would ever come back. Here you go, Granger."

He threw the letters at the woman's knee, then he gave one to Arthur, one to Harry, and one to Ron.

"Why did you do that?" Ginny asked as she approached Draco.

"I'm not letting her speak like that to you," Draco said quietly. "You're a Malfoy now. We don't take such crap."

Ginny laughed, and turned towards the four in the sofa. "I wrote less from the 6th year, there was just too much to do right then."

Arthur looked up from the letters, and rested his eyes on Draco. "I met your father Draco, when they found your belongings. He had been given a safe conduct to fetch them, and I met him there. He was really worried about you, I could see it in his eyes. I think he loved you very much."

Draco shot him a brow. "Loved me? I don't think my father knew what that word meant Mr. Weasley," he said, and then he turned to Ginny. "What do you say Gin, did he seem to love me like a proud father when we interrogated him?"

"Not really," Ginny confessed. "He just showed signs of hatred and despise. That façade never wore off, not even when he died."

"Died?" Harry asked confused. "He can't be dead. Lucius Malfoy was captured and sent to Askaban again."

"And then, he was brought to us," Draco continued. "Ever heard about a place in Siberia where a group of trained wizards and witches so-to-say 'clean up' the mess the war made? Interrogating dark wizards, finding those who haven't been captured yet, and eventually getting rid of them?"

"No?" Harry said confused."That's because no such thing exist," Hermione told her friends determined.

"That's right, Granger. It doesn't, not anymore. It was blown into parts when it wasn't needed anymore. I think that was 2 years ago."

"Siberia was a cold place," Ginny filled in, a smile appearing on her lips as she remembered. "But safe, no one searched for me there. I didn't have to have brown hair, or to be called Sharon Quinn."

"What then? Where did you go?"

After the next chapter I don't have an idea what to write, and maybe I'll quit.

If anyone would like to continue it ...be my guest and send me a pm.

Thanks peter pan for all the editing, I can be quite obnoxious sometimes...

Honey