** I don't own the Harry Potter world, characters or places. They belong to J.K. Rowling. Now, enjoy. ES <3 **

Chapter Two ~ Long Enough

Amélie watched, her silvery - gray eyes catching every move that Ginny made as she sorted, without magic, through some of her old things.

"Why aren't you using magic? I can do this with a flick of my wand." She complained.

Ginny rolled her eyes; leave it to her daughter to sound so much like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Not Voldemort, no, Him.

"Yes, dear, I know that but sometimes it's nice to go through things manually. Plus, we must handle with care some of these things." Ginny said as she pulled a picture of her and Luna from right after the end of the Second War.

"Mom, when are Uncle George, Aunt Luna and the twins coming over?" Amélie asked anxiously. She was bored out of her mind watching her mother. This was ridiculous. She'd just graduated from Liatris Academy of Magic, the magic school in the United States of America. And when she was finally able to use magic without breaking any laws, her mom has her helping her sort through things without magic.

It was torture, that's what it was; Amélie thought to herself as she waited for Ginny to respond to her question.

"George said at about half past five London time, which is in about," Ginny looked at the muggle clock on the wall, "about fifteen minutes. I can't believe it's already almost twelve - thirty." Ginny sighed as she brushed her hair out of her face.

"Who are these people in this picture, Mom?" Amélie asked and when Ginny looked over, she sighed again. She should have torn up that picture but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Ginny stood next to a woman and sandwiched between two men. She smiled at the picture as she took it from Amélie's hand.

She hadn't spoken to Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini in over seventeen years. They had been friends, more than acquaintances but if they had spoken, they would have told Draco Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy; Ginny sighed sadly as she stared at him in the picture.

He stood to her left, his arm draped causally around her waist and his blond head nudging hers affectionately. He was smiling, really smiling and he looked breathtakingly handsome. He'd look over at her, smile widely and the look back at the camera, winking jokingly.

"Mom?" Amélie asked.

"My friends, Pansy and Blaise," Ginny said as she pointed the two out, "and that is Draco Malfoy." She said slowly, looking at Amélie.

When Ginny said that and it registered in Amélie's mind, she yanked the picture out of Ginny's hands and stared at it.

"That's my dad?" She whispered.

"Yes," Ginny responded.

Ginny had spoken occasionally about Draco to Amélie. She knew it wasn't right to keep Draco away from his daughter even though he hadn't shown any interest in her when she was pregnant. So she told Amélie about him; well, a few things.

"You guys looked like you were in love." Amélie said, never taking her eyes away from the magical picture.

Ginny's eyebrows furrowed together. In love, she thought, and then snorted.

"I guess it looked that way," was all she said but Amélie knew that her mom still loved that man.

"Do you think I'll ever get to meet him?" She asked Ginny.

Ginny bit her lip nervously but she knew it was really Amélie's decision, "If you want, of course."

Amélie looked over at Ginny nervously and they both stared at each other. A knock on the door to their apartment pulled them out of whatever they had been thinking.

Ginny blinked herself to the door and looked back to see Amélie once again staring at the picture with a small smile on her lips.

Amélie had never seen a picture of Draco before. She knew that she had gotten her eyes from him and from what she heard other people say, her stubbornness and her expressions. Amélie knew, though, that her temper, well, she got that from her mom.

“Hey, Gin – bug.” A voice called out and Amélie looked up to see her uncle George at the door, his long hair covering his missing ear. She’d been shocked when she’d learned about it but now, it was just a part of him.

“Uncle George!” Amélie yelled as she jumped up and ran to the door.

George smiled widely as he pulled Amélie into a tight hug.

“Congratulations, Ame. Sorry we couldn’t come to the graduation.” He said.

Amélie smiled at him, shaking her head; “its okay, it wasn’t that important.”

“Amélie, graduating is important.” Luna’s voice came from behind George.

Ginny smiled when she saw her best friend and sister – in – law. It had been a couple of months since she’d last seen them and Merlin, was it good to see them.

“Mum, mum, move already!” A voice cried and George looked back.

“Don’t talk to your –” He started to say when a teenage girl and boy pushed their way through their parents.

“Amélie!” The girl cried out.

“Analiese!” Amélie said as she ran forward and hugged her cousin.

Ginny watched her daughter hug her niece and couldn’t ignore the pang of guilt she felt. Yes, her family had disowned and abandoned her but she, Ginny, was hiding from all those who cared about her. And because of that, Amélie was growing up alone.

She bit her lip as her twin niece and nephew, Fred, sat down with Amélie on the couch and began talking in hushed voices.

Analiese and Fred, who were both sixteen years old, about to begin their seventh year at Hogwarts; as the summer was drawing to an end, they would return and Amélie would start her life in the real world.

“Don’t feel bad,” Luna whispered to Ginny as she looked at their children.

“How can I not? She’s growing up without her family, without her friends, without her father. What I’m doing is horrible, Luna.” She said as she turned her back from the kids and made her way to the kitchen.

“George, Neville and I don’t believe that. We know why you’ve done it and it’s justifiable. Don’t let it get to you, Ginny.” Luna said as she spelled six Butterbeers to the dining room table.

“Butterbeer is on the table, if you want some.” George said to the children as he made his way to the kitchen where Ginny and Luna were.

“In a second,” Fred said as they continued to talk amongst themselves.

“Is Neville coming?” Ginny asked.

“No, he’s having dinner with Blaise, Blaise’s mother and her recent husband. I think his Gran is also going. It’s an important dinner. I think they’re going to adopt. They’ve been thinking about it and I think it would be a great idea.” Luna told Ginny as she leaned against the counter.

“Blaise and Neville as parents; wow,” Ginny smiled as she thought about it.

“I ran into Draco the other day,” George said suddenly.

Ginny’s breath caught in her throat,”Draco?”

“Yeah, he asked if I heard anything from you. Of course, I said no. But Ginny, really, don’t you think it’s been long enough? Seventeen years and he still doesn’t know he’s a father.” George shook his head disapprovingly.

Ginny bit her lip; she knew he was right. She decided that later today, when Amélie was asleep, she was really going to think about what she was going to do now.

“I’ll think about it, George, really I will.” She said as she looked at Amélie and knew that her daughter really deserved to know her father.

******

Hello readers, fans & friends!

And there is chapter two! i hope you enjoyed!

let me know what you think! comment, vote, fan, tweet, like, google +1 and all that stuff!

Peace & Love,

ES <3