Ginnugagap
Epilogue:
The years since the Ochil Hills raid had passed quickly. Ginny had accomplished a full recovery and had been allowed to return to her beloved field work.
Draco and Ginny were teamed up as partners again, and the slave trade case ended up taking another year. There was damage control to be done, and using a list of clientele that they had appropriated from Theodore Nott and the list that they had found in Avery's home, the Aurors had managed to track down the abused muggles.
Wizards and witches that were found to have muggle slaves in their possession ranged from politicians to shop owners and each slave owner had to be brought in for questioning. The court proceedings seemed to be endless and many wizards were arrested, while still others were fined hefty fees. When the information about the case was finally leaked to the press, it created a field day. People were talking about it for months and shocking tell-alls were released, by some wizards, in an attempt to get a piece of the (potentially lucrative) pie.
Dealing with the slaves themselves had been the most difficult part. The muggles had been taken to St. Mungo's where they were temporarily held and surveyed. The Wizenmagot took their time deciding the fate of the brain washed muggles.
It was a delicate subject and a problem that needed to be dealt with, with care. These muggles had no recollection of their lives before slavery and their intelligence rating was below normal (however, it was uncertain whether this was a result of a spell or if they had just been born that way. The muggle world was still a mysterious place, after all) The hospital staff tried every counter spell and every potion that they could and only minute positive results surfaced, nothing extraordinary and nothing to indicate that there would be hope for better.
Of course, the muggles could not stay in wizarding society. They would simply have to go back, to face what remnants of life they had left.
Upon a strike of genius, a young healer, fresh out of Mediwizard School, had come up with the solution.
The former slaves were implanted with a new memory, a way to explain their disappearance to the muggle world, upon their return.
This synthetic memory had to be perfect, and after only a few errors, it was solidified and magically sewn into the minds of each patient.
The muggles were released back into their world, telling tales of alien abduction by frightening looking beings with green skin and hideously large black eyes.
All of their stories matched, down to the last letter, and the muggles amassed quite a fan following.
According to Hermione and some of Ginny's other muggle and half muggle friends, the former slaves were now very wealthy as the result of multiple TV appearances and for selling their stories for use as a mini series on the BBC.
It didn't make up for their lost memories, but muggles almost always seemed happier when they had some change in their pockets.
The werewolves were an entirely different matter all together. After a regional petition and loads of hard work, Remus Lupin and his wife Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin opened the first Lupin Group Home for Werewolves
The group home was a center that housed and schooled the children, catering to their special needs and raising them to think for themselves instead of relying on an Alpha wolf. "You are the Alpha of your own life." Was the school motto, and it had become a popular saying among wizarding youth, as well.
Remus and his school were widely acclaimed for their efforts in the on-going struggle for the acceptance of were-kind.
Draco snorted in amusement. She had a funny little frown creasing her brow as she concentrated on her work. The tip of her tongue was peeking out from between her teeth and her strawberry hair was falling into her eyes as she guided her quill across the paper in front of her.
"You have ink on your face…" he commented after a moment, pointing at a spot just below her right cheek bone.
She smacked a hand to her face, smearing the black spot into a large splotch on her skin.
"You got it," He said with a deep laugh.
She scowled at him, her grey eyes looking almost black in her anger. "MUM! Dad is picking on me again!"
"No! Don't--" he panicked, throwing a hand over his daughter's mouth to keep her from alerting her mother.
He heard the stairs creak just slightly, as his wife made her way down to them.
He turned wide, nervous eyes to the small girl in his arms. "I'll buy you ice cream…" Hell, he'd buy her a flying car if it would keep her from igniting Ginny's wraith. She was mean when she was pregnant.
Isabelle nodded and Draco allowed his hand to drop from her mouth, "Deal!" she said, her voice whistling through the gap of a missing front tooth. She stuck her hand out and Draco shook it, his eyes rolling heaven-ward in relief.
Ginevra Malfoy toddled into the room a moment later, one hand resting on her protruding belly as she moved.
"Is everything alright? I thought that I heard yelling…" she inquired sleepily.
"Everything is fine." Draco reassured, standing to peck a kiss on her forehead before leading her to a chair. "Sleep well?" he asked, a small smile on his lips as he took in her rumpled appearance.
"Mummy, look what I drew!" Isabelle shouted as she rushed to her mother's side.
Ginny grabbed the paper from her daughter's fingers, trying to decipher what it was exactly that she was looking at.
It looked like a large round blob with strings of something coming out of what she assumed was its top.
"It's…lovely, dear. What is it?"
Isabelle looked at her mother as if she were being ridiculous, "It's you!" she said in a tone that screamed, 'duh!'
"Oh! Wow. It looks just like me!"
"I know." The small girl said, playing with the hem of her dress. As if she was suddenly hit with a jolt of energy, she stretched her arm out, pointing a finger at her father. "Now, I'm going to draw you!" she exclaimed before rushing from the room, presumably to get more paper.
When she was gone, Ginny turned to her husband, speaking in hushed tones so that their daughter wouldn't hear. "I don't really look like that…do I?"
"Of course not! First of all, your hair is red not purple. She didn't draw nearly enough freckles. And…you're much larger in real life. Ouch!" he yelped, as she punched him hard in the arm.
Draco scowled as he rubbed his injured extremity. She really was mean when she was pregnant.
Isabelle returned to the room a moment later, a very unhappy animal clasped tightly in her arms.
"Izzy! How many times do I have to tell you? You can't hold Jasper like that," Ginny admonished.
"He likes it," the little girl argued, squeezing tighter.
Ginny cringed as she looked down at the old cat's pathetic face.
'Meow' he cried pitifully and Ginny swooped down, relieving him from her daughter's clutches.
"I thought that you were going to draw daddy," she directed towards her daughter, trying to distract her from the cat now clinging to Ginny's shoulder for dear life.
"Oh, yeahhhh," the tiny redhead said before scuttling back out of the room.
"Are you Ok, Jasper?" Ginny asked, her voice babyish as she pressed a kiss to the affronted cat's forehead.
Draco tried, unsuccessfully, to hold in his laughter and Ginny placed the cat on a chair, standing to face her husband with the patented hand-on-hip-I'm-a-Weasley-and-I-mean-business stance.
He was about to say something, anything in hopes of calming her when the magical device on the counter began to buzz incessantly.
"Ugh!" they groaned collectively.
"It never fails!" Ginny yelled over the noise as she sat gingerly back in her chair.
"I'm sorry, love." Draco apologized as he tapped the device twice, alerting HQ of the acceptance of his summons. "I won't be gone long."
"Sure," Ginny said, turning her lips away as he aimed a kiss towards them.
"Don't be like that, Gin," He pleaded.
She rolled her eyes, "Alright then," she gave in, turning her head towards him and puckering her lips for a kiss.
"That's my girl," he grinned, kissing her softly, "I'll miss you."
"I know."
"There you go again."
"What?" she asked defensively.
"I know what's wrong," he said, taking a seat beside her at the table.
"Hm?"
"You're jealous."
"Am not."
"Now you sound like Izzy."
Ginny gasped, swatting at Draco as she laughed, "I do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!" she argued, giggling as he pulled her into his arms, tickling her round belly. Soon the tickling became gentle rubbing and Ginny grinned as the baby kicked at his father's hand.
"As soon as this little guy comes out, you can return to work if you want to, Gin."
"No, it's fine. I don't miss work that much. I just—sometimes I miss the adventure."
"I know," he said, placing another kiss to her lips.
"I'll return someday. Cant let you have all the fun," she teased.
"Speaking of, I need to get going. Will you be alright?"
"I'll be fine," she sighed, wishing that her husband didn't have to leave, "Maybe I'll call Luna and see if she would like to visit for a bit."
"That sounds nice," he glanced at the clock and grumbled quietly, "I'd better go," he said, standing to his feet.
"Yeah, you should. Oh! Do you think that you could pick up some butterbeer on your way home?"
"Butterbeer? I thought that you didn't drink that stuff anymore."
"I don't, but Hermione still does."
"Hermione?"
"Oh, Draco. Did you forget already? She's coming to stay on Friday."
"Ugh…"
"It's only for three days and you and Hermione got along just fine at the wedding."
"That's because you spelled my mouth shut during the reception," He pouted.
"You'll be fine, Draco. I have faith in you."
A/N: This fic was a year in the making! I feel so accomplished! My first long fic! I never knew that I was this creative, ahahah. And I have improved so much, imo, that's the best part!
OMG! It's over!
Thank you to everyone that has stayed with this story and has enjoyed its ups and downs with me! You guys are amazing and I love reading all of your reviews, you make this fic worthwhile! Much love!
xoxo
Aimsaru