Ginny's leg was fully healed by the next morning and she was walking around completely unassisted, which everyone was delighted about. She was released from St. Mungo's that afternoon after being cleared with the Healers and showing no signs of curse damage.

"We would like to see you again next week," One of the Healers stated from the end of the bed. "Just to make sure that your twins are not showing any signs of curse damage and to make sure that you don't develop any symptoms either."

Ginny nodded and looked at Blaise excitedly before turning back. "And we'll be able to find out the genders of our twins in about five weeks, right?"

"Five to six weeks, yes," The Healer nodded with a smile.

"Okay, perfect!" Then Ginny's smile faltered slightly. "What about Hermione? When is she going to be released?"

The Healer sighed and put his hands behind his back. "We will need to keep Miss Granger here for another day or two; while her dizziness episodes are becoming less in number, they are still very strong and we would like to make sure that we give her the correct potions to heal any damage."

Ginny sighed and Blaise squeezed her hand, saying quietly in her ear, "She'll be alright. And we can still visit her too if they keep her longer."

"I know, but..." Ginny trailed off.

"I believe Miss Granger is still awake, if you would like to see her right now?" The Healer offered, gesturing towards the door.

"Yes, please!" Ginny nodded.

They left the room and made their way to the Malfoy suite. Draco let them in, and Ginny was happy to see that Hermione was in fact awake, and that Narcissa and Lucius were there.

"Hello, dear!" Narcissa greeted happily, standing up to hug Ginny.

"Hi there!" Ginny said, releasing the hug and turning to hug Lucius.

"Draco let slip the good news about your twins," Lucius said humorously. "Congratulations!"

Ginny shot Draco a playful glare. "Don't make me turn your hair pink again."

Draco simply laughed and sat on the bed next to Hermione, who curled into him and grinned. "He was so excited, Gin. Don't be too mad."

"I'm not mad, I promise!" She said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Still tired, but not as sore," Hermione answered. "They want to keep me here for a couple more days, which I'm not very happy about."

"But you need it," Draco insisted quietly. "You're still having spells."

"I probably will for a while, but that's not a good enough reason to keep me here for very long," Hermione sighed before waving her hand. "Anyways, they did say that I was healing well otherwise, though."

"That's good to hear," Blaise said with a smile from behind Ginny. "You took the most damage."

"Don't remind me," She groaned slightly. "I just hope the potions will help this all stop."

"You'll get the best potions, dear," Lucius said with a smile. "We'll make sure of that."

Hermione smiled at him. "Thank you, Lucius."

Lucius smiled happily and then looked at Blaise and Ginny. "So, when are you two having the big ceremony for all of us that weren't lucky enough to go to your first wedding?"

Ginny laughed. "It's going to be next weekend."

Then she looked at Hermione and asked, "Do you think you'd be up for some dress shopping this weekend?"

"Absolutely!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Narcissa, what about you?" Ginny asked, looking over at the older witch.

Narcissa gave her a surprised look. "Are you sure? What about your mother?"

"Oh, she'll be coming too!" Ginny laughed. "But I would love it if you were there, considering you're essentially my mother-in-law."

"Of course I'll go!" Narcissa said excitedly. "Just let me know when and where!"

Blaise squeezed Ginny's shoulder and said, "Alright, I think it's time to get my pregnant wife home so she can rest more."

Ginny groaned but stood up and went to hug Hermione. "We'll be back tonight to visit!"

Hermione smiled and hugged her friend back. "Take some time to rest! You're going to need it!"

"Says the future godmother to my twins," Ginny laughed. "We'll see you all later!"

Blaise took Ginny's hand and led her out of the room, wrapping an arm around her waist and walking slowly with her down the hallway.

"It'll be nice to be home," Ginny sighed.

"Agreed," Blaise said before squeezing her side. "Especially since you'll be there again."

She smiled up at him and pressed a kiss against his shoulder. They walked outside of the hospital and went around to the back alley, apparating to their manor. Ginny felt a sudden surge of anxiety and pulled back on Blaise's hand as they reached the living room.

"Are you sure it's safe to be back here?" She asked. "After all, they got in before."

"The only ones still out are Dolohov and Rabastan Lestrange," Blaise said reassuringly. "And they're suspected to be in the Ministry somehow. I'll be cutting off our fireplace from the floo network tonight and will spend the night putting up more protection charms so that they cannot get in again. And if I have to, I will build you another manor somewhere else."

She smiled and shook her head. "I just want to be sure."

"Good morning."

The two of them whirled around to see Aster Zabini lounging in one of the chairs behind them, watching them carefully. She was dressed in another overly extravagant dress in Ginny's opinion, this one being black with silver beading tracing a lace pattern all over the dress.

"Mother!" Blaise exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"How did you find our manor?" Ginny asked with a furrowed brow. This was the last thing she wanted to deal with at the moment.

"I simply flooed here," Aster shrugged as she stood up. "And when I saw that my manor in Bora Bora had been visited, I knew it could've only been my son."

"To what do we owe the pleasure, mother?" Blaise asked carefully, standing protectively in front of his mate.

Aster raised an eyebrow at him. "Is a mother not allowed to visit her son and his new wife?"

Chills went down Ginny's spine and she felt Blaise's protectiveness of her growing. He quietly asked, "How did you know?"

"Like I said, I visited the Bora Bora manor, and the townspeople were all very excited about your wedding that was very last minute. I must say," She said almost threateningly as she slowly took a few steps towards them, "I am disappointed that I wasn't invited."

"Don't take it personally," Ginny stated angrily. "Draco and Hermione were the only two there."

"Why are you here, mother?" Blaise asked again, more forcefully this time.

Aster sighed and tossed a paper at them. Blaise snatched it from the air and read it carefully, his brow furrowing in frustration. "How did they already find out?"

"What?" Ginny asked, standing on her tip-toes to look over his shoulder.

There, in large black print, were the words: Zabini heir expecting twins!

Ginny groaned and put her forehead against Blaise, closing her eyes. "That damn hospital."

"This still doesn't answer the question of why you're here," Blaise said. "And frankly, you were absolutely awful to my wife the last time you two interacted. So forgive my less-than-warm welcoming, but it's well deserved."

"I understand," Aster said lightly. Her voice softened then and her statuesque demeanor slipped as she shifted her weight to one leg. "Blaise, dear, I've missed my only son and have recently done a lot of thinking. After news came out that...Ginny and Hermione were kidnapped, the thought of losing you because of your mate being killed became very real, and I was terrified."

Ginny stared at the woman in front of her. This was a completely different person than she expected, more vulnerable and motherly.

"And I realized that I've been completely unfair to you, Ginny," Aster said, addressing the redhead directly. "I've been judging you based on past mistakes that I made, and because Blaise is the only connection I have left to my love, I was very protective of him and thought that you would hurt him."

Ginny stood there, unsure of what to say. The room was utterly quiet, and she finally took a deep breath, gesturing towards the couch. "I think we all need to have a good, long conversation about everything over some tea."

Not too long after, Aster was sitting back in the chair while Blaise and Ginny sat on the couch facing her. Ginny had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a large sweater, while Blaise remained in the same clothing, as did his mother.

"So, this was a very sudden change of your way of thinking, mother," Blaise started slowly. "Especially considering the last time you two interacted, you still referred to her as a blood traitor."

Aster nodded sadly. "Old prejudices are very hard to change, you know that, dear."

Blaise didn't answer. Ginny shifted slightly on the couch, pulling her feet up underneath her and setting her mug in her lap. "So what did make you change your mind?"

"Narcissa had contacted me about what happened with your kidnapping," Aster explained. "She was crying at the thought of possibly losing Draco, and that's when it really became real that I could lose Blaise. I love him dearly, and I have been so stubborn about the idea of no one being good enough for him. I'm sure you're well aware that purebloods are always brought up to marry the best, and that was another unfortunate teaching that was driven hard into me. So when I learned that you were his mate, I let my upbringing take over my thought process instead of taking the time to get to know you myself."

Ginny nodded slowly, taking in Aster's words. She took another sip of tea and asked, "You said that Blaise was your only connection to your love. What did you mean by that?"

Aster sighed and set her mug down in her lap, looking away at the fireplace. "Blaise's father, Vincent, was my Veela. When Lucius told Narcissa that she was his mate, Vincent revealed the same thing to me not too long after. I was very overjoyed, but I knew my father would have looked down upon it severely. But I loved him. So we eloped in secret after graduating from Hogwarts, and I cut off ties with my family afterwards."

Ginny and Blaise sat quietly as they listened, especially Blaise. This was the first time she had ever revealed this to him, and was the longest she had ever talked about his father.

"Vincent was a wonderful husband," She said quietly. There was a faint smile as she thought back on her memories fondly. "I became pregnant shortly after the wedding, and we were so happy when Blaise was born."

She smiled at her son, but then her smile turned into a frown as she looked away again. "My father found out about everything when Blaise had turned three. He was absolutely furious with me and demanded that I come home to marry someone of pure blood that he chose. I refused, of course, but he was persistent. He had already disinherited me, which I wasn't concerned about. I reminded him that Vincent was of a pure blood family, but it did nothing once it was found out that Vincent was part Veela."

"How did they find out?" Blaise asked.

Aster sighed. "I'm still not sure, I never bothered to find out. But things quickly took a turn for the worst."

She took another deep breath, this one shakier than the last. "My family sent me wine that was laced with amortentia as a false apology for their behavior. I stupidly fell for it, took one drink of it, and quickly became obsessed with another pure-blooded wizard, someone from my father's side of the family that my father had bribed to brew the potion and have me leave Vincent. It worked, unfortunately. I immediately went back to my family, where they fed me the love potion for the next week. It was enough time for his Veela to be permanently affected, and by the time the potion wore off and I returned to my Vincent..."

Her voice cracked then and she wiped away a few tears. "It was too late."

Ginny looked at the woman in front of her sadly, but jumped as she felt a steady anger rise in her that didn't originate from her. She looked over at Blaise to see him glaring at the floor with his hands clasped in front of him, tears streaming down his face. Ginny reached out and set a hand on Blaise's arm, but he didn't look up.

Aster took another shaky breath but looked up finally, wiping her face again gently. "I had a small funeral with Vincent's parents, who knew the truth and supported me. They left me Vincent's inheritance, which I used to help establish a new life for Blaise and I. They unfortunately died soon after, and I was left alone.

"My family reached out again after that, and insisted on me coming home. I had a small moment of insanity and accepted, on the grounds that if I married the wizard they wanted, we would still live in the manor that I had built. They accepted, and soon I was married again to the man who brewed the amortentia."

"Why did you marry someone else?" Ginny asked.

Aster gave her a small smile. "Well, shortly after we married, my new husband fell mysteriously ill. There was no cure, nothing the Healers could do. I believe he may have accidentally ingested some muggle rat poison."

Ginny stared at the woman, who simply shrugged. "He succumbed to it before anyone could do anything."

Blaise looked up finally and used his sleeve to wipe his face. "So out of revenge, you killed him."

"I had to make my father pay for doing that to me," Aster said quietly. "And I couldn't bear to be with anyone other than my Vincent."

"But you've remarried so many times," Blaise said in confusion. "Why?"

"Frankly, dear, it was a good way to keep us in the lavish lifestyle that I wanted for you," Aster shrugged. "While I'm not very proud of what I've done, I'm proud that I was able to provide for you and raise you to be the man your father would have wanted you to be."

Blaise looked at his mother quietly, unsure of what to say. She watched him quietly, waiting for his reaction. Ginny sighed and set her mug down, looking at Aster.

"I'm afraid that I must apologize," Ginny said to her quietly. "I judged you very harshly without fully understanding the situation and your feelings behind it. I understand now why you were the way you were before."

Aster smiled slightly. "I did not divulge that information to anyone, not even to Narcissa, who was my dearest friend. I was just so worried that a similar situation could have happened to Blaise, and I couldn't bear that."

"I understand," Ginny nodded. "I'm not mad for how you acted. You were simply trying to look out for Blaise."

"Yes," Aster nodded. "So, I'm very sorry, dear, for how coldly I acted towards you. I hope we can start over with a better relationship."

Ginny  smiled  at  the  older  witch.  "I  would  like  that  very  much."

A/N: I'm very big on redemption arcs, and I really really wanted to do one for Blaise's mother, so here you guys go! I hope you all enjoy! <3